The Southwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys pallida) in Baja California, Mexico: New localities and persistent threats
Jorge H. Valdez-Villavicencio, Anny Peralta-García, Bradford D. Hollingsworth, Patricia Galina-Tessaro, Robert D. Fisher, Jeff A. Alvarez, R. A. Lara-Resendiz
2025, Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences (124) 67-79
The Southwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys pallida), the only native freshwater turtle in Baja California, is experiencing alarming population declines, echoing global patterns observed in freshwater turtles. We conducted comprehensive field surveys across the major drainages of northwestern Baja California to delineate the species' current distribution, identify critical threats to its...
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity
Timothy Ohlert, Melinda D. Smith, Scott L. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Osvaldo E. Sala, Kate D Wilkins, Seth M. Munson, Maggie I. Anderson, Meghan L. Avolio, Anping Chen, Meghan T. Hayden, Martin C. Holdrege, Ingrid J. Slette, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E. Loik, Yiqi Luo, Fernando T. Maestre, Richard P. Phillips, Sally A. Power, Laura Yahdjian, Qiang Yu, Angel Chen, Andrew J. Felton, Laureano A. Gherardi, Nicholas J. Lyon, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Juan Alberti, Antonio I. Arroyo, Heidi Asbjornsen, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Michael Bahn, David C. Bartholomew, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn L. Bauerle, Karen H. Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T. Borer, Edward W. Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M. Byrne, James F. Cahill Jr., Dianela A. Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Cameron N. Carlyle, Karen Castillioni, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Manjunatha H. Chandregowda, Scott X. Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Amber C. Churchill, Marcus Vinicius Cianciaruso, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Sara Cousins, Daniela F. Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Lee H. Dietterich, Maren Dubbert, Nico Eisenhauer, T'ai G. Forte, Flavia A. Funk, Darcy Galiano, Aaron C. Greenville, Liebao Han, Siri Vatsø Haugum, Yann Hautier, Andy Hector, Hugh A. Henry, Daniela Hoss, Forest Isbell, Samuel E. Jordan, Yuguang Ke, Eugene F. Kelly, Sally E. Koerner, Juergen Kreyling, Gyorgy Kroel-Dulay, Alicia I. Kröpfl, Angelika Kübert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G. Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Steven R. Lee, Smriti Pehim Limbu, Anja Linstädter, Shirong Liu, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, F. Curtis Lubbe, Andrey V. Malyshev, Cameron D. McIntire, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Malesela Vincent Mokoka, Akira S. Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S. Newman, Uffe N. Nielsen, Raúl Ochoa-Hueso, Rory C. O'Connor, Romà Ogaya, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Ildiko Orban, Brooke B. Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Pärtel, Jesús Pascual, Josep Peñuelas, Pablo L. Peri, David S. Pescador, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valério D. Pillar, Juan M. Piñeiro-Guerra, Laura Weber Ploughe, Robert M. Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M. Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Golsa Rahmati, Sasha C. Reed, Dana Aylén Rodríguez, William E. Rogers, Christiane Roscher, David W. Rowley, Ana M. Sánchez, Bráulio A. Santos, Michael P. Schellenberg, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Eric W. Seabloom, Ruonan Shen, Baoku Shi, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J. Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sünnemann, Michelle Tedder, Tyson J. Terry, Pål Thorvaldsen, Katja Tielbörger, Maud Tissink, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Liv Guri Velle, Svenja Wanke, Glenda M. Wardle, Cunzheng Wei, Christiane Werner, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer L. Williams, Amelia A. Wolf, Honghui Wu, Chong Xu, Xuechen Yang, Jenifer L. Yost, Alyssa L. Young, Ping Yue, Juan M. Zeberio, Michaela Zeiter, Haiyang Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Xiaoan Zuo
2025, Science (390) 284-289
As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with constant or diminishing reductions in productivity as drought duration increases. We quantified the combined effects of drought duration and intensity on aboveground productivity...
Correspondence between satellite-derived and long-term field observations of vegetation cover at Great Basin experimental treatments.
