August 16, 1996





Planting Blowouts

Carol Caha, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agronomy technician, plants blowout penstemon seedlings in a Nebraska Sandhills blowout. She's part of an Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources team working to increase the number of these rare and endangered native plants growing in the wild. Seedlings are grown in long, narrow tubes in UNL greenhouses to encourage deep root growth needed to survive in the sand of blowouts. (These tubes are scattered on the ground around Caha) Researchers hope this three-year restoration effort establishes blowout penstemons in a wider area so they aren't susceptible to localized drought. (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.)

IANR Restoration Effort Aids Endangered Penstemon


By Monica Norby
IANR News Assistant

Bent by the Sandhills wind, frail green seedlings cling tenaciously to life in the deep, shifting sand of a blowout. Their survival is precarious, but could mean a revival for their endangered species.
These seedlings are greenhouse-grown offspring of the rare native blowout penstemon (Penstemon haydenii S. Watson), Nebraska's only wildflower on the federal endangered species list. They are the first wave in a three-year effort by UNL scientists to restore the species by transplanting more than 20,000 seedlings.
Before May's transplanting, only about 7,000 blowout penstemons grew in the wild, said James Stubbendieck, range ecologist at NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. If only 8,000 of the planned transplants survive, the species would shift to the less severe threatened status.
"Our goal is to reach 15,000 plants-we think we can do that," said Stubbendieck, who has headed the blowout penstemon recovery project for 14 years. "If we can get that many, it would move the blowout penstemon from endangered to threatened status."
This unique native plant is an awesome sight in bloom. Heavy heads of showy blue, lavender or, rarely, white tubular flowers, up to 80 per stem, grow in whorls on 18-inch-tall stems. They produce a heady fragrance lacking in other Nebraska penstemons.
Sandhills blowouts are this rare beauty's only habitat. A blowout is a bare, rounded depression in a dune scooped out by wind erosion. Intensive grazing, wildfires, drought and other factors that reduce vegetative cover increase erosion and blowouts.
Blowouts and their resident penstemons were common to the Sandhills in the early 1900s. As ranchers adopted new range management techniques, both began to disappear. Now, fewer than 7,000 blowout penstemons survive in only seven population centers.
That's what worries Stubbendieck and IANR Horticulturist Jay Fitzgerald, his partner in this research project.
"About 6,000 of the plants occur in an area with about a 50-mile radius. We're concerned that if there is a localized drought, we could lose all of them," Stubbendieck said. Spreading out the population by transplanting seedlings to widely separate locations each year is one of this project's main goals.
In early May, researchers planted seedlings in three locations. One is the Valentine National Refuge, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This federal land is subject to laws that offer extra protection for endangered species. Two private ranches in Hooker and Cherry counties also gave home to seedlings.
Dividing the more than 8,000 seedlings among three sites should create critical populations large enough to reproduce and maintain themselves.
Blowout penstemon is not increasing in the wild, Stubbendieck said. This spring's surveys showed a slight population decline. The number of blowouts, once a limiting factor, is now relatively stable. Stubbendieck thinks climate now is a major factor in seedling survival.
Blowout penstemons typically live four to eight years. They produce abundant seed, but a thick seed coat with a chemical inhibitor requires extremely wet spring weather for germination. Because seedlings grow in pure sand, well-timed rains are crucial to survival.
"Since 1982, I've seen only two years when natural seedlings have started," Stubbendieck said. "We want to get plants established at new locations, get them to flower and produce seeds so that every seven or eight years when we get good germination conditions, the seed will be there.
Previous IANR research on blowout penstemon's finicky seed germination requirements made the current restoration project possible. Researchers pushed the species' natural germination rate of 4 percent to more than 90 percent after developing a sulfuric acid treatment that softens the seed coat. With this treatment, the thousands of seedlings needed for the project could be grown in NU greenhouses.
Seedlings are grown in locked greenhouses, tended by specially trained undergraduate and graduate students.
"We have really sharp students doing this," Fitzgerald said. "When you consider that there is a fine of up to $25,000 for removing or destroying the plants on federal land, these are pretty valuable plants."
Researchers grow the seedlings in special long, narrow tubes to encourage deep roots. Preliminary transplanting research showed that long roots able to penetrate the dry top 3 inches of sand in a blowout provide a real advantage.
"Once they're transplanted, they've got to survive on their own," Stubbendieck said. Researchers check their survival rate monthly.
The first check in June revealed 95 percent of the May transplants still living. Stubbendieck expects two-thirds will make it. If they do, this unique Nebraska native, once thought to be extinct, may be making its way toward a more certain future.
The Nebraska Environmental Trust helps fund this project in cooperation with IANR's Agricultural Research Division.

