Translating climate change effects on species into everyday language: an example of more driving and less fishing
Tyler Wagner, Jefferson T. Deweber
2015, Fisheries (40) 395-398
Climate change is expected to result in widespread changes in species distributions (e.g., shifting, shrinking, expanding species ranges; e.g., Parmesan and Yohe, 2003), especially for freshwater fish species (Heino et al. 2009). Although anglers and other resource users could be greatly affected by changes in species distributions, predicted changes...
Avian community responses to post-fire forest structure: Implications for fire management in mixed conifer forests
Angela M. White, Patricia N. Manley, Gina Tarbill, T.L. Richardson, Robin E. Russell, Hugh D. Safford, Solomon Z. Dobrowski
2015, Animal Conservation
Fire is a natural process and the dominant disturbance shaping plant and animal communities in many coniferous forests of the western US. Given that fire size and severity are predicted to increase in the future, it has become increasingly important to understand how wildlife responds to fire and post-fire management....
A review of the recent geochemical evolution of Piton de la Fournaise volcano (1927-2010)
Aaron J. Pietruszka, Ivan Vlastelic
2015, Book chapter, Active volcanoes of the southwest Indian Ocean
Between 1927 and 2010, more than one hundred eruptions of Piton de la Fournaise produced ~1 km3 of lava, and the volcano’s summit collapsed twice (in 1931 and 2007). These lavas display, respectively, 20 and 65 % of the Sr–Nd and the Pb isotope ranges reported for La Réunion volcanoes over their known...
Riders on the storm: selective tidal movements facilitate the spawning migration of threatened delta smelt in the San Francisco Estuary
W.A. Bennett, Jon R. Burau
2015, Estuaries and Coasts (38) 826-835
Migration strategies in estuarine fishes typically include behavioral adaptations for reducing energetic costs and mortality during travel to optimize reproductive success. The influence of tidal currents and water turbidity on individual movement behavior were investigated during the spawning migration of the threatened delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, in the northern...
Comparative analysis of riverscape genetic structure in rare, threatened and common freshwater mussels
Heather S. Galbraith, David T. Zanatta, Chris C. Wilson
2015, Conservation Genetics (16) 845-857
Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) are highly imperiled with many species on the verge of local extirpation or global extinction. This study investigates patterns of genetic structure and diversity in six species of freshwater mussels in the central Great Lakes region of Ontario, Canada. These species vary in their...
Spatial occupancy models for predicting metapopulation dynamics and viability following reintroduction
Richard B. Chandler, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Christopher J. Jarchow, Blake R. Hossack
2015, Journal of Applied Ecology (52) 1325-1333
The reintroduction of a species into its historic range is a critical component of conservation programmes designed to restore extirpated metapopulations. However, many reintroduction efforts fail, and the lack of rigorous monitoring programmes and statistical models have prevented a general understanding of the factors affecting metapopulation viability following...
A preliminary investigation of the variables affecting the distribution of giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas) in the Sacramento Valley, California
Brian J. Halstead, Shannon M. Skalos, Michael L. Casazza, Glenn D. Wylie
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1178
Giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas) comprise a species of rare, semi-aquatic snake precinctive to the Central Valley of California. Because of the loss of more than 90% of their natural habitat, giant gartersnakes are listed as Threatened by the United States and California endangered species acts. Little is known, however, about...
Causes of mortality and temporal patterns in breeding season survival of lesser prairie-chickens in shinnery oak prairies
Blake A. Grisham, Clint W. Boal
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 536-542
Baseline survival and mortality data for lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) are lacking for shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) prairies. An understanding of the causes and timing of mortalities and breeding season survival in this ecoregion is important because shinnery oak prairies have hotter and drier environmental conditions, as well as different...
Molecular tracing of confiscated pangolin scales for conservation and illegal trade monitoring in Southeast Asia
Huarong Zhang, Mark P. Miller, Feng Yang, Ki Chan, Philippe Gaubert, Gary Ades, Gunter A. Fischer
2015, Global Ecology and Conservation (4) 414-422
Despite being protected by both international and national regulations, pangolins are threatened by illegal trade. Here we report mitochondrial DNA identification and haplotype richness estimation, using 239 pangolin scale samples from two confiscations in Hong Kong. We found a total of 13 genetically distinct cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) haplotypes...
