Genetic structure in Elk persists after translocation
Lisa I Muller, Jennifer L. Murrow, Jason L. Lupardus, Joseph D. Clark, Joseph G. Yarkovich, William H. Stiver, E. Kim Delozier, Brittany L. Slabach, John L. Cox, Bradley F. Miller
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 1124-1134
Elk (Cervus canadensis) translocation success is thought to be facilitated by high post‐release herd cohesion and limited movements; both should ensure genetic mixing following release. Such mixing is important to reduce potential effects of inbreeding or genetic drift, which can be especially important in small founding...
Reduced arctic tundra productivity linked with landform and climate change interactions
Mark J. Lara, Ingmar Nitze, Guido Grosse, Philip Martin, A. David McGuire
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Arctic tundra ecosystems have experienced unprecedented change associated with climate warming over recent decades. Across the Pan-Arctic, vegetation productivity and surface greenness have trended positively over the period of satellite observation. However, since 2011 these trends have slowed considerably, showing signs of browning in many regions. It is unclear what...
Wildlife habitat management on college and university campuses
Tierney Bosci, Paige S. Warren, Rick W. Harper, Stephen DeStefano
2018, Cities and the Environment (11) 1-14
With the increasing involvement of higher education institutions in sustainability movements, it remains unclear to what extent college and university campuses address wildlife habitat. Many campuses encompass significant areas of green space with potential to support diverse wildlife taxa. However, sustainability rating systems generally emphasize efforts like recycling and energy...
Method to characterize inorganic particulates in lung tissue biopsies using field emission scanning electron microscopy
Heather A. Lowers, George N. Breit, Matthew Strand, Renee M. Pillers, Gregory P. Meeker, Todor I. Todorov, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Ruth E. Wolf, Maura Robinson, Jane Parr, Robert J. Miller, Steve Groshong, Francis Green, Cecile Rose
2018, Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods (28) 475-487
Humans accumulate large numbers of inorganic particles in their lungs over a lifetime. Whether this causes or contributes to debilitating disease over a normal lifespan depends on the type and concentration of the particles. We developed and tested a protocol for in situ characterization of the types and distribution of inorganic particles...
Seasonal food habits of introduced blue catfish in Lake Oconee, Georgia
Cecil A. Jennings, Geoffrey E. Mitchell, Chris Nelson
2018, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (5) 39-45
Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) are native to the Coosa River drainage in northwest Georgia but have been widely introduced outside of this range including Lake Oconee, a 7677-ha impoundment on the Oconee River in central Georgia. Blue catfish abundance and growth rates have increased dramatically since their introduction in Lake...
Fitting N-mixture models to count data with unmodeled heterogeneity: Bias, diagnostics, and alternative approaches
Adam Duarte, M. J. Adams, James T. Peterson
2018, Ecological Modelling (374) 51-59
Monitoring animal populations is central to wildlife and fisheries management, and the use of N-mixture models toward these efforts has markedly increased in recent years. Nevertheless, relatively little work has evaluated estimator performance when basic assumptions are violated. Moreover, diagnostics to identify when bias in parameter estimates from N-mixture models...
Forecasting an invasive species’ distribution with global distribution data, local data, and physiological information
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Marian Talbert, Colin Talbert
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-12
Understanding invasive species distributions and potential invasions often requires broad‐scale information on the environmental tolerances of the species. Further, resource managers are often faced with knowing these broad‐scale relationships as well as nuanced environmental factors related to their landscape that influence where an invasive species occurs and potentially could occur....
Population dynamics of the northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) in the Colorado River Basin
Levi R. Jamison, Charles van Riper III
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1070
Throughout the Southwestern United States, riparian systems contain narrow belts of vegetation along streams and rivers. Although only a small percentage of the total land cover, this ecosystem is important for maintaining high species diversity and population densities of birds. Anthropogenic changes to Western riverine systems have enhanced their susceptibility...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Susitna Basin, southern Alaska, 2017
Richard G. Stanley, Christopher J. Potter, Kristen A. Lewis, Paul G. Lillis, Anjana K. Shah, Peter J. Haeussler, Jeffrey D. Phillips, Zenon C. Valin, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald M. Drake II, Thomas M. Finn, Seth S. Haines, Debra K. Higley, David W. Houseknecht, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Stanley T. Paxton, Ofori N. Pearson, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall, Margarita V. Zyrianova
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3017
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Susitna Basin of southern Alaska. Using a geology-based methodology, the USGS estimates that mean undiscovered volumes of about 2 million barrels of oil and nearly 1.7 trillion cubic feet of gas...
