Efficacy of landscape scale woodland and savanna restoration at multiple spatial and temporal scales
H. Tyler Pittman, David G. Krementz
2016, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (3) 233-242
The loss of historic ecosystem conditions has led forest managers to implement woodland and savanna ecosystem restoration on a landscape scale (≥10,000 ha) in the Ozark Plateau of Arkansas. Managers are attempting to restore and conserve these ecosystems through the reintroduction of disturbance, mainly short-rotation early-growing-season prescribed fire. Short-rotation early-growing...
Geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Albian Clastic and Updip Albian Clastic Assessment Units, U.S. Gulf Coast Region
Matthew D. Merrill
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1026
U.S. Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Assessments (NOGA) of Albian aged clastic reservoirs in the U.S. Gulf Coast region indicate a relatively low prospectivity for undiscovered hydrocarbon resources due to high levels of past production and exploration. Evaluation of two assessment units (AUs), (1) the Albian Clastic AU 50490125,...
Paleozoic magmatism and porphyry Cu-mineralization in an evolving tectonic setting in the North Qilian Orogenic Belt, NW China
Kun-Feng Qiu, Jun Deng, Ryan D. Taylor, Kai-Rui Song, Yao-Hui Song, Quan-Zhong Li, Richard J. Goldfarb
2016, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences (122) 20-40
The NWW-striking North Qilian Orogenic Belt records the Paleozoic accretion–collision processes in NW China, and hosts Paleozoic Cu–Pb–Zn mineralization that was temporally and spatially related to the closure of the Paleo Qilian-Qinling Ocean. The Wangdian Cu deposit is located in the eastern part of the North Qilian Orogenic Belt, NW...
Evaluation of air-soil temperature relationships simulated by land surface models during winter across the permafrost region
Wenli Wang, Annette Rinke, John C. Moore, Duoying Ji, Xuefeng Cui, Shushi Peng, David M. Lawrence, A. David McGuire, Eleanor J. Burke, Xiaodong Chen, Christine Delire, Charles Koven, Andrew MacDougall, Kazuyuki Saito, Wenxin Zhang, Ramdane Alkama, Theodore J. Bohn, Philippe Ciais, Bertrand Decharme, Isabelle Gouttevin, Tomohiro Hajima, Gerhard Krinner, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Paul A. Miller, Benjamin Smith, Tetsuo Sueyoshi
2016, The Cryosphere
A realistic simulation of snow cover and its thermal properties are important for accurate modelling of permafrost. We analyze simulated relationships between air and near-surface (20 cm) soil temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost region during winter, with a particular focus on snow insulation effects in nine land surface...
Measuring spatial patterns in floodplains: A step towards understanding the complexity of floodplain ecosystems: Chapter 6
Murray W. Scown, Martin C. Thoms, Nathan R. De Jager
David J. Gilvear, Malcolm T. Greenwood, Martin C. Thoms, Paul J. Wood, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, River science: Research and management for the 21st century
Floodplains can be viewed as complex adaptive systems (Levin, 1998) because they are comprised of many different biophysical components, such as morphological features, soil groups and vegetation communities as well as being sites of key biogeochemical processing (Stanford et al., 2005). Interactions and feedbacks among the biophysical components often result...
Application of effective discharge analysis to environmental flow decision-making
S. Kyle McKay, Mary Freeman, A.P. Covich
2016, Environmental Management (575) 1153-1165
Well-informed river management decisions rely on an explicit statement of objectives, repeatable analyses, and a transparent system for assessing trade-offs. These components may then be applied to compare alternative operational regimes for water resource infrastructure (e.g., diversions, locks, and dams). Intra- and inter-annual hydrologic variability further complicates these already complex...
Study of biological communities subject to imperfect detection: Bias and precision of community N-mixture abundance models in small-sample situations
Yuichi Yamaura, Marc Kery, J. Andrew Royle
2016, Ecological Research (31) 289-305
Community N-mixture abundance models for replicated counts provide a powerful and novel framework for drawing inferences related to species abundance within communities subject to imperfect detection. To assess the performance of these models, and to compare them to related community occupancy models in situations with marginal information, we used...
Ecology, distribution, and predictive occurrence modeling of Palmers chipmunk (Tamias palmeri): a high-elevation small mammal endemic to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, USA
Chris E. Lowrey, Kathleen M. Longshore, Brett R. Riddle, Stacy Mantooth
2016, Journal of Mammalogy (97) 1033-1043
Although montane sky islands surrounded by desert scrub and shrub steppe comprise a large part of the biological diversity of the Basin and Range Province of southwestern North America, comprehensive ecological and population demographic studies for high-elevation small mammals within these areas are rare. Here, we examine the ecology and...
