Flexible risk metrics for identifying and monitoring conservation-priority species
Jessica C. Stanton, Brice X. Semmens, Patrick C. McKann, Tom Will, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2016, Ecological Indicators (61) 683-692
Region-specific conservation programs should have objective, reliable metrics for species prioritization and progress evaluation that are customizable to the goals of a program, easy to comprehend and communicate, and standardized across time. Regional programs may have vastly different goals, spatial coverage, or management agendas, and one-size-fits-all schemes may not always...
Effects of dam removal on Tule Fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the White Salmon River, Washington
James R. Hatten, Thomas R. Batt, Joseph J. Skalicky, Rod Engle, Gary J. Barton, Ryan L. Fosness, Joe Warren
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1481-1492
Condit Dam is one of the largest hydroelectric dams ever removed in the USA. Breached in a single explosive event in October 2011, hundreds-of-thousands of cubic metres of sediment washed down the White Salmon River onto spawning grounds of a threatened species, Columbia River tule fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha....
Novel and lost forests in the Upper Midwestern United States, from new estimates of settlement-era composition, stem density, and biomass
Simon Goring, David J. Mladenoff, Charles Cogbill, Sydne Record, Christopher J. Paciorek, Michael C. Dietze, Andria Dawson, Jaclyn Matthes, Jason S. McLachlan, John W. Williams
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
EuroAmerican land-use and its legacies have transformed forest structure and composition across the United States (US). More accurate reconstructions of historical states are critical to understanding the processes governing past, current, and future forest dynamics. Here we present new gridded (8x8km) reconstructions of pre-settlement (1800s) forest composition and structure from...
Relating mesocarnivore relative abundance to anthropogenic land-use with a hierarchical spatial count model
Shawn M. Crimmins, Liza R. Walleser, Dan R. Hertel, Patrick C. McKann, Jason J. Rohweder, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2016, Ecography (39) 524-532
There is growing need to develop models of spatial patterns in animal abundance, yet comparatively few examples of such models exist. This is especially true in situations where the abundance of one species may inhibit that of another, such as the intensively-farmed landscape of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of...
Human activities cause distinct dissolved organic matter composition across freshwater ecosystems
Clayton J. Williams, Paul C. Frost, Ana M. Morales-Williams, James H. Larson, William B. Richardson, Aisha S. Chiandet, Marguerite A. Xenopoulos
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 613-626
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition in freshwater ecosystems is influenced by interactions between physical, chemical, and biological processes that are controlled, at one level, by watershed landscape, hydrology, and their connections. Against this environmental template, humans may strongly influence DOM composition. Yet, we lack a comprehensive understanding of DOM composition...
Assessing the robustness of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis to assumption violations
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Suzanne M. Budge, Gregory W. Thiemann, Karyn D. Rode
2016, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (7) 51-59
Knowledge of animal diets can provide important insights into life history and ecology, relationships among species in a community and potential response to ecosystem change or perturbation. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a method of estimating diets from data on the composition, or signature, of fatty acids stored...
1DTempPro V2: new features for inferring groundwater/surface-water exchange
Franklin W. Koch, Emily B. Voytek, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Richard W. Healy, Martin A. Briggs, John W. Lane Jr., Dale D. Werkema
2016, Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation (54) 434-439
A new version of the computer program 1DTempPro extends the original code to include new capabilities for (1) automated parameter estimation, (2) layer heterogeneity, and (3) time-varying specific discharge. The code serves as an interface to the U.S. Geological Survey model VS2DH and supports analysis of vertical one-dimensional temperature profiles...
Detecting significant change in stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities in wilderness areas
Alexander M. Milner, Andrea Woodward, Jerome E. Freilich, Robert W. Black, Vincent H. Resh
2016, Ecological Indicators (60) 524-537
A major challenge in the biological monitoring of stream ecosystems in protected wilderness areas is discerning whether temporal changes in community structure are significantly outside of a reference condition that represents natural or acceptable annual variation in population cycles. Otherwise sites could erroneously be classified as impaired. Long-term datasets...
