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...
MODIS derived vegetation index for drought detection on the San Carlos Apache Reservation
Zhuoting Wu, Miguel G. Velasco, Jason McVay, Barry R. Middleton, John M. Vogel, Dennis G. Dye
2016, International Journal of Advanced Remote Sensing and GIS (5) 1524-1538
A variety of vegetation indices derived from remotely sensed data have been used to assess vegetation conditions, enabling the identification of drought occurrences as well as the evaluation of drought impacts. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra 8-day composite data were used to compute the Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index...
Dynamic simulation and numerical analysis of hurricane storm surge under sea level rise with geomorphologic changes along the northern Gulf of Mexico
Matthew V. Bilskie, S.C. Hagen, K.A. Alizad, S.C. Medeiros, Davina Passeri, H.F. Needham, A. Cox
2016, Earth's Future (4) 177-193
This work outlines a dynamic modeling framework to examine the effects of global climate change, and sea level rise (SLR) in particular, on tropical cyclone-driven storm surge inundation. The methodology, applied across the northern Gulf of Mexico, adapts a present day large-domain, high resolution, tide, wind-wave, and hurricane storm surge...
Lithium brines: A global perspective
LeeAnn Munk, Scott Hynek, Dwight Bradley, David Boutt, Keith A. Labay, Hillary Jochens
Philip L. Verplanck, Murray W. Hitzman, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Rare earth and critical elements in ore deposits
Lithium is a critical and technologically important element that has widespread use, particularly in batteries for hybrid cars and portable electronic devices. Global demand for lithium has been on the rise since the mid-1900s and is projected to...
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...
The relative contribution of climate to changes in lesser prairie-chicken abundance
Beth E. Ross, David A. Haukos, Christian A. Hagen, James Pitman
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Managing for species using current weather patterns fails to incorporate the uncertainty associated with future climatic conditions; without incorporating potential changes in climate into conservation strategies, management and conservation efforts may fall short or waste valuable resources. Understanding the effects of climate change on species in the Great Plains of...
A low-disturbance capture technique for ground-nesting Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Karen Courtot, Daniel D. Roby, Lauren H. Kerr, Donald E. Lyons, Jessica Y. Adkins
2016, Waterbirds (39) 193-198
Capturing breeding adults of colonially nesting species can entail risks of nest failure and even colony abandonment, especially in species that react strongly to human disturbance. A low-disturbance technique for capturing specific adult Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) at a ground-nesting colony was developed to reduce these risks and is described...
First records of Canis dirus and Smilodon fatalis from the late Pleistocene Tule Springs local fauna, upper Las Vegas Wash, Nevada
Eric Scott, Kathleen B. Springer
2016, PeerJ (4)
Late Pleistocene groundwater discharge deposits (paleowetlands) in the upper Las Vegas Wash north of Las Vegas, Nevada, have yielded an abundant and diverse vertebrate fossil assemblage, the Tule Springs local fauna (TSLF). The TSLF is the largest open-site vertebrate fossil assemblage dating to the Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age...
Body size distributions signal a regime shift in a lake ecosystem
Trisha Spanbauer, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Tarsha Eason, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Kirsty L. Nash, Jeffery R. Stone, Craig A. Stow, Shana M. Sundstrom
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (283)
Communities of organisms, from mammals to microorganisms, have discontinuous distributions of body size. This pattern of size structuring is a conservative trait of community organization and is a product of processes that occur at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we assessed whether body size patterns serve as...
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...
New summer areas and mixing of two greater sandhill crane populations in the Intermountain West
Daniel P. Collins, Blake A. Grisham, Courtenay M. Conring, Jeffrey M. Knetter, Warren C. Conway, Scott A. Carleton, Matthew A. Boggie
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 141-152
Population delineation throughout the annual life cycle for migratory birds is needed to formulate regional and national management and conservation strategies. Despite being well studied continentally, connectivity of sandhill crane Grus canadensis populations throughout the western portion of their North American range remains poorly described. Our objectives were to 1) use global...
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...
Where the wild things are: A research agenda for studying wildlife-wilderness relationship
Michael K. Schwartz, Beth Hahn, Blake R. Hossack
2016, Journal of Forestry (114) 311-319
We explore the connection between US designated wilderness areas and wildlife with the goal of establishing a research agenda for better understanding this complex relationship. Our research agenda has two components. The first, “wildlife for wilderness,” considers the impact of wildlife on wilderness character. Whereas studies show that wildlife is...
