We compared zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) colonization of six commonly used construction materials (PVC, concrete, steel, galvanized steel, pressure-treated wood, aluminum) plus a native unionid mussel shell, and examined effectiveness of the Intersleek® 970 Fluoropolymer Foul Release Coating system applied to the six materials in limiting colonization by this aquatic nuisance species. Coated and uncoated substrates were deployed in Marion Reservoir, Kansas, from April 2011 to August 2012. Density of colonizing zebra mussels was evaluated in July and November 2011, and durability of the substrates was monitored until August 2012. Mussels differentially utilized materials, with eight of the 13 substrates being colonized. PVC was colonized more heavily than galvanized steel and all surfaces coated with foul release fluoropolymer, which were largely mussel-free. Coating eventually showed signs of pitting, but did not delaminate from the materials to which it was applied. These results suggest that use of particular materials and coatings may aid management of some zebra mussel infestations.

The plains harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys montanus) inhabits grasslands in the Great Plains, but little is known about its ecology and natural history in native tallgrass prairie. We sampled native tallgrass prairie in spring and autumn by standard traplines on the Konza Prairie Biological Station during autumn 1981-spring 2013 and for shorter time periods in woodlands and brome fields. In addition to our long-term research, we studied small mammals on a large Prairie Grid (∼13 ha) that was trapped intensively (about every 2 weeks except in winter) during 1984–1987. Plains harvest mice (n = 39) were captured in native prairie but not in brome fields or wooded habitats. In all prairie sites, they were found to be rare (1.1 individuals/10,000 trap nights [TN]); in 14 Core Sites sampled for 32 years, abundance was higher in autumn (1.95/10,000 TN) than in spring (0.70/10,000 TN). It was not apparent that these low abundances were related to precipitation or another weather feature. On the Prairie Grid, plains harvest mice were associated with uplands and secondarily with slopes, whereas they avoided lowlands. Furthermore, they showed a positive response to conditions that are created during the first growing season following spring prescribed fires. Overall, 44% of individuals were males and this value did not differ from a 1:1 sex ratio. Non-reproductive females (8.7 g) were slightly larger than males (8.3 g); only females occupied the largest body size class (11.0–11.5 g). The smallest pregnant female weighed 9.0 g, whereas the smallest female that was lactating as evidenced by conspicuous mammae weighed 7.0 g. Pregnancies were recorded in spring, summer and autumn but not in winter; about one-third of females captured were pregnant. A juvenile (5.5 g) was captured in summer. We conclude that to understand this rare species (ca. 0.1% of the small mammal community on Konza Prairie) even studies with small sample sizes are important to elucidate the natural history and ecology of the plains harvest mouse.

The effects of a biomanipulation with adult carp (Cyprinus carpio) removals on water quality and the abundance, composition, and body size of zooplankton were investigated in Bowman-Haley Reservoir, North Dakota in a two-year study. In both years, decreases in zooplankton abundance, Daphnia body size, and Daphnia clutch size in carpuneradicated areas coincided with the appearance and subsequent domination of the blue-green algae Aphanizomenon. Concurrently, in areas where carp were eradicated, water clarity increased, total suspended solids decreased, and prevalence of blue-green algae blooms decreased. As a result of these improved feeding conditions, zooplankton abundance, Daphnia size, and Daphnia clutch size increased. Because adult carp, which fed to a very limited extent on zooplankton in spring, represented over 95% of the fish removed, changes in the zooplankton community were not attributable to decreased predation by fish. Furthermore, it is unlikely that predation by fish significantly affected the zooplankton community in the extremely turbid water observed prior to fish removals. In this study, depletions of the benthivorous carp in areas of a shallow, turbid reservoir resulted in changes to zooplankton communities similar to those observed with removal of planktivorous fishes in other water bodies. These results indicate that bioturbation by carp can affect zooplankton in ways similar to predation by planktivorous fishes.

A recent serendipitous vertebrate fossil find in the Upper Pennsylvanian of Greenwood County, Kansas has yielded hundreds of disassociated bones of amphibians as well as reptiles, fish, and sharks. This is the first published report on vertebrate fossils from the Snyderville Shale, which represents the regressive phase of a minor cyclothem in the Oread Formation. Preliminary identification suggests the presence of Archeria, Diasparactus, Eryops, Ophiacodon, Orthacanthus, Sagenodus, and Trimerorhachis. These vertebrates were land-dwelling, semi-aquatic, and aquatic and are consistent with a coastal, wetland paleoenvironment.

