Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

The Prairie Naturalist, Volume 38, Number 2, June 2006, Elmer J. Finck, Hilary Gillock

The Prairie Naturalist

The Prairie Naturalist (June 2006) Volume 38, Issue 2, full issue.

Feeding Habitats of Spring-Migrating Blackbirds in East-central South Dakota, by Richard S. Sawin, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier, and H. Jeffrey Homan, pages 73-84.

Brood Break-up and Juvenile Dispersal of Lesser Prairie-chicken in Kansas, by James C. Pitman , Brent E. Jamison, Christian A. Hagen, Robert J. Robel, and Roger D. Applegate, pages 74-99.

Population Biology of Pumpkinseed in Enemy Swim Lake, South Dakota, by Eric J. Weimer and Michael L. Brown, pages 101-111.

Reproductive Development in the Sicklefin Chub in the Missouri and Lower Yellowstone Rivers, by …

On The Spatial Nature Of The Groundwater Pumping Externality, Nicholas Brozovic, David L. Sunding, David Zilberman

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Most existing economic analyses of optimal groundwater management use single-cell aquifer models, which assume that an aquifer responds uniformly and instantly to ground- water pumping. This paper demonstrates how spatially explicit aquifer response equations from the water resources engineering literature may be embedded in a general economic framework. Calibration of our theoretical model to published economic studies of spe- cific aquifers demonstrates that, by averaging basin drawdown across the entire resource, existing studies generally understate the magnitude of the groundwater pumping external- ity relative to spatially explicit models. For the aquifers studied, the drawdown predicted by single- cell models may …

Effect Of Bio-Optical Parameter Variability And Uncertainties In Reflectance Measurements On The Remote Estimation Of Chlorophyll-A Concentration In Turbid Productive Waters: Modeling Results, Giorgio Dall'olmo, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Most algorithms for retrieving chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla) from reflectance spectra assume that bio-optical parameters such as the phytoplankton specific absorption coefficient (a_φ*) or the chlorophyll-a fluorescence quantum yield (η) are constant. Yet there exist experimental data showing large ranges of variability for these quantities. The main objective of this study was to analyze the sensitivity of two Chla algorithms to variations in bio-optical parameters and to uncertainties in reflectance measurements. These algorithms are specifically designed for turbid productive waters and are based on red and near-infrared reflectances. By means of simulated data, it is shown …

Identifying Superior Hybrid Hazelnut Plants In Southeast Nebraska, Elizabeth A. Hammond

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

The goal of this observational study is to identify productive hybrid hazelnut plants suitable for commercial production. The objectives of this studywere to 1) examine a plantation of hybrid hazelnut plants grown in Southeast Nebraska for the presence of eastern filbert blight (EFB); 2) identify high yielding hybrid hazelnut plants; and 3) characterize plant and nut features of selected high yielding plants.

Data were collected from a 3.64 hectare (9 acre) planting of 5,200 hybrid hazelnut plant located at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska. Plants were grown on 1.5 m x 4.6 m (5 foot x …

Invasive Species Definition Clarification And Guidance, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

Summary

Invasive species are those that are not native to the ecosystem under consideration and that cause or are likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health. Plant and animal species under domestication or cultivation and under human control are not invasive species. Furthermore for policy purposes, to be considered invasive, the negative impacts caused by a non-native species will be deemed to outweigh the beneficial effects it provides. Finally, a non-native species might be considered invasive in one region but not in another. Whether or not a species is considered an invasive …

Patterns In Body Mass Distributions: Sifting Among Alternative Hypotheses, Craig R. Allen, A. S. Garmestani, T. D. Havlicek, P. A. Marquet, G. D. Peterson, C. Restrepo, C. A. Stow, B. E. Weeks

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Understanding how animals interact with their environment is critical for evaluating, mitigating and coping with anthropogenic alteration of Earth’s biosphere. Researchers have attempted to understand some aspects of these interactions by examining patterns in animal body mass distributions. Energetic, phylogenetic, biogeographical, textural discontinuity and community interaction hypotheses have been advanced to explain observed patterns. Energetic and textural discontinuity hypotheses focus upon the allometry of resource use. The community interaction hypothesis contends that biotic interactions within assemblages of species are of primary importance. Biogeographical and phylogenetic hypotheses focus on the role of constraints on the organization of communities. This paper examines …

Technical Documentation For The Approximate Point Locations And Year Of Collection For Over 50,000 Specimens In The University Of Michigan Herbarium's Michigan Flora Database, Rachel A. Simpson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This is the technical documentation for a set of mapped points representing the approximate locations at which over 50,000 plant specimens were collected in Michigan. The specimens are a subset of those documented in the University of Michigan Herbarium's Michigan Flora Database, compiled by E.G. Voss.

