Free-roaming horses disrupt greater sage-grouse lekking activity in the Great Basin
Diana A. Munoz, Peter S. Coates, Mark A. Ricca
2021, Journal of Arid Environments (184)
Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) and free-roaming horses (Equus caballus) co-occur within large portions of sagebrush ecosystems within the Great Basin of western North America. In recent decades, sage-grouse populations have declined substantially while concomitant free-roaming horse populations have increased drastically....
Simulating strategic implementation of the CRP to increase Greater prairie-chicken abundance
Kalysta Adkins, Charlotte L. Roy, Robert G. Wright, David E. Andersen
2021, Journal of Wildlife Management (85) 27-40
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has the potential to influence the distribution and abundance of grasslands in many agricultural landscapes, and thereby provide habitat for grassland-dependent wildlife. Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) are a grassland-dependent species with large area requirements and have been used as an indicator of grassland ecosystem...
Volcano geodesy: A critical tool for assessing the state of volcanoes and their potential for hazardous eruptive activity
Michael Poland, Elske de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen
2021, Book chapter, Forecasting and planning for volcanic hazards, risks, and disasters
Since the beginning of the 20th century, volcano geodesy has evolved from time- and personnel-intensive methods for collecting discrete measurements to automated and/or remote tools that provide data with exceptional spatiotemporal resolution. By acknowledging and overcoming limitations related to data collection and interpretation, geodesy becomes a powerful tool for forecasting...
Harnessing landscape genomics to identify future climate resilient genotypes in a desert annual
Daniel F. Shryock, Loraine K Washburn, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd Esque
2021, Molecular Ecology (30) 698-717
Local adaptation features critically in shaping species responses to changing environments, complicating efforts to revegetate degraded areas. Rapid climate change poses an additional challenge that could reduce fitness of even locally sourced seeds in restoration. Predictive restoration strategies that apply seeds with favourable adaptations to future climate may promote long‐term...
Evaluating the effects of downscaled climate projections on groundwater storage and simulated base-flow contribution to the North Fork Red River and Lake Altus, southwest Oklahoma (USA)
L.G. Labriola, J.H. Ellis, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Tom Pruitt, Pierre Kirstetter, Yang Hong
2021, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 2903-2916
Potential effects of projected climate variability on base flow and groundwater storage in the North Fork Red River aquifer, Oklahoma (USA), were estimated using downscaled climate model data coupled with a numerical groundwater-flow model. The North Fork Red River aquifer discharges groundwater to the North Fork Red River, which provides...
Direct and indirect effects of a keystone engineer on a shrubland-prairie food web
Courtney J. Duchardt, Lauren M. Porensky, Ian S. Pearse
2021, Ecology (102)
Keystone engineers are critical drivers of biodiversity throughout ecosystems worldwide. Within the North American Great Plains, the black‐tailed prairie dog is an imperiled ecosystem engineer and keystone species with well‐documented impacts on the flora and fauna of rangeland systems. However, because this species affects ecosystem structure and function in myriad...
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...
Moderate susceptibility to subcutaneous plague (Yersinia pestis) challenge in vaccine-treated and untreated Sonoran deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus sonoriensis) and northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster)
Gebbiena Bron, Susan Smith, Judy L. Williamson, Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke
2021, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (57) 632-636
The variable response of wild mice to Yersinia pestis infection, the causative agent of plague, has generated much speculation concerning their role in the ecology of this potentially lethal disease. Researchers have questioned the means by which Y. pestis is maintained in nature and also sought methods for managing the disease. Here we assessed...
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...
Negative effects of an allelopathic invader on AM fungal plant species drive community‐level responses
Morgan Roche, Ian S. Pearse, Lalasia Bialic-Murphy, Stephanie N Kivlin, Helen R. Sofaer, Susan Kalisz
2021, Ecology (102)
The mechanisms causing invasive species impact are rarely empirically tested, limiting our ability to understand and predict subsequent changes in invaded plant communities. Invader disruption of native mutualistic interactions is a mechanism expected to have negative effects on native plant species. Specifically, disruption of native plant‐fungal mutualisms may provide non‐mycorrhizal...
Leveraging deep learning in global 24/7 real-time earthquake monitoring at the National Earthquake Information Center
William L. Yeck, John Patton, Zachary E. Ross, Gavin P. Hayes, Michelle M. Guy, Nicholas Ambruz, David R. Shelly, Harley M. Benz, Paul S. Earle
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 4469-480
Machine‐learning algorithms continue to show promise in their application to seismic processing. The U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) is exploring the adoption of these tools to aid in simultaneous local, regional, and global real‐time earthquake monitoring. As a first step, we describe a simple framework to incorporate...
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...
