A test of the Niche Variation Hypothesis in a ruminant herbivore
Brett R. Jesmer, Matthew J. Kauffman, Melanie A. Murphy, Jacob R. Goheen
2020, Journal of Animal Ecology (89) 2825-2839
Despite the shared prediction that the width of a population's dietary niche expands as food becomes limiting, the Niche Variation Hypothesis (NVH) and Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) offer contrasting views about how individuals alter diet selection when food is limited.Classical OFT predicts that dietary preferences do not change as...
Relative reproductive phenology and synchrony affect neonate survival in a nonprecocial ungulate
Eric S. Michel, Bronson K. Strickland, Stephen Demarais, Jerrold L. Belant, Todd M. Kautz, Jared F. Duquette, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Michael J. Chamberlain, Karl V. Miller, Rebecca M. Shuman, John C. Kilgo, Duane R. Diefenbach, Bret D. Wallingford, Justin K. Vreeland, Stephen S. Ditchkoff, Christopher S. DePerno, Christopher E. Moorman, M. Colter Chitwood, Marcus A. Lashley
2020, Functional Ecology (34) 2536-2547
Degree of reproductive synchronization in prey is hypothesized as a predator defense strategy reducing prey risk via predator satiation or predator avoidance. Species with precocial young, especially those exposed to specialist predators, should be highly synchronous to satiate predators (predator satiation hypothesis), while prey with nonprecocial (i.e. altricial) young, especially...
USGS Telemetry Project
Brent C. Knights, Marybeth K. Brey, Jessica C. Stanton, Travis J. Harrison, Douglas Appel, Enrika Hlavacek, James J. Duncker
2020, Report, Interim summary report 2020
Telemetry of acoustically tagged bigheaded carp (i.e., bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and silver carp H. molitrix) and surrogate fish species has become an invaluable tool in management for these species in the upper Illinois Waterway Systems (i.e., upper Illinois River, lower Des Plaines River, and Chicago Area Waterway System). For...
Behavior at short temporal scales drives dispersal dynamics and survival in a metapopulation of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Tyler Wagner, Shannon White
2020, Freshwater Biology (66) 278-285
1) Movement has been studied extensively in stream salmonids, and most data suggest that population-level behavior is best described by a leptokurtic distribution. This distribution emphasizes the large proportion of sedentary individuals in a population, which can implicitly lead to assumptions of low population connectivity and overlook the ecological significance...
An analysis of streamflow trends in the southern and southeastern US from 1950-2015
Kirk D. Rodgers, Victor L. Roland II, Anne B. Hoos, Elena Crowley-Ornelas, Rodney Knight
2020, Water (12)
In this article, the mean daily streamflow at 139 streamflow-gaging stations (sites) in the southern and southeastern United States are analyzed for spatial and temporal patterns. One hundred and thirty-nine individual time-series of mean daily streamflow were reduced to five aggregated time series of Z scores for...
colorspace: A toolbox for manipulating and assessing colors and palettes
Achim Zeileis, Jason C. Fisher, Kurt Hornik, Ross Ihaka, Claire D. McWhite, Paul Murrell, Reto Stauffer, Claus O. Wilke
2020, Journal of Statistical Software (96)
The R package colorspace provides a flexible toolbox for selecting individual colors or color palettes, manipulating these colors, and employing them in statistical graphics and data visualizations. In particular, the package provides a broad range of color palettes based on the HCL (hue-chroma-luminance)...
The new Landsat Collection-2 Digital Elevation Model
Shannon Franks, James C. Storey, Rajagopalan Rengarajan
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
The Landsat Collection-2 distribution introduces a new global Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for scene orthorectification. The new global DEM is a composite of the latest and most accurate freely available DEM sources and will include reprocessed Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) data (called NASADEM), high-resolution stereo optical data (ArcticDEM), a...
Lateral carbon exports from drained peatlands: An understudied carbon pathway in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Christina M. Richardson, Joseph K. Fackrell, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Megan B. Young, Adina Paytan
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (125)
Degradation of peatlands via drainage is increasing globally and destabilizing peat carbon (C) stores. The effects of drainage on the timing and magnitude of lateral C losses from degraded peatlands remains understudied. We measured spatial and temporal variability in lateral C exports from three drained peat islands in the Sacramento‐San...
