International and Area Studies Commons^™

Review Of Under The Blade: The Conversion Of Agricultural Landscapes Edited By Richard K. Olson And Thomas A. Lyson, Gordon Scholz

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

Loss of agricultural land to other land uses is an issue of growing concern in the United States. A number of studies in recent years have drawn attention to the extent of agricultural land loss and have stimulated considerable discussion about the impacts of changing land use patterns. The 1992 National Resources Inventory by the US Department of Agriculture indicated that conversion of agricultural and forest lands to non-agricultural uses is occurring at an average rate of at least 1.4 million acres per year.

Because conversion of farmland to other uses is practically irreversible, even over a fairly long timespan, …

Review Of Biology And Management Of Noxious Rangeland Weeds Edited By Roger L. Sheley And Janet K. Petroff, Steven Radosevich

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

Dealing with one of the most pressing problems currently facing North American rangeland ecosystems - the occurrence and prevalence of invasive non-indigenous plants - this volume is the result of the efforts of over fifty contributors whose work was compiled and edited by two noted range scientists. It is divided into two main sections: the first focused on the theory and practice of weed management in the rangeland system; the second on information about selected herbaceous weed species of rangelands in the Great Basin.

Section I consists of eleven relatively short chapters that provide an abundance of information about the …

Review Of Encyclopedia Of Rural America: The Land And People, Maurice Baker

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

A two-volume encyclopedia obviously cannot cover either the breadth or depth of topics available in much larger works. The more than 250 entries here range from "addiction" to "workers' compensation." All relate to rural America, though some fail to provide distinctly rural views because of the narrowing of the nation's rural and urban cultures.

The entries can be categorized as agricultural, human, socioeconomic, resource, technological, and institutional. Some fit more than one category. Examples of agricultural entries include "hydroponics," "apiculture," "dairy farming," "dryland farming," and "livestock production." "Ethnicity," "African Americans," "health care," "literacy," and "values of residents" represent human entries. …

Review Of A Color Handbook Of Diseases Of Small Grain Cereal Crops By T. D. Murray, D. W. Parry, And N. D. Cattlin, William W. Bockus

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

When I received A Color Handbook of Diseases of Small Grain Cereal Crops, the first thing that came to mind was "Do we really need another one of these books?" I went to my bookshelf and pulled out no fewer than eight volumes and pamphlets depicting wheat or small grain diseases with color photographs as an aid to identification. After reading the Handbook, however, I have concluded that two major features may make it one of my top two references in this area. Foremost is its outstanding gallery of, full-color pictures. Nigel Cattlin may well be our day's premier …

Table Of Contents- Fall 1999

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Contents

"The Silent Artillery Of Time": Understanding Social Change In The Rural Midwest

Community Dreaming In The Rural Northwest: The Montana Study, 1944-47

Romantic Women And La Lucha: Denise Chavez's Face Of An Angel

Whither Cowboy Poetry?

Book Reviews

Book Notes

From The Editor

Notes And News

Index

Great Plains Research, Volume 9, Number 2, Fall 1999 - Contents

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

Table of contents

Review Of Ecosystem Management: Applications For Sustainable Forest And Wildlife Resources Edited By Mark S. Boyce And Alan Haney, Roger Suffling

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

The papers in this volume, gathered from a March 1994 symposium at the University of Wisconsin, survey the field of ecosystem management, are avowedly oriented toward the US, and concentrate on forest systems, though readers from abroad and those interested in aquatic systems and grasslands will also find matters of interest here. The editors have organized the book into five sections. "Ecological Framework" embraces ecosystem management, landscape ecology, keystone ecosystems, maintenance of rare species, and the role of mineral cycling. The "Disturbance" chapters cover riparian habitats and forested wetlands. "Techniques and Classification" includes classification of ecological landscape units, GIS and …

Prairie Grasslands: An Undervalued Resource Grass, Cows And Environmental Management On The Canadian Prairies, Jilll S. Vaisey, Peggy Strankman

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

Grasslands are integral to the economic health of Canada's rural prairies, making up 30% of the agricultural land base in Canada's three prairie provinces. These grasslands support agriculture, through grazing of livestock, and recreation, such as hunting and ecotourism. These grasslands are also environmentally significant, providing habitat for native plants and animals. The economic and environmental significance of these grasslands should not be undervalued. Economic opportunities and environmental policies and regulations affect the management of these lands. Current issues that may affect how the prairie is used include the: potential species-at-risk legislation, other initiatives for biodiversity enhancement, greenhouse gas regulations …

