Associations between water physicochemistry and Prymnesium parvum presence, abundance, and toxicity in west Texas reservoirs
Matthew M. VanLandeghem, Mukhtar Farooqi, Greg M. Southard, Reynaldo Patino
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 471-486
Toxic blooms of golden alga (Prymnesium parvum) have caused substantial ecological and economic harm in freshwater and marine systems throughout the world. In North America, toxic blooms have impacted freshwater systems including large reservoirs. Management of water chemistry is one proposed option for golden alga control in these systems. The...
Modeled intermittency risk for small streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin under climate change
Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, N. LeRoy Poff
2015, Journal of Hydrology (523) 768-780
Longer, drier summers projected for arid and semi-arid regions of western North America under climate change are likely to have enormous consequences for water resources and river-dependent ecosystems. Many climate change scenarios for this region involve decreases in mean annual streamflow, late summer precipitation and late-summer streamflow in the coming...
Desertification, salinization, and biotic homogenization in a dryland river ecosystem
S. Miyazono, Reynaldo Patino, C.M. Taylor
2015, Science of the Total Environment (511) 444-453
This study determined long-term changes in fish assemblages, river discharge, salinity, and local precipitation, and examined hydrological drivers of biotic homogenization in a dryland river ecosystem, the Trans-Pecos region of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte (USA/Mexico). Historical (1977-1989) and current (2010-2011) fish assemblages were analyzed by rarefaction analysis (species...
Spatiotemporal associations of reservoir nutrient characteristics and the invasive, harmful alga Prymnesium parvum in West Texas
Matthew M. VanLandeghem, Mukhtar Farooqi, Greg M. Southard, Reynaldo Patino
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 487-501
Golden alga (Prymnesium parvum) is a harmful alga that has caused ecological and economic harm in freshwater and marine systems worldwide. In inland systems of North America, toxic blooms have nearly eliminated fish populations in some systems. Modifying nutrient profiles through alterations to land or water use may be a...
Episodic Holocene eruption of the Salton Buttes rhyolites, California, from paleomagnetic, U-Th, and Ar/Ar dating
Heather M. Wright, Jorge A. Vazquez, Duane E. Champion, Andrew T. Calvert, Margaret T. Mangan, Mark E. Stelten, Kari M. Cooper, Charles Herzig, Alexander Schriener
2015, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (16) 1198-1210
In the Salton Trough, CA, five rhyolite domes form the Salton Buttes: Mullet Island, Obsidian Butte, Rock Hill, North and South Red Hill, from oldest to youngest. Results presented here include 40Ar/39Ar anorthoclase ages, 238U-230Th zircon crystallization ages, and comparison of remanent paleomagnetic directions with the secular variation curve, which indicate...
Prevalence and genetic diversity of haematozoa in South American waterfowl and evidence for intercontinental redistribution of parasites by migratory birds
Matthew M. Smith, Andrew M. Ramey
2015, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (4) 22-28
To understand the role of migratory birds in the movement and transmission of haematozoa within and between continental regions, we examined 804 blood samples collected from eleven endemic species of South American waterfowl in Peru and Argentina for infection by Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and/or Leucocytozono blood parasites. Infections were detected in...
A real-time, quantitative PCR protocol for assessing the relative parasitemia of Leucocytozoon in waterfowl
Matthew M. Smith, Joel A. Schmutz, Chloe Apelgren, Andrew M. Ramey
2015, Journal of Microbiological Methods (111) 72-77
Microscopic examination of blood smears can be effective at diagnosing and quantifying hematozoa infections. However, this method requires highly trained observers, is time consuming, and may be inaccurate for detection of infections at low levels of parasitemia. To develop a molecular methodology for identifying and quantifying Leucocytozoon parasite infection in...
Foraging range movements of the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus semotus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae)
Frank J. Bonaccorso, Christopher M. Todd, Adam C. Miles, P. Marcos Gorresen
2015, Journal of Mammalogy (96) 64-71
We documented nightly movements of Hawaiian hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) on the island of Hawai’i. Based on data from 28 radiotagged individuals mean foraging range (FR) was 230.7±72.3 ha, core-use area (CUA) was 25.5±6.9 ha (or 11.1% of mean FR), and the mean long axis (LAX) across the FR...
