Hydrocarbons to carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules: A continuum model to describe biodegradation of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
David C. Podgorski, Phoebe Zito, Anne M. Kellerman, Barbara A. Bekins, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Donald F. Smith, Xiaoyan Cao, Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, Sasha Wagner, Aron Stubbins, Robert G. M. Spencer
2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials (402)
Relationships between dissolved organic matter (DOM) reactivity and chemical composition in a groundwater plume containing petroleum-derived DOM (DOMHC) were examined by quantitative and qualitative measurements to determine the source and chemical composition of the compounds that persist downgradient. Samples were collected from a transect down...
Environmental DNA is an effective tool to track recolonizing migratory fish following large‐scale dam removal
Jeffrey J. Duda, Marshal Hoy, Dorothy M. Chase, George R. Pess, Samuel J. Brenkman, Michael M McHenry, Carl Ostberg
2021, Environmental DNA (3) 121-141
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a potentially powerful tool for use in conservation and resource management, including for tracking the recolonization dynamics of fish populations. We used eDNA to assess the effectiveness of dam removal to restore fish passage on the Elwha River in Washington State (USA). Using a...
Impacts of small dams on stream temperature
Peter A. Zaidel, Allison H. Roy, Kristopher M. Houle, Beth Lambert, Benjamin Letcher, Keith H. Nislow, Christopher Smith
2021, Ecological Indicators (120)
Small, surface-release dams are ubiquitous features of the landscape that typically slow water flow and decrease canopy cover through impounded reaches, potentially increasing stream temperatures. However, reported effects of small dams on water temperature are variable, likely due to differences in landscape and dam characteristics. To quantify the range of...
Genetic diversity, population structure, and historical demography of a highly vagile and human‐impacted seabird in the Pacific Ocean: The red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda
Andrea I Varela, Katherina Brokordt, Stefanie M.H. Ismar‐Rebitz, Chris P Gaskin, Nicholas Carlile, Terence O’Dwyer, Josh Adams, Eric A. Vanderwerf, Guillermo Luna‐Jorquera
2021, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (31) 367-377
Many seabird breeding colonies have recovered from heavy anthropogenic disturbance after conservation actions. The widely distributed red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, was used as a model species to assess potential anthropogenic impacts on the genetic diversity of breeding colonies in the Pacific Ocean.Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and control region sequences analyses were...
Responding to ecosystem transformation: Resist, accept, or direct?
Laura Thompson, Abigail Lynch, Erik A. Beever, Agustin C. Engman, Jeffrey A. Falke, Stephen Jackson, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft, David J Lawrence, Douglas Limpinsel, Robert T. Magill, Tracy A. Melvin, John M. Morton, Robert A. Newman, Jay Peterson, Mark T. Porath, Frank J. Rahel, Suresh Sethi, Jennifer L. Wilkening
2021, Fisheries (46) 8-21
Ecosystem transformation can be defined as the emergence of a self‐organizing, self‐sustaining, ecological or social–ecological system that deviates from prior ecosystem structure and function. These transformations are occurring across the globe; consequently, a static view of ecosystem processes is likely no longer sufficient for managing fish, wildlife, and other species....
A bird's-eye view of reservoirs in the Mississippi Basin tips a need for large-scale coordination
Leandro E. Miranda, G. Coppoloa, H. R. Hatcher, M. B. Jargowsky, Z.S. Moran, M. C. Rhodes
2021, Fish and Fisheries (22) 128-140
Reservoirs are mostly managed at local scales as spatially independent units. A basin-scale perspective may increase awareness at a broader scope and generate insight not evident at local scales. We examined the array of reservoir attributes and fisheries in the Mississippi Basin to identify management opportunities. The basin is the...
Comparison of anadromous and landlocked Atlantic salmon genomes reveals signatures of parallel and relaxed selection across the northern hemisphere
Erik Kjaerner-Semb, Rolf B Edvardsen, Fernando Ayllon, Petra Vogelsang, Tomasz Furmanek, Carl Johan Rubin, Alexey E. Vaselov, Tom Ole Nilsen, Stephen D. McCormick, Craig R Primmer, Anna Wargelius
2021, Evolutionary Applications (14) 446-461
Most Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) populations follow an anadromous life cycle, spending early life in freshwater, migrating to the sea for feeding and returning to rivers to spawn. At the end of the last ice age ~10,000 years ago, several populations of Atlantic salmon became landlocked. Comparing their genomes to...
