High tsunami frequency as a result of combined strike-slip faulting and coastal landslides
Matthew J. Hornbach, Nicole Braudy, Richard W. Briggs, Marie-Helene Cormier, Marcy B. Davis, John B. Diebold, Nicole Dieudonne, Roby Douilly, Cliff Frohlich, Sean P.S. Gulick, Harold E. Johnson III, Paul Mann, Cecilia McHugh, Katherine Ryan-Mishkin, Carol S. Prentice, Leonardo Seeber, Christopher C. Sorlien, Michael S. Steckler, Steeve Julien Symithe, Frederick W. Taylor, John Templeton
2010, Nature Geoscience (3) 783-788
Earthquakes on strike-slip faults can produce devastating natural hazards. However, because they consist predominantly of lateral motion, these faults are rarely associated with significant uplift or tsunami generation. And although submarine slides can generate tsunami, only a few per cent of all tsunami are believed to be triggered in this...
Habitat suitability and conservation of the giant gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas) in the Sacramento Valley of California
Brian J. Halstead, Glenn D. Wylie, Michael L. Casazza
2010, Copeia (2010) 591-599
Resource managers often have little information regarding the habitat requirements and distribution of rare species. Factor analysis-based habitat suitability models describe the ecological niche of a species and identify locations where these conditions occur on the landscape using existing occurrence data.We used factor analyses to assess the suitability of habitats...
Divergent movements of walrus and sea ice in the northern Bering Sea
Chadwick V. Jay, Mark S. Udevitz, Ron Kwok, Anthony S. Fischbach, David C. Douglas
2010, Marine Ecology Progress Series (407) 293-302
The Pacific walrus Odobenus rosmarus divergens is a large Arctic pinniped of the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Reductions of sea ice projected to occur in the Arctic by mid-century raise concerns for conservation of the Pacific walrus. To understand the significance of sea ice loss to the viability of walruses,...
Assessment of PDMS-water partition coefficients: implications for passive environmental sampling of hydrophobic organic compounds
Erica L. DiFilippo, Robert P. Eganhouse
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 6917-6925
Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has shown potential as an in situ passive-sampling technique in aquatic environments. The reliability of this method depends upon accurate determination of the partition coefficient between the fiber coating and water (Kf). For some hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs), Kf values spanning 4 orders of magnitude have been...
Assessing transportation infrastructure impacts on rangelands: test of a standard rangeland assessment protocol
Michael C. Duniway, Jeffrey E. Herrick, David A. Pyke, David Toledo
2010, Rangeland Ecology and Management (63) 524-536
Linear disturbances associated with on- and off-road vehicle use on rangelands has increased dramatically throughout the world in recent decades. This increase is due to a variety of factors including increased availability of all-terrain vehicles, infrastructure development (oil, gas, renewable energy, and ex-urban), and recreational activities. In addition to the...
Distribution patterns of wintering sea ducks in relation to the North Atlantic Oscillation and local environmental characteristics
Elise F. Zipkin, Beth Gardner, Andrew T. Gilbert, Allan F. O’Connell, J. Andrew Royle, Emily D. Silverman
2010, Oecologia (163) 893-902
Twelve species of North American sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) winter off the eastern coast of the United States and Canada. Yet, despite their seasonal proximity to urbanized areas in this region, there is limited information on patterns of wintering sea duck habitat use. It is difficult to gather information on...
Are mangroves in the tropical Atlantic ripe for invasion? Exotic mangrove trees in the forests of South Florida
James W. Fourqurean, Thomas J. Smith III, Jennifer Possley, Timothy M. Collins, David Lee, Sandra Namoff
2010, Biological Invasions (12) 2509-2522
Two species of mangrove trees of Indo-Pacific origin have naturalized in tropical Atlantic mangrove forests in South Florida after they were planted and nurtured in botanic gardens. Two Bruguiera gymnorrhiza trees that were planted in the intertidal zone in 1940 have given rise to a population of at least 86...
Arsenic management through well modification and simulation
Keith J. Halford, Christina L. Stamos, Tracy Nishikawa, Peter Martin
2010, Ground Water (48) 526-537
Arsenic concentrations can be managed with a relatively simple strategy of grouting instead of completely destroying a selected interval of well. The strategy of selective grouting was investigated in Antelope Valley, California, where groundwater supplies most of the water demand. Naturally occurring arsenic typically exceeds concentrations of 10 (mu or...
