bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Submersed Aquatic Plant Community in Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Authors: Brewer Carol
Published: July 2020

Submergent macrophyte distribution in lakes is usually related to depth. At lower depths (downslope on the littoral lake bed), macrophyte distribution and growth have been related to light (Spence 1982), substrate texture, nutrient status (Carpenter and Adams 1977), and lake morphometry (Duarte and Kalff 1986). Factors limiting distribution and growth at shallower depths (upslope on the littoral shore) are not as well understood. Meaningful descriptions of plant distributions in reservoirs are problematic because water levels vary through the course of a year (Brewer and Rerslett 1987). Water level fluctuations are a challenge to plant growth. A plant which begins the growing season at a depth of 3 m may be under 6 m of water after spring runoff fills the reservoir. Later in the summer, the same plant may be left at a depth of only 1 m as water is removed from the reservoir during summer drawdown. In reservoirs, where lake levels fluctuate substantially durin_g the growing season, the physical environment is characterized by increased spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Disturbances associated with changing water levels include ice scour during winter drawdown, abrasion due to increased erosion along the lake shore and wave action. Recent work suggests that the magnitude and timing of water level fluctuations may be the most important factor regulating macrophyte community processes at shallower depths in reservoirs (Gasith and Gafny 1990; Brewer and Parker 1990; Rorslett 1984). The status of the aquatic plant community in Jackson Lake was re-evaluated from June - August, 1995. During this time, we compiled a species list and mapped the distribution of macrophyte species.
Postfire Plant Establishment: The Effects of Environment, Prefire Vegetation, Fire Severity, and Landscape Position in Grand Teton National Park
Authors: Doyle Kathleen , Knight Dennis
Published: July 2020

Observations in the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere indicate that vegetation patterns that develop soon after forest fires vary considerably. This variability is evident even on sites that have similar environmental conditions. The causes of this heterogeneity are not well known, but it is now recognized that the conditions present soon after fire, and the plants that become established initially, influence the nature of the vegetation over the next 100-200 years or more (Glenn-Lewin et al. 1992). Our research investigates the causes of the variability in vegetation establishment following fire in Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger Teton National Forest. The specific objectives of our research are as follows: 1) determine the range of variability in the patterns of early postfire succession; 2) determine which environmental and historical variables are most important in controlling vegetation development following fire; 3) elucidate the importance of landscape position and between-patch interactions during early postfire succession; 4) develop a series of multivariate models that will predict the characteristics of early succession in different situations; and 5) project the most probable trajectories of each pioneer community type.
Disappearance Rate of Bovine Fetuses at Grand Teton National Park, State Elk Feedgrounds and at the National Elk Refuge
Authors: Cook Walter , Williams Elizabeth , Thorne E.
Published: July 2020

Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that causes elk and bison to abort and may have potential to be transmitted to domestic cattle. In this preliminary study we examined how long healthy bovine fetuses remained in the environment and could be available for contact by elk, bison, or cattle. Healthy bovine fetuses were placed on state elk feedgrounds, the National Elk Refuge, and Grand Teton National Park to simulate an elk or bison aborted fetus. Fetuses were monitored until they disappeared due to scavenging. Ninety percent of the fetuses disappeared from the National elk refuge within 31 hours, but it took 163 and 130 hours for fetuses to disappear from state feedgrounds and Grand Teton National Park, respectively. We found, via analysis of covariance, that there was a significant difference in fetal disappearance rates depending on where the simulated abortions occurred. We also found that aborted fetuses could potentially serve as a source of bacterial infection for several days. This preliminary study will be expanded to include greater numbers of animals and additional locations in coming seasons.
Use of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) for Predicting Body Fat in Three Populations of Hibernating Black Bears
Authors: Harlow H. , Tinker D. , Erwin J. , Grogan R. , Beck T. , Kiel J.
Published: July 2020

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a tool used to provide a measure of body water content and total body fat in an organism. Recently, researchers have validated BIA against tritiated water techniques in the laboratory and proposed it as a fast, non-invasive method for assessing body condition in free-ranging black bears. In the present study, we field tested BIA as a plausible tool for investigating body fat utilization during hibernation by three black bear populations in the Rocky Mountains. Body fat content in the fall ranged from a mean of about 39% for a group of large, lactating females down to about 29% by two groups of bears consisting of males and mostly non-lactating females. Daily rates of body fat use were greater for the larger, lactating female group than either of the other two groups. Although the fat data determined by BIA appear useful in terms of trends and relative changes, many of the absolute values are inconsistent and perhaps inaccurate. Because BIA is so sensitive to a variety of factors typical of field conditions, we recommend it not be used as the sole source for assessing body condition of large animals such as black bears.
Climatic Factors, Reproductive Success and Population Dynamics in the Montane Vole, Microtus montanus
Authors: Pinter Aelita
Published: July 2020

