Influence of in ovo mercury exposure, lake acidity, and other factors on common loon egg and chick quality in Wisconsin
Kevin P. Kenow, Michael W. Meyer, Ronald Rossmann, Brian R. Gray, Michael T. Arts
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1870-1880
A field study was conducted in Wisconsin (USA) to characterize in ovo mercury (Hg) exposure in common loons (Gavia immer). Total Hg mass fractions ranged from 0.17 mg/g to 1.23mg/g wet weight in eggs collected from nests on lakes representing a wide range of pH (5.0–8.1) and were modeled as...
Book review: Biology and conservation of North American tortoises
David Munoz, Christina M. Aiello
2015, Herpetological Review (46) 288-289
The charismatic North American tortoises hold a special place in our culture and natural history. Despite the perseverance of these tortoises over millions of years, biologists now question their ability to persist into the future. In light of documented declines, habitat loss, and numerous threats to tortoise populations, the editors...
Estimating global natural wetland methane emissions using process modelling: spatio-temporal patterns and contributions to atmospheric methane fluctuations
Qiuan Zhu, Changhui Peng, Huai Chen, Xiuqin Fang, Jinxun Liu, Hong Jiang, Yanzheng Yang, Gang Yang
2015, Global Ecology and Biogeography (24) 959-972
Aim The fluctuations of atmospheric methane (CH4) that have occurred in recent decades are not fully understood, particularly with regard to the contribution from wetlands. The application of spatially explicit parameters has been suggested as an effective method for reducing uncertainties in bottom-up approaches to wetland CH4 emissions,...
Evaluating a satellite-based seasonal evapotranspiration product and identifying its relationship with other satellite-derived products and crop yield: A case study for Ethiopia
Tsegaye Tadesse, Gabriel B. Senay, Getachew Berhan, Teshome Regassa, Shimelis Beyene
2015, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (40) 39-54
Satellite-derived evapotranspiration anomalies and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are currently used for African agricultural drought monitoring and food security status assessment. In this study, a process to evaluate satellite-derived evapotranspiration (ETa) products with a geospatial statistical exploratory technique that uses NDVI,...
Framework for modeling urban restoration resilience time in the aftermath of an extreme event
Varun Ramachandran, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg, Steven Corns, Héctor Carlo
2015, Natural Hazards Review 1-11
The impacts of extreme events continue long after the emergency response has terminated. Effective reconstruction of supply-chain strategic infrastructure (SCSI) elements is essential for postevent recovery and the reconnectivity of a region with the outside. This study uses an interdisciplinary approach to develop a comprehensive framework to model resilience time....
Water masses, ocean fronts, and the structure of Antarctic seabird communities: putting the eastern Bellingshausen Sea in perspective
Christine A. Ribic, David G. Ainley, R. Glenn Ford, William R. Fraser, Cynthia T. Tynan, Eric J. Woehler
2015, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (58) 1695-1709
Waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula (i.e., the eastern Bellingshausen Sea) are unusually complex owing to the convergence of several major fronts. Determining the relative influence of fronts on occurrence patterns of top-trophic species in that area, therefore, has been challenging. In one of the few ocean-wide seabird data syntheses,...
Ignimbrites to batholiths: integrating perspectives from geological, geophysical, and geochronological data
Peter W. Lipman, Olivier Bachmann
2015, Geosphere (11) 705-743
Multistage histories of incremental accumulation, fractionation, and solidification during construction of large subvolcanic magma bodies that remained sufficiently liquid to erupt are recorded by Tertiary ignimbrites, source calderas, and granitoid intrusions associated with large gravity lows at the Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field (SRMVF). Geophysical data combined with geological constraints...
Factors affecting individual foraging specialization and temporal diet stability across the range of a large “generalist” apex predator
Adam E. Rosenblatt, James C. Nifong, Michael R. Heithaus, Frank J. Mazzotti, Michael S. Cherkiss, Brian M. Jeffery, Ruth M. Elsey, Rachel A. Decker, Brian R. Silliman, Louis J. Guillette Jr., Russell H. Lowers, Justin C. Larson
2015, Oecologia (178) 5-16
Individual niche specialization (INS) is increasingly recognized as an important component of ecological and evolutionary dynamics. However, most studies that have investigated INS have focused on the effects of niche width and inter- and intraspecific competition on INS in small-bodied species for short time periods, with less attention paid to...
