Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Nc3 Nebraska Climate Summary, M. Shulski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reservoir Characterization And Static Earth Model For Potential Co2 Storage In Upper Pennsylvanian Cyclothems, Nebraska, Usa, V.L. Smith, R.M. Joeckel

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Geographic Distribution Of Chronic Wasting Disease Resistant Alleles In Nebraska, With Comments On The Evolution Of Resistance, H. Vazquez-Miranda, R. M. Zink

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Prairie Grouse Population Trends And Their Historical Drivers In The Nebraska Sandhills, Danielle Berger

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

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) has monitored greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) and plains sharp-tailed grouse populations (Tympanuchus phasianellus jamesi), collectively known as prairie grouse, since the 1950s using spring breeding ground counts. My research modeled long-term, species-specific spatial and temporal trends of prairie grouse abundance and potential environmental drivers in the Sandhills of Nebraska using NGPC’s historical monitoring data. Prairie-chicken populations have increased since the 1950s while sharp-tailed grouse populations have remained stable or slightly declined. These population trends arise in the context of a dynamic landscape. I created indices representing raptor predation …

Interpretive Geologic Maps And Cross Sections For Phelps, Kearney, And Adams Counties In Nebraska, Dana Divine, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Data from thousands of test-hole and well logs were interpreted to improve understanding and management of the High Plains aquifer in a three-county study area adjacent to the Big Bend reach of the Platte River. Five principal conclusions resulted from these interpretations: (1) the extent of Neogene Ogallala deposits beneath the study area is different than previously mapped; (2) a large paleovalley incised into Cretaceous bedrock probably cuts across Kearney and Adams counties and may be the course of the ancestral Platte River prior to formation of the Big Bend; (3) a groundwater mound created by irrigation canals artificially raises …

2019 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy Final Report, M.E. Burbach, R.M. Joeckel, G.S. Matkin

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

One Step Closer To A Better Starling Trap, James R. Thiele

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are an invasive species in the United States that damage agriculture, personal property, and threaten human health and safety. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services provides technical support to mitigate damage by controlling starling populations at concentrated animal feeding operations, landfills, utilities, and urban areas. Wildlife Services uses DRC-1339, a registered toxicant, to reduce starling populations. Trapping can also be an effective tool but requires more time at a higher cost than DRC-1339. Trapping starlings, however, may be needed to provide a viable alternative to mitigate damage in areas where toxicant use may …

Bats Of The Loess Hills Ecoregion Of Southeast Nebraska, Virgil Brack Jr, Dale W. Sparks, Darwin C. Brack

The Prairie Naturalist

We surveyed bats at 49 sites in the Loess Hills Ecoregion of southeastern Nebraska, along the western edge of the eastern forest biome in eastern Richardson, Nemaha, and Otoe counties. We completed this study shortly before the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The expectation of listing, along with potential presence of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), motivated the study. We captured 183 bats of five species: eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (n = 103; 56 %), big brown …

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Homestead National Monument Of America, David S. Jones, Roy Cook, John Sovell, Christopher Herron, Jay Benner, Karin Decker, Andrew Beavers, Johannes Beebee, David Weinzimmer

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The National Park Service (NPS) Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA) Program administered by the NPS Water Resources Division evaluates current conditions for important natural resources and resource indicators using primarily existing information and data. NRCAs also report on trends in resource condition when possible, identify critical data gaps, and characterize a general level of confidence for study findings. This NRCA complements historic resource assessments, is multi-disciplinary in scope, employs a hierarchical indicator framework, identifies and develops reference conditions/values for comparison against current conditions, and emphasizes spatial evaluation of conditions and GIS (map) products.

Congress established the Homestead National …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2019 Data Report, Molly B. Davis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2019 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire). This was the ninth year of combined monitoring efforts.

