Causes, responses, and implications of anthropogenic versus natural flow intermittence in river networks
Thibault Datry, Amelie Truchy, Julian D. Olden, Michelle H. Busch, Rachel Stubbington, Walter K. Dodds, Sam Zipper, Songyan Yu, Mathis L. Messager, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Kendra E. Kaiser, John C. Hammond, E.K. Moody, Ryan Burrows, Romain Sarremejane, Amanda DelVecchia, Megan L. Fork, Chelsea Little, Richard H Walker, Annika W. Walters, Daniel C. Allen
2023, BioScience (73) 9-22
Rivers that do not flow year-round are the predominant type of running waters on Earth. Despite a burgeoning literature on natural flow intermittence (NFI), knowledge about the hydrological causes and ecological effects of human-induced, anthropogenic flow intermittence (AFI) remains limited. NFI and AFI could generate contrasting hydrological and biological responses...
Landscape characteristics influence projected growth rates of stream-resident juvenile salmon in the face of climate change in the Kenai River watershed, south-central Alaska
B. E. Meyer, M. S. Wipfli, E. R. Schoen, D. J. Rinella, Jeffrey A. Falke
2023, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (152) 169-186
ObjectiveClimate change is affecting the distribution and productivity of Pacific salmon throughout their range. At high latitudes, warmer temperatures have been associated with increased freshwater growth of juvenile salmon, but it is not clear how long this trend will continue before further warming leads to reduced growth....
Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew G. Hunt
2023, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (433)
We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina...
Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California
Kirsten Faulkner, Bryant Jurgens, Stefan Voss, Danielle Dupuy, Zeno F. Levy
2023, Journal of Hydrology (616)
The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to...
Learning from arid and urban aquatic ecosystems to inform more sustainable and resilient futures
Lauren McPhillips, Marta Berbes-Blazquez, Rebecca Hale, Tamara K Harms, Vanya Bisht, Lilana Caughman, Sandra Clinton, Elizabeth Cook, Xiaoli Dong, Jennifer Edmonds, Sarah Gergel, Rosa Gomez, Kristina G. Hopkins, David Iwaniec, Yeowon Kim, Amanda Kuhn, Libby Larson, David Bruce Lewis, Eugenia Marti, Monica M. Palta, W. John Roach, Lin Ye
2023, Journal of Hydrology (616)
The hydrology and aquatic ecology of arid environments has long been understudied relative to temperate regions. Yet spatially and temporally intermittent and ephemeral waters characterized by flashy hydrographs typify arid regions that comprise a substantial proportion of the Earth. Additionally, drought, intense storms, and human...
Differential hypoxia tolerance of eastern oysters from the northern Gulf of Mexico at elevated temperature
Nicholas Coxe, Sandra M. Casas, Danielle A. Marshall, Megan K. La Peyre, Morgan W. Kelly, Jerome F. La Peyre
2023, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (559)
Increasing prevalence of hypoxia in shallow waters of U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) estuaries can pose a serious threat to eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Their tolerance to hypoxia, however, is not well characterized, especially at elevated temperatures (>30 °C) typical of GoM estuaries in summer. Moreover, it is unknown whether differences in hypoxia tolerance exist between GoM oyster populations growing in estuaries...
Hydroclimate and fire paleorecords across the southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau over the common era
Natalie M. Kehrwald, Rebecca Lynn Brice
2023, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 89th annual western snow conference
The southwestern US has been experiencing a severe drought and increased fire activity over the past two decades, affecting people’s health, homes, and businesses. Many individual fires occurring in the Southwest are the most severe in recorded history both in terms of dollars of damages as well as in fire...
Burmese python size and reproduction: Fact vs fiction
Mark Robert Sandfoss
2023, Newsletter
We’ve probably all heard rumors about monster 25-foot snakes or baby pythons emerging from under neighbors houses year-round, but what is fact vs fiction? To help us sort truth from myth, invasive pythons that were removed from the Everglades and surrendered to the National Park Service (NPS) were scientifically investigated...
Bioavailability of dissolved organic matter varies with anthropogenic landcover in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Derrick R. Vaughn, Anne M. Kellerman, Kimberly Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, David C. Podgorski, Jon R. Hawkings, Jaap H. Nienhuis, Mark M. Dornblaser, Edward G. Stets, Robert G.M. Spencer
2023, Water Research (229)
Anthropogenic conversion of forests and wetlands to agricultural and urban landcovers impacts dissolved organic matter (DOM) within streams draining these catchments. Research on how landcover conversion impacts DOM molecular level composition and bioavailability, however, is lacking. In the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB), water from...
