Fire regime shapes butterfly communities through changes in nectar resources in an Australian tropical savanna
Julia B. Leone, Diane L. Larson, Anna E. Richards, Jon Schatz, Alan N. Andersen
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Fire-dependent savanna provides key habitat for butterflies globally, but we know little about how fire regimes, including fire frequency and season, affect them. These impacts are likely to be primarily indirect, through changes in overall habitat structure, the abundance of larval host plants, and/or the provision of nectar resources for...
Characterizing the movement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in an avian aquatic–terrestrial food web
Kailee E. Hopkins, Melissa A. McKinney, Amandeep Saini, Robert J. Letcher, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Kim J. Fernie
2023, Environmental Science and Technology (57) 20249-20260
The movement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through linked aquatic–terrestrial food webs is not well understood. Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) in such systems may be exposed to PFAS from multiple abiotic and/or biotic compartments. We show from fatty acid signatures and carbon stable isotopes that...
Deer management generally reduces densities of nymphal Ixodes scapularis, but not prevalence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto
Alynn Martin, Danielle Buttke, Jordan Raphael, Kelsey Taylor, Sarah Maes, Christina M. Parise, Howard Ginsberg, Paul Cross
2023, Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases (14)
Human Lyme disease–primarily caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) in North America–is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Research on risk mitigation strategies during the last three decades has emphasized methods to reduce densities of the primary vector in eastern North America, the blacklegged tick (Ixodes...
Multi-omic responses of fish exposed to complex chemical mixtures in the Shenandoah River watershed
David Bertolatus, Larry B. Barber, Christopher J. Martyniuk, Huajun Zhen, Timothy W. Collette, Drew R. Ekman, Aaron Jastrow, Jennifer Rapp, Alan M. Vajda
2023, Science of the Total Environment (902)
To evaluate relationships between different anthropogenic impacts, contaminant occurrence, and fish health, we conducted in situ fish exposures across the Shenandoah River watershed at five sites with different land use. Exposure water was analyzed for over 500 chemical constituents, and organismal, metabolomic, and transcriptomic endpoints were measured in fathead minnows....
Arctic-boreal lakes of interior Alaska dominated by contemporary carbon
Fenix Garcia-Tigreros, Clayton D. Elder, Martin R. Kurek, Benjamin L. Miller, Xiaomei Xu, Kimberly Wickland, Cluadia I. Czimczik, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl, Ethan D. Kyzivat, Laurence C. Smith, Robert G.M. Spencer, Charles E. Miller, David Butman
2023, Environmental Research Letters (18)
Northern high-latitude lakes are critical sites for carbon processing and serve as potential conduits for the emission of permafrost-derived carbon and greenhouse gases. However, the fate and emission pathways of permafrost carbon in these systems remain uncertain. Here, we used the natural abundance of radiocarbon to identify and trace the...
Where the past meets the present: Connecting nitrogen from watersheds to streams through groundwater flowpaths
Eric M. Moore, Janet R. Barclay, Adam B. Haynes, Kevin E. Jackson, Alaina M. Bisson, Martin Briggs, Ashley M. Helton
2023, Environmental Research Letters (18)
Groundwater discharge to streams is a nonpoint source of nitrogen (N) that confounds N mitigation efforts and represents a significant portion of the annual N loading to watersheds. However, we lack an understanding of where and how much groundwater N enters streams and watersheds. Nitrogen concentrations at...
A community convention for ecological forecasting: Output files and metadata version 1.0
Michael C. Dietze, R. Quinn Thomas, Jody Peters, Carl Boettiger, Gerband Koren, Alexy N. Shiklomanov, Jaime Ashander
2023, Ecosphere (14)
This paper summarizes the open community conventions developed by the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) for the common formatting and archiving of ecological forecasts and the metadata associated with these forecasts. Such open standards are intended to promote interoperability and facilitate forecast communication, distribution, validation,...
Sediment sources and connectivity linked to hydrologic pathways and geomorphic processes: A conceptual model to specify sediment sources and pathways through space and time
Se Jong Cho, Diana Karwan, Katherine Skalak, James Pizzuto, Max Huffman
2023, Frontiers in Water (5)
Sediment connectivity is a conceptualization for the transfer and storage of sediment among different geomorphic compartments across upland landscapes and channel networks. Sediment connectivity and dysconnectivity are linked to the water cycle and hydrologic systems with the associated multiscale interactions with climate, soil, topography, ecology, and landuse/landcover under natural...
Conserved grasslands support similar pollinator diversity as pollinator-specific practice regardless of proximal cropland and pesticide exposure
Johanna M. Kraus, Kelly Smalling, Mark W. Vandever, Carrie E Givens, Cassandra Smith, Dana W. Kolpin, Michelle Hladik
2023, Royal Society Open Science (10) 231093
Pollinator diversity and abundance are declining globally. Cropland agriculture and the corresponding use of agricultural pesticides may contribute to these declines, while increased pollinator habitat (flowering plants) can help mitigate them. Here we tested whether the relative effect of wildflower plantings on pollinator diversity and counts were modified by proportion...
