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Table Of Contents

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Preface

Prairie Flora and Floristic Studies

Prairie Wildlife and Animal Studies

Conservation and Preservation

Restoration and Management

Closing Plenary

Abstracts for Other Oral Presentations

Abstracts for Poster Presentations

Underwriter

Sponsors

Conference Field Trip Leaders

Volunteers

Performers/Artists

Plenary Speakers

Artists and Designers

Manuscript Reviewers

A Floristic Quality Assessment System For The Coastal Prairie Of Louisiana, Larry Allain, Latimore Smith, Charles Allen, Malcolm F. Vidrine, James B. Grace

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Evaluation systems to assess the biotic integrity of plant communities exist for some ecosystems, but not the increasingly rare coastal prairies of Louisiana. A list of plant species occurring in Louisiana's coastal prairie was created and coefficients of conservatism (C) were assigned for each species. A Floristic Quality Index (FQI), which is calculated using the C values provided by a panel of experts, can be used to evaluate prairie remnants and restorations. We assigned C values from 0-10 based on their estimated degree of association with prairies of various levels of natural quality and their tolerance of disturbance. Those species …

Flora Of The Anacoco Prairie On Fort Polk, Louisiana, Charles Allen, Sara Thames, Linda Chance, Charles Stagg

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The two major types of prairie in Louisiana are Cajun Prairie-a coastal prairie type located in southwest Louisianaand the calcareous prairies that are scattered across central and north Louisiana. Fort Polk, located in west central Louisiana, is predominately longleaf pine forest, but also includes calcareous prairies. A floristic survey of the Anacoco Prairie on Fort Polk has been ongoing since 1991. Herbaceous species dominant in the small prairie openings, which are surrounded by strips of calcareous forests. A total of 177 species of vascular plants have been identified from the Anacoco Prairie. The top two families are Poaceae and Asteraceae …

The Prairie-Wetland Vegetation Continuum In The Chicago Region Of Northeastern Illinois, Martin Bowles, Michael Jones

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

We conducted a floristic ordination and gradient analys is of plant communities extending from prairie through graminoid-dominated wetlands in the Chicago region of northeastern Illinois. Data represented about 450 species from 103 stands sampled across a gradient of six soil moisture classes ranging from dry to hydric, and included sand, gravel, dolomite and loam prairies, as well as fen, sedge meadow, floating mat, marsh, and bog. As found in other midwestern grassland studies, vegetation aligned most strongly along a soil moisture gradient, with individualistic species distributions forming a hierarchical continuum, and lower species richness at the dry and wet extremes …

A Comparison Of Illinois Remnant Prairies, 1976 To 1988, Erica A. Corbett

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

At one time, 60% of Illinois' land area was covered with prairie, but 99% of that prairie has been lost. Currently, 2,300 acres (about 930 hectares) of remnant prairie is protected in the Illinois Nature Preserves System. Many of these sites were surveyed in the mid-1970s as part of the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (lNA!). 1 analyzed vegetation data as relative frequency of herbaceous species. Data were analyzed using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) to determine environmental influences on species composition. I also resampled 29 of the original sites in summer 1998. In addition to collecting data on relative frequency of …

Response Of Grassland Birds To Fire On A Wisconsin Sand Prairie Over An 18-Year Period, Greg Geller, David Sample, Rich Henderson

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The relative abundance of grassland birds was estimated on an 81-ha (200-acre) dry to dry-mesic sand prairie in south, west Wisconsin over an 18-year period (1987-2004). Birds were surveyed three times during the breeding season on seven, 2-ha (5-acre) strip transects in six different burn units. We compared results to time since fire and other habitat features. The average rotation of prescribed fires in the burn units ranged from three to six years. Seven species were selected for detailed analysis. These were grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum),-18-year average of 1.33 birds per ha, field sparrows (Spizella pusilla) …

Large-Scale Restoration Of The Rice Lake Plains: A Landscape Conservation Approach, Todd Farrell, John L. Riley, Lisa M. Mclaughlin

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

In Ontario, it is estimated the tallgrass prairie and savanna once covered 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres), of which approximately 3% (2,100 ha, 5,189 acres) remains today. Based on historical land surveys and from early botanical accounts, the easternmost extent of these unique habitats was along the eastern flank of the Oak Ridges Moraine in an area known as the Rice Lake Plains. This area covered an estimated 15,384 to 30,300 hectares (38,000- 74,131 acres) (Carling and others 1992). The Rice Lake Plains harboured numerous savanna indicator species such as the extirpated Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). In …

Protecting Pioneer Cemetery Prairies: Balancing The Need To Preserve Cultural And Natural Heritage Values, Angella K. Moorehouse, Harold Hassen