Hydrocarbons to carboxyl-rich alicyclic molecules: A continuum model to describe biodegradation of petroleum-derived dissolved organic matter in contaminated groundwater plumes
David C. Podgorski, Phoebe Zito, Anne M. Kellerman, Barbara A. Bekins, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Donald F. Smith, Xiaoyan Cao, Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, Sasha Wagner, Aron Stubbins, Robert G. M. Spencer
2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials (402)
Relationships between dissolved organic matter (DOM) reactivity and chemical composition in a groundwater plume containing petroleum-derived DOM (DOMHC) were examined by quantitative and qualitative measurements to determine the source and chemical composition of the compounds that persist downgradient. Samples were collected from a transect down...
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...
Genetic diversity, population structure, and historical demography of a highly vagile and human‐impacted seabird in the Pacific Ocean: The red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda
Andrea I Varela, Katherina Brokordt, Stefanie M.H. Ismar‐Rebitz, Chris P Gaskin, Nicholas Carlile, Terence O’Dwyer, Josh Adams, Eric A. Vanderwerf, Guillermo Luna‐Jorquera
2021, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (31) 367-377
Many seabird breeding colonies have recovered from heavy anthropogenic disturbance after conservation actions. The widely distributed red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, was used as a model species to assess potential anthropogenic impacts on the genetic diversity of breeding colonies in the Pacific Ocean.Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and control region sequences analyses were...
How plants influence resilience of salt marsh and mangrove wetlands to sea-level rise
Donald R. Cahoon, Karen L. McKee, James Morris
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 883-898
This review evaluates the importance of plants and associated biological processes in determining the vulnerability of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise. Coastal wetlands occur across a broad sedimentary continuum from minerogenic to biogenic, providing an opportunity to examine the relative importance of biological processes in wetland resilience to sea-level rise....
Latitudinal patterns of alien plant invasions
Qinfeng Guo, Brian S. Cade, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Holger Kreft, Jan Pergl, Mark van Kleunen, Patrick Weigelt, Marten Winter, Petr Pyšek
2021, Journal of Biogeography (48) 253-262
Latitudinal patterns of biodiversity have long been a central topic in ecology and evolutionary biology. However, while most previous studies have focused on native species, little effort has been devoted to latitudinal patterns of plant invasions (with a few exceptions based on data from sparse locations). Using the most up‐to‐date...
Assessing the ecological risks of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances: Current state‐of‐the science and a proposed path forward
Gerald T. Ankley, Philippa Cureton, Robert A. Hoke, Magali Houde, Anupama Kumar, Jessy Kurias, Roman P. Lanno, Chris McCarthy, John L. Newsted, Christopher J. Salice, Bradley E. Sample, Maria S. Sepúlveda, Jeffery A. Steevens, Sara Valsecchi
2021, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (40) 564-605
Per‐ and poly‐fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) encompass a large, heterogenous group of chemicals of potential concern to human health and the environment. Based on information for a few relatively well‐understood PFAS such as perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate, there is ample basis to suspect that at least a subset can be considered...
Estimating abundance of an unmarked, low-density species using camera traps
Kenneth E. Loonam, David E. Ausband, Paul M. Lukacs, Michael S. Mitchell, Hugh S. Robinson
2021, Journal of Wildlife Management (85) 87-96
Estimating abundance of wildlife populations can be challenging and costly, especially for species that are difficult to detect and that live at low densities, such as cougars (Puma concolor). Remote, motion-sensitive cameras are a relatively efficient monitoring tool, but most abundance estimation techniques using remote cameras rely on some or...
Resolving species boundaries in the critically imperiled freshwater mussel species, Fusconaia mitchelli (Bivalvia: Unionidae)
Chase H. Smith, Nathan Johnson, Kaitlyn Havlik, Robert D. Doyle, Charles R. Randklev
2021, Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research (59) 60-77
Species are a fundamental unit of biology, and defining accurate species boundaries is integral to effective conservation and management of imperiled taxa. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) are among the most imperiled groups of organisms in North America, yet species boundaries remain uncertain for many taxa. The False Spike, Fusconaia mitchelli (Simpson in...
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,...
Loss of coastal islands along Florida’s Big Bend region: Implications for breeding American oystercatchers
N. Vitale, J. Brush, Abby Powell
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 1173-1182
Many coastal-dependent species have undergone large-scale population declines due to impacts from habitat loss, including American oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus). Islands along the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast provide important nesting habitat for oystercatchers, but reproductive success here is low and habitat degradation and loss...
Landsat 9 mission update and status
Brian Markham, Del Jenstrom, Steven Pszcolka, Vicki Dulski, Jason Hair, Joel McCorkel, Geir Kvaran, Kurtis Thome, Matthew Montanaro, Jeffery Pedelty, Cody Anderson, Michael J. Choate, Julia Barsi, Ed Kaita, Jeffery Miller
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings volume 11501, Earth observing systems XXV
Landsat 9 is currently undergoing testing at the integrated observatory level in preparation for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2021. Landsat 9 will replace Landsat 7 in orbit, 8 days out of phase with Landsat 8. Landsat 9 is largely a copy of Landsat 8 in terms of...
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...
