Life Sciences Commons^™

Wildlife Biologist, Division Of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado, David E. Sharp, James A. Dubovsky, Kammie L. Kruse

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

The abundance of the Mid-Continent Population of Sandhill Cranes has been relatively stable since the early 1980s, compared to the increases that were recorded in the 1970s. The Central Platte River Valley, Nebraska spring index for 2004, uncorrected for visibility bias, was 356,850. The photo-corrected 3-year average for 2001-2003 was 370,300, which is within the established population objective range of 343,000-465,000 cranes. All Central Flyway states, except Nebraska, allowed crane hunting in portions of their respective states during 2003- 04. About 7,700 hunters participated in these seasons, which was similar to the number that participated in the previous year’s seasons. …

Growth Of Stocker Channel Catfish To Large Market Size In Single-Batch Culture, Bartholomew W. Green, Carole R. Engle

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

Catfish farmers increasingly are producing fish larger than the traditional size of 0.45-0.57 kg/fish in order to meet processing plant requirements for larger fish. Production of larger channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in multiple-batch culture has been investigated in a few studies, but the impact of understocked fingerlings on growth of carry-over fish is unknown. The present study was conducted to quantify growth, feed conversion ratio, net daily yield, and net and total yield of stocker channel catfish grown in single-batch, one-season culture to mean individual weights of 0.60, 0.72, 0.91, or 1.17 kg/fish. Channel catfish (mean weight = …

Texture Profile Analysis And Composition Of A Minced Catfish Product, J. Lee Wiles, Bartholomew W. Green, R. Bryant

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

Texture Profile Analysis of minced catfish products indicated that minced proteins from the belly flap meat have excellent functional properties to form gels or restructured products. Belly flap meat is considered a low-value trimming, with about 16.9% protein and 11.2% total lipid. Washing of minced catfish trimmings increased the moisture content from 71.5% to 77.9% while reducing mechanical hardness (19.1 N to 11.9 N), chewiness index (14.2 N to 8.83 N) and shear energy (0.82 J to 0.51 J). No significant changes were found in cohesiveness, resilience, and springiness of the minced fish after washing or the addition of 3.3% …

Comparison Of Three Methods Of Size Grading Channel Catfish Stockers, Bartholomew W. Green, David L. Heikes, Andrew E. Goodwin

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

The stocking of size-graded catfish into production ponds should increase production efficiency, but grading large numbers of fish with existing technology is laborious. We evaluated the effectiveness of a mechanical grader recently developed at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) relative to that of box and sock graders and assessed injuries sustained by stocker channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus during grading. Three 0.25-acre ponds were stocked at 11,777 lb/acre. Initial total length (TL) ranged from 6.3 to 15.7 in, and initial weight of individuals ranged from 0.04 to 1.10 lb. The fish population in each pond was divided into …

Bufflehead Breeding Activity In South-Central North Dakota, Gregory A. Knutsen, Janet C. King

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

The bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is a small, cavity-nesting diving duck that breeds primarily in the aspen parkland and boreal forest regions of Alaska and Canada (Erskine 1972, Bellrose 1976, Gauthier 1993). According to Gauthier (1993), buffleheads prefer habitat consisting of small, permanent wetlands with a scarcity of emergent vegetation and adjacent aspen or poplar (Populus spp.) stands.

High Abundance Of Nesting Long-Eared Owls In North Dakota, Robert K. Murphy, Laura J. Rosenfield, Robert N. Rosenfield, Melvin P. Nenneman

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

The long-eared owl (Asio otus) is a secretive, poorly understood species in the Great Plains of the United States and Canada. In North Dakota the long-eared owl has been considered a species of special concern (Petersen 1991), due mainly to lack of information on its occurrence and nesting status. We discovered 39 long-eared owl nests while searching for Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii) nests in northwestern and north central North Dakota during April and May 2000. Long-eared owl nests mainly were observed at J. Clark Salyer and Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the Souris River …

Non-Native Species Monitoring And Control In The Upper San Juan River, New Mexico 2004, Jason E. Davis

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

Intensive non-native removal in 2004 on the upper San Juan River marked the fourth year of such efforts. A total of 6,925 channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus and 1,216 common carp Cyprinus carpio were removed from RM’s 166.6 – 147.9 during 10 removal trips. Of the 10 trips, 6 were conducted from PNM Weir to Hogback Diversion (RM’s 166.6 – 159.0) and four from Hogback Diversion to Shiprock Bridge, New Mexico (RM’s 158.8 – 147.9). In addition to intensive removal efforts, opportunistic removal during riverwide monitoring trips continued in 2004.

PNM Weir to Hogback Diversion - SECTION 1

Channel catfish CPUE …

Roadside Bias In Point Count Surveys At Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, J. Scott Dieni, Paulette Sherr

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

We investigated potential biases of using roadside point counts to sample breeding bird populations in the northern mixed··grass prairie. In 1995, a breeding bird inventory and monitoring program was initiated at Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge, east-central North Dakota. Surveys were conducted annually through 1998 from an extensive point count array permanently located across the refuge (n = 162). Fifty-nine percent of the point counts were established directly on tertiary dirt roads and trails, while the remaining were interspersed at randomly selected distances of 100, 200, 300, and 400 m away from roads. Roadside point counts commonly consisted of a mosaic …

Duck Nesting On Rotational And Continuous Grazed Pastures In North Dakota, Robert K. Murphy, Darrell J. Schindler, Richard D. Crawford

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

To improve the economic viability of grazed prairie and thus conserve it as wildlife habitat, the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture (PPJV) cost-shares establishment of rotational cattle grazing on privately owned, native rangeland. During 1996 and 1997 we evaluated duck nest density, nest success, and nesting habitat on six PPJV rotational grazed pastures on the Missouri Coteau landform in central and northwestern North Dakota. Each rotational pasture was paired with a traditional, continuous grazed pasture for comparison. We located 444 nests of eight duck species. We detected no differences (P > 0.1) between rotational and continuous grazed pastures in apparent nest density …

2004 Annual Report: Migratory Bird Conservation Commission

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

Report of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for the Fiscal Year 2004

Approvals During Fiscal Year 2004

Migratory Bird Conservation Fund

Summary of Fiscal Year 2004 MBCF Land Acquisitions

New National Wildlife Refuge Boundary Approvals

Membership of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission

Map Showing National Migratory Bird Refuge Areas

Map Showing Wetland Management Districts

Notes on Tables One and Two

Table One – National Migratory Bird Refuge Areas

Table Two – Waterfowl Production Areas by State and County

North American Wetlands Conservation Fund

Table Three – U.S. Wetland Conservation Proposals Approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for FY 2004 …

Environmental Contaminants Associated With A Swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation And Implications For Mcmurtrey National Wildlife Refuge, Matthew S. Schwarz, Kathy R. Echols, Mark J. Wolcott, Karen J. Nelson

United States Fish and Wildlife: Staff Publications

Waste generated by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) may contain a variety of contaminants including nutrients, pathogens, trace elements, antibiotics, and hormones. In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began to characterize CAFO contaminants in lagoons, canals, and created wetlands operated by Hastings Pork, a large swine CAFO adjacent to McMurtrey National Wildlife Refuge (McMurtrey) in Clay County, Nebraska. The created wetlands were designed to attract waterfowl; therefore, the primary purpose of this research was to evaluate whether migratory waterfowl were likely exposed to CAFO contaminants. A secondary research objective was to determine if created wetland water was suitable …