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

The protection and management of pioneer cemetery prairies is a daunting challenge. As the public has become accustomed to highly manicured grass in their backyard lawns, neighborhood parks and cemeteries, prairie cemeteries, with grasses three- to six-feet tall, are often thought to be abandoned or unkept even though the cemeteries retain their original vegetation. Caring for prairie plants, protecting cemetery stones, and providing public access need not be goals that stand in conflict. Working in conjunction, cemetery advocates, archaeologists, and plant biologists can reach satisfactory accommodations. This paper gives an overview of the protection status of pioneer cemetery prairies and …

Will Tillage And Plant Growth Regulator Pretreatments Enhance Herbicide Effects On Reed Canarygrass?, Craig A. Annen

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) is a dominant perennial grass species in many sedge meadows and wet prairies. Efforts to control and eradicate this species with herbicides have had limited short-term success. A system of correlative inhibition (apical dominance) may operate in reed canarygrass rhizomes, resulting in a persistent rhizome bud bank that must be depleted in order to restore function and diversity to reed canarygrass stands. Pretreatments that overcome correlative inhibition may predispose reed canarygrass rhizomes to more effective herbicidal control. I conducted a feasibility study to test the efficacy of pretreatment tillage and plant growth regulator (PGR) …

Oak Savanna Restoration: A Case Study, Thomas D. Brock, Katherine M. Brock

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

A degraded oak savanna in southwestern Wisconsin is being restored using intensive cutting of undesirable shrubs- buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum), honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.)-and selective removal of trees that are crowding the open-grown bur (Quercus macrocarpa) and white (Q. alba) oaks. Land use records and historic aerial photographs have been used to guide the restoration process. Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), black walnut (Juglans nigra), black cherry (Prunus serotina), and black oak (Q. velutina) are being removed by cutting and burning or …

Dwelling On Common Ground: Scientific And Family Narratives Of Change In Natural Landscapes, Damian Craniak Ph.D.

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Can mapping past and current changes in prairie landscapes in relation to historical shifts in human culture suggest promising directions for efforts to restore the health of grasslands and other natural communities? During the last 20,000 years the Land shifted and altered; during the past 10,000 years Life moved and migrated; and during the past 5,000 years natural and human Law has been turned and twisted to produce changes unanticipated in the history of the world. In the past 500 years these changes have quickened as we have changed ourselves from foragers into fur traders, and then into farmers, foresters, …

Abstracts For Poster Presentations

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conferences

Abstracts for Poster Presentations pp. 1-10

Nutritional Condition Of Northern Yellowstone Elk, Rachel Cook, John G. Cook, L. David Mech

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

We estimated nutritional condition for 96 female northern Yellowstone elk (Cervus elaphus nelson) during mid-to late winter 2000, 2001, and 2002. Neither year nor capture location significantly influenced any measure of condition (body fat, body mass, and longissimus dorsi thickness; P ≥ 0.14). Overall, age = 8.9 years ± 0.4 SE, body fat = 9.5% ± 0.4, body mass = 235.1 kg ± 2.2, and longissimus dorsi muscle thickness = 5.6 cm ± 0.1. Despite an age segregation pattern across the winter range (P = 0.016), we found no evidence of bias in our estimates of nutritional condition …

The Flora Of The Cottonwood Lake Study Area, Stutsman County, North Dakota, David M. Mushet, Ned H. Euliss Jr., Stephen P. Lane, Christopher M. Goldade

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

The 92 ha Cottonwood Lake Study Area is located in south-central North Dakota along the eastern edge of a glacial stagnation moraine known as the Missouri Coteau. The study area has been the focus of biological and hydrological research since the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the site in 1963. We studied the plant communities of the Cottonwood Lake Study Area from 1992 to 2001. During this time period, the vascular flora of the study area consisted of 220 species representing 52 families. Over half of the species were perennial forbs (117 species). Perennial grasses (26 species) and …

Effects Of Distance From Cattle Water Developments On Grassland Birds, Andrea L. Fontaine, Patricia L. Kennedy, Douglas H. Johnson

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

Many North American grassland bird populations appear to be declining, which may be due to changes in grazing regimes on their breeding areas. Establishment of water developments and confining cattle (Bos taurus L.) to small pastures often minimizes spatial heterogeneity of cattle forage consumption, which may lead to uniformity in vegetative structure. This increased uniformity may provide suitable habitat for some bird species but not others. We assessed how cattle use, vegetative structure, and bird population densities varied with increasing distance from water developments (0-800 m) on the Little Missouri National Grassland (LMNG) in North Dakota. Lark buntings ( …

What Hypothesis Tests Are Not: A Response To Colegrave And Ruxton, Douglas H. Johnson

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

It is always flattering to see one’s work cited by others. Not only does it boost the ego, but it provides a satisfying feeling that one’s efforts are both appreciated and contributing to the advance of science. So I was pleased when a colleague pointed out that Colegrave and Ruxton (2003) had cited a recent paper of mine, ‘‘The insignificance of statistical significance testing’’ ( Johnson, 1999). In that article I argued, as did Colegrave and Ruxton, that confidence intervals often are much more informative than are p values associated with hypothesis tests.