Multiannual fluctuations in population density ("cycles") of small rodents have been known since antiquity (Elton 1942). Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon (for reviews see Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). However, none of these hypotheses, alone or in combination, has been able to explain the causality of cycles. The objectives of this long-term study are to determine whether environmental variables, possibly acting through reproductive responses, contribute to the multiannual fluctuations of the montane vole, Microtus montanus.
Monitoring Breeding Bird Populations in Grand Teton National Park: 1995-1997
Authors: Cody Martin , Cain Stephen
Published: July 2020

In summer 1997 our NPS-funded project # CA-1460-5-0010, covering a 3-y period from summer 1995 through summer 1997, was completed. The immediate goals of the project were to instigate a system for monitoring the densities of breeding bird species, by establishment of flxed sites as a basis for a long term monitoring plan and of census protocols that can detect changes of breeding species and their densities over successive years. The monitoring scheme is conducted largely within Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), but covers habitats and an avifauna representative of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the central-northern Rocky Mountains in general. The project emphasizes the need for longÂ­term and on-going studies on breeding bird species and densities and their importance as a tool for evaluating the impact of both local and distant influences on breeding bird populations. For residents, species that remain all year in or near the breeding habitat, local effects include those operating on-site during the non-breeding season as well as during the breeding season. For migrant species, those that breed on-site but leave to spend the non-breeding season in other locations, often distant and usually of quite different habitat composition, there are both on-site influences on breeding population densities, such as inter-year changes in vegetation structure and productivity, and off-site or distant influences, including factors that affect over-wintering success in the nonÂ­breeding habitat and others that influence a successful transit between wintering and breeding grounds. The assessment of long-term trends in bird densities may be used as a form of bioassay of the state of the local environments. Information from such studies can provide region-wide indicators that, given a sufficiently comprehensive data base, can segregate local from distant influences on populations. Such indicators can be incorporated into management strategies to aid in determining which local strategies may be necessary (and feasible) to help maintain the biota.
Behavior of River Otters in the Oxbow Bend Vicinity, Grand Teton National Park 1997 Season
Authors: Hall Joseph
Published: July 2020

1997 was the third and final season devoted to gaining information on the behavior of river otters with most emphasis on nocturnal and diurnal activity. As in the 1995 and 1996 seasons, six automatic camera monitors, activated by treadle switches, were put out at sites often frequented by these animals. In addition, canoes were frequently used for daytime patrols. Field work occurred from July 8 - August 6.
Long-Term Response of Small Mammal Communities to the 1988 Huckleberry Mountain Fire
Authors: Seville R. , Stanton Nancy , Spildie David
Published: July 2020

Natural burns are common in the boreal forests of the Rocky Mountains. While a considerable amount of research has focused on post-burn responses of vegetation and, more recently, large mammals, there have been few studies on responses of small mammal communities in these forests. The primary objective of this study was to revisit study sites on Huckleberry Mountain established immediately following the 1988 Yellowstone fires (Stanton et al., 1991, 1992; Spildie, 1994) to assess small mammal population trends, community structure, and microhabitat preferences on adjacent burned and unburned study sites 9 years post-burn.
Distribution, Morphology, Survival, and Genetics of Aspen (Populus tremuloides) Seedlings Following the 1988 Yellowstone Fires
Authors: Turner Monica , Reed Rebecca , Romme William , Tuskan Gerald
Published: July 2020

An unexpected consequence of the 1988 Yellowstone fires was the widespread establishment of seedlings of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) in the burned forests, including areas outside the previous range of aspen (Kay 1993, Romme et al.1997). Although aspen is the most widely distributed tree species in North America (Powells 1965), it is relatively uncommon and localized in distribution within Yellowstone National Park (Despain 1991). Most aspen stands in Yellowstone are found in the lower elevation landscapes in the northern portion of the park, and the species was absent -- prior to 1988 -- across most of the high plateaus that dominate the southern and central park area. Aspen in the Rocky Mountain region reproduces primarily by means of vegetative root sprouting. Although viable seeds are regularly produced, establishment of seedlings in the wild is apparently a rare event due to the limited tolerance of aspen seedlings for desiccation or competition (e.g., Pearson 1914, McDonough 1985). In the immediate aftermath of the 1988 Yellowstone fires there was a brief "window of opportunity" for aspen seedling establishment, as a result of abundant aspen seed production, moist weather conditions in spring and summer, and bare mineral soil and reduced plant competition within extensive burned areas (Jelinski and Cheliak 1992, Romme et al. 1997). We initiated this 3-year study in 1996 to address four questions about the aspen seedlings now growing in burned areas across the Yellowstone Plateau: (1) What are the broad-scale patterns of distribution and abundance of aspen seedlings across the subalpine plateaus of Yellowstone National Park? (2) What is the morphology and population structure -- e.g., proportions of genets (genetic individuals that developed from a single seed) and ramets (vegetative root sprouts produced by a genet) of various ages -- in aspen seedling populations? (3) What are the mechanisms leading to eventual persistence or extirpation of seedling populations along an elevational gradient, particularly with respect to ungulate browsing and plant competition? (4) What is the genetic diversity and relatedness of the seedling populations along gradients of elevation and substrate? We completed our sampling for questions 2 and 4 in 1996 (see our 1996 annual report for details). In 1997 we continued our annual sampling related to questions 1 and 3.
Geographical Analysis of the Distribution and Spread of Exotic Plant Species in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Authors: Kurtz Deborah , Aspinall Richard , Hansen Katherine
Published: July 2020

