FOR MORE INFORMATION:
DR. JOSEPH WHITTAKER, associate professor, Biology, and co-director of Environmental and Sustainability
(218) 299-3739
AMY KELLY, College Communications and Media Relations director
(218) 299-3642
CENTENNIAL SCHOLARS LECTURE
ON PRAIRIE SMALL MAMMAL ECOLOGY
Dr. Joseph Whittaker, associate professor of biology and student co-researchers Greta Duren ’22, Logan Hatfield ’20, Faith James ’21 and Jake Rames ’21, will present a Centennial Scholars Lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, Morrie Jones Conference Center A/B, Knutson Campus Center. The lecture is “A Comparison of Small Mammal Communities on Restored and Remnant Prairies, with Special Emphasis on Plains Pocket Mice (Perognathus flavescens).”
Small mammal trapping in both remnant and restored northwestern Minnesota prairies provides data on occurrence and population trends of species present. Among the species caught over a 15-year span (2004-19) was the plains pocket mouse. Perognathus flavescens is currently listed as being of special concern to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Whittaker’s team has caught 10 at sites in Clay and Norman Counties, one from a restored prairie, while the other sites are remnant prairie.
Whittaker will discuss his team’s findings seeking to determine suitable habitat for continued study and identify conservation management implications.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
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(kk)
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