The social and demographic data included in this collection consist of a single data file for each decennial year between 1870 and 2000, covering 10 of the 12 Great Plains states. Information on a variety of social and demographic topics was gathered to historically characterize populations living in counties within the United States Great Plains, in terms of: (1) urban, rural, and total population, (2) vital statistics, (3) net migration, (4) age and sex, (5) nativity and ancestry, (6) education and literacy, (7) religion, (8) industry, and (9) housing and other characteristics. These data include selected material compiled as part of the United States population census. The United States Census of Population and Housing has been conducted since 1790 on a regular schedule that is decennial. The county-level social and demographic data produced by the United States government as a result constitute a consistent series of measures capturing changes in the United States population's size, composition, and other characteristics. A subset of the variables available from the short and long-form survey questionnaires of the United States Census of Population and Housing (as compiled for counties) were extracted from previously existing digital files. Besides the decennial census of the population, county-level data were drawn from an assortment of existing digital files as well as sources that were manually digitized. Other data include compilations of county-level information gathered from various federal agencies and private organizations as well as the agriculture and economic censuses. Supplementing these compilations are manually digitized consumer market data, religious data, and vital statistics, including information about births, deaths, marriage, and divorce.

This study is part of a series of studies assembled by an interdisciplinary research team led by Myron Gutmann of the University of Michigan between 1995 and 2004, as part of a research project funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant Number R01HD033554 to the University of Michigan). The goal of the project was to amass information about approximately 500 counties in 12 states of the Great Plains of the United States, and then to analyze those data in order to understand the relationships between population and environment that existed between the years of 1860 and 2003. The data distributed as part of this series are all data about counties. They fall into four broad categories: information about the counties, about agriculture, about demographic and social conditions, and about the environment. The information about counties (name, area, identification code, and whether the project classified the county as part of the Great Plains in a given year) is embedded in each of the other data files, so that there will be three series of data (agriculture, demographic and social conditions, and environment), containing individual data files for each year for which data are available. Specifically, this study contains environmental data and is meant to aid the modeling of the biogeochemical effects of cropping in the Great Plains region. These data were generated by the Daycent ecosystem model, which has been used extensively to simulate soil biogeochemical dynamics from agricultural systems throughout the United States. Variables include information on above-ground production, soil and system carbon, evaporation and transpiration data, soil temperature, nitrogen mineralization, and fluxes of various chemical compounds.

We present a tabular data set representing values used to evaluate hypotheses of breeding habitat selection for immigrants and returning Northern Great Plains piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) from 2014 – 2019. The associated manuscript uses network analysis approach to evaluate five hypotheses of habitat selection. In this approach breeding locations were nodes and successive year breeding attempts form the edges (immigration) and self-loops (fidelity). Included in the dataset are covariates of habitat amount, conspecific density, and habitat quality, as well as other fields used in the analysis. In addition, we include descriptive breeding location-specific metrics from the network graphs.

Comprehensive demographic dataset for East Great Plains, Norwich, CT, US including population statistics, household income, housing units, education levels, employment data, and transportation with year-over-year changes.

This three-band, 30-m resolution raster contains sagebrush vegetation types, soil temperature/moisture regime classes, and large fire frequencies across greater sage-grouse population areas within the Great Plains sage-grouse management zone. Sagebrush vegetation types were defined by grouping together similar vegetation types from the LANDFIRE biophysical settings layer. Soil moisture and temperature regimes were from an USDA-NRCS analysis of soil types across the greater sage-grouse range. Fire frequencies were derived from fire severity rasters created by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program. The area of analysis included the greater sage-grouse populations areas within specific management zones. Methods used to derive these data are detailed in the report [Brooks, M.L., Matchett, J.R., Shinneman, D.J., and Coates, P.S., 2015, Fire patterns in the range of greater sage-grouse, 1984-2013; Implications for conservation and management: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2015-1167, 66 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20151167]

The whooping crane (Grus americana) is a listed, endangered species in North America, protected under federal legislation in the United States and Canada. The only self-sustaining and wild population of Whooping Cranes nests at and near Wood Buffalo National Park near the provincial border of Northwest Territories and Alberta, Canada. Birds from this population migrate through the Great Plains of North America and spend a nonbreeding period along the Gulf Coast of Texas at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding lands. These data represent predictions from a resource selection function using GPS locations between 2010 and 2016 during migration. This surface is a composite of drought and non-drought conditions calculated using the average drought occurrence at each pixel during our study period. Pixel values can be used to represent the relative probability of whooping crane use during migration, based on landscape conditions in 2020. These values should not be interpreted as absolute values of probability of use. See additional information about resource selection functions and interpretation of output as needed.

