Intraspecific trait variability facilitates tree species persistence along riparian forest edges in Southern Amazonia
Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos, Divino Vicente Silvério, Leandro Maracahipes, Marcia N. Macedo, Eddie Lenza, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Michelle Wong, Antonio Carlos Silveiro da Silva, Christopher Neill, Giselda Durigan, Paulo Brando
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Tropical forest fragmentation from agricultural expansion alters the microclimatic conditions of the remaining forests, with effects on vegetation structure and function. However, little is known about how the functional trait variability within and among tree species in fragmented landscapes influence and facilitate species’ persistence in these...
A review of geology and mining in the Marble Mountains, southeastern California
David C. Buesch, Bruce W. Bridenbecker
2023, Conference Paper, 2023 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings: Mines of the Mojave
Mining in the Marble Mountains of southeastern California was active in the earliest 1900s and gradually declined to very few active mines by 1959. Most mining consisted of hard-rock prospects and mines, with a few soft-rock prospects and one mine. The Marble Mountains are a 10 km by 30 km,...
A Great Escape: Resource availability and density-dependence shape population dynamics along trailing range edges
Alexej Sirén, Marketa Zimova, Chris Sutherland, John T. Finn, Jillian R. Kilborn, Rachel M. Cliche, Leighlan S. Prout, L. Scott Mills, Toni Lyn Morelli
2023, Ecography (2023)
Populations along geographical range limits are often exposed to unsuitable climate and low resource availability relative to core populations. As such, there has been a renewed focus on understanding the factors that determine range limits to better predict how species will respond to global change. Using recent theory on range...
Evaluation of alternative groundwater-withdrawal scenarios on water levels in Kingsbury Pond, upper Charles River Basin, eastern Massachusetts
Paul M. Barlow, Paul J. Friesz, Jeffrey R. Barbaro
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5083
Kingsbury Pond is a glacial kettle pond in the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts, in the Mill River Basin, which is part of the Upper Charles River Basin in eastern Massachusetts. The pond is hydraulically connected to the surrounding groundwater-flow system, and water levels in the pond fluctuate in response to...
DNA in the water: How genetic tools are aiding the fight against invasive grass carp in Lake Erie
Stephen Frank Spear
2023, Newsletter, Buckeye Bulletin
The article describes two USGS projects that are using eDNA to help inform grass carp management in Lake Erie. The article was requested by the Ohio Water Environment Association given the relevance and interest of the issue to its members....
Frequent transitions in mating-type locus chromosomal organization in Malassezia and early steps in sexual reproduction
Marco A. Coelho, Giuseppe Ianiri, Marcia David-Palma, Bart Theelen, Rohit Goyal, Aswathy Narayanan, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Kaustuv Sanyal, Teun Boekhout, Joseph Heitman
2023, PNAS (120)
Fungi in the basidiomycete genus Malassezia are the most prevalent eukaryotic microbes resident on the skin of human and other warm-blooded animals and have been implicated in skin diseases and systemic disorders. Analysis of Malassezia genomes revealed that key adaptations to the skin microenvironment have a direct genomic basis, and the identification of mating/meiotic...
Occupancy and activity patterns of nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) in a suburban environment
Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Matthew R. McElroy, Emily P. Johansson
2023, Diversity (15)
The geographic range of the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has rapidly been expanding within the United States for the last 150 years. One of the factors contributing to this astounding range expansion is the species’ ability to survive in and colonize human-dominated areas. Despite the fact that armadillos...
Diving deeper into seep distribution along the Cascadia Convergent Margin, USA
Jane A. Rudebusch, Nancy G. Prouty, James E. Conrad, Janet Watt, Jared W. Kluesner, Jenna C. Hill, Nathaniel C. Miller, Sally J. Watson, Jess Hillman
2023, Frontiers in Earth Science (11)
Previous margin-wide studies of methane seep distribution along the Cascadia Subduction Zone indicate peaks in seep density within the landward limit of the of gas hydrate stability zone (GHSZ; ≤500 m depth), suggesting a link between current ocean warming, acceleration of hydrate dissociated, and methane emissions. This inferred connection,...
Waterfowl show spatiotemporal trends in influenza A H5 and H7 infections but limited taxonomic variation
Cody M. Kent, Sarah N. Bevins, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Diann Prosser
2023, Ecological Applications (33)
Influenza A viruses in wild birds pose threats to the poultry industry, wild birds, and human health under certain conditions. Of particular importance are wild waterfowl, which are the primary reservoir of low pathogenicity influenza viruses that ultimately cause high pathogenicity outbreaks in poultry farms. Despite much work on the...
