Copyright (c) 2009 University of Nebraska - Lincoln All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu Recent documents in DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln en-us Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:56:44 PST 3600 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/50 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/50 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:01:02 PST My purpose in this paper is to describe two research projects that combine experimental psychology and behavioral ecology . The first employs the operant conditioning technology developed by psychologists to test hypotheses arising from ecological studies of foraging animals. The second uses concepts from natural history and ecology to explore the nature and evolution of spatial memory. These two projects demonstrate both the advantages and the challenges of interdisciplinary work. There are many advantages to combining psychological and biological perspectives on the behavior of animals. But truly interdisciplinary work is rare, mostly because it is so difficult to achieve meaningful integration across the boundaries that define different approaches. The ideas of LG.katos (1) about the nature of science help illuminate this difficulty. According to Lakatos, scientists work within "research programs." A research program is characterized by a set of central assumptions which are not subjected to direct empirical test . This central core provides the overall framework within which specific hypotheses are generated. These hypotheses are then tested empirically. Different research programs, as well as different disciplines, differ in context and in which questions they consider most important . If these differences are not understood, appreciated and dealt with, truly interdisciplinary research is impossible. All too often, what passes for interdisciplinary research involves only superficial cross-disciplinary integration. Therefore, before discussing details of the research we have been doing , I will briefly outline the differences between the approaches of experimental psychology and behavioral ecology (more detailed discussions are available, see 2, 3) . The particular branch of experimental psychology in which I am interested is the experimental analysis of animal learning . This area involves several traditions, particularly those of the Skinnerian (4) and of the associationist (5). Although these traditions differ in important ways, they do share a number of characteristics. They are both resolutely generalist in the sense that they assume that a relatively small set of principles will account for behavior in a wide variety of situations and a wide variety of species. They are also, as is most of psychology, heavily environmental and mechanistic . In terms of methodology, the emphasis is on automated, 'objective' laboratory studies of behavior under highly controlled laboratory conditions . Behavioral ecology is quite different in orientation (6). Where the psychologist's emphasis is on understanding behavior in the laboratory, the behavioral ecologist, even when engaged in laboratory studies of behavior, is primarily interested in understanding behavior under natural conditions. Where the psychologist emphasizes a few general mechanistic principles (e.g., the law of effect or contiguity), the behavioral ecologist emphasizes functional principles, particularly the concept that behavior functions to maximize the representation of the individual's genes in succeeding generations . Where the psychologist tends to assume that principles are easily generalized across species , the behavioral ecologist tends to assume that species are different in many important ways. Alan Kamil http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historyfacpub/106 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historyfacpub/106 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:41:37 PST A rich historiography has accumulated regarding American Indian boarding schools and the experience of Indian children within them. Western women's historians have also studied many white women who were involved in efforts to advocate for American Indians. Yet, in general, these two historiographical tracks have developed along parallel lines without intersecting. This essay argues, however, that white women were integrally involved in the removal of American Indian children to boarding schools and that their involvement implicated them in one of the most cruel, yet largely unexamined, policies of colonialism within the American West. Through a politics of maternalism, many white women reformers claimed for themselves the role of a "Great White Mother" who would save her benighted Indian "daughters.'" Ironically, however, while these reformers venerated motherhood in their political discourse, they often failed to respect the actual mothering done by many native women. Instead, many reformers portrayed American Indian women as unfit mothers whose children had to be removed from their homes and communities to be raised properly by white women within institutions. And as white women articulated a sense of difference between themselves and native women as mothers, they helped to construct racial ideologies that deemed Indian peoples to be in need of "civilization" by their white benefactors. Thus, much of white women's advocacy for Indians in the West ultimately reinforced the very racial notions that contributed to the ongoing colonization of native peoples in the region. Margaret D. Jacobs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibirdsrockymtns/1 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibirdsrockymtns/1 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:46:18 PST Notwithstanding the great latitudinal spread and the equally wide altitudinal variations that occur in the region, the Rocky Mountains contain surprisingly uniform bird life. A bird-watcher in Banff or Jasper national parks in Alberta will encounter the vast majority of the same breeding species in the coniferous zones of those areas as one who is observing nearly a thousand miles to the south in Rocky Mountain National Park, although particular bird species would occur at considerably different altitudes. This comprehensive reference work describes in detail 354 species found in a 353,000-square-mile area--from the 40th parallel in Colorado north to the 52nd parallel in Canada; from the western border of Idaho to the eastern boundaries of Montana and Wyoming. Although not an identification guide per se, the species descriptions will aid in field identification for persons already somewhat familiar with bird groups. Of more importance, however, are the range maps and status charts that accompany each of the species listings. Here a visitor to any one of the major national parks in the Rocky Mountain region can have quick access to the abundance and seasonality of a given species. In addition, a comprehensive introduction describes the predominant life zones of the region, and over a dozen maps illustrate such significant features as precipitation patterns, vegetation community types, and major physiographic provinces. Illustrated with 42 color plates, hundreds of line drawings, and individual park maps, Birds of the Rocky Mountains will prove to be indispensable to amateur and seasoned birders alike Paul A. Johnsgard http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/171 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/171 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:59:41 PST Recently, Allen and Ramirez (1990, Wilson Bull. 102:553-558) summarized known observations of bird mortality associated with barbed-wire fences. Most reported cases of bird mortality from barbed-wire fences were of non-passerine birds. On 16 June 1993 in Slope County in western North Dakota (NW 1/4, Sec. 10 T134N R103W), I found a dead western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) with its right wing impaled by a barb on the middle strand of a three-strand barbed-wire fence. Barbs on the wire were spaced about 12-15 cm apart. The bird was adult-sized, but plumage characteristics indicated that it was a young-of-the-year with well-developed flight feathers. The fence was situated along a right-of-way of a seldom-traveled gravel road. Surrounding habitat on both sides of the road was native mixed-grass prairie. The position of the bird suggested that it collided with the fence and was impaled while flying from the prairie toward the right-of-way, indicating that the bird had not been forced from the roadside into the fence by an approaching vehicle. Lawrence D. Igl http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/170 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/170 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:56:40 PST During a continuing investigation in the northern Great Plains, we documented substantial increases of the Le Conte's Sparrow (Ammodramus Leconteii) in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields in 1994 compared with 1990-93. The most dramatic increases occurred in Eddy County, North Dakota, and Sheridan County, Montana. The changes in habitat associated with the drought from 1989 to early 1993 and above-normal precipitation from mid-1993 through mid-1994 likely produced favorable breeding conditions for this species in CRP fields in 1994. Lawrence D. Igl http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/169 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/169 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:54:24 PST The northern limit of the blue grosbeak's (Guiraca caerulea) breeding distribution occurs in southern North Dakota. Records of the blue grosbeak in North Dakota are uncommon. Here, I report my observation of a blue grosbeak at a site where the species was recorded 25 years earlier. A summary of the species' distribution and records in North Dakota are provided. Lawrence D. Igl http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/168 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/168 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:52:16 PST In the spring of 1991, the University of North Carolina hosted a series of seminars on the topic of ecological genetics. Five distinguished researchers, Montgomery Slatkin, Sara Via, Michael Lynch, Janis Antonovics, and Joseph Travis, were each invited to present two talks: one a general overview of a research area in contemporary ecological genetics, and a second on a specific research topic. The ten chapters of Ecological Genetics are based on those presentations. Bonnie S. Bowen http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/59 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/59 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:48:22 PST A score of years have passed since that courageous band of young Englishmen who styled themselves the Rhymers' Club tried to transplant the air of the Latin Quarter into London, by meeting at the Cheshire Cheese to discuss welsh rarebits, ale, and each other's verses. Time has played havoc with their ranks, and to some extent with their works. Some of them have died; several have abandoned song for scholarship; Mr. Le Gallienne has migrated to America; Mr. Yeats devotes himself to managing the Irish renascence. Of the two most characteristic voices of the period, one, that of Ernest Dowson, was silenced years ago; Arthur Symons alone still carries the old banner. French decadence apparently did not flourish on English soil, and Dowson's "one strayed, last petal of one last year's rose" has yielded to Mr. John Masefield' s pugilism and to the smoke of Mr. W. W. Gibson's factories. T. K. Whipple http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/58 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/58 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:46:23 PST It is necessary in the interpretation of any writer, and especially if he be of the present day, that the literary motives which actuate him should be thoroughly understood. Through their realization and through what we might term his interpretation of his own ideals, we are enabled to form a sufficient idea of his literary originality and a better comprehension of his relation to his own and preceding times. It is of course truistic that all writers can not create new fields, that they can only follow, modifying, adapting, enlarging, or lessening, as the case may be, the accumulated heritage of the past. George R. Throop http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/57 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/57 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:44:39 PST Man from the Moon: I thought I knew something about mundane affairs from my study of the newspapers; but to see a Jeffersonian with a ring through his nose led about like a dancing bear by a socialist! It's enough to make a man believe in possession- or what amounts to much the same thing, conversion. But hold; I will accost him. (To Jeffersonian.) Why do you offer yourself to be bullyragged by this person, whom I recognize by his salt-and-pepper suit, white tie, and kid gloves to be a follower of the creed, "property is robbery"? Jeffersonian: Why, I do this quite willingly, sir. Man from the Moon: My reading of history is that you used to stand up bravely for the "rights of man," intending thereby the claim of each man to the fruits of his own labour. By that you understood, further, his security in undertaking anything that might bring him either a wage of labour or a rent of luck. W. G. Langworthy Taylor http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/56 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/56 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:41:15 PST The framing of theories is an occupation in which men like to indulge. To imagine how things may have come about is probably the nearest approach to a creative act to which we finite beings will ever attain; and the field of astronomy has been an especially tempting one in which to try our creative powers. We like to do things on a large scale; and it is quite as easy to construct, in imagination, a planet or a solar system as something less pretentious. From the first men have been explaining how the cosmos came to be; naturally these imaginings have reflected strongly the philosophy of the times and places and peoples that gave them birth. We have had theories spiritual, theories fanciful, and theories frivolous. Men have told us how the civil engineers on neighbouring planets run their lines and dig their Culebra cuts; and long before this age of engineering they have explained how the starry sky was peopled with divinities and heroes. Ellery W. Davis http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/55 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/55 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:39:09 PST A significant recent development in the field of legal science in this country, the importance of which is not yet generally recognized by laymen, is the noteworthy awakening of interest in the philosophical literature of the continent of Europe dealing with legal institutions. Progress in this field of legal philosophy has been especially rapid since the late seventies, particularly in Germany. In English-speaking countries no phenomena of equal significance have occurred. America has never produced any notable philosophical jurists; and the work of English legal scholars of the past generation, though in some instances it has been brilliant and of far-reaching value, has been mainly historical or critical in tendency. The opportunities for American lawyers to familiarize themselves with the product of continental investigations, either through translations or through descriptive accounts, have been few and far between. Hastie's translations from the works of Puchta, Friedlander, Falck, and Ahrens, published at Edinburgh as far back as 1887, formed, until very recently, almost the only serviceable work of the kind in existence, and the doctrines incorporated in it are now regarded as old-fashioned. Arthur W. Spencer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/54 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/54 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:37:47 PST In these days when America is the spectator of world war, it is of increased interest to notice the views of Europe when America was the battle ground itself. An awakening interest in this study has recently impressed upon our public the paramount importance of the English attitude toward the war; and our vast debt to Cobden, Bright, and John Stuart Mill and other English Liberals has stirred the national gratitude. The Liberals of France played an equal role. Their voice, not loud but deep, operated to curb the opportunism and militancy of Napoleon III and his cabinet of adventurers. The spirit of liberalism was abroad in the world, and Europeans instinctively recognized the Unionists as champions of a common cause wherein all lovers of humanity claimed a stake. Louis Martin Sears http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/53 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/53 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:35:41 PST The present state of public opinion is quite inexplicable unless we remember that great wars are periods of the abnormal, not only in the political, the industrial, and the commercial, but in the intellectual sphere as well. The mental chaos that confronts us on every hand can be accounted for only on the theory that wars are days of sickness in the life of the human race. The bold assertions, wild speculations, fanciful prophecies which one hears on every hand must be regarded as the incoherent prattle of a delirious public mind. Not only the unthinking public but men of learning have thrown cold reasoning to the winds and are swayed by feeling and passion. The scholar vies with the man of the street in seizing upon vague and conflicting newspaper reports to bolster up his whims and prejudices. Facts are ignored and principles of thought which were formerly deemed fundamental are now utterly disregarded. Personal bias has replaced the desire for truth, with the result that there is found among all classes a decided tendency to represent things not as they are but as people would have them be. The time-honoured and sound principle of historical thought, to subordinate the immediate to the remote cause, is at present generally rejected, and people hasten to fix the responsibility for war on the strength of the conflicting reports that have reached them since the outbreak of the struggle. Instead of judging current events in the penetrating light of the historical past, the public views them in the flickering gleam of a confused present. A. D. Schrag http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/52 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/52 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:33:21 PST When on August 1, 1914, the fateful news came over the wires that Europe stood at Armageddon, the people of this country were scarcely able to accept the fact, for it was difficult to understand why the flower of European manhood should be sent forth in arms to shatter the cultural and material progress of a century. But to the close student of European diplomacy it has long been evident that some day the conflicting interests of the Great Powers and some of the smaller states, an intricate system of alliances, ententes, and secret agreements, and the armaments accumulated in the last generation must produce a "catastrophe - of which it is impossible to measure either the dimensions or the effects" (Mr. Asquith). The various peoples involved have been preparing against the Great War till most of them were near the end of their resources, and now that it has come, they have accepted their fate calmly and bravely, on the ground that even defeat is preferable to uncertainty. The historian, however,. is impressed by the peculiar alignment of the warring nations~ It is the first war between Austria and Russia, the first between England and Germany, the first since 1763 between Germany and Russia. Except for the Crimean War, France and England have not fought together since the seventeenth century, nor England and Russia since the struggle against Napoleon, with whose country they are both now in alliance. Bernadotte E. Schmitt http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/51 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/51 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:23:32 PST Canada is a protected country and the Canadian people have given little thought to the danger of war. On the Atlantic and Pacific coasts she is protected by the sea; on the north there is a wilderness of barren land, a barrier of ice and the Arctic Ocean; on the south there is a good neighbour, with whom she has had no serious trouble for a hundred years. There are no enemies close at hand, and the danger from distant foes has always seemed