The effects of introduced exotic species in natural environments are becoming important issues in conservation biology and natural resource management and recent scientific literature reveals increasing concern regarding the spread of invasive exotic plant species (Allen, 1996; Vitousek et al. 1996; Walker and Smith, 1997). Ecological consequences of these species include increased competition for space, water, and nutrients with native plants (which could result in a decrease in biodiversity), decreased forage quality for native ungulates, and changes in the microenvironments where the establishments took place (Woods, 1997). Sheley et al (1998) list several ecologically and economically detrimental impacts of exotic species. The National Park Service recognizes the need to protect ecosystems from exotic species (National Park Service, 1997) through management based on the ability to predict species distributions and spread, and monitoring in areas that are most susceptible to invasion. Recommended strategies for preventing the spread of exotic species include developing an early warning system to identify and eradicate new infestations of exotic plants in National Parks, and continued inventory and monitoring of exotic plants (National Park Service, 1997). These strategies will be based on assessment of the distribution and spread of exotic plants (National Park Service, 1997) using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies for mapping and monitoring exotic plants, and models to predict the invasiveness and spread of exotic plants. In Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), exotic species are a great concern for park managers (National Park Service, 1997). Of the 1000 species of flowering plants within GTNP, there are also four (possibly five) rare plants that may be threatened as a result of competition with exotics (Wyoming Rare Plant Technical Committee, 1994): Draba borealis (Boreal draba), Epipactis gigantea (Giant helleborine), Lesquerella carinata var. carinata (Keeled bladderpod), Lesquerella paysonni (Payson's bladderpod), and possibly Draba densifolia var. apiculata (Rockcress draba). The continued survival of these sensitive plants in GTNP increases the need for management of exotic plants. GTNP has implemented a classification system for exotic plant species that consists of three priority levels (GTNP, 1997a). Priority 1 species are designated as "noxious" since they are capable of invading natural ecosystems and disrupting or displacing native vegetation. Currently, there are thirteen exotic plant species with a Priority 1 status within GTNP (Table 1 ).
The Effects of Suburban Development and Wolf (Canis lupis) Recolonization on Coyotes (Canis latrans) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Authors: Anderson Stanley , Wachob Doug , Wigglesworth Rachel , McClennen Nathan
Published: July 2020

A comparative study of coyote (Canis latrans) home range, activity, habitat use, and diet in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) and residential/agricultural areas surrounding Jackson, Wyoming was begun in May 1998 and will continue until August 1999. Twenty-seven coyotes were captured and fitted with radio collars equipped with activity and mortality sensors. Eleven of the coyotes reside in and around the residential/agricultural areas while 15 of the coyotes range from Moran Junction south to the National Elk Refuge. One coyote has remained in Bridger-Teton National Forest near Upper Slide Lake. Marked coyotes were monitored three times a week in the summer and two times a week during the winter via radio telemetry. Preliminary data suggests that the home range size of coyotes in GTNP is larger than that of coyotes in developed areas. Activity levels appear to be lower in residential/agricultural areas during daylight hours. Coyote diet is currently being assessed via scat dissection, and prey availability was determined using Sherman live traps during the summer and early fall. Habitat use will be determined by overlaying coyote home ranges onto habitat maps. Vegetation plots were conducted in five habitat types (aspen, conifer, grass, riparian, sage) to determine vegetation structure. All of the above methods will be repeated in summer 1999. During winter 1999, telemetry surveys and scat collection will continue. Additionally, snow tracking surveys and coyote observations will be conducted to determine coyote group size and behavior. If time allows, relative density estimates and social organization will be determined. The intention of this study is also to collect baseline data on coyotes before and during wolf (Canis lupus) recolonization of Jackson Hole.
The Impact of Wolf Reintroduction on the Foraging Efficency of Elk and Bison
Authors: Laundre John
Published: July 2020