We present a tabular data set representing values to estimate apparent hatch-year survival to adulthood and natal dispersal probabilities between two breeding groups of the Northern Great Plains piping plover (Charadrius melodus) used in a multievent capture-mark-resight model from 2014-2019. Focusing on the Northern Missouri River and U.S. Alkali Wetlands breeding groups. In addition, several covariates were included representing habitat and social variables.

Whooping cranes (Grus americana) of the Aransas- Wood Buffalo population migrate twice each year through the Great Plains in North America. Recovery activities for this endangered species include providing adequate places to stop and rest during migration, which are generally referred to as stopover sites. To assist in recovery efforts, initial estimates of stopover site use intensity are presented, which provide opportunity to identify areas across the migration range used more intensively by whooping cranes. We used location data acquired from 58 unique individuals fitted with platform transmitting terminals that collected global position system locations. Radio-tagged birds provided 2,158 stopover sites over 10 migrations and 5 years (2010–14). Using a grid-based approach, we identified 1,095 20-square-kilometer grid cells that contained stopover sites. We categorized occupied grid cells based on density of stopover sites and the amount of time cranes spent in the area. This assessment resulted in four categories of stopover site use: unoccupied, low intensity, core intensity, and extended-use core intensity. Although provisional, this evaluation of stopover site use intensity offers the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners a tool to identify landscapes that may be of greater conservation significance to migrating whooping cranes. Initially, the tool will be used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other interested parties in evaluating the Great Plains Wind Energy Habitat Conservation Plan.

Heading date in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and other small grain cereals is affected by the vernalization and photoperiod pathways. The reduced-height loci also have an effect on growth and development. Heading date, which occurs just prior to anthesis, was evaluated in a population of 299 hard winter wheat entries representative of the U.S. Great Plains region, grown in nine environments during 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. The germplasm was evaluated for candidate genes at vernalization (Vrn-A1, Vrn-B1, and Vrn-D1), photoperiod (Ppd-A1, Ppd-B1 and Ppd-D1), and reduced-height (Rht-B1 and Rht-D1) loci using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) assays. Our objectives were to determine allelic variants known to affect flowering time, assess the effect of allelic variants on heading date, and investigate changes in the geographic and temporal distribution of alleles and haplotypes. Our analyses enhanced understanding of the roles developmental genes have on the timing of heading date in wheat under varying environmental conditions, which could be used by breeding programs to improve breeding strategies under current and future climate scenarios. The significant main effects and two-way interactions between the candidate genes explained an average of 44% of variability in heading date at each environment. Among the loci we evaluated, most of the variation in heading date was explained by Ppd-D1, Ppd-B1, and their interaction. The prevalence of the photoperiod sensitive alleles Ppd-A1b, Ppd-B1b, and Ppd-D1b has gradually decreased in U.S. Great Plains germplasm over the past century. There is also geographic variation for photoperiod sensitive and reduced-height alleles, with germplasm from breeding programs in the northern Great Plains having greater incidences of the photoperiod sensitive alleles and lower incidence of the semi-dwarf alleles than germplasm from breeding programs in the central or southern plains.

Study site descriptions, environmental conditions, and monitoring efforts for ten populations of Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chickens in the Great Plains.

The decline of biodiversity from anthropogenic landscape modification is among the most pressing conservation problems world-wide. In North America, long-term population declines have elevated the recovery of the grassland avifauna to among the highest conservation priorities. Because the vast majority of grasslands of the Great Plains are privately owned, the recovery of these ecosystems and bird populations within them depend on landscape-scale conservation strategies that integrate social, economic, and biodiversity objectives. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is a voluntary program for private agricultural producers administered by the United States Department of Agriculture that provides financial incentives to take cropland out of production and restore perennial grassland. We investigated spatial patterns of grassland availability and restoration to inform landscape-scale conservation for a comprehensive community of grassland birds in the Great Plains. The research ob...

