Animal Sciences Commons^™

Heterosis For Grain Yield And Other Agronomic Traits In Foxtail Millet, M. M. Siles, William K. Russell, Lenis Alton Nelson, David D. Baltensperger, Blaine Johnson, L. Dale Van Vleck, Stanley G. Jensen, Gary L. Hein

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] is a largely self-pollinating species that is used as a warm-season annual in the USA. Nearly all cultivars of this species grown in the USA are selections from land races. This research was undertaken to determine whether sufficient high-parent heterosis is expressed in foxtail millet for grain yield and other key traits to justify the development and use of varietal crosses. Seven diverse parents and 21 F₂s and 21 F₃s produced from biparental crosses were evaluated in five environments in 1996. Genotype x environment interaction was highly significant …

Comparison Of Models Including Cytoplasmic Effects For Traits Of Rambouillet Sheep, G. D. Snowder, K. J. Hanford, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The objective was to determine appropriate analytical models considering cytoplasmic inheritance for birth weight (BWT, n = 35,604), weaning weight (WWT, n = 34,114), fleece weight (FWT, n = 38,113) and number born (NB, n = 39,029) for Rambouillet sheep. For BWT, models that included dam by year, dam by number born, and sire by dam effects, in addition to direct and maternal effects, were significantly better than the basic maternal effects model. For WWT, variances due to direct, maternal, and maternal permanent environmental effects (0.05 of variance) were not zero. For FWT, heritability was 0.55 for all models, but …

Evaluation Of Gene Expression In Pigs Selected For Enhanced Reproduction Using Differential Display Pcr And Human Microarrays: I. Ovarian Follicles, C. D. Gladney, G. R. Bertani, R. K. Johnson, Daniel Pomp

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Differential display PCR (ddPCR) and complementary DNA microarray analyses were used to evaluate gene expression differences in porcine ovarian follicles between a line of pigs selected for an index of ovulation rate and embryo survival (Line I) and its randomly selected control line (Line C). Follicles (4.0 to 7.0 mm) were dissected from ovaries of multiparous sows (n = 27) at either 2 or 4 d following PGF2α analog injection on d 12 to 14 of the estrous cycle. Using ddPCR, differentially expressed bands (n = 282) were excised from gels and 107 were sequenced, yielding 84 unique porcine follicle …

Management Of Cattail (Typha Spp.) Stands With Glyphosate To Disperse Blackbirds, George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan, Ryan L. Wimberly, Philip Mastrangelo, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota and South Dakota, blackbirds (Icteridae) gather by the thousands in large premigratory roosts in late summer and early fall. Wetlands dominated by cattails (Typha spp.) provide ideal roosting habitat for these aggregations. Sunflower fields near large roosts can receive substantial damage. To eliminate potential roosting sites, Wildlife Services of the United States Department of Agriculture has implemented a cattail management program that aerially sprays dense cattail stands with the herbicide glyphosate m-(phosphonomethyl) glycine]. The continued viability of the program depends on a positive benefit-cost ratio and minimal environmental impacts. In this …

National Program Assessment, Animal Health: 2000-2004, Cyril G. Gay

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

National Program Assessments are conducted every five-years through the organization of one or more workshop. Workshops allow the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to periodically update the vision and rationale of each National Program and assess the relevancy, effectiveness, and responsiveness of ARS research. The National Program Staff (NPS) at ARS organizes National Program Workshops to facilitate the review and simultaneously provide an opportunity for customers, stakeholders, and partners to assess the progress made through the National Program and provide input for future modifications to the National Program or the National Program’s research agenda. A workshop for Animal Health has been …

Ua66/5 Newsletter, Wku Agriculture

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by WKU Agriculture Department re: faculty/staff, students/alumni, student organizations and clubs and donors.

Renesting Decisions And Annual Fecundity Of Female Dickcissels (Spiza Americana) In Illinois, Jeffrey W. Walk, Kevin Wentworth, Eric L. Kershner, Eric K. Bollinger, Richard E. Warner

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

ABSTRACT.-Renesting decisions and annual fecundity are crucial for interpreting other demographic information, yet are infrequently reported. We used radiotelemetry to monitor female Dickcissels (Spiza americana) throughout the 1999 and 2000 breeding seasons in southeastern Illinois. Overall fecundity (regardless of whether females remained in the study area throughout the breeding season) was 0.61 ± 0.13 female fledglings per year. Of females that remained within the study area, 94% fledged young (1.25 ± 0.15 female fledglings per year). Most females (62%) that experienced nest failure emigrated from the study area (moved >10 km) in 2.8 ± 0.6 days; others (36%) initiated subsequent …

