Schoolyard Microclimate

The natural world exhibits substantial variation in climate, which influences the distribution, reproductive success, and survival of plants and animals. Although students are aware of weather, their understanding of climate is typically less clear, especially the concept of microclimate-the climate of a specific place within an area as contrasted with the climate of the entire area. Microclimate can influence where birds place their nests (Lloyd and Martin 2004), where insects reside (Lorenzo and Lazzari 1999), and where plants successfully germinate (Tomimatsu and Ohara 2004). Therefore, microclimate can have a profound effect on local community structure and biodiversity, particularly on plants, which are unable to move and thus often limited by local environmental conditions

Hunters and Their Perceptions of Public Access: A View from Afield

Declining hunter participation threatens cultural traditions and public support for conservation, warranting examination of the forces behind the downward trajectory. Access to lands for hunting, an often-cited reason for non participation, may play a critical role in the retention and recruitment of hunters. Meeting the access needs of a diverse hunting constituency requires understanding how hunters use and perceive access opportunities, particularly public-access sites. Given that perceptions of access are entirely place based and degrade with time, traditional postseason survey methods may fail to adequately quantify the value of public access to the hunting constituency. To overcome the potential limitations of postseason surveys, we conducted on-site assessments of hunter perceptions of habitat quality, game abundance, ease of access, and crowding as well as whether the experience met the hunters’ expectations and their likelihood to return to hunt. Over 3 y, we interviewed 3,248 parties of which 71.5% were hunting. Most parties (65.9%) reported having no private access within the region of Nebraska where they were interviewed. Parties (67.6%) were largely limited to two or fewer hunters, most of whom were adult males (84.3%) who were, on average, 41.2 y old. The perception of public-access sites was generally positive, but 43.1% of parties indicated that game abundance was below average despite 59.2% of parties seeing game and 37.3% harvesting at least one animal. Similar to other explorations of hunter satisfaction, we found game abundance, and in particular harvest success, had the most consistent relationship with hunter perception of public access. By surveying multiple types of hunters across sites that encompass a range of social and ecological conditions, we gained a broader understanding of how hunters perceive public access in real time, which will help to inform future management decisions to foster and improve public-access programs

Translating statistical species-habitat models to interactive decision support tools

Understanding species-habitat relationships is vital to successful conservation, but the tools used to communicate species-habitat relationships are often poorly suited to the information needs of conservation practitioners. Here we present a novel method for translating a statistical species-habitat model, a regression analysis relating ring-necked pheasant abundance to landcover, into an interactive online tool. The Pheasant Habitat Simulator combines the analytical power of the R programming environment with the user-friendly Shiny web interface to create an online platform in which wildlife professionals can explore the effects of variation in local landcover on relative pheasant habitat suitability within spatial scales relevant to individual wildlife managers. Our tool allows users to virtually manipulate the landcover composition of a simulated space to explore how changes in landcover may affect pheasant relative habitat suitability, and guides users through the economic tradeoffs of landscape changes. We offer suggestions for development of similar interactive applications and demonstrate their potential as innovative science delivery tools for diverse professional and public audience

Exploring Predation and Animal Coloration through Outdoor Activity

Although children often characterize animals by the animals\u27 color or pattern. the children seldom understand the evolutionary and ecological factors that favor particular colors. In this ilrticle. we describe two activities that help students understand the distinct evolutionary stmtegies of warning coloration and camoutlage. Because both of these strategies effectively allow prey animals to avoid predation. they can help explain considerable variation in animal coloration

Nest predation, food, and female age explain seasonal declines in clutch size

The selection pressures responsible for intra- and interspecific variation in avian clutch size have been debated for over half a century. Seasonal declines in clutch size represent one of the most robust patterns in avian systems, yet despite extensive research on the subject, the mechanisms underlying this pattern remain largely unknown. We tested a combination of experimental and observational predictions to evaluate ten hypotheses, representing both evolutionary and proximate mechanisms proposed to explain seasonal declines in avian clutch size. In line with long held life-history theory, we found strong support for both an evolved and proximate response to food availability for young. We also found evidence consistent with predictions that proximate level experiential nest predation influences seasonal declines in clutch size. Finally, older females appear to invest more in reproduction (initiate nests earlier and lay larger clutches) and choose better territories than younger females. Our results highlight the importance of examining multiple hypotheses in a theoretical context to elucidate the ecological processes underlying commonly observed patterns in life history