Risky behavior and its effect on survival: snowshoe hare behavior under varying moonlight conditions
Laura C. Gigliotti, Duane R. Diefenbach
2018, Journal of Zoology (305) 27-34
Predation and predation risk can exert strong influences on the behavior of prey species. However, risk avoidance behaviors may vary among populations of the same species. We studied a population of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) near the southern edge of their range, in Pennsylvania. This population occupies different habitat types,...
Quantifying temporal trends in fisheries abundance using Bayesian dynamic linear models: A case study of riverine Smallmouth Bass populations
Megan K. Schall, Vicki S. Blazer, Robert M. Lorantas, Geoffrey Smith, John E. Mullican, Brandon J. Keplinger, Tyler Wagner
2018, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (38) 493-501
Detecting temporal changes in fish abundance is an essential component of fisheries management. Because of the need to understand short‐term and nonlinear changes in fish abundance, traditional linear models may not provide adequate information for management decisions. This study highlights the utility of Bayesian dynamic linear models (DLMs) as a...
Landscape assessment of side channel plugs and associated cumulative side channel attrition across a large river floodplain
Ann Marie Reinhold, Geoffrey C. Poole, Robert G. Bramblett, Alexander V. Zale, David W. Roberts
2018, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (190) 1-15
Determining the influences of anthropogenic perturbations on side channel dynamics in large rivers is important from both assessment and monitoring perspectives because side channels provide critical habitat to numerous aquatic species. Side channel extents are decreasing in large rivers worldwide. Although riprap and other linear structures have been shown to...
Density of American black bears in New Mexico
Matthew J. Gould, James W. Cain III, Gary W. Roemer, William R. Gould, Stewart Liley
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 775-788
Considering advances in noninvasive genetic sampling and spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) models, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish sought to update their density estimates for American black bear (Ursus americanus) populations in New Mexico, USA, to aide in setting sustainable harvest limits. We estimated black bear density in...
Fusing MODIS with Landsat 8 data to downscale weekly normalized difference vegetation index estimates for central Great Basin rangelands, USA
Stephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie, Matthew B. Rigge, Devendra Dahal
2018, GIScience and Remote Sensing (55) 376-399
Data fused from distinct but complementary satellite sensors mitigate tradeoffs that researchers make when selecting between spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed data. We integrated data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor aboard the Terra satellite and the Operational Land Imager sensor aboard the Landsat 8 satellite...
Examining natural attenuation and acute toxicity of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter with optical spectroscopy
David C. Podgorski, Phoebe Zito, Jennifer McGuire, Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Barbara A. Bekins, Robert G. M. Spencer
2018, Environmental Science & Technology (52) 6157-6166
Groundwater samples containing petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter (DOMHC) originating from the north oil body within the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, MN, USA were analyzed by optical spectroscopic techniques (i.e., absorbance and fluorescence) to assess relationships that can be used to examine natural...
Book review: Handbook of cyanobacterial monitoring and cyanotoxin analysis
Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin
2018, Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin (27) 61-62
Review of Meriluoto, Jussi, Lisa Spoof, and GeoffreyA. Codd [eds.]. 2017. Handbook of Cyanobacterial Monitoring and Cyanotoxin Analysis. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: Chichester, West Sussex, UK, ISBN 978‐1‐119‐06868‐6 (978‐1‐119‐06876‐1 eBook), DOI 10.1002/9781119068761....
Rivers are social–ecological systems: Time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management
Jason B. Dunham, Paul L. Angermeier, Shelley D. Crausbay, Amanda E. Cravens, Hannah Gosnell, Jamie McEvoy, Max A. Moritz, Nejem Raheem, Todd Sanford
2018, WIREs Water (5) 1-10
Incorporation of concepts from landscape ecology into understanding and managing riverine ecosystems has become widely known as riverscape ecology. Riverscape ecology emphasizes interactions among processes at different scales and their consequences for valued ecosystem components, such as riverine fishes. Past studies have focused strongly on understanding the ecological processes in...
