Metrics of ecosystem status for large aquatic systems: a global comparison
N.E. Dobiesz, R.E. Hecky, T.B. Johnson, J. Sarvala, J.M. Dettmers, M. Lehtiniemi, L. G. Rudstam, C.P. Madenjian, F. Witte
2010, Journal of Great Lakes Research (36) 123-138
We identified an objective set of 25 commonly available ecosystem metrics applicable across the world's large continental freshwater and brackish aquatic ecosystem. These metrics measure trophic structure, exploited species, habitat alteration, and catchment changes. We used long-term trends in these metrics as indicators of perturbations that represent an ecosystem not...
Temporal and spatial shifts in habitat use by Black Brant immediately following flightless molt
Tyler L. Lewis, Paul L. Flint, Joel A. Schmutz, Dirk V. Derksen
2010, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (122) 484-493
Each year thousands of Pacific Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) undergo flightless wing molt in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area (TLSA), Alaska, in two distinct habitats: inland, freshwater lakes and coastal, brackish wetlands. Brant lose body mass during wing molt and likely must add reserves upon regaining flight to help...
A trial of two trouts: Comparing the impacts of rainbow and brown trout on a native galaxiid
K.A. Young, J. B. Dunham, J.F. Stephenson, A. Terreau, A.F. Thailly, G. Gajardo, C. G. de Leaniz
2010, Animal Conservation (13) 399-410
Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and brown trout Salmo trutta are the world's two most widespread exotic fishes, dominate the fish communities of most cold-temperate waters in the southern hemisphere and are implicated in the decline and extirpation of native fish species. Here, we provide the first direct comparison of the...
Repeated use of an abandoned vehicle by nesting Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura)
L.D. Igl, S.L. Peterson
2010, Journal of Raptor Research (44) 73-75
Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) lay their eggs on an existing substrate in the dark recesses of a variety of natural sites (Kirk and Mossman 1998). Although an important requirement of Turkey Vulture nest-site selection is isolation from human disturbances (<a class="ref"...
Reduced body size and cub recruitment in polar bears associated with sea ice decline
Karyn D. Rode, Steven C. Amstrup, Eric V. Regehr
2010, Ecological Applications (20) 768-782
Rates of reproduction and survival are dependent upon adequate body size and condition of individuals. Declines in size and condition have provided early indicators of population decline in polar bears (Ursus maritimus) near the southern extreme of their range. We tested whether patterns in body size, condition, and cub recruitment...
Feather lead concentrations and 207Pb/206Pb ratios reveal lead exposure history of California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
M.E. Finkelstein, D. George, S. Scherbinski, R. Gwiazda, M. Johnson, J. Burnett, J. Brandt, S. Lawrey, Allan P. Pessier, M.R. Clark, Janna Wynne, J. Grantham, D. R. Smith
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 2639-2647
Lead poisoning is a primary factor impeding the survival and recovery of the critically endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus). However, the frequency and magnitude of lead exposure in condors is not well-known in part because most blood lead monitoring occurs biannually, and biannual blood samples capture only ∼10% of a...
Effectiveness of capture techniques for rails in emergent marsh and agricultural wetlands
Marie Perkins, S.L. King, J. Linscombe
2010, Waterbirds (33) 376-380
A reliable and effective technique for capturing rails would improve researchers' ability to study these secretive marsh birds. The time effectiveness and capture success of four methods for capturing rails in emergent marsh and agricultural wetlands in southern Louisiana and Texas were evaluated during winter and breeding seasons. Methods were...
Transformation of chiral polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a stream food web
V.D. Dang, D.M. Walters, C.M. Lee
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 2836-2841
The enantiomeric composition of chiral PCB congeners was determined in Twelvemile Creek (Clemson, SC) to examine potential mechanisms of biotransformation in a stream food web. We measured enantiomeric fractions (EFs) of six PCB atropisomers (PCBs 84, 91, 95, 136, 149, and 174) in surface sediment, fine benthic organic matter (FBOM),...
Mercury contamination in fish in midcontinent great rivers of the united states: Importance of species traits and environmental factors
D.M. Walters, K.A. Blocksom, J.M. Lazorchak, T. Jicha, T.R. Angradi, D.W. Bolgrien
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 2947-2953
We measured mercury (Hg) concentrations in whole fish from the Upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers to characterize the extent and magnitude of Hg contamination and to identify environmental factors influencing Hg accumulation. Concentrations were generally lower (80% of values between 20?200 ng g1 wet weight) than those reported for...
