Patterns of fish assemblage structure and habitat use among main- and side-channel environments in the lower Kootenai River, Idaho
Carson J. Watkins, Bryan S. Stevens, Michael C. Quist, Bradley B. Shepard, Susan C. Ireland
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 1340-1355
The lower Kootenai River, Idaho, was sampled during the summers of 2012 and 2013 to evaluate its fish assemblage structure at seven sites within main- and side-channel habitats where large-scale habitat rehabilitation was undertaken. Understanding the current patterns of fish assemblage structure and their relationships with habitat is important for...
Influence of ecological factors on prevalence of meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis infection in South Dakota, USA
Christopher N. Jacques, Jonathan A. Jenks, Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver, Shelli A. Dubay
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 332-340
The meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) is a nematode parasite that commonly infects white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) throughout the deciduous forest biome and deciduous-coniferous ecotone of eastern and central North America; the species is not known to occur west of the grassland biome of central North America. We used county-specific...
Non-lethal assessment of freshwater mussel physiological response to changes in environmental factors
Andrea K. Fritts, James T. Peterson, Jason M. Wisniewski, Robert B. Bringolf
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1460-1468
The development of effective nonlethal biomonitoring techniques is imperative for the preservation of imperiled freshwater mussel populations. Changes in hemolymph chemistry profiles and tissue glycogen are potential biomarkers for nonlethally monitoring stress in mussels. We sampled three species in the Flint River Basin over 2 years to evaluate how these...
Guidelines for evaluating performance of oyster habitat restoration
Lesley P. Baggett, Sean P. Powers, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Loren D. Coen, Bryan M. DeAngelis, Jennifer K. Greene, Boze T. Hancock, Summer M. Morlock, Brian L. Allen, Denise L. Breitburg, David Bushek, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Raymond E. Grizzle, Edwin D. Grosholz, Megan K. LaPeyre, Mark W. Luckenbach, Kay A. McGraw, Michael F. Piehler, Stephanie R. Westby, Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 737-745
Restoration of degraded ecosystems is an important societal goal, yet inadequate monitoring and the absence of clear performance metrics are common criticisms of many habitat restoration projects. Funding limitations can prevent adequate monitoring, but we suggest that the lack of accepted metrics to address the diversity of restoration objectives also...
Evaluation of methods for assessing physiological biomarkers of stress in freshwater mussels
Andrea K. Fritts, James T. Peterson, Peter D. Hazelton, Robert B. Bringolf
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1450-1459
Freshwater mussel populations are highly susceptible to environmental alterations because of their diminished numbers and primarily sessile behaviors; nonlethal biomonitoring programs are needed to evaluate the health of populations prior to mass mortality events. Our objectives were to determine (i) which biochemical parameters in freshwater mussel hemolymph could be consistently...
Modeling multi-scale resource selection for bear rubs in northwestern Montana
Matthew J. Morgan, Mark Hebblewhite, Michael S. Mitchell, Jeffrey B. Stetz, Katherine C. Kendall, Ross T. Carlson
2015, Ursus (26) 28-39
Both black (Ursus americanus) and grizzly bears (U. arctos) are known to rub on trees and other objects, producing a network of repeatedly used and identifiable rub sites. In 2012, we used a resource selection function to evaluate hypothesized relationships between locations of 887 bear rubs in northwestern Montana, USA,...
Population and genetic outcomes 20 years after reintroducing bobcats (Lynx rufus) to Cumberland Island, Georgia USA
Duane R. Diefenbach, Leslie A. Hansen, Justin H. Bohling, Cassandra Miller-Butterworth
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 4885-4895
In 1988–1989, 32 bobcats Lynx rufus were reintroduced to Cumberland Island (CUIS), Georgia, USA, from which they had previously been extirpated. They were monitored intensively for 3 years immediately post-reintroduction, but no estimation of the size or genetic diversity of the population had been conducted in over 20 years since reintroduction. We returned to...
Representativeness of soil samples collected to assess mining-related contamination of flood plains in southeast Kansas
Kyle E. Juracek
2015, Conference Paper, 2015 Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling (SEDHYD 2015)
Historical lead and zinc mining in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD), located in parts of southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri, and northeast Oklahoma, has resulted in a substantial ongoing input of lead and zinc to the environment (Juracek, 2006; Juracek and Becker, 2009). In response to concern about the mining-related contamination,...
