Colonization by Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) of a Great Plains River Basin

Copeia ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 1987 (2) ◽  
pp. 336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Gambusia Affinis

Hydroclimatic Change in Southern Manitoba Since A.D. 1409 Inferred from Tree Rings

2002 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott St. George ◽  
Erik Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Red River ◽  
Tree Ring Chronology ◽  
Quercus Macrocarpa ◽  
The North ◽  
Red River Basin ◽  
Bur Oak ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Hydroclimatic Change

AbstractA record of estimated annual (prior August to current July) precipitation derived from a regional bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.) tree-ring chronology indicates that southern Manitoba's hydroclimate has been relatively stable over the last 200 yr. Although this stability was interrupted briefly by pronounced wet intervals in the late A.D. 1820s and 1850s, hydroclimatic conditions since permanent Euro-Canadian settlement were much less variable and persistent than those prior to A.D. 1790. The reconstruction indicates that the Red River basin experienced extremely dry conditions between A.D. 1670 and 1775, with below-normal precipitation occurring approximately 2 years out of 3. Annual precipitation was estimated at more than two standard deviations below the mean during A.D. 1477, 1485, 1556, 1595, 1612, 1644, 1661, 1743, 1900, and 1980. Comparisons with limnological records from North Dakota and Minnesota suggest that multidecadal fluctuations in regional hydroclimate have been remarkably coherent across the northeastern Great Plains during the last 600 yr. However, individual dry years in the Red River basin were usually associated with larger scale drought across much of the North American interior.

Postglacial Vegetation History of the Mackenzie River Basin

1987 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen M. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Vegetation History ◽  
Mackenzie Delta ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Plant Migration ◽  
Mackenzie River Basin ◽  
Mackenzie River

AbstractThree radiocarbon-dated cores from small lakes provide pollen records of postglacial vegetation change in the central Mackenzie River basin. These data are combined with previously published records to reconstruct vegetation development from central Alberta to the Mackenzie delta. The paleoecological data demonstrate that a continuous corridor of herb-and-shrub-dominated vegetation extended between Beringia and the Great Plains of North America from deglaciaiton until about 10,000 yr B.P. The initial vegetation was replaced by spruce forests between 10,000 and 8500 yr B.P. Significant vegetation change continued until approximately 500 yr B.P. when the muskeg-dominated landscape typical of the present subarctic was established. The initial herb-and-shrub vegetation was likely a reprise of conditions which existed during earlier Pleistocene deglaciations. These conditions may have provided a favorable environment for animals adapted to nonforested vegetation and promoted migration southward from Beringia and northward from the Great Plains during the last deglaciation and earlier Pleistocene deglaciations. The sequence of postglacial vegetation change in the Mackenzie basin likely reflects a combination of climatic change, edaphic change, and plant migration patterns and interactions.

scholarly journals Transport of Atmospheric Moisture during Three Extreme Rainfall Events over the Mackenzie River Basin

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian C. Brimelow ◽  
Gerhard W. Reuter
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Northern Great Plains ◽  
Extreme Rainfall Events ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Mackenzie River Basin ◽  
Mackenzie River

Abstract Lagrangian trajectories were computed for three extreme summer rainfall events (with rainfall exceeding 100 mm) over the southern Mackenzie River basin to test the hypothesis that the low-level moisture feeding these rainstorms can be traced back to the Gulf of Mexico. The three-dimensional trajectories were computed using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT). For all three events, parcel trajectories were identified that originated near the Gulf of Mexico and terminated over the southern Mackenzie River basin. Specifically, the transport of low-level moisture was found to occur along either quasi-continuous or stepwise trajectories. The time required to complete the journey varied between 6 and 10 days. Closer examination of the data suggests that, for the three cases in question, the transport of modified Gulf of Mexico moisture to high latitudes was realized when the northward extension of the Great Plains low-level jet to the Dakotas occurred in synch with rapid cyclogenesis over Alberta, Canada. In this way, modified low-level moisture from the Gulf of Mexico arrived over the northern Great Plains at the same time as a strong southerly flow developed over the Dakotas and Saskatchewan, Canada, in advance of the deepening cutoff low over Alberta. This moist air was then transported northward over Saskatchewan and finally westward over the southern Mackenzie River basin, where strong ascent occurred.

scholarly journals Wyoming’s Ucross Ranch: Its Birds, History, and Natural Environment

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-85
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Canterbury ◽  
Paul Johnsgard
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Powder River Basin ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Sagebrush Steppe ◽  
History Of ◽  
Environmental Adaptations