Guidelines For Managing Lesser Prairie-Chicken Populations And Their Habitats, Christian A. Hagen, Brent E. Jamison, Kenneth M. Giesen, Terry Z. Riley

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

Lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus paidicinctus) populations have declined by >90% since the 1800s. These declines have concerned both biologists and private conservation groups and led to a petition to list the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Most of the land in the current range of the lesser prairie-chicken is privately owned, and declines have been primarily attributed to anthropogenic factors. Conversion of native rangeland to cropland and excessive grazing have been implicated as leading causes in the species' decline. Periodic drought probably has exacerbated these problems. Little research on habitat requirements was conducted prior to …

Patterns Of Variation In Clutch Sizes In A Guild Of Temperate-Nesting Dabbling Ducks, Gary Krapu, Ronald Reynolds, Glen Sargeant, Randy Renner

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

We investigated patterns and causes of variation in clutch sizes in a guild of five species of temperate-nesting dabbling ducks (Mallard [Anas platyrhynchos], Northern Pintail [“pintail,” A. acuta], Gadwall [A. strepera], Blue-winged Teal [“teal,” A. discors], and Northern Shoveler [“shoveler,” A. clypeata]) during 1993–1995 in the Prairie Pothole Region of midcontinental North America. Clutch sizes (mean ± SE) were largest for teal (10.80 ± 0.03), followed in descending order by those of shoveler (10.31 ± 0.05), Gadwall (9.92 ± 0.04), Mallard (8.91 ± 0.04), and pintail (7.66 ± 0.06). In Mallard, pintail, and …

Less Waste Corn, More Land In Soybeans, And The Switch To Genetically Modified Crops: Trends With Important Implications For Wildlife Management, Gary L. Krapu, David A. Brandt, Robert R. Cox Jr.

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

American agriculture has provided abundant high-energy foods for migratory and resident wildlife populations since the onset of modern wildlife management. Responding to anecdotal evidence that corn residues are declining in cropland, we remeasured waste corn postharvest in the Central Platte River Valley (CPRV) of Nebraska during 1997 and 1998 to compare with 1978. Post-harvest waste corn averaged 2.6% and 1.8% of yield in 1997 and 1998, respectively. After accounting for a 20% increase in yield, waste corn in 1997 and 1998 was reduced 24% and 47% from 1978. We also evaluated use of soybeans by spring-staging sandhill cranes ( Grus …

Tracking Of White-Tailed Deer Migration By Global Positioning System, Michael Nelson, L. David Mech, Paul F. Frame

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

We used global positioning system (GPS) radiocollars on female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to document details of onsets of migrations, rates of travel, patterns of travel, durations of migrations, and distances traveled by 8 deer in spring and 4 deer in autumn in northeastern Minnesota in 1998, 1999, and 2001. In spring, deer migrated 23–45 km during 31–356 h, deviating a maximum 1.6–4.0 km perpendicular from a straight line of travel between their seasonal ranges. They migrated a minimum of 2.1–18.6 km/day over 11–56 h during 2–14 periods of travel. Minimum travel during 1-h intervals averaged 1.5 km/h …

Is Climate Change Affecting Wolf Populations In The High Artic?, L. David Mech

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

Gobal climate change may affect wolves in Canada’s High Arctic (80◦ N) acting through three trophic levels (vegetation, herbivores, and wolves). A wolf pack dependent on muskoxen and arctic hares in the Eureka area of Ellesmere Island denned and produced pups most years from at least 1986 through 1997. However, when summer snow covered vegetation in 1997 and 2000 for the first time since records were kept, halving the herbivore nutrition-replenishment period, muskox and hare numbers dropped drastically, and the area stopped supporting denning wolves through 2003. The unusual weather triggering these events was consistent with global-climate-change phenomena.

