Impacts of climate change on the formation and stability of late Quaternary sand sheets and falling dunes, Black Mesa region, southern Colorado Plateau, USA
Amy L. Ellwein, Shannon Mahan, Leslie D. McFadden
2015, Quaternary International (362) 87-107
Detailed geomorphic mapping and analysis of soil-stratigraphy and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of eolian sand dunes on Black Mesa, Arizona, reveal eolian sediment deposition occurred from 30 to 16 ka, followed by a period of widespread dune stabilization from 12 to 8 ka. Localized reactivation of the previously stabilized dune...
Luminescence dating of anthropogenic features of the San Luis Valley, Colorado: from stone huts to stone walls
Shannon Mahan, Rebecca A. Donlan, Barbara Maat Kardos
2015, Quaternary International (362) 50-62
The Snake Nest Wall site and the Crestone Stone Huts are in the northern San Luis Valley, Colorado, and provide a unique opportunity to date high-altitude archeological sites of unknown age and origin using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). We sampled sediment underlying foundation stones of these structures to establish a...
Integrating gene transcription-based biomarkers to understand desert tortoise and ecosystem health
Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, K. Kristina Drake, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear
2015, EcoHealth (12) 501-512
Tortoises are susceptible to a wide variety of environmental stressors, and the influence of human disturbances on health and survival of tortoises is difficult to detect. As an addition to current diagnostic methods for desert tortoises, we have developed the first leukocyte gene transcription biomarker panel for the desert tortoise...
Ecological drivers of variation in tool-use frequency across sea otter populations
Jessica Fujii, Katherine Ralls, M. Tim Tinker
2015, Behavioral Ecology (26) 519-526
Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open hard-shelled invertebrate prey. However, little is known about how the frequency of tool use varies among sea otter populations and the factors that drive these differences. We examined 17 years of observational data on...
Embryonic and larval development and early behavior in grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella: implications for recruitment in rivers
Amy E. George, Duane Chapman
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-14
With recent findings of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella in tributaries of the Great Lakes, information on developmental rate and larval behavior is critical to efforts to assess the potential for establishment within the tributaries of that region. In laboratory experiments, grass carp were spawned and eggs and larvae reared at...
Pairing call-response surveys and distance sampling for a mammalian carnivore
Sara J. K. Hansen, Jacqueline L. Frair, Harold B. Underwood, James P. Gibbs
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 662-671
Density estimates accounting for differential animal detectability are difficult to acquire for wide-ranging and elusive species such as mammalian carnivores. Pairing distance sampling with call-response surveys may provide an efficient means of tracking changes in populations of coyotes (Canis latrans), a species of particular interest in the eastern United States....
Mark-recapture and mark-resight methods for estimating abundance with remote cameras: a carnivore case study
Robert S. Alanso, Brett T. McClintock, Lisa M. Lyren, Erin E. Boydston, Kevin R. Crooks
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Abundance estimation of carnivore populations is difficult and has prompted the use of non-invasive detection methods, such as remotely-triggered cameras, to collect data. To analyze photo data, studies focusing on carnivores with unique pelage patterns have utilized a mark-recapture framework and studies of carnivores without unique pelage patterns have used...
Hydrologic remediation for the Deepwater Horizon incident drove ancillary primary production increase in coastal swamps
Beth A. Middleton, Darren Johnson, Brian J Roberts
2015, Ecohydrology (8) 838-850
As coastal wetlands subside worldwide, there is an urgency to understand the hydrologic drivers and dynamics of plant production and peat accretion. One incidental test of the effects of high rates of discharge on forested wetland production occurred in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, in which all diversions...
Hawaiian volcanoes: From source to surface
Rebecca Carey, Valerie Cayol, Michael P. Poland, Dominique Weis, editor(s)
2015, American Geophysical Union Monograph 208
Hawaiian Volcanoes, From Source to Surface is the outcome of an AGU Chapman Conference held on the Island of Hawaii in August 2012. As such, this monograph contains a diversity of research results that highlight the current understanding of how Hawaiian volcanoes work and point out fundamental questions requiring additional...
Citizen science contributes to our knowledge of invasive plant species distributions
Alycia W. Crall, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Brendon Panke, Mark Renz, Thomas Stohlgren
2015, Biological Invasions (17) 2415-2427
Citizen science is commonly cited as an effective approach to expand the scale of invasive species data collection and monitoring. However, researchers often hesitate to use these data due to concerns over data quality. In light of recent research on the quality of data collected by volunteers, we aimed to...