Renesting Decisions And Annual Fecundity Of Female Dickcissels (Spiza Americana) In Illinois, Jeffrey Walk, Kevin Wentworth, Eric Kershner, Eric Bollinger, Richard Warner

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

ABSTRACT.-Renesting decisions and annual fecundity are crucial for interpreting other demographic information, yet are infrequently reported. We used radiotelemetry to monitor female Dickcissels (Spiza americana) throughout the 1999 and 2000 breeding seasons in southeastern Illinois. Overall fecundity (regardless of whether females remained in the study area throughout the breeding season) was 0.61 ± 0.13 female fledglings per year. Of females that remained within the study area, 94% fledged young (1.25 ± 0.15 female fledglings per year). Most females (62%) that experienced nest failure emigrated from the study area (moved >10 km) in 2.8 ± 0.6 days; others (36%) initiated subsequent …

Evolution Of Nociception In Vertebrates: Comparative Analysis Of Lower Vertebrates, Lynne U. Sneddon

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Nociception is an important sensory system of major fundamental and clinical relevance. The nociceptive system of higher vertebrates is well studied with a wealth of information about nociceptor properties, involvement of the central nervous system and the in vivo responses to a noxious experience are already characterised. However, relatively little is known about nociception in lower vertebrates and this review brings together a variety of studies to understand how this information can inform the evolution of nociception in vertebrates. It has been demonstrated that teleost fish possess nociceptors innervated by the trigeminal nerve and that these are physiologically similar to …

Proposals For Community Discussion On The Future Management Of Pink Snapper Fishing In Cockburn Sound And Surrounding Waters, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

This discussion paper outlines the current issues associated with the management of the metropolitan pink snapper fishery along with some options for future management.

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 8 - The Nutritional Management Of Barramundi, Brett Glencross

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

Barramundi nutrition research has been undertaken since 1988. Since that time the requirements for most nutrients, energy demand, ingredient utilisation and the effects of nutrition on flesh quality aspects have all been examined to varying extents.

Optimal protein content of diets has been shown to vary with diet energy density and also the size of fish which are being fed. Most studies have suggested a protein requirement from 45% to 55%. For small fish a protein to energy ratio of 25 to 30 g/MJ is suggested. Limited work has been done on fish larger than 500 g. The 10 essential …

The Florida Bonneted Bat, Eumops Floridanus (Chiroptera: Molossidae): Distribution, Morphometrics, Systematics, And Ecology, Robert M. Timm, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

A review and reappraisal of bats of the genus Eumops (Chiroptera: Molossidae) reveals that considerable geographic variation is present in the bonneted bat, E. glaucinus; it is a complex consisting of >1 species. Bonneted bats in Florida are significantly larger than those in all other populations, and have proportionally shorter and deeper basisphenoid pits, the glenoid fossa is broadly triangular with rounded apices, and bacular shape differs from that in other populations. Additionally, bonneted bats in Florida have a broader palate than bats from populations in South America. Given these differences, the correct name for both Pleistocene and Recent …

Heritability Estimates For Carcass Traits Of Cattle: A Review, Angel Rios Utrera, L. Dale Van Vleck

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

We present estimates of heritability for carcass traits of cattle published in the scientific literature. Seventy-two papers published form 1962 to 2004, which reported estimates of heritability for carcass traits, were reviewed. The unweighted means of estimates of heritability for 14 carcass traits by slaughter end point (age, weight, and fat depth) were calculated. Among the three end points, carcass weight, backfat thickness, longissimus muscle area, and marbling score were the carcass traits with the most estimates of heritability (56≤n≤66). The averages for these traits indicate that they are similarly and moderately heritable (0.40, 0.36, 0.40, and 0.37, respectively). However, …

The Greater Snow Goose (Chen Caerulescens Atlanticus) In Nebraska, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

Recently, Mr. William Lemburg of Cairo, Nebraska, in a letter to the Editor of the Nebraska Bird Review, noted the following: "I have a friend who does quite a bit of goose hunting. He remarked to me that during the spring snow goose season, he occasionally shoots an extra-large Snow. Thinking that maybe a few Greater Snows that winter along the Atlantic Coast may end up in the Central Flyway, I asked him to save the head of one if he bagged one the following season. This is about five years ago. The following season he did get one. …

Nebraska Bird Review Whole Issue September 2004 Volume 72 Number 3

Nebraska Bird Review

Table of Contents

Summer Field Report, June - July 2004
by W. Ross Silcock ...........................78

Birds of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center - 1999-2004
by Kevin Poague ...........................94

In Memory of Clyde E. Johnson ...........................98

The 2001 Nebraska Nesting Report by Wayne J. Mollhoff ...........................99

The Greater Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens atlanticus)
in Nebraska by W. Ross Silcock ............................104

The Official List of the Birds of Nebraska: 2003
by Mark A. Brogie ...........................108

Subscription and Organization Information ...........................127

In Memory Of Clyde E. Johnson- September 2004

Nebraska Bird Review

Long-time NOU member Clyde Johnson passed away on May 4, 2003. He is survived by his wife Emma, who now resides in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Clyde and Emma lived in Omaha, where Clyde was employed as an insurance agent. They made numerous birding trips to Central America, Europe and Asia. Few other details of his life are available, which is quite likely just the way Clyde wanted it. Although Clyde was quiet about his personal life, he was well known among NOU members for his contributions of time, enthusiasm and money to the organization.

