Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Aquatic Feeding By Moose: Seasonal Variation In Relation To Plant Chemical Composition And Use Of Mineral Licks, D. Fraser, B. K. Thompson, D. Arthur

Feeding Behavior Collection

Activity of moose (Alces alces) was studied at aquatic feeding areas and at natural, sodium-rich licks during four periods covering late May to early September. Aquatic feeding increased from period 1 (late May and early June) to period 2 (late June and early July) and had declined by late July. Major activity at mineral licks occurred earlier in the season than aquatic feeding, especially for males. Chemical composition of aquatic plants showed no seasonal changes corresponding to the peak of aquatic feeding in period 2, although the sodium content of some species declined in period 3. We suggest that moose …

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 14, No. 4. December 1982

The Prairie Naturalist

THE MICROBIAL AND VEGETATIONAL RESPONSE TO FIRE IN THE LYNX PRAIRIE PRESERVE, ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO ▪ A. E. Annala and L. A. Kapustka

ASPECTS OF BEHAVIOR IN FREE-RANGING BARBARY SHEEP (AMMOTRAGUS LERVIA) G. G. Gray and C. D. Simpson

HOME RANGES OF MULE DEER BUCKS IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE ▪ B. H. Koerth and F. C. Bryant

DETERMINING SEX OF PLAINS POCKET GOPHERS BY INCISOR WIDTH ▪ R. M. Case and A. B. Sargeant

BOOK REVIEWS:

On Counting Birds ▪ S. A. Mikol

Freshwater Marshes ▪ R. M. Kaminiski

NOTICE TO AUTHORS ▪ Editor

INDEX TO VOLUME 14 …

Responses Of Estuarine Infauna To Disturbance. I. Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Initial Recolonization, Roman N. Zajac, Robert B. Whitlatch

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Responses to disturbance of estuarine infauna were studied to test the hypothesis that seasonality, the estuarine environmental gradient and sediment composition would significantly affect recolonization. The study was conducted in a small estuary located in southeastern Connecticut, USA, using controlled disturbance experiments and sampling of the ambient infauna. Species composition in experimental plots and ambient sediments usually did not differ, either on a seasonal or areal basis. Numerically dominant species usually included the polychaetes Streblospio benedicti, Capitella spp. and Polydora ligni, and the oligochaete Peloscolex gabriellae. Other species included the polychaetes Scoloplos fragilis, Hobsonia florida and Nereis …

Responses Of Estuarine Infauna To Disturbance. Ii. Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Succession, Roman N. Zajac, Robert B. Whitlatch

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Infaunal successional patterns in Alewife Cove, a small estuary in southeastern Connecticut, USA, varied significantly seasonally and along the estuarine environmental gradient. Each study site exhibited different patterns of change in species composition and abundance. However, suites of species found during succession did not differ greatly from those found in ambient sediments. Species which exhibited the most variable population changes during succession were numerically dominant tubiculous polychaetes (Streblospio benedicti, Capitella spp., Polydora ligni], and an oligochaete (Peloscolex gabriellae). Other species which exhibited significant activity were the polychaetes Scoloplos fragilis, Hobsonia florida and Nereis virens, the hemichordate Saccoglossus kowaleski, and the …

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 …

Moose-Vehicle Accidents In Ontario: Relation To Highway Salt, David Fraser, Evan R. Thomas

Anthropogenics and Population Decline Collection

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 14, No. 3. September 1982

The Prairie Naturalist

FECAL pH OF DESERT AND EASTERN COTTONTAIL RABBITS IN TEXAS ▪ R. J. Warren and K. T. Scribner

NESTING OF THE AMERICAN AVOCET IN NORTH DAKOTA ▪ J. G. Sidle and P. M. Arnold

REVISED CHECKLIST OF NORTH DAKOTA BIRDS ▪ C. A. Fannes and R. E. Stewart

THE EFFECT OF WEATHER FACTORS ON AUDUBON CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS L. L. Falk

NOTES:

Additional Nest Record for Red-breasted Nuthatch in North Dakota ▪ R. Hopkins

A Henslow's Sparrow in North Dakota ▪ R. B. Renken and J. J. Dinsmore

First Documented Record of the Moose in South Dakota ▪ D. A. …

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 …

An Ecological Analysis Of Relic Diatoms In Sediments Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, David Ross Hetzel

Publications (WR)

Relic diatoms in sediments of the inner Las Vegas Bay, near the Las Vegas Wash sewage inflow, were examined in order to assess historic trophic conditions in this area of Lake Mead. Diatom sedimentation rates and ratios of Araphidineae/Centrales (A/C) diatom groups were determined from sediment cores collected in the old wash channel 1.5 km from the sewage inflow (station 2), in a small cove 1.5 km further downstream (station 3) and in an adjacent embayment off Gypsum Wash (station 4). Diatom sedimentation rates generally increased from the bottom to the top of each core, but pronounced minima existed at …

Distributions, Densities, And Relative Abundances Of Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) In A Nebraska Sandhills Prairie, Anthony Joern

Entomology Papers from Other Sources

Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) represent a conspicuous and often important component of grassland systems (Odum et al. 1962, Smalley 1960, Sinclair 1975, Van Hook 1971, Wiegert 1965). Often, assemblages of grasshoppers are quite diverse and may, on occasion, consume a large fraction of the available vegetation (Hewitt 1977, Hewitt et al. 1976, Mitchell and pfadt 1974). As such, grasshoppers have the potential of being very important in the nutrient and energy flow in grassland ecosystems. However, to understand the impact of grasshoppers at the ecosystem level requires that the densities and fluctuations of populations as well as the species composition of …

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.

