Accumulating evidence in ecology: Once is not enough
James D. Nichols, William Kendall, G.Scott Boomer
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 13991-14004
Many published studies in ecological science are viewed as stand-alone investigations that purport to provide new insights into how ecological systems behave based on single analyses. But it is rare for results of single studies to provide definitive results, as evidenced in current discussions of the “reproducibility crisis” in science....
Remote sensing of tracer dye concentrations to support dispersion studies in river channels
Carl J. Legleiter, Richard R. McDonald, Jonathan M. Nelson, Paul J. Kinzel, Ryan L. Perroy, Donghae Baek, Il Won Seo
2019, Journal of Ecohydraulics (4) 131-146
In river channels the flow field influences the dispersion of biota, contaminants, and other suspended or dissolved materials. Insight on patterns and rates of dispersion can be gained by injecting a pulse of visible dye and observing spatial and temporal variations in dye concentration as the pulse moves downstream. We...
Optical wave gauging using deep neural networks
Daniel D. Buscombe, Roxanne J Carini, Shawn Harrison, C Chris Chickadel, Jonathan A. Warrick
2019, Coastal Engineering (155)
We develop a remote wave gauging technique to estimate wave height and period from imagery of waves in the surf zone. In this proof-of-concept study, we apply the same framework to three datasets: the first, a set of close-range monochrome infrared (IR)...
A parametric numerical analysis of factors controlling ground ruptures caused by groundwater pumping
Matteo Frigo, Massimiliano Ferronato, Jun Yu, Shujun Ye, Devin Galloway, Dora Carreon-Freyre, Pietro Teatini
2019, Water Resources Research (55) 9500-9518
A modeling analysis is used to investigate the relative susceptibility of various hydrogeologic configurations to aseismic rupture generation due to deformation of aquifer systems accompanying groundwater pumping. An advanced numerical model (GEPS3D) is used to simulate rupture generation and propagation for three typical processes: (i) reactivation of a preexisting...
Geospatial scaling of runoff and erosion modeling in the Chihuahuan Desert
Grady Ball, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin
2019, Applied Engineering in Agriculture (5) 733-743
Large-scale assessments of rangeland runoff and erosion require methods to extend plot-scale parameterizations to large areas. In this study, Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM) parameters were developed from plot-scale foliar and ground-cover transect data for an arid, grass-shrub rangeland in southern New Mexico, and a method was assessed to...
Using morphological measurements to predict subspecies of Midcontinent sandhill cranes
Jay A VonBank, David A. Brandt, Aaron T. Pearse, David B. Wester, Bart M Ballard
2019, Wildlife Society Bulletin (4) 737-744
The Midcontinent population of sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) has historically been classified into 3 putative subspecies, but genetic analyses have identified only 2 genetically distinct subspecies. Previous studies have successfully used morphometrics in combination with an individual's sex to differentiate subspecies of sandhill cranes that had...
Santa Barbara area coastal ecosystem vulnerability assessment
M.R. Myers, D.R. Cayan, S.F. Iacobellis, J.M. Melack, R.E. Beighley, Patrick L. Barnard, J.E. Dugan, H.M. Page
2019, Report
The Santa Barbara Area Coastal Ecosystem Vulnerability Assessment (SBA CEVA) is a multidisciplinary research project that investigates future changes to southern Santa Barbara County climate, beaches, watersheds, wetland habitats and beach ecosystems. The target audience is local land use planners and decision makers. The main objective is to provide information that assists the Cities...
Differentiating sediment sources using sediment fingerprinting techniques, in the Sprague River Basin, South-Central Oregon
Liam N. Schenk, Tessa M. Harden, Julia K. Kelson
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1120
Identifying sources of sediment to streams in the Sprague River Basin, in south-central Oregon, is important for restoration efforts that are focused on reducing sediment erosion and transport. Reducing sediment loads in these streams also contributes to compliance with the total maximum daily load reduction requirements for total phosphorus...
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2018 annual report
Sara Ernst
2019, Circular 1460
The 2018 annual report of the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center summarizes the work of the center, as well as the work of each of its science groups, highlights accomplishments of 2018, and includes a list of publications published in 2018. This product allows readers...
