Life Sciences Commons^™

Leaf Optical And Indirect Lai Measurements In Wheat And Alfalfa At Maciv: Agmet Progress Report 89-4, E. A. Walter-Shea, B. L. Blad

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Spatiotemporal Plasticity In Reproductive Readiness And Recruitment Of Ichthyoplankton Of Invasive Silver Carp Along A Western Invasion Front, Jessi L. Urichich

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Individuals of invasive species at the edge of their invasion distribution may exhibit enhanced reproductive capacity and phenotypic plasticity leading to accelerated range expansion. Environmental conditions in highly fluctuating environments at distribution edges may either promote or hinder such reproductive readiness and phenotypic plasticity. Dynamic habitat conditions and periodic disturbances experienced in prairie streams, such as drought (e.g., low-flow, high water temperatures), may potentially reduce suitable spawning environments and ichthyoplankton recruitment of invasive Silver Carp, potentially slowing range expansion or enabling management strategies that reduce abundance in the absence of a reproducing population. Female Silver Carp batch fecundity, Gonadosomatic Index …

Assessing, Restoring, And Centering Social-Ecological Relationships For Advancing Social-Ecological Resilience In The Northern Great Plains Grasslands, Katia Pilar Carranza Bernal

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Northern Great Plains grasslands are social-ecological systems that were shaped by evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships. European colonization disrupted many of these interactions, including the coupling of fire and grazing, and degraded social-ecological resilience, shifting these grasslands to a new state. For those reasons, my research focused on assessing, restoring, and centering evolutionary and Indigenous social-ecological relationships for advancing social-ecological resilience in the Northern Great Plains grasslands. I first performed a study in the Nebraska Sandhillls assessing the potential of patch-burn grazing to support grassland resilience by comparing its effects to those of rotational grazing. Through vegetation and bird …

Impacts Of Invasive Carp And Their Population Dynamics On Fish Communities In The Missouri River, Joshua F. Kocik

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Invasive Carp species: Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, and Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus have both potential and realized abilities to negatively impact native species. Specifically, Bighead Carp and Silver Carp as filter feeders have been theorized to be detrimental not only to adult filter-feeding species, but to many fish which rely on plankton and algae in their early-life stages. The impact of Invasive Carp on the overall fish community remains underexplored. The fish communities below Gavins Point Dam (Invasive Carp present) and Fort Randall Dam (Invasive Carp absent) afford the …

Integrating Water And Nitrogen Management For Sustainable Agriculture: Optimizing Resource Use Efficiency And Maximizing Crop Productivity, Jiaming Duan

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents from University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Advisors: Derek Heeren and Daran Rudnick Maize, accounting for over 95% of national grain production in the United States, is highly sensitive to water and nitrogen (N) inputs. Conventional agricultural practices often lead to excessive application, causing groundwater contamination through nitrate leaching. Therefore, there is a demand for integrating water and nitrogen management with innovative scheduling methods for sustainable agricultural development.

This dissertation first reviewed two decades of U.S.-based research, highlighting the optimal management of water and N to enhance yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Findings indicate that maintaining optimal levels of N and water …

Population Demography, Occupancy, And Connectivity Of Invasive Bigheaded Carp In The Platte River, Nebraska And Its Tributaries, Blake W. Logan

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Bighead Carp H. nobilis, collectively referred to as bigheaded carp, are invasive species in the United States of America that have expanded their range throughout the Missouri River basin in the last three decades. It may be desirable to develop management plans directed at the monitoring, control, or removal of bigheaded carp within the Missouri River basin. However, a knowledge gap exists regarding bigheaded carp ecology in Missouri River tributaries, which may be important for the development of management plans. As such, this study characterized bigheaded carp population demographics, occupancy, and connectivity in …

Demographic Consequences Of Off-River Nesting For Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) And Interior Least Tern (Sternula Antillarum Athalassos) In The Lower Platte River System, Nebraska, Elsa M. Forsberg

