A long-term study of ecological impacts of river channelization on the population of an endangered fish: Lessons learned for assessment and restoration
James H. Roberts, Gregory B. Anderson, Paul L. Angermeier
2016, Water (8) 1-38
Projects to assess environmental impact or restoration success in rivers focus on project-specific questions but can also provide valuable insights for future projects. Both restoration actions and impact assessments can become “adaptive” by using the knowledge gained from long-term monitoring and analysis to revise the actions, monitoring, conceptual model, or...
Depredation of the California Ridgway’s rail: Causes and distribution
Michael L. Casazza, Cory T. Overton, Thuy-Vy D. Bui, John Y. Takekawa, Angela M. Merritt, J.M. Hull
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 27th Vertebrate Pest Conference
We studied the causes of mortality for the California Ridgway’s rail at multiple tidal marshes in the San Francisco Bay Estuary, California. We radio-marked 196 individual rails and examined the evidence from 152 recovered California Ridgway’s rail mortalities from our radio-marked sample and determined plausible cause of death from a...
Common carp disrupt ecosystem structure and function through middle-out effects
Mark A. Kaemingk, Jeffrey C. Jolley, Craig P. Paukert, David W. Willis, Kjetil R. Henderson, Richard S. Holland, Greg A. Wanner, Mark L. Lindvall
2016, Marine and Freshwater Research (68) 718-731
Middle-out effects or a combination of top-down and bottom-up processes create many theoretical and empirical challenges in the realm of trophic ecology. We propose using specific autecology or species trait (i.e. behavioural) information to help explain and understand trophic dynamics that may involve complicated and non-unidirectional trophic interactions. The common...
Spawning site fidelity of wild and hatchery lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in northern Lake Huron
Thomas Binder, Stephen C. Riley, Christopher M. Holbrook, Michael J. Hansen, Roger A. Bergstedt, Charles R. Bronte, Ji He, Charles C. Krueger
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 18-34
Fidelity to high-quality spawning sites helps ensure that adults repeatedly spawn at sites that maximize reproductive success. Fidelity is also an important behavioural characteristic to consider when hatchery-reared individuals are stocked for species restoration, because artificial rearing environments may interfere with cues that guide appropriate spawning site selection. Acoustic telemetry...
Age, sex and social influences on adult survival in the cooperatively breeding Karoo Scrub-robin
Penn Lloyd, Thomas E. Martin, Andrew Taylor, Anne Braae, Res Altwegg
2016, Emu (116) 394-401
Among cooperatively breeding species, helpers are hypothesised to increase the survival of breeders by reducing breeder workload in offspring care and increased group vigilance against predators. Furthermore, parental nepotism or other benefits of group living may provide a survival benefit to young that delay dispersal to help. We tested these...
Large herbivores surf waves of green-up during spring
Jerod Merkle, Kevin L. Monteith, Ellen O. Aikens, Matthew M. Hayes, Kent Hersey, Arthur D. Middleton, Brendan Oates, Hall Sawyer, Brandon Scurlock, Matthew J. Kauffman
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (283) 1-8
The green wave hypothesis (GWH) states that migrating animals should track or ‘surf’ high-quality forage at the leading edge of spring green-up. To index such high-quality forage, recent work proposed the instantaneous rate of green-up (IRG), i.e. rate of change in the normalized difference vegetation index over time. Despite this...
Effects of seasonal weather on breeding phenology and reproductive success of alpine ptarmigan in Colorado
Gregory T. Wann, Cameron L. Aldridge, Clait E. Braun
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-16
Animal populations occurring at high elevations are often assumed to be in peril of extinctions or local extirpations due to elevational-dispersal limitations and thermoregulatory constraints as habitats change and warm. However, long-term monitoring of high-elevation populations is uncommon relative to those occurring at lower elevations, and evidence supporting this assumption...
Application of a hybrid model to reduce bias and improve precision in population estimates for elk (Cervus elaphus) inhabiting a cold desert ecosystem
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Bruce C. Lubow
2016, Journal of King Saud University - Science (28) 205-215
Accurately estimating the size of wildlife populations is critical to wildlife management and conservation of species. Raw counts or “minimum counts” are still used as a basis for wildlife management decisions. Uncorrected raw counts are not only negatively biased due to failure to account for undetected animals, but also provide...
Reproduction in moose at their southern range limit
Joel S. Ruprecht, Kent Hersey, Konrad Hafen, Kevin L. Monteith, Nicholas J. DeCesare, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel R. MacNulty
2016, Journal of Mammalogy (97) 1355-1365
Reproduction is a critical fitness component in large herbivores. Biogeographic models predict that populations occurring at the edges of the range may have compromised reproductive rates because of inferior habitat at range peripheries. When reproductive rates are chronically low, ungulate populations may lack the resiliency to rebound quickly after periods...
