Other International and Area Studies Commons^™

Ecology Of Small Mammals, Vegetation, And Avian Nest Survival On Private Rangelands In Nebraska, Kent A. Fricke, Silka L.F. Kempema, Larkin A. Powell

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

Small mammals can be an important bioindicator of ecosystem health. They serve as both predator and prey in many ecosystems. By means of live trapping and nest monitoring, we studied the ecological relationships between small mammals, avian nest survival, and vegetation composition and structure on six private ranches in the Sandhills of Nebraska during 2004. Our study documented six species (132 captures) of small mammals, and we monitored 139 bird nests. Pastures with high small-mammal populations did not suffer higher nest mortality, indicating that small-mammal abundance does not predict avian productivity. We found several vegetation characteristics that influenced small-mammal abundance …

Precipitation Event Size Controls On Long-Term Abundance Of Opuntia Polyacantha (Plains Prickly-Pear) In Great Plains Grasslands, William K. Lauenroth, R. L. Dougherty, J. S. Singh

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

Opuntia polyacantha Haw. (plains prickly-pear) is a common cactus in the Great Plains of North America. We used two data sets, from Montana and Colorado, to test the hypothesis that there is a range of precipitation event sizes upon which O. polyacantha specializes. Events smaller than this range (>2 to ≤6 mm) do not moisten sufficient soil to be utilized, and larger events have negative effects on the status of O. polyacantha because they favor the development of taller and denser grass canopies. Multiple regressions of either green cladode density (northern mixed prairie) or O. polyacantha frequency (shortgrass steppe) …

Near-Surface Soil-Water Monitoring For Water Resources Management On A Wide-Area Basis In The Great Plains, K. G. Hubbard, J. You, V. Sridhar, E. Hunt, S. Korner, G. Roebke

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

In the Great Plains, soil water is one of the most critical factors related to sustainable production on cropland and rangeland, while the need for better water management grows in the face of increasing water demand during dry years. Soil water is also an important factor related to flood modeling and quantification of the boundary conditions in atmospheric models such as global circulation models. The objectives of this study were to install a wide-area automated soil-monitoring network, determine effective calibration procedures, and develop new products to illustrate the status of soil water. Soil-monitoring sensors were established at 51 sites across …

Book Review: The Allen Site: A Paleoindian Camp In Southwestern Nebraska Edited By Douglas B. Bamforth, Daniel S. Amick

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

Douglas Bamforth and his colleagues demonstrate in this edited volume the valuable role in modern archaeology for thoughtful reinvestigation of previously studied site locations and archaeological collections. Containing 14 chapters by 11 contributors, The Allen Site includes comprehensive paleoenvironmental research and detailed reanalysis of cultural materials recovered from renowned excavations conducted in the Medicine Creek Basin between 1947 and 1949, deposits that hold a series of human occupations ranging from 10,550 to 8,000 radiocarbon years in age. These new studies provide valuable improvements to our understanding of environmental change and early human adaptations during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene …

Book Review: The Ordinary Genius: A Life Of Arnold Platt By Ken Hoeppner, Sterling Evans

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

Arnold Platt, the Canadian plant breeder, farmer, and farmers’ union president in the mid-twentieth century, was probably not a very likable person due to his abrasive and pushy personality. But Ken Hoeppner’s book about his life and works shows clearly that Platt should be recognized as one of the most important figures in the agricultural history of western Canada and perhaps the entire Great Plains region. I am sometimes skeptical of anyone taking on biography, but Hoeppner’s is a model in resurrecting someone not well known outside the world of Canadian horticulture and agricultural politics. This well-conceived, carefully researched, and …

Book Review: Crisis & Opportunity: Sustainability In American Agriculture By John E. Ikerd, Paul B. Thompson

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

Although Ikerd’s philosophy is quite perceptive in its instincts, one could enumerate many internal contradictions in execution. In fact, the primary value of Crisis & Opportunity may be that it is a collection of speeches that encouraged and emboldened small farmers and advocates of alternative agriculture throughout the Midwest. As such, it documents the perceptions, values, and myths, inconsistent as they might be, that animated and motivated a group of rural Midwesterners not unjustly laboring under the self-image of an oppressed and victimized minority during a critical period in the formation of the sustainable agriculture movement.

Book Review: Owls Of The United States And Canada: A Complete Guide To Their Biology And Behavior By Wayne Lynch, Paul A. Johnsgard

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

Although the text is partly written as a first-person narrative, most of it is a succinct, interesting summary of comparative owl biology, rather than a series of individual species accounts, which tend to repeat already available information. In-text literature citations aren’t used, but the authors of major research findings are identified and their work referenced in a literature section with nearly 300 citations, some published as recently as 2005.

