Bio-Energetic Value of the Flathead and Smith Valleys in Northwest Montana for Spring Waterfowl Migration

The abundance of lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and agricultural lands of the Flathead and Smith Valleys in northwest Montana attracts a significant number of migratory waterfowl moving from wintering grounds to breeding habitats each spring. These diverse habitats provide food and resting areas for thousands of waterfowl and other waterbirds each year. These valleys are also undergoing rapid habitat transformation due to growth in human population with concomitant conversions from rural agricultural and riparian habitats to more residential and commercial development. To quantify the current extent, distribution, importance, and species that use this area as a spring stopover, we initiated a randomly stratified, weekly, simultaneous waterfowl survey of selected areas from early March through April. We began in spring 2010 and will continue through spring 2012. The data will be extrapolated to the entire study area and for the 2-month period to develop an estimate of total annual waterfowl feeding days by species. Habitat data are also being incorporated. Preliminary results from first 2 years of data indicate that the 4 most common migrant waterfowl species, in order of total numbers counted, are Mallard, Northern Pintail, Canada Goose, and American Wigeon. Preliminary extrapolations of waterfowl survey data in terms of bioenergetics will be summarized

Hoary Marmot, White-Tailed Ptarmigan And Pika Surveys In Northwest Montana

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has long done survey and inventory of game species and largely within the past few decades has expanded the staff and program necessary to monitor non-game species, too. However, to date there has been little work done on three alpine species likely to be adversely impacted by climate change: the hoary marmot (Marmota caligata), white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus) and pika (Ochotona princeps). Prior to the 2010 field season, Montana Natural Heritage Program had only 31 hoary marmot, eight white-tailed ptarmigan, and 62 pika observations for northwest Montana outside of Glacier National Park. We discuss the beginning of focused survey and inventory effort for these three species in northwest Montana that include searching historical narratives, reaching out to other agencies and backcountry users, developing a species identification guide and sighting log for free distribution, and on- he-ground surveys. On one 4-day backpacking trip we saw or saw sign of 17 marmots in five “colonies” or local areas, 20 pikas and one ptarmigan as well as several other species. In addition to the current survey and inventory work we are outlining future more in-depth work including structured systematic surveys, future monitoring, research on marmot genetics and colony relatedness across the species range in Montana, and potential partners. We also discuss some new and novel approaches such as winter helicopter surveys and fecal DNA analysis for ptarmigan

How to Attract a Loon

Prospecting is a behavior observed in many species when breeding territories are limited. This behavior has been observed in Common Loons. Yet, in Montana there are an abundance of unoccupied territories and competition for occupied territories is still fierce. We used Common Loon decoys and calls to find out if we could attract non-breeding loons to unoccupied territories. We found that there is a pattern between a loon landing on a territory and the presence of loon decoys (p = 0.11, n = 42). We also discovered a more expedient way (p = 0.05) to collect loon band observations using the decoys (n = 14). The data collected will be helpful in understanding loon behavior and will help guide future management actions

Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Japanese Classroom : A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Teaching and Learning Styles in Japan and the United States

This paper aims to highlight some of the differences between Japanese and American school cultures and cultural learning styles, and to show how some of these differences might pose challenges in the Japanese classroom for foreign teachers familiar with an American-style approach to teaching and learning. There is an examination of characteristics of school culture and teaching and learning styles often found in Japan. There is also a comparison of conversation styles between Japanese and English as it is frequently spoken in America, as well as a section highlighting the impact is culturally influenced habits of foreign teachers on Japanese students. Finally, there is an attempt to offer some solutions to meet these challenges and bridge the gaps between cultures to best facilitate effective language learning. These solutions range from culturally responsive teaching practices that are applicable generally to strategies catered specifically to Japanese learners

Testing an eDNA marker for Common Snapping Turtles

Common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are a species of concern in southeastern Montana and some southern states; however, they are invasive to the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. Although raccoons and foxes destroy over 90% of the eggs, the few remaining survivors that reach adulthood are enough to raise serious concern as they prey upon many native species and have no natural predators. According to the Montana Natural Heritage Program, there have been only three documented reports of snapping turtles in the Flathead Valley, yet we have observed an additional 19 unreported individuals. We tested a previously developed environmental DNA (eDNA) marker for common snapping turtles to help determine their distribution in the Flathead Valley. We extracted DNA from snapping turtle tissue samples collected in the Flathead Valley to verify marker effectiveness. We hypothesized McGilvray Lake and a nearby small pond would be positive for snapping turtle DNA, while Spencer Lake would be negative. Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta belli) were visually detected in all of the waterbodies while snapping turtles have not been observed in Spencer Lake. We collected eDNA samples via water filtration in December 2016. All of the eDNA samples were negative for snapping turtle DNA. We believe our analysis produced negative results because during the winter the turtles bury themselves in the mud and the DNA can degrade or that we did not capture enough DNA. We plan to sample in the summer when the turtles are more active to increase our probability of detection

