Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons^™

An Illustrated Id Guide To The Crayfishes Found In Nebraska Native And Non-Native, Steve Schainost

Nebraska Invasive Species Program

There are five crayfishes native to Nebraska. These are:

Orconectes immunis (papershell crayfish)

Orconectes virilis (northern crayfish)

Orconectes neglectus neglectus (ringed crayfish)

Cambarus diogenes (Devil crayfish)

Procambarus gracilis (prairie crayfish)

Three additional non-native crayfishes have also been found here:

Orconectes rusticus (rusty crayfish) [bait tanks and established in two ponds in Omaha]

Procambarus clarkii (red swamp crayfish) [bait tanks]

Procambarus acutus (White River crayfish) [bait tanks]

I will attempt here to provide a photographic guide to field identification, one species per page.

Quantitative Analysis Of Woodpecker Habitat Using High-Resolution Airborne Lidar Estimates Of Forest Structure And Composition, James E. Garabedian, Robert Mcgaughey, Stephen E. Reutebuch, Bernard R. Parresol, John C. Kilgo, Christopher E. Moorman, M. Nils Peterson

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology has the potential to radically alter theway researchers and managers collect data onwildlife–habitat relationships. To date, the technology has fostered several novel approaches to characterizing avian habitat, but has been limited by the lack of detailed LiDAR-habitat attributes relevant to species across a continuum of spatial grain sizes and habitat requirements. We demonstrate a novel three-step approach for using LiDAR data to evaluate habitat based on multiple habitat attributes and accounting for their influence at multiple grain sizes using federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW; Picoides borealis) foraging habitat data fromthe Savannah River Site (SRS) …

Abstracts From Proceedings Of The Twelfth North American Crane Workshop, 13–16 March 2011, Grand Island, Nebraska, Usa (Published 2014)

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

ASSESSMENT OF THE EASTERN POPULATION GREATER SANDHILL CRANE FALL SURVEY, 1979-2009 Courtney Amundson, Douglas Johnson, Sean Kelly, and Tom Cooper 80

FACTORS INFLUENCING GREATER SANDHILL CRANE NEST SUCCESS IN NEVADA .Chad August, James Sedinger, and Chris Nicolai 80

INFLUENCE OF FOOD AND PREDATOR ABUNDANCE ON STRESS LEVELS OF SANDHILL CRANES WINTERING IN NORTHERN MEXICO Ingrid Barcelo and Felipe Chavez-Ramirez 81

A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION FOR CROP DAMAGE BY CRANES AND OTHER BIRD SPECIES TO PLANTED SEED Jeb Barzen and Anne Lacy 81

MODELLING THE EFFECT OF LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON SANDHILL CRANE DISTRIBUTION IN THE CENTRAL PLATTE RIVER VALLEY OF …

The History And Reintroduction Of Whooping Cranes At White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area, Louisiana, Gay M. Gomez

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

On 16 February 2011, whooping cranes (Grus americana) were reintroduced in the wetlands of southwest Louisiana, after an absence of 61 years. This brief communication provides background on the historical presence of whooping cranes in this region, describes the long road to reintroduction, presents observations from the reintroduction’s first day, and offers thoughts on its future prospects.

On 15 May 1939, biologist John J. Lynch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service observed 13 whooping cranes in the remote freshwater marsh north of White Lake in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. He not only confirmed what local residents and trappers had long …

Identifying Priority Conservation Areas For The American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus Americanus (Coleoptera: Silphidae), A Habitat Generalist, Jessica D. Jurzenski, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Andy Bishop, Roger Grosse, John Riens, W. Wyatt Hoback

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Conservation efforts leading to the recovery of the federally endangered American burying beetle (ABB), Nicrophorus americanus Olivier, have been challenging because of the unknown causes of its decline, difficulty in establishing habitat requirements, and unclear population distribution across the species’ range. Extant populations of this widespread generalist species occur in broadly separated regions of North America with varying habitat characteristics. A habitat suitability model for ABB in the Nebraska Sandhills was developed over the course of 3 years resulting in a final cross-validated spatial model. The succession of models from 2009 to 2011 indicated that most of the predictive variables …

Angler Effort And Catch Within A Spatially Complex System Of Small Lakes, Christopher J. Chizinski, Dustin R. Martin, Kevin L. Pope, Tony J. Barada, Jeffrey J. Schuckman