Response of moose to a high‐density road network
David W. Wattles, Katherine A. Zeller, Stephen DeStefano
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 929-939
Road networks and the disturbance associated with vehicle traffic alter animal behavior, movements, and habitat selection. The response of moose (Alces americanus) to roads has been documented in relatively rural areas, but less is known about moose response to roads in more highly roaded landscapes. We examined road‐crossing frequencies and...
Demographic response of Louisiana Waterthrush, a stream obligate songbird of conservation concern, to shale gas development
Mack W. Frantz, Petra B. Wood, James Sheehan, Gregory George
2018, Condor (120) 265-282
Shale gas development continues to outpace the implementation of best management practices for wildlife affected by development. We examined demographic responses of the Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) to shale gas development during 2009–2011 and 2013–2015 in a predominantly forested landscape in West Virginia, USA. Forest cover across the study area...
Irrigated agriculture and future climate change effects on groundwater recharge, northern High Plains aquifer, USA
Zachary H. Lauffenburger, Jason J. Gurdak, Christopher M. Hobza, Duane Woodward, Cassandra Wolf
2018, Agricultural Water Management (204) 69-80
Understanding the controls of agriculture and climate change on recharge rates is critically important to develop appropriate sustainable management plans for groundwater resources and coupled irrigated agricultural systems. In this study, several physical (total potential (ψT) time series) and chemical tracer and dating (3H, Cl−, Br−, CFCs, SF6, and 3H/3He) methods...
A multiscale investigation of habitat use and within-river distribution of sympatric sand darter species
Patricia A. Thompson, Stuart A. Welsh, Michael P. Strager, Austin A. Rizzo
2018, Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources (2) 1-22
The western sand darter Ammocrypta clara, and eastern sand darter Ammocrypta pellucida, are sand-dwelling fishes of conservation concern. Past research has emphasized the importance of studying individual populations of conservation concern, while recent research has revealed the importance of incorporating landscape scale processes that structure habitat mosaics and local populations....
Energetic fitness: Field metabolic rates assessed via 3D accelerometry complement conventional fitness metrics
David Gremillet, Amelie Lescroel, Grant Ballard, Katie M. Dugger, Melanie Massaro, Elizabeth L. Porzig, David G. Ainley
2018, Functional Ecology (32) 1203-1213
Evaluating the fitness of organisms is an essential step towards understanding their responses to environmental change. Connections between energy expenditure and fitness have been postulated for nearly a century. However, testing this premise among wild animals is constrained by difficulties in measuring energy expenditure while simultaneously monitoring conventional fitness...
Molecular and morphometric analyses reveal cryptic diversity within freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) of the western Gulf coastal drainages of the USA
Anna M. Pieri, Kentaro Inoue, Nathan A. Johnson, Chase H. Smith, John L. Harris, Clint Robertson, Charles R. Randklev
2018, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (124) 261-277
Past geological processes and climate change affected current species distributions and the genetic structure of riverine fauna. Western Gulf of Mexico coastal rivers harbour four mussel species within the genus Fusconaia(Bivalvia: Unionida). The distributions of these species are unclear owing to their indistinguishable shell morphologies. Using molecular phylogenetic and Fourier morphometric...
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: 2018 progress summary
Fred A. Johnson, Gitte Hoj Jensen, Kevin K. Clausen, Jesper Madsen
2018, Report
This report describes progress on development and implementation of an adaptive harvest management program for maintaining the Svalbard population of Pink-footed Geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their target level (60,000) by providing sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of recent monitoring information and its implications...
Fight and air exposure times of caught and released salmonids from the South Fork Snake River
Curtis J. Roth, Daniel J. Schill, Michael C. Quist
2018, Fisheries Research (201) 38-42
Catch-and-release regulations are among the most common types of fishing regulations. In recent years, concerns have arisen regarding the exposure of fish to air during catch-and-release angling. The purpose of our study was to quantify the length of time angled fish were exposed to air by anglers in a typical...
