Late Holocene expansion of Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) in the Central Rocky Mountains, USA
Jodi R. Norris, Julio L. Betancourt, Stephen T. Jackson
2016, Journal of Biogeography (43) 778-790
"Aim: Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) experienced one of the most extensive and rapid post-glacial plant migrations in western North America. We used plant macrofossils from woodrat (Neotoma) middens to reconstruct its spread in the Central Rocky Mountains, identify other vegetation changes coinciding with P. ponderosa expansion at the same sites,...
Occupancy dynamics in human-modified landscapes in a tropical island: implications for conservation design
Julissa I. Irizarry, Jaime A. Collazo, Stephen J. Dinsmore
2016, Diversity and Distributions (22) 410-421
AimAvian communities in human-modified landscapes exhibit varying patterns of local colonization and extinction rates, determinants of species occurrence. Our objective was to model these processes to identify habitat features that might enable movements and account for occupancy patterns in habitat matrices between the Guanica and Susua forest reserves. This knowledge...
Volcano deformation source parameters estimated from InSAR: Sensitivities to uncertainties in seismic tomography
Timothy Masterlark, Theodore Donovan, Kurt L. Feigl, Matthew M. Haney, Clifford H. Thurber, Sui Tung
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 3002-3016
The eruption cycle of a volcano is controlled in part by the upward migration of magma. The characteristics of the magma flux produce a deformation signature at the Earth's surface. Inverse analyses use geodetic data to estimate strategic controlling parameters that describe the position and pressurization of a magma chamber...
Role of large- and fine-scale variables in predicting catch rates of larval Pacific lamprey in the Willamette Basin, Oregon
Luke Schultz, Mariah P. Mayfield, Gabe T. Sheoships, Lance A. Wyss, Benjamin J. Clemens, Steven L. Whitlock, Carl B. Schreck
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 261-271
Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus is an anadromous fish native to the Pacific Northwest of the USA. That has declined substantially over the last 40 years. Effective conservation of this species will require an understanding of the habitat requirements for each life history stage. Because its life cycle contains extended freshwater rearing (3–8 years), the...
NHDPlus as a geospatial framework for SPARROW modeling
John W. Brakebill, Gregory E. Schwarz
2016, Impact Assessment Bulletin (18)
Successful water-resource management requires thorough knowledge and understanding of the relations among water-quality contaminate sources and the factors that affect the transport throughout a hydrologic system. Surface-water modeling is a valuable tool that can be applied to help advance and achieve the understanding of these dynamic relations. Spatially Referenced Regressions...
Isotopic incorporation and the effects of fasting and dietary lipid content on isotopic discrimination in large carnivorous mammals
Karyn D. Rode, Craig A. Stricker, Joy Erlenbach, Charles T. Robbins, Seth Cherry, Seth D. Newsome, Amy Cutting, Shannon Jensen, Gordon Stenhouse, Matt Brooks, Amy Hash, Nicole Nicassio
2016, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (89) 182-197
There has been considerable emphasis on understanding isotopic discrimination for diet estimation in omnivores. However, discrimination may differ for carnivores, particularly species that consume lipid-rich diets. Here, we examined the potential implications of several factors when using stable isotopes to estimate the diets of bears, which can consume lipid-rich diets...
Municipal solid waste landfills harbor distinct microbiomes
Blake W. Stamps, Christopher N. Lyles, Joseph M. Suflita, Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Dana W. Kolpin, Bradley S. Stevenson
2016, Frontiers in Microbiology (7) 1-11
Landfills are the final repository for most of the discarded material from human society and its “built environments.” Microorganisms subsequently degrade this discarded material in the landfill, releasing gases (largely CH4 and CO2) and a complex mixture of soluble chemical compounds in leachate. Characterization of “landfill microbiomes” and their comparison...
2015 National Park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
Catherine M. Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
2016, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2016/1200
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. This economic effects analysis measures how NPS visitor...