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus; hereafter, plovers) and interior least terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos; hereafter, terns) are two avian species that nest along the Lower Platte River system (LPRS) in Nebraska. In the LPRS, river sandbars provide natural nesting habitat, but off-river sites provide substantial nesting habitat especially when sandbar habitat is scarce. Although presumed to be important for the persistence of plovers and terns, off-river habitat is not self-sustaining and predicted to decline. Understanding the vital rates of plovers and terns in the LPRS will inform the role of off- river sites in the future conservation …

Field Research Report: Results From The Enreec Vri Field For The 2021, 2022, And 2023 Crop Seasons, Derek M. Heeren, Ali T. Mohammed, Eric Wilkening, Christopher M. U. Neale, Alan L. Boldt, Ankit Chandra, Precious Nneka Amori, Ivo Z. Goncalves, Yeyin Shi, Guillermo R. Balboa

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Conference Presentations and White Papers

Long-term irrigation management research has been conducted from 2014 to 2023 for corn and soybean at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension, and Education Center (ENREEC) Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) Field located in subhumid east-central Nebraska (in the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District). The objective of this report was to present the overall results from the VRI Field for 2021 to 2023. Across the three growing seasons, there were the following irrigation treatments: Best Management Practice (BMP), 50% BMP, 125% BMP, rainfed, Spatial ET Modeling Interface (SETMI), SDD1, SDD2, machine-learning-based Cyber-Physical System (CPS), a student team recommended rate, and industry …

The Influence Of Invasive Species On Fishers’ Satisfactions, Caroline M. Laplante

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Invasives species are prevalent and widespread in North America. Outdoor recreational activities, such as fishing, introduce a point in which humans may interact with invasive species and have to adapt their own behaviors. Bigheaded carp in the Missouri River below Gavin’s Point Dam are a group of invasive fish species that were thought to be negatively relating to recreational fishers’ satisfactions. Using a content analysis and an importance-grid, we conclude that invasive species do not strongly relate to recreational paddlefish fishers’ satisfactions. Paddlefish fishers represent a small sub-set of recreational fishers in Nebraska and South Dakota. The content analysis revealed …

Human Dimensions Of Woody Encroachment Management In Nebraska, Emily Rowen

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody plant encroachment (WPE) is a social-ecological problem that will challenge conservation professionals and agricultural producers to adapt their management strategies. This research first examined WPE from the perspective of individual conservation professionals through an online survey. Conservation professionals’ attitudes about adaptation to vegetation transitions, such as WPE, were of interest because these attitudes are one measure of how prepared this group is to respond to WPE. Hypothesized predictors of adaptation attitude were tested through linear regression modeling. These predictors included ecological change, observation of WPE, or risk perception. It was found that risk perception was the strongest predictor of …

Enhancing Urban Water Quality Through Biological-Chemical Treatment: Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Community And Temporal Chlorophyll-A Response, Matthew Chaffee

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations and Theses

With a growing human population, urbanization is impeding a plethora of natural waterways. Of these, urban ponds play a vital role in nutrient sequestration, flood prevention, and habitat sanctuaries. However, nutrient loading can reduce habitat effectiveness and promote harmful algae blooms. To reduce internal nutrient loads, a biological-chemical treatment strategy consisting of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) and lanthanum were applied to two urban retention ponds, Densmore and Wilderness Ridge Ponds. To measure effectiveness, chlorophyll-a samples were collected and correlated with Sentinel-2. A novel band algorithm termed 3BR1 produced a strong correlation (R² = 0.72) to physical chlorophyll-a …

Connecting The Nebraska Water Quality Index To The Aquatic Microbial Community Of The North Platte River Basin, Nebraska, Paula R. Guastello

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Nebraska Water Quality Index, under development by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, summarizes in a single value eight environmental parameters that have been monitored in Nebraska for nearly 20 years. Water quality parameters including those used in the Nebraska Water Quality Index have been shown in previous studies to impact bacterial growth. As such, this index has the potential to correlate with the freshwater microbial community. Here, I relate the Nebraska Water Quality Index to microbial community composition and structure using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence data collected from the North Platte River Basin, Nebraska. This index …

