The carabid beetle taxocenes in two treatment types, CRP and rangeland, were investigated to determine what species of carabids inhabit those areas. In the summer of 2005, 34 pitfall-arrays were set-up in a paired design through Trego County,...
The relative success of nesting pairs of the Northern Oriole (lcterus galbula) with second-year (SYM) and after-second-year (ASYM) males was investigated on a 120- hectare area near Hays, Ellis County, Kansas during 1981 and 1982. Clutch size,...
The average daily metabolic rate (ADMR) was determined for Peromyscus maniculatus by an open circuit oxygen consumption method and a field method based on food consumption. The ADMR determined by the field method, 0.015 kcal/gm/hr, was not...
Metabolic rates of adult cotton rats, Sigmodon bispidus, were determined for the summer season by a recently developed field method based on food consumption and by a laboratory-based oxygen consumption method. The metabolic rate as determined by...
This study, written in the form of a conservation manual for the general public, summarizes what is known about the identification, distribution, natural history, and conservation status of bats in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. This manual will be...
The ethical relationship between humans and other animals is most appropriately considered from the perspective of an organic metaphysics, such as that of A. N. Whitehead. Considerations that are critically examined include: (1) the utilitarian...
The King, Sora, and Virginia Rails were studied at the Cheyenne Bottoms Waterfowl Management Area in Barton County, Kansas in 1974. An auditory index of these three rail populations was attempted with the use of tape-recorded calls. It is...
Daily energy budgets (DEBs), activity patterns and the energy flow through a population of Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque) were studied for one year. The DEB for the nonlactating portion of the population was the highest in winter (0.602 kcal...
Daily energy budgets and patterns of activity of adult thirteen-lined ground squirrels, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, were studied for 18 months. The DEB was highest (0.233 kcal gm-1 day-1) during the active season (spring-midsummer), lower (0.082...
Morphological characteristics including leaf size, shape, color, type of margins, type and degree of pubescence, and stomatal density, and anatomical characteristics including arrangement of tissues, relative size and shape of cells, and types of...
Nesting of the Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus) was studied at Hays, Kansas during the springs of 1978 and 1979. Although Hays represents an isolated outpost beyond the major range of the Pine Siskin, no important differences in breeding biology were...
The purpose of this study was to classify and describe some of the algae of Ellis and Trego Counties. There are taxonomic descriptions of 30 species found in the study with 42 photographs of the specimens. Samples of the algae preserved were placed...
The purpose of t his study was to inventory the ecological status of Lake Atwood, near Atwood, Kansas , and to formulate a feasible renovation plan to restore the lake to a more balanced ecological state.
Results of the study indicate that it is...
The New World Heteropteran genus Piezogaster is revised with in-depth descriptions of the genus and its contained species. A diagnostic key to twenty-nine currently recognized species, complete with images and illustrations is provided. Two new...
Seed bank composition and floristic species diversity were examined in the spring seep zone of the marsh ridge community at Haberer’s Salf Marsh in central Kansas. One hundred cores were collected in the spring seep zone on each of the four...
A study was conducted at Moore’s ponds, nine miles south and six mile west of Hays, Ellis County, Kansas. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between plant communities and the water depths in these communities in a Western...
The purpose of this study was (1) to determine the feasibility of organizing and adopting shared time programs to secure additional instruction and services for individual students of public and nonpublic schools; (2) to determine the procedures...
The purpose of this study was to classify and describe some of the algae of Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Refuge, Barton County, Kansas. The general geographic location is southeast of Hoisington, Kansas. A natural basin has been converted by dikes...
Shorebirds were studied in Ellis County, Kansas from 22 March to 15 November, 1968. Objectives of the study were to: 1) determine the relative frequency and migration peaks and periods of charadriiform birds and, 2) investigate factors relating to...
King, Sora, and Virginia Rails were studied at 10 different marshes in Kansas in 1975. Populations of these three species were studied by using tape-recorded calls during the period 27 March through 10 June. Dates of first calling and peak calling...
This study is the first to determine which species of Schinia occur in Kansas and to describe the geographical and temporal distribution of each. Ultraviolet (UV) light-traps were operated for 140 nights, in 68 counties, during three seasons...
Seventy-two fish collections at 31 localities were taken from the spring of 1985 through December of 1986 in an effort to clarify the status of the fish fauna in a poorly sampled area of northeastern Kansas. Species composition and distributions of...
A survey of vertebrates was conducted from 1987-1991 at Slate Creek Salt Marsh (SCSM), Sumner COlUl ly. Kansas. Emphasis was placed on waterbirds, especially shorebirds, to determine the number of birds using the area on an annual basis....
