Growth rate variation in Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis): An invasive species of conservation concern
Bjorn Lardner, Brian S. Cade, Julie A. Savidge, Gordon H. Rodda, Robert Reed, Amy A. Yackel Adams
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Somatic growth rate is a fundamental trait that influences metabolism, lifespan and reproductive maturity and is critical for understanding population dynamics and informing management actions. Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) introduced to Guam are highly invasive and can reproduce year-round without discrete cohorts. We compared snake size trajectories described by the...
Constraining snow water equivalent of wet snowpacks in southeast Alaska
Mikaila Mannello, Scott Braddock, Seth Campbell, Emma Erwin, Kristin Schild, Christopher McNeil
2025, Annals of Glaciology (66)
Quantifying snow water equivalent (SWE) with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in a warming climate is complicated by the incidence and variability of liquid water in snow. Snow surveys conducted during the melt season serve as a valuable analog to conditions under future warming. Here, we determine the variability of wet snowpack...
High-intensity fire supports restoration of grassland species richness and community composition following woody encroachment
Victoria M. Donovan, Alison K. Ludwig, Dillon T. Fogarty, Caleb Powell Roberts, Dirac Twidwell
2025, Journal of Environmental Management (391)
Woody encroachment has driven drastic declines in grassland biodiversity and productivity. In the U.S. Great Plains, high-intensity prescribed fire is increasingly being used to shift encroaching redcedar woodlands to a grassland state. High-intensity fire treatments drive redcedar mortality and increase herbaceous biomass. However, it is unclear how grassland community composition...
DNA metabarcoding and video camera collars yield different inferences about the summer diet of an arctic ungulate
Heather E. Johnson, Gabrielle Lys Coulombe, Layne G. Adams, Colleen Arnison, Perry Barboza, Martin Kienzler, William Leacock, Michael J. Suitor
2025, Ecosphere (16)
The diets of wild ungulates are a foundational component of their ecology, influencing their behavior, body condition, and demography. With changing environmental conditions, there is a significant need to identify important forage items for ungulates, but this has often proved challenging. Declines in several barren-ground caribou herds across the North...
Observability of eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) during visual encounter surveys in Michigan, USA
Jillian Rajewski, Steven Michael Gray, Jeffrey Grabarkiewicz, Henry Campa III, Gary J. Roloff
2025, Wildlife Society Bulletin (49)
Visual encounter surveys are commonly used to document site occupancy for the eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus; EMR). Efficacy of surveys depends on visual and auditory cues, with basking behavior and burrow use strongly affecting detection. Our goal was to predict body exposure and probability of burrow use from telemetered EMR...
Differential responses of coolwater fishes to a whole-lake reduction of a warmwater thermal guild
Holly Susan Embke, Stephen R. Carpenter, Beard Jr., Giancarlo Coppola, Daniel A. Isermann, Eric J. Pedersen, Andrew L. Rypel, Christopher J. Sullivan, Tyler D. Tunney, M. Jake Vander Zanden
2025, Ecosphere (16)
Climate change is transforming the ecology of lakes at a rapid pace, shifting some lakes toward warmwater-dominant habitats. As a result, warmwater fishes are increasingly becoming more prevalent in lakes where they already existed, altering the patterning and strength of species interactions. Understanding shifting species interactions (e.g., competition, predation), and...
Factors affecting short-term post-release survival probability of Lake Trout implanted with acoustic telemetry transmitters
Alexander James Gatch, Dimitry Gorsky, Kyle Morton, Josephine Johnson, Collin Farrell, Timothy B. Johnson, Emma Bloomfield, Brent Metcalfe, Jessica Goretzke, Michael Connerton, Sarah M. Larocque, Jonathan Midwood, Brian O’Malley, Brian Weidel, Steven J. Cooke, Stacy Furgal
2025, Fisheries Research (288)
The use of acoustic telemetry is steadily expanding to help answer questions related to habitat use, movement, and behavior of fishes. Significant time and resources are invested to start acoustic telemetry studies; therefore, careful planning is needed to limit post-release mortality of tagged individuals. Deep, cold-water species present additional challenges...
A novel approach to increase accuracy in remotely sensed evapotranspiration through basin water balance and flux tower constraints
Kul Bikram Khand, Gabriel B. Senay, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Koong Yi, Joshua Fisher, Lixin Wang, Kosana Suvočarev, Arman Ahmadi, Housen Chu, Stephen P. Good, Kanishka Mallick, Justine E.C. Missik, Jacob A. Nelson, David E. Reed, Tianxin Wang, Xiangming Xiao
2025, Journal of Hydrology (662)
Remote sensing-derived evapotranspiration (RSET) products capture the spatiotemporal variations of evapotranspiration (ET) from field to basin scales with unprecedented details. However, their accuracy varies across RSET estimation methods and diverse hydroclimate regions. While ET modeling efforts to account for biophysical processes and controlling parameters have made good progress in recent...
