Brine-driven destruction of clay minerals in Gale crater, Mars
T. F. Bristow, John P. Grotzinger, E. Rampe, J. Cuadros, S. J. Chipera, G. Downs, Christopher M. Fedo, Jens Frydenvang, A. C. McAdam, R. V. Morris, C. N. Achilles, D. F. Blake, N. Castle, P. Craig, D. J. Des Marais, R. T. Downs, R. M. Hazen, D. W. Ming, S. M. Morrison, M. T. Thorpe, A. H. Treiman, V. Tu, D. T. Vaniman, A. S. Yen, R. Gellert, P. R. Mahaffy, Roger C. Wiens, A. B. Bryk, Kristen A. Bennett, V. K. Fox, R. E. Milliken, Abigail A. Fraeman, A. R. Vasavada
2021, Science (373) 198-204
Mars’ sedimentary rock record preserves information on geological (and potential astrobiological) processes that occurred on the planet billions of years ago. The Curiosity rover is exploring the lower reaches of Mount Sharp, in Gale crater on Mars. A traverse from Vera Rubin ridge to Glen Torridon has allowed Curiosity to examine a...
What is the effect of poaching activity on wildlife species?
Jennifer F. Moore, Eustrate Uzabaho, Abel Musana, Prosper Uwingell, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Poaching is a pervasive threat to wildlife, yet quantifying the direct effect of poaching on wildlife is rarely possible because both wildlife and threat data are infrequently collected concurrently. In this study, we used poaching data collected through the Management Information System (MIST) and wildlife camera trap data collected by...
National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program: Great Smoky Mountains National Park vegetation mapping project
Kevin D. Hop, Andrew C. Strassman, Stephanie Sattler, Rickie White, Milo Pyne, Tom Govus, Jennifer Dieck
2021, Natural Resource Report 2021/2285
The National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory (VMI) Program is an effort to classify, describe, and map existing vegetation communities in national park units throughout the United States. The NPS VMI Program is managed by the NPS Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Inventory and Monitoring Program and provides baseline...
A tale of two valleys: Endangered species policy and the fate of the giant gartersnake
Brian J. Halstead, Patricia Valcarcel, Richard Kim, Anna Jordan, Jonathan P. Rose, Shannon Skalos, Gabriel Reyes, Julia Ersan, Michael L. Casazza, Allison Essert, Alexandria M Fulton
2021, California Fish and Wildlife 264-283
By the mid-20th Century, giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas) had lost more than 90% of their Central Valley marsh habitat and were extirpated from more than two-thirds of their range. This massive habitat loss led to their inclusion in the inaugural list of rare species under the California Endangered Species Act...
Conspecific and congeneric interactions shape increasing rates of breeding dispersal of northern spotted owls
Julianna M. A. Jenkins, Damon B. Lesmeister, Eric D. Forsman, Katie M. Dugger, Steven H. Ackers, Steven Andrews, Scott A. Gremel, Bruce A. Hollen, Chris E. McCafferty, Shane Pruett, Janice A. Reid, Stan A. Sovern, David Wiens
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Breeding dispersal, the movement from one breeding territory to another, is rare for philopatric species that evolved within relatively stable environments, such as the old-growth coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. Although dispersal is not inherently maladaptive, the consequences of increased dispersal on population dynamics in...
Machine learning to identify geologic factors associated with production in geothermal fields: A case-study using 3D geologic data, Brady geothermal field, Nevada
Drew L. Siler, Jeff D. Pepin, Velimir V. Vesselinov, Maruti K. Mudunuru, Bulbul Ahmmed
2021, Geothermal Energy – Science, Society and Technology (9)
In this paper, we present an analysis using unsupervised machine learning (ML) to identify the key geologic factors that contribute to the geothermal production in Brady geothermal field. Brady is a hydrothermal system in northwestern Nevada that supports both electricity production and direct use of hydrothermal...
Perceived barriers to the use of assisted colonization for climate sensitive species in the Hawaiian Islands
Shannon Rivera, Lucas Fortini, Sheldon M. Plentovich, Melissa Price
2021, Environmental Management (68) 329-339
Conservation actions to safeguard climate change vulnerable species may not be utilized due to a variety of perceived barriers. Assisted colonization, the intentional movement and release of an organism outside its historical range, is one tool available for species predicted to lose habitat under future climate...
