Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge
D.U. Hooper, F. S. Chapin III, J.J. Ewel, A. Hector, P. Inchausti, S. Lavorel, J.H. Lawton, D.M. Lodge, M. Loreau, S. Naeem, B. Schmid, H. SetSlS, A.J. Symstad, J. Vandermeer, D.A. Wardle
2005, Ecological Monographs (75) 3-35
Humans are altering the composition of biological communities through a variety of activities that increase rates of species invasions and species extinctions, at all scales, from local to global. These changes in components of the Earth's biodiversity cause concern for ethical and aesthetic reasons, but they also have a strong...
Direct-push hydrostratigraphic profiling: Coupling electrical logging and slug tests
S.M. Sellwood, J.M. Healey, S. Birk, J.J. Butler Jr.
2005, Ground Water (43) 19-29
Spatial variations in hydraulic conductivity (K) can significantly affect the transport of contaminants in ground water. Conventional field methods, however, rarely provide a description of these variations at the level of detail necessary for reliable transport predictions and effective remediation designs. A direct-push (DP) method, hydrostratigraphic profiling, has been developed...
A complete species census and evidence for regional declines in piping plovers
Susan M. Haig, C. L. Ferland, Francesca J. Cuthbert, J. Dingledine, J. P. Goossen, A. Hecht, N. McPhillips
2005, Journal of Wildlife Management (69) 160-173
Complete population estimates for widely distributed species are rarely possible. However, for the third time in 10 years, an International Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) Breeding and Winter Census was conducted throughout the species range in 2001. Nearly 1,400 participants from 32 U.S. states and Puerto Rico; 9 Canadian provinces;...
Estimating hydrodynamic roughness in a wave-dominated environment with a high-resolution acoustic Doppler profiler
J.R. Lacy, C. R. Sherwood, D.J. Wilson, T.A. Chisholm, G.R. Gelfenbaum
2005, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (110) 1-15
Hydrodynamic roughness is a critical parameter for characterizing bottom drag in boundary layers, and it varies both spatially and temporally due to variation in grain size, bedforms, and saltating sediment. In this paper we investigate temporal variability in hydrodynamic roughness using velocity profiles in the bottom boundary layer measured with...
Historical and current perspectives on fish assemblages of the Snake River, Idaho and Wyoming
T.R. Maret, C.A. Mebane
2005, American Fisheries Society Symposium (2005) 41-59
The Snake River is the tenth longest river in the United States, extending 1,667 km from its origin in Yellowstone National Park in western Wyoming to its union with the Columbia River at Pasco, Washington. Historically, the main-stem Snake River upstream from the Hells Canyon Complex supported at least 26...
Delayed effects of flood control on a flood-dependent riparian forest
Gabrielle L. Katz, Jonathan M. Friedman, Susan W. Beatty
2005, Ecological Applications (15) 1019-1035
The downstream effects of dams on riparian forests are strongly mediated by the character and magnitude of adjustment of the fluvial–geomorphic system. To examine the effects of flow regulation on sand-bed streams in eastern Colorado, we studied the riparian forest on three river segments, the dam-regulated South Fork Republican River...
Status of amphibians on the Continental Divide:Surveys on a transect from Montana to Colorado, USA
P.S. Corn, B. R. Hossack, E. Muths, D.A. Patla, C.R. Peterson, Alisa L. Gallant
2005, Alytes (22) 85-94
The Rocky Mountain Region of the United States Geological Survey's Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative is conducting monitoring of the status of amphibians on a transect that extends along the Continental Divide from Canada to Colorado and comprises four National Parks. Monitoring uses visual encounter surveys to determine site occupancy,...
Patterns of plant species richness, rarity, endemism, and uniqueness in an arid landscape
T.J. Stohlgren, D.A. Guenther, P.H. Evangelista, N. Alley
2005, Ecological Applications (15) 715-725
Most current conservation literature focuses on the preservation of hotspots of species diversity and endemism, as if the two were geographically synonymous. At landscape scales this may not be the case. We collected data from 367 1000-m2 plots in the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA, to show that: (1)...
Characterization of microsatellite loci isolated in midget-faded rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis concolor)
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, J. St. John, J.M. Parker, S.H. Anderson
2005, Molecular Ecology Notes (5) 452-453
Primers for five polymorphic microsatellite loci were developed for the midget faded rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis concolor), a rare subspecies of western rattlesnake (Crotalus viridus) found only in parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah. Five polymorphic microsatellites were isolated, four of which had relatively high levels of diversity (eight to nine...
Contemporaneous trachyandesitic and calc-alkaline volcanism of the Huerto Andesite, San Juan Volcanic Field, Colorado, USA
F. Parat, M.A. Dungan, P. W. Lipman
2005, Journal of Petrology (46) 859-891
Locally, voluminous andesitic volcanism both preceded and followed large eruptions of silicic ash-flow tuff from many calderas in the San Juan volcanic field. The most voluminous post-collapse lava suite of the central San Juan caldera cluster is the 28 Ma Huerto Andesite, a diverse assemblage erupted from at least 5–6 volcanic...
Critical literature review of the evidence for unpalatability of amphibian eggs and larvae
Margaret S. Gunzburger, Joseph Travis
2005, Journal of Herpetology (39) 547-571
We examined 142 papers, which contained 603 separate predator-prey trials, to investigate whether unpalatability is an important defense against predation for amphibian eggs and larvae. Although unpalatability is often cited as an antipredator defense, it was rarely demonstrated that 89% of the trials that we reviewed found prey to be...