These data are associated with the manuscript

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Using phenological monitoring in situ and historical records to determine environmental triggers for emergence and anthesis in the rare orchid Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & Bowles"

We present two tabular data sets representing values to examine sources of variation in natal and breeding dispersal distances for piping plovers breeding in the Northern Great Plains from 2014-2019 focusing on four study areas: U.S. Alkali Wetlands, Lake Sakakawea, Garrison Reach of the Missouri River, and Lake Oahe. We included habitat variables, and conspecific densities in both datasets and include nest fates and mate fidelity in the breeding dispersal dataset.

We examined phylogeographic structure in gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) across the United States to identify the location of secondary contact zone(s) between eastern and western lineages and investigate the possibility of additional cryptic intraspecific divergences. We generated and analyzed complete mitochondrial genome sequence data from 75 samples and partial control region mitochondrial DNA sequences from 378 samples to investigate levels of genetic diversity and structure through population- and individual-based analyses including estimates of divergence (FST and SAMOVA), median joining networks, and phylogenies. We used complete mitochondrial genomes to infer phylogenetic relationships and date divergence times of major lineages of Urocyon in the United States. Despite broad-scale sampling, we did not recover additional major lineages of Urocyon within the United States, but identified a deep east-west split (∼0.8 million years) with secondary contact at the Great Plains Suture Zone and confirmed the Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is nested within U. cinereoargenteus. Genetic diversity declined at northern latitudes in the eastern United States, a pattern concordant with post-glacial recolonization and range expansion. Beyond the east-west divergence, morphologically-based subspecies did not form monophyletic groups, though unique haplotypes were often geographically limited. Gray foxes in the United States displayed a deep, cryptic divergence suggesting taxonomic revision is needed. Secondary contact at a common phylogeographic break, the Great Plains Suture Zone, where environmental variables show a sharp cline, suggests ongoing evolutionary processes may reinforce this divergence. Follow-up study with nuclear markers should investigate whether hybridization is occurring along the suture zone and characterize contemporary population structure to help identify conservation units. Comparative work on other wide-ranging carnivores in the region should test whether similar evolutionary patterns and processes are occurring.

This dataset presents four tabular data files that evaluate the effect of predator exclosures around piping plover (Charadrius melodus) nests affects plover nest, chick, within-season, and annual adult survival. During 2014-2016, this data was part of a designed experiment to examine nest (n = 418), chick (n = 453), and adult (n = 367) survival at alkaline wetlands of the Northern Great Plains. Alkaline wetlands were divided between treatment wetlands and control wetlands (no exclosures placed anywhere on wetland). Field crews aimed to place predator exclosures around half of all plover nests found resulting in three treatment types: uncaged nest on control wetland, uncaged nest on treatment wetland, and caged nest on treatment wetland. The nest survival dataset includes values used with the Shaffer logistic exposure model as well as the treatment of nest and wetland separately. The chick survival dataset includes a censored Cormack-Jolly-Seber encounter history based on when chic ...

Ice nucleating particles (INPs) are rare particles that initiate primary ice formation, a critical step required for subsequent important cloud microphysical processes that ultimately govern cloud phase and cloud radiative properties. Laboratory studies have found that organic-rich dusts, such as those found in soils, are more efficient INPs compared to mineral dust. However, the atmospheric relevance of these organic-rich dusts are not well understood, particularly in regions with significant agricultural activity. The Agricultural Ice nuclei at the Southern Great Plains field campaign (AGINSGP) was conducted in rural Oklahoma to investigate how soil dusts contribute to INP populations in the Great Plains. We present chemical characterization of ambient and ice crystal residual particles from a single day of sampling using single particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) and scanning microscopy. Ambient particle concentrations were primarily carbonaceous or secondary aerosol, while dust particles were enhanced in the residual particles. Dust particles measured during residual sampling contained elevated signals for phosphate ($^{63}$PO$_2^-$ and $^{79}$PO$_3^-$) and lead ($^{208}$Pb$_2^+$). Nitrate was slightly depleted relative to ambient dust, and strong sulfate signals were not seen in the residual particles measured by the miniSPLAT. The residual and ambient particles measured by the miniSPLAT were approximately the same size, though this may be a reflection of the SPMS size-dependent transmission efficiency and not that of physical truth. This study shows that organic-rich soils may be important contributors to the ambient INP population in agricultural regions.

