Lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) have declined throughout their range because of overgrazing and loss or fragmentation of habitat from conversion of native prairie to agricultural cropland. Lesser prairie-chickens were radio-marked (n = 225) as part of 2 separate field studies in the Texas Panhandle (2001–2003, 2003– 2007). These data were used to evaluate whether differences in demographic parameters existed between populations occurring in 2 areas dominated by different vegetation types (sand sagebrush [Artemisia filifolia] versus shinnery oak [Quercus havardii]) in the Texas Panhandle from 2001–2007. A model-selection approach was used to test hypotheses explaining differences in survival and reproductive success of lesser prairiechickens. Additionally, a population viability analysis was constructed using the above demographic parameters to evaluate effects of harvest and no harvest scenarios on viability and population persistence of lesser prairie-chickens in Texas. Overall, survival, reproduction, and population viability were lower in the shinnery oak compared to the sand sagebrush vegetation type. Lesser prairie-chicken survival differed between breeding and non-breeding periods. I estimated annual survival of lesser prairiechickens at 31% in the shinnery oak and 52% in the sand sagebrush vegetation type. Nest success was (41%, 95% CI = 25–56%) in the shinnery oak population compared to the sand sagebrush population (75%, 95% CI = 54–94%). Population viability analysis predicted continued declines in lesser prairie-chicken populations in Texas. Estimates of local occupancy indicated lesser prairie-chicken populations would go extinct in the southwestern shinnery oak vegetation type more quickly compared to the northeastern sand sagebrush vegetation type (approximately 10 years compared to 30 years, respectively) without changes in population vital rates. Harvest at all levels increased risk of extinction. Results suggest that differences in survival and reproduction of lesser prairie-chickens within sand sagebrush and shinnery oak vegetation types throughout the Texas Panhandle should be evaluated, especially during the breeding season. Improvements to vegetation conducive for successful nesting are important to the viability of lesser prairie-chickens. Conservation and recovery strategies for lesser prairie-chicken populations should address variables that increase survival and nest success and consideration of no harvest.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the recreational program of certain junior high schools in the Texas Panhandle to determine the extent to which they meet accepted criteria for this type of program.

Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and stable-carbon isotopy were used to reconstruct geologic and climatic events on the Texas southern High Plains from ca. 13,000 yr B.P. to the present. The alluvial sediments in Yellowhouse and Blackwater Draws were used to construct the geologic history. The oldest valley alluvium comprises the > 13,000-yr-B.P. fluvial sediments that were incised and buried by fluvial and lacustrine sediments dating ca. 13,000 to 4900 yr B.P. Lacustrine waters changed from oligotrophic to eutrophic and finally calcalitrophic. Regional valley erosion at 4900 yr B.P. developed a widespread disconformity within the Yellowhouse Draw formation, which separates lower fluvial and lacustrine sediments (ca. 13,000-4900 yr B.P.) from the overlying sediments dating 4900 yr B.P. to present. After 4900 yr B.P., intermittent streams and eolian processes deposited several meters of sand the length of each valley. Cienegas returned to downstream reaches of both draws after 1500-2000 yr B.P. Methods were developed to extract purified collagen residues and hydroxyproline from heavily contaminated fossil bones. Reliable δ¹³C measurements on collgen require isolation of single amino acids, whereas less specific purifications may yield accurate bone collagen ¹⁴C dates. Collagenous residues were extracted from 13,000-200-yr-B.P. fossil bison bones from the Lubbock Lack Site at Lubbock, Texas, and δ¹³C values were determined. Collagen δ¹³C values changed from -8 per mil at 200 yr B.P. to -10 per mil at 4900 yr B.P. and to -17 per mil at 12,500 yr B.P. The δ¹³C changes imply that the Lubbock area grasslands contained 30 to 40 percent C₄ grass biomass at 12,500 yr B.P. in contrast to the 95 percent C₄ grass biomass in today's grasslands. The stratigraphic and isotopic results gave similar paleoecological histories for the Texas southern High Plains. At 12,500 yr B.P. permanent streams existed and grasslands may have resembled those in the northern central Great Plains today. The climate warmed gradually, and the water table dropped until 5000 yr B.P. when a major hydrologic shift occurred. After 4900 yr B.P., modern climatic depositional and vegetation communities were developed. Geomorphic thresholds apparently controlled the regional disconformities, depositional events, and pedogenetic episodes. Climatic change was the ultimate cause of stratigraphic changes, but individual geologic events were not coeval with any similar climatic shift.

