Characterizing canopy biochemistry from imaging spectroscopy and its application to ecosystem studies
R.F. Kokaly, Gregory P. Asner, S.V. Ollinger, M.E. Martin, C.A. Wessman
2009, Remote Sensing of Environment (113)
For two decades, remotely sensed data from imaging spectrometers have been used to estimate non-pigment biochemical constituents of vegetation, including water, nitrogen, cellulose, and lignin. This interest has been motivated by the important role that these substances play in physiological processes such as photosynthesis, their relationships with ecosystem processes such...
Fipronil and its degradates in indoor and outdoor dust
B.J. Mahler, P. C. Van Metre, J.T. Wilson, M. Musgrove, S.D. Zaugg, M.R. Burkhardt
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 5665-5670
Fipronil is a potent insecticide used for control of termites, fleas, roaches, ants, and other pests. We measured fipronil, fipronil sulfide, and desulfinyl fipronil concentrations in indoor and outdoor dust from 24 residences in Austin, Texas. At least one of these three fipronil compounds was detected in every sample. Fipronil...
On selecting a prior for the precision parameter of Dirichlet process mixture models
R.M. Dorazio
2009, Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference (139) 3384-3390
In hierarchical mixture models the Dirichlet process is used to specify latent patterns of heterogeneity, particularly when the distribution of latent parameters is thought to be clustered (multimodal). The parameters of a Dirichlet process include a precision parameter ?? and a base probability measure G0. In problems where ?? is...
An Integrated Social, Economic, and Ecologic Conceptual (ISEEC) framework for considering rangeland sustainability
W.E. Fox, D.W. McCollum, J.E. Mitchell, L.E. Swanson, U.P. Kreuter, J.A. Tanaka, G.R. Evans, Heintz H. Theodore, R.P. Breckenridge, P.H. Geissler
2009, Society and Natural Resources (22) 593-606
Currently, there is no standard method to assess the complex systems in rangeland ecosystems. Decision makers need baselines to create a common language of current rangeland conditions and standards for continued rangeland assessment. The Sustainable Rangeland Roundtable (SRR), a group of private and public organizations and agencies, has created a...
Divergence in an obligate mutualism is not explained by divergent climatic factors
W. Godsoe, Espen Strand, C.I. Smith, J.B. Yoder, T. C. Esque, O. Pellmyr
2009, New Phytologist (183) 589-599
Adaptation to divergent environments creates and maintains biological diversity, but we know little about the importance of different agents of ecological divergence. Coevolution in obligate mutualisms has been hypothesized to drive divergence, but this contention has rarely been tested against alternative ecological explanations. Here, we use a well-established example of...
Obtaining parsimonious hydraulic conductivity fields using head and transport observations: A Bayesian geostatistical parameter estimation approach
Michael N. Fienen, R. Hunt, D. Krabbenhoft, T. Clemo
2009, Water Resources Research (45)
Flow path delineation is a valuable tool for interpreting the subsurface hydrogeochemical environment. Different types of data, such as groundwater flow and transport, inform different aspects of hydrogeologic parameter values (hydraulic conductivity in this case) which, in turn, determine flow paths. This work combines flow and transport information to estimate...
Time-series modeling of reservoir effects on river nitrate concentrations
A.L. Schoch, K. E. Schilling, K.-S. Chan
2009, Advances in Water Resources (32) 1197-1205
Saylorville Reservoir is a 24.1 km2 impoundment of the Des Moines River located approximately 10 km north of the City of Des Moines, Iowa, USA. Surface water from the Des Moines River used for drinking water supply is impaired for nitrate-nitrogen. Monthly mean nitrate concentration data collected upstream and downstream...
Assessment of tsunami hazard to the U.S. East Coast using relationships between submarine landslides and earthquakes
Uri S. ten Brink, H.J. Lee, E.L. Geist, D. Twichell
2009, Marine Geology (264) 65-73
Submarine landslides along the continental slope of the U.S. Atlantic margin are potential sources for tsunamis along the U.S. East coast. The magnitude of potential tsunamis depends on the volume and location of the landslides, and tsunami frequency depends on their recurrence interval. However, the size and recurrence interval of...
