Fishery surveys of rivers and streams too small to navigate by boat often ignore deep waters, however documenting seasonal fish species richness, composition, and abundance in these habitats could be important to a comprehensive understanding of fish community dynamics. We used a hand-drawn Siamese trawl to compare spatio-temporal patterns of fish assemblage structure in wadeable vs. non-wadeable habitats during spawning and post-spawning seasons at eight sites along a midstream reach of the Neosho River, Kansas, USA, a perennial, warmwater stream. Species composition varied modestly between wadeable and non-wadeable pools. Had deep waters not been sampled, some species would have been underrepresented in the community, including Ghost Shiner (Notropis buchanani), which was the most abundant fish in non-wadeable pools during both seasons. Others would have been missed entirely, such as large-bodied fishes like Shortnose Gar (Lepisosteus platostomus), Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus), and White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis), which we captured only in non-wadeable pools, although these species were rare in our samples. A multivariate dispersion test indicated significant differences between seasons and among mesohabitats, with non-wadeable pools having more variability. These data suggest that characterization of fish community structure in warmwater rivers should include consideration of seasonality and deep, non-wadeable habitats.

Trace element analyses have been commonly used to differentiate water sources and reconstruct life histories of fishes. However, baseline information related to trace element signatures in water sources and calcified structures from fishes are needed to facilitate these evaluations. Water samples were collected from 79 sampling locations in Kansas between 2017 and 2019 including 25 reservoirs, six water sources for four state-owned fish hatcheries, 23 Kansas River basin sites, and 25 Neosho River basin sites. Molar ratios (mmol/mol) of five elements with Ca as a base (Ba/Ca, Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Na/Ca, and Sr/Ca) were measured from samples at each location. Water chemistry signatures exhibited variability among fish hatcheries, reservoirs, and downstream gradients of both rivers, suggesting potential for source identification using trace element analyses. Two fish species that are recreationally important in Kansas and may be candidates for life-history reconstruction using trace element analyses are Walleye (Sander vitreus) and Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus). To this end, molar ratios of Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca were examined from 105 adult Walleye sagittal otoliths collected from 10 Kansas impoundments and 26 juvenile Walleye reared in three Kansas hatcheries. In addition, lapillus otoliths were examined using the same techniques from 43 adult Blue Catfish from eight Kansas impoundments. Like water samples, fish from different reservoirs often had distinct signatures. Linear regression provided further evidence that molar ratios observed from otoliths can be predicted reasonably well (r² = 0.692 to 0.888) by water chemistry. These results provide evidence that trace element analyses are useful for examining origin and broad movements of select Kansas fishes.

The 2018 Farm Bill and 2018 Alternative Crop Research Act legalized the production of and research on industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) in Kansas starting in 2019. As industrial hemp has not been commercially grown in the United States since the 1950s, its legalization presents unique possibilities for Kansas farmers and researchers. However, its reintroduction raises questions about the arthropod community it may harbor, whether hemp-specific pests are still present in Kansas, and how those arthropods may impact hemp production. We thus characterized the arthropod community residing on industrial hemp from four growing locations at the John C. Pair Horticulture Center (Kansas State University) in Haysville, Kansas. We first compared sampling techniques (vacuuming or sweep-netting), finding that each method captured a distinct community of arthropods, but that the spatially separated locations were similar. We then pooled samples to look at overall community structure, identifying 58.40% as pests, 22.03% as natural predators, 16.09% as neutral arthropods, and 3.48% as parasitoids. Pests were further grouped by how they damage plants, identifying 41.14% as stem/leaf suckers, 30.53% as bud/stem borers, 18.95% as root chewers, and 9.39% as bud/leaf chewers. While not present in our samples, concurrent studies at the Horticulture Center identified two hemp-specific pests, Eurasian hemp borers and hemp russet mites. The presence of certain arthropod pests, including the hemp-specific pests found in concurrent studies, provides a starting point for pest management practices in the production of industrial hemp.

This current checklist of Kansas jumping spiders provides the most recent scientific names of the 82 species known from the state, and their distributions within Kansas. Twelve of these are new state records.

Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) is a rapidly spreading invasive species in the central and eastern United States. This invasion is thought to comprise populations founded by hybrids between different intentionally planted P. calleryana cultivars. We investigate this scenario in an invasive population found in an urban park and natural area in Wichita, KS. Ten nuclear microsatellite loci were genotyped in invasive individuals from the park as well as planted individuals in surrounding residential neighborhoods. All invasive individuals displayed unique multilocus genotypes, none of which matched those found in planted individuals. However, in many cases potential haploid genotypes from planted individuals are hypothetical matches for one parent of invasive individuals. Taken together, these data suggest that this local invasive Callery pear population is a “hybrid swarm” resulting from gene flow among nearby, intentionally planted individuals.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a significant environmental problem in most countries that have an extensive history of mining. AMD refers to the acidic water that can be produced during hard and soft rock mining. Acidic drainage forms when sulfide minerals, primarily pyrite, are exposed to oxygenated surface waters. Passive limestone trenches are a common technique used to neutralize AMD through the dissolution of limestone and release of carbonate. The addition of carbonate to AMD causes the pH to rise due to the consumption of H⁺ and results in precipitation of iron from AMD. In limestone trenches, the iron precipitants can adhere to limestone surfaces, armoring them, and limiting their ability to continue to neutralize AMD. In turn, this armoring lowers the effectiveness of the passive trench as an AMD remediation tool. The goal of this research was to investigate if the presence of sandstone reduces the armoring of limestone during the AMD neutralization reaction, and, if armoring of the limestone is reduced, does the mineralogy of the sandstone play a role in this reaction. AMD neutralization batch reactions were run in which AMD was reacted with just limestone, limestone and iron oxide-cemented sandstone, and limestone and quartz-cemented sandstone. In the limestone only experiments, the AMD neutralized after roughly 4 days. However, in the experiments with limestone and sandstone, the AMD was neutralized in less time. Additionally, light microscopy revealed that the presence of sandstone reduced the armoring of limestone grains. The experimental data suggests that the addition of sandstone did increase the rate of neutralization due to the iron precipitates adhering to the sandstone rather than the limestone.