Low soil moisture during hot periods drives apparent negative temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in a dryland ecosystem: A multi-model comparison
Colin Tucker, Sasha C. Reed
2016, Biogeochemistry (128) 155-169
Arid and semiarid ecosystems (drylands) may dominate the trajectory of biosphere-to-atmosphere carbon (C) exchange, and understanding dryland CO2 efflux is important for C cycling at the global-scale. However, unknowns remain regarding how temperature and moisture interact to regulate dryland soil respiration (R s ), while ‘islands of fertility’ in drylands create spatially heterogeneous R s ....
Increasing influence of air temperature on upper Colorado River streamflow
Connie A. Woodhouse, Gregory T. Pederson, Kiyomi Morino, Stephanie A. McAfee, Gregory J. McCabe
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 2174-2181
This empirical study examines the influence of precipitation, temperature, and antecedent soil moisture on upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) water year streamflow over the past century. While cool season precipitation explains most of the variability in annual flows, temperature appears to be highly influential under certain conditions, with the role...
Growth, survival, longevity, and population size of the Big Mouth Cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides) from the type locality in Grundy County, Tennessee, USA
Matthew L. Niemiller, Brad M. Glorioso, Dante B. Fenolio, R. Graham Reynolds, Steven J. Taylor, Brian T. Miller
2016, Copeia (104) 35-41
Salamander species that live entirely in subterranean habitats have evolved adaptations that allow them to cope with perpetual darkness and limited energy resources. We conducted a 26-month mark–recapture study to better understand the individual growth and demography of a population of the Big Mouth Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides). We...
Seasonal habitat use of brook trout and juvenile steelhead in a Lake Ontario tributary
James H. Johnson, Ross Abbett, Marc A. Chalupnicki, Francis Verdoliva
2016, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (31) 239-249
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are generally restricted to headwaters in New York tributaries of Lake Ontario. In only a few streams are brook trout abundant in lower stream reaches that are accessible to adult Pacific salmonids migrating from the lake. Consequently, because of the rarity of native brook trout populations...
Landscape composition creates a threshold influencing Lesser Prairie-Chicken population resilience to extreme drought
Beth E. Ross, David A. Haukos, Christian A. Hagen, James C. Pitman
2016, Global Ecology and Conservation (6) 179-188
Habitat loss and degradation compound the effects of climate change on wildlife, yet responses to climate and land cover change are often quantified independently. The interaction between climate and land cover change could be intensified in the Great Plains region where grasslands are being converted to row-crop agriculture concurrent with...
Municipal solid waste landfills harbor distinct microbiomes
Blake W. Stamps, Christopher N. Lyles, Joseph M. Suflita, Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Dana W. Kolpin, Bradley S. Stevenson
2016, Frontiers in Microbiology (7) 1-11
Landfills are the final repository for most of the discarded material from human society and its “built environments.” Microorganisms subsequently degrade this discarded material in the landfill, releasing gases (largely CH4 and CO2) and a complex mixture of soluble chemical compounds in leachate. Characterization of “landfill microbiomes” and their comparison...
Evidence for partial melt in the crust beneath Mt. Paektu (Changbaishan), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China
Ri Kyong-Song, James O. S. Hammond, Ko Chol-Nam, Kim Hyok, Yun Yong-Gun, Pak Gil-Jong, Ri Chong-Song, Clive Oppenheimer, Kosima W. Liu, Kayla D. Iacovino, Ryu Kum-Ran
2016, Science Advances (2)
Mt. Paektu (also known as Changbaishan) is an enigmatic volcano on the border between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China. Despite being responsible for one of the largest eruptions in history, comparatively little is known about its magmatic evolution, geochronology, or underlying structure. We present receiver function...
Effects of urban land-use on largescale stonerollers in the Mobile River Basin, Birmingham, AL
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, M.C. Black, Vicki S. Blazer, H. Zappia, Wade L. Bryant Jr.
2016, Ecotoxicology (25) 608-621
During the spring and fall of 2001 and the spring of 2002 a study was conducted to evaluate the health of the largescale stoneroller (Campostoma oligolepis) populations in streams along an urban land-use gradient. Sites were selected from a pool of naturally similar sub-basins (eco-region, basin size, and...
