Intraspecific variation in surface water uptake in a perennial desert shrub
Andrii Zaiats, Brynne E. Lazarus, Matthew J. Germino, Marcelo D. Serpe, Bryce A. Richardson, Sven Buerki, T. Trevor Caughlin
2020, Functional Ecology (34) 1170-1179
Despite broad recognition that water is a major limiting factor in arid ecosystems, we lack an empirical understanding of how this resource is shared and distributed among neighbouring plants. Intraspecific variability can further contribute to this variation via divergent life‐history traits, including root architecture. We investigated these questions in...
Acoustic space occupancy: Combining ecoacoustics and lidar to model biodiversity variation and detection bias across heterogeneous landscapes
Danielle I. Rappaport, J. Andrew Royle, Douglas C. Morton
2020, Ecological Indicators (113)
There is global interest in quantifying changing biodiversity in human-modified landscapes. Ecoacoustics may offer a promising pathway for supporting multi-taxa monitoring, but its scalability has been hampered by the sonic complexity of biodiverse ecosystems and the imperfect detectability of animal-generated sounds. The acoustic signature of a habitat, or soundscape, contains...
Formation criteria for hyporheic anoxic microzones: Assessing interactions of hydraulics, nutrients and biofilms
S. R. Chowdhury, J. Zarnetske, M.S. Phanikumar, Martin A. Briggs, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, K. Singha
2020, Water Resources Research (56)
Recent experimental studies have detected the presence of anoxic microzones in hyporheic sediments. These microzones are small‐scale anoxic pores, embedded within oxygen‐rich porous media and can act as anaerobic reaction sites producing reduction compounds such as nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Microbes are a key control on nutrient transformation...
Mapping forested wetland inundation in the Delmarva Peninsula, USA: Use of deep learning model
Ling Du, Greg W. McCarty, Xinhow Zhang, Megan W. Lang, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Xian-Dan Lin, Chengquan Huang, Sangchul Lee, Zhenhua Zou
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
The Delmarva Peninsula in the eastern United States is dominated by thousands of small, forested depressional wetlands that are highly sensitive to climate change and climate variability but provide critical ecosystem services. Due to the relatively small size of these depressional wetlands and occurrence under forest canopy cover, it...
The economics of territory selection
Michael S. Mitchell, Sarah N. Sells
2020, Ecological Modelling (338)
Territorial behavior is a fundamental and conspicuous behavior within numerous species, but the mechanisms driving territory selection remain uncertain. Theory and empirical precedent indicate that many animals select territories economically to satisfy resource requirements for survival and reproduction, based on benefits of food resources and costs of competition and travel....
Potential groundwater recharge rates for two subsurface-drained agricultural fields, southeastern Minnesota, 2016–18
Erik A. Smith, Andrew M. Berg
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5006
Subsurface drainage is used to efficiently drain saturated soils to support productive agriculture in poorly drained terrains. Although subsurface drainage alters the water balance for agricultural fields, its effect on groundwater resources and groundwater recharge is poorly understood. In Minnesota, subsurface drainage has begun to increase in southeastern Minnesota, even...
Tissue distribution and immunomodulation in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) following dietary exposure to polychlorinated biphenyl Aroclors and food deprivation
Sahnnon L White, Devin A DeMario, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Vicki S. Blazer, Tyler Wagner
2020, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (17)
Although most countries banned manufacturing of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) over 40 years ago, PCBs remain a global concern for wildlife and human health due to high bioaccumulation and biopersistance. PCB uptake mechanisms have been well studied in many taxa; however, less is known about depuration rates and...
Groundwater model simulations of stakeholder-identified scenarios in a high-conflict irrigated area
Maribeth Kniffin, Kenneth Bradbury, Michael N. Fienen, Kenneth Genskow
2020, Groundwater (58) 973-986
This study investigated collaborative groundwater‐flow modeling and scenario analysis in the Little Plover River basin, Wisconsin, USA where an unconfined aquifer supplies groundwater for agricultural irrigation, industrial processing, municipal water supply, and stream baseflow. We recruited stakeholders with diverse interests to identify, prioritize, and evaluate scenarios...
