Kelp, cobbles, and currents: Biologic reduction of coarse grain entrainment stress
Claire C Masteller, Noah J Finnegan, Jonathan A. Warrick, Ian M. Miller
2015, Geology (43) 543-546
Models quantifying the onset of sediment motion do not typically account for the effect of biotic processes because they are difficult to isolate and quantify in relation to physical processes. Here we investigate an example of the interaction of kelp (Order Laminariales) and coarse sediment transport in the coastal zone,...
A replication of a factor analysis of motivations for trapping
Susan Schroeder, David C. Fulton
2015, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (20) 280-283
Using a 2013 sample of Minnesota trappers, we employed confirmatory factor analysis to replicate an exploratory factor analysis of trapping motivations conducted by Daigle, Muth, Zwick, and Glass (1998). We employed the same 25 items used by Daigle et al. and tested the same five-factor structure using a recent sample...
Representativeness of soil samples collected to assess mining-related contamination of flood plains in southeast Kansas
Kyle E. Juracek
2015, Conference Paper, 2015 Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling (SEDHYD 2015)
Historical lead and zinc mining in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD), located in parts of southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri, and northeast Oklahoma, has resulted in a substantial ongoing input of lead and zinc to the environment (Juracek, 2006; Juracek and Becker, 2009). In response to concern about the mining-related contamination,...
In-situ arsenic removal during groundwater recharge through unsaturated alluvium
David O’Leary, John A. Izbicki, T.J. Kim, Clark Ajawani, Donald Suarez, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Kulp, Matthew K. Burgess, Iwen Tseng
2015, Report
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and sustainability of in-situ removal of arsenic from water infiltrated through unsaturated alluvium. BACKGROUND Arsenic is naturally present in aquifers throughout the southwestern United States and elsewhere. In January 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lowered the Maximum...
Blood lead exposure concentrations in mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) on the upper Texas coast
Stephen K. McDowell, Warren C. Conway, David A. Haukos, Jena A. Moon, Christopher E. Comer, I-Kuai Hung
2015, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (2) 221-228
The mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) is a non-migratory waterfowl species dependent upon coastal marsh systems, including those on the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, and considered a regional indicator species of marsh habitat quality. Research from the early 1970s, 1990s, and early-2000s indicated that mottled ducks continued...
Implications of climate and land use change
Jefferson S. Hall, Enrique Murgueitio, Zoraida Calle, Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne, Robert F. Stallard, Patricia Balvanera
Jefferson S. Hall, Vanessa Kirn, Estrella Yanguas-Fernandez, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Managing watersheds for ecosystem services in the steepland neotropics
This chapter relates ecosystem services to climate change and land use. The bulk of the chapter focuses on ecosystem services and steepland land use in the humid Neotropics – what is lost with land-cover changed, and what is gained with various types of restoration that are sustainable given private ownership....
Mercury concentrations of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) vary by sex
Charles P. Madenjian, James T. Francis, Jeffrey J. Braunscheidel, Joseph R. Bohr, Matthew J. Geiger, G. Mark Knottnerus
2015, Environments (2) 546-564
Patterns in relative differences in contaminant concentrations between the sexes across many species of fish may reveal clues for important behavioral and physiological differences between the sexes, and may also be useful in developing fish consumption advisories and efficient designs for programs meant to monitor contaminant levels in fish. We...
New insight into California’s drought through open data
Emily K. Read, Mary Bucknell, Megan Hines, James M. Kreft, Jessica M. Lucido, Jordan S. Read, Carl Schroedl, David M. Sibley, Shirley Stephan, Ivan Suftin, Phethala Thongsavanh, Jamon Van Den Hoek, Jordan I. Walker, Martin R Wernimont, Luke A. Winslow, Andrew N. Yan
2015, BayGEO Journal (8)
Historically unprecedented drought in California has brought water issues to the forefront of the nation’s attention. Crucial investigations that concern water policy, management, and research, in turn, require extensive information about the quality and quantity of California’s water. Unfortunately, key sources of pertinent data are unevenly distributed and frequently hard...
