Detecting the influence of rare stressors on rare species in Yosemite National Park using a novel stratified permutation test
John R. Matchett, Philip B. Stark, Steven M. Ostoja, Roland A. Knapp, Heather C. McKenny, Matthew L. Brooks, William T. Langford, Lucas N. Joppa, Eric L. Berlow
2015, Scientific Reports (5)
Statistical models often use observational data to predict phenomena; however, interpreting model terms to understand their influence can be problematic. This issue poses a challenge in species conservation where setting priorities requires estimating influences of potential stressors using observational data. We present a novel approach for inferring influence of a...
Real-time, continuous water-quality monitoring in Indiana and Kentucky
Megan E. Shoda, Timothy R. Lathrop, Martin R. Risch
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3041
Water-quality “super” gages (also known as “sentry” gages) provide real-time, continuous measurements of the physical and chemical characteristics of stream water at or near selected U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages in Indiana and Kentucky. A super gage includes streamflow and water-quality instrumentation and representative stream sample collection for laboratory analysis....
Reduced transmission of human schistosomiasis after restoration of a native river prawn that preys on the snail intermediate host
Susanne H. Sokolow, Elizabeth Huttinger, Nicolas Jouanard, Michael H. Hsieh, Kevin D. Lafferty, Armand M. Kuris, Gilles Riveau, Simon Senghor, Thiam, Alassane D’Diaye, Djibril Sarr Faye, Giulio A. De Leo
2015, PNAS (112) 9650-9655
Eliminating human parasitic disease often requires interrupting complex transmission pathways. Even when drugs to treat people are available, disease control can be difficult if the parasite can persist in nonhuman hosts. Here, we show that restoration of a natural predator of a parasite’s intermediate hosts may enhance drug-based schistosomiasis control....
Dynamic rupture models of earthquakes on the Bartlett Springs Fault, Northern California
Julian C. Lozos, Ruth A. Harris, Jessica R. Murray, James J. Lienkaemper
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 4343-4349
The Bartlett Springs Fault (BSF), the easternmost branch of the northern San Andreas Fault system, creeps along much of its length. Geodetic data for the BSF are sparse, and surface creep rates are generally poorly constrained. The two existing geodetic slip rate inversions resolve at least one locked patch within...
Leaf-on canopy closure in broadleaf deciduous forests predicted during winter
Daniel J. Twedt, Andrea J. Ayala, Madeline R. Shickel
2015, Forest Science (61) 926-931
Forest canopy influences light transmittance, which in turn affects tree regeneration and survival, thereby having an impact on forest composition and habitat conditions for wildlife. Because leaf area is the primary impediment to light penetration, quantitative estimates of canopy closure are normally made during summer. Studies of forest structure and...
Effects of ungulate disturbance and weather variation on Pediocactus winkleri: Insights from long-term monitoring
Deborah J. Clark, Thomas O. Clark, Michael C. Duniway, Cody B. Flagg
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 88-101
Population dynamics and effects of large ungulate disturbances on Winkler cactus (Pediocactus winkleri K.D. Heil) were documented annually over a 20-year time span at one plot within Capitol Reef National Park, Utah. This cactus species was federally listed as threatened in 1998. The study began in 1995 to gain a better...
Accounting for groundwater in stream fish thermal habitat responses to climate change
Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, John A. Young
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1397-1419
Forecasting climate change effects on aquatic fauna and their habitat requires an understanding of how water temperature responds to changing air temperature (i.e., thermal sensitivity). Previous efforts to forecast climate effects on brook trout habitat have generally assumed uniform air-water temperature relationships over large areas that cannot account for groundwater...
Assessment of unconvential (tight) gas resources in Upper Cook Inlet Basin, South-central Alaska
Christopher J. Schenk, Philip H. Nelson, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Christopher P. Anderson
2015, Data Series 69-AA
A geologic model was developed for the assessment of potential Mesozoic tight-gas resources in the deep, central part of upper Cook Inlet Basin, south-central Alaska. The basic premise of the geologic model is that organic-bearing marine shales of the Middle Jurassic Tuxedni Group achieved adequate thermal maturity for oil and...
Flood recovery maps for the White River in Bethel, Stockbridge, and Rochester, Vermont, and the Tweed River in Stockbridge and Pittsfield, Vermont, 2014
Scott A. Olson
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5056
From August 28 to 29, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene delivered rainfall ranging from about 4 inches to more than 7 inches in the White River Basin. The rainfall resulted in severe flooding throughout the basin and significant damage along the White River and Tweed River. In response to the flooding,...
