Biodiversity Commons^™

A Review Of Fall Sandhill Crane Migration Through Indiana, Allisyn-Marie T. Y. Gillet

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife conducts surveys from October to December to collect long-term data on greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida). Results from these censuses contribute to a fall index of the Eastern Population, which informs wildlife management decisions and research priorities. Recent findings from the annual U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fall Sandhill Crane Migration Survey demonstrate a decline in the number of cranes observed at fall staging areas throughout Indiana since 1979. However, nationwide data exhibit a trend of population increase. I provide evidence to show that the apparent decline in the …

A Guide To The Freshwater Mussels Of Nebraska, Steven C. Schainost

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This print-ready pdf includes information on the anatomy, life history, identification of and threats to Nebraska's freshwater mussels. Species accounts include maps and photos.

The Crayfish Of Nebraska, Steven C. Schainost

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission: White Papers, Conference Presentations, and Manuscripts

This print-ready pdf includes information on the anatomy, biology, and ecology of crayfishes of Nebraska, individual species accounts with maps, and a key to the species.

Addendum To Encomia And Reflections, Clyde Jones (1935-2015): Encomium, Robert J. Baker, Carleton J. Phillips, Hugh H. Genoways

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

This is the authors' collective attempt to provide an encomium (an honest song of praise) for Clyde Jones. After some urging from the editors of this volume, the authors conspired to share some memories of Clyde.

Editors’ note: Due to various factors, this encomium was submitted too late to be included in the published memorial volume. However, in consideration of the relationship of the authors to Clyde Jones, we agreed to make this encomium available via electronic format as a supplement to the printed volume.

Hawks And Owls, Brian E. Washburn

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Hawks and owls can negatively impact a variety of human interests, including important natural resources, livestock and game bird production, human health and safety, and companion animals. Conflicts between raptors and people generally are localized and often site-specific. However, the economic and social impacts to the individuals involved can be severe. Despite the problems they may cause, hawks and owls provide important benefits and environmental services. Raptors are popular with birdwatchers and much of the general public. They also hunt and kill large numbers of rodents, reducing crop damage and other problems.

Damage Identification

Management Methods

Economics

Species …

Species Distribution Modeling Of North American Odonates, Rebecca Beilinson

Library Map Prize

Species distribution modeling, which uses species-environment relationships to predict species’ geographic ranges, is a powerful technique for biogeographical and ecological analysis as well as for conservation planning. However, it has typically been underutilized for invertebrates and for freshwater species, as modeling these groups can pose unique challenges. Here I present methods for modeling odonate distributions and demonstrate these methods for four North American species. I show that incorporating expert-derived range maps as spatial priors can significantly improve model performance as compared to MaxEnt models. I also introduce a new distance to freshwater layer as an environmental variable, and show that …

Population Sampling Of Chelonians In An Urban Lake In Jonesboro, Craighead County, Arkansas, J. D. Konvalina, C. S. Thigpen, S. E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We conducted a mark-recapture survey for aquatic turtles in Craighead Forest Lake in Jonesboro (Craighead County, Arkansas). From July 2, 2015 to October 14, 2015, we set six hoop nets, baited with fish parts, at specific shoreline locations around the lake. Traps were set twice a week and checked 12 hours after they were set. Carapace length, carapace width, plastron length, and plastron width were measured for each individual. Each turtle was identified to species and its sex was recorded. We also placed a notch in one or more of its marginal scutes to aid in future identification. Finally, a …

Proof Of Acacia Nilotica Stand Expansion In Bekol Savanna, Baluran National Park, East Java, Indonesia Through Remote Sensing And Field Observations, Sutomo, Eddie Van Etten, Luthfi Wahab

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

One of woody species that is known to inhabit certain savanna ecosystems is Acacia nilotica. The Acacia nilotica tree is widespread in the northern savannah regions, and its range extends from Mali to Sudan and Egypt. Acacia nilotica was first introduced to Java Island in 1850. It then spread to Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, Timor and Papua. Found in grasslands, savanna is reported as important colonizer at Baluran National Park in East Java and Wasur National Park Papua. We conducted Vegetation analysis in three areas of the Baluran Savanna namely: Grazed, burned and unburnt. Our observation result analysis showed that …