Review Of Holistic Management: A New Framework For Decision Making, Second Edition By Allan Savory With Jody Butterfield, Cliff Montagne

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

The combination of science and human endeavor helps us understand nature, express ourselves as humans, and shape the environments in which we live. People wish to make decisions promoting the integrity of the ecological processes we depend on, along with the social and financial health of human communities and organizations. While we can effectively apply mechanical principles to activities such as air travel, we still have trouble managing complex situations involving ecological and human systems. It is easy to drive or fly across the Great Plains. It is more difficult to solve questions of aquifer decline, exotic plant invasion, or …

Review Of A Classification Of North American Biotic Communities By David E. Brown, Frank Reichenbacher, Susan E. Franson, Robert B. Kaul

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

This is the latest of many efforts over the past century to classify North America's natural, undisturbed biological communities as they existed in pre-agrarian times and in many places continue to exist today. Its authors' stated objective is to integrate existing works into a hierarchical synthesis that can lead to a standardized system for researchers, land managers, conservation groups, and government agencies. To that end, the authors have modified and expanded David Brown's earlier classification for the Southwest to cover the continent, defined here as the area from the Panama Canal to the Arctic, including Greenland and some of the …

Review Of Valley Of Grass: Tallgrass Prairie And Parkland Of The Red River Valley Region By Kim Alan Chapman, Adelheid Fischer, And Mary Kinsella Ziegenhagen, Tom Domek

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

A great deal has been made of the dire circumstances facing imperiled tallgrass ecosystems in the future-and with good reason. With more than 98 percent of all tallgrass and tallgrass savanna already converted to cultivated farmland and other nearly irreversible land uses, tallgrass ecosystems now teeter on the brink of total collapse. Into this bleak condition leap the authors of Valley of Grass: Tallgrass Prairie and Parkland of the Red River Valley Region. Remarkably, they strike a refreshingly non-confrontational, almost optimistic posture. Their thesis? That the restoration and rehabilitation of the tallgrass prairie and the continued use of its …

Review Of The Groundwater Atlas Of Nebraska, P. Allen Mcfarlane

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

The old photographs of flowing wells and well-digging operations in The Groundwater Atlas of Nebraska remind us that access to water has always been the key to survival in the subhumid to semiarid Great Plains. And with this new publication, it is easy to see the importance of groundwater to Nebraskans and why the bold statement is made that Nebraska should be dubbed the Groundwater State.

Unfortunately, the atlas starts out with a somewhat fragmented and cursory overview of the hydrologic cycle in Nebraska, highlighting the relationship between groundwater and surface water and the importance of .groundwater discharge to streamflow. …

Response Of Riparian Vegetation To Streamflow Regulation And Land Use In The Great Plains, W. Carter Johnson

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

The influence of human activities on riparian zone vegetation differs markedly by ecoregion and stream size. Large rivers, dams and water diversions affect ecological processes more than local land uses do. However, for small streams, the reverse is generally true. Examples demonstrating these relationships include studies completed on the Missouri River in North Dakota, the Platte River in Nebraska, and Foster Creek in western South Dakota. On the Missouri River, damming has stopped river meandering and the regeneration of riparian forests in gaps between reservoirs. In contrast, on the Platte River, diversion of a large portion of the flow for …

Recent Biodiversity Patterns In The Great Plains: Implications For Restoration And Management, Carolyn Hull Sieg, Curtis H. Flather, Stephan Mccanny

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

Ecosystem, species and genetic dimensions of biodiversity have eroded since widespread settlement of the Great Plains. Conversion of native vegetation in the region followed the precipitation gradient, with the greatest conversion in the eastern tallgrass prairie and eastern mixed-grass types. Areas now dominated by intensive land uses are "hot spots" for exotic birds. However, species of all taxa listed as threatened or endangered are well-distributed across the Great Plains. These species are often associated with special landscape features, such as wetlands, rivers, caves, sandhills and prairie dog towns. In the long run, sustaining biodiversity in the Great Plains, and the …

The Structure And Function Of Ecosystems In The Central North American Grassland Region, W. K. Luaenroth, I .C. Burke, M. P. Gutmann

