Z chromosome divergence, polymorphism and relative effective population size in a genus of lekking birds
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Robert S. Cornman, Kenneth L. Jones, Jennifer A. Fike
2015, Heredity (115) 452-459
Sex chromosomes contribute disproportionately to species boundaries as they diverge faster than autosomes and often have reduced diversity. Their hemizygous nature contributes to faster divergence and reduced diversity, as do some types of selection. In birds, other factors (mating system and bottlenecks) can further decrease the effective population size of...
Seasonal thermal ecology of adult walleye (Sander vitreus) in Lake Huron and Lake Erie
Tyler B Peat, Todd A. Hayden, Lee F G Gutowsky, Christopher S. Vandergoot, David G. Fielder, Charles P. Madenjian, Karen J Murchie, John M. Dettmers, Charles C. Krueger, Steven J. Cooke
2015, Journal of Thermal Biology (53) 98-106
The purpose of this study was to characterize thermal patterns and generate occupancy models for adult walleye from lakes Erie and Huron with internally implanted biologgers coupled with a telemetry study to assess the effects of sex, fish size, diel periods, and lake. Sex, size, and diel periods had no...
Groundwater-level and storage-volume changes in the Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, predevelopment through January 2015
Joshua A. Whisnant, Cristi V. Hansen, Patrick J. Eslick
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5121
Development of the Wichita well field began in the 1940s in the Equus Beds aquifer to provide the city of Wichita, Kansas, a new water-supply source. After development of the Wichita well field began, groundwater levels began to decline. Extensive development of irrigation wells that began in the 1970s also...
Evidence that dorsally mounted satellite transmitters affect migration chronology of Northern Pintails
Jerry W. Hupp, Sergei Kharitonov, Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi, K. Ozaki, Paul L. Flint, John M. Pearce, Ken-ichi Tokita, Tetsuo Shimada, Hiroyoshi Higuchi
2015, Journal of Ornithology (156) 977-989
We compared migration movements and chronology between Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) marked with dorsally mounted satellite transmitters and pintails marked only with tarsus rings. During weekly intervals of spring and autumn migration between their wintering area in Japan and nesting areas in Russia, the mean distance that ringed pintails had...
Life stage influences the resistance and resilience of black mangrove forests to winter climate extremes
Michael J. Osland, Richard H. Day, Andrew S. From, Megan L. McCoy, Jennie L. McLeod, Jeffrey Kelleway
2015, Ecosphere (6)
In subtropical coastal wetlands on multiple continents, climate change-induced reductions in the frequency and intensity of freezing temperatures are expected to lead to the expansion of woody plants (i.e., mangrove forests) at the expense of tidal grasslands (i.e., salt marshes). Since some ecosystem goods and services would be affected by...
Olistostrome shed eastward from the Antler orogenic forebulge, Bisoni-McKay area, Fish Creek Range, central Nevada
Forrest G. Poole, Charles Sandberg
2015, Book chapter, Unusual central Nevada geologic terranes produced by Late Devonian antler orogeny and Alamo impact
The Bisoni-McKay area, a structurally isolated, fault-bounded horst, offset eastward at the south end of the Fish Creek Range, displays a geologic terrane that is previously unrecorded in Nevada, and perhaps elsewhere in North America. This unique terrane is an olistostrome that was shed eastward by listric faulting from the...
Emerging technologies to conserve biodiversity
Stuart L. Pimm, Sky Alibhai, Richard Bergl, Alex Dehgan, Chandra Giri, Zoe Jewell, Lucas N. Joppa, Roland Kays, Scott Loarie
2015, Trends in Ecology and Evolution (30) 685-696
Technologies to identify individual animals, follow their movements, identify and locate animal and plant species, and assess the status of their habitats remotely have become better, faster, and cheaper as threats to the survival of species are increasing. New technologies alone do not save species, and new data create new...
Remote sensing of actual evapotranspiration from croplands
Trent W. Biggs, George P. Petropoulos, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Michael Marshall, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Alex Messina
Prasad S. Thenkabail, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Remote sensing of water resources, disasters, and urban studies
Agriculture accounted for the majority of human water use and for more than 90% of global freshwater consumption during the twentieth century (Hoekstra and Mekonnen, 2012; Shiklomanov, 2000). Streamflow depletion due to enhanced evapotranspiration (ET) from irrigated crops impacts freshwater ecosystems globally (Foley et al., 2005). Water scarcity limits crop...
