Rafinesque’s names for western American mammals, including the earliest scientific name for the coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1822), based on the apocryphal journal of Charles Le Raye
Neal Woodman
2015, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (128) 63-79
In 1817, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque named nine new species of mammals from the American West, indicating the recently published journal of Charles Le Raye as the primary source for his descriptions. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian fur trader who, as a captive of the...
Bioaccumulation of stentorin, the probable causative agent for discolored (“purple”) eggs and ovaries in blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from Eufaula Lake, Oklahoma, USA
Robert W. Gale, Diana M. Papoulias, Christopher J. Schmitt
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 9639-9647
Observations of reddish to “purple” discolored eggs in the ovaries of adult female blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from the northern arm of Eufaula Lake, a eutrophic multiuse impoundment in east-central Oklahoma, were first reported in 2006. Blue catfish eggs are normally cream to light yellow. Reports peaked in 2007–2008 and...
Continuous-time discrete-space models for animal movement
Ephraim M. Hanks, Mevin Hooten, Mat W. Alldredge
2015, Annals of Applied Statistics (9) 145-165
The processes influencing animal movement and resource selection are complex and varied. Past efforts to model behavioral changes over time used Bayesian statistical models with variable parameter space, such as reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches, which are computationally demanding and inaccessible to many practitioners. We present a continuous-time discrete-space...
Functional age as an indicator of reservoir senescence
Leandro E. Miranda, R. M. Krogman
2015, Fisheries (40) 170-176
It has been conjectured that reservoirs differ in the rate at which they manifest senescence, but no attempt has been made to find an indicator of senescence that performs better than chronological age. We assembled an indicator of functional age by creating a multimetric scale consisting of 10 metrics descriptive...
Sensitivity of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and pallid sturgeon (S. albus) early life stages to 3,30,4,40,5-pentachlorobiphenyl and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin exposure
Justin Buckler, James S. Candrl, Michael J. McKee, Diana M. Papoulias, Donald E. Tillitt, David L. Galat
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1417-1424
Concern exists that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be contributing to the current decline of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and the US federally endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). Waterborne exposures with newly fertilized eggs were used to assess developmental and morphological effects of 2 of the most potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor...
Avian cholera causes marine bird mortality in the Bering Sea of Alaska
Barbara L. Bodenstein, Kimberlee B. Beckmen, Gay Sheffield, Kathy Kuletz, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 934-937
The first known avian cholera outbreak among wild birds in Alaska occurred during November 2013. Liver, intestinal, and splenic necrosis consistent with avian cholera was noted, and Pasteurella multocida serotype 1 was isolated from liver and lung or spleen in Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatella), Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima),...
Effects of regulated river flows on habitat suitability for the robust redhorse
J. M. Fisk III, Thomas J. Kwak, R. J. Heise
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 792-806
The Robust Redhorse Moxostoma robustum is a rare and imperiled fish, with wild populations occurring in three drainages from North Carolina to Georgia. Hydroelectric dams have altered the species’ habitat and restricted its range. An augmented minimum-flow regime that will affect Robust Redhorse habitat was recently prescribed for Blewett Falls...
Biotic and abiotic influences on abundance and distribution of nonnative Chinook salmon and native ESA-listed steelhead in the Wind River, Washington
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly
2015, Northwest Science (89) 58-74
Biotic and abiotic factors influence fish populations and distributions. Concerns have been raised about the influence of hatchery fish on wild populations. Carson National Fish Hatchery produces spring Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Wind River, Washington, and some spawn in the river. Managers were concerned that Chinook salmon could...
Experimental evidence of spatial memory and home range affinity in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Michael E. Nelson
2015, Canadian Field-Naturalist (129) 1-7
The role of spatial memory in the movement of animals through landscapes remains elusive. To examine spatial memory and home range affinity of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern Minnesota during 1995–2007, I translocated 17 adult does with known home ranges to unfamiliar sites and radio-tracked them after their release....
Response of the Miliolid Archaias angulatus to simulated ocean acidification
Paul O. Knorr, Lisa L. Robbins, Peter J. Harries, Pamela Hallock, Jonathan Wynn
2015, Journal of Foraminiferal Research (45) 109-127
A common, but not universal, effect of ocean acidification on benthic foraminifera is a reduction in the growth rate. The miliolid Archaias angulatus is a high-Mg (>4 mole% MgCO3), symbiont-bearing, soritid benthic foraminifer that contributes to Caribbean reef carbonate sediments. A laboratory culture study assessed the effects of reduced pH...
Closing the loop of the soil water retention curve
Ning Lu, N Alsherif, Alexandra Wayllace, Jonathan W. Godt
2015, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (141)
The authors, to their knowledge for the first time, produced two complete principal soil water retention curves (SWRCs) under both positive and negative matric suction regimes. An innovative testing technique combining the transient water release and imbibition method (TRIM) and constant flow method (CFM) was used to identify the principal...
Effect of mastication and other mechanical treatments on fuel structure in chaparral
Teresa J. Brennan, Jon E. Keeley
2015, International Journal of Wildland Fire (24) 949-963
Mechanical fuel treatments are a common pre-fire strategy for reducing wildfire hazard that alters fuel structure by converting live canopy fuels to a compacted layer of dead surface fuels. Current knowledge concerning their effectiveness, however, comes primarily from forest-dominated ecosystems. Our objectives were to quantify and compare changes in shrub-dominated...
