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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

Density and fledging success of grassland birds in Conservation Reserve Program fields in North Dakota and west-central Minnesota

The Conservation Reserve Program, initiated in 1985, was designed primarily to reduce soil erosion and crop surpluses. A secondary benefit was the provision of habitat for wildlife. Grassland bird populations, many of which declined in the decades prior to the Conservation Reserve Program, may have benefited from the Conservation Reserve Program if reproduction in this newly available habitat has
Authors
Rolf R. Koford

The Grasslands Ecosystem Initiative

Abstract has not been submitted
Authors
D. H. Johnson, D. L. Larson

Alpha status, dominance, leadership, and division of labor in wolf packs

The prevailing view of a wolf (Canis lupus) pack is that of a group of individuals ever vying for dominance but held in check by the "alpha" pair, the alpha male and alpha female. Most research on the social dynamics of wolf packs, however, has been conducted on non-natural assortments of captive wolves. Here I describe the wolf-pack social order as it occurs in nature, discuss the alpha concept a
Authors
L. David Mech

Habitat associations of migrating and overwintering grassland birds in Southern Texas

We report on the habitat associations of 21 species of grassland birds overwintering in or migrating through southern Texas, during 1991-1992 and 1992-1993. Ninety percent of our grassland bird observations were made during winter and spring, and only 10% occurred during fall. Grassland species made up a high proportion of the total bird densities in grassland and shrub-grassland habitats, but muc
Authors
Lawrence D. Igl, Bart M. Ballard

Twenty-year home-range dynamics of a white-tailed deer matriline

We examined the seasonal migration and home-range dynamics of a multigeneration white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) matriline comprising six females from four generations spanning a 20-year period in northeastern Minnesota. All, from the matriarch to her great-granddaughter, migrated to the same summer and winter ranges, the longest individual record being 14.5 years. Three maternal females
Authors
Michael E. Nelson, L. David Mech

Wood duck brood movements and habitat use on prairie rivers in South Dakota

Abstract has not been submitted
Authors
D. A. Granfors, Lester D. Flake

The insignificance of statistical significance testing

Despite their use in scientific journals such as The Journal of Wildlife Management, statistical hypothesis tests add very little value to the products of research. Indeed, they frequently confuse the interpretation of data. This paper describes how statistical hypothesis tests are often viewed, and then contrasts that interpretation with the correct one. I discuss the arbitrariness of P-values, c
Authors
Douglas H. Johnson

Regurgitative food transfer among wild wolves

Few studies of monogamous canids have addressed regurgitation in the context of extended parental care and alloparental care within family groups. We studied food transfer by regurgitation in a pack of wolves on Ellesmere Island, North West Territories, Canada, during 6 summers from 1988 through 1996. All adult wolves, including yearlings and a post-reproductive female, regurgitated food. Although
Authors
L. David Mech, Paul C. Wolf, Jane M. Packard

Uncommon breeding birds in North Dakota: Population estimates and frequencies of occurrence

Breeding bird populations were surveyed on 128 randomly selected quarter-sections throughout North Dakota in 1967, 1992, and 1993. Population estimates and frequencies of occurrence are reported for 92 uncommon breeding bird species with statewide frequencies of less than 10%.
Authors
L.D. Igl, D. H. Johnson, H.A. Kantrud

Foods of American badgers in west-central Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota during the duck nesting season

Although the American badger (Taxidea taxus) is common in grasslands and preys on a wide diversity of foods including birds, little is known about badger diet in areas where nesting ducks are common. Small mammals, primarily Muridae and Geomyidae, were the most common food items in the diet of badgers collected from west-central Minnesota and southeastern North Dakota during April-July 1987 throug
Authors
M.A. Sovada, J.M. Roaldson, A. B. Sargeant

Mallard use of nesting islands depends on surrounding upland cover

No abstract available.
Authors
T.L. Shaffer, A. Dahl, M. Johnson, R. Reynolds, K. Baer, G.A. Sargeant