I have more than a dozen owl books on my office bookshelves, a testimony to their popularity among both biologist-authors and the reading public, but probably none is so attractive and …

Book Review: Ecology And Behavior Of Chickadees And Titmice: An Integrated Approach Edited By Ken A. Otter, Charles R. Brown

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

Deriving from a workshop held in 2005, this book brings together much of the work being done on chickadees and titmice in North America. Seventeen chapters by leading North American parid biologists address the neurobiology and endocrinology of spatial behavior and food caching, photoperiodism, timing of reproduction, phylogeography, hybridization, demography, dominance and fitness, vocalizations, landscape ecology, and winter social behavior. The chapters, in general well written and clearly presented, offer something to anyone interested in these topics (although most authors rarely draw parallels to taxa beyond the other parids). Those who study this group of birds or even other temperate …

Book Review: A Biomass Future For The North American Great Plains: Toward Sustainable Land Use And Mitigation Of Greenhouse Warming By Norman J. Rosenberg, Steven L. Fales

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

This book presents a comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and timely treatment of the topic. Interpretive summaries at the end of each chapter emphasize salient points and are very helpful to the reader. Illustrations (including color plates in end materials) are useful, but a number have poor resolution, making them difficult to interpret. The book is appropriate for upper-level students and other individuals interested in sustainable agriculture, agroecology, bioenergy, and related topics.

Book Review: Rights In The Balance: Free Press, Fair Trial, And Nebraska Press Association V. Stuart. By Mark R. Scherer, G. Michael Fenner

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

Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart establishes the public’s right to attend criminal trials and the right of the press to attend on behalf of the the public that cannot, or chooses not, to do so. There shall be no Star Chamber in the United States. We shall know how our judges and prosecutors operate. We shall know what goes on inside the courtroom, for the doors shall be open.

Mark Scherer has succeeded in making this narrative of constitutional brainstorming, brief writing, and appellate arguing most exciting. It is a story well told. My hope is that he’s sitting at …

Book Review: The Alberta Supreme Court At 100: History & Authority Edited By Jonathan Swainger, James Muir

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

The book is a collection nine essays, five of which attempt to cover the whole or much of the last 100 years for a specific topic (constitutional, family, water, energy, and property law) through the identification of important or exemplary cases. The other four focus on either shorter time periods (a study of the makeup of the bench in its earliest years or the court’s treatment of women’s issues since the 1970s) or on only a pair of cases (over conscription during the First World War or Native hunting rights). There are large areas of law left out of this …

Book Review: It’S A Long Way From Llano: The Journey Of A Wildlife Biologist By James G. Teer, Fred S. Guthery

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

The book has eleven chapters. Subject matter includes biography (he had a deadbeat dad), commentary, philosophy, and natural history. The biography will be fascinating to those of us who know Teer and worked under or with him. The national and international conservation issues—buck-only harvest, great cats, saiga antelope, wildlife management in Africa— will appeal to a more general audience. Teer aims the book at university students in wildlife conservation and management; his experiences and commentary certainly will be useful and informative to this audience.

Book Review: Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges To Indigenous Nationhood By Jeff Corntassel And Richard C. Witmer Ii, Ezra Rosser

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

Rather than having the exclusive U.S.-tribal relationship respected, Indian nations are wrongly forced to deal with state governments that are often hostile to Indian interests. This is the provocative thesis of Forced Federalism. For the last 20 years, from 1988 to the present, tribes have been increasingly seen as emerging contenders vying for resources and playing an expanding role in state economies and politics. The gaming success of some tribes has also subjected Indians to what the authors call “rich Indian racism” that relies upon stereotyping and the categorization of tribes as interest groups rather than independent nations. Though …

Marginal Value Of Irrigation Water Use In The South Saskatchewan River Basin, Canada, Antony Samarawickrema, Suren Kulshreshtha

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

The allocation of water is part of water management. In order to achieve maximum benefits to society, water should be allocated toward uses that have the highest value, followed, as an alternative, by the next highest level or one with equal value. Such decisions require knowledge of water value at the last unit of use. Within agriculture, irrigation is important. Irrigation water must be allocated to various crops; therefore, producers require knowledge of the marginal value of water among alternative crops. This study estimates marginal value product for irrigation water within the southern areas of the Canadian Prairie Provinces using …

Book Review: Queer Inclusions, Continental Divisions: Public Recognition Of Sexual Diversity In Canada And The United States By David Rayside, Karen Busby

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

Queer Inclusions is a fascinating and well-written comparative examination of the politics of sexual diversity in Canada and the United States. David Rayside focuses on how political and legal issues affecting gay and lesbian relationship recognition, parenting, and schooling have played out in these two countries over the last decade. The author, who is not a lawyer, does an excellent job reviewing law reform processes and outcomes in an accurate yet not overly technical manner. His reliance on a variety of methodological techniques makes for a solid, well-tested analysis. In particular, I found his comparative analyses on the influence of …