Landscape-scale distribution and density of raptor populations wintering in anthropogenic-dominated desert landscapes
Adam E. Duerr, Tricia A. Miller, Kerri L Cornell Duerr, Michael J. Lanzone, Amy Fesnock-Parker, Todd E. Katzner
2015, Biodiversity and Conservation (24) 2365-2381
Anthropogenic development has great potential to affect fragile desert environments. Large-scale development of renewable energy infrastructure is planned for many desert ecosystems. Development plans should account for anthropogenic effects to distributions and abundance of rare or sensitive wildlife; however, baseline data on abundance and distribution of such wildlife are often...
High mercury wet deposition at a “clean Air” site in Puerto Rico
James B. Shanley, Mark A. Engle, Martha A. Scholl, David P. Krabbenhoft, Robert Brunette, Mark L. Olson, Mary E. Conroy
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 12474-12482
Atmospheric mercury deposition measurements are rare in tropical latitudes. Here we report on seven years (April 2005 to April 2012, with gaps) of wet Hg deposition measurements at a tropical wet forest in the Luquillo Mountains, northeastern Puerto Rico, U.S. Despite receiving unpolluted air off the Atlantic Ocean from northeasterly...
Camera traps and mark-resight models: The value of ancillary data for evaluating assumptions
Arielle W. Parsons, Theodore R. Simons, Kenneth H. Pollock, Michael K. Stoskopf, Jessica J. Stocking, Allan F. O’Connell
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 1163-1172
Unbiased estimators of abundance and density are fundamental to the study of animal ecology and critical for making sound management decisions. Capture–recapture models are generally considered the most robust approach for estimating these parameters but rely on a number of assumptions that are often violated but rarely validated. Mark-resight models,...
Geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of REE in granite-derived regolith: a model for the Southeast United States
Nora K. Foley, Carleton R. Bern, Robert A. Ayuso, Bernard E. Hubbard, Anjana K. Shah
2015, Conference Paper, Proceeding of the 13th Biennial SGA Meeting
Rare earth element (REE) ion-adsorption clay deposits are of global economic importance because they currently supply a significant portion of the world’s annual production of both light (LREE) and heavy REE (HREE). There is considerable ambiguity regarding the origin of this deposit type: The main criteria include the presence...
Growth and contribution of stocked channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque, 1818): the importance of measuring post-stocking performance
David R. Stewart, James M. Long
2015, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (31) 695-703
In this study it was sought to quantify post-stocking growth, survival, and contribution of advanced size (178 mm total length [TL]) channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus fingerlings, something rarely done. Channel catfish populations were evaluated before (May 2010) and after (May to August 2011 and 2012) stocking. Relative abundance, stocking contribution, and growth were...
Trends in Rocky Mountain amphibians and the role of beaver as a keystone species
Blake R. Hossack, William R. Gould, Debra A. Patla, Erin L. Muths, Rob Daley, Kristin Legg, P. Stephen Corn
2015, Biological Conservation (187) 260-269
Despite prevalent awareness of global amphibian declines, there is still little information on trends for many widespread species. To inform land managers of trends on protected landscapes and identify potential conservation strategies, we collected occurrence data for five wetland-breeding amphibian species in four national parks in the U.S. Rocky Mountains...
Using 15-minute acoustic data to analyze suspended-sediment dynamics in the Rio Grande in the Big Bend Region
David J. Dean, David J. Topping, Ronald E. Griffiths, Thomas A. Sabol, John C. Schmidt, Jeffery B. Bennett
2015, Conference Paper
The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region is subject to rapid geomorphic change consisting of channel narrowing during years of low flow, and channel widening during rare, large, long duration floods. Since the 1940s, there have been large declines in mean and peak stream flow, and the channel has...
Long-term shifts in the phenology of rare and endemic Rocky Mountain plants
Seth M. Munson, Anna A Sher
2015, American Journal of Botany (102) 1268-1276
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Mountainous regions support high plant productivity, diversity, and endemism, yet are highly vulnerable to climate change. Historical records and model predictions show increasing temperatures across high elevation regions including the Southern Rocky Mountains, which can have a strong influence on the performance and distribution of...
