When perception reflects reality: Non-native grass invasion alters small mammal risk landscapes and survival
Joseph P. Ceradnini, Anna D. Chalfoun
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 1823-1835
Modification of habitat structure due to invasive plants can alter the risk landscape for wildlife by, for example, changing the quality or availability of refuge habitat. Whether perceived risk corresponds with actual fitness outcomes, however, remains an important open question. We simultaneously measured how habitat changes due to a common...
Effects of CFT Legumine (5% Rotenone) on tadpole survival and metamorphosis of Chiricahua leopard frogs Lithobates chiricahuensis, Northern leopard frogs L. pipiens, and American bullfrogs L. catesbeianus
Guillermo Alvarez, Colleen A. Caldwell, Carter G. Kruse
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 512-522
Amphibians may experience collateral effects if exposed to CFT Legumine (5% rotenone), a piscicide that is used to remove invasive fish. A series of 48-h static toxicity tests assessed the acute effects of CFT Legumine on multi-aged tadpoles of the federally listed Chiricahua leopard frog Lithobates chiricahuensis, the widespread northern leopard...
Ground-rupturing earthquakes on the northern Big Bend of the San Andreas Fault, California, 800 A.D. to Present
Katherine M. Scharer, Ray J. Weldon, Glenn Biasi, Ashley Streig, Thomas E. Fumal
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research (122) 2193-2218
Paleoseismic data on the timing of ground-rupturing earthquakes constrain the recurrence behavior of active faults and can provide insight on the rupture history of a fault if earthquakes dated at neighboring sites overlap in age and are considered correlative. This study presents the evidence and ages for 11 earthquakes that...
Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the United States
Susan T. Glassmeyer, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Angela L. Batt, Robert Benson, J. Scott Boone, Octavia D. Conerly, Maura J. Donohue, Dawn N. King, Mitchell S. Kostich, Heath E. Mash, Stacy Pfaller, Kathleen M. Schenck, Jane Ellen Simmons, Eunice A. Varughese, Stephen J. Vesper, Eric N. Villegas, Vickie S. Wilson
2017, Science of the Total Environment (581-582) 909-922
When chemical or microbial contaminants are assessed for potential effect or possible regulation in ambient and drinking waters, a critical first step is determining if the contaminants occur and if they are at concentrations that may cause human or ecological health concerns. To this end,...
Delta-Flux: An eddy covariance network for a climate-smart Lower Mississippi Basin
Benjamin R. K. Runkle, James R. Rigby, Michele L. Reba, Saseendran S. Anapalli, Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Ken W. Krauss, Lu Liang, Martin A. Locke, Kimberly A. Novick, Ruixiu Sui, Kosana Suvocarev, Paul M. White Jr.
2017, Agricultural & Environmental Letters (2)
Networks of remotely monitored research sites are increasingly the tool used to study regional agricultural impacts on carbon and water fluxes. However, key national networks such as the National Ecological Observatory Network and AmeriFlux lack contributions from the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB), a highly productive agricultural area with opportunities...
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) mortality and recovery rates vary by wing molt status at time of banding
Joseph P. Fleskes, Brian J. Halstead, Jeffrey D. Kohl, Gregory S. Yarris
2017, Waterbirds (40) 33-40
Recovery (i.e., shot, retrieved, and reported) rates and daily mortality risk of 52,330 adult Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) leg-banded during pre-molt, in-molt, or post-molt during 1985–2011 were evaluated to better understand mortality during wing molt in dynamics of the Mallard population in California, USA. Recovery rates and non-hunting mortality risk varied...
Vulnerabilities to climate change of Massachusetts animal species of greatest conservation need
Hector Galbraith, Toni L. Morelli
2017, Report
Over the last decade, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has addressed the potential and actual impacts of climate change on state flora and fauna. The state’s involvement began in 2007 when, led by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) and assisted by Manomet Center for Con-servation Research, it carried out...
Isotopic niches support the resource breadth hypothesis
Jonathan A. Rader, Seth D. Newsome, Pablo Sabat, R. Terry Chesser, Michael E. Dillon, Carlos Martinez del Rio
2017, Journal of Animal Ecology (86) 405-413
Because a broad spectrum of resource use allows species to persist in a wide range of habitat types, and thus permits them to occupy large geographical areas, and because broadly distributed species have access to more diverse resource bases, the resource breadth hypothesis posits that the diversity...
San Francisco Bay living shorelines: Restoring Eelgrass and Olympia Oysters for habitat and shore protection
Katharyn E. Boyer, Chela Zabin, Susan De La Cruz, Edwin D. Grosholz, Michelle Orr, Jeremy Lowe, Marilyn Latta, Jen Miller, Stephanie Kiriakopolos, Cassie Pinnell, Damien Kunz, Julien Moderan, Kevin Stockmann, Geana Ayala, Robert Abbott, Rena Obernolte
2017, Book chapter, Living shorelines: The science and management of nature-based coastal protection
Living shorelines projects utilize a suite of sediment stabilization and habitat restoration techniques to maintain or build the shoreline, while creating habitat for a variety of species, including invertebrates, fish, and birds (see National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] 2015 for an overview). The term “living shorelines” denotes provision of...