Great Plains Research: A Journal Of Natural And Social Sciences Volume 19, Number 1 (Spring 2009): News And Notes

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

News and Notes

Conferences

Lecture Announcement

Call for Papers

Charles E. Bessey Award

Leslie Hewes Award

Book Review: Embracing Watershed Politics By Edella Schlager And William Blomquist, Sandra K. Davis

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

The analysis presented in each chapter is focused on concepts that are examined and applied in a case study to explain the existing system of governance. Although the concepts are not integrated into a framework, the authors’ careful use of concepts provides insights into watershed decision making. Just as concepts are not integrated into a grand framework, there is no prescription for the best type of governance. This may disappoint those seeking the answer to watershed governance, but the book provides realistic analyses of the complex management problems of watersheds. Perhaps in the future, additional research will more definitely link …

Book Review: Breeding Major Food Staples Edited By Manjit S. Kang And P.M. Priyadarshan, Paul Scott

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

This book will be primarily of interest to plant breeders and people interested in global food security. As Virmani and Ilyas-Ahmed point out in their chapter on rice breeding, in order to meet the global demand, we will need to produce as much food in the next 50 years as we have produced in the 10,000 years since agriculture began. Plant breeding is clearly part of the solution to this problem. Breeding Major Food Staples is a guide to the improvement of the crops humanity depends on most to meet its nutritional needs. Its strength is its global perspective, which …

Book Review: Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies For Governance And Development Edited By Miriam Jorgensen, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

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

Rebuilding Native Nations is a powerful restatement and reconsideration of American Indian self-determination, a federal policy approaching five decades in age. Its essays draw upon more than a decade of tribal success stories collected and celebrated by the Harvard Project. Individual chapters focus on particular subject areas such as tribal economic development, intergovernmental relations, and tribal constitutional and tribal court development. The authors draw out commonalities about successful nation building in tribal communities, theorizing an underlying basis, and leading readers to understand how to replicate that success. The chapter on tribal courts by Judge Joseph Thomas Flies-Away, Judge Carrie Garrow, …

Book Review: The Arapaho Language By Andrew Cowell, With Alonzo Moss Sr., Neyooxet Greymorning

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

The Arapaho Language is divided into five primary analytical areas on phonology, inflectional morphology, derivational morphology, usage, complex clauses, and syntax. Under these headings an additional 21 subfields and numerous grammatical rules are also provided. One feature that makes this book particularly beneficial is its extensive use of narrative texts, historical accounts, and life experiences of several individuals as examples for discussing how grammatical rules work within the language, which also provides helpful examples of the subtleties, complexity, and flexibility used by Arapaho speakers that differ from other Algonquian languages.

Although it is clear that this book is written primarily …

Historical Changes In The Occurrence And Distribution Of Freshwater Mussels In Kansas, Robert T. Angelo, M. Steve Cringan, Eva Hays, Clint A. Goodrich, Edwin J. Miller, Mark A. Vanscoyoc, Bryan R. Simmons

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

The surface waters of eastern and central Kansas once supported an impressive variety of native freshwater mussels, but a widespread decline in species richness accompanied the urban, industrial, and agricultural development of this region. Statewide mussel surveys implemented during the past two decades have shed new light on the scope and severity of this decline. Of the 48 mussel species originally known from Kansas, six are now extirpated, one lacks reproductively viable populations (i.e., faces imminent extirpation), and 38 others have suffered evident range reductions or a widespread thinning of former populations. Soil erosion and stream siltation, other forms of …

Socioeconomic Impacts Of Developing Wind Energy In The Great Plains, F. Larry Leistritz, Randal C. Coon

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

Wind energy has been growing rapidly in the Great Plains because of the region’s favorable wind resources and because it has been stimulated by a federal production tax credit and by state renewable portfolio standards. Wind energy installations also offer economic development opportunities for rural areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the socioeconomic effects of the recent development of a wind energy center on nearby communities. Project construction occurred over a six-month period, with the workforce peaking at 269. Project operation supports 10 permanent jobs and expenditures to local businesses and households totaling $1.4 million annually. These …

Causes And Impacts Of Salinization In The Lower Pecos River, Christopher W. Hoagstrom

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

River salinization is a byproduct of water resource development that results from cumulative impacts of flow-regime modifications and crop irrigation. However, historical salinization in the Lower Pecos River is often attributed to natural, high-salinity groundwater. Here, evidence from literature and U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations is reviewed to summarize historical changes associated with water development that potentially contributed to Pecos River salinization. A suite of hydrological changes, initiated in the 1880s, likely contributed to streamflow salinization: (1) reduced flood frequency and magnitude, (2) diminished streamflow, (3) increased evapotranspiration, and (4) increased prevalence of natural, high-salinity groundwater. Salinization is presently highest …