Distribution of invasive and native riparian woody plants across the western USA in relation to climate, river flow, floodplain geometry and patterns of introduction
Ryan McShane, Daniel Auerbach, Jonathan M. Friedman, Gregor T. Auble, Patrick B. Shafroth, Michael Merigliano, Michael L. Scott, N. Leroy Poff
2015, Ecography (38) 1254-1265
Management of riparian plant invasions across the landscape requires understanding the combined influence of climate, hydrology, geologic constraints and patterns of introduction. We measured abundance of nine riparian woody taxa at 456 stream gages across the western USA. We constructed conditional inference recursive binary partitioning models to discriminate the influence...
Using natural archives to track sources and long-term trends of pollution: an introduction
Jules Blais, Michael R. Rosen, John Smol
2015, Book chapter, Environmental Contaminants
This book explores the myriad ways that environmental archives can be used to study the distribution and long-term trajectories of contaminants. The volume first focuses on reviews that examine the integrity of the historic record, including factors related to hydrology, post-depositional diffusion, and mixing processes. This is followed by a...
The influence of hydrology on lacustrine sediment contaminant records
Michael R. Rosen
2015, Book chapter, Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research
The way water flows to a lake, through streams, as runoff, or as groundwater, can control the distribution and mass of sediment and contaminants deposited. Whether a lake is large or small, deep or shallow, open or closed, the movement of water to a lake and the circulation patterns of...
Using natural archives to track sources and long-term trends of pollution: some final thoughts and suggestions for future directions
Jules M. Blais, Michael R. Rosen, John P. Smol
2015, Book chapter, Environmental contaminants
Newly produced, as well as some so-called legacy contaminants, continue to be released into the environment at an accelerated rate. Given the general lack of integrated, direct monitoring programs, the use of natural archival records of contaminants will almost certainly continue to increase. We conclude this volume with a short...
Proceedings of the 9th U.S.-Japan natural resources panel for earthquake research
Shane T. Detweiler, William L. Ellsworth, editor(s)
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1250
Introduction The UJNR Panel on Earthquake Research promotes advanced study toward a more fundamental understanding of the earthquake process and hazard estimation. The Ninth Joint meeting was extremely beneficial in furthering cooperation and deepening understanding of problems common to both the U.S. and Japan. The meeting included productive exchanges of information...
Variation in the myosoricine hand skeleton and its implications for locomotory behavior (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)
Neal Woodman, Frank A. Stabile
2015, Journal of Mammalogy (96) 159-171
Substrate use and locomotory behavior of mammals are typically reflected in external characteristics of the forefeet, such as the relative proportions of the digits and claws. Although skeletal anatomy of the forefeet can be more informative than external characters, skeletons remain rare in systematic collections. This is particularly true for...
Return to normal streamflows and water levels: summary of hydrologic conditions in Georgia, 2013
Andrew E. Knaak, Kerry Caslow, Michael F. Peck
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3024
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) Georgia office, in cooperation with local, State, and other Federal agencies, maintains a long-term hydrologic monitoring network of more than 340 real-time continuous-record streamflow-gaging stations (streamgages), including 10 real-time lake-level monitoring stations, 67 real-time surface-water-quality monitors, and several water-quality...
Long-term controls of soil organic carbon with depth and time: a case study from the Cowlitz River Chronosequence, WA USA
Corey R. Lawrence, Jennifer W. Harden, Xiaomei Xu, Marjorie S. Schulz, Susan E. Trumbore
2015, Geoderma (247-248) 73-87
Over timescales of soil development (millennia), the capacity of soils to stabilize soil organic carbon (SOC) is linked to soil development through changes in soil mineralogy and other soil properties. In this study, an extensive dataset of soil profile chemistry and mineralogy is compiled from the Cowlitz River Chronosequence (CRC),...
Upstream dispersal of an invasive crayfish aided by a fish passage facility
Stuart A. Welsh, Zachary J. Loughman
2015, Management of Biological Invasions (6) 287-294
Fish passage facilities for reservoir dams have been used to restore habitat connectivity within riverine networks by allowing upstream passage for native species. These facilities may also support the spread of invasive species, an unintended consequence and potential downside of upstream passage structures. We documented...
