At the nexus of fire, water and society
Deborah A. Martin
2016, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (371)
The societal risks of water scarcity and water-quality impairment have received considerable attention, evidenced by recent analyses of these topics by the 2030 Water Resources Group, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. What are the effects of fire on the predicted water scarcity and declines in water quality?...
Gene transcript profiling in sea otters post-Exxon Valdez oil spill: A tool for marine ecosystem health assessment
Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Brenda E. Ballachey, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, James L. Bodkin
2016, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (4)
Using a panel of genes stimulated by oil exposure in a laboratory study, we evaluated gene transcription in blood leukocytes sampled from sea otters captured from 2006–2012 in western Prince William Sound (WPWS), Alaska, 17–23 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). We compared WPWS sea otters to reference...
Changes to extreme wave climates of islands within the Western Tropical Pacific throughout the 21st century under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, with implications for island vulnerability and sustainability
James B. Shope, Curt D. Storlazzi, Li H. Erikson, Christie Hegermiller
2016, Global and Planetary Change (141) 25-38
Waves are the dominant influence on coastal morphology and ecosystem structure of tropical Pacific islands. Wave heights, periods, and directions for the 21st century were projected using near-surface wind fields from four atmosphere-ocean coupled global climate models (GCM) under representative concentration pathways (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5. GCM-derived wind fields forced...
Baseline and projected future carbon storage and greenhouse-gas fluxes in ecosystems of Alaska
Zhiliang Zhu, A. David McGuire, editor(s)
2016, Professional Paper 1826
This assessment was conducted to fulfill the requirements of section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and to contribute to knowledge of the storage, fluxes, and balance of carbon and methane gas in ecosystems of Alaska. The carbon and methane variables were examined for major terrestrial...
Can captive populations function as sources of genetic variation for reintroductions into the wild? A case study of the Arabian oryx from the Phoenix Zoo and the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, Jordan
Alexander Ochoa, Stuart A. Wells, Gary West, Ma’en Al-Smadi, Sergio A. Redondo, Sydnee R. Sexton, Melanie Culver
2016, Conservation Genetics (17) 1145-1155
The Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) historically ranged across the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries until its extirpation in 1972. In 1963–1964 a captive breeding program for this species was started at the Phoenix Zoo (PHX); it ultimately consisted of 11 animals that became known as the ‘World Herd’....
Morphodynamics of prograding beaches: A synthesis of seasonal- to century-scale observations of the Columbia River littoral cell
Peter Ruggiero, George Kaminsky, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Nicholas Cohn
2016, Marine Geology (376) 51-68
Findings from nearly two decades of research focused on the Columbia River littoral cell (CRLC), a set of rapidly prograding coastal barriers and strand-plains in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, are synthesized to investigate the morphodynamics associated with prograding beaches. Due to a large sediment supply from the Columbia...
Hydrologic analyses in support of the Navajo Generating Station–Kayenta Mine Complex environmental impact statement
Stanley A. Leake, Jamie P. Macy, Margot Truini
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1088
IntroductionThe U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region (Reclamation) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Navajo Generating Station-Kayenta Mine Complex Project (NGS-KMC Project). The proposed project involves various Federal approvals that would facilitate continued operation of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) from December...
Assessment of error rates in acoustic monitoring with the R package monitoR
Jonathan Katz, Sasha D. Hafner, Therese Donovan
2016, Bioacoustics: The International Journal of Animal Sound and its Recording (25) 177-196
Detecting population-scale reactions to climate change and land-use change may require monitoring many sites for many years, a process that is suited for an automated system. We developed and tested monitoR, an R package for long-term, multi-taxa acoustic monitoring programs. We tested monitoR with two northeastern songbird species: black-throated green...
Tools for automated acoustic monitoring within the R package monitoR
Jonathan Katz, Sasha D. Hafner, Therese Donovan
2016, Bioacoustics: The International Journal of Animal Sound and its Recording (25) 197-210
The R package monitoR contains tools for managing an acoustic-monitoring program including survey metadata, template creation and manipulation, automated detection and results management. These tools are scalable for use with small projects as well as larger long-term projects and those with expansive spatial extents. Here, we describe typical workflow when...
