Biodiversity Commons^™

Notes: River Otters Use Agricultural Field Along The Turtle Riveri In Eastern North Dakota As Crossover And Latrine Area, Maggie D. Triska, Steven C. Loughry, Thomas L. Sergass

The Prairie Naturalist

Recently, the Nearctic river otter (Lontra canadensis) has been re-colonizing portions of eastern North Dakota. The landscape in eastern North Dakota is dominated by agricultural fields and pastures, habitats which have received little research attention related to otter habitat use. During 2008, we searched shorelines to detect otter latrines, which is a common method for determining otter presence. Generally, latrines are locations along bodies of water where otters deposit scats, urine, and glandular secretions for olfactory communication, and groom, wrestle, and play, which may mat vegetation. In the northeastern United States, inland riverine system studies have shown latrines …

Resource Selection By Elk At Two Spatial Scales In The Black Hills, South Dakota, Mark A. Rumble, R. Scott Gamo

The Prairie Naturalist

Understanding resource selection by elk (Cervus elaphus) at multiple spatial scales may provide information that will help resolve the increasing number of resource conflicts involving elk. We quantified vegetation at 412 sites where the precise location of elk was known by direct observation and 509 random sites in the Black Hills of South Dakota during 1998– 2001. We obtained stand level variables from geographic information system coverages for a 250 m buffer around elk and random sites. We used classification and regression trees to simultaneously evaluate environmental thresholds of resources selected by feeding and bedded elk at the site and …

Habitat Selection By Female Swift Foxes (Vulpes Velox) During The Pup- Rearing Season, Indrani Sasmal, Jonathan A. Jenks, Troy W. Grovenburg, Shubham Datta, Greg. M. Schroeder, Robert W. Klaver, Kevin M. Honness

The Prairie Naturalist

The swift fox (Vulpes velox) was historically distributed in western South Dakota including the region surrounding Badlands National Park (BNP). The species declined during the mid-1800s, largely due to habitat loss and poisoning targeted at wolves (Canis lupis) and coyotes (C. latrans). Only a small population of swift foxes near Ardmore, South Dakota persisted. In 2003, an introduction program was initiated at BNP with swift foxes translocated from Colorado and Wyoming. We report on habitat use by female swift foxes during the pup-rearing season (May–July) in 2009. Analyses of location data from 13 radiomarked female foxes indicated disproportional use (P < 0.001) of some habitats relative to their availability within swift fox home ranges. Swift foxes used grassland (ŵ = 1.01), sparse vegetation (ŵ = 1.43) and prairie dog towns (ŵ = 1.18) in proportion to their availability, whereas they were less likely to use woodland (ŵ = 0.00), shrubland (ŵ = 0.14), pasture/agricultural-land (ŵ = 0.25) and development (ŵ = 0.16) relative to availability. Swift foxes typically are located in habitats that provide greater visibility, such as shortgrass prairie and areas with sparse vegetation; which allow detection of approaching coyotes (e.g., primary predator of swift foxes).

Phragmites Australis In South Dakota: Historical Distribution And Environment, Carol A. Johnston, Kayla L. Miller

The Prairie Naturalist

Common reed, Phragmites australis, has long been a component of Northern Plains wetlands, but impending invasion by the non-native P. australis haplotype M may displace native haplotypes in the future. To increase understanding of historical Phragmites occurrence, we developed a geographic information system (GIS) protocol to improve the georeferencing of specimens from South Dakota herbaria, and mapped the distribution of Phragmites relative to geology, physiographic regions, and water bodies. There were 91 Phragmites herbarium specimens from South Dakota and adjacent Wyoming. Phragmites collections occurred in nearly all physiographic regions of the state, with concentrations occurring in the Prairie Coteau of …

A New Species Of Vaejovis From Prescott, Arizona (Scorpiones: Vaejovidae), Richard F. Ayrey, Michael E. Soleglad

Euscorpius

A new scorpion species, Vaejovis crumpi, sp. nov., is described from Prescott, Yavapai Co., Arizona. This species is related to V. paysonensis Soleglad, 1973, and the “sky island” species of southern Arizona. V. crumpi is compared to the seven Vaejovis species currently reported for Arizona, in particular to V. paysonensis.