Trophic dynamics of shrinking Subarctic lakes: naturally eutrophic waters impart resilience to rising nutrient and major ion concentrations
Tyler Lewis, Mark S. Lindberg, Joel A. Schmutz, Patricia J. Heglund, Joshua H. Schmidt, Adam J. Dubour, Jennifer R. Rover, Mark R. Bertram
2016, Oecologia (181) 583-596
Shrinking lakes were recently observed for several Arctic and Subarctic regions due to increased evaporation and permafrost degradation. Along with lake drawdown, these processes often boost aquatic chemical concentrations, potentially impacting trophic dynamics. In particular, elevated chemical levels may impact primary productivity, which may in turn influence populations of primary...
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...
Scientifically defensible fish conservation and recovery plans: Addressing diffuse threats and developing rigorous adaptive management plans
Kathleen G. Maas-Hebner, Carl B. Schreck, Robert M. Hughes, Alan Yeakley, Nancy Molina
2016, Fisheries (41) 276-285
We discuss the importance of addressing diffuse threats to long-term species and habitat viability in fish conservation and recovery planning. In the Pacific Northwest, USA, salmonid management plans have typically focused on degraded freshwater habitat, dams, fish passage, harvest rates, and hatchery releases. However, such plans inadequately address...
Regional assessment of persistent organic pollutants in resident mussels from New Jersey and New York estuaries following Hurricane Sandy
Kelly L. Smalling, Ashok D. Deshpande, Heather S. Galbraith, Beth Sharack, DeMond Timmons, Ronald J. Baker
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (107) 432-441
Resident mussels are effective indicators of ecosystem health and have been utilized in national assessment and monitoring studies for over two decades. Mussels were chosen because contaminant concentrations in their tissues respond to changes in ambient environmental levels, accumulation occurs with little metabolic transformation and a substantial amount of historic...
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...
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....
The social, economic, and environmental importance of inland fish and fisheries
Abigail J. Lynch, Steven J. Cooke, Andrew M. Deines, Shannon D. Bower, David B. Bunnell, Ian G. Cowx, Vivian M. Nguyen, Joel K. Nohner, Kaviphone Phouthavong, Betsy Riley, Mark W. Rogers, William W. Taylor, Whitney Woelmer, So-Jung Youn, T. Douglas Beard Jr.
2016, Environmental Reviews (24) 115-121
Though reported capture fisheries are dominated by marine production, inland fish and fisheries make substantial contributions to meeting the challenges faced by individuals, society, and the environment in a changing global landscape. Inland capture fisheries and aquaculture contribute over 40% to the world’s reported finfish production from less than 0.01%...
Change in numbers of resident and migratory shorebirds at the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats, Puerto Rico, USA (1985–2014)
Morgan A. Parks, Jaime A. Collazo, Jose A. Colon, Katsi R. Ramos Alvarez, Oscar Diaz
2016, Waterbirds (39) 209-214
North American migratory shorebirds have declined markedly since the 1980s, underscoring the importance of population surveys to conduct status and trend assessments. Shorebird surveys were conducted during three multi-year periods between 1985 and 2014 and used to assess changes in numbers and species composition at the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats,...
What do we really know about the role of microorganisms in iron sulfide mineral formation?
Aude A. Picard, Amy Gartman, Peter R. Girguis
2016, Frontiers in Earth Science (4)
Iron sulfide mineralization in low-temperature systems is a result of biotic and abiotic processes, though the delineation between these two modes of formation is not always straightforward. Here we review the role of microorganisms in the precipitation of extracellular iron sulfide minerals. We summarize the evidence that links sulfur-metabolizing microorganisms...
Development and use of mathematical models and software frameworks for integrated analysis of agricultural systems and associated water use impacts
K. R. Fowler, E.W. Jenkins, M. Parno, J.C. Chrispell, A. I. Colon, Randall T. Hanson
2016, AIMS Agriculture and Food (1) 208-226
The development of appropriate water management strategies requires, in part, a methodology for quantifying and evaluating the impact of water policy decisions on regional stakeholders. In this work, we describe the framework we are developing to enhance the body of resources available to policy makers, farmers, and other community members...
New challenges for grizzly bear management in Yellowstone National Park
Frank T. van Manen, Kerry A. Gunther
2016, Bulletin of the Shiretoko Museum (Special Issue 1) 79-96
A key factor contributing to the success of grizzly bear Ursus arctos conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been the existence of a large protected area, Yellowstone National Park. We provide an overview of recovery efforts, how demographic parameters changed as the population increased, and how the bear management...
One thousand years of fires: Integrating proxy and model data
Natalie M. Kehrwald, Julie C. Aleman, Michael Coughlan, Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi, Esther N. Githumbi, Brian I. Magi, Jennifer R. Marlon, Mitchell J. Power
2016, Frontiers of Biogeography (8)
The current fires raging across Indonesia are emitting more carbon than the annual fossil fuel emissions of Germany or Japan, and the fires are still consuming vast tracts of rainforest and peatlands. The National Interagency Fire Center (www.nifc.gov) notes that 2015 is one worst fire years on record in the...
