Microbial and chemical factors influencing methane production in laboratory incubations of low-rank subsurface coals
Stephen H. Harris, Richard L. Smith, Charles E. Barker
2008, International Journal of Coal Geology (76) 46-51
Lignite and subbituminous coals were investigated for their ability to support microbial methane production in laboratory incubations. Results show that naturally-occurring microorganisms associated with the coals produced substantial quantities of methane, although the factors influencing this process were variable among different samples tested. Methanogenic microbes in two coals from the...
Susceptibility of synthetic long-chain alkylbenzenes to degradation in reducing marine sediments
Robert P. Eganhouse, James Pontolillo
2008, Environmental Science & Technology (42) 6361-6368
Long-chain alkylbenzenes (LCABs) synthesized for production of alkylbenzene sulfonate surfactants have been used as molecular markers of anthropogenic waste for 25 years. Synthetic LCABs comprise two classes, the tetrapropylene-based alkylbenzenes (TABs) and the linear alkylbenzenes (LABs). LABs supplanted TABs in the mid-1960s because of improved biodegradability of their sulfonated analogs....
Evaluating transition-metal catalysis in gas generation from the Permian Kupferschiefer by hydrous pyrolysis
M. D. Lewan, M.J. Kotarba, D. Wieclaw, A. Piestrzynski
2008, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (72) 4069-4093
Transition metals in source rocks have been advocated as catalysts in determining extent, composition, and timing of natural gas generation (Mango, F. D. (1996) Transition metal catalysis in the generation of natural gas. Org. Geochem.24, 977–984). This controversial hypothesis may have important implications concerning gas generation in unconventional shale-gas accumulations....
Moist-soil seed abundance in managed wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
J. Kross, R.M. Kaminski, K. J. Reinecke, E.J. Penny, A.T. Pearse
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 707-714
Managed moist-soil units support early succession herbaceous vegetation that produces seeds, tubers, and other plant parts used by waterfowl in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV), USA. We conducted a stratified multi-stage sample survey on state and federal lands in the MAV of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri during autumns...
Estimating species occurrence, abundance, and detection probability using zero-inflated distributions
S.J. Wenger, Mary C. Freeman
2008, Ecology (89) 2953-2959
Researchers have developed methods to account for imperfect detection of species with either occupancy (presence-absence) or count data using replicated sampling. We show how these approaches can be combined to simultaneously estimate occurrence, abundance, and detection probability by specifying a zero-inflated distribution for abundance. This approach may be...
Exploring visitor acceptability for hardening trails to sustain visitation and minimize impacts
K.L. Cahill, J. L. Marion, S.R. Lawson
2008, Journal of Sustainable Tourism (16) 232-245
Protected natural area managers are challenged to provide high quality recreation opportunities and ensure the protection of resources from impacts associated with visitation. Development of visitor use facilities and application of site hardening practices are commonly applied tools for achieving these competing management objectives. This study applies stated...
Quantifying the extent of river fragmentation by hydropower dams in the Sarapiquí River Basin, Costa Rica
Elizabeth P. Anderson, Catherine M. Pringle, Mary C. Freeman
2008, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (18) 408-417
Costa Rica has recently experienced a rapid proliferation of dams for hydropower on rivers draining its northern Caribbean slope. In the Sarapiquí River Basin, eight hydropower plants were built between 1990 and 1999 and more projects are either under construction or proposed. The majority of these dams are small (<15 m...
Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV Piedmont-Coastal Plain, Fall 2007
Chandler S. Robbins
2008, North American Bird Bander (33) 139-146
Region IV welcomed another coastal station in 2007 with a report from Chris Snook at Charleston, South Carolina. The season was hot and dry throughout Region IV except in Florida where precipitation averaged above normal. Banders blamed their poor success on the lack of cold fronts in August, September, and...