Characterization of Missouri surface waters near point sources of pollution reveals potential novel atmospheric route of exposure for bisphenol A and wastewater hormonal activity pattern
Christopher D. Kassotis, David A. Alvarez, Julia A. Taylor, Frederick S. vom Saal, Susan C. Nagel, Donald E. Tillitt
2015, Science of the Total Environment (524-525) 384-393
Surface water contamination by chemical pollutants increasingly threatens water quality around the world. Among the many contaminants found in surface water, there is growing concern regarding endocrine disrupting chemicals, based on their ability to interfere with some aspect of hormone action in exposed organisms, including humans. This study assessed water...
Characterisation of a natural quartz crystal as a reference material for microanalytical determination of Ti, Al, Li, Fe, Mn, Ga and Ge
Andreas Audetat, Dieter Garbe-Schonberg, Andreas Kronz, Thomas Pettke, Brian G. Rusk, John J. Donovan, Heather Lowers
2015, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (39) 171-184
A natural smoky quartz crystal from Shandong province, China, was characterised by laser ablation ICP-MS, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and solution ICP-MS to determine the concentration of twenty-four trace and ultra trace elements. Our main focus was on Ti quantification because of the increased use of this element for titanium-in-quartz...
Relative sensitivity of an amphipod Hyalella azteca, a midge Chironomus dilutus, and a unionid mussel Lampsilis siliquoidea to a toxic sediment
Christopher G. Ingersoll, James L. Kunz, Jamie P. Hughes, Ning Wang, D. Scott Ireland, David R. Mount, J. Russell Hockett, Ted W Valenti
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1134-1144
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relative sensitivity of test organisms in exposures to dilutions of a highly toxic sediment contaminated with metals and organic compounds. One dilution series was prepared using control sand (low total organic carbon [TOC; <0.1%, low binding capacity for contaminants]) and...
Clutch size declines with elevation in tropical birds
A.J. Boyce, Benjamin G. Freeman, Adam E. Mitchell, Thomas E. Martin
2015, The Auk (132) 424-432
Clutch size commonly decreases with increasing elevation among temperate-zone and subtropical songbird species. Tropical songbirds typically lay small clutches, thus the ability to evolve even smaller clutch sizes at higher elevations is unclear and untested. We conducted a comparative phylogenetic analysis using data gathered from the literature to test whether...
Habitat fragmentation in coastal southern California disrupts genetic connectivity in the cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
Kelly R. Barr, Barbara E. Kus, Kristine Preston, Scarlett L. Howell, Emily Perkins, Amy G. Vandergast
2015, Molecular Ecology (24) 2349-2363
Achieving long-term persistence of species in urbanized landscapes requires characterizing population genetic structure to understand and manage the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on connectivity. Urbanization over the past century in coastal southern California has caused both precipitous loss of coastal sage scrub habitat and declines in populations of the cactus...
The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) surface-water model, version 2
Pamela A. Telis, Zhixiao Xie, Zhongwei Liu, Yingru Li, Paul Conrads
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5209
The Everglades Depth Estimation Network (EDEN) is an integrated network of water-level gages, interpolation models that generate daily water-level and water-depth data, and applications that compute derived hydrologic data across the freshwater part of the greater Everglades landscape. The U.S. Geological Survey Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Science provides support for...
Who invented the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus)? On the authorship of the fraudulent 1812 journal of Charles Le Raye
Neal Woodman
2015, Archives of Natural History (42) 39-50
The captivity journal of Charles Le Raye was first published in 1812 as a chapter in A topographical description of the state of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisiana, a volume authored anonymously by a late officer in the U. S. Army. Le Raye was purported to be a French Canadian...
Stratigraphy and morphology of the barrier platform of Breton Island, Louisiana: deltaic, marine and human influences
James G. Flocks, Jack L. Kindinger, Jennifer L. Miselis, Stanley D. Locker
2015, Coastal Sediments
Breton Island, located at the southern end of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, is part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Breton NWR is recognized as an important bird habitat and is host to one of Louisiana's largest historical brown pelican nesting colonies. Loss of island area through relative sea-level...