Towards a unified drag coefficient formula for quantifying wave energy reduction by salt marshes
Ling Zhu, Q. Chen, Yan Ding, Navid H. Jafari, Hongqing Wang, Bradley D. Johnson
2023, Coastal Engineering (180)
Coastal regions are susceptible to increasing flood risks amid climate change. Coastal wetlands play an important role in mitigating coastal hazards. Vegetation exerts a drag force to the flow and dampens storm surges and wind waves. The prediction of wave attenuation by...
Hawaiian waterbird movement across a developed landscape
Eben H. Paxton, Kristina L. Paxton, Martha Kawasaki, P. Marcos Gorresen, Charles B. van Rees, Jared G. Underwood
2023, Journal of Wildlife Management (87)
A key component for biologists managing mobile species is understanding where and when a species occurs at different locations and scaling management to fit the spatial and temporal patterns of movement. We established an automated radio-telemetry tracking network to document multi-year movement in 2016–2018 of 3...
Evaluations of Lagrangian egg drift models: From a laboratory flume to large channelized rivers
Geng Li, Caroline M. Elliott, Bruce Call, Duane Chapman, Robert B. Jacobson, Bin Wang
2023, Ecological Modelling (475)
To help better interpret computational models in predicting drift of carp eggs in rivers, we present a series of model assessments for the longitudinal egg dispersion. Two three-dimensional Lagrangian particle tracking models, SDrift and FluEgg, are evaluated in a series of channels with increasing complexity. The model evaluation demonstrates that...
Life-cycle model reveals sensitive life stages and evaluates recovery options for a dwindling Pacific salmon population
Neala W. Kendall, Julia R. Unrein, Carol Volk, David Beauchamp, Kurt L. Fresh, Thomas P. Quinn
2023, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (43) 203-230
Population models, using empirical survival rates estimates for different life stages, can help managers explore whether various management options could stabilize a declining population or restore it to former levels of abundance. Here we used two decades of...
Habitat associations of riverine fishes among rocky shoals
Anna Y. Baynes, Mary Freeman, S. Kyle McKay, Seth J. Wenger
2023, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (32) 336-347
Understanding species' associations with physical habitat conditions is a fundamental goal of ecology. For organisms that occupy lotic ecosystems, relationships to streamflow are of particular importance, but these associations are unstudied for most species. We tested the predictability of fish–microhabitat relationships in river shoals (shallow, rocky...
High resolution spatiotemporal patterns of flow at the landscape scale in montane non-perennial streams
Romy Sabathier, Michael Bliss Singer, John C Stella, Dar A. Roberts, Kelly K. Caylor, Kristin L. Jaeger, Julian Olden
2023, River Research and Applications (39) 225-240
Intermittent and ephemeral streams in dryland environments support diverse assemblages of aquatic and terrestrial life. Understanding when and where water flows provide insights into the availability of water, its response to external controlling factors, and potential sensitivity to climate change and a host of human activities....
Estrogenic activity response to best management practice implementation in agricultural watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Stephanie E. Gordon, Tyler Wagner, Kelly L. Smalling, Olivia H. Devereux
2023, Journal of Environmental Management (326)
Best management practices (BMPs) have been predominantly used throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed (CBW) to reduce nutrients and sediments entering streams, rivers, and the bay. These practices have been successful in reducing loads entering the estuary and have shown the potential to reduce other...
Ecologically relevant moisture and temperature metrics for assessing dryland ecosystem dynamics
D. A. Chenoweth, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, J. C. Chambers, J. L. Brown, A. K. Urza, Brice Hanberry, D. Board, M. Crist, John B. Bradford
2023, Ecohydrology (16)
In drylands, water-limited regions that cover ~40% of the global land surface, ecosystems are primarily controlled by access to soil moisture and exposure to simultaneously hot and dry conditions. Quantifying ecologically relevant environmental metrics is difficult in drylands because the response of vegetation to moisture and...
Drought related changes in water quality surpass effects of experimental flows on trout growth downstream of Lake Powell reservoir
Josh Korman, Bridget R. Deemer, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Mariah Aurelia Giardina
2023, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (80) 424-438
Flows released from reservoirs are often modified to mitigate the negative ecosystem effects of dams. We estimated the effects of two experimental flows, fall-timed floods and elimination of sub-daily variation in flows on weekends, on growth rates of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Colorado River downstream...
