Evaluating the effects of land use on headwater wetland amphibian assemblages in coastal Alabama
Diane M. Alix, Christopher J. Anderson, J. Barry Grand, Craig Guyer
2014, Wetlands (34) 917-926
Anthropogenic land use is known to impact aquatic ecosystems in several ways, including increased frequency and intensity of floods, stream channel incision, sedimentation, and loss of microtopography. Amphibians are susceptible to changes in wetland and surrounding habitats. This study evaluated amphibian assemblages of fifteen headwater slope wetlands in coastal Alabama...
Breeding site selection by coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in relation to large wood additions and factors that influence reproductive success
Steven M. Clark, Jason B. Dunham, Jeffery R. McEnroe, Scott W. Lightcap
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 1498-1507
The fitness of female Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) with respect to breeding behavior can be partitioned into at least four fitness components: survival to reproduction, competition for breeding sites, success of egg incubation, and suitability of the local environment near breeding sites for early rearing of juveniles. We evaluated the relative...
Thermal ecology of subadult and adult muskellunge in a thermally enriched reservoir
A. J. Cole, Phillip William Bettoli
2014, Fisheries Management and Ecology (21) 410-420
The movement of adult muskellunge, Esox masquinongy Mitchill, has been investigated in a variety of systems, but temperature selection by muskellunge has not been examined where well-oxygenated waters were available over a range of temperatures for much of the year. Thirty subadult and adult muskellunge tagged internally with temperature-sensing radio tags...
Effect of bait and gear type on channel catfish catch and turtle bycatch in a reservoir
Evan C. Cartabiano, David R. Stewart, James M. Long
2014, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (30) 407-415
Hoop nets have become the preferred gear choice to sample channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus but the degree of bycatch can be high, especially due to the incidental capture of aquatic turtles. While exclusion and escapement devices have been developed and evaluated, few have examined bait choice as a method to reduce turtle...
Assessing the risk persistent drought using climate model simulations and paleoclimate data
Toby R. Ault, Julia E. Cole, Jonathan T. Overpeck, Gregory T. Pederson, David M. Meko
2014, Journal of Climate (27) 7529-7549
Projected changes in global rainfall patterns will likely alter water supplies and ecosystems in semiarid regions during the coming century. Instrumental and paleoclimate data indicate that natural hydroclimate fluctuations tend to be more energetic at low (multidecadal to multicentury) than at high (interannual) frequencies. State-of-the-art global climate models do not...
Body morphology differs in wild juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Willamette River, Oregon, USA
E.J. Billman, L.D. Whitman, R.K. Schroeder, C.S. Sharpe, David L. G. Noakes, Carl B. Schreck
2014, Journal of Fish Biology (85) 1097-1110
Body morphology of juvenile Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the upper Willamette River, Oregon, U.S.A., was analysed to determine if variation in body shape is correlated with migratory life-history tactics followed by juveniles. Body shape was compared between migrating juveniles that expressed different life-history tactics, i.e. autumn migrants and yearling smolts, and among...
Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years
E.E. Saupe, J.R. Hendricks, R.W. Portell, Harry J. Dowsett, A. M. Haywood, S.J. Hunter, B.S. Lieberman
2014, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (281)
In order to predict the fate of biodiversity in a rapidly changing world, we must first understand how species adapt to new environmental conditions. The long-term evolutionary dynamics of species' physiological tolerances to differing climatic regimes remain obscure. Here, we unite palaeontological and neontological data to analyse whether species' environmental...
Chemical complexity and source of the White River Ash, Alaska and Yukon
S.J. Preece, Robert G. McGimsey, J.A. Westgate, N.J.G. Pearce, W.K. Hartmann, W.T. Perkins
2014, Geosphere (10) 1020-1042
The White River Ash, a prominent stratigraphic marker bed in Alaska (USA) and Yukon (Canada), consists of multiple compositional units belonging to two geochemical groups. The compositional units are characterized using multiple criteria, with combined glass and ilmenite compositions being the best discriminators. Two compositional units compose the northern group...
