Natural and unnatural oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico
Ian R. MacDonald, O. Garcia-Pineda, A. Beet, S. Daneshgar Asl, L. Feng, D. G. Graettinger, D. French-McCay, J. Holmes, C. Hu, F. Huffer, I. Leifer, F. Mueller-Karger, A. Solow, M. Silva, Gregg A. Swayze
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (120) 8364-8380
When wind speeds are 2 – 10 m s−1, reflective contrasts in the ocean surface make oil slicks visible to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) under all sky conditions. Neural network analysis of satellite SAR images quantified the magnitude and distribution of surface oil in the Gulf of Mexico from persistent,...
Large-scale control site selection for population monitoring: an example assessing Sage-grouse trends
Bradley C. Fedy, Michael S. O’Donnell, Zachary H. Bowen
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 700-712
Human impacts on wildlife populations are widespread and prolific and understanding wildlife responses to human impacts is a fundamental component of wildlife management. The first step to understanding wildlife responses is the documentation of changes in wildlife population parameters, such as population size. Meaningful assessment of population changes in potentially...
Influence of grazing and land use on stream-channel characteristics among small dairy farms in the Eastern United States
Genevieve Brand, Bruce C. Vondracek, Nicholas R. Jordan
2015, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (30) 524-536
Rotational grazing (RG) is a livestock management practice that rotates grazing cattle on a scale of hours to days among small pastures termed paddocks. It may beneficially affect stream channels, relative to other livestock management practices. Such effects and other beneficial effects on hydrology are important to RG's potential to...
Combining NLCD and MODIS to create a land cover-albedo database for the continental United States
J. Wickham, Christopher A. Barnes, M.S. Nash, T.G. Wade
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (170) 143-152
Land surface albedo is an essential climate variable that is tightly linked to land cover, such that specific land cover classes (e.g., deciduous broadleaf forest, cropland) have characteristic albedos. Despite the normative of land-cover class specific albedos, there is considerable variability in albedo within a land cover class. The National...
Interpretation of S waves generated by near-surface chemical explosions at SAFOD
Fred F. Pollitz, William L. Ellsworth, Justin L. Rubinstein
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 2835-2851
A series of near-surface chemical explosions conducted at the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) were recorded by high-frequency downhole receiver arrays in separate experiments in November 2003 and May 2005. The 2003 experiment involved ∼100 kg shots detonated along a 46-km-long line (Hole–Ryberg line) centered on SAFOD and recorded...
Quantifying the adaptive cycle
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
The adaptive cycle was proposed as a conceptual model to portray patterns of change in complex systems. Despite the model having potential for elucidating change across systems, it has been used mainly as a metaphor, describing system dynamics qualitatively. We use a quantitative approach for testing premises (reorganisation, conservatism, adaptation)...
Fire effects on aquatic ecosystems: An assessment of the current state of the science
Rebecca J. Bixby, Scott D. Cooper, Robert E. Gresswell, Lee E. Brown, Clifford N. Dahm, Kathleen A. Dwire
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 1340-1350
Fire is a prevalent feature of many landscapes and has numerous and complex effects on geological, hydrological, ecological, and economic systems. In some regions, the frequency and intensity of wildfire have increased in recent years and are projected to escalate with predicted climatic and landuse changes. In addition, prescribed burns...
Assessment of model estimates of land-atmosphere CO2 exchange across northern Eurasia
M.A. Rawlins, A. D. McGuire, J.S. Kimball, P. Dass, D. Lawrence, E. Burke, X. Chen, C. Delire, C. Koven, A. MacDougall, S. Peng, A. Rinke, K. Saito, W. Zhang, R. Alkama, T. J. Bohn, P. Ciais, B. Decharme, I. Gouttevin, T. Hajima, D. Ji, G. Krinner, D.P. Lettenmaier, P. Miller, J.C. Moore, B. Smith, T. Sueyoshi
2015, Biogeosciences (12) 4385-4405
A warming climate is altering land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, with a potential for increased vegetation productivity as well as the mobilization of permafrost soil carbon stores. Here we investigate land-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO2) cycling through analysis of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and its component fluxes of gross primary productivity (GPP)...
Evaluation of the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) air temperature data products
Lei Ji, Gabriel B. Senay, James P. Verdin
2015, Journal of Hydrometeorology (16) 2463-2480
There is a high demand for agrohydrologic models to use gridded near-surface air temperature data as the model input for estimating regional and global water budgets and cycles. The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) developed by combining simulation models with observations provides a long-term gridded meteorological dataset at the...
Roost habitat of Mexican Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) in the canyonlands of Utah
David W. Willey, Charles van Riper III
2015, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (127) 690-696
In large portions of their geographic range, Mexican Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis lucida) roost in forest-dominated environments, but in some areas the owls use relatively arid rocky canyonlands. We measured habitat characteristics at 133 male roosts (n = 20 males) during 1992-95, and 56 female roosts (n = 13 females)...
Book review: Natural resources in Afghanistan: Geographic and geologic perspectives on centuries of conflict
Jeff L. Doebrich
2015, Economic Geology (110) 1907-1908
This book is the outcome of four decades of work in Afghanistan by the author, John (Jack) Shroder. His travels and research throughout Afghanistan and his understanding of its place in regional and world history provide the foundation for this comprehensive 572-page reference. The book describes the interrelated nature of...
Evaluating potential conservation conflicts between two listed species: Sea otters and black abalone
Peter T. Raimondi, Laura J. Jurgens, M. Tim Tinker
2015, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics (96) 3102-3108
Population consequences of endangered species interacting as predators and prey have been considered theoretically and legally, but rarely investigated in the field. We examined relationships between spatially variable populations of a predator, the California sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, and a prey species, the black abalone, Haliotis cracherodii. Both species are federally...
