Publications

Floristic quality assessment can be used to identity natural areas, to facilitate comparisons among different sites, to provide long-term monitoring of natural area quality, and to evaluate habitat management and restoration efforts. To facilitate the use of floristic quality assessment in North Dakota, South Dakota (excluding the Black Hills), and adjacent grasslands, we developed a...

The landscape of the prairie pothole region (PPR), a grassland biome of the northern U.S. Great Plains and parts of Canada, has been greatly altered by land use since the 1800's. Conversion of grassland to cropland and drainage of wetlands has resulted in wetland losses of up to 90% in some areas. Besides the area providing critical habitat to various wildlife, breeding waterfowl, and...

Abstract has not been submitted

An objective method for measuring bovine sperm nuclear shape was developed. Digital images of bovine sperm stained with propidium iodide were collected and Fourier functions used to describe the perimeters of individual sperm nuclei. Harmonic amplitudes from Fourier functions were first shown to be independent of sperm orientation during digitization. Sperm from 12 different bulls were...

Amphibians have received increased attention in recent years from the scientific community and general public alike. Many populations throughout the world have declined, or have been extirpated, often without an apparent cause. Concern about the status of amphibians has translated into a growing interest in systematic and statistically sound monitoring programs. Several extensive efforts...

We give suggestions for the presentation of research results from frequentist, information-theoretic, and Bayesian analysis paradigms, followed by several general suggestions. The information-theoretic and Bayesian methods offer alternative approaches to data analysis and inference compared to traditionally used methods. Guidance is lacking on the presentation of results under these...

The response of stream benthic invertebrates to surficially deposited fine sediment was investigated in 4 Missouri streams. Twenty to 24 sampling sites in each stream were selected based on similarities of substrate particle-size distributions, depths, and current velocities but for differences in amounts of deposited sediment, which ranged from 0 to 100% surface cover. Deposited...

The Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains is an important region for waterfowl production because of the abundance of shallow wetlands. The ecological significance of the region and impacts from intensive agriculture prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to select it as one of the first areas for developing and evaluating ecological indicators of wetland...

The expansion and contraction of marginal cropland in the Great Plains often involves small forested strips of land that provide important ecological benefits. The effect of human disturbance on these forests is not well known. Because of their unique structure such forests are not well-represented by forest gap models. In this paper, the development, testing and application of a new...

The purpose of this study is to improve our understanding of temperature and precipitation effects on the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Both theoretical and observational analyses were applied to separate and compare temperature and precipitation effects on PDSI. The results showed that because of the dependence of PDSI on the ‘climatologically appropriate rainfall’, which is a...

No abstract available.

Factors influencing initiation of regional and interregional movements by nonbreeding ducks are poorly understood, especially during winter. During winters 1990-1991 through 1992-1993, we radiotagged 347 female Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) in southwestern Louisiana and monitored their movements to three regions: (1) the Gulf Coast Region of Louisiana and Texas (outside of southwestern...