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Spatial layout of waterbodies and waterbody size can affect a creel clerk’s ability to intercept anglers for interviews and to accurately count anglers, which will affect the accuracy and precision of estimates of effort and catch. This study aimed to quantify angling effort and catch across a spatially complex system of19 small (<100 ha) lakes, the Fremont lakes. Total (±SE) angling effort (hours) on individual lakes ranged from 0 (0) to 7,137 (305). Bank anglers utilized 18 of the 19 lakes, and their mean (±SE) trip lengths(hours) ranged from 0.80 (0.31) to 7.75 (6.75), depending on the waterbody. In contrast, boat anglers utilized 14 of the 19 lakes, and their trip lengths ranged from 1.39 (0.24) to 4.25 (0.71), depending on the waterbody. The most sought fishes, as indexed by number of lakes on which effort was exerted, were anything (17 of 19 lakes), largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (15 of 19 lakes), and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (13 of 19 lakes). Bluegill Lepomis machrochirus, crappie Pomoxis spp., and largemouth bass were caught most frequently across the lakes, but catch rates varied considerably by lake. Of the1,138 parties interviewed, most parties (93%) visited …

Some Aspects Of The Biology Of Monogenean (Platyhelminth) Parasites Of Marine And Freshwater Fishes, Graham C. Kearn

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Müller was the first to describe a monogenean, collected from the skin of the halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus). However, he regarded the parasite as a leech and named it Hirudo hippoglossi. It was not until 1858 that its status as a monogenean was established by van Beneden and named Epibdella (now Entobdella) hippoglossi. Van Beneden published a detailed and accurate description of the parasite and one of his excellent illustrations is reproduced here. Entobdella hippoglossi is one of the largest monogeneans, measuring up to 2 cm in length. It has a smaller relative, measuring 5 to …

Successes And Challenges From Formation To Implementation Of Eleven Broad-Extent Conservation Programs, Erik A. Beever, Brady J. Mattsson, Matthew J. Germino, Max Post Van Der Burg, John B. Bradford, Mark W. Brunson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broadextent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program’s context (geographic extent, United …

A Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Delivers Live Prey To A Pup, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A two-year-old sibling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) carefully captured an Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) leveret alive on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, and delivered it alive to a pup 28–33 days old. This appears to be the first observation of a Gray Wolf delivering live prey to a pup.

Modeling Black Bear Population Dynamics In A Human-Dominated Stochastic Environment, David L. Lewis, Stewart W. Breck, Kenneth R. Wilson, Colleen T. Webb

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many large carnivore populations exist in human-influenced stochastic environments where availability of natural food sources vary annually and anthropogenic food sources can supplement energetic demands, but at a potential demographic cost due to human–wildlife conflict and subsequent conflict management. Understanding how these competing factors influence a population is complex and difficult to study, but here we demonstrate the utility of using a stochastic projection matrix model and perturbation analysis to gain insight into this problem. We modeled a black bear population subjected to stochastic failures of fruiting and masting species, but with access to garbage in urban environments.We parameratized our …

Anoxia Tolerance Of Forensically Important Calliphorids, Melissa M. Lein

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forensically important blow flies, Diptera: Calliphoridae, are among the first organisms to colonize carrion. After eggs hatch, the larvae of most blow fly species feed in an aggregation or “mass.” While in this mass larvae may experience periods of no oxygen (anoxia), little oxygen (hypoxia), or normal oxygen (normoxia), but the tolerance of blow fly larvae to severe hypoxic conditions is not known. I tested the anoxia tolerance of four species of calliphorids (Calliphora vicina, Cochliomyia macellaria, Lucilia sericata, and Phormia regina), using third stage larvae across five temperatures. Experiments were conducted by exposing larvae to pure nitrogen …

A Northward Range Extension Of The Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon Hispidus) In Missouri, Cody W. Thompson, Elmer J. Finck

The Prairie Naturalist

The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) is a widely distributed rodent with a geographic range extending from north-central Mexico to southern Nebraska and central Virginia and from southeastern Arizona east to Florida (Carleton et al. 1999, Peppers and Bradley 2000, Wilson and Reeder 2005) with isolated populations in Arizona (Bradley et al. 2012) and California (Clark 1972). Range expansions for the species have been well documented (Clark 1972, Farney 1975, Benedict et al. 2000, Wright et al. 2010, Wills et al. 2011). The majority of these range expansions have occurred across the Central Plains during the 20th century …

