Applying spatially explicit capture–recapture models to estimate black bear density in South Carolina
Shefali Azad, Katherine McFadden, Joseph D. Clark, Tammy Wactor, David S. Jachowski
2020, Wildlife Society Bulletin (43) 500-507
Population density is an important component of wildlife management decisions, but can be difficult to estimate directly for an itinerant, wide‐ranging species such as the American black bear (Ursus americanus ). In South Carolina, USA, where there has been growth in black bear populations and bear–human‐conflict reports during the past several...
Historical changes in fish communities in urban streams of the southeastern U.S. and the relative importance of water-quality stressors
Michael R. Meador
2020, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (29) 156-169
A total of 71 stream sites representing a gradient of urban land use was sampled across the Piedmont of the southeastern U.S. in 2014. Fish data collected (observed) at each site were compared to an expected community based on georeferenced historical (~1950 - ~1990) species occurrence records for stream...
Regional Global Navigation Satellite System networks for crustal deformation monitoring
Jessica R. Murray, Noel Bartlow, Yehuda Bock, Benjamin A. Brooks, James H. Foster, Jeffery T. Freymueller, William C. Hammond, Kathleen Hodgkinson, Ingrid A. Johanson, Alberto Lopez-Venegas, Doerte Mann, Glen Mattioli, Timothy Melbourne, David Mencin, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Mark Hunter Murray, Robert Smalley Jr., Valerie Thomas
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 552-572
Regional networks of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations cover seismically and volcanically active areas throughout the United States. Data from these networks have been used to produce high‐precision, three‐component velocity fields covering broad geographic regions as well as position time series that track time‐varying crustal deformation. This information has...
A range-wide model of contemporary, omnidirectional connectivity for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise
Miranda E Gray, Brett G. Dickson, Kenneth Nussear, Todd Esque, Tony Chang
2020, Ecosphere (10)
As habitat destruction leads to species extinctions globally, conservation planning that accounts for population-level connectivity and gene flow is an urgent priority. Models that only approximate habitat potential are incomplete because areas of high habitat potential may be isolated, whereas intermixed areas of lower habitat potential may still be critical...
Permafrost hydrology drives the assimilation of old carbon by stream food webs in the Arctic
Jonathon A O'Donnell, Michael P. Carey, Joshua C. Koch, Xiaomei Xu, Brett Poulin, Jennifer Walker, Christian E. Zimmerman
2020, Ecosystems (23) 435-453
Permafrost thaw in the Arctic is mobilizing old carbon (C) from soils to aquatic ecosystems and the atmosphere. Little is known, however, about the assimilation of old C by aquatic food webs in Arctic watersheds. Here, we used C isotopes (δ13C, Δ14C) to quantify C assimilation by biota across 12...
Influence of a high-head dam as a dispersal barrier to fish community structure of the Upper Mississippi River
Rebekah L. Anderson, Cory A. Anderson, James H. Larson, Brent C. Knights, Jonathan M. Vallazza, Sean E. Jenkins, James T. Lamer
2020, River Research and Applications (36) 47-56
In river systems, high‐head dams may increase the distance‐decay of fish community similarity by creating nearly impermeable dispersal barriers to certain species from upstream reaches. Substantial evidence suggests that migratory species are impacted by dams, and most previous studies in stream/river networks have focused on small streams and headwaters. Here,...
Porphyry copper potential of the U.S. Southern Basin and Range using ASTER data integrated with geochemical and geologic datasets to assess potential near-surface deposits in well-explored permissive tracts
John C. Mars, Robinson Jr., Jane M. Hammarstrom, Lukas Zurcher, Helen A. Whitney, Federico Solano, Mark E. Gettings, Stephen Ludington
2020, Economic Geology (114) 1095-1121
ArcGIS was used to spatially assess and rank potential porphyry copper deposits using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data together with geochemical and geologic datasets in order to estimate undiscovered deposits in the southern Basin and Range Province in the southwestern United States. The assessment was done...
Temporal patterns of induced seismicity in Oklahoma revealed from multi-station template matching
Robert J. Skoumal, Michael R. Brudzinski, Brian S. Currie, Rosamiel Ries
2020, Journal of Seismology (24) 921-935
Over the past decade, Oklahoma became the most seismically active region of the mid-Continental USA as a result of industry operations. However, seismic network limitations and completeness of earthquake catalogs have restricted the types of analyses that can be performed. By applying multi-station template matching on the 23,889 cataloged earthquakes...
