Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Karyotypic Relationships Within The Short-Tailed Shrews, Genus Blarina, Sarah B. George, Hugh H. Genoways, Jerry R. Choate, Robert J. Baker

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Short-tailed shrews of the genus Blarina exhibit considerable geographic variation in both diploid number and fundamental number. Four chromosomal groups are recognized within the genus: Blarina brevicauda, FN = 48; 2N = 50, 49, or 48; B. carolinensis, FN = 45 or 44; 2N = 46, 39, 38, or 37; B. c. peninsulae, FN = 52; 2N = 52, 51, or 50; B. hylophaga, FN = 62, 61, or 60; 2N = 52. B. c. peninsulae also may be a distinct species, but exact determination must await location and analysis of a zone of contact with …

An Analysis Of Howling Response Parameters Useful For Wolf Pack Censusing, Fred H. Harrington, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were studied from April 1972 through April 1974 in National Forest in northeastern Minnesota by radio-tracking and simulated howling. Based during 217 of 456 howling sessions, the following recommendations were derived for using howling as a census technique: (1) the best times of day are dusk and night; (2) July, August, and are the best months; (3) precipitation and winds greater than 12 km/hour should be avoided; (of 5 single howls should be used, alternating "flat" and "breaking" howls; (5) trials should 3 times at about 2-minute intervals with the first trial at lower …

Parallel-Arm Maze Performance Of Sighted And Blind Rats: Spatial Memory And Maze Structure, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Sighted and peripherally blinded groups of rats learned to obtain a small reward from each arm of an eight-arm parallel maze, and a sighted group was similarly trained on a radial maze. The parallel-sighted and parallel-blind groups were equally slow, and much slower than the radial-sighted group, to attain criterion performance. The three groups shared several response characteristics: selectively avoiding the most recently entered arms, frequently choosing adjacent arms, and an absence of 'spatial generalization' among the arms. The findings support a simple model proposing how subjects identify and choose among the maze-arms.

Morphometric And Geographic Relationships Of Short-Tailed Shrews (Genus Blarina) In Kansas, Iowa, And Missouri, Nancy D. Moncrief, Jerry R. Choate, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

Shrews of the genus Blarina from Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri were studied morphometrically and karyologically. The ranges of two species, B. brevicauda and B. hylophaga, overlap in a broad zone across southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Morphometric analyses revealed an unexpectedly large amount of cranial variation in B. brevicauda, and confirmed the presence of that species in the Kansas River Valley of northeastern Kansas. Considerable mensural overlap was found in geographic areas in which B. hylophaga and B. brevicauda are sympatric, evincing the need for further karyotypic and morphometric studies in those areas. No formal taxonomic changes are …

Food Habits And Ecology Of Beavers In Southeastern Virginia, John Lennox Echternach Jr.

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The food habits and ecology of three beaver colonies in James County, Virginia were studied. Vegetation surrounding the colonies was characterized as southern mixed hardwood forest or lowland swamp forest. Stream flow values ranged from 0.013 to 0.369 m³/sec. Water depth ranged from 0.5 60 4.0 m. Caloric value of 13 heavily used woody species ranged from 3305 to 6204 cal/g. Considerable seasonal variation was noted in most species with the lowest caloric values noted in summer. No relationship was found between caloric value and frequency of use. Fresh cutting was monitored on a weekly basis and a …

Spatial Learning As An Adaptation In Hummingbirds, Susan Cole, F. Reed Hainsworth, Alan Kamil, Terre Mercier, Larry L. Wolf

Avian Cognition Papers

An ecological approach based on food distribution suggests that hummingbirds should more easily learn to visit a flower in a new location than to learn to return to a flower in a position just visited, for a food reward. Experimental results support this hypothesis as well as the general view that differences in learning within and among species represent adaptations.

