VNTR diversity in Yersinia pestis isolates from an animal challenge study reveals the potential for in vitro mutations during laboratory cultivation
Amy J. Vogler, Roxanne Nottingham, Joseph D. Busch, Jason W. Sahl, Megan M. Shuey, Jeffrey T. Foster, James M. Schupp, Susan Smith, Tonie E. Rocke, Paul Klein, David M. Wagner
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (45) 297-302
Underlying mutation rates and other evolutionary forces shape the population structure of bacteria in nature. Although easily overlooked, similar forces are at work in the laboratory and may influence observed mutations. Here, we investigated tissue samples and Yersinia pestis isolates from a rodent laboratory challenge with strain CO92 using whole...
Aging and sexing guide to the forest birds of Hawai‘i Island
Eben H. Paxton, Rachelle McLaughlin, Stephanie Levins, Eric VanderWerf, Nolan Lancaster
2016, Technical Report HCSU-079
We banded birds in Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge from 2012 to 2016, collecting photographs of birds and making detailed observations on coloration, morphology, and molting patterns. While we believe the criteria in this guide are applicable to forest birds across Hawai’i Island, as well as on other Hawaiian islands...
A new biogeographically disjunct giant gecko (Gehyra: Gekkonidae: Reptilia) from the East Melanesian Islands
Paul M. Oliver, Jonathan R. Clegg, Robert N. Fisher, Stephen J. Richards, Peter N. Taylor, Merlijn M. T. Jocque
2016, Zootaxa (4208) 61-76
The East Melanesian Islands have been a focal area for research into island biogeography and community ecology. However, previously undescribed and biogeographically significant new species endemic to this region continue to be discovered. Here we describe a phylogenetically distinct (~20% divergence at the mitochondrial ND2 gene) and biogeographically disjunct new...
Protecting national parks from air pollution effects: Making sausage from science and policy
Jill S. Baron, Tamara Blett, William C. Malm, Ruth Alexander, Holly Doremus
2016, Book chapter
The story of air pollution research, policy development, and management in national parks is a fascinating blend of cultural change, vision, interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration, and science-policy-management-stakeholder collaborations. Unable to ignore the loss of iconic vistas from regional haze and loss of fish from acid rain in the 1980s, the...
Dissolved organic matter composition of Arctic rivers: Linking permafrost and parent material to riverine carbon
Jonathan A. O’Donnell, George R. Aiken, David K. Swanson, Panda Santosh, Kenna D. Butler, Andrew P. Baltensperger
2016, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (30) 1811-1826
Recent climate change in the Arctic is driving permafrost thaw, which has important implications for regional hydrology and global carbon dynamics. Permafrost is an important control on groundwater dynamics and the amount and chemical composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) transported by high-latitude rivers. The consequences of permafrost thaw for...
Mineral resources: Reserves, peak production and the future
Lawrence D. Meinert, Gilpin Robinson, Nedal T. Nassar
2016, Resources (5)
The adequacy of mineral resources in light of population growth and rising standards of living has been a concern since the time of Malthus (1798), but many studies erroneously forecast impending peak production or exhaustion because they confuse reserves with “all there is”. Reserves are formally defined as a subset...
2016 update on induced earthquakes in the United States
Mark D. Petersen
2016, Book chapter, 2016 Britannica Book of the Year (A Review of 2015)
During the past decade people living in numerous locations across the central U.S. experienced many more small to moderate sized earthquakes than ever before. This earthquake activity began increasing about 2009 and peaked during 2015 and into early 2016. For example, prior to 2009 Oklahoma typically experienced 1 or...
Effects of flow regime on metal concentrations and the attainment of water quality standards in a remediated stream reach, Butte, Montana
Robert L. Runkel, Briant A. Kimball, David A. Nimick, Katherine Walton-Day
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 12641-12649
Low-flow synoptic sampling campaigns are often used as the primary tool to characterize watersheds affected by mining. Although such campaigns are an invaluable part of site characterization, investigations which focus solely on low-flow conditions may yield misleading results. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate this point and elucidate...
Mapping presence and predicting phenological status of invasive buffelgrass in southern Arizona using MODIS, climate and citizen science observation data
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Jessica J. Walker, Susan M. Skirvin, Caroline Patrick-Birdwell, Jake F. Weltzin, Helen Raichle
2016, Remote Sensing (8) 1-24
The increasing spread and abundance of an invasive perennial grass, buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare), represents a critical threat to the native vegetation communities of the Sonoran desert in southern Arizona, USA, where buffelgrass eradication is a high priority for resource managers. Herbicidal treatment of buffelgrass is most effective when the vegetation...
