Land cover and topography affect the land transformation caused by wind facilities
Jay E. Diffendorfer, Roger W. Compton
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Land transformation (ha of surface disturbance/MW) associated with wind facilities shows wide variation in its reported values. In addition, no studies have attempted to explain the variation across facilities. We digitized land transformation at 39 wind facilities using high resolution aerial imagery. We then modeled the effects of turbine size,...
1DTempPro: analyzing temperature profiles for groundwater/surface-water exchange
Emily B. Voytek, Anja Drenkelfuss, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Richard Healy, John W. Lane Jr., Dale D. Werkema
2014, Ground Water (52) 298-302
A new computer program, 1DTempPro, is presented for the analysis of vertical one-dimensional (1D) temperature profiles under saturated flow conditions. 1DTempPro is a graphical user interface to the U.S. Geological Survey code Variably Saturated 2-Dimensional Heat Transport (VS2DH), which numerically solves the flow and heat-transport equations. Pre- and postprocessor features...
Transmission of chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin white-tailed deer: Implications for disease spread and management
Christopher S. Jennelle, Viviane Henaux, Gideon Wasserberg, Bala Thiagarajan, Robert E. Rolley, Michael D. Samuel
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-12
Few studies have evaluated the rate of infection or mode of transmission for wildlife diseases, and the implications of alternative management strategies. We used hunter harvest data from 2002 to 2013 to investigate chronic wasting disease (CWD) infection rate and transmission modes, and address how alternative management approaches affect disease...
North Atlantic migratory bird flyways provide routes for intercontinental movement of avian influenza viruses
Robert J. Dusek, Gunnar T. Hallgrimsson, S. Ip, Jón E. Jónsson, Srinand Sreevatsan, Sean W. Nashold, Joshua L. TeSlaa, Shinichiro Enomoto, Rebecca A. Halpin, Xudong Lin, Nadia Federova, Timothy B. Stockwell, Vivien G. Dugan, David E. Wentworth, Jeffrey S. Hall
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Avian influenza virus (AIV) in wild birds has been of increasing interest over the last decade due to the emergence of AIVs that cause significant disease and mortality in both poultry and humans. While research clearly demonstrates that AIVs can move across the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, there has been...
Local extinction and unintentional rewilding of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) on a desert island
Benjamin T. Wilder, Julio L. Betancourt, Clinton W. Epps, Rachel S. Crowhurst, Jim I. Mead, Exequiel Ezcurra
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) were not known to live on Tiburón Island, the largest island in the Gulf of California and Mexico, prior to the surprisingly successful introduction of 20 individuals as a conservation measure in 1975. Today, a stable island population of ~500 sheep supports limited big game hunting...
Comparative population structure of cavity-nesting sea ducks
John M. Pearce, John M. Eadie, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Thomas K. Christensen, James Berdeen, Eric J. Taylor, Sean Boyd, Arni Einarsson
2014, The Auk (131) 195-207
A growing collection of mtDNA genetic information from waterfowl species across North America suggests that larger-bodied cavity-nesting species exhibit greater levels of population differentiation than smaller-bodied congeners. Although little is known about nest-cavity availability for these species, one hypothesis to explain differences in population structure is reduced dispersal tendency of...
Sampling strategies and biodiversity of influenza A subtypes in wild birds
Sarah H. Olson, Jane Parmley, Catherine Soos, Martin Gilbert, Neus Latore-Margalef, Jeffrey S. Hall, Phillip M. Hansbro, Frank Leighton, Vincent Munster, Damien Joly
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Wild aquatic birds are recognized as the natural reservoir of avian influenza A viruses (AIV), but across high and low pathogenic AIV strains, scientists have yet to rigorously identify most competent hosts for the various subtypes. We examined 11,870 GenBank records to provide a baseline inventory and insight into patterns...
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) as a model system in community, landscape and ecosystem ecology
Matthew A. Bowker, Fernando T. Maestre, David Eldridge, Jayne Belnap, Andrea Castillo-Monroy, Cristina Escolar, Santiago Soliveres
2014, Biodiversity and Conservation (23) 1619-1637
Model systems have had a profound influence on the development of ecological theory and general principles. Compared to alternatives, the most effective models share some combination of the following characteristics: simpler, smaller, faster, general, idiosyncratic or manipulable. We argue that biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have unique combinations of these features...