Evidence of spawning by lake trout Salvelinus namaycush on substrates at the base of large boulders in northern Lake Huron
Steve A. Farha, Thomas Binder, Charles R. Bronte, Daniel B. Hayes, John Janssen, J. Ellen Marsden, Stephen Riley, Charles C. Krueger
2020, Journal of Great Lakes Research (46) 1674-1688
Identification of lake trout spawning sites has focused on cobble substrates associated with bathymetric relief (e.g., ‘contour’ or ‘slope’ along reefs), but this ‘model’ may be narrow in scope. Previous telemetry work conducted near Drummond Island, USA, Lake Huron, identified egg presence in...
Post-fire vegetation response in a repeatedly burned low-elevation sagebrush steppe protected area provides insights about resilience and invasion resistance
Tom Rodhouse, Kathryn M. Irvine, Lisa Bowersock
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (8)
Sagebrush steppe ecosystems are threatened by human land-use legacies, biological invasions, and altered fire and climate dynamics. Steppe protected areas are therefore of heightened conservation importance but are few and vulnerable to the same impacts broadly affecting sagebrush steppe. To address this problem, sagebrush steppe conservation science is increasingly...
Use of real-time sensors to temporally characterize water quality in groundwater and surface water in Mason County, Illinois, 2017–19
Lance R. Gruhn, William S. Morrow
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5108
The persistence of high nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater has been well documented in the shallow glacial aquifer of Mason County, Illinois. Nitrates in groundwater can be a concern when concentrations exceed 10 milligrams per liter in drinking water. Additionally, nitrate in groundwater can contribute to surface water nitrogen loads...
Whitebark pine in the national parks of the Pacific states: An assessment of population vulnerability
Erik S Jules, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Benjamin G Iberle, Jonathan C B Nesmith, Regina Rochefort
2020, Northwest Science (94) 129-141
Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a long-lived tree found in high-elevation forests of western North America that is declining due to the non-native white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) and climate-driven outbreaks of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB). The National Park Service established a...
Geochemistry and age of groundwater in the Williston Basin, USA: Assessing potential effects of shale-oil production on groundwater quality
Peter B. McMahon, Joel M. Galloway, Andrew G. Hunt, Kenneth Belitz, Bryant C. Jurgens, Tyler D. Johnson
2020, Applied Geochemistry
Thirty water wells were sampled in 2018 to understand the geochemistry and age of groundwater in the Williston Basin and assess potential effects of shale-oil production from the Three Forks-Bakken petroleum system (TBPS) on groundwater quality. Two geochemical groups are identified...
Challenging our understanding of western Yellow-billed Cuckoo habitat needs and accepted management practices
P.J. Wohner, S.A. Laymon, J.E. Stanek, Sammy L. King, R.J. Cooper
2020, Restoration Ecology (29)
Riparian restoration in the southwestern United States frequently involves planting cottonwood (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.). In the absence of flooding and gap-forming disturbance, planted forests often senesce without further young tree recruitment. This has largely been the case in California riparian systems that historically supported state-endangered western Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri, July–August 2018
Richard J. Huizinga
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5088
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near 7 bridges at 6 highway crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of the State of Missouri from July 16 to August 13, 2018. A multibeam echosounder...
Predicted pH of groundwater in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial and Claiborne aquifers, south-central United States
James A. Kingsbury, Katherine J. Knierim, Connor J. Haugh
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3465
Regional aquifers in the Mississippi embayment are the principal sources of water used for public and domestic supply, irrigation, and industrial uses throughout the region. An understanding of how water quality varies spatially, temporally, and with depth are critical aspects to ensuring long-term sustainable use of these resources. A boosted...
Multiple-well monitoring site adjacent to the North and South Belridge Oil Fields, Kern County, California
Rhett R. Everett, Anthony A. Brown, Janice M. Gillespie, Adam Kjos, Nicole C. Fenton
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1116
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board, is evaluating several questions about oil and gas development and groundwater resources in California, including (1) the location of groundwater resources; (2) the proximity of oil and gas operations to groundwater and the geologic materials...
