Select techniques for detecting and quantifying seepage from unlined canals
Evan J. Lindenbach, Jong Beom Kang, Justin B. Rittgers, Ramon C. Naranjo
2021, Final Report ST-2020-19144-01
Canal seepage losses affect the ability of water conveyance structures to maximize efficiency and can be a precursor to canal failure. Identification and quantification of canal seepage out of unlined canals is a complex interaction affected by geology, canal stage, operations, embankment geometry, siltation, animal burrows, structures, and other physical...
The influence of legacy contamination on the transport and bioaccumulation of mercury within the Mobile River Basin
Sarah E. Janssen, Michael T. Tate, David P. Krabbenhoft, John F. DeWild, Jacob M. Ogorek, Christopher L. Babiarz, Anthony Sowers, Peter L. Tuttle
2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials (404)
Past industrial use and subsequent release of mercury (Hg) into the environment have resulted in severe cases of legacy contamination that still influence contemporary Hg levels in biota. While the bioaccumulation of legacy Hg is commonly assessed via concentration measurements within fish tissue, this practice...
Elucidating controls on cyanobacteria bloom timing and intensity via Bayesian mechanistic modeling
Dario Del Giudice, Shiqi Fang, Donald Scavia, Timothy W. Davis, Mary Anne Evans, Daniel R Obenour
2021, Science of the Total Environment (755)
The adverse impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasing worldwide. Lake Erie is a North American Great Lake highly affected by cultural eutrophication and summer cyanobacterial HABs. While phosphorus loading is a known driver of bloom size, more nuanced yet crucial questions remain. For...
Genetic analysis of the diet of red‐footed boobies (Sula sula) provisioning chicks at Ulupa'u Crater, O'ahu
Sarah E. Donahue, Josh Adams, Mark A Renshaw, K David Hyrenbach
2021, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (31) 324-339
The diet of red‐footed boobies (Sula sula) provisioning chicks was quantified using 106 regurgitations collected from 81 adults over two study years with contrasting oceanographic conditions: 2014 and 2015.A total of 1,049 prey items were sorted into three broad categories (fish, squid, and other, consisting of highly‐digested ‘mush’ and...
Net-spinning caddisfly distribution in large regulated rivers
Anya Metcalfe, Jeffrey Muehlbauer, Theodore Kennedy, Charles B. Yackulic, Kimberly L. Dibble, Jane C. Marks
2021, Freshwater Biology (66) 89-101
Most of the world's large rivers are dammed for the purposes of water storage, flood control, and power production. Damming rivers fundamentally alters water temperature and flows in tailwater ecosystems, which in turn affects the presence and abundance of downstream biota.We collaborated with more than 200 citizen scientists to...
Trends in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment concentrations and loads in streams draining to Lake Tahoe, California, Nevada, USA
Joseph L. Domagalski, Eric D. Morway, Nancy L. Alvarez, Juliet Hutchins, Michael R. Rosen, Robert Coats
2021, Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN) (752)
Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake of the eastern Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada, has 63 tributaries that are sources of nutrients and sediment to the lake. The Tahoe watershed is relatively small, and the surface area of the lake occupies about 38% of the watershed area (1313 km2). Only...
An integrative ecological drought framework to span plant stress to ecosystem transformation
Seth M. Munson, John B. Bradford, Kevin R. Hultine
2021, Ecosystems (24) 739-754
Droughts have increased globally in the twenty-first century and are expected to become more extreme and widespread in the future. Assessments of how drought affects plants and ecosystems lack consistency in scope and methodology, confounding efforts to mechanistically interpret structural and functional impacts and predict future transformations under climate change....
Environmental DNA is an effective tool to track recolonizing migratory fish following large‐scale dam removal
Jeffrey J. Duda, Marshal S. Hoy, Dorothy M. Chase, George R. Pess, Samuel J. Brenkman, Michael M McHenry, Carl O. Ostberg
2021, Environmental DNA (3) 121-141
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a potentially powerful tool for use in conservation and resource management, including for tracking the recolonization dynamics of fish populations. We used eDNA to assess the effectiveness of dam removal to restore fish passage on the Elwha River in Washington State (USA). Using a...
Impacts of small dams on stream temperature
Peter A. Zaidel, Allison H. Roy, Kristopher M. Houle, Beth Lambert, Benjamin Letcher, Keith H. Nislow, Christopher Smith
2021, Ecological Indicators (120)
Small, surface-release dams are ubiquitous features of the landscape that typically slow water flow and decrease canopy cover through impounded reaches, potentially increasing stream temperatures. However, reported effects of small dams on water temperature are variable, likely due to differences in landscape and dam characteristics. To quantify the range of...