remote and problematical. J. E. Le Rossignol http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/50 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/50 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:21:06 PST It is a commonplace to say that the nations of the north have seen in Italy from the first the home of romance, the pleasure-place of the imagination. And they have always delighted to heighten her effects. From Chaucer to Walter Pater she has been ever the land of mystery and tragedy, of soft lascivious manners and gorgeous crimes, of a deep magical melancholy which has laid a spell upon the northern mind-a spell, however, which that mind itself and its tastes have largely created. The deep racial differences have fascinated the Teutonic imagination, which in turn has exaggerated them; and they have done for the Italian temperament, in our fancy, what the Tuscan cypress does for the grave Italian landscape, given it that touch of strangeness added to beauty which for Pater's mind constituted the romantic. But to think thus of Italy is to deal in a kind of pathetic fallacy. Italy is not romantic in her own view; in her own view she is classic, wholly and unescapably. Her mystic landscape is the same that Virgil and Horace celebrated without a hint of mysticism; Pliny had a villa on Lake Como, Catullus one at Garda; everywhere the antique world underlies the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Italy was classic before ever romanticism was invented, and classic she remains. Ruth Shepard Phelps http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/49 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/49 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:17:33 PST Long before the vogue of Taine's theory of literary criticism made it incumbent on the critic to explain the characteristics of his author by race, milieu, and moment, many of his compatriots had already employed the method-in so far, at least, as the element of environment is concerned--in attempting to account for the peculiarities of American novelists. Each of these attempts, whether it was successful or not, gives us a glimpse of the author's conception of the American people. If we supplement the information obtained in this way with that contained in the direct affirmations which they have made concerning our national characteristics, we have sufficient data to enable us to determine what, in their estimation, our leading traits are. George D. Morris http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/48 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/48 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:15:20 PST The present temper of peace-loving America is very close to that of a nation on the brink of war. There is something in it almost baffling to one who has thought of his countrymen as a people to be saved from excess by a cool humour. No doubt their moral sympathies have been deeply stirred by the present conflict. Many of their prepossessions have been shocked, and one at least has been quite shattered. It had been hoped in many quarters that the age of war had passed, that international understanding and economic interdependence had made an open breach between the Christian nations of Europe an improbability if not an impossibility. There is small doubt that it is the violation of this recently cherished ideal of peace that has stirred America. Nothing else could account for the eagerness with which she has overlooked the remoter and more real causes of the war, ignored its justice or injustice, and sought for the immediate aggressor. Whether her findings even in this matter have been based on unprejudiced information is beside the present point. She has looked for the aggressor with honest intentions; and believing with a fair degree of unanimity that Germany was guilty of breaking the peace, she has, as a people, centred her surprising animosity upon that nation. S. B. Gass http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/47 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/47 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:13:07 PST If we seek a rallying point, to begin with, for Plato's political conceptions, we shall find, I think, that they all centre about a single idea - the idea of justice. No other problem has given rise to more discussion, I. suppose, than just this problem of the relation of justice to society and the individuals composing it; and in no age, perhaps, has it given rise to more discussion than it did in the age of Plato. The difficulty has to do partly with the nature of justice itself and partly with the discovery of a practical working definition. Abstractly it is easy enough to explain that justice consists in giving every one exactly what he deserves. But who in any conceivable state of society is able to determine exactly what anyone deserves-least of all himself; and how is it possible to make sure that he gets it, neither more nor less? It is bad enough to administer the approximate, the rough and ready justice of the courts of law without undertaking to settle such questions as these with the fallible judgment at our disposal. P. H. Frye http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/46 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/46 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:10:59 PST On account of the attention which Nietzsche has been attracting of late, the occasion seems a favourable one for reviewing once more his life and work. In a letter to one of his acquaintances, written in March, 1884, he himself prophesies with the proverbial modesty of genius that" in fifty years, perhaps, will the eyes of some few (or of one, for it requires genius) be opened to what has been done through me. For the present, however, it is not only difficult but quite impossible (in accordance with the laws of 'perspective') to speak of me publicly without falling boundlessly short of the truth." To be sure, the time of which he spoke is not yet up; but since men's eyes are turned in that direction, it is fair to assume that the subject is not without interest at present. P. H. Frye http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/45 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/45 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:08:33 PST As one grows older one becomes sadly conscious that there are problems in one's life and in society for which there is no solution in the poetry of Robert Browning. A very great deal has happened since Robert Browning wrote; and what he tells us to do is not the thing we want to do, and his presentation of the situation in which we stand is not one that commends itself as entirely adequate. Part of the great outcry for the practical with its too wholesale rejection of the idealistic teachings of the last century, is a definite feeling that we do not know what to do or how to do it. There is even in some quarters a well-founded distrust of pure literature, because it is thought to have so little to say about life. All centuries speak disparagingly of their predecessors and we are no exception. The coat that our fathers left us is out of style: we are tired of being told what is the matter with it; we want to know how to make it over or get a new one. Hardin Craig http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/44 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/44 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:07:14 PST " Never has he drawn so deeply from the well that is the human heart; never so near those invisible heights which are the soul." The reviewer who wrote this sentence probably meant that the author of the book he so enthusiastically welcomed wrote with a little more than the ordinary insight. Indeed if we are to judge from the encomiums in our less critical reviews the world has never been so blessed with novels and plays which touch the secret springs of the heart. The old fiction had generalised, had conventionalised, much as the old art had done. This, to the new, is all wrong. The type characters, let us say, of Thackeray and even of George Eliot were interesting enough, but often as faulty as the old drawings of a galloping horse, which showed him with feet extended in an arc. As the art of photography has taught us that the horse has always one of his feet on or near the ground, so the new psychology has put us on our guard against accepting too literally such personages as Becky Sharp, Colonel Newcome, or Silas Marner. These pictures of life are entirely too set, far too regular for an adequate portrayal of life itself. The new fiction is to present life itself, "to draw deeply from the well that is the human heart," to mount "near the invisible heights which are the soul." And thus vivisectionist-wise, the writers of to-day stand, with scalpel and forceps delicately poised, before a clinic of admiring readers. Philo M. Buck, Jr. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/43 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/43 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:05:12 PST The opening lines of Pippa Passes pulse with the tremendous vitality which the reader of Browning has early learned to expect of his poetry: "Day! Faster and more fast, O'er night's brim day boils at last: Boils, pure gold, o'er the cloud-cup's brim Where spurting and suppressed it lay, For not a froth-flake touched the rim Of yonder gap in the solid gray Of the eastern cloud, an hour away; But forth one wavelet, then another, curled, Till the whole sunrise, not to be suppressed, Rose, reddened, and its seething breast Flickered in bounds, grew gold, then overflowed the world." Of this remarkable vital force the last poem from his pen, the Epilogue to Asolando, shows no diminution. Activity is the motto of his volume; few indeed are the lyrics of peace such as star the pages of his predecessor, Wordsworth. The only modem English poet with anything like an equal fund of vitality is Byron; but Byron has little of the intellectual eminence of Browning, who may not incorrectly be said to combine Byronic energy with Miltonic intellect. Harry T. Baker http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/42 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/42 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:02:46 PST In the early part of the fifteenth century a change as subtle and indefinable as it was significant, came over the spirit of European society. Without sharp break with the past, involving no strictly new creation, no sudden or unheralded revolution of ideas, gradually rose an altered mode of viewing man, the world, life-far less theological than the old, less respectful to tradition, more confident in man's powers and future-in fine, laic and human. Renewed study of classical antiquity was sign and instrument, rather than essence, of the new movement. If men looked back, it was mostly to clear their vision to look and walk forward. The new thinking, if marked by temporary unbelief, and more given than the old to human and secular things, was not essentially irreligious; if less scholastic, not less profound. Vaster conceptions of the field of truth were born. It was felt that no problem had been absolutely settled, and that the human faculties, either fettered or discouraged or else applied to inane inquiries, had as yet scarcely given a hint of the productive activity possible to them. Hence fresh, courageous, successful effort to see what man might be, do, know. E. Benjamin Andrews http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/41 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/41 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:01:13 PST In a recent speech Mr. Asquith declared that the greatest mistake that Germany had made in respect to the war was in her failure to recognize that there was a British Empire. Great Britain has long been regarded as a small, insignificant island off the European coast. She has been looked upon as a second-rate European power somewhat in the class with Italy and Spain. And such she is in fact if considered by herself alone. But the war has revealed, what the Empire has long since known, that England is an imperial rather than a European nation, that she is but the heart of a group of free autonomous states, that her strength lies not alone in her own people and resources, but in the loyal support of her children and children's children throughout the seven seas, Cephas D. Allin http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/40 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/40 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:59:24 PST The approaching retirement of Joseph Chamberlain from the House of Commons awakens a sympathetic interest throughout the world. It is pathetic indeed to see the oft-victorious warrior stricken down and borne from the field at the very moment of the triumph of his political foes. Time has turned against the venerable statesman. The principles for which he so stoutly fought are apparently going down to defeat. The Home Rule question, which he had hoped was buried, has risen again to haunt his declining days. The policy of preferential trade, to which he owes his imperial reputation, has been practically set aside by his own colleagues. He has lost the ear of the public. A younger set of political leaders has appealed to the imagination of the nation. New social and economic questions have largely superseded the old political issues. For some time past he has been a helpless and disappointed spectator of passing events. Cephas D. Allin http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/39 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/39 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:57:20 PST In the fifth century before the Christian era the two powerful states of Greece, Athens and Sparta, were at war. Greek culture was then at its highest level, and Athens was the centre-in the phrase of Pericles, "the school of Hellas." Its attainments in art, letters, and government were a source of pride and the basis of the Athenian claim of superiority. During the progress of that long and terrible war, the Athenians conceived that the neutrality of a small colony on the little island of Melos was a military disadvantage, and an army was sent to reduce it to subjection. An embassy was dispatched to acquaint the settlers with the purpose of the invading army. A delegation representing the Melians met the embassy and a conference was held in which the views of the strong and the weak were exchanged. Recent events in Europe give the story of this interview, as related by Thucydides, a new interest. Sumner Allen http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/311 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/311 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:45:18 PST Studies show that strong leaders are needed for the future's strong libraries and other organizations. Employees working at all levels of the organization, not just the titled leaders, will be making decisions that affect the library's mission and future. Employees working at all levels of an organization, therefore, will need to develop the leadership skills to make these decisions. Even without formal leadership training opportunities, a person can begin their personal leadership training. The purpose of this article is to provide historical background on leadership, identify skills and characteristics of leaders, and to provide practical tips for gaining leadership skills regardless of job title or position. Rebecca McElrath http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsgpirw/20 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cehsgpirw/20 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:14:23 PST The 2008-2009 Annual Reading First Progress Report reflects on the final year of implementation for Round I schools and the third full year of implementation for Round II schools. This report focuses on the effect that Reading First implementation has had on selected schools across Nebraska with a special focus on vulnerable populations: English language learners, students of different ethnicities, special education students, and economically disadvantaged students. Guy Trainin http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/38 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/38 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:57:20 PST Long before the vogue of Taine's theory of literary criticism made it incumbent on the critic to explain the characteristics of his author by race, milieu, and moment, many of his compatriots had already employed the method-in so far, at least, as the element of environment is concerned--in attempting to account for the peculiarities of American novelists. Each of these attempts, whether it was successful or not, gives us a glimpse of the author's conception of the American people. If we supplement the information obtained in this way with that contained in the direct affirmations which they have made concerning our national characteristics, we have sufficient data to enable us to determine what, in their estimation, our leading traits are. George D. Morris http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/37 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/37 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:55:25 PST Through twilight haze, the West, with lurid red, Flushed all the uplands. There, in trance, I stood And watched the Vision,-saw the ensanguined feud Rage on the summits, whence was heard the tread Of conquerors coming and of captives led, And moanings of a mangled multitude, Where, 'mid the carnage on a field of blood, I saw the Warrior Queen uncharioted. Lloyd Mifflin http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/36 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/36 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:53:01 PST Modem pacifism is a by-product of social democracy. It originated in the extreme left wing of the French Revolution. Its first representatives are found among those men of terror and blood who made themselves known and abhorred throughout the world as "Jacobins. " The revolution was, at its inception, a revolt against the absolute monarchy in France only. It was not until this monarchy had been completely overthrown that it took the form of a declaration against practically all the other governments of Europe. The classic argument of kings, the bayonet, failed Louis XVI when the army stood aloof or made common cause with the revolution and then dissolved into an undisciplined rabble. On the other hand, as the national guards were being organized in large numbers, the better informed leaders began to feel secure against a return of despotism from within. As long as France did not quarrel with her neighbours her enthusiasts appeared justified in painting her future in the rosiest colours. Charles Kuhlman http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/35 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/35 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:51:06 PST At the present time, when our whole educational system is under criticism, it would be remarkable if any tendency in university life were to escape the searching scrutiny of laity and schoolmen. University ideals and university organization have been exploited in books and articles without number. Everybody has taken part in the work of defining the respective powers of president and board, of determining the scope of student self-government, and the appropriate relations of the university to the community at large. With these large problems discussed to the point of universal exhaustion, we may well turn our attention to others, apparently, at least, of minor importance. Of these one that has long excited concern in the faculties and has occasionally received cursory treatment in the general press, is that of the professor who publishes. Alvin S. Johnson http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/34 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/34 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:49:20 PST Every great' novel is born of the conviction, on the part of the author, that he has had experiences or conceptions which the race should share in the interests of a fuller manhood and womanhood. Frequently such novels are evolved in the throes of a great movement-religious, political, or social; and the novel with a purpose is the result. If these premises are correct, it would seem at first sight that the novel with a purpose is the highest type of novel, for if the novelist is the mediator of ideals, that writer who throws himself headlong into a great cause must produce wonderful results. During the great liberal movement of the forties this principle was accepted as the real literary gospel in Germany, and in our anti-slavery days American poets accepted the doctrine with enthusiasm. Paul H. Grummann http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/33 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/midwestqtrly/33 