A Multi-Site Analysis Of Random Error In Tower-Based Measurements Of Carbon And Energy Fluxes, Andrew D. Richardson, David Y. Hollinger, George C. Burba, Kenneth J. Davis, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Gabriel G. Katul, J. William Munger, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul C. Stoy, Andrew E. Suyker, Shashi Verma, Steven C. Wofsy

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Measured surface-atmosphere fluxes of energy (sensible heat, H, and latent heat, LE) and CO₂ (FCO₂) represent the ‘‘true’’ flux plus or minus potential random and systematic measurement errors. Here, we use data from seven sites in the AmeriFlux network, including five forested sites (two of which include “tall tower” instrumentation), one grassland site, and one agricultural site, to conduct a cross-site analysis of random flux error. Quantification of this uncertainty is a prerequisite to model-data synthesis (data assimilation) and for defining confidence intervals on annual sums of net ecosystem exchange or making statistically valid comparisons between …

First Record Of The Spurge Hawkmoth As A Pollen Vector For The Western Prairie Fringed Orchid [Notes], Carla R. Jordan, Gerald M. Fauske, Mrion O. Harris, Darla Lenz

The Prairie Naturalist

Identification of pollen vectors is one step in refining management plans for a threatened plant such as the western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara Sheviak and Bowles). Pollen vector bionomics, phenology, and ethology must be understood to assess this moth and other potential pollinators relative to orchid reproductive success. Also, the ability of spurge hawkmoth (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae), a recently introduced species, to act as a pollen vector for an obligate prairie plant, the western prairie fringed orchid, in theoretical terms, provides evidence which contradicts long held tenets of one-to-one correspondence between orchids and their pollinators. Further research might shed …

The Prairie Naturalist, Volume 38, Number 1, March 2006, Elmer J. Finck, Hilary Gillock

The Prairie Naturalist

Fire History, Passerine Abundance, and Habitat on a North Dakota Drift Plain Prairie by Timothy J. Ludwick and Robert T. Murphy, pages 1-11

Bats in a Human-made Forest of Central Nebraska by Keith Geluso, pages 13-23

Effects of Predator Removal on Upland Nesting Ducks in North Dakota Grassland Fragments by Kristen D. Chodachek and Michael J. Chamberlain, pages 25-37

Estimates of Breeding Bird Populations in the Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota by Mary Ann Cunningham, Douglas H. Johnson, and Daniel N. Svingen, pages 39-56

Notes: First Record of the Spurge Hawkmoth as a Pollen Vector for the western Prairie Fringed …

Fire History, Passerine Abundance, And Habitat On A North Dakota Drift Plain Prairie, Timothy J. Ludwick, Robert K. Murphy

The Prairie Naturalist

Prescribed fire is among key tools for restoring and managing prairies in the northern Great Plains, yet there are no published reports of its impacts on grassland passerine birds on native prairie in the Drift Plain, a major physiographic subregion. We examined relationships between prescribed fire history and abundance and habitat of breeding passerines in Drift Plain prairie at Des Lacs National Wildlife National Refuge in northwestern North Dakota. In 2003, we used point counts (n = 79 75 m radius plots) to survey bird abundance on 16 management units that had been prescribe-burned one to three times each …

Suggestions For Contributors And Editorial Policy (The Prairie Naturalist), Elmer J. Finck, Hilary Gillock

The Prairie Naturalist

Suggestions for contributors and editorial policy for The Prairie Naturalist from March 2006, Volume 38, Issue 1.

