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...
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...
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...
Sampling of sea ducks for influenza A viruses in Alaska during winter provides lack of evidence for epidemiological peak of infection.
Andrew M. Ramey, Andrew B. Reeves, Rebecca L. Poulson, Jeff Wasley, Daniel Esler, David E. Stalknecht
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 938-941
Sampling of sea ducks for influenza A viruses in Alaska during winter provided no evidence for an epidemiologic peak of infection. Isolates were recovered, however, that provide information on viral diversity and dispersal that may not be realized through sampling efforts focused on other avian taxa....
Polygonal tundra geomorphological change in response to warming alters future CO2 and CH4 flux on the Barrow Peninsula
Mark J. Lara, A. David McGuire, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Craig E. Tweedie, Kenneth M. Hinkel, Alexei N. Skurikhin, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Guido Grosse, W. Robert Bolton, Helene Genet
2015, Global Change Biology (21) 1634-1651
The landscape of the Barrow Peninsula in northern Alaska is thought to have formed over centuries to millennia, and is now dominated by ice-wedge polygonal tundra that spans drained thaw-lake basins and interstitial tundra. In nearby tundra regions, studies have identified a rapid increase in thermokarst formation (i.e., pits) over...
Masked expression of life-history traits in a highly variable environment
Jason A. DeBoer, Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope
2015, Great Plains Research (25) 25-38
Differing life-history strategies may act as a constraint on reproductive expression that ultimately limits the ability of individual species to respond to changes in the magnitude or frequency of environmental variation, and potentially underlies the variation often inherent in phenotypic and evolved responses to anthropogenic change. Alternatively, if there...
Landowner perceptions of three types of boating in the Saranac Lakes area of New York State׳s Adirondack Park
Diane Kuehn, Rudy Schuster, Erik Nordman
2015, Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (9) 53-63
In order for natural resource managers to better understand conflicting landowner perspectives related to non-motorized, motorized, and personal watercraft use, this study examines the demographic and experiential characteristics, values, attitudes, and beliefs of landowners in the Saranac Lakes area of the Adirondack Park in New York State. A mixed-methods approach,...
Simulated high-latitude soil thermal dynamics during the past four decades
S. Peng, P. Ciais, T. Wang, I. Gouttevin, A. D. McGuire, D. Lawrence, E. Burke, X. Chen, C. Delire, C. Koven, A. MacDougall, A. Rinke, K. Saito, W. Zhang, R. Alkama, T. J. Bohn, B. Decharme, T. Hajima, D. Ji, D.P. Lettenmaier, P.A. Miller, J.C. Moore, B. Smith, T. Sueyoshi
2015, Cryosphere Discussions (9) 2301-2337
Soil temperature (Ts ) change is a key indicator of the dynamics of permafrost. On seasonal and inter-annual time scales, the variability of Ts determines the active layer depth, which regulates hydrological soil properties and biogeochemical processes. On the multi-decadal scale, increasing T 5 s not only drives permafrost thaw/retreat,...
Energy development and avian nest survival in Wyoming, USA: A test of a common disturbance index
Matthew G. Hethcoat, Anna D. Chalfoun
2015, Biological Conservation (184) 327-334
Global energy demands continue to result in new and emerging sources of anthropogenic disturbance to populations and systems. Here, we assessed the influence of natural gas development on a critical component of fitness (nest survival) for Brewer’s sparrow (Spizella breweri), sagebrush sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), and sage thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), three...
Predicting ecological responses of the Florida Everglades to possible future climate scenarios: Introduction
Nicholas G. Aumen, Karl E Havens, G. Ronnie Best, Leonard Berry
2015, Environmental Management (55) 741-748
Florida’s Everglades stretch from the headwaters of the Kissimmee River near Orlando to Florida Bay. Under natural conditions in this flat landscape, water flowed slowly downstream as broad, shallow sheet flow. The ecosystem is markedly different now, altered by nutrient pollution and construction of canals, levees, and water control structures...
Seismic source dynamics of gas-piston activity at Kı̄lauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
Bernard A. Chouet, Phillip B. Dawson
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (120) 2525-2560
Since 2008, eruptive activity at the summit of Kı̄lauea Volcano, Hawai‘i has been confined to the new Overlook pit crater within the Halema‘uma‘u Crater. Among the broad range of magmatic processes observed in the new pit are recurring episodes of gas pistoning. The gas-piston activity is accompanied by seismic signals...