Fire history of the San Francisco East Bay region and implications for landscape patterns
Jon E. Keeley
2005, International Journal of Wildland Fire (14) 285-296
The San Francisco East Bay landscape is a rich mosaic of grasslands, shrublands and woodlands that is experiencing losses of grassland due to colonization by shrubs and succession towards woodland associations. The instability of these grasslands is apparently due to their disturbance-dependent nature coupled with 20th century changes in fire...
Evaluation of ecological risk to populations of a threatened plant from an invasive biocontrol insect
S. M. Louda, T. A. Rand, A. E. Arnett, A. S. McClay, A. K. McEachern
2005, Ecological Applications (15) 234-249
Controversy exists over estimation of ecological risk in biological control. At present, the risk to the rare, federally listed Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) in North America from Rhinocyllus conicus, a biological control weevil now feeding on many native thistles, is unknown. We hypothesized that quantification of host specificity and potential...
An evaluation of sampling strategies to improve precision of estimates of gross change in land use and land cover
S.V. Stehman, Terry L. Sohl, Thomas R. Loveland
2005, International Journal of Remote Sensing (26) 4941-4957
Statistical sampling offers a cost-effective, practical alternative to complete-coverage mapping for the objective of estimating gross change in land cover over large areas. Because land cover change is typically rare, the sampling strategy must take advantage of design and analysis tools that enhance precision. Using two populations of land cover...
Water quality in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park — Trends and spatial characteristics of selected constituents
Ronald L. Miller, Benjamin F. McPherson, Robert Sobczak, Christine Clark
2004, Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003-4249
Seasonal changes in water levels and flows in Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) and Everglades National Park (EVER) affect water quality. As water levels and flows decline during the dry season, physical, geochemical and biological processes increase the breakdown of organic materials and the build-up of organic waste, nutrients, and...
Vital signs monitoring plan for the Klamath Network: Phase I report
Daniel Sarr, Dennis Odion, Robert E. Truitt, Erik A. Beever, Sarah Shafer, Andrew Duff, Sean B. Smith, Windy Bunn, Judy Rocchio, Eli Sarnat, John Alexander, Steve Jessup
2004, Report
This report chronicles the Phase 1 stage of the vital signs monitoring program for the Klamath Network. It consists of two chapters and eleven appendixes. The purposes of Chapter One are to 1) describe the network administrative structure and approach to planning; 2) introduce the Klamath Network parks, their resources,...
Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Merlin
Paul M. Konrad
2004, Report, Effects of management practices on grassland birds
Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 5,500 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the breeding, year-round, and nonbreeding ranges in the United States and southern Canada. Although birds frequently are observed...
Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Brewer's sparrow
Brett L. Walker
2004, Report, Effects of management practices on grassland birds
Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on grassland birds were summarized from information in more than 5,500 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the relative densities of the species in North America, based on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data. Although birds...
Mineral resource of the month: rare earths
James B. Hedrick
2004, Geotimes (2004)
As if classified as a top-secret project, the rare earths have been shrouded in secrecy. The principal ore mineral of the group, bastnäsite, rarely appears in the leading mineralogy texts. The long names of the rare-earth elements and some unusual arrangements of letters, many Scandinavian in origin, may have intimidated...
Capture-recapture analysis for estimating manatee reproductive rates
W. L. Kendall, C.A. Langtimm, C.A. Beck, M.C. Runge
2004, Marine Mammal Science (20) 424-437
Modeling the life history of the endangered Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) is an important step toward understanding its population dynamics and predicting its response to management actions. We developed a multi-state mark-resighting model for data collected under Pollock's robust design. This model estimates breeding probability conditional on a female's...
Tigers and their prey: Predicting carnivore densities from prey abundance
K. U. Karanth, J.D. Nichols, S. Kumar, W.A. Link, J.E. Hines
2004, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (101) 4854-4858
The goal of ecology is to understand interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. In principle, ecologists should be able to identify a small number of limiting resources for a species of interest, estimate densities of these resources at different locations across the landscape, and then use these...
Native bees and plant pollination
H. S. Ginsberg
2004, Rhode Island Naturalist (11) 1-3
Bees are important pollinators, but evidence suggests that numbers of some species are declining. Decreases have been documented in the honey bee, Apis mellifera (which was introduced to North America), but there are no monitoring programs for the vast majority of native species, so we cannot be sure about...
Costs of detection bias in index-based population monitoring
C. T. Moore, W. L. Kendall
2004, Animal Biodiversity and Conservation (27) 287-296
Managers of wildlife populations commonly rely on indirect, count-based measures of the population in making decisions regarding conservation, harvest, or control. The main appeal in the use of such counts is their low material expense compared to methods that directly measure the population. However, their correct use rests on...
Reduced fecundity in small populations of the rare plant Gentianopsis ciliate (Gentianaceae)
M. Kery, D. Matthies
2004, Plant Biology (6) 683-688
Habitat destruction is the main cause for the biodiversity crisis. Surviving populations are often fragmented, i.e., small and isolated from each other. Reproduction of plants in small populations is often reduced, and this has been attributed to inbreeding depression, reduced attractiveness for pollinators, and reduced habitat quality in small populations....
Effects of management practices on grassland birds: Greater Sage-Grouse
Mary M. Rowland
2004, Report
Information on the habitat requirements and effects of habitat management on Greater Sage-Grouse was summarized from information in more than 5,500 published and unpublished papers. A range map is provided to indicate the current range of Greater Sage-Grouse (adapted from Schroeder et al. 2004). Although birds may be observed outside...