An introduction to lesions and histology of scleractinian corals
Aine C. Hawthorn, Ilze K. Berzins, Michelle Dennis, Matti Kiupel, Alisa L. Newton, Esther C. Peters, Vicente Avila Reyes, Thierry M. Work
2023, Veterinary Pathology (60) 529-546
Stony corals (Scleractinia) are in the Phylum Cnidaria (cnidae referring to various types of stinging cells). They may be solitary or colonial, but all secrete an external, supporting aragonite skeleton. Large, colonial members of this phylum are responsible for the accretion of coral reefs in tropical and...
First observation of the ground-state electron-capture of 40K
L. Hariasz, M. Stukel, P.C.F. Di Stefano, B.C. Rasco, K.P. Rykaczewski, N.T. Brewer, D.W. Stracener, Y. Liu, Z. Gai, C. Rouleau, J. B. Carter, J. Kostensalo, J. Suhonen, H. Davis, E.D. Lukosi, K.C. Goetz, R.K. Grzywacz, M. Mancuso, F. Petricca, A. Fijalkowska, M. Wolinska-Cichocka, J. Ninkovic, P. Lechner, R.B. Ickert, Leah E. Morgan, P.R. Renne, I. Yavin
2023, Physical Review C (108)
Potassium-40 is a widespread, naturally occurring isotope whose radioactivity impacts estimated geological ages spanning billions of years, nuclear structure theory, and subatomic rare-event searches—including those for dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay. The decays of this long-lived isotope must be precisely known for its use as a geochronometer, and to...
Rare 40K decay with implications for fundamental physics and geochronology
M. Stukel, L. Hariasz, P.C.F. Di Stefano, B.C. Rasco, K.P. Rykaczewski, N.T. Brewer, D.W. Stracener, Y. Liu, Z. Gai, C. Rouleau, J. B. Carter, J. Kostensalo, J. Suhonen, H. Davis, E.D. Lukosi, K.C. Goetz, R.K. Grzywacz, M. Mancuso, F. Petricca, A. Fijalkowska, M. Wolinska-Cichocka, J. Ninkovic, P. Lechner, R.B. Ickert, Leah E. Morgan, P.R. Renne, I. Yavin
2023, Physical Review Letters (131)
Potassium-40 is a widespread, naturally occurring isotope whose radioactivity impacts subatomic rare-event searches, nuclear structure theory, and estimated geological ages. A predicted electron-capture decay directly to the ground state of argon-40 has never been observed. The KDK (potassium decay) collaboration reports strong evidence of this rare decay mode. A blinded...
Variation in herbivore space use: Comparing two savanna ecosystems with different anthrax outbreak patterns in southern Africa
Yen-Hua Huang, Norman Owen-Smith, Michelle D. Henley, J. Werner Kilian, Pauline L. Kamath, Sunday O. Ochai, Henriette van Heerden, John K.E. Mfune, Wayne M. Getz, Wendy Christine Turner
2023, Movement Ecology (11)
Background The distribution of resources can affect animal range sizes, which in turn may alter infectious disease dynamics in heterogenous environments. The risk of pathogen exposure or the spatial extent of outbreaks may vary with host range size. This study examined the range sizes of herbivorous anthrax host species in...
Ten best practices for effective phenological research
Richard Primack, Amanda S. Gallinat, Elizabeth R. Ellwood, Theresa M. Crimmins, Mark D. Schwartz, Michelle Staudinger, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing
2023, International Journal of Biometeorology (67) 1509-1522
The number and diversity of phenological studies has increased rapidly in recent years. Innovative experiments, field studies, citizen science projects, and analyses of newly available historical data are contributing insights that advance our understanding of ecological and evolutionary responses to the environment, particularly climate change. However, many phenological data sets...
Tidal restriction likely has greater impact on the carbon sink of coastal wetland than climate warming and invasive plant
Pan Zhou, Siyuan Ye, Liujuan Xie, Ken Krauss, Lixin Pei, Samantha K. Chapman, Hans Brix, Edward A. Laws, Hongming Yuan, Shixiong Yang, Xigui Ding, Shucheng Xie
2023, Plant and Soil (492) 135-156
AimsCoastal salt marshes are productive ecosystems that are highly efficient carbon sinks, but there is uncertainty regarding the interactions among climate warming, plant species, and tidal restriction on C cycling.MethodsOpen-top chambers (OTCs) were deployed at two coastal wetlands in Yancheng, China, where native Phragmites australis (Phragmites) and invasive Spartina...
Satellite tracking reveals use of Biscayne National Park by sea turtles tagged in multiple locations
Kristen Hart, Allison Benscoter, Haley M. Turner, Michael Cherkiss, Andrew Crowder, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, David Roche, Christopher R. Sasso, Glenn D. Goodwin, Derek A. Burkholder
2023, Regional Studies in Marine Science (65)
Although historical observations date back to the 1800’s, there is little information on sea turtle occupancy within Biscayne National Park (BNP). The park is located along the Florida reef tract and is dominated by the Gulfstream, which acts as a corridor for many marine animals. Here we used satellite telemetry to determine areas of use in...