Facing a changing world: Thermal physiology of American pikas (Ochotona princeps)
Hans W Otto, James A Wilson, Erik A. Beever
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 429-445
American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are of concern with respect to warming montane temperatures; however, little information exists regarding their physiological ability to adapt to warming temperatures. Previous studies have shown that pikas have high metabolism and low thermal conductance, which allow survival during cold winters. It has been hypothesized that...
Distributional changes in the western Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) in North America from 1967 to 2008
Alberto Macias-Duarte, Courtney J. Conway
2015, Journal of Raptor Research (49) 75-83
The quantification of shifts in bird distributions in response to climate change provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the processes that influence species persistence. We used data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to document changes in the distributional limits of the western Burrowing Owl...
Habitat use of non-native burbot in a western river
Zachary B. Klein, Michael C. Quist, Darren T. Rhea, Anna C. Senecal
2015, Hydrobiologia (757) 61-71
Burbot, Lota lota (Linnaeus), were illegally introduced into the Green River drainage, Wyoming in the 1990s. Burbot could potentially alter the food web in the Green River, thereby negatively influencing socially, economically, and ecologically important fish species. Therefore, managers of the Green River are interested in implementing a suppression program...
Precision of hard structures used to estimate age of mountain Whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni)
Carson J. Watkins, Tyler J. Ross, Ryan S. Hardy, Michael C. Quist
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 1-7
The mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) is a widely distributed salmonid in western North America that has decreased in abundance over portions of its distribution due to anthropogenic disturbances. In this investigation, we examined precision of age estimates derived from scales, pectoral fin rays, and sagittal otoliths from 167 mountain whitefish....
Effects of gill-net trauma, barotrauma, and deep release on postrelease mortality of Lake Trout
Elizabeth L. Ng, Jim P. Fredericks, Michael C. Quist
2015, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (6) 265-277
Unaccounted postrelease mortality violates assumptions of many fisheries studies, thereby biasing parameter estimates and reducing efficiency. We evaluated effects of gill-net trauma, barotrauma, and deep-release treatment on postrelease mortality of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush. Lake trout were captured at depths up to 65 m with gill nets in Priest Lake, Idaho,...
Exploring crowded trophic niche space in a novel reservoir fish assemblage: how many predators is too many?
Lisa K. Winters, Phaedra E. Budy
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (114) 1117-1128
In highly managed reservoir systems, species interactions within novel fish assemblages can be difficult to predict. In high-elevation Scofield Reservoir in Utah the unintentional introduction of Utah Chub Gila atraria and subsequent population expansion prompted a shift from stocking exclusively Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss to include tiger trout (female Brown Trout Salmo trutta × male Brook Trout Salvelinus...
Jaguar critical habitat designation causes concern for Southwestern ranchers
Colleen Svancara, Aaron M. Lien, Wendy T. Vanasco, Laura Lopez-Hoffman, George B. Ruyle
2015, Rangelands (37) 144-151
The designation of jaguar critical habitat in April 2014 in southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico created concern for livestock ranchers in the region. We interviewed ranchers to understand their concerns with the jaguar critical habitat designation and their attitudes toward jaguars, wildlife conservation, and resource management in general. <p...
Breeding ecology of Wandering Tattlers Tringa incana: a study from south-central Alaska
Robert E. Gill Jr., Pavel S. Tomkovich, Maksim N. Dementyev
2015, Wader Study Group Bulletin (122) 99-114
Montane-nesting shorebirds are arguably the least studied of the Charadriiformes, owing in part to the remoteness of their breeding areas, low nesting densities, and specialized behaviors. We studied a marked population of the Wandering Tattler Tringa incana, during a three-year period (1997–1999) on nesting grounds in south-central Alaska. Two aspects...
Evidence from data storage tags for the presence of lunar and semilunar behavioral cycles in spawning Atlantic cod
Timothy B. Grabowski, Bruce J. McAdam, Vilhjalmur Thorsteinsson, Gudrun Marteinsdottir
2015, Environmental Biology of Fishes (98) 1767-1776
Understanding the environmental processes determining the timing and success of reproduction is of critical importance to developing effective management strategies of marine fishes. Unfortunately it has proven difficult to comprehensively study the reproductive behavior of broadcast-spawning fishes. The use of electronic data storage tags (DSTs) has the potential to provide...