Effects of dispersal on total biomass in a patchy, heterogeneous system: Analysis and experiment
Bo Zhang, Xin Liu, Donald L. DeAngelis, Wei-Ming Ni, G Geoff Wang
2015, Mathematical Biosciences (264) 54-62
An intriguing recent result from mathematics is that a population diffusing at an intermediate rate in an environment in which resources vary spatially will reach a higher total equilibrium biomass than the population in an environment in which the same total resources are distributed homogeneously. We extended the current mathematical...
Status of Pelagic Prey Fishes in Lake Michigan, 2014
David M. Warner, Steven A. Farha, Randall M. Claramunt, Dale Hanson, Timothy P. O’Brien
2015, Report
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2014 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic...
Comment on Spracklandus Hoser, 2009 (Reptilia, Serpentes, ELAPIDAE): request for confirmation of availability of the generic name and for the nomenclatural validation of the journal in which it was published (Case 3601; BZN 70:234–237; 71:30–38; 133-135,181-182 ,252-253)
Anders G.J. Rhodin, Hinrich Kaiser, Peter Paul van Dijk, Wolfgang Wuster, Mark O’Shea, Michael Archer, Mark Auliya, Luigi Boitani, Roger Bour, Viola Clausnitzer, Topiltzin Contreras-MacBeath, Brian I. Crother, Juan M. Daza, Carlos A. Driscoll, Oscar Flores-Villela, Jack Frazier, Uwe Fritz, Alfred L. Gardner, Claude Gascon, Arthur Georges, Frank Glaw, Felipe G. Grazziotin, Colin P. Groves, Gerhard Haszprunar, Peter Havas, Jean-Marc Hero, Michael Hoffmann, Marinus S. Hoogmoed, Brian D. Horne, John B. Iverson, Manfred Jach, Christopher L. Jenkins, Richard K.B. Jenkins, A. Ross Kiester, J. Scott Keogh, Thomas E. Lacher Jr., Jeffrey E. Lovich, Luca Luiselli, D. Luke Mahler, David P. Mallon, Roderic Mast, Roy W. McDiarmid, John Measey, Russell A. Mittermeier, Sanjay Molur, Volker Mosbrugger, Robert W. Murphy, Darren Naish, Manfred Niekisch, Hidetoshi Ota, James F. Parham, Michael J. Parr, Nicolas J. Pilcher, Ronald H. Pine, Anthony B. Rylands, James G. Sanderson, Jay M. Savage, Wulf Schleip, Gustavo J. Scrocchi, H. Bradley Shaffer, Eric N. Smith, Robert Sprackland, Simon N. Stuart, Holger Vetter, Laurie J. Vitt, Tomas Waller, Grahame Webb, Edward O. Wilson, Hussam Zaher, Scott Thomson
2015, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature (72) 65-78
In Case 3601 Raymond Hoser has asked the Commission to validate for the purposes of nomenclature the name Spracklandus Hoser, 2009, and ‘the journal in which it was published,’ issue 7 of the Australasian Journal of Herpetology (AJH). We note that the entire run of AJH has been written, edited,...
Efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf-CL145A) spray dried powder for controlling zebra mussels adhering to test substrates
James A. Luoma, Todd J. Severson, Kerry L. Weber, Denise A. Mayer
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1050
A mobile bioassay trailer was used to assess the efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf-CL145A) spray dried powder (SDP) formulation for controlling zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) from two midwestern lakes: Lake Carlos (Alexandria, Minnesota) and Shawano Lake (Shawano, Wisconsin). The effects of SDP exposure concentration and exposure duration on zebra mussel survival were...
Field-based description of rhyolite lava flows of the Calico Hills Formation, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada
Donald S. Sweetkind, Shiera C. Bova
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5022
Contaminants introduced into the subsurface of Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, by underground nuclear testing are of concern to the U.S. Department of Energy and regulators responsible for protecting human health and safety. The potential for contaminant movement away from the underground test areas at Pahute Mesa and into...
Re-estimating temperature-dependent consumption parameters in bioenergetics models for juvenile Chinook salmon
John M. Plumb, Christine M. Moffitt
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 323-330
Researchers have cautioned against the borrowing of consumption and growth parameters from other species and life stages in bioenergetics growth models. In particular, the function that dictates temperature dependence in maximum consumption (Cmax) within the Wisconsin bioenergetics model for Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha produces estimates that are lower than those measured in...