Estimates Of Breeding Bird Populations In The Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota, Mary Ann Cunningham, Douglas Johnson, Daniel N. Svingen

The Prairie Naturalist

We conducted a two-year survey of breeding birds in the Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota, to estimate total populations of breeding birds. The Grassland is of interest because it provides wildlife habitat and recreational birding opportunities. Indicated breeding pairs were counted on 100-m wide belt transects during morning surveys from late May to early July in 2002 and 2003. We surveyed approximately 6 to 7% of the Grassland each year. The most abundant species in both years were grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), claycolored sparrow (Spizella pallida), Savannah sparrow (Passerculus …

Effects Of Predator Removal On Upland Nesting Ducks In North Dakota Grassland Fragments, Kristen D. Chodachek, Michael J. Chamberlain

The Prairie Naturalist

Low nest success rates in the Prairie Pothole Region are attributed mainly to changes in the predator community coupled with reductions in availability of suitable nesting cover. We evaluated effects of removal of mammalian predators on pair density and nest success of ducks nesting on 259 ha sites in northeastern North Dakota during 2001 and 2002. We monitored pair density and duck nests on 10 sites with removal and 10 sites without removal. Overall nest success for both years was greater on trapped (53.4%) than nontrapped sites (28.7%). Pair densities were not affected by predator removal, but did increase across …

Effects Of Aphid (Homoptera) Abundance And Surrounding Vegetation On The Encounter Rate Of Coccinellidae (Coleoptera), Chrysopidae (Neuroptera) And Nabidae (Hemiptera) In Alfalfa., James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Convective Line With Leading Stratiform Precipitation From Bamex, Brandom Storm, Matthew D. Parker, David P. Jorgensen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

On 31 May 2003, a front-fed convective line with leading stratiform precipitation (FFLS) was observed during the Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX). The high-resolution BAMEX measurements provided one of the first opportunities to thoroughly observe the characteristics of an FFLS system. The 31 May system had an overturning updraft during its early stages, and produced leading stratiform precipitation. As the system matured, a jump updraft developed and the system began to produce trailing stratiform precipitation. It appears that this transition was facilitated by a local decrease in the low-level line-perpendicular vertical wind shear over time, as well …

Severe Convective Wind Environments, Evan L. Kuchera, Matthew D. Parker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Nontornadic thunderstorm winds from long-lived, widespread convective windstorms can have a tremendous impact on human lives and property. To examine environments that support damaging wind producing convection, sounding parameters from Rapid Update Cycle model analyses (at 3-hourly intervals) from 2003 were compared with 7055 reports of damaging winds and 377 081 occurrences of lightning. Ground- relative wind velocity was the most effective at discriminating between damaging and nondamaging wind convective environments. Steep surface-based lapse rates (a traditional damaging wind parameter) gener- ally did not discriminate between damaging and nondamaging wind convective environments. Other pa- rameters, such as convective available potential …

Trend Identification In Twentieth-Century U.S. Snowfall: The Challenges, Kenneth E. Kunkel, Michael A. Palecki, Kenneth G. Hubbard, David A. Robinson, Kelly T. Redmond, David R. Easterling

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

There is an increasing interest in examining long-term trends in measures of snow climatology. An examination of the U.S. daily snowfall records for 1900–2004 revealed numerous apparent inconsistencies. For example, long-term snowfall trends among neighboring lake-effect stations differ greatly from insignificant to +100% century -1.

Internal inconsistencies in the snow records, such as a lack of upward trends in maximum seasonal snow depth at stations with large upward trends in snowfall, point to inhomogeneities. Nationwide, the frequency of daily observations with a 10:1 snowfall-to-liquid-equivalent ratio declined from 30% in the 1930s to a current value of around 10%, a change …

A Hybrid, Markov Chain-Based Model For Daily Streamflow Generation At Multiple Catchment Sites, Jozsef Szilagyi, Gabor Balint, Andras Csik

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Stream-Aquifer Interactions Through Inverse Modeling Of Flow Routing, Jozsef Szilagyi, Marc B. Parlange, Gabor Balint

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Discussion Of "Estimation Of The Water Balance Using Observed Soil Water In The Nebraska Sandhills" By V. Sridhar And K.G. Hubbard, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Simulation Of The Superimposition Of Floods In The Upper Tisza Region, In "Transboundary Floods: Reducing Risks Through Flood Management", Jozsef Szilagyi, Gabor Balint, Andras Csik, Balazs Gauzer, Margit Horoszne Gulyas

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance And Top Management Fraud In Listed Companies: An Empirical Analysis Based On Chinese Cases, H. Zhou, J. Li, T. Liu