Predicting mercury concentrations in mallard eggs from mercury in the diet or blood of adult females and from duckling down feathers
Gary H. Heinz, David J. Hoffman, Jon D. Klimstra, Katherine R. Stebbins
2010, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (29) 389-392
Measurements of Hg concentrations in avian eggs can be used to predict possible harm to reproduction, but it is not always possible to sample eggs. When eggs cannot be sampled, some substitute tissue, such as female blood, the diet of the breeding female, or down feathers of hatchlings, must be...
Relationships between water temperatures and upstream migration, cold water refuge use, and spawning of adult bull trout from the Lostine River, Oregon, USA
P.J. Howell, J. B. Dunham, P.M. Sankovich
2010, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (19) 96-106
Understanding thermal habitat use by migratory fish has been limited by difficulties in matching fish locations with water temperatures. To describe spatial and temporal patterns of thermal habitat use by migratory adult bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, that spawn in the Lostine River, Oregon, we employed a combination of archival temperature...
Complete mitochondrial genome of a Pleistocene jawbone unveils the origin of polar bear
Charlotte Lindqvist, Stephan C. Schuster, Yazhou Sun, Sandra L. Talbot, Ji Qi, Aakrosh Ratan, Lynn P. Tomsho, Lindsay Kasson, Eve Zeyl, Jon Aars, Webb Miller, Olafur Ingolfsson, Lutz Bachmann, Øystein Wiig
2010, PNAS (107) 5053-5057
The polar bear has become the flagship species in the climate-change discussion. However, little is known about how past climate impacted its evolution and persistence, given an extremely poor fossil record. Although it is undisputed from analyses of mitochondrial (mt) DNA that polar bears constitute a lineage within the genetic...
Organic intermediates in the anaerobic biodegradation of coal to methane under laboratory conditions
William H. Orem, Mary A. Voytek, Elizabeth J. Jones, Harry E. Lerch, Anne L. Bates, M.D. Corum, Peter D. Warwick, Arthur C. Clark
2010, Organic Geochemistry (41) 997-1000
Organic intermediates in coal fluids produced by anaerobic biodegradation of geopolymers in coal play a key role in the production of methane in natural gas reservoirs. Laboratory biodegradation experiments on sub-bituminous coal from Texas, USA, were conducted using bioreactors to examine the organic intermediates relevant to methane production. Production of...
Centuries of marine radiocarbon reservoir age variation within archaeological Mesodesma Donacium shells from Southern Peru
Kevin B. Jones, Gregory W. L. Hodgins, Miguel F. Etayo-Cadavid, C. Fred T. Andrus, Daniel H. Sandweiss
2010, Radiocarbon (52) 1207-1214
Mollusk shells provide brief (<5 yr per shell) records of past marine conditions, including marine radiocarbon reservoir age (R) and upwelling. We report 21 14C ages and R calculations on small (∼2 mg) samples from 2 Mesodesma donacium (surf clam) shells. These shells were excavated from a semi-subterranean house floor stratum <span...
Sikuliqiruq: Ice dynamics of the Meade river - Arctic Alaska, from freezeup to breakup from time-series ground imagery
R.A. Beck, A.J. Rettig, C. Ivenso, Wendy R. Eisner, Kenneth M. Hinkel, Benjamin M. Jones, C.D. Arp, G. Grosse, D. Whiteman
2010, Polar Geography (33) 115-137
Ice formation and breakup on Arctic rivers strongly influence river flow, sedimentation, river ecology, winter travel, and subsistence fishing and hunting by Alaskan Natives. We use time-series ground imagery ofthe Meade River to examine the process at high temporal and spatial resolution. Freezeup from complete liquid cover to complete ice...
Sediment transport on the Palos Verdes shelf, California
B. Ferre, C. R. Sherwood, P.L. Wiberg
2010, Continental Shelf Research (30) 761-780
Sediment transport and the potential for erosion or deposition have been investigated on the Palos Verdes (PV) and San Pedro shelves in southern California to help assess the fate of an effluent-affected deposit contaminated with DDT and PCBs. Bottom boundary layer measurements at two 60-m sites in spring 2004 were...
