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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: 1934

Wolves: Behavior, ecology, and conservation Wolves: Behavior, ecology, and conservation

Wolves are some of the world's most charismatic and controversial animals, capturing the imaginations of their friends and foes alike. Highly intelligent and adaptable, they hunt and play together in close-knit packs, sometimes roaming over hundreds of square miles in search of food. Once teetering on the brink of extinction across much of the United States and Europe, wolves have made a

Effects of ungulates and prairie dogs on seed banks and vegetation in a North American mixed-grass prairie Effects of ungulates and prairie dogs on seed banks and vegetation in a North American mixed-grass prairie

The relationship between vegetation cover and soil seed banks was studied in five different ungulate herbivore-prairie dog treatment combinations at three northern mixed-grass prairie sites in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. There were distinct differences in both the seed bank composition and the aboveground vegetation between the off-prairie dog colony treatments and the on...
Authors
J. T. Fahnestock, D.L. Larson, G. E. Plumb, J.K. Detling

Effects of leafy spurge infestation on grassland birds Effects of leafy spurge infestation on grassland birds

Grassland bird populations are declining. Invasive plant species may be contributing to these declines by altering habitat quality. However, the effects of invasive plants on grassland birds are largely unknown. Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) is an exotic, invasive weed in the northern Great Plains. We examined the effects of leafy spurge infestation on densities of breeding birds, nest...
Authors
D.M. Scheiman, E.K. Bollinger, Douglas H. Johnson

Body size and condition of male mallard during mid-winter in North Dakota, USA Body size and condition of male mallard during mid-winter in North Dakota, USA

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) may winter in northern areas if they have access to adequate food and open water. We compared individual body size (indexed by first principal component scores from three morphometric measurements) and body condition (body mass adjusted for body size) of male Mallard wintering in North Dakota, USA during 1996-99 with a baseline reference group of Mallard from...
Authors
R.E. Olsen, R. R. Cox

Male Brown-headed Cowbird Attacks and Kills a Nestling Male Brown-headed Cowbird Attacks and Kills a Nestling

I observed a male Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) attack and kill a nestling of an unidentified passerine in a grassland field in Day County, South Dakota, in June 2000. The killing or removal of nestlings by female cowbirds has been reported by others, but this behavior has not been documented previously in male cowbirds.
Authors
L.D. Igl

[Book review] Pheasants of the World . . . Again [Book review] Pheasants of the World . . . Again

Review of: The Pheasants of the World: Biology and Natural History, 2nd edition. Paul A. Johnsgard. 1999. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 398 pages.$50.00 (cloth).
Authors
B.E. Jamison

Native weeds and exotic plants: relationships to disturbance in mixed grass prairie Native weeds and exotic plants: relationships to disturbance in mixed grass prairie

The paper compares distributions of native weedy species and exotic species with respect to three kinds of disturbance, roads, trails, and prairie dog towns. Data were collected at the north and south units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and at Wind Cave National Park. The paper concludes that many exotic species differ substantially from native weeds in their exploitation of...
Authors
D.L. Larson

Disturbance, life history, and optimal management for biodiversity Disturbance, life history, and optimal management for biodiversity

Both frequency and intensity of disturbances in many ecosystems have been greatly enhanced by increasing human activities. As a consequence, the short-lived plant species including many exotics might have been dramatically increased in term of both richness and abundance on our planet while many long-lived species might have been lost. Such conclusions can be drawn from broadly observed
Authors
Q. Guo

Large-scale phytogeographical patterns in East Asia in relation to latitudinal and climatic gradients Large-scale phytogeographical patterns in East Asia in relation to latitudinal and climatic gradients

Aim: This paper aims at determining how different floristic elements (e.g. cosmopolitan, tropical, and temperate) change with latitude and major climate factors, and how latitude affects the floristic relationships between East Asia and the other parts of the world. Location: East Asia from the Arctic to tropical regions, an area crossing over 50?? of latitudes and covering the eastern...
Authors
H. Qian, J.-S. Song, P. Krestov, Q. Guo, Z. Wu, X. Shen, X. Guo
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