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: 1962
A century of pollen foraging by the endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis): Inferences from molecular sequencing of museum specimens A century of pollen foraging by the endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis): Inferences from molecular sequencing of museum specimens
In 2017 the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) became the first bee listed under the Endangered Species Act in the continental United States due to population declines and an 87% reduction in the species’ distribution. Bombus affinis decline began in the 1990s, predating modern bee surveying initiatives, and obfuscating drivers of decline. While understood to be a highly...
Authors
Michael P. Simanonok, Clint R.V. Otto, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, James P. Strange, Tamara A. Smith
Towards a U.S. national program for monitoring native bees Towards a U.S. national program for monitoring native bees
North America has more than 4000 bee species, yet we have little information on the health, distribution, and population trends of most of these species. In the United States, what information is available is distributed across multiple institutions, and efforts to track bee populations are largely uncoordinated on a national scale. An overarching framework for monitoring U.S. native...
Authors
Hollis Woodward, Sarah Federman, Rosalind R. James, Bryan Danforth, Terry Griswold, David W. Inouye, Quinn McFrederick, Lora Morandin, Deborah Paul, Elizabeth Sellers, James P. Strange, Mace Vaughan, Neal M. Williams, Michael Branstetter, Casey T. Burns, James Cane, Alison B Cariveau, Daniel P. Cariveau, Anna Childers, Christopher Childers, Diana L. Cox-Foster, Elaine Evan, Kelsey K. Graham, Kevin Hackett, Kimberly Huntzinger, Rebecca Irwin, Shalene Jha, Sarah Lawson, Christina Liang, Margarita M. Lopez-Uribe, Andony Melathopoulos, Heather Moylett, Clint R.V. Otto, Lauren Ponisio, Leif L Richardson, Robyn Rose, Rajwinder Singh, Wayne Wehling
Wetlands in agricultural landscapes—Significant findings and recent advances from CEAP-Wetlands Wetlands in agricultural landscapes—Significant findings and recent advances from CEAP-Wetlands
The Wetlands Component of the USDA's Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP-Wetlands) is a multi-agency effort advancing science related to quantifying and interpreting effects and effectiveness of conservation practices and programs on ecosystem services provided by wetlands in agricultural landscapes. This special section originated from a symposium held at the 73rd Soil and...
Authors
David M. Mushet, William R. Effland
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri) The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri)
Keys to Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri) management include maintaining extensive, unfragmented patches of suitable breeding habitat; reducing conifer cover and height; preventing the invasion of conifers and nonnative plants, especially cheatgrass (downy brome [Bromus tectorum]); minimizing disturbance to soil; and restricting the use of pesticides and herbicides during the...
Authors
Brett L. Walker, Lawrence D. Igl, Jill A. Shaffer
Toward improving pollinator habitat: Reconstructing prairies with high forb diversity Toward improving pollinator habitat: Reconstructing prairies with high forb diversity
Reconstructed prairies can provide habitat for pollinating insects, an important ecosystem service. To optimize reconstructions for pollinators, goals may include enhancing flowering plant cover and richness and increasing bloom availability early and late in the growing season. Resistance to invasive exotic species must also be a goal in any reconstruction, but it is unclear how...
Authors
Pauline Drobney, Diane L. Larson, Jennifer L Larson, Karen Viste-Sparkman
Climate- versus geographic-dependent patterns in the spatial distribution ofmacroinvertebrate assemblages in New World depressional wetlands Climate- versus geographic-dependent patterns in the spatial distribution ofmacroinvertebrate assemblages in New World depressional wetlands
Analyses of biota at lower latitudes may presage impacts of climate change on biota at higher latitudes. Macroinvertebrate assemblages in depressional wetlands may be especially sensitive to climate change because weather‐related precipitation and evapotranspiration are dominant ecological controls on habitats, and organisms of depressional wetlands are temperature‐sensitive ectotherms...
Authors
C. Stenert, M.M. Pires, L.B. Epele, M.G. Grech, L. Maltchik, Kyle I. McLean, David M. Mushet, D.P. Batzer
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni nelsoni) The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni nelsoni)
The key to Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni nelsoni) management is providing dense grasses or emergent vegetation near damp areas or freshwater wetlands. Nelson’s Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 20–122 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 41 cm visual obstruction reading, 40–58 percent grass cover, 24 percent forb cover, 5 percent shrub cover, 13 percent bare...
Authors
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Paul A. Rabie, Betty R. Euliss
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)
Keys to Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) management include maintaining cliffs with suitable recesses for use as nest sites (that is, the substrate that supports the nest or the specific location of the nest on the landscape), protecting nest sites from human disturbance by designating buffer zones, and maintaining open landscapes and habitats that support populations of ground squirrels
Authors
John P. DeLong, Karen Steenhof
A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks
National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of America, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scenery but is...
Authors
Isabel W. Ashton, Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg, Steven Bekedam, Erin Borgman, Milton Haar, Terri Hogan, Stephanie Rockwood, Daniel J Swanson, Carmen Thomson, Cody Wienk
Testing a new passive acoustic recording unit to monitor wolves Testing a new passive acoustic recording unit to monitor wolves
As part of a broader trial of noninvasive methods to research wild wolves (Canis lupus) in Minnesota, USA, we explored whether wolves could be remotely monitored using a new, inexpensive, remotely deployable, noninvasive, passive acoustic recording device, the AudioMoth. We tested the efficacy of AudioMoths in detecting wolf howls and factors influencing detection by placing them at set...
Authors
Shannon Barber-Meyer, Vicente Palacios, Barbara Marti‐Domken, Lori Schmidt
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris)
Keys to Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris) management include providing tall, dense grasslands with moderate forb coverage and minimizing disturbances during the breeding season. Sedge Wrens have been reported to use habitats with 30–166 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 8–80 cm visual obstruction reading, 15–75 percent grass cover, 3–78 percent forb cover, less than or equal...
Authors
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Barry D. Parkin, Travis L. Wooten, Betty R. Euliss
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus)
The key to Lesser Prairie-Chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) management is maintaining expansive sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) or sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) grasslands. Within these grasslands, areas should contain short herbaceous cover for lek sites (that is, an area where male prairie-chickens gather to engage in courtship displays to attract mates); shrubs or tall...
Authors
Brent E. Jamison, Lawrence D. Igl, Jill A. Shaffer, Douglas H. Johnson, Christopher M. Goldade, Betty R. Euliss