Deep-sea coral and sponge taxa increase demersal fish diversity and the probability of fish presence
Mark J. Henderson, D.D. Huff, M.M Yoklavich
2020, Frontiers in Marine Science (7)
Fishes are known to use deep-sea coral and sponge (DSCS) species as habitat, but it is uncertain whether this relationship is facultative (circumstantial and not restricted to a particular function) or obligate (necessary to sustain fish populations). To explore whether DSCS provide essential habitats for demersal fishes, we analyzed 10...
Assessment of Ambystomatid salamander populations and their breeding habitats in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Craig D. Snyder, John A. Young, James T. Julian, Tim L. King, Shanon E. Julian
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5081
This report presents abundance and occurrence data for three species of ambystomad salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum, A. jeffersonianum, and A. opacum) collected over a 3-year period (2000, 2001, and 2002) at 200 potentional breeding sies within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA). In addition, numerous measures of inpond, near-pond,...
Linking mosquito surveillance to dengue fever through Bayesian mechanistic modeling
Clinton B. Leach, Jennifer A. Hoeting, Kim M. Pepin, Alvaro E. Eiras, Mevin Hooten, Colleen T. Colleen T. Webb
2020, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (14) 1-20
Our ability to effectively prevent the transmission of the dengue virus through targeted control of its vector, Aedes aegypti, depends critically on our understanding of the link between mosquito abundance and human disease risk. Mosquito and clinical surveillance data are widely collected, but linking them requires a modeling framework that accounts...
Evaluation of Arctic warming in mid-Pliocene climate simulations
Wesley de Nooijer, Qiong Zhang, Qiang Li, Qiang Zhang, Xiangyu Li, Zhongshi Zhang, Chuncheng Guo, Kerim H Nisancioglu, Alan M Haywood, Julia C. Tindall, Harry J. Dowsett, Christian Stepanek, Gerrit Lohman, Bette L. Otto-Bliesner, Ran Feng, Linda E Sohl, Mark Chandler, Ning Tan, Camille Contoux, Gilles Ramstein, Michiel Baatsen, Anna S von der Heydt, Deepak Chandan, W. Richard Peltier, A. Abe-Ouchi, W-L Chan, Youichi Kamae, Chris M Brierley
2020, Climate of the Past (16) 2325-2341
Palaeoclimate simulations improve our understanding of the climate, inform us about the performance of climate models in a different climate scenario, and help to identify robust features of the climate system. Here, we analyse Arctic warming in an ensemble of 16 simulations of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (mPWP), derived...
Evaluating wildlife translocations using genomics: A bighorn sheep case study
Elizabeth P Flesch, Tabitha A. Graves, Jennifer Thomson, Kelly Proffitt, P.J. White, Thomas R Stephenson, Robert A. Garrott
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 13687-13704
Wildlife restoration often involves translocation efforts to reintroduce species and supplement small, fragmented populations. We examined the genomic consequences of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) translocations and population isolation to enhance understanding of evolutionary processes that affect population genetics and inform future restoration strategies. We conducted a population genomic analysis of...
Origin and properties of hydrothermal tremor at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA
Avinash Nayak, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz, Atsuko Namiki, Phillip B. Dawson
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125)
Geysers are rare geologic features that intermittently discharge liquid water and steam driven by heating and decompression boiling. The cause of variability in eruptive styles and the associated seismic signals are not well understood. Data collected from five broadband seismometers at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National...
Landscape and climatic influences on actual evapotranspiration and available water using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) Model in eastern Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 2015
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, Ryan J. McCutcheon, Aurelia C. Mitchell, Gabriel B. Senay
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5095
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bernalillo County Public Works Division, conducted a 1-year study in 2015 to assess the spatial and temporal distribution of evapotranspiration (ET) and available water within the East Mountain area in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. ET and available water vary spatiotemporally because of...
Effectiveness of submerged vanes for stabilizing streamside bluffs
Benjamin O. Lee, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, John A. Hoopes
2020, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (147)
The effectiveness of submerged vanes for stabilizing streamside bluffs varied over a 10-year monitoring period in a tributary to Lake Superior, United States. Submerged vanes are a river training device used to divert river flows away from eroding banks along meander bends and ultimately hold constant or...