Climate-smart management of biodiversity
Christopher P. Nadeau, Angela K. Fuller, Daniel L. Rosenblatt
2015, Ecosphere (6)
Determining where biodiversity is likely to be most vulnerable to climate change and methods to reduce that vulnerability are necessary first steps to incorporate climate change into biodiversity management plans. Here, we use a spatial climate change vulnerability assessment to (1) map the potential vulnerability of terrestrial biodiversity to climate...
Population and genetic outcomes 20 years after reintroducing bobcats (Lynx rufus) to Cumberland Island, Georgia USA
Duane R. Diefenbach, Leslie A. Hansen, Justin H. Bohling, Cassandra Miller-Butterworth
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 4885-4895
In 1988–1989, 32 bobcats Lynx rufus were reintroduced to Cumberland Island (CUIS), Georgia, USA, from which they had previously been extirpated. They were monitored intensively for 3 years immediately post-reintroduction, but no estimation of the size or genetic diversity of the population had been conducted in over 20 years since reintroduction. We returned to...
Spatial and temporal variation in marine birds in the north Gulf of Alaska: The value of marine bird monitoring within Gulf Watch Alaska
Kathy J. Kuletz, Daniel Esler
2015, Report, Quantifying temporal and spatial ecosystem variability across the Northern Gulf of Alaska to understand mechanisms of change: Science synthesis report for the Gulf Watch Alaska Program
Birds offer useful insights into marine ecosystems. Marine birds are responsive to spatial and temporal variation in the environment, that often originates with fluctuations in oceanographic and climatic drivers and permeates up through food webs to conspicuous top predators such as seabirds (Coyle and Pinchuk 2005, Speckman et al. 2005,...
Diel resource partitioning among juvenile Atlantic Salmon, Brown Trout, and Rainbow Trout during summer
James H. Johnson, James E. McKenna Jr.
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 586-597
Interspecific partitioning of food and habitat resources has been widely studied in stream salmonids. Most studies have examined resource partitioning between two native species or between a native species and one that has been introduced. In this study we examine the diel feeding ecology and habitat use of three species...
Rapid damage mapping for the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha earthquake using synthetic aperture radar data from COSMO-SkyMed and ALOS-2 satellites
Sang-Ho Yun, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Susan Owen, Frank Webb, Mark Simons, Patrizia Sacco, Eric Gurrola, Gerald Manipon, Cunren Liang, Eric Fielding, Pietro Milillo, Hook Hua, Alessandro Coletta
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 1549-1557
The 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake caused more than 8000 fatalities and widespread building damage in central Nepal. The Italian Space Agency’s COSMO–SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite acquired data over Kathmandu area four days after the earthquake and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 SAR satellite...
Estimating spawning times of Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) in Lake Texoma, Oklahoma
Richard A. Snow, James M. Long
2015, Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science (95) 46-53
In 2013, juvenile Alligator Gar were sampled in the reservoir-river interface of the Red River arm of Lake Texoma. The Red River, which flows 860 km along Oklahoma’s border with Texas, is the primary in-flow source of Lake Texoma, and is impounded by Denison Dam. Minifyke nets were deployed using...
Physiological preparedness and performance of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in relation to behavioural salinity preferences and thresholds
D.S. Stich, G.B. Zydlewski, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2015, Journal of Fish Biology (88) 595-617
This study investigated the relationships between behavioural responses of Atlantic salmon Salmo salarsmolts to saltwater (SW) exposure and physiological characteristics of smolts in laboratory experiments. It concurrently described the behaviour of acoustically tagged smolts with respect to SW and tidal cycles during estuary migration. Salmo salar smolts increased their use of SW relative...
Serologic evidence of influenza A (H14) virus introduction into North America
Neus Latorre-Margalef, Andrew M. Ramey, Alinde Fojtik, David E. Stallknecht
2015, Emerging Infectious Diseases (21) 2257-2259
Although a diverse population of influenza A viruses (IAVs) is maintained among ducks, geese, shorebirds, and gulls, not all of the 16 avian hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes are equally represented (1). The 14th HA subtype, commonly known as the H14 subtype, was historically limited to isolates from the former Soviet Union...