Stress in mangrove forests: early detection and preemptive rehabilitation are essential for future successful worldwide mangrove forest management
Roy R Lewis, Eric C Milbrandt, Benjamin Brown, Ken W. Krauss, Andre S. Rovai, James W. Beever, Laura L Flynn
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (109) 764-771
Mangrove forest rehabilitation should begin much sooner than at the point of catastrophic loss. We describe the need for “mangrove forest heart attack prevention”, and how that might be accomplished in a general sense by embedding plot and remote sensing monitoring within coastal management plans. The major cause of mangrove...
Application of lime (CaCO3) to promote forest recovery from severe acidification increases potential for earthworm invasion
Caitlin Homan, Colin M Beirer, Timothy S McCay, Gregory B. Lawrence
2016, Forest Ecology and Management (368) 39-44
The application of lime (calcium carbonate) may be a cost-effective strategy to promote forest ecosystem recovery from acid impairment, under contemporary low levels of acidic deposition. However, liming acidified soils may create more suitable habitat for invasive earthworms that cause significant damage to forest floor communities and may disrupt ecosystem...
The role of competition – colonization tradeoffs and spatial heterogeneity in promoting trematode coexistence
Erin A. Mordecai, Alejandra G. Jaramillo, Jacob E. Ashford, Ryan F. Hechinger, Kevin D. Lafferty
2016, Ecology (97) 1484-1496
Competition – colonization tradeoffs occur in many systems, and theory predicts that they can strongly promote species coexistence. However, there is little empirical evidence that observed competition – colonization tradeoffs are strong enough to maintain diversity in natural systems. This is due in part to a mismatch between theoretical assumptions...
Uncertainty in Vs30-based site response
Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 453-463
Methods that account for site response range in complexity from simple linear categorical adjustment factors to sophisticated nonlinear constitutive models. Seismic‐hazard analysis usually relies on ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs); within this framework site response is modeled statistically with simplified site parameters that include the time‐averaged shear‐wave velocity to 30 m (VS30)...
Spatially explicit rangeland erosion monitoring using high-resolution digital aerial imagery
Jeffrey K. Gillan, Jason W. Karl, Nichole N. Barger, Ahmed Elaksher, Michael C. Duniway
2016, Rangeland Ecology and Management (69) 95-107
Nearly all of the ecosystem services supported by rangelands, including production of livestock forage, carbon sequestration, and provisioning of clean water, are negatively impacted by soil erosion. Accordingly, monitoring the severity, spatial extent, and rate of soil erosion is essential for long-term sustainable management. Traditional field-based methods of monitoring erosion...
Slow-moving and far-travelled dense pyroclastic flows during the Peach Spring super-eruption
Olivier Roche, David C. Buesch, Greg A. Valentine
2016, Nature Communications (7) 1-8
Explosive volcanic super-eruptions of several hundred cubic kilometres or more generate long run-out pyroclastic density currents the dynamics of which are poorly understood and controversial. Deposits of one such event in the southwestern USA, the 18.8 Ma Peach Spring Tuff, were formed by pyroclastic flows that travelled >170 km...
The pace of past climate change vs. potential bird distributions and land use in the United States
Brooke L. Bateman, Anna M. Pidgeon, Volker C. Radeloff, Jeremy VanDerWal, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Stephen J. Vavrus, Patricia J. Heglund
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 1130-1144
Climate change may drastically alter patterns of species distributions and richness, but predicting future species patterns in occurrence is challenging. Significant shifts in distributions have already been observed, and understanding these recent changes can improve our understanding of potential future changes. We assessed how past climate change affected potential breeding...
Network global navigation satellite system surveys to harmonize American and Canadian datum for the Lake Champlain Basin
Robert H. Flynn, Paul H. Rydlund Jr., Daniel J. Martin
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5009
Historically high flood levels were observed during flooding in Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River from late April through May 2011. Flooding was caused by record spring precipitation and snowmelt from the third highest cumulative snowfall year on record, which included a warm, saturated late spring snowpack. Flood stage was...
Landscape characteristics and livestock presence influence common ravens: Relevance to greater sage-grouse conservation
Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Kristy Howe, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Michael L. Casazza, David J. Delehanty
2016, Ecosphere (7) e01203
Common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven) population abundance in the sagebrush steppe of the American West has increased threefold during the previous four decades, largely as a result of unintended resource subsidies from human land-use practices. This is concerning because ravens frequently depredate nests of species of conservation concern, such...