On the reconstruction of palaeo-ice sheets: Recent advances and future challenges
Chris R. Stokes, Lev Tarasov, Robin Blomdin, Thomas M. Cronin, Timothy G. Fisher, Richard Gyllencreutz, Clas Hattestrand, Jakob Heyman, Richard C. A. Hindmarsh, Anna L. C. Hughes, Martin Jakobsson, Nina Kirchner, Stephen J. Livingstone, Martin Margold, Julian B. Murton, Riko Noormets, W. Richard Peltier, Dorothy M. Peteet, David J. W. Piper, Frank Preusser, Hans Renssen, David H. Roberts, Didier M. Roche, Francky Saint-Ange, Arjen P. Stroeven, James T. Teller
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (125) 15-49
Reconstructing the growth and decay of palaeo-ice sheets is critical to understanding mechanisms of global climate change and associated sea-level fluctuations in the past, present and future. The significance of palaeo-ice sheets is further underlined by the broad range of disciplines concerned with reconstructing their behaviour, many of which have...
Impact of wastewater infrastructure upgrades on the urban water cycle: Reduction in halogenated reaction byproducts following conversion from chlorine gas to ultraviolet light disinfection
Larry B. Barber, Michelle Hladik, Alan M. Vajda, Kevin C. Fitzgerald, Chris Douville
2015, Science of the Total Environment (529) 264-274
The municipal wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) infrastructure of the United States is being upgraded to expand capacity and improve treatment, which provides opportunities to assess the impact of full-scale operational changes on water quality. Many WWTFs disinfect their effluent prior to discharge using chlorine gas,...
Temperature and depth mediate resource competition and apparent competition between Mysis diluviana and kokanee
Erik R. Schoen, David A. Beauchamp, Anna R. Buettner, Nathanael C. Overman
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1962-1975
In many food webs, species in similar trophic positions can interact either by competing for resources or boosting shared predators (apparent competition), but little is known about how the relative strengths of these interactions vary across environmental gradients. Introduced Mysis diluviana shrimp interact with planktivorous fishes such as kokanee salmon (lacustrine Oncorhynchus nerka)...
Effects of climate and land cover on hydrology in the southeastern U.S.: Potential impacts on watershed planning
Jacob H. LaFontaine, Lauren E. Hay, Roland J. Viger, R. Steve Regan, Steven L. Markstrom
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 1235-1261
The hydrologic response to statistically downscaled general circulation model simulations of daily surface climate and land cover through 2099 was assessed for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin located in the southeastern United States. Projections of climate, urbanization, vegetation, and surface-depression storage capacity were used as inputs to the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System...
Spatial occupancy models for predicting metapopulation dynamics and viability following reintroduction
Richard B. Chandler, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Christopher J. Jarchow, Blake R. Hossack
2015, Journal of Applied Ecology (52) 1325-1333
The reintroduction of a species into its historic range is a critical component of conservation programmes designed to restore extirpated metapopulations. However, many reintroduction efforts fail, and the lack of rigorous monitoring programmes and statistical models have prevented a general understanding of the factors affecting metapopulation viability following...
Understanding natural capital
Robert F. Stallard
Jefferson S. Hall, Vanessa Kirn, Estrella Yanguas-Fernandez, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Managing watersheds for ecosystem services in the steepland neotropics
This chapter serves to introduce the geophysics of Neotropical steeplands. Topics are covered in a general manner with hyperlinks to active research and monitoring sites (such as the National Hurricane Center and US Geological Survey publication). Topics covered include ‘tropical climate and weather,’ ‘climate variations and trends,’ Neotropical ‘geology, and...
Landsat-8: Status and on-orbit performance
Brian L. Markham, Julia A. Barsi, Ron Morfitt, Mike Choate, Matthew Montanaro, Terry Arvidson, James R. Irons
2015, Conference Paper, Proc. SPIE 9639, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XIX
Landsat 8 and its two Earth imaging sensors, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) have been operating on-orbit for 2 ½ years. Landsat 8 has been acquiring substantially more images than initially planned, typically around 700 scenes per day versus a 400 scenes per day requirement,...
Characterization of shrubland ecosystem components as continuous fields in the northwest United States
George Z. Xian, Collin G. Homer, Matthew B. Rigge, Hua Shi, Debbie Meyer
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (168) 286-300
Accurate and consistent estimates of shrubland ecosystem components are crucial to a better understanding of ecosystem conditions in arid and semiarid lands. An innovative approach was developed by integrating multiple sources of information to quantify shrubland components as continuous field products within the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). The approach...