U.S. Declares War On Coyotes

Close Up Reports

The coyote has long been perceived as a threat by ranchers who graze their sheep on U.S. public lands. At the ranchers' insistence, U.S. government employees are paid to shoot coyotes from helicopters and airplanes, ambush them in cruel steel-jaw leghold traps, and plant cyanide guns that explode in the coyotes' faces. The Humane Society of the United States is irrevocably opposed to the unabated, cruel, and unnecessary practice of killing animals in the name of "predator control." The resumed use of denning and the threat of reinstituting 1080 makes our--and your--actions even more urgent.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 14, No. 2. June 1982

The Prairie Naturalist

DISTRIBUTIONS, DENSITIES, AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCES OF GRASSHOPPERS (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE) IN A NEBRASKA SAND HILLS PRAIRIE ▪ A. Joern

FLORA OF FOREST CLEARINGS CREATED BY LOGGING IN BELTRAMI COUNTY, MINNESOTA ▪ E. W. Devlin

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNTS FOR NORTH DAKOTA - 1981 ▪ R. N. Randall

RAPTOR USE OF HARDWOOD DRAWS IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ▪ R. C. Gaines and S. C. Kohn

NOTES ON DUCK NEST STRUCTURES ▪ J. G. Sidle and P. M. Arnold

EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE OR SOIL TEMPERATURE ON REPRODUCTION OF INDIGENOUS NEMATODE POPULATIONS IN A MIXED PRAIRIE ▪ J. D. Smolik

CORRECTION: Replacement for Table …

Preliminary Report Of Colony Survivorship In The Western Harvetser Ant (Pogonomyrmex Occidentalis) In Western Nebraska, Kathleen H. Keeler

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Colonies of Pogonomyrmex occidentalis Cresson (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) may live an average of 22 to 43 years. The population dynamics of individual colonies of P. occidentalis adjacent to the Univ. Nebraska's Cedar Point Biol. Sta., Keith Co., Nebraska, is the subject of an ongoing investigation. The habitat is a moderately grazed shortgrass prairie dominated by Bouteloua hirsuta, B. gracilis, and Buchloe dactyloides, with Stipa comata, Aristida spp., and various forbs. The colonies studied are in a triangular area about 400 m long and 100 m across at the widest point. The area appears to be at carrying …

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 …

Estimation Of Harvest Rate Of Black Bears From Age And Sex Data, David Fraser, James F. Gardner, George B. Kolenosky, Stewart Strathearn

Wildlife Population Management Collection

No abstract provided.

The Prairie Naturalist Volume 14, No. 1. March 1982

The Prairie Naturalist

LEGUME DISTRIBUTION AND NODULATION IN ARAPAHO PRAIRIE, ARTHUR COUNTY, NEBRASKA ▪ L. A. Kapustka and J. D. DuBois

BREEDING BIRDS IN TWO DRY WETLANDS IN EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA ▪ D. E. Hubbard

RELATIVE EFFICIENCY OF THREE SMALL-MAMMAL TRAPS IN PRAIRIE WETLANDS G. W. Pendleton and R. P. Davison

WHITE PELICAN POPULATIONS AT CHASE LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA, EVALUATED BY AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY ▪ J. G. Sidle and E. L. Ferguson

MOSQUITOES (DIPTERA:CULICIDAE) CONSUMED BY BREEDING ANATINAE IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ▪ M. I. Meyer and G. W. Swanson

BOOK REVIEWS:

Peterson's revised field guide ▪ J. M. Andrew

Midwestern turtles ▪ …

Predation By Wild Coyotes: Behavioral And Ecological Analyses, Michael C. Wells, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Predatory behavior of coyotes (Canis latrans) was studied between 1977 and 1980 in the Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming. Major prey were voles (Microtus spp.), Uinta ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus), pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides), and grasshoppers (Locustidae). Coyotes typically rushed and ran down squirrels; when hunting mice, coyotes pounced and stabbed at them with their forepaws. Sequence structure was similar, though sequences directed to squirrels were significantly more variable. When juvenile coyotes hunted mice, sequences were similar to those performed by adults that hunted mice. Adults and juveniles were about equally successful. The size of prey last eaten influenced …

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.