Book Review: Not A Drop To Drink: America’S Water Crisis (And What You Can Do) By Ken Midkiff, Ann Bleed

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

Midkiff presents his case with the clear purpose of raising our awareness and concerns. In some instances, however, he exaggerates the problem. He claims that the North Platte and South Platte Rivers at their confluence are perennially dry and that it is now possible to cross the Platte River in central Nebraska without one’s toes getting wet. Yet as I write this review streamflow in the central Platte River at Overton is about 500 cubic feet per second. He correctly observes that in many areas the Ogallala Aquifer will be dry in 30 to 100 years, but he also asserts …

Book Review: Grasses Of Colorado By Robert B. Shaw, Stephan L. Hatch

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

This comprehensive, systematic treatment of the grasses of Colorado is going to become the standard for new floras in the state. With this book the “student of grasses” will be able to more accurately identify and key the species within this economically important and unique family. Users will need to read the introductions and follow the author’s excellent instructions in how to use the book to be most successful. There are brief but adequate discussions of physiography and ecoregions that place Colorado’s grass vegetation in the proper context with surrounding states. The section on the “grass plant” is particularly well …

Book Review: Buffalo Inc.: American Indians And Economic Development By Sebastian Felix Braun, Ken Zontek

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

Swiss-born University of North Dakota anthropologist Felix Sebastian Braun focuses on the recent development of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation’s bison herd program by tracing the origins, implementation, and demise of Pte Hca Ka, a corporation designed to establish a sizeable bison presence on the reservation for a variety of sociocultural and economic reasons. Buffalo Inc.’s 14 chapters roughly divide into three parts, each of which includes a chapter specifically focused on Pte Hca Ka along with contextualizing commentary chapters.

Book Review: Dirt: The Erosion Of Civilizations By David R. Montgomery, Mark S. Kuzila

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

The book provides an understanding of the role that soil management has played in the success or failure of civilizations. It documents the fact that soil erosion in the 1930s in the Great Plains was part of a succession of soil erosions resulting from poor management that began thousands of years before. Unfortunately, lessons learned from the Great Plains in the 1930s have not been heeded, and major outbreaks of soil erosion have occurred since that time. The book provides an insight into the reasons why we should continue to strive for sustainable use of our soil resources. It is …

Book Review: Saskatchewan: Geographic Perspectives Edited By Bernard D. Thraves, M.L. Lewry, Janis E. Dale, And Hansgeorg Schlichtmann, Tom Carter

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

If the book has a weakness, it is the absence of a strong focus on social geography. Various chapters bring social issues into the discussion, but there is no detailed attention to poverty, health, housing, education, and other aspects of social geography. That aside, this collection offers an excellent portrayal of the geography of Saskatchewan. It will be an invaluable resource for years to come, offering a choice vantage point from which to engage future geographical perspectives on Saskatchewan.

Great Plains Research: A Journal Of Natural And Social Sciences Volume 19, Number 1 (Spring 2009): Table Of Contents

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

Social Sciences

Socioeconomic Impacts of Developing Wind Energy in the Great Plains (F. Larry Leistritz and Randal C. Coon) .............. 3

Archeological Interpretation of the Frontier Battle at Mud Springs, Nebraska (Peter Bleed and Douglas D. Scott) .............. 13

Natural Sciences

Causes and Impacts of Salinization in the Lower Pecos River (Christopher W. Hoagstrom) .............. 27

Near-Surface Soil-Water Monitoring for Water Resources Management on a Wide-Area Basis in the Great Plains (Hubbard, You, Sridhar, Hunt, Korner, and Roebke) .............. 45

Precipitation Event Size Controls on Long-Term Abundance of Opuntia Polyacantha (Plains Prickly-Pear) in Great Plains Grasslands (Lauenroth, Dougherty, and Singh) …

Book Review: The State Of The Native Nations: Conditions Under U.S. Policies Of Self-Determination By The Harvard Project On American Indian Economic Development, Gavin Clarkson

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

If ever a text should be required for a foundational American Indian Studies course, The State of the Native Nations is such a book. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development has produced a remarkably comprehensive yet eminently accessible description of Indian Country in the 21st century. This book stands in stark contrast to much of the scholarship in American Indian Studies, which seems intellectually paralyzed by a sense of victimhood. While the authors fully acknowledge the centuries of mistreatment, cultural suppression, disenfranchisement, and deleterious federal policies that left many tribes dependent on a paternalistic federal government, the main …