Potential impact of Chironomus plumosus larvae on hypolimnetic oxygen in the central basin of Lake Erie
Frederick M. Soster, Gerald Matisoff, Donald W. Schloesser, William J. Edwards
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 348-357
Previous studies have indicated that burrow-irrigating infauna can increase sediment oxygen demand (SOD) and impact hypolimnetic oxygen in stratified lakes. We conducted laboratory microcosm experiments and computer simulations with larvae of the burrowing benthic midge Chironomus plumosus to quantify burrow oxygen uptake rates and subsequent contribution to sediment oxygen demand...
A spatial classification and database for management, research, and policy making: The Great Lakes aquatic habitat framework
Lizhu Wang, Catherine M. Riseng, Lacey Mason, Kevin Werhrly, Edward Rutherford, James E. McKenna Jr., Chris Castiglione, Lucinda B. Johnson, Dana M. Infante, Scott P. Sowa, Mike Robertson, Jeff Schaeffer, Mary Khoury, John Gaiot, Tom Hollenhurst, Colin N. Brooks, Mark Coscarelli
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 584-596
Managing the world's largest and most complex freshwater ecosystem, the Laurentian Great Lakes, requires a spatially hierarchical basin-wide database of ecological and socioeconomic information that is comparable across the region. To meet such a need, we developed a spatial classification framework and database — Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework (GLAHF)....
Efficacy of an extract from garlic, Allium sativum, against infection with the furunculosis bacterium, Aeromonas salmonicida, in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Kate E. Breyer, Rodman G. Getchell, Emily R. Cornwell, Gregory A. Wooster, H. George Ketola, Paul R. Bowser
2015, Journal of the World Aquaculture Society (46) 273-282
Juvenile rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, were fed diets containing 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% of a garlic extract, challenged with a modified 50% lethal dose of Aeromonas salmonicida and monitored for 28 d. There were significant increases in survival of trout fed 0.5 and 1.0% garlic extract as compared to...
Coupling geophysical investigation with hydrothermal modeling to constrain the enthalpy classification of a potential geothermal resource.
Jeremy T. White, Arkadi Karakhanian, Chuck Connor, Laura Connor, Joseph D. Hughes, Rocco Malservisi, Paul Wetmore
2015, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (298) 59-70
An appreciable challenge in volcanology and geothermal resource development is to understand the relationships between volcanic systems and low-enthalpy geothermal resources. The enthalpy of an undeveloped geothermal resource in the Karckar region of Armenia is investigated by coupling geophysical and hydrothermal modeling. The results of 3-dimensional inversion of gravity data...
Modeling and management of pit lake water chemistry 2: Case studies
D.N. Castendyk, Laurie S. Balistrieri, C.H. Gammons, N. Tucci
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 289-307
Pit lakes, a common product of open pit mining techniques, may become long-term, post-mining environmental risks or long-term, post-mining water resources depending upon management decisions. This study reviews two published pit lake modeling studies and one pit lake monitoring program in...
Modeling and management of pit lake water chemistry 1: Theory
D.N. Castendyk, L.E. Eary, Laurie S. Balistrieri
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 267-288
Pit lakes are permanent hydrologic/landscape features that can result from open pit mining for metals, coal, uranium, diamonds, oil sands, and aggregates. Risks associated with pit lakes include local and regional impacts to water quality and related impacts to aquatic and...
The role of the geophysical template and environmental regimes in controlling stream-living trout populations
Brooke E. Penaluna, Steve F. Railsback, Jason B. Dunham, S. Johnson, Richard E. Bilby, Arne E. Skaugset
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 893-901
The importance of multiple processes and instream factors to aquatic biota has been explored extensively, but questions remain about how local spatiotemporal variability of aquatic biota is tied to environmental regimes and the geophysical template of streams. We used an individual-based trout model to explore the relative role of the...
Synthesis on Quaternary aeolian research in the unglaciated eastern United States
Helaine W. Markewich, Ronald J. Litwin, Douglas A. Wysocki, Milan J. Pavich
2015, Aeolian Research (17) 139-191
Late-middle and late Pleistocene, and Holocene, inland aeolian sand and loess blanket >90,000 km2 of the unglaciated eastern United States of America (USA). Deposits are most extensive in the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) and Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP), areas presently lacking significant aeolian activity. They provide evidence of paleoclimate intervals when wind...