Riders on the storm: selective tidal movements facilitate the spawning migration of threatened delta smelt in the San Francisco Estuary
W.A. Bennett, Jon R. Burau
2015, Estuaries and Coasts (38) 826-835
Migration strategies in estuarine fishes typically include behavioral adaptations for reducing energetic costs and mortality during travel to optimize reproductive success. The influence of tidal currents and water turbidity on individual movement behavior were investigated during the spawning migration of the threatened delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, in the northern...
Differentiating induced and natural seismicity using space-time-magnitude statistics applied to the Coso Geothermal field
Martin Schoenball, Nicholas C. Davatzes, Jonathan M. G. Glen
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 6221-6228
A remarkable characteristic of earthquakes is their clustering in time and space, displaying their self-similarity. It remains to be tested if natural and induced earthquakes share the same behavior. We study natural and induced earthquakes comparatively in the same tectonic setting at the Coso Geothermal Field. Covering the preproduction and...
Localization and seasonal variation of blue pigment (sandercyanin) in walleye (Sander vitreus)
Wayne Schaefer, Mark Schmitz, Vicki S. Blazer, Tim Ehlinger, John Berges
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 281-289
Several fish species, including the walleye (Sander vitreus), have “yellow” and “blue” color morphs. In S. vitreus, one source of the blue color has been identified as a bili-binding protein pigment (sandercyanin), found in surface mucus of the fish. Little is known about the production of the pigment or about its functions....
Suburban watershed nitrogen retention: Estimating the effectiveness of stormwater management structures
Benjamin J. Koch, Catherine M. Febria, Roger M. Cooke, Jacob D. Hosen, Matthew E. Baker, Abigail R. Colson, Solange Filoso, Katharine Hayhoe, J. V. Loperfido, Anne M.K. Stoner, Margaret A. Palmer
2015, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
Excess nitrogen (N) is a primary driver of freshwater and coastal eutrophication globally, and urban stormwater is a rapidly growing source of N pollution. Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) are used widely to remove excess N from runoff in urban and suburban areas, and are expected to perform under a...
Reconstructing turbidity in a glacially influenced lake using the Landsat TM and ETM+ surface reflectance climate data record archive, Lake Clark, Alaska
Carson Baughman, Benjamin M. Jones, Krista K. Bartz, Daniel Young, Christian E. Zimmerman
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 13692-13710
Lake Clark is an important nursery lake for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska, the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world. Reductions in water clarity within Alaska lake systems as a result of increased glacial runoff have been shown to reduce salmon production...
Effects of climate change on long-term population growth of pronghorn in an arid environment
Jay V. Gedir, James W. Cain III, Grant Harris, Trey T. Turnbull
2015, Ecosphere (6) 1-20
Climate often drives ungulate population dynamics, and as climates change, some areas may become unsuitable for species persistence. Unraveling the relationships between climate and population dynamics, and projecting them across time, advances ecological understanding that informs and steers sustainable conservation for species. Using pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) as an ecological model,...
Regional and temporal differences in nitrate trends discerned from long-term water quality monitoring data
Edward G. Stets, Valerie J. Kelly, Charles G. Crawford
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 1394-1407
Riverine nitrate (NO3) is a well-documented driver of eutrophication and hypoxia in coastal areas. The development of the elevated river NO3 concentration is linked to anthropogenic inputs from municipal, agricultural, and atmospheric sources. The intensity of these sources has varied regionally, through time, and in response to multiple causes such as...
The rise of fire: Fossil charcoal in late Devonian marine shales as an indicator of expanding terrestrial ecosystems, fire, and atmospheric change
Susan M. Rimmer, Sarah J. Hawkins, Andrew C. Scott, Walter L. Cressler III
2015, American Journal of Science (315) 713-733
Fossil charcoal provides direct evidence for fire events that, in turn, have implications for the evolution of both terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Most of the ancient charcoal record is known from terrestrial or nearshore environments and indicates the earliest occurrences of fire in the Late Silurian. However, despite the...
Delayed dynamic triggering of deep tremor along the Parkfield-Cholame section of the San Andreas Fault following the 2014 M6.0 South Napa earthquake
Zhigang Peng, David R. Shelly, William L. Ellsworth
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 7916-7922
Large, distant earthquakes are known to trigger deep tectonic tremor along the San Andreas Fault and in subduction zones. However, there are relatively few observations of triggering from regional distance earthquakes. Here we show that a small tremor episode about 12–18 km NW of Parkfield was triggered during and immediately following...