Advances in quantifying streamflow variability across continental scales: 2. Improved model regionalization and prediction uncertainties using hierarchical Bayesian methods
Richard B. Alexander, Gregory E. Schwarz, Elizabeth W. Boyer
2019, Water Resources Research (55) 11061-11087
The precise estimation of process effects in hydrological models requires applying models to large scales with extensive spatial variability in controlling factors. Despite progress in large‐scale applications of hydrological models in conterminous United States (CONUS) river basins, spatial constraints in model parameters have prevented the interbasin...
Population ecology of Roosevelt elk: Conservation and management in Redwood National and State Parks. Butch Weckerly. 2017. University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada, USA. 224 pp. $54.95 hardback. ISBN 978- 1943859504.
Mark A. Ricca
2019, Journal of Wildlife Management (83) 243-244
Long-term research on large ungulate populations typically conjures perceptions of extensive (and expensive) animal capture and telemetry work, and subsequent advanced modeling of resource selection and population dynamics that inform management decisions. In contrast, studies lacking a telemetry component are often limited to animal behavior or natural history. Although compelling...
Constraining dissolved organic matter sources and temporal variability in a model sub-Arctic lake
Sarah Ellen Johnston, Matthew J. Bogard, Jennifer A. Rogers, David Butman, Robert G. Striegl, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. M. Spencer
2019, Biogeochemistry (146) 271-292
Circumpolar lakes comprise ~ 1.4 million km2 of arctic and subarctic landscapes and are vulnerable to change in vegetation, permafrost distribution, and hydrological conditions in response to climate warming. However, the composition and cycling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is poorly understood for these lakes because most are remote...
Fluorescent biomarkers demonstrate prospects for spreadable vaccines to control disease transmission in wild bats
Kevin M. Bakker, Tonie E. Rocke, Jorge E. Osorio, Rachel C. Abbott, Carlos Tello, Jorge Carerra, William Valderrama, Carlos Shiva, Nestor Falcon, Daniel G. Streicker
2019, Nature Ecology and Evotution (3) 1697-1704
Vaccines that autonomously transfer among individuals have been proposed as a strategy to control infectious diseases within inaccessible wildlife populations. However, rates of vaccine spread and epidemiological efficacy in real-world systems remain elusive. Here, we investigate whether topical vaccines that transfer among individuals through social contacts can control vampire bat...
Behavioural plasticity modulates temperature-related constraints on foraging time for a montane mammal
L. Embere Hall, Anna D. Chalfoun
2019, Journal of Animal Ecology (88) 363-375
Contemporary climate change is altering temperature profiles across the globe. Increasing temperatures can reduce the amount of time during which conditions are suitable for animals to engage in essential activities, such as securing food. Behavioural plasticity, the ability to alter behaviour in response to the environment, may provide animals...
Using the STARS Model to evaluate the effects of two proposed projects for the long-term operation of State Water Project Incidental Take Permit Application and CEQA compliance
Russell W. Perry, Amy C. Hansen, Scott D. Evans, Tobias J. Kock
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1127
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) requested analysis of juvenile Chinook salmon survival in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (henceforth identified as “the Delta”) as part of an effects analysis that will be included in an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) Application. This application is in compliance with the...
Simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) model
Mevin Hooten, Jay M. Ver Hoef, Ephraim M. Hanks
2019, Book chapter, Wiley StatsRef: Statistics reference online
Simultaneous autoregressive (SAR) models are useful for accommodating various forms of dependence among data that have discrete support in a space of interest. These models are often specified hierarchically as mixed-effects regression models with first-moment structure controlled by a conventional linear regression term and second-moment structure induced by correlated random...
On the utilization of synthetic and measured earthquake ground motions for designing building monitoring systems in the near-field of major faults
Floriana Petrone, David McCallen, Mehmet Celebi
Mamun Miah, editor(s)
2019, Conference Paper, Structural health monitoring 2019: Enabling intelligent life-cycle health management for industry internet of things (IIOT)
Agencies and research groups engaged in studying measures for enhancing the resiliency of communities have recently placed emphasis on the need for extensive implementation of monitoring systems for rapid post-event assessment of structural integrity. Designing a monitoring system for a building requires a thorough knowledge of its potential nonlinear dynamic...