Understanding melt evolution and eruption dynamics of the 1666 C.E. eruption of Cinder Cone, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California: Insights from olivine-hosted melt inclusions
Kristina J Walowski, P.J. Wallace, K.V. Cashman, J.K. Marks, Michael A. Clynne, P. Ruprecht
2020, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (387)
Cinder Cone is the youngest scoria cone volcano in the continental United States. Erupted in 1666 C.E. within what is now Lassen Volcanic National Park, Cinder Cone is an un-vegetated scoria cone with well-preserved lava flows and tephra deposits that display...
Species-specific responses to wetland mitigation among amphibians in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
LK Swartz, WH Lowe, Erin L. Muths, Blake R. Hossack
2020, Restoration Ecology (28) 206-214
Habitat loss and degradation are leading causes of biodiversity declines, therefore assessing the capacity of created mitigation wetlands to replace habitat for wildlife has become a management priority. We used single season occupancy models to compare the occurrence of larvae of four species of pond‐breeding amphibians in wetlands created for...
Maximum entropy derived statistics of sound speed structure in a fine-grained sediment inferred from sparse broadband acoustic measurements on the New England continental shelf
David P. Knobles, Preston S. Wilson, J.A. Goff, L. Wan, M.J. Buckingham, Jason Chaytor, Mohsen Badiey
2020, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering (45) 161-173
Marginal probability distributions for parameters representing an effective sound-speed structure of a fine-grained sediment are inferred from a data ensemble maximum entropy method that utilizes a sparse spatially distributed set of received pressure time series resulting from multiple explosive sources in a shallow-water ocean environment possessing significant spatial variability of...
Social attraction used to establish Caspian tern nesting colonies in San Francisco Bay
C. Alex Hartman, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog, Cheryl Strong, David A Trachtenbarg
2020, Global Ecology and Conservation (20)
Conservation of colonial waterbird breeding populations often includes restoring historic nesting habitat or establishing new nesting habitat in protected areas. However, colonization of new or restored nesting habitat may be hindered by the lack of social cues from nesting conspecifics to attract prospecting birds. Social attraction, whereby decoys and colony...
Sampling and analysis frameworks for inference in ecology
Byron K. Williams, Ellie Brown
2020, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (11) 1832-1842
1. Reliable statistical inference is central to ecological research, much of which seeks to estimate population attributes and their interactions. The issue of sampling design and its relationship to inference has become increasingly important due to rapid proliferation of modeling methodology (line transect modeling, capture-recapture, estimation of occurrence, model selection...
Planners tool up for the next big one
Laurie Johnson, Anne M. Wein
2020, Planning (85) 40-44
Data, modeling, risk analysis, and hazard scenario resources can help put earthquake mitigation efforts on firmer ground. Article discusses general earthquake information and findings of the HayWired scenario for a planner audience....
Using carbon isotope ratios to verify predictions of a model simulating the interaction between coastal plant communities and their effect on ground water salinity
Suresh C. Subedi, Leonel Sternberg, Donald L. DeAngelis, Michael S. Ross, Danielle Ogarcak
2020, Ecosystems (23) 570-585
As sea level rises in low-lying coastal islands, salt-tolerant (halophytic) coastal vegetation communities may be able to migrate inland, replacing the freshwater vegetation that is unable to tolerate salt stress. The pace of such shifts may be accelerated by a self-reinforcing feedback between the halophytic vegetation and salinity, as well...
Using full and partial unmixing algorithms to estimate the inundation extent of small, isolated stock ponds in an arid landscape
Christopher Jarchow, Brent H. Sigafus, Erin L. Muths, Blake R. Hossack
2020, Wetlands (40) 563-575
Many natural wetlands around the world have disappeared or been replaced, resulting in the dependence of many wildlife species on small, artificial earthen stock ponds. These ponds provide critical wildlife habitat, such that the accurate detection of water and assessment of inundation extent is required. We applied a full (linear...
Harvest–release decisions in recreational fisheries
Mark A Kaemingk, Keith L. Hurley, Christopher J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope
2020, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (77) 194-201
Most fishery regulations aim to control angler harvest. Yet, we lack a basic understanding of what actually determines the angler’s decision to harvest or release fish caught. We used XGBoost, a machine learning algorithm, to develop a predictive angler harvest–release model by taking advantage of an extensive recreational fishery data...