Environmental correlates of temporary emigration for female Weddell seals and consequences for recruitment
Glenn E. Stauffer, Jay J. Rotella, Robert A. Garrott, William L. Kendall
2014, Ecology (95) 2526-2536
In colonial-breeding species, prebreeders often emigrate temporarily from natal reproductive colonies then subsequently return for one or more years before producing young. Variation in attendance–nonattendance patterns can have implications for subsequent recruitment. We used open robust-design multistate models and 28 years of encounter data for prebreeding female Weddell seals (Leptonychotes...
Supplemental feeding alters migration of a temperate ungulate
Jennifer D. Jones, Matthew Kauffman, Kevin L. Monteith, Brandon M. Scurlock, Shannon E. Albeke, Paul C. Cross
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 1769-1779
Conservation of migration requires information on behavior and environmental determinants. The spatial distribution of forage resources, which migration exploits, often are altered and may have subtle, unintended consequences. Supplemental feeding is a common management practice, particularly for ungulates in North America and Europe, and carryover effects on behavior of this...
Laboratory generated M -6 earthquakes
Gregory C. McLaskey, Brian D. Kilgore, David A. Lockner, Nicholas M. Beeler
2014, Pure and Applied Geophysics (171) 2601-2615
We consider whether mm-scale earthquake-like seismic events generated in laboratory experiments are consistent with our understanding of the physics of larger earthquakes. This work focuses on a population of 48 very small shocks that are foreshocks and aftershocks of stick–slip events occurring on a 2.0 m by 0.4 m simulated strike-slip...
Distribution, stock composition and timing, and tagging response of wild Chinook Salmon returning to a large, free-flowing river basin
John H. Eiler, Michele Masuda, Ted R. Spencer, Richard J. Driscoll, Carl B. Schreck
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1476-1507
Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha returns to the Yukon River basin have declined dramatically since the late 1990s, and detailed information on the spawning distribution, stock structure, and stock timing is needed to better manage the run and facilitate conservation efforts. A total of 2,860 fish were radio-tagged in the lower basin during...
Prolonged instability prior to a regime shift
Trisha Spanbauer, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Tarsha Eason, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Kirsty L. Nash, Jeffery R. Stone
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-7
Regime shifts are generally defined as the point of ‘abrupt’ change in the state of a system. However, a seemingly abrupt transition can be the product of a system reorganization that has been ongoing much longer than is evident in statistical analysis of a single component of the system. Using...
Straddling the tholeiitic/calc-alkaline transition: The effects of modest amounts of water on magmatic differentiation at Newberry Volcano, Oregon
Ben E. Mandler, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Timothy L. Grove
2014, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (168)
Melting experiments have been performed at 1 bar (anhydrous) and 1- and 2-kbar H2O-saturated conditions to study the effect of water on the differentiation of a basaltic andesite. The starting material was a mafic pumice from the compositionally zoned tuff deposited during the ~75 ka caldera-forming eruption of Newberry Volcano, a rear-arc...
A geochemical approach to determine sources and movement of saline groundwater in a coastal aquifer
Robert Anders, Gregory O. Mendez, Kiyoto Futa, Wesley R. Danskin
2014, Groundwater (52) 756-768
Geochemical evaluation of the sources and movement of saline groundwater in coastal aquifers can aid in the initial mapping of the subsurface when geological information is unavailable. Chloride concentrations of groundwater in a coastal aquifer near San Diego, California, range from about 57 to 39,400 mg/L. On the basis of...
Downscaled climate projections for the Southeast United States: evaluation and use for ecological applications
Adrienne Wootten, Kara Smith, Ryan Boyles, Adam Terando, Lydia Stefanova, Vasru Misra, Tom Smith, David L. Blodgett, Fredrick Semazzi
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1190
Climate change is likely to have many effects on natural ecosystems in the Southeast U.S. The National Climate Assessment Southeast Technical Report (SETR) indicates that natural ecosystems in the Southeast are likely to be affected by warming temperatures, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, and changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration. To better...