Distance Education Unveils Revolutionary Learning System

A revolutionary approach to distance education was unveiled today by the UNL Department of Distance Education. The CLASS project - or Communications, Learning and Assessment in a Student-centered System - will offer a fully accredited high school diploma sequence in a "seamless" electronic environment.
The unveiling took place today at the Clifford Hardin Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege streets, following a 10 a.m. speech by U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey (D.-Neb.) on the future of elementary and secondary education in Nebraska and the United States. Kerrey played an important role in supporting UNL's efforts to find funding for the $17.5 million project which includes a one-year, $2.5 million award from the General Services Administration to get the project moving and a five-year, $15 million award from the Star Schools program of the U.S. Department of Education.
The first course being developed by UNL distance education development team for the project, "Global Perspectives: Bosnia," was used to demonstrate the technology.
The CLASS project will be a sweeping change in the delivery of educational materials to distance learners, according to James Sherwood, associate director of the department of distance education.
"This will be a learner-centered system," Sherwood said. "The individual student will determine how to proceed through the system and will be able to shape it to fit his or her own learning patterns. The second big change is that distance education used to be distributed on a one-to-one basis between the instructor and the student. Students will now be able to interact with other students using e-mail or through real-time on-line communications."
Also unlike in earlier electronic distance education experiences, students in the CLASS project will be able to navigate seamlessly among the resources of the World Wide Web. For example, they will be able to move easily from Netscape to electronic mail to a CD-ROM.
In the CLASS Project partnership, UNL distance education will develop an initial four courses in global perspectives, chemistry, writing and geometry through its independent study high school, the only university-based, fully accredited independent study high school in the United States. Monty McMahon, director of distance education, is principal investigator for the project.
The National Information Display Laboratory at the David Sarnoff Research Center in Princeton, N.J., will develop the technology for the project; Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, a partnership effort of UNL and the state of Nebraska, will handle production and distribution of project materials; and the Nebraska Department of Education will serve as the educational framework and subject matter specialist.

Reading Program Gives Students Food For Thought


By Karen Underwood
News and Information

UNL freshman students enrolled in the "University Foundations" course are participating in a new summer reading program designed to acclimate them to university-level work.
The students have been assigned to read Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman. They will receive credit for reading the book and participating in discussions about it.
"Postman's book contends that television has transformed and largely trivialized public discourse in America," said James McShane, director of the University Foundations program. "We think it is an excellent first text for our students because it requires the reader to give a lot of thought. It's a small paperback book, but it's not easy reading."
The University Foundations program offers two courses designed to help new students successfully move from high school to college and to help them maximize their chances for success at the university. This is the first time a summer reading component has been part of the curriculum. Approximately 750 students have enrolled in the program.
Students will meet at the NU Coliseum for a luncheon and discussion of the book Aug. 25, the day before fall semester classes start at UNL. Robert Knoll, emeritus professor of English, will speak in support of Postman's thesis and Ron Lee, associate professor of communication studies, will speak in support of electronic media of our age. Priscilla Grew, vice chancellor for research, will moderate the discussion. Following the presentation, the students will participate in small discussion groups led by faculty members and administrators.
"Those who teach University Foundations sections and faculty selected by their deans are looking forward to participating in the discussion groups," said James Griesen, vice chancellor for student affairs and a University Foundations instructor. "We think the discussions will be lively and entertaining. Our goal is to introduce our students to the joy of interesting, intellectual dialogue. Plus, the discussion groups will provide a forum for new students to become acquainted with individual faculty members prior to attending their first class.
"This program is exactly what we should do for our students," said Chancellor James Moeser, who will be among the group discussion leaders. "We want each of our students to be successful in their careers at UNL. That success hinges on their ability to make the transition from high school learning to university learning. This program will help them do just that."
A convocation for all incoming students will be conducted in the Lied Center for Performing Arts at 4 p.m. Aug. 25. The convocation will feature a special program to formally welcome new students into the UNL academic community.