Biomass offsets little or none of permafrost carbon release from soils, streams, and wildfire: an expert assessment
Benjamin W. Abbott, Jeremy B. Jones, Edward A.G. Schuur, F.S. Chapin, William B. Bowden, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Howard E. Epstein, Michael D. Flannigan, Tamara K. Harms, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, Michelle C. Mack, A. David McGuire, Susan M. Natali, Adrian V. Rocha, Suzanne E. Tank, Merrit R. Turetsky, Jorien E. Vonk, Kimberly P. Wickland, George R. Aiken
2016, Environmental Research Letters (11) 1-13
As the permafrost region warms, its large organic carbon pool will be increasingly vulnerable to decomposition, combustion, and hydrologic export. Models predict that some portion of this release will be offset by increased production of Arctic and boreal biomass; however, the lack of robust estimates of net carbon balance increases...
Increased body mass of ducks wintering in California's Central Valley
Joseph P. Fleskes, Julie L. Yee, Gregory S. Yarris, Daniel L. Loughman
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 679-690
Waterfowl managers lack the information needed to fully evaluate the biological effects of their habitat conservation programs. We studied body condition of dabbling ducks shot by hunters at public hunting areas throughout the Central Valley of California during 2006–2008 compared with condition of ducks from 1979 to 1993. These time...
Uncertainty analysis of the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model at multiple flux tower sites
Mingshi Chen, Gabriel B. Senay, Ramesh K. Singh, James P. Verdin
2016, Journal of Hydrology (536) 384-399
Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the water cycle – ET from the land surface returns approximately 60% of the global precipitation back to the atmosphere. ET also plays an important role in energy transport among the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. Current regional to global and daily to annual...
Groundwater quality, age, and susceptibility and vulnerability to nitrate contamination with linkages to land use and groundwater flow, Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin, Colorado, 2013
Tristan P. Wellman, Michael G. Rupert
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5020
The Upper Black Squirrel Creek Basin is located about 25 kilometers east of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The primary aquifer is a productive section of unconsolidated deposits that overlies bedrock units of the Denver Basin and is a critical resource for local water needs, including irrigation, domestic, and commercial use. The...
Quantitative framework for preferential flow initiation and partitioning
John R. Nimmo
2016, Vadose Zone Journal (15)
A model for preferential flow in macropores is based on the short-range spatial distribution of soil matrix infiltrability. It uses elementary areas at two different scales. One is the traditional representative elementary area (REA), which includes a sufficient heterogeneity to typify larger areas, as for measuring field-scale infiltrability. The other,...
Annual grass invasion in sagebrush-steppe: The relative importance of climate, soil properties and biotic interactions
Sheel Bansal, Roger L. Sheley
2016, Oecologia (181) 543-557
The invasion by winter-annual grasses (AGs) such as Bromus tectorum into sagebrush steppe throughout the western USA is a classic example of a biological invasion with multiple, interacting climate, soil and biotic factors driving the invasion, although few studies have examined all components together. Across a 6000-km2 area of the northern...
A hierarchical model of daily stream temperature using air-water temperature synchronization, autocorrelation, and time lags
Benjamin H. Letcher, Daniel Hocking, Kyle O'Neil, Andrew R. Whiteley, Keith H. Nislow, Matthew O’Donnell
2016, PeerJ (4)
Water temperature is a primary driver of stream ecosystems and commonly forms the basis of stream classifications. Robust models of stream temperature are critical as the climate changes, but estimating daily stream temperature poses several important challenges. We developed a statistical model that accounts for many challenges that can make...
Assessment of canyon wall failure process from multibeam bathymetry and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) observations, U.S. Atlantic continental margin
Jason D. Chaytor, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Uri S. ten Brink, Christopher D. P. Baxter, Andrea M. Quattrini, Daniel S. Brothers
Geoffroy Lamarche, Joshu Mountjoy, Suzanne Bull, Tom Hubble, Sebastian Krastel, Emily Lane, Aaron Micallef, Lorena Moscardelli, Christof Mueller, Ingo Pecher, Susanne Woelz, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Submarine mass movements and their consequences: 7th international symposium part II
Over the last few years, canyons along the northern U.S. Atlantic continental margin have been the focus of intensive research examining canyon evolution, submarine geohazards, benthic ecology and deep-sea coral habitat. New high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives in the major shelf-breaching and minor slope canyons, provided...