An integrated feasibility study of reservoir thermal energy storage in Portland, Oregon, USA
John Bershaw, Erick R. Burns, Trenton T Cladouhos, Alison E Horst, Boz Van Houten, Peter Hulseman, Alisa Kane, Jenny H Liu, Robert B Perkins, Darby P Scanlon, Ashley R. Streig, Ellen E Svadlenak, Matt W Uddenberg, Ray E Wells, Colin F. Williams
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings: 45th workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, Stanford University
In regions with long cold overcast winters and sunny summers, Deep Direct-Use (DDU) can be coupled with Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) technology to take advantage of pre-existing subsurface permeability to save summer heat for later use during cold seasons. Many aquifers worldwide are underlain by permeable regions (reservoirs) containing...
Reduction of taxonomic bias in diatom species data
Meredith Tyree, Ian W. Bishop, Charles P. Hawkins, Richard M. Mitchell, Sarah A. Spaulding
2020, Limnology and Oceanography: Methods (18) 271-279
Inconsistency in taxonomic identification and analyst bias impede the effective use of diatom data in regional and national stream and lake surveys. In this study, we evaluated the effect of existing protocols and a revised protocol on the precision of diatom species counts. The revised protocol adjusts four elements of...
Evaluating artificial shelter arrays as a minimally invasive monitoring tool for the hellbender Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
C. M. Bodinof Jachowski, Beth Ross, W.A. Hopkins
2020, Endangered Species Research (41) 167-181
Hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis are critically imperiled amphibians throughout the eastern USA. Rock-lifting is widely used to monitor hellbenders but can severely disturb habitat. We asked whether artificial shelter occupancy (the proportion of occupied shelters in an array) would function as a proxy for hellbender abundance and thereby serve as a viable alternative...
Waterfowl occurrence and residence time as indicators of H5 and H7 avian influenza in North American Poultry
John M. Humphreys, Andy Ramey, David C. Douglas, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Catherine Soos, Paul T. Link, Patrick Walther, Diann J. Prosser
2020, Scientific Reports (10) 16
Avian influenza (AI) affects wild aquatic birds and poses hazards to human health, food security, and wildlife conservation globally. Accordingly, there is a recognized need for new methods and tools to help quantify the dynamic interaction between wild bird hosts and commercial poultry. Using satellite-marked waterfowl, we applied Bayesian...
The surface trace tool — Modeling complex planar interactions using ArcGIS
Drew B. Adams, Heather L. Parks
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1136
The surface trace tool comprises a Python script written for ArcGIS that will determine the line of intersection between a planar feature and a surface. Specifically, this tool was designed for geologic applications where geologic planar-feature orientations are reported as strike and dip, and the intersecting surface is the ground....
Spatial and temporal trends in Potomac River fish abundance linked to species traits
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Karli Rogers, Zachary A. Kelly, Josh Henesy, John E. Mullican
2020, Ecosphere (11)
Analysis of species abundance trends can inform an understanding of the underlying mechanisms. We evaluated spatial and temporal trends in fish species abundance in the non-tidal Potomac River (USA) from a dataset comprising 2841 seine-hauls with > 250,000 individual fish records across 10 sites and 43 years (1975-2017). The dataset...
Timing, frequency, and duration of incubation recesses in dabbling ducks
Rebecca Croston, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog, Michael L. Casazza, Cliff L. Feldheim, Joshua T. Ackerman
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 2513-2529
Nest attendance is an important determinant of avian reproductive success, and identifying factors that influence the frequency and duration of incubation recesses furthers our understanding of how incubating birds balance their needs with those of their offspring. We characterized the frequency and timing (start time, end time, and duration) of...
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus specialization in a multihost salmonid system
David Paez, Shannon L. LaDeau, Rachel Breyta, Gael Kurath, Kerry A. Naish, Paige Ferguson
2020, Evolutionary Applications (13) 1841-1853
Many pathogens interact and evolve in communities where more than one host species is present, yet our understanding of host–pathogen specialization is mostly informed by laboratory studies with single species. Managing diseases in the wild, however, requires understanding how host–pathogen specialization affects hosts in diverse communities....
A new technique to calculate earthquake stress transfer and to forecast aftershocks
Margarita Segou, Thomas E. Parsons
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 863-873
Coseismic stress changes have been the primary physical principle used to explain aftershocks and triggered earthquakes. However, this method does not adequately forecast earthquake rates and diverse rupture populations when subjected to formal testing. We show that earthquake forecasts can be impaired by assumptions made in physics-based models, such as...
