Geomorphic factors related to the persistence of subsurface oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Zachary Nixon, Jacqueline Michel, Miles O. Hayes, Gail V. Irvine, Jeff Short
2013, Journal of Coastal Research 115-127
Oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill has persisted along shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska, for more than two decades as both surface and subsurface oil residues. To better understand the distribution of persistent subsurface oil and assess the potential need for further restoration, a thorough and quantitative...
Roles of patch characteristics, drought frequency, and restoration in long-term trends of a widespread amphibian
Blake R. Hossack, M. J. Adams, Christopher A. Pearl, Kristine W. Wilson, Evelyn L. Bull, Kristin Lohr, Debra Patla, David S. Pilliod, Jason Jones, Kevin Wheeler, Samuel McKay, P. Stephen Corn
2013, Conservation Biology (27) 1410-1420
Despite the high profile of amphibian declines and the increasing threat of drought and fragmentation to aquatic ecosystems, few studies have examined long-term rates of change for a single species across a large geographic area. We analyzed growth in annual egg-mass counts of the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) across...
Nutrient limitation of native and invasive N2-fixing plants in northwest prairies
Andrea S. Thorpe, Steven S. Perakis, Christina Catricala, Thomas N. Kaye
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Nutrient rich conditions often promote plant invasions, yet additions of non-nitrogen (N) nutrients may provide a novel approach for conserving native symbiotic N-fixing plants in otherwise N-limited ecosystems. Lupinus oreganus is a threatened N-fixing plant endemic to prairies in western Oregon and southwest Washington (USA). We tested the effect of...
Data-driven modeling of background and mine-related acidity and metals in river basins
Michael J Friedel
2013, Environmental Pollution (184) 530-539
A novel application of self-organizing map (SOM) and multivariate statistical techniques is used to model the nonlinear interaction among basin mineral-resources, mining activity, and surface-water quality. First, the SOM is trained using sparse measurements from 228 sample sites in the Animas River Basin, Colorado. The model performance is validated by...
Forest calcium depletion and biotic retention along a soil nitrogen gradient
Steven S. Perakis, Emily R. Sinkhorn, Christina Catricala, Thomas D. Bullen, John A. Fitzpatrick, Justin D. Hynicka, Kermit Cromack Jr.
2013, Ecological Applications (23) 1947-1961
High nitrogen (N) accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems can shift patterns of nutrient limitation and deficiency beyond N toward other nutrients, most notably phosphorus (P) and base cations (calcium [Ca], magnesium [Mg], and potassium [K]). We examined how naturally high N accumulation from a legacy of symbiotic N fixation shaped P...
An alternative to soil taxonomy for describing key soil characteristics
Michael C. Duniway, Mark E. Miller, Joel R. Brown, Gordon Toevs
2013, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (11) 527-528
We are pleased to see the letter by Schimel and Chadwick (Front Ecol Environ 2013; 11[8]: 405–06), highlighting the importance of soil characterization in ecological and biogeochemical research and explaining the value of soil taxonomy, and we agree with the authors that reporting soil taxonomic classification would greatly increase the interpretive...
Effect of light, prey density, and prey type on the feeding rates of Hemimysis anomala
Kathleen E. Halpin, Brent T. Boscarino, Lars G. Rudstam, Mureen G. Walsh, Brian F. Lantry
2013, Hydrobiologia (720) 101-110
Hemimysis anomala is a near-shore mysid native to the Ponto-Caspian region that was discovered to have invaded Great Lakes ecosystems in 2006. We investigated feeding rates and prey preferences of adult and juvenile Hemimysis in laboratory experiments to gain insight on the potential for Hemimysis to disrupt food webs. For...
Combined impacts of current and future dust deposition and regional warming on Colorado River Basin snow dynamics and hydrology
Jeffrey S. Deems, Thomas H. Painter, Joseph J. Barsugli, Jayne Belnap, Bradley Udall
2013, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (17) 4401-4413
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people in seven western states and two countries and to 5.5 million irrigated acres. The river has long been overallocated. Climate models project runoff losses of 5–20% from the basin by mid-21st century due to human-induced climate change. Recent work has shown...