Wetland Management Guidelines For Nebraska's Wildlife Management Areas, Ted Lagrange, Randy Stutheit

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

Prior to Euro-American settlement, wetlands covered about 6% of the Nebraska landscape. Since settlement, the state’s wetlands have suffered serious decline. For example, approximately 90% of Rainwater Basin playa wetlands and 90% of the eastern saline wetlands have been destroyed or are highly degraded. Remaining wetlands are threatened by conversion to other uses (e.g. agriculture), invasive and aggressive vegetation, siltation, and lack of proper management. Only through sound management can the wetlands on our Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) be preserved for the citizens of Nebraska, as well as the native plants and wildlife dependent on them.

This section is directed …

Traversing Swanton Road, 5th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …

The Genus Butheoloides Hirst, 1925 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) In Morocco, With A Description Of А New Species, Wilson R. Lourenço, Oulaid Touloun, Ali Ali Boumezzough

Euscorpius

A new species belonging to the genus Butheoloides Hirst, 1925 (subgenus Butheoloides Hirst, 1925) (Scorpiones, Buthidae) is described from two localities in Morocco: north of Sidi Ifni in the southern coast and Sidi Moussa west of Tiznit. With the description of Butheoloides (Butheoloides) littoralis sp. n., the total number of species of this genus known from Morocco is raised to five. This makes Morocco the region in Africa with the highest diversity for Butheoloides species.

Section Abstracts: Natural History And Biodiversity

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Natural History and Biodiversity Section for the 89th Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 25-27, 2011, University of Richmond, Richmond VA.

Review Of Nature's Ghosts: Confronting Extinction From The Age Of Jefferson To The Age Of Ecology. By Mark V. Barrow, Jr., Peter A. Bednekoff

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

The saving of bison occupies a central place in Nature's Ghosts, but Mark Barrow's chronicle extends over a century both before and after. The story starts with Thomas Jefferson and fossils that came to be recognized as mastodons, mammoths, and giant ground sloths. "Jefferson and most of his contemporaries were certain that the natural world was orderly, static, and new." In such a worldview, extinction was unthinkable. Fossil evidence plus the historical extinctions of dodos, moas, and great auks forced reconsideration.

This book ranges across centuries and continents, and only a few parts of it are explicitly about the Great …

Wpa News 87 (2011), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Springr 2011), number 87

Published by the World Pheasant Association

Draft Western Rock Lobster Fishery Environmental Management Strategy November 2010 – October 2015, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

No abstract provided.

Draft Genome Of The Red Harvester Ant Pogonomyrmex Barbatus, Chris R. Smith, Christopher D. Smith, Hugh M. Robertson, Martin Helmkampf, Aleksey Zimin, Mark Yandall, Carson Holt, Hao Hu, Ehab Abouheif, Richard Benton, Elizabeth Cash, Vincent Croset, Cameron R. Currie, Eran Elhaik, Christine G. Elsik, Marie-Julie Favé, Vilaiwan Fernandes, Joshua D. Gibson, Dan Graur, Wulfila Gronenberg, Kirk J. Grubbs, Darren E. Hagen, Ana Sofia Ibarraran Viniegra, Brian R. Johnson, Reed M. Johnson, Abderrahman Khila, Jay W. Kim, Kaitlyn A, Mathis, Monica C. Munoz-Torres, Marguerite C. Murphy, Julie A. Mustard, Rin Nakamura, Oliver Niehuis, Surabhi Nigam, Rick P. Overson, Jennifer E. Placek, Rajendhran Rajakumar, Justin T. Reese, Garret Suen, Shu Tao, Candice W. Torres, Neil D. Tsutsui, Lumi Viljakainen, Florian Wolschin, Jürgen Gadau

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

We report the draft genome sequence of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. The genome was sequenced using 454 pyrosequencing, and the current assembly and annotation were completed in less than 1 y. Analyses of conserved gene groups (more than 1,200 manually annotated genes to date) suggest a high-quality assembly and annotation comparable to recently sequenced insect genomes using Sanger sequencing. The red harvester ant is a model for studying reproductive division of labor, phenotypic plasticity, and sociogenomics. Although the genome of P. barbatus is similar to other sequenced hymenopterans (Apis mellifera and Nasonia vitripennis) in …

