The Fish Creek,Owl Canyon and Grinnvoll Rock Shelter Pictograph Sites in Montana

Abstract

Pictograph panels in central Montana reported containing masked anthropomorphic figures with symbolic arms and geometric chest designs; shield-bearing-anthropomorphic figures in panel with horse, Distribution of characteristics set forth, Possibly artists identified, Conclude that shield-bearing-anthropomorphic motif survived introduction of horses on Plains.     

Hierarchical Den Selection of Canada Lynx in Western Montana

Abstract We studied den selection of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis; hereafter lynx) at multiple ecological scales based on 57 dens from 19 females located in western Montana, USA, between 1999 and 2006. We considered 3 spatial scales in this analysis, including den site (11-m-radius circle surrounding dens), den area (100-m-radius circle), and den environ (1-km radius surrounding dens). Lynx denned in preexisting sheltered spaces created by downed logs (62%), root-wads from wind-thrown trees (19%), boulder fields (10%), slash piles (6%), and live trees (4%). Lynx preferentially selected den sites with northeasterly aspects that averaged 248. Average distance between dens of 13 females monitored in consecutive years was 2,248 m, indicating low den site fidelity. Lynx exhibited habitat selection at all 3 spatial scales. Based on logistic regression, den sites differed from the surrounding den areas in having higher horizontal cover and log volume. Abundant woody debris from piled logs was the dominant habitat feature at den sites. Lynx generally denned in mature spruce-fir (Picea-Abies) forests with high horizontal cover and abundant coarse woody debris. Eighty percent of dens were in mature forest stands and 13% in mid-seral regenerating stands; young regenerating (5%) and thinned (either naturally sparse or mechanically thinned) stands with discontinuous canopies (2%) were seldom used. Female lynx selected den areas with greater spruce-fir tree basal area, higher horizontal cover, and larger-diameter trees compared to random locations within their home range. Lynx selected den environs in topographically concave or drainage-like areas, and farther from forest edges than random expectation. Maintaining mature and mid-seral regenerating spruce-fir forests with high horizontal cover and abundant woody debris would be most valuable for denning when located in drainages or in concave, drainage-like basins. Management actions that alter spruce-fir forests to a condition that is sparsely stocked (e.g., mechanically thinned) and with low canopy closure (<50%) would create forest conditions that are poorly suitable for lynx denning.     

Circadian Activity Patterns of Canada Lynx in Western Montana

Abstract: We recorded activity data for 6 male and 5 female lynx in winter and 3 male and 6 female lynx during summer in western Montana, USA, using motion-sensitive radiocollars. Lynx diel activity appeared to vary by sex, season, and reproductive status. During summer, male lynx exhibited a crepuscular activity pattern, whereas females with kittens remained active throughout the photoperiod. During winter, lynx of both sexes were most active during the afternoon and early evening. Although we observed no evidence that predation risk drove lynx activity patterns, such patterns may be a function of kitten-rearing activity, thermoregulatory strategies, and foraging behavior.     

Sources and Patterns of Wolverine Mortality in Western Montana

ABSTRACT We instrumented 36 wolverines (Gulo gulo) on 2 study areas in western Montana and one study area on the Idaho-Montana (USA) border: 14 (9 M, 5 F) on the Pioneer study area, 19 (11 M, 8 F) on the Glacier study area, and 3 (2 M, 1 F) on the Clearwater study area. During 2002–2005, harvest from licensed trapping accounted for 9 (6 M, 3 F) of 14 mortalities, including individuals from all 3 study areas. Based on Akaike's Information Criterion adjusted for small sample sizes (AIC_c) rankings of 8 a priori models, a trapping model and a trapping-by-sex interaction model were equally supported (ΔAIC_c < 2) in explaining wolverine survival. Estimated annual survival was 0.80 when we did not consider harvest, whereas additive mortality from harvest reduced annual survival to 0.57. Glacier National Park in the Glacier study area provided some refuge as evidenced by an annual survival rate of 0.77 compared to 0.51 for the Pioneer Mountain study area. We incorporated these survival rates into a simple Lefkovitch stage-based model to examine rates of population change. The finite rate of population change (Λ) for the Glacier study area was 1.1, indicating a stable to slightly increasing population, whereas Λ for the Pioneer study area was 0.7, indicating a 30% annual population decrease during our study. Changes in Λ for both study areas were most sensitive to adult survival. In 2004, we used a Lincoln Index to estimate that 12.8 ± 2.9 (95% CI) wolverines resided in the 4 mountain ranges comprising the Pioneer study area, suggesting that small, island ranges in western Montana supported few individuals. Our results suggest that if wolverines are harvested, they should be managed within individual mountain ranges or small groupings of mountain ranges to limit mortality to within biologically defined limits in recognition of the increased vulnerabilities owing to low fecundity and low population numbers in small mountain ranges. We found that refugia, such as Glacier National Park, were important by reducing trap mortality and providing immigrants to the surrounding population, but even large parks were inadequate to provide complete protection to wolverines from trapping as they ranged outside park borders.     