Profiling lunar dust dissolution in aqueous environments: The design concept
Russell Kerschmann, Daniel Winterhalter, Kathleen Scheiderich, David Damby, David Loftus
2021, Acta Astronautica (178) 308-313
Published studies and internal NASA reports indicate that when native lunar dust is suspended in an aqueous solution a variety of metal and other ions are released. This release has implications for future lunar missions, ranging from effects on mission hardware,...
Exposure of an early to middle Noachian valley network in three dimensions on Mars
James A. Skinner Jr., Corey M. Fortezzo, Peter J. Mouginis-Mark
2021, Icarus (354)
We document a set of channels in a section of the Martian cratered highlands located between crustal massifs northeast of Hellas Planitia that are visible in cross section and planview >200 m below the surface. The morphometry and spatial distribution of the outcrops provide concrete geological evidence of a dynamic aqueous...
Complexity of groundwater age mixing near a seawater intrusion zone based on multiple tracers and Bayesian inference
YeoJin Ju, Arash Massoudieh, Christopher Green, Kang-Kun Lee, Dugin Kaown
2021, Science of the Total Environment (753)
Aquifer flow systems near seawater interfaces can be complicated by density-driven flows and the formation of stagnation zones, which inevitably introduces uncertainty into groundwater age-dating. While age-dating has proved effective to understand the seawater intrusion and aquifer salinization process in coastal aquifers, further efforts...
Step increase in eastern U.S. precipitation linked to Indian Ocean warming
Courtenay Strong, Gregory J. McCabe, Alexander Weech
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
A step increase in annual precipitation over the eastern U.S. in the early 1970’s commenced five decades of invigorated hydroclimate, with ongoing impacts on streamflow and water resources. Despite its far-reaching impacts, the dynamical origin of this change is unknown. Here, analyses of a century of atmospheric and oceanic data...
The processes of preferential flow in the unsaturated zone
John R. Nimmo
2021, Soil Science Society of America Journal (85) 1-27
Preferential flow, a major influence in unsaturated soil and rock almost everywhere, occurs by multiple phenomenologically distinct hydraulic processes. For the mode known as funneled flow, concentrated in particularly conductive portions of the medium, the surface-tension/viscous-flow processes of traditional unsaturated flow theory predominate. Fingered flow, through conductive paths of higher...
Status of the major aquaculture carps of China in the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin
Duane Chapman, Amy J. Benson, Holly S. Embke, Nicole R. King, Patrick Kocovsky, Teresa D. Lewis, Nicholas E. Mandrak
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 3-13
There is concern of economic and environmental damage occuring if any of the four major aquacultured carp species of China, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus, bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, silver carp H. molitrix, or grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, were to establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes....
Elemental and radionuclide exposures and uptakes by small rodents, invertebrates, and vegetation at active and post-production uranium mines in the Grand Canyon watershed
Danielle M. Cleveland, Jo Ellen Hinck, Julia S. Lankton
2021, Chemosphere (263)
The effects of breccia pipe uranium mining in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona) on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the exposure of biota to uranium and co-occurring ore body elements during active ore production and at a site where ore production had recently concluded. Our results...
Movement of synthetic organic compounds in the food web after the introduction of invasive quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) in Lake Mead, Nevada and Arizona, USA
Steven L. Goodbred, Michael R. Rosen, Reynaldo Patino, David A. Alvarez, Kathy R. Echols, Kerensa King, John Umek
2021, Science of the Total Environment (752)
Introductions of dreissenid mussels in North America have been a significant concern over the last few decades. This study assessed the distribution of synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) in the food web of Lake Mead, Nevada/Arizona, USA and how this distribution was influenced by the...
Integrating the evidence for a terrestrial carbon sink caused by increasing atmospheric CO2
Anthony P. Walker, Martin G De Kauwe, Ana Bastos, Soumaya Belmecheri, Katerina Georgiou, Ralph F. Keeling, Sean M. McMahon, Belinda E. Medlyn, David J P Moore, Richard J. Norby, Sonke Zaehle, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, Giovanna Battipaglia, Roel J W Brienen, Kristine G Cabugao, Maxime Cailleret, Elliott Campbell, Josep G Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Matthew E Craig, David S Ellsworth, Graham D Farquhar, Simone Fatichi, Joshua B. Fisher, David C Frank, Heather Graven, Lianhong Gu, Vanessa Haverd, Kelly A Heilman, Martin Heimann, Bruce A Hungate, Colleen M. Iverson, Fortunat Joos, Mingkai Jiang, Trevor F. Keenan, Jurgen Knauer, Christian Korner, Victor O Leshyk, Sebastian Leuzinger, Yao Liu, Natasha MacBean, Yadvinder Malhi, Tim R McVicar, Josep Penuelas, Julia Pongratz, A Shafer Powell, Terhi Riutta, Manon E B Sabot, Juergen Schleucher, Stephen Sitch, William K. Smith, Benjamin N. Sulman, Benton Taylor, Cesar Terrer, Margaret S. Torn, Kathleen K Treseder, Anna T Trugman, Susan E. Trumbore, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Steve L Voelker, Mary E Whelan, Peiter A Zuidema.
