Agriculture Builders of Nebraska Annual Meeting

Anthony McAuliffe was acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. December 22, 1944, he was in charge of the-defense of Bastogne when advancing German forces called upon his garrison to surrender.

Refuge Update – March/April 2009, Volume 6, Number 2

Table of Contents: America’s Birds: In an Alarming State Snakes Alive! Title Sub Title East Coast Wetlands Are Disappearing Chief’s Corner: What We Do Now Extreme Makeover for Bird Sightings by Mike Carlo Taking Care of Our World War II Legacy by Lisa Matlock Whatever Happened to . . . . San Francisco Bay Wetland Restoration Projects Recalling the Battle of Long Island Sound by David Klinger Bold Approaches for Climate Change How Alligator River Refuge Is Planning and Adapting by Mike Bryant Rapid Climate Change Is Transforming the Arctic by David Payer Tracking Change on Wildlife Refuges by Kathy Granillo Where SLAMM Foretells a Wetter Future Reviving the Land – and the Air by Bob Ford and Pete Jerome Connecting the Conservation Landscape a New Priority by Mike Scott and Bob Adamcik Awards for Refuge System Palmyra Atoll Refuge Becomes Ramsar Site Not So Strategic Habitat Conservation: A True Story by David Viker Putting Food on Alaskan Tables by Andy Aderman

Simulation of Ground-Water Flow in the Cedar River Alluvial Aquifer Flow System, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Scientific

The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the primary source of municipal water in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area. Since 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Cedar Rapids, has investigated the hydrogeology and water quality of the Cedar River alluvial aquifer. This report describes a detailed analysis of the ground-water flow system in the alluvial aquifer, particularly near well field areas. The ground-water flow system in the Cedar Rapids area consists of two main components, the unconsolidated Quaternary deposits and the underlying carbonate bedrock that has a variable fracture density. Quaternary deposits consist of eolian sand, loess, alluvium, and glacial till. Devonian and Silurian bedrock aquifers overlie the Maquoketa Shale (Formation) of Ordovician age, a regional confining unit. Ground-water and surface-water data were collected during the study to better define the hydrogeology of the Cedar River alluvial aquifer and Devonian and Silurian aquifers. Stream stage and discharge, ground-water levels, and estimates of aquifer hydraulic properties were used to develop a conceptual ground-water flow model and to construct and calibrate a model of the flow system. This model was used to quantify the movement of water between the various components of the alluvial aquifer flow system and provide an improved understanding of the hydrology of the alluvial aquifer.

Distribution of Dioecious Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) along an Environmental Gradient in Ogallala, NE.

Abstract The purpose of this research was to study the sex distribution and energy allocation of dioecious Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) along an environmental resource gradient. The trees surveyed were growing in a canyon located at the University of Nebraska’s Cedar Point Biological Research Station in Ogallala, Nebraska. Due to the geography of this canyon, environmental factors necessary for plant growth should vary depending on the tree’s location within the canyon. These factors include water availability, sun exposure, ground slope, and soil nitrogen content, all of which are necessary for carbon acquisition. Juniperus virginiana is a dioecious conifer. Dioecious plants maintain male and female reproductive structures on separate individuals. Therefore, proximal spatial location is essential for pollination and successful reproduction. Typically female reproductive structures are more costly and require a greater investment of carbon and nitrogen. For this reason, growth, survival and successful reproduction are more likely to be limited by environmental resources for females than for male individuals. If this is true for Juniperus virginiana, females should be located in more nutrient and water rich areas than males. This also assumes that females can not be reproductively successful in areas of poor environmental quality. Therefore, reproductive males should be more likely to inhabit environments with relatively lower resource availability than females. Whether the environment affects sexual determination or just limits survival of different sexes is still relatively unknown. In order to view distribution trends along the environmental gradient, the position of the tree in the canyon transect was compared to its sex. Any trend in sex should correspond with varying environmental factors in the canyon, ie: sunlight availability, aspect, and ground slope. The individuals’ allocation to growth and reproduction was quantified first by comparing trunk diameter at six inches above ground to sex and location of the tree. The feature of energy allocation was further substantiated by comparing carbon and nitrogen content in tree leaf tissue and soil to location and sex of each individual. Carbon and nitrogen in soil indicate essential nutrient availability to the individual, while C and N in leaf tissue indicate nutrient limitation experienced by the tree. At the conclusion of this experiment, there is modest support that survival and fecundity of females demands environments relatively richer in nutrients, than needed by males to survive and be reproductively active. Side of the canyon appeared to have an influence on diameter of trees, frequency of sex and carbon and nitrogen leaf content. While this information indicated possible trends in the relation of sex to nutrient availability, most of the environmental variables presumed responsible for the sex distribution bias differed minutely and may not have been biologically significant to tree growth.