Illinois Official to Direct IANR Communications

Dan C. Cotton of Urbana, Ill., has been named director of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resource's Communications and Information Technology unit at UNL.
He replaces Ted Hartung who has served in this capacity since 1990. Cotton has served as extension computer coordinator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1989.
Cotton will assume his duties within IANR by Oct. 1, said Irv Omtvedt, vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
"With the advancements in information technology and our increased demands to effectively communicate with a rapidly changing clientele base, we are pleased to attract an individual with Mr. Cotton's qualifications and experiences for this key position," Omtvedt said.
Communications and Information Technology supports IANR's research, teaching and extension functions and includes publishing, electronic media, computing, visuals and multimedia, and news and public affairs.
Cotton said he sees CIT having a leadership role in education in the classroom and through distance education; and that digital technology will help accomplish those roles. Two immediate challenges, he said, are that audiences are becoming more sophisticated in their knowledge base, and that the competition for funds is greater.
CIT must establish its own niches and to look for new ways to make information and services available to the public.
"One must see what needs to be done," he said, "and then help others share the vision."
At Illinois, Cotton provided leadership for computer and information support for extension and other units within the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. He worked in and managed computer operations for University Extension at the University of Missouri at Columbia from 1984-1989. Cotton was house manager for the Sunshine Dinner Playhouse at Champaign, Ill., and taught music in the public schools at Lancaster, Mo., and Carthage, Ill.
Cotton's bachelor's and master's degrees are in music from Central Methodist College in Faith, Mo., and University of Missouri at Columbia, respectively. He also has an associate in applied science degree in data processing from Parkland College at Champaign, Ill.
Hartung, who retired July 1 as CIT director, will continue as interim director until Cotton's transition is complete.

Conoleys 'Sign Off' for Posts in Texas


By Tom Simons
News & Information

Jane Close Conoley, associate dean of Teachers College and professor of educational psychology, and Collie Conoley, associate professor of educational psychology, leave UNL next week to accept positions at Texas A&M University in College Station starting in September.
Jane Conoley will be dean of A&M's 3,900-student College of Education, where she will oversee 105 full-time and some 90 part-time faculty members. Collie Conoley will be a full professor in the educational psychology department.
"We're really excited. It's a great opportunity for both of us," said Jane Conoley. "I'll find out what I've learned from Jim O'Hanlon (dean of the UNL Teachers College) and it will be a challenge. Texas is facing now what Nebraska will face in the next 20 years in terms of issues like diversity and funding in public higher education."
Jane Conoley has been a member of the UNL faculty since 1984 and served as chair of the educational psychology department from 1989-94 before being named associate dean. Collie Conoley has been a member of the UNL faculty since 1988.
The Conoleys also hosted "For Better or Worse," a weekly, live call-in show on the Nebraska Public Radio Network that dealt with marital and other relationship problems."
Teachers College is hosting a farewell reception for the Conoleys at 11 a.m. Aug. 20 in the Heritage Room at the Nebraska Union.

