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
Perils of life on the edge: Climatic threats to global diversity patterns of wetland macroinvertebrates
Climate change is rapidly driving global biodiversity declines. How wetland macroinvertebrate assemblages are responding is unclear, a concern given their vital function in these ecosystems. Using a data set from 769 minimally impacted depressional wetlands across the globe (467 temporary and 302 permanent), we evaluated how temperature and precipitation (average, range, variability) affects the r
Authors
Luis B. Epele, Marta G. Grech, Emilio A. Williams-Subiza, Cristina Stenert, Kyle McLean, Hamish S. Greig, Leonardo Maltchik, Mateus M. Pires, Matthew S. Bird, Aurelie Boissezon, Dani Boix, Eliane Demierre, Patricia E. García, Stephanie Gascón, Michael Jeffries, Jamie M. Kneitel, Olga Loskutov, Luz M. Manzo, Gabriela Mataloni, Musa C. Mlambo, Beat Oertli, Jordi Sala, Erica E. Scheibler, Haitao Wu, Scott A Wissinger, Darold P. Batzer
The impact of future climate on wetland habitat in a critical migratory waterfowl corridor of the Prairie Pothole Region
Depressional wetlands are extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation, so understanding how wetland inundation dynamics respond to changes in climate is essential for describing potential effects on wildlife breeding habitat. Millions of depressional basins make up the largest wetland complex in North America known as the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). The wetland ecosystems tha
Authors
Owen P. McKenna
Whooping crane stay length in relation to stopover site characteristics
Whooping crane (Grus americana) migratory stopovers can vary in length from hours to more than a month. Stopover sites provide food resources and safety essential for the completion of migration. Factors such as weather, climate, demographics of migrating groups, and physiological condition of migrants influence migratory movements of cranes (Gruidae) to varying degrees. However, little research h
Authors
Andrew J. Caven, Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Mary J. Harner, Greg D. Wright, David M. Baasch, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Kristine L. Metzger, Matthew R Rabbe, Anne E Lacy
Foraging movements and colony attendance of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) on the central Platte River, Nebraska, USA
Least Terns (Sternula antillarum) are known to forage away from nesting colonies, yet little information is available about movement rates and distances. We used VHF transmitters and a network of datalogging receivers to monitor movements of 23 Least Terns on the central Platte River, Nebraska, USA. We typically detected incubating and brood-rearing birds within 8 km of colonies during daylight ho
Authors
Mark H. Sherfy, Megan Ring, Jennifer H. Stucker, Michael J. Anteau, Terry L. Shaffer, Marsha A. Sovada
Assessing spontaneous howling rates in captive wolves using automatic passive recorders
We studied the spontaneous vocal behaviour of captive wolves at the International Wolf Center (IWC) in Minnesota (spring 2019 and winter 2020), and the Centro del Lobo Ibérico Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (CLIFRF) in Spain (winter 2020). We used AudioMoth recording devices to record wolf howling 24 hr/day. We identified 412 solo howl series and 403 chorus howls and found differences between wolves
Authors
Vicente Palacios, Shannon Barber-Meyer, Bárbara Martí-Domken, Lori J. Schmidt
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
The key to Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) management is providing large grasslands and wetlands, particularly those that can support high densities of voles (Microtus species). Short-eared Owls have been reported to use habitats with 30–90 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 7–47 cm visual obstruction reading, 31–85 percent grass cover, 8–26 percent forb cover, less than 18 percent shrub
Authors
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Melvin P. Nenneman, Betty R. Euliss
Dispersal distance is driven by habitat availability and reproductive success in Northern Great Plains piping plovers
BackgroundDispersal is a critical life history strategy that has important conservation implications, particularly for at-risk species with active recovery efforts and migratory species. Both natal and breeding dispersal are driven by numerous selection pressures, including conspecific competition, individual characteristics, reproductive success, and spatiotemporal variation in habitat. Most stud
Authors
Rose J. Swift, Michael J. Anteau, Kristen S. Ellis, Megan Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Dustin L. Toy
Spatial network clustering reveals elk population structure and local variation in prevalence of chronic wasting disease
Spatial organization plays prominent roles in disease transmission, genetics, and demography of wildlife populations and is therefore an important consideration not only for wildlife management, but also for inference about populations and processes. We used hierarchical agglomerative clustering of a spatial graph network to partition Wind Cave National Park (WICA) into five regions used by 163 fe
Authors
Glen A. Sargeant, Margaret A. Wild, Gregory M. Schroeder, Jenny G. Powers, Nathan L. Galloway
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data from standardized vegetation monitoring plots in all seven park
Authors
Amy Symstad, Timm Richardson, Dan Swanson
Impacts of extreme environmental disturbances on piping plover survival are partially moderated by migratory connectivity
Effective conservation for listed migratory species requires an understanding of how drivers of population decline vary spatially and temporally, as well as knowledge of range-wide connectivity between breeding and nonbreeding areas. Environmental conditions distant from breeding areas can have lasting effects on the demography of migratory species, yet these consequences are often the least under
Authors
Kristen S. Ellis, Michael J. Anteau, Francesca J. Cuthbert, Cheri L Gratto-Trevor, Joel G. Jorgensen, David J Newstead, Larkin A. Powell, Megan Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Rose J. Swift, Dustin L. Toy, David N. Koons
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum)
The key to Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) management is providing large areas of contiguous grassland of intermediate height with moderately deep litter and low shrub density. Grasshopper Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 8–166 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 4–80 cm visual obstruction reading, 12–95 percent grass cover, 4–40 percent forb cover, less than 35
Authors
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Melvin P. Nenneman, Travis L. Wooten, Betty R. Euliss