Identifying pathways and processes affecting nitrate and orthophosphate inputs to streams in agricultural watersheds
A. J. Tesoriero, J.H. Duff, D.M. Wolock, N.E. Spahr, J.E. Almendinger
2009, Journal of Environmental Quality (38) 1892-1900
Understanding nutrient pathways to streams will improve nutrient management strategies and estimates of the time lag between when changes in land use practices occur and when water quality effects that result from these changes are observed. Nitrate and orthophosphate (OP) concentrations in several environmental compartments were examined in watersheds having...
Gene-expression signatures of Atlantic salmon's plastic life cycle
N. Aubin-Horth, B. H. Letcher, H.A. Hofmann
2009, General and Comparative Endocrinology (163) 278-284
How genomic expression differs as a function of life history variation is largely unknown. Atlantic salmon exhibits extreme alternative life histories. We defined the gene-expression signatures of wild-caught salmon at two different life stages by comparing the brain expression profiles of mature sneaker males and immature males, and early migrants...
Phylogeny and phylogenetic classification of the antbirds, ovenbirds, woodcreepers, and allies (Aves: Passeriformes: Infraorder Furnariides)
R.G. Moyle, R.T. Chesser, R.T. Brumfield, J.G. Tello, D.J. Marchese, J. Cracraft
2009, Cladistics (25) 386-405
The infraorder Furnariides is a diverse group of suboscine passerine birds comprising a substantial component of the Neotropical avifauna. The included species encompass a broad array of morphologies and behaviours, making them appealing for evolutionary studies, but the size of the group (ca. 600 species) has limited well-sampled higher-level phylogenetic...
USGS: Science at the intersection of land and ocean
M.D. Myers
2009, Sea Technology (50) 18-21
The US Geological Survey (USGS) conducts an ongoing national assessment of coastal change hazards in order to help protect lives and support management of coastal infrastructure and resources. The research group rapidly gathers to investigate coastal changes along the Gulf Coast's sandy beaches after each hurricane to examine the magnitude...
Accelerated weathering of limestone for CO2 mitigation: Opportunities for the stone and cement industries
William H. Langer, Carma A. San Juan, Greg H. Rau, Ken Caldeira
2009, Mining Engineering (61) 27-32
Large amounts of limestone fines co-produced during the processing of crushed limestone may be useful in the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) is proposed as a low-tech method to capture and sequester CO2 from fossil fuel-fired power plants and other point sources such as cement manufacturing....
Climate alters response of an endemic island plant to removal of invasive herbivores
Mceachern A. Kathryn, D.M. Thomson, K.A. Chess
2009, Ecological Applications (19) 1574-1584
Islands experience higher rates of species extinction than mainland ecosystems, with biological invasions among the leading causes; they also serve as important model systems for testing ideas in basic and applied ecology. Invasive removal programs on islands are conservation efforts that can also be viewed as powerful manipulative experiments, but...
The 2007 southern California wildfires: Lessons in complexity
Jon E. Keeley, H. Safford, C. J. Fotheringham, J. Franklin, M. Moritz
2009, Journal of Forestry (107) 287-296
The 2007 wildfire season in southern California burned over 1,000,000 ac (∼400,000 ha) and included several megafires. We use the 2007 fires as a case study to draw three major lessons about wildfires and wildfire complexity in southern California. First, the great majority of large fires in southern California occur...
Recent land cover history and nutrient retention in riparian wetlands
D.M. Hogan, M.R. Walbridge
2009, Environmental Management (44) 62-72
Wetland ecosystems are profoundly affected by altered nutrient and sediment loads received from anthropogenic activity in their surrounding watersheds. Our objective was to compare a gradient of agricultural and urban land cover history during the period from 1949 to 1997, with plant and soil nutrient concentrations in, and sediment deposition...
Cahokia's boom and bust in the context of climate change
L. V. Benson, T. R. Pauketat, E.R. Cook
2009, American Antiquity (74) 467-483
During the early Mississippian Lohmann phase (A.D. 1050-1100), the American Bottom experienced a political and economic transformation. This transformation included the abrupt planned construction of central Cahokia, a large-scale influx of people to "downtown Cahokia," the abandonment of pre-Mississippian village settlements, the reorganization of farming in the Mississippi River floodplain,...
