Statistically extracted fundamental watershed variables for estimating the loads of total nitrogen in small streams
Scott C. Kronholm, Paul D. Capel, Silvia Terziotti
2016, Environmental Modeling & Assessment (21) 681-690
Accurate estimation of total nitrogen loads is essential for evaluating conditions in the aquatic environment. Extrapolation of estimates beyond measured streams will greatly expand our understanding of total nitrogen loading to streams. Recursive partitioning and random forest regression were used to assess 85 geospatial, environmental, and watershed variables across 636...
Movement reveals scale dependence in habitat selection of a large ungulate
Joseph Northrup, Charles R. Anderson Jr., Mevin Hooten, George Wittemyer
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 2746-2757
Ecological processes operate across temporal and spatial scales. Anthropogenic disturbances impact these processes, but examinations of scale dependence in impacts are infrequent. Such examinations can provide important insight to wildlife–human interactions and guide management efforts to reduce impacts. We assessed spatiotemporal scale dependence in habitat selection of mule deer (Odocoileus...
Use of noninvasive genetics to assess nest and space use by white-tailed eagles
Zafer Bulut, Evgeny A. Bragin, J. Andrew DeWoody, Melissa A. Braham, Todd E. Katzner, Jacqueline M. Doyle
2016, Journal of Raptor Research (50) 351-362
Movement and space use are important components of animal interactions with the environment. However, for hard-to-monitor raptor species, there are substantial gaps in our understanding of these key determinants. We used noninvasive genetic tools to evaluate the details of space use over a 3-yr period by White-tailed Eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla)...
Reinforcement and validation of the analyses and conclusions related to fishway evaluation data from Bunt et al.: ‘Performance of fish passage structures at upstream barriers to migration’
C.M. Bunt, Theodore R. Castro-Santos, Alexander Haro
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 2125-2137
Detailed re-examination of the datasets that were used for a meta-analysis of fishway attraction and passage revealed a number of errors that we addressed and corrected. We subsequently re-analysed the revised dataset, and results showed no significant changes in the primary conclusions of the original study; for most species, effective...
Accurate recapture identification for genetic mark–recapture studies with error-tolerant likelihood-based match calling and sample clustering
Suresh Sethi, Daniel Linden, John Wenburg, Cara Lewis, Patrick R. Lemons, Angela K. Fuller, Matthew P. Hare
2016, Royal Society Open Science (3) 1-14
Error-tolerant likelihood-based match calling presents a promising technique to accurately identify recapture events in genetic mark–recapture studies by combining probabilities of latent genotypes and probabilities of observed genotypes, which may contain genotyping errors. Combined with clustering algorithms to group samples into sets of recaptures based upon pairwise match calls, these...
Re-Occupancy of Breeding Territories by Ferruginous Hawks in Wyoming: Relationships to Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors
Zachary P. Wallace, Patricia L. Kennedy, John R. Squires, Robert J. Oakleaf, Lucretia E. Olson, Katie M. Dugger
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Grassland and shrubland birds are declining globally due in part to anthropogenic habitat modification. Because population performance of these species is also influenced by non-anthropogenic factors, it is important to incorporate all relevant ecological drivers into demographic models. We used design-based sampling and occupancy models to test relationships of environmental...
Evaluating early-warning indicators of critical transitions in natural aquatic ecosystems
Alena Sonia Gsell, Ulrike Scharfenberger, Deniz Ozkundakci, Annika W. Walters, Lars-Anders Hansson, Annette B. G. Janssen, Peeter Noges, Philip Reid, Daniel Schindler, Ellen van Donk, Vasilis Dakos, Rita Adrian
2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (113) E8089-E8095
Ecosystems can show sudden and persistent changes in state despite only incremental changes in drivers. Such critical transitions are difficult to predict, because the state of the system often shows little change before the transition. Early-warning indicators (EWIs) are hypothesized to signal the loss of system resilience and have been...
Adult nest attendance and diet of nestling Resplendent Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno) in the Talamanca Mountains of southern Cosa Rica
Scott A. Carleton
2016, Ornitologia Neotropical (27) 181-188
Resplendent Quetzals (Pharomachrus mocinno) inhabit mid to high elevation forests from southern Mexico to Panama. Lipid rich fruits from the Lauraceae family have been found to account for a large proportion of adult diet across their annual life cycle. To better understand the relationship between quetzals and Lauraceae during the...
A new strategy for earthquake focal mechanisms using waveform-correlation-derived relative polarities and cluster analysis: Application to the 2014 Long Valley Caldera earthquake swarm
David R. Shelly, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, William L. Ellsworth, David P. Hill
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 8622-8641
In microseismicity analyses, reliable focal mechanisms can typically be obtained for only a small subset of located events. We address this limitation here, presenting a framework for determining robust focal mechanisms for entire populations of very small events. To achieve this, we resolve relative P and S wave polarities between...
