A sub-national scale geospatial analysis of diamond deposit lootability: the case of the Central African Republic
Katherine C. Malpeli, Peter G. Chirico
2014, The Extractive Industries and Society (1) 249-259
The Central African Republic (CAR), a country with rich diamond deposits and a tumultuous political history, experienced a government takeover by the Seleka rebel coalition in 2013. It is within this context that we developed and implemented a geospatial approach for assessing the lootability of high value-to-weight resource deposits, using...
A legacy of divergent fishery management regimes and the resilience of rainbow and cutthroat trout populations in Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington
Samuel J. Brenkman, Jeffrey J. Duda, Philip R. Kennedy, Bruce M. Baker
2014, Northwest Science (88) 280-304
As a means to increase visitation, early fisheries management in the National Park Service (NPS) promoted sport harvest and hatchery supplementation. Today, NPS management objectives focus on the preservation of native fish. We summarized management regimes of Olympic National Park's Lake Crescent, which included decades of liberal sport harvest and...
Last interglacial plant macrofossils and climates from Ziegler Reservoir, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA
Laura E. Strickland, Richard G. Baker, Robert S. Thompson, Dane M. Miller
2014, Quaternary Research (82) 553-566
Ninety plant macrofossil taxa from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado, record environmental changes at high elevation (2705 m asl) in the Rocky Mountains during the Last Interglacial Period. Present-day vegetation is aspen forest (Populus tremuloides) intermixed with species of higher (Picea, Abies) and lower (Artemisia, Quercus) elevations. Stratigraphic units 4–13...
A systematic approach towards the identification and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems
Jeff A. Ardron, Malcolm R. Clark, Andrew J. Penney, Thomas F. Hourigan, Ashley A. Rowden, Piers K. Dunstan, Les Watling, Timothy M. Shank, Di M. Tracey, Matthew R. Dunn, Steven J. Parker
2014, Marine Science (49) 146-154
The United Nations General Assembly in 2006 and 2009 adopted resolutions that call for the identification and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) from significant adverse impacts of bottom fishing. While general criteria have been produced, there are no guidelines or protocols that elaborate on the process from initial identification through to...
Relationships between annual plant productivity, nitrogen deposition and fire size in low-elevation California desert scrub
Leela E. Rao, John R. Matchett, Matthew L. Brooks, Robert Johns, Richard A. Minnich, Edith B. Allen
2014, International Journal of Wildland Fire (24) 48-58
Although precipitation is correlated with fire size in desert ecosystems and is typically used as an indirect surrogate for fine fuel load, a direct link between fine fuel biomass and fire size has not been established. In addition, nitrogen (N) deposition can affect fire risk through its fertilisation effect on...
Estimates of natural salinity and hydrology in a subtropical estuarine ecosystem: implications for Greater Everglades restoration
Frank E. Marshall, G. Lynn Wingard, Patrick A. Pitts
2014, Estuaries and Coasts (37) 1449-1466
Disruption of the natural patterns of freshwater flow into estuarine ecosystems occurred in many locations around the world beginning in the twentieth century. To effectively restore these systems, establishing a pre-alteration perspective allows managers to develop science-based restoration targets for salinity and hydrology. This paper describes a process to develop...
Costs and benefits of group living with disease: a case study of pneumonia in bighorn lambs (Ovis canadensis)
Kezia R. Manlove, E. Frances Cassirer, Paul C. Cross, Raina K. Plowright, Peter J. Hudson
2014, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (281)
Group living facilitates pathogen transmission among social hosts, yet temporally stable host social organizations can actually limit transmission of some pathogens. When there are few between-subpopulation contacts for the duration of a disease event, transmission becomes localized to subpopulations. The number of per capita infectious contacts approaches the subpopulation size as pathogen...
The impact of static stress change, dynamic stress change, and the background stress on aftershock focal mechanisms
Jeanne L. Hardebeck
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 8239-8266
The focal mechanisms of earthquakes in Southern California before and after four M ≥ 6.7 main shocks provide insight into how fault systems respond to stress and changes in stress. The main shock static stress changes have two observed impacts on the seismicity: changing the focal mechanisms in a given location to favor...
