Faculty members from the Department of Entomology at Kansas State College (now Kansas State University) in Manhattan received support (ca. 1940–43) from a somewhat unusual source to complete a work of practical utility describing the region's insect fauna. Their patron was none other than the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) - the largest agencies of their kind that provided employment relief during the Great Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies. More than a dozen and a half regional artists were recruited and trained in the exacting techniques of scientific illustration, for which stringent standards of performance were uniformly applied. Through their efforts, more than a hundred pen-and-ink habitus drawings were prepared for the identification manual, Insects in Kansas (1943), published by the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. Seemingly exploiting an opportunity provided by the WPA/FAP to demonstrate an integration of “the arts in general with the daily life of the community,” the entomologists' rationale almost certainly drew upon the model of cooperative agricultural extension used in diffusing practical (i.e., vocational) scientific knowledge. This investigation has also revealed what it meant to be a WPA artist employed on the project. It has likewise enabled the artistic work (and profiles) of two notable Kansas women scientific illustrators - Bertha (Kimball) Dickens and Ella (Weeks) Menoher - each a member of the Kansas Academy of Science - to be placed into historical context.

We have sampled small mammals on the Konza Prairie Biological Station, in eastern Kansas, from autumn 1981 through the present. One part of this effort has involved sampling rodents and shrews on 14 permanent traplines (20 stations, 15-m interstation intervals and 4 consecutive nights) situated in native tallgrass prairie during each of 29 autumns and 29 springs as well as 6 summers. In these permanent sites, house mice (Mus musculus) were extremely uncommon as illustrated by average abundances of 0.023 mice/100 trap nights (TN) in autumn, 0.022 mice/100 TN in summer and 0.000 mice/100 TN in spring. Precipitation in summer influenced autumn use of tallgrass prairie by house mice; captures only occurred in autumn when precipitation was ≥300 mm in the previous summer. House mice were slightly more likely (though not significantly) to be captured in lowland than upland or hill slope prairie. The distribution of occurrence was not influenced by fire (burned or unburned) or grazing history (grazed or ungrazed). Over our total trapping efforts on Konza Prairie (sampling on the permanent traplines plus other traplines and grids), we captured only 36 house mice or about 0.01 individual/100 TN. Overall, more males (64%) than females were captured; males, on average, were larger (14.0 g) than females (10.5 g) in body size; females typically were non-reproductive (only one of 13 was pregnant) and individuals typically were trapped only once. Captures were distributed broadly in both space and time and lacked predictability (i.e., exhibited an “anti-nested” distribution of captures). These and other patterns suggest that most house mice were transients in the tallgrass prairie. Distribution and abundance of house mice also imply that this introduced species is extremely uncommon and likely will never be invasive in native tallgrass prairie.

Factors important to tree growth in the Midwest are generally related to moisture availability. By relating site quality to site and soil characteristics of forests, potential productivity can be estimated for non-forested areas. Our study measured the growth potential of black walnut in natural stands. We looked at 28 stands on unglaciated soils in the Flint Hills of east central Kansas and evaluated numerous environmental factors including site and chemical and physical soil properties. These factors were related to tree height at the standard age of 50 years. Simple correlation and multiple regression analyses were run with site index using 31 variables of soil and topographic characteristics. These analyses explained 80% of the variation in height with chemical and physical variables. Soil type and depth to a restrictive layer (DRL) accounted for 55% of the variation in height.

Ponds are common in many agricultural landscapes and provide aquatic habitat for wildlife. Most studies of semi-aquatic turtle assemblages have been conducted in lotic environments or large lentic habitats (e.g., lakes, reservoirs), but few studies have described pond communities. We used Frame nets and basking traps to sample turtle assemblages within eight ponds located in east-central Kansas (Lyon Co.) from 15 May 2007 – 1 October 2007. Our objective was to describe selected aspects of the semi-aquatic turtle assemblages in these ponds: species richness, relative abundance, catch per unit effort, and density. A total of 655 unique individuals were captured and four species were detected (Chrysemys picta bellii, N = 387; Trachemys scripta elegans, N= 188; Chelydra serpentina, N = 79; Pseudemys concinna, N = 1). Chrysemys picta bellii was usually the most abundant species, with T. s. elegans and C. serpentina ranked second and third, respectively. Likewise, catch per unit effort (an index of abundance) was usually greatest for C. p. bellii, and there was significant agreement (W = 0.67) among the rank abundances of the three most commonly encountered species among the eight ponds (χ² = 10.8; d.f. = 2; P = 0.005). However, the identity of the numerically dominant species was not the same in all ponds. Mean density (i.e., number of turtles/ha) across all ponds was 178.6, 49.2, and 29.8 for C. p. bellii, T. s. elegans, and C. serpentina, respectively.

The Little Arkansas River extends 102 miles through south-central Kansas to its confluence with the Arkansas River at Wichita. Historical studies along the most urban reach of this river at Wichita reported 12 unionid species. Unionid mussel surveys were conducted at 250 sites within the Little Arkansas River basin in 1978–79. Along the reach at Wichita, seven species were found alive: Lasmigona complanata, Leptodea fragilis, Potamilus ohiensis, Pyganodon grandis, Quadrula pustulosa, Quadrula quadrula, and Uniomerus tetralasmus. In 2008–09, surveys were conducted at the Wichita sites between 11th Street North and 109th Street North. Live representatives of five of these species were detected, missing P. ohiensis and U. tetralasmus. An exotic species, Corbicula fluminea, first was reported in the 2008–09 study. Mussel abundance in the current study was significantly lower than in the 1978–79 survey. In addition, there was a significantly different species distribution in this reach between the two surveys. Mussel length class frequency was not significantly different between surveys for any of the mussel species. A combination of environmental changes during the urban development of this river reach may have caused the decline in mussel populations.

The primary objective in corn production is to produce maximum yield, but many factors can interact to reduce yields. Crop models can be used as management tools to maximize returns to the producer and help manage resources. However, crop models need to accurately predict yield and yield components to be accepted on a large scale. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the simulation of kernel number and yield in the CERES-Maize crop model using four equations for kernel number calculation. Data sets from various plant populations, planting dates, and hybrid maturities under irrigated and dryland conditions from Kansas were used for evaluation of the four kernel number calculation methods incorporated into CERES-Maize version 3.51. None of the four equations adequately simulated kernel number across plant populations, locations, and hybrids for irrigated or dryland conditions. Simulated kernel numbers were generally high at low kernel numbers and low at high kernel numbers. However, under irrigated conditions kernel number was better simulated for late hybrids than for early hybrids. None of the equations accounted for a significant portion of the variability in kernel number under dryland conditions. Simulated yield was high at low yield levels and low at high yield levels under irrigated conditions with all four equations. The inability of these equations to accurately simulate kernel number may have affected the accuracy of yield simulations. Therefore, factors such as average plant growth rates and intercepted radiation during critical periods around silking need to be examined more closely if kernel number and yield are to be accurately simulated.

A partial labyrinthodont amphibian skull was collected from the Pony Creek Shale Member of the Wood Siding Formation (Virgilian Stage, Upper Pennsylvanian) in Wabaunsee County, Kansas. The partial skull provides supporting evidence that labyrinthodonts frequented marginal marine environments. The fossil is from an animal that probably was about 1.5 meters long in life and was ecologically similar to an alligator.

Seven Swedish-American geologists who have made notable contributions to the study of the geology of Kansas are discussed. Two immigrated from Sweden and five are first or second generation descendants. All taught in a college or university, had connections with a state or the federal geological survey, and all had an international outlook.