Latitudinal patterns of alien plant invasions
Qinfeng Guo, Brian S. Cade, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Holger Kreft, Jan Pergl, Mark van Kleunen, Patrick Weigelt, Marten Winter, Petr Pyšek
2021, Journal of Biogeography (48) 253-262
Latitudinal patterns of biodiversity have long been a central topic in ecology and evolutionary biology. However, while most previous studies have focused on native species, little effort has been devoted to latitudinal patterns of plant invasions (with a few exceptions based on data from sparse locations). Using the most up‐to‐date...
Assessing the ecological risks of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances: Current state‐of‐the science and a proposed path forward
Gerald T. Ankley, Philippa Cureton, Robert A. Hoke, Magali Houde, Anupama Kumar, Jessy Kurias, Roman P. Lanno, Chris McCarthy, John L. Newsted, Christopher J. Salice, Bradley E. Sample, Maria S. Sepúlveda, Jeffery A. Steevens, Sara Valsecchi
2021, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (40) 564-605
Per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) encompass a large, heterogenous group of chemicals of potential concern to human health and the environment. Based on information for a few relatively well‐understood PFAS such as perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate, there is ample basis to suspect that at least a subset can be considered...
Estimating abundance of an unmarked, low-density species using camera traps
Kenneth E. Loonam, David E. Ausband, Paul M. Lukacs, Michael S. Mitchell, Hugh S. Robinson
2021, Journal of Wildlife Management (85) 87-96
Estimating abundance of wildlife populations can be challenging and costly, especially for species that are difficult to detect and that live at low densities, such as cougars (Puma concolor). Remote, motion-sensitive cameras are a relatively efficient monitoring tool, but most abundance estimation techniques using remote cameras rely on some or...
Resolving species boundaries in the critically imperiled freshwater mussel species, Fusconaia mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae)
Chase H. Smith, Nathan Johnson, Kaitlyn Havlik, Robert D. Doyle, Charles R. Randklev
2021, Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (59) 60-77
Species are a fundamental unit of biology, and defining accurate species boundaries is integral to effective conservation and management of imperiled taxa. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) are among the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, yet species boundaries remain uncertain for many taxa. The False Spike, Fusconaia mitchelli (Simpson in...
Detecting population declines via monitoring the effective number of breeders (Nb)
Gordon Luikart, Tiago Antao, Brian K. Hand, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew C. Boyer, Ted Corsart, Brian Trethewey, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Robin S. Waples
2021, Molecular Ecology Resources (21) 379-393
Estimating the effective population size and effective number of breeders per year (Nb) can facilitate early detection of population declines. We used computer simulations to quantify bias and precision of the one-sample LDNe estimator of Nb in age-structured populations using a range of published species life history types, sample sizes, and DNA markers. Nb estimates...
Profiling lunar dust dissolution in aqueous environments: The design concept
Russell Kerschmann, Daniel Winterhalter, Kathleen Scheiderich, David Damby, David Loftus
2021, Acta Astronautica (178) 308-313
Published studies and internal NASA reports indicate that when native lunar dust is suspended in an aqueous solution a variety of metal and other ions are released. This release has implications for future lunar missions, ranging from effects on mission hardware,...
Loss of coastal islands along Florida’s Big Bend region: Implications for breeding American oystercatchers
N. Vitale, J. Brush, Abby Powell
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 1173-1182
Many coastal-dependent species have undergone large-scale population declines due to impacts from habitat loss, including American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus). Islands along the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast provide important nesting habitat for oystercatchers, but reproductive success here is low and habitat degradation and loss...
Landsat 9 mission update and status
Brian Markham, Del Jenstrom, Steven Pszcolka, Vicki Dulski, Jason Hair, Joel McCorkel, Geir Kvaran, Kurtis Thome, Matthew Montanaro, Jeffery Pedelty, Cody Anderson, Michael J. Choate, Julia Barsi, Ed Kaita, Jeffery Miller
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings volume 11501, Earth observing systems XXV
Landsat 9 is currently undergoing testing at the integrated observatory level in preparation for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021. Landsat 9 will replace Landsat 7 in orbit, 8 days out of phase with Landsat 8. Landsat 9 is largely a copy of Landsat 8 in terms of...
Weed-suppressive bacteria effects differ in culture compared to in soils and with or without microbial competition and separation of active ingredient
Brynne E. Lazarus, Kevin Feris, Matthew Germino
2021, Biological Control (152)
Weed-suppressive bacteria (WSB), specifically the D7 and ACK55 strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, were previously reported to selectively inhibit growth of invasive annual grasses (IAGs) that have caused severe ecosystem degradation across much of the western US. However, recent studies show highly mixed...