Rate of global biodiversity loss increased significantly during the 20th century associated with human environmental alterations. Specifically, mismanagement of freshwater resources contributed to historical and contemporary loss of stream-dwelling fish diversity and will likely play a role in determining the persistence of species in the future. We present a mechanistic pathway by which human alteration of streams has caused the decline of a unique reproductive guild of Great Plains stream-dwelling fishes, and suggest how future climate change might exacerbate these declines. Stream fragmentation related to impoundments, diversion dams and stream dewatering are consequences of increasing demand for freshwater resources and have effectively created a mosaic of large river fragments throughout the Great Plains of central North America. We analyzed community composition, species population status, fragment size and flow regime components for 60 stream fragments spanning the latitudinal range of the contiguous United States. Stream fragment lengths were a strong predictor of conservation status among pelagic-spawning cyprinid populations, explaining 71% of cumulative extirpations. Mean fragment lengths were least for extirpated (140 ± 55 km) and declining (205 ± 65 km) populations and highest for stable (425 ± 185 km) populations. Similarly, components of flow regimes within fragments associated with magnitude of discharge explained 29% of variation among daily streamflow values, and extirpations were positively correlated (r = 0.36, P = 0.02) with declining discharges. Future climate change scenarios project stream fragments in the southern Great Plains may lose up to 12% of their discharge before 2060, while stream fragments in the northern Great Plains may gain up to 5%. Continued human demand for water resources combined with reduced availability in the southern Great Plains will likely contribute to increased need for fragmentation (e.g., impoundments) and cause further disparity from natural flow regimes. Conservation measures that restore connectivity of river fragments and natural flow regimes will likely benefit pelagic-spawning cyprinids. Moreover, maintenance of long stream fragments will ensure that stable populations of these species do not undergo further declines.

Two tabular data sets representing values to examine survival estimates for piping plover nests and chicks in the Northern Great Plains from 2014-2016. We focused on four study areas: U.S. Alkali Wetlands, Lake Sakakawea, Garrison Reach of the Missouri River, and Lake Oahe spanning eastern Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. We followed nests to completion, either success or failure, and created capture histories for uniquely banded chicks.

Infectious diseases pose a significant threat to global health and biodiversity. Yet, predicting the spatiotemporal dynamics of wildlife epizootics remains challenging. Disease outbreaks result from complex non-linear interactions among a large collection of variables that rarely adhere to the assumptions of parametric regression modeling. We adopted a non-parametric machine learning approach to model wildlife epizootics and population recovery, using the disease system of colonial black-tailed prairie dogs (BTPD, Cynomys ludovicianus) and sylvatic plague as an example. We synthesized colony data between 2001–2020 from eight USDA Forest Service National Grasslands across the range of BTPD in central North America. We then modeled extinctions due to plague and colony recovery of BTPD in relation to complex interactions among climate, topoedaphic variables, colony characteristics, and disease history. Extinctions due to plague occurred more frequently when BTPD colonies were spatially clustered, in closer proximity to colonies decimated by plague during the previous year, following cooler than average temperatures the previous summer, and when wetter winter/springs were preceded by drier summer/falls. Rigorous cross-validations and spatial predictions indicated that our final models predicted plague outbreaks and colony recovery in BTPD with high accuracy (e.g., AUC generally > 0.80). Thus, these spatially-explicit models can reliably predict the spatial and temporal dynamics of wildlife epizootics and subsequent population recovery in a highly complex host-pathogen system. Our models can be used to support strategic management planning (e.g., plague mitigation) to optimize benefits of this keystone species to associated wildlife communities and ecosystem functioning. This optimization can reduce conflicts among different landowners and resource managers, as well as economic losses to the ranching industry. More broadly, our big data–model integration approach provides a general framework for spatially-explicit forecasting of disease-induced population fluctuations, for use in natural resource management decision-making.

We present two tabular data sets representing values to estimate apparent natal and adult survival and transition probabilities between breeding location states used in a multievent capture-mark-resight model for piping plover adults and hatch year birds in the Northern Great Plains from 2014-2019 focusing on four study areas: U.S. Alkali Wetlands (ALK), Lake Sakakawea (SAK), Garrison Reach of the Missouri River (GRR), and Lake Oahe (OAH). In addition, several covariates were included representing habitat and social variables.