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F. B. Samson

Publications and source records attributed to F. B. Samson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2004

Great Plains ecosystems: Past, present, and future

Little question exists that the main bodies of North American prairie (i.e., the tall-grass, mixed, and shortgrass) are among the most endangered resources on the continent. The purpose of this paper is to provide a past and present biological baseline by which to understand North American prairies and to provide a platform for future conservation. Events both immediate to the end of the Pleistocene and historic suggest that the present grassland conditions are different from those within which most of the grassland organisms evolved. Our analysis suggests that few grassland landscapes remain adequate in area and distribution to sustain diversity sufficient to include biota and ecological drivers native to the landscape. A robust and history-based scenario to conserve Great Plains grasslands is to 1) identify areas large enough to sustain an ecological system with all its biodiversity, 2) reverse significant losses in area of native grasslands, 3) ensure that restoration matches the grassland previously existing at that site, 4) refocus the profession of range management, and 5) establish a more meaningful agency design for grassland and natural resource management.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗
USGS2003

Planning for population viability on Northern Great Plains national grasslands

Broad-scale information in concert with conservation of individual species must be used to develop conservation priorities and a more integrated ecosystem protection strategy. In 1999 the United States Forest Service initiated an approach for the 1.2× 10 6 ha of national grasslands in the Northern Great Plains to fulfill the requirement to maintain viable populations of all native and desirable introduced vertebrate and plant species. The challenge was threefold: 1) develop basic building blocks in the conservation planning approach, 2) apply the approach to national grasslands, and 3) overcome differences that may exist in agency-specific legal and policy requirements. Key assessment components in the approach included a bioregional assessment, coarse-filter analysis, and fine-filter analysis aimed at species considered at-risk. A science team of agency, conservation organization, and university personnel was established to develop the guidelines and standards and other formal procedures for implementation of conservation strategies. Conservation strategies included coarse-filter recommendations to restore the tallgrass, mixed, and shortgrass prairies to conditions that approximate historical ecological processes and landscape patterns, and fine-filter recommendations to address viability needs of individual and multiple species of native animals and plants. Results include a cost-effective approach to conservation planning and recommendations for addressing population viability and biodiversity concerns on national grasslands in the Northern Great Plains.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗
USGS1988

Small mammal response to the introduction of cattle into a cottonwood floodplain

Few differences between pastures in small mammal communities were evident prior to grazing, 1 month following grazing, and no differences in number or distribution of small mammals were observed 5 months following grazing. Each small mammal species exhibited different habitat use compared to availability and few habitat variables differed on grazed versus ungrazed pastures. Grazing at SCS recommendations in winter did not appear to have an initial effect on small mammal populations or their habitats in a Colorado floodplain.

Report↗
USGS1973

Eggshell breakage by incubating black ducks fed DDE

Black duck ( Anas rubripes ) hens fed 10 ppm dry weight (approximately 3 ppm wet weight) of p,p'-DDE in the diet laid eggs with shells 22 percent thinner at the equator, 30 percent thinner at the cap, and 33 percent thinner at the apex than those of controls. Natural incubation increased shell cracking more than fourfold as compared with mechanical incubation. Hens removed cracked eggs from nests, and one hen terminated incubation. Hens fed DDE produced one-fifth as many ducklings as controls. DDE in eggs of dosed hens averaged 64.9 ppm wet weight.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS1971

DDE thins eggshells and lowers reproductive success of captive black ducks

Eggs of captive black ducks fed diets containing DDE at 10 and 30 ppm (dry weight) experienced significant shell thinning and an increase in shell cracking when compared to eggs of untreated black ducks. Eggshells from dosed ducks were: 18-24 percent thinner at the equator than shells from undosed ducks; 28-31 percent thinner at the cap; and 29-38 percent thinner at the apex. Shell cracking averaged 21 percent among eggs fram the 30 ppm DDE dosage and 10 percent among eggs from the 10 ppm dosage. Only 2 percent of the eggs from untreated black ducks were cracked. Survival of ducklings fram dosed parents in terms of 'percentage of 21-day ducklings of embryonated eggs' was 40-76 percent lower than survival of ducklings from undosed parents. Average DDE residues (wet weight) in eggs from hens fed 10 and 30 ppm DDE were 46 ppm and 144 ppm, respectively.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