Re-Occupancy of Breeding Territories by Ferruginous Hawks in Wyoming: Relationships to Environmental and Anthropogenic Factors
Zachary P. Wallace, Patricia L. Kennedy, John R. Squires, Robert J. Oakleaf, Lucretia E. Olson, Katie M. Dugger
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Grassland and shrubland birds are declining globally due in part to anthropogenic habitat modification. Because population performance of these species is also influenced by non-anthropogenic factors, it is important to incorporate all relevant ecological drivers into demographic models. We used design-based sampling and occupancy models to test relationships of environmental...
Bayesian analysis of Jolly-Seber type models
Eleni Matechou, Geoff K. Nicholls, Byron J. T. Morgan, Jaime A. Collazo, James E. Lyons
2016, Environmental and Ecological Statistics (23) 531-547
We propose the use of finite mixtures of continuous distributions in modelling the process by which new individuals, that arrive in groups, become part of a wildlife population. We demonstrate this approach using a data set of migrating semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pussila) for which we extend existing stopover...
Effects of stream-adjacent logging in fishless headwaters on downstream coastal cutthroat trout
Douglas S. Bateman, Matthew R. Sloat, Robert E. Gresswell, Aaron M. Berger, David Hockman-Wert, David W. Leer, Arne E. Skaugset
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 1898-1913
To investigate effects of headwater logging on downstream coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii) populations, we monitored stream habitat and biotic indicators including biomass, abundance, growth, movement, and survival over 8 years using a paired-watershed approach. Reference and logged catchments were located on private industrial forestland on ∼60-year harvest rotation....
Gray wolf exposure to emerging vector-borne diseases in Wisconsin with comparison to domestic dogs and humans
Rocio F. Jara, Adrian P. Wydeven, Michael D. Samuel
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-17
World-wide concern over emerging vector-borne diseases has increased in recent years for both animal and human health. In the United Sates, concern about vector-borne diseases in canines has focused on Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, and heartworm which infect domestic and wild canids. Of these diseases, Lyme and anaplasmosis are also...
Borehole deviation and correction factor data for selected wells in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5163
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has maintained a water-level monitoring program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 1949. The purpose of the program is to systematically measure and report water-level data to assess the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and...
Projected gains and losses of wildlife habitat from bioenergy-induced landscape change
Nathan M. Tarr, Matthew J. Rubino, Jennifer K. Costanza, Alexa McKerrow, Jaime A. Collazo, Robert C. Abt
2016, GCB Bioenergy (9) 909-923
Domestic and foreign renewable energy targets and financial incentives have increased demand for woody biomass and bioenergy in the southeastern United States. This demand is expected to be met through purpose-grown agricultural bioenergy crops, short-rotation tree plantations, thinning and harvest of planted and natural forests, and forest harvest...
Perspectives on monitoring gradual change across the continuity of Landsat sensors using time-series data
James Vogelmann, Alisa L. Gallant, Hua Shi, Zhe Zhu
2016, Remote Sensing of Environment (185) 258-270
There are many types of changes occurring over the Earth's landscapes that can be detected and monitored using Landsat data. Here we focus on monitoring “within-state,” gradual changes in vegetation in contrast with traditional monitoring of “abrupt” land-cover conversions. Gradual changes result from a variety of processes, such as vegetation...
Landscape and flow metrics affecting the distribution of a federally-threatened fish: Improving management, model fit, and model transferability
Thomas A. Worthington, T. Zhang, Daniel R. Logue, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Shannon K. Brewer
2016, Ecological Modelling (342) 1-18
Truncated distributions of pelagophilic fishes have been observed across the Great Plains of North America, with water use and landscape fragmentation implicated as contributing factors. Developing conservation strategies for these species is hindered by the existence of multiple competing flow regime hypotheses related to species...
Forecasting tidal marsh elevation and habitat change through fusion of Earth observations and a process model
Kristin B. Byrd, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Thomas Leeuw, Bryan D. Downing, James T. Morris, Matthew C. Ferner
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Reducing uncertainty in data inputs at relevant spatial scales can improve tidal marsh forecasting models, and their usefulness in coastal climate change adaptation decisions. The Marsh Equilibrium Model (MEM), a one-dimensional mechanistic elevation model, incorporates feedbacks of organic and inorganic inputs to project elevations under sea-level rise scenarios. We tested...
Comparison of the mineral composition of the sediment found in two Mars dunefields: Ogygis Undae and Gale crater – three distinct endmembers identified
Heather Charles, Timothy N. Titus, Rosalyn Hayward, Christopher Edwards, Caitlin Ahrens
2016, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (458) 152-160
The composition of two dune fields, Ogygis Undae and the NE–SW trending dune field in Gale crater (the “Bagnold Dune Field” and “Western Dune Field”), were analyzed using thermal emission spectra from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System...
Interannual water-level fluctuations and the vegetation of prairie potholes: Potential impacts of climate change
Arnold van der Valk, David M. Mushet
2016, Wetlands (36) 397-406
Mean water depth and range of interannual water-level fluctuations over wet-dry cycles in precipitation are major drivers of vegetation zone formation in North American prairie potholes. We used harmonic hydrological models, which require only mean interannual water depth and amplitude of water-level fluctuations over a wet–dry cycle, to examine how...
