Exposure to and biomarker responses from legacy and emerging contaminants along three drainages in the Milwaukee Estuary, Wisconsin, USA
Christine M. Custer, Thomas W. Custer, Paul Dummer, Sandra L. Schultz, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Chi Yen Tseng, Cole W. Matson
2024, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (43) 856-877
Legacy contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were assessed in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) tissue and diet samples from three drainages in the Milwaukee estuary, Wisconsin, USA, to understand exposures and possible biomarker responses. Two remote Wisconsin lakes were assessed for comparative purposes....
Novel approach for ranking DEMs: Copernicus DEM improves one arc second open global topography
Conrad Bielski, Carlos López-Vázquez, Carlos H. Grohmann, Peter L. Guth, Laurence Hawker, Dean B. Gesch, Sebastiano Trevisani, Virginia Herrera-Cruz, Serge Riazanoff, Axel Corseaux, Hannes I. Reuter, Peter Strobl
2024, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (62)
We present a practical approach to intercompare a range of candidate digital elevation models (DEMs) based on predefined criteria and a statistically sound ranking approach. The presented approach integrates the randomized complete block design (RCBD) into a novel framework for DEM comparison. The method presented provides a flexible, statistically sound,...
PFAS river export analysis highlights the urgent need for catchment-scale mass loading data
Patrick Byrne, William M. Mayes, Alun L. James, Sean Comber, Emma Biles, Alex Riley, Robert L. Runkel
2024, Environmental Science & Technology Letters (11) 266-272
Source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) requires an understanding of the mass loading of these compounds in river basins. However, there is a lack of temporally variable and catchment-scale mass loading data, meaning identification and prioritization of sources of PFAS to rivers for management...
How quickly do oil and gas wells “Water Out”? Quantifying and contrasting water production trends
Seth S. Haines, Brian A. Varela, Marilyn Tennyson, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos
2024, Natural Resources Research (33) 591-608
Water production from petroleum (oil and natural gas) wells is a topic of increasing environmental and economic importance, yet quantification efforts have been limited to date, and patterns between and within petroleum plays are largely unscrutinized. Additionally, classification of reservoirs as “unconventional” (also known as “continuous”)...
Adaptive resource management: Achieving functional eradication of invasive snakes to benefit avian conservation
Melia Gail Nafus, Amanda Reyes, Thomas Fies, Scott Michael Goetz
2024, Journal of Applied Ecology (61) 733-745
Natural resource management often co-occurs with considerable uncertainty. One approach to mitigating uncertainty is through adaptive resource management (ARM), a specialized form of structured decision-making that modifies management decisions or actions through monitoring and implementation.Here, we present a case study on the attempted...
Revisiting the physical processes controlling the tropical atmospheric circulation changes during the Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period
Ke Zhang, Yong Sun, Xuan Zhang, Christian Stepanek, Ran Feng, Daniel Hill, Gerrit Lohmann, Aisling M Dolan, Alan M Haywood, Ayako Abe-Ouchi, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Camille Contoux, Deepak Chandan, Gilles Ramstein, Harry J. Dowsett, Julia C. Tindall, Michiel Baatsen, Ning Tan, William Richard Peltier, Qiang Liu, Wing-Le Chan, Xin Wang, Xu Zhang
2024, Quaternary International (682) 46-59
The Mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (MPWP; 3.0–3.3 Ma), a warm geological period about three million years ago, has been deemed as a good past analog for understanding the current and future climate change. Based on 12 climate model outputs from Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project Phase 2 (PlioMIP2), we investigate tropical atmospheric...
Precipitation uncertainty estimation and rainfall-runoff model calibration using iterative ensemble smoothers
Davide Zoccatelli, Daniel B. Wright, Jeremy T. White, Michael N. Fienen, Guo Yu
2024, Advances in Water Resources (186)
The introduction of iterative ensemble smoothers (IES) for parameter calibration opens avenues for expanding parameter space in surface water hydrologic modeling. Here, we have introduced independent parameters into a model calibration experiment to estimate errors in rainfall forcing data. This...
Assessing trade-offs in developing a landscape-scale nest monitoring programme for a threatened shorebird
Kristen S. Ellis, Michael J. Anteau, Garrett J. MacDonald, Megan Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Rose J. Swift, Dustin L. Toy
2024, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (5)
Effective monitoring of wildlife species requires thorough planning and development of survey programmes that can address management and conservation objectives. Decisions about monitoring programmes include where to survey, survey design and how much effort to allocate at survey sites are typically predicated on limited budgets and available resources. When...
