The automated reference toolset: A soil-geomorphic ecological potential matching algorithm
Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway
2016, Soil Science Society of America Journal (80) 1317-1328
Ecological inventory and monitoring data need referential context for interpretation. Identification of appropriate reference areas of similar ecological potential for site comparison is demonstrated using a newly developed automated reference toolset (ART). Foundational to identification of reference areas was a soil map of particle size in the control section (PSCS),...
Introduction to the special issue on the 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha(Nepal) earthquake
Gavin P. Hayes, Richard W. Briggs
2016, Tectonophysics (714-715) 1-3
On April 25, 2015, a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8 earthquake struck central Nepal, breaking a section of the broader Himalayan Front that had been largely quiescent in moderate-to-large earthquakes for much of the modern seismological era. Ground shaking associated with the event resulted in a broad distribution of triggered...
Exploiting differential vegetation phenology for satellite-based mapping of semiarid grass vegetation in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico
Dennis G. Dye, Barry R. Middleton, John M. Vogel, Zhuoting Wu, Miguel G. Velasco
2016, Remote Sensing (8) 1-33
We developed and evaluated a methodology for subpixel discrimination and large-area mapping of the perennial warm-season (C4) grass component of vegetation cover in mixed-composition landscapes of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We describe the methodology within a general, conceptual framework that we identify as the differential vegetation phenology...
Light Goose Conservation Order effects on nontarget waterfowl behavior and energy expenditure
Andrew J. Dinges, Elisabeth B. Webb, Mark P. Vrtiska
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin (40) 694-704
When the Light Goose Conservation Order (LGCO) was established during 1999 in the Rainwater Basin of Nebraska, USA, LGCO activities were limited to 4 days/week and 16 public wetlands were closed to the LGCO to limit disturbance to nontarget waterfowl during this energetically important time period. However, the effects of...
Characterization of sediment and measurement of groundwater levels and temperatures, Camas National Wildlife Refuge, eastern Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Gordon W. Rattray
2016, Data Series 1024
The Camas National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) in eastern Idaho, established in 1937, contains wetlands, ponds, and wet meadows that are essential resting and feeding habitat for migratory birds and nesting habitat for waterfowl. Initially, natural sources of water supported these habitats. However, during the past few decades, climate change...
Carbon dioxide fluxes reflect plant zonation and belowground biomass in a coastal marsh
Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Omar I. Abdul-Aziz, Jianwu Tang, Khandker S. Ishtiaq, Kate Morkeski, Jordan Mora, Ryan K. Quinn, Rose M. Martin, Katharine Egan, Elizabeth Q. Brannon, Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger
2016, Ecosphere (7) 1-21
Coastal wetlands are major global carbon sinks; however, they are heterogeneous and dynamic ecosystems. To characterize spatial and temporal variability in a New England salt marsh, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were compared among major plant‐defined zones during growing seasons. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes were compared in two...
Determination of eruption temperature of Io's lavas using lava tube skylights
Ashley G. Davies, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Alfred S. McEwen
2016, Icarus (278) 266-278
Determining the eruption temperature of Io's dominant silicate lavas would constrain Io's present interior state and composition. We have examined how eruption temperature can be estimated at lava tube skylights through synthesis of thermal emission from the incandescent lava flowing within the lava tube. Lava tube skylights should be present...
Continuity of the West Napa–Franklin fault zone inferred from guided waves generated by earthquakes following the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa Earthquake
Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Y.-G. Li, Joanne H. Chan
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 2721-2746
We measure peak ground velocities from fault‐zone guided waves (FZGWs), generated by on‐fault earthquakes associated with the 24 August 2014 Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake. The data were recorded on three arrays deployed across north and south of the 2014 surface rupture. The observed FZGWs indicate that the West Napa fault zone...
A cellular automata downscaling based 1 km global land use datasets (2010–2100)
Xuecao Li, Le Yu, Terry L. Sohl, Nicholas Clinton, Wenyu Li, Zhiliang Zhu, Xiaoping Liu, Peng Gong
2016, Science Bulletin (61) 1651-1661
Global climate and environmental change studies require detailed land-use and land-cover(LULC) information about the past, present, and future. In this paper, we discuss a methodology for downscaling coarse-resolution (i.e., half-degree) future land use scenarios to finer (i.e., 1 km) resolutions at the global scale using a grid-based spatially explicit cellular automata (CA)...
