Terrestrial ecological risk analysis via dietary exposure at uranium mine sites in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona, USA)
Jo Ellen Hinck, Danielle M. Cleveland, Bradley E. Sample
2021, Chemosphere (265)
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently included uranium (U) on a list of mineral commodities that are considered critical to economic and national security. The uses of U for commercial and residential energy production, defense applications, medical device technologies, and...
Increased burning in a warming climate reduces carbon uptake in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem despite productivity gains
Paul D. Henne, Todd Hawbaker, Robert M. Scheller, Feng S Zhao, Hong S He, Wenru Xu, Zhiliang Zhu
2021, Journal of Ecology (109) 1148-1169
1. The effects of changing climate and disturbance on mountain forest carbon stocks vary with tree species distributions and over elevational gradients. Warming can increase carbon uptake by stimulating productivity at high elevations but also enhance carbon release by increasing respiration and the frequency, intensity, and size of wildfires.2. To...
Small atoll fresh groundwater lenses respond to a combination of natural climatic cycles and human modified geology
Martin A. Briggs, J Cantelon, B. Kurylyk, Justin T. Kulongoski, Audrey Mills, John W. Lane Jr.
2021, Science of the Total Environment (756)
Freshwater lenses underlying small ocean islands exhibit spatial variability and temporal fluctuations in volume, influencing ecologic management. For example, The Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge harbors one of the few surviving native stands of Pisonia grandis in the central Pacific Ocean, yet these trees face pressure from groundwater salinization, with little basic...
The 2018 reawakening and eruption dynamics of Steamboat Geyser, the world’s tallest active geyser
Mara Reed, Carolina Munoz-Saez, Sahand Hajimirza, Sin-Mei Wu, Anna Barth, Tarsilo Girona, Majid Rasht-Behesht, M.S Karplus, Shaul Hurwitz, Michael Manga
2021, PNAS (118)
Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park’s Norris Geyser Basin began a prolific sequence of eruptions in March 2018 after 34 y of sporadic activity. We analyze a wide range of datasets to explore triggering mechanisms for Steamboat’s reactivation and controls on eruption intervals and height. Prior to Steamboat’s renewed activity,...
Behavioral responses of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) to turbulent flow during fishway passage attempts
Sean A. Lewandoski, Peter J. Hrodey, Scott M. Miehls, Paul Piszczek, Daniel Zielinski
2021, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (78) 409-421
An understanding of how undesirable and desirable fish species respond behaviorally to turbulent flow in fishways would guide development of selective fish passage techniques. We applied high-resolution computational fluid dynamics modeling and competing risks analysis towards the development of predictive selective passage models. Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus; an invasive fish...
Sediment dynamics of a divergent bay–marsh complex
Daniel J. Nowacki, Neil K. Ganju
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 1216-1230
Bay–marsh systems, composed of an embayment surrounded by fringing marsh incised by tidal channels, are widely distributed coastal environments. External sediment availability, marsh-edge erosion, and sea-level rise acting on such bay–marsh complexes may drive diverse sediment-flux regimes. These factors reinforce the ephemeral and dynamic nature of fringing marshes: material released...
Generalizing the inversion‐based PSHA source model for an interconnected fault system
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Morgan T. Page
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 371-390
This article represents a step toward generalizing and simplifying the procedure for constructing an inversion‐based seismic hazard source model for an interconnected fault system, including the specification of adjustable segmentation constraints. A very simple example is used to maximize understandability and to counter the notion that an inversion approach is...
Teleseismic P‐qave coda autocorrelation imaging of crustal and basin structure, Bighorn Mountains Region, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Steven Plescia, Anne Sheehan, Seth S. Haines, Lindsay Worthington, Scott Cook, Justin Ball
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 466-475
We demonstrate successful crustal imaging via teleseismic P‐wave coda autocorrelation, using data recorded on a 261 station array of vertical‐component high‐frequency geophones in the area of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming, U.S.A. We autocorrelate the P‐wave coda of 30 teleseismic events and use phase‐weighted stacking to...
Ancient Egyptian mummified shrews (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) and mice (Rodentia: Muridae) from the Spanish Mission to Dra Abu el-Naga, and their implications for environmental change in the Nile valley during the past two millennia
Neal Woodman, Salima Ikram
2021, Quaternary Research (100) 21-31
Excavation of Ptolemaic Period (ca. 309–30 BC) strata within Theban Tombs 11, 12, -399-, and UE194A by the Spanish Mission to Dra Abu el-Naga (also known as the Djehuty Project), on the west bank of the Nile River opposite Luxor, Egypt, yielded remains of at least 175 individual small mammals...