Genetic diversity and mutation of avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (Newcastle disease virus) in wild birds and evidence for intercontinental spread
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves, Haruko Ogawa, S. Ip, Kunitoshi Imai, V. N. Bui, Emi Yamaguchi, N. Y. Silko, C.L. Afonso
2013, Archives of Virology (158) 2495-2503
Avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1), or Newcastle disease virus, is the causative agent of Newcastle disease, one of the most economically important diseases for poultry production worldwide and a cause of periodic epizootics in wild birds in North America. In this study, we examined the genetic diversity of APMV-1 isolated...
A review on cylindrospermopsin: the global occurrence, detection, toxicity and degradation of a potent cyanotoxin
Armah A. de la Cruz, Anastasia Hiskia, Triantafyllos Kaloudis, Neil Chernoff, Donna Hill, Maria G. Antoniou, Xuexiang He, Keith Loftin, Kevin O’Shea, Cen Zhao, Miguel Pelaez, Changseok Han, Trevor J. Lynch, Dionysios D. Dionysiou
2013, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (15) 1979-2003
Cylindrospermopsin is an important cyanobacterial toxin found in water bodies worldwide. The ever-increasing and global occurrence of massive and prolonged blooms of cylindrospermopsin-producing cyanobacteria poses a potential threat to both human and ecosystem health. Its toxicity is associated with metabolic activation and may involve mechanisms that adversely affect a wide...
The significance of ultra-refracted surface gravity waves on sheltered coasts, with application to San Francisco Bay
D.M. Hanes, L. H. Erikson
2013, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (133) 129-136
Ocean surface gravity waves propagating over shallow bathymetry undergo spatial modification of propagation direction and energy density, commonly due to refraction and shoaling. If the bathymetric variations are significant the waves can undergo changes in their direction of propagation (relative to deepwater) greater than 90° over relatively short spatial scales....
Petrologic, tectonic, and metallogenic evolution of the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades magmatic arc, California and Nevada
Edward A. du Bray, David A. John, Brian L. Cousens
2013, Geosphere (10) 1-39
Ongoing arc magmatism along western North America was preceded by ancestral arc magmatism that began ca. 45 Ma and evolved into modern arc volcanism. The southern ancestral arc segment, active from ca. 30 to 3 Ma, adjoins the northern segment in northern California across a proposed subducted slab tear....
Estimating reef fish discard mortality using surface and bottom tagging: effects of hook injury and barotrauma
Paul J. Rudershausen, Jeffrey A. Buckel, Joseph E. Hightower
2013, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 514-520
We estimated survival rates of discarded black sea bass (Centropristis striata) in various release conditions using tag–recapture data. Fish were captured with traps and hook and line from waters 29–34 m deep off coastal North Carolina, USA, marked with internal anchor tags, and observed for release condition. Fish tagged on...
Mineral resource of the month: Phosphate rock
Stephen M. Jasinski
2013, Earth (December 2013)
As a mineral resource, “phosphate rock” is defined as unprocessed ore and processed concentrates that contain some form of apatite, a group of calcium phosphate minerals that is the primary source for phosphorus in phosphate fertilizers, which are vital to agriculture....
Book review: Too hot to touch: The problem of high-level nuclear waste, by William M. Alley and Rosemarie Alley (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Leonard F. Konikow
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1909-1910
No abstract available....
Regional assessment of North America: Urbanization trends, biodiversity patterns, and ecosystem services
Timon McPhearson, Roger F. Auch, Marina Alberti
2013, Book chapter, Urbanization, biodiversity and ecosystem services: Challenges and opportunities
North America contains some of the most urbanized landscapes in the world. In the United States (U.S.) and Canada, approximately 80 % of the population is urban, with Mexico slightly less (Kaiser Family Foundation 2013). Population growth combined with economic growth has fueled recent urban land expansion in North America....
Effect of land cover and use on dry season river runoff, runoff efficiency, and peak storm runoff in the seasonal tropics of Central Panama
Fred L. Ogden, Trey D. Crouch, Robert F. Stallard, Jefferson S. Hall
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 8443-8462
A paired catchment methodology was used with more than 3 years of data to test whether forests increase base flow in the dry season, despite reduced annual runoff caused by evapotranspiration (the “sponge-effect hypothesis”), and whether forests reduce maximum runoff rates and totals during storms. The three study catchments were:...
