Search Results

Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) was first documented in Florida in 2014 and has since spread through the Caribbean causing unprecedented mortality in more than 20 species of corals. The cause of SCTLD is unknown, but bacteria are suspected based on regression of gross lesions in some corals treated...

Continuous processes in most applications are measured discretely with error. This complicates the task of detecting intersections and the number of intersections between two continuous processes (i.e., when the processes have the same value). Intersections of continuous processes are scientifically important but challenging to estimate from data. For example, in...

The One Health High-Level Expert Panel’s definition of One Health includes optimizing the health of people, animals (wild and domestic) and ecosystems. For many One Health practitioners, wildlife that can spread zoonoses are the focus, particularly if they can come in contact with people. However, ecosystem health is often best-indicated...

Coastal change is a complex combination of multi-scale processes (e.g., wave-driven cross-shore and longshore transport; dune, bluff, and cliff erosion; overwash; fluvial and inlet sediment supply; and sea-level-driven recession). Historical sea-level-driven coastal recession on open ocean coasts is often outpaced by wave-driven change. However, future sea-level-driven coastal recession is expected...

The isolated river drainages of eastern North America serve as a natural laboratory to investigate the roles of allopatry and secondary contact in the evolutionary trajectories of recently diverged lineages. Drainage divides facilitate allopatric speciation, but due to their sensitivity to climatic and geomorphological changes, neighboring rivers frequently coalesce, creating...

Control of nonnative grasses is needed where they are altering fire regimes and degrading rangelands, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion of perennial sagebrush-steppe communities. Aerial broadcast of the pre-emergent and postemergent herbicide imazapic has been used for decades over vast areas to control cheatgrass after fire. Recent small-scale studies...

Barrier removal restores physical stream processes and improves accessibility of critical habitats to migratory fishes. Although increasing connectivity benefits stream systems and migratory fishes, barrier removals may also lead to increased production of undesirable or invasive migratory species, as well as myriad other concerns (e.g., reduced recreational opportunities). Few studies...

Stress levels on and adjacent to megathrust faults at seismogenic depths remain a key but difficult to constrain parameter for assessing seismic hazard in subduction zones. Although strong ground motions have been observed to be generated from distinct, high-stress regions on the downdip end of the megathrust rupture areas in...

Mechanisms governing the migratory decisions of birds have long fascinated ecologists and sparked considerable debate. Identifying factors responsible for variation in migration distance, also known as differential migration, has been a popular approach to understanding the mechanisms underlying migratory behaviour more generally. However, research progress has been slowed by the...

Untangling the complexities of harmful algal bloom (HAB) dynamics is an ongoing effort that requires a fundamental understanding of spatiotemporal phytoplankton patterns and the environmental filters through which assemblages are structured. To this aim, monthly field surveys were conducted from 2019 to 2021 at 21 sites in Lake Okeechobee, Florida...

Introgressive hybridization may lead to contrasting evolutionary outcomes that are difficult to predict since they depend on the fitness effects of endogenous genomic interactions and environmental factors. Conservation of endemic biodiversity may be more effective with require direct measurement of introgressed ancestry and fitness in wild populations, especially for keystone...

Tropical oceanic islands are critical biodiversity hotspots where population monitoring can help to determine the status and trends of rare and endangered species. Saipan is the second largest island in the Mariana Islands and contains many endemic and range-restricted bird species. Surveys of forest birds were conducted on Saipan using...

Prairie dogs are notoriously difficult to enumerate, with previously methods including visual counts, mark-resight, burrow counts, and catch per unit effort. Unlike those methods, spatial capture-recapture (SCR) analyses allow for formal estimation of density along with associated estimates of uncertainty, detection probability, and the size of the average area over...

California faces increasing economic and societal risks from extreme precipitation and flooding associated with atmospheric rivers (ARs) under projected twenty-first century climate warming. Lake sediments can retain signals of past extreme precipitation events, allowing reconstructions beyond the period of instrumental records. Here, we calibrate AR-related extreme precipitation from the last...

The Chemehuevi Formation is a distinctive 50−150-m-thick wedge-shaped Pleistocene sedimentary unit deposited by the Colorado River. It lines the perimeters of the river’s floodplains and bedrock canyons for more than 600 km between the mouth of the Grand Canyon and the delta region in the Gulf of California. The formation...

Freeze events govern the distribution and structure of mangrove ecosystems, especially in tropical-temperate transitional zones. Understanding mangrove responses to freezing is crucial for predicting their poleward expansion under climate change. However, there is a need for field-based measurements of mangrove freeze resistance and resilience.After an extreme winter storm in...

Evaluating population responses to management is a crucial component of successful conservation programs. Models predicting population growth under different management scenarios can provide key insights into the efficacy of specific management actions both in reversing population decline and in maintaining recovered populations. Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) conservation in the United...

The Upper Colorado River Basin is the principal water supply of the western United States and includes a series of canyons that provide habitat for disproportionate numbers of flora and fauna. Following the closing of Flaming Gorge and Blue Mesa dams in 1963 and 1966, decreases in peak flows and...

Hyperpigmented melanistic lesions (HPMLs) are a visual anomaly documented on the skin of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu in the Susquehanna River Basin, Pennsylvania and in numerous other geographical locations. Currently, there is a lack of information on environmental and fish characteristics that may influence the prevalence of HPMLs associated with a recently...

Control and elimination of invasive fishes, like carps (Order Cypriniformes), may be possible by using chemical stimuli to congregate them for removal. To this end, we tested behavioral responses of grass (Ctenopharyngodon idella), bighead (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), and silver carp (H. molitrix) to L-alanine, L-arginine, L-glutamic acid, and L-aspartic acid. In...

Increasing wildfire has motivated the construction of fuel breaks on many rangelands to improve prospects for wildfire suppression. However, the linear shape of fuel breaks greatly increases treatment perimeter: area and thus increased potential for edge effects, e.g., invasions by exotic plants. Potential for edge effects are further increased by...

American black bear (Ursus americanus) populations are increasing throughout much of North America. Use of multiple harvest methods, including hunting over bait, is intended to increase harvest success rates to meet harvest and population management objectives. However, black bear population growth can be influenced by food availability, and some speculate...

Previously published research indicated that predation by piscivorous colonial waterbirds in the Upper Klamath Basin was a source of mortality for Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and Shortnose suckers (Chasmistes brevirostris), including mortality of Sucker Assisted Rearing Program (SARP) fish. Avian predation on recently released Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in...

Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands are among the most widespread ecosystems in rangelands of western North America, supporting diverse wildlife habitat, recreation, grazing, and cultural/spiritual enrichment. Anticipating future distribution shifts under changing climate will be critical to climate adaptation and conservation efforts in...

We describe three unique types of seismicity at Popocatépetl volcano that accompanied the initial vent-clearing eruptive activity in December 1994 through the eruption of the first two domes in 1996. We identify and describe two types of coupled events, 1) spasmodic burst coupled events, a burst of volcano tectonic (VT)...