Rate of growth of 589 bluegills, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, collected in 1974 and 1975 in a pond in northwestern Kansas, was determined by the scale method. The body- scale relationship was linear with an intercept of 18.0519 mm total length....
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) use alarm calls to warn offspring and other kin of predatory threats. Dialects occur when vocalizations contain consistent differences among populations not isolated by geographic barriers. The Gunnison’s prairie dog...
This investigation was conducted on Big Creek near Hays, Kansas. The study area, in the mixed-prairie association, is in the post-climax stage of succession. The principal plants of the area were: American eh, green ash, catalpa, Virginia wild rye,...
In 1969, nine survey routes were established in Ellis County, Kansas, to assess populations of breeding birds. Surveys were conducted during the year s 1969-81 and 1985, for a total of 207 surveys. The number of surveys was reduced to 114 when...
Antibiotics are used in human medicine as well as agriculture. In the United States thousands of tons of antibiotics are annually given in low levels to livestock as prophylactics and to promote growth. This is in addition to antibiotic treatments...
Small mammals were trapped on four habitats; cropland, roadside ditch, pasture, and remnant grassland. The small mammal community of each of these habitats were compared on the basis of richness, evenness, diversity, and similarity. The cropland...
"Most walleye Sander vitreus populations in Kansas are supplemented or sustained with stocking. In 2006, gamete collection for hatchery production was initiated at Cedar Bluff Reservoir because the walleye population has a high abundance of...
Old World Bluestems (OWBs), Bothriochloa ischaemum (L.) Keng and Bothriochloabladhii (Retz.) S.T. Blake, are a group of non-native grasses that have been released and promoted in the central and southern Great Plains. Since the 1920s, millions of...
Since its first known appearance in North America in Queens, New York in 1999, West Nile Virus (WNV) has spread westerly across the United States and caused many human and avian deaths. Previous protocols testing for WNV RNA in birds were only...
Associations of small mammals with habitat: types, particular species of plants, and soil types at Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge, in north-central Kansas were investigated. Peromyscus maniculatus was positively associated with grassland, and...
Eight riparian sites along the two major rivers in Ellis County, Kansas, were studied during summer of 1978. Studies were designed to elucidate historical intensity of livestock grazing, vegetative cover and structure, and avian...
Birds were censused in six different habitats in north-central Russell County, Kansas, from 22 February 1975 to 15 February 1976. Objectives of the study were to determine and compare, for the different habitats: 1) the species present and their...
The bat fauna of Jewel Cave National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota is poorly known. The objectives of this study were to locate, identify, and census bats residing in and around Jewel Cave during the summer, to identify foraging...
Behavior and some vegetative and edaphic influences of steers grazing under intensive early (IES) and season long stocking (SLS) was investigated in 1961 on two adjacent paddocks with yearling steers at the Fort Hays Branch Experiment Station,...
Biogeographic relationships of three species of pocket gophers (Pappogeomys castanops, Geomys bursarius, and Thomomys bottae), were studied at the margins of their ranges in southeastern Colorado . Two species (P. castanops and T. bottae) were...
Research on North American pocket gophers has revealed that their geographic ranges tend to be allopatric. Competition and habitat selection presumably are responsible for allopatry of several mammalian species. MOSI of what is know all about the...
In this investigation, I compiled distribution and habitat records for Chaetodipus hispidus, Dipodomys ordii, Perognathus fasciatus, Perognathus flavescens, and Perognathus flavus on the central Great Plains. I more fully described habitat use of...
An ecological survey of the mammals, birds, herptiles, and plants at Browns park, Colorado, was conducted for the Color ado Division of wildlife. At least 38 species of mammals, 80 species of birds, 8 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 176...
Ecologic and biogeographic techniques were used to evaluate biogeographic patterns of mammals in Kansas. Environmental variables, natural vegetation types, and mammalian distributions were subjected to a detrended reciprocal analysis (DRA) and a...
Body composition, energy content, basic weight, and lipid cycles were determined for populations of the plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) and the yellow-faced pocket gopher (Pappogeomys castanops) in Kansas. Lipid content calculated as a...
During late spring and summer 1985 and the spring/summer of 1986, observations of territorial selection by males, courtship displays, and the nesting cycle were made at the Mosteller heronry, Sedgwick County, Kansas.
Earliest spring arrival in...
Two subspecies of Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) occur in the United States, and neither has been studied extensively. Of the two, the Eastern subspecies (L.j. jamaicensis) has a larger range, but has been studied to a lesser degree than the...
Prior to the 2000 and 2001 breeding seasons, 150 nest boxes were erected throughout riparian habitat in Ellis County, Kansas, to study breeding productivity and the post-fledging stage of the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon). During that interval I...
The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a common occupant of Smoky Valley Ranch located in Logan County, Kansas, where the abundance of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) burrows provides ideal habitat for the Burrowing Owl. The...