Thirty years ago, Michael Leyden wrote an essay entitled, “You Graduate More Criminals Than Scientists” in the National Science Teacher Association's The Science Teacher journal, in which he provides sobering data comparing the number of students with criminal records versus those who pursue science as a profession. Leyden also presents and discusses five myths of teaching science based on anecdotes from his professional experiences. A recent survey collected data from a sample of Kansas science teachers (N = 140) to determine the extent to which these myths are present today in the science education community. A majority of science teachers indicated agreement with all five statements, with over 90% agreeing to “Studying science will help my students make logical decisions” and “My students are going to need my course when they get to college.” Discussion includes a comparison of science teachers' perceptions with data both then (1984) and now, such as graduation and college completion rates; potential pitfalls of believing these myths; and how science educators can continue to research teachers' views and help them develop consideration and efficacy for positively impacting students.

The availability of a large morphometric data set from over 2,000 specimens of Virginia presented the opportunity to examine gape dimorphism within V. striatula and its potential adaptive significance in greater detail within this specialist species.

In V. striatula, females attain a larger SVL. Gape was strongly associated with increasing SVL in both males and females. Males have significantly larger gapes at all but the shortest SVLs and the dimorphism becomes significant ca 145mm SVL which correlates with sexual maturity.

The observed dimorphism is hypothesized to allow males to utilize a wider range of prey (earthworm) sizes at any SVL in order to successfully compete with females for the resource. This would be of particular importance to male fitness during years in which significant drought limits availability of prey.

Ethanol, a metabolic toxin, is produced by plants during anaerobic fermentation. Traditionally, it was hypothesized wetland plants, which are tolerant of anaerobic conditions in sediments, might be those most tolerant of ethanol toxicity. Even though ethanol does not typically accumulate to toxic levels in field conditions, whether flooding tolerance in plants is related to tolerance of ethanol remains an open question. Therefore, we compared flood-tolerant and flood-sensitive species to assess susceptibility to ethanol exposure. Ten species of plants were compared; 4–10 replicate plants of each species were grown in flooded (anaerobic) and drained (aerobic) soil conditions in a greenhouse. Following seven days of treatment, roots were harvested and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was extracted, a key enzyme in anaerobic fermentation. Effects of increasing ethanol concentrations were measured on activities of ADH. Root ADH activities increased in sensitive species with flooding. Increasing ethanol concentrations decreased ADH activity, with flood-sensitive species appearing to be most sensitive to ethanol. The flood-sensitive species Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium littorale, Phalaris arundinacea, and Tamarix ramosissima were impacted by flooding and ethanol to a greater extent compared to estuarine and flood-tolerant species Spartina alterniflora, Spartina patens, Solidago sempervirens, Juncus effusus, and Phragmites australis. The grass Distichlis spicata displayed intermediate flooding tolerance. These results indicate there is correlation between susceptibility to flooding and ethanol toxicity, suggesting tolerance to flooding might be related to ethanol tolerance in plants.

The Jetmore Chalk Member of the Greenhorn Limestone is an early Turonian (Late Cretaceous) rock unit deposited under the Western Interior Seaway in North America in which its fossil vertebrate contents were poorly known previously. Recently, over 250 isolated teeth comprising a minimum of seven chondrichthyan taxa and nine osteichthyan taxa were recovered from a Jetmore Chalk locality in Washington County, Kansas, through surface collecting in the field and acid treatment of weathered chalky rocks in the laboratory. The abundance of vertebrate remains by specimen and by taxa that is revealed through our study was not necessarily predicted given that rocks of the Jetmore Chalk in the field superficially appear to be depauperate in fossil vertebrates. Therefore, our present analysis, that represents the first collective study of the Jetmore vertebrate fauna, is important because it indicates that there is still much to be learned about the paleoecology and evolution of the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway.