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:46:30 PST There were three painters named Jean François Millet, but he who was born October 4, 1814, and lived at Barbizon, is the only one we know. It is even more suggestive that of all the world's great painters, our reverential love goes out to "our Millet" with an especial fervour. We feel as if he were one of us, and that from him, personally, we may learn much; more, perhaps, from his living and his painting. His biography and especially his letters may have a distinctive and vital value for us, other artists seeming detached, or impersonal, often characterless, at least without the intimacy and helpfulness of one in whose heart reigned the religion of fused truth and beauty for which most of us do little more than yearn. George M. Gould http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/7 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/7 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:27:25 PST About ten years ago, the Great Lakes environmental community initiated the first action to counteract the worldwide spread of exotic organisms in ballast water. In 1988, in response to the discovery of the ruffe and the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the International Joint Commission called upon the Canadian and United States Governments to act. In 1989, Canada issued the first voluntary ballast exchange guidelines. In 1990, the United States passed the first major piece of legislation on aquatic nuisance species, mandating consultations and studies on all pathways for aquatic invasions. And in 1993, the US Coast Guard issued the first set of mandatory regulations for controlling ballast water in the Great Lakes. The issue is now on the global agenda. The International Maritime Organization, under pressure from Canada, the United States, and Australia, has issued similar guidelines and begun to consider a mandatory international convention. The United States enacted a second major piece of legislation in 1996, making it a national issue, and Canada enacted legislation authorizing national mandatory regulations to control ballast water in 1998.With support from the Great Lakes environmental community, and with valuable assistance from distant allies in Australia, a Great Lakes regional coalition of binational, federal, state, and provincial agencies seems to have made considerable progress on the problem of exotics in these last ten years. In terms of public education and political rhetoric, the effort has been a great success. We have seen the transformation of what was an arcane and poorly understood issue - an issue which was somewhat "exotic" in political terms even within the special culture of the environmental community - into an issue accepted as worthy of attention, even if still sometimes poorly understood, by the mainstream public and their political leadership. Moreover, the enactments of the first major pieces of legislation in the US and Canada, even if largely tentative and inchoate, have come relatively quickly in comparison to the history of legislative efforts on other forms of pollution.But there are two reasons to be cautious about this apparent success. First, the nature of the problem is inherently acute. As a matter of biological reality, exotic invasions are irreversible. This is a form of pollution that can never be cleaned up, and new invasions compound the damage already done to a stressed ecosystem. Second, much of the progress in developing legal regimes is illusionary - or worse. Although the Great Lakes mandatory regulations issued in 1993 were an essential first step, they are fundamentally flawed. So is the design of the national regime being developed in the United States, especially because of an alteration in the terms of that legislation obtained by the shipping industry as it was rewritten from a Great Lakes to a United States regime. The international convention being negotiated at the International Maritime Organization in London sounds as though it would be a good thing. But it contains the same flaws - and one more. Under some versions of the convention under negotiation, it would prohibit the enforcement of stronger provisions enacted by national and subordinate governments. These are matters that require close attention.Also, ballast water is not the only pathway for invasion. Although the state and provincial governments in the Great Lakes region have a wide array of legal authorities and programs for the control of exotics, they are far from being uniformly strong or consistent in their terms. There are substantial issues about some major vectors - aquaculture, bait transportation, and the aquarium trade - which beg for attention. There is an obvious need for better coordination of strategies and enforcement policies at the federal, binational, and regional levels.Those are some of the points addressed in this paper. The purpose of this paper is also to provide a common body of facts and ideas to assist in the discussion of "exotic policy" - the public policy for dealing with the invasion of the Great Lakes by exotic organisms - at an IJC workshop to be held with the 1999 Great Lakes Water Quality Forum.(1) I attempt to sum up the essential biological, technical, legal, economic, and political aspects of this complex, newly emerging environmental issue. I try to do that in an objective and analytical manner. But I also try to be honest about my point of view, which is distinctly biased in favor of environmental conservation and the proposition that our current policies for the prevention of exotic invasions are inadequate. All that might be impossible. But I hope that this will, at least, provide a basis for stimulating discussion. Eric Reeves http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/6 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/6 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:23:59 PST The treaty provides the principles and mechanisms to help resolve disputes and to prevent future ones, primarily those concerning water quantity and water quality along the boundary between Canada and the United States. The United States of America http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/5 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/5 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:20 PST This Order is issued by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce (Secretaries) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. 1531, as amended (the Act), the federal-tribal trust relationship, and other federal law. Specifically, this Order clarifies the responsibilities of the component agencies, bureaus and offices of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce (Departments), when actions taken under authority of the Act and associated implementing regulations affect, or may affect, Indian lands, tribal trust resources, or the exercise of American Indian tribal rights, as defined in this Order. This Order further acknowledges the trust responsibility and treaty obligations of the United States toward Indian tribes and tribal members and its government-to-government relationship in dealing with tribes.Principle 1. THE DEPARTMENTS SHALL WORK DIRECTLY WITH INDIAN TRIBES ON A GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT BASIS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS.Principle 2. THE DEPARTMENTS SHALL RECOGNIZE THAT INDIAN LANDS ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE SAME CONTROLS AS FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS.Principle 3. THE DEPARTMENTS SHALL ASSIST INDIAN TRIBES IN DEVELOPING AND EXPANDING TRIBAL PROGRAMS SO THAT HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS ARE PROMOTED AND CONSERVATION RESTRICTIONS ARE UNNECESSARY.Principle 4. THE DEPARTMENTS SHALL BE SENSITIVE TO INDIAN CULTURE, RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY.Principle 5. THE DEPARTMENTS SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE TO INDIAN TRIBES INFORMATION RELATED TO TRIBAL TRUST RESOURCES AND INDIAN LANDS, AND, TO FACILITATE THE MUTUAL EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION, SHALL STRIVE TO PROTECT SENSITIVE TRIBAL INFORMATION FROM DISCLOSURE. Secretary of the Interior http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/4 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/4 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:16:06 PST The states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby solemnly covenant and agree with each other, upon enactment of concurrent legislation by the respective state legislatures and consent by the Congress of the United States as follows:ARTICLE 1: SHORT TITLE, DEFINITIONS, PURPOSES AND DURATIONARTICLE 2: ORGANIZATIONARTICLE 3: GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIESARTICLE 4: WATER MANAGEMENT AND REGULATIONARTICLE 5: TRIBAL CONSULTATIONARTICLE 6: PUBLIC PARTICIPATIONARTICLE 7: DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND ENFORCEMENTARTICLE 8: ADDITIONAL PROVISIONSARTICLE 9: EFFECTUATION http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/3 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/3 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:11:49 PST 1. The objectives of this Agreement are: a. To act together to protect, conserve and restore the Waters of the Great Lakes--St. Lawrence River Basin because current lack of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to protect the Basin Ecosystem; b. To facilitate collaborative approaches to Water management across the Basin to protect, conserve, restore, improve and efficiently and effectively manage the Waters and Water Dependent Natural Resources of the Basin; c. To promote co-operation among the Parties by providing common and regional mechanisms to evaluate Proposals to Withdraw Water; d. To create a co-operative arrangement regarding Water management that provides tools for shared future challenges; e. To retain State and Provincial authority within the Basin under appropriate arrangements for intergovernmental cooperation and consultation; f. To facilitate the exchange of data, strengthen the scientific information upon which decisions are made, and engage in consultation on the potential effects of Withdrawals and losses on the Waters and Water Dependent Natural Resources of the Basin; g. To prevent significant adverse impacts of Withdrawals and losses on the Basin Ecosystem and its watersheds; and, h. To promote an Adaptive Management approach to the conservation and management of Basin Water resources, which recognizes, considers and provides adjustments for the uncertainties in, and evolution of, scientific knowledge concerning the Basin's Waters and Water Dependent Natural Resources. The State of Illinois http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/2 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/2 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:07:27 PST In agreeing to this Annex, the Great Lakes Governors and Premiers reaffirm their commitment to the five broad principles set forth in the Great Lakes Charter, and further reaffirm that the provisions of the Charter will continue in full force and effect. The Governors and Premiers commit to further implementing the principles of the Charter by developing an enhanced water management system that is simple, durable, efficient, retains and respects authority within the Basin, and, most importantly, protects, conserves, restores, and improves the Waters and Water-Dependent Natural Resources of the Great Lakes Basin. State and Provincial authorities should be permanent, enforceable, and consistent with their respective applicable state, provincial, federal, and international laws and treaties. To that end, and in order to adequately protect the water resources of the Great Lakes and the Great Lakes ecosystem, the Governors and Premiers commit to develop and implement a new common, resource-based conservation standard and apply it to new water withdrawal proposals from the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin. The standard will also address proposed increases to existing water withdrawals and existing water withdrawal capacity from the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin. En acceptant la présente annexe, les gouverneurs des États et les premiers ministres des provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs réaffirment leur engagement envers les cinq grands principes mis de l'avant dans la Charte des Grands Lacs et confirment que les dispositions de la Charte demeurent en vigueur. Les gouverneurs et les premiers ministres s'engagent à mettre en oeuvre les principes de la Charte en élaborant un mode de gestion de l'eau amélioré qui soit simple, durable et efficace, qui maintienne et respecte les pouvoirs exercés autour du bassin et, au premier chef, qui protège, conserve, restaure et améliore les eaux du bassin des Grands Lacs et les ressources naturelles qui en dépendent. Les pouvoirs des États et des provinces doivent être permanents, exécutoires et conformes aux lois étatiques, provinciales et fédérales ainsi qu'aux traités qui leur sont respectivement applicables. À cette fin, et pour protéger adéquatement les ressources en eau et l'écosystème des Grands Lacs, les gouverneurs et les premiers ministres s'engagent à développer et à appliquer aux nouveaux projets de prélèvement d'eau du bassin des Grands Lacs une nouvelle norme commune de conservation basée sur la ressource. La norme portera également sur les projets d'augmentation des prélèvements existants et de la capacité existante de prélèvement d'eau du bassin des Grands Lacs. Council of Great Lakes Governors http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/1 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawwater/1 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:02:15 PST The water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are precious public natural resources, shared and held in trust by the Great Lakes States and Provinces. The Great Lakes are valuable regional, national and international resources for which the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the International Joint Commission have, in partnership with the States and Provinces, and important, continuing an abiding role and responsibility. The waters of the Great Lakes Basin are interconnected and part of a single hydrologic system. The multiple uses of these resources for municipal, industrial and agricultural water supply; mining; navigation; hydroelectric power and energy production; recreation; and the maintenance of fish and wildlife habitat and a balanced ecosystem are interdependent. Studies conducted by the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes States and Provinces, and other agencies have found that without careful and prudent management, the future development of diversions and consumptive uses of the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin may have significant adverse impacts on the environment, economy, and welfare of the Great Lakes region. As trustees of the Basin's natural resources, the Great Lakes States and Provinces have a shared duty to protect, conserve, and manage the renewable but finite waters of the Great Lakes Basin for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of all their citizens, including generations yet to come. The most effective means of protecting, conserving, and managing the water resources of the Great Lakes is through the joint pursuit of unified and cooperative principles, policies and programs mutually agreed upon, enacted and adhered to by each and every Great Lakes State and Province. Management of the water resources of the Basin is subject to the jurisdiction, rights and responsibilities of the signatory States and Provinces. Effective management of the water resources of the Great Lakes requires the exercise of such jurisdiction, rights, and responsibilities in the interest of all the people of the Great Lakes Region, acting in a continuing spirit of comity and mutual cooperation. The Great Lakes States and Provinces reaffirm the mutual rights and obligations of all Basin jurisdictions to use, conserve, and protect Basin water resources, as expressed in the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, and the principles of other applicable international agreements. Les ressources en eau du bassin des Grands Lacs constituent des ressources naturelles publiques de grande valeur partagées et tenues en fiducie par les États et provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs. Les Grands Lacs constituent de précieuses ressources régionales, nationales et internationales à l'égard desquelles les gouvernements fédéraux respectifs des États-Unis et du Canada et la Commission mixte internationale assument, de façon constante et en association avec les États et les provinces, un rôle et une responsabilité essentiels et constants. Les eaux du bassin des Grands Lacs sont reliées entre elles et font partie d'un même système hydrologique. Les multiples utilisations auxquelles se prêtent ces ressources sont interdépendantes et comprennent: l'alimentation en eau à des fins municipales, industrielles et agricoles; l'exploitation minière; la navigation; la production hydro-électrique et énergétique; les loisirs et le maintien de l'habitat du poisson et de la faune et de l'équilibre de l'écosystème. Des études menées par la Commission mixte internationale, par les États et les provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs et par d'autres organismes ont montré qu'à défaut d'une gestion sage et prévoyante, une éventuelle augmentation des dérivations et consommations des eaux du bassin des Grands Lacs pourrait avoir des effets défavorables appréciables sur l'environnement, l'économie et la prospérité de la région des Grands Lacs. À titre de fiduciaires des ressources naturelles du Bassin, les États et les provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs partagent collectivement le devoir de protéger, conserver et gérer les ressources renouvelables mais limitées que sont les eaux du bassin des Grands Lacs, pour l'usage, le bénéfice et la jouissance de tous leurs citoyens, y compris les générations à venir. Pour s'acquitter de ce devoir, le moyen le plus efficace consiste à élaborer collectivement des principes, des politiques et des programmes unifiés et coopératifs qui auront tous été convenus et adoptés et auront reçu l'adhésion de tous et chacun des États et provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs. La gestion des ressources en eau du Bassin est soumise à la juridiction, aux droits et aux responsabilités des États et provinces signataires. Une gestion efficace des ressources en eau des Grands Lacs requiert, dans l'intérêt des populations de la région des Grands Lacs, que cette juridiction, ces droits et ces responsabilités s'exercent dans un esprit constant de bonne entente et de coopération mutuelle. Les États et provinces du bassin des Grands Lacs réaffirment les droits et obligations réciproques de tous les gouvernements du Bassin d'utiliser, de conserver et de protéger les ressources en eau du Bassin, tel qu'il est énoncé dans le Traité des eaux limitrophes internationales de 1909, dans l'Accord relatif à la qualité de l'eau dans les Grands Lacs de 1978 et dans les principes de tous les autres accords internationaux pertinents. Council of Great Lakes Governors http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/189 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/189 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:00:40 PST Sea-level rise from melting of polar ice sheets is one of the largest potential threats of future climate change. Polar warming by the year 2100 may reach levels similar to those of 130,000 to 127,000 years ago that were associated with sea levels several meters above modern levels; both the Greenland Ice Sheet and portions of the Antarctic Ice Sheet may be vulnerable. The record of past ice-sheet melting indicates that the rate of future melting and related sea-level rise could be faster than widely thought. Jonathan T. Overpeck http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/188 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/188 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:56:29 PST The estimate of the contribution of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) to the higher sea level stand in the Eemian interglacial (between 2.2 and 3.4 m) is based on the assumption that there was no ice at the location of the Dye-3 ice core in southern Greenland. However, Eemian ice has been found at the base of this ice core. The presence of Eemian ice in south and coastal Greenland implies that the GIS was essentially intact in a much warmer climate and could not have contributed more than 1 to 2 m to sea-level rise. Johannes Oerlemans http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/187 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/187 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:47:35 PST Soils on