A watershed moment: Analysis of sub-basins refocuses the geography of turtle conservation across the globe
Joshua R. Ennen, Mickey Agha, Sarah C. Sweat, Wildredo A. Matamoros, Jeffrey E. Lovich, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, Robert C. Thomson, H. Bradley Shaffer, Christopher W. Hoagstrom
2021, Biological Conservation (253)
Conservation planners use a variety of decision-making tools, many of which require identifying and prioritizing spatial units based on their biodiversity and levels of imperilment. Turtles are highly imperiled, but present schemes for determining global priority areas are focused mostly on broad regional scales. We conduct the first global evaluation...
The occurrence and distribution of strontium in U.S. groundwater
MaryLynn Musgrove
2021, Applied Geochemistry (126)
Groundwater samples from 32 principal aquifers across the United States (U.S.) provide a broad spatial scope of the occurrence and distribution of strontium (Sr) and are used to assess environments and factors that influence Sr concentration. Strontium is a common trace element in soils, rocks, and water and is ubiquitous...
Using turbulence to identify preferential areas for grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) larvae in streams: A laboratory study
Andres F. Prada, Amy E. George, Benjamin H. Stahlschmidt, P. Ryan Jackson, Duane Chapman, Rafael O. Tinoco
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
In this experimental series, we studied the swimming capabilities and response of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) larvae to flow turbulence in a laboratory flume. We compared three different experimental configurations, representing in‐stream obstructions commonly found in natural streams (e.g., a gravel bump, a single vertical cylinder,...
Crossroads of highly pathogenic H5N1: overlap between wild and domestic birds in the Black Sea-Mediterranean impacts global transmission
Nichola J. Hill, Lacy M. Smith, Sabir B. Muzaffar, Jessica L. Nagel, Diann Prosser, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Kyle A. Spragens, Carlos A. DeMattos, Cecilia C. Demattos, Lu’ay El Sayed, Kiraz Erciyas-Yavuz, C. Todd Davis, Joyce Jones, Zoltan Kis, Ruben O. Donis, Scott H. Newman, John Y. Takekawa
2021, Virus Evolution (7)
Understanding transmission dynamics that link wild and domestic animals is a key element of predicting the emergence of infectious disease, an event that has highest likelihood of occurring wherever human livelihoods depend on agriculture and animal trade. Contact between poultry and wild birds is a key driver of the emergence...
Geometry of obstacle marks at instream boulders-Integration of laboratory investigations and field observations
Oliver Schlomer, Paul E. Grams, Daniel D. Buscombe, Jurgen Herget
2021, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (46) 659-679
Obstacle marks are instream bedforms, typically composed of an upstream frontal scour hole and a downstream sediment accumulation in the vicinity of an obstacle. Local scouring at infrastructure (e.g. bridge piers) is a well‐studied phenomenon in hydraulic engineering, while less attention is given to the time‐dependent...
Rapid sensitivity analysis for reducing uncertainty in landslide hazard assessments
Rex L. Baum
2021, Conference Paper, WLF 2020: Understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk
One of the challenges in assessing temporal and spatial aspects of landslide hazard using process-based models is estimating model input parameters, especially in areas where limited measurements of soil and rock properties are available. In an effort to simplify and streamline parameter estimation, development of a simple, rapid...
Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of life-history variability for a south-western cutthroat trout
Brock M. Huntsman, Colleen A. Caldwell, Abigail J. Lynch, Fitsum Abadi
2021, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (30) 100-114
The impacts of climate change on cold-water fishes will likely negatively manifest in populations at the trailing edge of their distributions. Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii virginalis, RGCT) occupy arid south-western U.S. streams at the southern-most edge of all cutthroat trout distributions, making RGCT particularly...
Estimating the impact of seep methane oxidation on ocean pH and dissolved inorganic radiocarbon along the U.S. mid‐Atlantic Bight
Fenix Garcia-Tigreros, Mihai Leonte, Carolyn D. Ruppel, Angel Ruiz-Angulo, DoongJoo Joung, Benjamin Young, John D. Kessler
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research- Biogeosciences (126)
Ongoing ocean warming can release methane (CH4) currently stored in ocean sediments as free gas and gas hydrates. Once dissolved in ocean waters, this CH4 can be oxidized to carbon dioxide (CO2). While it has been hypothesized that the CO2 produced from aerobic CH4 oxidation could enhance ocean acidification, a...