This book profiles 60 of the most abundant, characteristic, and interesting birds that have been regularly reported from the Ucross Ranch and the adjacent Powder River Basin. The 20,000-acre Ucross Ranch lies on the western edge of the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming. Ucross is a textbook example of the prairie grassland/shrubland habitat type referred to as the sagebrush steppe, a landscape that is an icon of Wyoming’s vast open spaces. We focus especially on those species that occur year-round or are present as breeders during the summer months, and we place emphasis on a unique group of sagebrush steppe–adapted birds. We provide information on each profiled species’ identification, voice, status, and habitats. “Identification” describes its important visual characteristics (field marks), “voice” provides information on its songs and calls, “status” indicates its relative regional and seasonal abundance, and “habitats and ecology” provides a brief description of its behavior and environmental adaptations. Each species profile also has a calendar of average weekly seasonal occurrence based on long-term regional records. An introductory essay describes the early history of the Ucross Ranch, which is followed by essays on the natural environment and habitats of the ranch, including the characteristic sagebrush steppe and its associated bird species. The 22,000-word text is supplemented with 60 color bird photographs, a map of the vegetation communities in the Great Plains, and a Bird Checklist of the Ucross Ranch.

The role of groundwater pumping and drought in shaping ecological futures for stream fishes in a dryland river basin of the western Great Plains, USA

Ecohydrology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Falke ◽  
Kurt D. Fausch ◽  
Robin Magelky ◽  
Angela Aldred ◽  
Deanna S. Durnford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Stream Fishes ◽  
Groundwater Pumping ◽  
Dryland River ◽  
Western Great Plains

Landscape Influences on Stream Habitats and Biological Assemblages

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Missouri River ◽  
Native Fish ◽  
Scaling Analysis ◽  
Faunal Composition ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Basin Area

<em>Abstract.</em>—We reviewed native fish zoogeography in 22 major tributary basins of the Missouri River basin in the Great Plains geomorphic province and used island biogeographical approaches to study the influence of basin area and isolation on faunal composition. Basin area was correlated with elevation range and basin isolation was negatively correlated with annual freeze-free days. Ninety-six species were native to the tributary basins. Ninety-one were of southern (Gulf of Mexico drainage) origin. Fifty were found in four or fewer tributary basins and, except for three mountain species, were only found from the Cheyenne basin downstream. Twenty-five widespread species were either present among tributary basins during glaciation or colonized the region during recession of the continental glaciers. Sixty-six more restricted species presumably colonized more recently. Five species colonized from Pacific Ocean drainages via interdrainage connections in the Rocky Mountains. The hypothesis that variation between some closely related Great Plains fishes reflects the former presence of a prehistoric “Ancient Plains Drainage” is no longer tenable given recent geological findings, but a series of stream captures between the ancient Arkansas and Kansas basins could account for such variation. All analyses indicated that native fish faunal composition among tributary basins was heavily influenced by factors related to basin area and isolation. A presence–absence matrix of fishes by tributary basin had very high nestedness, whether ordered by basin area or basin isolation. Cluster analysis of Wilcoxon two-sample tests of individual species distributions revealed seven species groups with distinct distribution patterns. The three largest groups were most prevalent in less isolated (southern) tributary basins. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) based on Sørensen’s index of similarity indicated that two axes (both correlated with tributary basin isolation, one correlated with tributary basin area) accounted for 95% of variance between distance in the ordination space and distance in the original <em>n</em>-dimensional space. A cluster analysis of NMDS scores identified five tributary basin groups. The five southernmost basins (Kansas to White) composed one group, and the eight basins to the north (Bad to Little Missouri) composed another. The nine northernmost basins were split into three groups, one including small basins isolated from the Rocky Mountains, another including large basins with Rocky Mountain headwaters, and the last including two basins that were mostly within the Rocky Mountains. The influence of tributary basin area on faunal composition was presumably due to increased chance of colonization, higher habitat stability, and higher habitat diversity in larger tributary basins. The influence of tributary basin isolation was presumably due to higher colonization rates and more equitable climate in southern tributary basins. Fish faunas of the Missouri River basin in the Great Plains have experienced cyclical geomorphic and climatic instability for roughly 2.8 million years and were assembled like island faunas by variable colonization and extinction rates mediated by tributary basin area and isolation. This contrasts with the highly diverse freshwater fish faunas of the Central Highlands that have differentiated through speciation within regions that have been relatively stable geomorphically and climatically for more than 38 million years.

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