Airborne pathogens from dairy manure aerial irrigation and the human health risk
Mark A. Borchardt, Tucker R Burch
2016, Report, Considerations for the use of manure irrigation practices
Dairy manure, like the fecal excrement from any domesticated or wild animal, can contain pathogens capable of infecting humans and causing illness or even death. Pathogens in dairy manure can be broadly divided into categories of taxonomy or infectiousness. Dividing by taxonomy there are three pathogen groups in dairy manure:...
Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, M.C. Black, Vicki S. Blazer, H. Zappia, Wade L. Bryant Jr.
2016, Ecotoxicology (25) 608-621
During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and...
Temporal, geographic, and host distribution of avian paramyxovirus 1 (Newcastle disease virus)
Kiril M. Dimitrov, Andrew M. Ramey, Xueting Qiu, Justin Bahl, Claudio L. Afonso
2016, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (39) 22-34
Newcastle disease is caused by virulent forms of avian paramyxovirus of serotype 1 (APMV-1) and has global economic importance. The disease reached panzootic proportions within two decades after first being identified in 1926 in the United Kingdom and Indonesia and still remains endemic in many countries across the world. Here...
Evaluation of six NEHRP B/C crustal amplification models proposed for use in western North America
David Boore, Kenneth W. Campbell
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 673-686
We evaluate six crustal amplification models based on National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) B/C crustal profiles proposed for use in western North America (WNA) and often used in other active crustal regions where crustal properties are unknown. One of the models is based on an interpolation of generic rock...
Landscape composition creates a threshold influencing Lesser Prairie-Chicken population resilience to extreme drought
Beth E. Ross, David A. Haukos, Christian A. Hagen, James C. Pitman
2016, Global Ecology and Conservation (6) 179-188
Habitat loss and degradation compound the effects of climate change on wildlife, yet responses to climate and land cover change are often quantified independently. The interaction between climate and land cover change could be intensified in the Great Plains region where grasslands are being converted to row-crop agriculture concurrent with...
Increased temperatures combined with lowered salinities differentially impact oyster size class growth and mortality
Megan K. LaPeyre, Molly Rybovich, Steven G. Hall, Jerome F. La Peyre
2016, Journal of Shellfish Research (35) 101-113
Changes in the timing and interaction of seasonal high temperatures and low salinities as predicted by climate change models could dramatically alter oyster population dynamics. Little is known explicitly about how low salinity and high temperature combinations affect spat (<25mm), seed (25–75mm), andmarket (>75mm) oyster growth and mortality. Using field...
Seeded amplification of chronic wasting disease prions in nasal brushings and recto-anal mucosal associated lymphoid tissues from elk by real time quaking-induced conversion
Nicholas J. Haley, Chris Siepker, Laura L. Hoon-Hanks, Gordon Mitchell, W. David Walter, Matteo Manca, Ryan J. Monello, Jenny G. Powers, Margaret A. Wild, Edward A. Hoover, Byron Caughey, Jurgen a. Richt
B.W. Fenwick, editor(s)
2016, Journal of Clinical Microbiology (54) 1117-1126
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, was first documented nearly 50 years ago in Colorado and Wyoming and has since been detected across North America and the Republic of Korea. The expansion of this disease makes the development of sensitive diagnostic assays and antemortem sampling techniques...
Basin scale controls on CO2 and CH4 emissions from the Upper Mississippi River
John T. Crawford, Luke C. Loken, Emily H. Stanley, Edward G. Stets, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 1973-1979
The Upper Mississippi River, engineered for river navigation in the 1930s, includes a series of low-head dams and navigation pools receiving elevated sediment and nutrient loads from the mostly agricultural basin. Using high-resolution, spatially resolved water quality sensor measurements along 1385 river kilometers, we show that primary productivity and organic...
Changing exhumation patterns during Cenozoic growth and glaciation of the Alaska Range: Insights from detrital thermochronology and geochronology
Richard O. Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Paul O'Sullivan
2016, Tectonics (35) 934-955
Cenozoic growth of the Alaska Range created the highest topography in North America, but the space-time pattern and drivers of exhumation are poorly constrained. We analyzed U/Pb and fission-track double dates of detrital zircon and apatite grains from 12 catchments that span a 450 km length of the Alaska Range to...
