Digital Commons Network^™

Population Estimate Of Chinese Mystery Snail (Bellamya Chinensis) In A Nebraska Reservoir, Noelle M. Chaine, Craig R. Allen, Kent A. Fricke, Danielle M. Haak, Michelle L. Hellman, Robert A. Kill, Kristine T. Nemec, Kevin L. Pope, Nicholas A. Smeenk, Bruce J. Stephen, Daniel R. Uden, Kody M. Unstad, Ashley E. Vanderham

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is an aquatic invasive species in North America. Little is known regarding this species’ impacts on freshwater ecosystems. It is believed that population densities can be high, yet no population estimates have been reported. We utilized a mark-recapture approach to generate a population estimate for Chinese mystery snail in Wild Plum Lake, a 6.47-ha reservoir in southeast Nebraska. We calculated, using bias-adjusted Lincoln-Petersen estimation, that there were approximately 664 adult snails within a 127 m² transect (5.2 snails/m²). If this density was consistent throughout the littoral zone (depth) of …

Species, Functional Groups, And Thresholds In Ecological Resilience, Shana M. Sundstrom, Craig R. Allen, Chris Barichievy

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The cross-scale resilience model states that ecological resilience is generated in part from the distribution of functions within and across scales in a system. Resilience is a measure of a system’s ability to remain organized around a particular set of mutually reinforcing processes and structures, known as a regime. We define scale as the geographic extent over which a process operates and the frequency with which a process occurs. Species can be categorized into functional groups that are a link between ecosystem processes and structures and ecological resilience. We applied the cross-scale resilience model to avian species in a grassland …

Insight On Invasions And Resilience Derived From Spatiotemporal Discontinuities Of Biomass At Local And Regional Scales, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Richard K. Johnson

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Understanding the social and ecological consequences of species invasions is complicated by nonlinearities in processes, and differences in process and structure as scale is changed. Here we use discontinuity analyses to investigate nonlinear patterns in the distribution of biomass of an invasive nuisance species that could indicate scale-specific organization. We analyze biomass patterns in the flagellate Gonyostomum semen (Raphidophyta) in 75 boreal lakes during an 11-year period (1997-2007). With simulations using a unimodal null model and cluster analysis, we identified regional groupings of lakes based on their biomass patterns. We evaluated the variability of membership of individual lakes in regional …

Are Agrofuels A Conservation Threat Or Opportunity For Grassland Birds In The United States?, Bruce A. Robertson, Robert A. Rice, T. Scott Sillett, Christine Ribic, Bruce A. Babcock, Douglas A. Landis, James R. Herkert, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Joseph J. Fontaine, Patrick J. Doran, Douglas W. Schemske

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In the United States, government-mandated growth in the production of crops dedicated to biofuel (agrofuels) is predicted to increase the demands on existing agricultural lands, potentially threatening the persistence of populations of grassland birds they support. We review recently published literature and datasets to (1) examine the ability of alternative agrofuel crops and their management regimes to provide habitat for grassland birds, (2) determine how crop placement in agricultural landscapes and agrofuel-related land-use change will affect grassland birds, and (3) identify critical research and policy-development needs associated with agrofuel production. We find that native perennial plants proposed as feedstock for …

Passive Capture Techniques, Wayne A. Hubert, Kevin L. Pope, John M. Dettmers

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Passive capture techniques involve the capture of fishes or other aquatic animals by entanglement, entrapment, or angling devices that are not actively moved by humans or machines while the organisms are being captured (Lagler 1978). The behavior and movements of the animals themselves result in their capture. The techniques used in passive sampling of fish populations are similar to those used for food gathering over the centuries. Nets and traps have been widely used among various cultures, and many of the currently applied techniques were used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans (Alverson 1963).

Based on their mode of …

Variation In Native Micro-Predator Abundance Explains Recruitment Of A Mobile Invasive Fish, The Common Carp, In A Naturally Unstable Environment, Przemyslaw G. Bajer, Christopher J. Chizinski, Justin J. Silbernagel, Peter W. Sorensen

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Why certain species of fish become invasive is poorly understood and a key obstacle to restoring many of the world’s ecosystems. In this study we tested whether variation in biotic resistance exerted by native predators might explain the reproductive success of the common carp, a large and fecund invasive species that typically spawns in outlying and unstable shallow habitat. An initial three-year study of the relative abundance of youngof- year (YOY) carp in interconnected lakes in the Upper Mississippi River Basin discovered that YOY carp are only found in shallow waters that experience winter hypoxia (winterkill) and have low densities …

Ecosystems, Adaptive Management, Craig R. Allen, Joseph J. Fontaine, Ahjond S. Garmestani

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Adaptive governance Institutional and political frameworks designed to adapt to changing relationships between society and ecosystems, institutional frameworks that enable adaptive management, and the facilitation of learning from adaptive management to policy.