Net primary productivity of subalpine meadows in Yosemite National Park in relation to climate variability
Peggy E. Moore, Jan W. Van Wagtendonk, Julie L. Yee, Mitchel P. McClaran, David N. Cole, Neil K. McDougald, Matthew L. Brooks
2013, Western North American Naturalist (73) 409-418
Subalpine meadows are some of the most ecologically important components of mountain landscapes, and primary productivity is important to the maintenance of meadow functions. Understanding how changes in primary productivity are associated with variability in moisture and temperature will become increasingly important with current and anticipated changes in climate. Our...
A scenario study of seismically induced landsliding in Seattle using broadband synthetic seismograms
Kate E. Allstadt, John E. Vidale, Arthur D. Frankel
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 2971-2992
We demonstrate the value of utilizing broadband synthetic seismograms to assess regional seismically induced landslide hazard. Focusing on a case study of an Mw 7.0 Seattle fault earthquake in Seattle, Washington, we computed broadband synthetic seismograms that account for rupture directivity and 3D basin amplification. We then adjusted the computed motions on...
Limited denitrification in glacial deposit aquifers having thick unsaturated zones (Long Island, USA)
Caitlin Young, Kevin D. Kroeger, Gilbert Hanson
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1773-1786
The goal of this study was to demonstrate how the extent of denitrification, which is indirectly related to dissolved organ carbon and directly related to oxygen concentrations, can also be linked to unsaturated-zone thickness, a mappable aquifer property. Groundwater from public supply and monitoring wells in Northport on Long Island,...
Data management challenges in species distribution modeling
Colin Talbert, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey T. Morisette, David Koop
2013, Bulletin of the Technical Committee on Data Engineering (36) 31-40
An important component in the fields of ecology and conservation biology is understanding the environmental conditions and geographic areas that are suitable for a given species to inhabit. A common tool in determining such areas is species distribution modeling which uses computer algorithms to determine the spatial distribution of organisms. Most commonly the...
A small-diameter NMR logging tool for groundwater investigations
David Walsh, Peter Turner, Elliot Grunewald, Hong Zhang, James J. Butler Jr., Ed Reboulet, Steve Knobbe, Tom Christy, John W. Lane Jr., Carole D. Johnson, Tim Munday, Andrew Fitzpatrick
2013, Groundwater (51) 914-926
A small-diameter nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging tool has been developed and field tested at various sites in the United States and Australia. A novel design approach has produced relatively inexpensive, small-diameter probes that can be run in open or PVC-cased boreholes as small as 2 inches in diameter. The...
Differences in extreme low salinity timing and duration differentially affect eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) size class growth and mortality in Breton Sound, LA
Megan K. LaPeyre, Benjamin S. Eberline, Thomas M. Soniat, Jerome F. La Peyre
2013, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (135) 146-157
Understanding how different life history stages are impacted by extreme or stochastic environmental variation is critical for predicting and modeling organism population dynamics. This project examined recruitment, growth, and mortality of seed (25–75 mm) and market (>75 mm) sized oysters along a salinity gradient over two years in Breton Sound, LA. In...
Evidence of Hybridization between Common Gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) and Butler’s Gartersnakes (Thamnophis butleri) in Wisconsin (USA).
Joshua M. Kapfer, Brian L. Sloss, Gregor W. Schuurman, Rori A. Paloski, Jeffrey M. Lorch
2013, Journal of Herpetology (47) 400-405
Snakes within the genus Thamnophis (Gartersnakes and Ribbonsnakes) are often found in sympatry throughout their geographic distributions. Past work has indicated that some sympatric species within this genus may hybridize, but research of this nature is limited. We attempted to determine whether hybridization occurs between two Thamnophis species native to the upper midwestern United...
Next generation of global land cover characterization, mapping, and monitoring
Chandra Giri, Bruce Pengra, J. Long, Thomas R. Loveland
2013, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (25) 30-37
Land cover change is increasingly affecting the biophysics, biogeochemistry, and biogeography of the Earth's surface and the atmosphere, with far-reaching consequences to human well-being. However, our scientific understanding of the distribution and dynamics of land cover and land cover change (LCLCC) is limited. Previous global land cover assessments performed using...