Complexity of groundwater age mixing near a seawater intrusion zone based on multiple tracers and Bayesian inference
YeoJin Ju, Arash Massoudieh, Christopher Green, Kang-Kun Lee, Dugin Kaown
2021, Science of the Total Environment (753)
Aquifer flow systems near seawater interfaces can be complicated by density-driven flows and the formation of stagnation zones, which inevitably introduces uncertainty into groundwater age-dating. While age-dating has proved effective to understand the seawater intrusion and aquifer salinization process in coastal aquifers, further efforts...
Quantifying model structural uncertainty using airborne electromagnetic data
Burke J. Minsley, N. Leon Foks, Paul A. Bedrosian
2021, Geophysical Journal International (224) 590-607
The ability to quantify structural uncertainty in geological models that incorporate geophysical data is affected by two primary sources of uncertainty: geophysical parameter uncertainty and uncertainty in the relationship between geophysical parameters and geological properties of interest. Here, we introduce an open-source, trans-dimensional Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) algorithm...
High‐resolution dynamically downscaled rainfall and temperature projections for ecological life zones within Puerto Rico and for the U.S. Virgin Islands
Jared H. Bowden, Adam J. Terando, Vasu Misra, Adrienne Wootten, Amit Bhardwaj, Ryan Boyles, William A. Gould, Jaime A. Collazo, Tanya Spero
2021, International Journal of Climatology (41) 1305-1327
The weather research and forecasting (WRF) model and a combination of the regional spectral model (RSM) and the Japanese Meteorological Agency Non‐Hydrostatic Model (NHM) were used to dynamically downscale selected CMIP5 global climate models to provide 2‐km projections with hourly model output for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands....
Step increase in eastern U.S. precipitation linked to Indian Ocean warming
Courtenay Strong, Gregory J. McCabe, Alexander Weech
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
A step increase in annual precipitation over the eastern U.S. in the early 1970’s commenced five decades of invigorated hydroclimate, with ongoing impacts on streamflow and water resources. Despite its far-reaching impacts, the dynamical origin of this change is unknown. Here, analyses of a century of atmospheric and oceanic data...
The processes of preferential flow in the unsaturated zone
John R. Nimmo
2021, Soil Science Society of America Journal (85) 1-27
Preferential flow, a major influence in unsaturated soil and rock almost everywhere, occurs by multiple phenomenologically distinct hydraulic processes. For the mode known as funneled flow, concentrated in particularly conductive portions of the medium, the surface-tension/viscous-flow processes of traditional unsaturated flow theory predominate. Fingered flow, through conductive paths of higher...
Winter severity, fish community, and availability to traps explain most of the variability in estimates of adult sea lamprey in Lake Superior
Nicholas S. Johnson, Jean V. Adams, Gale Bravener, Jessica Barber, Ted Treska, Michael J Siefkes
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) S347-S356
Animal populations are assessed to estimate rates of artificial and natural mortality at ecologically relevant spatial and temporal scales to develop exploitation quotas. But how the population’s natural mortality rate and how the ability to observe the population changes through time are poorly understood in most invasive fishes, despite efforts...
Status of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin
Duane Chapman, Amy J. Benson, Holly S. Embke, Nicole R. King, Patrick Kocovsky, Teresa D. Lewis, Nicholas E. Mandrak
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 3-13
There is concern of economic and environmental damage occuring if any of the four major aquacultured carp species of China, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus, bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, or grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, were to establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes....
Institutional trust, beliefs, and evaluation of regulations, and management of chronic wasting disease (CWD)
Susan A. Schroeder, Adam Landon, Louis J. Cornicelli, David C. Fulton, Leslie McInenly
2021, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (26) 228-244
Institutional trust and perceptions of regulatory efficacy can affect support for management. This study examined how institutional trust, specific trust related to information/management, and support for/perceived efficacy of current regulations related to deer hunters’ attitudes about chronic wasting disease (CWD) management. Results are from a survey of southeastern Minnesota deer...
Using simulation to understand annual sea lamprey marking rates on lake trout
Jean V. Adams, Michael L. Jones, James R. Bence
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) S628-S638
Sea lampreys attack fish, killing some and leaving marks on others. Great Lakes fishery managers rely on observed marking rates to assess the success of the sea lamprey control program and estimate sea lamprey-induced mortality of lake trout. Because marking rates are only observed on survivors of sea lamprey attacks,...
