Natural Resources University

Latest Episodes:

#16 | Fire University - The next generation of prescribed burning, ft. Dr. Morgan Varner & Kevin Hiers Jan 12, 2021

Show notes

We may have more acres to burn than we have time, personnel, and resources to burn it. It is imperative that our tools become more efficient especially with ever-growing societal constraints and considerations. In this week's episode of Fire University, Marcus Lashley sits down with Kevin Robertson, Morgan Varner, and Kevin Hiers at the Tall Timbers Research Station where they discuss the socio-ecological complexities of fire ecology and delve into the upcoming technological revolution leading us into the next generation of prescribed burning.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UFDEERLab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ufdeerlab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ufdeerlab

#15 | Deer University - Timing of prescribed fire impacts deer forage quality and selection? ft. Rainer Nichols Jan 05, 2021

Show notes

Most hunters and managers are aware of the benefits of prescribed fire on deer habitat. Fire can be used to set back plant succession (reduce the woody vegetation) and stimulate the growth of forbs (increase the herbaceous vegetation). In the Southeastern US, deer nutrition is often limited during the summer when bucks are growing antlers and does are producing fawns and lactating. Often limitations in summer nutrition is addressed with warm-season food plots, but what about addressing this need with prescribed fire? Today we visit with former MSU Deer Lab graduate student, Rainer Nichols, and discuss his project where he compared plant quality and biomass response to dormant-season and growing season prescribed fire. Rainer examined the impacts prescribed fire phenology and mechanical stump sprouting have on summer nutritional carrying capacity for deer. Diversifying the timing of prescribed fire between the dormant and growing seasons led to increased summer nutrient availability at the landscape level, and mechanically creating stump sprouts from woody plants led to increased available nutrition on a localized level. Combining these two management actions to target summer nutritional limitations can better help deer meet nutritional demands and reach their full potential.

#14 | Pond University - Home is where the habitat is: Adding fish habitat to your pond, ft. Sandy Clark-Kolaks Jan 05, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the third episode of Pond University! In this episode, we talk with Sandy Clark-Kolaks, the Southern Fisheries Research Biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Sandy has worked on fisheries management projects for over 13 years, including improving fish habitat in reservoirs and lakes. Today, Sandy talks about the importance of fish habitat and describes the different types of fish habitat you can add to your pond or lake. Plus, building fish habitat structures makes for a great winter project and a frozen lake can allow you to place these structures in the exact location you want!

Indiana DNR Private Pond and Lake Management website: https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3614.htm

Friends of Reservoirs (FOR) is a tax-deductible non-profit foundation dedicated to protecting and/or restoring fisheries habitat in reservoir systems nationwide. Their website is: https://www.friendsofreservoirs.com/

Mitch's profile page: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=mzischke&intDirDeptID=15

Mitch's twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAussieWahoo

Megan's profile page: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=mlgunn&intDirDeptID=15

Megan's twitter: https://twitter.com/_TFFP

Pond and wildlife management website: https://extension.purdue.edu/pondwildlife/

Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources website: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/default.aspx

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant website: https://iiseagrant.org/

#13 | Habitat University - Habitat management: The oldest job in the world? Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

For as long as people have been interacting with wild animals, they have been manipulating the places where wild animals live. So, is habitat management the oldest job in the world? Join Adam and Jarred as they chat about the history of wildlife habitat management, dig deep into the central premise of habitat management – plant succession – and introduce the five tools for habitat management that Aldo Leopold described in his 1933 book, Game Management.

