Book review: Flight ways: Life and loss at the edge of extinction.
Paul C. Banko
2015, Journal of Field Ornithology (86) 180-182
In less than 200 pages, Thom van Dooren aims in his ambitious book, Flight Ways, to reconnect humans empathetically with the rest of the planet's inhabitants, but especially vanishing species. This is asking a lot, but he succeeds—or at least makes great strides—using evocative storytelling and compelling discourse. A number of...
Different populations of blacklegged tick nymphs exhibit differences in questing behavior that have implications for human lyme disease risk
Isis M. Arsnoe, Graham J. Hickling, Howard S. Ginsberg, Richard McElreath, Jean I. Tsao
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-21
Animal behavior can have profound effects on pathogen transmission and disease incidence. We studied the questing (= host-seeking) behavior of blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) nymphs, which are the primary vectors of Lyme disease in the eastern United States. Lyme disease is common in northern but not in southern regions, and...
Composition, shell strength, and metabolizable energy of Mulinia lateralis and Ischadium recurvum as food for wintering surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata)
Alicia Berlin, Matthew C. Perry, R.A. Kohn, K.T. Paynter Jr., Mary Ann Ottinger
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-17
Decline in surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) waterfowl populations wintering in the Chesapeake Bay has been associated with changes in the availability of benthic bivalves. The Bay has become more eutrophic, causing changes in the benthos available to surf scoters. The subsequent decline in oyster beds (Crassostrea virginica) has reduced the...
The Holocene history of the North American Monsoon: 'known knowns' and 'known unknowns' in understanding its spatial and temporal complexity
Sarah E. Metcalfe, John A. Barron, Sarah J. Davies
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (120) 1-27
Evidence for climatic change across the North American Monsoon (NAM) and adjacent areas is reviewed, drawing on continental and marine records and the application of climate models. Patterns of change at 12,000, 9000, 6000 and 4000 cal yr BP are presented to capture the nature of change from the Younger Dryas (YD) and...
Late Holocene flood probabilities in the Black Hills, South Dakota with emphasis on the Medieval Climate Anomaly
Tessa M. Harden, James E. O'Connor, Daniel G. Driscoll
2015, Catena (130) 62-68
A stratigraphic record of 35 large paleofloods and four large historical floods during the last 2000 years for four basins in the Black Hills of South Dakota reveals three long-term flooding episodes, identified using probability distributions, at A.D.: 120–395, 900–1290, and 1410 to present. During the Medieval Climate Anomaly (~ A.D. 900–1300)...
Using biotic ligand models to predict metal toxicity in mineralized systems
Kathleen S. Smith, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Andrew S. Todd
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 55-72
The biotic ligand model (BLM) is a numerical approach that couples chemical speciation calculations with toxicological information to predict the toxicity of aquatic metals. This approach was proposed as an alternative to expensive toxicological testing, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency incorporated the BLM into the 2007 revised aquatic life...
Temperature impacts on the water year 2014 drought in California
Shraddhanand Shukla, Mohammad Safeeq, Amir AghaKouchak, Kaiyu Guan, Christopher C. Funk
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 4384-4393
California is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record. Here we use a hydrological model and risk assessment framework to understand the influence of temperature on the water year (WY) 2014 drought in California and examine the probability that this drought would have been less severe if temperatures resembled...
A pheromone outweighs temperature in influencing migration of sea lamprey
Cory O. Brant, Ke Li, Nicholas S. Johnson, Weiming Li
2015, Royal Society Open Science (2) 1-7
Organisms continuously acquire and process information from surrounding cues. While some cues complement one another in delivering more reliable information, others may provide conflicting information. How organisms extract and use reliable information from a multitude of cues is largely unknown. We examined movement decisions of sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus L.) exposed...
Water quality of the Little Arkansas River and Equus Beds Aquifer before and concurrent with large-scale artificial recharge, south-central Kansas, 1995-2012
Daniel J. Tappa, Jennifer L. Lanning-Rush, Brian J. Klager, Cristi V. Hansen, Andrew C. Ziegler
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5023
The city of Wichita artificially recharged about 1 billion gallons of water into the Equus Beds aquifer during 2007–2012 as part of Phase I recharge of the Artificial Storage and Recovery project. This report, prepared in cooperation by the U.S. Geological Survey and the city of Wichita, Kansas, summarizes Little Arkansas River...
Vegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary
Lisa J. Belleveau, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Kelley L. Turner, Jesse B. Barham, Jean E. Takekawa, Christopher S. Ellings, Gerardo Chin-Leo
2015, Northwest Science (89) 136-147
Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been...
Introduction to special section: China shale gas and shale oil plays
Shu Jiang, Hongliu Zeng, Jinchuan Zhang, Neil Fishman, Baojun Bai, Xianming Xiao, Tongwei Zhang, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Xinjing Li, Bryony Richards-McClung, Dongsheng Cai, Yongsheng Ma
2015, Interpretation (3) SJi-SJii
In the last 10 years, the success of shale gas and shale oil productions as a result of technological advances in horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and nanoscale reservoir characterization have revolutionized the energy landscape in the United States. Resource assessment by the China Ministry of Land and Resources in...
What lies beneath: geophysical mapping of a concealed Precambrian intrusive complex along the Iowa–Minnesota border
Benjamin J. Drenth, Raymond R. Anderson, Klaus J. Schulz, Joshua M. Feinberg, Val W. Chandler, William F. Cannon
2015, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (52) 279-293
Large-amplitude gravity and magnetic highs over northeast Iowa are interpreted to reflect a buried intrusive complex composed of mafic–ultramafic rocks, the northeast Iowa intrusive complex (NEIIC), intruding Yavapai province (1.8–1.72 Ga) rocks. The age of the complex is unproven, although it has been considered to be Keweenawan (∼1.1 Ga). Because...
Comparing activated alumina with indigenous laterite and bauxite as potential sorbents for removing fluoride from drinking water in Ghana
Laura Craig, Lisa L. Stillings, David L. Decker, James M. Thomas
2015, Applied Geochemistry (56) 50-66
Fluoride is considered beneficial to teeth and bones when consumed in low concentrations, but at elevated concentrations it can cause dental and skeletal fluorosis. Most fluoride-related health problems occur in poor, rural communities of the developing world where groundwater fluoride concentrations are high and the primary sources of drinking water...
Hydrogeologic framework of the Santa Clara Valley, California
Randall T. Hanson
2015, Geosphere (11) 606-637
The hydrologic framework of the Santa Clara Valley in northern California was redefined on the basis of new data and a new hydrologic model. The regional groundwater flow systems can be subdivided into upper-aquifer and lower-aquifer systems that form a convergent flow system within a basin bounded by mountains...
Consequences of actively managing a small Bull Trout population in a fragmented landscape
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Sean Moran, Peter McHugh, Shana Bernall, Wade Fredenberg, Joseph M. DosSantos
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 515-531
Habitat fragmentation, which affects many native salmonid species, is one of the major factors contributing to the declines in distribution and abundance of Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus. Increasingly, managers are considering options to maintain and enhance the persistence of isolated local populations through active management strategies. Understanding the ecological consequences of...
How a national vegetation classification can help ecological research and management
Scott Franklin, Patrick Comer, Julie Evens, Exequiel Ezcurra, Don Faber-Langendoen, Janet Franklin, Michael Jennings, Carmen Josse, Chris Lea, Orie Loucks, Esteban Muldavin, Robert K. Peet, Serguei Ponomarenko, David G. Roberts, Ayzik Solomeshch, Todd Keeler-Wolf, James Van Kley, Alan Weakley, Alexa McKerrow, Marianne Burke, Carol Spurrier
2015, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (13) 185-186
The elegance of classification lies in its ability to compile and systematize various terminological conventions and masses of information that are unattainable during typical research projects. Imagine a discipline without standards for collection, analysis, and interpretation; unfortunately, that describes much of 20th-century vegetation ecology. With differing methods, how do we...
Geospatial association between adverse birth outcomes and arsenic in groundwater in New Hampshire, USA
Xun Shi, Joseph D. Ayotte, Akikazu Onda, Stephanie Miller, Judy Rees, Diane Gilbert-Diamond, Tracy L Onega, Jiang Gui, Margaret R. Karagas, John B Moeschler
2015, Environmental Geochemistry and Health (37) 333-351
There is increasing evidence of the role of arsenic in the etiology of adverse human reproductive outcomes. Because drinking water can be a major source of arsenic to pregnant women, the effect of arsenic exposure through drinking water on human birth may be revealed by a geospatial association between arsenic...