Ecosystem effects in the Lower Mississippi River Basin
D. Phil Turnipseed, Yvonne C. Allen, Brady R. Couvillion, Karen L. McKee, William C. Vervaeke
2014, Professional Paper 1798-L
The 2011 Mississippi River flood in the Lower Mississippi River Basin was one of the largest flood events in recorded history, producing the largest or next to largest peak streamflow for the period of record at a number of streamgages on the lower Mississippi River. Ecosystem effects include changes to...
Watching the dark: New surveillance cameras are changing bat research
Paul M. Cryan, P. Marcos Gorresen
2014, BATS Magazine (32) 2-4
It is, according to an old proverb, “better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” And those of us trying to discover new insights into the mysterious lives of bats often do a lot of cursing in the darkness. Bats do most things under cover of night, and...
Shaking from injection-induced earthquakes in the central and eastern United States
Susan E. Hough
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 2619-2626
In this study I consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate (Mw4.0-5.6) earthquakes in the central and eastern United States that are thought or suspected to be induced by fluid injection. Using spatially rich intensity data from the USGS “Did You Feel It?” system, I show that the...
Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA
John E. Gray, Mark E. Hines, Harland L. Goldstein, Richard L. Reynolds
2014, Applied Geochemistry (50) 82-90
Narraguinnep Reservoir in southwestern Colorado is one of several water bodies in Colorado with a mercury (Hg) advisory as Hg in fish tissue exceed the 0.3 μg/g guideline to protect human health recommended by the State of Colorado. Concentrations of Hg and methyl-Hg were measured in reservoir bottom sediment and...
Effects of disturbance and climate change on ecosystem performance in the Yukon River Basin boreal forest
Bruce K. Wylie, Matthew B. Rigge, Brian Brisco, Kevin Mrnaghan, Jennifer R. Rover, Jordan Long
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 9145-9169
A warming climate influences boreal forest productivity, dynamics, and disturbance regimes. We used ecosystem models and 250 m satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data averaged over the growing season (GSN) to model current, and estimate future, ecosystem performance. We modeled Expected Ecosystem Performance (EEP), or anticipated productivity, in undisturbed...
Depletion and capture: revisiting “The source of water derived from wells"
Leonard F. Konikow, Stanley A. Leake
2014, Groundwater (52) 100-111
A natural consequence of groundwater withdrawals is the removal of water from subsurface storage, but the overall rates and magnitude of groundwater depletion and capture relative to groundwater withdrawals (extraction or pumpage) have not previously been well characterized. This study assesses the partitioning of long-term cumulative withdrawal volumes into fractions...
Seismological and geodetic constraints on the 2011 Mw5.3 Trinidad, Colorado earthquake and induced deformation in the Raton Basin
William D. Barnhart, Harley M. Benz, Gavin P. Hayes, Justin L. Rubinstein, E. Bergman
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 7923-7933
The Raton Basin of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico is an actively produced hydrocarbon basin that has experienced increased seismicity since 2001, including the August 2011 Mw5.3 Trinidad normal faulting event. Following the 2011 earthquake, regional seismic observations were used to relocate 21 events, including the 2011 main shock,...
Characterizing recent and projecting future potential patterns of mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Lu Liang, Todd Hawbaker, Yanlei Chen, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Peng Gong
2014, Applied Geography (55) 165-175
The recent widespread mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in the Southern Rocky Mountains presents an opportunity to investigate the relative influence of anthropogenic, biologic, and physical drivers that have shaped the spatiotemporal patterns of the outbreak. The aim of this study was to quantify the landscape-level drivers that explained the...
Can mercury in fish be reduced by water level management? Evaluating the effects of water level fluctuation on mercury accumulation in yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
James H. Larson, Ryan P. Maki, Brent C. Knights, Brian R. Gray
2014, Ecotoxicology (23) 1555-1563
Mercury (Hg) contamination of fisheries is a major concern for resource managers of many temperate lakes. Anthropogenic Hg contamination is largely derived from atmospheric deposition within a lake’s watershed, but its incorporation into the food web is facilitated by bacterial activity in sediments. Temporal variation in Hg content of fish...