More and more, evidence indicates that nonÂ­lethal interactions between large mammalian ungulates and the predators that feed on them may play significant roles in ungulate population dynamics. Although predators such as wolves and mountain lions directly impact large ungulates like elk (Cervus elaphus) when they kill individuals, the fact that they scare their prey may actually have a greater long term impact on the population (Kotler and Hoyt 1989, Brown 1992, Brown and Alkon 1990 Brown et al. 1999). In response to predation risk, foraging animals are found balancing conflicting demands for food and safety. Research indicates they do this by two principal means: 1) when faced with higher predation risk, prey individuals will reduce feeding effort and/or increase vigilance compared to areas of lower risk (Sih 1980, Lima and Dill 1990), 2) they alter their use of habitat types to help reduce this predation risk. The major result is that reduced feeding efforts or selection of safer but possibly less productive habitat lead to a third prediction of a poorer quality diet as animals seek out safer areas but with likely lower quality forage. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Parks offered a unique opportunity to test the impact of wolves on the feeding efficiency of elk and bison. After the wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone Park in the spring of 1995, they quickly established themselves in specific locations, specifically in the Lamar Valley in the north end of the Park. This allowed us to collect data on areas with and without wolves for the first few years after their release. Additionally, as wolves have expanded their range in the Park, this has also provided an excellent opportunity to compare data on animals from the same areas before and after wolves have arrived. These comparisons then, would provide a critical test of the predictions that large predators can have a major non-lethal impact on their prey. To test these predictions, in 1996 we began a study of the foraging patterns of elk and bison in Yellowstone National Park. Here we report the results of the first four years of this study.
Modeling Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Montane Meadows and Biodiversity in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Authors: Debinski Diane , Jakubaukas Mark , Kindscher Kelly
Published: July 2020

Our project is an examination of ecological dynamics in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), concentrating specifically upon the spatial and temporal dynamics of montane meadow communities. We are examining both the abiotic aspects of these communities as well as the biodiversity of plant, bird and butterfly communities. Our long-term goal is to develop predictive species assemblage models based upon landscape level habitat analysis. This involves using intensive, local field sampling to test for relationships between species distribution patterns and remotely sensed data. This research involves several steps: 1) quantifying the spatial and temporal variability in montane meadow communities; 2) developing a spectrally-based spatially-explicit model for predicting plant and animal species diversity patterns in montane meadows; and 3) testing the spectrally-based spatiallyÂ­explicit model for predicting plant and animal species diversity patterns in montane meadows.
Grand Teton National Park Breeding Bird Monitoring Project
Authors: Cody Martin
Published: July 2020

Overview: GTNP Breeding Bird Monitoring Project. 1. Following initial independent work by M. L. Cody and 3y funding from NPS, we instigated a scheme for long-term monitoring of breeding land bird populations in a wide variety of habitats representative of the northern Rockies and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Census sites are located almost entirely within Grand Teton National Park, where a broad range of representative vegetation types is accessible within close geographic proximity. 2. 30 monitoring sites are established within and adjacent to the park in pristine habitat. Sites range from the Jackson Hole lowlands to subalpine and alpine sites, from meadow, sagebrush and marshland, through willow scrub, cottonwood and aspen woodlands, to lodgepole pine and spruce-fir forests. Some sites have a monitoring history of >30 y; others were established in the mid-1990's. 3. The location and accessibility of the study sites permits all to be regularly and repeatedly censused during the short (6-week) breeding season. Census sites are standardized in area (5-10 ha in size) and mapped in detail (topographic features, vegetation). Census schedules, timing, and methodological protocols are established, and allow for controlled inter-site and inter-year comparisons in breeding bird populations, species composition, and densities.
Prevalence and Distribution of Plague and Tularemia in Small Mammals of Grand Teton National Park
Authors: Dagan Asaf , Gillin Colin , Marciniak Kira
Published: July 2020

Sylvatic plague (Yersinia pestis) and tularemia (Francisella tularensis) are infectious bacterial diseases that can be transmitted from wild mammals to humans by insects or through direct contact. Although cases of plague and tularemia have been reported in the southwest, a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence, distribution and dynamics of these diseases is lacking. During the months of June and July 2000 we sampled small mammals in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) for antibodies of these zoonotic diseases. This survey was conducted in conjunction with a large scale population dynamics study, lead by Dr. Brian Miller, Denver Zoological society, and Dr. Hank Harlow, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming. A published survey of plague and tularemia has not been conducted in GTNP. In 1996, Dr. Fredrick Jannett looked for plague in the genus Microtus and found low incidence
Coyote (Canis latrans) Habitat use and Mortality in Grand Teton National Park and Suburban-Agricultural Areas of Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Authors: McGee Matt , Anderson Stan , Wachob Doug
Published: July 2020

