Natural Resources and Conservation Commons^™

Trophic Dynamics Of Flathead Catfish In The Missouri River Bordering Nebraska, Dylan R. Turner

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Understanding the trophic dynamics of large, riverine ecosystems is complex and requires knowledge from several inputs and outputs of the ecosystem. Most riverine ecosystems have been altered in some way whether through damming, channelizing, or diverting water. The Missouri River is not immune to these anthropogenic alterations. The river has dams throughout its middle portion and is channelized from Sioux City, Iowa to its confluence with the Mississippi River. Flathead Catfish pylodictus olivarius are one of the most ecologically harmful introduced species but little research has looked at the influence native populations of Flathead Catfish have on native prey populations …

Conservation Farming And Changing Climate: More Beneficial Than Conventional Methods For Degraded Ugandan Soils, Drake N. Mubiru, Jalia Namakula, James Lwasa, Godfrey A. Otim, Joselyn Kashagama, Milly Nakafeero, William Nanyeenya, Mark S. Coyne

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The extent of land affected by degradation in Uganda ranges from 20% in relatively flat and vegetation-covered areas to 90% in the eastern and southwestern highlands. Land degradation has adversely affected smallholder agro-ecosystems including direct damage and loss of critical ecosystem services such as agricultural land/soil and biodiversity. This study evaluated the extent of bare grounds in Nakasongola, one of the districts in the Cattle Corridor of Uganda and the yield responses of maize (Zea mays) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to different tillage methods in the district. Bare ground was determined by a supervised multi-band …

Streambank Erosion Mapping On The Nottoway River Using Gps-Based Above-Water Video, Emine Fidan

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This project concerns the development of streambank erosion maps on military installations utilizing GPS-based above-water video mapping and image georeferencing techniques. The river mapped was the Nottoway River at the Fort Pickett military installation on October 10-11, 2015. Kayak-mounted above-water cameras were utilized to capture georeferenced images of streambank erosion. These GIS-based erosion classifications were utilized to develop erosion maps for determining streambank erosion conditions along the river. Areas of high erosion were identified as about two percent of the river (2167 ft. of streambank length). These maps allow for the opportunity to revisit the sites to determine changes in …

Fish And Macroinvertebrate Response To Restored Off Channel Habitats On The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Caleb Uerling

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Anthropogenic alterations to large rivers ranging from impoundments to levees have caused many rivers to no longer access the floodplain. The ecological integrity of floodplain rivers depends on the interaction between main-channel and floodplain habitats. Fish communities inhabiting floodplain habitats are often dictated by the type of habitat and conditions within that habitat. As restoration projects are undertaken it is imperative that managers understand how fish and macroinvertebrates respond to these events. We collected fish, macroinvertebrates, and habitat parameters on two restored floodplain habitats on the lower Platte River, Nebraska to answer questions about aquatic community response to floodplain restoration …

Ecosystem Recovery In Estuarine Wetlands Of The Columbia River Estuary, Sarah Ann Kidd

Dissertations and Theses

In the restoration of tidal wetland ecosystems, potential drivers of plant community development range from biotic controls (e.g. plant competition, seed dispersal) to abiotic controls (e.g. tidal flooding, salinity levels). How these controls influence the success of tidal wetland restoration are only partly understood, but have important implications for wetland habitat recovery. Specifically, the extent to which the existing native and non-native seed banks in tidally reconnected wetlands interact with these controls is not clear, yet the potential success of passive restoration methods depends upon this understanding.

For a 54-year chronosequence of eleven tidal wetland restoration sites in the Lower …

Using Critical Physical Geography To Map The Unintended Consequences Of Conservation Management Programs, Melanie Malone

Dissertations and Theses

A variety of conservation trends have gained and lost favor throughout the years in agriculture, with U.S. Farm Bills often influencing what conservation practices are implemented by farming communities throughout the U.S. This dissertation focuses on the unintended consequences of conservation management practices in the Fifteenmile Watershed of Wasco County, Oregon. Specifically, I seek to address how farmer enrollment in various conservation techniques, loosely defined as no-till agriculture, has affected soil and water quality through the increased use of herbicide, and subsequently rendered ecological and human health vulnerable. Using a critical physical geography framework, I address both the biophysical factors …

Strong Population Structure Deduced From Genetics, Otolith Chemistry And Parasite Abundances Explains Vulnerability To Localized Fishery Collapse In A Large Sciaenid Fish, Protonibea Diacanthus, Laura Taillebois, Diane P. Barton, David Crook, Thor Saunders, Jonathan Taylor, Mark Hearnden, Richard J. Saunders, Stephen J. Newman, Michael J. Travers, David J. Welch, Alan Greig, Christine Dudgeon, Safia Maher, Jennifer Ovenden