Light exposure along particle flowpaths in large rivers
John R. Gardner, Scott H. Ensign, Jeffrey N. Houser, Martin W. Doyle
2020, Limnology and Oceanography (65) 128-142
Sunlight is a critical resource in aquatic systems driving photosynthesis, photodegradation of organic matter and contaminants, animal behavior, and the activity of human pathogens. In rivers, solutes, materials, and organisms are turbulently mixed across the water column during downstream transport and exposed to highly variable sunlight. However, there are no...
Estimating visitor use and economic contributions of National Park visitor spending
Lynne Koontz, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
2020, Book chapter, Valuing U.S. National Parks and Programs
This chapter provides an overview of the National Park Service (NPS) methods for estimating visitor spending and calculating economic contributions of visitor spending in terms of jobs supported, wage and labor income, and total economic activity. The Visitor Spending Effects model combines visitor spending patterns and trip characteristic data with...
Investigating bedload transport under asymmetrical waves using a coupled ocean-wave model
Tarandeep S. Kalra, Christopher R. Sherwood, John C. Warner, Yashar Rafati, Tian Jian Hsu
2020, Conference Paper
Transport by asymmetrical wave motions plays a key role in cross-shore movement of sand, which is important for bar migration, exchange through tidal inlets, and beach recovery after storms. We have implemented a modified version of the SANTOSS formulation in the three-dimensional open-source Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling framework. The calculation...
Modeling the morphological response of a barrier island to Hurricane Matthew
Ellen Quataert, Marlies van der Lugt, Christopher R. Sherwood, Maarten van Oormondt, Ap van Dongeran
2020, Conference Paper, Coastal sediments 2019: Proceedings of the 9th international conference
Surge and wave forcing from Hurricane Matthew caused a breach south of Matanzas Inlet (FL, USA) on a complex barrier island, including sandy dunes, hard structures (residential buildings and a highway), wetlands, and the US Intracoastal Waterway. In this paper, the skill of the XBeach model to predict hurricane-induced barrier...
Establishing genome sizes of focal fishery and aquaculture species along Baja California, Mexico
Constanza del Mar Ochoa-Saloma, Jill A. Jenkins, Manuel A. Segovia, Miguel A. Del Rio-Portilla, Carmen G. Paniagua-Chavez
2020, Conservation Genetics Resources (12) 301-309
Genome size—the total haploid content of nuclear DNA— is constant in all cells in individuals within a species, but differs among species. Consequently, the genome size is a quantifiable genetic signature that not only characterizes a species, but it can reflect chromatin modifications, which play fundamental roles in most biological...
Hydroseeding tackifiers and dryland moss restoration potential
W. Dillon Blankenship, Lea A. Condon, David A. Pyke
2020, Restoration Ecology (28) S127-S138
Tackifiers are long‐chain carbon compounds used for soil stabilization and hydroseeding and could provide a vehicle for biological soil crust restoration. We examined the sensitivity of two dryland mosses, Bryum argenteum and Syntrichia ruralis, to three common tackifiers ‐ guar, psyllium, and polyacrylamide (PAM) ‐ at 0.5x, 1.0x, and 2.0x of recommended (x) concentrations...
Upwelling buffers climate change impacts on coral reefs of the eastern tropical Pacific
Carly J. Randall, Lauren T. Toth, James J Leichter, Juan L Mate, Richard B. Aronson
2020, Ecology (2)
Corals of the eastern tropical Pacific live in a marginal and oceanographically dynamic environment. Along the Pacific coast of Panamá, stronger seasonal upwelling in the Gulf of Panamá in the east transitions to weaker upwelling in the Gulf of Chiriquí in the west, resulting in complex...
Enhanced El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability in recent decades
Pamela R. Grothe, Kim M. Cobb, Giovanni Liguori, Emanuele Di Lorenzo, Antonietta Capotondi, Yanbin Lu, Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards, John R. Southon, Guaciara M. Santos, Daniel M. Decampo, Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Tianran Chen, Hussein R. Sayani, Diane M. Thompson, Jessica L. Conroy, Andrea L. Moore, Kayla Townsend, Melat Hagos, Gemma O’Connor, Lauren T. Toth
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (46)
The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) represents the largest source of year-to-year global climate variability. While Earth system models suggest a range of possible shifts in ENSO properties under continued greenhouse gas forcing, many centuries of preindustrial climate data are required to detect a potential shift in the...