Refining sampling protocols for cavefishes and cave crayfishes to account for environmental variation
J.B. Mouser, Shannon K. Brewer, M.L. Niemiller, M. Mollenhauer, Van Den Bussche
2021, Subterranean Biology (39) 79-105
Subterranean habitats support a diverse array of organisms and represent imperative habitats in many conservation strategies; however, subterranean habitats are one of the most difficult environments to study. Accounting for variable sampling detection is necessary to properly evaluate conservation options for rare species such as karst and other groundwater organisms....
Regional occurrence of aqueous tungsten and relations with antimony, arsenic and molybdenum concentrations (Sardinia, Italy)
Rosa Cidu, Riccardo Biddau, Franco Frau, Richard Wanty, Stefano Naitza
2021, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (229)
Tungsten (W) is rarely found in natural waters, yet it can be introduced into the food chain and cause potentially toxic effects. Uptake of W by plants and vegetables, or trace presence of W in drinking water are...
Sea otter population collapse in southwest Alaska: Assessing ecological covariates, consequences, and causal factors
M. Tim Tinker, James L. Bodkin, Lizabeth Bowen, Brenda Ballachey, Gena Bentall, Alexander Burdin, Heather Coletti, George G. Esslinger, Brian B. Hatfield, Michael C. Kenner, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Brenda Konar, A. Keith Miles, Daniel Monson, Michael J. Murray, Ben Weitzman, James A. Estes
2021, Ecological Monographs (91)
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) populations in southwest Alaska declined substantially between about 1990 and the most recent set of surveys in 2015. Here we report changes in the distribution and abundance of sea otters, and covarying patterns in reproduction, mortality, body size and condition, diet and...
Is there an urban pesticide signature? Urban streams in five U.S. regions share common dissolved-phase pesticides but differ in predicted aquatic toxicity
Lisa H. Nowell, Patrick W. Moran, Laura M. Bexfield, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre, Paul M. Bradley, Travis S. Schmidt, Daniel T. Button, Sharon L. Qi
2021, Science of the Total Environment (793)
Pesticides occur in urban streams globally, but the relation of occurrence to urbanization can be obscured by regional differences. In studies of five regions of the United States, we investigated the effect of region and urbanization on the occurrence and potential toxicity of dissolved...
Teleseismic waves reveal anisotropic poroelastic response of wastewater disposal reservoir
Andrew J. Barbour, Nicholas M. Beeler
2021, Earth and Planetary Physics (5) 1-12
Connecting earthquake nucleation in basement rock to fluid injection in basal, sedimentary reservoirs, depends heavily on choices related to the poroelastic properties of the fluid-rock system, thermo-chemical effects notwithstanding. Direct constraints on these parameters outside of laboratory settings are rare, and it is commonly assumed that the rock layers are...
Response of fish assemblages to restoration of rapids habitat in a Great Lakes connecting channel
A. Molina-Moctezuma, N. Godby, K. Kapuscinski, Edward F. Roseman, K. Skubik, A. Moerke
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 1182-1191
Rapids habitats are critical spawning and nursery grounds for multiple Laurentian Great Lakes fishes of ecological importance such as lake sturgeon, walleye, and salmonids. However, river modifications have destroyed important rapids habitat in connecting channels by modifying flow profiles and removing large quantities of cobble and gravel that are preferred...
Population estimates and trends of three Maui Island-endemic Hawaiian Honeycreepers
Seth Judge, Christopher C Warren, Richard J. Camp, Laura K Berthold, Hanna L. Mounce, Patrick J. Hart, Ryan J. Monello
2021, Journal of Field Ornithology (92) 115-126
Population monitoring is critical for informing the management and conservation of rare Hawaiian forest birds. In 2017, we used point-transect distance sampling methods to estimate population densities of birds on Haleakalā Volcano on east Maui island. We estimated the populations and ranges of three island-endemic Hawaiian...
Persistent multidecadal variability since the 15th century in the southern Barents Sea derived from annually resolved shell-based records
Madelyn Jean Mette, Alan D. Wanamaker Jr., Michael J. Retelle, Michael L. Carroll, Carin Andersson, William G. Ambrose Jr.
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (126)
In the North Atlantic Ocean, multidecadal variability in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the past several centuries has largely been inferred through terrestrial proxies and decadally resolved marine proxies. Annually resolved proxy records from marine archives provide valuable insight into this variability, but are especially rare from high latitude environments,...
