Population Biology Commons^™

Temporal Distribution Of Harvested Mid-Continent Sandhill Cranes Within The Central Flyway States During The 1997–2001 Hunting Seasons, Adrianna C. Araya, James A. Dubovsky

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Since 1975, annual harvest estimates for Mid-Continent sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) have been collected in all states for which a hunting season has been authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service). Although these data have been used to monitor the harvest of the Mid-Continent population, analyses to promote understanding of the temporal distribution of harvested sandhill cranes by individual states throughout the Central Flyway have not been conducted. For the 1997-2001 hunting seasons, we collected harvest questionnaires from 4,408 hunters in the Central Flyway who provided information about the date, location, and number of harvested sandhill …

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 …

Hunting Success For Mid-Continent Sandhill Cranes In The Central Flyway: Comparing Current And Historic Results, James A. Dubovsky, Adrianna C. Araya

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Sport hunting for the Mid-continent population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) in the United States resumed in New Mexico in 1961 after a 45-year moratorium. Interest in crane hunting continued to increase and by 1975, 8 states were participating in sandhill crane hunting. Currently, hunting seasons have been established in all Central Flyway states except Nebraska. Efforts to collect information on the annual harvest of sandhill cranes began in 1975 when hunters were required to obtain federal sandhill crane hunting permits. The permits included a hunting diary whereby hunters were asked to record information about their daily hunting …

Feather Molt Of Nonmigratory Whooping Cranes In Florida, Martin J. Folk, Stephen A. Nesbitt, Jeannette M. Parker, Marilyn G. Spalding, Stephen B. Baynes, Kristen L. Candelora

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Molt patterns of wild whooping cranes (Grus americana) are largely unknown, and what knowledge we have has been based on scant data. We documented patterns of feather molt in nonmigratory whooping cranes in Florida during 1993-2005. All birds replaced flight feathers (remiges) in a synchronous (simultaneous) manner and spent time flightless. It took 38-46 days (mean = 44 days, n = 8) for feathers to regrow and birds to regain flight ability. When flightless due to remigial molt, cranes became more secretive and spent more time in wetlands during feather regrowth. Most (70%) whooping cranes first molted their …

Factors Influencing Greater Sandhill Crane Nest Success At Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, Gary L. Ivey, Bruce D. Dugger

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We used logistic regression to model the effects of weather, habitat, and management variables on Greater Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis tabida) nest success at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Oregon. We monitored 506 nests over 9 breeding seasons. Mean apparent nest success was 72% ± 4% and varied from 51 to 87%. Nest success was lower one year after a field was burned and declined with nest initiation date. Nest success was higher during warmer springs, in deeper water, and in years with moderate precipitation. Haying, livestock grazing, and predator control did not influence nest success. We …

Sandhill Crane Wintering Ecology In The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, Gary L. Ivey, Caroline P. Herziger

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We studied wintering sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) ecology in 2002–2003 in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, focusing on Staten Island, a corporate farm which was acquired by The Nature Conservancy and managed to promote sustainable agriculture that is beneficial to wildlife. Our purpose was to define habitat conservation needs for cranes, including the state-threatened greater subspecies (G. c. tabida). Research was conducted through intensive surveys by vehicle of crane foraging and roosting behavior. We estimated that about 1,500 greaters used Staten Island, which is a significant portion of the Central Valley Population of greater sandhill …

Risk Factors Associated With Developmental Limb Abnormalities In Captive Whooping Cranes, Cristin Kelley, Barry K. Hartup

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

This retrospective survey identifies potential risk factors for developmental limb abnormalities in whooping crane (Grus americana) chicks reared at the International Crane Foundation between 1990 and 2006. We summarized a series of biologicallyrelevant pre- and post-hatch variables from this population using in-house aviculture and veterinary records, and then compared them between chicks with and without developmental carpal, toe and leg deformities. Chi-square analysis revealed associations between 1) rearing style and each type of deformity, 2) egg source and carpal and toe deformities, and 3) the pre-existence of a toe deformity and carpal and leg deformities. Multivariate analyses using …

Habitat Characteristics Influencing Sandhill Crane Nest Site Selection, Anne E. Lacy, Su Liying

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The breeding population of greater Sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) in Wisconsin has greatly increased since the population was nearly extirpated in the mid-1930’s (Henika 1936). The International Crane Foundation (ICF) has been studying these birds for over 10 years in an area with one of the highest density of breeding cranes in the Midwest; we have calculated a nesting density of over 5 pairs/km2 (ICF unpublished data). Prior to this study, little was known about the habitat characteristics that may be influencing nest site selection. We conducted nest surveys by helicopter during the last week of April …

Selection Criteria For Important Sites For Wintering Sandhill Cranes In The Mexican Altiplano, Alberto Lafon Terrazas, Eduardo Carrera Gonzalez