In 2019, crew members from NGPN visited 6 long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect data on the upland mixed-grass prairie plant communities at AGFO. This work is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better understand the condition of the vegetation community and how it changes over time. NGPN staff …

Vegetation Classification And Mapping, Niobrara National Scenic River, Tom Baldvins, Matt Ley, Joe Stevens, David Jones, Hannah Pilkington

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The vegetation inventory project at Niobrara National Scenic River (NIOB) classified and mapped vegetation within the park administrative boundary and estimated thematic map accuracy quantitatively. The project was conducted over a four year period from the summer of 2015 to the winter of 2019. Located in north-central Nebraska, approximately 76 miles of the park is designated as a wild and scenic river. The vast majority of land within the NIOB administrative boundary is private or state-owned.

The project follows guidance provided by the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory (VMI) Program. The overall process includes initial planning …

Public Access For Pheasant Hunters: Understanding An Emerging Need, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Anastasia E. Madsen, Erica F. Stuber, Christopher J. Chizinski, Jeffrey J. Lusk, J. Scott Taylor, Kevin L. Pope, Joseph J. Fontaine

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Ring‐necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus; i.e., pheasant) hunting participation is declining across North America, reflecting a larger downward trend in American hunting participation and threatening benefits to grassland conservation and rural economies. To stabilize and expand the pheasant hunting population, we must first identify factors that influence pheasant hunter participation. We used an extensive in‐person hunter survey to test the hypothesis that hunter demographics interact with social‐ecological traits of hunting locations to affect hunter decisions, outcomes, and perceptions. We built a series of Bayesian mixed effects models to parse variation in demographics, perceptions, and hunt outcomes of pheasant hunters interviewed at …

Vegetation Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, 1998–2017, Sherry A. Leis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network has sampled permanent monitoring sites in three vegetation community types (restored prairie, successional forest, and bur oak forest) at Homestead National Monument of America since 1998 (includes nine sample years). Network scientists record each species, aerial cover estimates of ground flora, diameter at breast height of midstory and overstory trees, and tree regeneration frequency (tree seedlings and saplings) within these permanent sites.

The park has experienced similar periods of drought and wetness through the monitoring record. Ground cover estimates indicate that prairie litter and bare ground are negatively related; prescribed fire cycles …

An Observational Study Of Winter Weather-Related Traffic Crashes In Nebraska, Jacob Petr

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The responsibilities of meteorologists have evolved over time from simply providing a forecast to needing to also understand how those predictions will impact society and then communicating those risks in a clear, concise, and consistent manner. Increased motor vehicle crash numbers due to adverse weather conditions represent one such impact worthy of further study. Snowfall, in particular, significantly increases the overall risk of a crash, which can result in extensive property damage, severe injuries, and even loss of life.This project seeks to supplement traffic crash information in Nebraska by assessing how snowfall impacts crashes across the state. Crash data were …

Changes In Mammalian Abundance Through The Eocene–Oligocene Climate Transition In The White River Group Of Nebraska, Usa, Robert Gillham

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marine records show major cooling during the Eocene-Oligocene Climate Transition (EOCT). Most proxy studies in the White River Group suggest drying across the EOCT, and some suggest cooling. The lower resolution continental record has hindered a direct correlation of the marine climate record to Nebraska. I explore various correlation schemes and what they imply for faunal changes. This study compiles and analyzes data from 4,875 specimens in the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM) collection to test the hypothesis that climate change across the Eocene-Oligocene (E-O) boundary caused significant abundance changes in mammals. A series of binning schemes was created. …

Implementing The North American Bat Monitoring Program In Nebraska: An Assessment Of Nebraska Bats With An Emphasis On Citizen Science, Baxter Seguin

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

Over the past decade bat species in North America have been under immense stress due to anthropogenic activities throughout the continent along with severe declines from foreign invaders. Though many specific anthropogenic related activities such as deforestation, land-use alteration, and hibernacula disturbance/modification were the primary culprits of negative impacts on bat species in the past, they pale in comparison to the threats bats face today. White nose syndrome a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans and wind energy development have caused declines and disruptions to the bat populations of North America at an unprecedented rate.