Hydrologic and geochemical dynamics of vadose zone recharge in a mantled karst aquifer: Results of monitoring drip waters in Mystery Cave, Minnesota
Daniel H. Doctor, E. Calvin Alexander Jr., Roy A. Jameson, Scott C. Alexander
2015, Conference Paper, National Cave and Karst Research Institute Symposium 5, Proceedings of the 14th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst
Caves provide direct access to flows through the vadose zone that recharge karst aquifers. Although many recent studies have documented the highly dynamic processes associated with vadose zone flows in karst settings, few have been conducted in mantled karst settings, such as that of southeastern Minnesota. Here we present some...
A semi-automated tool for reducing the creation of false closed depressions from a filled LIDAR-derived digital elevation model
John Wall, Daniel H. Doctor, Silvia Terziotti
2015, Conference Paper, National Cave and Karst Research Institute Symposium 5, Proceedings of the 14th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst
Closed depressions on the land surface can be identified by ‘filling’ a digital elevation model (DEM) and subtracting the filled model from the original DEM. However, automated methods suffer from artificial ‘dams’ where surface streams cross under bridges and through culverts. Removal of these false depressions from an elevation model...
Hydraulic modeling development and application in water resources engineering
Francisco J. Simoes
Chih Ted Yang, Lawrence K. Wang, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Advances in water resources engineering
The use of modeling has become widespread in water resources engineering and science to study rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal regions. For example, computer models are commonly used to forecast anthropogenic effects on the environment, and to help provide advanced mitigation measures against catastrophic events such as natural and dam-break...
Karst of the Mid-Atlantic region in Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia
Daniel H. Doctor, David J. Weary, David K. Brezinski, Randall C. Orndorff, Lawrence E. Spangler
David K. Brezinski, Jeffrey Halka, Richard A. Ortt Jr., editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Tripping from the Fall Line: Field Excursions for the GSA Annual Meeting, Baltimore, 2015
The Mid-Atlantic region hosts some of the most mature karst landscapes in North America, developed in highly deformed rocks within the Piedmont and Valley and Ridge physiographic provinces. This guide describes a three-day excursion to examine karst development in various carbonate rocks by following Interstate 70 west from Baltimore across...
A spatial individual-based model predicting a great impact of copious sugar sources and resting sites on survival of Anopheles gambiae and malaria parasite transmission
Lin Zhu, Whitney A. Qualls, John M Marshall, Kris L. Arheart, Donald L. DeAngelis, John W. McManus, Sekou F. Traore, Seydou Doumbia, Yosef Schlein, Gunter C. Muller, John C. Beier
2015, Malaria Journal (14)
BackgroundAgent-based modelling (ABM) has been used to simulate mosquito life cycles and to evaluate vector control applications. However, most models lack sugar-feeding and resting behaviours or are based on mathematical equations lacking individual level randomness and spatial components of mosquito life. Here, a spatial individual-based...
Examples of deformation-dependent flow simulations of conjunctive use with MF-OWHM
Randall T. Hanson, Jonathan A. Traum, Scott Boyce, Wolfgang Schmid, Joseph D. Hughes
2015, Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (372) 449-453
The dependency of surface- and groundwater flows and aquifer hydraulic properties on deformation induced by changes in aquifer head is not accounted for in the standard version of MODFLOW. A new USGS integrated hydrologic model, MODFLOW-OWHM, incorporates this dependency by linking subsidence and mesh deformation with changes in aquifer transmissivity...
Cr(VI) occurrence and geochemistry in water from public-supply wells in California
John A. Izbicki, Michael Wright, Whitney A. Seymour, R. Blaine McCleskey, Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz, Bradley K. Esser
2015, Applied Geochemistry (63) 203-217
Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in 918 wells sampled throughout California between 2004 and 2012 by the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment-Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) ranged from less than the study reporting limit of 1 microgram per liter (μg/L) to 32 μg/L. Statewide, Cr(VI) was reported in 31 percent of wells and equaled...
A 2-D process-based model for suspended sediment dynamics: A first step towards ecological modeling
F. M. Achete, M. van der Wegen, D. Roelvink, B. Jaffe
2015, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (19) 2837-2857
In estuaries suspended sediment concentration (SSC) is one of the most important contributors to turbidity, which influences habitat conditions and ecological functions of the system. Sediment dynamics differs depending on sediment supply and hydrodynamic forcing conditions that vary over space and over time. A robust sediment transport model is a...
