2003 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM FACTIVITIES

 

    The Coop Unit distributes a monthly newsletter titled Factivities. The newsletter begins by highlighting one research project that meets one research need listed by the Coop Unit’s supporting agencies. The highlighted project is usually a completed thesis, dissertation, publication or final report. Also in Factivities are preliminary research results, a list of publications, presentations and awards, notices and significant teaching and technical assistance efforts. 2003 highlights follow.

 

JANUARY

 

Research Need: Conserving waterbird habitat on private property.

 

Research Finding: A recent publication in Waterbirds by Assistant Unit Leader Dr. Kenneth F. Higgins and associates has all of the data, figures, tables and reasoning behind some bold statements about the uncertain future of waterbird conservation. They describe the current state of our waning rural societies, characterize impacts of land use change on waterbird habitats and discuss conservation actions to benefit waterbirds. Farmers are selling farms and moving to urban centers for employment and the land is shifting from diversified agriculture to monoculture grain to take advantage of farm programs that provide incentives to bring marginal land into production. Current changes in crop types have decreased quality of farmland wildlife habitat while bigger and faster farm equipment and genetically modified crops continue to make farming marginal land less risky. Waterbird habitat loss continues to expand westward. The last chance to sustain the unique grassland-wetland character of the northern Great Plains is to accelerate grassland conservation with short-and long-term stewardship programs and incentives to family ranchers to protect wetland habitats that otherwise are vulnerable to drainage when native prairie is converted to cropland. This would conserve our prairie heritage for future generations while preserving the private property rights of landowners.

 

FEBRUARY

 

Research Need: West Nile Virus and mosquito control by fish.

 

Research Finding: Assistant Unit Leader Dr. Steven R. Chipps completed a mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) bioenergetics model. At a recent Aquatic Pesticide Certification Course, taught by Unit Leader Charles R. Berry, Jr., attendees wanted to import mosquito fish, saying that Nebraska is having good luck with this biological control method. Dr. Chipps stated that:

 

1.    Optimal temperature for Gambusia feeding rate was 30-35°C.

 

2.    Gambusia have ‘voracious’ appetites, feeding at rates much higher than most other similar-sized fishes. At optimal temperatures, maximum consumption rates ranged from 0.75 to 1.1% body weight per day for fish ranging from 0.2 to 1.2 g.

 

3.    Bioenergetic estimates of food consumption agreed well with laboratory observations of feeding and growth. Estimates of field-derived food consumption were also close to the bioenergetic perditions, implying that the bioenergetic approach should prove useful for estimating Gambusia feeding rates in the field.

 

The model should be a timely tool for resource managers. West Nile is associated with the mosquito genus Culex; most mosquitoes in South Dakota wetlands are the genus Aedes. Culex mosquitoes reduce egg-laying rates in pools containing mosquito fish odor (study in Journal of Chemical Ecology). Bottom line. Mosquito fish will not survive the winter, do not really start eating until 30°C (86F) and smell bad to Culex mosquitoes, so lets just use our native fathead minnows here in South Dakota – they will eat mosquitoes too.

 

MARCH

 

Research Need: Prairie pothole conservation in an agricultural setting.

 

Research Finding: Potholes near agricultural fields sometime receive sediment that smothers plant seeds and invertebrate eggs. Laboratory studies indicated that a 0.5-cm sediment layer reduced seed emergence 92% and invertebrate emergence 99%. The study corroborated research on plants and added new information on invertebrates (mostly the zooplankton-type invertebrates that could be studied in the lab setting). So what? Duck food might be reduced in sedimented wetlands. Restoration might be less successful if the wetland is a sediment sink. Wetland managers might want to disturb soil to bring the buried seeds to the top. If only the wind-blown seeds (cattail) that are always on top, is this the reason for mono-cultural cattail stands? Former Assistant Unit Leader Walt Duffy and Dr. Daniel E. Hubbard of South Dakota State University (SDSU) helped supervise Ph.D. student Robert Gleason. Dr. Chipp Euliss (Northern Prairie Lab) was a Co-Principal Investigator; results supported his warning that “wetlands don’t process sediment”.