Variations in climate drive behavior and survival of small desert tortoises
Kristin H. Berry, Jeremy S Mack, Kemp M. Anderson
2023, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (11)
In the Mojave Desert, timing and amounts of precipitation profoundly affect availability of water and annual plant foods necessary for the threatened Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) to survive, especially during prolonged droughts. As part of recovery actions to increase declining populations, we translocated 83 juvenile and young desert tortoises...
Vertebrate population changes induced by hunting in Amazonian sustainable-use protected areas
Ricardo Sampaio, Ronaldo G. Morato, Andy Royle, Mark I. Abrahams, Carlos A. Peres, Adriano G. Chiarello
2023, Biological Conservation (284)
The purported sustainability of sustainable-use reserves (SURs) has been questioned in recent decades due to anthropogenic disturbance, including widespread game hunting. A fuller understanding of the drivers of harvest-induced game population changes in SURs is needed to inform this debate. We deployed 720 <a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about camera traps from...
Estuarine salinity extremes: Using the Coastal Salinity Index to quantify the role of droughts, floods, hurricanes, and freshwater flow alteration
Laura Feher, Michael Osland, Christopher Swarzenski
2023, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (291)
In the face of accelerating climate change, advancing understanding of how extreme climatic events influence estuarine salinities can help to inform resource management. Extreme salinities driven by droughts, hurricanes, floods, and freshwater flow alterations can lead to ecological transformations in estuarine ecosystems. Here, we applied the Coastal Salinity Index (CSI; Conrads and Darby...
Incorporating metapopulation dynamics to inform invasive species management: Evaluating bighead and silver carp control strategies in the Illinois River
Jahn Kallis, Richard A. Erickson, David P. Coulter, Alison A. Coulter, Marybeth K. Brey, Matt Catalano, John M. Dettmers, James E. Garvey, Kevin Irons, Elizabeth A. Marschall, Kenneth A Rose, Mark L. Wildhaber, David C. Glover
2023, Journal of Applied Ecology (60) 1841-1853
1. Invasive species management can benefit from predictive models that incorporate spatially explicit demographics and dispersal to guide resource allocation decisions. 2. We used invasive bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) in the Illinois River, USA as a case study to create a spatially explicit model to evaluate the allocation of future...
Hydrogeologic framework of southwestern Louisiana
Maxwell A. Lindaman
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5004
A hydrogeologic framework was constructed for the Coastal Lowlands aquifer system in southwestern Louisiana. Data from previous hydrogeologic and geologic studies were synthesized and expanded using 2,242 geophysical logs to map 4 hydrogeologic units: the Chicot aquifer system, Evangeline aquifer, Jasper aquifer system, and Catahoula aquifer. Raster surfaces were...
Comparison of co-recorded analog and digital systems for characterization of responses and uncertainties
Thomas A. Lee, Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, Miaki Ishii
2023, Seismological Research Letters (94) 2301-2312
One of the most prominent challenges related to legacy seismic data is determining how these data can be appropriately used in modern research applications. The wide variety of instrumentation used in the analog era, the format of recording on paper wrapped around a helicorder drum, and limited metadata information introduces...
Tree-ring derived avalanche frequency and climate associations in a high-latitude, maritime climate
Erich Peitzsch, Eran Hood, John Harley, Daniel Kent Stahle, Nicholas E. Kichas, Gabriel J. Wolken
2023, Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface (128)
Snow avalanches are a natural hazard in mountainous areas worldwide with severe impacts that include fatalities, damage to infrastructure, disruption to commerce, and landscape disturbance. Understanding long-term avalanche frequency patterns, and associated climate and weather influences, improves our understanding of how climate change may affect avalanche activity....
Long-term assessment of relationships between changing environmental conditions and the physiology of southern Beaufort Sea polar bears (Ursus maritimus)
Tricia Fry, Kristen R. Friedrichs, Alison C. Ketz, Colleen G. Duncan, Timothy R. Van Deelen, Tony Goldberg, Todd C. Atwood
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 5524-5539
Climate change is influencing polar bear (Ursus maritimus) habitat, diet, and behavior but the effects of these changes on their physiology is not well understood. Blood-based biomarkers are used to assess the physiologic health of individuals but their usefulness for evaluating population health, especially...
Return(s) on investment: Restoration spending in the Columbia River Basin and increased abundance of salmon and steelhead
William K. Jaeger, Mark David Scheuerell
2023, PLoS ONE (21 p.)
The decline in salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River Basin has been well documented, as have the decades-long, $9 billion restoration spending efforts by federal and state agencies. These efforts are mainly tied to Endangered Species Act (ESA) mandates for recovery of wild, naturally-spawning...