Aquatic Macroinvertebrates Of Three Acid Bogs On Crowley's Ridge In Northeast Arkansas, Jerry L. Farris, George L. Harp

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Qualities and quantities of parameters composing the bog systems in Northeast Arkansas are not entirely reflective of those defining bogs of the northern United States. While pH is restricting to the organisms of each bog studied (4.8-6.9), the major limiting factor is the amount of available water. Three acidophilic bogs with shallow water depths (2-30 cm) yielded a total of 75 aquatic macroinvertebrate taxa. The bog with greatest surface area supported 67 taxa and a mean numerical standing crop of 14 organisms/2 hr sampling period. The bog with the smallest surface area had 13 taxa and a mean standing crop …

Water Quality And Benthic Invertebrate Communities In Lake Greeson Tailwater, Stephen B. Smith

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Little Missouri River below Lake Greeson, Arkansas, was sampled for water quality and benthos during summer 1979. The hydropower turbine water intakes, 20 m below the lake surface, released hypolimnetic water into the tailwater. Downstream water temperatures, total organic matter, and total inorganic matter varied considerably and benthic invertebrate communities immediately below the dam were stressed by waters released for power generation. Detrimental effects from altered temperature and flow regimes had decreased by 16.1 km downstream, where invertebrate communities were typical of less stressed environments.

The Suriname Small Mammal Survey: A Case Study Of The Cooperation Between Research And National Conservation Needs, Hugh H. Genoways, Henry A. Reichart, Stephen L. Williams

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

A cooperative program between the Foundation for Nature Preservation in Suriname and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to survey the small mammals of Suriname is reviewed. The program has proven to be mutually beneficial and it is presented as a model for development of similar programs in the future. The technical assistance requested by the Foundation for Nature Preservation in Suriname concerned the distribution and natural history of small mammals, especially those occurring in the Nature Parks and Reserves. The Government of Suriname has established an excellent system of Reserves and Parks throughout the country. They are trying to …

A Distributional And Taxonomic Study Of The Adults Of The Family Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera) In West Virginia, Toni Ann Phillips

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A survey of the adult Hydropsychiclae revealed 39 species, 14 of which were state records. The adult hydropsychids were collected from various locations throughout West Virginia. The most common species Hydropsychidae were Hydropsyche morosa, H. sparna, Cheumatopsyche analis, C. campyla, and Diplectrona modesta. Most of the species did not appear to be limited to any one particular drainage basin. Several species exhibited a preference for stream order (headwaters, middlereaches, large rivers). Aphropsyche monticola, Parapsyche apicalis, Cheumatopsvche wrighti, C, gyra, and Hydropsyche alhedra preferred the fast-flowing headwater streams in the higher elevations of the state. Macrostemum zebratum, Potomyia flava, Hydropsyche phalerata, …

The Influence Of Habitat Variation On The Morphology And Physiology Of Plethodon Wehrlei (Fowler And Dunn) In West Virginia, Sharon Kay Gross

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

High elevation, low elevation and cave populations of Plethodon wehrlei (Fowler and Dunn) in West Virginia were compared to determine the influence of habitat variation on morphology and physiology. Discriminant analysis of 14 external morphological characters and 11 skeletal characters revealed a similar morphology for the three populations. Comparisons of critical thermal maxima showed a positive correlation to habitat temperature. Dehydration studies revealed that the high elevation population was more resistant and tolerant to water loss than the cave and low elevation populations.

Evaluation Of Instream Flow Methodologies For Fisheries In Nebraska, Phil Hilgert

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

Five instream flow methods were applied to a variety of streams within the state of Nebraska. These were (1) the Tennant method, (2) a modification of the Tennant method, (3) IFG1 A, a single cross-section average-parameter method, (4) the Incremental method, using the WSP hydraulic simulation program, and (5) the Incremental method, using the IFG4 hydraulic simulation program.

Each method was applied following standard published procedures, and instream flow recommendations were developed for the streams addressed using each method separately. Evaluation of the methods showed that the modification of the Tennant method overcame some of the deficiencies of the Tennant …

Invertebrate Fauna Of Devils Den, A Sandstone Cave In Northwestern Arkansas, Stewart B. Peck, James H. Peck

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The same invertebrate fauna of 17 species was found in Devils Den Cave, Washington County, Arkansas, in 1969 and 1979. The fauna consists of 1 trogloxene, 14 troglophiles, and 2 troglobites, a spider, Porrhomma cavernicolum, and a collembolan, Pseudosinella dubia. Devils Den Cave has a well developed cavernicolous fauna, although it is in sandstone which generally supports a poor cave adapted fauna. The troglobites probably evolved in the vicinity of northwestern Arkansas in limestone caves or in deep forest soils of the Ozark region. They then dispersed overland, perhaps as recently as the late Wisconsinan, to occupy this sandstone cave.

