In-situ monitoring of infiltration-induced instability of I-70 embankment west of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels, phase III
Alexandra Wayllace, Ning Lu, Benjamin B. Mirus
2021, Colorado Department of Transportation Report 2021-08
A new methodology that uses recent advances in unsaturated soil mechanics and hydrology was developed and tested. The approach consists of using soil suction and moisture content field information in the prediction of the likelihood of landslide movement. The testing ground was an active landslide on I-70 west of the...
Effectiveness of a distance sampling from roads program for white-tailed deer in the National Capital Region parks
Nicholas S. Green, Mark L. Wildhaber, Janice L. Albers
2021, Natural Resource Report 2021/2224
We evaluated the effectiveness of a distance sampling from roads program for estimating population sizes of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 2001 to 2015 in parks of the National Capital Region (NCR), National Parks Service. Distance sampling is a method for estimating the density of organisms using a distribution of...
The Denver Well Logging Society February 2021 Newsletter: From the VP - Technology
Jenny Heather Lagesse
2021, Newsletter
No abstract available....
Second fin ray shows promise for estimating ages of juvenile but not adult Lake Sturgeon
Lisa K. Izzo, Donna L. Parrish, Gayle Barbin Zydlewski, Ryan P. Koenigs
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 217-228
The first marginal pectoral fin ray (fin spine) is the most common structure used for estimating the age of sturgeons, including Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens. However, conflicting results from studies on the effects of fin spine removal have made some managers hesitant about the practice. We investigated whether the second pectoral...
Fluid-earthquake and earthquake-earthquake interactions in southern Kansas, USA
A. Verdecchia, Elizabeth S. Cochran, R. M Harrington
2021, JGR Solid Earth (126)
An increase in injection activity associated with energy production in southern Kansas starting in 2013 has been linked to the occurrence of more than 130,000 earthquakes (M −1.5 to 4.9) between 2014 and 2017. Studies suggest that the dramatic increase in seismicity rate is related to wastewater injection into the...
Sex-specific behaviors of hunted mule deer during rifle season
Patrick A. Rodgers, Hall Sawyer, Tony W. Mong, Sam Stephens, Matthew Kauffman
2021, Journal of Wildlife Management (85) 215-227
Animal populations face increased threats to mobility and access to critical habitat from a variety of human disturbances including roads, residential development, agriculture, and energy development. Disturbance from human hunting is known to alter habitat use in ungulates, but recent work suggests that hunting may also trigger the onset of...
Mineral deposits of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System in the Lake Superior region – Metallogeny of the prolifically mineralized Keweenawan LIP
Laurel G. Woodruff, Klaus Schulz, Suzanne Nicholson, Connie L. Dicken
2021, Newsletter, Large Igneous Province of the Month (http://www.largeigneousprovinces.org/LOM)
The Keweenawan large igneous province (LIP) of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is perhaps the most prolifically and diversely mineralized LIP known on Earth (Nicholson et al., 1992). The MRS is an approximately 2,200 km curvilinear continental rift that stretches from Kansas northeast to the Lake Superior...
Hybridization between historically allopatric Chinook salmon populations in the White Salmon River, WA
Christian A. Smith, Jennifer Von Bargen, Justin H. Bohling, David Hand, Ian Jezorek
2021, Report
Chinook Salmon spawning in the White Salmon River consist of members of three historically distinct populations: spring Chinook Salmon, Tule fall Chinook Salmon and Upriver Bright (URB) fall Chinook Salmon. Previous work examined juveniles captured in 2006-2008 and reported hybridization between introduced URBs, and the native threatened Tules. Recent increases...
Monitoring the status and trends of the Shenandoah salamander in Shenandoah National Park
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Adrianne Brand, John E. B. Wofford
2021, Natural Resource Report NPS/SHEN/NRR-2021/2226
The Shenandoah salamander (Plethodon shenandoah) is a federally endangered salamander whose distribution is restricted to high-elevation habitats in Shenandoah National Park (SHEN). During the ranking of vital signs monitoring priorities for this park, “Federal Threatened and Endangered Species” received the 2nd highest ranking for terrestrial vital signs because of ecological,...
