Genetic applications in avian conservation
Susan M. Haig, Whitcomb M. Bronaugh, Rachel S. Crowhurst, Jesse D'Elia, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Clinton W. Epps, Brian Knaus, Mark P. Miller, Michael L. Moses, Sara Oyler-McCance, W. Douglas Robinson, Brian Sidlauskas
2011, The Auk (128) 205-229
A fundamental need in conserving species and their habitats is defining distinct entities that range from individuals to species to ecosystems and beyond (Table 1; Ryder 1986, Moritz 1994, Mayden and Wood 1995, Haig and Avise 1996, Hazevoet 1996, Palumbi and Cipriano 1998, Hebert et al. 2004, Mace 2004, Wheeler...
Factors affecting fuel break effectiveness in the control of large fires on the Los Padres National Forest, California
Alexandra D. Syphard, Jon E. Keeley, Teresa J. Brennan
2011, International Journal of Wildland Fire (20) 764-775
As wildfires have increased in frequency and extent, so have the number of homes developed in the wildland-urban interface. In California, the predominant approach to mitigating fire risk is construction of fuel breaks, but there has been little empirical study of their role in controlling large fires.We constructed a spatial...
Patterns in young-of-year smallmouth bass microhabitat use in multiple stream segments with contrasting land uses
Shannon K. Brewer
2011, Fisheries Management and Ecology (18) 506-512
Young-of-the-year (YOY) smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu Lacepede, were evaluated in streams from eight catchments with two contrasting land uses to determine their use of microhabitats under a variety of stream conditions. Step-wise discriminant function analyses revealed patterns of habitat use by discriminating used from available microhabitat conditions. Velocity was significant...
Defining conservation priorities for freshwater fishes according to taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity
Angela L. Strecker, Julian D. Olden, Joanna B. Whittier, Craig P. Paukert
2011, Ecological Applications (21) 3002-3013
To date, the predominant use of systematic conservation planning has been to evaluate and conserve areas of high terrestrial biodiversity. Although studies in freshwater ecosystems have received recent attention, research has rarely considered the potential trade-offs between protecting different dimensions of biodiversity and the ecological processes that maintain diversity. We...
Assessment of a recombinant F1-V fusion protein vaccine intended to protect Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) from plague
Lisa L. Wolfe, Tanya M. Shenk, Bradford Powell, Tonie E. Rocke
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 888-892
As part of an ongoing restoration program in Colorado, USA, we evaluated adverse reactions and seroconversion in captive Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) after vaccination with a recombinant F1-V fusion protein vaccine against Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague. Ten adult female lynx received the F1-V vaccine; 10 source- and...
Spatial scaling of core and dominant forest cover in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River floodplains, USA
Nathan R. De Jager, Jason J. Rohweder
2011, Landscape Ecology (26) 697-708
Different organisms respond to spatial structure in different terms and across different spatial scales. As a consequence, efforts to reverse habitat loss and fragmentation through strategic habitat restoration ought to account for the different habitat density and scale requirements of various taxonomic groups. Here, we estimated the local density of...
Utah's geologic and geomorphic analogs to Mars—An overview for planetary exploration
Marjorie A. Chan, Kathleen Nicoll, Jens Ormö, Chris Okubo, Goro Komatsu
2011, Book chapter, Analogs for Planetary Exploration
Utah offers spectacular geologic features and valuable analog environments and processes for Mars studies. Horizontal strata of the Colorado Plateau are analogous to Mars because the overprint of plate tectonics is minimal, yet the effects of strong ground motion from earthquakes or impacts are preserved in the sedimentary record. The...
An ecosystem level approach for developing an environmental monitoring program for the US/Mexico Border Region
Pamela L. Nagler, W. Lackner, M. Sturm, R. Castillo-Gamez, G. Ceballos
C. A, de la Parra, A. Cordova, E. Peters, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, The border wall: Venues, mechanisms and stakeholders for a constructive dialogue between the United States and Mexico
No abstract available....
Spatial patterns of mercury in macroinvertebrates and fishes from streams of contrasting forested landscapes in the eastern United States
Karen Riva-Murray, Lia C. Chasar, Paul M. Bradley, Douglas A. Burns, Mark E. Brigham, Martyn J. Smith, Thomas A. Abrahamsen
2011, Ecotoxicology (20) 1530-1542
Controls on mercury bioaccumulation in lotic ecosystems are not well understood. During 2007–2009, we studied mercury and stable isotope spatial patterns of macroinvertebrates and fishes from two medium-sized (2) forested basins in contrasting settings. Samples were collected seasonally from multiple sites across the Fishing Brook basin (FBNY), in New...
Quantifying the hydrological responses to climate change in an intact forested small watershed in southern China
Guo-Yi Zhou, Xiaohua Wei, Yiping Wu, Shu-Guang Liu, Yuhui Huang, Junhua Yan, Deqiang Zhang, Qianmei Zhang, Juxiu Liu, Ze Meng, Chunlin Wang, Guowei Chu, Shizhong Liu, Xu-Li Tang, Xiaodong Liu
2011, Global Change Biology (17) 3736-3746
Responses of hydrological processes to climate change are key components in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment. Understanding these responses is critical for developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies for sustainable water resources management and protection of public safety. However, these responses are not well understood and little...
Northern goshawk monitoring in the western Great Lakes bioregion
Jason E. Bruggeman, David E. Andersen, James E. Woodford
2011, Journal of Raptor Research (45) 290-303
Uncertainties about factors affecting Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) ecology and the status of populations have added to the challenge of managing this species. To address data needs for determining the status of goshawk populations, Hargis and Woodbridge (2006) developed a bioregional monitoring protocol based on estimating occupancy. The...
Short-term response of subadult white sturgeon to hopper dredge disposal operations
Michael J. Parsley, Nicholas D. Popoff, Jason G. Romine
2011, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (31) 1-11
The effect of dredged-material disposal operations on the behavior of seven white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus (50–101 cm fork length) was examined by analysis of the movements and depth use of these fish before, during, and after a series of hopper dredge disposal operations in the lower Columbia River. Analyses of fish locations...
Spatial patch occupancy patterns of the Lower Keys marsh rabbit
Mitchell J. Eaton, Phillip T. Hughes, James D. Nichols, Anne Morkill, Chad Anderson
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 1186-1193
Reliable estimates of presence or absence of a species can provide substantial information on management questions related to distribution and habitat use but should incorporate the probability of detection to reduce bias. We surveyed for the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) in habitat patches on 5 Florida...
Seroprevalence of West Nile Virus in feral horses on Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, United States
J. Christian Franson, Erik K. Hofmeister, Gail H. Collins, Robert J. Dusek
2011, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (84) 637-640
We screened 1,397 feral horses (Equus caballus) on Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, United States, for IgM and IgG against flavivirus during 2004–2006, 2008, and 2009. Positive serum samples were tested for neutralizing antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV) and St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV). One animal was positive for...
Oil detection in a coastal marsh with polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala, Yukihiro Suzuoki, Cathleen E. Jones
2011, Remote Sensing (3) 2630-2662
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's airborne Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) was deployed in June 2010 in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. UAVSAR is a fully polarimetric L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensor for obtaining data at high spatial resolutions....
Sea-level rise and landscape change influence mangrove encroachment onto marsh in the Ten Thousand Islands region of Florida, USA
Ken W. Krauss, Andrew S. From, Thomas W. Doyle, Terry J. Doyle, Michael J. Barry
2011, Journal of Coastal Conservation (15) 629-638
The Ten Thousand Islands region of southwestern Florida, USA is a major feeding and resting destination for breeding, migrating, and wintering birds. Many species of waterbirds rely specifically on marshes as foraging habitat, making mangrove encroachment a concern for wildlife managers. With the alteration of freshwater flow and sea-level rise...
An adaptive decision framework for the conservation of a threatened plant
Clinton T. Moore, Christopher J. Fonnesbeck, Katriona Shea, Kristopher J. Lah, Paul M. McKenzie, Lianne C. Ball, Michael C. Runge, Helen M. Alexander
2011, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (2) 247-261
Mead's milkweed Asclepias meadii, a long-lived perennial herb of tallgrass prairie and glade communities of the central United States, is a species designated as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Challenges to its successful management include the facts that much about its life history is unknown, its age at...