Fisheries Research Articles

As pressure on coastal marine resources is increasing globally, the need to quantitatively assess vulnerable fish stocks is crucial in order to avoid the ecological consequences of stock depletions. Species of Sciaenidae (croakers, drums) are important components of tropical and temperate fisheries and are especially vulnerable to exploitation. The black-spotted croaker, Protonibea diacanthus, is the only large sciaenid in coastal waters of northern Australia where it is targeted by commercial, recreational and indigenous fishers due to its food value and predictable aggregating behaviour. Localized declines in the abundance of this species have been observed, highlighting the urgent requirement by managers …

Comprehensive Silica Removal With Ferric Compounds For Industrial Wastewater Reuse, Ehren D. Baca

Civil Engineering ETDs

Cooling towers, integrated circuit (IC) manufacture and reverse osmosis (RO) generate copious amounts of wastewater high in colloidal and reactive silica inhibiting on-site or synergistic reuse. Silica present in cooling water can reach solubility limits via evaporation and form impervious scale on heat transfer surfaces that decreases efficiency. When water is treated by RO operating at high rejection, silica forms difficult-to-remove scale on the membrane feed side in the form of glassy patches and communities of aggregate particles, inhibiting aspirations for zero liquid discharge. Current methods for silica scale mitigation include abundant dosing with chemical antiscalents or complex operating schemes. …

Economic Evaluation Of Coastal Land Loss In Louisiana, Stephen R. Barnes, Craig Bond, Nicholas Burger, Kate Anania, Aaron Strong, Sarah Weilant, Stephanie Virgets

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Louisiana has lost approximately 1,880 square miles of land over the past eighty years. Projections suggest that in a future without action, the next fifty years could result in the loss of 1,750 additional square miles of land area. As land loss continues, a large portion of the natural and man-made capital stocks of coastal Louisiana will be at greater risk of damage, either from land loss or from the associated increase in storm damage. We estimate the replacement cost of capital stock directly at risk from land loss ranges from approximately $2.1 billion to $3.5 billion with economic activity …

Lichen Conservation In Eastern North America: Population Genomics, Climate Change, And Translocations, Jessica Allen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conservation biology is a scientific discipline that draws on methods from diverse fields to address specific conservation concerns and inform conservation actions. This field is overwhelmingly focused on charismatic animals and vascular plants, often ignoring other diverse and ecologically important groups. This trend is slowly changing in some ways; for example, increasing number of fungal species are being added to the IUCN Red-List. However, a strong taxonomic bias still exists. Here I contribute four research chapters to further the conservation of lichens, one group of frequently overlooked organisms. I address specific conservation concerns in eastern North America using modern methods. …

Pheasant Response To Lead Ingestion, Travis J. Runia, Alex J. Solem

The Prairie Naturalist

Lead is toxic to all vertebrate species and ingestion of spent lead pellets from hunting is the primary method of exposure in birds. Both acute and chronic effects occur in response to lead ingestion including death, weight loss, and reduced body function, but the effect is highly variable among species. Most research has focused on lead ingestion impacts on waterfowl, but less is known about the effects of lead ingestion by upland game such as ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). We gavage- fed zero, one, or three lead pellets to 90 (n = 30/group) captive-raised adult hen pheasants and monitored survival …

Long-Term Changes In Canada Goose Nest Success And Nest Densities At An Iowa Wetland Complex, Brenna N. Ness, Robert W. Klaver, Guy G. Zenner

The Prairie Naturalist

Giant Canada geese (Branta canadensis maxima) were extirpated from Iowa by the early 1900s due to unregulated hunting, egg gathering, and wetland drainage in the nineteenth century (Bishop 1978). Ef- forts to reintroduce Canada geese in Iowa began in 1964 (Bishop and Howing 1972) and involved releasing flightless adults and goslings at nearly 30 sites across the state (Zenner and LaGrange 1998a). In 1972, 13 flightless pairs were released at Rice Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA; Bishop 1978). By 1989, the breeding population of Canada geese at Rice Lake WMA had increased to 420 nesting adults (G. G. Zenner, Iowa …

Assessing Parturition Date Synchrony For North Dakota Ungulates, Eric S. Michel, Jonathan A. Jenks, William F. Jensen

The Prairie Naturalist

Reproductive parameters such as conception date, and therefore parturition date, influence offspring characteristics such as sex ratio and birth mass. For example, late-conceiving reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) produced more female than male offspring compared to those who conceived early (Holand et al. 2006). Females that conceive later and therefore give birth later also can produce lighter offspring compared to those who conceive early (Schwartz et al. 1994, Holand et al. 2006). Because birth mass is positively related to adult body mass (Michel et al. 2015), conception and parturition date likely affect adult phenotype. In turn, this may influence survival because heavy …

