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2008

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Nebraska

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Management Of Lands Along The Platte River Fromelmcreek To Lexington, Nebraska, As Crane Habitat, James J. Jenniges, Mark M. Peyton Jan 2008

Management Of Lands Along The Platte River Fromelmcreek To Lexington, Nebraska, As Crane Habitat, James J. Jenniges, Mark M. Peyton

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

To meet Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license requirements for the operation of 5 hydroelectric power plants on the North Platte and Platte Rivers in Nebraska, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) and The Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District (Central) together have become the second largest owners and managers of lands for the conservation of endangered species and migratory waterbirds along the central reach of the Platte River. We describe here the management activities on the properties, success of the management in achieving objectives, and the response of sandhill (Grus canadensis) and whooping cranes (G. …


Is Magnitude Of Fat Storage By Spring-Staging Sandhill Cranes Declining In The Central Platte River Valley , Nebraska?, David A. Brandt, Gary L. Krapu Jan 2008

Is Magnitude Of Fat Storage By Spring-Staging Sandhill Cranes Declining In The Central Platte River Valley , Nebraska?, David A. Brandt, Gary L. Krapu

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Proximate analyses of carcasses of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) collected in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV), Nebraska, during spring 1999 indicated a marked decline in fat levels from springs 1978 and 1979. Concern that amounts of fat cranes stored by their spring departures from the CPRV may have further declined prompted this evaluation. For our assessment, we made use of morphological measurements (culmen post nares, tarsus, flattened wing chord) along with body mass on each of 810 sandhill cranes that were collected for proximate analysis or captured with rocket nets at widely distributed sites in the CPRV during 1978-1979 …


Temporal Dynamics And Flock Characteristics Of Sandhill Cranes In The Platte River Valley , Nebraska, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez Jan 2008

Temporal Dynamics And Flock Characteristics Of Sandhill Cranes In The Platte River Valley , Nebraska, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

I gathered information on crane flocks in the Platte River Valley during spring staging of 2002-2004. The objective of
this work was to evaluate hypotheses regarding flock size and formation using sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) flocks observed in
the Platte River Valley. Specifically, I wanted to: (a) evaluate the effect of period of migration, geographical location, and habitat
type on flock size, and (b) evaluate predictions regarding ecological theories of flock formation and behavior based on concentrated
resources, accessibility, social facilitation, and potential predation response. Flock size overall was influenced negatively by period
of migration (P < 0.001) and positively by geographical location (P < 0.01). Total crane abundance (55%) of flocks were located
in corn fields, but …


Is The Annual March Survey Of The Midcontinental San Dhill Crane Population Appropriately Timed To Reliably Estimate Population Size?, Gary L. Krapu, David A. Brandt Jan 2008

Is The Annual March Survey Of The Midcontinental San Dhill Crane Population Appropriately Timed To Reliably Estimate Population Size?, Gary L. Krapu, David A. Brandt

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relies on an annual aerial photo-corrected survey conducted on the fourth Tuesday of March each year in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) and North Platte River Valley (NPRV) of Nebraska to estimate size of the midcontinental population (MCP) of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) to help guide population management. Wide unaccounted for annual fluctuations in survey counts over the past 25 years have raised concerns that many cranes either have left the Platte before the survey, have not yet arrived, or over fly the Platte entirely in some years. As a result, …


A Landscape Perspective Of Whooping Crane Migration Through Nebraska: Conservation And Management Implications, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Chris Helzer, Paul Tebbel Jan 2008

A Landscape Perspective Of Whooping Crane Migration Through Nebraska: Conservation And Management Implications, Felipe Chavez-Ramirez, Chris Helzer, Paul Tebbel

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Past and current discussions of conservation of whooping crane (Grus americana) stopover habitat in Nebraska have long been focused on the Platte River. We evaluated the distribution of whooping crane stopover sites in Nebraska in a broader context to (a) determine the distribution of whooping crane stopover sites on the Platte River relative to other landscapes and (b) use whooping migratory behavior data to systematically define and explain patterns of stopover clusters. The distribution of stopover clusters suggests rainwater basin wetlands and the Platte River may be used interchangeably by migrating whooping cranes. The Rainwater Basin and Platte River appear …