uplifted Quaternary reef terraces of Barbados, ~125,000 to ~700,000 yr old, form a climo-chronosequence and show changes in physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties with terrace age. Parent materials are dust derived from the Sahara, volcanic ash from the Lesser Antilles island arc, and detrital carbonate from the underlying reef limestone. Although some terrace soils are probably eroded, soils or their remnants are redder and more clay-rich with increasing terrace age. Profile-average Al2O3 and Fe2O3 content increases with terrace age, which partially reflects the increasing clay content, but dithionite-extractable Fe also increases with terrace age. Profile-average K2O/TiO2, Na2O/TiO2, and P2O5/TiO2 values decrease with terrace age, reflecting the depletion of primary minerals. Average SiO2/A12O3 values also decrease with terrace age and reflect not only loss of primary minerals but also evolution of secondary clay minerals. Although they are not present in any of the parent materials, the youngest terrace soils are dominated by smectite and interstratified kaolinite-smectite, which gradually alter to relatively pure kaolinite over ~700,000 yr. Comparisons with other tropical islands, where precipitation is higher and rates of dust fall may be lower, show that Barbados soils are less weathered than soils of comparable age. It is concluded that many soil properties in tropical regions can be potentially useful relative-age indicators in Quaternary stratigraphic studies, even when soils are eroded or changes in soil morphology are not dramatic Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/22 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/22 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:43:14 PST The conservation of imperiled wildlife species, a fundamental objective of the Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), conflicts, at times, with the United States' responsibilities to promote American Indian rights to govern and develop reservation lands and resources. Critical habitat designation in Indian Country poses a near irreconcilable conflict. Designation effectively "zones" areas within Indian Country for the benefit of a single listed species in accordance with federal -- not tribal -- prerogatives. As such, designation is a direct affront to tribal sovereignty. Designation can severely restrict a tribe's ability not only to govern, but also to conserve and utilize its land, diminishing the reservation's character as the single most important tribal resource. In turn, designation flies in the face of the United States' solemn promises to preserve tribal homelands for the undisturbed use of Indian Nations and to protect tribal sovereignty from external incursions. Because Indian Country is typically less developed than surrounding private and state lands, it affords an island of suitable habitat in a sea of lands altered by development activities: timber harvesting; road-building; mineral extraction; solid and hazardous waste disposal; and agriculture. Not surprisingly, habitat for listed species in Indian Country -- even unoccupied, marginally suitable habitat -- is often viewed by federal agencies as desirable for inclusion in critical habitat designations. Yet, while the application of the ESA's habitat provisions to private property has generated a sustained furor among private property owners, fueling the fire for proposals to amend the statute, very little attention has been given to the ESA7s effects on lands within Indian Country. Recently, however, decisions to designate critical habitat on tribal lands, particularly in the southwestern United States, have brought the ESA-trust responsibility conflict to a head. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/186 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/186 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:41:54 PST Peoria Loess deposited in western Iowa during the last glacial maximum (LGM) shows distinct geochemical and particle-size variations as a function of both depth and distance east of the Missouri River. Geochemical and particle-size data indicate that Peoria Loess in western Iowa probably had two sources: the Missouri River valley, and a source that lay to the west of the Missouri River. Both sources indicate that LGM paleowinds in western Iowa had a strong westerly component, similar to interpretations of previous workers. A compilation of loess studies in Iowa and elsewhere indicates that westerlv winds were dominant during loess transport over much of the mid-continent south of the Laurentide ice sheet, which is not in agreement with paleowinds simulated by atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). AGCMs consistently generate a glacial anticyclone with easterly or northeasterly winds over the Laurentide ice sheet and the area to the south of it. Loess deposition in the mid-continent during the LGM may be a function of infrequent northwesterly winds that were unrelated to the presence of the glacial anticyclone Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/21 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/21 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:17:31 PST American Indian nations successfully manage habitat for wildlife species on reservation lands through tribal law and through traditional cultural practices. Beyond reservation boundaries, many tribes are involved in managing wildlife habitat through cooperative management agreements with federal and state agencies. Tribes do this because wildlife is important to them for cultural, economic and religious reasons, not because they are required to do so by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. $§ 1531-1544. Nevertheless, the ESA looms over Indian Country like the sword of Damocles: While the Act contributes to the conservation of tribal wildlife resources by imposing federal penalties on those who harm listed species, at the same time it may severely limit prospects for the development of reservation resources. In particular, the designation of critical habitat on Indian lands superimposes federal prerogatives on tribal management decisions, undermining the sovereign authority of tribal governments over trust resources, while providing relatively minimal protection for the species. In 1997, the Secretaries of the Departments of the Interior and Commerce issued Secretarial Order 3206 on American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and the Endangered Species Act (June 5, 1997) (Secretarial Order) http://www.fws.gov/ r9endspp/esatribe.html . The Secretarial Order provides a vehicle for turning the ESA sword into a tool for cooperative approaches that equitably distribute the conservation burdens among tribal, federal, state and private interests. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/20 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/20 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:07:05 PST The adverse economic and environmental consequences associated with the invasion and establishment of exotic species have raised significant concerns among the Great Lakes community. In September 1999, the International Joint Commission (IJC) hosted a workshop on exotic policy, drawing upon the expertise of biologists, lawyers and public officials, to consider means of preventing exotic species invasions. The White Paper on Policies for the Prevention of the Invasion of the Great Lakes by Exotic Organisms served as the centerpiece for discussion at the workshop. The White Paper concludes that economic initiatives, such as subsidies or taxation, would be the most viable way to prevent introductions through ballast water, a primary means for invasion by exotic species in the Great Lakes. This article suggests instead that regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA) is an effective solution, at least with respect to ships traversing United States waters. Not only is federal regulation required under the plain language of the CWA, it could most expediently address the invasion of exotics through ballast water discharges. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however, has issued a regulatory exclusion for "incidental" ballast water discharges. This exclusion, which has been challenged by a coalition of environmental groups, finds no support in the statute. Under the CWA, contaminated ballast discharges from vessels are prohibited as "discharges of pollutants" from point sources, unless a permit is obtained. Ballast water discharge permits would incorporate effluent limitations reflecting the best technology available, a marked improvement over the status quo. Once a threshold level of treatment is established by the CWA, perhaps economic initiatives could provide additional incentives for compliance and technological innovation. To put the issues in context, this article will first provide background regarding the effects of exotic species introduced into the Great Lakes through ballast water as well as current legal controls. It will then turn, in Section 11, to the relevant sections of the CWA and the federal regulations. Section I11 explains the advantages of a regulatory permit system, particularly in comparison to economic approaches. Finally, Section IV assesses the practical implications of implementing the CWA permit system to control ballast water discharges. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/19 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/19 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:49:17 PST The Clean Water Act asserts the ambitious goal of eliminating water pollution and protecting the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of U.S. waters. Yet the EPA, in enforcing the Act, currently exempts from regulation a significant source of pollution in U.S. waters: ballast-water discharges from commercial shipping vessels. Ballast water from commercial vessels is a primary vector for the introduction of exotic plant and animal species into U.S. waters. The invasion of these species poses an increasing threat to native biodiversity; the invaders prey directly on native fish and wildlife, compete for food and habitat, and introduce disease and parasites into commercial waterways. Given the severe economic and ecological consequences associated with exotic species, the lack of regulatory mandates is a critical omission in U.S. environmental law. Ongoing debates on environmental regulation focus on the appropriate form for pollution restrictions. Specifically, the debates center on whether the use of economic tools, such as subsidies or taxation, or regulation under technology-based permit regimes is more effective in reducing pollution levels. In this article, Professor Zellmer suggests that regulation of ballast-water discharges under the Clean Water Act (CWA) would significantly reduce exotic invasions in U.S. aquatic ecosystems and is preferable to economic approaches. The article argues that the current regulatory exemption for ballast-water discharges is inconsistent with the plain language of the CWA. It outlines the advantages of a regulatory program and addresses the practical implications of implementing the CWA permit system in the context of ballast-water discharges. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/18 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/18 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:38:19 PST The Governors of 8 states and Premiers of 2 Canadian provinces signed a supplementary agreement to the Great Lakes Charter on June 18, 2001. This agreement, known as the Annex or Annex 2001, established principles for a new decision making framework for reviewing proposed withdrawals of Great Lakes water. Annex 2001 is the first step toward a set of binding water management agreements to be negotiated by June 2004. Directive 3 of the Annex provides that proposals to withdraw water will not be approved unless they will produce "an improvement to the waters and water dependent natural resources of the Great Lakes Basin. The Annex uses the term "improvement" with reference to ecosystem integrity rather than economic or other societal values. Related themes are found in a variety of international, federal and state laws, but few if any provisions require ecosystem improvement as an explicit end goal. In a modest attempt to further define this standard, this paper will review existing statutes and regulations in search of analogous legal requirements. Our assessment is intended to provide some initial direction and guidance for the interested public and for decision-makers faced with the task of implementing the improvement standard. As the scope of our endeavor is limited to existing law, we must leave it for ecologists and experts from other disciplines to establish clear, quantifiable goals and measurements to ensure that the improvement standard is articulated and met. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/17 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/17 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:26:58 PST Through characters like farmer McElligot and the Lorax, who spoke out against the greedy Once-ler and his destructive clear-cutting practices, Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Suess, vividly depicted the plight of many private lands and waterways in the twentieth century. Although the message still resonates with children (and adults) today, the ecological health of private land has not improved a whole lot since Geisel wrote McElligot's Pool in 1947. Don't get me wrong, there have been immense gains in industrial pollution control and in habitat preservation on public lands. Yet there is still a long way to go, particularly on private lands. And it is not just the ponds, streams, and wetlands that are suffering. The destruction of wooded areas, loss and contamination of topsoil, depletion and pollution of surface and ground water, and air pollutants have all contributed to the poor health of rural America. The pressure to boost yields with modem chemicals and to plant to the edge of the water in the face of ever-declining crop prices is at least as compelling today as it was then. Perhaps the largest factor in the demise of biodiversity nation-wide, though, is the loss of open space to sprawling suburban subdivisions. Residential and commercial development is rapidly devouring much of the best farmland in the country, blanketing it with a sea of pavement, while a steady stream of farmers pack in generations of smallscale, diverse and generally sustainable family farms. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/16 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/16 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:16:52 PST This Article integrates constitutional principles, statutory requirements, and federal policy governing the use and preservation of cultural resources to sketch out a decision-making framework for public land managers. Specific examples of cases where American Indian interests have been pitted against competing demands at Devils Tower National Monument, the Indian Pass area of the California Desert, and the Medicine Wheel are examined to illustrate optimal solutionssolutions allowing the greatest possible accommodation of cultural, even spiritual, interests, while protecting the resources from degradation. The conflicts at these sites, and the opportunities presented by these conflicts, show that federal agencies can adopt reasonable accommodations without violating either statutory or constitutional mandates. Part I of the Article draws upon history, literature, and art to demonstrate the cultural and spiritual importance of public lands and resources to our national heritage and to closely affiliated individuals and groups. These same sources serve as a testament to the systematic displacement of American Indians from their aboriginal lands, the destruction of tribal burial grounds, and the overt suppression of cultural practices in a concerted effort to assimilate tribes into Anglo-American culture. Part II examines contemporary congressional provisions encouraging the accommodation of tribal cultural interests. The governing statutory requirements for specific categories of public lands, from the conservation objectives applicable to National Park System lands to the multiple use requirements for National Forests and Bureau of Land Management lands, are reviewed in Part III. Finally, Part IV assesses the constitutional implications of federal decisions regarding the management and prioritization of tribal cultural resources. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/15 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/15 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:47:32 PST The Missouri River is representative of a nationwide phenomenon. The Law of the River is evolving from water quantity allocation, reflecting well-settled prior appropriation law and decades-old interstate compacts to broader ecologically-based requirements. From sturgeon to salmon to silvery minnows, every major river system in western United States is now managed, at least in part, pursuant to contemporary environmental legislation, which has begun to eclipse traditional water law. Just look to the Rio Grandel6 and the Klamath River17 for the extensive changes wrought by the ESA. The need for river restoration in order to meet ecological needs has been a compelling force, even on the heavily regulated and over-appropriated Colorado River.18 Meanwhile, on the Missouri, long-standing navigational directives are being influenced by the ESA and other environmental requirements. My objective in this Article is two-fold: first, to show that the Master Manual revision process pursuant to the Flood Control Act asks the wrong questions and therefore cannot provide a complete solution for the Missouri River basin; and second, to suggest legislative change. I offer my voice to a long line of distinguished scholarship on Missouri River management with some trepidation, and with full knowledge that this Article is far from the definitive word on this complex and seemingly intractable controversy. To this end, the Article is not intended to be prescriptive but rather a springboard for further discussion. The Flood Control Act, in attempting to be all things to all people, fails to prioritize or even promote sustainable national, regional, and local interests on the Missouri River. As a result, a long-term, comprehensive management strategy is unlikely to be forged from the long drawn-out revisions to the Master Manual. Neither can the ESA, standing alone, provide the answers. Sandi Zellmer http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/14 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/lawfacpub/14 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:27:14 PST In spring 1998, the Nova Group of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, proposed to ship nearly 160 million gallons of Lake Superior water annually via tanker to Asia. See INTERNATIONAL JOINT COMMISSION, PROTECTION OF THE WATERS OF THE GREAT LAKES: FINAL REPORT TO THE GOVERNMENTS OF CAVADA AND THE UNITED STATES 44 (2000) (2000 IJC Report). Nova's proposal coincided with declining water levels in the Great Lakes, and the resulting public outcry and pressure from other Great Lakes governments persuaded Ontario to revoke Nova's permit just a few months later. The Nova proposal prompted the eight American states and two Canadian provinces bordering the Great Lakes to revisit the Great Lakes Charter of 1985 and adopt Annex 2001. See Annex to the Great Lakes Charter, June 18, 2001, available at http://www.cglg.org/projects/water/docs/GreatLakesCharterAnnex.pdf Annex 2001 commits the Great Lakes governors and premiers to improve their management of Great Lakes water resources through binding agreements. Their self-imposed, three-year deadline for meeting this mandate is June 18, 2004. This article examines the history of water resources management in the Great Lakes Basin and considers the challenges and opportunities presented by Annex 2001. Mark Squillace http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/49 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/49 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:52:43 PST The experiments reported here were designed to test the suggestion of many researchers that selective attention to visual features of a prey can account for search-image effects. In 3 experiments pigeons ate wheat and vetch grains presented on multicolored and gray gravel trays. In Experiment 1 search-image effects were evident when grains were cryptic but not when they were conspicuous. Experiment 2 demonstrated that search images can be activated when the grains encountered are either cryptic or conspicuous but that search images affect search performance only when the grains are cryptic. Experiment 3 demonstrated that search images are short-term in nature: A 3-min delay between successive encounters with a type of grain disrupted an activated search image. The discussion