Sea state from single optical images: A methodology to derive wind-generated ocean waves from cameras, drones and satellites
Rafael Almar, Erwin W. J. Bergsma, Patrico A. Catalan, Rodrigo Cienfuegos, Leandro Suarez, Felipe Lucero, Alexandre Nicolae Lerma, Franck Desmazes, Eleonora Perugini, Margaret L. Palmsten, Chris Chickadel
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Sea state is a key variable in ocean and coastal dynamics. The sea state is either sparsely measured by wave buoys and satellites or modelled over large scales. Only a few attempts have been devoted to sea state measurements covering a large domain; in particular its estimation from optical images. With...
Incomplete bioinformatic filtering and inadequate age and growth analysis lead to an incorrect inference of harvested-induced changes
Wesley Larson, Daniel A. Isermann, Zachary S. Feiner
2021, Evolutionary Applications (14) 278-289
Understanding the evolutionary impacts of harvest on fish populations is important for informing fisheries management and conservation and has become a growing research topic over the last decade. However, the dynamics of fish populations are highly complex, and phenotypes can be influenced by many biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, it...
Breeding at higher latitude is associated with higher photoperiodic threshold and delayed reproductive development in a songbird
Devraj Singh, S. M. Reed, A. A. Kimmitt, K. A. Alford, Craig A. Stricker, P. D. Polly, Ellen D. Ketterson
2021, Hormones and Behavior (128)
Many seasonally breeding animals exhibit a threshold day length (critical photoperiod; CPP) for gonadal growth, and populations breeding at higher latitudes typically have a higher CPP. Much less is known about latitudinal variation in CPP in migratory population that winter away from their breeding range and must time their...
Sap flow evidence of chilling injury and recovery in mangroves following a spring cold spell
Xiaoxuan Gu, Chen Yang, Hewei Zhao, Naxu Hu, Ken Krauss, Chuanyuan Deng, Luzhen Chen
2021, Trees: Structure and Function (35) 907-917
Mangroves are periodically influenced in negative ways by non-freezing temperatures across their global sub-tropical range. However, physiological and morphological evidence of chilling influences to non-freezing chilling events has not been measured in field settings. In this study, we measured sap flow (Js) during such a chilling (but non-freezing) event in...
Relative influence of antecedent topography and sea-level rise on barrier-island migration
Justin L. Shawler, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Jennifer E. Connell, Bianca Q. Boggs, Jorge Lorenzo-Trueba, Christopher J. Hein
2021, Sedimentology (68) 639-669
The response of barrier islands to sea-level rise is modulated by combinations of coastal processes, eco-geomorphic feedbacks, and structural controls, such as antecedent topography. Interactions among these drivers can lead to complex and non-linear changes in island morphology and transitions between migrational, erosional, or progradational states. This study seeks to...
Evidence for maternal style among adult female dolphins when sharing pectoral fin contacts with their calves
Kathleen M. Dudzinski, Christine Ribic, Heather M. Manitzas-Hill, Teresa T. Bolton
2021, Animal Behavior and Cognition (8) 52-68
Adult bottlenose dolphins share pectoral fin contacts (PFC) to manage their social relationships but less is known about how mothers share PFC with their calves. Using a dataset collected over 16 years, we analyzed how 10 matrilines, including three second generation female dolphins in a maternal role, used PFC with...
Learning augmented methods for matching: Improving invasive species management and urban mobility
Johan Bjorck, Qinru Shi, Carrie Brown-Lima, Jennifer Dean, Angela K. Fuller, Carla Gomes
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the AAAI conference on artificial intelligence
With the success of machine learning, integrating learned models into real-world systems has become a critical chal- lenge. Naively applying predictions to combinatorial opti- mization problems can incur high costs, which has motivated researchers to consider learning augmented algorithms that can make use of faulty or incomplete predictions. Inspired by...
Applications of bistatic radar to volcano topography – A review of 10 years of TanDEM-X
Julia Kubanek, Michael Poland, Juliet Biggs
2021, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (14) 3282-3302
The TanDEM-X satellite mission has revolutionized DEM generation from spaceborne synthetic aperture radar. In addition to the primary objective of generating a consistent digital elevation model with global coverage and unprecedented accuracy, the mission has acquired time series of topographic data over several volcanoes, providing an excellent opportunity to test...