At the foot of the shrew: Manus morphology distinguishes closely-related Cryptotis goodwini and Cryptotis griseoventris (Mammalia: Soricidae) in Central America
Neal Woodman, Ryan B. Stephens
2010, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (99) 118-134
Small-eared shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae) of the New World genus Cryptotis are distributed from eastern North America to the northern Andes of South America. One well-defined clade in this genus is the Central American Cryptotis mexicana group, whose members are set off from other species in the genus by their variably...
Ants as a measure of effectiveness of habitat conservation planning in southern California
Milan J. Mitrovich, Tritia Matsuda, Krista H. Pease, Robert N. Fisher
2010, Conservation Biology (24) 1239-1248
In the United States multispecies habitat conservation plans were meant to be the solution to conflicts between economic development and protection of biological diversity. Although now widely applied, questions exist concerning the scientific credibility of the conservation planning process and effectiveness of the plans. We used ants to assess performance...
Guiding concepts for park and wilderness stewardship in an era of global environmental change
Richard J. Hobbs, David N. Cole, Laurie Yung, Erika S. Zavaleta, Gregory H. Aplet, F. Stuart Chapin III, Peter B. Landres, David J. Parsons, Nathan L. Stephenson, Peter S. White, David M. Graber, Eric S. Higgs, Constance I. Millar, John M. Randall, Kathy A. Tonnessen, Stephen Woodley
2010, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (8) 483-490
The major challenge to stewardship of protected areas is to decide where, when, and how to intervene in physical and biological processes, to conserve what we value in these places. To make such decisions, planners and managers must articulate more clearly the purposes of parks, what is valued, and what...
Geomorphic response of sandbars to the March 2008 high-flow experiment on the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam
Paul E. Grams, Joseph E. Hazel Jr., John C. Schmidt, Matt Kaplinski, Scott Wright, David J. Topping, Theodore S. Melis
2010, Book, Proceedings of the 2nd Joint Federal Interagency Conference on Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling
The completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 drastically altered the downstream flow regime and resulted in more than a 90 percent reduction of sand supply to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. Sandbars that were maintained by annual floods and a large sediment supply are now fewer...
An empirical test of the 'shark nursery area concept' in Texas bays using a long-term fisheries-independent data set
John T. Froeschke, Gregory W. Stunz, Blair Sterba-Boatwright, Mark L. Wildhaber
2010, Aquatic Biology (11) 65-76
Using a long-term fisheries-independent data set, we tested the 'shark nursery area concept' proposed by Heupel et al. (2007) with the suggested working assumptions that a shark nursery habitat would: (1) have an abundance of immature sharks greater than the mean abundance across all habitats where they occur; (2) be...
Global positioning system and associated technologies in animal behaviour and ecological research
Stanley M. Tomkiewicz, Mark R. Fuller, John G. Kie, Kirk K. Bates
2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (365) 2163-2176
Biologists can equip animals with global positioning system (GPS) technology to obtain accurate (less than or equal to 30 m) locations that can be combined with sensor data to study animal behaviour and ecology. We provide the background of GPS techniques that have been used to gather data for wildlife...
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...
Distribution and interplay of geologic processes on Titan from Cassini radar data
R. M. C. Lopes, E. R. Stofan, R. Peckyno, J. Radebaugh, K. L. Mitchell, Giuseppe Mitri, C. A. Wood, R. L. Kirk, S. D. Wall, J. I. Lunine, A. Hayes, R. Lorenz, Tom Farr, L. Wye, J. Craig, R. J. Ollerenshaw, M. Janssen, A. LeGall, F. Paganelli, R. West, B. Stiles, P. Callahan, Y. Anderson, P. Valora, L. Soderblom
2010, Icarus (205) 540-558
The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper is providing an unprecedented view of Titan’s surface geology. Here we use Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image swaths (Ta–T30) obtained from October 2004 to December 2007 to infer the geologic processes that have shaped Titan’s surface. These SAR swaths cover about 20% of the surface,...
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...
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...
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...
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 T. 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...