Warmwater Fish Community Of A Cool Tailwater In Arkansas, Richard A. Frietsche

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A diverse warmwater fish community has persisted in the Lake Greeson tailwater, despite hydropower releases of cold hypolimnetic water. Forty-eight species of fish were collected by electrofishing in the upper 16.1 km of the tailwater. Hydropower releases have reduced the abundance of some of the warmwater sport fish in the upper tailwater, and their populations are probably maintained in part by recruitment from downstream. Angling effort has been diverted from the warmwater sport fish populations to a put-and-take trout fishery.

Effects Of Water Released From Stratified And Unstratified Reservoirs On The Downstream Water Quality, Stephen B. Smith

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Water quality samples were collected from the Little River system in Pine Creek Lake, Oklahoma, and Gillham Lake, Arkansas, and their associated tailwaters during the winter (reservoirs unstratified) and summer (reservoirs stratified) of 1980. Downstream water quality was not affected by reservoir water releases while the reservoirs were unstratified. When the reservoirs were stratified water quality in the tailwaters was dependent on the release depth of the water. The practice of flushing out a tailwater following an extended low flow period should be examined on a site by site basis. Anoxic water released from a reservoir may contain high amounts …

Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Taxa Present In Two Ozark Springs In Randolph County, Arkansas, G. Randall Guntharp, George L. Harp

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

River Otter In Arkansas: Ii. Indications Of A Beaver-Facilitated Commensal Relationship, C. Renn Tumlison, Mark R. Karnes, Anthony W. King

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Dam building activities of beaver (Castor canadensis) create ponds that apparently augment habitat available to otter (Lutra canadensis). This paper considers possible effects of beaver activity and pond formation on distribution and populations of otter in Arkansas. Literature synthesis and analysis of harvest records were used to investigate the suspected relationship.

Selection Of Breeding Ponds By The Ringed Salamander, Ambystoma Annulatum, Peter P. Brussock, Arthur V. Brown

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Cave Fauna Of Arkansas: Further Records, James D. Dunivan, C. Renn Tumlison, V. Rick Mcdaniel

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Soil Traversing Arthropod Populations As Sampled By Pitfall Traps In Sunflower And Three Adjacent Habitats In Northeast Arkansas, Linda A. Lee, Harvey E. Barton

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Soil traversing arthropod populations were sampled by pitfall traps in sunflower (Helianthus spp.) and three adjacent habitats during the months of July, August and September of 1980 and May, June, July and August of 1981. In1980, four varieties of sunflower (Ellar, Hybrid 670, 891 and S-345) were planted. A single variety of sunflower (Ellar) was planted in1981. The three adjacent habitats in both 1980 and 1981 were a pine stand, grass border and fence row. Of 1,748 specimens collected in 1980, 17 orders and 48 families were represented. Four orders comprised 78% of the total catch: Hymenoptera (45%), Acari (17%), …

Reproductive Success Of The Common Tern (Sterna Hirundo) And Black Skimmer (Rynchops Niger) In Different Habitats In Virginia, Daniel Carey Smith

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

The Red-Tailed Hawk On Sauvie Island, Oregon, Kevin J. Lien

Dissertations and Theses

A study was undertaken to determine the abundance, distribution, perching heights, diets and territory sizes of Red-Tailed Hawks on Sauvie Island, Oregon. Sauvie Island supported a large wintering population of non-territorial Red-Tailed Hawks. The establishment of territories began around 10 January. Average perch height was found to be 14.2 m. Average perch height increased from fall to spring, corresponding-to the onset of the breeding season and to the onset of egg-laying and incubation. Voles (Microtus spp.) were the principal prey year-round, though waterfowl were more important in terms of biomass in the winter and early spring. Territory sizes on the …

The Influence Of Environmental Conditions On The Breeding Behavior Of The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) In Virginia, David O. Wallin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.