Temporal Dynamics Of Leafy Sspurge (Euphorbia Esula) And Two Species Of Flea Beetles (Aphthona Spp.) Used As Biological Control Agents, Diane L. Larson, James B. Grace

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

The goal of this study was to evaluate the biological control program of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) in a large natural area, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, western North Dakota, USA. Aphthona lacertosa and Aphthona nigriscutis have been released at more than 1800 points in the 18,600-ha South Unit of the park beginning in 1989; most releases have occurred since 1994. We established permanent vegetation plots throughout the infested area of the park and determined stem counts and biomass of leafy spurge and abundance of the two flea beetle species at these plots each year from 1999 to 2001. …

Effects Of Management Practices On Grassland Birds: American Bittern, Jill A. Dechant, Marriah L. Sondreal, Douglas H. Johnson, Lawrence D. Igl, Christopher M. Goldade, Amy L. Zimmerman, Betty R. Euliss

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

Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 4,000 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the relative densities of the species in North America, based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Although birds frequently are observed outside the breeding range indicated, the maps are intended to show areas where managers might concentrate their attention. It may be ineffectual to manage habitat at a site for a species that rarely occurs in an area. The species account begins with a brief capsule statement, which …

Lewis And Clark And The Geology Of The Great Plains, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Anne P. Diffendal

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark undertook their journey with the Corps of Discovery in 1804-1806 in order to explore the area that the United States had purchased from France in 1803. Then known as Louisiana, this region included almost everything west of the Mississippi to the continental divide. In order to find the best route across the continent, President Thomas Jefferson charged Lewis with following the Missouri River to its headwaters and then locating rivers flowing down the west side of the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River and into the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson's written instructions further specified that the …

New Nesting Dates For Some Breeding Birds In North Dakota, Lawrence D. Igl, Harold A. Kantrud

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

There have been few published nest records for North Dakota (e.g., Haas 1985, Kantrud 1992, Buhl and Shaffer 2000) since Robert E. Stewart published Breeding Birds of North Dakota in 1975. For several species, we report dates for eggs, nestlings, or fledglings that occurred outside the intervals reported by Stewart (1975). For comparison, we provide nesting dates for breeding birds in South Dakota (Tallman et aI. 2002).

Reviews Of Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy Of Industrial Agriculture And The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy Of Industrial Agriculture, Edited By Andrew Kimbrell, Charles A. Francis

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Fatal Harvest introduces and dispels key myths about industrial agriculture: greater efficiency; safe and nutritious food that is cheap to consumers; benefits to wildlife and environment; how biotechnology will save the world. In essays by leading proponents of a more equitable and sustainable food system, the book presents compelling evidence that alternative systems guided by an agrarian ethic will better address our food needs while protecting our natural environment and soil resources.

Wendell Berry cites the separation of people from their food supply and natural environment as a causal factor in our ready acceptance of today's industrial agriculture. When we …

Review Of The Jesus Road: Kiowas, Christianity, And Indian Hymns By Luke Eric Lassiter, Clyde Ellis, And Ralph Kotay, Benjamin R. Kracht

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Christianity, metaphorically referred to as the "Jesus road," came to the Kiowas of southwestern Oklahoma towards the end of the nineteenth century. Today, most Kiowas are at least nominally Christian, and, like other Oklahoma Indians, render prayers and hymns in their Native tongue in services that are otherwise Baptist, Methodist, or Pentecostal. In explaining why the Kiowas accepted Christianity and how Kiowa hymns still play a vital part in Kiowa community life, The Jesus Road contributes to a growing body of literature about Native American Christians who have not abandoned their personal and cultural identity. Anthropologist Luke Eric Lassiter, historian …

Review Of Fort Robinson And The American Century, 1900- 1948 By Thomas R. Buecker, Paul H. Carlson

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Fort Robinson, located along the upper reaches of the White River in far northwest Nebraska, enjoyed a long and eventful history. Founded in 1874 and not closed as a military base until 1948, the post played vital roles in the last wars with the Plains Indians: the so-called Sioux war of 1876-77 and the Ghost Dance "outbreak" of 1890-91. In the twentieth century it was a quartermaster remount depot for a time, and during World War II it served as a K-9 training base and a prisoner of war camp.

After 1948 the United States Department of Agriculture used the …

Review Of The Light Crust Doughboys Are On The Air: Celebrating Seventy Years Of Texas Music By John Mark Dempsey, Joe W. Specht

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

During the 1930s and 1940s radio played a huge role in the development and dissemination of American popular music, especially country music. Regular live exposure on the radio was often more important for a country music performer's career than were recording opportunities. And there is no better example of how the interaction of radio with recordings and public appearances helped to sustain a career than that of the Light Crust Doughboys. Of course it helps if you have a longtime sponsor, too.

The Light Crust Doughboys were formed in 1930 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company of Fort Worth, …

Review Of Father Francis M. Craft: Missionary To The Sioux By Thomas W. Foley, Michael F. Steltenkamp

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The bland title of this biography might not attract the many readers the book deserves since Craft's name is known only from occasional footnotes related to the Ghost Dance religion that ended with tragic bloodletting at Wounded Knee in 1890. Using the priest's journals and researching references contained within them, the author draws from obscurity a life that should inspire scholars to tap similar material reposited in Marquette University's Catholic Indian mission archives. Diaries and journals stored there are a treasure trove of ethnographic and historical information that still awaits baring. Biographers can use Foley's work as a standard to …