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Conservation of natural resources has increased worldwide, and Mexico shows the same tendency. Unfortunately, selection criteria for conservation areas and objectives do not always follow a methodology that will allow for optimum selection. In Mexico and other countries we have a series of priority sites proposed by experts in various biodiversity areas, based on knowledge of the existing biological resources of the site. This results in two situations: more attention and resources are given to certain areas, but no resources are invested in sites that could be of equal or greater importance than those currently proposed. This leads to knowledge …

Sandhill Crane Nest Habitat Selection And Factors Affecting Nest Success In Northwestern Minnesota, Stephen J. Maxson, John R. Fieberg, Michael R. Riggs

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We studied 62 greater sandhill crane (Grus canadensis tabida) nests in northwestern Minnesota during 1989-1991 to document nest habitat use and selection, nest success, and factors associated with nest success. We recorded 15 habitat variables at each nest and at a randomly selected site in the same wetland. Nests were in basins 0.01-601 ha (Median = 2.2 ha) and at water depths 0-35.7 cm (Median = 9.7 cm). Cattail (Typha sp.) was the dominant vegetation at 58.0% of nests while 21.0% were at sites dominated by phragmites (Phragmites australis). Conditional logistic regression models indicated …

Trends In Sandhill Crane Numbers In Eastern New Mexico, James B. Montgomery Jr.

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Following a 1980s decline in the number of cranes in the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge area of the Pecos River Valley in eastern New Mexico, peak fall migration numbers increased from 5,640 in 1989-90 to 15,790 in 2003-04 and 13,650 in 2004-05. Concurrently, hectares of corn grown for silage to feed dairy cows increased from 1,781 in 1989 to 8,013 in 2003 and 7,325 in 2004. The population goals of the NM Department of Game and Fish are being met but a downturn in the dairy industry could result in a decline in crane numbers.

Timing Of Molt In Florida Sandhill Cranes, Stephen A. Nesbitt, Stephen T. Schwikert

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We observed feather molt in Florida sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis pratensis) between 1978 and 1997. We report data from 4 feather groups: remiges, rectrices, wing coverts and contour feathers. In all feather groups, the median date of ecdysis preceded endysis by about 30 days. Endysis in adults was generally later than it was in first- or second-year subadults. Remiges grew at a rate of 4.72 ± 1.56 SD mm per day. We estimated that primary and secondary wing feathers were usually regenerated within 45 to 70 days.

Body Mass Index (Bmi) Of Normal Sandhill Cranes, Stephen A. Nesbitt, Marilyn G. Spalding, Kristen L. Candelora, Paul S. Kubilis, Stephen T. Schwikert

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We used linear and mass measurements to construct a body mass index (BMI) for 2 subspecies of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis). We found that BMI declined during the spring and early summer period. We used the BMI to show that juvenile Florida sandhill cranes (G. c. pratensis) reach their full mass at about 270 days of age, near the age at which they begin to leave the company of their parents. We used mensural data to predict a minimum expected mass for normal sandhill cranes which could be then used to evaluate the relative health of …

Behavior Comparisons For Whooping Cranes Raised By Costumed Caregivers And Trained For An Ultralight-Led Migration, Glenn H. Olsen, John B. French

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The successful reintroduction program being run by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership using whooping cranes (Grus americana) trained to fly behind ultralight aircraft depends on a supply of these trained crane colts each year. The crane colts are hatched from eggs contributed by the various partners and trained to follow costume clad humans and ultralight aircraft at USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA. After several seasons of raising small numbers of crane colts (7-14), we wanted to increase the number of birds being trained, but were restrained by limits in our facilities. By altering the established …

Safety Of West Nile Virus Vaccines In Sandhill Crane Chicks, Glenn H. Olsen, Kimberli J. Miller, Douglas E. Docherty, Valerie Bochsler

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

West Nile virus arrived in North America in 1999 and has spread across the continent in the ensuing years. The virus has proven deadly to a variety of native avian species including sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis). In order to provide safe and efficacious protection for captive and released populations of whooping cranes (G. americana), we have conducted a series of four research projects. The last of these was a study of the effects of two different West Nile virus vaccines on young Florida sandhill crane (G. c. pratensis) chicks and subsequent challenge with the virus. …

Use Of Clap Traps In Capturing Nonmigratory Whooping Cranes In Florida, Jeannette M. Parker, Martin J. Folk, Stephen B. Baynes, Kristen L. Candelora

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Between March 2001 and April 2005 we captured 28 nonmigratory Florida whooping cranes (Grus americana) with clap traps. Out of the 6 different capture methods we employed, the clap trap accounted for 42% of our birds captured. Its ability to safely capture one crane or multiple cranes simultaneously, flexibility in size and placement, and low cost make it an important tool to facilitate transmitter replacements and health checks among the experimental Florida whooping crane population.

