Range Science Masters Theses
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Fire Safety Skills Training for Individuals with Severe and Profound Mental Retardation
(North Dakota State University, 2010)The statistics surrounding fire injury and death in the United States are staggering. Literature concerning fire safety has focused largely on children, but persons with mental retardation also are in need of fire safety ... -
The Interactions of Early-Fall Prescribed Burning, Different Cutting Techniques and Whitetailed Deer Browsing on Bur Oak Regeneration in Eastern North Dakota: Phase II
(North Dakota State University, 2010)This study was developed to determine the interaction of white-tailed deer browsing with effects of clear and selective cutting, and prescribed burning on bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) regeneration in northeastern North ... -
Patch-burning Improves Forage Nutritive Value and Livestock Performance over Rotational and Continuous Grazing Strategies
(North Dakota State University, 2022)Rangelands simultaneously support livestock production while maintaining ecosystem functionality. Patch-burning is a grazing management strategy with benefits for wildlife habitat and conservation. However, previous work ... -
Creating Better Working Landscapes in Post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Lands: Promoting Butterfly and Floral Resource Populations Through Patch-Burn Grazing (PBG) and Over-Seeding
(North Dakota State University, 2022)Declines in pollinator populations are a concern globally, and more information is needed to help conserve them. We studied how post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands could be managed as pollinator habitat. Our study ... -
Impacts of Invasive Plant Species on the Plant Community in the Northern Great Plains
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Invasive species are encroaching rangelands in the U.S. and altering community composition and plant diversity. In the Northern Great Plains, exotic cool-season perennial grasses (Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis; crested ... -
Application of Pyric-Herbivory in the Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie to Enhance Biodiversity
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Pyric-herbivory is a naturally occurring disturbance that historically created shifting mosaics of heterogeneous plant communities and vegetation structure, supporting a biodiverse Great Plains ecosystem. Present land ... -
Investigating the Effects of Alternative Reclamation Practices on Recently Reclaimed Grasslands
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Surface mining operations in the Northern Plains result in complex grassland ecosystems being dismantled and later systematically reclaimed. Such processes can create long-term challenges with regards to the ecological ... -
The Use of Land Management Practices to Reclaim Brine-Affected Cropland Soils and Restore Shrub Invaded Rangeland
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Land management techniques can enhance altered ecosystems on a variety of landscapes. In the Williston Basin of North Dakota, brine ponds created 50 years ago still cause problems today. We applied six treatments to reclaim ... -
Pollinator Response to Annual Forb Plantings and Self-Pollinating Dry Bean Crops in Agroecosystems
(North Dakota State University, 2021)Intensive agricultural systems have had several ecological effects on the surrounding ecosystem, including contributing to widespread pollinator declines. In order to help supplement bee communities and potentially improve ... -
Gamebird Management in Southwestern North Dakota
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Grassland biodiversity is threatened by habitat loss associated with human expansion. In response, land managers need to collect wildlife data more efficiently and implement management practices that promote wildlife ... -
Butterfly Community and Behavioral Responses to Restored Disturbance Regimes
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Grassland organisms evolved alongside the interaction of fire and grazing, but modern management often decouples these disturbances. In order to analyze the effects of reintroducing this interaction, we implemented four ... -
Effect of Livestock Species on Floral Resources and Pollinators in Low-Diversity Grasslands
(North Dakota State University, 2020)Livestock management influences the extent to which grazing lands provide resources for native species. We compared how livestock species – sheep or cattle – affected floral resources and bee and butterfly communities in ... -
Effects of Grazing of Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) in Restored Wet Meadows in the Northern Tall Grass Prairie
(North Dakota State University, 2019)Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a grass species that can dominate wet meadow plant communities. This study investigated if grazing by cattle on restored wet meadows suppresses reed canarygrass, thereby promoting ... -
Monitoring the Effects of Surface Coal-Mine-Reclamation on Soil Biological Properties
(North Dakota State University, 2019)Surface coal mining is a large-scale disturbance that disrupts soil properties that requires reclamation. Reclamation monitoring and success typically focuses on vegetation communities, but soil monitoring may improve our ... -
Evaluation of Alternative Methods for Leafy Spurge Control in the Northern Great Plains
(North Dakota State University, 2018)Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is a costly noxious weed to manage in the Northern Great Plains; it invades rangelands and displaces native and desirable vegetation. Our first objective was to test the recommended full ... -
Novel Ecosystem Management: Evidence for Alternative Strategies in the Northern Great Plains
(North Dakota State University, 2018)Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis, hereafter bluegrass) invasion in the northern Great Plains is reducing biodiversity and altering ecosystem properties. We cannot remove bluegrass from this system due to the extent of its ... -
Impacts of Prescribed Fire and Grazing on Northern Great Plains Rangelands
(North Dakota State University, 2018)Prescribed burning was utilized as a management tool on grasslands of the Northern Great Plains. We analyzed the use of fire to manipulate encroaching and unpalatable western snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis), to ... -
Assessment of Watershed Health on Intermittent Watersheds in Southwestern North Dakota
(North Dakota State University, 2017)Watersheds are complex systems that are influenced by many factors including geomorphology, climate, soil, vegetation, and land management. Due to this complexity, a watershed assessment that evaluates both the riparian ... -
The Effects of Herbivory and Vegetation Competition on Seedling Survival and Growth in the Middle Sheyenne River Watershed, North Dakota
(North Dakota State University, 2017)There is a concern about the lack of regeneration of riparian hardwood forest communities in the Middle Sheyenne River Watershed of northeastern North Dakota. Natural resource managers and landowners are unsure if herbivory ... -
Investigating the Influence of Grazing Management Practices on Pollinators to Inform Biodiversity Conservation in Working Grassland-Landscapes
(North Dakota State University, 2017)Declines in pollinator populations worldwide are threatening pollination that supports native plant communities and global food production. Mitigating these impacts will require conservation actions that promote biodiversity ...
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