The basis function approach for modeling autocorrelation in ecological data
Trevor J. Hefley, Kristin M. Broms, Brian M. Brost, Frances E. Buderman, Shannon L. Kay, Henry Scharf, John Tipton, Perry J. Williams, Mevin Hooten
2017, Ecology (98) 632-646
Analyzing ecological data often requires modeling the autocorrelation created by spatial and temporal processes. Many seemingly disparate statistical methods used to account for autocorrelation can be expressed as regression models that include basis functions. Basis functions also enable ecologists to modify a wide range of existing ecological models in order...
Using resilience and resistance concepts to manage persistent threats to sagebrush ecosystems and greater sage-grouse
Jeanne C. Chambers, Jeremy D. Maestas, David A. Pyke, Chad S. Boyd, Mike Pellant, Amarina Wuenschel
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 149-164
Conservation of imperiled species often demands addressing a complex suite of threats that undermine species viability. Regulatory approaches, such as the US Endangered Species Act (1973), tend to focus on anthropogenic threats through adoption of policies and regulatory mechanisms. However, persistent ecosystem-based threats, such as invasive species and altered disturbance...
Spatial and temporal genetic analysis of Walleyes in the Ohio River
Kevin S. Page, Richard D. Zweifela, Wendylee Stott
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 1168-1185
Previous genetic analyses have shown that Walleyes Sander vitreus in the upper Ohio River comprise two distinct genetic strains: (1) fish of Great Lakes origin that were stocked into the Ohio River basin and (2) a remnant native strain (Highlands strain). Resource agencies are developing management strategies to conserve and restore the...
In-well time-of-travel approach to evaluate optimal purge duration during low-flow sampling of monitoring wells
Philip T. Harte
2017, Environmental Earth Sciences (76) 1-13
A common assumption with groundwater sampling is that low (<0.5 L/min) pumping rates during well purging and sampling captures primarily lateral flow from the formation through the well-screened interval at a depth coincident with the pump intake. However, if the intake is adjacent to a low hydraulic conductivity part of the...
Hydrological and geophysical investigation of streamflow losses and restoration strategies in an abandoned mine lands setting
Charles A. Cravotta III, Laura Sherrod, Daniel G. Galeone, Wayne G. Lehman, Terry E. Ackman, Alexa Kramer
2017, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (23) 243-273
Longitudinal discharge and water-quality campaigns (seepage runs) were combined with surface-geophysical surveys, hyporheic-temperature profiling, and watershed-scale hydrological monitoring to evaluate the locations, magnitude, and impact of streamwater losses from the West Creek subbasin of the West West Branch Schuylkill River into the underground Oak Hill Mine complex that extends beneath...
Trawl-based assessment of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes including Alewife and Rainbow Smelt
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, Michael J. Connerton, Jeremy P. Holden
2017, Report, NYSDEC Lake Ontario Annual Report 2016
Managing Lake Ontario fisheries in an ecosystem-context, requires reliable data on the status and trends of prey fishes that support predator populations. We report on the community and population dynamics of Lake Ontario pelagic prey fishes, based on bottom trawl surveys. We emphasize information that supports the international Lake Ontario...
Petrology and geochronology of Mesoproterozoic basement of the Mount Rogers area of southwestern Virginia and northwestern North Carolina: Implications for the Precambrian tectonic evolution of the southern Blue Ridge province
Richard P. Tollo, John N. Aleinikoff, Alan P. Dickin, Molly S. Radwany, C. Scott Southworth, C. Mark Fanning
2017, American Journal of Science (317) 251-337
Results from new geologic mapping, SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology, and petrologic studies indicate that Mesoproterozoic basement in the northern French Broad massif near Mount Rogers consists of multiple, mostly granitic plutons, map- and outcrop-scale xenoliths of pre-existing crustal rocks, and remnants of formerly overlying meta-sedimentary lithologies. Zircon and titanite ages demonstrate...
Recommended approaches to the scientific evaluation of ecotoxicological hazards and risks of endocrine-active substances
Peter Matthiessen, Gerald T. Ankley, Ronald C. Biever, Poul Bjerregaard, Christopher Borgert, Kristin Brugger, Amy Blankinship, Janice Chambers, Katherine K. Coady, Lisa Constantine, ZhiChao Dang, Nancy D. Denslow, David Dreier, Steve Dungey, L. Earl Gray, Melanie Gross, Patrick D. Guiney, Markus Hecker, Henrik Holbech, Taisen Iguchi, Sarah Kadlec, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Ioanna Katsiadaki, Yukio Kawashima, Werner Kloas, Henry Krueger, Anu Kumar, Laurent Lagadic, Annegaaike Leopold, Steven L. Levine, Gerd Maack, Sue Marty, James P. Meador, Ellen Mihaich, Jenny Odum, Lisa Ortego, Joanne L. Parrott, Daniel Pickford, Mike Roberts, Christoph Schaefers, Tamar Schwarz, Keith Solomon, Tim Verslycke, Lennart Weltje, James R. Wheeler, Mike Williams, Jeffery C. Wolf, Kunihiko Yamazaki
2017, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (13) 267-279
A SETAC Pellston Workshop® “Environmental Hazard and Risk Assessment Approaches for Endocrine-Active Substances (EHRA)” was held in February 2016 in Pensacola, Florida, USA. The primary objective of the workshop was to provide advice, based on current scientific understanding, to regulators and policy makers; the aim being to make considered, informed decisions...