Identifying information gaps in predicting winter foraging habitat for juvenile Gulf Sturgeon
Leah L. Dale, James P. Cronin, Virginia Brink, Blair Tirpak, John M. Tirpak, William E. Pine III
2021, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (150) 222-241
The Gulf Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi is an anadromous species that inhabits Gulf of Mexico coastal waters from Louisiana to Florida and is listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Seasonal cues (e.g., freshwater discharge) determine the timing of spawning and migration and may influence the...
Assessing the hydrologic and physical conditions of a drainage basin
Waite Osterkamp, Mark K. Briggs, David J. Dean, Alfredo Rodriquez
2021, Book chapter, Renewing our rivers—Stream corridor restoration in dryland regions
An assessment of a drainage basin and its stream corridor will provide the data and information needed to understand current biophysical conditions and trends. Developing an understanding of the drivers of change is the next essential step for restoration success (Osterkamp and Toy, 1997; Corenbilt et al., 2007; Briggs and...
Effect of organic matter concentration and characteristics on mercury mobilization and methylmercury production at an abandoned mine site
Chris S. Eckley, Todd P. Luxton, Brooks Stanfield, Austin K. Baldwin, JoAnn M. Holloway, John McKernan, Mark S. Johnson
2021, Environmental Pollution (271)
Thousands of abandoned mines throughout the western region of North America contain elevated total-mercury (THg) concentrations. Mercury is mobilized from these sites primarily due to erosion of particulate-bound Hg (THg-P). Organic matter-based soil amendments can promote vegetation growth on mine tailings, reducing erosion and...
Snowpack signals in North American tree rings
Bethany L. Coulthard, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Gregory T. Pederson, Edward R Cook, Jeremy S. Littell, Dan J. Smith
2021, Environmental Research Letters (16)
Climate change has contributed to recent declines in mountain snowpack and earlier runoff, which in turn has intensified hydrological droughts in western North America. Climate model projections suggest that continued and severe snowpack reductions are expected over the 21st century, with profound consequences for ecosystems and human welfare. Yet the...
Survival and movement patterns of Rainbow Trout stocked in a groundwater-influenced warmwater stream
S. L. Wolf, Shannon K. Brewer
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 600-615
Stocking Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss to create additional angling opportunities is common; however, the spatial and temporal dynamics of such stocking practices are unclear in groundwater-influenced, warmwater streams. Our objectives were to determine Rainbow Trout dispersal from a stocking location on Spavinaw Creek, Oklahoma and to quantify apparent survival of two cohorts...
Recruitment dynamics of non-native largemouth bass within the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta
Brock Huntsman, Frederick V. Feyrer, Matthew J. Young, James A. Hobbs, Shawn Acuna, Joseph E. Kirsch, Brian Mahardja, Swee Teh
2021, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (78) 505-521
Largemouth bass (LMB; Micropterus salmoides) recruitment is limited by a critical developmental period during early life stages, but this mechanism may be less important within non-native habitats. We conducted boat electrofishing surveys in four tidal lakes of California’s Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (SSJD) from 2010 to 2011 to describe introduced LMB recruitment...
Hydrogeomorphological controls on reach‐scale distributions of cichlid nest sites in a small neotropical river
Emily A. Buege, Peter C. Esselman, Sarah J. Praskievicz
2021, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (30) 244-255
The Cichlidae are among the most diversified families of fish in the Neotropics and represent an important component of aquatic biodiversity. Understanding cichlid nest‐site selection is important for assemblages facing uncertain futures due to species invasions and environmental change. This information could be used to predict how inter‐ and intraspecific...
Development of genetic baseline information to support the conservation and management of wild Brook Trout in North Carolina
David C. Kazyak, Barbara A. Lubinski, Jacob M Rash, Thomas C Johnson, Timothy L. King
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 626-638
Following centuries of declines, there is growing interest in conserving extant wild populations and reintroducing Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations of native ancestry. A population genetic baseline can enhance conservation outcomes and promote restoration success. Consequently, it is important to document existing patterns of genetic variation across the landscape and...
