Thermokarst lakes, drainage, and drained basins
Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Christopher D. Arp
John F. Shroder, editor(s)
2013, Book chapter, Treatise on Geomorphology
Thermokarst lakes and drained lake basins are widespread in Arctic and sub-Arctic permafrost lowlands with ice-rich sediments. Thermokarst lake formation is a dominant mode of permafrost degradation and is linked to surface disturbance, subsequent melting of ground ice, surface subsidence, water impoundment, and positive feedbacks between lake growth and permafrost...
Genetic analysis of a novel invasion of Puerto Rico by an exotic constricting snake
R. Graham Reynolds, Alberto R. Puente-Rolon, Robert N. Reed, Liam J. Revell
2013, Biological Invasions (15) 953-959
The tropical island Puerto Rico is potentially vulnerable to invasion by some species of exotic snakes; however, until now no established populations had been reported. Here we report and genetically characterize the nascent invasion of Puerto Rico by an exotic constricting snake of the family Boidae (Boa constrictor) using mtDNA...
Assessment of juvenile coho salmon movement and behavior in relation to rehabilitation efforts in the Trinity River, California, using PIT tags and radiotelemetry
Robert Chase, Nina Hemphill, John Beeman, Steve Juhnke, John Hannon, Amy M. Jenkins
2013, Environmental Biology of Fishes (96) 303-314
Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) of the Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) is federally listed as a threatened species. The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) is rehabilitating the Trinity River to restore coho salmon (coho) and other salmonid populations. In order to evaluate the program’s actions, several...
An algorithmic and information-theoretic approach to multimetric index construction
Donald R. Schoolmaster Jr., James B. Grace, E. William Schweiger, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Brian R. Mitchell, Kathryn M. Miller, Amanda M. Little
2013, Ecological Indicators (26) 14-23
The use of multimetric indices (MMIs), such as the widely used index of biological integrity (IBI), to measure, track, summarize and infer the overall impact of human disturbance on biological communities has been steadily growing in recent years. Initially, MMIs were developed for aquatic communities using pre-selected biological metrics as...
Development and characterization of thirteen microsatellite loci in Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Todd A. Castoe, Diana F. Tomback, Michael B. Wunder, Taza D. Schaming
2013, Conservation Genetics Resources (5) 303-305
Clark’s nutcrackers are important seed dispersers for two widely-distributed western North American conifers, whitebark pine and limber pine, which are declining due to outbreaks of mountain pine beetle and white pine blister rust. Because nutcracker seed dispersal services are key to maintaining viable populations of these imperiled pines, knowledge of...
A biogeochemical and genetic survey of acetylene fermentation by environmental samples and bacterial isolates
Laurence G. Miller, Shaun M. Baesman, Julie Kirshtein, Mary A. Voytek, Ronald S. Oremland
2013, Geomicrobiology Journal (30) 501-516
Anoxic samples (sediment and groundwater) from 13 chemically diverse field sites were assayed for their ability to consume acetylene (C2H2). Over incubation periods ranging from ˜ 10 to 80 days, selected samples from 7 of the 13 tested sites displayed significant C2H2 removal. No significant formation of ethylene was noted...
Influence of dietary carbon on mercury bioaccumulation in streams of the Adirondack Mountains of New York and the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, USA
Karen Riva-Murray, Paul M. Bradley, Lia C. Chasar, Daniel T. Button, Mark E. Brigham, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Celeste A. Journey, Michelle A. Lutz
2013, Ecotoxicology (22) 60-71
We studied lower food webs in streams of two mercury-sensitive regions to determine whether variations in consumer foraging strategy and resultant dietary carbon signatures accounted for observed within-site and among-site variations in consumer mercury concentration. We collected macroinvertebrates (primary consumers and predators) and selected forage fishes from three sites in...
An alternative process model of preferential contaminant travel times in the unsaturated zone: Application to Rainier Mesa and Shoshone Mountain, Nevada
Brian A. Ebel, John R. Nimmo
2013, Environmental Modeling & Assessment (18) 345-363
Simulating contaminant transport in unsaturated zones with sparse hydraulic property information is a difficult, yet common, problem. When contaminant transport may occur via preferential flow, simple modeling approaches can provide predictions of interest, such as the first arrival of contaminant, with minimal site characterization. The conceptual model for unsaturated zone...