Variability in the sensitivity among model simulations of permafrost and carbon dynamics in the permafrost region between 1960 and 2009
A. David McGuire, Charles Koven, David M. Lawrence, Joy S. Clein, Jiangyang Xia, Christian Beer, Eleanor J. Burke, Guangsheng Chen, Xiaodong Chen, Christine Delire, Elchin Jafarov, Andrew H. MacDougall, Sergey S. Marchenko, Dmitry J. Nicolsky, Shushi Peng, Annette Rinke, Kazuyuki Saito, Wenxin Zhang, Ramdane Alkama, Theodore J. Bohn, Philippe Ciais, Bertrand Decharme, Altug Ekici, Isabelle Gouttevin, Tomohiro Hajima, Daniel J. Hayes, Duoying Ji, Gerhard Krinner, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Yiqi Luo, Paul A. Miller, John C. Moore, Vladimir Romanovsky, Christina Schädel, Kevin Schaefer, Edward A.G. Schuur, Benjamin Smith, Tetsuo Sueyoshi, Qianlai Zhuang
2016, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (30) 1015-1037
A significant portion of the large amount of carbon (C) currently stored in soils of the permafrost region in the Northern Hemisphere has the potential to be emitted as the greenhouse gases CO2and CH4 under a warmer climate. In this study we evaluated the variability in the sensitivity of permafrost and...
Hydrogeologic controls on groundwater discharge and nitrogen loads in a coastal watershed
Chrtopher J. Russoniello, Leonard F. Konikow, Kevin D. Kroeger, Cristina Fernandez, A. Scott Andres, Holly A. Michael
2016, Journal of Hydrology (538) 783-793
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a small portion of the global water budget, but a potentially large contributor to coastal nutrient budgets due to high concentrations relative to stream discharge. A numerical groundwater flow model of the Inland Bays Watershed, Delaware, USA, was developed to identify the primary hydrogeologic factors...
Hibernal habitat selection by Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) in a northern New England montane landscape
Luke A. Groff, Aram J.K. Calhoun, Cynthia S. Loftin
2016, Journal of Herpetology (50) 559-569
Poikilothermic species, such as amphibians, endure harsh winter conditions via freeze-tolerance or freeze-avoidance strategies. Freeze-tolerance requires a suite of complex, physiological mechanisms (e.g., cryoprotectant synthesis); however, behavioral strategies (e.g., hibernal habitat selection) may be used to regulate hibernaculum temperatures and promote overwintering survival. We investigated the hibernal ecology of the...
Preface: Impacts of extreme climate events and disturbances on carbon dynamics
Jingfeng Xiao, Shuguang Liu, Paul C. Stoy
2016, Biogeosciences (13) 3665-3675
The impacts of extreme climate events and disturbances (ECE&D) on the carbon cycle have received growing attention in recent years. This special issue showcases a collection of recent advances in understanding the impacts of ECE&D on carbon cycling. Notable advances include quantifying how harvesting activities impact forest structure, carbon pool...
Ungulate browsers promote herbaceous layer diversity in logged temperate forests
Edward K. Faison, Stephen DeStefano, David R. Foster, Glenn Motzkin, Josh Rapp
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 4591-4602
Ungulates are leading drivers of plant communities worldwide, with impacts linked to animal density, disturbance and vegetation structure, and site productivity. Many ecosystems have more than one ungulate species; however, few studies have specifically examined the combined effects of two or more species on plant communities. We examined the extent...
Actively heated high-resolution fiber-optic-distributed temperature sensing to quantify streambed flow dynamics in zones of strong groundwater upwelling
Martin A. Briggs, Sean F. Buckley, Amvrossios C. Bagtzoglou, Dale D. Werkema, John W. Lane Jr.
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 5179-5194
Zones of strong groundwater upwelling to streams enhance thermal stability and moderate thermal extremes, which is particularly important to aquatic ecosystems in a warming climate. Passive thermal tracer methods used to quantify vertical upwelling rates rely on downward conduction of surface temperature signals. However, moderate to high groundwater flux rates...
Diet breadth and variability in Sander spp. inferred from stable isotopes
M.J. Fincel, Steven R. Chipps, B. D. S. Graeb, M. L. Brown
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 984-991
We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to evaluate trophic similarity between sauger Sander canadensis and walleye S. vitreus in three Missouri River impoundments characterized by unique differences in riverine habitat. Mean δ15N was similar for sauger and walleye in each reservoir ranging from 15.7 to 17.8‰ for sauger and...