The Development and Application of Nebraska’s Northeast Habitat Management Decision Support System

In the face of the compounded effects of a changing climate, exponential human population growth, and accelerated land-use change, implementation of effective conservation measures grows ever more challenging, as conservation organizations are often faced with limited funding and resources. Given the complexity of managing for multiple species, each inhabiting various local habitat types, it is astonishing that we can pinpoint specific areas and tracts of land within the focus area where conservation measures would benefit all species (Figure 3). Here we demonstrate the usefulness of decision support systems in aiding policymakers and habitat managers in making decisions about where to implement conservation programs, which may be particularly beneficial when federally endangered and at-risk species are in the mix. Although many tools have recently been developed to pinpoint where suitable habitat or species occur (Donald et al. 2002; Peterson 2003; Thomas et al. 2004; Hannah & Phillips 2004; Ficetola et al. 2007; McRae and Beier 2007; Niemuth et al. 2007; Franklin 2009), few studies address the benefits of using multiple spatially explicit models to help guide conservation decisions. Within the northeastern conservation focus region in Nebraska, conservation practitioners can use the contemporary DSS to detect regions where grassland conservation could benefit many priority species, in addition to the scenario-based DSS model, which can help identify land tracts best suited for future grassland conservation programs. Though it is sometimes challenging to achieve multiple conservation objectives, particularly when multiple stakeholders are involved, the weighting system defined in the DSS criteria can be altered according to priorities or specific regions. For example, if a stakeholder group decided that Ring-necked Pheasants were a priority management concern, the group could adjust the weights within the scenario-based DSS. So, if pheasants accounted for 85% of the total weight in the DSS criteria, the resulting spatially explicit model would be highly weighted in favor of pheasant management and could help pinpoint tracts of land that have the highest likelihood of increasing pheasant populations, based on the surrounding landscape (Figure 5). Although pheasants may not be a conservation concern, this example can also be applied to Tier I at-risk species in Nebraska (Schneider et al. 2011), such as the American burying beetle. Furthermore, having the ability to rank priorities as a stakeholder group can help facilitate the structured decision-making process and achieve an outcome on which all parties can agree

First Description of the Nest, Eggs, and Breeding Behavior of the M\ue9rida Tapaculo (Scytalopus meridanus)

Volume: 119Start Page: 121End Page: 12

Testing ecological and behavioral correlates of nest predation

Variation in nest predation rates among bird species are assumed to reflect differences in risk that are specific to particular nest sites. Theoretical and empirical studies suggest that parental care behaviors can evolve in response to nest predation risk and thereby differ among ecological conditions that vary in inherent risk. However, parental care also can influence predation risk. Separating the effects of nest predation risk inherent to a nest site from the risk imposed by parental strategies is needed to understand the evolution of parental care. Here we identify correlations between risks inherent to nest sites, and risk associated with parental care behaviors, and use an artificial nest experiment to assess site-specific differences in nest predation risk across nesting guilds and between habitats that differed in nest predator abundance. We found a strong correlation between parental care behaviors and inherent differences in nest predation risk, but despite the absence of parental care at artificial nests, patterns of nest predation risk were similar for real and artificial nests both across nesting guilds and between predator treatments. Thus, we show for the first time that inherent risk of nest predation varies with nesting guild and predator abundance independent of parental care

Land Use, Landscapes, and Biological Invasions

The negative effect of invasive species on native species, communities, and ecosystems is widely recognized, and the economic effects in the United States are estimated to be billions of dollars annually. Studies often examine traits of nonnative species or examine what makes a particular habitat invasible. To better understand the factors governing invasions, we used the flora of Nebraska to characterize and compare native and nonnative plant occurrences throughout the state. In addition, we assessed four critical landscape predictors of nonnative plant richness: human population size and three land cover attributes that included percentage of grassland, percentage of agriculture, and percentage of public lands. Results indicated that individual plant species richness has increased by about 35% through invasions (primarily of annuals from the family Poaceae). In addition, human population density, percentage of agriculture, and percentage of public lands all show a positive association with nonnative plant richness. Successful plant invasions may change the composition of species communities, basic ecological functions, and the delivery of ecosystem services. Thus, identifying the factors that influence such variation in distribution patterns can be fundamental to recognizing the present and potential future extent of nonnative plant infestations and, in turn, developing appropriate management programs