Planning for ex situ conservation in the face of uncertainty
Stefano Canessa, Sarah J. Converse, Matt West, Nick Clemann, Graeme Gillespie, Michael McFadden, Aimee J. Silla, Kirsten M Parris, Michael A McCarthy
2016, Conservation Biology (30) 599-609
Ex situ conservation strategies for threatened species often require long-term commitment and financial investment to achieve management objectives. We present a framework that considers the decision to adopt ex situ management for a target species as the end point of several linked decisions. We used a decision tree to intuitively...
Molecular detection of bacteria in the families Rickettsiaceae and Anaplasmataceae in northern crested caracaras (Caracara cheriway)
John A. Erwin, Robert R. Fitak, James F. Dwyer, Joan L. Morrison, Melanie Culver
2016, Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases (7) 470-474
Bacterial pathogens of the families Anaplasmataceae and Rickettsiaceae are often spread to humans or other animals from bites from infected arthropod hosts. Recently, an increasing number of studies have implicated migratory birds in the circulation of these pathogens through the spread of arthropod vectors. However, few studies have examined the potential for resident bird...
Comments to Middle Miocene closure of the Central American Seaway
A.G. Coates, Robert F. Stallard
2016, Science (348)
In a recent paper proposing an early (mid-Miocene) closure of the Central American Seaway (CAS), Montes et al. 2015 (1) disregard existing paleogeographic data that invalidate Panama as a source for zircons, and inappropriately ignore the evidence for trans-isthmian marine connections until 4-3 Ma. They also fail to cite previous...
Should fatty acid signature proportions sum to 1 for diet estimation?
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Suzanne M. Budge, Gregory W. Thiemann
2016, Ecological Research (31) 597-606
Knowledge of predator diets, including how diets might change through time or differ among predators, provides essential insights into their ecology. Diet estimation therefore remains an active area of research within quantitative ecology. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is an increasingly common method of diet estimation. QFASA is based...
Deriving habitat models for northern long-eared bats from historical detection data: A case study using the Fernow Experimental Forest
W. Mark Ford, Alexander Silvis, Jane L. Rodrigue, Andrew B. Kniowski, Joshua B. Johnson
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 86-98
The listing of the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) as federally threatened under the Endangered Species Act following severe population declines from white-nose syndrome presents considerable challenges to natural resource managers. Because the northern long-eared bat is a forest habitat generalist, development of effective conservation measures will depend on appropriate...
Reevaluation of the Crooked Ridge River- Early Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma) age and origin of the White Mesa Alluvium, northeastern Arizona
Richard Hereford, Sue Beard, William R. Dickinson, Karl E. Karlstrom, Matthew T. Heizler, Laura J. Crossey, Lee Amoroso, Kyle House, Mark Pecha
2016, Geosphere (12) 768-789
Essential features of the previously named and described Miocene Crooked Ridge River in northeastern Arizona (USA) are reexamined using new geologic and geochronologic data. Previously it was proposed that Cenozoic alluvium at Crooked Ridge and southern White Mesa was pre–early Miocene, the product of a large, vigorous late Paleogene river...
Seasonal changes in atmospheric noise levels and the annual variation in pigeon homing performance
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Hugh P. McIsaac, Douglas P. Drob
2016, Journal of Comparative Physiology A (202) 413-424
Repeated releases of experienced homing pigeons from single sites were conducted between 1972 and 1974 near Cornell University in upstate New York and between 1982 and 1983 near the University of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, USA. No annual variation in homing performance was observed at these sites in eastern North...
Mixed stock analysis of Lake Michigan's Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis commercial fishery
Ryan Andvik, Brian L. Sloss, Justin A. VanDeHey, Randall M. Claramunt, Scott P. Hansen, Daniel A. Isermann
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 660-667
Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) support the primary commercial fishery in Lake Michigan. Discrete genetic stocks of lake whitefish have been identified and tagging data suggest stocks are mixed throughout much of the year. Our objectives were to determine if (1) differential stock harvest occurs in the commercial catch, (2) spatial...