Due to the significant …

Geophysical Analysis Of The Midcontinent Rift’S Subsurface Structure In Southeastern Nebraska, Patrick Szopinski

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Midcontinent Rift System (MCRS) is a 1.1 billion-year-old failed rift system that spans much of the North American continental interior. The MCRS is exposed at Lake Superior and is buried in the subsurface along its southwest-extending arm through southeastern Nebraska. Due to the presence of buried volcanic rocks, the MCRS has characteristic highly-pronounced potential field anomalies (gravity and magnetic). Despite these large anomalies, not much is known about the subsurface faulting associated with the rift zone in the Midwest. The goal of this project is to attempt to use integrated analysis of collected geophysical data from multiple methods to …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2018 Data Report, Isabel W. Ashton

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2018 at Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire). This was the eighth year of combined monitoring efforts.

Crew members from NGPN visited eight long-term monitoring plots to collect data on the plant communities at SCBL. This work is part of a long-term monitoring effort designed to provide a better understanding of the condition of the vegetation community and how it changes over time. NGPN staff measured species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, …

Soil And Land- Use Change Sustainability In The Northern Great Plains Of The Usa, Deepak Raj Joshi, David E. Clay, Alexander Smart, Sharon A. Clay, Tulsi P. Kharel, Umakanta Mishra

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

In the Northern Great Plains (NGP), the combined impacts of land-use and climate variability have the potential to place many soils on the tipping point of sustainability. The objectives of this study were to assess if the conversion of grassland to croplands occurred on fragile landscapes in the North America Northern Great Plains. South Dakota and Nebraska were selected for this study because they are located in a climate transition zone. We visually classified 43,200 and 38,400 points in South Dakota and Nebraska, respectively, from high-resolution imagery in 2006, 2012, and 2014 into five different categories (cropland, grassland, habitat, NonAg, …

Informing Water Use Decision-Making For Waterfowl And Agricultural Production On A Ranch Along The North Platte River, Nebraska, Douglas R. Hallum P.G.

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

In 2014, operators of a ranch along the North Platte River approached Conservation and Survey Division seeking expertise to interpret data collected on their ranch. The interpretations inform ranch decisions to accomplish operators’ goals. This publication documents the work by: 1) characterizing the ranch, 2) summarizing data collected, 3) characterizing hydrogeology of the site and the adjacent reach, and 4) conceptualizing groundwater/surface water interaction.

The ranch is a recreation property and a migratory waterfowl refuge with a few general goals: 1) develop and maintain high-quality wet meadow habitat, 2) maximize the extent and duration of surface water on the property …

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring At Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 2018 Data Report, Ryan M. Manuel

United States National Park Service: Publications

Abstract

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2018 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects Program (NGPFire). This was the eighth year of field work conducted by NGPN at AGFO.

In 2018, crew members from NGPN visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots, four legacy plant community monitoring (LPCM) plots, and NGPFire visited one additional PCM plot to collect data on plant communities at AGFO. This collaborative effort is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better …

Experimental Assessment Of Predation Risk For Juvenile Green Sturgeon, Acipenser Medirostris, By Two Predatory Fishes, S. Baird, A. E. Steel, D. E. Cocherell, Jamilynn B. Poletto, R. Follenfant, N. A. Fangue

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Maps Showing The Physical Hydrogeology And Changes In Saturated Thickness (Predevelopment To Spring 2016 And Spring 2011 To Spring 2016) In The Middle Republican Natural Resources District, Southwestern Nebraska., Jesse T. Korus Dr., Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

This report accompanies fourteen new maps summarizing the hydrogeology and changes in saturated thickness in the Middle Republican Natural Resources District (MRNRD). The purpose of these maps is to assist the MRNRD in their groundwater management programs and in planning and installing an observation well network. Maps include:

• base of the principal aquifer;

• water table surfaces for predevelopment, Spring 2011, and Spring 2016;

• saturated thicknesses for predevelopment, Spring 2011, and Spring 2016;

• changes in saturated thickness (both in absolute magnitude and in percent) from predevelopment to Spring 2016 and from Spring 2011 to Spring 2016;

• …

Exploring The Northwest Margin Of The High Plains Aquifer: Structure, Depositional History And Hydrogeology, Nebraska Geological Society Field Trip, Doug Hallum, Dennis O. Terry, Jr., Michael Leite, Jennifer Balmat