Comparison of longitudinal stream temperature profiles and significant thermal features from airborne thermal infrared and float surveys of the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington, summer 2020 and 2021
Daniel E. Restivo, Mousa Diabat, Chris Miwa, Valerie A.L. Bright
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5146
Summer water temperatures in the Skykomish, Snoqualmie, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers in western Washington have in recent decades exceeded the water temperature criteria for aquatic life uses set by the Washington Department of Ecology. This temperature increase is of particular concern because these rivers provide critical habitat for several...
Nitrate exposure from drinking water and dietary sources among Iowa farmers using private wells
T. Skalaban, D.A. Thompson, J. Madrigal, B. Blount, M.M. Espinosa, Dana W. Kolpin, N.C. Deziel, R.R. Jones, L.B. Freeman, J.N. Hofmann, M.H. Ward
2024, Science of the Total Envionrment (919)
Nitrate levels are increasing in water resources across the United States and nitrate ingestion from drinking water has been associated with adverse health risks in epidemiologic studies at levels below the maximum contaminant level (MCL). In contrast, dietary nitrate ingestion has generally been associated with beneficial health effects. Few studies...
The chytrid insurance hypothesis: Integrating parasitic chytrids into a biodiversity–ecosystem functioning framework for phytoplankton–zooplankton population dynamics
András Abonyi, Johanna Fornberg, Serena Rasconi, Robert Ptacnik, Martin J. Kainz, Kevin D. Lafferty
2024, Oecologia (204) 279-288
In temperate lakes, eutrophication and warm temperatures can promote cyanobacteria blooms that reduce water quality and impair food-chain support. Although parasitic chytrids of phytoplankton might compete with zooplankton, they also indirectly support zooplankton populations through the “mycoloop”, which helps move energy and essential dietary molecules from...
A habitat-centered framework for wildlife climate change vulnerability assessments: Application to Gunnison sage-grouse
Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Jessica E. Shyvers, Julie A. Heinrichs, D. Joanne Saher, Cameron L. Aldridge
2024, Ecosphere (15)
The persistence of threatened wildlife species depends on successful conservation and restoration of habitats, but climate change and other stressors make these tasks increasingly challenging. Applying climate change vulnerability analyses to contemporary wildlife management can be difficult because most analyses predict direct effects of future climate on wildlife species at...
Geographic distribution of feather δ34S in Europe
Vojtěch Brlík, Petr Procházka, Luana Bontempo, Federica Camin, Frédéric Jiguet, Gergely Osváth, Craig A. Stricker, Michael B. Wunder, Rebecca L. Powell
2024, Ecosphere (15)
Geographic distribution models of environmentally stable isotopes (the so-called “isoscapes”) are widely employed in animal ecology, and wildlife forensics and conservation. However, the application of isoscapes is limited to elements and regions for which the spatial patterns have been estimated. Here, we focused on the ubiquitous yet less commonly used...
Metabolism regimes in regulated rivers of the Illinois River basin, USA
Judson Harvey, Jay Choi, Katherine Quion
2024, Scientific Data (11)
Metabolism estimates organic carbon accumulation by primary productivity and removal by respiration. In rivers it is relevant to assessing trophic status and threats to river health such as hypoxia as well as greenhouse gas fluxes. We estimated metabolism in 17 rivers of the Illinois River basin...
Microplastic-mediated new mechanism of liver damage: From the perspective of the gut-liver axis
Xiaomei Wang, Kaili Deng, Pei Zhen Zhang, Qiqing Chen, Jason Tyler Magnuson, Wenhui Qiu, Yuping Zhou
2024, Science of the Total Environment (919)
Microplastics (MPs) are environmental contaminants that are present in all environments and can enter the human body, accumulate in various organs, and cause harm through the ingestion of food, inhalation, and dermal contact. The connection between bowel and liver disease and the interplay between...
Integrating genetic and demographic data to refine indices of abundance for Atlantic sturgeon in the Hudson River, New York
Shannon L. White, Richard M. Pendleton, Amanda Higgs, Barbara A. Lubinski, Robin L. Johnson, David C. Kazyak
2024, Endangered Species Research (55) 115-126
Critical to Atlantic sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus recovery and monitoring is the ability to estimate abundance and identify age- and stock-specific threats to survival. As adult Atlantic sturgeon spend much of their lives broadly distributed in marine and estuarine environments, it is challenging to collect data needed to estimate these demographic...
Lava flow impacts on the built environment: Insights from a new global dataset
Elinor S. Meredith, Susanna F. Jenkins, Josh L. Hayes, David Lallemand, Natalia Irma Deligne, Natalie Teng Rui Xue
2024, Journal of Applied Volcanology (13)
The recent destruction of thousands of homes by lava flows from La Palma volcano, Canary Islands, and Nyiragongo volcano, Democratic Republic of Congo, serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that lava flows can have on communities living in volcanically active regions. Damage to buildings...
