Resilience by Design: Bringing Science to Policy Makers
Lucile M. Jones
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 294-301
No one questions that Los Angeles has an earthquake problem. The “Big Bend” of the San Andreas fault in southern California complicates the plate boundary between the North American and Pacific plates, creating a convergent component to the primarily transform boundary. The Southern California Earthquake Center Community Fault Model has...
Predicting fine-scale distributions of peripheral aquatic species in headwater streams
Christopher R. DeRolph, S. Nelson, Thomas J. Kwak, Ernie F. Hain
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 152-163
Headwater species and peripheral populations that occupy habitat at the edge of a species range may hold an increased conservation value to managers due to their potential to maximize intraspecies diversity and species' adaptive capabilities in the context of rapid environmental change. The southern Appalachian Mountains are the southern extent...
Numerical computation of hurricane effects on historic coastal hydrology in Southern Florida
Eric D. Swain, M. Dennis Krohn, Catherine A. Langtimm
2015, Ecological Processes (4) 1-20
Introduction Numerical models are critical for assessing the effects of sea level rise (SLR), hurricanes, and storm surge on vegetation change in the Everglades National Park. The model must be capable of representing short-timescale hydrodynamics, salinity transport, and groundwater interaction. However, there is also a strong need to adapt these numerical...
Wintering movements and habitat use of Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) in the mid-Atlantic U.S.
Dustin Meattey, Lucas Savoy, Andrew Gilbert, Jeffrey Tash, Carrie E. Gray, Alicia Berlin, Christine Lepage, Scott Gilliland, Timothy D. Bowman, Jason Osenkowsi, Caleb Spiegel
2015, Report
Wintering habitat use and migratory pathways are key issues facing sea ducks in the mid-Atlantic U.S. and elsewhere due to the potential for offshore wind energy development. A comprehensive understanding of important winter habitats and environmental characteristics determining sea duck abundance and distribution is paramount in advising marine spatial planning...
Sensitivity of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and pallid sturgeon (S. albus) early life stages to 3,30,4,40,5-pentachlorobiphenyl and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin exposure
Justin Buckler, James S. Candrl, Michael J. McKee, Diana M. Papoulias, Donald E. Tillitt, David L. Galat
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1417-1424
Concern exists that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may be contributing to the current decline of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and the US federally endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus). Waterborne exposures with newly fertilized eggs were used to assess developmental and morphological effects of 2 of the most potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor...
Functional age as an indicator of reservoir senescence
Leandro E. Miranda, R. M. Krogman
2015, Fisheries (40) 170-176
It has been conjectured that reservoirs differ in the rate at which they manifest senescence, but no attempt has been made to find an indicator of senescence that performs better than chronological age. We assembled an indicator of functional age by creating a multimetric scale consisting of 10 metrics descriptive...
Rafinesque’s names for western American mammals, including the earliest scientific name for the coyote (Canis latrans Say, 1822), based on the apocryphal journal of Charles Le Raye
Neal Woodman
2015, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (128) 63-79
In 1817, the naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque named nine new species of mammals from the American West, indicating the recently published journal of Charles Le Raye as the primary source for his descriptions. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian fur trader who, as a captive of the...
Continuous-time discrete-space models for animal movement
Ephraim M. Hanks, Mevin Hooten, Mat W. Alldredge
2015, Annals of Applied Statistics (9) 145-165
The processes influencing animal movement and resource selection are complex and varied. Past efforts to model behavioral changes over time used Bayesian statistical models with variable parameter space, such as reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo approaches, which are computationally demanding and inaccessible to many practitioners. We present a continuous-time discrete-space...
Experimental enhancement of pickleweed, Suisun Bay, California
A. Keith Miles, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Danika C. Tsao, Julie L. Yee
2015, California Fish and Game (101) 87-100
As mitigation for habitat impacted by the expansion of a pier on Suisun Bay, California, two vehicle parking lots (0.36 ha and 0.13 ha) were restored by being excavated, graded, and contoured using dredged sediments to the topography or elevation of nearby wetlands. We asked if pickleweed (Sarcocornia pacifica L,...
Status and conservation of interior Redband Trout in the western United States
Clint C. Muhlfeld, Shannon E. Albeke, Stephanie L Gunckel, Benjamin J Writer, Bradley B. Shepard, Bruce E May
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 31-53
In this article we describe the current status and conservation of interior (potamodromous) Redband Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss sspp. throughout its range in the western United States using extant data and expert opinion provided by fish managers. Redband Trout historically occupied 60,295 km of stream habitat and 152 natural lakes. Currently, Redband Trout occupy...
Evaluation of airborne lidar elevation surfaces for propagation of coastal inundation: the importance of hydrologic connectivity
Sandra K. Poppenga, Bruce B. Worstell
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 11695-11711
Detailed information about coastal inundation is vital to understanding dynamic and populated areas that are impacted by storm surge and flooding. To understand these natural hazard risks, lidar elevation surfaces are frequently used to model inundation in coastal areas. A single-value surface method is sometimes used to inundate areas in...
Bioaccumulation of stentorin, the probable causative agent for discolored (“purple”) eggs and ovaries in blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from Eufaula Lake, Oklahoma, USA
Robert W. Gale, Diana M. Papoulias, Christopher J. Schmitt
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 9639-9647
Observations of reddish to “purple” discolored eggs in the ovaries of adult female blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) from the northern arm of Eufaula Lake, a eutrophic multiuse impoundment in east-central Oklahoma, were first reported in 2006. Blue catfish eggs are normally cream to light yellow. Reports peaked in 2007–2008 and...