Metallogeny, exploitation and environmental impact of the Mt. Amiata mercury ore district (Southern Tuscany, Italy)
V. Rimondi, L. Chiarantini, P. Lattanzi, M. Benvenuti, M. Beutel, A. Colica, P. Costagliola, F. Di Benedetto, G. Gabbani, John E. Gray, E. Pandeli, G. Pattelli, M. Paolieri, G. Ruggieri
2015, Italian Journal of Geosciences (134) 323-336
The Mt. Amiata mining district (Southern Tuscany, Italy) is a world class Hg district, with a cumulate production of more than 100,000 tonnes of Hg, mostly occurring between 1870 and 1980. The Hg mineralization at Mt. Amiata is younger than 0.3 Ma, and is directly related to shallow hydrothermal...
Ground-truthing electrical resistivity methods in support of submarine groundwater discharge studies: Examples from Hawaii, Washington, and California
Cordell Johnson, Peter W. Swarzenski, Christina M. Richardson, Christopher G. Smith, Kevin D. Kroeger, Priya M. Ganguli
2015, Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics (20) 81-87
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is an important conduit that links terrestrial and marine environments. SGD conveys both water and water-borne constituents into coastal waters, where these inflows may impact near-shore ecosystem health and sustainability. Multichannel electrical resistivity techniques have proven to be a powerful tool to examine scales and...
Impact of experimental habitat manipulation on northern bobwhite survival
David C. Peters, Jarred M. Brooke, Evan P. Tanner, Ashley M. Unger, Patrick D. Keyser, Craig A. Harper, Joseph D. Clark, John J. Morgan
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 605-617
Habitat management for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) should affect vital rates, but direct linkages with survival are not well documented; therefore, we implemented an experiment to evaluate those responses. We conducted our experiment on a reclaimed surface mine, a novel landscape where conditions were considered sub-optimal because of the dominance...
Reducing fertilizer-nitrogen losses from rowcrop landscapes: Insights and implications from a spatially explicit watershed model
Eileen McLellan, Keith Schilling, Dale M. Robertson
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 1003-1019
We present conceptual and quantitative models that predict changes in fertilizer-derived nitrogen delivery from rowcrop landscapes caused by agricultural conservation efforts implemented to reduce nutrient inputs and transport and increase nutrient retention in the landscape. To evaluate the relative importance of changes in the sources, transport, and sinks of fertilizer-derived...
Holocene variability in the intensity of wind-gap upwelling in the tropical eastern Pacific
Lauren T. Toth, Richard B. Aronson, Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards
2015, Paleoceanography (30) 1113-1131
Wind-driven upwelling in Pacific Panamá is a significant source of oceanographic variability in the tropical eastern Pacific. This upwelling system provides a critical teleconnection between the Atlantic and tropical Pacific that may impact climate variability on a global scale. Despite its importance to oceanographic circulation, ecology, and climate, little is...
High-tech or field techs: Radio-telemetry is a cost-effective method for reducing bias in songbird nest searching
Sean M. Peterson, Henry M. Streby, Justin A. Lehman, Gunnar R. Kramer, Alexander C. Fish, David E. Andersen
2015, The Condor (117) 386-395
We compared the efficacy of standard nest-searching methods with finding nests via radio-tagged birds to assess how search technique influenced our determination of nest-site characteristics and nest success for Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera). We also evaluated the cost-effectiveness of using radio-tagged birds to find nests. Using standard nest-searching techniques for...
Spatial scaling patterns and functional redundancies in a changing boreal lake landscape
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Daniel R. Uden, Richard K. Johnson
2015, Ecosystems (18) 889-902
Global transformations extend beyond local habitats; therefore, larger-scale approaches are needed to assess community-level responses and resilience to unfolding environmental changes. Using longterm data (1996–2011), we evaluated spatial patterns and functional redundancies in the littoral invertebrate communities of 85 Swedish lakes, with the objective of assessing their potential resilience to...
Comparison of reintroduction and enhancement effects on metapopulation viability
Samniqueka J Halsey, Timothy J. Bell, Kathryn McEachern, Noel B. Pavlovic
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 375-384
Metapopulation viability depends upon a balance of extinction and colonization of local habitats by a species. Mechanisms that can affect this balance include physical characteristics related to natural processes (e.g. succession) as well as anthropogenic actions. Plant restorations can help to produce favorable metapopulation dynamics and consequently increase viability; however,...
