Cold-water coral distributions in the Drake Passage area from towed camera observations - Initial interpretations
Rhian G. Waller, Kathryn Scanlon Catanach, Laura F. Robinson
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the...
Wave-current interaction in Willapa Bay
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (116)
This paper describes the importance of wave-current interaction in an inlet-estuary system. The three-dimensional, fully coupled, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was applied in Willapa Bay (Washington State) from 22 to 29 October 1998 that included a large storm event. To represent the interaction between waves and currents, the...
Mapping three-dimensional surface deformation by combining multiple-aperture interferometry and conventional interferometry: Application to the June 2007 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
H.-S. Jung, Z. Lu, J.-S. Won, Michael P. Poland, Asta Mikijus
2011, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (8) 34-38
Surface deformation caused by an intrusion and small eruption during June 17-19, 2007, along the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, was three-dimensionally reconstructed from radar interferograms acquired by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) phased-array type L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (PALSAR) instrument. To retrieve the 3-D surface...
Does the "kamaroma"-plastron pattern morph occur in both Philippine subspecies of the turtle Cuora amboinensis?
C.H. Ernst, A.F. Laemmerzahl, Jeffrey E. Lovich
2011, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (124) 259-269
Two subspecies of the turtle Cuora amboinensis have been reported from the Philippine Islands, C. a. amboinensis and C. a. kamaroma, distinguished primarily by their carapace morphology, and secondarily by their plastron patterns. We assessed the utility of using shell and postorbital-stripe morphology instead of plastron patterns to distinguish these putative taxa. Adult <span...
Mineral resource of the month: indium
Amy C. Tolcin
2011, Earth (56) 27-27
Geologically, the occurrence of indium minerals is rare. The element most often occurs as a sulfide inclusion or substitutes in other base-metal minerals, including cassiterite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and stannite. Indium’s abundance in the crust is estimated to be 0.05 parts per million, which makes it more abundant than silver, but...
Comparative phylogeography of a coevolved community: Concerted population expansions in Joshua trees and four yucca moths
Christopher Irwin Smith, Shantel Tank, William Godsoe, Jim Levenick, Eva Strand, Todd C. Esque, Olle Pellmyr
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Comparative phylogeographic studies have had mixed success in identifying common phylogeographic patterns among co-distributed organisms. Whereas some have found broadly similar patterns across a diverse array of taxa, others have found that the histories of different species are more idiosyncratic than congruent. The variation in the results of comparative phylogeographic...
A hierarchical spatial framework and database for the national river fish habitat condition assessment
L. Wang, D. Infante, P. Esselman, A. Cooper, D. Wu, W. Taylor, D. Beard, G. Whelan, A. Ostroff
2011, Fisheries (36) 436-449
Fisheries management programs, such as the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP), urgently need a nationwide spatial framework and database for health assessment and policy development to protect and improve riverine systems. To meet this need, we developed a spatial framework and database using National Hydrography Dataset Plus (I-.100,000-scale); http://www.horizon-systems.com/nhdplus)....
Coelomic implantation of satellite transmitters in the bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) and the bristle-thighed curlew (Numenius tahitiensis) using propofol, bupivacaine, and lidocaine
Daniel M. Mulcahy, Brett D. Gartrell, Robert E. Gill Jr., T. Lee Tibbitts, Daniel R. Ruthrauff
2011, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (42) 54-64
Intravenous propofol was used as a general anesthetic with a 2∶1 (mg∶mg) adjunctive mixture of lidocaine and bupivacaine as local anesthetics infiltrated into the surgical sites for implantation of satellite transmitters into the right abdominal air sac of 39 female and 4 male bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri and Limosa...
The secret to successful solute-transport modeling
Leonard F. Konikow
2011, Ground Water (49) 144-159
Modeling subsurface solute transport is difficult—more so than modeling heads and flows. The classical governing equation does not always adequately represent what we see at the field scale. In such cases, commonly used numerical models are solving the wrong equation. Also, the transport equation is hyperbolic where advection is dominant,...
Earthquake impact scale
David J. Wald, K. S. Jaiswal, K. D. Marano, D. Bausch
2011, Natural Hazards Review (12) 125-139
With the advent of the USGS prompt assessment of global earthquakes for response (PAGER) system, which rapidly assesses earthquake impacts, U.S. and international earthquake responders are reconsidering their automatic alert and activation levels and response procedures. To help facilitate rapid and appropriate earthquake response, an Earthquake Impact...
New information on the braincase of the North American therizinosaurian (Theropoda, Maniraptora) Falcarius utahensis
David Smith, Lindsay E. Zanno, R. Kent Sanders, Donald D. Deblieux, James I. Kirkland
2011, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (31) 387-404
Many disarticulated bones from multiple individuals of a primitive therizinosaurian, referred to Falcarius utahensis, were found in the paucispecific Crystal Geyser bonebed in the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah. To date, more than 2000 specimens from this species have been excavated. Included in this collection are two partial...
Validating growth and development of a seabird as an indicator of food availability: Captive-reared Caspian Tern chicks fed ad libitum and restricted diets
Donald E. Lyons, Daniel D. Roby
2011, Journal of Field Ornithology (82) 88-100
For seabirds raising young under conditions of limited food availability, reducing chick provisioning and chick growth rates are the primary means available to avoid abandonment of a breeding effort. For most seabirds, however, baseline data characterizing chick growth and development under known feeding conditions are unavailable, so it is difficult...
Co-occurrence patterns of trees along macro-climatic gradients and their potential influence on the present and future distribution of Fagus sylvatica L.
E.S. Meier, Thomas C. Edwards Jr., Felix Kienast, M. Dobbertin, N.E. Zimmermann
2011, Journal of Biogeography (38) 371-382
During recent and future climate change, shifts in large-scale species ranges are expected due to the hypothesized major role of climatic factors in regulating species distributions. The stress-gradient hypothesis suggests that biotic interactions may act as major constraints on species distributions under more favourable growing conditions, while climatic constraints may...
Seasonal fecundity and source-sink status of shrub-nesting birds in a southwestern riparian corridor
L. Arriana Brand, B.R. Noon
2011, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (123) 48-58
Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) has increasingly dominated riparian floodplains relative to native forests in the southwestern U.S., but little is known about its impacts on avian productivity or population status. We monitored 86 Arizona Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii arizonae), 147 Abert's Towhee (Melozone aberti), and 154 Yellow-breasted Chat (<span...
Compensatory effects of recruitment and survival when amphibian populations are perturbed by disease
E. Muths, R. D. Scherer, D. S. Pilliod
2011, Journal of Applied Ecology (48) 873-879
The need to increase our understanding of factors that regulate animal population dynamics has been catalysed by recent, observed declines in wildlife populations worldwide. Reliable estimates of demographic parameters are critical for addressing basic and applied ecological questions and understanding the response of parameters to perturbations (e.g. disease, habitat loss,...
Horizontal movements of Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) in the Gulf of Mexico
Richard T. Kraus, R.J.D. Wells, J.R. Rooker
2011, Marine Biology (158) 699-713
We examined movements of Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) from the Gulf of Mexico based upon 42 pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags. Long deployments (including one 334-day track) revealed diverse movement patterns within the Gulf of Mexico. North–south seasonal changes in blue marlin distribution showed strong correspondence with established seasonal...
Estimating detection and density of the Andean cat in the high Andes
Juan Reppucci, Beth Gardner, Mauro Lucherini
2011, Journal of Mammalogy (92) 140-147
The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) is one of the most endangered, yet least known, felids. Although the Andean cat is considered at risk of extinction, rigorous quantitative population studies are lacking. Because physical observations of the Andean cat are difficult to make in the wild, we used a camera-trapping array...