Seasonal precipitation and soil moisture relationships across forests and woodlands in the southwestern United States
C.R. Koehn, M.D. Petrie, John B. Bradford, M.E. Litvak, S. Strachan
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (126)
Precipitation [P: mm] controls forest and woodland dynamics in the southwestern United States (SWUS) by altering soil moisture [θ: mm3 mm−3] availability, but the influence of P on θ is complex, varying across space and time. We evaluated seasonal P and θ relationships at shallow (0‐20 cm) and intermediate (50 cm) soil...
Extrinsically reinforced hybrid speciation within Holarctic ermine (Mustela spp.) produces an insular endemic
Jocelyn P. Colella, Lindsey Frederick, Sandra L. Talbot, Joe Cook
2021, Diversity and Distributions (27) 747-762
AimRefugial isolation during glaciation is an established driver of speciation; however, the opposing role of interglacial population expansion, secondary contact, and gene flow on the diversification process remains less understood. The consequences of glacial cycling on diversity are complex and especially so for archipelago species, which experience...
Time since burning and rainfall characteristics impact post-fire debris flow initiation and magnitude
Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Nina S. Oakley, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Hui Tang, Marian de Orla-Barile, Ann M. Youberg
2021, Environmental Engineering and Geology (27) 43-56
The extreme heat from wildfire alters soil properties and incinerates vegetation, leading to changes in infiltration capacity, ground cover, soil erodibility, and rainfall interception. These changes promote elevated rates of runoff and sediment transport that increase the likelihood of runoff-generated debris flows. Debris flows are...
Modeling estrogenic activity in streams throughout the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay watersheds
Stephanie E. Gordon, Daniel K. Jones, Vicki S. Blazer, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Brianna Williams, Kelly Smalling
2021, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (193)
Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), specifically estrogenic endocrine-disrupting compounds, vary in concentration and composition in surface waters under the influence of different landscape sources and landcover gradients. Estrogenic activity in surface waters may lead to adverse effects in aquatic species at both individual and population levels, often observed...
Coexistence of multiple leaf nutrient resorption strategies in a single ecosystem
Chen Hao, Sasha C. Reed, Xiaotao Lü, Kongcao Xiao, Kelin Wang, Dejun Li
2021, Science of the Total Environment (772)
Leaf resorption is critical for considerations of how plants use and recycle nutrients, but fundamental unknowns remain regarding the controls over plant nutrient resorption. Empirical studies suggest at least three basic types of resorption control, including (i) stoichiometric control, (ii) nutrient limitation control, and...
Invited perspective: What lies beneath a changing Arctic?
Jeffrey M. McKenzie, Barret L. Kurylyk, Michelle A. Walvoord, Victor F. Bense, Daniel Fortier, Chris Spence, Christophe Grenier
2021, The Cryosphere (15) 479-484
As permafrost thaws in the Arctic, new subsurface pathways open for the transport of groundwater, energy, and solutes. We identify different ways that these subsurface changes are driving observed surface consequences, including the potential for increased contaminant transport, modification to water resources, and enhanced rates of infrastructure (e.g. buildings and roads)...
Biological and chemical recovery of acidified Catskill Mountain streams in response to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990
Barry P. Baldigo, Scott D. George, Dylan R. Winterhalter, Michael McHale
2021, Atmospheric Environment (249)
Decades of acidic deposition have adversely affected aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems in acid-sensitive watersheds in parts of the eastern United States. The national Acid Rain Program (Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments - CAAA) helped reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and resulted...
Nuclear eDNA estimates population allele frequencies and abundance in experimental mesocosms
Kara J. Andres, Suresh Sethi, David M. Lodge, Jose Andres
2021, Molecular Ecology (30) 685-697
Advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) methodologies have led to improvements in the ability to detect species and communities in aquatic environments, yet the majority of studies emphasize biological diversity at the species level by targeting variable sites within the mitochondrial genome. Here, we demonstrate that eDNA approaches also have the...
