Breeding habitat associations and predicted distribution of an obligate tundra-breeding bird, Smith's Longspur
Teri C. Wild, Steven J. Kendall, Nikki Guldager, Abby N. Powell
2015, The Condor (117) 3-17
Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) is a species of conservation concern which breeds in Arctic habitats that are expected to be especially vulnerable to climate change. We used bird presence and habitat data from point-transect surveys conducted at 12 sites across the Brooks Range, Alaska, 2003–2009, to identify breeding areas, describe...
Book review: Bumble bees of North America
Samuel O’Dell
2015, The Prairie Naturalist (47) 117-118
Bumblebee identification is generally considered straightforward, yet mistakes often are made due to the degree of similarity between the color patterns of different species. Bumble Bees of North America aims to improve the accuracy of identifications by both casual observers and professionals through the use of intuitive diagrams, descriptions, and...
The effects of flow and stream characteristics on the variation in freshwater mussel growth in a Southeast US river basin
Justin C. Dycus, Jason M. Wisniewski, James T. Peterson
2015, Freshwater Biology (60) 395-409
Summary The evaluation of the age and growth of animal populations is essential for understanding and predicting how populations will respond to changes in environmental conditions and anthropogenic stressors. We used a novel, von Bertalanffy hierarchical modelling approach to quantify relationships between the growth of three freshwater mussel...
In-situ arsenic removal during groundwater recharge through unsaturated alluvium
David O’Leary, John A. Izbicki, T.J. Kim, Clark Ajawani, Donald Suarez, Thomas Barnes, Thomas Kulp, Matthew K. Burgess, Iwen Tseng
2015, Report
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and sustainability of in-situ removal of arsenic from water infiltrated through unsaturated alluvium. BACKGROUND Arsenic is naturally present in aquifers throughout the southwestern United States and elsewhere. In January 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lowered the Maximum...
Habitat use of non-native burbot in a western river
Zachary B. Klein, Michael C. Quist, Darren T. Rhea, Anna C. Senecal
2015, Hydrobiologia (757) 61-71
Burbot, Lota lota (Linnaeus), were illegally introduced into the Green River drainage, Wyoming in the 1990s. Burbot could potentially alter the food web in the Green River, thereby negatively influencing socially, economically, and ecologically important fish species. Therefore, managers of the Green River are interested in implementing a suppression program...
Forecasting the effects of fertility control on overabundant ungulates: White-tailed deer in the National Capital Region
Ann M. Raiho, Mevin Hooten, Scott Bates, N. Thompson Hobbs
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Overabundant populations of ungulates have caused environmental degradation and loss of biological diversity in ecosystems throughout the world. Culling or regulated harvest is often used to control overabundant species. These methods are difficult to implement in national parks, other types of conservation reserves, or in residential areas where public hunting...
Dispersal and survival of a polygynandrous passerine
Heather R. Craig, Steve J. Kendall, Teri C. Wild, Abby N. Powell
2015, The Auk (132) 916-925
Although sex biases in survival and dispersal are thought to be linked to avian mating systems, little is known about these demographic patterns in less common mating strategies such as polygynandry. We investigated breeding-site fidelity, natal philopatry, and apparent survival of the polygynandrous Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) over a 7-yr...
Deployment of paired pushnets from jet-propelled kayaks to sample ichthyoplankton
Matthew R. Acre, Timothy B. Grabowski
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 925-929
Accessing and effectively sampling the off-channel habitats that are considered crucial for early life stages of freshwater fishes constitute a difficult challenge when common ichthyoplankton survey methods, such as push nets, are used. We describe a new method of deploying push nets from jet-propelled kayaks to enable the sampling of...
Precision of hard structures used to estimate age of mountain Whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni)
Carson J. Watkins, Tyler J. Ross, Ryan S. Hardy, Michael C. Quist
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 1-7
The mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) is a widely distributed salmonid in western North America that has decreased in abundance over portions of its distribution due to anthropogenic disturbances. In this investigation, we examined precision of age estimates derived from scales, pectoral fin rays, and sagittal otoliths from 167 mountain whitefish....
Guidelines for evaluating performance of oyster habitat restoration
Lesley P. Baggett, Sean P. Powers, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Loren D. Coen, Bryan M. DeAngelis, Jennifer K. Greene, Boze T. Hancock, Summer M. Morlock, Brian L. Allen, Denise L. Breitburg, David Bushek, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Raymond E. Grizzle, Edwin D. Grosholz, Megan K. LaPeyre, Mark W. Luckenbach, Kay A. McGraw, Michael F. Piehler, Stephanie R. Westby, Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 737-745
Restoration of degraded ecosystems is an important societal goal, yet inadequate monitoring and the absence of clear performance metrics are common criticisms of many habitat restoration projects. Funding limitations can prevent adequate monitoring, but we suggest that the lack of accepted metrics to address the diversity of restoration objectives also...
Patterns of fish assemblage structure and habitat use among main- and side-channel environments in the lower Kootenai River, Idaho
Carson J. Watkins, Bryan S. Stevens, Michael C. Quist, Bradley B. Shepard, Susan C. Ireland
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 1340-1355
The lower Kootenai River, Idaho, was sampled during the summers of 2012 and 2013 to evaluate its fish assemblage structure at seven sites within main- and side-channel habitats where large-scale habitat rehabilitation was undertaken. Understanding the current patterns of fish assemblage structure and their relationships with habitat is important for...
Distributional changes in the western Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) in North America from 1967 to 2008
Alberto Macias-Duarte, Courtney J. Conway
2015, Journal of Raptor Research (49) 75-83
The quantification of shifts in bird distributions in response to climate change provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the processes that influence species persistence. We used data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to document changes in the distributional limits of the western Burrowing Owl...
