Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center staff publish results of their research in USGS series reports and in peer-reviewed journals. Publication links are below.  Information on all USGS publications can be found at the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 1943

An emerging crisis across northern prairie refuges: Prevalence of invasive plants and a plan for adaptive management An emerging crisis across northern prairie refuges: Prevalence of invasive plants and a plan for adaptive management

In the northern Great Plains, native prairies managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) can be pivotal in conservation of North America's biological diversity. From 2002 to 2006, we surveyed 7,338 belt transects to assess the general composition of mixed-grass and tallgrass prairie vegetation across five "complexes" (i.e., administrative groupings) of national wildlife...
Authors
T.A. Grant, B. Flanders-Wanner, T.L. Shaffer, R.K. Murphy, G.A. Knutsen

Wolf use of summer territory in northeastern Minnesota Wolf use of summer territory in northeastern Minnesota

Movements of wolves (Canis lupus) during summer 2003 and 2004 in the Superior National Forest were based around homesites but included extensive use of territories. Away from homesites, wolves used different areas daily, exhibiting rotational use. Mean daily range overlap was 22 (SE 0.02) and that of breeding wolves was significantly greater than for nonbreeders (x 25 and 16...
Authors
D. J. Demma, L.D. Mech

Sustainable wetland management and support of ecosystem services Sustainable wetland management and support of ecosystem services

This article is a follow-up on a previous piece in the National Wetlands Newsletter in which we outlined problems associated with a static, local approach to wetland management versus an alternative that proposes a temporal and geomorphic approach (Euliss et al. 2009). We extend that concept by drawing on companion papers recently published in the journal Wetlands (Euliss et al. 2008...
Authors
Loren M. Smith, Ned H. Euliss, Douglas A. Wilcox, Mark M. Brinson

Nesting ecology of Greater Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) in riparian and palustrine wetlands of eastern Idaho Nesting ecology of Greater Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) in riparian and palustrine wetlands of eastern Idaho

Little information exists on breeding Greater Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) in riparian wetlands of the Intermountain West. We examined the nesting ecology of Sandhill Cranes associated with riparian and palustrine wetlands in the Henry's Fork Watershed in eastern Idaho in 2003. We located 36 active crane nests, 19 in riparian wetlands and 17 in palustrine wetlands. Nesting...
Authors
D.B. McWethy, J. E. Austin

Wolf, Canis lupus, visits to white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, summer ranges: Optimal foraging? Wolf, Canis lupus, visits to white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, summer ranges: Optimal foraging?

We tested whether Wolf (Canis lupus) visits to individual female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) summer ranges during 2003 and 2004 in northeastern Minnesota were in accord with optimal-foraging theory. Using GPS collars with 10- to 30-minute location attempts on four Wolves and five female deer, plus eleven VHF-collared female deer in the Wolves' territory, provided new...
Authors
D. J. Demma, L.D. Mech

Feeding ecology of arctic-nesting sandpipers during spring migration through the prairie pothole region Feeding ecology of arctic-nesting sandpipers during spring migration through the prairie pothole region

We evaluated food habits of 4 species of spring-migrant calidrid sandpipers in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North Dakota. Sandpipers foraged in several wetland classes and fed primarily on aquatic dipterans, mostly larvae, and the midge family Chironomidae was the primary food eaten. Larger sandpiper species foraged in deeper water and took larger larvae than did smaller...
Authors
J.L. Eldridge, Gary L. Krapu, Douglas H. Johnson

The Restoration Rapid Assessment Tool: An Access/Visual Basic application The Restoration Rapid Assessment Tool: An Access/Visual Basic application

Managers of parks and natural areas are increasingly faced with difficult decisions concerning restoration of disturbed lands. Financial and workforce resources often limit these restoration efforts, and rarely can a manager afford to address all concerns within the region of interest. With limited resources, managers and scientists have to decide which areas will be targeted for...
Authors
Ron Hiebert, D.L. Larson, K. Thomas, N. Tancreto, D. Haines, A. Richey, T. Dow, L. Drees

Body size and predatory performance in wolves: Is bigger better? Body size and predatory performance in wolves: Is bigger better?

Large body size hinders locomotor performance in ways that may lead to trade-offs in predator foraging ability that limit the net predatory benefit of larger size. For example, size-related improvements in handling prey may come at the expense of pursuing prey and thus negate any enhancement in overall predatory performance due to increasing size. 2. This hypothesis was tested with...
Authors
D.R. MacNulty, D.W. Smith, L.D. Mech, L.E. Eberly

Countability of sandhill cranes in aerial surveys Countability of sandhill cranes in aerial surveys

No abstract available.
Authors
Douglas H. Johnson, W John Solberg, Courtney L. Amundson

Ecosystem Services Derived from Wetland Conservation Practices in the United States Prairie Pothole Region with an Emphasis on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs Ecosystem Services Derived from Wetland Conservation Practices in the United States Prairie Pothole Region with an Emphasis on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs

Implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has resulted in the restoration of approximately 2,200,000 ha (5,436,200 acres) of wetland and grassland habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region. These restored habitats are known to provide various ecosystem services; however, little work has been conducted to...
Authors
Robert A. Gleason, Murray K. Laubhan, Ned H. Euliss

Factors influencing predation on juvenile ungulates and natural selection implications Factors influencing predation on juvenile ungulates and natural selection implications

Juvenile ungulates are generally more vulnerable to predation than are adult ungulates other than senescent individuals, not only because of their relative youth, fragility, and inexperience, but also because of congenital factors. Linnell et al.'s (Wildl. Biol. 1: 209-223) extensive review of predation on juvenile ungulates concluded that research was needed to determine the...
Authors
Shannon Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech
Was this page helpful?