Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Notes On Black-Footed Ferret Detectability And Behavior, David S. Jachowski

The Prairie Naturalist

Despite over two decades of recovery efforts, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) remains one of the least understood and most critically endangered mammals in North America. Once extinct in the wild, over 2,400 captive-born individuals of black-footed ferret (hereafter referred to as ferret) have been released at 13 reintroduction sites ranging from northern Montana to Chihuahua, Mexico, since 1991. However, ferret populations currently are considered to be self-sustaining at only two sites in South Dakota and a single site in Wyoming (United States Fish and Wildlife Service 2006). To understand why ferret recovery is not succeeding at a …

Silphidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) Collected In North Central North Dakota, Including New Occurrences Of Thanatophilus Sagax (Mannerheim),, Guy A. Hanley

The Prairie Naturalist

Members of the beetle family Silphidae are relatively large (10-35 mm) and often brightly colored insects. They usually are found in association with dead animal bodies (carrion), but some are phytophagous while others are predatory. Thirty endemic species are known to occur in North America north of Mexico (Ratcliffe 1996), and 17 species in North Dakota. (Hanley et aI., unpublished data). To date, there has been little to no silphid collection data available from north central North Dakota counties, due mostly to the lack of entomological research in the area.

Nine species of silphids were collected in a single season …

Optimal Foraging In Eastern Fox Squirrel: Food Size Matters For A Generalist Forager, Robert Tatina

The Prairie Naturalist

Classical optimal foraging theory (OFT) predicts that an animal forages optimally when it chooses foods with the highest energy benefit or minimizes time searching for and handling food. r evaluated OFT by presenting eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) multiple food items (i.e., sunflower seeds and • fruits) in various density combinations. When the choice was between foods of equal energy benefits but different costs, they chose forage items with greater costs, seemingly not foraging optimally. However, individuals showed a partial preference for food items which minimized search time, but not handling time. The eastern fox squirrel also was …

Review Of Appreciating Your Feathered Neighbors, By Dana Gardner And Nancy Overcott, Melinda G. Knutson

The Prairie Naturalist

Fifty Common Birds of the Upper Midwest. Watercolors by Dana Gardner; text by Nancy Overcott. 2006. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa. 106 pages. $34.95 (cloth).

What's the best way to interest a friend in bird watching? Buy them a field guide, a CD of bird songs, or take them out bird watching? All of these ideas might work, but another approach is to tell personal stories and draw pictures of common birds in yards, parks, and natural areas where they live; help them "get to know their neighbors with feathers." That's exactly what Dana Gardner and Nancy Overcott …

In Memoriam Robert N. Randall, October 26, 1915 - January 30, 2007, Clark Talkington

The Prairie Naturalist

Among his friends, Bob Randall will be remembered as a caring, gentle man. Bob was one of those rare individuals who had a keen awareness of everyone around him. In social settings, he would make sure that everyone was comfortable, and it was always clear that he was genuinely concerned about everyone. Those who knew him will greatly miss his gentle nature and enthusiasm for birds. He never got caught up in all of his achievements. He had a sense of balance to his life which was evident in his many interests including birding and bird banding, rocks and minerals, …

First Record Of Field Speedwell From South Dakota, Robert Tatina

The Prairie Naturalist

Veronica agrestis L. (field speedwell or green field speedwell), a member of the Scrophulariaceae, is a small, weedy, prostrate annual with blue or white flowers (Gleason and Cronquist 1991). Until recently, its distribution included most of the eastern half of the United States and the southern two-thirds of the Great Plains, but not South Dakota (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VEAG &photoID=veag_001_avd.tif, accessed 5 February 2007). Neither the Great Plains Flora Association (1986) nor Van Bruggen (1996) includes this species in the flora of South Dakota; however, the former has it naturalized in southeastern Nebraska and in Iowa (Great Plains Flora Association 1986). In May, …