Western Burrowing Owl (Athene Cunicularia Hypugaea): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in the development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the western subspecies of Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as a Tier I at-risk species. Provided are some general management recommendations regarding Western Burrowing Owls (hereafter Burrowing Owls). Conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment for specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and site-specific conditions. Based on a considerable body of literature, this particular species conservation assessment provides an …

Walleye And White Bass Recruitment In Southwest Nebraska Irrigation Reservoirs, Jason Andrew Deboer

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Walleye Sander vitreus and white bass Morone chrysops are among the most popular sportfish in the reservoirs of the Great Plains. Despite considerable effort by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission stocking walleye and managing reservoirs for walleye and white bass, populations of walleye and white bass in southwest Nebraska reservoirs are dynamic, as erratic recruitment has led to “boom and bust” fisheries for these two species. We investigated 1) factors regulating walleye and white bass recruitment during an 18-year period at five reservoirs, and 2) walleye spawning ecology at two reservoirs that differ in their degree of environmental variability. …

Breeding Bird Communities Associated With Tallgrass Prairies In Southeast Nebraska, Stephen L. Winter, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Britt L. Smith

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

We collected data on bird communities associated with tallgrass prairies in two areas of southeast Nebraska that have been identified for focused conservation action: the Sandstone Prairies Biologically Unique Landscape (BUL) and the Southeast Prairies BUL. Our research was conducted in June and July of 2010 and 2011 at 14 privately–owned and state–owned properties located in Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, and Pawnee Counties (Nebraska). We detected a total of 1,108 individuals representing 41 species during 10–minute point counts with 400–m radii. The most commonly encountered species, in descending order of relative abundance (individuals detected per point count) were brown–headed cowbird, dickcissel, …

Hemoglobin Isoform Differentiation And Allosteric Regulation Of Oxygen Binding In The Turtle, Trachemys Scripta, Christian Damsgaard, Jay F. Storz, Federico G. Hoffmann, Angela Fago

Jay F. Storz Publications

When freshwater turtles acclimatize to winter hibernation, there is a gradual transition from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism, which may require adjustments of blood O₂ transport before turtles become anoxic. Here, we report the effects of protons, anionic cofactors, and temperature on the O₂-binding properties of isolated hemoglobin (Hb) isoforms, HbA and HbD, in the turtle Trachemys scripta. We determined the primary structures of the constituent subunits of the two Hb isoforms, and we related the measured functional properties to differences in O₂ affinity between untreated hemolysates from turtles that were acclimated to normoxia and anoxia. Our …

Sylvatic Species Of Echinococcus From Rodent Intermediate Hosts In Asia And South America, Scott Lyell Gardner, Altangerel T. Dursahinhan, Gábor R. Rácz, Nyamsuren Batsaikhan, Sumiya Ganzorig, David S. Tinnin, Darmaa Damdinbazar, Charles Wood, A. Townsend Peterson, Erika Alandia, José Luís Mollericona, Jorge Salazar-Bravo

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

During a global survey of the diversity of vertebrates and their parasites including the Gobi and desert/steppe biomes ranging from south central to western Mongolia, we found metacestodes (larvae) of Echinococcus multilocularis (Leuckart 1863) in the liver of an individual vole (Microtus limnophilus Büchner 1889) collected in grassland habitat at Har Us Lake, southeast of Hovd, Mongolia. Positive identification of E. multilocularis from near Hovd was made via comparative cyst morphology, study of hooks from the rostellum derived from protoscolexes, and DNA sequencing of the COX1 mitochondrial gene extracted from tissue of the cysts frozen in the field. This …

Pritchardia Boliviensis N. Gen., N. Sp. (Anoplocephalidae: Linstowinae), A Tapeworm From Opossums (Didelphidae) In The Yungas And Lowlands Of Bolivia And Atlantic Forest Of Paraguay, Scott Lyell Gardner, F. Agustín Jiménez Ruiz, Mariel L. Campbell

