Determination of habitat requirements for Apache Trout
Sally J. Petre, Scott A. Bonar
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 1-15
The Apache Trout Oncorhynchus apache, a salmonid endemic to east-central Arizona, is currently listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Establishing and maintaining recovery streams for Apache Trout and other endemic species requires determination of their specific habitat requirements. We built upon previous studies of Apache Trout habitat by...
Pathogen transport in groundwater systems: Contrasts with traditional solute transport
Randall J. Hunt, William P. Johnson
2017, Hydrogeology Journal (25) 921-930
Water quality affects many aspects of water availability, from precluding use to societal perceptions of fit-for-purpose. Pathogen source and transport processes are drivers of water quality because they have been responsible for numerous outbreaks resulting in large economic losses due to illness and, in some cases, loss of life. Outbreaks...
Conservation Reserve Program mitigates grassland loss in the lesser prairie-chicken range of Kansas
David A. Haukos, David Spencer, Christian A. Hagen, Melinda D. Daniels, Doug Goodin
2017, Global Ecology and Conservation (9) 21-38
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the overall occupied range of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) has declined by 84% commensurate with population trends. Much of this decline has been attributed to the loss and fragmentation of native grasslands throughout the lesser prairie-chicken...
Effects of topographic data quality on estimates of shallow slope stability using different regolith depth models
Rex L. Baum
2017, Conference Paper, Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice--Proceedings of the 3rd North American Symposium on Landslides: Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists Special Publication 27
Thickness of colluvium or regolith overlying bedrock or other consolidated materials is a major factor in determining stability of unconsolidated earth materials on steep slopes. Many efforts to model spatially distributed slope stability, for example to assess susceptibility to shallow landslides, have relied on estimates of constant thickness, constant depth,...
A global analysis of traits predicting species sensitivity to habitat fragmentation
Douglas Keinath, Daniel F. Doak, Karen E. Hodges, Laura R. Prugh, William F. Fagan, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Stuart H. M. Buchart, Matthew J. Kauffman
2017, Global Ecology and Biogeography (26) 115-127
AimElucidating patterns in species responses to habitat fragmentation is an important focus of ecology and conservation, but studies are often geographically restricted, taxonomically narrow or use indirect measures of species vulnerability. We investigated predictors of species presence after fragmentation using data from studies around the world that included all four...
Water quality and natural resources in the Green River Basin
Brad D. Lee, Tanja N. Williamson, Angela S. Crain
2017, Book chapter, Water in Kentucky: Natural history, communities, and conservation
No abstract available....
Arsenic hazard and associated health risks: New England, USA aquifers
Joseph D. Ayotte
2017, Book chapter, Best practice guide on the control of arsenic in drinking water
No abstract available....
Geology and biostratigraphy of the Potomac River cliffs at Stratford Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia
Robert E. Weems, Lucy E. Edwards, Bryan D. Landacre
2017, Book chapter, Blue Ridge to the Beach: Geological Field Excursions across Virginia
The cliffs along the Potomac River at Stratford Hall display extensive exposures of Miocene marine strata that belong successively to the Calvert, Choptank, St. Marys, and Eastover Formations. Within the lower part of this sequence, in the Calvert and Choptank Formations, there is well-developed cyclic stratigraphy. Above the Miocene units...
Imaging of earthquake faults using small UAVs as a pathfinder for air and space observations
Andrea Donnellan, Joseph Green, Adnan Ansar, Joseph Aletky, Margaret Glasscoe, Yehuda Ben-Zion, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Stephen B. DeLong
2017, Conference Paper, 2017 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings
Large earthquakes cause billions of dollars in damage and extensive loss of life and property. Geodetic and topographic imaging provide measurements of transient and long-term crustal deformation needed to monitor fault zones and understand earthquakes. Earthquake-induced strain and rupture characteristics are expressed in topographic features imprinted on the landscapes of...
