Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

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Our Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center's priority is to continue the important work of the Department of the Interior and the USGS, while also maintaining the health and safety of our employees and community.  Based on guidance from the White House, the CDC, and state and local authorities, we are shifting our operations to a virtual mode and have minimal staffing within our offices. 

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Migratory Bird Center of Excellence

Migratory Bird Center of Excellence

The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is known for its long history of meeting the migratory-bird research needs of Department of the Interior and the Nation.

NPWRC History

Meet the Northern Prairie Staff

Meet the Northern Prairie Staff

Our employee directory contains names, position titles, phone numbers, email addresses, and biographies of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center staff.

Employee Directory

NPWRC Science Topics

Science conducted by Northern Prairie scientists can be grouped into six primary research topics:

Species Biology

Species Stressors

Management and Restoration

Invasive Species

Fish and Wildlife Disease

Climate and Land Use

NPWRC Science

News

Date published: June 20, 2019

Honey Bee Helpers: It Takes a Village to Conserve a Colony

Do you eat fruits and vegetables? What about nuts? If so, you can thank an insect pollinator, usually a honey bee. These small insects play a major role in pollinating the world’s plants, including those we eat regularly. They also increase our nation’s crop values each year by more than 15 billion dollars.

Date published: May 21, 2018

Scientists Collecting Bird Data on Grasslands in Montana this Spring

Now through late July, 2018, U.S. Geological Survey scientists will conduct fieldwork on public lands in Phillips and Valley counties near Malta and Glasgow, Montana, as part of a grassland bird project.

Date published: August 30, 2017

Public Invitation: Jamestown Science Center Opens Doors for Interactive Experience

The public is invited to attend a free, family-friendly open house at a local U.S. Geological Survey center for ecology research on Saturday, September 16.  

Publications

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Year Published: 2020

Capturing spatiotemporal patterns in presence-absence data to inform monitoring and sampling designs for the threatened Dakota skipper (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in the Great Plains of the United States

Declines among species of insect pollinators, especially butterflies, has garnered attention from scientists and managers. Often these declines have spurred governments to declare some species as threatened or endangered. We used existing presence–absence data from surveys for the threatened Dakota skipper Hesperia dacotae (Skinner) to...

Post van der Burg, Max; Austin, Jane E.; Wiltermuth, Mark; Newton, Wesley E.; Macdonald, Garrett John

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Year Published: 2020

Management of remnant tallgrass prairie by grazing or fire: Effects on plant communities and soil properties

Tallgrass prairie is a disturbance‐dependent ecosystem that has suffered steep declines in the midwestern United States. The necessity of disturbance, typically fire or grazing, presents challenges to managers who must apply them on increasingly small and fragmented parcels. The goal of this study was to compare effects of management using cattle...

Larson, Diane L.; Hernández, Daniel L.; Larson, Jennifer L.; Leone, Julia B.; Pennarola, Nora P.

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Year Published: 2020

U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2018 research activity report

The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview of...

Sherfy, Mark H.
Sherfy, M.H., ed., 2020, U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2018 research activity report: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1465, 69 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1465.