Water resources of the Southern Hills regional aquifer system, southeastern Louisiana
Vincent E. White
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3010
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of groundwater in the 10 parishes overlying the Southern Hills regional aquifer system of Louisiana (fig. 1) is critical for water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, residents, and others for...
Re-Os systematics and age of pyrite associated with stratiform Zn-Pb mineralization in the Howards Pass district, Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada
Karen D. Kelley, David Selby, Hendrik Falck, John F. Slack
2017, Mineralium Deposita (52) 317-335
Stratiform Zn-Pb deposits hosted in unmetamorphosed carbonaceous and siliceous mudstones of the Ordovician to Silurian Duo Lake Formation define the Howards Pass district in Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, western Canada. Collectively, the deposits are amongst the largest in the world, containing drill-indicated and inferred resources of 423 Mt at 4.84 %...
Walrus haul-out and in water activity levels relative to sea ice availability in the Chukchi Sea
Chadwick V. Jay, Rebecca L. Taylor, Anthony S. Fischbach, Mark S. Udevitz, William S. Beatty
2017, Journal of Mammalogy (98) 386-396
An animal’s energetic costs are dependent on the amount of time it allocates to various behavioral activities. For Arctic pinnipeds, the time allocated to active and resting behaviors could change with future reductions in sea ice cover and longer periods of open water. The Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) is...
Climate change influences on pollinator, forest, and farm interactions across a climate gradient
Lee Hannah, Marc Steele, Emily Fung, Pablo Imbach, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2017, Climatic Change (141) 63-75
Climate impact models are often implemented at horizontal resolutions (“scales”) too coarse to be readily applied in local impact assessments. However, recent advancements in fine-scale modeling are allowing the creation of impact models that can be applied to landscape-scale adaptation planning. Here, we illustrate the use of fine-scale impact models...
Features of resilience
Elizabeth B. Connelly, Craig R. Allen, Kirk Hatfield, Jose M. Palma-Oliveira, David D. Woods, Igor Linkov
2017, Environment Systems and Decisions (37) 46-50
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) definition of resilience is used here to organize common concepts and synthesize a set of key features of resilience that can be used across diverse application domains. The features in common include critical functions (services), thresholds, cross-scale (both space and time) interactions, and memory...
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) mortality and recovery rates vary by wing molt status at time of banding
Joseph P. Fleskes, Brian J. Halstead, Jeffrey D. Kohl, Gregory S. Yarris
2017, Waterbirds (40) 33-40
Recovery (i.e., shot, retrieved, and reported) rates and daily mortality risk of 52,330 adult Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) leg-banded during pre-molt, in-molt, or post-molt during 1985–2011 were evaluated to better understand mortality during wing molt in dynamics of the Mallard population in California, USA. Recovery rates and non-hunting mortality risk varied...
Assessment of contemporary genetic diversity and inter-taxa/inter-region exchange of avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 in wild birds sampled in North America
Andrew M. Ramey, Iryna V. Goraichuk, Joseph T. Hicks, Kiril M. Dimitrov, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht, Justin Bahl, Claudio L. Afonso
2017, Virology Journal (14) 1-12
BackgroundAvian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1) viruses are globally distributed, infect wild, peridomestic, and domestic birds, and sometimes lead to outbreaks of disease. Thus, the maintenance, evolution, and spread of APMV-1 viruses are relevant to avian health.MethodsIn this study we sequenced...
San Francisco Bay living shorelines: Restoring Eelgrass and Olympia Oysters for habitat and shore protection
Katharyn E. Boyer, Chela Zabin, Susan De La Cruz, Edwin D. Grosholz, Michelle Orr, Jeremy Lowe, Marilyn Latta, Jen Miller, Stephanie Kiriakopolos, Cassie Pinnell, Damien Kunz, Julien Moderan, Kevin Stockmann, Geana Ayala, Robert Abbott, Rena Obernolte
2017, Book chapter, Living shorelines: The science and management of nature-based coastal protection
Living shorelines projects utilize a suite of sediment stabilization and habitat restoration techniques to maintain or build the shoreline, while creating habitat for a variety of species, including invertebrates, fish, and birds (see National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] 2015 for an overview). The term “living shorelines” denotes provision of...