Integrated assessment of chemical and biological recovery after diversion and treatment of acid mine drainage in a Rocky Mountain stream
Christopher James Kotalik, Joseph S. Meyer, Pete Cadmus, James F. Ranville, William H. Clements
2023, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (42) 512-524
Responses of stream ecosystems to gradual reductions in metal loading following remediation or restoration activities have been well documented in the literature. However, much less is known about how these systems respond to the immediate or more rapid elimination of metal inputs. Construction of a water...
Spatial patterns and seasonal timing of increasing riverine specific conductance from 1998 to 2018 suggest legacy contamination in the Delaware River Basin
Christine Rumsey, John C. Hammond, Jennifer C. Murphy, Megan E. Shoda, Alexander M. Soroka
2023, Science of the Total Environment (858)
Increasing salinization of freshwater threatens water supplies that support a range of human and ecological uses. The latest assessments of Delaware River Basin (DRB) surface-water-quality changes indicate widespread salinization has occurred in recent decades, which may lead to meaningful degradation in water quality. To better understand how and when salinity...
A size-based stock assessment model for invasive blue catfish in a Chesapeake Bay sub-estuary during 2001–2016
Corbin David Hilling, Yan Jiao, Mary C. Fabrizio, Paul L. Angermeier, Aaron J. Bunch, Donald J. Orth
2023, Fisheries Management and Ecology (30) 70-88
Stock assessment modeling provides a means to estimate the population dynamics of invasive fishes and may do so despite data limitations. Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) were introduced to the Chesapeake Bay watershed to support recreational fisheries but also consume species of conservation need and economic importance....
Sentinel responses of Arctic freshwater systems to climate: linkages, evidence, and a roadmap for future research
Jasmine E. Saros, Christoper D. Arp, Frederic Bouchard, Jerome Comte, Raoul-Marie Couture, Joshua F. Dean, Melissa Lafreniere, Sally MacIntyre, Suzanne McGowan, Milla Rautio, Clay Prater, Suzanne E. Tank, Michelle A. Walvoord, Kimberly Wickland, Dermot Antoniades, Paola Ayala-Borda, Joao Canario, Travis W. Drake, Diogo Folhas, Vaclava Hazukova, Henriikka Kivila, Yohanna Klanten, Scott Lamoreux, Isabelle Laurion, Rachel M. Pilla, Jorien E. Vonk, Scott Zolkos, Warwick Vincent
2023, Arctic Science (9) 356-392
While the sentinel nature of freshwater systems is now well recognized, widespread integration of freshwater processes and patterns into our understanding of broader climate-driven Arctic terrestrial ecosystem change has been slow. We review the current understanding across Arctic freshwater systems of key sentinel responses to climate, which...
Predicted uranium and radon concentrations in New Hampshire (USA) groundwater—Using Multi Order Hydrologic Position as predictors
Richard B. Moore, Kenneth Belitz, Joseph D. Ayotte, Terri L. Arnold, Laura Hayes, Jennifer B. Sharpe, J. Jeffrey Starn
2023, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (59) 127-145
Two radioactive elements, uranium (U) and radon (Rn), which are of potential concern in New Hampshire (NH) groundwater, are investigated. Exceedance probability maps are tools to highlight locations where the concentrations of undesirable substances in the groundwater may be elevated. Two forms of statistical analysis are...
Identifying mechanisms underlying individual body size increases in a changing, highly seasonal environment: The growing trout of West Brook
Benjamin Letcher, Keith Nislow, Matthew J. O'Donnell, Andrew R. Whiteley, Jason Coombs, Todd L. Dubreuil, Daniel Turek
2023, Journal of Animal Ecology (92) 78-96
As air temperature increases, it has been suggested that smaller individual body size may be a general response to climate warming. However, for ectotherms inhabiting cold, highly seasonal environments, warming temperatures may increase the scope for growth and result in larger body size.In a long-term study of individual brook...
Integrating principles and tools of decision science into value-driven watershed planning for compensatory mitigation
Georgina Maria Sanchez Salas, Mitchell J. Eaton, Ana Maria Garcia, Jennifer L. Keisman, Kirsten Ullman, James Blackwell, Ross K. Meentemeyer
2023, Ecological Applications (33)
Several environmental policies strive to restore impaired ecosystems and could benefit from a consistent and transparent process — co-developed with key stakeholders — to prioritize impaired ecosystems for restoration activities. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of disturbance to compensation sites...
