A Field Guide to South Dakota Turtles

Contents:Introduction Status of South Dakota turtles Fossil record and evolution General turtle information Taxonomy of South Dakota turtles Capturing techniques Turtle handling Turtle habitats Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica) False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica) Western Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) Identification keys to South Dakota turtles Acknowledgements Literature cited and additional publication

Planted Grasslands and Native Sod Prairie: Equivalent Habitat for Grassland Birds

Little is known about how avian relationships to tracts of native sod prairie compare with avian relationships to single and multiple species of cool- and warm-season grassland plantings. We compared grassland bird species richness and density in 5 grassland cover types (n = 97) in the tallgrass prairie region of eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, 2001–2004. Grassland bird species richness was significantly higher in native sod prairies than it was in all planted cover types except warm-season mixes. Grasslands dominated by exotic species did not support as many grassland bird species or have species densities as high as grasslands containing native species. Intermediate wheatgrass monotypes and cool-season mixes comprised of exotic species contained 40%–60% fewer grassland bird species than native sod prairie. Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) density was 68% and 51% lower in intermediate wheatgrass monotypes and cool-season mixes, respectively, than it was in switchgrass monotypes. Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) density was 75%–91% higher in native sod prairies than it was in any other cover type. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) density was 72% higher in native prairie than it was in grasslands dominated by exotic species. We recommend incorporating a diversity of native plant species into grassland plantings for biomass fuels or wildlife, rather than using monotypes or exotic species, to provide habitat for grassland birds. Although replacing croplands with planted grasslands would benefit grassland bird populations, we caution that replacing existing native sod tracts with planted grasslands would be detrimental to populations of several grassland bird species

Risks of Contracting Tuleramia from Wild Game

This document provides insight to what tularemia is, how it can be transmitted to humans through wild game, symptoms of this disease, and treatment processes that an individual should take if they become infected with this disease

Contaminants in Freshwater Fish: Guidelines for Consumers

This publication describes the health risks associated with consumption of contaminated fish, suggests how to reduce your exposure to harmful contaminants, and provides a link to information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will enable you to contact the appropriate officials regarding fish consumption advisories in your area

Wetland Resources of Eastern South Dakota

The mere mention of the word wetland in coffee shops and other gathering places on the prairies today brings out emotions and opinions that run the gamut from saving them all to draining them all. To some people, what we do with wetlands has been, and still is, a personal choice, a matter of exercising individual rights on private property. To others, wetlands are community resources that provide values that touch all of society. They contend that what is done to and about wetlands is a community decision regardless of ownership. Herein lies the controversy we have experienced over wetlands on the prairie-a resource which provides societal benefits, yet is privately owned. The owners of prairie wetlands, like landowners everywhere, are possessive of their rights and options to make the most of their investment or inheritance. They jealously guard their right to detennine the fate of the resources they own. Those interested in the public benefits of wetlands are equally motivated to ensure that wetland values are defended. Where this debate will lead is a matter of speculation. Before landscape-level decisions about land use, and in this case wetland use, can adequately be addressed, all parties involved will be better equipped to defend their position if they know the extent of the resource, where it is, factors of quality, and something of the social interests in this resource. Dr. Johnson and Dr. Higgins have done a masterful job of bringing together a state-of-the-art inventory of eastern South Dakota\u27s wetland resources and have made comparisons of several factors of the nature of the wetlands found in the glaciated region of South Dakota. They have also included in this paper a history of some of the social and economic issues surrounding wetlands on the prairies, wetlands use and misuse, and the issues that, make up the wetland controversies of the region. Wetland Resources of Eastern South Dakota is an essential reference for those concerned about the future of wetlands and wetland policy in South Dakota and beyond. Armed with the information contained in this publication, decision makers at all levels will be informed on the number, size, and distribution of wetlands in eastern South Dakota. People working on the landscape level or on an individual ownership level will find this unique publication a valuable tool. [Forward by Carl R. Madsen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/nrm_book/1004/thumbnail.jp