Challenges in identifying sites climatically matched to the native ranges of animal invaders
G.H. Rodda, C. S. Jarnevich, R.N. Reed
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Background: Species distribution models are often used to characterize a species' native range climate, so as to identify sites elsewhere in the world that may be climatically similar and therefore at risk of invasion by the species. This endeavor provoked intense public controversy over recent attempts to model areas at...
Rapid diagnosis of avian influenza virus in wild birds: Use of a portable rRT-PCR and freeze-dried reagents in the field
John Y. Takekawa, N.J. Hill, A.K. Schultz, S. A. Iverson, C.J. Cardona, W.M. Boyce, J.P. Dudley
2011, Journal of Visualized Experiments (54)
Wild birds have been implicated in the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the H5N1 subtype, prompting surveillance along migratory flyways. Sampling of wild birds for avian influenza virus (AIV) is often conducted in remote regions, but results are often delayed because of the need to transport samples...
Efficacy of monitoring and empirical predictive modeling at improving public health protection at Chicago beaches
Meredith B. Nevers, Richard L. Whitman
2011, Water Research (45) 1659-1668
Efforts to improve public health protection in recreational swimming waters have focused on obtaining real-time estimates of water quality. Current monitoring techniques rely on the time-intensive culturing of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) from water samples, but rapidly changing FIB concentrations result in management errors that lead to the public being...
Pigeonholing pyroclasts: Insights from the 19 March 2008 explosive eruption of Kīlauea volcano
Bruce F. Houghton, Don Swanson, R.J. Carey, J. Rausch, Andrew Sutton
2011, Geology (39) 263-266
We think, conventionally, of volcanic explosive eruptions as being triggered in one of two ways: by release and expansion of volatiles dissolved in the ejected magma (magmatic explosions) or by transfer of heat from magma into an external source of water (phreatic or phreatomagmatic explosions). We document here an event...
Assessing water quality suitability for shortnose sturgeon in the Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA with an in situ bioassay approach
W.G. Cope, F.M. Holliman, T.J. Kwak, N.C. Oakley, P.R. Lazaro, D. Shea, T. Augspurger, J.M. Law, J.P. Henne, K.M. Ware
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 1-12
The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of water quality in the Roanoke River of North Carolina for supporting shortnose sturgeon Acipenser brevirostrum, an endangered species in the United States. Fathead minnows Pimephales promelas were also evaluated alongside the sturgeon as a comparative species to measure potential...
The formation of illite from nontronite by mesophilic and thermophilic bacterial reaction
Deb P. Jaisi, Dennis D. Eberl, Hailiang Dong, Jinwook Kim
2011, Clays and Clay Minerals (59) 21-33
The formation of illite through the smectite-to-illite (S-I) reaction is considered to be one of the most important mineral reactions occurring during diagenesis. In biologically catalyzed systems, however, this transformation has been suggested to be rapid and to bypass the high temperature and long time requirements. To understand the factors...
Pore fluid geochemistry from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope
M.E. Torres, Timothy S. Collett, K.K. Rose, J.C. Sample, Warren F. Agena, E.J. Rosenbaum
2011, Marine and Petroleum Geology (28) 332-342
The BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well was drilled and cored from 606.5 to 760.1 m on the North Slope of Alaska, to evaluate the occurrence, distribution and formation of gas hydrate in sediments below the base of the ice-bearing permafrost. Both the dissolved chloride and the isotopic composition...
Position of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and timing of the end-Triassic extinctions on land: Data from the Moenave Formation on the southern Colorado Plateau, USA
S. G. Lucas, L.H. Tanner, L. Donohoo-Hurley, J. W. Geissman, H. W. Kozur, A.B. Heckert, Robert E. Weems
2011, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (302) 194-205
Strata of the Moenave Formation on and adjacent to the southern Colorado Plateau in Utah–Arizona, U.S.A., represent one of the best known and most stratigraphically continuous, complete and fossiliferous terrestrial sections across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. We present a synthesis of new biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data collected from across the Moenave...