Chlorine-36 as a tracer of perchlorate origin
N.C. Sturchio, M. Caffee, Abelardo D. Beloso Jr., L.J. Heraty, J.K. Böhlke, P.B. Hatzinger, W.A. Jackson, B. Gu, J.M. Heikoop, M. Dale
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 6934-6938
Perchlorate (ClO4−) is ubiquitous in the environment. It is produced naturally by atmospheric photochemical reactions, and also is synthesized in large quantities for military, aerospace, and industrial applications. Nitrate-enriched salt deposits of the Atacama Desert (Chile) contain high concentrations of natural ClO4−, and have been exported worldwide...
Along-Arc and Back-Arc Attenuation, Site Response, and Source Spectrum for the Intermediate-Depth 8 January 2006 M 6.7 Kythera, Greece, Earthquake
David M. Boore, A.A. Skarlatoudis, B.N. Margaris, B.P. Costas, C. Ventouzi
2009, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (99) 2410-2434
An M 6.7 intermediate-depth (66 km), in-slab earthquake occurring near the island of Kythera in Greece on 8 January 2006 was well recorded on networks of stations equipped with acceleration sensors and with broadband velocity sensors. All data were recorded digitally using recording instruments with resolutions ranging from almost 11...
A grid-doubling finite-element technique for calculating dynamic three-dimensional spontaneous rupture on an earthquake fault
Michael Barall
2009, Geophysical Journal International (178) 845-859
We present a new finite-element technique for calculating dynamic 3-D spontaneous rupture on an earthquake fault, which can reduce the required computational resources by a factor of six or more, without loss of accuracy. The grid-doubling technique employs small cells in a thin layer surrounding the fault. The remainder of...
Testing road surface treatments to reduce erosion in forest roads in Honduras [Tratamientos de la superficie de rodadura para reducir la erosion en caminos forestales en Honduras]
Samuel Rivera, Jeffrey L. Kershner, Gordon R. Keller
2009, Ciencia e Investigacion Agraria (36) 425-432
Testing road surface treatments to reduce erosion in forest roads in Honduras. Cien. Inv. Agr. 36(3):425-432. Using forest roads produces more erosion and sedimentation than any other forest or agricultural activity. This study evaluated soil losses from a forest road in central Honduras over two consecutive years. We divided a...
The Adopt-a-Herring program as a fisheries conservation tool
Holly J. Frank, Martha E. Mather, Robert M. Muth, Sarah M. Pautzke, Joseph M. Smith, John T. Finn
2009, Fisheries (34) 496-507
Successful conservation depends on a scientifically literate public. We developed the adopt-a-Herring program to educate nonscientists about fisheries and watershed restoration. this interactive educational and outreach project encouraged coastal residents to be involved in local watershed restoration. In the northeastern United States, river herring (Alosa spp.) are an important component...
Feldspar dissolution rates in the Topopah Spring Tuff, Yucca Mountain, Nevada
C.R. Bryan, K.B. Helean, B.D. Marshall, P.V. Brady
2009, Applied Geochemistry (24) 2133-2143
Two different field-based methods are used here to calculate feldspar dissolution rates in the Topopah Spring Tuff, the host rock for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The center of the tuff is a high silica rhyolite, consisting...
New research and tools lead to improved earthquake alerting protocols
David J. Wald
2009, CUSEC Journal (13) 1-8 p.
What’s the best way to get alerted about the occurrence and potential impact of an earthquake? The answer to that question has changed dramatically of late, in part due to improvements in earthquake science, and in part by the implementation of new research in the delivery of earthquake information...
Physical modeling of river spanning rock structures: Evaluating interstitial flow, local hydraulics, downstream scour development, and structure stability
K.L. Collins, C.I. Thornton, B. Mefford, C. L. Holmquist-Johnson
2009, Conference Paper, Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers
Rock weir and ramp structures uniquely serve a necessary role in river management: to meet water deliveries in an ecologically sound manner. Uses include functioning as low head diversion dams, permitting fish passage, creating habitat diversity, and stabilizing stream banks and profiles. Existing information on design and performance of in-stream...