Notes: Examining The Potential Competitive Effects Of Ventenata Dubia On Annual And Perennial Grasses, Shawn Mckay, Lesley R. Morris, Christopher E. Morris, Elizabeth A. Leger

The Prairie Naturalist

Portions of the United States are becoming increasingly dominated by annual species, with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski) as the most common and well-known invaders (Bansal et al. 2014). Other invasive annual species also are present and increasing in abundance, including ventenata (Ventenata dubia [Leers] Coss.), an invasive annual grass that has been expanding within the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin, and Great Plains regions of the United States. Ventenata was first reported in North America in 1952 in Washington (Old and Callihan 1987) and has since spread to 7 western states in the USA (CA, …

Book Reviews: American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals Of The Great Plains. Dan Flores., Daniel S. Licht

The Prairie Naturalist

Before describing what Flores’ book is, I must state what it is not. It is not a technical book designed for scholarly readers. Sources are not fully cited, and the bibliography is of limited scope. Nor is it a comprehensive book of all the megafauna of the Great Plains. Although chapters are devoted to extant species such as American bison (Bison bison), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), and coyote (Canis latrans), there are only passing references to mule and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus and O. virginianus, respectively), elk (Cervus canadensis), and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). Rather, Flores devotes chapters to grizzly bears …

Diel And Monthly Movement Rates By Migratory And Resident Female Pronghorn, Paul F. Jones, T. Andrew Hurly, Chelsea Jensen, Karl Zimmer, Andrew Jakes

The Prairie Naturalist

Animal movement patterns are variable, with certain species primarily being diurnal and others nocturnal. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) are regarded as diurnal animals moving predominately during daylight hours. Anecdotal accounts, however, suggest that pronghorn move during the night but the extent, frequency, and importance of these nocturnal movement behaviors are unknown. To evaluate movements, we combined global positioning system relocation data from collared female pronghorn in the Northern Sagebrush Steppe between 2003 and 2007 with sunrise/sunset data within a geographical information system platform. We assessed whether mean and maximum movement rates were influenced by diel period (dawn, day, dusk, and night), …

The Pitfalls Of Data Analysis, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! I hope summer finds you well and enjoying the Great Plains in some way, whether that be starting a new field season, a long-overdue break from the office, or planning your next family vacation. For me, transitioning away from the demands of the Spring 2017 semester to data analyses and preparation of my own manuscripts are particularly exciting (well, as exciting as “office life” can be!). Over the past month, I have initiated a number of grandiose summer objectives, most of which include analysis or in some instances, re-analysis of data to address concerns raised during peer-review. …

The Prairie Naturalist: The Journal Of The Great Plains Natural Science Society Volume 49 No. 1

The Prairie Naturalist

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EDITOR’S NOTE

RESEARCH ARTICLES

3 Diel and Monthly Movement Rates by Migratory and Resident Female Pronghorn Paul F. Jones, T. Andrew Hurley, Chelsea Jensen, Karl Zimmer, and Andrew Jakes

13 Pheasant Response to Lead Ingestion Travis J. Runia and Alex J. Solem

NOTES

19 Examining the Potential Competitive Effects of Ventenata dubia on Annual and Perennial Grasses Shawn McKay, Lesley R. Morris, Christopher E. Morris, and Elizabeth A. Leger

23 Adult Red-Headed Woodpecker Interaction with Bullsnake After Arboreal Nest Depradation Brittany J. Yohannes and James L. Howitz

26 Breeding Trumpeter Swans in Northeastern North Dakota Mark …

Adult Red-Headed Woodpecker Interaction With Bullsnake After Arboreal Nest Depredation, Brittney J. Yohannes, James L. Howitz

The Prairie Naturalist

Nest success rates often are higher among cavity-nesting birds than those that nest in open cups or on the ground. Among cavity-nesting birds, woodpeckers have some of the highest rates of nest success. A review of woodpecker nesting ecology across species documented nest success ranging from 0.42 to 1.00 with a median of 0.80 (n = 84 populations), and that predation was low, ranging from 0.00 to 0.35 with a median of 0.13 (n = 33 populations). The constrained opening to a cavity nest limits predation to relatively small animals or those able to break open cavity walls. …

Use Of Satellite Trap Transmitters In Capturing Mountain Lions, Randy D. Johnson, Jonathan A. Jenks, Stephanie A. Tucker

The Prairie Naturalist

The use of safe and humane methods for the capture of wild animals is imperative in wildlife research, wildlife damage management, and feral animal control. When capturing animals successfully and humanely, several items must be addressed, including animal safety, personnel safety, non-target captures, and cost (Sikes et al. 2016). Additionally, public pressures against the use of traps have led to significant changes in trapping regulations across North America and beyond (Andelt et al. 1999, Darrow and Shivik 2008) and can place research projects at risk to loss of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval (Larkin et al. 2003). …