Matthew B. Rigge, Madelon Florence Case, Scott E. Shaff, Lisa M. Ellsworth, Brett Bunde, Kory Postma
2025, Rangeland Ecology & Management (103) 341-355
Vegetation treatments are frequently utilized in Western US rangelands to reduce woody plant cover in sagebrush stands threatened by increased wildfire risk and in pinyon-juniper woodlands expanding into formerly high-value sagebrush habitats. Despite widespread use of these treatments, monitoring data to evaluate long-term vegetation responses are often...
Museum records provide unique information about the distribution of the Yellow Lampmussel Lampsilis cariosa (Unionidae)
Jillian Fedarick, Christina Amy Murphy, Sydne Record, Allison H. Roy
2025, Freshwater Science (44) 434-442
Natural history museum records may provide unique information on the distribution of species that can supplement survey data collected by resource managers. However, there can be challenges to using museum data for analyses, such as spurious geographic information, misidentifications, and incorrect labeling. Museum records have been centralized...
Impact of warming and suspended terrigenous sediment on the Hawaiian reef coral Montipora capitata
Alexandra M. Good, Ashleigh Epps, Maile Coberly, Kuʻulei S Rodgers, Nancy G. Prouty, Curt D. Storlazzi, Keisha D. Bahr
2025, Coral Reefs (44) 2065-2081
Coral reefs near high human population areas suffer from sedimentation and increased turbidity due to coastal development. However, there is limited research on how key species respond to turbidity caused by terrigenous sediment and how this response may change with increased water temperatures. This study investigated the effects of ambient...
S/P amplitude ratios with Distributed Acoustic Sensing and application to earthquake focal mechanisms
Robert J. Skoumal, James William Atterholt, Andrew J. Barbour, Jeanne L. Hardebeck
2025, Geophysical Research Letters (52)
Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), which transforms a fiber optic cable into an array of high frequency strainmeters, has the potential to help us characterize earthquakes with a dense sampling of measurements. While earthquake focal mechanisms are frequently determined using P-wave polarities and S/P amplitude ratios with inertial seismometers, the dense sampling of DAS...
Re-oligotrophy in the Upper Mississippi River, USA, occurred in just a few years
Killian Davis, Wako Bungula, Danelle M. Larson
2025, Freshwater Science (44) 409-421
Ecological systems can undergo large changes and regime shifts that are either catastrophic, neutral, or desirable. Rivers worldwide have recently undergone desirable regime shifts related to re-oligotrophy, which is a notable and ongoing reduction in concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS), total N, total P, or phytoplankton. For example, the...
Subduction zone earthquake catalog separation tool: Implementation in the USGS 2025 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model
Kirstie Lafon Haynie, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne, Gavin P. Hayes, David R. Shelly, Allison Shumway, Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, Peter M. Powers
2025, Seismological Research Letters
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) periodically releases updates to National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the United States and its territories leveraging current scientific knowledge and methodologies to guide public policy, building codes, and risk assessments regarding potential ground shaking due to earthquakes...
Variation in detection distance of Eastern Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis) vocalizations by autonomous recording units
Blake D. Lamb, Heather E. Levy, Elizabeth A. Beilke, Chelsea S. Kross, Peter J. Kappes, Matt J. Sukiennik, James A. Cox, Jennifer K. Wilson, Jarrett O. Woodrow, Matthew J. Butler, Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., Auriel M.V. Fournier, Mark S. Woodrey
2025, Waterbirds (48) 1-12
Autonomous recording units (ARUs) are an emerging technology that allows for passive monitoring of soniferous animals and soundscapes. Over the past decade, ARUs have become a popular tool for monitoring birds for their potential to reduce the labor and costs of traditional in-person sampling procedures. However, uncertainty surrounding factors affecting...
Lake depth and light conditions alter Mysis vertical distributions
Rosaura J. Chapina, Brian O’Malley, Kelly L. Bowen, Martta L.M. Viljanen, Zachary A. Bess, Daniel L. Yule, Jens C. Nejstgaard, Stella A. Berger, Michael D. Rennie, Michael J. Paterson, Steven A. Pothoven, James M. Watkins, Lars G. Rudstam, Sudeep Chandra, Jason D. Stockwell
2025, Journal of Great Lakes Research (51)
Light regulates the vertical migration of many aquatic organisms. Mysis species couple pelagic and benthic habitats in lakes by diel vertical migrations (DVM), transporting energy and nutrients through the water column and food web. Although Mysis are generally assumed to remain on the bottom during the day, some have been observed in the pelagic...
