Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science articles from March 2004

Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science archives from March 2004

Origin, distribution and age of high-level chert gravels (Plio-Pleistocene) in eastern Kansas.
March 22, 2004... It is probable that the rounded flint has partly originated from these [Flint] hills. G.C. Broadhead (1880). High-level (upland) chert [flint] gravels occur in almost all of the counties in the Osage Cuesta country of eastern Kansas. The...

Correlations among densities of stream fishes in the upper Neosho River, with focus on the federally threatened Neosho madtom Noturus placidus.
March 22, 2004... We sampled fishes monthly from November 2000 to October 2001 at four gravel bar sites along a 34-km stretch of the upper Neosho River in Lyon County, Kansas. We assessed the potential for interspecific competition among stream fishes, with...

Osteoarthropathy in a moose (Alces alces) from Utah.
March 22, 2004... Moose (Alces alces) are known to suffer from a wide range of diseases including osteoarthropathies. An Alces specimen collected in 1989 from Summit County, Utah shows four separate occurrences of osteoarthropathy: 1) extensive remodeling of the...

An autonomous software agent for industrial process control.
March 22, 2004... A suite of software programs is described which has been trained to operate a laboratory experiment or an industrial process, especially those which are highly complex and for which no accurate model exists. The "autonomous software agent"...

Lighter-than-air platforms for small-format aerial photography.
March 22, 2004... Lighter-than-air, unmanned, tethered platforms for small-format aerial photography include balloons and blimps. Hot-air and helium blimps have been developed and tested successfully in the field. Both provide stable platforms for lifting camera...

Grassland management effects on soil bulk density.
March 22, 2004... Various grassland management regimes have been and are being utilized in northeastern Kansas, all of which could impact soil properties. Differences in one such property, soil bulk density, could indicate differences in soil quality. Five...

A list of plants observed along the lower Missouri River by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 and 1806.
March 22, 2004... Members of the Lewis and Clark expedition collected plant specimens, identified plants using common names, or described in sufficient detail 108 plant species along the lower Missouri River to which modern scientific names can be assigned with...

Anti-predator behavior of larval walleyes and saugeyes.
March 22, 2004... This study was conducted to investigate differences in the anti-predator behavior of larval walleyes (Sander vitreus) and saugeyes (walleye x sauger [Sander canadensis]). Larval fish (5-7 and 12-14 days old) were exposed to a simulated predator...

Recent trends in the winter population of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) in Wichita, Kansas: 1998-2003.
March 22, 2004... Our long-term study of winter Canada goose (Branta canadensis) populations began in January 1983, when 1600 individuals were counted within the Wichita city limits. By 1997, we reported in this Transactions that the winter Canada goose...

First record of the hybodont shark genus, "Polyacrodus" sp., (Chondrichthyes; Polyacrodontidae) from the Kiowa Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of McPherson County, Kansas.
March 22, 2004... Three unassociated tooth fragments of the hybodont shark, Polyacrodus sp., were recovered from a quarry in the Kiowa Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Albian), McPherson County, Kansas, in June of 2003. The teeth of this shark represent a new record...

Microhabitat selection of Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus in mid-successional vegetation.
March 22, 2004... We studied syntopic populations of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and deer mice (P. maniculatus) in mid-successional vegetation to determine microhabitat selections on experimental plots in northeastern Kansas. Microhabitat selections,...

Eastern moles on the Konza Prairie Biological Station.
March 22, 2004... We examined the local distribution of the eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus) along the Kings Creek drainage on the Konza Prairie Biological Station (located south of Manhattan, Kansas). Our 46-ha study site included primarily intermixed riparian...

Notes on a megachiline bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae) from the Miocene of Idaho.
March 22, 2004... Among the few published fossil records of cleptoparasitic bees, one has been assigned as an unnamed species of Coelioxys (Megachilinae: Megachilini). The putative Coelioxys was recovered from the Latah Formation (Miocene) near Juliaetta in...

The purse-web spiders of Kansas (Araneae: Atypidae).
March 22, 2004... There are three purse-web spider species in Kansas, all in the genus Sphodros. Two of these species, S. niger (Hentz) and S. rufipes (Latreille), are known only from the eastern edge of the state, while the range of S. fitchi Gertsch and...