Using Distance Sampling To Estimate Densities Of White-Tailed Deer In South-Central Minnesota, Michelle A. Larue, Clayton K. Nielsen, Marrett D. Grund

The Prairie Naturalist

Distance sampling is a method of estimating population abundance and density used by wildlife biologists for several species because of its advantages relative to other techniques. However, few wildlife biologists have used distance sampling to estimate abundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We describe a distance sampling technique used to estimate prehunt and post-hunt population densities of deer in Watonwan County, Minnesota. Estimates of white-tailed deer density were compared between distance sampling versus population modeling, and costs for distance sampling versus aerial surveys were determined. We drove 2,704 km during 24 spotlight surveys conducted from 21 October to …

Marshes-In Photos And Words. Review Of Marshes: The Disappearing Edens By Bill Burt, Douglas H. Johnson

The Prairie Naturalist

Bill Burt has done it again. The author of two superbly illustrated books (Shadowbirds and Rare and Elusive Birds of North America) that were reviewed earlier in this journal, Burt has returned with another excellent book, this one focusing on marshes. Like his earlier books, Marshes features wonderful close-up views of many hard-to-photograph birds. Here, in addition, are grand images of marsh landscapes and other marsh denizens, especially plants. Burt best characterizes his own book, which he intends as "an evocation and exploration, rather than a catalog of marshland life." He tells of his 30 years spent prowling …

Occurrences Of Small Mammal Species In A Mixedgrass Prairie In Northwestern North Dakota,, Robert K. Murphy, Richard A. Sweitzer, John D. Albertson

The Prairie Naturalist

Documentation is limited for many species of vertebrates in the northern Great Plains, particularly northwestern North Dakota (Bailey 1926, Hall 1981). Here we report relative abundances of small « 450 g) species of mammals that were captured incidental to surveys of amphibians and reptiles at Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge (LNWR) in northwestern North Dakota from 1985 to 1987 and 1999 to 2000. Our records include a modest range extension for one species. We also comment on relationships of small mammals on the refuge to vegetation changes associated with fire and grazing disturbances.

Cooperative Conservation: Increasing Capacity Through Community Partnerships Interagency Volunteer Program: Final Project Report, May 31 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Get Outdoors Nevada

• Was recognized with two consecutive National Take Pride in America Awards (2005 and 2006) in the Federal Program category.
• Created a central clearinghouse created for Southern Nevada public lands volunteers, including:─ an online volunteer data‐management application (Volgistics) adopted and customized for the program and populated with 2,866 active and 974 prospective volunteer records ─ a community outreach Web site that currently averages 57,930 hits per month and has aided in the recruitment of 1,211 volunteers ─ branding development and marketing and outreach tool creation
• Developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all areas of Interagency Volunteer Program Management—recruitment, training, recognition, retention …

Presentation To Senior Leadership The Center For Academic Enrichment And Outreach, Public Lands Institute

Presentations (PLI)

• Strengthen the national fabric in support of public lands.
• Provide people of all ages with opportunities to participate in the enjoyment, protection, and responsible use of our public lands.
• Engage and inspire people to actively participate in the enjoyment, protection and responsible use of our public lands.
• Create high-quality, relevant, up-to-date knowledge to solve problems and make effective decisions about public lands.

Following Fall Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

This was a study of two sites along Fall Brook, located in Middleborough, MA. Fall Brook has been monitored by MHS students over the past 10 years and is a major tributary of the Taunton River Watershed. The purpose of the study completed this year was to determine how land use affects the nitrate and phosphate levels of Fall Brook. The Wareham Street Site is located next to a horse farm and downstream from several cranberry bogs in a heavily wooded area. The Wood Street Site is located in conservation land, downstream from the Wareham Street Site and has a …

Is The Nemasket River Stressed Out?