Learn more about plant succession and its relationship to wildlife habitat by checking out the resources below:

Iowa's Forest Birds - https://store.extension.iastate.edu/Product/15963

Managing Your Woods for White-Tailed Deer - https://edustore.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=FNR-596-W

Grassland Successional Chart - https://extension.purdue.edu/pondwildlife/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GrasslandSuccession_wFNR.png

Wildlife Habitat Education Program - https://fwf.tennessee.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2020/07/1_2020-WHEP-Intro-Acitivites.pdf

#12 | Fire University - Patch-burn-grazing as a strategy to manage grassland communities, ft. Dr. Sam Fuhlendorf & Bob Hamilton Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

Fire and herbivory have always been important disturbances in grasslands and their interaction may be particularly important for wildlife habitat. In this week's episode, we talk to Dr. Sam Fuhlendorf of Oklahoma State University and Bob Hamilton of The Nature Conservancy about using patch-burn-grazing to mimic that natural process. Strategic use of prescribed fire and cattle may lead to habitat improvements for wildlife while increasing cattle production.

Related peer-reviewed papers:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0234983

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112719318821

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2435.13083

#11 | Fire University - Where to get information, experience, and collaborators to meet prescribed burning objectives, ft. Zach Prusak & Andy Rappe Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

Knowing where to get information, training, experience, and help is critical to success in prescribed burning. In this episode of Fire University, Marcus Lashley talks with fire professionals Zach Prusak and Andy Rappe to discuss the tools and resources available to fire practitioners and private landowners no matter where you are and why collaboration throughout the fire community is imperative to everyone's success.

#10 | Deer University - Chronic wasting disease (CWD) from a state wildlife agency perspective, ft. Jason Sumners & Cory Gray Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

Some hunters think Chronic Wasting Disease is no big deal, some hunters even think CWD is good for a state wildlife agency because the disease will bring with it an abundance of federal funding. Our interview with Jason Sumners of the Missouri Department of Conservation, and Cory Gray of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will fully explain the issues this disease brings to wildlife management agencies.

#09 | Fire University - Burning in upland hardwoods, ft. Dr. Craig Harper, Jordan Nanney, & John Gruchy Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

In this episode of Fire University, Dr. Marcus Lashley visits old friends and colleagues Dr. Craig Harper, John Gruchy, and Jordan Nanney and discusses burning in upland hardwoods. The conversation focuses on habitat improvement for white-tailed deer and wild turkey, as well as implementation strategy to maximize success.

Enroll now in our free wildland fire course. Available to all!

This podcast is supported by listener donations - thank you for being a part of this effort.

For more information, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube!

#08 | Habitat University - Habitat as a panchreston problem Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

What do you picture when you hear "habitat"? Habitat is one of the most important concepts in wildlife management, but what does it actually mean? Join Adam and Jarred as they define "habitat" and discuss why its use is a "panchreston problem." We'll explain what the heck "panchreston" means and discuss why we should be careful about how we talk about habitat to minimize confusion and clarify objectives. Jarred and Adam will also explore why defining and using habitat correctly is important in helping landowners and managers construct and achieve their management objectives.

Learn more about habitat as a panchreston problem in (Kirk et al. 2018. Our use, misuse, and abandonment of a concept: Whither habitat.Ecology and Evolution 8:4197–4208). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5916312/

#07 | Pond University - Winter is coming: Preparing your pond for winter, ft. David Osborne Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

Welcome to the second episode of Pond University! In this episode, we talk with Purdue Extension Educator David Osborne. Dave has been helping landowners manage their ponds for over 20 years and has a wealth of knowledge on many pond management topics. Today, he talks about how your pond changes during winter and things that you can do to prevent negative impacts on fish populations. Please see below for useful links:

Dave's profile page: https://extension.purdue.edu/Ripley/profile/osbornda

Dave's video recommendation "Great Small Waters": http://www.rayscott.net/sales/gsw.php

Mitch's profile page: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=mzischke&intDirDeptID=15

Mitch's twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAussieWahoo

Megan's profile page: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=mlgunn&intDirDeptID=15

Megan's twitter: https://twitter.com/_TFFP

Pond and wildlife management website: https://extension.purdue.edu/pondwildlife/

Natural Resources University website: https://naturalresourcesuniversity.libsyn.com/

Purdue's Department of Natural Resources website: https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/Pages/default.aspx

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant website: https://iiseagrant.org/

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Natural Resources University

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected