Geographic variation in the plumage coloration of willow flycatchers Empidonax traillii
Eben H. Paxton, Mark K. Sogge, Thomas J. Koronkiewicz, Mary Anne McLeod, Tad C. Theimer
2010, Journal of Avian Biology (41) 128-138
The ability to identify distinct taxonomic groups of birds (species, subspecies, geographic races) can advance ecological research efforts by determining connectivity between the non-breeding and breeding grounds for migrant species, identifying the origin of migrants, and helping to refine boundaries between subspecies or geographic races. Multiple methods are available to...
Genetic introgression and the survival of Florida panther kittens
J. A. Hostetler, David P. Onorato, James D. Nichols, Warren E. Johnson, Melody E. Roelke, Stephen J. O’Brien, Deborah Jansen, Madan K. Oli
2010, Biological Conservation (143) 2789-2796
Estimates of survival for the young of a species are critical for population models. These models can often be improved by determining the effects of management actions and population abundance on this demographic parameter. We used multiple sources of data collected during 1982–2008 and a live-recapture dead-recovery modeling framework to...
Direct and indirect effects of climate change on amphibian populations
Andrew R. Blaustein, Susan C. Walls, Betsy A. Bancroft, Joshua J. Lawler, Catherine L. Searle, Stephanie S. Gervasi
2010, Diversity (2) 281-313
As part of an overall decline in biodiversity, populations of many organisms are declining and species are being lost at unprecedented rates around the world. This includes many populations and species of amphibians. Although numerous factors are affecting amphibian populations, we show potential direct and indirect effects of climate change...
Developmental changes in serum androgen levels of Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio)
Corinne P. Kozlowski, D. Caldwell Hahn
2010, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (122) 755-761
We studied androgen production during development in nestling Eastern Screech-Owls (Megascops asio) and hypothesized that gender and hatch order might influence serum levels of testosterone and androstenedione. Testosterone levels were highest immediately after hatching and declined significantly in the 4 weeks leading to fledging. The average level of testosterone for...
Development and characterization of 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci in the faucet snail, Bithynia tentaculata (Gastroposa: Caenogastropoda; Bithyniidae)
Justin P. Henningsen, Stacey L. Lance, Kenneth L. Jones, Chris Hagen, Joshua Laurila, Rebecca A. Cole, Kathryn E. Perez
2010, Conservation Genetics Resources (2) 247-250
Bithynia tentaculata (Linnaeus, 1758), a snail native to Europe, was introduced into the US Great Lakes in the 1870's and has spread to rivers throughout the Northeastern US and Upper Mississippi River (UMR). Trematode parasites, for which B. tentaculata is a host, have also been introduced and are causing widespread...
Developing an ecosystem services online decision support tool to assess the impacts of climate change and urban growth in the Santa Cruz watershed: Where we live, work, and play
Laura M. Norman, Nita Tallent-Halsell, William Labiosa, Matt Weber, Amy McCoy, Katie Hirschboeck, James B. Callegary, Charles van Riper III, Floyd Gray
2010, Sustainability (2) 2044-2069
Using respective strengths of the biological, physical, and social sciences, we are developing an online decision support tool, the Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SCWEPM), to help promote the use of information relevant to water allocation and land management in a binational watershed along the U.S.-Mexico border. The SCWEPM...
GPS tracking devices reveal foraging strategies of black-legged kittiwakes
Jana Kotzerka, Stefan Garthe, Scott A. Hatch
2010, Journal of Ornithology (151) 459-467
The Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla is the most abundant gull species in the world, but some populations have declined in recent years, apparently due to food shortage. Kittiwakes are surface feeders and thus can compensate for low food availability only by increasing their foraging range and/or devoting more time to...
An empirical model for global earthquake fatality estimation
Kishor Jaiswal, David Wald
2010, Earthquake Spectra (26) 1017-1037
We analyzed mortality rates of earthquakes worldwide and developed a country/region-specific empirical model for earthquake fatality estimation within the U.S. Geological Survey's Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. The earthquake fatality rate is defined as total killed divided by total population exposed at specific shaking intensity level....
Demographic studies of Joshua trees in Mojave Desert National Parks: demography with emphasis on germination and recruitment
T. C. Esque, B. Reynolds, L.A. DeFalco, B.A. Waitman
Debra Hughson, editor(s)
2010, Science Newsletter 9-12
The study of population change with regard to reproduction, seed dispersal, and germination, establishment, growth, and survival/mortality is known as demography. Demographic studies provide managers with information to assess future trends on the density, distribution, health, and population changes of importance or value, including Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia). Demographic research...
Conservation planning for imperiled aquatic species in an urbanizing environment
Seth J. Wenger, Mary Freeman, Laurie A. Fowler, Byron J. Freeman, James Peterson
2010, Landscape and Urban Planning (97) 11-21
As the global area devoted to urban uses grows, an increasing number of freshwater species will face imperilment due to urbanization effects. Management of these impacts on both private and public lands is necessary to ensure species persistence. Such management entails several hallenges: (1) development of a management policy appropriate...
Aggressive interactions between the invasive Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus) and native bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), with notes on redspotted sunfish (Lepomis miniatus)
O. Thomas Lorenz, Martin T. O’ Connell, Pamela J. Schofield
2010, Journal of Ethology (29) 39-46
The Rio Grande cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus) has been established in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area for at least 20 years, and its effect on native fishes is unknown. Behavioral trials were performed to determine if aggressive interactions occur between invasive H. cyanoguttatus and native bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus). When defending...
Acute toxicity of diphacinone in Northern bobwhite: Effects on survival and blood clotting
Barnett A. Rattner, Katherine E. Horak, Sarah E. Warner, John J. Johnston
2010, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (73) 1159-1164
The anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone was slightly toxic (acute oral LD50 2014 mg/kg) to Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in a 14-day acute toxicity trial. Precise and sensitive assays of blood clotting (prothrombin time, Russell’s Viper venom time, and thrombin clotting time) were adapted for use in quail, and this combination of assays is recommended to measure the effects...
Decadal trends in marine reserves reveal differential rates of change in direct and indirect effects
R.C. Babcock, N.T. Shears, A.C. Alcala, N.S. Barrett, G.J. Edgar, K. D. Lafferty, T.R. McClanahan, G.R. Russ
2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (107) 18256-18261
Decadal-scale observations of marine reserves suggest that indirect effects on taxa that occur through cascading trophic interactions take longer to develop than direct effects on target species. Combining and analyzing a unique set of long-term time series of ecologic data in and out of fisheries closures from disparate regions, we...
Contribution of PAHs from coal-tar pavement sealcoat and other sources to 40 U.S. lakes
Peter C. Van Metre, Barbara Mahler
2010, Science of the Total Environment (409) 334-344
Contamination of urban lakes and streams by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has increased in the United States during the past 40 years. We evaluated sources of PAHs in post-1990 sediments in cores from 40 lakes in urban areas across the United States using a contaminant mass-balance receptor model and including...
Correlating seabird movements with ocean winds: linking satellite telemetry with ocean scatterometry.
Josh Adams, Stephanie Flora
2010, Marine Biology (157) 915-929
Satellite telemetry studies of the movements of seabirds are now common and have revealed impressive flight capabilities and extensive distributions among individuals and species at sea. Linking seabird movements with environmental conditions over vast expanses of the world's open ocean, however, remains difficult. Seabirds of the order Procellariiformes (e.g., petrels,...
Absorption and biotransformation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers DE-71 and DE-79 in chicken (Gallus gallus), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), American kestrel (Falco sparverius) and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs
Moira A. McKernan, Barnett A. Rattner, Jeff S. Hatfield, Robert C. Hale, Mary Ann Ottinger
2010, Chemosphere (79) 100-109
We recently reported that air cell administration of penta-brominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE; DE-71) evokes biochemical and immunologic effects in chicken (Gallus gallus) embryos at very low doses, and impairs pipping (i.e., stage immediately prior to hatching) and hatching success at 1.8 ug g-1 egg (actual dose absorbed) in American kestrels...
Archive of Sediment Data Collected around the Chandeleur Islands and Breton Island in 2007 and 1987 (Vibracore Surveys: 07SCC04, 07SCC05, and 87039)
C.A. Dreher, J. G. Flocks, M.A. Kulp, N.F. Ferina
2010, Data Series 542
In 2006 and 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and collaborators at the University of New Orleans (UNO) collected high-resolution seismic profiles and subsurface cores around the Chandeleur and Breton Islands, Louisiana (Study Area Map). To ground-truth the acoustic seismic surveys conducted in 2006, 124 vibracores were acquired during...
Comparative toxicity of diphacinone to northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
Barnett A. Rattner, Katherine E. Horak, Sarah E. Warner, Daniel D. Day, John J. Johnston
2010, Book
The acute oral toxicity of the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone was found to be about 20 times greater to American kestrels (LD50=97 mg/kg) than to northern bobwhite (LD50=2,014 mg/kg). Several precise and sensitive clotting assays (prothrombin time, Russell's Viper venom time, thrombin clotting time) were adapted for use in these species,...
Comment on "Near-surface location, geometry, and velocities of the Santa Monica fault zone, Los Angeles, California"
Thomas L. Pratt, James F. Dolan
2010, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (100) 2329-2337
No abstract available. ...
Climate change effects on an endemic-rich edaphic flora: resurveying Robert H. Whittaker's Siskiyou sites (Oregon, USA)
Ellen Ingman Damschen, Susan Harrison, James B. Grace
2010, Ecology (91) 3609-3619
Species with relatively narrow niches, such as plants restricted (endemic) to particular soils, may be especially vulnerable to extinction under a changing climate due to the enhanced difficulty they face in migrating to suitable new sites. To test for community-level effects of climate change, and to compare such effects in...
Chronic toxicity of diphenhydramine hydrochloride and erythromycin thiocyanate to Daphnia, Daphnia magna, in a continuous exposure test system
J.R. Meinertz, Theresa M. Schreier, J.A. Bernardy, J.L. Franz
2010, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (85) 447-451
Diphenhydramine hydrochloride (DH; Benadryl TM, an over-the-counter antihistamine) and erythromycin thiocyanate (ET; a commonly used macrolide antibiotic) are pharmaceutical compounds whose chronic toxicity to Daphnia magna had not been characterized. Continuous exposure to DH concentrations about 5 times greater than the maximum reported environmental concentration of 0.023 lg/L for 21...
Characterization of highly informative cross-species microsatellite panels for the Australian dugong (Dugong dugon) and Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) including five novel primers
Margaret Kellogg Hunter, Damien Broderick, Jennifer R. Ovenden, Kimberly Pause Tucker, Robert K. Bonde, Peter M. McGuire, Janet M. Lanyon
2010, Molecular Ecology Resources (10) 368-377
The Australian dugong (Dugong dugon) and Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) are threatened species of aquatic mammals in the order Sirenia. Sirenian conservation and management actions would benefit from a more complete understanding of genetic diversity and population structure. Generally, species-specific microsatellite markers are employed in conservation genetic studies; however,...
Changes in the status of harvested rice fields in the Sacramento Valley, California: Implications for wintering waterfowl.
Michael R. Miller, Jay D. Garr, Peter S. Coates
2010, Wetlands (30) 939-947
Harvested rice fields provide critical foraging habitat for wintering waterfowl in North America, but their value depends upon post-harvest treatments. We visited harvested ricefields in the Sacramento Valley, California, during the winters of 2007 and 2008 (recent period) and recorded their observed status as harvested (standing or mechanically modified stubble),...
Changes in the timing of snowmelt and streamflow in Colorado: A response to recent warming
David W. Clow
2010, Journal of Climate (23) 2293-2306
Trends in the timing of snowmelt and associated runoff in Colorado were evaluated for the 1978-2007 water years using the regional Kendall test (RKT) on daily snow-water equivalent (SWE) data from snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) sites and daily streamflow data from headwater streams. The RKT is a robust, nonparametric test that...
Challenges and opportunities for integrating lake ecosystem modelling approaches
Wolf M. Mooij, Dennis Trolle, Erik Jeppesen, George Arhonditsis, Pavel V. Belolipetsky, Deonatus B.R. Chitamwebwa, Andrey G. Degermendzhy, Donald L. DeAngelis, Lisette N. De Senerpont Domis, Andrea S. Downing, J. Alex Elliott, Carlos Ruberto Fragoso Jr., Ursula Gaedke, Svetlana N. Genova, Ramesh D. Gulati, Lars Hakanson, David P. Hamilton, Matthew R. Hipsey, Jochem ’t Hoen, Stephan Hulsmann, F. Hans Los, Vardit Makler-Pick, Thomas Petzoldt, Igor G. Prokopkin, Karsten Rinke, Sebastiaan A. Schep, Koji Tominaga, Anne A. Van Dam, Egbert H. Van Nes, Scott A. Wells, Jan H. Janse
2010, Aquatic Ecology (44) 633-667
A large number and wide variety of lake ecosystem models have been developed and published during the past four decades. We identify two challenges for making further progress in this field. One such challenge is to avoid developing more models largely following the concept of others (‘reinventing the wheel’). The...