Geography and host species shape the evolutionary dynamics of U genogroup infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus
Allison Black, Rachel Breyta, Trevor Bedford, Gael Kurath
2016, Virus Evolution (2)
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a negative-sense RNA virus that infects wild and cultured salmonids throughout the Pacific Coastal United States and Canada, from California to Alaska. Although infection of adult fish is usually asymptomatic, juvenile infections can result in high mortality events that impact salmon hatchery programs and...
Arctic Research Plan: FY2017-2021
Sandy Starkweather, Martin O Jeffries, Simon Stephenson, Rebecca Anderson, Benjamin M. Jones, Rachel A. Loehman, Vanessa R. von Biela
2016, Report
The United States is an Arctic nation—Americans depend on the Arctic for biodiversity and climate regulation and for natural resources. America’s Arctic—Alaska—is at the forefront of rapid climate, environmental, and socio-economic changes that are testing the resilience and sustainability of communities and ecosystems. Research to increase fundamental understanding of these...
Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in Pacific Northwest salmonids
Rachel Breyta, Allison Black, John Kaufman, Gael Kurath
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (45) 347-358
The aquatic rhaboviral pathogen infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) causes acute disease in juvenile fish of a number of populations of Pacific salmonid species. Heavily managed in both marine and freshwater environments, these fish species are cultured during the juvenile stage in freshwater conservation hatcheries, where IHNV is one of...
The integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan
Cameron L. Aldridge, Ken Berg, Chad S. Boyd, Stephen P. Boyte, John B. Bradford, Ed Brunson, John H. Cissel, Courtney J. Conway, Anna D. Chalfoun, Jeanne C. Chambers, Patrick Clark, Peter S. Coates, Michele R. Crist, Dawn M. Davis, Nicole DeCrappeo, Patricia A. Deibert, Kevin E. Doherty, Louisa B. Evers, Deborah M. Finch, Sean P. Finn, Matthew J. Germino, Nancy F. Glenn, Corey Gucker, John A. Hall, Steven E. Hanser, Douglas W. Havlina, Julie A. Heinrichs, Matt Heller, Collin G. Homer, Molly E. Hunter, Ruth W. Jacobs, Jason W. Karl, Richard Kearney, Susan K Kemp, Francis F. Kilkenny, Steven T. Knick, Karen Launchbaugh, Daniel J. Manier, Kenneth E. Mayer, Susan E. Meyer, Adrian P. Monroe, Eugenie MontBlanc, Beth A. Newingham, Michael L. Pellant, Susan L. Phillips, David S. Pilliod, Mark A. Ricca, Bryce A. Richardson, Jeffrey A. Rose, Nancy Shaw, Roger L. Sheley, Douglas J. Shinneman, Lief A. Wiechman, Bruce K. Wylie
2016, Report
The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy (hereafter Strategy, DOI 2015) outlined the need for coordinated, science-based adaptive management to achieve long-term protection, conservation, and restoration of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem. A key component of this management approach is the identification of knowledge gaps that limit implementation of effective strategies...
Memorial to Robert Leland Smith 1920-2016
Charles R. Bacon
2016, Geological Society of America Memorials (45) 19-25
Robert L. Smith, renowned volcanologist and distinguished scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), was a world authority on ash-flow tuffs, silicic volcanism, and caldera structures. Bob died peacefully in Sacramento, California, June 17, 2016, a few days short of his ninety-sixth birthday. His publications on ash flows and their...
Defining resilience: A preliminary integrative literature review
Bonnie Wilt, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Management 2016
The term “resilience” is ubiquitous in technical literature; it appears in numerous forms, such as resilience, resiliency, or resilient, and each use may have a different definition depending on the interpretation of the writer. This creates difficulties in understanding what is meant by ‘resilience’ in any given use case, especially...
Alternative source models of very low frequency events
Joan S. Gomberg, D.C. Agnew, S.Y. Schwartz
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 6722-6740
We present alternative source models for very low frequency (VLF) events, previously inferred to be radiation from individual slow earthquakes that partly fill the period range between slow slip events lasting thousands of seconds and low-frequency earthquakes (LFE) with durations of tenths of a second. We show that VLF events...