Coelomic foreign bodies in wild-caught Python spp. in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, Florida, USA
Gretchen E. Anderson, McKayla M. Spencer, Ray W. Snow, Andrea Currylow, Frank N. Ridgley, Bryan G. Falk, Amy A. Yackel Adams
2025, NeoBiota (99) 363-370
Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) and African rock pythons (Python sebae) have established invasive populations in southern Florida, severely disrupting local ecosystems. We analysed necropsy data from 2,179 pythons captured between 2006 and 2022, revealing nine cases of coelomic...
Chapter three - Global SSEBop actual evapotranspiration modeling and mapping using the VIIRS data
Gabriel B. Senay, Stefanie Kagone, Kul Bikram Khand, Gabriel Edwin Lee Parrish, Claudia Young, Michael Budde
2025, Book chapter, Evapotranspiration in agro-ecosystems and forestry
AActual evapotranspiration (ETa) is an essential climate variable that can be used for drought monitoring and water availability assessment because of its close connection with vegetation, soil moisture, and the water cycle. An operational ETa using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and global weather datasets was developed through...
‘The fish that stop’: Drivers of historical decline for Pacific cod and implications for modern management in an era of rapidly changing climate
Loren McClenachan, Bruce T. Anderson, Jason A. Addison, Steven J. Barbeaux, Karoline Moore, Kai Muir, Katherine L. Reedy, Ingrid B. Spies, Catherine F. West
2025, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (380)
n the Gulf of Alaska, a series of marine heat waves depleted Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) biomass to the lowest abundance ever recorded and led to the fishery’s closure in 2020. Although the fishery has been productive for decades, this collapse may have historical precedents. Traditional knowledge holders refer to...
Identifying conditions associated with outliers produced by three different chlorophyll fluorometers: A comparison of instrumentation and development of correction formulae
Emily T. Richardson, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Crystal Lee Sturgeon, Katy O’Donnell, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2025, Limnology & Oceanography: Methods (23) 673-687
Measurements of chlorophyll concentration reported by fluorometers (fChl) are used in environmental research and monitoring, as inputs to models, and in the interpretation of remote sensing data. Researchers and managers benefit from understanding how to interpret and ensure the accuracy of fChl data collected by in situ fluorometers. Although fChl...
Snow refugia: Managing temperate forest canopies to maintain winter conditions
M.A. Pastore, S.J. Nelson, E.A. Burakowski, A.R. Contosta, A.W. D’Amato, S. Garlick, E. O. Lindsey, D.A. Lutz, Toni Lyn Morelli, A.P.K. Siren, Grace A. Smith, A. Weiskittel
2025, Ecosphere (16)
Climate change is reducing snowpack across temperate regions with negative consequences for human and natural systems. Because forest canopies create microclimates that preserve snowpack, managing forests to support snow refugia—defined here as areas that remain relatively buffered from contemporary climate change over time that sustain snow quality, quantity, and/or timing...
Determination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in water by direct injection of matrix-modified centrifuge supernatant and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry with isotope dilution
James L. Gray, Leslie K. Kanagy, Christopher J. Kanagy, Cyrissa A. Anderson
2025, Techniques and Methods 5-B13
A direct-injection liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to determine 34 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including selected branched isomers, in centrifuge supernatant of matrix-modified (amended with approximately 50 percent methanol) water samples. The method has been validated in reagent water, surface water, groundwater, and wastewater effluent. Other water...
Methodology for compilation of previously published contour data showing the altitude of the base of Dakota Sandstone on the Colorado Plateau, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Donald S. Sweetkind
2025, Data Report 1213
Structure contours and other geologic information from numerous published geologic maps were digitized and compiled into a digital dataset showing the configuration of a single stratigraphic datum, the base of the Dakota Sandstone and its equivalents across the Colorado Plateau. The principal maps compiled in digital form are a series...
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Louisiana's economy
Chris Cretini
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3034
Introduction Recent and ongoing collections of high-resolution elevation data in Louisiana are providing information that supports improved critical public safety modeling and enables the State to strengthen its efforts to fight the effects of land subsidence and sea-level rise. The availability of current and accurate three-dimensional (3D) elevation data supports numerous...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the West Greenland-East Canada Province, 2023
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake II, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3016
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 7.8 billion barrels of oil and 91.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the West Greenland-East Canada Province....
Comparative genomics of Bacillus anthracis A and B-clades reveals genetic variation in genes responsible for spore germination
Sankwetea P. Mokgokong, Ayesha Hassim, Tendo Mafuna, Wendy Christine Turner, Henriette van Heerden, Kgaugelo E. Lekota
2025, Genomics (117)
Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is composed of three genetic clades (A, B, and C). Clade-A is the most common and distributed worldwide, B-clade has a narrow geographic distribution, and C-clade is rare. South Africa's Kruger National Park (KNP) has high diversity of B. anthracis, with strains from A...