 

APRIL

 

We hope that the SD Unit’s Factivities keep our Cooperators up to date, but we also want to update you on important news from the National Coop Research Unit Program, which consists of 38 other Coop Units. First, Congress asked USGS to prepare a plan for expansion of the Unit Program and a new Unit was announced for Nebraska. Just as the SD Unit has a Coordinating Committee (SDSU, GFP, FWS, USGS, WMI), the national program is forming a Coordinating Committee, headed by former Coop Unit Chief Dr. Reid Goforth. The National Coordinating Committee will work for 1) greater visibility with Congress/public, 2) full funding for FY04 ($14 million short now), and 3) long-term planning for the program. The National Coop Unit Program’s 2002 annual report (140 pages) is available at www.coopunits.org. You will see a 1-page summary of each Unit and a compilation of the program. We worked on 1000+ research projects funded mostly by the Department of the Interior (38%) and state (31%) cooperators. Unit scientists and students published 357 papers and gave 682 presentations. Unit scientists taught 155 college courses and supervised 774 grad students and 12 Post-docs. You can discuss the Unit Program with our supervisor, Dr. Lynn Haines (303-236-4816), or Chief of the Coop Research Units, Dr. Ken Williams (703-648-4260). I have attached a one-page summary (green page) of the most accomplished scientists and their award-winning contributions. 

 

MAY

 

Research Need: Effects of livestock grazing on breeding non-game birds.

 

Research Finding: Results from this study suggest that prescribed grazing practices on grassland habitats in the Great Plains of the U. S. and Canada can be manipulated to provide vegetation structure that is attractive to specific species or guilds of grassland birds. For example: colored sparrows, grasshopper sparrows and savannah sparrows reached their highest densities in the light and moderate grazing intensity treatments; whereas their lowest populations were in the high and extreme grazing intensity treatments. In contrast, densities of chestnut collared longspurs, horned larks and various species of shorebirds were highest in the high and extreme grazing treatment plots. The MS project was conducted over two summers at North Dakota State University (NDSU)’s Grasslands Extension Center by Eric Salo, who was supervised by Dr. Higgins.

 

JUNE

 

Research Highlight:

 

 

One ignored aspect of research is science outreach to the public. The Coop Unit’s Bioblitz is perhaps our biggest outreach effort ever. A Bioblitz occurs when scientists, representing many disciplines, do a survey over a short time period (the “Blitz”) on public lands to determine biodiversity. Another goal is public information and education. Chaired by Dr. Higgins, the Bioblitz at Oakwood Lakes State Park, and neighboring state and federal lands, was a success. The biodiversity goal was accomplished (scientists continue to sort some samples): we have 25 mammals, 16 fish, 112 birds, 12 amphibians and reptiles, 294 vascular plants and 54 insects. The public information program was also accomplished, as the public was invited to Biodiversity Day (June 21st) at Oakwood Lakes State Park to learn about biodiversity and see how sampling was done (figure shows Bioblitz tent). In preparation were biodiversity brochures for park use and a video on how to Bioblitz.

 

JULY

 

Research Need: Information on river floodplain wetlands that are not inundated (because of flood control or channel incision) compared to floodplain wetlands that are inundated by spring floods.