A novel, non-removal method for closing drainage tile for ecological restorations
Raymond Finocchiaro, Dave A. Azure, Michael A. Vargo
2016, Ecological Restoration (34) 273-276
This article discussing the use of a new method and approach for closing tile for hydrological restorations without removal of the tile pipe and allows for more flexibility in restoration design....
Whitebark pine mortality related to white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle outbreak, and water availability
Erin Shanahan, Kathryn M. Irvine, David P. Thoma, Siri K. Wilmoth, Andrew Ray, Kristin Legg, Henry Shovic
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests in the western United States have been adversely affected by an exotic pathogen (Cronartium ribicola, causal agent of white pine blister rust), insect outbreaks (Dendroctonus ponderosae, mountain pine beetle), and drought. We monitored individual trees from 2004 to 2013 and characterized stand-level biophysical conditions through...
Landslide hazards and climate change: A perspective from the United States
Jeffrey A. Coe
2016, Book chapter, Slope safety preparedness for impact of climate change
No abstract available. ...
Pan-arctic trends in terrestrial dissolved organic matter from optical measurements
Paul J. Mann, Robert G. M. Spencer, Peter J. Hernes, Johan Six, George R. Aiken, Suzanne E. Tank, James W. McClelland, Kenna D. Butler, Rachael Y. Dyda, Robert M. Holmes
2016, Frontiers in Earth Science (4)
Climate change is causing extensive warming across Arctic regions resulting in permafrost degradation, alterations to regional hydrology and shifting amounts and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) transported by streams and rivers. Here, we characterize the DOM composition and optical properties of the six largest Arctic rivers draining into the...
Status of scientific knowledge, recovery progress, and future research directions for the Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi Vladykov, 1955
Kenneth J. Sulak, F Parauka, W. Todd Slack, T Ruth, Michael T. Randall, K Luke, M. F Mette, M. E Price
2016, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (32) 87-161
The Gulf Sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi, is an anadromous species of Acipenseridae and native to North America. It currently inhabits and spawns in the upper reaches of seven natal rivers along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the Suwannee River, Florida, to the Pearl River, Louisiana, during...
Large-scale recovery of an endangered amphibian despite ongoing exposure to multiple stressors
Roland A. Knapp, Gary M. Fellers, Patrick M. Kleeman, David A. W. Miller, Vance T. Vrendenburg, Erica Bree Rosenblum, Cheryl J. Briggs
2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (113) 11889-11894
Amphibians are one of the most threatened animal groups, with 32% of species at risk for extinction. Given this imperiled status, is the disappearance of a large fraction of the Earth’s amphibians inevitable, or are some declining species more resilient than is generally assumed? We address this question in a...
Role for migratory wild birds in the global spread of avian influenza H5N8
The Global Consortium for H5N8 and Related Influenza Viruses, S. Ip
2016, Science (354) 213-217
Avian influenza viruses affect both poultry production and public health. A subtype H5N8 (clade 2.3.4.4) virus, following an outbreak in poultry in South Korea in January 2014, rapidly spread worldwide in 2014–2015. Our analysis of H5N8 viral sequences, epidemiological investigations, waterfowl migration, and poultry trade showed that long-distance migratory birds...
Space and habitat use by breeding Golden-winged Warblers in the central Appalachian Mountains
Mack W. Frantz, Kyle R. Aldinger, Petra Wood, Joseph Duchamp, Timothy Nuttle, Andrew Vitz, Jeffrey L. Larkin
2016, Book chapter, Golden-winged Warbler ecology, conservation, and habitat management (Studies in Avian Biology, volume 49)
Spot-mapping, or recording locations of observed use by territorial songbirds, is often used to delineate core breeding territories. However, a recent radiotelemetry study in Minnesota found that male Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) occurring in high-density populations used resources outside their spot-mapped territories. We compared differences in space use and quantified...
Spatially explicit models of full-season productivity and implications for landscape management of Golden-winged Warblers in the western Great Lakes Region
Sean M. Peterson, Henry M. Streby, David E. Andersen
2016, Book chapter, Golden-winged Warbler ecology, conservation, and habitat management (Studies in Avian Biology, volume 49)
The relationship between landscape structure and composition and full-season productivity (FSP) is poorly understood for most birds. For species of high conservation concern, insight into how productivity is related to landscape structure and composition can be used to develop more effective conservation strategies that increase recruitment. We monitored nest productivity...
