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
Precision of descriptors for percent marrow fat content for White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus viriginianus Precision of descriptors for percent marrow fat content for White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus viriginianus
Based on 168 records of both verbal descriptors of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) femur-marrow fat and percentage of fat measured later, "gelatinous" served well to distinguish fat < 46% from higher percentages. "Waxy" distinguished fat > 56%.
Authors
L.D. Mech
Weight changes in wild Wolves, Canis lupus, from ages 2 to 24 months Weight changes in wild Wolves, Canis lupus, from ages 2 to 24 months
Weights of 118 female and 141 male Minnesota Wolves (Canis lupus) aged 2-24 months increased almost linearly from about 8 kg for females and 10 kg for males at 3 months to 30 kg for females and 32 kg for males at 10-12 months and then tended to increase much more slowly in an overall curvilinear trend. Considerable variation was apparent for both sexes during their first year.
Authors
Mech L. David
Slow journey home Slow journey home
Eliminated from North Dakota's prairies by the mid-1900s, the return of the swift fox to its native habitat has been anything but speedy. Biologists are finally seeing the first signs of this diminutive animal's homecoming.
Authors
Marsha Sovada
Importance of agricultural landscapes to nesting burrowing owls in the Northern Great Plains, USA Importance of agricultural landscapes to nesting burrowing owls in the Northern Great Plains, USA
Anthropogenic habitat loss and fragmentation are the principle factors causing declines of grassland birds. Declines in burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) populations have been extensive and have been linked to habitat loss, primarily the decline of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies. Development of habitat use models is a research priority and will aid conservation...
Authors
M. Restani, J.M. Davies, W.E. Newton
Application of a geomorphic and temporal perspective to wetland management in North America Application of a geomorphic and temporal perspective to wetland management in North America
The failure of managed wetlands to provide a broad suite of ecosystem services (e.g., carbon storage, wildlife habitat, ground-water recharge, storm-water retention) valuable to society is primarily the result of a lack of consideration of ecosystem processes that maintain productive wetland ecosystems or physical and social forces that restrict a manager's ability to apply actions that...
Authors
L.M. Smith, N.H. Euliss, D.A. Wilcox, M.M. Brinson
Assessment of least tern and piping plover habitats on the Missouri River using remote sensing Assessment of least tern and piping plover habitats on the Missouri River using remote sensing
The primary goal of this study is to develop a cost-effective method to inventory, map, estimate, monitor, and evaluate least tern and piping plover habitats for four segments of the Missouri River using remotely sensed imagery.
Authors
Larry L. Strong
Estimating Water Storage Capacity of Existing and Potentially Restorable Wetland Depressions in a Subbasin of the Red River of the North Estimating Water Storage Capacity of Existing and Potentially Restorable Wetland Depressions in a Subbasin of the Red River of the North
Executive Summary Concern over flooding along rivers in the Prairie Pothole Region has stimulated interest in developing spatially distributed hydrologic models to simulate the effects of wetland water storage on peak river flows. Such models require spatial data on the storage volume and interception area of existing and restorable wetlands in the watershed of interest. In most cases
Authors
Robert A. Gleason, Brian A. Tangen, Murray K. Laubhan, Kevin E. Kermes, Ned H. Euliss
First Record of Corisella inscripta (Uhler) (Heteroptera: Corixidae) from North Dakota First Record of Corisella inscripta (Uhler) (Heteroptera: Corixidae) from North Dakota
Corisella inscripta is a water boatman species that was reported in H. B. Hungerford's (1948) seminal monograph as occurring throughout Mexico and nine western states of the United States. Subsequently, additional records of C. inscripta have been reported for British Columbia in Canada (Maw et al. 2000) and for Montana (Roemhild 1976), Arkansas (Cochran and Harp 1990), Missouri...
Authors
Bruce A. Hanson, David M. Mushet, Ned Euliss, Stephen W. Chordas
The diversity-biomass-productivity relationships in grassland management and restoration The diversity-biomass-productivity relationships in grassland management and restoration
Diversity, biomass, and productivity, the three key community/ecosystem variables, are interrelated and pose reciprocal influences on each other. The relationships among the three variables have been a central focus in ecology and formed two schools of fundamentally different nature with two related applications: (1) management - how biomass manipulation (e.g., grazing, burning) affects...
Authors
Q. Guo
Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater, parasitism and abundance in the northern Great Plains Brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater, parasitism and abundance in the northern Great Plains
The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) reaches its highest abundance in the northern Great Plains, but much of our understanding of cowbird ecology and host-parasite interactions comes from areas outside of this region. We examine cowbird brood parasitism and densities during two studies of breeding birds in the northern Great Plains during 1990–2006. We found 2649 active nests of 75...
Authors
L.D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson
Interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha values in elk neonates Interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha values in elk neonates
Serological indicators of general condition would be helpful for monitoring or assessing ungulate wildlife. Toward that end, we report the 1st reference values for 2 cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-??), in neonatal elk (Cervus elaphus). We obtained blood samples from 140 calves ??? 6 days old in Yellowstone National Park during summer 2003-2005. TL-6...
Authors
S. M. Barber-Meyer, C. R. Johnson, M.P. Murtaugh, L.D. Mech, P.J. White