Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Date of this Version
January 1968
Abstract
Ecological relationships of ring-necked pheasants with rainwater basins were studied on a nine-section study area in south-central Nebraska.
Nesting studies conducted from 1960 through 1964 revealed the importance of vegetation complexes associated with wetlands as nesting cover. During the five-year period, 25 percent of all nests were initiated in this covertype, and 25 percent of all chicks were produced in this covertype. The wetlands also provided high quality brooding, loafing, roosting, and winter cover.
Human activities have destroyed 83 percent of the 3,909 wetlands in the rain basin area. The greatest loss occurred in smaller basins. Acreages in the basins remaining have been reduced by 44 percent. Governmental agencies control 5 percent of the remaining basins comprising 25 percent of the remaining acreage.