Human footprint affects US carbon balance more than climate change
Dominique Bachelet, Ken Ferschweiler, Tim Sheehan, Barry Baker, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Zhiliang Zhu
2017, Book chapter, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences
The MC2 model projects an overall increase in carbon capture in conterminous United States during the 21st century while also simulating a rise in fire causing much carbon loss. Carbon sequestration in soils is critical to prevent carbon losses from future disturbances, and we show that natural ecosystems store more...
Improved vertical streambed flux estimation using multiple diurnal temperature methods in series
Dylan J. Irvine, Martin A. Briggs, Ian Cartwright, Courtney R. Scruggs, Laura K. Lautz
2017, Groundwater (55) 73-80
Analytical solutions that use diurnal temperature signals to estimate vertical fluxes between groundwater and surface water based on either amplitude ratios (Ar) or phase shifts (Δϕ) produce results that rarely agree. Analytical solutions that simultaneously utilize Ar and Δϕ within a single solution have more recently been derived, decreasing uncertainty...
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2016
Mark R. Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen T. Gorman, Daniel Yule
2017, Report, Compiled reports to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission of the annual bottom trawl and acoustics surveys for 2016
In 2016, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom trawls at 76 nearshore and 35 offshore stations. Spring and summer water temperatures in 2016 were warmer than average and considerably warmer than observed in 2014 and 2015. In the nearshore zone, a total of 17,449 individuals from...
A 600-year-long stratigraphic record of tsunamis in south-central Chile
Isabel Hong, Tina Dura, Lisa L. Ely, Benajamin P. Horton, Alan R. Nelson, Marco Cisternas, Daria Nikitina, Robert L. Wesson
2017, The Holocene (27) 39-51
The stratigraphy within coastal river valleys in south-central Chile clarifies and extends the region’s history of large, earthquakes and accompanying tsunamis. Our site at Quidico (38.1°S, 73.3°W) is located in an overlap zone between ruptures of magnitude 8–9 earthquakes in 1960 and 2010, and, therefore, records tsunamis originating from subduction-zone...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2016
Betsy L. Bodamer Scarbro, Richard T. Kraus, Patrick Kocovsky, Christopher Vandergoot
2017, Report
<span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"We conducted a biomass-based assessment of the Lake Erie Western Basin fish community using data collected from 2013-2016 Western Basin (spring and autumn) bottom trawl surveys. Biomass of total catch per hectare has decreased 75 percent since 2013. Declines were observed across all functional groups, but most notable was...
Geologic influence on induced seismicity: Constraints from potential field data in Oklahoma
Anjana K. Shah, G. Randy Keller
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 152-161
Recent Oklahoma seismicity shows a regional correlation with increased wastewater injection activity, but local variations suggest that some areas are more likely to exhibit induced seismicity than others. We combine geophysical and drill hole data to map subsurface geologic features in the crystalline basement, where most earthquakes are occurring, and...
An integrated moral obligation model for landowner conservation norms
Amit K. Pradhananga, Mae A. Davenport, David C. Fulton, Geoffrey M. Maruyama, Dean Current
2017, Society & Natural Resources: An International Journal (30) 212-227
This study applies an integrated moral obligation model to examine the role of environmental and cultural values, and beliefs in the activation of landowner conservation norms. Data for this study were collected through a self-administered survey of riparian landowners in two Minnesota watersheds: Sand Creek and Vermillion River watersheds. Study...
Lake Ontario benthic prey fish assessment, 2016
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, Jeremy P. Holden, Michael J. Connerton
2017, NYSDEC Lake Ontario Annual Report 2016-12b
Benthic prey fishes are a critical component of the Lake Ontario food web, serving as energy vectors from benthic invertebrates to native and introduced piscivores. Beginning in 1978, Lake Ontario benthic prey fishes were assessed using bottom trawls collected from the lake’s south shore (depth range: 8 – 150 m)....