LANDFIRE 2015 Remap – Utilization of Remotely Sensed Data to Classify Existing Vegetation Type and Structure to Support Strategic Planning and Tactical Response
Joshua J. Picotte, Jordan Long, Birgit Peterson, Kurtis Nelson
2017, Earthzine (March 2017)
The LANDFIRE Program produces national scale vegetation, fuels, fire regimes, and landscape disturbance data for the entire U.S. These data products have been used to model the potential impacts of fire on the landscape [1], the wildfire risks associated with land and resource management [2, 3], and those near population centers...
Effects of CFT Legumine (5% Rotenone) on tadpole survival and metamorphosis of Chiricahua leopard frogs Lithobates chiricahuensis, Northern leopard frogs L. pipiens, and American bullfrogs L. catesbeianus
Guillermo Alvarez, Colleen A. Caldwell, Carter G. Kruse
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 512-522
Amphibians may experience collateral effects if exposed to CFT Legumine (5% rotenone), a piscicide that is used to remove invasive fish. A series of 48-h static toxicity tests assessed the acute effects of CFT Legumine on multi-aged tadpoles of the federally listed Chiricahua leopard frog Lithobates chiricahuensis, the widespread northern leopard...
When perception reflects reality: Non-native grass invasion alters small mammal risk landscapes and survival
Joseph P. Ceradnini, Anna D. Chalfoun
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 1823-1835
Modification of habitat structure due to invasive plants can alter the risk landscape for wildlife by, for example, changing the quality or availability of refuge habitat. Whether perceived risk corresponds with actual fitness outcomes, however, remains an important open question. We simultaneously measured how habitat changes due to a common...
Ground-rupturing earthquakes on the northern Big Bend of the San Andreas Fault, California, 800 A.D. to Present
Katherine M. Scharer, Ray J. Weldon, Glenn Biasi, Ashley Streig, Thomas E. Fumal
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research (122) 2193-2218
Paleoseismic data on the timing of ground-rupturing earthquakes constrain the recurrence behavior of active faults and can provide insight on the rupture history of a fault if earthquakes dated at neighboring sites overlap in age and are considered correlative. This study presents the evidence and ages for 11 earthquakes that...
Unusual geologic evidence of coeval seismic shaking and tsunamis shows variability in earthquake size and recurrence in the area of the giant 1960 Chile earthquake
M. Cisternas, E Garrett, Robert L. Wesson, T. Dura, L. L Ely
2017, Marine Geology (385) 101-113
An uncommon coastal sedimentary record combines evidence for seismic shaking and coincident tsunami inundation since AD 1000 in the region of the largest earthquake recorded instrumentally: the giant 1960 southern Chile earthquake (Mw 9.5). The record reveals significant variability in the size and recurrence of megathrust earthquakes and ensuing tsunamis...
Delta-Flux: An eddy covariance network for a climate-smart Lower Mississippi Basin
Benjamin R. K. Runkle, James R. Rigby, Michele L. Reba, Saseendran S. Anapalli, Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Ken W. Krauss, Lu Liang, Martin A. Locke, Kimberly A. Novick, Ruixiu Sui, Kosana Suvocarev, Paul M. White Jr.
2017, Agricultural & Environmental Letters (2)
Networks of remotely monitored research sites are increasingly the tool used to study regional agricultural impacts on carbon and water fluxes. However, key national networks such as the National Ecological Observatory Network and AmeriFlux lack contributions from the Lower Mississippi River Basin (LMRB), a highly productive agricultural area with opportunities...
Broadband seismic noise attenuation versus depth at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory
Charles R. Hutt, Adam T. Ringler, Lind Gee
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1402-1412
Seismic noise induced by atmospheric processes such as wind and pressure changes can be a major contributor to the background noise observed in many seismograph stations, especially those installed at or near the surface. Cultural noise such as vehicle traffic or nearby buildings with air handling equipment also contributes to...
Extended late Holocene relative sea-level histories for North Carolina, USA
Andrew C. Kemp, Jessica J. Kegel, Stephen J. Culver, Donald C. Barber, David J. Mallinson, Eduardo Leorri, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill, Stanley R. Riggs, Anna L. Woodson, Ryan P. Mulligan, Benjamin P. Horton
2017, Quaternary Science Reviews (160) 13-30
We produced ∼3000-year long relative sea-level (RSL) histories for two sites in North Carolina (USA) using foraminifera preserved in new and existing cores of dated salt-marsh sediment. At Cedar Island, RSL rose by ∼2.4 m during the past ∼3000 years compared to ∼3.3 m at Roanoke Island. This spatial difference arises primarily from...