Ecosystem-engineered infections: Beaver-modified wetlands are associated with conflicting drivers of amphibian pathogen prevalence
Leah M Fischer, Angela D Luis, Blake Hossack, Taegan A. McMahon, Winsor H Lowe
2025, Royal Society Open Science (12)
Beavers are ecosystem engineers and keystone species that protect freshwater resources and increase biodiversity. Beaver reintroductions are promoted for amphibian conservation, yet their impact on Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a pathogen linked with amphibian population declines worldwide, remains unclear. We investigated the abiotic and biotic drivers of Bd prevalence in Columbia spotted frogs...
Principles of riverscape health
Hayley Corrine Glassic, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Joseph Wheaton, William W. Macfarlane, Christopher Jordan, Brian M. Murphy, Scott Shahverdian, Stephen Bennett, Nicolaas Bouwes, Kirstie Fryirs, Gary Brierley, Damion Ciotti, Philip Bailey, Karen Bartlet, Barbara Belletti, Simone Bizzi, James Brasington, Reid Camp, Emily Fairfax, Jordan Gilbert, Justin Jimenez, Jeremy D Maestas, Timmie Mandish, Amy McNamara, Scott R Miller, Baptiste Marizot, Mathias Perle, Herve Piegay, Helen Reid, Lindsay V. Reynolds, William Saunders, Alden Shallcross, Peter Skidmore, Rose Smith, Benoît Terrier, Gus Wathen, Nick Weber
2025, WIREsWATER (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Primer) (12)
Riverscapes are the integration of terrestrial and aquatic systems from headwaters to estuaries that provide habitat and ecosystem benefits when in good health. However, current riverscape degradation is pervasive, impairing the function and resulting benefits of these systems. Healthy riverscapes are adaptive and some can ‘heal’ after disturbance with minimal...
The breeding season and movement ecology of male white‐tailed deer in southwest Wisconsin
Matthew Hunsaker, Marie L.J. Gilbertson, Daniel J. Storm, Wendy Christine Turner
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter, deer) have been widely studied regarding their breeding ecology and responses to hunting pressures. However, variations in defining the breeding season—its duration and timing—across studies have created uncertainty about whether regional differences in deer breeding ecology stem from ecological factors or methodological inconsistencies. This study...
2022 McKinney rain-on-wildfire event, dissolved oxygen sags, and a fish kill on the Klamath River, California
Jennifer Curtis, Grant Johnson, Josh Cahill, Laurel Genzoli, Clifford Dahm, Liam N. Schenk, John Oberholzer
2025, Scientific Reports (15)
The longitudinal propagation of water-quality and ecological impairments in rivers during and after wildfires remain poorly understood. In Northern California, the 2022 McKinney Fire burned 243 km2 of the Klamath National Forest, with 83% of the burned area classified as moderate to high severity. During the active wildfire, a high-intensity monsoonal...
Spatial and temporal variability of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in major rivers of New Mexico, USA
Kimberly R. Beisner
2025, Water Environment Research (97)
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment, but sources that contribute to temporal and spatial variability in surface waters are not well defined. Many states are assessing PFAS in water resources, and insight from these statewide assessments can help guide future sampling efforts. A statewide assessment of...
Unintended indirect effects limit elk productivity from supplemental feeding in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Brian Scott Dugovich, Emily M. Tomaszewski, Eric K. Cole, Sarah Dewey, Daniel MacNulty, Brandon Scurlock, Daniel Stahler, Paul C. Cross
2025, Ecosphere (16)
The widespread practice of supplemental feeding, a bottom-up forcing of resource availability, is intended to improve wildlife population health and survival. However, supplemental feeding could trigger indirect effects by altering predation rates and disease dynamics. We investigated the effects of feeding on three key elk (Cervus canadensis) population productivity metrics...
Preparation and analysis methods for fish tissue collected from Lake Koocanusa, Montana
Travis S. Schmidt, Ashley Morgan Bussell, Molly A. Moloney, James L. Dunnigan, Trevor M. Selch, Jessica E. Brandt, Craig A. Stricker, A. Robin Stewart, Veronika A. Kocen, Danielle M. Cleveland, Vicki S. Blazer, Sarah E. Janssen, Jacob M. Ogorek, Meghan Dunn, Theresa L. McBride, Katie B. Adams, Benjamin P. Colman, Matt Young, Jennie Christensen
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1034
Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir, receives mine wastes from metallurgical coal mines in the Elk River Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Selenium and other elements discharged by the mines into the waters of the United States can pose unknown risks to aquatic life. The U.S. Geological Survey Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center...