Total protein concentration and diagnostic test results for gray wolf (Canis lupus) serum using Nobuto filter paper strips
Rocio F. Jara, Carolina Sepulveda, S. Ip, Michael D. Samuel
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 475-478
Nobuto filter paper strips are widely used for storing blood-serum samples, but the recovery of proteins from these strips following rehydration is unknown. Poor recovery of proteins could reduce the concentration of antibodies and antigens and reduce the sensitivity of diagnostic assays. We compared the protein concentration, and its association...
A tribute to George Plafker
Gary S. Fuis, Peter J. Haeussler, Brian F. Atwater
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (113) 3-7
In a long and distinguished career, George Plafker made fundamental advances in understanding of megathrust tectonics, tsunami generation, paleoseismology, crustal neotectonics, and Alaskan geology, chiefly by means of geological field observations. George discovered that giant earthquakes result from tens of meters of seismic slip on subduction megathrusts, and he did this...
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....
Insufficient sampling to identify species affected by turbine collisions
Julie A. Beston, James E. Diffendorfer, Scott Loss
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 513-517
We compared the number of avian species detected and the sampling effort during fatality monitoring at 50 North American wind facilities. Facilities with short intervals between sampling events and high effort detected more species, but many facilities appeared undersampled. Species accumulation curves for 2 wind facilities studied for more than...
Slab melting beneath the Cascades Arc driven by dehydration of altered oceanic peridotite
Kristina J Walowski, Paul J. Wallace, E.H. Hauri, I. Wada, Michael A. Clynne
2015, Nature Geoscience (8) 404-408
Water is returned to Earth’s interior at subduction zones. However, the processes and pathways by which water leaves the subducting plate and causes melting beneath volcanic arcs are complex; the source of the water—subducting sediment, altered oceanic crust, or hydrated mantle in the downgoing plate—is debated; and the role of...
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...
Coastal evidence for Holocene subduction-zone earthquakes and tsunamis in central Chile
Tina Dure, Marco Cisternas, Benjamin Horton, Lisa Ely, Alan R. Nelson, Robert L. Wesson, Jessica Pilarczyk
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (113) 93-111
The ∼500-year historical record of seismicity along the central Chile coast (30–34°S) is characterized by a series of ∼M 8.0–8.5 earthquakes followed by low tsunamis (<4 m) occurring on the megathrust about every 80 years. One exception is the AD 1730 great earthquake (M 9.0–9.5) and high tsunami (>10 m), but the...
Using stable isotopes of carbon to investigate the seasonal variation of carbon transfer in a northwestern Arkansas cave
Katherine J. Knierim, Erik Pollock, Phillip D. Hays, Jam Khojasteh
2015, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies (77) 12-27
Stable-isotope analyses are valuable in karst settings, where characterizing biogeochemical cycling of carbon along groundwater flow paths is critical for understanding and protecting sensitive cave and karst water resources. This study quantified the seasonal changes in concentration and isotopic composition (δ13C) of aqueous and gaseous carbon species—dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)...
Consequences of habitat change and resource selection specialization for population limitation in cavity-nesting birds
Thomas E. Martin
2015, Journal of Applied Ecology (52) 475-485
Resource selection specialization may increase vulnerability of populations to environmental change. One environmental change that may negatively impact some populations is the broad decline of quaking aspen Populus tremuloides, a preferred nest tree of cavity-nesting organisms who are commonly limited by nest-site availability. However, the long-term consequences of...
Expanding metal mixture toxicity models to natural stream and lake invertebrate communities
Laurie S. Balistrieri, Christopher A. Mebane, Travis S. Schmidt, William (Bill) Keller
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 761-776
A modeling approach that was used to predict the toxicity of dissolved single and multiple metals to trout is extended to stream benthic macroinvertebrates, freshwater zooplankton, and Daphnia magna. The approach predicts the accumulation of toxicants (H, Al, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in organisms using 3 equilibrium accumulation...
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...
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...
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...
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...