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

The central grassland region occupies the center of North America in the United States, Canada and Mexico and is a unique resource for the continent. While there are no other areas with comparable features, the largest similar grassland areas occur in Europe and Asia. The uniqueness of the region derives from its size, its relative flatness, and the smoothness of its physical gradients. The smooth gradients in precipitation and temperature are the reasons why most gradients in ecosystem properties are also smooth. The west-east gradient in precipitation and the north-south gradient in temperature result in corresponding gradients in plant community …

Review Of Agronomy Of Grassland Systems, Second Edition By C. J. Pearson And R. L. Ison, David Bade

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

Agronomy of Grassland Systems is an excellent reference, textbook, or guide for the forage professional, the best I have read promoting looking at forages in a systematic manner. It challenges researchers, extension specialists, consultants, and producers to think of their work as it fits into forage systems on a local or global basis. Using research from around the world, the book offers a unique global perspective; at the same time local producers will find it a practical reference for agronomic principles.

Greater Prairie-Chicken Harvest In Kansas: Early Vs. Regular Seasons, Francis E. Durbian, Iii, Elmer J. Finck, Roger D. Applegate

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

Populations of the greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) in Kansas are managed to maintain population size while providing recreational hunting potential. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of adding an early hunting season (late September-October) to the regular season (November-late January). We compared the hunting methods used and the harvest of greater prairie-chickens during early and regular hunting seasons for 1990-91 and 1991-92. The use of dogs and walkup hunting techniques were emphasized in early season, whereas pass shooting in feeding fields was emphasized in the regular season. During early season, the reported …

Review Of Bugs In The System: Redesigning The Pesticide Industry For Sustainable Agriculture Edited By William Vorley And Dennis Keeney, Robert J. Wright

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

At first glance you might wonder what, if anything, pesticides and sustainable agriculture have in common. To quote the editors: "This book is a case study of an industry which finds itself with a vision of sustainable development and an entire product range which seems to be an anathema to that vision - pesticides - and a uniform perspective of its role in agriculture. We hope that this study is the beginning of an articulation of the choices that face the leaders, regulators and other stakeholders of this particularly controversial industry if they are to choose a course of sustainability." …

Review Of Nature Wars: People Vs. Pests By Mark L. Winston, Dennis Kenney

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

Mark Winston draws much on case histories of pest control issues in the Pacific Northwest to argue for fundamental changes in the way we contend with pests. Quoting extensively from Rachel Carson's monumental Silent Spring, he outlines how balanced her view of pest control and environmental protection has proved to be and adopts that view in developing the thesis of Nature Wars.

The first case history involves efforts in Vancouver to control gypsy moths with Bacillus thuringiensis, a widely used bacterium that selectively controls only butterfly and moth larvae. Gypsy moths defoliate all green things in their …

Essay: The Great Plains “Wilderness” As A Human-Shaped Environment, Dan Flores

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

This essay suggests that there is a discrepancy between historical accounts of the "natural" state of the Great Plains by European explorers and the likely strong influence of the North American Indians resident in the area. The preconceived notion of the "Great American Wilderness" appears to have obscured the explorers' perceptions of the many ways in which the indigenous peoples had manipulated and influenced both the vegetation and the abundance of animal life in the Plains. Clearly, this challenge of the "total wilderness" paradigm has major implications for future restorations in the Great Plains.

Response Of Buffalograss (Buchloe Dactyloides) And Blue Grama (Bouteloua Gracilis) To Fire, Paulette Ford

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

I analyzed primary literature, spanning 42 years (1948-1990) that addressed buffalograss and blue grama's response to fire; no relevant literature has been published since 1990. The results suggest that fire in shortgrass steppe need not be negative. Plant response to fire depends mainly on levels of precipitation, though some studies indicated that the season during which fire occurs may also affect recovery of buffalograss and blue grama.

Review Of Herbarium Of The Lewis & Clark Expedition. Vol. 12, The Journals Of The Lewis & Clark Expedition Edited By Gary E. Moulton, Stanley L. Welsh

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

This volume continues the series edited by Gary E. Moulton and is certainly its capstone publication, including as it does a portion of the scientific results of that amazing expedition. The strengths of the volume are great indeed. Foremost is the presentation of a photographic representation of the extant herbarium collected on the Expedition. Moreover, the careful review of the historical meanderings of the herbarium specimens from their gathering to their present sites provides real insight into botanical history. That any of the specimens survived to contemporary times is a wonder, demonstrating again the fragmentary nature of early collections upon …