Isotopic incorporation and the effects of fasting and dietary lipid content on isotopic discrimination in large carnivorous mammals
Karyn D. Rode, Craig A. Stricker, Joy Erlenbach, Charles T. Robbins, Seth Cherry, Seth D. Newsome, Amy Cutting, Shannon Jensen, Gordon Stenhouse, Matt Brooks, Amy Hash, Nicole Nicassio
2016, Physiological and Biochemical Zoology (89) 182-197
There has been considerable emphasis on understanding isotopic discrimination for diet estimation in omnivores. However, discrimination may differ for carnivores, particularly species that consume lipid-rich diets. Here, we examined the potential implications of several factors when using stable isotopes to estimate the diets of bears, which can consume lipid-rich diets...
Basin scale controls on CO2 and CH4 emissions from the Upper Mississippi River
John T. Crawford, Luke C. Loken, Emily H. Stanley, Edward G. Stets, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 1973-1979
The Upper Mississippi River, engineered for river navigation in the 1930s, includes a series of low-head dams and navigation pools receiving elevated sediment and nutrient loads from the mostly agricultural basin. Using high-resolution, spatially resolved water quality sensor measurements along 1385 river kilometers, we show that primary productivity and organic...
Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity
Daniel J. Isaak, Michael K. Young, Charles H. Luce, Steven W. Hostetler, Seth J. Wenger, Erin E. Peterson, Jay Ver Hoef, Matthew C. Groce, Dona L. Horan, David E. Nagel
2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (113) 4374-4379
The imminent demise of montane species is a recurrent theme in the climate change literature, particularly for aquatic species that are constrained to networks and elevational rather than latitudinal retreat as temperatures increase. Predictions of widespread species losses, however, have yet to be fulfilled despite decades of climate change, suggesting...
Seeded amplification of chronic wasting disease prions in nasal brushings and recto-anal mucosal associated lymphoid tissues from elk by real time quaking-induced conversion
Nicholas J. Haley, Chris Siepker, Laura L. Hoon-Hanks, Gordon Mitchell, W. David Walter, Matteo Manca, Ryan J. Monello, Jenny G. Powers, Margaret A. Wild, Edward A. Hoover, Byron Caughey, Jurgen a. Richt
B.W. Fenwick, editor(s)
2016, Journal of Clinical Microbiology (54) 1117-1126
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, was first documented nearly 50 years ago in Colorado and Wyoming and has since been detected across North America and the Republic of Korea. The expansion of this disease makes the development of sensitive diagnostic assays and antemortem sampling techniques...
NHDPlus as a geospatial framework for SPARROW modeling
John W. Brakebill, Gregory E. Schwarz
2016, Impact Assessment Bulletin (18)
Successful water-resource management requires thorough knowledge and understanding of the relations among water-quality contaminate sources and the factors that affect the transport throughout a hydrologic system. Surface-water modeling is a valuable tool that can be applied to help advance and achieve the understanding of these dynamic relations. Spatially Referenced Regressions...
Occupancy dynamics in human-modified landscapes in a tropical island: implications for conservation design
Julissa I. Irizarry, Jaime A. Collazo, Stephen J. Dinsmore
2016, Diversity and Distributions (22) 410-421
AimAvian communities in human-modified landscapes exhibit varying patterns of local colonization and extinction rates, determinants of species occurrence. Our objective was to model these processes to identify habitat features that might enable movements and account for occupancy patterns in habitat matrices between the Guanica and Susua forest reserves. This knowledge...
The Chief Joseph Hatchery Program 2013 Annual Report
Casey Baldwin, Andrea Pearl, Matthew Laramie, John Rohrback, Pat Phillips, Keith Wolf
2016, Report
The Chief Joseph Hatchery is the fourth hatchery obligated under the Grand Coulee Dam/Dry Falls project, originating in the 1940s. Leavenworth, Entiat, and Winthrop National Fish Hatcheries were built and operated as mitigation for salmon blockage at Grand Coulee Dam, but the fourth hatchery was not built, and the obligation...
Off-road vehicles affect nesting behaviour and reproductive success of American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliatus
Tracy E. Borneman, Eli T. Rose, Theodore R. Simons
2016, International Journal of Avian Science (158) 261-278
As human populations and associated development increase, interactions between humans and wildlife are occurring with greater frequency. The effects of these interactions, particularly on species whose populations are declining, are of great interest to ecologists, conservationists, land managers and natural resource policy-makers. The American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus, a species of...
Airborne pathogens from dairy manure aerial irrigation and the human health risk
Mark A. Borchardt, Tucker R Burch
2016, Report, Considerations for the use of manure irrigation practices
Dairy manure, like the fecal excrement from any domesticated or wild animal, can contain pathogens capable of infecting humans and causing illness or even death. Pathogens in dairy manure can be broadly divided into categories of taxonomy or infectiousness. Dividing by taxonomy there are three pathogen groups in dairy manure:...
