Use of structured decision-making to explicitly incorporate environmental process understanding in management of coastal restoration projects: Case study on barrier islands of the northern Gulf of Mexico
P. Soupy Dalyander, Michelle B. Meyers, Brady Mattsson, Gregory Steyer, Elizabeth Godsey, Justin McDonald, Mark R. Byrnes, Mark Ford
2016, Journal of Environmental Management (183) 497-509
Coastal ecosystem management typically relies on subjective interpretation of scientific understanding, with limited methods for explicitly incorporating process knowledge into decisions that must meet multiple, potentially competing stakeholder objectives. Conversely, the scientific community lacks methods for identifying which advancements in system understanding would have the highest value to decision-makers. A...
Concentrations of mineral aerosol from desert to plains across the central Rocky Mountains, western United States
Richard L. Reynolds, Seth M. Munson, Daniel Fernandez, Harland L. Goldstein, Jason C. Neff
2016, Aeolian Research (23) 21-35
Mineral dusts can have profound effects on climate, clouds, ecosystem processes, and human health. Because regional dust emission and deposition in western North America are not well understood, measurements of total suspended particulate (TSP) from 2011 to 2013 were made along a 500-km transect of five remote sites in Utah...
Population demographics for the federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel
Heather S. Galbraith, William A. Lellis, Jeffrey C. Cole, Carrie J. Blakeslee, Barbara St. John White
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 377-387
The dwarf wedgemussel, Alasmidonta heterodon, is a federally endangered freshwater mussel species inhabiting several Atlantic Slope rivers. Studies on population demographics of this species are necessary for status assessment and directing recovery efforts. We conducted qualitative and quantitative surveys for dwarf wedgemussel in the mainstem Delaware River and in four...
Interagency Pacific marten (Martes caurina) distribution study on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Katie Moriarty, Betsy Howell, Connor Morozumi, Patti Happe, Kurt J. Jenkins, Keith B. Aubry
2016, Report
The objective of this study was to determine if the Pacific marten (Martes caurina) still occurs on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We reviewed recent records of marten observations on the Olympic Peninsula since 1998, and conducted new surveys in undersampled regions of the Olympic Peninsula during...
Cryovolcanism on Ceres
O. Ruesch, T. Platz, P. Schenk, L.A. McFadden, J. C. Castillo-Rogez, L. C. Quick, S. Byrne, F. Preusker, D.P. O'Brien, N. Schmedemann, D.A. Williams, Jian-Yang Li, M. T. Bland, H. Hiesinger, T. Kneissl, A. Neesemann, M. Schaefer, J. H. Pasckert, B.E. Schmidt, D.L. Buczkowski, M. V. Sykes, A. Nathues, T. Roatsch, M. Hoffman, C.A. Raymond, C.T. Russell
2016, Science (353)
Volcanic edifices are abundant on rocky bodies of the inner solar system. In the cold outer solar system, volcanism can occur on solid bodies with a water-ice shell, but derived cryovolcanic constructs have proved elusive. We report the discovery using Dawn Framing Camera images of a landform on dwarf planet...
Nitrapyrin in streams: The first study documenting off-field transport of a nitrogen stabilizer compound
Emily E. Woodward, Michelle Hladik, Dana W. Kolpin
2016, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (3) 387-392
Nitrapyrin is a bactericide that is co-applied with fertilizer to prevent nitrification and enhance corn yields. While there have been studies of the environmental fate of nitrapyrin, there is no documentation of its off-field transport to streams. In 2016, 59 water samples from 11 streams across Iowa were analyzed for...
Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming
Joanna C. Carey, Jianwu Tang, Pamela H. Templer, Kevin D. Kroeger, Thomas W. Crowther, Andrew J. Burton, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Bridget Emmett, Serita D. Frey, Mary A. Heskel, Lifen Jiang, Megan B. Machmuller, Jacqueline Mohan, Anne Marie Panetta, Peter B. Reich, Sabine Reinsch, Xin Wang, Steven D. Allison, Chris Bamminger, Scott D. Bridgham, Scott L. Collins, Giovanbattista de Dato, William C. Eddy, Brian J. Enquist, Marc Estiarte, John Harte, Amanda Henderson, Bart R. Johnson, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Yiqi Luo, Sven Marhan, Jerry M. Melillo, Josep Penuelas, Laurel Pfeifer-Meister, Christian Poll, Edward B. Rastetter, Andrew B. Reinmann, Lorien L. Reynolds, Inger K. Schmidt, Gaius R. Shaver, Aaron L. Strong, Vidya Suseela, Albert Tietema
2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (113) 13797-13802
The respiratory release of carbon dioxide (CO2) from soil is a major yet poorly understood flux in the global carbon cycle. Climatic warming is hypothesized to increase rates of soil respiration, potentially fueling further increases in global temperatures. However, despite considerable scientific attention in recent decades, the overall response of...