Sex in the Suwannee, the secretive love life of Gulf Sturgeons
Kenneth J. Sulak
2014, American Currents (39) 22-24
Mid-February in the Gulf of Mexico and a timeless ritual is about to repeat itself for perhaps the millionth time. Some mysterious signal, possibly increasing day length, flips an internal switch, feeding stops, and the homeward migration begins for the Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi). From far flung places along...
Ecology and population status of trout-perch (Percopsis omiscomaycus) in western Lake Erie
Patrick Kocovsky, Andrea T. Stoneman, Richard T. Kraus
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40) 208-214
Trout-perch Percopsis omiscomaycus is among the most abundant benthic species in Lake Erie, but comparatively little is known about its ecology. Although others have conducted extensive studies on trout-perch ecology, those efforts predated invasions of white perch Morone americana, Dreissena spp., Bythotrephes longimanus and round goby Neogobius melanostomus, suggesting the...
Resource selection by the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) relative to terrestrial-based habitats and meteorological conditions
J. Matthew Johnson, Susan M. Haig, Carl J. Schwarz, John W. Glendening, L. Joseph Burnett, Daniel George, Jesse Grantham
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Condors and vultures are distinct from most other terrestrial birds because they use extensive soaring flight for their daily movements. Therefore, assessing resource selection by these avian scavengers requires quantifying the availability of terrestrial-based habitats, as well as meteorological variables that influence atmospheric conditions necessary for soaring. In this study,...
Influence of landscape characteristics on retention of expandable radiocollars on young ungulates
Troy W. Grovenburg, Robert W. Klaver, Christopher N. Jacques, Todd J. Brinkman, Christopher C. Swanson, Christopher S. DePerno, Kevin L. Monteith, Jaret D. Sievers, Vernon C. Bleich, John G. Kie, Jonathan A. Jenks
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 89-95
One tool used for wildlife management is the deployment of radiocollars to gain knowledge of animal populations. Understanding the influence of individual factors (e.g., species, collar characteristics) and landscape characteristics (e.g., forested cover, shrubs, and fencing) on retention of expandable radiocollars for ungulates is important for obtaining empirical data on...
Survival and metamorphosis of low-density populations of larval sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) in streams following lampricide treatment
Nicholas S. Johnson, William D. Swink, Travis O. Brenden, Jeffrey W. Slade, Todd B. Steeves, Michael F. Fodale, Michael L. Jones
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40) 155-163
Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus control in the Great Lakes primarily involves application of lampricides to streams where larval production occurs to kill larvae prior to their metamorphosing and entering the lakes as parasites (juveniles). Because lampricides are not 100% effective, larvae that survive treatment maymetamorphose before streams are again treated....
Survival and behaviour of juvenile unionid mussels exposed to thermal stress and dewatering in the presence of a sediment temperature gradient
L. Archambault, W. Gregory Cope, Thomas J. Kwak
2014, Freshwater Biology (59) 601-613
Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are a highly imperilled faunal group. One critical threat is thermal sensitivity, because global climate change and other anthropogenic activities contribute to increasing stream temperature and altered hydrologic flow that may be detrimental to freshwater mussels. We incorporated four benthic environmental components - temperature, sediment, water...
Water resources management in the Ganges Basin: a comparison of three strategies for conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water
Mahfuzur R. Khan, Clifford I. Voss, Winston Yu, Holly A. Michael
2014, Water Resources Management (28) 1235-1250
The most difficult water resources management challenge in the Ganges Basin is the imbalance between water demand and seasonal availability. More than 80 % of the annual flow in the Ganges River occurs during the 4-month monsoon, resulting in widespread flooding. During the rest of the year, irrigation, navigation, and...
Suppressing bullfrog larvae with carbon dioxide
Mark Abbey-Lambert, Andrew Ray, Megan J. Layhee, Christine L. Densmore, Adam Sepulveda, Jackson A. Gross, Barnaby J. Watten
2014, Journal of Herpetology (48) 59-66
Current management strategies for the control and suppression of the American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus = Rana catesbeiana Shaw) and other invasive amphibians have had minimal effect on their abundance and distribution. This study evaluates the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) on pre- and prometamorphic Bullfrog larvae. Bullfrogs are a model organism...