A partial skeleton of an elasmosaur (Plesiosauria; Elasmosauridae) was collected from a farm field located in southern Bryan County of south central Oklahoma. The subsurface geology is the Lewisville Member of the Woodbine Formation, (Cenomanian, early Late Cretaceous). Thirty cervical, seventeen dorsal, four sacral, twenty-five caudal vertebrae, intact sacral ribs, miscellaneous vertebral and rib fragments and an incomplete pelvic girdle were recovered by Henry Brigman and staff and volunteers from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH), Norman, Oklahoma. Prior to this discovery, only two isolated plesiosaur vertebra where known from Oklahoma. Both are from the Early Cretaceous, Albian, of south central Oklahoma. They are OMNH 700, a dorsal centrum from the Caddo Formation of Marshall County and OMNH 10386, a possible dorsal centrum from the Duck Creek Limestone member of the Caddo Formation of Love County, Oklahoma. This report provides a preliminary examination of the largest and most complete elasmosaur found to date in the State of Oklahoma.

A procoelous dorsal vertebra collected from the Hartland Shale Member of the Late Cretaceous Greenhorn Formation represents the oldest specimen of a large squamate reptile, possibly a dolichosaur or early mosasauroid, from Kansas. The isolated vertebra was collected near the contact between the Hartland Shale and Jetmore Chalk (late Cenomanian - early Turonian) members of the Greenhorn Formation in Mitchell County, Kansas. A latest Cenomanian age was determined by analysis of the nannofossils contained in matrix recovered from the neural canal of the specimen.

Hoof and mouth disease is a potentially serious threat to the agricultural industry of the state of Kansas. Although not invariably fatal in humans or animals, its zoonotic properties, ease of spread, and rapid mutation into vaccine-resistant forms make it a major concern. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have proven useful towards the containment and eradication of outbreaks globally. Although situations differ, GIS functionality has contributed to meeting various objectives. The state of Kansas utilizes GIS for a variety of emergency management situations. A suggested set of objectives and GIS procedures for responding to an outbreak provides a fundamental approach for consideration. Through the incorporation of the geodatabase structure, geoprocessing, and raster spatial analysis, a more effective response to a hoof and mouth disease outbreak may be achieved.

Tardigrade diversity is measured by the richness of species in a given area. Little is known about the diversity of marine tardigrades and only nine of 38 North American marine species have been documented along the Pacific coast. Recently, six species or subspecies were collected and identified from Santa Cruz Island. Only one, Echiniscoides sigismundi sigismundi, was previously known from the area. Echiniscoides sigismndi groenlandicus, Echiiscoides hoepneri, Antechiniscus marci, Batillipes dicrocercus, and Wingstrandarctus intermedius are new records for the Pacific coast of North America. This increases the known marine tardigrade diversity from 9 to 14 species. With these new finds, the statistical estimate of species richness along the California coast has grown to about 24, leading to the conclusion that many additional species will be found.

Bacula are penile bones present in many species of mammals. There is great variation in the shape of this bone among the different species where it is present. Within most species there is not much variability in its shape. A small sample of coyote bacula previously described variations in their shape including curvatures and the presence or absence of dorsal ridges. This study expands the sample size to include 100 bacula and I describe the morphological variation that includes lateral curvature, profile shape, distal tip bend and dorsal ridge of these bones.

After thinning hardwood stands, sprouts often develop on the girdled stems or cut stumps. Although sprouts may be left for wildlife, it is usually best to deaden each tree to minimize future competition for soil moisture and nutrients. Applying select herbicides to the stump can eliminate sprouting. This study evaluated five different herbicides applied to hardwood stumps of 6 tree species 90 days after cutting and at two levels on the stump. Trimec, Crossbow, Chopper, Vista, and Garlon 4 were applied in diesel oil solutions. Vista was effective as a cut-surface application to 18-inch-high stumps of black walnut, cottonwood, green ash, honey locust, and pecan, but not Siberian elm. Cut-surface application showed species-specific responses in which cottonwood and honey locust were easily controlled, but not pecan. Only pecan was not killed when sprayed at the base in a 3- to 4-inch band around the stump. When sprayed on the top of the stump (18 inches above the ground), only Chopper and Vista were effective on black walnut, and honey locust, but Vista and Garlon 4 worked in green ash.

A new species of the genus Doryphoribius of the phylum Tardigrada is described from eastern Kansas. Doryphoribius elleneddiei nov. sp. is a modest tardigrade (200–400 µm) without eyes but with three macroplacoids, polygonal tubercles on the cuticle, sixteen rows of dorso-lateral gibbosities and an additional gibbosity on legs IV. The species was recovered from moss habitat found in the canopy of walnut, cottonwood, and elm trees substrates more than 6 meters (20 feet) above the ground.