Conservation status of the American horseshoe crab, (Limulus polyphemus): A regional assessment
David R. Smith, H. Jane Brockmann, Mark A. Beekey, Tim L. King, Mike Millard, Jaime Zaldivar-Rae
2017, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (27) 135-175
Horseshoe crabs have persisted for more than 200 million years, and fossil forms date to 450 million years ago. The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), one of four extant horseshoe crab species, is found along the Atlantic coastline of North America ranging from Alabama to Maine, USA with...
Who knew? First Myotis sodalis (Indiana Bat) maternity colony in the coastal plain of Virginia
Michael J. St. Germain, Andrew B. Kniowski, Alexander Silvis, W. Mark Ford
2017, Northeastern Naturalist (24) N5-N10
We report the first confirmed Myotis sodalis (Indiana Bat) maternity colony in Virginia, discovered at Fort A.P. Hill Military Reservation in Caroline County along the Piedmont-Coastal Plain Fall Line. Acoustic surveys conducted in 2014 indicated likely presence of Indiana Bats on the installation. Subsequent focal mist-netting during May–June 2015 resulted...
Antarctic ice-core water (USGS49) – A new isotopic reference material for δ2H and δ18O measurements of water
Jennifer M. Lorenz, Haiping Qi, Tyler B. Coplen
2017, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (41) 63-68
As a result of the scarcity of isotopic reference waters for daily use, a new secondary isotopic reference material for international distribution has been prepared from ice-core water from the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. This isotopic reference material, designated as USGS49, was filtered, homogenised, loaded into glass ampoules, sealed with...
Extended late Holocene relative sea-level histories for North Carolina, USA
Andrew C. Kemp, Jessica J. Kegel, Stephen J. Culver, Donald C. Barber, David J. Mallinson, Eduardo Leorri, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill, Stanley R. Riggs, Anna L. Woodson, Ryan P. Mulligan, Benjamin P. Horton
2017, Quaternary Science Reviews (160) 13-30
We produced ∼3000-year long relative sea-level (RSL) histories for two sites in North Carolina (USA) using foraminifera preserved in new and existing cores of dated salt-marsh sediment. At Cedar Island, RSL rose by ∼2.4 m during the past ∼3000 years compared to ∼3.3 m at Roanoke Island. This spatial difference arises primarily from...
Geologic controls on submarine slope failure along the central U.S. Atlantic margin: Insights from the Currituck Slide Complex
Jenna C. Hill, Daniel S. Brothers, Bradley K. Craig, Uri S. ten Brink, Jason D. Chaytor, Claudia Flores
2017, Marine Geology (385) 114-130
Multiple styles of failure, ranging from densely spaced, mass transport driven canyons to the large, slab-type slope failure of the Currituck Slide, characterize adjacent sections of the central U.S. Atlantic margin that appear to be defined by variations in geologic framework. Here we use regionally extensive, deep penetration multichannel seismic...
Integrating multiple data sources in species distribution modeling: A framework for data fusion
Krishna Pacifici, Brian J. Reich, David A.W. Miller, Beth Gardner, Glenn E. Stauffer, Susheela Singh, Alexa McKerrow, Jaime A. Collazo
2017, Ecology (98) 840-850
The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the use of species distribution models (SDMs) to characterize patterns of species’ occurrence and abundance. Efforts to parameterize SDMs often create a tension between the quality and quantity of data available to fit models. Estimation methods that integrate both standardized and...
Intraspecific functional diversity of common species enhances community stability
Connor M. Wood, Shawn T. McKinney, Cynthia S. Loftin
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 1553-1560
Common species are fundamental to the structure and function of their communities and may enhance community stability through intraspecific functional diversity (iFD). We measured among-habitat and within-habitat iFD (i.e., among- and within-plant community types) of two common small mammal species using stable isotopes and functional trait dendrograms, determined whether iFD...
LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response
Joshua J. Picotte, Jordan Long, Birgit Peterson, Kurtis Nelson
2017, Earthzine (March 2017)
The LANDFIRE Program produces national scale vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and landscape disturbance data for the entire U.S. These data products have been used to model the potential impacts of fire on the landscape [1], the wildfire risks associated with land and resource management [2, 3], and those near population centers...
