Autumn Winds

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. I remember she wore red the year she was a platinum blonde. Just picture it. Red clothes-bleached hair- Native American skin. That was my Mom. She drove a white Buick convertible and chain smoked Pall Mall cigarettes. I was in the sixth grade with Mrs. Austin; a God-awful woman who disliked me almost as much as I disliked her

Family Ties

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay\u27s first paragraph. My sister, Jesse, filled my wineglass again, spilling some on the table. Then she filled her own. It was almost two in the morning, and the flea bites on my leg itched

Demographics of Quail Hunters in Oklahoma

We collected information from Oklahoma hunters during a telephone survey conducted in February 1997, to compare demographics of scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) and northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) hunters to other hunters. Eight hundred ninetytwo annual, 709 lifetime, and 376 senior citizen hunting license holders, stratified by county of residence, were interviewed. Respondents who hunted quail differed from other hunters by age group, age of first hunting experience, the proportion of their life (\u3e=16 years of age) they have owned an Oklahoma hunting license, education level, annual household income, access to a computer at work, access to a computer at home, and access to the Internet at work (P \u3c= 0.030). No difference (P \u3e= 0.219) was found between hunter types by residential location, hunting license type, proportion of life residing in Oklahoma, ethnic origin, and access to the Internet at home. This information can help wildlife managers better understand their quail hunting constituents and tailor agency programs to fit their needs

Population Dynamics of Northern Bobwhites in Southern Texas

Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) are an important cultural, ecological, and economical part of the southern Texas landscape. I used radio-telemetry data from 2000?2005, part of a long-term, bobwhite study in southern Texas, to test the nest-concealment hypothesis, develop a stochastic simulation model for bobwhite populations, and evaluate the influence of brush canopy coverage (BCC) on short- and long-term demographic performance of bobwhites. Bobwhite nests tend to be situated in taller and denser vegetation than would be expected if nest-site location was a random process. I compared 4 microhabitat variables between successful (n = 135) and depredated nests (n = 118). I documented similar microhabitat attributes between successful and depredated nests. The discriminant function correctly classified only 48?59% of nest fates into the correct group, but only 18% of the variation in nest fate. Thus, my results did not support the nest-concealment hypothesis. My stochastic simulation model for bobwhite populations is based on difference equations (?t = 3 months) and simulations run for 100 years using STELLA� 9.0.2. The probability of persistence for 100 years for the spring population was 74.2% and 72.5% for the fall population. Simulated population parameters were similar to those observed in the field for 5 of 6 population parameters. Only simulated male adult annual survival differed by 275.0% from field estimates. Despite this difference, my model appears to be a good predictor of bobwhite populations in the Rio Grande Plains of Texas. I estimated bobwhite density, survival, and production (proportion of hens nesting, nesting attempts per hen, and clutch size) in 3 study areas with ~10%, ~25%, and >30% BBC. All demographic parameters were similar among the 3 BCC classes. However, simulation modeling indicated that long-term demographic performance was greater on the ~25% and >30% BCC classes. The probability of fall population persistence was greater in the ~25% (90.8%) and >30% (100.0%) BCC classes than in the ~10% BCC class (54.2%). My study highlights the shortcoming of considering only short-term effects when comparing habitat given that short- and long-term effects of habitat on demographic performance can differ

A Monitoring Program to Evaluate the Coastal Grassland Restoration Incentive Program

The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) is a regionally based, biologically driven, landscape-oriented volunteer partnership of private, state, and federal conservation organizations dedicated to the delivery of habitat important to priority bird species. The GCJV partnership’s Coastal Grassland Restoration Incentive Program (C-GRIP) provides financial incentives to private landowners for conducting habitat treatments that address the greatest limiting factor(s) to providing suitable grassland bird habitat on their property. The C-GRIP program is a way for the GCJV to deliver bird habitat to meet planning objectives for grassland birds, including northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Our monitoring objective is to evaluate whether the C-GRIP program is effective in providing a relative increase in the density (number/acre) of priority grassland bird species in focal delivery areas versus control areas over a 10-year period. Twenty survey routes (2 within each of 5 focal areas and 2 outside of each area, serving as controls), located on secondary and tertiary roads, were designated in the Texas Mid-Coast Initiative Area of the GCJV. Each route is 15 miles long and the land cover is similar along all survey routes. Each route has ≥30 point-count stations separated by ≥0.5 mile. We recognize that some routes will experience increased development over time, especially in counties neighboring large population centers such as Houston and Victoria. The plan is to continue to monitor these routes, as long as safety concerns do not increase. Survey data will be analyzed using Program Distance 7.3, release 1. Our poster will include details about the monitoring objective, survey route selection, and survey methods