Defining Biodiversity: A Local Assessment Of The Tahuayo River, Peru Using Self-Directed Photography, Rozsika D. Steele

All Master's Theses

The Área de Conservación Regional Comunal Tamshiyacu Tahuayo (ACRCTT), located in Loreto, Peru, protects 420,000 hectares of the Amazon basin. In 2009, the ACRCTT received formal government recognition after three decades of advocacy and conservation work by resident communities. Local resource users who live a subsistence lifestyle possess sophisticated Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) that can be used to identify which constituents of biodiversity are culturally relevant. This information can help resource managers develop an operational definition of biodiversity. Self-directed photography is a research method that allows participants the opportunity to direct data collection and empowers them to visually communicate their …

Endohelminth Parasites Of Some Midwater And Benthopelagic Stomiiform Fishes From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Michael J. Andres, Mark S. Peterson, Robin M. Overstreet

Gulf and Caribbean Research

: Mesopelagic fishes represent significant ecological links between mesozooplankton and the larger pelagic squids, fishes, and marine mammals. As such, these fishes also play a significant role as intermediate or paratenic hosts for parasites that require a crustacean intermediate host and mature in marine mammals or pelagic fishes. We examined a total of 208 individuals representing 5 species of Sternoptychidae and 88 individuals representing 2 species of Phosichthyidae from 20 locations in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM). Six of the 7 species we examined are mesopelagic and one species was benthopelagic. We found the larval stages of Anisakis brevispiculata …

The Small Mammals Of Southeastern Virginia As Revealed By Pitfall Trapping, Robert K. Rose

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Pitfall trapping is a poor method to catch small mammals but the only way to catch and study the Southeastern Shrew (Sorex longirostris), the primary mammal of interest in the field studies reported here. While learning much about its distribution and abundance, still more was learned about the other small mammals present in forests and fields of eastern Virginia. A total of 15 species was captured at 19 locations during the 1990-2013 period, including five shrews, two moles, and eight rodents, representing all but one of the common small mammals in eastern Virginia.

Assessing The Cost Of Global Biodiversity And Conservation Knowledge, Diego Juffe-Bignoli, Thomas M. Brooks, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Richard B. Jenkins, Kaia Boe, Michael Hoffman, Ariadne Angulo, Steve Bachman, Monica Böhm, Neil Brummitt, Kent E. Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Knowledge products comprise assessments of authoritative information supported by standards, governance, quality control, data, tools, and capacity building mechanisms. Considerable resources are dedicated to developing and maintaining knowledge products for biodiversity conservation, and they are widely used to inform policy and advise decision makers and practitioners. However, the financial cost of delivering this information is largely undocumented. We evaluated the costs and funding sources for developing and maintaining four global biodiversity and conservation knowledge products: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems, Protected Planet, and the World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas. These are …

Isolation And Characterization Of Eight Polymorphic Microsatellites For The Spotted Spiny Lobster, Panulirus Guttatus, Nathan Truelove, Donald C. Behringer, Mark J. Butler Iv, Richard F. Preziosi

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Microsatellite sequences were isolated from enriched genomic libraries of the spotted spiny lobster, Panulirus guttatus using 454 pyrosequencing. Twenty-nine previously developed polymerase chain reaction primer pairs of Panulirus argus microsatellite loci were also tested for cross-species amplification in Panulirus guttatus. In total, eight consistently amplifying, and polymorphic loci were characterized for 57 individuals collected in the Florida Keys and Bermuda. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 8 to 20 and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.409 to 0.958. Significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were found in one locus from Florida and three loci from Bermuda. Quality control testing indicated …

Using Linear Mixed Models To Analyze Native And Non-Native Species Abundances In Coastal Sage Scrub, Kaylee Anderson