Tree regeneration by seed in bottomland hardwood forests: A review
Whitney A. Kroschel, Sammy L. King, Richard F. Keim
2016, Southeastern Naturalist (15) 42-60
Bottomland hardwood forests (BLH) are found in temperate, humid regions of the southeastern US, primarily on alluvial floodplains adjacent to rivers. Altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains has caused changes in stand development and species composition of BLHs. We hypothesize that the driving mechanisms behind these changes are related to...
Satellite-derived temperature data for monitoring water status in a floodplain forest of the Upper Sabine River, Texas
Mary Grace T. Lemon, Scott T. Allen, Brandon L. Edwards, Sammy L. King, Richard F. Keim
2016, Southeastern Naturalist (15) 90-102
Decreased water availability due to hydrologic modifications, groundwater withdrawal, and climate change threaten bottomland hardwood (BLH) forest communities. We used satellite-derived (MODIS) land-surface temperature (LST) data to investigate spatial heterogeneity of canopy temperature (an indicator of plant-water status) in a floodplain forest of the upper Sabine River for 2008–2014. High...
Structured decision making as a framework for large-scale wildlife harvest management decisions
Kelly F. Robinson, Angela K. Fuller, Jeremy E. Hurst, Bryan L. Swift, Arthur Kirsch, James F. Farquhar, Daniel J. Decker, William F. Siemer
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Fish and wildlife harvest management at large spatial scales often involves making complex decisions with multiple objectives and difficult tradeoffs, population demographics that vary spatially, competing stakeholder values, and uncertainties that might affect management decisions. Structured decision making (SDM) provides a formal decision analytic framework for evaluating difficult decisions by...
Development of a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle stock assessment model
Benny J. Gallaway, William Gazey, Charles W. Caillouet Jr., Pamela T. Plotkin, F. Alberto Abreu Grobois, Anthony F. Amos, Patrick M. Burchfield, Raymond R. Carthy, Marco A. Castro Martinez, John G. Cole, Andrew T. Coleman, Melissa Cook, Steven F. DiMarco, Sheryan P. Epperly, Masami Fujiwara, Daniel Gomez Gamez, Gary L. Graham, Wade L. Griffin, Francisco Illescas Martinez, Margaret M. Lamont, Rebecca L. Lewison, Kenneth J. Lohmann, James M. Nance, Jonathan Pitchford, Nathan Freeman Putman, Scott W. Raborn, Jeffrey K. Rester, Jack J. Rudloe, Laura Sarti Martinez, Mark Schexnayder, Jeffrey R. Schmid, Donna J. Shaver, Christopher Slay, Anton D. Tucker, Mandy Tumlin, Thane Wibbels, Blanca M. Zapata Najera
2016, Gulf of Mexico Science (33) 138-157
We developed a Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) stock assessment model to evaluate the relative contributions of conservation efforts and other factors toward this critically endangered species’ recovery. The Kemp’s ridley demographic model developed by the Turtle Expert Working Group (TEWG) in 1998 and 2000 and updated for the binational recovery...
Semiautomatic mapping of permafrost in the Yukon Flats, Alaska
Mats Lundh Gulbrandsen, Burke J. Minsley, Lyndsay B. Ball, Thomas Mejer Hansen
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 12131-12137
Thawing of permafrost due to global warming can have major impacts on hydrogeological processes, climate feedback, arctic ecology, and local environments. To understand these effects and processes, it is crucial to know the distribution of permafrost. In this study we exploit the fact that airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data are sensitive...
Timing of spring wild turkey hunting in relation to nest incubation
Mary Jo Casalena, Rex Everett, Wendy C. Vreeland, Ian D. Gregg, Duane R. Diefenbach
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the National Wild Turkey Symposium
State wildlife agencies are often requested to open spring wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo; hereafter, turkey) hunting seasons earlier to increase hunter satisfaction by hunters hearing more gobbling male turkeys. Timing of spring turkey hunting season in several states, including Pennsylvania, has been established to open, on average, near median date...
MODIS imagery improves pest risk assessment: A case study of wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus, Hymenoptera: Cephidae) in Colorado, USA
Jordan Lestina, Maxwell Cook, Sunil Kumar, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Paul J. Ode, Frank Peirs
2016, Environmental Entomology (45) 1343-1351
Wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus Norton, Hymenoptera: Cephidae) has long been a significant insect pest of spring, and more recently, winter wheat in the northern Great Plains. Wheat stem sawfly was first observed infesting winter wheat in Colorado in 2010 and, subsequently, has spread rapidly throughout wheat production regions of the...