Watershed Access Lab Projects

What is the effect of the waste water treatment plant on the water quality of the Nemasket River? Students chose three sites to study. These were located at the headwaters near Assawompset Pond, Route 105 (reference site), and Murdock Street (impact site). Murdock Street had a greater expanse of aquatic vegetation than the Route 105 site. The treatment plant is located between these two sites and deposits nitrates and phosphates into the river with its effluent. Phosphates are more readily removed from effluent via chemical reactions, while nitrates are more difficult to remove. Nitrates can be removed using BNR (biological …

Agawam River Project – Year 6 – River Water And Eel Grass

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Agawam River begins in Long Pond in Plymouth, Masssachusetts and travels 13 miles downstream converging with the Wankinco River in Wareham. This brackish water then flows into Wareham River and finally, into the salt waters of Buzzards Bay.

Six different groups of 7th and 8th grade students have waded into the Agawam River to collect data over the past six years, with the expert and dedicated assistance of Dr. Curry and Kim McCoy. Our project has focused on the quality of the river ecosystem at two sites, about one mile apart, upstream from the Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF). …

Abbott Run River Study

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of our study was to make certain that the river met the Massachusetts water quality standards of a Class A river. We are concerned that the Abbott Run remains a Class A river because it is the source of the drinking water for Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Abbott Run is located in the western section of North Attleboro within the Blackstone River Watershed. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the west, Plainville to the north and Attleboro to the south. The watershed section in North Attleboro is approximately four square miles.

Land use is predominately single-family, residential except …

River Characterization Of The Assonet River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Students conducted a characterization study of the Assonet River above Locust Street in Assonet, MA. They chose three sites in a third order segment of the river. Malbone Street was the most accessible site near the headwaters and was downstream from the confluence of the Cedar Swamp River and the Assonet River. The Cedar Swamp River drains a large area of wetlands (Cedar Swamp). Beechwood Street is downstream from another small wetlands and is close to Malbone Street. Locust is downstream from the Quaker Brook confluence and a section of the Assonet River called Forge Pond. The pH of all …

Footprints

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Whitman-Hanson Regional High School now occupies a new facility which was opened in September of 2005. The school was built as a “green school,” with numerous energy saving and environmentally beneficial features. Several new wetlands were created to deal with runoff from the grounds and building. Students in the RiverNet Club began investigating the on site wetlands which were being utilized by vernal pool animals for breeding. The observations led to questions about our environmental footprint. The runoff from the roof is collected and is used to flush the toilets. There are solar collectors on the roof. The parking …

Rivernet Watershed Access Lab Program Overview 2007, Kevin Curry

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Brief overview of the RiverNet Watershed Access program - its history and the achievements of the many participating teachers and students from throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.

The Influence Of Grazing Systems On Grassland Bird Density, Productivity, And Species Richness On Private Rangeland In The Nebraska Sandhills, Silka Lori Finkbeiner Kempema

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

No abstract provided.

Conservation And Beneficial Functions Of Grassland Birds In Agroecosystems, Andrea Victoria Hanson

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

No abstract provided.

The Paper Trail: Paper Use And Disposal At The University Of Rhode Island, Katherine Modzelewski

Senior Honors Projects

The University of Rhode Island has a well-established recycling program, however, the university community does not make full and proper use of the services and facilities provided. This project will specifically look at the use and disposal of paper products that are used for business and educational purposes at the University of Rhode Island and the effects these practices have both up- and down-stream. This analysis will be accomplished by examining the source and disposal of these university-used paper products through interviews with knowledgeable individuals, including those with oversight on the ordering, management, and disposal of professional paper products, a …

First Record Of Corisella Inscripta (Uhler) (Heteroptera: Corixidae) From North Dakota, Bruce A. Hanson, David M. Mushet, Ned A. Euliss Jr., Stephen Chordas Iii