Wics Conference 2023: Moving Beyond The Ordinary, Daren Redfearn, Daran Rudnick

WICS Conferences

The theme of this year’s WICS Conference is Moving Beyond the Ordinary with the goal of addressing Team Science. Our vision is to provide opportunities and connection points among IANR faculty to leverage their individual knowledge, skills, abilities, and passions. A tendency for land grant institutions is often to deliver information biased from a single, primary discipline and perspective. This is known as comfort zone mega bias and has been defined as “the tendency to drag a problem into our comfort zone and solve the problem that we know how to solve, rather than solving the problem that needs to …

Pronghorn Survival And Resource Selection In Western Nebraska's Agriculturally Dominated Landscape, Katie Piecora

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nebraska’s pronghorn population has been stable over the last decade, yet their presence on the landscape remains a contentious subject amongst private landowners. Conversion of grassland for crop production and increased anthropogenic activity has drastically altered pronghorn behavior throughout their current range, however basic ecology and resource use by pronghorn in Nebraska remains poorly understood. Establishing baseline population metrics and seasonal patterns of resource use for this population at the eastern periphery of the species range is critical to guide management actions. We deployed GPS collars on 110 adult pronghorn to quantify survival, mortality risk, and seasonal resource selection in …

Waterbody Size Predicts Bank- And Boat-Angler Efforts, Derek S. Kane, Kevin L. Pope, Keith D. Koupal, Mark A. Pegg, Christopher J. Chizinski, Mark A. Kaemingk

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Bank- and boat-angler efforts are logistically difficult and costly to estimate, preventing landscape-scale estimates that are required to address current and future challenges (e.g., climate change, invasive species) for inland recreational fisheries. Using a large Nebraska, USA, recreational fishery dataset (N = 67 waterbodies), we demonstrate that waterbody size can be used to predict bank- and boat-angler efforts across a heterogeneous landscape of extra small (< 104 ha) and large (> 647 ha) waterbodies. Bank and boat anglers respond to waterbody size, however these relationships appear to be unique between the two angler types. Boat-angler efforts increased as a function of waterbody size, whereas bank-angler …

Spatial And Temporal Activity Patterns Among Sympatric Tree-Roosting Bat Species In An Agriculturally Dominated Great Plains Landscape, Christopher Fill, Craig R. Allen, John F. Benson, Dirac Twidwell

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

In agroecosystems, bats can provide a critical ecosystem service by consuming night-flying insect pests. However, many bats also face intense population pressures from human landscape modification, global change and novel diseases. To better understand the behavioral activity of different bat species with respect to space, time, habitat, and other bat species in this environment, we investigated species correlations in space and time over row crop agricultural fields. We used acoustic grids to document spatial and temporal co-occurrence or avoidance between bats and recorded eight species across the 10 field sites we sampled. All species significantly overlapped in two-dimensional space and …

Diverse Portfolios: Investing In Tributaries For Restoration Of Large River Fishes In The Anthropocene, Kristen L. Bouska, Brian D. Healy, Michael J. Moore, Corey G. Dunn, Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Craig P. Paukert

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Rehabilitation of large Anthropocene rivers requires engagement of diverse stakeholders across a broad range of sociopolitical boundaries. Competing objectives often constrain options for ecological restoration of large rivers whereas fewer competing objectives may exist in a subset of tributaries. Further, tributaries contribute toward building a “portfolio” of river ecosystem assets through physical and biological processes that may present opportunities to enhance the resilience of large river fishes. Our goal is to review roles of tributaries in enhancing mainstem large river fish populations. We present case histories from two greatly altered and distinct large-river tributary systems that highlight how tributaries contribute …

Simulation Of Monthly Mean And Monthly Base Flow Of Streamflow Using Random Forests For The Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, 1901 To 2018, Benjamin J. Dietsch, William H. Asquith, Brian K. Breaker, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Wade H. Kress