Experimental infection of six North American fish species with the North Carolina strain of spring Viremia of Carp Virus
Eveline J. Emmenegger, George E. Sanders, Carla M. Conway, Fred P. Binkowski, James R. Winton, Gael Kurath
2016, Aquaculture (450) 273-282
Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) is a rhabdoviral pathogen associated with disease outbreaks in cultured and wild fish worldwide. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio carp), and koi (C. carpio koi) suffer the highest mortalities from SVCV infections, while other cyprinid fish species have varying susceptibility. Although salmonid fish typically...
Effects of wind-energy facilities on grassland bird distributions
Jill A. Shaffer, Deborah A. Buhl
2016, Conservation Biology (30) 59-71
The contribution of renewable energy to meet worldwide demand continues to grow. Wind energy is one of the fastest growing renewable sectors, but new wind facilities are often placed in prime wildlife habitat. Long-term studies that incorporate a rigorous statistical design to evaluate the effects of wind facilities on wildlife...
Morphological identification and COI barcodes of adult flies help determine species identities of chironomid larvae (Diptera, Chironomidae)
Andrew Joseph Failla, Adrian Amelio Vasquez, Patrick L. Hudson, Masanori Fujimoto, Jeffrey L. Ram
2016, Bulletin of Entomological Research (106) 34-46
Establishing reliable methods for the identification of benthic chironomid communities is important due to their significant contribution to biomass, ecology and the aquatic food web. Immature larval specimens are more difficult to identify to species level by traditional morphological methods than their fully developed adult counterparts, and few keys are...
Hydrologic response of streams restored with check dams in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona
Laura M. Norman, Fletcher C. Brinkerhoff, Evan Gwilliam, D. Phillip Guertin, James B. Callegary, David C. Goodrich, Pamela L. Nagler, Floyd Gray
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 519-527
In this study, hydrological processes are evaluated to determine impacts of stream restoration in the West Turkey Creek, Chiricahua Mountains, southeast Arizona, during a summer-monsoon season (June–October of 2013). A paired-watershed approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of check dams to mitigate high flows and impact long-term maintenance of...
A hierarchical community occurrence model for North Carolina stream fish
S.R. Midway, Tyler Wagner, B.H. Tracy
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1348-1357
The southeastern USA is home to one of the richest—and most imperiled and threatened—freshwater fish assemblages in North America. For many of these rare and threatened species, conservation efforts are often limited by a lack of data. Drawing on a unique and extensive data set spanning over 20 years, we modeled...
Reproductive success and habitat characteristics of Golden-winged Warblers in high-elevation pasturelands
Petra Wood, Kyle R. Aldinger
2016, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (126) 279-287
The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is one of the most rapidly declining vertebrate species in the Appalachian Mountains. It is the subject of extensive range-wide research and conservation action. However, little is known about this species' breeding ecology in high-elevation pasturelands, a breeding habitat with conservation potential considering the U.S....
Effects of simple acid leaching of crushed and powdered geological materials on high-precision Pb isotope analyses
Erin Todd, Andreas Stracke, Erik Scherer
2015, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (16) 2276-2302
We present new results of simple acid leaching experiments on the Pb isotope composition of USGS standard reference material powders and on ocean island basalt whole rock splits and powders. Rock samples were leached with cold 6 N HCl in an ultrasonic bath, then on a hot plate, and washed with ultrapure...
Dating base flow in streams using dissolved gases and diurnal temperature changes
Ward E. Sanford, Gerolamo C. Casile, Karl B. Haase
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 9790-9803
A method is presented for using dissolved CFCs or SF6 to estimate the apparent age of stream base flow by indirectly estimating the mean concentration of the tracer in the inflowing groundwater. The mean value is estimated simultaneously with the mean residence times of the gas and water in the...
Assessing shoreline exposure and oyster habitat suitability maximizes potential success for sustainable shoreline protection using restored oyster reefs
Megan K. LaPeyre, Kayla Serra, T. Andrew Joyner, Austin T. Humphries
2015, PeerJ (3)
Oyster reefs provide valuable ecosystem services that contribute to coastal resilience. Unfortunately, many reefs have been degraded or removed completely, and there are increased efforts to restore oysters in many coastal areas. In particular, much attention has recently been given to the restoration of shellfish reefs along eroding shorelines to...