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Comment On "Using Numerical Modelling To Evaluate The Capillary Fringe Groundwater Ridging Hypothesis Of Streamflow Generation" By H. L. Cloke, M. G. Anderson, J. J. Mcdonnell, And J. P. Renaud, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Methodology And Results Of Calculating Central California Surface Temperature Trends: Evidence Of Human-Induced Climate Change?, John R. Christy, William B. Norris, Kelly Redmond, Kevin P. Gallo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A procedure is described to construct time series of regional surface temperatures and is then applied to interior central California stations to test the hypothesis that century-scale trend differences between irrigated and non-irrigated regions may be identified. The procedure requires documentation of every point in time at which a discontinuity in a station record may have occurred through (a) the examination of metadata forms (e.g., station moves) and (b) simple statistical tests. From this “homogeneous segments” of temperature records for each station are defined. Biases are determined for each segment relative to all others through a method employing mathematical graph …

Prevalence And Serovars Of Salmonella In The Feces Of Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) In Nebraska, David G. Renter, David P. Gnad, Jan M. Sargeant, Scott E. Hygnstrom

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

To determine the prevalence and serovars of Salmonella in free-ranging deer, we cultured feces from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvested by hunters during a regular firearm season in southeastern Nebraska (USA). We recovered Salmonella from 5 (1%; 95% confidence interval: 0.37– 2.20%) of 500 samples and identified four different Salmonella enterica serovars [Litchfield (1), Dessau (1), Infantis (2), and Enteritidis (1)]. Although the prevalence of Salmonella in free-ranging deer appears to be low, the serovars recovered are known to be pathogenic to humans and animals.

Absorption Properties Of Dissolved And Particulate Matter In Turbid Productive Inland Lakes, Giorgio Dall'olmo, Anatoly A. Gitelson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study is to extend the knowledge on the absorption properties of turbid productive lakes by describing the spectral characteristics of a_CDOM, a_nap and a_φ spectra measured in an agriculturally dominated region of North America (Nebraska, USA).

Three-Band Model For Noninvasive Estimation Of Chlorophyll Carotenoids And Anthocyanin Contents In Higher Plant Leaves, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Galina P. Keydan, Mark N. Merzlyak

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Leaf pigment content and composition provide important information about plant physiological status. Reflectance measurements offer a rapid, nondestructive technique to estimate pigment content. This paper describes a recently developed three-band conceptual model capable of remotely estimating total of chlorophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins contents in leaves from many tree and crop species. We tuned the spectral regions used in the model in accord with pigment of interest and the optical characteristics of the leaves studied, and showed that the developed technique allowed accurate estimation of total chlorophylls, carotenoids and anthocyanins, explaining more than 91%, 70% and 93% of pigment variation, respectively. …

Ecophysiology Of Two Native Invasive Woody Species And Two Dominant Warm-Season Grasses In The Semiarid Grasslands Of The Nebraska Sandhills, Kathleen D. Eggemeyer, Tala Awada, David A. Wedin, F. Edwin Harvey, Xinhua Zhou

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Populations of Pinus ponderosa and Juniperus virginiana are expanding into semiarid Sandhills grasslands in Nebraska. To evaluate the physiological basis of their success, we measured the seasonal course of leaf gas exchange, plant water status, and carbon isotope discrimination in these two native trees and two native C₄ grasses (Schizachyrium scoparium and Panicum virgatum). Compared to the trees, grasses had higher net photosynthetic rates (A_net) and water use efficiency (WUE) and more negative predawn and midday water potentials (Ψ) in June and July. While leaf Ψ and rates of leaf gas exchange declined for all …

Relationship Between Gross Primary Production And Chlorophyll Content In Crops: Implications For The Synoptic Monitoring Of Vegetation Productivity, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Andrés Viña, Shashi Verma, Donald C. Rundquist, Timothy J. Arkebauer, Galina P. Keydan, Bryan Leavitt, Veronica Ciganda, George G. Burba, Andrew E. Suyker

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of spatially distributed CO2 fluxes is of great importance for regional and global studies of carbon balance. We applied a recently developed technique for remote estimation of crop chlorophyll content to assess gross primary production (GPP). The technique is based on reflectance in two spectral channels: the near-infrared and either the green or the red-edge. We have found that in irrigated and rainfed crops (maize and soybean), midday GPP is closely related to total crop chlorophyll content. The technique provided accurate estimations of midday GPP in both crops under rainfed and irrigated conditions with root mean square error …