Inland capture fishery contributions to global food security and threats to their future
So-Jung Youn, William W. Taylor, Abigail J. Lynch, Ian G. Cowx, T. Douglas Beard Jr., Devin Bartley, Felicia Wu
2014, Global Food Security (3) 142-148
Inland fish and fisheries play important roles in ensuring global food security. They provide a crucial source of animal protein and essential micronutrients for local communities, especially in the developing world. Data concerning fisheries production and consumption of freshwater fish are generally inadequately assessed, often leading decision makers to undervalue...
On-orbit performance of the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager
Esad Micijevic, Kelly Vanderwerff, Pat Scaramuzza, Ron Morfitt, Julia A. Barsi, Raviv Levy
2014, Conference Paper, Proc. SPIE 9218, Earth Observing Systems XIX
The Landsat 8 satellite was launched on February 11, 2013, to systematically collect multispectral images for detection and quantitative analysis of changes on the Earth’s surface. The collected data are stored at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and continue the longest archive of...
The spring migration of adult North American Ospreys
Mark S. Martell, Richard O. Bierregaard Jr., Brian E. Washburn, John E. Elliott, Charles J. Henny, Robert S. Kennedy, Iain MacLeod
2014, Journal of Raptor Research (48) 309-324
Most North American Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are migratory, breeding in northern latitudes and migrating long distances to and from their wintering grounds in the tropics. Although fall migration patterns of North American Ospreys have been described and studied, very little has been published about the spring migration of these birds....
Transcriptomic analysis of the mussel Elliptio complanata identifies candidate stress-response genes and an abundance of novel or noncoding transcripts
Robert S. Cornman, Laura S. Robertson, Heather S. Galbraith, Carrie J. Blakeslee
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Mussels are useful indicator species of environmental stress and degradation, and the global decline in freshwater mussel diversity and abundance is of conservation concern. Elliptio complanata is a common freshwater mussel of eastern North America that can serve both as an indicator and as an experimental model for understanding mussel...
Population viability of Pediocactus brady (Cactaceae) in a changing climate
Daniel F. Shryock, Todd C. Esque, Lee Huges
2014, American Journal of Botany (101) 1944-1953
• Premise of the study: A key question concerns the vulnerability of desert species adapted to harsh, variable climates to future climate change. Evaluating this requires coupling long-term demographic models with information on past and projected future climates. We investigated climatic drivers of population growth using a 22-yr demographic model for Pediocactus bradyi,...
Predicting East African spring droughts using Pacific and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature indices
Christopher C. Funk, Andrew Hoell, Shraddhanand Shukla, Ileana Blade, Brant Liebmann, Jason B. Roberts, Franklin R. Robertson
2014, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (11) 3111-3136
In southern Ethiopia, Eastern Kenya, and southern Somalia poor boreal spring rains in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 contributed to severe food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition. Predicting rainfall deficits in this region on seasonal and decadal time frames can help decision makers support disaster risk...
Holocene earthquakes and right-lateral slip on the left-lateral Darrington-Devils Mountain fault zone, northern Puget Sound, Washington
Stephen F. Personius, Richard W. Briggs, Alan R. Nelson, Elizabeth R Schermer, J. Zebulon Maharrey, Brian L. Sherrod, Sarah A. Spaulding, Lee-Ann Bradley
2014, Geosphere (10) 1482-1500
Sources of seismic hazard in the Puget Sound region of northwestern Washington include deep earthquakes associated with the Cascadia subduction zone, and shallow earthquakes associated with some of the numerous crustal (upper-plate) faults that crisscross the region. Our paleoseismic investigations on one of the more prominent crustal faults, the Darrington–Devils...
Influence of nonnative and native ungulate biomass and seasonal precipitation on vegetation production in a Great Basin ecosystem
Linda Zeigenfuss, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Jason I. Ransom, Drew A. Ignizio, Tracy Mask
2014, Western North American Naturalist (74) 286-298
The negative effects of equid grazers in semiarid ecosystems of the American West have been considered disproportionate to the influence of native ungulates in these systems because of equids' large body size, hoof shape, and short history on the landscape relative to native ungulates. Tools that can analyze the degree...
Prevalence of the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, USA
Brent H. Sigafus, Blake R. Hossack, Erin L. Muths, Cecil R. Schwalbe
2014, Herpetological Review (45) 41-42
Information on disease presence can be of use to natural resource managers, especially in areas supporting threatened and endangered species that occur coincidentally with species that are suspected vectors for disease. Ad hoc reports may be of limited utility (Muths et al. 2009), but a general sense of pathogen presence...