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The northwest portion of the High Plains Aquifer in Nebraska corresponds with the western Sandhills, Box Butte, Sioux and Dawes County tablelands, and the Nebraska Pine Ridge in northwest Nebraska. This field excursion will travel beyond the margins of the High Plains aquifer into the White River valley and onto the Oglala National Grasslands. These areas are not only rich in natural resources, but rich in history as well. While this excursion will explore earth history, depositional environments and a portion of the High Plains Aquifer, the authors encourage all attendees to take additional time to explore the cultural, military …

Relationships Among Biodiversity Dimensions Of Birds In Nebraska, Nadejda Mirochnitchenko

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

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is a multi-dimensional concept that can be decomposed to measure information about taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional variation within communities. Although the dimensions of biodiversity are interrelated, the assumption that measuring one dimension of diversity can inform about patterns in another dimension does not necessarily follow from theory or empirical study. The relationships among biodiversity dimensions is not well understood, nor how differences among dimensions could influence conservation decision making. Using the avian community as a study system, we explored the relationships of breadth metrics from the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions among each other and across …

Hydrogeologic Framework Studies Of Portions Of The Niobrara River, Douglas R. Hallum, Steven S. Sibray, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NeDNR) and Upper Niobrara-White Natural Resources District (UNWNRD) expressed interest in improving understanding and their ability to effectively manage water resources in and around a particular reach of the Niobrara River. Aquifer-thickness contours mapped by the Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) indicate that the principle aquifer has zero thickness in this area. Additionally, the statewide geologic bedrock map produced by CSD shows non-aquifer strata of the White River Group along the same reach, and this setting is consistent with the designation of an “aquifer absent area,” as in the present document. Water-management policy development …

Niobrara National Scenic River, Socioeconomic Monitoring Pilot Implementation, Summer 2016, Resource Systems Group

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

This report describes the results of a visitor study at Niobrara National Scenic River (NSR) conducted from July 15 through July 24, 2016. During the sampling period, 253 visitor groups were contacted to participate in the survey. Of those groups, 217 agreed to participate in the study by accepting a mail-back survey packet. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 110 visitor groups, resulting in a completion rate of 51% among those visitor groups that agreed to participate in the study and an overall response rate of 43% for the study.

 This report profiles a systematic random sample …

Nebraska’S Wildlife Club; Nebraska Honors Program Clc Expanded Learning Opportunity Clubs, Alexandrea E. Otto

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of the club is to educate and explore with students the wildlife and nature that surrounds them every day. The main focus was to educate students on wildlife native to Nebraska; ranging all the way from West Nebraska to the wildlife found in cities such as Lincoln.

New Insights Into Carboniferous Cyclothems. The Fourth Biennial Field Conference Of The American Association Of Petroleum Geologists (Aapg) Midcontinent Section Fourth Biennial Field Conference Abstracts And Guidebook, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Christopher R. Fielding

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The term “cyclothem” was coined by Wanless & Weller (1932) to describe repetitive stratigraphic successions of Carboniferous age in Illinois. Nonetheless, comparable rhythmicity had been identified in Carboniferous rocks both in the central and eastern USA, and in Europe during the preceding century. Cyclothems were found to comprise repetitive vertical successions of sandstones, heterolithic (thinly interbedded) sandstones and mudrocks, mudrocks, limestones, and coals, in many cases with pedogenic overprinting of these lithologies. As usage of the term “cyclothem” increased, so did the diversity of successions to which the term was applied, to the point where many geologists advocated abandonment of …

County-Wide Assessment Of Irrigation Expansion On Air Temperature, Humidity And Evapotranspiration Rates In Nebraska, 1979-2015, Jozsef Szilagyi

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Total irrigated land area has been expanding in Nebraska over the last 40 years, propelling the state into a leading position within the US in terms of irrigated acreages. Typically, those counties which display the largest degree of irrigation development had a significant portion of their land area already irrigated in 1978. Large-scale irrigation in Nebraska affects its atmospheric environment. During the typical irrigation season of May to August, counties with the largest rate of irrigation expansion have cooled by about 0.2 – 0.3 °F per decade in the summer months of June, July and August, while counties with the …