Semiautomated estimates of directivity and related source properties of small to moderate southern California earthquakes using second seismic moments
Haoran Meng, Jeffrey J. McGuire, Yehuda Ben-Zion
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research (125)
We develop a semiautomated method for estimating with second seismic moments the directivity, rupture area, duration, and centroid velocity of earthquakes. The method is applied to 41 southern California earthquakes with magnitude in the range 3.5–5.2 and provides stable results for 28 events. Apparent source time functions (ASTFs) of P and S phases are...
Bridging the research-management gap: Landscape ecology in practice on public lands in the western United States
Sarah K. Carter, David S. Pilliod, Travis S. Haby, Karen L. Prentice, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Zachary H. Bowen, John B. Bradford, Samuel A. Cushman, Joseph C. DeVivo, Michael C. Duniway, Ryan S. Hathaway, Lisa Nelson, Courtney A. Schultz, Rudy Schuster, E. Jamie Trammell, Jake Weltzin
2020, Landscape Ecology (35) 545-560
The field of landscape ecology has grown and matured in recent decades, but incorporating landscape science into land management decisions remains challenging. Many lands in the western United States are federally owned and managed for multiple uses, including recreation, conservation, and energy development. We argue for stronger integration of landscape...
Short-term forecasts of insect phenology inform pest management
Theresa M. Crimmins, Katharine L. Gerst, Diego Huerta, R. Lee Marsh, Erin E. Posthumus, Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Jeff R. Switzer, Jake Weltzin, Len Coop, Nicholas Dietschler, Daniel A. Herms, Samita Limbu, R. Talbot Trotter, Mark Whitmore
2020, Annals of the Entomological Society of America (113) 139-148
Insect pests cost billions of dollars per year globally, negatively impacting food crops and infrastructure, and contributing to the spread of disease. Timely information regarding developmental stages of pests can facilitate early detection and control, increasing efficiency and effectiveness. In 2018, the U.S. National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) released a suite...
Linking monitoring and data analysis to predictions and decisions for the range-wide eastern black rail status assessment
Conor P. McGowan, N. Angeli, W. Beisler, C.W. Snyder, N.M. Rankin, J. Woodrow, J. Wilson, E. Rivenbark, A. Schwarzer, C. Hand, R.M. Anthony, R. Griffin, K. Barrett, A. Haverland, N. Roach, T. Schneider, A. J. Smith, F. Smith, J. Tolliver, Bryan D Watts
2020, Endangered Species Research (43) 209-222
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has initiated a re-envisioned approach for providing decision makers with the best available science and synthesis of that information, called the Species Status Assessment (SSA), for endangered species decision making. The SSA report is a descriptive document that provides decision makers with an assessment...
Basin amplification effects in the Puget Lowland, Washington from strong motion recordings and 3D simulations
Mika Thompson, Erin A. Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel, J. Renate Hartog, John E. Vidale
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 534-555
Sedimentary basins in the Puget Sound region, Washington State, increase ground‐motion intensity and duration of shaking during local earthquakes. We analyze Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and U.S. Geological Survey strong‐motion recordings of five local earthquakes (M 3.9–6.8), including the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, to characterize sedimentary basin...
Integrating broad‐scale data to assess demographic and climatic contributions to population change in a declining songbird
Jim Saracco, Madeleine A. Rubenstein
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 1804-1816
Climate variation and trends affect species distribution and abundance across large spatial extents. However, most studies that predict species response to climate are implemented at small spatial scales or are based on occurrence‐environment relationships that lack mechanistic detail. Here, we develop an integrated population model (IPM)...
Identification of factors affecting predation risk for juvenile turtles using 3D printed models
S.J. Tetzlaff, A. Estrada, Brett Alexander DeGregorio, J. H. Sperry
2020, Animals (10)
Although it is widely accepted that juvenile turtles experience high levels of predation, such events are rarely observed, providing limited evidence regarding predator identities and how juvenile habitat selection and availability of sensory cues to predators affects predation risk. We placed three-dimensional printed models resembling juvenile box...
Quantifying 40 years of rockfall activity in Yosemite Valley with historical Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning
Antoine Guerin, Greg M. Stock, Mariah J. Radue, Michel Jaboyedoff, Brian D. Collins, Battista Matasci, Nikita Avdievitch, Marc-Henri Derron
2020, Geomorphology (356)
Rockfalls and rockslides are often dominant geomorphic processes in steep bedrock landscapes, but documenting their occurrence can be challenging, requiring frequent monitoring and well resolved spatial data. Repeat application of remote sensing methods such as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and Structure-from-Motion...
