Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Probabilistic Movement Model With Emigration Simulates Movements Of Deer In Nebraska, 1990–2006, Charles J. Frost, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Andrew J. Tyre, Kent M. Eskridge, David M. Baasch, Justin R. Boner, Gregory M. Clements, Jason M. Gilsdorf, Travis C. Kinsell, Kurt C. Vercauteren

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Movements of deer can affect population dynamics, spatial redistribution, and transmission and spread of diseases. Our goal was to model the movement of deer in Nebraska in an attempt to predict the potential for spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) into eastern Nebraska. We collared and radio-tracked >600 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Nebraska during 1990–2006.We observed large displacements (>10 km) for both species and sexes of deer, including migrations up to 100 km and dispersals up to 50 km. Average distance traveled between successive daily locations was 166m for …

A Case Study Of A Successful Lake Rehabilitation Project In South-Central Nebraska, Peter J. Spirk, Brad Newcomb, Keith D. Koupal

The Prairie Naturalist

Cottonmill Lake, a 17.4 ha impoundment located in Buffalo County, Nebraska, was a fishery dominated by common carp (Cyprinus carpio). As a result of the poor sportfish populations, angler participation in May and June of 1993 was low (503 ± 210 angler hours) and angler catch rates for all fish species (0.5 ± 0.4 fish/angler hour) was less than desired. In 1995, before rehabilitation, bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) trap net catch per unit effort (CPUE) was 1.5 ± 0.9, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) catch per hour of electrofishing was 8.0 ± 0.5, and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) …

Slides: Rethinking Western Water Law: Whatever Happened To The Public Interest?, Mark Squillace

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School

15 slides

Slides: Water Needs And Strategies For A Sustainable Future, Shaun Mcgrath

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Shaun McGrath, Program Director, Western Governors’ Association

25 slides

Slides: "Mitaku Oyasin" Means "We Are All Related", Bob Gough

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Bob Gough, NativeEnergy, Inc.

72 slides

Low Reproductive Success Of Mallards In A Grassland-Dominated Landscape In The Sandhills Of Nebraska, Johann A. Walker, Zach J. Cunningham, Mark P. Vrtiska, Scott E. Stephens, Larkin Powell

The Prairie Naturalist

The Sandhills of Nebraska comprise approximately 5,000,000 ha of native grassland interspersed with numerous groundwater-fed wetlands. A substantial population of the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) nests in this region. Previous investigations of nest survival probability of ducks in the Sandhills have estimated surprisingly low rates of nest survival for a grassland-dominated landscape. These investigations were conducted on public lands and most nest searching took place near wetlands where activity of nest predators might be highest. We predicted that mallards would nest at varying distances from wetlands and that survival probability of a representative sample of duck nests would increase …

Application Of A Routing Model For Detecting Channel Flow Changes With Minimal Data, Jozsef Szilagyi, Nicholas Pinter, Rob Venczel

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting Songbird Nest Survival And Brood Parasitism In The Rainwater Basin Region Of Nebraska, Max Post Van Der Burg

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

No abstract provided.

Daphnia Lumholtzi, An Exotic Zooplankton, Invading A Nebraska Reservoir, Brian C. Peterson, Nicolas J. Fryda, Keith D. Koupal, Wyatt Hoback

The Prairie Naturalist

A limnological assessment project by the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission collected weekly vertical zooplankton tows during May through September 2002 at Harlan County Reservoir in Nebraska. Beginning on 5 August 2002, the exotic Daphnia lumholtzi (Cladocera: Daphniidae) appeared at a density of 0.04 1.1 in one of fifteen standardized sampling stations. By 6 September 2002, D. lumholtzi was found in all fifteen stations at an average density of 2.17 ± 3.10 1.1 with a site maximum density of 11.43 1.1 • Length measurements of D. lumholtzi ranged from 0.80 mm to 5.66 …

Vertical Movement Of Water In A High Plains Aquifer Induced By A Pumping Well, Xunhong Chen, Yanfeng Yin, James W. Goeke, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Field observation and numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the hydraulic relationship between the shallow and deep aquifer of a High Plains Aquifer system, in which shallow and deep aquifers are separated by an aquitard. Pumping from the lower aquifer resulted in a small drawdown in the upper aquifer and a larger drawdown in the aquitard; pumping from the shallow aquifer caused a small drawdown in the aquitard and the deep aquifer. Analysis of pumping test data gives the values of the hydraulic conductivity of the aquitard and the deep aquifer. Long-term observation of groundwater levels in the shallow …

Mesopredator Movement, Abundance, And Habitat Selection In The Rainwater Basins Of Nebraska, Christina J. Kocer

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

No abstract provided.

Slides: The Spokane And The Yakima: A Tale Of Two Aquifers, Rachel Paschal Osborn

Groundwater in the West (Summer Conference, June 16-18)

Presenter: Rachael Paschal Osborn, Private Practice and Gonzaga Law School.

89 slides.