Distribution Ecology: Variation In Plant Recruitment Over A Gradient In Relation To Insect Seed Predation, Svata M. Louda

Svata M. Louda Publications

Although predispersal seed predation by insects is common, no test exists of its effect on plant recruitment. This study examines seed predation in the population dynamics of a native, temperate shrub, Haplopappus squarrosus H. and A. (Asteraceae), over an elevational gradient in the coastal sage scrub vegetation of San Diego County, California, USA. Frequency and abundance of H. squarrosus increase from coast to mountains. Expected abundance, based on flowers initiated, was highest at the coast and lowest in the interior, the opposite of the observed adult plant distribution. Overall flower and seed predation by insects was high (44-73%) and was …

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 …

Striving For Common Ground: Humane And Scientific Considerations In Contemporary Wildlife Management, Stephen R. Kellert

Nature Collection

Although there is a diversity of opinion about how to view the relationship between humans and wildlife, recent political pressures from the current administration make it mandatory that these diverse groups coalesce to use their combined leverage to halt the planned incursions into the remaining habitats of wildlife. It is also important to begin to see nature as a complex and interrelated whole, and to respect the integrity of that whole, rather than simply select individual species for affection and protection.

Ethical Issues And Future Directions In Wildlife Management, John W. Grandy

Nature Collection

Recent progress in protection of wildlife and wildlife refuges is currently being undermined by the efforts of James Watt, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who believes that commercial interests should take precedence over the preservation of pristine wilderness areas and wildlife sanctuaries. The consequent loss, as populations approach extinction because of programs like decimation of habitats and predator control, is more than simply aesthetic: genetic material unique to each species will be lost forever. Particular issues of immediate concern are the fate of bobcats and whales, inhumane trapping, and the Endangered Species Act. As a longer-term concern, the goal of …

Urban Wildlife Habitat -- Present And Future, David Tylka

Ecology Collection

Many kinds of wild animals can become adapted to living in cities, provided that the right kinds of habitats are available and that their presence is accepted by city-dwellers. Suitable habitats can be furnished by traditional parks, tracts of "wild acres" set aside by cities, linear parks, cemeteries and golf courses, and transportation corridors. Buildings, rooftops, and institutional grounds can also provide habitat for animals like birds and butterfiles. Suburban areas can encourage the growth of local wildlife by neglecting to mow common grounds, or allowing sections of individual lawns to grow up with wild vegetation.

Bureaucracy And Wildlife: A Historical Overview, Edward E. Langenau

Laws and Legislation Collection

This paper provides a framework for understanding the Government's position on many wildlife topics, including humane ethics. The historical role of Government in wildlife conservation is traced in relation to pertinent theories of bureaucracy. It is shown that Government involvement in wildlife conservation increased through successive stages of change because of interest group activity.

These periods of increased Government involvement in wildlife matters are shown to have followed periods of resource exploitation. Recurrent cycles of exploitation, accompanied by economic prosperity, have then been followed by attitudes favorable to conservation and political activism. This, in turn, has produced periods of backlash …

Behavioral Ecology Of Coyotes: Social Organization, Rearing Patterns, Space Use, And Resource Defense, Marc Bekoff, Michael C. Wells

Ethology Collection

Two groups of coyotes in which genealogical relationships were known were studied in the Grand Teton National Park, outside of Jackson, Wyoming, U.S.A., from 1977-1982. One group, a pack consisting of parents and some non-dispersing and non-breeding offspring, defended a territory and the food (mainly elk carrion) contained within it, especially during winter, and also had helpers at den sites (5 of 6 were males). The other group, a mated resident pair, all of whose young dispersed during the first year of life, did not defend a territory and never had helpers at dens. Delayed dispersal and retention of some …

Response Strategies In The Radial Arm Maze: Running Around In Circles, Sonja I. Yoerg, Alan C. Kamil

Papers in Behavior in Biological Sciences

The effects of the size of the central arena on the use of response strategies by rats on an eight~arm elevated maze were examined. The size of the central arena had no effect on accuracy, but the use of adjacent arms increased significantly with a larger central arena, regardless of the size of arena to which rats were first exposed. These results are interpreted in terms of foraging efficiency.

The Bead Game: Response Strategies In Free Assortment, Alan B. Bond

Alan Bond Publications

Subjects were presented with a collection of spherical beads of four different colors and were instructed to sort them as fast and as accurately as possible. The sequence in which the beads were sorted was recorded, along with the time intervals between successive beads. Subjects were observed to sort in nonrandom sequences, producing runs in which a given bead type was taken exclusively. The speed and accuracy of the sorting process was positively correlated with the degree of nonrandomness of the sorting sequence. This relationship appeared to be primarily attributable to perceptual factors involved in the initiation of a run …

A Comparative Analysis Of Potential Nitrification And Nitrate Mobility In Forest Ecosystems, Peter M. Vitousek, James R. Gosz, Charles C. Grier, Jerry M. Melillo, William A. Reiners

Dartmouth Scholarship

Mobilization in a wide range of forest ecosystems were investigated through a combination of field and laboratory experiments.Trenched plot experiments were performed in 17 forests, and laboratory incubation studies of potential ammonium and nitrate production were made on soils from 14ofthese sites.

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 …