Modelling community dynamics based on species-level abundance models from detection/nondetection data
Yuichi Yamaura, J. Andrew Royle, Kouji Kuboi, Tsuneo Tada, Susumu Ikeno, Shun’ichi Makino
2011, Journal of Applied Ecology (48) 67-75
1. In large‐scale field surveys, a binary recording of each species’ detection or nondetection has been increasingly adopted for its simplicity and low cost. Because of the importance of abundance in many studies, it is desirable to obtain inferences about abundance at species‐, functional group‐, and community‐levels from such binary data.2. We...
Interspecies transmission and limited persistence of low pathogenic avian influenza genomes among Alaska dabbling ducks
Andrew B. Reeves, John M. Pearce, Andrew M. Ramey, Brandt W. Meixell, Jonathan A. Runstadler
2011, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (11) 2004-2010
The reassortment and geographic distribution of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus genes are well documented, but little is known about the persistence of intact LPAI genomes among species and locations. To examine persistence of entire LPAI genome constellations in Alaska, we calculated the genetic identities among 161 full-genome LPAI...
Comparing isotope signatures of prey fish: does gut removal affect δ13C or δ15N?
Steven R. Chipps, Mark J. Fincel, Justin A. VanDeHey, Andrew Wuestewald
2011, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (27) 55-62
Stable isotope analysis is a quick and inexpensive method to monitor the effects of food web changes on aquatic communities. Traditionally, whole specimens have been used when determining isotope composition of prey fish or age-0 recreational fishes. However, gut contents of prey fish could potentially alter isotope composition of the...
Comparison of visual-based helicopter and fixed-wing forward-looking infrared surveys for counting white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus
Daniel J. Storm, Michael D. Samuel, Timothy R. Van Deelen, Karl D. Malcolm, Robert E. Rolley, Nancy A. Frost, Donald P. Bates, Bryan J. Richards
2011, Wildlife Biology (17) 431-440
Aerial surveys using direct counts of animals are commonly used to estimate deer abundance. Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) technology is increasingly replacing traditional methods such as visual observation from helicopters. Our goals were to compare fixed-wing FLIR and visual, helicopter-based counts in terms of relative bias, influence of snow cover and...
Value of a dual-polarized gap-filling radar in support of southern California post-fire debris-flow warnings
David P. Jorgensen, Maiana N. Hanshaw, Kevin M. Schmidt, Jayme L. Laber, Dennis M. Staley, Jason W. Kean, Pedro J. Restrepo
2011, Journal of Hydrometeorology (12) 1581-1595
A portable truck-mounted C-band Doppler weather radar was deployed to observe rainfall over the Station Fire burn area near Los Angeles, California, during the winter of 2009/10 to assist with debris-flow warning decisions. The deployments were a component of a joint NOAA–U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research effort to improve definition...
Spatial and seasonal variability of dissolved methylmercury in two stream basins in the Eastern United States
Paul M. Bradley, Douglas A. Burns, Karen Riva-Murray, Mark E. Brigham, Daniel T. Button, Lia C. Chasar, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark A. Lowery, Celeste A. Journey
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 2048-2055
We assessed methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations across multiple ecological scales in the Edisto (South Carolina) and Upper Hudson (New York) River basins. Out-of-channel wetland/floodplain environments were primary sources of filtered MeHg (F-MeHg) to the stream habitat in both systems. Shallow, open-water areas in both basins exhibited low F-MeHg concentrations and decreasing...
Aquaculture drugs: drug approval research on 17 a-methyltestosterone (official transfer to 17 a-Methyltestosterone (MT) analytical method for feed)
Mark Gaikowski, Nilmini Wijewickreme
2011, Report
Genetic variation in westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchusclarkii lewisi: implications for conservation
Daniel P. Drinan, Steven T. Kalinowski, Ninh V. Vu, Bradley B. Shepard, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew R. Campbell
2011, Conservation Genetics (12) 1513-1523
Twenty-five populations of westslope cutthroat trout from throughout their native range were genotyped at 20 microsatellite loci to describe the genetic structure of westslope cutthroat trout. The most genetic diversity (heterozygosity, allelic richness, and private alleles) existed in populations from the Snake River drainage, while populations from the Missouri River...