Slides: Deep Trouble On The Plains: Conflicts Over Aquifer Mining, Management And Marketing, Ronald Kaiser

Groundwater in the West (Summer Conference, June 16-18)

Presenter: Ron Kaiser, Texas A&M University.

47 slides.

Slides: Ground-Water Resources In The Western United States: Status And Trends, Alan Burns

Groundwater in the West (Summer Conference, June 16-18)

Presenter: Alan Burns, U.S. Geological Survey.

68 slides.

Late Albian Dinosaur Tracks From The Cratonic (Eastern) Margin Of The Western Interior Seaway, Nebraska, Usa, R. M. Joeckel, J. M. Cunningham, R. G. Corner, P. L. Phillips, G. A. Ludvigson

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Remote Sensing And Gis To The Studies Of Groundwater–Lake Interactions In The Nebraska Sandhills, Evgueni N. Tcherepanov

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

No abstract provided.

Movements And Habitat Use By Shovelnose And Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Benjamin D. Swigle

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

No abstract provided.

Improved Drought Planning For Arizona, Katharine Jacobs, Barbara Morehouse

Water, Climate and Uncertainty: Implications for Western Water Law, Policy, and Management (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

Presenter: Barbara Morehouse

7 pages and 22 slides

Includes bibliographical references

"Katharine Jacobs is currently the Special Assistant for Policy and Planning, Arizona Department of Water Resources."

"Barbara Morehouse is Associate Research Scientist at the University of Arizona’s Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. She manages the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) project, which is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Global Programs."

Survival Rates And Recovery Distributions Of Canada Geese Banded In Nebraska, Larkin A. Powell, Mark Vrtiska, Nick Lyman

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We analyzed banding and recovery data for Canada geese (Branta canadensis) banded in Nebraska during 1990–2000. Survival rates were lower during 1996–2000 (adult: 0.688, SE = 0.016; juvenile: 0.611, SE = 0.029), than 1990–1995 (adult: 0.727, SE = 0.011; juvenile: 0.639, SE = 0.024). Average juvenile-to-adult ratio from banding data was 0.834 (SD = 0.485), resulting in an annual population growth rate (λ) estimate for 1990–1995 of 0.995 (95% CI = 0.021), and 0.922 (0.018) for 1996–2000. Our recovery analysis suggests that 67% of geese banded in Nebraska are shot in Nebraska. Over 30% of both juvenile and adult recoveries …

Silvopastoral Systems In The Pine Ridge Of Nebraska, James R. Brandle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Oxygen Budget For Lake Ogallala, Kyle D. Hoagland, John C. Holz, Tadd M. Barrow, Richard J. Ruane

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Lake Ogallala, located below Kingsley Dam which impounds Lake McConaughy in Keith County, Nebraska, is a 260-surface hectare lake with an average depth of approximately eight meters. The lake provides mUltiple uses including a sport fishery and a hydropower and irrigation regulation basin. Since the installation of the hydroelectric generating plant in 1984 (Kingsley Dam was constructed in 1942) and the continued eutrophication of Lake McConaughy, dissolved oxygen concentrations have generally declined in Lake Ogallala. Hypolimnetic withdrawal from Lake McConaughy results in depressed oxygen levels in Lake Ogallala during the mid to latter part of the summer, particularly in certain …

Ecology Of Elk In Northwestern Nebraska: Demographics, Effects Of Human Disturbance, And Characteristics Of Calving Habitat, Bruce A. Stillings

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

No abstract provided.

Platte River Endangered Species Partnership: Collaboration Or Coercion In Disguise, Dale Strickland

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

9 pages.

A Western Slope Perspective: Endangered Species And Municipal Water, David C. Hallford

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

13 pages (includes 1 map).

Contains footnotes and 1 page of references.

The Esa: Oil And Water?, Joseph L. Sax

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

4 pages.

The Platte River Cooperative Agreement: A Historical Perspective, Ann Salomon Bleed

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

No abstract provided.

Streamflow Depletion Investigations In The Republican River Basin: Colorado, Nebraska, And Kansas, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Relative Importance Of Patch Area And Perimeter–Area Ratio To Grassland Breeding Birds, Christopher J. Helzer, Dennis E. Jelinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Habitat fragmentation has been implicated as a major cause of population decline in grassland birds. We tested the hypothesis that a combination of area and shape determines the use of grassland patches by breeding birds. We compared both species richness and individual species presence in 45 wet meadow grasslands in the floodplain of the central Platte River, Nebraska. Bird data were collected through the use of belt transects and supplemented by walking and listening outside transects. Our data supported our primary hypothesis that perimeter–area ratio, which reflects both the area and shape of a patch, is the strongest predictor of …

The Nebraska Earth Science Education Network Electronic Communication Project, D. C. Gosselin, R. Feurer, S. Frack, A. Musson, L. Mayo, C. Karel, E. Schaefer, C. Snyder, J. Sarchett, M. L. Alfieri

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Biology Of Shovelnose Sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus Platorynchus, In The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Robin L. Hofpar

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

No abstract provided.