Predictability of invasive Argentine ant distribution across Mediterranean ecoregions of southern California
Jonathan Q. Richmond, Tritia Matsuda, Cheryl S. Brehme, Emily E. Perkins, Robert N. Fisher
2021, Western North American Naturalist (81) 243-256
The invasiveness of nonnative taxa can vary across a landscape due to environmental gradients, suggesting that location-dependent management strategies may be more effective at reducing spread compared to a “one size fits all” approach across the entire introduced range. Using bait stations placed along linear transects within habitat preserves, we...
Modeling opportunistic exploitation: Increased extinction risk when targeting more than one species
S. Thurner, Sarah J. Converse, Trevor A. Branch
2021, Ecological Modelling (454)
Extinction rates are increasing globally, and direct exploitation is an important driver. Many pathways have been proposed to explain how exploitation can lead to extinction. One of these proposed but understudied multispecies pathways is opportunistic exploitation, which occurs when a highly valuable but rare species is encountered and targeted during exploitation of...
Improving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide
Reed Noss, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Dwayne Estes, Theo Witsell, Gregg Elliott, Daniel S. Adams, Matthew A. Albrecht, Ryan Boyles, Patrick Comer, Chris Doffitt, JoVonn G. Hill, William C. Hunter, Wesley M. Knapp, Mike Marshall, Jason R. Singhurst, Christopher Tracey, Jeffrey L. Walck, Alan Weakley
2021, Conservation Biology (35) 1715-1724
Despite its successes, the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) has proven challenging to implement due to funding limitations, workload backlog, and other problems. As threats to species survival intensify and as more species come under threat, the need for the ESA and similar conservation laws and policies in other countries...
Reptile and amphibian diversity and abundance in an urban landscape: Impacts of fragmentation and the conservation value of small patches
Kathleen Semple Delaney, Gary Busteed, Robert N. Fisher, Seth P.D. Riley
2021, Ichthyology & Herpetology (109) 424-435
Urbanization is a major contributor to habitat loss and fragmentation and is considered a global threat to biodiversity. We studied reptile and amphibian species diversity and abundance in a highly fragmented landscape adjacent to the second largest metropolitan area in the United States. Habitat patches in our...
Stress controls rupture extent and maximum magnitude of induced earthquakes
K. A. Kroll, Elizabeth S. Cochran
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
Seismic hazard forecasts of induced seismicity often require estimates of the maximum possible magnitude (Mmax). Empirical models suggest that maximum magnitudes, or expected number of earthquakes, are related to the volume of injected fluid. We perform a suite of 3D physics-based earthquake simulations with rate- and state-dependent friction, systematically varying...
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...
Rapid observations of ocean dynamics and stratification along a steep island coast during Hurricane María
Olivia M. Cheriton, Curt D. Storlazzi, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Clark E. Sherman, Wilford Schmidt
2021, Science Advances (7)
Hurricanes are extreme storms that affect coastal communities, but the linkages between hurricane forcing and ocean dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we present full water column observations at unprecedented resolution from the southwest Puerto Rico insular shelf and slope during Hurricane María, representing a rare set of high-frequency, subsurface, oceanographic...
A renewed philosophy about supplemental sea lamprey controls
Michael J. Siefkes, Nicholas S. Johnson, Andrew M. Muir
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) S742-S752
Invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations in the Laurentian Great Lakes have been reduced by up to 90% through the use of selective pesticides (lampricides) and physical sea lamprey barriers that block spawning migrations. Nevertheless, other control methods are needed to achieve integrated pest management objectives, delay biological resistance, and address societal pressure...
Assessing the population impacts and cost‐effectiveness of a conservation translocation
Charles B. Yackulic, David R. Van Haverbeke, Maria C. Dzul, Lucas S. Bair, Kirk L. Young
2021, Journal of Applied Ecology (58) 1602-1612
Managers often move, or translocate, organisms into habitats that are assumed to be suitable, however the consequences of these translocations are usually not rigorously assessed. Robust assessment of these management experiments should consider impacts to both donor and recipient populations and compare the cost‐effectiveness of translocations to other actions.Here...
How would a volcanic eruption affect your Tribe?
Cynthia A. Gardner, Joseph A. Bard
2021, General Information Product 209
Volcanic eruptions are rare, but when they occur, they can profoundly affect nearby communities. In order to determine which communities are at risk, and in order for those communities to mitigate their risk, communities need to know whether they are in or near volcano hazard zones and have basic information...