A study of coyote (Canis latrans) habitat use and mortality in Grand Teton National Park and the suburban-agricultural land surrounding Jackson, WY was conducted between September 1999 and August 2000. This research focused on the influence of human development, habitat type, topography, and simulated wolf presence on coyote habitat use and on coyote mortality patterns in undeveloped and suburban-agricultural land. The overall goal of this project was to provide baseline information on the coyote population in Jackson Hole that can be used in the future to determine what, if any, impact wolves and human developments may have on coyotes. There were a total of fifteen radio-collared coyotes in the suburban-agricultural area and fourteen radio collared coyotes in Grand Teton National Park and adjacent areas in the National Elk Refuge and Bridger-Teton National Forest. Marked coyotes were tracked weekly using short interval telemetry relocations and triangulation to determine habitat use patterns. During the winter, track transects were skied weekly and coyote trails were backtracked and mapped using hand held GPS units to determine fine scale habitat use patterns. Coyote mortality was determined via telemetry and direct observation. Preliminary data analyses suggest that coyotes use mainly sagebrush-grasslands or forest-shrub-grass edge areas and avoid forest interior areas. Coyotes frequently use trails and roads in the undeveloped area when moving long distances. Preliminary analysis also indicates that roads and trails are used in a greater proportion than their abundance on the landscape. Coyotes were frequently observed using riparian corridors to move between open meadows in the suburban-agricultural area. There is some evidence that suggests coyotes selectively travel fences and irrigation ditches for long distances in agricultural areas. The movement data also suggests that coyotes avoid developed areas during the day and travel in these developed areas at night. The data on coyote locations suggests some avoidance of wolf urine scent grids in the undeveloped area, but not in the developed area. Coyote mortality was primarily human caused, and coyotes that were male, transient, and lived in the suburban-agricultural area were the most commonly killed animals.
Above-and Belowground Carbon Allocation in Developing and Mature Lodgepole Pine Forests in Yellowstone National Park: A Progess Report
Authors: Litton Creighton , Knight Dennis
Published: July 2020

It has been proposed that forests will act as a sink for -50% of the anthropogenic C02 projected to be released into the atmosphere by the year 2050 as global net primary productivity in forests increases (DeLucia et al. 1999). Coniferous forest ecosystems dominate a large portion of the Earth's land area, and fire plays an important role in the natural disturbance regime of these ecosystems (Archibald 1995). Quantifying the components of the carbon cycle during ecosystem recovery from fire is fundamental for determining how fire and changes in fire frequency alter regional and global carbon budgets (Auclair and Carter 1993, Houghton 1996, Burke et al. 1997). Clearly, if we are to model the effects of terrestrial ecosystems on global carbon budgets, we must develop a better understanding of the role that natural disturbance plays in the carbon dynamics of these systems. Processes that occur after fire may be more important for carbon cycling than the immediate return of carbon to the atmosphere through biomass oxidation (Auclair and Carter 1993). For example, primary productivity following fire is reduced or eliminated until new chlorophyll is synthesized in new leaf area. In addition, aboveground detrital inputs are greatly altered and formerly live roots become available for decomposition. Moreover, litter quality changes with the oxidation of fine fuels; soils and litter become warmer with the removal of overstory shading and a change in albedo; and soils become wetter because of essentially no post-fire transpiration and very little interception of rain and snow. These changes can increase decomposition and soil respiration (Burke et al. 1997), releasing as much as three times more carbon to the atmosphere as the amount released by the initial fire (Auclair and Carter 1993). Notably, carbon is assimilated by new plant growth in fire-adapted ecosystems, with perhaps little net effect on atmospheric C02 (Crutzen and Goldhammer 1993). In addition to large effects on carbon budgets at the stand scale, fire and landscape variables interact to produce a mosaic of different vegetation types (Anderson and Romme 1991, Turner et al: 1997a and b, Foster et al. 1998). The resulting spatial heterogeneity in tree density, herbaceous cover, and species composition in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) will influence primary production and carbon storage for many years. Therefore, to determine the long-term effects of fire on carbon release and storage following fire, information is needed on how processes differ among sites as a function of community structure and stand age. YNP is an ideal study area for this kind of research. Our objective is to answer two questions: 1) How does the relative abundance of trees, shrubs, and herbs influence above- and belowground carbon storage and flux values in young post-fire stands? 2) How do above- and belowground carbon storage and fluxes in young post-fire stands differ from those in nearby mature forests?
Causes and Consequences of Alternative Successional Trajectories Following the 1988 Yellowstone Fires
Authors: Turner Monica , Romme William , Knight Dennis , Tinker Daniel
Published: July 2020

The 1988 Yellowstone fires created a strikingly heterogeneous pattern of severely burned, lightly burned, and unburned forests across a large portion of Yellowstone's subalpine plateau (Turner et al. 1994). Equally striking has been the variation in post-fire tree seedling density throughout the burned forests (Table 1). In 1999 we initiated a 3-year study of post-fire succession, with three principal objectives: (1) to document the variation in post-fire tree sapling density and to map the spatial patterns of sapling density (2) to explain the causes of the variation in postÂ­fire sapling density (3) to explore the consequences of variable post-fire sapling density for ecosystem processes, specifically aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and leaf area index (LAI).
Amphibian and Reptile Inventory and Monitoring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, 2001
Authors: Patla Debra
Published: July 2020