Experimental evidence of spatial memory and home range affinity in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Michael E. Nelson
2015, Canadian Field-Naturalist (129) 1-7
The role of spatial memory in the movement of animals through landscapes remains elusive. To examine spatial memory and home range affinity of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in northeastern Minnesota during 1995–2007, I translocated 17 adult does with known home ranges to unfamiliar sites and radio-tracked them after their release....
Avian cholera causes marine bird mortality in the Bering Sea of Alaska
Barbara L. Bodenstein, Kimberlee B. Beckmen, Gay Sheffield, Kathy Kuletz, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 934-937
The first known avian cholera outbreak among wild birds in Alaska occurred during November 2013. Liver, intestinal, and splenic necrosis consistent with avian cholera was noted, and Pasteurella multocida serotype 1 was isolated from liver and lung or spleen in Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatella), Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima),...
Biotic and abiotic influences on abundance and distribution of nonnative Chinook salmon and native ESA-listed steelhead in the Wind River, Washington
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly
2015, Northwest Science (89) 58-74
Biotic and abiotic factors influence fish populations and distributions. Concerns have been raised about the influence of hatchery fish on wild populations. Carson National Fish Hatchery produces spring Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Wind River, Washington, and some spawn in the river. Managers were concerned that Chinook salmon could...
Effects of regulated river flows on habitat suitability for the robust redhorse
J. M. Fisk III, Thomas J. Kwak, R. J. Heise
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 792-806
The Robust Redhorse Moxostoma robustum is a rare and imperiled fish, with wild populations occurring in three drainages from North Carolina to Georgia. Hydroelectric dams have altered the species’ habitat and restricted its range. An augmented minimum-flow regime that will affect Robust Redhorse habitat was recently prescribed for Blewett Falls...
Energy flow and the “grassification” of desert shrublands
Julio L. Betancourt
2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (112) 9504-9505
In our directionally and continuously changing world, history still matters, and it does so in increasingly novel and important ways. Human adaptation to global change will rely heavily on robust baselines of historic environmental variability and detailed understanding of how both past and modern ecosystems have responded to both individual...
Effect of mastication and other mechanical treatments on fuel structure in chaparral
Teresa J. Brennan, Jon E. Keeley
2015, International Journal of Wildland Fire (24) 949-963
Mechanical fuel treatments are a common pre-fire strategy for reducing wildfire hazard that alters fuel structure by converting live canopy fuels to a compacted layer of dead surface fuels. Current knowledge concerning their effectiveness, however, comes primarily from forest-dominated ecosystems. Our objectives were to quantify and compare changes in shrub-dominated...
Detailed description of oil shale organic and mineralogical heterogeneity via fourier transform infrared mircoscopy
Kathryn E. Washburn, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael Foster, Fernando Gutierrez
2015, Energy & Fuels (29) 4264-4271
Mineralogical and geochemical information on reservoir and source rocks is necessary to assess and produce from petroleum systems. The standard methods in the petroleum industry for obtaining these properties are bulk measurements on homogenized, generally crushed, and pulverized rock samples and can take from hours to days to perform. New...
Response of the Miliolid Archaias angulatus to simulated ocean acidification
Paul O. Knorr, Lisa L. Robbins, Peter J. Harries, Pamela Hallock, Jonathan Wynn
2015, Journal of Foraminiferal Research (45) 109-127
A common, but not universal, effect of ocean acidification on benthic foraminifera is a reduction in the growth rate. The miliolid Archaias angulatus is a high-Mg (>4 mole% MgCO3), symbiont-bearing, soritid benthic foraminifer that contributes to Caribbean reef carbonate sediments. A laboratory culture study assessed the effects of reduced pH...
A case study of assigning conservation value to dispersed habitat units for conservation planning
Jason J. Rohweder, Sara C. Vacek, Shawn M. Crimmins, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2015, Journal of Conservation Planning (11) 13-27
Resource managers are increasingly tasked with developing habitat conservation plans in the face of numerous, sometimes competing, objectives. These plans must often be implemented across dispersed habitat conservation units that may contribute unequally to overall conservation objectives. Using U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service waterfowl production areas (WPA) in western Minnesota...
Fifty-sixth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union: Check-list of North American Birds
R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, Kevin J Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Adolfo G. Navarro-Siguenza, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J V Remsen, James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, Kevin Winker
2015, The Auk (132) 748-764
This is the 15th supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made between May 15, 2014, and April 15, 2015, by the AOU's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature - North and Middle America. The Committee...
Closing the loop of the soil water retention curve
Ning Lu, N Alsherif, Alexandra Wayllace, Jonathan W. Godt
2015, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (141)
The authors, to their knowledge for the first time, produced two complete principal soil water retention curves (SWRCs) under both positive and negative matric suction regimes. An innovative testing technique combining the transient water release and imbibition method (TRIM) and constant flow method (CFM) was used to identify the principal...
A global satellite assisted precipitation climatology
Christopher C. Funk, Andrew P. Verdin, Joel C. Michaelsen, Diego Pedreros, Gregory J. Husak, P. Peterson
2015, Earth System Science Data (8) 401-425
Accurate representations of mean climate conditions, especially in areas of complex terrain, are an important part of environmental monitoring systems. As high-resolution satellite monitoring information accumulates with the passage of time, it can be increasingly useful in efforts to better characterize the earth's mean climatology. Current state-of-the-science products rely on...
Global change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges
Fred A. Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, Gerard McMahon, Raye Nilius, Mike Bryant, Dave Case, Julien Martin, Nathan J. Wood, Laura Taylor
2015, Ecology and Society (20) 1-8
National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while...