Trends in methyl tert-butyl ether concentrations in private wells in southeast New Hampshire: 2005 to 2015
Sarah Flanagan, Joseph P. Levitt, Joseph D. Ayotte
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 1168-1175
In southeast New Hampshire, where reformulated gasoline was used from the 1990s to 2007, methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE) concentrations ≥0.2 μg/L were found in water from 26.7% of 195 domestic wells sampled in 2005. Ten years later in 2015, and eight years after MtBE was banned, 10.3% continue to have MtBE....
Drivers of Holocene sea-level change in the Caribbean
Nicole Khan, Erica Ashe, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrea Dutton, Robert E. Kopp, Gilles Brocard, Simon E. Engelhart, David F. Hill, W.R. Peltier, Christopher H. Vane, Fred N. Scatena
2017, Quaternary Science Reviews (155) 13-36
We present a Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) database for the Caribbean region (5°N to 25°N and 55°W to 90°W) that consists of 499 sea-level index points and 238 limiting dates. The database was compiled from multiple sea-level indicators (mangrove peat, microbial mats, beach rock and acroporid and massive corals). We...
Accurate aging of juvenile salmonids using fork lengths
Suresh Sethi, Jonathon Gerken, Joshua Ashline
2017, Fisheries Research (185) 161-168
Juvenile salmon life history strategies, survival, and habitat interactions may vary by age cohort. However, aging individual juvenile fish using scale reading is time consuming and can be error prone. Fork length data are routinely measured while sampling juvenile salmonids. We explore the performance of aging juvenile fish based solely...
Diet patterns of island foxes on San Nicolas Island relative to feral cat removal
Brian L. Cypher, Erica C. Kelly, Francesca J. Ferrara, Charles A. Drost, Tory L. Westall, Brian Hudgens
2017, Pacific Conservation Biology (23) 180-188
Island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) are a species of conservation concern that occur on six of the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. We analysed island fox diet on San Nicolas Island during 2006–12 to assess the influence of the removal of feral cats (Felis catus) on the food...
The waterfall paradox: How knickpoints disconnect hillslope and channel processes, isolating salmonid populations in ideal habitats
Christine May, Joshua J. Roering, Kyle Snow, Kitty Griswold, Robert E. Gresswell
2017, Geomorphology (277) 228-236
Waterfalls create barriers to fish migration, yet hundreds of isolated salmonid populations exist above barriers and have persisted for thousands of years in steep mountainous terrain. Ecological theory indicates that small isolated populations in disturbance-prone landscapes are at greatest risk of extirpation because immigration and recolonization are not possible. On...
Post-rift magmatic evolution of the eastern North American “passive-aggressive” margin
Sarah E. Mazza, Esteban Gazel, Elizabeth A. Johnson, Michael Bizmis, Ryan J. McAleer, C. Berk Biryol
2017, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (18) 3-22
Understanding the evolution of passive margins requires knowledge of temporal and chemical constraints on magmatism following the transition from supercontinent to rifting, to post-rifting evolution. The Eastern North American Margin (ENAM) is an ideal study location as several magmatic pulses occurred in the 200 My following rifting. In particular, the...
A network model framework for prioritizing wetland conservation in the Great Plains
Gene Albanese, David A. Haukos
2017, Landscape Ecology (32) 115-130
ContextPlaya wetlands are the primary habitat for numerous wetland-dependent species in the Southern Great Plains of North America. Plant and wildlife populations that inhabit these wetlands are reciprocally linked through the dispersal of individuals, propagules and ultimately genes among local populations.Objective<p id="Par2"...
Model-based estimators of density and connectivity to inform conservation of spatially structured populations
Dana J. Morin, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle, Chris Sutherland
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-16
Conservation and management of spatially structured populations is challenging because solutions must consider where individuals are located, but also differential individual space use as a result of landscape heterogeneity. A recent extension of spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models, the ecological distance model, uses spatial encounter histories of individuals (e.g., a record...