This is a report of field work conducted in Yellowstone (YELL) and Grand Teton (GRTE) national parks, including the J.D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway (JODR), in the summer of 2001. This project was supported by the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program and the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative.
Body Surface and Core Temperatures of Hibernating Black Bears
Authors: Harlow H. , Lohuis T. , Anderson-Sprecher R. , Beck T.
Published: July 2020

Temperature data sensors were placed in the abdominal cavity, on the neck and outside the den of 5 black bears (Ursus americanus) during early winter and removed at the end of winter prior to the bear's leaving their den. Abdominal temperature remained around 35Â°-36Â°C and did not appear to exhibit circadian rhythmicity. Neck surface temperature of bears, however, demonstrated elevated spikes from 2Â° to 30Â°C about 4 times each day. We suggest that bears engage in bouts of muscular activity during the winter denning period to retain muscle strength and may vasodilate the skin to dissipate the heat rather than elevate their core body temperature and arouse from torpor.
Spatial and Temporal Patterns in Post-Fire Nitrogen Dynamics of Lodgepole Pine Forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Authors: Turner Monica , Romme William , Tinker Daniel
Published: July 2020

Our study addresses the effects of fireÂ­generated landscape patterns, or variability in structure and composition of successional forest communities, on ecosystem processes such as biogeochemical cycling and productivity. Forest fire is a well-studied disturbance, yet little is known about the long-term implications of a fire-generated landscape mosaic for ecosystem processes. In particular, the dynamics of nitrogen turnover, availability, and sequestration following standÂ­replacing fire in conifer forests, has received surprisingly little research attention, even though nitrogen is thought to be a limiting factor in most coniferous forests (Smithwick et al. in press). Our current work in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks builds on our previous and continuing long-term studies of the causes and consequences of fire in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (Turner et al. 2003). The fires of 2000 provided new opportunities for studying spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem processes soon after severe disturbances and how these patterns develop and change through time.
Paleontological Survey of Grand Teton National Park
Authors: Tracy Krisha , Wall William , Mead Alfred , Santucci Vincent
Published: July 2020

A comprehensive paleontological survey of Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) was completed during the 2002 and 2003 field seasons. A number of formations from within the park have yielded a variety of invertebrate, vertebrate, and plant fossils. The following formations (listed in stratigraphic sequence from oldest to youngest) were surveyed in this study: the Gros Ventre, Gallatin Limestone, Bighorn Dolomite, Darby, Madison Limestone, Amsden, Tensleep Sandstone, Phosphoria, Dinwoody, Chugwater, Gypsum Springs, Sundance, Morrison, Cloverly, Thermopolis, Mowry Shale, Frontier, Cody Shale, Bacon Ridge Sandstone, Sohare, Mesaverde, Meeteetse, Harebell, Pinyon Creek, Hominy Peak, Colter, Teewinot, and Huckleberry Ridge Tuff. Comments on the depostional environments of the various formations are based on field observations and analysis of voucher specimens. This study provides a greater understanding of the extensive paleontological resources present in the park.
Fertilization of Algal Resources By an Exotic Snail May Facilitate Invasion
Authors: Riley Leslie , Dybdahl Mark , Hall Robert
Published: July 2020

We studied positive and negative effects of snail consumers on their resource to determine if positive consumer effects may be facilitating invasion. Consumer- resource interactions often focus on losses to the resource, even though the resource might benefit if consumers recycle nutrients. The New Zealand mudsnail, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, an exotic in western U.S. rivers, attains high densities and dominates macroinvertebrate communities. In one well-studied river, it consumes the majority of primary productivity, cycles most nitrogen and can grow faster at higher densities. In field experiments, we tested the hypothesis that this invasive grazer stimulates algal growth via nitrogen excretion, which might explain its self-facilitation and invasiveness. Using in-stream cages subdivided into "with snails" and "without snails" sections, we examined the response of periphytic algae to snail grazing and excretion and snail excretion alone at various levels of snail biomass. We found that chlorophyll a and GPP (gross primary production) decreased as the biomass of snails increased in the grazed sections. Snail excretion, in the absence of grazing, increased both chlorophyll a and GPP, demonstrating a positive effect of snails on the resource, consistent with the nutrient recycling and enrichment hypothesis. We found no evidence for increased algal growth at intermediate snail densities in grazed treatments, as predicted by the Herbivore Optimization Curve hypothesis. However, the difference in chlorophyll a between "with snails" and "without snails" treatments increased as snail biomass increased. This suggests that snail compensation of the resource, through excretion, decreases at extremely high levels of grazing pressure and the net effect of snail grazing becomes negative. Together, these results suggest that invasiveness in some rivers may be fostered by this self-facilitation and recycling of essential nutrients.
Bison Foraging Response to the Risk of Wolf Predation in a Spatially Heterogeneous Winter Environment: A Preliminary Assessment
Authors: MacNulty Daniel , Smith Douglas
Published: July 2020