Fines classification based on sensitivity to pore-fluid chemistry
Junbong Jang, J. Carlos Santamarina
2016, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (142) 1-8
The 75-μm particle size is used to discriminate between fine and coarse grains. Further analysis of fine grains is typically based on the plasticity chart. Whereas pore-fluid-chemistry-dependent soil response is a salient and distinguishing characteristic of fine grains, pore-fluid chemistry is not addressed in current classification systems....
Off-road vehicles affect nesting behaviour and reproductive success of American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliatus
Tracy E. Borneman, Eli T. Rose, Theodore R. Simons
2016, International Journal of Avian Science (158) 261-278
As human populations and associated development increase, interactions between humans and wildlife are occurring with greater frequency. The effects of these interactions, particularly on species whose populations are declining, are of great interest to ecologists, conservationists, land managers and natural resource policy-makers. The American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus, a species of...
Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity
Daniel J. Isaak, Michael K. Young, Charles H. Luce, Steven W. Hostetler, Seth J. Wenger, Erin E. Peterson, Jay Ver Hoef, Matthew C. Groce, Dona L. Horan, David E. Nagel
2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (113) 4374-4379
The imminent demise of montane species is a recurrent theme in the climate change literature, particularly for aquatic species that are constrained to networks and elevational rather than latitudinal retreat as temperatures increase. Predictions of widespread species losses, however, have yet to be fulfilled despite decades of climate change, suggesting...
RMT focal plane sensitivity to seismic network geometry and faulting style
Kendra L. Johnson, Gavin P. Hayes, Robert B. Herrmann, Harley M. Benz, Daniel E. McNamara, Eric A. Bergman
2016, Geophysical Journal International (206) 525-556
Modern tectonic studies often use regional moment tensors (RMTs) to interpret the seismotectonic framework of an earthquake or earthquake sequence; however, despite extensive use, little existing work addresses RMT parameter uncertainty. Here, we quantify how network geometry and faulting style affect RMT sensitivity. We examine how data-model fits change with...
Effect of phytoremediation on concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, 1998–2014
James Landmeyer, Thomas N. Effinger
2016, Environmental Earth Sciences (75)
Concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site near Charleston, South Carolina, USA, have been monitored since the installation of a phytoremediation system of hybrid poplar trees in 1998. Between 2000 and 2014, the concentrations of benzene, toluene, and naphthalene (BT&N)...
Construction, calibration, and validation of the RBM10 water temperature model for the Trinity River, northern California
Edward C. Jones, Russell W. Perry, John C. Risley, Nicholas A. Som, Nicholas J. Hetrick
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1056
We constructed a one-dimensional daily averaged water-temperature model to simulate Trinity River temperatures for 1980–2013. The purpose of this model is to assess effects of water-management actions on water temperature and to provide water temperature inputs for a salmon population dynamics model. Simulated meteorological data, observed streamflow data, and...
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds during outbreaks in domestic poultry, Minnesota, 2015
Christopher S. Jennelle, Michelle Carstensen, Erik C. Hildebrand, Louis Cornicelli, Paul C. Wolf, Daniel A. Grear, S. Ip, Kaci K. VanDalen, Larissa A. Minicucci
2016, Emerging Infectious Diseases (22) 1278-1282
In 2015, a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection devastated poultry facilities in Minnesota, USA. To clarify the role of wild birds, we tested 3,139 waterfowl fecal samples and 104 sick and dead birds during March 9–June 4, 2015. HPAIV was isolated from a Cooper’s hawk...
Temporal and spatial patterns of wetland extent influence variability of surface water connectivity in the Prairie Pothole Region, United States
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Laurie C. Alexander, Jason Todd
2016, Landscape Ecology (31) 805-824
Context. Quantifying variability in landscape-scale surface water connectivity can help improve our understanding of the multiple effects of wetlands on downstream waterways. Objectives. We examined how wetland merging and the coalescence of wetlands with streams varied both spatially (among ecoregions) and interannually (from drought to deluge) across parts of the...