Distribution and prevalence of knemidokoptic mange in Hawai`i `Amakihi on the island of Hawaii
Jacqueline Gaudioso, Dennis LaPointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Chloe Apelgren
2014, Technical Report HCSU-055
Knemidokoptic mange was first observed on two Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi (Hemignathus virens) mist netted in Manuka Natural Area Reserve (NAR) on the Island of Hawai‘i in June 2007. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings from lesions of the infested individuals revealed the scaley-leg mite, Knemidokoptes jamaicensis. Continued surveillance at Manuka NAR (2007-2009)...
Diverse coral communities in mangrove habitats suggest a novel refuge from climate change
Kimberly K. Yates, Caroline S. Rogers, James J. Herlan, Gregg R. Brooks, Nathan A. Smiley, Rebekka A. Larson
2014, Biogeosciences (11) 4321-4337
Risk analyses indicate that more than 90% of the world's reefs will be threatened by climate change and local anthropogenic impacts by the year 2030 under "business-as-usual" climate scenarios. Increasing temperatures and solar radiation cause coral bleaching that has resulted in extensive coral mortality. Increasing carbon dioxide reduces seawater pH,...
Effects of prey abundance, distribution, visual contrast and morphology on selection by a pelagic piscivore
Adam G. Hansen, David A. Beauchamp
2014, Freshwater Biology (59) 2328-2341
Most predators eat only a subset of possible prey. However, studies evaluating diet selection rarely measure prey availability in a manner that accounts for temporal–spatial overlap with predators, the sensory mechanisms employed to detect prey, and constraints on prey capture.We evaluated the diet selection of cutthroat trout...
Technical Note: Linking climate change and downed woody debris decomposition across forests of the eastern United States
Matthew B. Russell, Christopher W. Woodall, Anthony W. D’Amato, Shawn Fraver, John B. Bradford
2014, Biogeosciences (11) 6417-6425
Forest ecosystems play a critical role in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Forest carbon (C) is stored through photosynthesis and released via decomposition and combustion. Relative to C fixation in biomass, much less is known about C depletion through decomposition of woody debris, particularly under a changing climate. It is assumed...
Predicting probability of occurrence and factors affecting distribution and abundance of three Ozark endemic crayfish species at multiple spatial scales
Matthew S. Nolen, Daniel D. Magoulick, Robert J. DiStefano, Emily M. Imhoff, Brian K. Wagner
2014, Freshwater Biology (59) 2374-2389
Crayfishes and other freshwater aquatic fauna are particularly at risk globally due to anthropogenic demand, manipulation and exploitation of freshwater resources and yet are often understudied. The Ozark faunal region of Missouri and Arkansas harbours a high level of aquatic biological diversity, especially in regard to endemic crayfishes....
Efficacy of plastic mesh tubes in reducing herbivory damage by the invasive nutria (Myocastor coypus) in an urban restoration site
Trevor R. Sheffels, Mark D. Systma, Jacoby Carter, Jimmy D. Taylor
2014, Northwest Science (88) 269-279
The restoration of stream corridors is becoming an increasingly important component of urban landscape planning, and the high cost of these projects necessitates the need to understand and address potential ecological obstacles to project success. The nutria(Myocastor coypus) is an invasive, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America that causes detrimental ecological...
Evaluating the long-term management of introduced ungulates to protect the palila, an endangered bird, and its criticial habitat in subalpine forest of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i
Paul C. Banko, Steven C. Hess, Paul G. Scowcroft, Chris Farmer, James D. Jacobi, Robert M. Stephens, Richard J. Camp, David L. Leonard Jr., Kevin W. Brinck, J.O. Juvik, S. P. Juvik
2014, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (46) 871-889
Under the multiple-use paradigm, conflicts may arise when protection of an endangered species must compete with other management objectives. To resolve such a conflict in the Critical Habitat of the endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, palila (Loxioides bailleui), federal courts ordered the eradication of introduced ungulates responsible for damaging the māmane (Sophora...
Identifying hazards associated with lava deltas
Michael P. Poland, Tim R. Orr
2014, Bulletin of Volcanology (76)
Lava deltas, formed where lava enters the ocean and builds a shelf of new land extending from the coastline, represent a significant local hazard, especially on populated ocean island volcanoes. Such structures are unstable and prone to collapse—events that are often accompanied by small explosions that can deposit boulders and...