 

Research Finding: In the North Dakota segment of the Missouri River, where floods are controlled by releases of dams, the forested floodplain wetlands had lower invertebrate taxa richness and biomass than emergent vegetation wetlands where biomass was directly related macrophyte coverage. Macrophyte data included species richness, number of natives and exotics,  number of obligate wetland species and coverage of natives. Twenty species of fish were found in floodplain wetlands. The data are new information on the ecological status of Missouri River floodplain wetlands and Dr. Chipps has suggested using the data to calculate an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI). An IBI uses biotic data to classify disturbance at a site. On Missouri River tributaries where floods still occur, flood plain wetlands, including created wetlands, are reconnected with the stream periodically. The created wetlands are usually called dugouts and the question is “Are dugouts death traps or refuges for stream fish, especially the endangered Topeka shiner?” The Coop Unit is studying floodplain dugout fish populations in dugouts connected to the stream by the main channel or a secondary channel, and in dugouts disconnected from the stream, but receive water during over-bank flooding. Early findings indicate fish in some dugouts and not in others. The theoretical issues are 1) the lateral dimension of streams (e.g., the flood pulse concept), and 2) the hypothesis that the fish guild, known as the “flood exploitative group”, is present.

 

AUGUST

Coop Unit History and an Award on Unit’s 40th Anniversary

    The Coop Unit Program story begins in Iowa with a man who towers over the history of conservation - Ding Darling. Frustrated by the lack of scientific information on fish and wildlife, Darling founded the Coop Unit Program when he went to Washington in 1934 to head the Bureau of Biological Survey. Darling got seventeen Units in place, then in 1960 Congress passed the Coop Units Act that put Units at most Land Grant Universities with a fish and wildlife program. In those days “State College” did not have a wildlife program, but quickly assigned three Entomology-Zoology faculty to a new Department of Wildlife Management. The Coop Wildlife Unit was established in 1963.

    The first leader was Paul Springer, who was followed by Ray Linder. Linder became one of the leading wildlife professors in the country. His study of fox predation on waterfowl is considered a classic. He was the first to look at DDT and pheasants, his dove population data lead to a hunting season and he began an emphasis on wetland ecology that continues today. The Fishery Unit was established after a brief fight between the University of South Dakota (USD) and SDSU. Senator McGovern broke up the fight and put the Fish Unit at SDSU. The first Fish Unit Leader was Al Fox, then Dick Applegate.

    The South Dakota Units were combined and reduced to three people in 1983; since 1985 Dr. Berry has been the Leader and Dr. Higgins the Wildlife Assistant Leader. Dr. Walter Duffy was a Fisheries Assistant; a position now held by Dr. Chipps.

 

(Higgins-left, Chipps-center, Berry-right)

 

    The South Dakota Unit received the 1994 Chief’s Award for Outstanding Science, given to the South Dakota Unit for “consistent leadership at the cutting edge of science”. This month (August 2003), the South Dakota Unit received the Conservationist Educators Award from the South Dakota Wildlife Federation, recognizing the Unit’s forty-year contribution to education in South Dakota and the service of the staff, particularly Dr. Linder and Dr. Berry, to the South Dakota Wildlife Federation.

 

SEPTEMBER

 

Research Highlight: The end of the Federal fiscal year is a time for the Coop Unit to assess the accomplishments of the Coop Unit through the year. The Unit staff supervised 23 projects on northern prairie habitats and biota and completed five projects in FY 2003. The Unit produced 13 peer-reviewed publications. Also produced were seven technical reports, one popular publication, two newsletters and 29 scientific presentations. Eighteen students (14 M.S. and 4 Ph.D.) were supervised by Unit personnel; seven students graduated. Dr. Higgins and Dr. Chipps are co-editors of the Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science. The Unit staff teaches six graduate courses in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and presents guest lectures. The Unit staff provided data, expert opinion and technical assistance to a variety of groups on numerous occasions. A special honor this year was the 2003 Educator Conservation Award from the South Dakota Wildlife Federation acknowledging the Coop Unit’s 40 years of service to natural resources in South Dakota.

 

OCTOBER

 

Research Need: Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) benefits to wildlife.