This is a study of the housing facilities provided for industrial arts in the junior high schools of seven Panhandle counties of Texas.

"From the time the first settlers arrived in any region to the present time, numerous changes in their economic life occurred. In the thirty-eight counties of the Texas Panhandle and upper plains, these changes have occurred in rapid order; for in only the past seventy-five years (1875-1950), this region has progressed from one of buffalo hunters to businessmen, through intervening stages of cowboys, "nesters," farmers, and "dust eaters." The purpose of this study is to evaluate each step, thereby enabling the reader to gain a general knowledge as to what the economic situation in the panhandle is based upon today. The area to be studied is composed of the seven northern tiers of counties in the Panhandle and upper plains of Texas. These seven tiers contain thirty-eight counties with an approximate are of 23,491,840 acres. The western part of the Panhandle is located on the Great Plains, or High Plains, while about a third of the area is situated in the North Central Plains. " -- leaf 1.

Lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus; LPC) numbers have declined considerably in Texas since the early 1900s. As with other prairie chicken species, reasons for declining ranges and numbers have been attributed primarily to degradation and fragmentation of habitats. Until my study, no telemetry-based research on LPC has been conducted in the Rolling Plains of the Texas Panhandle. I radio-tagged and monitored LPCs in 2001 (spring??winter) and 2002 (spring) at a stable population in a native rangeland landscape (Study Area I) and in a declining population in a fragmented rangeland and agricultural landscape (Study Area II). No significant (P < 0.05) differences in survival were detected for combined study areas between years, or between study areas within years. Ranges and movements, as independent criteria by season, sex, and age classes combined were similar (P > 0.05) for both study areas. Lesser prairie chickens predominately occupied native rangeland cover types (>85%) compared to non-native rangelands at both study areas. Total invertebrate dry mass for all orders differed between native rangeland and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) sites at Study Area II. Over 32 times more dry mass of invertebrates was collected at the native rangeland site than were collected at the CRP site. Herbaceous cover differed significantly for grasses (P < 0.01), forbs (P < 0.01), and bare ground (P < 0.01), but not for litter (P = 0.43) or woody cover (P = 0.63) between study areas. The similar range sizes, movement distances, and cover use observed for both study areas may provide insight into minimum area requirements for LPCs within the Rolling Plains in the Texas Panhandle.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 65-91. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-96).

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 65-91. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-96).

The Desmoinesian Marmaton Group, along the southern portion of the Anadarko Basin in the Granite Wash, comprises over 2,000 feet of stacked tight sandstones and conglomerates, containing unconventional reservoirs. Uncertainty around facies variability and lateral continuity of these reservoirs represents challenges to accurate reservoir characterization due to laterally restricted submarine fan systems, and mountainront faulting. This study examines 206 wire-line well-log suites and nine ice-house flooding surfaces across an 810-square mile study area to frame fine-scale sequences, track facies changes, and estimate fault timing and duration. This high-resolution stratigraphic framework comprises a hierarchy of cycles: one third-order, three fourth-order, and eight fifth-order cycles; these were mapped across fault blocks. Mapping at the fifth-order scale documented previously un-published faults, and showed that movement occurred during two separate fifth-order cycles. Within the stratigraphic framework, well log trends, calibrated to core descriptions, enabled prediction of depositional environments in uncored wells.

For many years newspapers were locally owned by editors and publishers. However, today many are run by corporations from out of state. As a result, many communities have lost the personal relationship between the family owned publication and the community. Gene Howe, who served as editor, publisher and columnist of the Amarillo Globe-News from 1926 until his death in 1952, believed the community was where the focus should be and the newspaper should do all that it can to help their readers. Despite the fact that Howe was not born in Amarillo, Texas, his passion and love for the city and its inhabitants compensated for it. During the Dust Bowl and Great Depression Howe and the Globe-News helped Amarillo survive the dust and economic storms that blew through the Texas Panhandle, an area that has not been written as much as other parts of Texas. Through his “Tactless Texan” column, which served as a pulpit to the community, to the various contests and promotions the newspaper sprang up, including the creation of Mother in Law Day, Gene Howe gave the newspaper another dimension little has been studied about, the role of the editor and publisher in guiding a community through a dramatic era. Understanding Howe’s ethos can allow others to examine the roles editors and newspapers play in communities throughout the country.