Adaptive management A systematic process of natural resource management whereby management actions are treated as experiments to increase learning and improve subsequent management.

Bibliography Of Nchc Journals And Monographs (2012)

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

Bibliography, by first author, of articles in Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council (JNCHC), vols. 1-13 (2000-2012); Honors in Practice (HIP), vols. 1-8 (2005-2012); and chapters/articles in volumes in the NCHC Monograph Series (through 2012).

The Other Culture: Science And Mathematics Education In Honors, Ellen B. Buckner, Keith Garbutt

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface — Dail W. Mullins, Jr.

Introduction — Ellen B. Buckner and Keith Garbutt

Section I: What is Science in Honors?

Chapter 1: One Size Does Not Fit All: Science and Mathematics in Honors Programs and Colleges — Keith Garbutt

Chapter 2: Encouraging Scientific Thinking and Student Development — Ellen B. Buckner

Chapter 3: Information Literacy as a Co-requisite to Critical Thinking: A Librarian and Educator Partnership — Paul Mussleman and Ellen B. Buckner

Section II: Science and Society

Chapter 4: SENCER: Honors Science for All Honors Students — Mariah Birgen

Chapter 5: Philosophy in the Service …

Inciting Curiosity And Creating Meaning: Teaching Information Evaluation Through The Lens Of “Bad Science”, Catherine Fraser Riehle

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

Ability to evaluate information is a critical component of information literacy. This article provides strategies for engaging students in learning about information evaluation in the contexts of the scientific publication cycle and communication in the digital age. Also included are recent findings regarding undergraduate student research behavior and ideas for integrating constructivist learning theory in order to develop effective learning activities that encourage curiosity and critical thinking.

Timber Talk, Vol. 50, No. 4, November 1, 2012

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Lumber Market News ; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Green; Hardwood Lumber Price Trends—Kiln Dried.; Wood Products: Good for the Environment; Opening Faces; Sawing For Grade Increases Value; Nebraska Forestry Spotlight; The 2 X 4 Revolutionized Construction; The Trading Post; Timber Sales

Birds Of The Rainwater Basin, Nebraska, Joel G. Jorgensen

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Staff Research Publications

The purpose of this monograph is to provide a comprehensive review of the Rainwater Basin’s avifauna in the form of an annotated list of all species that have occurred and been reported in the region. Based on the information available, each species’ annual and seasonal occurrence and abundance is assessed. As with similar references, some conclusions are based on limited information and therefore are not as accurate as preferred. However, that is precisely why such a resource is constructed, to be a reference that can be easily consulted when observations are made. Users of this monograph are encouraged to challenge …

2012 Nebraska Bald Eagle Nesting Report, Joel G. Jorgensen, Lauren R. Dinan

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Staff Research Publications

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was once threatened with extinction. Since the mid- to late 20th Century, Bald Eagle numbers have increased throughout North America. Bald Eagles bred historically in Nebraska, but the species was absent as a breeder for most of the 20th Century. The first modern active and successful Bald Eagle nest in Nebraska was near Valley, Douglas County, in 1991 (Farrar 1991). Since 1991, the number of Bald Eagle pairs nesting in Nebraska has increased (Jorgensen et al. 2010, 2011). The Bald Eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in …

An Elusive Carnivore Skeleton Discovered At The Ashfall Fossil Beds, Rick E. Otto

University of Nebraska State Museum: Programs Information

An articulated skeleton of the fossil dog Cynarctus has been revealed at the Ashfall Fossil Beds. Cynarctus fits into the subfamily of Canids known as Borophaginae, an extinct group - some of which are referred to as “bone-crushers”. Cynarctus and a few of its allies appear to have had an omnivorous diet; with dentition similar to Procyonthe modern raccoon. The skeleton, as well as a complete skull and mandibles of a separate individual also recovered from the volcanic ash bed, are the well-preserved remains of a species otherwise poorly represented in the fossil record.

Cultural Landscape Report Executive Summary Eastern Michigan University-Main Campus, Katherine Reisig

Historic Preservation Final Projects

No abstract provided.

2012 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link, Mike Archer

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The following Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality staff have contributed to this report with their photos, maps, numbers, words, and editing. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and gratefully acknowledged here: Mike Archer, Ken Bazata, Dave Bubb, Ryan Chapman, Jason Garber, Patrick Hartman, Tom Heatherly, Dave Ihrie, Dan Inman, Greg Michl, Will Myers, Patrick O’Brien (NARD), Brad Routt, and Dave Schumacher.

An Annotated Checklist Of The Horse Flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) Of Lebanon With Remarks On Ecology And Zoogeography: Pangoniinae And Chrysopsinae, Günter Müller, Theo Zeegers, Jerome Hogsette, Edita E. Revay, Vasiliy Kravchenko, Andrey Leshvanov, Yosef Schlein

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the horse fly fauna (Diptera: Tabanidae) of Lebanon is fragmentary, while the local fauna of most neighboring countries has been fairly well researched. Within the framework of the 20-year project “The ecology and zoogeography of the Lepidoptera of the Near East,” we regularly collected biting flies in the whole region, including Lebanon. During this time we recorded 14 horse fly species for two subfamilies in Lebanon: four Pangoniinae and ten Chrysopsinae. Only a single species, Chrysops flavipes Meigen, 1804, was known previously in Lebanon, but the following four Pangoniinae: Pangonius haustellatus (Fabricius, 1781), Pangonius obscuratus Loew, 1859, Pangonius …

Modeling Microalgal Abundance With Artificial Neural Networks: Demonstration Of A Heuristic ‘Grey-Box’ To Deconvolve And Quantify Environmental Influences, David F. Millie, Gary R. Weckman, William A. Young Ii, James E. Ivey, Hunter J. Carrick, Gary L. Fahnenstiel

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

An artificial neural network (ANN)-based technology - a ‘Grey-Box’, originating the iterative selection, depiction, and quantitation of environmental relationships for modeling microalgal abundance, as chlorophyll (CHL) a, was developed and evaluated. Due to their robust capability for reproducing the complexities underlying chaotic, non-linear systems, ANNs have become popular for the modeling of ecosystem structure and function. However, ANNs exhibit a holistic deficiency in declarative knowledge structure (i.e. a ‘black-box’). The architecture of the Grey-Box provided the benefit of the ANN modeling structure, while deconvolving the interaction of prediction potentials among environmental variables upon CHL a. The influences of …

Spatial Complexity In Fragmenting Amazonian Rainforests: Do Feedbacks From Edge Effects Push Forests Towards An Ecological Threshold?, Graeme S. Cumming, Jane Southworth, Xanic J. Rondon, Matthew Marsik

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Deforestation and resulting landscape fragmentation are important concerns in many tropical areas. Deforestation is a complex process with many potential feedback loops, many of which are ignored in models that attempt to interpolate forest loss based on past deforestation rates. In addition, most ecological studies of the impacts of deforestation have focused on landscapes that are already fragmented. These studies ignore the fact that edge effects, such as anthropogenic fire, reach their maximum well before habitat connectivity is lost and may create positive feedbacks that result in further fragmentation. We developed a simple model to explore the potential influence of …

Responses Of Antarctic Pack-Ice Seals To Environmental Change And Increasing Krill Fishing, Jaume Forcada, Philip N. Trathan, Peter L. Boveng, Ian L. Boyd, Jennifer M. Burns, Daniel P. Costa, Michael Fedak, Tracey L. Rogers, Colin J. Southwell

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The compound effects of changing habitats, ecosystem interactions, and fishing practices have implications for the management of Antarctic krill and conservation of its predators. For Antarctic pack-ice seals, an important group of krill predators, we estimate the density and krill consumption in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP)–Western Weddell Sea area, the main fishery region; and we consider long-term changes in suitable pack-ice habitat, increased fishing pressure and potential krill declines based upon predictions from declines in sea ice cover. More than 3 million crabeater seals consumed over 12 million tonnes of krill each year. This was approximately 17% of the …

A Multi-Beach Study Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Mrsa, And Enterococci In Seawater And Beach Sand, Kelly D. Goodwin, Melody Mcnay, Yiping Cao, Darcy Ebentier, Melissa Madison, John F. Griffith

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Incidences of Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) have risen worldwide prompting a need to better understand routes of human exposure and whether standard bacterial water quality monitoring practices adequately account for this potential threat. Beach water and sand samples were analyzed during summer months for S. aureus, enterococci, and MRSA at three southern California beaches (Avalon, Doheny, Malibu Surfrider). S. aureus frequently was detected in samples of seawater (59%, n = 328) and beach sand (53%, n = 358). MRSA sometimes was detected in seawater (1.6%, n = 366) and sand (2.7%, n = 366) at …

State Of The Art Satellite And Airborne Marine Oil Spill Remote Sensing: Application To The Bp Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Ira Leifer, William J. Lehr, Debra Simecek-Beatty, Eliza Bradley, Roger Clark, Philip Dennison, Yongxiang Hu, Scott Matheson, Cathleen E. Jones, Benjamin Holt, Molly Reif, Dar A. Roberts, Jan Svejkovsky, Gregg Swayze, Jennifer Wozencraft

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The vast and persistent Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill challenged response capabilities, which required accurate, quantitative oil assessment at synoptic and operational scales. Although experienced observers are a spill response's mainstay, few trained observers and confounding factors including weather, oil emulsification, and scene illumination geometry present challenges. DWH spill and impact monitoring was aided by extensive airborne and spaceborne passive and active remote sensing.