The leading mode of observed and CMIP5 ENSO-residual sea surface temperatures and associated changes in Indo-Pacific climate
Christopher C. Funk, Hoell. Andrew
2015, Journal of Climate (28) 4309-4329
SSTs in the western Pacific Ocean have tracked closely with CMIP5 simulations despite recent hiatus cooling in the eastern Pacific. This paper quantifies these similarities and associated circulation and precipitation variations using the first global 1900–2012 ENSO-residual empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of 35 variables: observed SSTs; 28 CMIP5 SST simulations;...
Potential effects of climate change on the growth of fishes from different thermal guilds in Lakes Michigan and Huron
Yu-Chun Kao, Charles P. Madenjian, David B. Bunnell, Brent M. Lofgren, Marjorie Perroud
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 423-435
We used a bioenergetics modeling approach to investigate potential effects of climate change on the growth of two economically important native fishes: yellow perch (Perca flavescens), a cool-water fish, and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), a cold-water fish, in deep and oligotrophic Lakes Michigan and Huron. For assessing potential changes in...
Performance metrics and variance partitioning reveal sources of uncertainty in species distribution models
James I. Watling, Laura A. Brandt, David N. Bucklin, Ikuko Fujisaki, Frank J. Mazzotti, Stephanie S. Romanach, Carolina Speroterra
2015, Ecological Modelling (309-310) 48-59
Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used in basic and applied ecology, making it important to understand sources and magnitudes of uncertainty in SDM performance and predictions. We analyzed SDM performance and partitioned variance among prediction maps for 15 rare vertebrate species in the southeastern USA using all possible combinations...
Predicting alpine headwater stream intermittency: a case study in the northern Rocky Mountains
Roy Sando, Kyle W. Blasch
2015, Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology (15) 68-80
This investigation used climatic, geological, and environmental data coupled with observational stream intermittency data to predict alpine headwater stream intermittency. Prediction was made using a random forest classification model. Results showed that the most important variables in the prediction model were snowpack persistence, represented by average snow extent from March...
Simulating long-term effectiveness and efficiency of management scenarios for an invasive grass
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Tracy R. Holcombe, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Leonardo Frid, Aaryn D. Olsson
2015, AIMS Environmental Science (2) 427-447
Resource managers are often faced with trade-offs in allocating limited resources to manage plant invasions. These decisions must often be made with uncertainty about the location of infestations, their rate of spread and effectiveness of management actions. Landscape level simulation tools such as state-and-transition simulation models (STSMs) can be used...
Biodynamics of copper oxide nanoparticles and copper ions in an oligochaete: Part I: relative importance of water and sediment as exposure routes
Tina Ramskov, Amalie Thit, Marie Noele Croteau, Henriette Selck
2015, Aquatic Toxicology (164) 81-91
Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used, and likely released into the aquatic environment. Both aqueous (i.e., dissolved Cu) and particulate Cu can be taken up by organisms. However, how exposure routes influence the bioavailability and subsequent toxicity of Cu remains largely unknown. Here, we assess the importance of...
Decadal re-evaluation of contaminant exposure and productivity of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) nesting in Chesapeake Bay Regions of Concern
Rebecca S. Lazarus, Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. McGowan, Robert C. Hale, Sandra L. Schultz, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Mary Ann Ottinger
2015, Environmental Pollution (205) 278-290
The last large-scale ecotoxicological study of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in Chesapeake Bay was conducted in 2000-2001 and focused on U.S. EPA-designated Regions of Concern (ROCs; Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco, Anacostia/middle Potomac, and Elizabeth Rivers). In 2011-2012, ROCs were re-evaluated to determine spatial and temporal trends in productivity and contaminants. Concentrations of p,p'-DDE...
Influence of channel morphology and flow regime on larval drift of pallid sturgeon in the Lower Missouri River
Susannah O. Erwin, Robert B. Jacobson
2015, River Research and Applications (31) 538-551
The transition from drifting free embryo to exogenously feeding larvae has been identified as a potential life-stage bottleneck for the endangered Missouri River pallid sturgeon. Previous studies have indicated that river regulation and fragmentation may contribute to the mortality of larval pallid sturgeon by reducing the extent of free-flowing river...