Incorporating environmental heterogeneity and observation effort to predict host distribution and viral spillover from a bat reservoir
Rita Ribeiro, Jason Matthiopoulos, Finn Lindgre, Carlos Tello, Carlos M. Zariquiey, William Valderrama, Tonie E. Rocke, Daniel G. Streicker
2023, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (209)
Predicting the spatial occurrence of wildlife is a major challenge for ecology and management. In Latin America, limited knowledge of the number and locations of vampire bat roosts precludes informed allocation of measures intended to prevent rabies spillover to humans and livestock. We inferred the spatial distribution...
Implementing a dual-spectrometer approach for improved surface reflectance estimation
Mahesh Shrestha, Joshua J. Mann, Emily Maddox, Terry J. Robbins, Jeffrey Irwin, Travis Kropuenske, Dennis Helder
2023, Remote Sensing (15)
Surface reflectance measurement is an integral part of the vicarious calibration of satellite sensors and the validation of satellite-derived top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface reflectance products. A well-known practice for estimating surface reflectance is to conduct a field campaign with a spectrometer and a calibration panel, which is labor-intensive and...
Understanding marsh elevation and accretion processes and vulnerability to rising sea levels across climatic and geomorphic gradients in California, USA
Karen M. Thorne, Mckenna Leigh Bristow, Lyndsay Lee Rankin, Katya E. Kovalenko, Justine Annaliese Neville, Chase M. Freeman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2023, Estuaries and Coasts
Tidal marshes build elevations by below- and aboveground organic and mineral soil processes. Marsh elevation and accretion data can be used to determine if marshes are keeping pace with sea-level rise. Using a network of 54 deep rod surface elevation tables with paired feldspar marker horizon...
Characterization of acoustic detection efficiency using an unmanned surface vessel as a mobile receiver platform
Eric M. Gaskell, Tyler Reid Funnell, Christopher Holbrook, Darryl W. Hondorp, Xiaobo Tan
2023, Animal Biotelemetry (11)
Studies involving acoustic telemetry typically use stationary acoustic receivers arranged in an array or grid. Unmanned surface vehicle (USV)-based mobile receivers offer advantages over the latter approach: the USV can be programmed to autonomously carry a receiver to and from target locations, more readily adapting to...
Stress gradients structure spatial variability in coastal tidal marsh plant composition and diversity in a major Pacific coast estuary
Lyndsay Lee Rankin, Scott F. Jones, Christopher N. Janousek, Kevin J. Buffington, John Takekawa, Karen M. Thorne
2023, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (11)
Understanding the drivers of variability in plant diversity from local to landscape spatial scales is a challenge in ecological systems. Environmental gradients exist at several spatial scales and can be nested hierarchically, influencing patterns of plant diversity in complex ways. As plant community dynamics influence ecosystem function, understanding the...
Observing coastal wetland transitions using national land cover products
Nicholas Enwright, Michael Osland, Karen M. Thorne, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James Grace, Gregory Steyer, Nate Herold, Bogdan Chivoiu, Minoo Han
2023, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment (48) 113-135
Over the coming century, climate change and sea-level rise are predicted to cause widespread change to coastal wetlands. Estuarine vegetated wetlands can adapt to sea-level rise through both vertical development (i.e., biophysical feedbacks and sedimentation) and upslope/horizontal migration. Quantifying changes to estuarine vegetated wetlands over time can help to inform...
Evaluation of the US COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub for informing pandemic response under uncertainty
Emily Howerton, Lucie Contamin, Luke C Mullany, Michelle Qin, Nicholas G. Reich, Samantha Bents, Rebecca K. Borchering, Sung-mok Jung, Sara L Loo, Claire P. Smith, John Levander, Jessica Kerr, J. Espino, Willem G. van Panhuis, Harry Hochheiser, Marta Galanti, Teresa K Yamana, Sen Pei, Jeffrey L. Shaman, Kaitlin Rainwater-Lovett, Matt Kinsey, Kate Tallaksen, Shelby Wilson, Lauren Shin, Joseph C Lemaitre, Joshua Kaminsky, Juan Dent Hulse, Elizabeth C. Lee, Clif McKee, Alison Hill, Dean Karlen, Matteo Chinazzi, Jessica T Davis, Kunpeng Mu, Xinyue Xiong, Ana Pastore Piontti, Alessandro Vespignani, Erik T Rosenstrom, Julie S Ivy, Maria E Mayorga, Julie L Swann, Guido España, Sean Cavany, Sean Moore, Alex Perkins, Thomas J. Hladish, Alexander N. Pillai, Kok Ben Toh, Ira Longini Jr., Shi Chen, Rajib Paul, Daniel Janies, Jean-Claude Thill, Anass Bouchnita, Kaiming Bi, Michael Lachmann, Spencer Fox, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Ajitesh Srivastava, Przemyslaw Porebski, Srinivasan Venkatramanan, Aniruddha Adiga, Bryan Lewis, Brian Klahn, Joseph Outten, Benjamin Hurt, Jiangzhuo Chen, Henning Mortveit, Amanda Wilson, Madhav Marathe, Stefan Hoops, Parantapa Bhattacharya, Dustin Machi, Betsy L Gunnels, Jessica M Healy, Rachel B. Slayton, Michael A Johansson, Matthew Biggerstaff, Shaun Truelove, Michael C. Runge, Katriona Shea, Cécile Viboud, Justin Lessler
2023, Epidemics (14)
Our ability to forecast epidemics far into the future is constrained by the many complexities of disease systems. Realistic longer-term projections may, however, be possible under well-defined scenarios that specify the future state of critical epidemic drivers. Since December 2020, the U.S. COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub...