Videographic monitoring at caves to estimate population size of the endangered yǻyaguak (Mariana swiftlet) on Guam
P. Marcos Gorresen, Paul M. Cryan, Megan Parker, Frank Alig, Melia Gail Nafus, Eben H. Paxton
2024, Endangered Species Research (53) 139-149
The yǻyaguak (Mariana swiftlet; Aerodramus bartschi) is an endangered cave-nesting species historically found on Guam and the southern Mariana Islands, Micronesia. The population on Guam has been severely affected by the introduction of the brown treesnake Boiga irregularis. Population status assessments have, however, been challenging due to the limitations of traditional...
Monitoring of wave, current, and sediment dynamics along the Fog Point Living Shoreline, Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland
H. Wang, Q. Chen, W.D. Capurso, N. Wang, L.M. Niemoczynski, M. Whitbeck, L. Zhu, G.A. Snedden, C.A. Wilson, M.S. Brownley
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1004
Living shorelines with salt marsh species, rock breakwaters, and sand nourishment were built along the coastal areas in the Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland, in 2016 in response to Hurricane Sandy (2012). The Fog Point living shoreline at Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge was designed with the “headland -...
Deformation-induced graphitization and muscovite recrystallization in a ductile fault zone
Martha (Rebecca) Stokes, Aaron M. Jubb, Ryan J. McAleer, David Bish, Robert Wintsch
2024, Journal of Metamorphic Geology (42) 529-550
A suite of slate samples collected along a 2 km transect crossing the Lishan fault in central Taiwan were evaluated to assess the role of ductile deformation in natural graphitization at lower greenschist facies metamorphic conditions. The process of natural aromatization, or graphitization, of an...
A systematic review of the effects of climate variability and change on black and brown bear ecology and interactions with humans
Katherine Anne Kurth, Kate Malpeli, Joseph D. Clark, Heather E. Johnson, Frank T. van Manen
2024, Biological Conservation (291)
Climate change poses a pervasive threat to humans and wildlife by altering resource availability, changing co-occurrences, and directly or indirectly influencing human-wildlife interactions. For many wildlife agencies in North America, managing bears (Ursus spp.) and human-bear interactions is a priority, yet...
Identifying conservation introduction sites for endangered birds through the integration of lidar-based habitat suitability models and population viability analyses
Lucas Fortini, Erica Gallerani, Christopher C Warren, Eben H. Paxton
2024, Remote Sensing (16)
Similar to other single-island endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers, the critically endangered ‘ākohekohe (Palmeria dolei) is threatened by climate-driven disease spread. To avert the imminent risk of extinction, managers are considering novel measures, including the conservation introduction (CI) of ‘ākohekohe from Maui to higher elevation habitats on the Island of...
Polar bear energetic and behavioral strategies on land with implications for surviving the ice-free period
Anthony M. Pagano, Karyn D. Rode, Nicholas J. Lunn, David McGeachy, Stephen N. Atkinson, Sean D. Farley, Joy A. Erlenbach, Charles T. Robbins
2024, Nature Communications (15)
Declining Arctic sea ice is increasing polar bear land use. Polar bears on land are thought to minimize activity to conserve energy. Here, we measure the daily energy expenditure (DEE), diet, behavior, movement, and body composition changes of 20 different polar bears on land over 19–23 days from August to...
Travertine records climate-induced transformations of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system from the late Pleistocene to the present
Lauren N. Harrison, Shaul Hurwitz, James B. Paces, Cathy Whitlock, Sara Peek, Joseph Licciardi
2024, GSA Bulletin
Chemical changes in hot springs, as recorded by thermal waters and their deposits, provide a window into the evolution of the postglacial hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field. Today, most hydrothermal travertine forms to the north and south of the ca. 631 ka Yellowstone caldera where groundwater flow...
Environmental variation structures reproduction and recruitment in long-lived mega-herbivores: Galapagos giant tortoises
Stephen Blake, Fredy Cabrera, Sebastian Cruz, Diego Ellis-Soto, Charles Yackulic, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Martin Wikelski, Franz Kuemmeth, James P. Gibbs, Sharon L. Deem
2024, Ecological Monographs (94)
Migratory, long-lived animals are an important focus for life-history theory because they manifest extreme trade-offs in life-history traits: delayed maturity, low fecundity, variable recruitment rates, long generation times, and vital rates that respond to variation across environments. Galapagos tortoises are an iconic example: they are long-lived, migrate seasonally, face multiple...