Wildlife feeding in parks: methods for monitoring the effectiveness of educational interventions and wildlife food attraction behaviors
Jeffrey L. Marion, Robert G. Dvorak, Robert E. Manning
2008, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (13) 429-442
Opportunities to view and interact with wildlife are often an important part of high quality recreational experiences. Such interactions frequently include wildlife feeding, resulting in food-conditioned behaviors that may cause harm to both wildlife and visitors. This study developed and applied efficient protocols for simultaneously evaluating wildlife feeding-related...
Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV Piedmont-Coastal Plain, Fall 2007: Patuxent powerline right-of-way (390-0764)
Danny Bystrak
2008, North American Bird Bander (33) 141-142
This station operates at the Patuxent Research Refuge in a powerline right-of-way that bisects an upland deciduous forest. This area has been used for this purpose since 1980, except in the years 2004-2006. Twenty-six nets are arrayed along approximately one-half mile that runs generally on an east-west orientation. The habitat is...
Atlantic Flyway review: Region IV Piedmont-Coastal Plain, Fall 2007: Robbins Nest, Laurel, MD (390-0765)
Chandler S. Robbins
2008, North American Bird Bander (33) 141-141
After a gap of two years I resumed banding at this suburban fall-line station on the Patuxent River, my 33rd fall banding season on our two-acre wooded lot. I banded three mornings per week, trying to keep the same schedule as the Patuxent powerline station five miles downstream. I used...
Multi-scale occupancy estimation and modelling using multiple detection methods
James D. Nichols, Larissa L. Bailey, Allan F. O’Connell, Neil W. Talancy, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Andrew T. Gilbert, Elizabeth M. Annand, Thomas P. Husband, James E. Hines
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 1321-1329
Occupancy estimation and modelling based on detection–nondetection data provide an effective way of exploring change in a species’ distribution across time and space in cases where the species is not always detected with certainty. Today, many monitoring programmes target multiple species, or life stages within a species, requiring the use...
Movement of reservoir-stocked riverine fish between tailwaters and rivers
J.A. Spoelstra, R.A. Stein, J. Andrew Royle, E.A. Marschall
2008, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (137) 1530-1542
The movement of fish from onstream impoundments into connected streams and rivers has traditionally been overlooked in fish stocking decisions but is critical to the ultimate impact of stocking riverine species into reservoirs. Hybrid saugeyes (female walleye Sander vitreus x male sauger S. canadensis) stocked into Deer Creek Reservoir,...
Temporal variation in adult survival rates of Roseate Terns during periods of increasing and declining populations
J. A. Spendelow, J.E. Hines, J.D. Nichols, I.C.T. Nisbet, G. Cormons, H. Hays, J.J. Hatch, C.S. Mostello
2008, Waterbirds (31) 309-319
We used 19 years of mark-recapture/resighting data collected on 11, 020 birds from 1988-2006 at five colony sites in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut, USA, to examine temporal variation in the survival rates of adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) during periods of overall population increase (1988-2000) and decline (2000-2006)....
Potential effects of mixed infections in ticks on transmission dynamics of pathogens: comparative analysis of published records
Howard S. Ginsberg
2008, Experimental and Applied Acarology (46) 29-41
Ticks are often infected with more than one pathogen, and several field surveys have documented nonrandom levels of coinfection. Levels of coinfection by pathogens in four tick species were analyzed using published infection data. Coinfection patterns of pathogens in field-collected ticks include numerous cases of higher or lower...
Stream fish occurrence in response to impervious cover, historic land use, and hydrogeomorphic factors
Seth J. Wenger, James T. Peterson, Mary C. Freeman, Byron J. Freeman, D. David Homans
2008, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (65) 1250-1264
We evaluated competing models explaining the occurrence of five stream fishes in an urbanizing watershed to determine the relative importance of (a) impervious surface and other indicators of current land use, (b) historic land use (e.g., agriculture, impoundments), and (c) hydrogeomorphic characteristics (e.g., stream size, elevation, geology). For four of...