Mainstems: A logical data model implementing mainstem and drainage basin feature types based on WaterML2 Part 3: HY Features concepts
David L. Blodgett, J. Micheal Johnson, Mark Sondheim, Michael Wieczorek, Nels Frazier
2021, Environmental Modelling and Software (135)
The Mainstems data model implements the catchment and flowpath concepts from WaterML2 Part 3: Surface Hydrology Features (HY_Features) for persistent, cross-scale, identification of hydrologic features. The data model itself provides a focused and lightweight method to describe hydrologic networks with minimum but sufficient information. The design is intended...
The demographic contributions of connectivity versus local dynamics to population growth of an endangered bird
Brian E. Reichert, Fletcher, Wiley M. Kitchens
2021, Journal of Animal Ecology (90) 574-584
Conservation and management increasingly focus on connectivity, because connectivity driven by variation in immigration rates across landscapes is thought to be crucial for maintaining local population and metapopulation persistence. Yet, efforts to quantify the relative role of immigration on population growth across the entire range of species and over...
Feeling the squeeze: Adult run size and habitat availability limit juvenile river herring densities in lakes
Matthew T. Devine, Julianne Rosset, Allison H. Roy, Benjamin I. Gahagan, Michael P. Armstrong, Andrew R. Whiteley, Adrian Jordaan
2021, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (150) 207-221
Maximum densities of juvenile river herring (Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and Blueback Herring A. aestivalis) vary among freshwater lakes, likely due to densities of adult spawners. Differences in habitat availability and lake water quality may also contribute to variation in juvenile river herring productivity between populations, yet these relationships have not been tested across...
A lagrangian-to-eulerian metric to identify estuarine pelagic habitats
Paul Stumpner, Jon R. Burau, Alexander L. Forrest
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 1231-1249
Estuaries are among the world’s most productive ecosystems, but recent natural and anthropogenic changes have stressed these ecosystems. Tools to assess estuarine pelagic habitats are important to support and maintain healthy ecosystem function. In this work, we demonstrate that estuarine pelagic habitats can be identified by...
A century of pollen foraging by the endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis): Inferences from molecular sequencing of museum specimens
Michael P. Simanonok, Clint Otto, Robert S. Cornman, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, James P. Strange, Tamara A. Smith
2021, Biodiversity and Conservation (30) 123-137
In 2017 the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) became the first bee listed under the Endangered Species Act in the continental United States due to population declines and an 87% reduction in the species’ distribution. Bombus affinis decline began in the 1990s, predating modern bee surveying initiatives,...
Perceived constraints and negotiations to trout fishing in Georgia based on angler specialization level
H. J. TenHarmsel, B. B. Boley, Brian J. Irwin, Cecil A. Jennings
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 115-129
Anglers face constraints that influence participation and dropout rates. Some recreational anglers may be able to negotiate constraints by altering the timing or frequency of participation, acquiring new skills, or modifying nonrecreational aspects such as family or work responsibilities. We consider data collected via a mail survey from Georgia-resident trout...
Spectral inversion for seismic site response in central Oklahoma: Low-frequency resonances from the Great Unconformity
Morgan P. Moschetti, Stephen H. Hartzell
2021, Bulletin of Seismological Society of America (111) 87-100
We investigate seismic site response by inverting seismic ground‐motion spectra for site and source spectral properties, in a region of central Oklahoma, where previous ground‐motion studies have indicated discrepancies between observations and ground‐motion models (GMMs). The inversion is constrained by a source spectral model, which...
Survival is negatively associated with glucocorticoids in a wild ungulate neonate
Tess Michelle Gingery, Duane R. Diefenbach, Catharine E. Pritchard, David C. Ensminger, Bret D. Wallingford, Christopher S. Rosenberry
2021, Integrative Zoology (16) 214-225
It is unknown how ungulate physiological responses to environmental perturbation influence overall population demographics. Moreover, neonatal physiological responses remain poorly studied despite the importance of neonatal survival to population growth. Glucocorticoid (GC) hormones potentially facilitate critical physiological and behavioral responses to environmental perturbations. However, elevated GC concentrations over time may...