 

Research Finding: Despite the importance of CRP to pheasants, little is known about the effects of CRP field age and cover type on pheasant abundance and productivity in the northern Great Plains. Dr. Higgins and graduate student Sara Eggebo stratified CRP grasslands (n=42) by CRP stand age (old [10-13 years] versus new [1-3 years] grasslands) and cover type (CP1 [cool-season grasslands] versus CP2 [warm-season grasslands]) in eastern South Dakota and used crowing counts and roadside brood counts to index ring-necked pheasant abundance and productivity. Field-age and cover-type effects on pheasant abundance and productivity were largely the result of differences in vegetation structure among fields. More crowing pheasants were recorded in old cool-season CRP fields than any other age or cover type and more broods were recorded in cool- than warm-season CRP fields. Extending existing CRP contracts another 5-10 years would provide the time necessary for new fields to acquire the vegetative structure used most by pheasants without a gap in habitat availability. Cool-season grass-legume mixtures (CP1) that support higher pheasant productivity should be given equal or higher ratings than warm-season (CP2) grass stands. Broader and more flexible guidelines on what seed mixtures can be used in CRP grassland plantings would allow those who manage pheasant habitat to plant a mosaic of cool- and warm-season CRP grassland habitats.

 

NOVEMBER

 

Research Need: Updated information on river fish and habitat.

 

 

Research Finding: Fishes (6,417) were collected in four mainstem reaches and eight tributary reaches in the Keya Paha River (5-6/2002). Previous data were only presence/absence data with inadequate site/habitat description. Data were combined with historical records to construct a basin-wide (South Dakota and Nebraska) ichthyofaunal list which comprised 38 species in seven families. Dominant species were sand shiners (47%), red shiners (37%) and brassy minnows (8%). Dominant game species were bluegill and channel catfish, but these were scarce. We found one species previously listed as rare in South Dakota – plains topminnow, and four species not previously found in the basin – silver chub (M. storeriana), river carp sucker, northern pike and yellow perch. The chub and sucker were probably spawning, the pike and perch were washed in from basin lakes. Common carp was the only exotic. Density estimates from seining between block nets were made for all species (e.g., 1.6 fish/m for sand shiners and 0.8 fish/m for red shiners). The combination of quantitative fish population data (density, distribution, presence), fish community data (e.g., diversity, richness, guilds) and habitat data (e.g., substrate, channel shape, riparian condition) can be used later to determine trends if studies are conducted under conditions similar to those we extensively describe. The data are already being used by the Randall Resource Conservation and Development Association, Inc., for a GIS analysis and monitoring of non-point source pollution potential in the watershed. This information is from the M.S. Thesis by Brandon Harland, who was supervised by Unit Leader Dr. Charles R. Berry, Jr.

 

DECEMBER

 

Research Need: Waterfowl movement patterns and mortality data.

 

Research Finding: FWS calls the duck banding program each August in Canada the “largest duck banding operation in the world”. For 15 years, SDSU students have participated. 

 

 

    Graduate Student Rocco Murano is studying duck traps, with the goal of objectively evaluating the variables associated with duck banding - including trap style, site selection, weather interactions and capture stress of trapped ducks associated with different trap styles. During the 25 days of banding in 2002 he accrued 388 trap days near Medicine Hat, Alberta. Four basic trap designs were tested in this study: cloverleaf, star, oval and Benning II box traps. All traps were constructed from 1x2 inch welded wire. In jury and mortality rates were collected for each trap style. Variables included weather data, trap site, trap style, species composition and banded vs. recaptured ducks. A total of 10,939 ducks were captured, with 4,768 banded and 6,171 recaptures. Oval trap capture rates were highest - 66.6 per trap day, 38.4 Benning II, 13.5 star and 8.46 cloverleaf. Mortality rates were similar between oval, star and Benning, with no mortality in cloverleaf. Capture rates increased with both wind speed and percent cloud cover.

 

    The project is supervised by Dr. Charles Dieter, SDSU Department of Biology and Microbiology, with funding from the FWS through the South Dakota Coop Unit. The Unit Program has a funding mechanism, called a Research Work Order, which allows Federal Agencies to fund research of any University Professor, not just the Unit staff. Unit staff serve as Federal Project Officers for the studies, assuring that the work is on schedule and according to proposed procedures.

 

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