Clyde and Emma joined the NOV in …

Masthead From Nebraska Bird Review- September 2004

Nebraska Bird Review

The Nebraska Bird Review is published quarterly by the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, Inc., as its official journal and is sent to members not in arrears of dues. Annual subscription rates (on a calendar-year basis only): $15 in the United States, $18 in Canada and $30 in all other countries, payable in advance. Single copies are $4 each, postpaid, in the United States, $5 in Canada, and $8 elsewhere. Send orders for back issues to Mary Lou Pritchard, NOU Librarian, c/o University of Nebraska State Museum, W-436 Nebraska Hall, Lincoln, NE 685880514.

Menlberships in the NOU (on a calendar-year basis only): …

Birds Of Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center - 1999-2004, Kevin Poague

Nebraska Bird Review

In the summer of 1998, Audubon Nebraska, a state office of the National Audubon Society, purchased the 610-acre O'Brien Ranch located three miles south of Denton, Nebraska. The site, now called Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center (SCPAC), will be devoted to prairie education and restoration. The Center's size expanded to 626 acres in 2000 when the Wachiska Audubon Society bought an adjacent 16-acre property on the northwest comer of the section.

Historically, most of the ranch was never farmed, probably because of its hills and the large number of glacial boulders present in the soil. It is one of the …

Summer Field Report, June-July 2004, W. Ross Silcock

Nebraska Bird Review

The coverage of the state by observers who report their sightings, mostly to the listserv NEBirds, is very good relative to their rather low number. Even so, there are parts of the state that are only recently revealing their secrets. Extensive work in the Panhandle in the late 1990s, including mist-netting by Steve Dinsmore, showed that several western species are regular migrants through that part of the state, and similar extensive coverage of waterbirds and shorebirds at Lake McConaughy yielded similar valuable information, following the pioneering efforts there by Dick Rosche. This report contains many references to another interesting area …

The 2001 Nebraska Nesting Report, Wayne Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

The spring of 2001 will likely be remembered as the winter that wouldn't end, especially in central and western Nebraska. The last remnants of roadside snowbanks remained in the east until 10 April, but the last blizzard closed down the Panhandle on 21-22 April, and the last appreciable snowfall there was on 19 May. None of these dates represent late records, but are remarkably later than average for the past 10-15 years, and seemed especially burdensome following the long cold winter and the remarkably early spring the previous year.

While I recognize the danger inherent in making generalizations when working …

The Official List Of The Birds Of Nebraska: 2003

Nebraska Bird Review

The Official List of the Birds of Nebraska was last published in 1997 (NOU Records Committee 1997). That list included 427 species whose occurrence in Nebraska had been documented to the satisfaction of the NOU Records Committee at that time, following the sequence and nomenclature as outlined by the American Ornithologists' Union (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003). The present list includes 447 species based initially on Bray et al. 1986, and subsequently all changes to the Official List of the Birds of Nebraska as determined by the NOU Records Committee (Mollhoff 1987, 1989; …

Fisheries Research Contract Report No. 9 - Enhancing The Emergency Disease Response Capability Of The Western Australian Department Of Fisheries And Industry Bodies Associated With Freshwater Crayfish. Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Frdc Project No. 2003/671, Frances Stephens, Brian Jones, Iain East, Karina Scott, Simon Bennison

Fisheries Research Contract Reports

CRAYFISH PLAGUE IS A MAJOR DISEASE AFFECTING FRESHWATER CRAYFISH IN SOME AREAS OF THE WORLD. THE DISEASE HAS NEVER BEEN REPORTED IN AUSTRALIA. THE SIMULATION EXERCISE THAT WAS UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF THIS PROJECT WAS A RESPONSE TO A FICTITIOUS OUTBREAK OF CRAYFISH PLAGUE.