Oil slick thickness and oil-to-water emulsion ratios are key spill response parameters for containment/cleanup and were derived quantitatively for thick (>0.1 mm) slicks from AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer) data using a spectral library approach based …

Reconstructing Disturbance History Using Satellite-Based Assessment Of The Distribution Of Land Cover In The Russian Far East, T.V. Loboda, Z. Zhang, K.J. O'Neal, G. Sun, I.A. Csiszar, H.H. Shugart, N.J. Sherman

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Russian boreal forests are the largest forested zone on Earth and a tremendous pool of organic carbon. Current limited records on forest structure, composition, successional stage and disturbances contribute to large uncertainties in estimates of carbon stocks and fluxes in this zone. Our ability to monitor ongoing changes in forest cover has improved with the influx of remotely sensed data products since 2000 from multiple satellite platforms. Here we present a method aimed at reconstructing disturbance history from a known distribution of land cover. We developed and tested the method over a biologically and topographically diverse region of the Russian …

Linking Ciguatera Poisoning To Spatial Ecology Of Fish: A Novel Approach To Examining The Distribution Of Biotoxin Levels In The Great Barracuda By Combining Non-Lethal Blood Sampling And Biotelemetry, Amanda C. O'Toole, Marie-Yasmine Dechraoui Bottein, Andy J. Danylchuk, John S. Ramsdell, Steven J. Cooke

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Ciguatera in humans is typically caused by the consumption of reef fish that have accumulated Ciguatoxins (CTXs) in their flesh. Over a six month period, we captured 38 wild adult great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), a species commonly associated with ciguatera in The Bahamas. We sampled three tissues (i.e.,muscle, liver, and blood) and analysed them for the presence of ciguatoxins using a functional in vitro N2A bioassay. Detectable concentrations of ciguatoxins found in the three tissue types ranged from 2.51 to 211.74 pg C-CTX-1 equivalents/ g. Blood and liver toxin concentrations were positively correlated (ρ=0.86, P=0.003), indicating …

Identification Of Ovarian Gene Expression Patterns During Vitellogenesis In Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua), Timothy S. Breton, Janet L. Anderson, Frederick W. Goetz, David L. Berlinsky

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Follicular maturational competence and ovulatory competence in teleost fish refer to the ability of the ovarian follicle to undergo final oocyte maturation and ovulation, respectively, in response to gonadotropin stimulation and other external cues. Some gene products related to competence acquisition are likely synthesized during vitellogenic growth, as these follicles gain in vivo responsiveness to exogenous gonadotropin stimulation and can be induced to undergo maturation and ovulation. In Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), gonadotropin responsiveness has been shown to be oocyte size-dependent, and only ovaries containing late-stage vitellogenic follicles can be induced to ovulate. The purpose of the present …

Metabolite Profiles In Starved Diporeia Spp. Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Lc-Ms) Based Metabolomics, Suman Maity, Amber Jannasch, Jiri Adamec, Michael Gribskov, Thomas F. Nalepa, Tomas O. Höök, Maria S. Sepúlveda

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

The holarctic amphipod Diporeia spp. was historically the most abundant benthic macroinvertebrate in the offshore region of the Laurentian Great Lakes basin. However, since the 1990’s, the numbers of Diporeia have declined precipitously throughout the region. Competition for food with introduced dreissenid mussels may be partly to blame for this decline. Thus, a better understanding of how Diporeia responds and adjust to starvation is needed. For this purpose, we used liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) to study the metabolite profiles of Diporeia during starvation. Diporeia were collected from Lake Michigan, brought to the laboratory and starved …

Structural Mechanism Of Er Retrieval Of Mhc Class I By Cowpox, William H. Mccoy Iv, Xiaoli Wang, Wayne M. Yokoyama, Ted H. Hansen, Daved H. Fremont

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Interferon-Induced Ifit2/Isg54 Protects Mice From Lethal Vsv Neuropathogenesis, Volker Fensterl, Jaime L. Wetzel, Srividya Ramachandran, Tomoaki Ogino, Stephen A. Stohlman, Cornelia C. Bergmann, Michael S. Diamond, Herbert W. Virgin, Ganes C. Sen

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Enzyme-Replacement Therapy In Life-Threatening Hypophosphatasia, Michael P. Whyte, William H. Mcalister, Et Al

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Via Multicatheter Interstitial Brachytherapy Versus Whole Breast Radiation, Daniel J. Ferraro, Adam A. Garsa, Todd A. Dewees, Julie A. Margenthaler, Michael Naughton, Rebecca Aft, William E. Gillanders, Timothy Eberlein, Melissa A. Matesa, Imran Zoberi

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.