Modeling the effects of tile drain placement on the hydrologic function of farmed prairie wetlands
Brett Werner, John Tracy, W. Carter Johnson, Richard A. Voldseth, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Bruce Millett
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 1482-1492
The early 2000s saw large increases in agricultural tile drainage in the eastern Dakotas of North America. Agricultural practices that drain wetlands directly are sometimes limited by wetland protection programs. Little is known about the impacts of tile drainage beyond the delineated boundaries of wetlands in upland catchments that may...
Avoiding decline: Fostering resilience and sustainability in midsize cities
Craig R. Allen, Hannah E. Birge, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Rebecca A. Bevans, Jessica Burnett, Barbara Cosens, Ximing Cai, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Igor Linkov, Elizabeth A. Scott, Mark D. Solomon, Daniel R. Uden
2016, Sustainability (8)
Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight urban-rural feedbacks with their immediate natural environments that result from heavy...
A possible source mechanism of the 1946 Unimak Alaska far-field tsunami, uplift of the mid-slope terrace above a splay fault zone
Roland E. von Huene, John J. Miller, Dirk Klaeschen, Peter Dartnell
2016, Pure and Applied Geophysics (173) 4189-4201
In 1946, megathrust seismicity along the Unimak segment of the Alaska subduction zone generated the largest ever recorded Alaska/Aleutian tsunami. The tsunami severely damaged Pacific islands and coastal areas from Alaska to Antarctica. It is the charter member of “tsunami” earthquakes that produce outsized far-field tsunamis for the recorded magnitude....
Development of a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle stock assessment model
Benny J. Gallaway, William Gazey, Charles W. Caillouet Jr., Pamela T. Plotkin, F. Alberto Abreu Grobois, Anthony F. Amos, Patrick M. Burchfield, Raymond R. Carthy, Marco A. Castro Martinez, John G. Cole, Andrew T. Coleman, Melissa Cook, Steven F. DiMarco, Sheryan P. Epperly, Masami Fujiwara, Daniel Gomez Gamez, Gary L. Graham, Wade L. Griffin, Francisco Illescas Martinez, Margaret M. Lamont, Rebecca L. Lewison, Kenneth J. Lohmann, James M. Nance, Jonathan Pitchford, Nathan Freeman Putman, Scott W. Raborn, Jeffrey K. Rester, Jack J. Rudloe, Laura Sarti Martinez, Mark Schexnayder, Jeffrey R. Schmid, Donna J. Shaver, Christopher Slay, Anton D. Tucker, Mandy Tumlin, Thane Wibbels, Blanca M. Zapata Najera
2016, Gulf of Mexico Science (33) 138-157
We developed a Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) stock assessment model to evaluate the relative contributions of conservation efforts and other factors toward this critically endangered species’ recovery. The Kemp’s ridley demographic model developed by the Turtle Expert Working Group (TEWG) in 1998 and 2000 and updated for the binational recovery...
Bayesian analysis of Jolly-Seber type models
Eleni Matechou, Geoff K. Nicholls, Byron J. T. Morgan, Jaime A. Collazo, James E. Lyons
2016, Environmental and Ecological Statistics (23) 531-547
We propose the use of finite mixtures of continuous distributions in modelling the process by which new individuals, that arrive in groups, become part of a wildlife population. We demonstrate this approach using a data set of migrating semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pussila) for which we extend existing stopover...
Individual, group, and environmental influences on helping behavior in a social carnivore
David E. Ausband, Michael S. Mitchell, Sarah B. Bassing, Andrea T. Morehouse, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, Jennifer Struthers
2016, Ethology (122) 963-972
Variation in group composition and environment can affect helping behavior in cooperative breeders. Understanding of how group size, traits of individuals within groups, food abundance, and predation risk simultaneously influence helping behavior is limited. We evaluated pup-guarding behavior in gray wolves (Canis lupus) to assess how differences in individuals, groups,...
Application of activity sensors for estimating behavioral patterns
Caleb P. Roberts, James W. Cain III, Robert D. Cox
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin (40) 764-771
The increasing use of Global Positioning System (GPS) collars in habitat selection studies provides large numbers of precise location data points with reduced field effort. However, inclusion of activity sensors in many GPS collars also grants the potential to remotely estimate behavioral state. Thus, only using GPS collars to collect...
Summary of SPT based field case history data of CETIN (2016) database
K. Onder Cetin, Raymond B. Seed, Robert E. Kayen, Robb E. S. Moss, H. Tolga Bilge, Makbule Ilgac, Khaled Chowdhury
2016, Report
This report provides documentation of the Cetin et al. (2016) field performance case histories, probabilistic maximum likelihood assessment and the sources of differences between the liquefaction triggering resistance estimations (CRR values) of the widely used liquefaction triggering relationships of Seed et al. (1985), Cetin et al. (2004, 2016) and Boulanger...