Specific Handling Practices for Processing Big Game in the Field

Why should hunters educate themselves about proper handling of big game? Annually, 10.7 million sportsmen and women spend 127 million days afield hunting big game. Meats of big game are a healthy and appetizing source of dietary protein. Hunters unfamiliar with proper handling practices for processing wild game, however, run a risk of contracting food-borne illnesses. Big game transported from the field to the freezer may become contaminated with bacteria during processing. Unsafe handling practices by hunters that lead to the contamination of meats usually occur along “critical control points.” An awareness of critical control points can help ensure that the meats hunters bring home are safe for human consumptio

Prescribed Burning Guidelines in the Northern Great Plains

The use of fire to manage grasslands for wildlife is a relatively new management option for resource managers in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Nearly all of the burning during the past 20-25 years has been conducted without the aid of specific guidelines for the region. This state-of-the-art set of recommendations was compiled because of this void. Records of 902 grassland fires (primarily on U.S. Fish and Wildlife lands), personal experiences, and synopses of other published fire research were used in developing the guidelines in this manual. Fifty-two percent of the 902 fires were in native prairie grasslands with lesser amounts in tame and native grass plantings, wetlands, and woodlands. Prescription grassland fires averaged 31 ha (77 acres) per burn. The personnel needed to safely conduct a grassland fire depended on the size of the burn, the kind of firebreaks, available equipment, and weather conditions. Costs and hours of effort to conduct fires were inversely related to burn area size. Cost ratios are extremely high for fires of less than 4 ha (10 acres). They are essentially the same for burns of 16 to 113 ha (40 to 280 acres). The two primary reasons for burning grasslands are wildlife habitat improvement and native prairie restoration. Fire use steadily increased between 1965 and 1984, but the greatest increase occurred following workshop instruction in 1978. These guidelines present a set of reasons, criteria, techniques, and examples of simple prescriptions which aid in the planning and execution of a safe and effective prescribed burning program for wildlife enhancement in grassland areas of the NGP

Effects of Fire in the Northern Great Plains

Fire has been used inconsistently to manage native and tame grasslands in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) of the north-central U.S. and south-central Canada, particularly the grasslands found in prairies, plains, agricultural land retirement programs, and moist soil sites. This has happened for three primary reasons: (1) the reduction of American Indian use of fire after 1875, (2) fire suppression and land use changes that put increasingly more acres under annual tillage since about the same time, and (3) a growing resistance to the use of fire since about 1940, largely due to media overemphasis of its harmful effects (e.g., Bambi and Smokey the Bear ). Little can be done to change the first two factors but there is ample opportunity to change human attitudes about fire. Attitudes change when the knowledge (or lack of it) changes. We believe that people have been reluctant to include fire in resource management programs in the NGP because of a lack of adequate information about the effects of fire on the soils, plants, and animals in the region. This document provides information concerning fire effects on the grassland biome of the NGP, with special emphasis on the use of fire for wildlife management. In several instances we have drawn from published literature outside the geographic region, but only to provide a more complete reference for readers and decision makers. In most instances, we only state or abstract the published findings of others without interpretation, either pro or con. Readers can fit the information into their specific circumstances. English and scientific names are from Flora of the Great Plains by the Great Plains Flora Association and from the Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. territories, and Canada by RC. Banks, R.W. McDiarmid, and A.L. Gardner

Prescribed Burning Guidelines in the Northern Great Plains

This publication provides guidelines with reasons, criteria, techniques, and examples of simple prescriptions which aid in the planning and execution of a safe and effective prescribed burning program for wildlife enhancement in grassland areas of the Northern Great Plains

Effects of Fire in the Northern Great Plains

This publication is a review of selected literature about prescribed burning in the Northern Great Plains for management of wildlife. It discusses the effect of fire on soil nutrients and minerals, upland grasses and forbs, undesirable species, shrubs, trees, certain plant species, emergent vegetation in prairie wetlands, insects, nongame birds, upland game birds, waterfowl, shorebirds, small mammals, and livestock