ABSTRACT
The most common type of antibiotics prescribed in the U.S. and worldwide for clinical infections are beta lactams. It is estimated that 28 million pounds of antibiotics a year are consumed in the U.S. with approximate equal usage between...
A microorganism resembling a fungus, as revealed by light microscopy, was collected from a preserved cat dissection specimen in the Fort Hays State University anatomy laboratory. The organism subsequently was isolated and grown in pure culture on...
Fatty acid methyl ester analysis (FAME), scanning electron microscopy, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis were used to partially characterize an apparently unique bacterium isolated from the environment. The first 500 base pairs of the...
Climate change threatens biodiversity; in particular, species with narrow distributions and specific habitat requirements. The Great Basin provides an excellent model system to evaluate the effects of climate change on species with isolated...
Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) towns in western Kansas appeared to be distinct communities scattered among geographically diverse regions. During the summer months of 1975-1977, prairie dog towns in western Kansas were surveyed....
Previous studies of Ulmus pumila Linnaeus and Ulmus rubra Muhlenberg and their hybrid Ulmus x notha Wilhelm and G. Ware were restricted mainly to investigations of Dutch elm disease resistance/breeding for the cultivar trade. Recent studies have...
The nesting ecology of solitary and colonial nesting Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) was compared during the 1976 nesting season to determine whether colonialism was advantageous in terms of nesting success. Concrete box culverts were the major...
The nesting ecology of the Eastern Phoebe and Say's (Sayornis phoebe and S. saya, respectively) was compared during the 1973 and 1974 breeding seasons to determine the factor (s) that might limit their distribution in a sympatric area in...
Vegetational composition and the origin of surface water were studied during 2007 and 2008 at two small (<3 ha) wetlands in Ellis County in west central Kansas. Methods used to analyze plant community composition included line transects, point...
Old World Bluestems (OWB), introduced from Europe and Asia in the 1920s, recently have begun to raise concerns in the Great Plains. Despite determination in the late 1950s that OWS were weedy and negatively impacted biological diversity, they were...
"Triclosan is a multi-purpose biocide that is used in many personal care products,
including antibacterial handsoaps and toothpastes. The wide usage oftriclosan fosters its
dispersal into the enviro11l11ent, which might contribute to the ability of...
Poison grain (2% zinc phosphide and 0.44% strychnine oats), shooting, and deferred grazing were used to control black-tailed prairie dogs in northwestern Kansas. The efficiencies of these three methods were evaluated. Primary poisoning of...
Individuals of the endangered gray bat, Myotis grisescens, were trapped and marked with reflective bands as they emerged form a maternity colony in the storm sewer beneath Pittsburg, Kansas. These bats subsequently were spotlighted to map flyways...
Color reflected from the pelage of plains pocket gophers (Geomys bursarius) and from corresponding soil samples was measured spectrophotometrically. No significant differences in pelage color between sexes or among age classes of pocket gophers...
In western Kansas, swift foxes inhabit short and mid-grass prairie as well as cultivated and fallow cropland. I examined the differences in denning ecology of swift foxes inhabiting cropland and those in rangeland. I compared den characteristics,...
Analyses of morphological and mensural variation in the molar dentitions of several populations of Microtus pennsylvanicus inhabiting mainland, peninsular, archipelagic, and insular environments in southern New England enabled elucidation of recent...
Studies in recent decades, including some based on mist-net counts, have suggested that populations of certain Neotropical migrants have been declining. Many of these studies utilize total birds per net hour as an index of actual population...
Diatoms were collected at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas from the Little Salt Marsh. Rattlesnake Creek, and the Big Salt Marsh during the period from September 1996 to June 1997. Chloride measurements for these bodies of water...
The cave myotis (Myotis velifer), a predominately cavernicolous species, selects various types of sites for maternity roosts. In Kansas, some females remain in caves during the summer whereas others travel from cave hibernacula to maternity roosts...
The development of informed management practices and insightful research
depends not only on an understanding of species natural history and ecology, but
information regarding the distributions of these species and how they interact with
adjacent...
Vegetation of Pool 3, Cheyenne Bottoms Waterfowl Management Area, was studied from March 15 to September 15, 1969. The objectives of the study were (1) to describe the vegetation in delineated plant communities, (2) to compile a species list for...
The eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius) historically was reported as abundant or common throughout much of the central united States; however, range wide population declines over the past four decades have prompted state agencies and...
Biogeographic relationships of the plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius), yellow-faced pocket gopher (Cratogeomys castanops), northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides), and Botta's pocket gopher (T. bottae) were studied in southeastern...