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Pritchardia boliviensis n. gen. n. sp. (Anoplocephalidae: Linstowiinae) is described from marsupials (Marmosops noctivagus, Metachirus nudicaudatus, Gracilinanus sp.) collected in Bolivia and Paraguay. These cestodes have a very small strobila with only three segments, regularly alternating genital pores, genital ducts crossing excretory canals ventrally, ovoid to pyriform cirrus sac, three to five testes, external seminal vesicle present and separated from cirrus sac by long seminal duct surrounded by glandular material, uterus ephemeral, eggs forming rapidly in gravid segments, and seminal receptacle present. Pritchardia boliviensis n. sp. includes a single species that occurs in small marsupials in the family …

Inferring The Relative Resilience Of Alternative States, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Carmen Rojo, Miguel Alvarez-Cobelas, Salvador Sánchez-Carrillo

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ecological systems may occur in alternative states that differ in ecological structures, functions and processes. Resilience is the measure of disturbance an ecological system can absorb before changing states. However, how the intrinsic structures and processes of systems that characterize their states affects their resilience remains unclear. We analyzed time series of phytoplankton communities at three sites in a floodplain in central Spain to assess the dominant frequencies or “temporal scales” in community dynamics and compared the patterns between a wet and a dry alternative state. The identified frequencies and cross-scale structures are expected to arise from positive feedbacks that …

Fringed Myotis (Myotis Thysanodes Pahasapensis): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes pahasapensis) as a Tier I at-risk species. Provided are some general management recommendations regarding the fringed myotis. Conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment to make specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and a multitude of variables. This resource was designed to share available knowledge of the fringed myotis that will aid in the decision-making …

Greater Prairie-Chicken Nest Success And Habitat Selection In Southeastern Nebraska, Ty W. Matthews, Andrew J. Tyre, J. Scott Taylor, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are reported to benefit from grasslands created through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Prairie-chicken population size increased noticeably in southeastern Nebraska after >15% of county-level landscapes were converted to CRP grasslands. But, the mechanisms behind the increase in population size are not well understood, and managers and policy makers could benefit from evidence of CRP’s relative contribution to populations of prairie-chickens. Therefore, our objectives were to characterize the relations of vegetation structure and composition with prairie-chicken nest-site selection and nest survival rates at both the macrohabitat (within landscape of study site) and microhabitat …

Inconsistent Outcomes Of Heterogeneity-Based Management Underscore Importance Of Matching Evaluation To Conservation Objectives, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Conservation policy often incentivizes managers of human-impacted areas to create landscape heterogeneity to maximize biodiversity. In rangeland, patchy disturbance regimes create landscape heterogeneity (patch contrast), but outcomes of heterogeneity-based management are rarely tested for a universal response. We analyzed four habitat variables—vegetation structure, plant functional group composition, litter cover, and bare ground—from five experimental rangelands in Oklahoma and Iowa, USA. We tested for response consistency to heterogeneity-based management across and within locations. We calculated effect sizes for each variable to compare patch contrast on pastures managed for heterogeneity (patch burn-grazing) and pastures managed for homogeneity (grazing with homogeneous fire regimes). …

Oral Presentation Abstracts By Day And Symposium From The 11th International Mammalogical Congress (Belfast, Northern Ireland : August 11-16, 2013), International Mammalogical Congress

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

About IMC

IMC returns to Europe after 24 years at a time when IUCN has identified 25% mammal species as at risk. As a venue to share concerns, concepts and techniques among professional mammalogists, IMC has never been more relevant. IMC11 Organising Committee hopes to welcome colleagues with diverse interests in the biology, conservation and management of mammals from throughout the world. IMC11 will encourage active participation in the Congress program by maximising time for spoken papers and posters offered by delegates.

Queen's University Belfast is the venue and are pleased to host the 11th International Mammalogical Congress on behalf …

A Floristic Analysis And Comparison Of Plant Communities In Harlan County, Nebraska, Naomi D. Hastings, Steven J. Rothenberger

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Historically, the Republican River Valley in Harlan County, Nebraska, has been extensively explored, but the county flora has continually been under-represented and has been found to lack records for plants that are considered common. During the 2009 growing season, a taxonomic study and comparison of 3 different sites in Harlan County was made. Site #1 was pastureland and Sites #2 and #3 were both riparian, located on the north side of the Republican River. Collections were pressed, dried, identified, and deposited in the University of Nebraska at Kearney Herbarium (NEBK). Forty-eight new county records were verified, in­cluding cutleaf-cucumber (Cyclanthera …

Estudios Científicos En El Estado De Hidalgo Y Zonas Aledañas, Volumen Ii, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks

Zea E-Books Collection

Los 16 capítulos que conforman este libro son una contribución al conocimiento de la biodiversidad y conservación de los recursos naturales en el estado de Hidalgo, México.