Wetland habitat disturbance best predicts metrics of an amphibian index of biotic integrity
Martin A. Stapanian, Mick Micacchion, Jean V. Adams
2015, Ecological Indicators (56) 237-242
Regression and classification trees were used to identify the best predictors of the five component metrics of the Ohio Amphibian Index of Biotic Integrity (AmphIBI) in 54 wetlands in Ohio, USA. Of the 17 wetland- and surrounding landscape-scale variables considered, the best predictor for all AmphIBI metrics was habitat alteration...
California’s water: The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Jeffrey Mount, Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, James E. Cloern, William Fleenor, Brian Gray, Wim Kimmerer, Peter Moyle
2015, Report
The Delta is the deteriorating, fragile hub of California’s water supply system. Critical decisions about its future are pending. This publication is part of a briefing kit that highlights the state’s most pressing water management issues in nine key areas: Climate change and waterManaging droughtsPaying for waterPreparing for floods<br...
Peregrine falcon predation of endangered Laysan teal and Laysan Finches on remote Hawaiian atolls
Michelle H. Reynolds, Sarah A.B. Nash, Karen Courtot
2015, Report, HCSU Technical Report Series
We report the first records of Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) predation on endangered Laysan teal (or duck; Anas laysanensis) and predation on endangered Laysan finches (Telespiza cantans). At Midway Atoll, vagrant Peregrine falcons killed ≥4% of a newly translocated Laysan teal population in 2006 and ≥2% in 2008. On Laysan...
Twenty-five years of monitoring a Townsend's Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) maternity roost
Gary M. Fellers, Brian J. Halstead
2015, Northwestern Naturalist (96) 22-36
A Corynorhinus townsendii maternity roost located in an abandoned ranch house in central California was monitored for 25 y. Prior to the discovery of the bats in 1987, the house was broken into regularly and disturbance levels were quite high. Upon discovery of the roost, the house was fortified and vandalism was greatly...
Factors affecting the reproductive success of American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliatus on the outer banks of North Carolina
Shiloh A. Schulte, Theodore R. Simons
2015, Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation (43) 37-47
We used an information-theoretic approach to assess the factors affecting the reproductive success of American Oystercatchers Haematopus palliatus on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We evaluated survival with respect to nesting island, year, time of season, brood age, distance to tide (m), presence of off-road vehicles and...
Apparent field safety of a raccoon poxvirus-vectored plague vaccine in free-ranging prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), Colorado, USA
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Sean P. Streich, Rachel C. Abbott, Jorge E. Osorio, Michael W. Miller
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 401-410
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) suffer high rates of mortality from plague. An oral sylvatic plague vaccine using the raccoon poxvirus vector (designated RCN-F1/V307) has been developed for prairie dogs. This vaccine is incorporated into palatable bait along with rhodamine B as a biomarker. We conducted trials in August and September 2012...
Using larval fish community structure to guide long-term monitoring of fish spawning activity
Jeremy J. Pritt, Edward F. Roseman, Jason E. Ross, Robin L. DeBruyne
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 241-252
Larval fishes provide a direct indication of spawning activity and may therefore be useful for long-term monitoring efforts in relation to spawning habitat restoration. However, larval fish sampling can be time intensive and costly. We sought to understand the spatial and temporal structure of larval fish communities in the St....
Understanding the Day Cent model: Calibration, sensitivity, and identifiability through inverse modeling
Magdalena Necpalova, Robert P. Anex, Michael N. Fienen, Stephen J. Del Grosso, Michael J. Castellano, John E. Sawyer, Javed Iqbal, Jose L. Pantoja, Daniel W. Barker
2015, Environmental Modelling and Software (66) 110-130
The ability of biogeochemical ecosystem models to represent agro-ecosystems depends on their correct integration with field observations. We report simultaneous calibration of 67 DayCent model parameters using multiple observation types through inverse modeling using the PEST parameter estimation software. Parameter estimation reduced the total sum of weighted squared residuals by...
Changes in distribution of Canada geese nesting in Arkansas
David G. Krementz, M. Eliese Ronke
2015, Human-Wildlife Interactions (9) 101-109
The reintroduced Canada goose (Branta canadensis) population in Arkansas has grown in range and abundance in recent decades. We determined the geographic range of Arkansas resident Canada geese from 2004 to 2012 using volume contour maps from citizen science observations using eBird, a citizen science website, and hunter recovery locations...