Clothianidin decomposition in Missouri wetland soils
C. J. Beringer, K. W. Goyne, R. N. Lerch, Elisabeth B. Webb, D. Mengel
2021, Journal of Environmental Quality (50) 241-251
Neonicotinoid pesticides can persist in soils for extended time periods; however, they also have a high potential to contaminate ground and surface waters. Studies have reported negative effects associated with neonicotinoids and nontarget taxa, including aquatic invertebrates, pollinating insect species, and insectivorous birds. This study evaluated factors associated with clothianidin...
Stress gradients interact with disturbance to reveal alternative states in salt marsh: Multivariate resilience at the landscape scale
Scott Jones, Camille Stagg, Erik S. Yando, W. Ryan James, Kevin J. Buffington, Mark W. Hester
2021, Journal of Ecology (109) 3211-3223
Stress gradients influence many ecosystem processes and properties, including ecosystem recovery from and resistance to disturbance. While recent analytical approaches have advanced multivariate metrics of ecosystem resilience that allow quantification of conceptual resilience models and identification of thresholds of state change, these approaches are not often translated to landscape...
Probabilistic patterns of inundation and biogeomorphic changes due to sea-level rise along the northeastern U.S. Atlantic coast
Erika E. Lentz, Sara L. Zeigler, E. Robert Thieler, Nathaniel G. Plant
2021, Landscape Ecology (36) 223-241
ContextCoastal landscapes evolve in response to sea-level rise (SLR) through a variety of geologic processes and ecological feedbacks. When the SLR rate surpasses the rate at which these processes build elevation and drive lateral migration, inundation is likely.ObjectivesTo examine the role of land cover diversity and...
Uncertainty in critical source area predictions from watershed-scale hydrologic models
Grey R. Evenson, Margaret M Kalcic, Yu-Chen Wang, Dale M. Robertson, Donald Scavia, Jay Martin, Noel Aloysius, Anna Apostel, Chelsie Boles, Michael Brooker, Remegio Confesor, Awoke T Dagnew, Tian Guo, Jeffrey Kast, Hailey Kajawa, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Asmita Murumkar, Todd Redder
2021, Journal of Environmental Management (279)
Watershed-scale hydrologic models are frequently used to inform conservation and restoration efforts by identifying critical source areas (CSAs; alternatively 'hotspots'), defined as areas that export relatively greater quantities of nutrients and sediment. The CSAs can then be prioritized or ‘targeted’ for...
Multi-year hydroclimatic droughts and pluvials across the conterminous United States
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock
2021, International Journal of Climatology (41) 1731-1746
Time series of water‐year runoff for 2,109 hydrologic units (HUs) across the conterminous United States (CONUS) for the 1900 through 2014 period were used to identify drought and pluvial (i.e., wet) periods. Characteristics of the drought and pluvial events including frequency, duration, and severity were examined...
Germination potential of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) swamp soil seed bank along geographical gradients
Ting Lei, Beth Middleton
2021, Science of the Total Environment (759)
Changing environments of temperature, precipitation and moisture availability can affect vegetation in ecosystems, by affecting regeneration from the seed bank. Our objective was to explore the responses of soil seed bank germination to climate-related environments along geographic gradients. We collected seed banks in baldcypress...
A Bayesian Dirichlet process community occupancy model to estimate community structure and species similarity
Rahel Sollmann, Mitchell J. Eaton, William Link, Paul Mulundo, Samuel Ayebare, Sarah Prinsloo, Andrew J. Plumptre, D.S. Johnson
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Community occupancy models estimate species‐specific parameters while sharing information across species by treating parameters as sampled from a common distribution. When communities consist of discrete groups, shrinkage of estimates towards the community mean can mask differences among groups. Infinite mixture models using a Dirichlet process (DP) distribution, in which the...
Transport and speciation of uranium in groundwater-surface water systems impacted by legacy milling operations
Patrick A. Byrne, Christopher C. Fuller, David L. Naftz, Robert L. Runkel, Niklas J Lehto, William L Dam
2021, Science of the Total Environment (761)
Growing worldwide concern over uranium contamination of groundwater resources has placed an emphasis on understanding uranium transport dynamics and potential toxicity in groundwater-surface water systems. In this study, we utilized novel in-situ sampling methods to establish the location and magnitude of contaminated groundwater entry into a receiving surface water environment,...