Midcontinent Prairie-Pothole wetlands and climate change: An Introduction to the Supplemental Issue
David M. Mushet
2016, Wetlands (36) 223-228
The multitude of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America forms one of Earth’s largest wetland complexes. The midcontinent location exposes this ecologically and economically important wetland system to a highly variable climate, markedly influencing ponded-water levels, hydroperiods, chemical characteristics, and biota of individual basins. Given their dominance...
Defining ecosystem assets for natural capital accounting
Lars Hein, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Bram Edens, Carl Obst, Rixt de Jong, Jan Peter Lesschen
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services....
Bounded fractional diffusion in geological media: Definition and Lagrangian approximation
Yong Zhang, Christopher T. Green, Eric M. LaBolle, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Hong-Guang Sun
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 8561-8577
Spatiotemporal Fractional-Derivative Models (FDMs) have been increasingly used to simulate non-Fickian diffusion, but methods have not been available to define boundary conditions for FDMs in bounded domains. This study defines boundary conditions and then develops a Lagrangian solver to approximate bounded, one-dimensional fractional diffusion. Both the zero-value and non-zero-value Dirichlet,...
Spatial and temporal variability of contaminants within estuarine sediments and native Olympia oysters: A contrast between a developed and an undeveloped estuary
Elise F. Granek, Kathleen E. Conn, Elena B. Nilsen, Lori Pillsbury, Angela L. Strecker, Steve Rumrill, William Fish
2016, Science of the Total Environment (557-558) 869-879
Chemical contaminants can be introduced into estuarine and marine ecosystems from a variety of sources including wastewater, agriculture and forestry practices, point and non-point discharges, runoff from industrial, municipal, and urban lands, accidental spills, and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of potential sources contributes to the likelihood of contaminated marine waters...
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...
Review of footnotes and annotations to the 1949–2013 tables of standard atomic weights and tables of isotopic compositions of the elements (IUPAC Technical Report)
Tyler B. Coplen, Norman E. Holden
2016, Pure and Applied Chemistry (88) 689-699
The Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights uses annotations given in footnotes that are an integral part of the Tables of Standard Atomic Weights to alert users to the possibilities of quite extraordinary occurrences, as well as sources with abnormal atomic-weight values outside an otherwise acceptable range. The basic...
Prediction of pesticide toxicity in Midwest streams
Megan E. Shoda, Wesley W. Stone, Lisa H. Nowell
2016, Journal of Environmental Quality (45) 1856-1864
The occurrence of pesticide mixtures is common in stream waters of the United States, and the impact of multiple compounds on aquatic organisms is not well understood. Watershed Regressions for Pesticides (WARP) models were developed to predict Pesticide Toxicity Index (PTI) values in unmonitored streams in the Midwest and are...
Spatio-temporal variation in age structure and abundance of the endangered snail kite: Pooling across regions masks a declining and aging population
Brian E. Reichert, William L. Kendall, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Wiley M. Kitchens
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-18
While variation in age structure over time and space has long been considered important for population dynamics and conservation, reliable estimates of such spatio-temporal variation in age structure have been elusive for wild vertebrate populations. This limitation has arisen because of problems of imperfect detection, the potential for temporary emigration...
Comment on “Reconciliation of the Devils Hole climate record with orbital forcing”
Tyler B. Coplen
2016, Science (354) 296-296
Moseley et al.’s (Reports, 8 January 2016, p. 165) preferred-Termination-II age is subjective, as evidenced by variation in their Termination-II ages of 2500 years per meter. Termination-II-age bias decreases to zero at ~1.5 meters below the present-day water table, if one assumes linear variation with core-sample height. Maintaining the required...
Holocene volcanism of the upper McKenzie River catchment, central Oregon Cascades, USA
Natalia I. Deligne, Richard M. Conrey, Katharine V. Cashman, Duane E. Champion, William H. Amidon
2016, Geological Society of America Bulletin (128) 1618-1635
To assess the complexity of eruptive activity within mafic volcanic fields, we present a detailed geologic investigation of Holocene volcanism in the upper McKenzie River catchment in the central Oregon Cascades, United States. We focus on the Sand Mountain volcanic field, which covers 76 km2 and consists of 23 vents,...
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...
Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) from three areas in western North America; initial results and conservation implications
Erica H. Craig, Jennifer R. Adams, Lisette P. Waits, Mark R. Fuller, Diana M. Whittington
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Understanding the genetics of a population is a critical component of developing conservation strategies. We used archived tissue samples from golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) in three geographic regions of western North America to conduct a preliminary study of the genetics of the North American subspecies, and to provide data...
Differential heating in the Indian Ocean differentially modulates precipitation in the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins
Md Shahriar Pervez, Geoffrey M. Henebry
2016, Remote Sensing (8) 1-16
Indo-Pacific sea surface temperature dynamics play a prominent role in Asian summer monsoon variability. Two interactive climate modes of the Indo-Pacific—the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean dipole mode—modulate the amount of precipitation over India, in addition to precipitation over Africa, Indonesia, and Australia. However, this modulation is...
Continental rupture and the creation of new crust in the Salton Trough rift, southern California and northern Mexico: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project
Liang Han, John A. Hole, Joann M. Stock, Gary S. Fuis, Annie Kell, Neal W. Driscoll, Graham M. Kent, Michael J. Rymer, Antonio Gonzalez-Fernandez, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research (121) 7469-7489
A refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile along the axis of the Salton Trough, California and Mexico, was analyzed to constrain crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity structure during active continental rifting. From the northern Salton Sea to the southern Imperial Valley, the crust is 17-18 km thick and approximately...