Aeshnid dragonfly larvae as bioindicators of methylmercury contamination in aquatic systems impacted by elevated sulfate loading
Jeffrey D. Jeremiason, T. K. Reiser, R. A. Weitz, M.E. Berndt, George R. Aiken
2016, Ecotoxicology (25) 456-468
Methylmercury (MeHg) levels in dragonfly larvae and water were measured over two years in aquatic systems impacted to varying degrees by sulfate releases related to iron mining activity. This study examined the impact of elevated sulfate loads on MeHg concentrations and tested the use of MeHg in dragonfly larvae as...
Effect of phytoremediation on concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, 1998–2014
James Landmeyer, Thomas N. Effinger
2016, Environmental Earth Sciences (75)
Concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site near Charleston, South Carolina, USA, have been monitored since the installation of a phytoremediation system of hybrid poplar trees in 1998. Between 2000 and 2014, the concentrations of benzene, toluene, and naphthalene (BT&N)...
Construction, calibration, and validation of the RBM10 water temperature model for the Trinity River, northern California
Edward C. Jones, Russell W. Perry, John C. Risley, Nicholas A. Som, Nicholas J. Hetrick
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1056
We constructed a one-dimensional daily averaged water-temperature model to simulate Trinity River temperatures for 1980–2013. The purpose of this model is to assess effects of water-management actions on water temperature and to provide water temperature inputs for a salmon population dynamics model. Simulated meteorological data, observed streamflow data, and...
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds during outbreaks in domestic poultry, Minnesota, 2015
Christopher S. Jennelle, Michelle Carstensen, Erik C. Hildebrand, Louis Cornicelli, Paul C. Wolf, Daniel A. Grear, S. Ip, Kaci K. VanDalen, Larissa A. Minicucci
2016, Emerging Infectious Diseases (22) 1278-1282
In 2015, a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection devastated poultry facilities in Minnesota, USA. To clarify the role of wild birds, we tested 3,139 waterfowl fecal samples and 104 sick and dead birds during March 9–June 4, 2015. HPAIV was isolated from a Cooper’s hawk...
Temporal and spatial patterns of wetland extent influence variability of surface water connectivity in the Prairie Pothole Region, United States
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Laurie C. Alexander, Jason Todd
2016, Landscape Ecology (31) 805-824
Context. Quantifying variability in landscape-scale surface water connectivity can help improve our understanding of the multiple effects of wetlands on downstream waterways. Objectives. We examined how wetland merging and the coalescence of wetlands with streams varied both spatially (among ecoregions) and interannually (from drought to deluge) across parts of the...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Taoudeni Basin Province, Mali and Mauritania, 2015
Michael E. Brownfield, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Janet K. Pitman, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Tracey J. Mercier, Kristen R. Marra, Sarah J. Hawkins
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3003
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 160 million barrels of conventional oil, 1,880 billion cubic feet of conventional gas, 602 million barrels of shale oil, and 6,395 billion cubic feet of shale gas in the Taoudeni Basin Province in Mali...
Energetic costs of mange in wolves estimated from infrared thermography
Paul C. Cross, Emily S. Almberg, Catherine G Haase, Peter J. Hudson, Shane K Maloney, Matthew C Metz, Adam J Munn, Paul Nugent, Olivier Putzeys, Daniel R. Stahler, Anya C Stewart, Doug W. Smith
2016, Ecology (97) 1938-1948
Parasites, by definition, extract energy from their hosts and thus affect trophic and food web dynamics even when the parasite may have limited effects on host population size. We studied the energetic costs of mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) in wolves (Canis lupus) using thermal cameras to estimate heat losses associated with...
Conditional vulnerability of plant diversity to atmospheric nitrogen deposition across the United States
Samuel M. Simkin, Edith B. Allen, William D. Bowman, Christopher L. Clark, Jayne Belnap, Matthew L. Brooks, Brian S. Cade, Scott L. Collins, Linda H. Geiser, Frank S. Gilliam, Sarah E. Jovan, Linda H. Pardo, Bethany K. Schulz, Carly J. Stevens, Katharine N. Suding, Heather L. Throop, Donald M. Waller
2016, PNAS (113) 4086-4091
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been shown to decrease plant species richness along regional deposition gradients in Europe and in experimental manipulations. However, the general response of species richness to N deposition across different vegetation types, soil conditions, and climates remains largely unknown even though responses may be contingent on...