Scripps Senior Theses

Coastal Sage Scrub (CSS) is a low scrubland plant community native to the coasts of California, housing many threatened and endangered species. Due to the invasion of non-native plants, many areas of CSS have type converted to annual grasslands and the fire frequency has accelerated; fire in turn, may facilitate further invasion, leading to a loss of biodiversity. While many studies document post-fire succession in these communities, pre-fire data are rarely available for comparison, especially data on seedling emergence. I analyzed post-fire recovery of a type-converted grassland community, comparing seedling emergence data for the first and third year after fire …

Determining The Barriers To And Opportunities For Community Involvement In The Management Of The Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Uttarakhand, India, Trisha Singh

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Today’s global political environment places a high value on social equality and economic well- being. In this climate, emphasizing biodiversity conservation over socio-economic development through exclusionary methods of habitat protection has become ethically questioned and politically dangerous. The goal of this research was to understand the barriers and opportunities for local involvement in the management of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand, India. We attempted to understand the feasibility of local community involvement in the management of the NDBR from the perspective of policy-making organizations and that of the local communities.

Key findings highlight barriers to community participation at …

Conservation Genetics On The Frontline, Kenneth W. Rand

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conservation genetics stands out as an effective tool for discovering and monitoring rare, endangered or invasive populations of plants and animals. Particularly when compared to traditional search and capture methods, it provides more holistic studies to preserve the disappearing biodiversity of the American West and the world.

Three stories highlight the work done to preserve biodiversity through the use of conservation genetics:

1. Trout Rescue: A new hope for westslope cutthroat in Montana How to save a disappearing westslope cutthroat trout through genetic rescue by adding genetic diversity to ensuring future survival in increasingly warming waters more harm than good. …

Positive Interactions In Temperate And Tropical Alpine Plant Communities: The Role Of Facilitation In Species-Specific Interactions, Invasion, And Landscape-Scale Distribution, Nicole Hupp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Pollinator Sharing Between Mimulus Ringens And Coflowering Plant Species In Northeastern Ohio, Andrew M. Wuellner

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Competition between plants for pollinators can have serious impacts on plant reproduction; these impacts depend on many factors, such as plant abundance, plant diversity, floral abundance, pollinator abundance, and pollinator preference. The way pollinators move among and between coflowering species can tell us more about how these factors affect competition. In this study, we examine the movement patterns of flower visitors to Mimulus ringens and coflowering species in Northeastern Ohio through several types of observations. In addition, we measured the density and diversity of floral units with 20-30 meter transects across each study site. There were six total study sites, …

Territoriality And Inter-Pack Aggression In Gray Wolves: Shaping A Social Carnivore's Life History Rudyard Kipling's Law Of The Jungle Meets Yellowstone's Law Of The Mountains, Kira A. Cassidy, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, Daniel R. Macnulty, Daniel R. Stahler, Matthew C. Metz

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

When Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book in 1894 and included the famous line "For the strength of the Wolf is the Pack, and the strength of the Pack is the Wolf," he would have had no idea that over a century later, scientific research would back up his poetic phrase. Recent studies in Yellowstone have found that both the individual wolf and the collective pack rely on each other and play important roles in territoriality. At a time when most fairy tales and fables were portraying wolves as demonic killers or, at best, slapstick gluttons, Kipling seemed to have …

Wolf (Canis Lupus) Generation Time And Proportion Of Current Breeding Females By Age, L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, John Erb

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

Information is sparse about aspects of female wolf (Canis lupus) breeding in the wild, including age of first reproduction, mean age of primiparity, generation time, and proportion of each age that breeds in any given year. We studied these subjects in 86 wolves (113 captures) in the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota (MN), during 1972–2013 where wolves were legally protected for most of the period, and in 159 harvested wolves from throughout MN wolf range during 2012–2014. Breeding status of SNF wolves were assessed via nipple measurements, and wolves from throughout MN wolf range, by placental scars. In …