Review Of Grassland Dynamics: Long-Term Ecological Research In Tallgrass Prairie Edited By Alan K. Knapp, John M. Briggs, David C. Hartnett, And Scott L. Collins, Mary Ann Vinton

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

This book summarizes the wealth of new information on tallgrass prairie ecology gleaned from over fifteen years of intensive study of the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. Because the Flint Hills' steep topography and shallow soils made the region unsuitable for plowing, the area contains the largest tracts of native tallgrass prairie anywhere. The 3,427 hectare Konza site has been the focus of research since 1972 and funded since 1981 by the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. LTER also funds research at twenty other sites representing all major North American …

Great Plains Research, Volume 9, Number 2, Fall 1999 - Book Notes

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

Books:

Reshaping the Countryside: Perceptions and Processes of Rural Change
The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock from Public Lands to Conserve Native Biodiversity
The Ecoregions of Saskatchewan
Rattlesnake: Portrait of a Predator
Justice in Paradise

Review Of By Grit And Grace: Eleven Women Who Shaped The American West Edited By Glenda Riley And Richard W. Etulain, Ruth Ann Alexander

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The biographical essays in this volume present a spectrum of diverse women to illustrate the mythical as well as the actual image of women in the American West. Some are flamboyant and unconventional like Santa Fe's gambling businesswoman Gertrude Barcelo ("La Tules") in the 1840s or Martha Canary (Calamity Jane) whose real and imagined exploits in Dakota and Wyoming Territory thirty years later were the stuff of dime novels. Some sketches characterize more typically "pioneer" types. Seventeen-year-old Abigail Scott Duniway followed the Oregon Trail west from Illinois with her family in 1852. The harsh experience became the basis for her …

A Town Of The Mind" Margaret Laurence's Mythical Microcosm Ofmanawaka, Nora Foster Stovel

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

This passage introduces "Where the World Began," the concluding piece in Margaret Laurence's 1976 collection of travel essays, Heart of a Stranger, which functions as an autobiography, charting her life journey. Laurence wrote a preface to this collection that exists in manuscript at McMaster University, but which was never published-unfortunately, because it illuminates the autobiographical import of the essays-perhaps because the pattern of her life was clear to her by the time she wrote it in 1976: "I saw, somewhat to my surprise, that they are all, in one way or another, travel articles. And by travel, I mean …

Review Of Legends Of Our Times: Native Cowboy Life By Morgan Baillargeon And Leslie Tepper, Peter Iverson

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Growing out of work for a major exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where Morgan Baillargeon (Metis) is Curator of Plains Ethnology and Leslie Tepper is Curator of Plateau Ethnology, Legends of Our Times centers on the Native people of the Northern Plains and Plateau. The project, say Baillargeon and Tepper, began with two goals: "to help break the stereotype of 'the Indian versus the cowboy' and through remaking that image to bring to people's attention an entire field of western history and Native culture that remains largely unknown"; and "to acknowledge the contributions Native people have made to …

Review Of The Workers' Revolt In Canada, 1917-1925 Edited By Craig Heron, Bryan D. Palmer

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Working class history is more often than not the calm before the storm. But the storms do come. With striking regularity, the quietude of class relations is shattered as workers mobilize and challenge employers and the state.

A central chapter in this narrative of class struggle is the tumultuous period of 1917-1925, which saw the rise and fall of a particular in ternational "revolt" that, in its Canadian par~ ticulars, is admirably explored in this series of essays edited by Craig Heron. Once conceptu~ alized as a western upheaval, the centerpiece of which was the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, the …

Review Of Discover Saskatchewan: A Guide To Historic Sites By Meika Lalone And Elton Laclare, Warren Clubb

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Discover Saskatchewan provides insights into the fascinating history of Canada's third westernmost province by identifying the historic sites and buildings, plus the museums, that record and present the province's storied past.

A project of the University of Regina, provincial government departments, and history/ heritage organizations, the book presents itself as a travel guide, offering quick access to information on historic sites and heritage institutions for anyone traveling by road. The information is arranged by tourism regions, eleven at the time of printing. Each chapter contains a map of the travel region covered and brief descriptions of its sites, markers, heritage …

Notes And News- Summer 1999

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

Notes And News

In Memoriam

Acsus Award And Fellowship

Frederick C. Luebke Award

The Past And Promise Of Environmental History

Rural Women's Studies Association Conference

Clements-Degolyer Library Grant