Energy flow and the “grassification” of desert shrublands
Julio L. Betancourt
2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (112) 9504-9505
In our directionally and continuously changing world, history still matters, and it does so in increasingly novel and important ways. Human adaptation to global change will rely heavily on robust baselines of historic environmental variability and detailed understanding of how both past and modern ecosystems have responded to both individual...
Fifty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union: Check-list of North American Birds
R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, Kevin J Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Adolfo G. Navarro-Siguenza, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J V Remsen, James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, Kevin Winker
2015, The Auk (132) 748-764
This is the 15th supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made between May 15, 2014, and April 15, 2015, by the AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature - North and Middle America. The Committee...
Detailed description of oil shale organic and mineralogical heterogeneity via fourier transform infrared mircoscopy
Kathryn E. Washburn, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael Foster, Fernando Gutierrez
2015, Energy & Fuels (29) 4264-4271
Mineralogical and geochemical information on reservoir and source rocks is necessary to assess and produce from petroleum systems. The standard methods in the petroleum industry for obtaining these properties are bulk measurements on homogenized, generally crushed, and pulverized rock samples and can take from hours to days to perform. New...
A case study of assigning conservation value to dispersed habitat units for conservation planning
Jason J. Rohweder, Sara C. Vacek, Shawn M. Crimmins, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2015, Journal of Conservation Planning (11) 13-27
Resource managers are increasingly tasked with developing habitat conservation plans in the face of numerous, sometimes competing, objectives. These plans must often be implemented across dispersed habitat conservation units that may contribute unequally to overall conservation objectives. Using U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl production areas (WPA) in western Minnesota...
A global satellite assisted precipitation climatology
Christopher C. Funk, Andrew P. Verdin, Joel C. Michaelsen, Diego Pedreros, Gregory J. Husak, P. Peterson
2015, Earth System Science Data (8) 401-425
Accurate representations of mean climate conditions, especially in areas of complex terrain, are an important part of environmental monitoring systems. As high-resolution satellite monitoring information accumulates with the passage of time, it can be increasingly useful in efforts to better characterize the earth's mean climatology. Current state-of-the-science products rely on...
Global change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges
Fred A. Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, Gerard McMahon, Raye Nilius, Mike Bryant, Dave Case, Julien Martin, Nathan J. Wood, Laura Taylor
2015, Ecology and Society (20) 1-8
National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while...
Drought-caused delay in nesting of Sonoran Desert birds and its facilitation of parasite- and predator-mediated variation in reproductive success
Chris McCreedy, Charles van Riper III
2015, The Auk (132) 235-247
As our understanding of climate change has increased, so has our awareness of the impacts of these changes on biotic systems. Climate models are nearly unanimous in their predictions for increased drought frequency in southwestern North America, and delays in nest initiation due to drought may influence nesting success and...
Simulations of potential future conditions in the cache critical groundwater area, Arkansas
Haveen M. Rashid, Brian R. Clark, Hanan H. Mahdi, Hanadi S. Rifai, Haydar J. Al-Shukri
2015, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (21) 1-19
A three-dimensional finite-difference model for part of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in the Cache Critical Groundwater Area of eastern Arkansas was constructed to simulate potential future conditions of groundwater flow. The objectives of this study were to test different pilot point distributions to find reasonable estimates of aquifer...
Ceres: predictions for near-surface water ice stability and implications for plume generating processes
Timothy N. Titus
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 2130-2136
This paper will constrain the possible sources and processes for the formation of recently observed H2O vapor plumes above the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. Two hypotheses have been proposed: (1) cryovolcanism where the water source is the mantle and the heating source is still unknown or (2) comet-like...
Projected carbon stocks in the conterminous USA with land use and variable fire regimes
Dominique Bachelet, Ken Ferschweiler, Timothy J. Sheehan, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Zhiliang Zhu
2015, Global Change Biology (21) 4548-4560
The dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM) MC2 was run over the conterminous USA at 30 arc sec (~800 m) to simulate the impacts of nine climate futures generated by 3GCMs (CSIRO, MIROC and CGCM3) using 3 emission scenarios (A2, A1B and B1) in the context of the LandCarbon national carbon sequestration...
Thermal onset of cellular and endocrine stress responses correspond to ecological limits in brook trout, an iconic cold-water fish
Joseph G Chadwick, Kieth H Nislow, Stephen D. McCormick
2015, Conservation Physiology (3) 1-12
Climate change is predicted to change the distribution and abundance of species, yet underlying physiological mechanisms are complex and methods for detecting populations at risk from rising temperature are poorly developed. There is increasing interest in using physiological mediators of the stress response as indicators of individual and population-level response...
Microsatellite variation and rare alleles in a bottlenecked Hawaiian Islands endemic: implications for reintroductions
Michelle H. Reynolds, John M. Pearce, Philip Lavretsky, Pedro P. Seixas, Karen Courtot
2015, Endangered Species Research (28) 117-122
Conservation of genetic biodiversity in endangered wildlife populations is an important challenge to address since the loss of alleles and genetic drift may influence future adaptability. Reintroduction aims to re-establish species to restored or protected ecosystems; however, moving a subset of individuals may result in loss of gene variants during...
Preface to the focus section on injection-induced seismicity
David Eaton, Justin L. Rubinstein
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 1058-1059
The ongoing, dramatic increase in seismicity in the central United States that began in 2009 is believed to be the result of injection‐induced seismicity (Ellsworth, 2013). Although the basic mechanism for activation of slip on a fault by subsurface fluid injection is well established (Healy et al., 1968; Raleighet al., 1976; <span...