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

Improved simulations of streamflow and base flow for selected sites within and adjacent to the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain area are important for modeling groundwater flow because surface-water flows have a substantial effect on groundwater levels. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was used to make monthly mean streamflow and base-flow predictions at 162 ungaged sites in the study area. Daily streamflow observations and computed base flow from 247 streamgages were used as the basis for the development of these RF models. RF …

Bats Increased Foraging Activity At Experimental Prey Patches Near Hibernacula, Winifred F. Frick, Yvonne A. Dzal, Kristin A. Jonasson, Michael D. Whitby, Amanda M. Adams, Christen Long, John E. Depue, Christian M. Newman, Craig K. R. Willis, Tina L. Cheng

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

1. Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife can threaten vulnerable host populations. Actions targeting habitat improvements to aid population resilience and recovery may be beneficial long-term strategies, yet testing the efficacy of such strategies before major conservation investments are made can be challenging.

2. The disease white-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused severe declines in several species of North American hibernating bats. We tested a novel conservation approach targeted at improving foraging conditions near bat hibernacula by experimentally manipulating insect density in the pre-hibernation fattening period and spring emergence recovery period. We measured foraging (feeding buzzes) and echolocation activity of little brown bats Myotis …

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Ancient Bears Provide Insights Into Pleistocene Ice Age Refugia In Southeast Alaska, Flavio Augusto Da Silva Coelho, Stephanie Gill, Crystal M. Tomlin, Marilena Papavassiliou, Sean D. Farley, Joseph A. Cook, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, George K. Sage, Timothy H. Heaton, Sandra L. Talbot, Charlotte Lindqvist

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

During the Late Pleistocene, major parts of North America were periodically covered by ice sheets. However, there are still questions about whether ice-free refugia were present in the Alexander Archipelago along the Southeast (SE) Alaska coast during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Numerous subfossils have been recovered from caves in SE Alaska, including American black (Ursus americanus) and brown (U. arctos) bears, which today are found in the Alexander Archipelago but are genetically distinct from mainland bear populations. Hence, these bear species offer an ideal system to investigate long-term occupation, potential refugial survival and lineage turnover. Here, we present genetic …

Moving Beyond The Panarchy Heuristic, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Storms And Ph Of Dam Releases Affects Downstream Phosphorus Cycling In An Arid Regulated River, B. R. Deemer, R. H. Reibold, A. Fatta, J. R. Corman, C. B. Yackulic, S. C. Reed

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Multi-Scale Adaptive Management Of Social-Ecological Systems, A. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, D. G. Angeler, L. Gunderson, J. B. Ruhl

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Local-Scale Impacts Of Water Hyacinth On Water Quality In A Hypereutrophic Lake, J. R. Corman, A. Z. Roegner, Z. Ogari, T. R. Miller, C. M. Aura

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Particulate Size Distributions And Water-Soluble Ions Measured At A Broiler Farm, P. J. Silva, T. Cress, R. Drover, C. Michael, G. Docekal, P. Larkin, A. Godoy, D. A. Cavero, C. Sin, J. Waites, Rezaul Mamood, M. Cohron, K. L. Purvis-Roberts

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Extreme Precipitation In The Southern Great Plains Hydroclimate Region, P. Flanagan, R. Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Resilience Theory And Coerced Resilience In Agriculture, S. M. Sundstrom, D. G. Angeler, C. R. Allen

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of The Southwest Drought Learning Network: Collective Response To Exceptional Drought, E. Elias, B. Fuchs, J. Lisonbee, T. Bernadt, V. Martinez, T. Haigh

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Modified Tracer Gas Injection For Measuring Stream Gas Exchange Velocity In The Presence Of Significant Temperature Variation, C. R. Jensen, D. P. Genereux, T. E. Gilmore, D. K. Solomon

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Fecal Dna Metabarcoding Shows Credible Short-Term Prey Detections And Explains Variation In The Gut Microbiome Of Two Polar Bear Subpopulations, M. Franz, L. Whyte, T. C. Atwood, D. Menning, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, S. L. Talbot, K. L. Laidre, E. Gonzalez, M. A. Mckinney

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.