Rapid damage mapping for the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha earthquake using synthetic aperture radar data from COSMO-SkyMed and ALOS-2 satellites
Sang-Ho Yun, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Susan Owen, Frank Webb, Mark Simons, Patrizia Sacco, Eric Gurrola, Gerald Manipon, Cunren Liang, Eric Fielding, Pietro Milillo, Hook Hua, Alessandro Coletta
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 1549-1557
The 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake caused more than 8000 fatalities and widespread building damage in central Nepal. The Italian Space Agency’s COSMO–SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite acquired data over Kathmandu area four days after the earthquake and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 SAR satellite...
Kelp, cobbles, and currents: Biologic reduction of coarse grain entrainment stress
Claire C Masteller, Noah J Finnegan, Jonathan A. Warrick, Ian M. Miller
2015, Geology (43) 543-546
Models quantifying the onset of sediment motion do not typically account for the effect of biotic processes because they are difficult to isolate and quantify in relation to physical processes. Here we investigate an example of the interaction of kelp (Order Laminariales) and coarse sediment transport in the coastal zone,...
Climate change and wildfire risk in an expanding wildland–urban interface: a case study from the Colorado Front Range Corridor
Zhihua Liu, Michael C. Wimberly, Aashis Lamsal, Terry L. Sohl, Todd Hawbaker
2015, Landscape Ecology (30) 1943-1957
Context Wildfire is a particular concern in the wildland–urban interface (WUI) of the western United States where human development occurs close to flammable natural vegetation. Objectives (1) Assess the relative influences of WUI expansion versus climate-driven fire regime change on spatial and temporal...
Book review: Bumble bees of North America
Samuel O’Dell
2015, The Prairie Naturalist (47) 117-118
Bumblebee identification is generally considered straightforward, yet mistakes often are made due to the degree of similarity between the color patterns of different species. Bumble Bees of North America aims to improve the accuracy of identifications by both casual observers and professionals through the use of intuitive diagrams, descriptions, and...
Effects of climate and plant phenology on recruitment of moose at the southern extent of their range
Kevin L. Monteith, Robert W. Klaver, Kent Hersey, A. Andrew Holland, Timothy P. Thomas, Matthew Kauffman
2015, Oecologia (178) 1137-1148
Climate plays a fundamental role in limiting the range of a species, is a key factor in the dynamics of large herbivores, and is thought to be involved in declines of moose populations in recent decades. We examined effects of climate and growing-season phenology on recruitment (8–9 months old) of...
Population density influences dispersal in female white-tailed deer
Clayton L. Lutz, Duane R. Diefenbach, Christopher S. Rosenberry
2015, Journal of Mammalogy (96) 494-501
Dispersal behavior in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) predominantly occurs in 1-year-old males; however, females of the same age also disperse. The timing of female dispersal during fawning season and low dispersal rates suggest that competition for mates and reduced inbreeding are not ultimate causes of female dispersal, as suggested for...
The effects of flow and stream characteristics on the variation in freshwater mussel growth in a Southeast US river basin
Justin C. Dycus, Jason M. Wisniewski, James T. Peterson
2015, Freshwater Biology (60) 395-409
Summary The evaluation of the age and growth of animal populations is essential for understanding and predicting how populations will respond to changes in environmental conditions and anthropogenic stressors. We used a novel, von Bertalanffy hierarchical modelling approach to quantify relationships between the growth of three freshwater mussel...
Using spatiotemporal statistical models to estimate animal abundance and infer ecological dynamics from survey counts
Paul B. Conn, Devin S. Johnson, Jay M. Ver Hoef, Mevin Hooten, Joshua M. London, Peter L. Boveng
2015, Ecological Monographs (85) 235-252
Ecologists often fit models to survey data to estimate and explain variation in animal abundance. Such models typically require that animal density remains constant across the landscape where sampling is being conducted, a potentially problematic assumption for animals inhabiting dynamic landscapes or otherwise exhibiting considerable spatiotemporal variation in density. We...
Developing in situ non-destructive estimates of crop biomass to address issues of scale in remote sensing
Michael T. Marshall, Prasad S. Thenkabail
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 808-835
Ground-based estimates of aboveground wet (fresh) biomass (AWB) are an important input for crop growth models. In this study, we developed empirical equations of AWB for rice, maize, cotton, and alfalfa, by combining several in situ non-spectral and spectral predictors. The non-spectral predictors included: crop height (H), fraction of absorbed...