Summer roost site suitability analyses for 4 special status bat species in the Eastern United States
Richard D. Inman, Andrea Nichole Schuhmann, Sarah Sawyer, Sarah Mccrimmon Gaulke, Frank Charles Tousley, Helen Trice Davis, Bradley James Udell, Bethany Straw, Jonathan D. Reichard, Brian Reichert
2025, Journal of Mammalogy (106) 1399-1411
Data describing habitat suitability are crucial for implementing effective conservation planning but are often lacking at regional and continental scales. We address this gap for 4 bat species that are listed, proposed for listing, or under Endangered Species Act listing review by highlighting a framework for estimating summer roost suitability...
Evaluating effectiveness of flocculation and wave-reduction barriers for restoration of a turbid, terminal lake
Cassandra Smith, Randy Joe Brannan
2025, Wetlands Ecology and Management (33)
Malheur Lake is a freshwater, shallow lake that provides key habitat for birds along the Pacific Flyway in North America. The lake shifted to a turbid state in the 1990s with suspended-sediment concentrations sometimes exceeding 1000 mg/L and minimal light available in the water column for submerged aquatic vegetation. Resource...
A short-term sublethal oral exposure to microcystin-LR disrupts cecal microbiome homeostasis in mallard
Sergei V. Drovetski, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Erik K. Hofmeister, Natalie K. Karouna-Reiner, Robert J. Dusek
2025, Frontiers in Toxicology (7)
Introduction: The frequency of cyanobacterial blooms seems to have increased globally in recent decades due to human induced eutrophication and climate change. Cyanobacterial blooms can produce several groups of toxins, among which microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is one of the most abundant. Effects of MC-LR on avian microbiome have not been studied...
VIPER site analysis
Ross A. Beyer, Mark Shirley, Anthony Colaprete, Caleb I. Fassett, Benjamin Fernando, Tanish P. Himani, Myriam Lemelin, José Martinez-Comacho, Matthew Siegler, Andrew M. Annex, Edward Balaban, Valentin T. Bickel, Joshua A. Coyan, Ariel N. Deutsch, Jennifer L. Heldmann, Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Kevin W. Lewis, Darlene S.S. Lim, Eldar Noe Dobrea
2025, The Planetary Science Journal (6)
We needed to evaluate available orbital data of NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission area in order to derive a variety of maps to help the science team identify scientifically interesting places for the rover to visit and to provide scientific context for our mission....
Rallus elegans (King Rail) occupancy is stable, but habitat is in short supply in the Arkansas Delta
Caleb P. Roberts, Jessica Novobilsky, Paul Akpejeluh, Lauren L. Berry, Michael J. Budd, Michael C. Ferrara, Lindsey A. LaBrie, Lauren Luther, Vinita Karki, David Krementz, Karen Rowe, Michael Shaw, Kenneth Wilson, Auriel M.V. Fournier
2025, Ornithological Applications
Secretive marsh birds experienced precipitous declines due to losses in wetland habitat across North America. However, from 1998 to 2004, wetland area increased, and between 2009 and 2019, the extent of emergent wetlands did not significantly decrease. This raises the question: how did secretive marsh birds, which...
Does tidal marsh restoration lead to the recovery of trophic pathways that support estuarine fishes?
Megan D. Pagliaro, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Isa Woo, Jake Sousa, Natalie Rich, Lenny Grimaldo, Denise Colombano, Albert Ruhí
2025, Ecological Applications (35)
Evaluation of tidal marsh restoration success is typically based on the recovery of habitat size and target species. However, food-web structure may provide valuable insight into ecosystem functioning trajectories. Here, we studied restored tidal marshes of different ages (new, young, old; spanning 1–150 years) in comparison with nearby reference sites along the San...
Non-native prey availability and over-compensatory density dependence drive population dynamics of a native fish predator
Madaline Cochrane, Timothy Cline, Travis S. Schmidt, James Dunnigan, Will Warnock, Clint C. Muhlfeld
2025, Ecological Applications (35)
Understanding the factors that regulate population dynamics is crucial for conserving imperiled species. Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a piscivorous salmonid and one of North America's most threatened cold-water species, has declined significantly due to habitat loss, overfishing, invasive species, and climate change. While recovery efforts have primarily targeted these threats,...
