Changes in the plant community and ecosystem properties that follow the conversion of agriculture to restored tallgrass prairies are poorly understood. Beginning in 1995, we established a species‐rich, restored prairie chronosequence where ∼3 ha of agricultural land have been converted to tallgrass prairie each year. Our goals were to examine differences in ecosystem properties between these restored prairies and adjacent agricultural fields and to determine changes in, and potential interactions between, the plant community and ecosystem properties that occur over time in the restored prairies. During the summers of 2000–2002, we examined species cover, soil C and N, potential net C and N mineralization, litter mass, soil texture, and bulk density across the 6‐ to 8‐year‐old prairie chronosequence and adjacent agricultural fields in southern Minnesota. We also established experimentally fertilized, watered, and control plots in the prairie chronosequence to examine the degree of nitrogen limitation on aboveground and belowground net primary production (ANPP and BNPP). Large shifts in functional diversity occurred within three growing seasons. First‐year prairies were dominated by annuals and biennials. By the second growing season, perennial native composites had become dominant, followed by a significant shift to warm‐season C4 grasses in prairies ≥3 yr old. Ecosystem properties that changed with the rise of C4 grasses included increased BNPP, litter mass, and C mineralization rates and decreased N mineralization rates. ANPP increased significantly with N fertilization but did not vary between young and old prairies with dramatically different plant community composition. Total soil C and N were not significantly different between prairie and agricultural soils in the depths examined (0–10, 10–20, 20–35, 35–50, 50–65 cm). We compared the results from our species‐rich prairie restoration to published data on ecosystem function in other restored grasslands, such as Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and old‐field successional sites. Results suggest that rapid changes in functional diversity can have large impacts on ecosystem‐level properties, causing community‐ and system‐level dynamics in species‐rich prairie restorations to converge with those from low‐diversity managed grasslands.

Global positioning system (GPS) collars have been deployed on adult moose (Alces americanus) and other ungulates to study various aspects of their ecology, but until the current study they have not been fitted to moose neonates. The moose population in northeastern Minnesota, USA, has been declining since 2006, and information on neonatal survival and cause‐specific mortality are needed. We monitored hourly movements of GPS‐collared females for indications of calving. During 2 May–2 June 2013 we observed 47 of 73 collared females (50 known pregnant, 17 not pregnant, 6 unknown pregnancy status) make “calving movements” followed by a clustering of locations. After allowing a mean bonding time of 40.2 hr, we approached their calving sites and captured and GPS‐collared 49 neonates from 31 dams. We closely monitored dam–calf movements and launched rapid investigative responses to calf mortality notifications to determine cause of mortality. Mean response time was 53.3 hr, but ranged from 0.3 hr to 579 hr, depending on collar accessibility and proper functioning of the GPS component. We censored capture‐related mortalities and slipped collars. Twenty‐five of 34 calves (74%) died of natural causes as of 31 December 2013, including 1 after natural abandonment, 1 after abandonment of unknown cause, 1 drowning, 1 unknown predator kill, 1 lethal infection from wolf (Canis lupus) bites, 4 black bear (Ursus americanus) kills, 12 wolf kills, and 4 “probable wolf kills.” As this technology develops, the quantity and quality of survival, cause‐specific mortality, movement, and habitat use data generated from intense monitoring of GPS‐collared adults and offspring will have unprecedented value associated with management at the population and landscape scales. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.

No abstract

Ungulate reproductive success (calf production and survival) influences population performance. The moose (Alces alces) population in northeastern Minnesota, USA, has declined 65% from 2006 to 2018 but has begun to stabilize. Because causes of this decline were largely unknown, we investigated production, survival, and cause‐specific mortality of calves of the global positioning system (GPS)‐collared females in this population. In 2013 and 2014, we GPS‐collared 74 neonates and monitored them for survival. In 2015 and 2016, we monitored 50 and 35 calving females for signs of neonatal mortality using changes in adult female velocities and assessed seasonal calf survival by aerial surveys. In 2013 and 2014 (pooled), survival to 9 months was 0.34 (95% CI = 0.23–0.52) for collared calves, and in 2015 and 2016 (pooled) survival was 0.35 (95% CI = 0.26–0.48) for uncollared calves. Mortality in all 4 years was high during the first 50 days of life. In 2013 and 2014 (pooled), calving sites were relatively safe for collared neonates; predator‐kills occurred a median 17.0 days after departure and a median 1,142 m from calving sites. Predation was the leading cause of death of collared calves (84% of mortalities), with wolves (Canis lupus) accounting for 77% of these. Other forms of mortality for collared and uncollared calves included drowning, infection, vehicle collision, and natural abandonment. We documented higher wolf predation than other recent studies with similar predator communities. Identifying specific causes of calf mortality and understanding their relations to various landscape characteristics and other extrinsic factors should yield insight into mechanisms contributing to the declining moose population in northeastern Minnesota and serve as a basis for ecologically sound management responses. © 2019 The Wildlife Society.