A new remote sensing-based Carbon Sequestration Potential Index (CSPI): A tool to support land carbon management
Adrian Pascual, Christian P. Giardina, Paul C. Selmants, Leah J Laramee, Gregory P. Asner
2021, Forest Ecology and Management (494)
Integrating remote sensing into assessments of carbon stocks and fluxes has advanced our understanding of how global change affects landscapes and our capacity to support decision making about forest management. However, there remains a lack of detailed and actionable analyses conducted across widely ranging environmental conditions that are appropriate for...
Rupture passing probabilities at fault bends and steps, with application to rupture length probabilities for earthquake early warning
Glenn Biasi, Steven G. Wesnousky
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 2235-2247
Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems can quickly identify the beginning of a significant earthquake rupture, but the first seconds of seismic data have not been found to predict the final rupture length. We present two approaches for estimating probabilities of rupture length given the rupture initiation from an EEW system....
Identifying chemicals and mixtures of potential biological concern detected in passive samplers from Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput data and biological pathways
David A. Alvarez, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Austin K. Baldwin
2021, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (40) 2165-2182
Waterborne contaminants were monitored in 69 tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes in 2010 and 2014 using semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS). A risk-based screening approach was used to prioritize chemicals and chemical mixtures, identify sites at greatest risk for...
Pilot-scale expanded assessment of inorganic and organic tapwater exposures and predicted effects in Puerto Rico, USA
Paul M. Bradley, Ingrid Y. Padilla, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly Smalling, Michael J. Focazio, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Mary C. Cardon, Justin M. Conley, Nicola Evans, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, L. Earl Gray, Phillip C. Hartig, Michelle L. Hladik, Christopher P. Higgins, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Rachael F. Lane, Keith A. Loftin, R. Blaine McCleskey, Carrie A. McDonough, Elizabeth Medlock-Kakaley, Shannon M. Meppelink, Christopher P. Weis, Vickie S. Wilson
2021, Environment International (788)
A pilot-scale expanded target assessment of mixtures of inorganic and organic contaminants in point-of-consumption drinking water (tapwater, TW) was conducted in Puerto Rico (PR) to continue to inform TW exposures and corresponding estimations of cumulative human-health risks across the US. In August 2018, a spatial synoptic pilot assessment of than...
Molluscan aminostratigraphy of the US Mid-Atlantic Quaternary coastal system: Implications for onshore-offshore correlation, paleochannel and barrier island evolution, and local late Quaternary sea-level history
John Wehmiller, Laura L. Brothers, Kelvin Ramsey, David S. Foster, C.R. Mattheus, Christopher Hein, Justin L. Shawler
2021, Quaternary Geochronology (66)
The Quaternary record of the US Mid-Atlantic coastal system includes onshore emergent late Pleistocene shoreline deposits, offshore inner shelf and barrier island units, and paleovalleys formed during multiple glacial stage sea-level lowstands. The geochronology of this coastal system is based on uranium series, radiocarbon, amino acid racemization (AAR), and optically...
Quantifying eruptive and background seismicity, deformation, degassing, and thermal emissions at volcanoes in the United States during 1978–2020
Kevin Reath, Matthew Pritchard, Diana C. Roman, Taryn Lopez, Simon A Carn, Tobias P. Fischer, Zhong Lu, Michael Poland, R. Greg Vaughan, Rick Wessels, L. L. Wike, H. K. Tran
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research (126)
An important aspect of volcanic hazard assessment is determination of the level and character of background activity at a volcano so that deviations from background (called unrest) can be identified. Here, we compile the instrumentally recorded eruptive and noneruptive activity for 161 US volcanoes between 1978 and...
Coral reef resilience differs among islands within the Gulf of Mannar, southeast India, following successive coral bleaching events
K Diraviya Raj, Greta S. Aeby, G.M. Mathews, Gareth J Williams, Jamie M. Caldwell, R L Laju, M Selva Bharath, P Dinesh Kumar, A Arasamuthu, N Gladwin Gnana Asir, Lisa M. Wedding, Andrew Daview, Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch, J K Patterson Edward
2021, Coral Reefs (40) 1029-1044
We used a 12-yr data set of benthic cover (2005–2017), spanning two bleaching events, to assess changes in benthic cover and coral community composition along 21 islands within Gulf of Mannar (GoM), southeast India. Overall, between 2005 and 2017 reefs had a simultaneous decrease in relative...
Quantifying slopes as a driver of forest to marsh conversion using geospatial techniques: Application to Chesapeake Bay coastal-plain, USA
Grace Damore Molino, Zafer Defne, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Neil K. Ganju, Joel A. Carr
2021, Frontiers in Environmental Science (9)
Coastal salt marshes, which provide valuable ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and carbon sequestration, are threatened by rising sea level. In response, these ecosystems migrate landward, converting available upland into salt marsh. In the coastal-plain surrounding Chesapeake Bay, United States, conversion of coastal forest to salt marsh...
Monitoring long-term riparian vegetation trends to inform local habitat management in a mountainous environment
Timothy J. Assal, Valerie A. Steen, Todd Caltrider, Travis Cundy, Cheyenne Stewart, Nicholas Manning, Patrick J. Anderson
2021, Ecological Indicators (127)
Riparian ecosystems provide critical habitat for many species, yet assessment of vegetation condition at local scales is difficult to measure when considering large areas over long time periods. We present a framework to map and monitor two deciduous cover types, upland and riparian, occupying...
Recovering individual-level spatial inference from aggregated binary data
Nelson Walker, Trevor J. Hefley, Anne Ballmann, Robin E. Russell, Daniel P. Walsh
2021, Spatial Statistics (44)
Binary regression models are commonly used in disciplines such as epidemiology and ecology to determine how spatial covariates influence individuals. In many studies, binary data are shared in a spatially aggregated form to protect privacy. For example, rather than reporting the location and result for each individual that was tested...
Oxygen isotopes in terrestrial gastropod shells track Quaternary climate change in the American Southwest
Jason A. Rech, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Stephanie Bosch, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Yurena Yanes
2021, Quaternary Research (104) 43-53
Recent studies have shown the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of modern terrestrial gastropod shells is determined largely by the δ18O of precipitation. This implies that fossil shells could be used to reconstruct the δ18O of paleo-precipitation as long as the isotopic system, including the hydrologic pathways of...
Moose habitat selection and fitness consequences during two critical winter tick life stages in Vermont, United States
Joshua Blouin, Jacob Debow, Elias Rosenblatt, James E. Hines, Cedric Alexander, Katherina Gieder, Nicholas Fortin, James Murdoch, Therese M. Donovan
2021, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (9)
The moose (Alces alces) is a charismatic species in decline across much of their southern distribution in North America. In the northeastern United States, much of the reduction has been attributed to winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) infestations. Winter ticks are fairly immobile throughout all life stages, and therefore...
Calcium concentrations in the lower Columbia River, USA, are generally sufficient to support invasive bivalve spread
Stephen M. Bollens, John A. Harrison, Marc G. Kramer, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Timothy D. Counihan, Salvador B. Robb-Chavez, Sean T. Nolan
2021, River Research and Applications (37) 889-894
Dissolved calcium concentration [Ca2+] is thought to be a major factor limiting the establishment and thus the spread of invasive bivalves such as zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga (Dreissena bugensis) mussels. We measured [Ca2+] in 168 water samples collected along ~100 river-km of the lower Columbia River, USA, between June...
The effect of group size on reproduction in cooperatively breeding gray wolves depends on density
D.E. Ausband, Michael S. Mitchell
2021, Animal Conservation (24) 994-1000
In cooperatively breeding species, large group size is often positively related to reproductive success and group persistence. We have a poor understanding, however, of how group sizes within a population affect reproduction particularly as density varies. We hypothesized that at low densities, wolves in both small...
Expansion of intertidal mussel beds following disease-driven reduction of a keystone predator
Monica Mei Jeen Moritsch
2021, Marine Environmental Research (169)
Disease shapes community composition by removing species with strong interactions. To test whether the absence of keystone predation due to disease produced changes to the species composition of rocky intertidal communities, we leverage a natural experiment involving mass mortality of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus from Sea Star Wasting Syndrome....
Emerging dominance of Paratrochammina simplissima (Cushman and McCulloch) in the northern Gulf of Mexico following hydrologic and geomorphic changes
Alisha M. Ellis, Christopher G. Smith
2021, Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science (255)
Grand Bay estuary in coastal Mississippi and Alabama (USA) has undergone significant geomorphic changes over the last few centuries as a result of anthropogenic (bridge, road, and hardened shoreline construction) and climatic (extreme storm events) processes, which reduce freshwater input, sediment supply, and degrade barrier islands. To investigate how geomorphic changes may have altered the Grand Bay...
The 2018 update of the US National Seismic Hazard Model: Ground motion models in the western US
Peter M. Powers, Sanaz Rezaeian, Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Nico Luco, Oliver S. Boyd, Morgan P. Moschetti, Arthur D. Frankel, Eric M. Thompson
2021, Earthquake Spectra (37) 2315-2341
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) is the scientific foundation of seismic design regulations in the United States and is regularly updated to consider the best available science and data. The 2018 update of the conterminous U.S. NSHM includes significant changes to the...
Short-term responses to a human-altered landscape do not affect fat dynamics of a migratory ungulate
Samantha P. H. Dwinnell, Hall Sawyer, Matthew J. Kauffman, Jill E. Randall, Rusty Kaiser, Mark A. Thonhoff, Gary L. Fralick, Kevin L. Monteith
2021, Functional Ecology (35) 1512-1523
According to risk-sensitive foraging theory, animals should make foraging decisions that balance nutritional costs and gains to promote fitness. Human disturbance is a form of perceived risk that can prompt avoidance of risky habitat over acquisition of food. Consequently, behavioural responses to perceived risk could induce nutritional costs.Population declines...