addresses how these results further develop a model in which search images are viewed as selective attention to visual features of a prey. Cynthia M. Langley http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/48 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/48 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:42:41 PST Many species have been shown to encode multiple sources of information to orient. To examine what kinds of information animals use to locate a goal we manipulated cue rotation, cue availability, and inertial orientation when the food-storing Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) was searching for a hidden goal in a circular arena. Three groups of birds were used, each with a different goal-landmark distance. As the distance between the goal and the landmark increased, nutcrackers were less accurate in finding the correct direction to the goal than they were at estimating the distance (Experiment 1). To further examine what cues the birds were using to calculate direction, the featural cues within the environment were rotated by 90° and the birds were either oriented when searching (Experiments 2 and 3) or disoriented (Experiment 3). In Experiment 4, all distinctive visual cues were removed (both internal and external to the environment), a novel point of entry was used and the birds were either oriented or disoriented. We found that disorienting the nutcrackers so that they could not use inertial cues did not influence the birds' total search error. The birds relied heavily but not completely on cues within the environment, as rotating available cues caused them to systematically shift their search behavior. In addition, the birds also relied to some extent on Earth-based cues. These results show the flexible nature of cue use by the Clark's nutcracker. Our study shows how multiple sources of spatial information may be important for extracting multiple bearings for navigation. Debbie M. Kelly http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/econfacpub/65 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/econfacpub/65 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:53:48 PST There are two aspects of Seth Giertz's excellent chapter that I want to talk about. One is slightly technical; I want to try to provide some explanation for why estimating elasticity of taxable income (ETI) is so difficult. I think this difficulty is unappreciated by nonspecialists, who are quick to latch onto a favorite estimate without understanding the weaknesses in the estimation. The other aspect is a bit more philosophical and addresses the different functions of the partial equilibrium analysis done here and the general equilibrium work done a few years back in the macro group at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Perhaps surprisingly, I strongly endorse the partial equilibrium approach taken here for the comparison of tax reforms. Daniel Feenberg http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/econfacpub/64 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/econfacpub/64 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:51:10 PST While research into the elasticity of taxable income (ETr), which measures the responsiveness of reported taxable income to changes in tax rates, dates back to at least Lindsey (1987), recognition of its importance as a central parameter for tax policy design did not begin to take hold until the second half of the 1990s. In fact, a 1998 survey to determine public and labor economists' views on key policy parameters (Fuchs, Krueger, and Poterba 1998) included no questions on the ETI. I suspect that a 2008 survey would include such questions, just as I suspect that a 1998 conference entitled "Tax Policy Lessons from the 1990s" would have no session on the elasticity of taxable income. The two 1998 survey questions most likely to provide some insight into the views public economists then held of the ETI asked about the effect of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86) and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (OBRA93) on long-run (steady-state) gross domestic product (GDP). For TRA86 , a fundamental reform that broadened the tax base and substantially lowered marginal tax rates, the median response was that steady-state GDP would rise by 1 percent. However, the interquartile range was large, from 0.20 to 3 percent of GDP For OBRA93, which raised marginal tax rates for primarily upperincome groups, the median response was zero, with an interquartile range from -0.5 to 1 percent of GDP It is noteworthy that half of public economists surveyed thought that raising marginal tax rates for the highestincome groups (in 1993) would not result in decreased steady-state GDP. Disagreement among public economists as to the effect of taxes on the economy is embodied by the views of two former chairmen of the president's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). One former chairman, Martin Feldstein (l995b, 1999), estimated that the 1993 tax increases substantially increased deadweight loss (DWL) and that repealing the rate increases could actually increase tax revenue because positive behavioral responses would more than offset the mechanical revenue loss-that is, the loss in tax revenue absent any behavioral responses. Another former CEA chairman, Joseph Stiglitz (2004), viewed the 1993 tax increases in a quite different light: 'The Clinton experience showed that raising taxes on the rich does not have the adverse effects that the critics claimed" (4). Additionally, Stiglitz is very critical of the Bush tax cuts, while Feldstein supports the lower marginal tax rates. One could argue that the two former CEA chairmen take such different positions on recent tax policy because of differing political ideologies or party allegiance. However, a more plausible explanation is that they hold very different views of how responsive individuals are to changes in tax rates. Feldstein's estimates for the effects of repealing OBRA93 , for example, rest on an ETI estimate that is toward the high end of the literature-although not implausible. Stiglitz, on the other hand, while not directly speaking to the ETI, believes that behavioral responses to tax rates are small (at least for high-income individuals). If the ETI is very small, then the revenue and efficiency implications from repealing OBRA93 would be quite different from those estimated by Feldstein. Seth H. Giertz http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/200 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/200 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:14 PST Provides an overview of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries' institutional repository, the Digital Commons, on the BEPress platform. Sue Ann Gardner http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/47 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/47 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:09:18 PST Morphological differences between the sexes in Keas Nestor notabilis were quantified from a sample of 86 sexed museum specimens, nine sexed zoo captives and 129 live, wild-caught birds. The results demonstrate that Kea are sexually dimorphic. Males are about 5% larger than females in linear measurements of body size and their upper bills are on average 12-14% longer, with a slightly larger radius of curvature. The dimorphism in bill size was statistically independent of the difference in overall body size, suggesting the possibility of intersexual differences in niche utilisation. Culmen length appears to be a useful means for distinguishing sexes in the field: our data indicate an optimum separation criterion of 43.9 mm for wild-caught individuals. Culmen length measurements from specimens originating in captivity were more variable. There was no evidence that sexual dimorphism increases with sexual maturity in this species. Alan B. Bond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/46 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/46 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:03:48 PST At the San Diego Zoo we had the opportunity of observing the behaviour of a Kea Nestor notabilis toward its mirror image under conditions of constant exposure over a period of 12 months. ... The introduction of the mirrors appears to have had a striking impact on the bird's listless state. Reports from keepers indicated that the Kea's appetite was restored after the introduction of the mirrors, and the animal was generally more active. Incidents of feather pulling were generally reduced in frequency. Judy Diamond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/45 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/45 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:58:10 PST Kea are omnivorous parrots endemic to the high mountains of the South Island of New Zealand. Over a two-year period, we recorded quantitative behavioral data from 38 banded male kea foraging at a refuse dump outside Arthur's Pass National Park and analyzed the effects of social factors on the ontogeny of foraging. Members of the four distinguishable age classes -- fledglings, juveniles, subadults, and adults -- displayed characteristic differences in foraging ability and in the social behavior used to obtain access to resources. Adults performed most of the excavation that uncovered new food resources. Fledglings explored and manipulated objects almost continuously, but they discovered little food on their own and were commonly fed directly by adults. Juveniles obtained the highest foraging yields for the amount of time spent searching of any age class, aided by appeasement behavior that gave them preferential access to foods discovered by adults. Kleptoparasitism served as a primary foraging strategy for subadults, who were otherwise poor at discovering and retaining food resources. Social factors influence the acquisition of foraging expertise in the Kea in different ways at different stages of development. Judy Diamond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/185 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/185 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:52:01 PST Thorium-230 ages of emergent marine deposits on Oahu, Hawaii, have a uniform dis- tribution of ages from ~114,000 to ~131,000 years, indicating a duration for the last interglacial sea-level high stand of ~17,000 years, in contrast to a duration of ~8000 years inferred from the orbitally tuned marine oxygen isotope record. Sea level on Oahu rose to ≥1 to 2 meters higher than present by 131,000 years ago or ~6000 years earlier than inferred from the marine record. Although the latter record suggests a shift back to glacial conditions beginning at ~119,000 years ago, the Oahu coral ages indicate a near present sea level until ~114,000 years ago. Barney J. Szabo http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/184 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/184 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:48:14 PST Hydrogenic calcite and opaline silica deposits in fault zones at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, have created considerable public and scientific controversy because of the possible development of a high-level nuclear waste repository at this location. Strontium and uranium isotopic compositions of hydrogenic materials were used to test whether the veins could have formed by upwelling of deep-seated waters. The vein deposits are isotopically distinct from ground water in the two aquifers that underlie Yucca Mountain, indicating that the calcite could not have precipitated from ground water. The data are consistent with a surficial origin for the hydrogenic deposits. J. S. Stuckless http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/183 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/183 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:45:51 PST Well-preserved loess deposits are found on the foothills of mountains along the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in southern Tibet. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is used to determine loess ages by applying the single-aliquot regeneration technique. Geochemical, mineralogical, and granulometric measurements were carried out to allow a comparison between loess from Tibet and the Chinese Loess Plateau. Our results demonstrate that (i) the loess deposits have a basal age of 13-11 ka, suggesting they accumulated after the last deglaciation, (ii) loess in southern Tibet has a ''glacial'' origin, resulting from eolian sorting of glaciofluvial outwash deposits from braided river channels or alluvial fans by local near-surface winds, and (iii) the present loess in the interior of Tibet has accumulated since the last deglaciation when increased monsoonal circulation provided an increased vegetation cover that was sufficient for trapping eolian silt. The lack of full-glacial loess is either due to minimal vegetation cover or possibly due to the erosion of loess as glaciofluvial outwash during the beginning of each interglacial. Such processes would have been repeated during each glacial-interglacial cycle of the Quaternary. Jimin Sun http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/199 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/199 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:41:20 PST Open access to scholarly content is increasing, and will continue to do so. This phenomenon is driving the economics of publishing to change dramatically. The question is: what will the economics of open access look like when this correction settles into a sustainable model? I will cover some of the ideas that have recently been articulated by economists, information professionals and others regarding retooling the evolving publishing business model, and will present some proposed solutions to the problem of "who is going to pay for it?" Sue Ann Gardner http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/182 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/182 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:38:30 PST New high-precision thermal ionization mass-spectrometric (TIMS) U-series ages of solitary corals (Balanophyllia elegans) from several marine terrace localities along the California and southern Oregon coasts date to the ~80,000 yr BP high stand of sea, correlative with marine isotope substage 5a, late in the last interglacial complex. Ages of multiple corals from localities north of Point Año Nuevo (central California) and San Nicolas Island (southern California) suggest that this high sea stand could have lasted at least 8000 yr, from ~84,000 to ~76,000 yr BP. These ages overlap with those from marine deposits on tectonically stable Bermuda and tectonically emergent Barbados. Higher-elevation terraces at two California localities, in the Palos Verdes Hills and on San Nicolas Island, have corals with ages that range mostly from ~121,000 to ~116,000 yr BP, correlative with marine isotope substage 5e. These ages are similar to those reported for other terraces in southern California but are younger than some ages reported from Hawaii, Barbados and the Bahamas. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/181 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/181 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:32:50 PST Loess is one of the most widespread subaerialdeposits in Alaska and adjacent Yukon Territory and may have a history that goes back 3 Ma. Based on mineralogy and major and trace element chemistry, central Alaskan loess has a composition that is distinctive from other loess bodies of the world, although it is quartz-dominated. Central Alaskan loess was probably derived from a variety of rock types, including granites, metabasalts and schists. Detailed stratigraphic data and pedologic criteria indicate that, contrary to early studies, many palaeosols are present in central Alaskan loess sections. The buried soils indicate that loess sedimentation was episodic, or at least rates of deposition decreased to the point where pedogenesis could keep ahead of aeolian input. As in China, loess deposition and pedogenesis are likely competing processes and neither stops completely during either phase of the loess/soil formation cycle. Loess deposition in central Alaska took place before, and probably during the last interglacial period, during stadials of the mid-Wisconsin period, during the last glacial period and during the Holocene. An unexpected result of our geochronological studies is that only moderate loess deposition took place during the last glacial period. Our studies lead us to conclude that vegetation plays a key role in loess accumulation in Alaska. Factors favouring loess production are enhanced during glacial periods but factors that favour loess accumulation are diminished during glacial periods. The most important of these is vegetation; boreal forest serves as an effective loess trap, but sparsely distributed herb tundra does not. Thus, thick accumulations of loess should not be expected where tundra vegetation was dominant and this is borne out by modern studies near the treeline in central Alaska. Much of the stratigraphic diversity of North American loess, including that found in the Central Lowlands, the Great Plains, and Alaska is explained by a new model that emphasizes the relative importance of loess production factors versus loess accumulation factors. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/44 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/44 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:29:30 PST Heyes and Huber have edited a volume that surveys much of the current research into cognition in animals, reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of this field. The book is divided into five sections. In the first part, titled "Orientations," four authors lay out their basic general views of the field. The first two chapters in this section are by the editors. First, Heyes makes the case for an approach to evolutionary psychology that she labels "in the round," an approach that would encompass studies of human and nonhuman animals alike and include a broad range of contemporary evolutionary approaches. This is a broad, well-visioned charge. Sadly, neither the book nor the field itself lives up to this promise as yet. ... Given the title, one reasonably expects to find both evolution and cognition as central themes of the book. But I was struck by how little evolution there is in Cognition and Evolution. ... And very little use seems to be made of the methods of evolutionary biology. ... However, these omissions are characteristics of the field, not the book. The book does do a good job of giving an overview of much of what is going on in the study of animal cognition today. The challenges of more adequately integrating evolutionary and cognitive approaches is one that we all need to confront. Indeed, the major issue confronting evolutionary psychology today is probably the challenge of adapting the methods of evolutionary biology to the study of human behavior in an evolutionary context and developing new methods. Only when this is successfully accomplished will we be able to rigorously test the hypotheses that spring from the Darwinian approach. Alan Kamil http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/180 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/180 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:27:02 PST The conterminous United States contains an extensive and generally well-studied record of Last Glacial loess. The loess occurs in diverse physiographic provinces, and under a wide range of climatic and ecological conditions. Both glacial and non-glacial loess sources are present, and many properties of the loess vary systematically with distance from loess sources. United States' mid-continent Last Glacial loess is probably the thickest in the world, and our calculated mass accumulation rates (MARs) are as high as 17,500 g/m2/yr at the Bignell Hill locality in Nebraska, and many near-source localities have MARs greater than 1500 g/m2/yr. These MARs are high relative to rates calculated in other loess provinces around the world. Recent models of Last Glacial dust sources fail to predict the extent and magnitude of dust flux from the mid-continent of the United States. A better understanding of linkages between climate, ice sheet behaviour, routing of glacial meltwater, land surface processes beyond the ice margin, and vegetation is needed to improve the predictive capabilities of models simulating dust flux from this region. E. Arthur Bettis III http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/43 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/43 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:25:54 PST Two recently published studies provide important new data relevant to the evolution of human intelligence. Both studies of social behavior in baboons, Bergman et al. demonstrated that baboons use two criteria simultaneously to classify other troop members, and Silk et al. showed that highly social female baboons have higher reproductive success than less social females. Taken together, these studies provide strong evidence for the importance of social context in cognitive evolution. Alan Kamil http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/42 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/42 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:24:08 PST The social complexity hypothesis asserts that animals living in large social groups should display enhanced cognitive abilities along predictable dimensions. To test this concept, we compared highly social pinyon jays, Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus, with relatively nonsocial western scrub-jays, Aphelocoma californica, on two complex cognitive tasks relevant to the ability to track and assess social relationships. Pinyon jays learned to track multiple dyadic relationships more rapidly and more accurately than scrub-jays and appeared to display a more robust and accurate mechanism of transitive inference. These results provide a clear demonstration of the association between social complexity and cognition in animals. Alan B. Bond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/179 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/179 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:23:33 PST The timing and duration of the Last Interglacial period have been controversial, with some studies suggesting a relatively short duration that is orbitally forced and others suggesting a long duration that is at most only partly related to orbital forcing. New, high-precison thermal ionization mass spectrometric (TIMS) U-series ages of Last Interglacial corals from Hawaii and Bermuda test these competing hypotheses. Waimanalo Formation corals from slowly uplifting Oahu, Hawaii range in age from ~ 134 to ~ 113 ka, with most ages between ~ 125 and ~ 115 ka. Combined with published U-series ages from nearby Lanai, the data suggest a long Last Interglacial period that may have occurred from ~ 136 to at least 115 ka. The results indicate that orbital forcing may not have been the only control on ice sheet growth and decay, because sea level would have been high at times of relatively low Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. On tectonically stable Bermuda, deposits from the ~ 200 ka (penultimate interglacial period), ~ 120 ka (peak Last Interglacial period) and ~ 80 ka (late Last Interglacial period) high sea stands have been newly dated. Fossil corals on Bermuda are derived from patch reefs that likely were ''catch-up'' responses to sea level rise. It is expected that U-series ages of Last-Interglacial corals on Bermuda should overlap with, but not be as old as the range of corals on Oahu. Last-Interglacial corals on Bermuda give a range of ~ 125-113 ka, which supports this hypothesis. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/41 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/41 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:22:13 PST Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained to search for a hidden goal located in the center of a four-landmark array. Upon completion of training, the nutcrackers were presented with tests that expanded the landmark array in the east-west direction, north-south direction and in both directions simultaneously. Although the birds learned to search accurately at the center of the landmark array during training, this search pattern did not transfer to the expansion tests. The nutcrackers searched at locations defined by absolute distance and/or direction relationships with landmarks in the training array. These results contrast with those from experiments with nutcrackers in which an abstract geometric rule was learned. This difference appears due to differences in the experimental paradigms used during training. Debbie M. Kelly http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/178 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/178 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:19:44 PST The last interglacial period is thought to be the last time global climate was signi"cantly warmer than present. New stratigraphic studies at Eva Creek, near Fairbanks, Alaska indicate a complex last interglacial record wherein periods of loess deposition alternated with periods of soil formation. The Eva Forest Bed appears to have formed about the time of or after deposition of the Old Crow tephra (dated to ~ 160 to ~ 120 ka), and is therefore correlated with the last interglacial period. Pollen, macrofossils, and soils from the Eva Forest Bed indicate that boreal forest was the dominant vegetation and precipitation may have been greater than present around Fairbanks during the peak of the last interglacial period. A new compilation of last interglacial localities indicates that boreal forest was extensive over interior Alaska and Yukon Territory. Boreal forest also extended beyond its present range onto the Seward and Baldwin Peninsulas, and probably migrated to higher elevations, now occupied by tundra, in the interior. Comparison of last interglacial pollen and macrofossil data with atmospheric general circulation model results shows both agreement and disagreement. Model results of warmer-than-present summers are in agreement with fossil data. However, numerous localities with boreal forest records are in conflict with model reconstructions of an extensive cool steppe in interior Alaska and much of Yukon Territory during the last interglacial. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/177 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/177 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:16:49 PST Although loess-paleosol sequences are among the most important records of Quaternary climate change and past dust deposition cycles, few modern examples of such sedimentation systems have been studied. Stratigraphic studies and 22 new accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages from the Matanuska Valley in southern Alaska show that loess deposition there began sometime after ~6500 14C yr B.P. and has continued to the present. The silts are produced through grinding by the Matanuska and Knik glaciers, deposited as outwash, entrained by strong winds, and redeposited as loess. Over a downwind distance of ~40 km, loess thickness, sand content, and sand-pluscoarse- silt content decrease, whereas fine-silt content increases. Loess deposition was episodic, as shown by the presence of paleosols, at distances >10 km from the outwash plain loess source. Stratigraphic complexity is at a maximum (i.e., the greatest number of loesses and paleosols) at intermediate (10-25 km) distances from the loess source. Surface soils increase in degree of development with distance downwind from the source, where sedimentation rates are lower. Proximal soils are Entisols or Inceptisols, whereas distal soils are Spodosols. Ratios of mobile CaO, K2O, and Fe2O3 to immobile TiO2 show decreases in surface horizons with distance from the source. Thus, as in China, where loess deposition also takes place today, eolian sedimentation and soil formation are competing processes. Study of loess and paleosols in southern Alaska shows that particle size can vary over short distances, loess deposition can be episodic over limited time intervals, and soils developed in stabilized loess can show considerable variability under the same vegetation. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/176 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/176 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:01:32 PST A high-resolution chronology for Peoria (last glacial period) Loess from three sites in Nebraska, midcontinental North America, is determined by applying optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to 35-50 µm quartz. At Bignell Hill, Nebraska, an OSL age of 25,000 yr near the contact of Peoria Loess with the underlying Gilman Canyon Formation shows that dust accumulation occurred early during the last glacial maximum (LGM), whereas at Devil's Den and Eustis, Nebraska, basal OSL ages are significantly younger (18,000 and 21,000 yr, respectively). At all three localities, dust accumulation ended at some time after 14,000 yr ago. Mass accumulation rates (MARs) for western Nebraska, calculated using the OSL ages, are extremely high from 18,000 to 14,000 yr--much higher than those calculated for any other pre-Holocene location worldwide. These unprecedented MARs coincide with the timing of a mismatch between paleoenvironmental evidence from central North America, and the paleoclimate simulations from atmospheric global circulation models (AGCMs). We infer that the high atmospheric dust loading implied by these MARs may have played an important role, through radiative forcing, in maintaining a colder-than-present climate over central North America for several thousand years after summer insolation exceeded present-day values. Helen M. Roberts http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/175 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/175 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:56:48 PST Recent stratigraphic studies in central Alaska have yielded the unexpected finding that there is little evidence for full-glacial (late Wisconsin) loess deposition. Because the loess record of western Alaska is poorly exposed and not well known, we analyzed a core from Zagoskin Lake, a maar lake on St. Michael Island, to determine if a full-glacial eolian record could be found in that region. Particle size and geochemical data indicate that the mineral fraction of the lake sediments is not derived from the local basalt and is probably eolian. Silt deposition took place from at least the latter part of the mid-Wisconsin interstadial period through the Holocene, based on radiocarbon dating. Based on the locations of likely loess sources, eolian silt in western Alaska was probably deflated by northeasterly winds from glaciofluvial sediments. If last-glacial winds that deposited loess were indeed from the northeast, this reconstruction is in conflict with a model-derived reconstruction of paleowinds in Alaska. Mass accumulation rates in Zagoskin Lake were higher during the Pleistocene than during the Holocene. In addition, more eolian sediment is recorded in the lake sediments than as loess on the adjacent landscape. The thinner loess record on land may be due to the sparse, herb tundra vegetation that dominated the landscape in full-glacial time. Herb tundra would have been an inefficient loess trap compared to forest or even shrub tundra due to its low roughness height. The lack of abundant, full-glacial, eolian silt deposition in the loess stratigraphic record of central Alaska may be due, therefore, to a mimimal ability of the landscape to trap loess, rather than a lack of available eolian sediment. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/174 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/174 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:53:29 PST The last interglacial, commonly understood as an interval with climate as warm or warmer than today, is represented by marine isotope stage (MIS) 5e, which is a proxy record of low global ice volume and high sea level. It is arbitrarily dated to begin at approximately 130,000 yr B.P. and end at 116,000 yr B.P. with the onset of the early glacial unit MIS 5d. The age of the stage is determined by correlation to uranium-thorium dates of raised coral reefs. The most detailed proxy record of interglacial climate is found in the Vostok ice core where the temperature reached current levels 132,000 yr ago and continued rising for another two millennia. Approximately 127,000 yr ago the Eemian mixed forests were established in Europe. They developed through a characteristic succession of tree species, probably surviving well into the early glacial stage in southern parts of Europe. After ca. 115,000 yr ago, open vegetation replaced forests in northwestern Europe and the proportion of conifers increased significantly farther south. Air temperature at Vostok dropped sharply. Pulses of cold water affected the northern North Atlantic already in late MIS 5e, but the central North Atlantic remained warm throughout most of MIS 5d. Model results show that the sea surface in the eastern tropical Pacific warmed when the ice grew and sea level dropped. The essentially interglacial conditions in southwestern Europe remained unaffected by ice buildup until late MIS 5d when the forests disappeared abruptly and cold water invaded the central North Atlantic ca. 107,000 yr ago. George J. Kukla http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/173 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/173 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:42:30 PST The last interglacial period has a timing and duration that can be estimated from U-series dating of emergent, coral-bearing deposits on tectonically stable coastlines. High-precision dating from Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hawaii, and Australia suggests that the last interglacial period had a sea level at least as high as present from ~128,000 to 116,000 yr B.P. Sea level reached a near-present level more quickly after the close of the penultimate glacial period than at the close of the last glacial period and the duration of high sea level is longer than that implied by the deep-sea record. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/172 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/172 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:40:07 PST The origin of red or reddish-brown, clay-rich, ''terra rossa'' soils on limestone has been debated for decades. A traditional qualitative explanation for their formation has been the accumulation of insoluble residues as the limestone is progressively dissolved over time. However, this mode of formation often requires unrealistic or impossible amounts of carbonated is solution. Therefore, where this mechanism is not viable and where local fluvial or colluvial inputs can be ruled out, an external source or sources must be involved in soil formation. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/171 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/171 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:28:45 PST Geomorphologists have long recognized that eolian sand transport pathways extend over long distances in desert regions. Along such pathways, sediment transport by wind can surmount topographic obstacles and cross major drainages. Recent studies have suggested that three distinct eolian sand transport pathways exist (or once existed) in the Mojave and Sonoran Desert regions of the southwestern United States. One hypothesized pathway is eolian sand transport from the eastern Mojave Desert of California into western Arizona, near Parker, and would require sand movement across what must have been at least a seasonally dry Colorado River valley. We tested this hypothesis by mineralogical, geochemical and magnetic analyses of eolian sands on both sides of the Colorado River, as well as sediment from the river itself. Results indicate that dunes on opposite sides of the Colorado River are mineralogically distinct: eastern California dunes are feldspar-rich whereas western Arizona dunes are quartz-rich, derived from quartz-rich Colorado River sediments. Because of historic vegetation changes, little new sediment from the Colorado River is presently available to supply the Parker dunes. Based on this study and previous work, the Colorado River is now known to be the source of sand for at least three of the major dune fields of the Sonoran Desert of western Arizona and northern Mexico. On the other hand, locally derived alluvium appears to be a more important source of dune fields in the Mojave Desert of California. Although many geomorphologists have stressed the importance of large fluvial systems in the origin of desert dune fields, few empirical data actually exist to support this theory. The results presented here demonstrate that a major river system in the southwestern United States is a barrier to the migration of some dune fields, but essential to the origin of others. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/170 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/170 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:26:12 PST A prominent (4500 km2) dune field in the Great Plains is the Great Bend Sand Prairie of south-central Kansas. Dunes here overlie late Quaternary alluvium and were reactivated extensively in the late Holocene. Geomorphic and soil evidence suggests that the most likely eolian sand source is the Arkansas River valley to the northwest. Nevertheless, orientations of stabilized dunes indicate that the most recent dune-forming winds came from the south or southwest, in agreement with modern wind data. Mineralogy and trace element concentrations in eolian sands of the Great Bend Sand Prairie are similar to those of the Arkansas River, which permits the Arkansas River as a sediment source. Ca and Sr abundances, which reflect small amounts of carbonate minerals, are higher in Arkansas River sand compared to eolian sands and show a systematic depletion away from the Arkansas River to the southeast. These trends are likely due to carbonate mineral depletion downwind from abrasion and size reduction. Thus, paleowinds probably were northwesterly during initial deposition. Northwesterly winds occur today when dry, Pacific-derived air is dominant. We hypothesize that the residence time of this air mass was much greater while dunes initially formed, possibly during a warmer and drier mid-Holocene period. Alan F. Arbogast http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/169 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/169 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:22:59 PST Accelerator mass spectrometry and conventional radiocarbon age determinations of organic matter from paleosols indicate that the Brandon Sand Hills area of southern Manitoba has been subjected to recurrent intervals of eolian activity in the past 5000 years. Although precise regional correlations are precluded by dating uncertainties, periods of most notable paleosol development occurred around 2300 to 2000, 1400 to 1000, and 600 to 500 cal yr BP with eolian activity occurring before and after each of these periods. Episodes of eolian activity may correspond to periods of regional drought, whereas paleosols mark periods of increased moisture availability and stabilization by vegetation. The geochemistry of the eolian sands, paleosols and source sediments indicates that partial leaching of carbonates occurs from pedogenesis during humid climatic phases, and that this is probably the primary mechanism of carbonate depletion of eolian sands in this area. Recent trends in sand dune activity from historic aerial photography and early explorers' accounts indicate that the few active dunes that presently exist have stabilized at a rate of 10}20% per decade, despite several severe droughts in the 20th century. This may be attributed to pre-settlement droughts that were more severe than those in historic times although regional dune stabilization may also be related, in part, to the spread of forest cover in the past few hundred years. Stephen A. Wolfe http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/168 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/168 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:20:21 PST We studied soils on high-purity limestones of Quaternary age on the western Atlantic Ocean islands of Barbados, the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas. Potential soil parent materials in this region, external to the carbonate substrate, include volcanic ash from the island of St. Vincent (near Barbados), volcanic ash from the islands of Dominica and St. Lucia (somewhat farther from Barbados), the fine-grained component of distal loess from the lower Mississippi River Valley, and wind-transported dust from Africa. These four parent materials can be differentiated using trace elements (Sc, Cr, Th, and Zr) and rare earth elements that have minimal mobility in the soil-forming environment. Barbados soils have compositions that indicate a complex derivation. Volcanic ash from the island of St. Vincent appears to have been the most important influence, but African dust is a significant contributor, and even Mississippi River valley loess may be a very minor contributor to Barbados soils. Soils on the Florida Keys and islands in the Bahamas appear to have developed mostly from African dust, but Mississippi River valley loess may be a significant contributor. Our results indicate that inputs of African dust are more important to the genesis of soils on islands in the western Atlantic Ocean than previously supposed. We hypothesize that African dust may also be a major contributor to soils on other islands of the Caribbean and to soils in northern South America, central America, Mexico, and the southeastern United States. Dust inputs to subtropical and tropical soils in this region increase both nutrient-holding capacity and nutrient status and thus may be critical in sustaining vegetation. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/167 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/167 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:17:00 PST Islands are natural dust traps, and San Clemente Island, California, is a good example. Soils on marine terraces cut into Miocene andesite on this island are clay-rich Vertisols or Alfisols with vertic properties. These soils are overlain by silt-rich mantles, 5-20 cm thick, that contrast sharply with the underlying clay-rich subsoils. The silt mantles have a mineralogy that is distinct from the island bedrock. Silt mantles are rich in quartz, which is rare in the island andesite. The clay fraction of the silt mantles is dominated by mica, also absent from local andesite, and contrasts with the subsoils, dominated by smectite. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/166 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/166 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:20:21 PST Desert dust simulations generated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research's Community Climate System Model for the current climate are shown to be consistent with present day satellite and deposition data. The response of the dust cycle to last glacial maximum, preindustrial, modern, and doubled-carbon dioxide climates is analyzed. Only natural (non-land use related) dust sources are included in this simulation. Natalie M. Mahowald http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/165 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/165 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:16:19 PST Saharan dust deposition on Bermuda during successive Quaternary glacial periods is consistent with patterns of general circulation models, which indicate that during glacial maxima the northeast summer trade winds were stronger than at present and reached latitudes higher than 30°N despite lower-than-present sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. Stanley R. Herwitz http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/164 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/164 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:10:33 PST Marine terraces are prominent landforms along the southern Oregon coast, which forms part of the forearc region of the Cascadia subduction zone. Interest in the Cascadia subduction zone has increased because recent investigations have suggested that slip along plates at certain types of convergent margins is characteristically accompanied by large earthquakes. In addition, other investigations have suggested that convergent margins can be broadly classified by the magnitude of their uplift rates. With these hypotheses in mind, we generated new uranium series, amino acid, and stable isotope data for southern Oregon marine terrace fossils. These data, along with terrace elevations and two alternative estimates of sea level at the time of terrace formation, allow us to determine terrace ages and uplift rates. Uranium series analysis of fossil coral yields an age of 83 ± 5 ka for the Whisky Run terrace at Coquille Point in Bandon, Oregon. A combination of amino acid and oxygen isotope data suggest ages of about 80 and 105 ka for the lowest two terraces at Cape Blanco. These ages indicate uplift rates of 0.45-1.05 and 0.81-1.49 m/kyr for Coquille Point and Cape Blanco, respectively. Late Quaternary uplift rates of marine terraces yield information about deformation in the overriding plate, but it is unclear if such data vary systematically with convergent margin type. In order to assess the utility of the southern Oregon uplift rates for predicting the behavior of the Cascadia subduction zone, we compared late Quaternary uplift rates derived from terrace data from subduction zones around the world. On the basis of this comparison the southern Oregon rates of vertical deformation are not unusually high or low. Furthermore, late Quaternary uplift rates show little relationship to the type of convergent margin. These observations suggest that local structures may play a large role in uplift rate variability. In addition, while the type of convergent margin may place an upper limit on possible uplift rate, greater upper limits serve to increase the range of possible uplift rates. In the case of the southern Oregon coast, variability in uplift rate probably reflects local structures in the overriding plate, and the rate of uplift cannot be used as a simple index of the potential for great earthquakes along the southern Cascadia subduction zone. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/163 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/163 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:03:56 PST Desert soils having clay crusts, mostly from the Mojave Desert, were tested for threshold friction velocity (the friction velocity at which soil erosion begins) with an open-bottomed wind tunnel. The soils were also tested for content of clay, water-soluble material, calcium carbonate, organic material, mineralogy of clay and of salts, soil moisture, modulus of rupture, and crust thickness. If no loose material existed on the soil surface, crusts having modulus of rupture greater than 0.7 bar and crust thickness of 0.7 cm to 0.3 cm were effective in protecting against wind erosion. Disturbed clay crusts having modulus of rupture before disturbance greater than 2 bar with thickness less than 1.9 cm did not experience significant wind erosion. Modulus of rupture was related to composition of soil but was shown to depend mostly on clay content. Soil composition is related to modulus of rupture in an empirical equation. Dale A. Gillette http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/162 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/162 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:10 PST Loess is one of the most extensive surfi cial geologic deposits in mid-continental North America, particularly in the central Great Plains region of Nebraska. Last-glacial-age loess (Peoria Loess) reaches its greatest known thickness in the world in this area. New stratigraphic, geochronologic, mineralogic, and geochemical data yield information about the age and provenance of Peoria Loess, as well as evaluation of recent climate models. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/161 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/161 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:55:25 PST Pb isotope compositions of detrital K-feldspars and U-Pb ages of detrital zircons are used as indicators for determining the sources of Peoria Loess deposited during the last glacial period (late Wisconsin, ca. 25-14 ka) in Nebraska and western Iowa. Our new data indicate that only loess adjacent to the Platte River has Pb isotopic characteristics suggesting derivation from this river. Most Peoria Loess in central Nebraska (up to 20 m thick) is non-glaciogenic, on the basis of Pb isotope ratios in K-feldspars and the presence of 34-Ma detrital zircons. These isotopic characteristics suggest derivation primarily from the Oligocene White River Group in southern South Dakota, western Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming, and northeastern Colorado. The occurrence of 10-25 Ma detrital zircons suggests additional minor contributions of silt from the Oligocene-Miocene Arikaree Group and Miocene Ogallala Group. John N. Aleinikoff http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/160 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/160 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:49:52 PST There is an increasing awareness that dust plays important roles in climate change, biogeochemical cycles, nutrient supply to ecosystems, and soil formation. In Channel Islands National Park, California, soils are clay-rich Vertisols or Alfi sols and Mollisols with vertic properties. The soils are overlain by silt-rich mantles that contrast sharply with the underlying clay-rich horizons. Silt mantles contain minerals that are rare or absent in the volcanic rocks that dominate these islands. Immobile trace elements (Sc-Th-La and Ta-Nd-Cr) and rare-earth elements show that the basalt and andesite on the islands have a composition intermediate between upper-continental crust and oceanic crust. In contrast, the silt fractions and, to a lesser extent, clay fractions of the silt mantle have compositions closer to average upper-continental crust and very similar to Mojave Desert dust. Island shelves, exposed during the last glacial period, could have provided a source of eolian sediment for the silt mantles, but this is not supported by mineralogical data. We hypothesize that a more likely source for the silt-rich mantles is airborne dust from mainland California and Baja California, either from the Mojave Desert or from the continental shelf during glacial low stands of sea. Although average winds are from the northwest in coastal California, easterly winds occur numerous times of the year when "Santa Ana" conditions prevail, caused by a high-pressure cell centered over the Great Basin. The eolian silt mantles constitute an important medium of plant growth and provide evidence that abundant eolian silt and clay may be delivered to the eastern Pacific Ocean from inland desert sources. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/159 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/159 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:33:48 PST New, high-precision U-series ages of solitary corals (Balanophyllia elegans) coupled with molluscan faunal data from marine terraces on the Pacific Coast of North America yield information about the timing and warmth of the last interglacial sea-level highstand. Balanophyllia elegans takes up U in isotopic equilibrium with seawater during growth and shortly after death. Corals from the second terrace on San Clemente Island (offshore southern California), the third terrace on Punta Banda (on the Pacific Coast of northern Baja California), and the Discovery Point Formation on Isla de Guadalupe (in the Pacific Ocean offshore Baja California) date to the peak of the last interglacial period and have U-series ages ranging from ca. 123 to 114 ka. The first terrace on Punta Banda has corals with ages ranging from ca. 83 to 80 ka, which corresponds to a sea-level highstand formed in the late last interglacial period. U-series analyses of corals from the Cayucos terrace (central California) and the Nestor terrace at Point Loma (southern California) show that these fossils have evidence of open-system history, similar to what has been reported by other workers for the same localities. Nevertheless, a model of continuous, secondary U and Th uptake shows that two ages of corals are likely present at these localities, representing the ca. 105 and ca. 120 ka sea-level highstands reported elsewhere. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/40 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/40 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:33:42 PST Animals selectively filter and transform their sensory input, increasing the accuracy with which some stimuli are detected and effectively ignoring others. This filtering process, collectively referred to as "selective attention," takes place at a variety of different levels in the nervous system. It was described in considerable detail by William James over a century ago (James, 1890/1950) and has been a principal focus of research in cognitive psychology for nearly 50 years (Parasuraman & Davies, 1984; Pashler, 1998; Richards, 1998). Investigations of selective attention have also been central to the study of animal cognition, where the process of attention has been considered to play an important role in a variety of behavioral paradigms (e.g.. Mackintosh, 1975; Riley & Roitblat, 1978). Most attention research, particularly in the realm of visual search, has been directed to the nature of the filtering processes applied to relatively simple, geometrical stimuli (reviewed in Humphreys & Bruce, 1989). Such stimuli can easily be varied along independent physical dimensions, allowing the relationship between targets and distracters to be controlled with considerable precision (e.g., Treisman & Gelade, 1980). However, the role of selective attention in determining responses to more complex visual stimuli, of the sort that organisms regularly deal with in the course of their normal behavioral routines, has been less explored. This neglect is of particular concern because, in the absence of artificial limitations on search time, simple geometrical stimuli do not place a sufficient demand on information processing capacity to demonstrate selective attention effects (Riley & Leith, 1976). In addition to their use of simple geometrical stimuli, most attention studies in animals have used tasks with no clear, direct connection to the perceptual world of the species under study. There is, however, substantial literature suggesting that selective attention may play a significant role in nature, particularly in predator-prey interactions. A review of this literature, integrating it with more customary work on attentional psychology, raises questions of considerable interest to both psychologists and biologists. For psychologists, naturalistic experimental methods using more complex, multidimensional stimuli cast light on additional, unanticipated aspects of attentional processes in animals. For biologists, selective attention has long been considered a primary cognitive mechanism underlying the well-known tendency of visually searching predators to concentrate their attacks on relatively common prey types. As a consequence, the circumstances under which selective attention occurs and the magnitude of the enhancement in detection accuracy that results can have significant ecological and evolutionary effects. Our goal in this chapter, therefore, is to integrate data and hypotheses from both the ecological and the cognitive perspectives. When these two groups of literature are considered together, a variety of parallels emerge, parallels that lay the groundwork for a unified account of attentional phenomena in animals. Alan Kamil http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/158 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/158 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:23 PST Mostly stabilized late Holocene eolian sands on the Southern High Plains of the United States were studied to determine their origins and to assess whether present dune stability depends more strongly on sediment supply, sediment availability, or transport limitations. Geomorphic, sedimentological, and geochemical trends indicate that late Holocene dunes formed under westerly paleowinds, broadly similar to those of today. Mineralogical and geochemical data indicate that the most likely source for the sands is not the Pecos River valley, but the Pleistocene Blackwater Draw Formation, an older, extensive eolian deposit in the region. These observations suggest that new sand is supplied whenever vegetation cover is diminished to the extent that the Blackwater Draw Formation can be eroded, in agreement with modern observations of wind erosion in the region. We conclude, therefore, that Southern High Plains dunes are stabilized primarily due to a vegetation cover. The dunes are thus sediment-availability limited. This conclusion is consistent with the observation that, in the warmest, driest part of the region (where vegetation cover is minimal), dunes are currently active over a large area. Geochemical data indicate that Southern High Plains dunes are the most mineralogically mature (quartz rich) sands yet studied in the Great Plains, which suggests a long history of eolian activity, either in the dune fields or during deposition of the Blackwater Draw Formation. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/157 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/157 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:27:24 PST A new application of the Pb isotopic tracer technique has been used to determine the relative importance of different silt sources for late Wisconsin loess in the central Great Plains of eastern Colorado. Samples of the Peoria Loess collected throughout the study area contain K-feldspar derived from two isotopically and genetically distinct sources: (1) glaciogenic material from Early and Middle Proterozoic crystalline rocks of the Colorado province, and (2) volcaniclastic material from the Tertiary White River Group exposed on the northern Great Plains. Pb isotopic compositions of K-feldspar in loess from two dated vertical sections (at Beecher Island and Last Chance, Colorado) vary systematically, implying climatic control of source availability. We propose a model whereby relatively cold conditions promoted the advance of Front Range valley glaciers discharging relatively little glaciogenic silt, but strong winds caused eolian erosion of White River Group silt due to a decrease in vegetation cover. During warmer periods, valley glaciers receded and discharged abundant glaciogenic silt, while surfaces underlain by the White River Group were stabilized by vegetation. Isotopic data from eastern Colorado loess sections record two warm-cold-warm cycles during late Wisconsin time between about 21,000 and 11,000 radiocarbon yr B.P., similar to results from other studies in the United States and Greenland. John N. Aleinikoff http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/156 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/156 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:17:56 PST Loess in eastern Colorado covers an estimated 14,000 km2, and is the westernmost part of the North American midcontinent loess province. Stratigraphic studies indicate there were two periods of loess deposition in eastern Colorado during late Quaternary time. The first period spanned ca. 20,000 to 12,000 14C yr B.P. (ca. 20-14 ka) and correlates reasonably well with the culmination and retreat of Pinedale glaciers in the Colorado Front Range during the last glacial maximum. The second period of loess deposition occurred between ca. 11,000 and 9,000 14C yr B.P. This interval may be Holocene or may correlate with a hypothesized Younger Dryas glacial advance in the Colorado Front Range. Sedimentologic, mineralogic, and geochemical data indicate that as many as three sources could have supplied loess in eastern Colorado. These sources include glaciogenic silt (derived from the Colorado Front Range) and two bedrock sources, volcaniclastic silt from the White River Group, and clays from the Pierre Shale. The sediment sources imply a generally westerly paleowind during the last glacial maximum. New carbon isotope data, combined with published faunal data, indicate that the loess was probably deposited on a cool steppe, implying a last glacial maximum July temperature depression, relative to the present, of at least 5-6 °C. Overall, loess deposition in eastern Colorado occurred mostly toward the end of the last glacial maximum, under cooler and drier conditions, with generally westerly winds from more than one source. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/155 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/155 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:11:05 PST Studies of dunefields in central and western North America show that mineralogical maturity can provide new insights into the origin and evolution of aeolian sand bodies. Many of the world's great sand seas in Africa, Asia and Australia are quartz-dominated and thus can be considered to be mineralogically mature. The Algodones (California) and Parker (Arizona) dunes in the southwestern United States are also mature, but have inherited a high degree of mineralogical maturity from quartz-rich sedimentary rocks drained by the Colorado River. In Libya, sediments of the Zallaf sand sea, which are almost pure quartz, may have originated in a similar fashion. The Fort Morgan (Colorado) and Casper (Wyoming) dunefields in the central Great Plains of North America, and the Namib sand sea of southern Africa have an intermediate degree of mineralogical maturity because their sources are large rivers that drained both unweathered plutonic and metamorphic rocks and mature sedimentary rocks. Mojave Desert dunefields in the southwestern United States are quite immature because they are in basins adjacent to plutonic rocks that were their sources. Other dunefields in the Great Plains of North America (those in Nebraska and Texas) are more mature than any possible source sediments and therefore reflect mineralogical evolution over time. Such changes in composition can occur because of either of two opposing long-term states of the dunefield. In one state, dunes are stable for long periods of time and chemical weathering depletes feldspars and other weatherable minerals in the sediment body. In the other state, which is most likely for the Great Plains, abrasion and ballistic impacts deplete the carbonate minerals and feldspars because the dunes are active for longer periods than they are stable. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/154 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/154 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:07:51 PST Studies from tectonically active coasts on New Guinea and Barbados have suggested that sea level at ~80 ka was significantly lower than present, whereas data from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America indicate an ~80 ka sea level close to that of the present. We determined ages of corals from a shallow submerged reef off the Florida Keys and an emergent marine deposit on Bermuda. Both localities are on tectonically stable platforms distant from plate boundaries. Uranium-series ages show that corals at both localities grew during the ~80 ka sea-level highstand, and geologic data show that sea level at that time was no lower than 7-9 m below present (Florida) and may have been 1-2 m above present (Bermuda). The ice-volume discrepancy of the 80 ka sea-level estimates is greater than the volume of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets. Comparison of our ages with high-latitude insolation values indicates that the sea-level stand near the present at ~80 ka could have been orbitally forced. K. R. Ludwig http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/153 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/153 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:03:40 PST Stable isotope compositions have been determined for modem mullusks and fossil mollusks collected from uplied marine terraces at three l d t i e s in southern California. By using a paleocliatic model that decouples the temperature and ice-volume signals in ocean water, ocean-water temperatures off southern California are estimated to have been -3.8 °C at ~85 ka, -3.0 °C at ~107 ka, and -2.2 °C at ~125 ka relative to present temperature. These results indicate rather cool conditions during the peak of the last interglacial stage at 125 ka and conflict with results from terrace faunal studies that suggest water temperatures were warm or warmer than at present. Daniel R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/152 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/152 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:59:42 PST Uranium-series analysis of the coral Allopora californica Verrill from the 2nd, 32-m Eel Point terrace on San Clemente Island, California, has yielded an age of 127,000 ± 7,000 yr. The Eel Point terrace is thus correlative with numerous terrace localities on the southern California mainland, with coral reefs on Barbados and New Guinea dated about 120,000 yr, and with substage 5e of the marine oxygen-isotope record. A tectonic uplift rate of about 0.20 m/1,000 yr has been calculated assuming a sea level slightly higher than the present one at the time of terrace formation. Extrapolation of this uplift rate allows age estimates to be made for other terraces on the island. D. R. Muhs http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/statisticsdiss/2 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/statisticsdiss/2 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:40:31 PST Microarray is an important technology which enables people to investigate the expression levels of thousands of genes at the same time. One common goal of microarray data analysis is to detect differentially expressed genes while controlling the false discovery rate. This dissertation consists with four papers written to address this goal. The dissertation is organized as follows: In Chapter 1, a brief introduction of the Affymetrix GeneChip microarray technology is provided. The concept of differentially expressed genes and the definition of the false discovery rate are also introduced. In Chapter 2, a literature review of the related works on this matter is provided. In Chapter 3, a t-mixture model based method is proposed to detect differentially expressed genes. In Chapter 4, a t-mixture model based false discovery rate estimator is proposed to overcome several problems of the current empirical false discovery rate estimators. In Chapter 5, a two-step false discovery rate estimation procedure is proposed to correct the overestimation of the false discovery rate caused by differentially expressed genes. In Chapter 6, a novel estimator is developed to estimate the proportion of equivalently expressed genes, which is an important component of the false discovery rate estimators. In Chapter 7, a summary of the dissertation will be given along with some possible directions for the future work. SHUO JIAO http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/39 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/39 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:41:07 PST We used a psychophysical method to examine the ability of three corvid species to discern fine-grained spatial information. Nutcrackers, pinyon jays, and scrub-jays were required to discriminate the distance between two landmarks on a computer screen in an operant chamber. All three species were able to discriminate between arrays that differed by 20 mm; the discrimination gradients for scrub-jays and pinyon jays were sharper than those for nutcrackers, however. The results suggest that differences in spatial memory among these species are not related to differences in fine-grained perception. Brett M. Gibson http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/38 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/38 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:07:51 PST Cryptically colored animals commonly occur in several distinct pattern variants. Such phenotypic diversity may be promoted by frequency-dependent predation, in which more abundant variants are attacked disproportionately often, but the hypothesis has never been explicitly tested. Here we report the first controlled experiment on the effects of visual predators on prey crypticity and phenotypic variance, in which blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) searched for digital moths on computer monitors. Moth phenotypes evolved via a genetic algorithm in which individuals detected by the jays were much less likely to reproduce. Jays often failed to detect atypical cryptic moths, confirming frequency- dependent selection and suggesting the use of searching images, which enhance the detection of common prey. Over successive generations, the moths evolved to become significantly harder to detect, and they showed significantly greater phenotypic variance than non-selected or frequency-independent selected controls. Alan B. Bond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscizera/40 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscizera/40 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:51:52 PST A productive synthesis of endocrinology and evolutionary genetics has occurred during the past two decades, resulting in the first direct documentation of genetic variation and correlation for endocrine regulators in nondomesticated animals. In a number of insect genetic polymorphisms (dispersal polymorphism in crickets, butterfly wing-pattern polymorphism), blood levels of ecdysteroids and juvenile hormone covary with morphology, development, and life history. Genetic variation in insulin signaling may underlie life history trade-offs in Drosophila. Vertebrate studies identified variation in brain neurohormones, bone-regulating hormones, and hormone receptor gene sequences that underlie ecologically important genetic polymorphisms. Most work to date has focused on genetically variable titers (concentrations) of circulating hormones and the activities of titer regulators. Continued progress will require greater integration among (a) traditional comparative endocrine approaches (e.g., titer measures); (b) molecular studies of hormone receptors and intracellular signaling pathways; and (c) fitness studies of genetically variable endocrine traits in ecologically appropriate conditions. Anthony J. Zera http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/37 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/37 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:15:54 PST The searching image hypothesis was originally proposed to account for the observation that animals selecting among disparate foods often consume an excess of the more common types. The hypothesis states that animals searching for a particular cryptic food item focus on visual features that are characteristic of that item, thereby facilitating its discrimination from the background. A change in stimulus discriminability is not, however, the only feasible explanation for the effect. One alternative is a simple change in response bias, an increased predisposition to respond to food-related stimuli. Another possible hypothesis derives from the fact that the amount of time that an animal has available for examining each stimulus is not fixed. This "caution" hypothesis attributes improvements in stimulus detection to changes in the amount of evidence that the animal acquires before making a response. To distinguish among these alternatives, we developed an accumulator model of visual search, which included discriminability, response bias, and caution as explicit, independent components. The consequences of varying each parameter in the model were evaluated by computer simulation, generating predicted effects of each hypothetical mechanism on response time and accuracy. The predictions were then tested using pigeons searching for images of natural, cryptic food grains. The results provide strong support for the discriminability hypothesis, but suggest that secondary changes in caution may also be involved. Alan B. Bond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtraffconf/2 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtraffconf/2 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:08:38 PST There is a major problem in the domestic sex trafficking of minors and sufficient funds should be reallocated to address this issue. Barriers between funding for foreign victims and domestic victims need to be removed. A victim is a victim. The current BJA/OVC/DHH grants should allowed to end until a sound TIP policy developed along with a sound implementation strategy based on real documented assessments with built in external accountability. We should not be leaving this to GAO/IG otherwise the whole movement will lose credibility along with funding. Will the baby will be thrown out with the bath water unless we begin to based HT efforts truth and facts not antidotes and passion Johnny McGaha http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtraffdata/52 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/humtraffdata/52 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:30:27 PST 4 adoption, 8 advertisement 4 advocates 3 africa 12 against 6 america 4 american 5 and 10 anthropology, 3 anti-trafficking 19 anti-trafficking-network 6 anti-trafficking, 10 arrest 5 asia 16 asian 13 attorney 5 baby 5 Bangkok 4 Burma 4 business 4 california, 5 canada 7 canada, 7 center 9 Center, 4 child 19 children 22 children, 3 china 7 CNN 5 coalition 4 colorado 4 combat 4 conference 15 congress 3 crime 8 data 14 database 6 Dept. 3 director 3 documentary 5 domestic 8 economy 3 europe 11 European 3 experts 50 fbi, 4 federal-agencies 5 for 11 forced 5 global 11 government 9 Harvard 4 health 5 history 5 HIV/AIDS 4 hq 13 human 53 human-trafficking 41 HumanTrafficking 4 illegal 6 ILO 6 immigrants 13 immigration 11 in 5 india 5 information 7 international 32 international-agencies 7 iom, 3 issues 3 italy 3 janie 3 justice 4 Justice, 5 labor 26 labors 4 latin 5 law 13 law, 11 laws 3 legal 3 legislation 4 Library 3 Los-Angeles 5 malaysia 4 medical 3 mekong 3 middle-east 8 migration 10 minnesota 4 Minnesota, 9 national 4 nebraska 5 nebraska, 3 nepal 3 network 5 new 5 New-York 11 news 10 newspaper, 13 ngos 69 Nigerians 4 NIJ 3 north 3 OAS 3 oclc 11 of 30 Office 4 on 6 online 6 organization 5 organized 6 organized-crime 4 Pacific 4 pdf 3 persons 4 police 4 policies 4 policy 7 project 11 prostitution 19 prostitution, 8 public 7 publication 3 refugees 7 report 9 reports 19 research 20 review 11 review, 6 rights 22 rights, 6 ring 4 safety 3 San 3 Seattle 4 services 10 services, 3 sex 32 sex-trafficking 21 sex-workers 4 sexual 3 slavery 7 social 4 sociology 3 source 3 south 4 southeast 3 star 6 state 11 state-level, 3 state-reports 9 states 3 statistics 4 studies 6 Studies, 3 survey 3 switzerland 3 task 4 thailand 8 thailand, 11 the 3 to 5 trade 4 trafficked 6 trafficking 62 trafficking, 28 tribune 5 U.N. 10 u.s. 37 u.s., 3 UC 4 UK 3 unesco, 5 united 5 university 14 UNODC 4 victims 6 videos 6 violence 5 Washington 11 Washington-D.C. 13 web 9 women 37 women, 6 women's 6 work 6 workers Anchalee (Joy) Panigabutra-Roberts http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/36 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/36 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:08:11 PST This report will review the similarities and differences of four species of pine seed caching members of the avian family Corvidae that live on the slopes and base of the San Francisco Peaks in north-central Arizona. The four species include the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), western scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica), and Mexican jay (A. ultramarina). These corvids demonstrate a specialization gradient for the harvesting, transporting, caching and recovering of buried pine seeds. This gradient is reflected in their dependence on cached pine seeds for winter and early spring survival and reproduction. Species most dependent on these cached seeds have the greatest number of adaptations for utilizing these seeds which is especially evident in their spatial memory abilities to locate their caches. The two most dependent species, nutcrackers and pinyon jays have spatial memory abilities more accurate than in the species less dependent on cached seeds, western scrub-jays and Mexican jays. Using converging operations to test these memory abilities, comparative tests were conducted in an open field cache/recovery experiment, an analogue radial maze test and operant tests of spatial and non-spatial memory. Also discussed are the techniques used by nutcrackers to recognize and relocate caching sites. These birds have the ability to learn and generalize geometric rules about the placement of landmarks. This geometry, especially using multiple landmarks, aids this species greatly. The use of the sun compass by pinyon jays, scrub jays and nutcrackers reveal that in experimental conditions where birds are clock-shifted they respond to this shift, thus digging for caches in locations predicted by the shift. It appears that pinyon jays are converging on a distant relative the nutcracker in many characteristics, thus diverging from their close relatives the western scrub-jay and Mexican jay. Each species has a suite of adaptive traits that reflects its natural history and life history Russell P. Balda http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/35 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/35 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:06:50 PST Although social play is broadly distributed among mammals, it is infrequently encountered in other vertebrate taxa. It is, however, displayed in a fully realized and complex form in several groups of birds. Unambiguous accounts of social play have been recorded from thirteen species of parrots, seven species of corvids, and several hornbills and Eurasian babblers. We conducted an analysis of the avian play literature, testing for differences between avian taxa, as well as for correlations between play complexity, brain size, and age of first reproduction. Corvids were far more likely to show social object play than parrots. Corvids, parrots, and hornbills had larger relative brain sizes than would be predicted from a class-level allometric regression, but brain size was not associated with the complexity of social play among genera within taxa. Play complexity within parrots and corvids was, however, significantly associated with the age of first reproduction. The likelihood of complex social play appears to increase when delayed reproduction is accompanied by persisting relationships between adults and post-fledging juveniles. The adaptive significance of social play in birds thus offers intriguing parallels to similar analyses in mammals. Judy Diamond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/34 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/34 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:05:20 PST Social play in the kaka (Nestor meridionalis), a New Zealand parrot, is described and contrasted with that of its closest relative, the kea (Nestor notabilis), in one of the first comparative studies of social play in closely related birds. Most play action patterns were clearly homologous in these two species, though some contrasts in the form of specific play behaviors, such as kicking or biting, could be attributed to morphological differences. Social play in kakas is briefer, more predictable, and less sequentially diverse than that shown by keas. Kaka play also appears to be restricted to fledglings and juveniles, while the behavior is more broadly distributed among age groups in keas. Play initiation behaviors were relatively more frequent in kakas and more tightly intercorrelated in occurrence. A primary grouping of action patterns in kakas consisted of arboreal play, which was rare in keas. The most striking species difference was exhibited in social object play, which is pervasive among keas, but which was not observed in kakas. Although the two species are morphologically similar, they differ strikingly in several aspects of their ecology and social behavior, including the duration of the association between juveniles and adults, the degree of exploratory behavior, and the flexibility of their foraging strategies. The observed species differences in play behavior are discussed in relation to the contrasting life histories in the two species, suggesting that many features of social play may reflect evolutionary responses to particular ontogenetic and ecological constraints. Judy Diamond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/33 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/33 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:02:38 PST Regional and ontogenetic variation in the contact calls of the kea (Nestor notabilis), an omnivorous and socially complex New Zealand parrot, were examined throughout the range of the species. We recorded samples of kee-ah contact calls from sixteen resident adults and eleven juveniles and demonstrated significant differences between age classes in the acoustic form of the vocalization. Canonical correlation analysis revealed a gradient in the form of the kee-ah call in both adults and juveniles along and across the escarpment of the Southern Alps, the primary longitudinal mountain range on the South Island of New Zealand. Although the juvenile call varies geographically along the same axes as the adult version, the aspects of the call that vary geographically are strikingly different, suggesting that the variation results from independent processes of vocal learning in the two age classes. A similar analysis of squeal vocalizations, which are only produced by juveniles, found even greater levels of geographic variation. We suggest that the immediate social environment may serve as the primary factor shaping the vocal patterns of both juveniles and adults, producing localized homogeneity in call form within each age class. Alan B. Bond http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/32 http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/bioscibehavior/32 Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:46 PST The play behavior of the critically endangered kakapo (Strigops habroptilus; Aves: Psittaciformes: Psittacidae) is here compared to that of its closest relatives, the kea (Nestor notabilis) and the kaka (Nestor meridionalis). Contrasting kakapos, which are relatively solitary, with the more social Nestor parrots provides an attractive test of the relative contributions of phylogeny and sociality to the evolution of play. Overlapping cluster analysis of play sequences using a hypergeometric similarity metric indicated that kakapo play is generally less complex, lacking the intensity, duration, structure, and reciprocity of play in the Nestor parrots. Kakapos have a later age of first reproduction than the comparison species, but they lack the well-developed social interactions between post-fledging young and adults that are characteristic of keas and kakas. Social play in parrots appears to be most readily predicted from their patterns of social development, emerging within a constellation of behaviors associated with independent young that remain in the vicinity of adult groups. Judy Diamond