Linking silicate weathering to riverine geochemistry—A case study from a mountainous tropical setting in west-central Panama
Russell S. Harmon, Gerhard Wörner, Steven T. Goldsmith, Brendan A. Harmon, Christopher B. Gardner, W. Berry Lyons, Fred L. Ogden, Michael J. Pribil, David T. Long, Zoltán Kern, István Fórizs
2016, GSA Bulletin (128) 1780-1812
Chemical analyses from 71 watersheds across an ∼450 km transect in west-central Panama provide insight into controls on weathering and rates of chemical denudation and CO2 consumption across an igneous arc terrain in the tropics. Stream and river compositions across this region of Panama are generally dilute, having a total dissolved...
Spatial prediction of wheat Septoria leaf blotch (Septoria tritici) disease severity in central Ethiopia
Tewodros Wakie, Sunil Kumar, Gabriel B. Senay, Abera Takele, Alemu Lencho
2016, Ecological Informatics (36) 15-30
A number of studies have reported the presence of wheat septoria leaf blotch (Septoria tritici; SLB) disease in Ethiopia. However, the environmental factors associated with SLB disease, and areas under risk of SLB disease, have not been studied. Here, we tested the hypothesis that environmental variables can adequately explain observed...
New findings of twisted-wing parasites (Strepsiptera) in Alaska
Molly Mcdermott
2016, Newsletter of the Alaska Entomological Society (9) 6-8
Strepsipterans are a group of insects with a gruesome life history and an enigmatic evolutionary past. Called ‘twisted-wing parasites’, they are minute parasitoids with a very distinct morphology (Figure 1). Alternatively thought to be related to ichneumon wasps, Diptera (flies), Coleoptera (beetles), and even Neuroptera (net-winged insects) (Pohl and Beutel,...
Microrefuges and the occurrence of thermal specialists: implications for wildlife persistence amidst changing temperatures
L. Embere Hall, Anna D. Chalfoun, Erik A. Beever, Anne E. Loosen
2016, Climate Change Responses (3) 1-12
BackgroundContemporary climate change is affecting nearly all biomes, causing shifts in animal distributions, phenology, and persistence. Favorable microclimates may buffer organisms against rapid changes in climate, thereby allowing time for populations to adapt. The degree to which microclimates facilitate the local persistence of climate-sensitive species,...
Shrinking windows of opportunity for oak seedling establishment in southern California mountains
Frank W. Davis, Lynn C. Sweet, Josep M. Serra-Diaz, Janet Franklin, Ian M. McCullough, Alan L. Flint, Lorraine E. Flint, John Dingman, Helen M. Regan, Alexandra D. Syphard, Lee Hannah, Kelly Redmond, Max A. Moritz
2016, Ecosphere (7) 1-18
Seedling establishment is a critical step that may ultimately govern tree species’ distribution shifts under environmental change. Annual variation in the location of seed rain and microclimates results in transient “windows of opportunity” for tree seedling establishment across the landscape. These establishment windows vary at fine spatiotemporal scales that are...
A survey of uncertainty in stage-discharge rating curves and streamflow records in the United States
Julie E. Kiang, Robert R. Mason, Jr., Timothy A. Cohn
2016, Conference Paper, River Flow 2016
No abstract available....
When winners become losers: Predicted nonlinear responses of arctic birds to increasing woody vegetation
Sarah J. Thompson, Colleen M. Handel, Rachel M. Richardson, Lance B. McNew
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-17
Climate change is facilitating rapid changes in the composition and distribution of vegetation at northern latitudes, raising questions about the responses of wildlife that rely on arctic ecosystems. One widely observed change occurring in arctic tundra ecosystems is an increasing dominance of deciduous shrub vegetation. Our goals were to examine...