Se aborda el derecho de propiedad intelectual en la biodiversidad, citando algunos ejemplos de México. Así mismo, se presenta un estudio de la biodiversidad y distribución de la herpetofauna en cuatro tipos de vegetación. Desde el punto de vista de la helmintología se presentan dos estudios de los helmintos parásitos de vertebrados silvestres; con nuevos registros de hospederos y localidades de algunas especies de helmintos para Hidalgo. También, se aborda el uso de …

Reexamination Of Herpetofauna On Mormon Island, Hall County, Nebraska, With Notes On Natural History, Keith Geluso, Mary J. Harner

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Platte River in central Nebraska, USA, was historically surrounded by mixed grass and tallgrass prairies and wet meadows, but many of those habitats were lost or altered during the last century with unknown effects on animals that reside in them. Researchers first surveyed herpetofauna on part of a large island preserve in the Platte River, Mormon Island, Hall County, Nebraska, in 1980 when the land was protected for conservation. They documented 10 species, including three species of amphibians and seven species of reptiles. We inventoried herpetofauna after 30 years of conservation management on Mormon Island and adjacent Shoemaker Island. …

Amphibian Occupancy And Functional Connectivity Of Restored Wetlands In The Missouri River Floodplain, Michelle L. Hellman

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wetland decline may threaten many taxa including shorebirds, amphibians, and fish. As agencies increase restoration of wetland habitat, monitoring is crucial to inform the process. Permeable skin sensitive to water quality and biphasic life histories requiring both terrestrial and aquatic habitat make amphibians good indicators of wetland health. I modeled amphibian occupancy in restored Missouri River bends to determine habitat characteristics associated with the presence of amphibians.

Occupancy modeling acknowledges imperfect detection and allows the inclusion of detection covariates. To assess detection I examined two methods currently used to assess anuran occupancy in wetlands, aural anuran surveys and tadpole dip-netting. …

Building Upon Common-Pool Resource Theory To Explore Success In Transitioning Water Management Institutions, Christina M. Hoffman

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nebraska, like many regions around the world, is faced with the challenge of adapting to a new era in water management. Increasing demands for water resources, mounting concerns over threatened and endangered species, and obligations to abide by interstate water allocation agreements have motivated Nebraska to revisit traditional water management approaches. However, although Nebraska’s water management institutions have undergone much change, little research exists on the influence these changes have had on the ability of water institutions to successfully manage water allocations. This research (1) qualitatively explores the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders in the overappropriated region of the Platte …

The Influence Of Sea-Water Inundation On Coupled Iron And Sulfur Cycling In A Coastal Freshwater Wetland, Valerie Anne Schoepfer

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Coastal freshwater wetland chemistry is rapidly changing due to increased frequency of saltwater inundation, a consequence of global change. Seasonal salt water inundation introduces sulfate, which biologically reduces to sulfide via microbial metabolism. Sulfide binds with reduced iron producing iron sulfide (FeS), recognizable in wetland soils by its characteristic black color. The objective of this study is to document rates of iron and sulfate reduction, as well as product formation (acid volatile and chromium reducible sulfide, AVS and CRS) in a coastal freshwater wetland undergoing seasonal salt water inundation. Understanding iron and sulfur cycling, as well as their reduction products …

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius Ludovicianus): Species Conservation Assessment, Melissa J. Panella

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: Publications

The primary goal in the development of at-risk species conservation assessments is to compile biological and ecological information that may assist conservation practitioners in making decisions regarding the conservation of species of interest. The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project recognizes the Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) as a Tier I at-risk species. Here, I provide some general management recommendations regarding Loggerhead Shrikes. However, conservation practitioners will need to use professional judgment for specific management decisions based on objectives, location, and site-specific conditions. This resource provides available knowledge of Loggerhead Shrikes that may aid in the decision-making process or in identifying research needs …