The Prairie Naturalist

Corisella inscripta is a water boatman species that was reported in H. B. Hungerford's (1948) seminal monograph as occurring throughout Mexico and nine western states of the United States. Subsequently, additional records of C. inscripta have been reported for British Columbia in Canada (Maw et al. 2000) and for Montana (Roemhild 1976), Arkansas (Cochran and Harp 1990), Missouri (Polhemus et al. 1988), Ohio (Chordas and Armitage 1998), and Michigan (Chordas et al. 2002) in the United States. There have been no published records of C. inscripta from North Dakota (Fig. I). We collected one male C. inscripta at the Cottonwood …

Review Of Some Scarce Birds Of The Upper Midwest By Dana Gardner And Nancy Overcott, Stephen J. Dinsmore

The Prairie Naturalist

Fifty Uncommon Birds of the Upper Midwest. Watercolors by Dana Gardner; text by Nancy Overcott. 2007. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, Iowa. 112 pages. $34.95 (cloth).

Nancy Overcott has written series of short essays of birds found in the Upper Midwest and assembled them in an easy-to-read book. As an ornithologist and avid birder in this region, I'll admit that I didn't know what to expect when I opened the cover-would the focus be on rarities, would there be an identification component, are there tips for finding each species, and at what audience was the book aimed? Ultimately, I …

Case Studies Of Urban And Rural Lakes In Minnesota, Lisa M. Becker

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Linking Flux Network Measurements To Continental Scale Simulations: Ecosystem Carbon Dioxide Exchange Capacity Under Non-Water-Stressed Conditions, Katherine B. Owen, John Tenhunen, Markus Reichstein, Quan Wang, Eva Falge, Ralf Geyer, Xiangming Xiaos, Paul Stoy, Christof Ammann, Altaf Arain, Marc Aubinet, Mika Aurela, Christian Bernhofer, Bogdan Chojnicki, Andre Granier, Thomas Gruenwald, Julian Hadley, Bernard Heinesch, David Hollinger, Alexander Knohl, Werner Kutsch, Annalea Lohila, Tilden Meyers, Eddy Moors, Christine Moureaux, Kim Pilegaard, Nobuko Saigusa, Shashi Verma, Timo Vesala, Chris Vogel

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This paper examines long-term eddy covariance data from 18 European and 17 North American and Asian forest, wetland, tundra, grassland, and cropland sites under nonwater- stressed conditions with an empirical rectangular hyperbolic light response model and a single layer two light-class carboxylase-based model. Relationships according to ecosystem functional type are demonstrated between empirical and physiological parameters, suggesting linkages between easily estimated parameters and those with greater potential for process interpretation. Relatively sparse documentation of leaf area index dynamics at flux tower sites is found to be a major difficulty in model inversion and flux interpretation. Therefore, a simplification of the …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Ending April 05, 2007, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• Don’t Trash Nevada website traffic increased by 144% over the previous quarter.

• Project Manager Douglas Joslin made a presentation about the Take Pride in America in Southern Nevada program to the Executive Committee on February 7, 2007.

• 20 Don’t Trash Nevada advertisements ran during February and March.

• A billboard has been in place on US95 and Russell Road throughout this quarter.

• Don’t Trash Nevada purchased radio spots on Metro Networks in February and March.

• 137 people have taken the on-line anti-litter and dumping pledge.

• The anti-litter team received a $10,000 dollar donation from …

The John Muir Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2007, The John Muir Center For Environmental Studies