Validation of a stream and riparian habitat assessment protocol using stream salamanders in the southwest Virginia coalfields
Sara E. Sweeten, W. Mark Ford
2016, Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (5) 45-66
Within the central Appalachia Coalfields, the aquatic impacts of large-scale land uses, such as surface mining, are of particular ecological concern. Identification and quantification of land use impacts to aquatic ecosystems are a necessary first step to aid in mitigation of negative consequences to biota. However, quantifying physical environmental quality...
A resilience approach can improve anadromous fish restoration
John R. Waldman, Karen A. Wilson, Martha E. Mather, Noah P. Snyder
2016, Fisheries (41) 116-126
Most anadromous fish populations remain at low levels or are in decline despite substantial investments in restoration. We explore whether a resilience perspective (i.e., a different paradigm for understanding populations, communities, and ecosystems) is a viable alternative framework for anadromous fish restoration. Many life history traits have allowed anadromous fish...
Probability distributions of bed load particle velocities, accelerations, hop distances, and travel times informed by Jaynes's principle of maximum entropy
David Furbish, Mark Schmeeckle, Rina Schumer, Siobhan Fathel
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (121) 1373-1390
We describe the most likely forms of the probability distributions of bed load particle velocities, accelerations, hop distances, and travel times, in a manner that formally appeals to inferential statistics while honoring mechanical and kinematic constraints imposed by equilibrium transport conditions. The analysis is based on E. Jaynes's elaboration of...
Finite-element modelling of physics-based hillslope hydrology, Keith Beven, and beyond
Keith Loague, Brian A. Ebel
2016, Hydrological Processes (30) 2432-2437
Keith Beven is a voice of reason on the intelligent use of models and the subsequent acknowledgement/assessment of the uncertainties associated with environmental simula-tion. With several books and hundreds of papers, Keith’s work is widespread, well known, and highly referenced. Four of Keith’s most notable contributions are the iconic TOPMODEL...
Rapid response, monitoring, and mitigation of induced seismicity near Greeley, Colorado
William L. Yeck, A.F Sheehan, Harley M. Benz, Matthew Weingarten, Jenny Nakai
2016, Seismological Research Letters (87) 837-847
On 1 June 2014 (03:35 UTC), an Mw 3.2 earthquake occurred in Weld County, Colorado, a historically aseismic area of the Denver–Julesburg basin. Weld County is a prominent area of oil and gas development, including many high‐rate class II wastewater injection wells. In the days following the earthquake, the University of...
Bayesian nitrate source apportionment to individual groundwater wells in the Central Valley by use of elemental and isotopic tracers
Katherine M Ransom, Mark N. Grote, Amanda Deinhart, Gary Eppich, Carol Kendall, Matthew E. Sanborn, A. Kate Sounders, Joshua Wimpenny, Qing-zhu Yin, Megan B. Young, Thomas Harter
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 5577-5597
Groundwater quality is a concern in alluvial aquifers that underlie agricultural areas, such as in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Shallow domestic wells (less than 150 m deep) in agricultural areas are often contaminated by nitrate. Agricultural and rural nitrate sources include dairy manure, synthetic fertilizers, and septic waste....
Reply to “Comment on ‘Ground motions from the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake constrained by a detailed assessment of macroseismic data’ by Stacey S. Martin, Susan E. Hough, and Charleen Hung” by Andrea Tertulliani, Laura Graziani, Corrado Castellano, Alessandra Maramai, and Antonio Rossi
Stacey S. Martin, Susan E. Hough
2016, Seismological Research Letters (87) 957-962
We thank Andrea Tertulliani and his colleagues for their interest in our article on the 2015 Gorkha earthquake (Martin, Hough, et al., 2015), and for their comments pertaining to our study (Tertulliani et al., 2016). Indeed, as they note, a comprehensive assessment of macroseismic effects for an earthquake with far‐reaching...
Design and testing of a mesocosm-scale habitat for culturing the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish
Olin Feuerbacher, Scott A. Bonar, Paul J. Barrett
2016, North American Journal of Aquaculture (78) 259-269
aptive propagation of desert spring fishes, whether for conservation or research, is often difficult, given the unique and often challenging environments these fish utilize in nature. High temperatures, low dissolved oxygen, minimal water flow, and highly variable lighting are some conditions a researcher might need to recreate to simulate their...
Comparison of methods to monitor the distribution and impacts of unauthorized travel routes in a border park
Todd C. Esque, Richard D. Inman, Kenneth E. Nussear, Robert Webb, M.M. Girard, J. DeGayner
2016, Natural Areas Journal (36) 248-258
The distribution and abundance of human-caused disturbances vary greatly through space and time and are cause for concern among land stewards in natural areas of the southwestern border-lands between the USA and Mexico. Human migration and border protection along the international boundary create Unauthorized Trail and Road (UTR) networks across...