Topographic and fire weather controls of fire refugia in forested ecosystems of northwestern North America
Meg A. Krawchuk, Sandra L. Haire, Jonathan D. Coop, Marc-André Parisien, Ellen Whitman, Geneva W. Chong, Carol Miller
2016, Ecosphere (7) 1-18
Fire refugia, sometimes referred to as fire islands, shadows, skips, residuals, or fire remnants, are an important element of the burn mosaic, but we lack a quantitative framework that links observations of fire refugia from different environmental contexts. Here, we develop and test a conceptual model for how predictability of...
Indications of a positive feedback between coastal development and beach nourishment
Scott Armstrong, Eli D. Lazarus, Patrick W. Limber, Evan B. Goldstein, Curtis Thorpe, Rhoda Ballinger
2016, Earth's Future (4) 626-635
Beach nourishment, a method for mitigating coastal storm damage or chronic erosion by deliberately replacing sand on an eroded beach, has been the leading form of coastal protection in the U.S. for four decades. However, investment in hazard protection can have the unintended consequence of encouraging development in places especially...
The relative contributions of disease and insects in the decline of a long-lived tree: a stochastic demographic model of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis)
Erik S Jules, Jenell I. Jackson, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Jennifer S. Beck, Michael P. Murray, E. April Sahara
2016, Forest Ecology and Management (381) 144-156
Pathogens and insect pests have become increasingly important drivers of tree mortality in forested ecosystems. Unfortunately, understanding the relative contributions of multiple mortality agents to the population decline of trees is difficult, because it requires frequent measures of tree survival, growth, and recruitment, as well as the incidence of mortality...
A biographical memoir of Donald Edward White
L.J. Patrick Muffler
2016, Article
Donald E. White was a leading scientist for the U.S. Geological Survey, where his career was devoted almost entirely to the study of hydrothermal processes in the Earth’s crust, from the dual perspectives of active geothermal systems and of extinct hydrothermal systems now represented only by ore deposits and alteration...
Complete genome sequence of a novel aquareovirus that infects the endangered fountain darter, Etheostoma fonticola
Luke R. Iwanowicz, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Cynthia R. Adams, Teresa D. Lewis, Thomas M. Brandt, Robert S. Cornman, Lakyn R. Sanders
2016, Genome Announcements (4)
Here, we report the complete genome of a novel aquareovirus isolated from clinically normal fountain darters, Etheostoma fonticola, inhabiting the San Marcos River, Texas, USA. The complete genome consists of 23,958 bp consisting of 11 segments that range from 783 bp (S11) to 3,866 bp (S1)....
Rare alluvial sands of El Monte Valley, California (San Diego County), support high herpetofaunal species richness and diversity, despite severe habitat disturbance
Jonathan Q. Richmond, Carlton J. Rochester, Nathan W. Smith, Jeffrey A. Nordland, Robert N. Fisher
2016, Southwestern Naturalist (61) 294-306
We characterized the species richness, diversity, and distribution of amphibians and reptiles inhabiting El Monte Valley, a heavily disturbed, alluvium-filled basin within the lower San Diego River in Lakeside, California. This rare habitat type in coastal southern California is designated as a critical sand resource by the state of California...
Shifting currents: Progress, setbacks, and shifts in policy and practice
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, Charles Dunning, Dale M. Robertson
2016, Report
The Wisconsin Academy’s initial Waters of Wisconsin project (WOW I) facilitated a statewide conversation between 2000 and 2003 around one main question: How can we ensure healthy aquatic ecosystems and clean, abundant water supplies for tomorrow’s Wisconsin? Robust participation in this conversation underscored the important role citizens have in the...
Semiautomatic mapping of permafrost in the Yukon Flats, Alaska
Mats Lundh Gulbrandsen, Burke J. Minsley, Lyndsay B. Ball, Thomas Mejer Hansen
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 12131-12137
Thawing of permafrost due to global warming can have major impacts on hydrogeological processes, climate feedback, arctic ecology, and local environments. To understand these effects and processes, it is crucial to know the distribution of permafrost. In this study we exploit the fact that airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data are sensitive...
Accurate recapture identification for genetic mark–recapture studies with error-tolerant likelihood-based match calling and sample clustering
Suresh Sethi, Daniel Linden, John Wenburg, Cara Lewis, Patrick R. Lemons, Angela K. Fuller, Matthew P. Hare
2016, Royal Society Open Science (3) 1-14
Error-tolerant likelihood-based match calling presents a promising technique to accurately identify recapture events in genetic mark–recapture studies by combining probabilities of latent genotypes and probabilities of observed genotypes, which may contain genotyping errors. Combined with clustering algorithms to group samples into sets of recaptures based upon pairwise match calls, these...
Structured decision making as a framework for large-scale wildlife harvest management decisions
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller, Jeremy E. Hurst, Bryan L. Swift, Arthur Kirsch, James F. Farquhar, Daniel J. Decker, William F. Siemer
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Fish and wildlife harvest management at large spatial scales often involves making complex decisions with multiple objectives and difficult tradeoffs, population demographics that vary spatially, competing stakeholder values, and uncertainties that might affect management decisions. Structured decision making (SDM) provides a formal decision analytic framework for evaluating difficult decisions by...
