Faculty

William H. Busby - Ecology
Courtesy Associate Professor
Associate Scientist, Kansas Biological Survey
Ph.D., University of Florida
Phone: (785) 864-7692
Fax: (785) 864-5093

Area of Interest and Research

Current Activities

* Zoologist and Data Manager with the Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory, a program of the Kansas Biological Survey.
* Conducting research on the status and distribution of rare animals
* Developing and maintaining information on rare species and natural communities using the Biological and Conservation Data System
* Servicing external requests for information
* Conservation planning

Research Program

* Conservation biology of Great Plains animals
* Status and distribution of rare and declining vertebrates in Kansas

Representative Publications

Dickson, T., and W. Busby. Forb species establishment increases with decreased grass seeding density and with increased forb seeding density in a northeast Kansas, USA experimental prairie restoration. Restoration Ecology (In press; published online 7/24/2008).

Powell, A., W. Busby, and K. Kindscher. 2007. Status of the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) and effects of fire management on its abundance in northeastern Kansas, USA. Journal of Insect Conservation 11(3): 299–308.

Lauver, C. L., W. H. Busby, and J. L. Whistler. 2002. Testing a GIS model of habitat suitability for a declining grassland bird. Environmental Management 30(1):88–97.

Rice, N. H., K. Zyskowski, and W. H. Busby. 2001. Charadriiform bird surveys in north central Kansas. Kansas Ornithological Society Bulletin 52(3): 29–36.

Busby, W. H., and J. L. Zimmerman. 2001. Kansas Breeding Bird Atlas. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence. 466 pp.

Busby, W. H. 2000. Hummingbird pollination of epiphytic ericaceae in the cloud forest canopy. In N. Nadkarni and N. Wheelwright, editors. The Ecology and Natural History of Monteverde: A Background to Conservation. Oxford University Press, New York.

Busby, W.H., S.T. Patti and M. Rader. 1999. Summer record of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow in Kansas. Kansas Ornithological Society Bulletin 50(2):27–28.

Busby, W.H., D.W. Mulhern, P.G. Kramos and D. Rintoul. 1998. Nesting piping plover and least tern on the Kansas River. The Prairie Naturalist 29(4):257–262.

Busby, W.H. and W.R. Brecheisen, 1997. Chorusing phenology and habitat associations of the crawfish frog, Rana areolata (Anura: Ranidae), in Kansas. Southwestern Naturalist 42(2): 210–217.

Freeman, C.C., W.H. Busby, C.L. Lauver, K. Kindscher, J. Elliot and D.A. Eifler, 1997. A natural areas inventory of the Ft. Leavenworth Military Reservation, Kansas. Report No. 77, Kansas Biological Survey, Lawrence. 282 pp.