Platte Sturgeon Aid Water Management Research


Two researchers slowly pull a net through the Platte River's shining waters, hoping their catch includes some prehistoric-looking creatures.
They're after sturgeon, primitive fish with long bodies, shark-like tail fins and sucker-like mouths set far back below their snouts. University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientists believe three freshwater sturgeon species dwell on the bottom of the Platte's fast-flowing channels.
Rob Hofpar, UNL forestry, fisheries and wildlife graduate student and a Columbus, Neb., native, wants to snare information about the sturgeons' population density in the Platte.
It's part of a 10-year Platte River fish habitat study by Hofpar's adviser, Ed Peters, an Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources fisheries ecologist. He's gathering information about habitats that regulating agencies can use when making Platte water management decisions.
"We have good information now about how much water most of the smaller fish, like minnows and channel catfish, need," Peters said. "We don't know much about the sturgeon, that's why we're doing the study."
In 1995, Hofpar netted 49 sturgeon; all were the more abundant shovelnose sturgeon. He hopes to catch some lake sturgeon, listed on Nebraska's threatened species list, and the much rarer and endangered pallid sturgeon.
Fish are measured, weighed, checked for parasites and disease, and their stomachs are pumped to see what they've eater. Then Hofpar injects a tiny device called a PIT tag into the fish.
PIT tags are glass cylinders the size of a rice grain, each carrying a nine-digit code. When a tagged fish is recaptured, Hofpar electronically scans it for the code. It's a simple, inexpensive way to track fish and tags last indefinitely.
"All of our sampling protocols and ways we handle the fish are techniques prescribed for handling endangered species like the pallid," Peters said.
Hofpar tracks some fish with more sophisticated, surgically implanted radio transmitters, which emit signals detectable with a radio receiver for three months. This more expensive technique lets him follow fish movements and gather habitat information. Tracking fish may help answer questions about key fish behaviors, especially spawning, and changes in habitat use from day to night.
Hofpar and Peters hope to discover whether sturgeon spawn in the Platte.
No one is sure when sturgeon spawn, Hofpar said. Scientific literature says they spawn from April to October. Eggs stick to the river bottom, hatch and then the larval fish drift downstream. Hofpar has read sturgeon tend to home in on the same general area to spawn.
Early in this century, before Kingsley Dam was built near Ogallala, Sturgeon were collected all the way up the North Platte into Wyoming. This may have been a spawning behavior, he said.
"They seem to migrate upstream in spring to find a spawning area and then drift back down in the fall," he said.
Determining where sturgeon spawn also may give clues to the effects habitat changes have on their populations.
"There is a concern that fragmentation of rivers by dams has interrupted sturgeon spawning movements," Hofpar said. "Tributaries like the Platte may hold some of the best areas for sturgeon spawning."
Hofpar goes fishing at six, five-mile stretches of the lower Platte River, from Columbus downstream to the Missouri River. He also samples random sites monthly up to Lexington in central Nebraska.
In 1995, Hofpar found the most fish near Louisville, Neb., 20 miles upstream from the Missouri River. Sites where the Elkhorn River meets the Platte, and where the Platte meets the Missouri, yielded the second and third most sturgeon, respectively.
Shovelnose sturgeons are a legal game fish and are frequently caught at certain sites, especially near Plattsmouth, Neb., Peters said.
Signs along the river describe differences between shovelnose, lake and pallid sturgeons in an effort to enlist anglers' support in protecting the threatened and endangered species.
"If an angler catches a sturgeon that can' be identified as a shovelnose, release the fish and report it to the Game and Parks Commission," Peters said. The Ak-Sar-Ben Aquarium south of Gretna, Neb., is the best reporting site.
Peters also would like to know if anglers catch a PIT-tagged shovelnose. Anglers can check for a PIT tag, located along the fleshy base at the front of the dorsal fin. If a small cylinder is found, contact Peters at UNL, (402)472-6824.
"A whole series of habitat changes have occurred in the Platte, and these can affect the fish," Peters said. So monitoring the habitat is an important part of Hofpar's study. He measures water depth and velocities, water temperature, clarity and amounts of dissolved oxygen and bottom composition.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helps fund this IANR Agricultural Research Division research.

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