Polybrominated diphenyl ether metabolism in field collected fish from the Gila River, Arizona, USA-Levels, possible sources, and patterns
Kathy R. Echols, Paul H. Peterman, Jo Ellen Hinck, Carl E. Orazio
2013, Chemosphere (90) 20-27
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were determined in fish collected from the Gila River, Arizona, a tributary of the Colorado River in the lower part of the Colorado River Basin. Fish samples were collected at sites on the Gila River downstream from Hayden, Phoenix, and Arlington, Arizona in late summer 2003....
A seascape approach to investigating fish spillover across a marine protected area boundary in Hawai'i
Kostantinos A. Stamoulis, Alan M. Friedlander
2013, Fisheries Research (144) 2-14
Marine protected areas (MPAs) can benefit fisheries through export of pelagic eggs and larvae and the net emigration of adults and juveniles (spillover). Spillover was investigated for a marine protected area on the north shore of Oahu, Hawai‘i utilizing a seascape approach. This study incorporated habitat variables and underwater visual...
Optimal temperature for malaria transmission is dramatically lower than previously predicted
Erin A. Mordecai, Krijn P. Paaijmans, Leah R. Johnson, Christian Balzer, Tal Ben-Horin, Emily de Moor, Amy McNally, Samraat Pawar, Sadie J. Ryan, Thomas C. Smith, Kevin D. Lafferty
2013, Ecology Letters (16) 22-30
The ecology of mosquito vectors and malaria parasites affect the incidence, seasonal transmission and geographical range of malaria. Most malaria models to date assume constant or linear responses of mosquito and parasite life-history traits to temperature, predicting optimal transmission at 31 °C. These models are at odds with field observations...
Small-scale turbidity currents in a big submarine canyon
Jingping Xu, James P. Barry, Charles K. Paull
2013, Geology Today (41) 143-146
Field measurements of oceanic turbidity currents, especially diluted currents, are extremely rare. We present a dilute turbidity current recorded by instrumented moorings 14.5 km apart at 1300 and 1860 m water depth. The sediment concentration within the flow was 0.017%, accounting for 18 cm/s gravity current speed due to density...
The response of Lake Tahoe to climate change
G.B. Sahoo, S.G. Schladow, J.E. Reuter, R. Coats, M. Dettinger, J. Riverson, B. Wolfe, M. Costa-Cabral
2013, Climatic Change (116) 71-95
Meteorology is the driving force for lake internal heating, cooling, mixing, and circulation. Thus continued global warming will affect the lake thermal properties, water level, internal nutrient loading, nutrient cycling, food-web characteristics, fish-habitat, aquatic ecosystem, and other important features of lake limnology. Using a 1-D numerical model - the Lake...
Safety of florfenicol administered in feed to tilapia (Oreochromis sp.)
Mark P. Gaikowski, Jeffrey C. Wolf, Susan M. Schleis, Darrell Tuomari, Richard G. Endris
2013, Toxicologic Pathology (41) 639-652
The safety of Aquaflor® (50% w/w florfenicol [FFC]) incorporated in feed then administered to tilapia for 20 days (2x the recommended duration) at 0, 15, 45, or 75 mg/kg body weight/day (0, 1, 3, or 5x the recommended dose of 15 mg FFC/kg BW/d) was investigated. Mortality, behavioral change, feed...
A culture-based survey of fungi in soil from bat hibernacula in the eastern United States and its implications for detection of Geomyces destructans, the causal agent of bat white-nose syndrome
Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel L. Lindner, Andrea Gargas, Laura K. Muller, Andrew M. Minnis, David S. Blehert
2013, Mycologia (105) 237-252
The recent emergence of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease causing unprecedented mortality among hibernating bats of eastern North America, has revealed a knowledge gap regarding fungal communities associated with bats and their hibernacula. We used culture-based techniques to investigate the diversity of fungi in soil samples collected from 24...
The interactive effects of excess reactive nitrogen and climate change on aquatic ecosystems and water resources of the United States
Jill Baron, E. K. Hall, B. T. Nolan, J. C. Finlay, E. S. Bernhardt, J. A. Harrison, F. Chan, E.W. Boyer
2013, Biogeochemistry (114) 71-92
Nearly all freshwaters and coastal zones of the US are degraded from inputs of excess reactive nitrogen (Nr), sources of which are runoff, atmospheric N deposition, and imported food and feed. Some major adverse effects include harmful algal blooms, hypoxia of fresh and coastal waters, ocean acidification, long-term harm to...