In a study of the distribution of the woody vegetation along the Arkansas River in Finney County, Kansas, it was found that the dominant species were salt cedar (Tamarix pentandra), plains cottonwood (Populus sargentii), and sandbar willow (Salix...
Kansas represents the western most edge of high crayfish diversity in North America. The most recent comprehensive survey of crayfishes in Kansas was conducted over 50 years ago and resulted in a list of seven species. Subsequently, three species...
Prior to 1880, the Arkansas River in western Kansas averaged 400m in width, and supported almost no riparian forest. The flow regime and the consequent geomorphology of the river were hypothesized to be the most important forces that restricted the...
In an attempt to reestablish pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) in Kansas, the Kansas Fish and Game commission recently introduced herds from Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana. Because much of the prairie in Kansas has been plowed...
Populations of small mammals from a wheat field were compared with those from an adjoining roadside ditch in Ellis County, Kansas, for a 9-month period in 1988. Indices of diversity, evenness, and richness of small mammals in both habitats were...
Japanese brome (Bromus japonicas) is common, cool-season, introduced annual on native rangelands in western Kansas. It is usually abundant in valleys, gully basins, and on flat locations; but rare on microridges and tops of the shallow limy range...
Economic analyses were conducted on six of the most popular kinds of stockwater developments constructed in Saline County, Kansas, from 1978-85. Included were spring box and riser-flush valve spring developments, wet pit and dry pit ponds, and...
The soils under four small plant communities were studied to determine the cause of vegetation heterogeneity within a designed Buchloe-Bouteloua community. Sixteen relicate stands, four each of big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), western wheatgrass...
The viability of ten s train s of anaerobic bacteria following freeze-drying in single strength skim milk, double strength skim milk, and sucrose broth was assessed over a period of one year. The eight genera included in the study were:...
A capture- recapture study was conducted in an ungrazed mixed- grass pasture to determine if a mowed strip (6 m wide) would serve as a barrier to movement of small rodents and thereby alter the animals' home range. The three species studied were...
The effect of nest boxes on abundance of five species of small mammals in fallow cropland in west-central Kansas was examined form June 1982 to May 1983. There was no significant difference in abundance of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), house...
Forested ecosystems in North America are being fragmented by an increasing number of power line rights-of-way without a full understanding of the effect these disturbances have on natural ecosystems. Small mammal activity was monitored along power...
Hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) were fed wheat soaked in either 1% NaCl, 1% NaHC03, or distilled water. Old adults consumed and assimilated significantly more sodium-treated wheat, but significantly less wheat which was not treated with...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was irrigated when at the boot stage with feedlot lagoon water and well water. A control of no irrigation treatment was also used. The treatments were applied in triplicate. Samples of wheat were hand harvested, hand...
In grasslands, traditional grazing management aims to utilize the landscape uniformly by homogenizing grazing patterns to evenly utilize available forage. However, livestock selectively graze rangeland based on feedback controls received primarily...
ABSTRACT Previous studies indicate the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) alters its environment through grazing, clipping, and burrowing, which affect plant community composition, cover, species richness, and biomass. Previous...
In the field of Forensic Science, getting the most information out of the smallest bit of evidence is the goal of the scientist. With previous technology, large amounts of blood were needed to obtain any information from the sample. Blood...
The introduced shrub Tamarix ramosissima Lebed. invades riparian zones, but
loses competitiveness under flooding. This was tested in Tamarix ramosissima by
examining responses to flooding by soil type in a greenhouse setting. A field study
examined...
Small mammals were livetrapped in areas subjected to three different burn treatments (one burned the year of the study, one burned a year before the study, and old growth that was burned more than two years before the study). Capture-recapture data...
A 4-year experiment was conducted to assess the effect of added water and nitrogen on biomass yields of mixed shortgrass prairie in western Kansas. Treatments consisted of water, nitrogen, water + nitrogen, and control. Irrigated plots were...
Various grassland bird species have exhibited population declines over the past 60 years. Recent interest in understanding the causes for the decline in grassland birds has prompted numerous research studies. Several studies have focused on changes...
Great Plains grasslands were once one of the largest ecosystems in North America. However, farming, ranching, urban development, widespread fire suppression, and numerous other factors have created a great loss of this habitat in central North...
Disturbance of ecosystems by road construction results in habitat fragmentation and edge effects. Studies assessing effect of road construction on the native plant communities and dispersal of exotic plant species have indicated this type of...
With the loss and degradation of wetlands in some areas of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) reaching 80-90%, it is critical that resource managers ensure that the habitat that is put back on the landscape is as high quality as possible. Resource...
I sampled small mammal populations using snap traps in untreated, herbicide treated, and tilled fallow fields in Rooks and Ellis countries, Kansas. The most common small mammals were Peromyscus maniculatus and Reithrodontomys megalotis in 1993 and...