Months between rejuvenation and volcanic eruption at Yellowstone caldera, Wyoming
Christy B. Till, Jorge A. Vazquez, Jeremy W Boyce
2015, Geology (43) 695-698
Rejuvenation of previously intruded silicic magma is an important process leading to effusive rhyolite, which is the most common product of volcanism at calderas with protracted histories of eruption and unrest such as Yellowstone, Long Valley, and Valles, USA. Although orders of magnitude smaller in volume than rare caldera-forming super-eruptions,...
Landscapes for energy and wildlife: conservation prioritization for golden eagles across large spatial scales
Jason D. Tack, Bradley C. Fedy
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Proactive conservation planning for species requires the identification of important spatial attributes across ecologically relevant scales in a model-based framework. However, it is often difficult to develop predictive models, as the explanatory data required for model development across regional management scales is rarely available. Golden eagles are a large-ranging predator...
Geochemical, modal, and geochronologic data for 1.4 Ga A-type granitoid intrusions of the conterminous United States
Edward A. du Bray, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Carma A. San Juan, Karen Lund, Wayne R. Premo, Ed DeWitt
2015, Data Series 942
Introduction The purpose of this report is to present available geochemical, modal, and geochronologic data for approximately 1.4 billion year (Ga) A-type granitoid intrusions of the United States and to make those data available to ongoing petrogenetic investigations of these rocks. A-type granites, as originally defined by Loiselle and Wones (1979),...
Estimating rates of debris flow entrainment from ground vibrations
Jason W. Kean, Jeffrey A. Coe, V. Coviello, Joel B. Smith, S.W. McCoy, M. Arattano
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 6365-6372
Debris flows generate seismic waves as they travel downslope and can become more dangerous as they entrain sediment along their path. We present field observations that show a systematic relation between the magnitude of seismic waves and the amount of erodible sediment beneath the flow. Specifically, we observe that a debris flow traveling...
A floral survey of cliff habitats along Bull Run at Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, 2014
Esther D. Stroh, Matthew A. Struckhoff, Keith W. Grabner
2015, Data Series 940
Isolated patches of native vegetation in human-modified landscapes are important reservoirs of biological diversity because they may be the only places in which rare or native species can persist. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, is an island embedded in a matrix of intensively modified lands; it is becoming increasingly isolated...
Fine-scale movements of rural free-ranging dogs in conservation areas in the temperate rainforest of the coastal range of southern Chile
Maximiliano Sepulveda, Katherine Pelican, Paul C. Cross, Antonieta Eguren, Randall S. Singer
2015, Mammalian Biology (80) 290-297
Domestic dogs can play a variety of important roles for farmers. However, when in proximity to conservation areas, the presence of rural free-ranging dogs can be problematic due to the potential for predation of, competition with, or transmission of infectious disease to local threatened fauna. We used a frequent location...
Influences of supplemental feeding on winter elk calf:cow ratios in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Aaron M. Foley, Paul C. Cross, David A Christianson, Brandon M. Scurlock, Scott Creely
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 887-897
Several elk herds in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are fed during winter to alleviate interactions with livestock, reduce damage to stored crops, and to manage for high elk numbers. The effects of supplemental feeding on ungulate population dynamics has rarely been examined, despite the fact that supplemental feeding is partially...
The Penobscot River and environmental contaminants: Assessment of tribal exposure through sustenance lifeways
Valerie Marshall, Daniel Kusnierz, Robert Hillger, Joseph Ferrario, Thomas Hughes, Janet Diliberto, Carl E. Orazio, Robert W. Dudley, Christian Byrne, Richard Sugatt, Sarah Warren, David DeMarini, Adria Elskus, Steve Stodola, Steve Mierzykowski, Katie Pugh, Charles W. Culbertson
2015, Report
EPA in collaboration with the Penobscot Indian Nation, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) collectively embarked on a four year research study to evaluate the environmental health of the riverine system by targeting specific cultural practices...