Top-down control of invertebrates by Ninespine Stickleback in Arctic ponds
Sarah M. Laske, Amanda E. Rosenberger, William J. Kane, Mark S. Wipfli, Christian E. Zimmerman
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 124-137
Despite their widespread presence in northern-latitude ecosystems, the ecological role of Ninespine Stickleback Pungitius pungitius is not well understood. Ninespine Stickleback can occupy both top and intermediate trophic levels in freshwater ecosystems, so their role in food webs as a predator on invertebrates and as a forage fish for upper level consumers...
Integrating multiple data sources in species distribution modeling: A framework for data fusion
Krishna Pacifici, Brian J. Reich, David A.W. Miller, Beth Gardner, Glenn E. Stauffer, Susheela Singh, Alexa McKerrow, Jaime A. Collazo
2017, Ecology (98) 840-850
The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the use of species distribution models (SDMs) to characterize patterns of species’ occurrence and abundance. Efforts to parameterize SDMs often create a tension between the quality and quantity of data available to fit models. Estimation methods that integrate both standardized and...
Using resilience and resistance concepts to manage persistent threats to sagebrush ecosystems and greater sage-grouse
Jeanne C. Chambers, Jeremy D. Maestas, David A. Pyke, Chad S. Boyd, Mike Pellant, Amarina Wuenschel
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 149-164
Conservation of imperiled species often demands addressing a complex suite of threats that undermine species viability. Regulatory approaches, such as the US Endangered Species Act (1973), tend to focus on anthropogenic threats through adoption of policies and regulatory mechanisms. However, persistent ecosystem-based threats, such as invasive species and altered disturbance...
Nitrogen additions affect litter quality and soil biochemical properties in a peatland of Northeast China
Yanyu Song, Changchun Song, Henan Meng, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Xianwei Wang, Wenwen Tan
2017, Ecological Engineering (100) 175-185
Nitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient in many peatland ecosystems. Enhanced N deposition, a major component of global climate change, affects ecosystem carbon (C) balance and alters soil C storage by changing plant and soil properties. However, the effects of enhanced N deposition on peatland ecosystems are poorly understood. We...
Spatial and temporal genetic analysis of Walleyes in the Ohio River
Kevin S. Page, Richard D. Zweifela, Wendylee Stott
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 1168-1185
Previous genetic analyses have shown that Walleyes Sander vitreus in the upper Ohio River comprise two distinct genetic strains: (1) fish of Great Lakes origin that were stocked into the Ohio River basin and (2) a remnant native strain (Highlands strain). Resource agencies are developing management strategies to conserve and restore the...
New insights into nitrate dynamics in a karst groundwater system gained from in situ high-frequency optical sensor measurements
Stephen P. Opsahl, MaryLynn Musgrove, Richard N. Slattery
2017, Journal of Hydrology (546) 179-188
Understanding nitrate dynamics in groundwater systems as a function of climatic conditions, especially during contrasting patterns of drought and wet cycles, is limited by a lack of temporal and spatial data. Nitrate sensors have the capability for making accurate, high-frequency measurements of nitrate in situ, but have not yet been...
Vulnerabilities to climate change of Massachusetts animal species of greatest conservation need
Hector Galbraith, Toni L. Morelli
2017, Report
Over the last decade, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has addressed the potential and actual impacts of climate change on state flora and fauna. The state’s involvement began in 2007 when, led by the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) and assisted by Manomet Center for Con-servation Research, it carried out...
The basis function approach for modeling autocorrelation in ecological data
Trevor J. Hefley, Kristin M. Broms, Brian M. Brost, Frances E. Buderman, Shannon L. Kay, Henry Scharf, John Tipton, Perry J. Williams, Mevin Hooten
2017, Ecology (98) 632-646
Analyzing ecological data often requires modeling the autocorrelation created by spatial and temporal processes. Many seemingly disparate statistical methods used to account for autocorrelation can be expressed as regression models that include basis functions. Basis functions also enable ecologists to modify a wide range of existing ecological models in order...
Mitogenomes and relatedness do not predict frequency of tool-use by sea otters
Katherine Ralls, Nancy Rotzel McInerney, Roderick B. Gagne, Holly B. Ernest, M. Tim Tinker, Jessica Fujii, Jesus Maldonado
2017, Biology Letters (13)
Many ecological aspects of tool-use in sea otters are similar to those in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. Within an area, most tool-using dolphins share a single mitochondrial haplotype and are more related to each other than to the population as a whole. We asked whether sea otters in California showed similar...