Response of nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay to source reduction and land use change scenarios: A SPARROW‐informed analysis
Matthew P. Miller, Paul D. Capel, Ana M. Garcia, Scott W. Ator
2019, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (56) 100-112
In response to concerns regarding the health of streams and receiving waters, the United States Environmental Protection Agency established a total maximum daily load for nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for which practices must be in place by 2025 resulting in an expected 25% reduction in load from 2009...
Instructions for running the analytical code PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool) for computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions
P.T. Harte, B. J. Huffman, Tomas Perina, Herb Levine, Daewon Rojas-Mickelson
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1104
IntroductionUnderstanding the optimal time needed to purge a well while pumping to collect a representative groundwater sample requires an understanding of groundwater flow in wells (in-well flow). Parameters that affect in-well flow include the hydraulic properties of the aquifer, well construction, drawdown from pumping, and pump rate. The time of...
Adult monarch (Danaus plexippus) abundance is higher in burned sites than in grazed sites
Julia B. Leone, Diane L. Larson, Jennifer L. Larson, Patrick Pennarola, Karen Oberhauser
2019, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7)
Much of the remaining suitable habitat for monarchs (Danaus plexippus) in Minnesota is found in tallgrass prairies. We studied the association of adult monarch abundance with use of fire or grazing to manage prairies. Sites (n=20) ranged in size from 1 to 145 hectares and included land owned and managed...
Using the STARS model to evaluate the effects of the proposed action for the reinitiation of consultation on the coordinated long-term operation of the Central Valley and State Water Project
Russell W. Perry, Adam C. Pope, Vamsi K. Sridharan
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1125
In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and California Department of Water Resources requested a reinitiation of consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act on the coordinated long-term operations of the Central Valley and State Water Projects. This resulted in a Biological Assessment released by USBR in...
Pre‐fire vegetation drives post‐fire outcomes in sagebrush ecosystems: Evidence from field and remote sensing data
Brittany S. Barker, David S. Pilliod, Matthew Rigge, Collin G. Homer
2019, Ecosphere (10)
Understanding the factors that influence vegetation responses to disturbance is important because vegetation is the foundation of food resources, wildlife habitat, and ecosystem properties and processes. We integrated vegetation cover data derived from field plots and remotely sensed Landsat images in two focal areas over a 37‐yr period (1979–2016) to...
Comment on “Interpretation of Kappa and fmax filters as source effect”, by Igor A. Beresnev
Arthur D. Frankel
2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (109) 2762-2763
Beresnev (2019) advocates the use of an earthquake slip function that produces an ω-2.5 high-frequency falloff of Fourier displacement spectra in the far field, where ω denotes the angular frequency. He argues that the observed high-frequency decay of earthquake spectra can be adequately modeled by this ω-2.5 falloff, without needing...
Standardized IMGT nomenclature of salmonidae IGH genes, the paradigm of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout: From genomics to repertoires
Susana Magadan, Aleksei Krasnov, Saida Hadi-Saljoki, Sergey Afanasyev, Stanislas Mondot, Rosario Castro, Irene Salinas, Oriol Sunyer, John D. Hansen, Ben F Koop, Marie-Paule Lefranc, Pierre Boudinot
2019, Frontiers in Immunology (10)
In teleost fish as in mammals, humoral adaptive immunity is based on B lymphocytes expressing highly diverse immunoglobulins (IG). During B cell differentiation, IG loci are subjected to genomic rearrangements of V, D, and J genes, producing a unique antigen receptor expressed on the surface of each lymphocyte. During the...
The importance of natural versus human factors for ecological conditions of streams and rivers
Tao Tang, R. Jan Stevenson, James Grace
2019, Science of the Total Environment (704)
Streams are influenced by watershed-scale factors, such as climate, geology, topography, hydrology, and soils, which mostly vary naturally among sites, as well as human factors, agriculture and urban development. Thus, natural factors could complicate assessment of human disturbance. In the present study, we use structural equation modeling and data from...