Species and population specific gene expression in blood transcriptomes of marine turtles
Shreya M. Banjeree, Jamie Adkins Stoll, Camryn D. Allen, Jennifer M. Lynch, Heather S. Harris, Lauren Kenyon, Richard E. Connon, Eleanor J. Sterling, Eugenia Naro-Maciel, Kathryn McFadden, Margaret Lamont, James Benge, Nadia B. Fernandez, Jeffrey A. Seminoff, Scott R. Benson, Rebecca L. Lewison, Tomoharu Eguchi, Tammy M. Summers, Jessy R. Hapdei, Marc R. Rice, Summer Martin, T. Todd Jones, Peter H. Dutton, George H. Balazs, Lisa M. Komoroske
2021, BMC Genomics (22)
BackgroundTranscriptomic data has demonstrated utility to advance the study of physiological diversity and organisms’ responses to environmental stressors. However, a lack of genomic resources and challenges associated with collecting high-quality RNA can limit its application for many wild populations. Minimally invasive blood sampling combined with de novo transcriptomic...
Rapid monitoring of the abundance and spread of exotic annual grasses in the western United States using remote sensing and machine learning
Neal Pastick, Bruce Wylie, Matthew B. Rigge, Devendra Dahal, Stephen P. Boyte, Matthew O. Jones, Brady W Allred, Sujan Parajuli, Zhuoting Wu
2021, AGU Advances (2)
Exotic annual grasses (EAG) are one of the most damaging agents of change in western North America. Despite known socio-environmental effects of EAG there remains a need to enhance monitoring capabilities for better informing conservation and management practices. Here, we integrate field observations, remote sensing and climate data with machine-learning...
Trophic transfer efficiency in the Lake Superior food web: Assessing the impacts of non-native species
Bryan G. Mathias, Thomas R. Hrabik, Joel C. Hoffman, Owen Gorman, Michael J. Seider, Michael E. Sierszen, Mark R. Vinson, Daniel L. Yule, Peder M. Yurista
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 1146-1158
Ecosystem-based management relies on understanding how perturbations influence ecosystem structure and function (e.g., invasive species, exploitation, abiotic changes). However, data on unimpacted systems are scarce; therefore, we often rely on impacted systems to make inferences about ‘natural states.’ Among the Laurentian Great Lakes, Lake Superior provides a unique case study to address non-native...
Biogeography and ecology of Ostracoda in the U.S. northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas
Laura Gemery, Thomas M. Cronin, Lee W. Cooper, Harry J. Dowsett, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier
2021, PLoS ONE (16)
Ostracoda (bivalved Crustacea) comprise a significant part of the benthic meiofauna in the Pacific-Arctic region, including more than 50 species, many with identifiable ecological tolerances. These species hold potential as useful indicators of past and future ecosystem changes. In this study, we examined benthic ostracodes from...
Dynamic landscapes in northwestern North America structured populations of wolverines (Gulo gulo)
Dianna M Krejsa, Sandra L. Talbot, George K. Sage, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Thomas S Jung, Audrey J Magoun, Joseph A. Cook
2021, Journal of Mammology (102) 891-908
Cyclic climatic and glacial fluctuations of the Late Quaternary produced a dynamic biogeographic history for high latitudes. To refine our understanding of this history in northwestern North America, we explored geographic structure in a wide-ranging carnivore, the wolverine (Gulo gulo). We examined genetic variation in populations across mainland Alaska, coastal...
Intensity of grass invasion negatively correlated with population density and age structure of an endangered dune plant across its range
Scott Jones, Anna Kennedy, Chase M. Freeman, Karen M. Thorne
2021, Biological Invasions (23) 2451-2471
Invasive species are a global threat to ecosystem biodiversity and function; non-native grass invasion has been particularly problematic in sparsely vegetated ecosystems such as open dunes. Native plant population responses to invasion, however, are infrequently translated to landscape scales, limiting the effectiveness of these data for addressing conservation issues. We...
Using uncrewed aerial vehicles for identifying the extent of invasive Phragmites australis in treatment areas enrolled in an adaptive management program
Colin N. Brooks, Charlotte B. Weinstein, Andrew F. Poley, Amanda G. Grimm, Nicholas P. Marion, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Dana Hansen, Kurt P. Kowalski
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Higher spatial and temporal resolutions of remote sensing data are likely to be useful for ecological monitoring efforts. There are many different treatment approaches for the introduced European genotype of Phragmites australis, and adaptive management principles are being integrated in at least some long-term monitoring efforts. In this paper, we...
