Publications

In 1993, a mark-recapture effort was initiated to band annually all Great Lakes Piping Plover nesting adults and offspring. With voluntary reporting by observers, >430 sightings of 154 individually-marked Great Lakes banded birds were documented on the wintering grounds during 19952005. This paper reports non-breeding distribution and site-fidelity and identifies Critical Habitat units...

The last in a series of three workshops to develop a decision framework for the scaup conservation action plan was conducted in September 2009. Fifteen waterfowl biologists and managers met in Memphis, Tennessee at the Ducks Unlimited Headquarters to review and refine the decision statement, objectives, and prototype model for the continental scaup population, with a special focus on...

Generally Gray Wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) tend to focus predation on young-of-the-year ungulates during summer, and I hypothesized that wolves preying on Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus Zimmerman, 1780) in summer would follow that trend. Over 23 July periods observing wolves on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, I found that packs of 2-12 adult wolves killed seven calves, one yearling, and...

Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) lay their eggs on an existing substrate in the dark recesses of a variety of natural sites (Kirk and Mossman 1998). Although an important requirement of Turkey Vulture nest-site selection is isolation from human disturbances (Kirk and Mossman 1998), their nests have been reported in abandoned buildings since at least the early 1800s (Nuttall 1832)...

The identification of predators of aquatic birds can be difficult. The Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentine) is considered a major predator of waterfowl and other aquatic birds, but the evidence for this reputation is based largely on circumstantial or indirect evidence rather than direct observations. Herein, the first documented observations of a snapping turtle attacking and...

We are living in a period of massive global change. This rate of change may be almost without precedent in geologic history (1). Even the most remote areas of the planet are influenced by human activities. Modern landscapes have been highly modified to accommodate a growing human population that the United Nations has forecast to peak at 9.1 billion by 2050. Over this past century...

No abstract available.

Skulls of wild Canis collected 2003–2004 in north-central Texas are morphometrically similar to a series taken there and in nearby areas in 1964–1971, which was considered to represent a population of Coyotes (C. latrans) modified through introgression from Red Wolves (C. rufus). A few of the new specimens closely resemble small examples of Red Wolves. Such affinity is supported by...

Wolves, Canis lupus, on Ellesmere Island traveled a daily round-trip distance of 40.2 km from their den to a landfill during July 2008, plus an undetermined distance hunting after leaving the landfill. Although long travels by Wolves are well known, this appears to be the first documentation of long daily movements by Wolves rearing pups.

Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is an invasive Eurasian perennial introduced into the United States as a contaminant of crop seed in the 1880s and 1890s. It typically forms monocultures in rangeland and natural areas of the northern Great Plains where, because of the latex that occurs in all parts of the plant, it is not consumed by naturally occurring herbivores. U.S. Geological...

The National Wildlife Refuge System has an active habitat restoration program and annually seeds thousands of hectares with native plant species. The noxious weed, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), plagues these restorations. This study evaluates planting methodology and seed mixes with the goal of recommending optimal methods to reduce infestation of noxious weeds, especially Canada...

Habitat conditions are one of the most important factors determining distribution and productivity of least terns (Sternula antillarum) and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) in the upper Missouri River system (Ziewitz and others, 1992; Kruse and others, 2002). Habitat conditions are known to change within and among seasons in response to variation in river flows, weather conditions...