Managing adaptively for multifunctionality in agricultural systems
Jennifer Hodbod, Olivier Barreteau, Craig R. Allen, Daniele Magda
2016, Journal of Environmental Management (183) 379-388
The critical importance of agricultural systems for food security and as a dominant global landcover requires management that considers the full dimensions of system functions at appropriate scales, i.e. multifunctionality. We propose that adaptive management is the most suitable management approach for such goals, given its ability to reduce uncertainty...
Individual, group, and environmental influences on helping behavior in a social carnivore
David E. Ausband, Michael S. Mitchell, Sarah B. Bassing, Andrea T. Morehouse, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. Stahler, Jennifer Struthers
2016, Ethology (122) 963-972
Variation in group composition and environment can affect helping behavior in cooperative breeders. Understanding of how group size, traits of individuals within groups, food abundance, and predation risk simultaneously influence helping behavior is limited. We evaluated pup-guarding behavior in gray wolves (Canis lupus) to assess how differences in individuals, groups,...
Consequences of gas flux model choice on the interpretation of metabolic balance across 15 lakes
Hilary A. Dugan, R. Iestyn Woolway, Arianto Santoso, Jessica Corman, Aline Jaimes, Emily Nodine, Vijay P. Patil, Jacob A. Zwart, Jennifer A. Brentrup, Amy Hetherington, Samantha K. Oliver, Jordan S. Read, Kirsten Winter, Paul Hanson, Emily Read, Luke Winslow, Kathleen Weathers
2016, Inland Waters (6) 581-592
Ecosystem metabolism and the contribution of carbon dioxide from lakes to the atmosphere can be estimated from free-water gas measurements through the use of mass balance models, which rely on a gas transfer coefficient (k) to model gas exchange with the atmosphere. Theoretical and empirically based models of krange in complexity...
Response of fish assemblages to declining acidic deposition in Adirondack Mountain lakes, 1984–2012
Barry P. Baldigo, Karen Roy, Charles T. Driscoll
2016, Atmospheric Environment (146) 223-235
Adverse effects of acidic deposition on the chemistry and fish communities were evident in Adirondack Mountain lakes during the 1980s and 1990s. Fish assemblages and water chemistry in 43 Adirondack Long-Term Monitoring (ALTM) lakes were sampled by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and the New York State Department of Environmental...
Using continuous underway isotope measurements to map water residence time in hydrodynamically complex tidal environments
Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Carol Kendall, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Kate J. Dennis, Jeffery A. Carter, Travis von Dessonneck
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 13387-13396
Stable isotopes present in water (δ2H, δ18O) have been used extensively to evaluate hydrological processes on the basis of parameters such as evaporation, precipitation, mixing, and residence time. In estuarine aquatic habitats, residence time (τ) is a major driver of biogeochemical processes, affecting trophic subsidies and conditions in fish-spawning habitats....
Thamnophis marcianus (Checkered Gartersnake). USA: Arizona: Yuma and La Paz Counties: Colorado River
Ryan Munes, Robert Reed, Bryan Falk, Ashley Lauren Hall, Andrew Holycross
2016, Herpetological Review (47) 631-632
No abstract available....
Genetic variation and structure in remnant population of critically endangered Melicope zahlbruckneri
J. A. Raji, Carter T. Atkinson
2016, Journal of Biodiversity & Endangered Species (4) 1-8
The distribution and amount of genetic variation within and between populations of plant species are important for their adaptability to future habitat changes and also critical for their restoration and overall management. This study was initiated to assess the genetic status of the remnant population of Melicope zahlbruckneri–a critically endangered...
Development of an adaptive harvest management program for Taiga bean geese
Fred A. Johnson, Mikko Alhainen, Anthony D. Fox, Jesper Madsen
2016, Conference Paper, First meeting of the AEWA European Goose Management International Working Group
This report describes recent progress in specifying the elements of an adaptive harvest program for taiga bean goose. It describes harvest levels appropriate for first rebuilding the population of the Central Management Unit and then maintaining it near the goal specified in the AEWA International Single Species Action Plan (ISSAP)....
Hydrology of prairie wetlands: Understanding the integrated surface-water and groundwater processes
Masaki Hayashi, Garth van der Kamp, Donald O. Rosenberry
2016, Wetlands (36) 237-254
Wetland managers and policy makers need to make decisions based on a sound scientific understanding of hydrological and ecological functions of wetlands. This article presents an overview of the hydrology of prairie wetlands intended for managers, policy makers, and researchers new to this field (e.g., graduate students), and a quantitative...