Identification of seasonal streamflow regimes and streamflow drivers for daily and peak flows in Alaska
Janet H. Curran, Frances E. Biles
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
Alaska is among northern high‐latitude regions where accelerated climate change is expected to impact streamflow properties, including seasonality and primary flow drivers. Evaluating changes to streamflow, including flood characteristics, across this large and diverse environment can be improved by identifying the distribution and influence of flow drivers. Using metrics of...
Characterizing physical properties of streambed interface sediments using in situ complex electrical conductivity measurements
Cheng-Hui Wang, Martin A. Briggs, Frederick Day-Lewis, L. Slater
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
Streambed sediment physical properties such as surface area, are difficult to quantify in situ but exert a high‐level control on a wide range of biogeochemical processes and sorption of contaminants. We introduce the use of complex electrical conductivity (CC) methods (also known as spectral induced polarization (SIP))...
Upper Colorado River Basin 20th century droughts under 21st century warming: Plausible scenarios for the future
Connie A. Woodhouse, Rebecca M. Smith, Stephanie A. McAfee, Gregory T. Pederson, Gregory J. McCabe, W. Paul Miller, Adam Csank
2021, Climate Services (21)
This study builds on a collaboration with a water resource management community of practice in the Upper Colorado River Basin to develop scenarios of future drought and assess impacts on water supply reliability. Water managers are concerned with the impacts of warming on water year streamflow, but uncertainties in projections...
Water storage decisions will determine the distribution and persistence of imperiled river fishes
Kimberly L. Dibble, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Kevin R. Bestgen, John C. Schmidt
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Managing the world’s freshwater supply to meet societal and environmental needs in a changing climate is one of the biggest challenges for the 21st century. Dams provide water security, however, the allocation of dwindling water supply among reservoirs could exacerbate or ameliorate the effects of climate change on aquatic communities. Here,...
Self-limitation of sand storage in a bedrock-canyon river arising from the interaction of flow and grain size
David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean, Scott Wright, Joel A. Unema
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface (126)
Bedrock-canyon rivers tend to be supply limited because they are efficient transporters of sediment and not because the upstream supply of sediment is small. A byproduct of this supply limitation is that the finer alluvium stored in these rivers has shorter residence times and smaller volumes than...
Limited mantle hydration by bending faults at the Middle America Trench
Nathaniel C. Miller, Danile Lizarralde, John A. Collins, Steven Holbrook, Harm van Avendonk
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research (25)
Seismic anisotropy measurements show that upper mantle hydration at the Middle America Trench (MAT) is limited to serpentinization and/or water in fault zones, rather than distributed uniformly. Subduction of hydrated oceanic lithosphere recycles water back into the deep mantle, drives arc volcanism, and affects seismicity at...
Performance of the ecosystem demography model (EDv2.2) in simulating gross primary production capacity and activity in a dryland study area
Hamid Dashti, Karun Pandit, Nancy F. Glenn, Douglas J. Shinneman, Gerald N. Flerchinger, Andrew A. Hudak, Marie Anne de Graaf, Alejandro N Flores, Susan L. Ustin, Nayani Ilangakoon, Aaron W. Fellows
2021, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (297)
Dryland ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon cycle, including regulating the inter-annual global carbon sink. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are essential tools that can help us better understand carbon cycling in different ecosystems. Currently, there is limited knowledge of the performance of these models in drylands...
Heed the data gap: Guidelines for using incomplete datasets in annual stream temperature analyses
Zachary C. Johnson, Brittany G. Johnson, Martin A. Briggs, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, Warren Devine
2021, Ecological Indicators (122)
Stream temperature data are useful for deciphering watershed processes important for aquatic ecosystems. Accurately extracting signal trends from stream temperature is essential for predicting responses of environmental and ecological indicators to change. Missing data periods are common for various reasons, and...
High elevation ice patch documents Holocene climate variability in the northern Rocky Mountains
Nathan J. Chellman, Gregory T. Pederson, Craig Lee, Dave McWethy, Kathryn Pusman, Jeffery R. Stone, Sabrina R. Brown, Joseph R. McConnell
2021, Quaternary Science Advances (3)
Paleoclimate records from ice cores generally are considered to be the most direct indicators of environmental change, but are rare from mid-latitude, continental regions such as the western United States. High-elevation ice patches are known to be important archaeological archives in alpine regions and potentially could provide records important for...