Mineral potential tracts for polymetallic Pb-Zn-Cu vein deposits (phase V, deliverable 71): Chapter I in Second projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II)
Georges Beaudoin
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-I
In Mauritania, mineral occurrences of the polymetallic Pb-Zn-Cu vein deposit type are found near the Florence-El Khdar shear zone in northeast Mauritania. The deposits visited were deemed representative of other similar occurrences and consist of quartz veins with trace sulfides. The low sulfide and Pb-Zn-Cu content in the quartz veins...
GOES-derived fog and low cloud indices for coastal north and central California ecological analyses
Alicia A. Torregrosa, Cindy Combs, Jeff Peters
2015, Earth and Space Science (3) 46-67
Fog and low cloud cover (FLCC) changes the water, energy, and nutrient flux of coastal ecosystems. Easy-to-use FLCC data are needed to quantify the impacts of FLC on ecosystem dynamics during hot, dry Mediterranean climate summers. FLCC indices were generated from 26,000 hourly night and day FLCC maps derived from...
Applied groundwater modeling, 2nd Edition
Mary P. Anderson, William W. Woessner, Randall J. Hunt
2015, Book
This second edition is extensively revised throughout with expanded discussion of modeling fundamentals and coverage of advances in model calibration and uncertainty analysis that are revolutionizing the science of groundwater modeling. The text is intended for undergraduate and graduate level courses in applied groundwater modeling and as a comprehensive reference...
The continuing medical mystery of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy
Lynn M. Crosby, Calin A. Tatu, William H. Orem, Nikola Pavlovic MD PhD
2015, Journal of Rare Diseases (3) 22-37
Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) is a disease of subtle onset and insidious progression that typically occurs between the 4th and 6th decade in long‐resident individuals in highly specific geographic locations of the Balkan region and affects 1 – 5% of the population. Though it does not follow typical Mendelian genetics,...
U.S. States and Territories National Tsunami Hazard Assessment: Historical record and sources for waves – Update
Paula K. Dunbar, Craig S. Weaver
2015, Report
The first U.S. Tsunami Hazard Assessment (Dunbar and Weaver, 2008) was prepared at the request of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP). The NTHMP is a partnership formed between federal and state agencies to reduce the impact of tsunamis through hazard assessment, warning guidance, and mitigation. The assessment was...
Mineral potential tracts for shoreline Ti-Zr placer deposits (phase V, deliverable 85): Chapter P in Second projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II)
Georges Beaudoin
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-P
Shoreline placer Ti deposits are composed of ilmenite, rutile, zircon, monazite, and magnetite in well-sorted, fine- to medium-grained sand in coastal dunes, beaches and inlets. In addition to titanium, zirconium, in particular, and rare earth elements (REE) have become a major source of value in shoreline placer deposits. Shoreline placer...
Facing a changing world: Thermal physiology of American pikas (Ochotona princeps)
Hans W Otto, James A Wilson, Erik A. Beever
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 429-445
American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are of concern with respect to warming montane temperatures; however, little information exists regarding their physiological ability to adapt to warming temperatures. Previous studies have shown that pikas have high metabolism and low thermal conductance, which allow survival during cold winters. It has been hypothesized that...
Interactive access to LP DAAC satellite data archives through a combination of open-source and custom middleware web services
Brian N. Davis, Jason Werpy, Aaron M. Friesz, Kevin Impecoven, Robert Quenzer, Tom Maiersperger, David J. Meyer
2015, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (3) 8-20
Current methods of searching for and retrieving data from satellite land remote sensing archives do not allow for interactive information extraction. Instead, Earth science data users are required to download files over low-bandwidth networks to local workstations and process data before science questions can be addressed. New methods of extracting...
Spatial and temporal migration of a landfill leachate plume in alluvium
Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2015, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (226)
Leachate from unlined or leaky landfills can create groundwater contaminant plumes that last decades to centuries. Understanding the dynamics of leachate movement in space and time is essential for monitoring, planning and management, and assessment of risk to groundwater and surface-water resources. Over a 23.4-year period (1986–2010), the spatial extent...
Introduction to watershed ecosystem services: Chapter 1
Jefferson S. Hall, Robert F. Stallard, Vanessa Kirn
2015, Book chapter, Managing watersheds for ecosystem services in the steepland neotropics
Humans derive a great number of goods and services from terrestrial ecosystems (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003, 2005). Some, like timber, fruits, bush meat, and other forest based food stuffs, are evident but others are not so obvious. Increasingly policy makers have realized the importance of forests and other ecosystems in...
Could high salinity be used to control bullfrogs in small ponds?
David L. Ward, Colton Finch, Heidi Blasius
2015, Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science (46) 50-52
We examined survival of bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) eggs and tadpoles at 3 ppt and 6 ppt salinity in the laboratory to determine if low-level salinity could be used to eradicate bullfrogs from small ponds that contain native fishes. Bullfrog eggs and tadpoles <10 days old experienced 100% mortality when held...
Population characteristics of channel catfish near the northern edge of their distribution: implications for management
K. P. Carter-Lynn, Michael C. Quist
2015, Fisheries Management and Ecology (22) 530-538
Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque), populations in six lakes in northern Idaho, USA, were sampled to describe their population characteristics. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, 4864 channel catfish were sampled. Channel catfish populations had low to moderate catch rates, and length structure was dominated by fish <400 mm. Channel catfish were...
Bees: An up-close look at pollinators around the world
Sam Droege, Laurence Packer
2015, Book
While we eat, work, and sleep, bees are busy around the world. More than 20,000 species are in constant motion! They pollinate plants of all types and keep our natural world intact. In Bees, you'll find a new way to appreciate these tiny wonders. Sam Droege and Laurence Packer present...
