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Publications

Filter Total Items: 1987

Diet and trophic characteristics of great horned owls in southwestern Idaho

We studied the diet of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in southwestern Idaho for 14 breeding seasons. The diet included 89.2% mammals by number and 91.2% by mass. Kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) were the most common prey overall, but montane voles (Microtus montanus), Peromyscus spp., Great Basin pocket mice (Perognathus parvus) and T
Authors
C.D. Marti, Michael N. Kochert

Overview of the limnology of Crater Lake

Crater Lake occupies the collapsed caldera of volcanic Mount Mazama in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. It is the deepest lake (589 m) in the United States and the 7th deepest lake in the world. The water column mixes to a depth of about 200 m in winter and spring from wind energy and cooling. The deep lake is mixed in winter and early spring each year when relatively cold water near the surfac
Authors
Gary L. Larson

Contaminants and sea ducks in Alaska and the circumpolar region

We review nesting sea duck population declines in Alaska during recent decades and explore the possibility that contaminants may be implicated. Aerial surveys of the surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), white-winged scoter (M. fusca), black scoter (M. nigra), oldsqaw (Clangula hyemalis), spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri), and Steller's eider (Polysticta stellei) show long-term breeding popul
Authors
Charles Henny, Deborah D. Rudis, Thomas J. Roffe, Everett Robinson-Wilson

The use of satellite systems for the study of bird migration

The Argos satellite system, with two or more polar-orbiting satellites, provides the basis for receiving radio signals from transmitters and for estimating locations of those transmitters anywhere around the earth. We briefly relate the development of platform-transmitter terminals small enough to be placed on birds, but powerful enough to send signals to the satellites. We review the use of this
Authors
Mark R. Fuller, W. Seegar, Paul Howey

Survival and population size estimation in raptor studies: A comparison of two methods

ABSTRACT.--The Jolly-Seber model is a capture-recapture model that can provide less-biased survival and population size estimates than those produced from simple counting procedures. Parameter estimation by simple counts and Jolly-Seber methods are based on certain assumptions that directly determine the validity of estimates. Evuluation of assumptions for parameter estimation is a focus of this p
Authors
William R. Gould, Mark R. Fuller

Landscape characteristics of fragmented shrubsteppe habitats and breeding passerine birds

We examined the influence of local and landscape-level attributes of fragmented habitats in shrubsteppe habitats on the breeding distributions of Sage (Amphispiza belli) and Brewer's (Spizella breweri) Sparrows, Sage Thrashers (Oreoscoptes montanus), Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris), and Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) in the Snake River Plains of southwestern Idaho. We developed habit
Authors
Steven T. Knick, J.T. Rotenberry

Are red-tailed hawks and great horned owls diurnal-nocturnal dietary counterparts?

Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) and Great Homed Owls (Bubo virginianus)are common in North America where they occupy a wide range of habitats, often sympatrically. The two species are similar in size and have been portrayed as ecological counterparts, eating the same prey by day and night. We tested the trophic similarity of the two species by comparing published dietary data from across the
Authors
C.D. Marti, Michael N. Kochert

A comparison of avian hematozoan epizootiology in two California coastal scrub communities

Passerine birds within two California (USA) coastal scrub ecosystems, an island and a mainland site, were examined for hematozoa from 1984 to 1990. Island birds had a significantly lower hematozoan prevalence than mainland birds. This prevalence difference can be related to a lack of appropriate hematozoan vectors on the island. Haemoproteus spp. and Leucocytozoon spp. were the most commonly encou
Authors
Paul E. Super, Charles van Riper

Competitive relations between Douglas-fir and Pacific madrone on shallow soils in a Mediterranean climate

A large area of Pacific Coast forests is characterized by shallow soil, with negligible rainfall in the growing season. This study explores water-seeking strategy on such a site. We studied availability of bedrock water and its effects on growth and ecophysiology of 11-yr-old planted Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) and sprouting Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii Pursh). The stu
Authors
Zheng Q. Wang, M. Newton, J. C. Tappeiner