The impact of wolves on prey populations and plant communities in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is a central question following wolf reintroduction. Plant responses due to wolf-caused changes in the number and behavior of prey may be one of the most controversial aspects of wolf reintroduction (Smith et al. 2002). Predators are known to benefit plants due to their direct and indirect effects on prey (Werner et al. 1983; Sih et al.1985). Direct effects involve a reduction in the number of prey that feed on plants, while indirect effects involve changes in prey foraging behavior caused by the risk of predation, which is determined by predator presence and habitat characteristics (Lima and Dill 1990; Lima 1998a). Predators may have stronger effects on plants by scaring their prey than by consuming prey, because each predation event affects a single prey per unit time, while the risk of predation may cause many prey individuals to alter their foraging behavior in that same time period (Schmitz et al. 1997; Brown et al. 1999).
Continuing Soapstone Reasearch in Memory of J.D. Love, Teton Range, Wyoming
Authors: Adams Richard
Published: July 2020

Operating under grants from the University of Wyoming-National Park Service Research Station and the Wyoming Historical Society, personnel from the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist and volunteers spent eight days performing a cultural resource survey of parts of the Jedediah Smith wilderness in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Our survey took place on the west side of the Teton Range in the Badger Creek and Bitch Creek drainages. We surveyed more than 350 acres and recorded four sites in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest: an historic mine and cabin, two new prehistoric sites, and a soapstone source. While all the historic sites would benefit from evaluation by an historian, none of the sites is in need of further work.
High-Pressure Granulites from the Tetons: The Earliest Record of Himalayan-Style Tectonics in the World
Authors: Frost B.
Published: July 2020

In August 2004 a field party from the University of Wyoming consisting of one faculty member, two graduate students, and one undergraduate student spent two weeks mapping the basement gneisses in the area around Moose Basin. During this project we mapped an area on the pass between Moose Basin and Camp Lake (which is just west of Grand Teton National Park) in detail, made detailed traverses along the head of the cirque for about 3 km southeast of the Park boundary, and collected 44 samples for petrology (Figure 1).
Wildscapes, Dudescapes, and the Dude Ranching Aesthetic: Grand Teton National Park 1908-1940
Authors: Rees Amanda
Published: July 2020

"Dude Ranch" is not an expression that carries a clear-cut meaning to everyone, for a dude ranch is neither a summer hotel nor a farm where dudes "ranch". . .. The most typical dude ranches of all the West are in this section of Wyoming. They range all the way from the most exclusive outfits that require references and advance reservations for not les than three weeks or a month at around $70 per week per person-including saddle horse and equipment, modern cabin, meals and other advantages-to the guest ranches or outfitters where accommodation may be had by the day, week or season. The person of moderate means can arrange his vacation in Jackson Hole to fit his purse. (Jackson Hole: Where to Go and What To See, published between 1929-1950) The American West is home to one of the most distinctive agricultural tourism activities in the world: dude ranching (Rees 2004). Dude ranching is the "single most unique contribution of the Rocky Mountain West to the ever-growing national vacation industry" (Roundy 1973), and it has been crucial in shaping the ways in which the West is perceived, working to effect continuing romantic notions of the American West (Rodnitzky, 1968). Though dude ranches can be found in the East (Zimmerman 1998), the South, the Southwest, California, Hawaii, and the Northwest, it is the Northern Rocky Mountain region, especially Montana and Wyoming, which forms the nucleus of dude ranch tourism (Rees 2005). However, unlike cattle ranching, agriculture, and mineral extraction, tourism has rarely received the attention it deserves in Wyoming, though it continues to be an important part of the Western image, as well as an important factor in the production and reproduction of that image. Just as dude ranching has failed to receive the attention it deserves in the state, it has also failed to receive that attention in one of the region's densest nexus or collection of dude ranching, Jackson Hole, and in particular, Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). Indeed, dude ranches have faired miserably in the first seventy-five years of the park's existence. As cultural landscapes dude ranches have been deÂ­emphasized in favor of celebrating the natural environment. This project's research has revealed that a vast majority of the thirty-three dude ranches that once functioned in what is now GTNP have disappeared, been auctioned off, burned, pulled down, or allowed to rot in situ. In the last decade, critics of federal cultural resource management philosophy sought to reject this often-fragmented approach to cultural heritage protection, and looked to embrace environmental and cultural resources as an indivisible whole (Hufford 1994) and this research project falls within that effort to produce a narrative that embraces both environmental and cultural resources to tell a story of the ways in which humans and nature have interacted through tourism in GTNP.
Nitrogen Fixation in Streams in Jackson Hole, WY
Authors: Kunza Lisa , Hall, Jr. Robert , Henry Leslie
Published: July 2020