Sensitivity analysis of lake mass balance in discontinuous permafrost: the example of disappearing Twelvemile Lake, Yukon Flats, Alaska (USA)
S.M. Jepsen, C.I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord, J.R. Rose, B. J. Minsley, B. D. Smith
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 185-200
Many lakes in northern high latitudes have undergone substantial changes in surface area over the last four decades, possibly as a result of climate warming. In the discontinuous permafrost of Yukon Flats, interior Alaska (USA), these changes have been non-uniform across adjacent watersheds, suggesting local controls on lake water budgets....
Increasing synchrony of high temperature and low flow in western North American streams: double trouble for coldwater biota?
Ivan Arismendi, Mohammad Safeeq, Sherri L. Johnson, Jason B. Dunham, Roy Haggerty
2013, Hydrobiologia (712) 61-70
Flow and temperature are strongly linked environmental factors driving ecosystem processes in streams. Stream temperature maxima (Tmax_w) and stream flow minima (Qmin) can create periods of stress for aquatic organisms. In mountainous areas, such as western North America, recent shifts toward an earlier spring peak flow and decreases in low...
Estimating shaking-induced casualties and building damage for global earthquake events: a proposed modelling approach
Emily So, Robin Spence
2013, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (11) 347-363
Recent earthquakes such as the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010 and the Qinghai earthquake on 14 April 2010 have highlighted the importance of rapid estimation of casualties after the event for humanitarian response. Both of these events resulted in surprisingly high death tolls, casualties and survivors made homeless. In...
Environmental factors regulating the recruitment of walleye Sander vitreus and white bass Morone chrysops in irrigation reservoirs
Jason A. DeBoer, Kevin L. Pope, Keith D. Koupal
2013, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (22) 43-54
Understanding the environmental factors that regulate fish recruitment is essential for effective management of fisheries. Generally, first-year survival, and therefore recruitment, is inherently less consistent in systems with high intra- and interannual variability. Irrigation reservoirs display sporadic patterns of annual drawdown, which can pose a substantial challenge to recruitment of...
Ecology of zoonotic infectious diseases in bats: current knowledge and future directions
D.T. Hayman, R. A. Bowen, P.M. Cryan, G.F. McCracken, T. J. O'Shea, A.J. Peel, A. Gilbert, C.T. Webb, J.L. Wood
2013, Zoonoses and Public Health (60) 2-21
Bats are hosts to a range of zoonotic and potentially zoonotic pathogens. Human activities that increase exposure to bats will likely increase the opportunity for infections to spill over in the future. Ecological drivers of pathogen spillover and emergence in novel hosts, including humans, involve a complex mixture of processes,...
Effects of linking a soil-water-balance model with a groundwater-flow model
Jennifer S. Stanton, Derek W. Ryter, Steven M. Peterson
2013, Ground Water Journal (51) 613-622
A previously published regional groundwater-flow model in north-central Nebraska was sequentially linked with the recently developed soil-water-balance (SWB) model to analyze effects to groundwater-flow model parameters and calibration results. The linked models provided a more detailed spatial and temporal distribution of simulated recharge based on hydrologic processes, improvement of simulated...
Using variance components to estimate power in a hierarchically nested sampling design improving monitoring of larval Devils Hole pupfish
Maria C. Dzul, Philip M. Dixon, Michael C. Quist, Stephen J. Dinsomore, Michael R. Bower, Kevin P. Wilson, D. Bailey Gaines
2013, Population Ecology (185) 405-414
We used variance components to assess allocation of sampling effort in a hierarchically nested sampling design for ongoing monitoring of early life history stages of the federally endangered Devils Hole pupfish (DHP) (Cyprinodon diabolis). Sampling design for larval DHP included surveys (5 days each spring 2007–2009), events, and plots. Each...
Coarse-scale movement patterns of a small-bodied fish inhabiting a desert stream
M.C. Dzul, M.C. Quist, S.J. Dinsmore, D.B. Gaines, M.R. Bower
2013, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (28) 27-38
Located on the floor of Death Valley (CA, USA), Salt Creek harbors a single fish species, the Salt Creek pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus salinus, which has adapted to this extremely harsh environment. Salt Creek is fed by an underground spring and is comprised of numerous pools, runs, and marshes that exhibit...
Trends and shifts in streamflow in Hawaii, 1913-2008
Maoya Bassiouni, Delwyn S. Oki
2013, Hydrological Processes (27) 1484-1500
This study addresses a need to document changes in streamflow and base flow (groundwater discharge to streams) in Hawai'i during the past century. Statistically significant long-term (1913-2008) downward trends were detected (using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test) in low-streamflow and base-flow records. These long-term downward trends are likely related to a...