Book review: Bats: A world of science and mystery.
Paul M. Cryan
2015, Biological Conservation (192) 323-323
This book has something for everyone, from casual seekers of fascinating eye candy to professional scientists interested in the latest discoveries. Without losing sight of how mysterious bats remain despite decades of research, the authors deftly introduce readers to bats and the people who study them. The book...
Powell Center Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 1
Jill S. Baron, Marty Goldhaber
2015, Report
Bi-annual newsletter for the John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, covering news through July of 2015...
A comparison of thermal infrared to fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing for evaluation of groundwater discharge to surface water
Danielle K Hare, Martin A. Briggs, Donald O. Rosenberry, Dave Boutt, John W. Lane Jr.
2015, Journal of Hydrology (530) 153-166
Groundwater has a predictable thermal signature that can be used to locate discrete zones of discharge to surface water. As climate warms, surface water with strong groundwater influence will provide habitat stability and refuge for thermally stressed aquatic species, and is therefore critical to locate and protect. Alternatively, these discrete...
What is the Anthropocene?
Lucy E. Edwards
2015, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (97) 6-7
Since Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer introduced the word “Anthropocene” in 2000, scientists and nonscientists alike have used the word to highlight the concept that we are now living in a time when the global environment, at some level, is shaped by humankind rather than vice versa. Humans have significantly...
Observed decrease in atmospheric mercury explained by global decline in anthropogenic emissions
Yanxu Zhang, Daniel J. Jacob, Hannah M. Horowitz, Long Chen, Helen M. Amos, David P. Krabbenhoft, Franz Slemr, Vincent L. St. Louis, Elsie M. Sunderland
2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (133) 526-531
Observations of elemental mercury (Hg0) at sites in North America and Europe show large decreases (∼1–2% y−1) from 1990 to present. Observations in background northern hemisphere air, including Mauna Loa Observatory (Hawaii) and CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) aircraft flights,...
Exploring drought controls on spring phenology
Jesslyn F. Brown, Gretchen Meier
M. Hayes, M. Trnka, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Evaluation of drought and drought impacts through interdisciplinary methods
The timing of spring phenology can be influenced by several drivers. Many studies have shown the effect of temperature on spring vegetation growth, but the role of moisture is complex and not as well researched. We explored drivers for aspen spring phenology in the mountains of the western U.S. While...
Observations of net soil exchange of CO2 in a dryland show experimental warming increases carbon losses in biocrust soils
Anthony N. Darrouzet-Nardi, Sasha C. Reed, Edmund E. Grote, Jayne Belnap
2015, Biogeochemistry 363-378
Many arid and semiarid ecosystems have soils covered with well-developed biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) made up of mosses, lichens, cyanobacteria, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface. These communities are a fundamental component of dryland ecosystems, and are critical to dryland carbon (C) cycling. To examine the effects of...
Aerial-broadcast application of diphacinone bait for rodent control in Hawai`i: Efficacy and non-target species risk assessment
David Foote, Eric B. Spurr, Gerald D. Lindsey, Charlotte Forbes Perry
2015, Technical Report HCSU-071
Introduced rats (Rattus rattus, R. exulans, and R. norvegicus) have been implicated in the decline or extinction of numerous species of plants and animals in Hawai‘i. This study investigated the efficacy of aerial-broadcast application of Ramik® Green baits containing 50 ppm (0.005%) diphacinone in reducing rat and mouse populations and...
Habitat influences distribution of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer
Tyler S. Evans, Megan S. Kirchgessner, B. Eyler, Christopher W. Ryan, W. David Walter
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 284-291
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy that was first detected in 1967 in a captive research facility in Colorado. In the northeastern United States, CWD was first confirmed in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in 2005. Because CWD is a new and emerging disease with a spatial distribution...
Rare earth elements in sedimentary phosphate deposits: Solution to the global REE crisis?
Poul Emsbo, Patrick I. McLaughlin, George N. Breit, Edward A. du Bray, Alan E. Koenig
2015, Gondwana Research (27) 776-785
The critical role of rare earth elements (REEs), particularly heavy REEs (HREEs), in high-tech industries has created a surge in demand that is quickly outstripping known global supply and has triggered a worldwide scramble to discover new sources. The chemical analysis of 23 sedimentary phosphate deposits (phosphorites) in the United...
Remote sensing systems – Platforms and sensors: Aerial, satellites, UAVs, optical, radar, and LiDAR
Sudhanshu S. Panda, Mahesh N. Rao, Prasad S. Thenkabail, James E. Fitzerald
2015, Book chapter, Remotely sensed data characterization, classification, and accuracies
The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing defined remote sensing as the measurement or acquisition of information of some property of an object or phenomenon, by a recording device that is not in physical or intimate contact with the object or phenomenon under study (Colwell et al., 1983). Environmental Systems...
Coastal change from a massive sediment input: Dam removal, Elwha River, Washington, USA
Jonathan A. Warrick, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Andrew W. Stevens, Ian M. Miller, George M. Kaminsky, Melissa M. Foley
2015, Conference Paper, The Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2015
The removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, provides an ideal opportunity to study coastal morphodynamics during increased sediment supply. The dam removal project exposed ~21 million cubic meters (~30 million tonnes) of sediment in the former reservoirs, and this sediment was allowed to erode by natural...
A broader definition of occupancy: A reply to Hayes and Monofils
Quresh Fatif, Martha M. Ellis, Courtney L. Amundson
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 192-194
Occupancy models are widely used to analyze presence–absence data for a variety of taxa while accounting for observation error (MacKenzie et al. 2002, 2006; Tyre et al. 2003; Royle and Dorazio 2008). Hayes and Monfils (2015) question their use for analyzing avian point count data...