Nitrogen fixation, the conversion of unreactive N2 gas from the atmosphere into a biologically usable form NH3, is the least studied process of the N cycle in stream ecology (Grimm and Petrone 1997). Tapping into the atmospheric N pool can only be accomplished naturally by N-fixers. These diazotrophic organisms can contribute significantly to the autochthonous inputs of nitrogen into streams (Grimm and Petrone 1997). Without further investigations into N-fixation we would ignore a potentially major N flux and transfonnation. Not only do we need to quantify this process, but also examine what factors control N-fixation in streams.
The Invasive New Zealand Mudsnail, Potamopyrgus Antipodarum, Reduces Growth of the Native Snail, Fossaria SP.
Authors: Krist Amy , Dybdahl Mark
Published: July 2020

Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Hence, understanding the role of invasive species is of grave importance to managing and minimizing the impact of biological invasions. To date, the ecological impacts of biological invasions have received significant attention, but little effort has been made to address the evolutionary impact (Sakai et al. 2001, Cox 2004). This is despite the fact that evolutionary impacts are likely to be widespread; invasive species have been shown to alter patterns of natural selection or gene flow within native populations (Parker et al. 1999), and many of the best examples of rapid evolution involve invasive species interacting with native species (Reznick and Ghalambor 2001, Strauss et al. 2006). We have begun to address some of the evolutionary consequences of the invasion of the New Zealand mud snail, (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) on a species of native snail in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA).
Climatic Factors, Reproductive Success and Population Dynamics in the Montane Vole Microtus Montanus
Authors: Pinter Alita
Published: July 2020

A variety of hypotheses has been proposed to explain multiannual fluctuations in population density ("cycles") of small rodents (for reviews see Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). Doubtless, such cycles - known since antiquity (Elton 1942) - result from an interaction of a multitude of factors. However, the inability of extant hypotheses, alone or in combination, to explain the causality of cycles rests in no small measure with the fact that long-term studies of the phenomenon are notoriously uncommon.
How Do Disturbance Generated Patterns Influence the Spatial Dynamics of Ecosystem Processes?
Authors: Turner Monica , Romme William , Tinker Daniel
Published: July 2020

Our studies following the 1988 Yellowstone fires demonstrated that succession was surprisingly more variable in space and time than even current theory would have suggested, and that initial spatial patterns of disturbance may persist to produce longÂ­lasting changes in vegetation. Our focus now is on explaining the spatial and temporal patterns of succession and understanding how these patterns influence ecosystem function. The most interesting new questions revolve around the degree to which the spatial variation in postfire vegetation -- in particular, the six orders of magnitude variation in pine sapling density, ranging from 0 to greater than 500,000 saplings/ha --controls the spatial variability in ecosystem processes across the landscape.
Linking Exotic Snails to Carbon Cycling in Kelly Warm Springs, Grand Teton National Park
Authors: Hotchkiss Erin , Hall, Jr. Robert
Published: July 2020

Biotic calcification has yet to be considered in most freshwater carbon budgets, despite previous calculations that suggest the importance of calcifying animals in altering inorganic carbon cycling. The freshwater snail, Melanoides tuberculata, has achieved a high abundance and a biomass of 34.2 g AFDM m-2 after invading Kelly Warm Springs in Grand Teton National Park approximately five years ago. This high biomass suggests that introduced populations of Melanoides may alter ecosystem processes. We measured Melanoides growth rates and biomass to calculate the production of biomass, shell mass, and C02 for comparison with ecosystem carbon pools and fluxes. Melanoides calcification in Kelly Warm Springs produced up to 10.4 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 during summer months. Despite extremely high primary production and respiration in Kelly Warm Springs (-379 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 and 445 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 , respectively), C02 produced from biotic calcification increased total C02 production in Kelly Warm Springs from 65.9 to 76.3 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 . This rate of C02 production via biotic calcification is within the range of those previously calculated for freshwater systems and suggests the importance of considering the role of calcification in inorganic carbon budgets for areas dominated by calcifying organisms.
Disturbance Interactions: Mountain Pine Beetle & Blister Rust in Whitebark Pine
Authors: Bockino Nancy , Tinker Daniel
Published: July 2020

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Englem.) is a keystone species of many high elevation ecosystems in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and directly influence watershed quality by regulating snow accumulation and retention, facilitating regeneration after a disturbance, and stabilizing soil and rock on steep, harsh sites.