Element patterns in feathers of nestling Black-Crowned Night-Herons, Nycticorax nycticorax L., from four colonies in Delaware, Maryland, and Minnesota
Thomas W. Custer, Nancy H. Golden, Barnett A. Rattner
2008, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (81) 147-151
The pattern of elements in nestling black-crowned night-heron feathers from a rural Minnesota colony differed from colonies in industrialized regions of Maryland and Delaware. Except for chromium, however, the differences did not reflect the elements associated with waters and sediments of the Maryland and Delaware colonies. Therefore, elements...
Visual implant elastomer mark retention through metamorphosis in amphibian larvae
Evan H. Campbell Grant
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1247-1252
Questions in population ecology require the study of marked animals, and marks are assumed to be permanent and not overlooked by observers. I evaluated retention through metamorphosis of visual implant elastomer marks in larval salamanders and frogs and assessed error in observer identification of these marks. I found 1) individual...
Annual recapture and survival rates of two non-breeding adult populations of Roseate Terns Stema dougallii captured on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, and estimates of their population sizes
P. O’Neill, C.D.T. Minton, I.C.T. Nisbet, J.E. Hines
2008, Waterbirds (31) 338-345
Capture-recapture data from two disparate breeding populations of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) captured together as non-breeding individuals from 2002 to 2007 in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Australia were analyzed for both survival rate and recapture rate. The average annual survival rate for the birds from the Asian...
Anatomy of a bottleneck: diagnosing factors limiting population growth in the Puerto Rican parrot
S.R. Beissenger, J.M. Wunderle Jr., J.M. Meyers, B.-E. Saether, S. Engen
2008, Ecological Monographs (78) 185-203
The relative importance of genetic, demographic, environmental, and catastrophic processes that maintain population bottlenecks has received little consideration. We evaluate the role of these factors in maintaining the Puerto Rican Parrot (Amazona vittata) in a prolonged bottleneck from 1973 through 2000 despite intensive conservation efforts. We first conduct...
A hierarchical model for spatial capture-recapture data
J. Andrew Royle, K.V. Young
2008, Ecology (89) 2281-2289
Estimating density is a fundamental objective of many animal population studies. Application of methods for estimating population size from ostensibly closed populations is widespread, but ineffective for estimating absolute density because most populations are subject to short-term movements or so-called temporary emigration. This phenomenon invalidates the resulting estimates...
Long-term trends in breeding birds in an old-growth Adirondack forest and the surrounding region
S.A. McNulty, Sam Droege, R.D. Masters
2008, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (120) 153-158
Breeding bird populations were sampled between 1954 and 1963, and 1990 and 2000 in an old-growth forest, the Natural Area of Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF), in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Trends were compared with data from regional North American Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) and from a forest...
Effects of human activity of breeding American Oystercatchers, Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, USA
J. B. Sabine, J.M. Meyers, C. T. Moore, Sara H. Schweitzer
2008, Waterbirds (31) 70-82
Abstract.-Increased human use of coastal areas threatens the United States population of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus), a species of special concern. Biologists often attribute its low numbers and reproductive success to human disturbance, but the mechanism by which human presence reduces reproductive success is not well understood. During...
Importance of sampling design and analysis in animal population studies: a comment on Sergio et al
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle, Hans Schmid
2008, Journal of Applied Ecology (45) 981-986
1. The use of predators as indicators and umbrellas in conservation has been criticized. In the Trentino region, Sergio et al. (2006; hereafter SEA) counted almost twice as many bird species in quadrats located in raptor territories than in controls. However, SEA detected astonishingly few species. We...
Evaluation of specimen preservatives for DNA analyses of bees
M. Frampton, Sam Droege, T. Conrad, S. Prager, M.H. Richards
2008, Journal of Hymenoptera Research (17) 195-200
Large-scale insect collecting efforts that are facilitated by the use of pan traps result in large numbers of specimens being collected. Storage of these specimens can be problematic if space and equipment are limited. In this study, we investigated the effects of various preservatives (alcohol solutions and DMSO)...