Hydroxide stabilization as a new tool for ballast disinfection: Efficacy of treatment on zooplankton
Christine M. Moffitt, Barnaby J. Watten, Amber Barenburg, Jeffrey W. Henquinet
2015, Management of Biological Invasions (6) 263-275
Effective and economical tools are needed for treating ship ballast to meet new regulatory requirements designed to reduce the introduction of invasive aquatic species from ship traffic. We tested the efficacy of hydroxide stabilization as a ballast disinfection tool in replicated, sequential field trials on board the M/V Ranger III...
The relationship between vessel traffic and noise levels received by killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Juliana Houghton, Marla M. Holt, Deborah A. Giles, M. Bradley Hanson, Candice K. Emmons, Jeffrey T. Hogan, Trevor A. Branch, Glenn R. VanBlaricom
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-20
Whale watching has become increasingly popular as an ecotourism activity around the globe and is beneficial for environmental education and local economies. Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) comprise an endangered population that is frequently observed by a large whale watching fleet in the inland waters of Washington state and...
Toward a mechanistic understanding of human-induced rapid environmental change: A case study linking energy development, avian nest predation, and predators
Matthew G. Hethcoat, Anna D. Chalfoun
2015, Journal of Applied Ecology (52) 1492-1499
Demographic consequences of human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) have been widely documented for many populations. The mechanisms underlying such patterns, however, are rarely investigated and yet are critical to understand for effective conservation and management. We investigated the mechanisms underlying reduced avian nest survival with intensification of natural gas...
Depth of artificial Burrowing Owl burrows affects thermal suitability and occupancy
Christopher P. Nadeau, Courtney J. Conway, Nathan Rathbun
2015, Journal of Field Ornithology (86) 288-297
Many organizations have installed artificial burrows to help bolster local Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) populations. However, occupancy probability and reproductive success in artificial burrows varies within and among burrow installations. We evaluated the possibility that depth below ground might explain differences in occupancy probability and reproductive success by affecting the...
Influence of habitat and intrinsic characteristics on survival of neonatal pronghorn
Christopher N. Jacques, Jonathan A. Jenks, Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Increased understanding of the influence of habitat (e.g., composition, patch size) and intrinsic (e.g., age, birth mass) factors on survival of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a prerequisite to successful management programs, particularly as they relate to population dynamics and the role of population models in adaptive species management. Nevertheless,...
How big of an effect do small dams have? Using geomorphological footprints to quantify spatial impact of low-head dams and identify patterns of across-dam variation
Jane S. Fencl, Martha E. Mather, Katie H. Costigan, Melinda D. Daniels
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-22
Longitudinal connectivity is a fundamental characteristic of rivers that can be disrupted by natural and anthropogenic processes. Dams are significant disruptions to streams. Over 2,000,000 low-head dams (<7.6 m high) fragment United States rivers. Despite potential adverse impacts of these ubiquitous disturbances, the spatial impacts of low-head dams on geomorphology...
Assessing gull abundance and food availability in urban parking lots
Daniel E. Clark, Jillian J. Whitney, Kenneth G. MacKenzie, Kiana K. G. Koenen, Stephen DeStefano
2015, Human-Wildlife Interactions (9) 180-190
Feeding birds is a common activity throughout the world; yet, little is known about the extent of feeding gulls in urban areas. We monitored 8 parking lots in central Massachusetts, USA, during the fall and winter of 2011 to 2013 in 4 monitoring sessions to document the number of gulls...
The shifting climate portfolio of the Greater Yellowstone Area
Adam J. Sepulveda, Mike T Tercek, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Andrew Ray, David P. Thoma, Blake R. Hossack, Gregory T. Pederson, Ann Rodman, Tom Olliff
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Knowledge of climatic variability at small spatial extents (< 50 km) is needed to assess vulnerabilities of biological reserves to climate change. We used empirical and modeled weather station data to test if climate change has increased the synchrony of surface air temperatures among 50 sites within the Greater Yellowstone...