Changes in rates of capture and demographics of Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat) in Western Virginia before and after onset of white-nose syndrome
Richard J. Reynolds, Karen E. Powers, Wil Orndorff, W. Mark Ford, Christopher S. Hobson
2016, Northeastern Naturalist (23) 195-204
Documenting the impacts of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on demographic patterns, such as annual survivorship and recruitment, is important to understanding the extirpation or possible stabilization and recovery of species over time. To document demographic impacts of WNS on Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat), we mistnetted at sites in western Virginia...
Population viability analysis for endangered Roanoke logperch
James H. Roberts, Paul L. Angermeier, Gregory B. Anderson
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 46-64
A common strategy for recovering endangered species is ensuring that populations exceed the minimum viable population size (MVP), a demographic benchmark that theoretically ensures low long-term extinction risk. One method of establishing MVP is population viability analysis, a modeling technique that simulates population trajectories and forecasts extinction risk based on...
Differences in coastal subsidence in southern Oregon (USA) during at least six prehistoric megathrust earthquakes
Yvonne Milker, Alan R. Nelson, Benjamin P. Horton, Simon E. Engelhart, Lee-Ann Bradley, Robert C. Witter
2016, Quaternary Science Reviews (142) 143-163
Stratigraphic, sedimentologic (including CT 3D X-ray tomography scans), foraminiferal, and radiocarbon analyses show that at least six of seven abrupt peat-to-mud contacts in cores from a tidal marsh at Talbot Creek (South Slough, Coos Bay), record sudden subsidence (relative sea-level rise) during great megathrust earthquakes at the Cascadia subduction zone....
Recent changes in stream flashiness and flooding, and effects of flood management in North Carolina and Virginia
Beatriz Mogollon, Emmanuel A. Frimpong, Andrew B. Hoegh, Paul L. Angermeier
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 561-577
The southeastern United States has undergone anthropogenic changes in landscape structure, with the potential to increase (e.g., urbanization) and decrease (e.g., reservoir construction) stream flashiness and flooding. Assessment of the outcome of such change can provide insight into the efficacy of current strategies and policies to manage water resources. We...
Optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM): Effects of biological and photolytic degradation
Angela Hansen, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Brian A. Pellerin, Jacob Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2016, Limnology and Oceanography (61) 1015-1032
Advances in spectroscopic techniques have led to an increase in the use of optical properties (absorbance and fluorescence) to assess dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and infer sources and processing. However, little information is available to assess the impact of biological and photolytic processing on the optical properties of original...
Natural thorium resources and recovery: Options and impacts
Timothy Ault, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Steven Krahn, Allen Croff
2016, Nuclear Technology (194) 136-151
This paper reviews the front end of the thorium fuel cycle, including the extent and variety of thorium deposits, the potential sources of thorium production, and the physical and chemical technologies required to isolate and purify thorium. Thorium is frequently found within rare earth element–bearing minerals that exist in diverse...
A decision framework for identifying models to estimate forest ecosystem services gains from restoration
Zachary Christin, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Michael Verdone
2016, Forest Ecosystems (3)
Restoring degraded forests and agricultural lands has become a global conservation priority. A growing number of tools can quantify ecosystem service tradeoffs associated with forest restoration. This evolving “tools landscape” presents a dilemma: more tools are available, but selecting appropriate tools has become more challenging. We present a Restoration Ecosystem...
Number of genera as a potential screening tool for assessing quality of bryophyte communities in Ohio wetlands
William Schumacher, Martin A. Stapanian, Barbara Andreas, Brian Gara
2016, Wetlands (36) 771-778
Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) have numerous advantages as indicators of environmental quality. A quality assessment index for bryophyte species assemblages (BQAI) was developed for the State of Ohio, USA. Reliable identification of bryophytes to species often requires considerable training, practice, and time. In contrast, reliable identification to genera for...