Handbook of Rock Art Research

Handbook of Rock Art Research. David S. Whitley. ed. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2001. 864 pp.     

Insolation and disturbance history drive biocrust biodiversity in Western Montana rangelands

Background and Aims

Biological soil crust (biocrust) communities, though common and important in the intermountain west, have received little research attention. There are gaps in understanding what influences biocrust species’ abundance and distributions in this ecoregion. Climatic, edaphic, topographic, and biotic forces, in addition to anthropogenic disturbance can all influence the biocrust.

Methods

We determined the relative influence of several possible environmental filters in biocrust communities of western Montana (USA) grasslands at two spatial scales. The larger scale exploited strong topographically-dictated climatic variation across >60km², while the smaller scale focused on differences among distinct microsites within ~700m² plots.

Results

We detected a total of 96 biocrust taxa, mostly lichens. Biocrust richness at each site ranged from 0 to 39 species, averaging 14 species. Insolation, aspect, and disturbance history were the strongest predictors of biocrust richness, abundance, and species turnover across the landscape; soil texture was influential for some biocrust community properties. Steep, north-facing slopes that receive longer periods of shade harbored higher diversity and cover of biocrust than south-facing sites. At a small scale, interspaces among native herbaceous communities supported the greatest diversity of biocrust species, but microsites under shrub canopies supported the greatest cover.

Conclusions

We found that, among the variables investigated, tillage, insolation, soil texture and the associated vegetation community were the most important drivers of biocrust abundance and species richness. This study can inform the practice of restoration and conservation, and also guide future work to improve predictions of biocrust properties.

     

Making a Mark: Rock Art Research

The Hunter's Vision: The Prehistoric Art of Zimbabwe. Peter Garlake. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995. 176 pp.
Rock Art Studies in the Americas. Jack Steinbring. ed. Oxford, England: Oxbow Books, 1994. 186 pp.
L'art pariéetal Paléolithique. Techniques et méthodes d'étude. Le Groupe de Réflexion sur l'Art Pariétal Paléolithique. Documents Préhistoriques, 5. Paris: Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques, 1993. 427 pp.     

The Field of Art Production and Western Desert Acrylics1

Following the logic of Bourdieu's notion of ‘field’, acrylic art production in the Western Desert of Australia is positioned as a sub‐field in the field of Western art production. The significance of the cultural identity of the producer subordinates Western Desert acrylic art within the field and the shift in the criteria of legitimation constitutes it as a sub‐field. The capital at stake in the sub‐field of Western Desert acrylic art is differentiated and contingent upon legitimation of authenticity as defined by the Western field of art production. This capital is constituted through the positioning of Western Desert acrylics within the field of art production and is a manifestation of the struggle to maintain domination within the field.     

Lithic Analysis of a Controlled Surface Collection from a Site in Western Montana

Abstract

In 1970, a controlled surface collection was carried out at site 24 PW 320 in the Avon Valley of Montana. Lithic samples were obtained from two areas within the site. Analysis of the chipped stone debris, as well as the finished tools, has provided information on aboriginal activities at these two loci during the late prehistoric era.     

The Fort Smith Medicine Wheel,Montana

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present information on a stone configuration in southeastern Montana, the Fort Smith Medicine Wheel (Site 24BH220), and to briefly review information on other known medicine wheels in an attempt to discover the function for which it was constructed.     

The Montana collections of Francis Duncan Kelsey

Francis Duncan Kelsey amassed one of the important early herbaria of Montana plants from 1885 to 1893. His Montana collections contain over 1200 specimens of algae, bryophytes, ferns, angiosperms, and fungi and include at least 41 that serve as types. Originally donated to the Oberlin College Herbarium (OC), the Montana collections, records, and later correspondence of Kelsey are now housed at the Miami University Herbarium (MU). The mycological collections of Kelsey are numbered, dated, and include site information; his other collections are unnumbered and often lack precise dates and/or localities. Kelsey's Montana fieldwork itineraries and sources of exchange are presented. All valid and legitimate names based on Kelsey's Montana collections are listed with pertinent information from his collection notebooks.     

Three-Dimensional Puzzles: Southern African and Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art

The history of anthropology is a growing field of study within the discipline itself. Our series 'Key Informants on the History of Anthropology' contributes to the discussion of how anthropology, as it is understood and practised today, evolved and took shape. In the following invited contribution, David Lewis-Williams reflects on the major reinterpretation of southern African rock art and Upper Palaeolithic art that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. An earlier interpretation of the rock art as representing hunters' impressions of their prey was replaced by sophisticated interpretations of the cosmology of the first inhabitants of South Africa. Lewis-Williams's work was crucial in bringing about this shift. David Lewis-Williams is Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and founder of the Rock Art Research Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, which promotes studies of the more than 15,000 sites within the country.