Agronomic practices vs. natural soil factors: Influences on nitrous oxide emissions from corn and soybean fields.
Jamshid Ansari, Morgan Davis, Chenhui Li, Sheel Bansal
2025, Agronomy (15)
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) and major contributor to climate change, is primarily released through agricultural activities. To better understand and quantify how land management practices, local climate conditions, and soil physicochemical properties affect these agricultural N2O emissions, we conducted a review of the peer-reviewed literature on...
Sapsucker wells as a keystone nutritional resource: Evaluating methods for detection of secondary sap consumers
Richard Clawges, Shannon Blair, Jan H. Eitel, Leona Kay Svancara, Lee A. Vierling, Kerri Vierling
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
North American sapsuckers are considered double keystone species because they (1) excavate nest cavities that are used by other birds, small mammals, and invertebrates, and (2) create and maintain sap wells, a temporary nutritional resource available to a variety of secondary consumers. Most previous reports of secondary sap consumption relied...
Initial responses of songbird communities to forest reclamation on legacy surface mines
Rebecca N. Davenport, Christopher D. Barton, John J. Cox, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Lauren Sherman, Jeffery L. Larkin, Todd Fearer, Steven J. Price
2025, Ecosphere (16)
Surface coal mining and subsequent reclamation efforts in the Appalachian Mountains, USA, transform the ecological characteristics of natural landscapes. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a mine reclamation method that emphasizes best management practices in forestry. FRA practices have demonstrated success in establishing native forests and accelerating natural succession on...
Postrelease movements of captive-reared adult Atlantic Salmon in two Maine rivers
Carolyn A. Merriam, Danielle Frechette, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2025, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (45) 1012-1028
ObjectiveAtlantic Salmon Salmo salar remain at critically low levels in the United States, with the last remaining populations located in the state of Maine. In 2021, a pilot captive-rearing program, similar to a smolt-to-adult supplementation, was implemented to boost naturally spawning adults in support of recovery goals.<div class="...
Confocal laser-scanning microscopy (CLSM)-based thermal maturity of Tasmanites and progress in standardization of fluorescence microspectrometry
Jolanta Kus, Paul C. Hackley
2025, International Journal of Coal Geology (310)
Evaluation of thermal maturity in vitrinite-free or vitrinite-deficient sediments via fluorescence microspectrometry can provide relevant information related to petroleum exploration and thermal history assessment. However, variation in spectral fluorescence properties of alginite macerals with increasing thermal maturity is largely underexplored. Here, authors of this study have applied confocal laser-scanning microscopy...
Longevity, age-specific survival, and mean generation time of Rana muscosa: Implications for conservation of possibly the longest lived Ranid frog
Cynthia Joan Hitchcock, Adam R. Backlin, Amanda Renee Goldberg, Sarah Kay Thomsen, Erin L. Muths, Elizabeth Gallegos, Robert D. Fisher
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Life history strategies vary widely among species and play a vital role in extinction risk, especially in a rapidly changing environment. For many taxa, information on life history such as longevity, lifespan, and generation time is incomplete. This is especially true for amphibians, which have experienced large-scale declines in recent...
Tree swallows as indicators of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure and effects at select Department of Defense sites along the East Coast and at sites with different sources in the Upper Midwest, United States
Christine M. Custer, Paul M. Dummer, Sandra L. Schultz, Natalie Karouna-Renier, Cole W. Matson
2025, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (44) 3159-3191
Questions remain about the distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the environment, the sources and movement within and between ecosystems, and whether there are effects from such exposure. Information from the Upper Midwest and the mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, which have different PFAS sources, were investigated....
Experimental warming alters free-living nitrogen fixation in a humid tropical forest
Parker M. Bartz, Iana F. Grullón-Penkova, Molly A. Cavaleri, Sasha C. Reed, Saima Shahid, Tana E. Wood, Benedicte Bachelot
2025, New Phytologist (248) 2750-2763
Microbial nitrogen (N) fixation accounts for c. 97% of natural N inputs to terrestrial ecosystems. These microbes can be free-living in the soil and leaf litter (asymbiotic) or in symbiosis with plants. Warming is expected to increase N-fixation rates because warmer temperatures favor the growth and activity of N-fixing microbes. We investigated...