A methodology for adaptable and robust ecosystem services assessment
Ferdinando Villa, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Brian Voigt, Gary W. Johnson, Rosimeiry Portela, Miroslav Honzak, David Batker
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Ecosystem Services (ES) are an established conceptual framework for attributing value to the benefits that nature provides to humans. As the promise of robust ES-driven management is put to the test, shortcomings in our ability to accurately measure, map, and value ES have surfaced. On the research side, mainstream methods...
Soil-plant-microbial relations in hydrothermally altered soils of Northern California
S.W. Blecker, L.L. Stillings, N.M. DeCrappeo, J.A. Ippolito
2014, Soil Science Society of America Journal (78) 509-519
Soils developed on relict hydrothermally altered soils throughout the Western USA present unique opportunities to study the role of geology on above and belowground biotic activity and composition. Soil and vegetation samples were taken at three unaltered andesite and three hydrothermally altered (acid-sulfate) sites located in and around Lassen VolcanicNational...
Linking bovine tuberculosis on cattle farms to white-tailed deer and environmental variables using Bayesian hierarchical analysis
W. David Walter, Rick Smith, Mike Vanderklok, Kurt C. VerCauterren
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Bovine tuberculosis is a bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium bovis in livestock and wildlife with hosts that include Eurasian badgers (Meles meles), brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Risk-assessment efforts in Michigan have been initiated on farms to minimize interactions of cattle with wildlife hosts but research onM. bovis on...
Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects
Merche B. Bodi, Deborah A. Martin, Victoria N. Balfour, Cristina Santin, Stefan H. Doerr, Paulo Pereira, Artemi Cerda, Jorge Mataix-Solera
2014, Earth-Science Reviews (130) 103-127
Fire transforms fuels (i.e. biomass, necromass, soil organic matter) into materials with different chemical and physical properties. One of these materials is ash, which is the particulate residue remaining or deposited on the ground that consists of mineral materials and charred organic components. The quantity and characteristics of ash...
Similar resilience attributes in lakes with different management practices
Didier L. Baho, Stina Drakare, Richard K. Johnson, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Liming has been used extensively in Scandinavia and elsewhere since the 1970s to counteract the negative effects of acidification. Communities in limed lakes usually return to acidified conditions once liming is discontinued, suggesting that liming is unlikely to shift acidified lakes to a state equivalent to pre-acidification conditions that requires...
Daytime avoidance of chemosensory alarm cues by adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
Richard Di Rocco, Cowan Belanger, István Imre, Grant Brown, Nicholas S. Johnson
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 824-830
Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) avoid damage-released and predator chemosensory cues at night, but their response to these cues during the day is unknown. Here, we explored (i) whether sea lamprey avoid these cues during the day and (ii) the effect of water temperature on the avoidance of chemosensory alarm cues...
Production of hybrids between western gray wolves and western coyotes
L. David Mech, Bruce W. Christensen, Cheryl S. Asa, Margaret Callahan, Julie K. Young
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Using artificial insemination we attempted to produce hybrids between captive, male, western, gray wolves (Canis lupus) and female, western coyotes (Canis latrans) to determine whether their gametes would be compatible and the coyotes could produce and nurture offspring. The results contribute new information to an ongoing controversy over whether the...
Mass loads of dissolved and particulate mercury and other trace elements in the Mt. Amiata mining district, Southern Tuscany (Italy)
V. Rimondi, P. Costagliola, J. E. Gray, P. Lattanzi, M. Nannucci, M. Paolieri, A. Salvadori
2014, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (21) 5575-5585
Total dissolved and particulate mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), and antimony (Sb) mass loads were estimated in different seasons (March and September 2011 and March 2012) in the Paglia River basin (PRB) (central Italy). The Paglia River drains the Mt. Amiata Hg district, one of the largest Hg-rich regions worldwide. Quantification...
Nutrient concentrations in coarse and fine woody debris of Populus tremuloides Michx.-dominated forests, northern Minnesota, USA
Paul A. Klockow, Anthony W. D’Amato, John B. Bradford, Shawn Fraver
2014, Silva Fennica (48)
Contemporary forest harvesting practices, specifically harvesting woody biomass as a source of bioenergy feedstock, may remove more woody debris from a site than conventional harvesting. Woody debris, particularly smaller diameter woody debris, plays a key role in maintaining ecosystem nutrient stores following disturbance. Understanding nutrient concentrations within woody debris is...