Hepatic pathologies in the brackish water catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) from contaminated locations of the Lagos lagoon complex
O. Olarinmoye, V. Taiwo, E. Clarke, C. Kumolu-Johnson, O. Aderinola, F. Adekunbi
2010, Applied Ecology and Environmental Research (7) 277-286
Several toxicological studies into the effects of aquatic pollutants on the liver of teleost fish exist in literature. The focus on the liver in these studies is predicated on its central nature in the scheme of biotransformation and excretion of xenobiotics following exposure in polluted water bodies. As a consequence...
Effects of 3D random correlated velocity perturbations on predicted ground motions
S. Hartzell, S. Harmsen, A. Frankel
2010, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (100) 1415-1426
Three-dimensional, finite-difference simulations of a realistic finite-fault rupture on the southern Hayward fault are used to evaluate the effects of random, correlated velocity perturbations on predicted ground motions. Velocity perturbations are added to a three-dimensional (3D) regional seismic velocity model of the San Francisco Bay Area using a 3D von...
Lake temperature and ice cover regimes in the Alaskan Subarctic and Arctic: Integrated monitoring, remote sensing, and modeling
C.D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Matthew Whitman, A. Larsen, F.E. Urban
2010, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (46) 777-791
Lake surface regimes are fundamental attributes of lake ecosystems and their interaction with the land and atmosphere. High latitudes may be particularly sensitive to climate change, however, adequate baselines for these lakes are often lacking. In this study, we couple monitoring, remote sensing, and modeling techniques to generate baseline datasets...
Uncertainties in slip-rate estimates for the Mission Creek strand of the southern San Andreas fault at Biskra Palms Oasis, southern California
W. M. Behr, D. H. Rood, K. E. Fletcher, N. Guzman, R. Finkel, T. C. Hanks, K. W. Hudnut, K. J. Kendrick, J. P. Platt, W. D. Sharp, R. J. Weldon, J. D. Yule
2010, Bulletin of the Geological Society of America (122) 1360-1377
This study focuses on uncertainties in estimates of the geologic slip rate along the Mission Creek strand of the southern San Andreas fault where it offsets an alluvial fan (T2) at Biskra Palms Oasis in southern California. We provide new estimates of the amount of fault offset of the T2...
Analysis of solvent dyes in refined petroleum products by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
Colleen E. Rostad
2010, Fuel (89) 997-1005
Solvent dyes are used to color refined petroleum products to enable differentiation between gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. Analysis for these dyes in the hydrocarbon product is difficult due to their very low concentrations in such a complex matrix. Flow injection analysis/electrospray ionization/mass spectrometry in both negative and positive mode...
Poroelastic stress-triggering of the 2005 M8.7 Nias earthquake by the 2004 M9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake
K.L.H. Hughes, Timothy Masterlark, Walter D. Mooney
2010, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (293) 289-299
The M9.2 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (SAE) occurred three months prior to the M8.7 Nias earthquake (NE). We propose that the NE was mechanically triggered by the SAE, and that poroelastic effects were a major component of this triggering. This study uses 3D finite element models (FEMs) of the Sumatra-Andaman subduction zone...
Determination of stress parameters for eight well-recorded earthquakes in eastern North America
D.M. Boore, K.W. Campbell, G. M. Atkinson
2010, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (100) 1632-1645
We determined the stress parameter, Δσ, for the eight earthquakes studied by Atkinson and Boore (2006), using an updated dataset and a revised point-source stochastic model that captures the effect of a finite fault. We consider four geometrical-spreading functions, ranging from 1/R at all distances to two- or three-part functions....
Shear-rate-dependent strength control on the dynamics of rainfall-triggered landslides, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan
G. Wang, A. Suemine, W.H. Schulz
2010, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (35) 407-416
A typhoon (Typhoon No. 10) attacked Shikoku Island and the Tyugoku area of Japan in 2004. This typhoon produced a new daily precipitation record of 1317 mm on Shikoku Island and triggered hundreds of landslides in Tokushima Prefecture. One catastrophic landslide was triggered in the Shiraishi area of Kisawa village,...
Snowmelt hydrograph interpretation: Revealing watershed scale hydrologic characteristics of the Yellowstone volcanic plateau
Gardner W. Payton, D. D. Susong, Solomon D. Kip, H. Heasler
2010, Journal of Hydrology (383) 209-222
Snowmelt hydrograph analysis and groundwater age dates of cool water springs on the Yellowstone volcanic plateau provide evidence of high volumes of groundwater circulation in watersheds comprised of quaternary Yellowstone volcanics. Ratios of maximum to minimum mean daily discharge and average recession indices are calculated for watersheds within and surrounding...