Genes indicative of zoonotic and swine pathogens are persistent in stream water and sediment following a swine manure spill
Sheridan K. Haack, Joseph W. Duris, Dana W. Kolpin, Lisa R. Fogarty, Heather E. Johnson, Kristen E. Gibson, Michael J. Focazio, Kellogg J. Schwab, Laura E. Hubbard, William T. Foreman
2015, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (81) 3430-3441
Manure spills to streams are relatively frequent, but no studies have characterized stream contamination with zoonotic and veterinary pathogens, or fecal chemicals, following a spill. We tested stream water and sediment over 25 days and downstream for 7.6 km for: fecal indicator bacteria (FIB); the fecal indicator chemicals cholesterol and...
Migratory Patterns of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Returning to a Large, Free-flowing River Basin
John H. Eiler, Allison N. Evans, Carl B. Schreck
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Upriver movements were determined for Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha returning to the Yukon River, a large, virtually pristine river basin. These returns have declined dramatically since the late 1990s, and information is needed to better manage the run and facilitate conservation efforts. A total of 2,860 fish were radio tagged during 2002–2004....
Spatial structure of morphological and neutral genetic variation in Brook Trout
David C. Kazyak, Robert H. Hilderbrand, Stephen R. Keller, Mark C. Colaw, Amanda E. Holloway, Raymond P. Morgan III, Tim L. King
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 480-490
Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis exhibit exceptional levels of life history variation, remarkable genetic variability, and fine-scale population structure. In many cases, neighboring populations may be highly differentiated from one another to an extent that is comparable with species-level distinctions in other taxa. Although genetic samples have been collected from hundreds of populations...
TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction for detection of Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the fungus associated with snake fungal disease
Elizabeth A. Bohuski, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Kathryn M. Griffin, David S. Blehert
2015, BMC Veterinary Research (11) 1-10
Background Fungal skin infections associated with Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, a member of the Chrysosporiumanamorph of Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV) complex, have been linked to an increasing number of cases of snake fungal disease (SFD) in captive snakes around the world and in wild snake populations in eastern North America. The emergence of SFD in both captive...
Avian botulism type E in waterbirds of Lake Michigan, 2010–2013
Jennifer G. Chipault, C. LeAnn White, David S. Blehert, Susan K. Jennings, Sean M. Strom
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 659-664
During 2010 to 2013, waterbird mortality surveillance programs used a shared protocol for shoreline walking surveys performed June to November at three areas in northern Lake Michigan. In 2010 and 2012, 1244 total carcasses (0.8 dead bird/km walked) and 2399 total carcasses (1.2 dead birds/km walked), respectively, were detected. Fewer...
Modeling tidal freshwater marsh sustainability in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under a broad suite of potential future scenarios
Kathleen M. Swanson, Judith Z. Drexler, Christopher C. Fuller, David H. Schoellhamer
2015, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (13) 1-21
In this paper, we report on the adaptation and application of a one-dimensional marsh surface elevation model, the Wetland Accretion Rate Model of Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER), to explore the conditions that lead to sustainable tidal freshwater marshes in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. We defined marsh accretion parameters to encapsulate the...
Translocation of Humpback Chub into tributary streams of the Colorado River: Implications for conservation of large-river fishes
Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Craig P. Paukert, Brian D. Healy, Melissa Trammell, Dave Speas, Emily Omana Smith
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 502-514
The Humpback Chub Gila cypha, a large-bodied, endangered cyprinid endemic to the Colorado River basin, is in decline throughout most of its range due largely to anthropogenic factors. Translocation of Humpback Chub into tributaries of the Colorado River is one conservation activity that may contribute to the expansion of the species’...
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling improves occurrence and detection estimates of invasive Burmese pythons
Margaret E. Hunter, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Robert M. Dorazio, Jennifer A. Fike, Brian J. Smith, Charles T. Hunter, Robert N. Reed, Kristen M. Hart
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods are used to detect DNA that is shed into the aquatic environment by cryptic or low density species. Applied in eDNA studies, occupancy models can be used to estimate occurrence and detection probabilities and thereby account for imperfect detection. However, occupancy terminology has been applied inconsistently...