A Molecular Phylogeny Of Living Primates, Polina L. Perelman, Warren E. Johnson, Christian Roos, Hector Seuanez, Julie E. Horvath, Miguel A. M. Moreira, Bailey Kessing, J. U. Pontius, Melody E. Roelke, Yves Rumpler, Maria P. C. Schneider, Artur Silva, Stephen J. O'Brien, Jill Pecon-Slattery

Biology Faculty Articles

Comparative genomic analyses of primates offer considerable potential to define and understand the processes that mold, shape, and transform the human genome. However, primate taxonomy is both complex and controversial, with marginal unifying consensus of the evolutionary hierarchy of extant primate species. Here we provide new genomic sequence (~8 Mb) from 186 primates representing 61 (~90%) of the described genera, and we include outgroup species from Dermoptera, Scandentia, and Lagomorpha. The resultant phylogeny is exceptionally robust and illuminates events in primate evolution from ancient to recent, clarifying numerous taxonomic controversies and providing new data on human evolution. Ongoing speciation, reticulate …

Native Grassland Management Guidelines For Nebraska's Wildlife Management Areas, Gerry Steinauer, Kent Pfeiffer, Jarren Kuipers

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

This document is one of a four part series produced by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to provide direction to managers of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in Nebraska. Other documents in the series cover management of woodlands, wetlands, and converted habitats.

Prior to EuroAmerican settlement grasslands covered 98% of the Nebraska landscape and supported the majority of the state’s biodiversity. Since settlement, Nebraska’s native grasslands have suffered serious decline. For example, approximately 98% of eastern Nebraska’s tallgrass prairie has been lost to development. In central and western Nebraska grassland losses have been less dramatic though still substantial. Remnant grasslands …

Plants Of The Colonet Region, Baja California, Mexico, And A Vegetation Map Of Colonet Mesa, Alan B. Harper, Sula Vanderplank, Mark Dodero, Sergio Mata, Jorge Ochoa

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The Colonet region is located at the southern end of the California Floristic Province, in an area known to have the highest plant diversity in Baja California. A preliminary list of vouchered specimens is developed for the area, and a vegetation map for Colonet Mesa is presented. The Colonet region has at least 435 vascular plant taxa, of which 383 are native to Baja California, and 52 are endemic or nearly endemic. This list includes five local endemic taxa known only from the Colonet region, 18 taxa on the California Native Plant Society List 1B of taxa that are "rare, …

Native Forest And Woodland Management Guidelines For Nebraska's Wildlife Management Areas, Gerry Steinauer

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

This document is one in a four part series produced by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to provide direction to managers of Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in Nebraska. Other documents in the series cover management of grasslands, wetlands, and early successional habitats.

Prior to Euroamerican settlement wildfires, drought and competition with prairie grasses limited the presettlement distribution of trees in Nebraska to well-watered and somewhat fire protected river valleys and rocky escarpments. At that time, wooded habitats covered about 2 percent of the Nebraska landscape. Though limited in areal, these communities were diverse and supported important components of Nebraska’s …

Traversing Swanton Road, 4th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …

Recreational Fishing In Western Australia: Southern Fish Identification Guide, Western Australia. Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Occasional Publications

This recreational fishing guide has been developed to help you identify the more common species you may encounter within the West Coast and South Coast bioregions. The purpose of this guide is to greatly enhance consistent and accurate species identification.

Living Soil And Sustainability Education: Linking Pedagogy And Pedology, Dilafruz R. Williams, Jonathan D. Brown

Educational Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sustainability is now permeating educational institutions. Yet the emerging discourse on sustainability education is in many ways caught in a modern web of theoretical, ontological, and epistemological assumptions that are incongruent with sustainability. We introduce an ecologically grounded metaphoric language rooted in living soil as an alternative regenerative framework for linking sustainability pedagogy with pedology (the study of soil). Five principles that guide this relationship are presented: valuing biocultural diversity, sensitizing our senses, recognizing place, cultivating interconnection, and embracing practical experience. Nurtured within an environment of curiosity, wonder, and questioning, and set to the rhythm and scale of localized ecologies, …