The Cylindrical Papershell (Anodontoides ferussacianus), considered a “Species in Need of Conservation” in Kansas, historically occurred across much of the state; however, recent studies suggest that the species is currently restricted to the upper Smoky Hill-Saline River Basin, and a survey emphasizing the status of the Cylindrical Papershell conducted in 2011 suggested its conservation status be elevated to endangered. Continuing drought since the completion of the 2011 survey raised concerns regarding the status of the Cylindrical Papershell. The objectives of this study were to evaluate possible drought-related changes in Cylindrical Papershell populations and to evaluate the status of this species in Kansas. Timed, tactile searches were conducted at 19 sites on the Saline River and 21 sites on the Smoky Hill River between July and August 2015. Thirty of these sites were revisited from the 2011 survey. In 2011, 24 live Cylindrical Papershell were observed among 11 sites. Declines in Cylindrical Papershell abundance were observed in 2015, with 10 individuals observed at 3 sites. The species occurred at low abundances across a limited geographic range comprised of highly fragmented habitat. Abundance of Cylindrical Papershell per site declined significantly (t=5.19, df=10, p<0.001) between 2011 and 2015.

We studied small mammals in planted smooth brome (Bromus inermis) fields on Konza Prairie to assess the small mammal community associated with these frequently occurring anthropogenic grasslands in eastern Kansas. Also, we wanted to understand the impacts of land use changes resulting from this type of anthropogenic change as compared to native habitats. Relative to this latter interest, we compared the small mammal community in brome fields to that found in native tallgrass prairie, also on Konza Prairie, for the same years and seasons during the early to mid-1980s. Small mammals were trapped in brome (n = 2 study sites) and native tallgrass prairie (n = 14) in autumn (6 years), spring (5) and summer (4) during 1981–1986. Overall, 173 and 1893 individuals of rodents and shrews were captured in brome and native prairie, respectively. Across all seasons, community abundance in brome was greater in autumn than in spring and summer. Patterns of community abundance among seasons in brome were not proportionally similar to those found in tallgrass prairie. Although proportions in autumn were similar, the patterns in spring and summer were in contrasting directions; spring was higher in brome and summer was higher in prairie. When all seasons were combined, no effect on community abundance was observed from burning the brome fields. Community abundance in brome was similar on burned and unburned traplines in autumn and spring but not in summer. In summer, greater abundance of small mammals occurred on burned than on unburned research sites. The proportion of small mammals in burned brome fields in the three seasons mirrored the proportions observed on burned sites in native prairie. In contrast, these proportions were not similar for spring and summer in brome and prairie for unburned study sites. Species composition and the numerical dominance of species varied greatly between brome fields and native prairie overall as well as among seasons. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) were numerically dominant in brome fields, whereas deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were in native prairie. Furthermore, herbivorous rodents were numerically dominant in brome fields, whereas seed-eating omnivores were the predominant species in native prairie. Finally, our study indicates that agricultural land use change can result in temporally and spatially variable small mammal communities that do not mirror those found in native tallgrass prairie.

Museum specimens of the Great Plains Ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi) from six counties in northern Kansas were examined to determine gonadal cycle, clutch characteristics, and body sizes at sexual maturity near the northern edge of its geographic range. Gonadal cycle of males of northern Kansas adhered to a temperate pattern unlike that of Eastern Corn Snakes (P. guttatus) of southern Florida, whereas females of both species from these locations maintained a tropical pattern to their monthly distribution of follicle size. Clutch size averaged 9.5 eggs in this study and 7.2 eggs in a study of this species in northeastern Kansas. Both of these values were smaller than those of southern and eastern populations of the Eastern Corn Snake despite larger or similar body sizes, respectively, of the latter group. We discuss the potential effects of climate change on male reproduction and clutch size.

We studied small mammals in lowland soybean fields along Kings Creek on Konza Prairie during autumn 1981 and spring 1982 to assess the composition of the small mammal community in this particular cropland habitat. We also compared species composition and other community characteristics in these crop fields to those observed in native prairie, planted brome grasslands and riparian woodlands. The small mammal community in the soybean fields was dominated by seed-eating rodents as we recorded 100% deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) during autumn and primarily deer mice (92%) with a low proportion (8%) of white-footed mice (P. leucopus) during spring. In upland tallgrass prairie comprised primarily of warm-season grasses, the small mammal community was dominated by deer mice (32%), western harvest mice (30%; Reithrodontomys megalotis) and by white-footed mice (8%) in autumn and then by deer mice (35%), white-footed mice (22%) and harvest mice (21%) in spring. The community of small mammals in soybean fields was not only different from that in native upland prairie but also from nearby brome fields. In this cool-season grass habitat, herbivorous rodents dominated as >80% of the small mammals were hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) during autumn and then prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and cotton rats combined in spring. The small mammal community in nearby lowland and slope prairie collected over many seasons during different years also supports the expectation that the community in soybean fields was drastically different from what would have occurred in lowland prairie habitat (most likely dominated by prairie voles, deer mice and western harvest mice) before European settlement and agricultural impacts.

Roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey.) is one of the most problematic native woody plants in rangelands of Kansas. Lack of prescribed burning due to drought and urban encroachment has contributed to its spread. Herbicides have commonly been used for control of roughleaf dogwood, and tebuthiuron pellets (Spike 20P) are often recommended. Baseline measurements of density and cover were taken on October 15, 2004. Treatments of 4.4 kg ai/ha (3/4 oz per 100 square feet) tebuthiuron pellets were applied in December 2004. Paired plots, treated and untreated, were 5 by 10 meters in size and were replicated eight times. Live dogwood stem counts were taken along a 0.5 by 10-m belt transect within each plot. A total of five individual, 0.1-m² frames per plot were used to estimate woody plant cover using the Daubenmire Canopy Coverage method. Woody plant cover and roughleaf dogwood density were taken again on August 24, 2006. A visual estimate of control indicated tebuthiuron reduced dogwood cover by 65% compared to a 3% decrease on untreated plots. Dogwood live stem density was reduced by 2.2 stems/m² (P<0.08) in treated plots. Total woody plant cover increased on untreated plots by 6.2 percentage units, but was decreased by 20.9 percentage units on tebuthiuron treated plots. Other woody plants decreased in both treated and untreated plots. Shading by a large elm tree likely caused variation between replications including increases in cover and density of roughleaf dogwood on treated plots. Tebuthiuron pellets applied at 4.4 kg ai/ha appears to be an effective control option for roughleaf dogwood.

The relationship between seeding mixtures and establishment of tallgrass prairie plantings was examined in experimental plots established in 2007. Native grass and wildflower seed mixtures, representing four functional groups (C4 grasses, C3 grasses, nitrogen-fixing species, and late-flowering composites), were sown at five levels of richness/seeding density - 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 species—in 900-m² plots. Annually, evenness, and total cover and species richness for target (seeded) and non-target (resident) species were measured for the decade from 2007–2016. During the establishment period, eight years received average to above average precipitation; two years experienced drought. Plots seeded with 16 and 20 species achieved 100% target cover by the second year; plots seeded with 12 species had 100% target cover by the fourth year. Plots seeded with 8 or more species had less non-target cover than 4-species plots by the third year, a pattern that persisted for the remainder of the study. Target species richness of plots increased directly with treatment seeding richness, except for the 16- and 20-species treatments that showed no differences in six of the ten years. Non-target species richness varied among treatments beginning in the third year, but did not differ among the 8-, 12-, 16-, and 20-species treatments in the final six years. The results indicate that establishment of prairie-like communities can be hastened by sowing more species at the outset, an important consideration for grassland restoration projects in which diversity and persistence are key goals.

Sand prairies experience relatively high rates of small scale disturbance, feature a high complement of annual plant species, and are fairly dynamic in terms of year-to-year microscale species composition. In summer 2011, a natural gas pipeline was installed across Sand Prairie Natural History Reservation 19 km west of North Newton, KS. The resulting excavation left a scar 560 m long and 24 m wide devoid of aboveground vegetation. From August 2012 to 2016, I monitored vegetation composition in 60 0.75 x 0.75 m2 quadrats along two parallel transect lines, one line along the center of the excavated area and the other placed 20 m away in prairie unaffected by construction vehicles. Quadrat species richness was higher in the undisturbed area in the first year, but higher in the pipeline site in the fifth year. There were no consistent site differences in species evenness. Across years, annuals averaged 73.60% of species (including three introduced species) at the pipeline site vs. 45.42% of species within the undisturbed area. Coverage by annuals and perennials differed similarly between sites: 105.55 vs. 52.82% annuals and 28.18 vs. 83.70% perennials at the pipeline and undisturbed sites, respectively. Bray-Curtis Similarity ranged from 35.7 to 56.8% across years, but was not trending upward with time. Both Floristic Quality Index and modified FQI were consistently higher for the reference site than for the pipeline area. It is too early to project the time frame for the pipeline area to recover a species composition indistinguishable from an undisturbed site, but clearly a period of many years will be required.

Thryptodus zitteli Loomis, 1900, is an enigmatic Late Cretaceous bony fish with a blunt rostrum formed by the massive left and right premaxillae. This paper documents a rostral specimen of the species from the Tombigbee Sand Member of the Eutaw Formation in west-central Alabama that demonstrates the existence of T. zitteli along the eastern shoreline of the Late Cretaceous Mississippi Embayment. It also constitutes the geologically youngest record for Thryptodus, indicating that the genus lived through at least until the late Santonian and possibly as late as the early Campanian. In addition, this paper discusses the variation in preservation of Thryptodus rostra due to taphonomy as well as the pattern of symphysial fusion between the two premaxillae and that of rostral development and abrasion through ontogeny.

Theophilus Hunt Turner (1841–1869) was the military surgeon assigned to Fort Wallace in far western Kansas during the construction of the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division. The circumstances surrounding his 1867 discovery of the type specimen of Elasmosaurus platyurus were not recorded in Cope's (1868a) original reports, and were unknown until the 1987 publication of Turner's personal letters. As described originally by Turner, the story involved the unlikely association of four men and a series of events that resulted in the collection of the largest fossil specimen of the time from the wilderness of western Kansas. Here I provide additional details regarding Turner's posting at Fort Wallace and a review of the historical accounts surrounding this exceptional discovery.

The fossilized remains of prehistoric creatures are often difficult to remove from the rock that encloses them, and the bones are generally fragile once removed. In most cases, larger specimens need some protective covering in order to be transported from the collection site. Not doing so can result in the specimens being shattered and scattered. Historical developments in collecting, preserving and transporting techniques for newly discovered fossils are discussed here, including two important early Kansas discoveries of type specimens: Elasmosaurus platyurus in 1867 and Protostega gigas in 1871.