Nebraska Project
Evaluating spatial distribution and composition of mesopredator communities in western Nebraska
May 2024 - July 2027
Personnel
Participating Agencies
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Mesopredators are important components of animal and plant communities and play a role in maintaining ecosystem function and health. Not only does the presence of predators on the landscape have a strong influence on prey density and vital rates, mesopredator composition has cascading effects on species and ecosystem processes. Within Nebraska, scant data are available describing predator composition, occurrence and distribution. Given the influence mesopredators have on species, data on predator communities are needed to address knowledge gaps regarding population dynamics of harvested species and ultimately inform management strategies for both predator and harvested species. Our project will investigate how predator presence and community composition in Nebraska vary in relation to landscape features, land cover types, and other vegetation characteristics to inform decisions regarding habitat management.
| Presentations | Presentation Date |
|---|---|
| Wawers, J., and S. A. Sonsthagen. 2024. Development of a metagenomics approach to evaluate what is eating ground-nesting bird eggs in western Nebraska. American Genetics Association Presidental Symposium, Tahoe, California, October 6-9. | October 2024 |