The Funnies [Curatorial Project]

Taking its title from the comics section of twentieth century American newspapers, The Funnies draws upon the visual language and humour of the cartoon. From Philip Guston and Oliver Osborne to George Condo and Anne Speier, the exhibition brings together eighteen artists whose work celebrates humour and shares an incontestable taste for exaggeration, derision and slapstick. Particularly popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s, ‘the funnies’ continue to punctuate the spaces between the Politics and Sport sections in Sunday magazines and newspapers. Billed as light entertainment, they distill the news and incisively translate them into satyrical jokes. Within the exhibition, Werner Büttner’s collages and Rose Wylie’s painting encapsulate the conventional format of ‘the funnies’ in which the short and direct narrative contained within the picture is often augmented by an amusing caption acting as a punchline. Favouring figuration over abstraction and straightforward gestures over evasive intellectualism, the works exhibited in The Funnies co-habit unabashedly. While Mel Bochner ironically subverts the notion of the ‘caption’ within Blah, Blah, Blah, Martin Kippenberger’s Rausland impudently shows us the exit. Further irreverence is visible in Simon Mather’s work whose conspicuous eroticism comically contrasts with Helmut Middendorf’s pair of paintings picturing a discombobulated dog and its empty kennel. Painting and drawing appear throughout the exhibition as the dominant media, therefore emphasising the constraint inherent to ‘the funnies’: to say it all within a delimited frame. However, whether it is the libidinous and wry work of Sarah Lucas, whose title acts as a pun and adds further derision to the situation, or Cosima von Bonin’s pop and playful octopus, sculpture is not left aside and comes to play its role as a 3D extension of the cartoon and its unruly ethos. With its anti-conformist tone, The Funnies plays with forms such as parody, caricature and the absurd, paying homage to a subject often returned to within art: humour. The Funnies features works by Charlie Billingham, Mel Bochner, Cosima von Bonin, Werner Büttner, George Condo, Philip Guston, Sanya Kantarovsky, Martin Kippenberger, Sarah Lucas, Simon Mathers, Helmut Middendorf, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Oliver Osborne, Jon Pylypchuk, Anne Speier, Jesse Wine, Rose Wyli

Methane emissions from cattle: estimates from short-term measurements using a Green Feed system compared with measurements obtained using respiration chambers or sulphur hexafluoride tracer

The Green Feed (GF) system (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, USA) is used to estimate total daily methane emissions of individual cattle using short-term measurements obtained over several days. Our objective was to compare measurements of methane emission by growing cattle obtained using the GF system with measurements using respiration chambers (RC)or sulphur hexafluoride tracer (SF6). It was hypothesised that estimates of methane emission for individual animals and treatments would be similar for GF compared to RC or SF6 techniques. In experiment 1, maize or grass silage-based diets were fed to four growing Holstein heifers, whilst for experiment 2, four different heifers were fed four haylage treatments. Both experiments were a 4 × 4 Latin square design with 33 day periods. Green Feed measurements of methane emission were obtained over 7 days (days 22–28) and com-pared to subsequent RC measurements over 4 days (days 29–33). For experiment 3, 12growing heifers rotationally grazed three swards for 26 days, with simultaneous GF and SF6 measurements over two 4 day measurement periods (days 15–19 and days 22–26).Overall methane emissions (g/day and g/kg dry matter intake [DMI]) measured using GF in experiments 1 (198 and 26.6, respectively) and 2 (208 and 27.8, respectively) were similar to averages obtained using RC (218 and 28.3, respectively for experiment 1; and 209 and 27.7, respectively, for experiment 2); but there was poor concordance between the two methods (0.1043 for experiments 1 and 2 combined). Overall, methane emissions measured using SF6 were higher (P<0.001) than GF during grazing (186 vs. 164 g/day), but there was significant (P<0.01) concordance between the two methods (0.6017). There were fewer methane measurements by GF under grazing conditions in experiment 3 (1.60/day) com-pared to indoor measurements in experiments 1 (2.11/day) and 2 (2.34/day). Significant treatment effects on methane emission measured using RC and SF6 were not evident for GF measurements, and the ranking for treatments and individual animals differed using the GF system. We conclude that under our conditions of use the GF system was unable to detectsignificant treatment and individual animal differences in methane emissions that were identified using both RC and SF6techniques, in part due to limited numbers and timing ofmeasurements obtained. Our data suggest that successful use of the GF system is reliant on the number and timing of measurements obtained relative to diurnal patterns of methane emission