Accommodation space, relative sea level, and the archiving of paleo-earthquakes along subduction zones
Harvey M. Kelsey, Simon E. Engelhart, Jessica E. Pilarczyk, Benjamin P. Horton, Charles Rubin, Mudrik Daryono, Nazli Ismail, Andrea D. Hawkes, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill
2015, Geology (43) 675-678
The spatial variability of Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) change influences the capacities of coastal environments to accommodate a sedimentary record of paleoenvironmental change. In this study we couch a specific investigation in more general terms in order to demonstrate the applicability of the relative sea-level history approach to paleoseismic investigations....
Unifying research on the fragmentation of terrestrial and aquatic habitats: patches, connectivity and the matrix in riverscapes
Tibor Eros, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2015, Freshwater Biology (60) 1487-1501
While there is an increasing emphasis in terrestrial ecology on determining the influence of the area that surrounds habitat patches (the landscape ‘matrix’) relative to the characteristics of the patches themselves, research on these aspects in running waters is still rather underrepresented. Here we outline conceptual foundations of matrix...
Annual growth patterns of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) along salinity gradients
Brenda L. Thomas, Thomas W. Doyle, Ken W. Krauss
2015, Wetlands (35) 831-839
The effects of salinity on Taxodium distichum seedlings have been well documented, but few studies have examined mature trees in situ. We investigated the environmental drivers of T. distichum growth along a salinity gradient on the Waccamaw (South Carolina) and Savannah (Georgia) Rivers. On each river, T. distichum increment cores were collected from...
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2014 annual report
Zachary H. Bowen, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Timothy T. Bartos, Laura R Biewick, Gregory K. Boughton, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Marie K. Dematatis, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Steven L. Garman, Steve Germaine, Collin G. Homer, Christopher Huber, Matthew J. Kauffman, Natalie Latysh, Daniel J. Manier, Cynthia P. Melcher, Alexander Miller, Kirk A. Miller, Edward M. Olexa, Spencer Schell, Annika W. Walters, Anna B. Wilson, Teal B. Wyckoff
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1091
This is the seventh report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) to detail annual activities conducted by the USGS for addressing specific management needs identified by WLCI partners. In FY2014, there were 26 projects, including a new one that was completed, two...
Potential for real‐time understanding of coupled hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in stream ecosystems: Future integration of telemetered data with process models for glacial meltwater streams
Diane M. McKnight, Karen D. Cozzetto, James D. S. Cullis, Michael N. Gooseff, Christopher Jaros, Joshua C. Koch, W. Berry Lyons, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Adam N. Wlostowski
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 6725-6738
While continuous monitoring of streamflow and temperature has been common for some time, there is great potential to expand continuous monitoring to include water quality parameters such as nutrients, turbidity, oxygen, and dissolved organic material. In many systems, distinguishing between watershed and stream ecosystem controls can be challenging. The usefulness...
Towards automating measurements and predictions of Escherichia coli concentrations in the Cuyahoga River, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio, 2012–14
Amie M.G. Brady, Meg B. Plona
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5094
Nowcasts are systems that can provide estimates of the current bacterial water-quality conditions based on predictive models using easily-measured, explanatory variables; nowcasts can provide the public with the information to make informed decisions on the risk associated with recreational activities in natural water bodies. Previous studies on the Cuyahoga River...
Electrical properties of methane hydrate + sediment mixtures
Wyatt L. Du Frane, Laura A. Stern, Steven Constable, Karen A. Weitemeyer, Megan M Smith, Jeffery J. Roberts
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research (120) 4773-4783
Knowledge of the electrical properties of multicomponent systems with gas hydrate, sediments, and pore water is needed to help relate electromagnetic (EM) measurements to specific gas hydrate concentration and distribution patterns in nature. Toward this goal, we built a pressure cell capable of measuring in situ electrical properties of multicomponent...
Effects of increased discharge on spawning and age-0 recruitment of rainbow trout in the Colorado River at Lees Ferry, Arizona
Luke A. Avery, Josh Korman, William R. Persons
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 671-680
Negative interactions of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss with endangered Humpback Chub Gila cypha pose challenges to the operation of Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) to manage for both species in the Colorado River. Operations to enhance the Rainbow Trout tailwater fishery may lead to an increase in downstream movement of the trout to areas where...
Evaluating the importance of characterizing soil structure and horizons in parameterizing a hydrologic process model
Benjamin B. Mirus
2015, Hydrological Processes (29) 4611-4623
Incorporating the influence of soil structure and horizons into parameterizations of distributed surface water/groundwater models remains a challenge. Often, only a single soil unit is employed, and soil-hydraulic properties are assigned based on textural classification, without evaluating the potential impact of these simplifications. This study uses a distributed physics-based model...