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

The John Muir University of the Pacific, Stocktoi, CA BER2/3 Sprint; Summer 2< John Muir's World Tour (part V) Lex Chalmers, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand Preface by W. R. Swagerty, Director, John Muir Center This past spring, I had the good fortune to travel to New Zealand and Australia through sponsorship of the J. William Fulbright Program of the U.S. State Department. At University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand on the North Island, Dean Daniel Zirker introduced me to Professor Lex Chalmers, a distinguished geographer and researcher on his faculty. It turns out that Professor Chalmers had plans to travel to the United States on family business. After learning my interest in following John Muir's trail from his 1904 visit to New Zealand, Lex agreed to help with this project. In May, Chalmers visited us in Stockton and spent time in the John Muir Papers, clarifying the route and obtaining pertinent transcripts and details from the manuscripts. The document that resulted is his excellent work, not mine. I am indebted to Chalmers and the University of Waikato for the time spent helping the world better understand Muir's unpublished travels in New Zealand from the difficult-to-read notebooks that he kept while traveling abroad, and from Linnie Marsh Wolfe's transcriptions from the 1940s or 1950s. We are planning a more extensive academic publication from this preliminary work and share with you the fifth of six segments in the piece that follows. WRS John Muir's remarkable 'World Tour' began on May 29, 1903 with his departure from New York, and ended almost exactly a year later when he arrived back in San Francisco on May 27,1904. For most of this time Muir maintained a detailed daily journal, commenting on the botany, geomorphology and the patterns of human occupance that he encountered. These journals, closely written in pencil and often illustrated, are held in the Holt-Atherton Collection at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Ca. The collection also holds some of Muir's correspondence written during his travels, and part of the Library collection he established. The journals have attracted scholarly attention, most notably in the transcription work undertaken by Linnie Marsh Wolfe to support her commentaries and 1946 biography of John Muir (Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir). Wolfe's biography, not without its critics, place her at the forefront of commentators on John Muir's contribution to conservation, and her work was recognised by the award of the Pulitzer Prize for biography. Her typescript records of John Muir's journals are an important contribution and they provide the best research source for (Continued on page 6) page 1

Jews John Muir in the New World Proposed Film Documentary with Director Catherine Tatge PRESS RELEASE Source: Global Village Media/PRNewswire/USNewswire New York, July 18, 2007 The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a grant of $80,000 to Global Village Media in support of their new documentary, "John Muir in the New World." The grant will be used during the scripting phase of the project. John Muir is one of the tall trees in environmentalism and western ecological thinking. He was one of the first conservationists …

Everglades National Park – Surveying The Southernmost Cave In The Continental United States, Lee J. Florea, Amber J. Yuellig

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Everglades National Park encompasses 1.5 million acres of grassland glades, tree islands, cypress strands, and mangrove marshes and is world renowned for natural vistas and wonders at the surface. The cave and karst resources in this park, however, are little known even though much of the park is underlain by limestone. In a recent communication to the authors, Alan Cressler (U.S. Geological Survey, written communication, 2006) described his visit to Palma Vista Cave in Everglades National Park last November that he originally explored and described over 13 years ago (Cressler, 1993).

Fisheries Research Report No.161 - Distribution And Abundance Of Juvenile Pink Snapper, Pagrus Auratus, In The Gulfs Of Shark Bay, Western Australia, From Trap Surveys, Gary Jackson, C. Burton, Michael J. Moran, Ben Radford

Fisheries Research Reports

Trap surveys using Antillean-Z fish traps were carried out across a range of depths and habitat types in the gulfs of Shark Bay between 1998 and 2000. Objectives of the study were (i) to evaluate the efficiency of the fish traps in catching 0+ and 1+ pink snapper (Pagrus auratus), (ii) to investigate the distribution and abundance of juvenile pink snapper in both gulfs using trap surveys, (iii) to investigate the influence of environmental factors including habitat-type on the distribution of juvenile pink snapper and, (iv) to develop trap indices of 0+ relative abundance and assess their use for monitoring …

Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management In South Australia And Victoria, Rebecca Devries

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The detrimental impact from fishing on various species as well as on the overall ecosystem has increased so much over the years that the Australian fishing industry is currently in jeapordy. Scientists, fishery managers, government agencies, industry, and environmental organizations have therefore been actively developing and researching management strategies focused on finding a balance between fisheries and the ecosystem. A new holistic and promising approach, ecosystem-based fishery management, invested in ecological sustainability and the recognition of the critical interdependence between human well-being and ecological health, is currently proposed as the best solution for fishery management.

This paper will consequently investigate …