A Low Intensity Sampling Method For Assessing Blue Crab Abundance At Aransas National Wildlife Refuge And Preliminary Results On The Relationship Of Blue Crab Abundance To Whooping Crane Winter Mortality, Bruce H. Pugesek, Michael J. Baldwin, Thomas V. Stehn

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

We sampled blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in marshes on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas from 1997 to 2005 to determine whether whooping crane (Grus americana) mortality was related to the availability of this food source. For four years, 1997 - 2001, we sampled monthly from the fall through the spring. From these data, we developed a reduced sampling effort method that adequately characterized crab abundance and reduced the potential for disturbance to the cranes. Four additional years of data were collected with the reduced sampling effort methods. Yearly variation in crab numbers was high, ranging …

Whooping Crane Collisions With Power Lines: An Issue Paper, Thomas V. Stehn, Tom Wassenich

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Collision with power lines is the greatest source of mortality for fledged whooping cranes (Grus americana) in the Aransas-Wood Buffalo population (AWBP) that migrate between the Northwest Territories, Canada to the Texas coast. This paper compiles 45 documented whooping crane mortalities from power line strikes in North America and provides known information on crane / power line interactions. A map of the AWBP whooping crane migration corridor was derived with 100 and 200-mile wide corridors delineated showing the location of known mortalities. Recommendations are provided to try to reduce this major threat facing whooping cranes.

A Year-Long Study Of Food Consumption By Captive Whooping Cranes At The International Crane Foundation, Jessica J. Stocking, Michael S. Putnam, Nathanial B. Warning

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Throughout 2002, we recorded daily food consumption by 12 pairs of captive whooping cranes (Grus americana). For 7 pairs we recorded food consumption throughout the entire year while there were large continuous gaps in measurements of food consumption for 5 pairs that raised chicks that year. Birds received both a maintenance and breeder diet, and for both we converted food consumption to energy intake (Joules/g body mass) using the combined fall weights of female and male. We compared daily energy intake with 6 meteorological variables (involving temperature, wind speed and humidity), photoperiod (natural and artificial) and egg laying …

Resolutions Passed By The North American Crane Working Group, Tenth North American Crane Workshop Zacatecas City, Zacatecas, Mexico, North American Crane Working Group

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Florida Crane habitat resolution
Florida has the largest population of non-migratory sandhill cranes in the world and winters a significant portion of the eastern population of greater sandhill cranes. And in Florida, efforts are underway to introduce migratory and non-migratory whooping cranes. In order to successfully establish and sustain these populations, appropriate habitat needs to be available. About 40% of Florida’s best crane habitat has been lost between 1973 and 2003, and the amount has increased since then. Because of this, these valuable populations of cranes are finding it more difficult to locate suitable habitat. We the NACWG by this …

Geographic Distribution: Sphaerodactylus Elegans Elegans (Ashy Gecko). Usa: Florida: Broward Co., Louis A. Somma, Kenneth L. Krysko

Papers in Herpetology

FLORIDA: BROWARD County: Pembroke Pines: 1031 NW 93rd Ave (26.0168833°N, 80.2695694°W; WGS84; elev. <1 >m). October 27, 2007. Collected by Lisa A. Charlton. Verified by F. Wayne King, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida. One neonate captured in Jackson sticky trap set to sample insects in an alee tree (Blighia sapida). UF 152418. New county record. Originally turned in to Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville, Florida, on October 31, 2007; Entomology Log No. 8204. This nonindigenous gecko was flrst reported from Key West, Monroe County, Florida, more than 85 …

Simpler Mode Of Inheritance Of Transcriptional Variation In Male Drosophila Melanogaster, Marta Wayne, Marina Telonis-Scott, Lisa Bono, Lawrence G. Harshman, Artyom Kopp, Sergey V. Nuzhdin, Lauren Mcintyre

Lawrence G. Harshman Publications

Sexual selection drives faster evolution in males. The X chromosome is potentially an important target for sexual selection, because hemizygosity in males permits accumulation of alleles, causing tradeoffs in fitness between sexes. Hemizygosity of the X could cause fundamentally different modes of inheritance between the sexes, with more additive variation in males and more nonadditive variation in females. Indeed, we find that genetic variation for the transcriptome is primarily additive in males but nonadditive in females. As expected, these differences are more pronounced on the X chromosome than the autosomes, but autosomal loci are also affected, possibly because of X-linked …

Yosemite Butterflies (Text), 2nd Edition, Kenneth E. Davenport

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The author, Kenneth E, Davenport, has collected or observed butterflies extensively in the Yosemite region (at least 90 collecting or observation days) since August 1963. Information for this study began with Davenport obtaining a copy of Garth and Tilden’s 1963 Yosemite Butterflies in 1970. The annual Season Summaries for California published in the News of the Lepidopterists’ Society between 1975 and 2006 have been checked for records. The common English and scientific names used in this publication mostly follow the names used by the International Lepidoptera Survey (TILS) except in a few cases.

