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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

Leadership behavior in relation to dominance and reproductive status in gray wolves, Canis lupus

We analyzed the leadership behavior of breeding and nonbreeding gray wolves (Canis lupus) in three packs during winter in 1997–1999. Scent-marking, frontal leadership (time and frequency in the lead while traveling), initiation of activity, and nonfrontal leadership were recorded during 499 h of ground-based observations in Yellowstone National Park. All observed scent-marking (N = 158) was done b
Authors
Rolf O. Peterson, Amy K. Jacobs, Thomas D. Drummer, L. David Mech, Douglas W. Smith

Using an electronic compass to determine telemetry azimuths

Researchers typically collect azimuths from known locations to estimate locations of radiomarked animals. Mobile, vehicle-mounted telemetry receiving systems frequently are used to gather azimuth data. Use of mobile systems typically involves estimating the vehicle's orientation to grid north (vehicle azimuth), recording an azimuth to the transmitter relative to the vehicle azimuth from a fixed ro
Authors
R. R. Cox, J.D. Scalf, B.E. Jamison, R.S. Lutz

Invertebrate biomass: associations with lesser prairie-chicken habitat use and sand sagebrush density in southwestern Kansas

Invertebrates are important food sources for lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) adults and broods. We compared invertebrate biomass in areas used and not used by lesser prairie-chicken adults and broods. We used radiotelemetry to determine use and non-use areas in sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia) prairie in southwestern Kansas and sampled invertebrate populations during summer
Authors
B. Jamison, R.J. Robel, J.S. Pontius, R.D. Applegate

Perspectives on trans-Pacific biological invasions

Trans-Pacific biological invasion is one of the most striking and influential biological phenomena occurring in modern times and the process is still accelerating, and the associated invasives form neo-disjuncts (cf. many well-known paleo-disjuncts) between eastern Asia and North America. To better understand this phenomenon and the related taxa, I address the following questions: 1) what types of
Authors
Q. Guo

Responses of dabbling ducks to wetland conditions in the Prairie Pothole Region

The relationships between wetland water conditions and breeding numbers of Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Pintail (A. acuta), Blue-winged Teal (A. discors), and Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata) during May of 1992-1995, were examined on twelve study areas in the eastern Prairie Pothole Region. Data were collected on water levels (by wetland class [temporary, seasonal, semipermanent]), pond d
Authors
J. E. Austin

Evaluation of management practices in wetland meadows at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Idaho, 1997-2000

We assessed the relative values of 4 management practices (idle, late season grazing, fall prescribed burning, and rotation of idle and summer grazing) to biotic resources of the grassland-wetland meadow ecosystem at Grays Lake during 1997-2000. Three replicates of each treatment were randomly assigned to 12 experimental units that bordered the deep emergent marsh. Biotic factors examined include
Authors
J. E. Austin, W.H. Pyle, J.R. Keough, D. H. Johnson

A critique of wildlife radio-tracking and its use in National Parks: a report to the National Park Service

Because of the naturalness of National Parks and because of the public’s strong interest in the parks, the National Park Service (NPS) must gather as much information as needed to help understand and preserve the natural functioning of its ecosystems, and especially of its wildlife. The most useful technique for studying wildlife is radio-tracking, or wildlife telemetry. Radio-tracking is the tech
Authors
L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber

Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 5,500 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the relative densities of the species in North America, based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Although birds frequently are observed outside the breeding range indicated, the maps a
Authors
Jill A. Dechant, Marriah L. Sondreal, Douglas H. Johnson, Lawrence D. Igl, Christopher M. Goldade, Paul A. Rabie, Betty R. Euliss