Symposia summaries 2023
Brian Daniel Healy, Joshua A. Israel
Peter Turcik, editor(s)
2023, Fisheries (48) 520-527
No abstract available....
Chemistry and petrography of early 19th century basaltic andesites and basalts from the Kamakaiʻa Hills in the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaiʻi
Drew T. Downs, May Sas, Richard W. Hazlett
2023, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (444)
Kīlauea is a frequently active, open-system volcano on the Island of Hawaiʻi known for erupting olivine-dominated tholeiitic basalt compositions. On rare occasions it erupts more differentiated magmas (<1% of erupted volume), such as basaltic andesites and andesites, from its rift zones. These differentiated magmas offer an opportunity to understand better the petrology, magma storage, magma mixing, and...
Modeling groundwater-level responses to multiple stresses using transfer-function models and wavelet analysis in a coastal aquifer system
Guoxiang Yang, Kurt J. McCoy
2023, Journal of Hydrology (627)
In coastal aquifers, dynamic stresses such as climate forcings, groundwater withdrawals, and ocean tidal fluctuations cause nonlinear responses to groundwater levels. Such responses to the stresses impact groundwater resources and related flooding and infrastructure risks at multiple scales. We used time-series models such as transfer-function models and wavelet analysis to...
Evaluating management alternatives for Wyoming elk feedgrounds in consideration of chronic wasting disease
Jonathan D. Cook, Paul C. Cross, Emily M. Tomaszewski, Eric K. Cole, Evan H. Campbell Grant, James M. Wilder, Michael C. Runge
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1015
Executive SummaryThe authors used decision and modeling analyses to evaluate management alternatives for a decision on whether to permit Cervus canadensis (elk) feeding on two sites on Bridger-Teton National Forest, Dell Creek and Forest Park. Supplemental feeding of elk could increase the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) locally and...
Updates to the regional groundwater-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 1980–2013
Alison D. Gordon, Glen B. Carleton
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5066
A 21-layer three-dimensional transient groundwater-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain was developed and calibrated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to simulate groundwater-flow conditions during 1980–2013, incorporating average annual groundwater withdrawals and average annual groundwater recharge. This model...
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Missouri’s economy
David Nail
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3042
IntroductionBecause of its geography, Missouri is frequently subject to natural disasters. Ice storms, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flooding are all common occurrences. Since 1990, Missouri has received 40 Federal major disaster declarations. Floods and droughts severely affect the State’s agriculture, which is a leading industry. Another potential major hazard is...
Geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within northern Bexar and Comal Counties, Texas
Allan K. Clark, James A. Golab, Robert R. Morris, Diana E. Pedraza
2023, Scientific Investigations Map 3510
During 2020–22, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority, revised a previous publication that described the geologic framework and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within northern Bexar and Comal Counties, Texas. This report presents the refined maps and descriptions of geologic...
Machine-learning predictions of groundwater specific conductance in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, south-central United States, with evaluation of regional geophysical aerial electromagnetic data as explanatory variables
Courtney D. Killian, Katherine J. Knierim
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5099
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain, located in the south-central United States, is undergoing long-term groundwater-level declines within the surficial Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (hereinafter referred to as “alluvial aquifer”), which has raised concerns about future groundwater availability. In some parts of the alluvial aquifer, groundwater availability for common uses such...
Less is more: Less herbicide does more when biological control is present in Pontederia crassipes
Linhao Xu, Ashley B.C. Goode, Philip W. Tipping, Melissa C. Smith, Lyn A. Gettys, Brittany K. Knowles, Eileen Pokorny, Luz Salinas, Don DeAngelis
2023, Ecological Modelling (487)
An experiment along with simulation modeling was applied to study the combinations of herbicide treatment and biological control that best limit invasive water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes, formerly Eichhornia crassipes) in freshwater aquatic systems. The experiment consisted of 14 different treatments of P. crassipes in...