2021, New Phytologist (229) 2413-2445
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) is increasing, which increases leaf‐scale photosynthesis and intrinsic water‐use efficiency. These direct responses have the potential to increase plant growth, vegetation biomass, and soil organic matter; transferring carbon from the atmosphere into terrestrial ecosystems (a carbon sink). A substantial global terrestrial carbon sink would slow...
Mortality predispositions of conifers across western USA
Wenzhi Wang, Nathan B. English, Charlotte Grossiord, Arthur Gessler, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, Christopher H. Baisan, Craig D. Allen, Nate G. McDowell
2021, New Phytologist (229) 831-844
Conifer mortality rates are increasing in western North America, but the physiological mechanisms underlying this trend are not well understood.We examined tree‐ring‐based radial growth along with stable carbon (C) and oxygen (O) isotope composition (δ13C and δ18O, respectively) of dying and surviving conifers at eight old‐growth forest sites across a...
Forest density intensifies the importance of snowpack to growth in water-limited pine forests
Kelly Erika Gleason, John B. Bradford, Anthony W. D’Amato, Shawn Fraver, Brian J. Palik, Michael A. Battaglia
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Warming climate and resulting declines in seasonal snowpack have been associated with drought stress and tree mortality in seasonally snow‐covered watersheds worldwide. Meanwhile, increasing forest density has further exacerbated drought stress due to intensified tree‐tree competition. Using a uniquely detailed dataset of population‐level forest growth (n=2495 sampled trees), we examined...
Lake trout growth is sensitive to spring temperature in southwest Alaska lakes
Vanessa R. von Biela, Bryan A. Black, Daniel Young, Peter van der Sleen, Krista K. Bartz, Christian E. Zimmerman
2021, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (30) 88-99
In high‐latitude lakes, air temperature is an important driver of ice cover thickness and duration, which in turn influence water temperature and primary production supporting lake consumers and predators. In lieu of multidecadal observational records necessary to assess the response of lakes to long‐term warming, we used otolith‐based growth records...
Amazon sediment transport and accumulation along the continuum of mixed fluvial and marine processes
Charles A. Nittrouer, David J. DeMaster, Steven A. Kuehl, Alberto G. Figueiredo, Richard W. Sternberg, L. Ercilio C. Faria, Odete M. Silveira, Meade A. Allison, Gail C. Kineke, Andrea S. Ogston, Pedro W.M. Souza Filho, Nils E. Asp, Daniel J. Nowacki, Aaron T. Fricke
2021, Annual Review of Marine Science (13) 501-536
Sediment transfer from land to ocean begins in coastal settings and, for large rivers such as the Amazon, has dramatic impacts over thousands of kilometers covering diverse environmental conditions. In the relatively natural Amazon tidal river, combinations of fluvial and marine processes transition toward the ocean, affecting the transport and...
Validation of the model-predicted spawning area of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella in the Sandusky River
Patrick Kocovsky, Nicole R. King, Eric Weimer, Christine Mayer, Song S. Qian
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 29-36
Spawning of grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, in the Great Lakes basin was verified when eight fertilized eggs were collected in the Sandusky River, a tributary to Lake Erie, in 2015. Using a fluvial drift model (FluEgg) and simulation modeling, researchers predicted the fertilization...
Trapping of suspended sediment by submerged aquatic vegetation in a tidal freshwater region: Field observations and long-term trends
Paul A. Work, Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, Judith Z. Drexler
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 734-739
Widespread invasion by non-native, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) may modify the sediment budget of an estuary, reducing the availability of inorganic sediment required by marshes to maintain their position in the tidal frame. The instantaneous trapping rate of suspended sediment in SAV patches in an estuary has not previously been...
Food web fuel differs across habitats and seasons of a tidal freshwater estuary
Matthew J. Young, Emily R. Howe, Teejay O’Rear, Kathleen Berridge, Peter B. Moyle
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 286-301
Estuarine food webs are fueled by multiple different primary producers. However, identifying the relative importance of each producer to consumers is difficult, particularly for fishes that utilize multiple food sources due to both their mobility and their generally high trophic levels. Previous studies have documented broad spatial differences in the...