The following individuals contributed information: George T. …

A Description Of A New Subspecies Of Lycaena Phlaeas (Lycaenidae: Lycaeninae) From Montana, United States, With A Comparative Study Of Old And New World Populations, Steve Kohler

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The Palaearctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian Region subspecies of Lycaena phlaeas are briefly discussed. A more detailed account of the North American subspecies is presented, and a new subspecies, L. p. weberi, from the Sweet Grass Hills, Montana is described. The possibility that the eastern United States subspecies hypophlaeas was introduced from the Old World is discussed; however no conclusion can be reached with certainty. The relationship between Old World and New World subspecies of L. phlaeas is discussed. Evidence presented supports the treatment of New World populations as subspecies of L. phlaeas.

Bionomic Studies Of Papilio Demoleus Linnaeus, The Citrus Butterfly, (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae), From Lower Sindh, Pakistan, Arshad Munir, Nikhat Yasmin Siddiqui, Muhammad A. Rafi, Harry Pavulaan, David Wright

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Biological parameters of Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, the Citrus Butterfly, in Tando Muhammad Khan, lower Sindh, Pakistan are presented. This major agricultural pest was reared on Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. (Curry Leaf) and ten different varieties of Citrus sp. (Citrus) plants. The length of the adult mating period ranged 5 to 8 hours. Following mating, females laid 27.7 ± 3.3 eggs. Eggs hatched in 1.5 to 7 days. Mean durations of larval instars were 1.8 ± 0.1 (minimum) and 2.9 ± 0.1 (maximum) days respectively. Pupal duration was 5.5 to 20 days. Biotic factors including predators [praying mantis, ants, Common Garden …

A New Subspecies Of Colias Gigantea From Arctic Alaska (Pieridae), Jack L. Harry

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

A new subspecies of Colias gigantea Strecker from the 'north slope' of Alaska is described.

The Yosemite Butterflies: Color Plates, Kenneth E. Davenport, Norbet G. Kondla, Charles Grisham, Howard Grisham

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

This compilation of butterfly illustrations for the Yosemite region is intended primarily as a supplement to the text publication on Yosemite butterflies (Davenport, 2004, and Davenport, 2007, 2nd edition). Taxonomic interpretations and names follow these documents. Common names and authors of the scientific names are given in the text publication. This color plates publication also functions as a stand-alone document for naturalists and lepidopterists with need for reference illustrations only.

Butterflies were selected from Ken Davenport’s private collection to illustrate most species and subspecies for the Yosemite region. If good quality specimens were available from within the region, we often …

The Time Invariance Principle, Ecological (Non)Chaos, And A Fundamental Pitfall Of Discrete Modeling, Bo Deng

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

This paper is to show that most discrete models used for population dynamics in ecology are inherently pathological that their predications cannot be independently verified by experiments because they violate a fundamental principle of physics. The result is used to tackle an on-going controversy regarding ecological chaos. Another implication of the result is that all continuous dynamical systems must be modeled by differential equations. As a result it suggests that researches based on discrete modeling must be closely scrutinized and the teaching of calculus and differential equations must be emphasized for students of biology.

Bird Movement Predicts Buggy Creek Virus Infection In Insect Vectors, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Amy T. Moore, Nicholas Komar

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Predicting the spatial foci of zoonotic diseases is a major challenge for epidemiologists and disease ecologists. Migratory birds are often thought to be responsible for introducing some aviozoonotic pathogens such as West Nile and avian influenza viruses to a local area, but most information on how bird movement correlates with virus prevalence is anecdotal or indirect. We report that the prevalence of Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) infection in cimicid swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius), the principal invertebrate vector for this virus, was directly associated with the likelihood of movement by cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), an amplifying host …

Ecological Correlates Of Buggy Creek Virus Infection In Oeciacus Vicarius, Southwestern Nebraska, 2004, Amy T. Moore, Eric A. Edwards, Mary Bomberger Brown, Nicholas Komar, Charles R. Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Buggy Creek virus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, BCRV) is an alphavirus within the western equine encephalitis virus complex whose primary vector is the swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, that is also a frequent host for the virus.We investigated ecological correlates of BCRV infection in 100-bug pools at 14 different swallow colony sites in southwestern Nebraska from summer 2004, by using plaque assay on Vero cells to identify cytopathic virus and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to identify noncytopathic viral RNA. We found 26.7% of swallow bug pools …