Metabarcoding of fecal samples to determine herbivore diets: A case study of the endangered Pacific pocket mouse
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Amy G. Vandergast, Robert S. Cornman, Cynthia R. Adams, Joshua R. Kohn, Robert N. Fisher, Cheryl S. Brehme
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-23
Understanding the diet of an endangered species illuminates the animal’s ecology, habitat requirements, and conservation needs. However, direct observation of diet can be difficult, particularly for small, nocturnal animals such as the Pacific pocket mouse (Heteromyidae: Perognathus longimembris pacificus). Very little is known of the dietary habits of this federally endangered...
Western Lake Erie Basin: Soft-data-constrained, NHDPlus resolution watershed modeling and exploration of applicable conservation scenarios
Haw Yen, Michael J. White, Jeffrey G. Arnold, S. Conor Keitzer, Mari-Vaughn V. Johnson, Jay D. Atwood, Prasad Daggupati, Matthew E. Herbert, Scott P. Sowa, Stuart A. Ludsin, Dale M. Robertson, Raghavan Srinivasan, Charles A. Rewa
2016, Science of the Total Environment (569-570) 1265-1281
Complex watershed simulation models are powerful tools that can help scientists and policy-makers address challenging topics, such as land use management and water security. In the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), complex hydrological models have been applied at various scales to help describe relationships between land use and water, nutrient,...
The precision problem in conservation and restoration
J. Kevin Hiers, Stephen T. Jackson, Richard J. Hobbs, Emily S. Bernhardt, Leonie E. Valentine
2016, Trends in Ecology and Evolution (31) 820-830
Within the varied contexts of environmental policy, conservation of imperilled species populations, and restoration of damaged habitats, an emphasis on idealized optimal conditions has led to increasingly specific targets for management. Overly-precise conservation targets can reduce habitat variability at multiple scales, with unintended consequences for future ecological resilience. We describe...
Multiple browsers structure tree recruitment in logged temperate forests
Edward K. Faison, Stephen DeStefano, David R. Foster, Joshua M. Rapp, Justin A. Compton
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-14
Historical extirpations have resulted in depauperate large herbivore assemblages in many northern forests. In eastern North America, most forests are inhabited by a single wild ungulate species, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and relationships between deer densities and impacts on forest regeneration are correspondingly well documented. Recent recolonizations by moose (Alces...
Low-cost floating emergence net and bottle trap: Comparison of two designs
Pete Cadmus, Justin Pomeranz, Johanna M. Kraus
2016, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (31) 653-658
Sampling emergent aquatic insects is of interest to many freshwater ecologists. Many quantitative emergence traps require the use of aspiration for collection. However, aspiration is infeasible in studies with large amounts of replication that is often required in large biomonitoring projects. We designed an economic, collapsible pyramid-shaped floating emergence trap...
Dense surface seismic data confirm non-double-couple source mechanisms induced by hydraulic fracturing
Jeremy Pesicek, Konrad Cieslik, Marc-Andre Lambert, Pedro Carrillo, Brad Birkelo
2016, Geophysics (81) KS207-KS217
We have determined source mechanisms for nine high-quality microseismic events induced during hydraulic fracturing of the Montney Shale in Canada. Seismic data were recorded using a dense regularly spaced grid of sensors at the surface. The design and geometry of the survey are such that the recorded P-wave amplitudes essentially...
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Source of cooperation or contention?
Meron Teferi Taye, Tsegaye Tadesse, Gabriel B. Senay, Paul Block
2016, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (142) 1-5
This paper discusses the challenges and benefits of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is under construction and expected to be operational on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia in a few years. Like many large-scale projects on transboundary rivers, the GERD has been criticized for potentially jeopardizing downstream...
King Rail (Rallus elegans) Nesting and Brood Rearing Ecology at Red Slough WMA, SE Oklahoma
David G. Krementz, Karen L. Willard, M. Carroll, Katie M. Dugger
2016, Waterbirds (39) 241-249
Long-term continuous acoustical suspended-sediment measurements in rivers – Theory, evaluation, and results from 14 stations on five rivers
David J. Topping, Scott Wright, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean
2016, Conference Paper, River Flow 2016, Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics
We have developed a physically based method for using two acoustic frequencies to measure suspended-silt-and-clay concentration, suspended-sand concentration, and suspended-sand median grain size in river cross sections at 15-minute intervals over decadal timescales. The method is strongly grounded in the extensive scientific literature on the scattering of sound by...
