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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: 1907

A framework for sustainable invasive species management: environmental, social and economic objectives

Applying the concept of sustainability to invasive species management (ISM) is challenging but necessary, given the increasing rates of invasion and the high costs of invasion impacts and control. To be sustainable, ISM must address environmental, social, and economic factors (or *pillars*) that influence the causes, impacts, and control of invasive species across multiple spatial and temporal sca
Authors
Diane L. Larson, Laura Phillips-Mao, Gina Quiram, Leah Sharpe, Rebecca Stark, Shinya Sugita, Annie Weiler

Accuracy of estimating wolf summer territories by daytime locations

We used locations of 6 wolves (Canis lupus) in Minnesota from Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to compare day-versus-night locations to estimate territory size and location during summer. We employed both minimum convex polygon (MCP) and fixed kernel (FK) methods. We used two methods to partition GPS locations for day-versus-night home-range comparisons: (1) daytime = 0800–2000 h; nighttime
Authors
Dominic J. Demma, L. David Mech

Parsing demographic effects of canine parvovirus on a Minnesota wolf population

We examined 35 years of relationships among wolf (Canis lupus) pup survival, population change and canine parvovirus (CPV) seroprevalence in Northeastern Minnesota to determine when CPV exerted its strongest effects. Using correlation analysis of data from five periods of 7-years each from 1973 through 2007, we learned that the strongest effect of CPV on pup survival (r = -0.73) and on wolf popula
Authors
L. David Mech, Sagar M. Goyal

Wolves, Canis lupus, carry and cache the collars of radio-collared White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, they killed

Wolves (Canis lupus) in northeastern Minnesota cached six radio-collars (four in winter, two in spring-summer) of 202 radio-collared White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) they killed or consumed from 1975 to 2010. A Wolf bedded on top of one collar cached in snow. We found one collar each at a Wolf den and Wolf rendezvous site, 2.5 km and 0.5 km respectively, from each deer's previous locatio
Authors
Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

Valuing ecosystem and economic services across land-use scenarios in the Prairie Pothole Regions of the Dakotas, USA

This study uses biophysical values derived for the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota, in conjunction with value transfer methods, to assess environmental and economic tradeoffs under different policy-relevant land-use scenarios over a 20-year period. The ecosystem service valuation is carried out by comparing the biophysical and economic values of three focal services (i.e. ca
Authors
William R. Gascoigne, Dana Hoag, Lynne Koontz, Brian A. Tangen, Terry L. Shaffer, Robert A. Gleason

Non-genetic data supporting genetic evidence for the eastern wolf

Two schools of thought dominate the molecular-genetics literature on Canis spp. (wolves) in the western Great Lakes region of the US and Canada: (1) they are hybrids between Canis lupus (Gray Wolf) and Canis latrans (Coyote), or (2) they are hybrids between the Gray Wolf and Canis lycaon (Eastern Wolf). This article presents 3 types of non-genetic evidence that bears on the controversy and conclud
Authors
L. David Mech

Nest survival of American Coots relative to grazing, burning, and water depths

Water and emergent vegetation are key features influencing nest site selection and success for many marsh-nesting waterbirds. Wetland management practices such as grazing, burning, and water-level manipulations directly affect these features and can influence nest survival. We used model selection and before-after-control-impact approaches to evaluate the effects of water depth and four common lan
Authors
Jane E. Austin, Deborah A. Buhl

A multi-year comparison of IPCI scores for prairie pothole wetlands: implications of temporal and spatial variation

In the prairie pothole region of North America, development of Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) to detect anthropogenic impacts on wetlands has been hampered by naturally dynamic inter-annual climate fluctuations. Of multiple efforts to develop IBIs for prairie pothole wetlands, only one, the Index of Plant Community Integrity (IPCI), has reported success. We evaluated the IPCI and its ability t
Authors
Ned H. Euliss, David M. Mushet

Book review: Sandhill and whooping cranes: Ancient voices over America's wetlands

Paul Johnsgard has long been captivated by wild cranes and their unique vocalizations, courtship dances, and wide-ranging migrations. As a scientist and an admirer, Johnsgard has watched their migrations and behaviors for decades as hundreds of thousands of cranes staged each spring by the central Platte River, not far from his home in Lincoln, Nebraska. As an artist, he has skilfully captured the
Authors
Jane E. Austin

Are isolated wetlands isolated?

While federal regulations during the past 10 years have treated isolated wetlands as unconnected to aquatic resources protected by the Clean Water Act, they provide critical ecosystem services to society that extend well beyond their wetland boundaries. The authors offer well-documented examples from the scientific literature on some of the ecosystem services provided by isolated wetlands to socie
Authors
Loren M. Smith, Ned H. Euliss, David A. Haukos

Notes on the distribution of eastern woodrats and hispid cotton rats in south-central Nebraska

The eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana) and hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) reach distributional limits in southern Nebraska (Jones 1964, Farney 1975). In the last half century, both species have expanded their distributional ranges in the region (Kugler and Geluso 2009, Wright et al. 2010). Herein, we report new localities of occurrence for both species that extend known distributional boun
Authors
H.D. Wills, Keith Geluso, E.J. Smits, J.T. Springer, W.E. Newton

Use of cranial characters in taxonomy of the Minnesota wolf (Canis sp.)

Minnesota wolves (Canis sp.) sometimes are reported to have affinity to a small, narrow-skulled eastern form (Canis lupus lycaon Schreber, 1775) and sometimes to a larger, broader western form (Canis lupus nubilus Say, 1823). We found that pre-1950 Minnesota wolf skulls were similar in size to those of wolves from southeastern Ontario and smaller than those of western wolves. However, Minnesota wo
Authors
L. David Mech, Ronald M. Nowak, Sanford Weisberg