Funding for this project was provided to enable an exercise simulating an outbreak of crayfish plague to be conducted in Western Australia. Crayfish plague is a fungal disease (Aphanomyces astaci) that has devastated some freshwater crayfish populations in Europe but has never been recorded in Australia. The exercise was planned arounda fictitious outbreak of crayfish plague …

Woodland Amphibian Distribution In Parks And Greenspaces Of The Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area: A Multiple Scale Investigation, Laura A. Roberts

Dissertations and Theses

Loss of biodiversity due to habitat fragmentation is worldwide problem. With growing human populations and increasing urbanization, it is a necessity to conduct studies on wildlife occurring in urban areas. Currently there is a deficit of research investigating woodland amphibians in urban environments. My objectives were to describe amphibian species richness and abundance in the Portland, Oregon, Metropolitan region, and relate patterns of variation to variables at three increasingly large spatial scales: 1) local microenvironmental (i.e. amphibian/substrate interaction), (2) macrohabitat/patch (i.e. park or greenspace), and 3) landscape (surrounding parks and greenspaces). Environmental variables occurring within the three spatial scales were …

Synaptic Transformations Underlying Highly Selective Auditory Representations Of Learned Birdsong, Melissa J. Coleman, Richard Mooney

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Stimulus-specific neuronal responses are a striking characteristic of several sensory systems, although the synaptic mechanisms underlying their generation are not well understood. The songbird nucleus HVC (used here as a proper name) contains projection neurons (PNs) that fire temporally sparse bursts of action potentials to playback of the bird's own song (BOS) but are essentially silent when presented with other acoustical stimuli. To understand how such remarkable stimulus specificity emerges, it is necessary to compare the auditory-evoked responsiveness of the afferents of HVC with synaptic responses in identified HVC neurons. We found that inactivating the interfacial nucleus of the nidopallium …

Kentucky Warbler (Vol. 80, No. 3), Kentucky Library Research Collections

The Kentucky Warbler

No abstract provided.

Habitat Associations, Relative Abundance, And Species Richness Of Autumn Landbird Migrants In Southwestern Idaho, Jay D. Carlisle, Greg Kaltenecker, Sarah L. Stock, David L. Swanson

Intermountain Bird Observatory Publications and Presentations

We used count surveys and mist-net captures to compare habitat associations, relative abundance, species richness, and community similarity of migrant landbirds among four major habitats in the Boise Foothills of southwestern Idaho. Count surveys were conducted from August through October 1997–2000 in conifer forest, mountain shrubland, shrubsteppe, and riparian shrubland. We compared bird detections among habitats for all birds pooled, individual species, and three migration strategies: Neotropical, temperate, and resident (including irruptive migrants). Mountain shrubland supported the highest numbers of temperate migrants; both mountain shrubland and riparian shrubland had the highest numbers of Neotropical migrants; and conifer forest had the …

Fisheries Research Report No. 145 - The Western Rock Lobster Fishery 1999/2000 To 2000/2001, C F. Chubb, E H. Barker

Fisheries Research Reports

Season 1999/2000 produced the highest catch in the history of the fishery of 14,500 tonnes following a high catch of about 13,000 tonnes in 1998/1999. The record season led to the highest ever catch in B & C zones of 4,500 and 8,300 tonnes respectively. The Abrolhos Islands fishery produced a catch of 1,800 tonnes, somewhat down on the previous seasons catch of 2,000 tonnes. The record catch was taken by a total of 594 vessels. Nominal fishing effort in 1999/2000 was 10,724 million pot lifts, slightly down on the previous season, which was 10,745 million pot lifts. The 2000/2001 …

Thermal Adaptation Of Maternal And Embryonic Phenotypes In A Wide Spread Lizard (Sceloporus Undulatus), Christopher E. Oufiero

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geographically widespread ectotherms encounter thermal gradients that generate variation in behavior, physiology and life-history. Because rates of physiological processes are very sensitive to temperature, cold environments are thought to favor genotypes that have relatively high capacities for growth despite environmental constraints. Two different adaptive responses can occur: (1) mothers in colder environments can allocate more energy to each offspring, or (2) offspring in colder environments make more efficient use of available resources. In this study, I examined both maternal adaptations and embryonic adaptations to environmental temperature. Evidence of maternal adaptations was assessed by examining the relationship between egg size and …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.

Historical Biogeography Of The Woodchuck (Marmota Monax Bunkeri) In Nebraska And Northern Kansas, Zachary P. Roehrs, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Discusses the historical biogeography of the Woodchuck (Marmota monax bunkeri) in Nebraska and northern Kansas.

First paragraph:

Jones et al. described the western limit of Marmota monax in the United States as the eastern edge of the northern Great Plains in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Mengel introduced the idea of the Great Plains grasslands as a barrier to contact between birds of eastern and western North American forests. In his studies of bird biogeography on the Platte River, Knopf reported that this barrier has eroded with development of riparian forests along river courses of the Great …