The regional forcing of Northern hemisphere drought during recent warm tropical west Pacific Ocean La Niña events
Andrew Hoell, Christopher C. Funk, Mathew Barlow
2014, Climate Dynamics (42) 3289-3311
Northern Hemisphere circulations differ considerably between individual El Niño-Southern Oscillation events due to internal atmospheric variability and variation in the zonal location of sea surface temperature forcing over the tropical Pacific Ocean. This study examines the similarities between recent Northern Hemisphere droughts associated with La Niña events and anomalously warm...
Brood surveys and hunter observations used to predict gobbling activity wild turkeys in Mississippi
Matthew D. Palumbo, Francisco Vilella, Bronson K. Strickland, Guiming Wang, Dave Godwin
2014, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (5) 151-156
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks utilize data from turkey hunter observations and brood surveys from across the state to manage wild turkey Meleagris gallopavo populations. Since 1995, hunters have collected gobbling and jake observation data, while the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks' personnel and cooperating wildlife managers...
Traditional cultural use as a tool for inferring biogeography and provenance: a case study involving painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and Hopi Native American culture in Arizona, USA
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Charles T. LaRue, Charles A. Drost, Terence R. Arundel
2014, Copeia (2014) 215-220
Inferring the natural distribution and native status of organisms is complicated by the role of ancient and modern humans in utilization and translocation. Archaeological data and traditional cultural use provide tools for resolving these issues. Although the painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) has a transcontinental range in the United States, populations...
Finite-fault slip model of the 2011 Mw 5.6 Prague, Oklahoma earthquake from regional waveforms
Xiaodan Sun, Stephen H. Hartzell
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 4207-4213
The slip model for the 2011 Mw 5.6 Prague, Oklahoma, earthquake is inferred using a linear least squares methodology. Waveforms of six aftershocks recorded at 21 regional stations are used as empirical Green's functions (EGFs). The solution indicates two large slip patches: one located around the hypocenter with a depth...
Geographic coincidence of richness, mass, conservation value, and response to climate of U.S. land birds
Ralph Grundel, Krystal Frohnapple, David N. Zaya, Gary A. Glowacki, Chelsea J. Weiskerger, Tamatha A. Patterson, Noel B. Pavlovic
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 791-811
Distributional patterns across the United States of five avian community breeding-season characteristics—community biomass, richness, constituent species' vulnerability to extirpation, percentage of constituent species' global abundance present in the community (conservation index, CI), and the community's position along the ecological gradient underlying species composition (principal curve ordination score, PC)—were described, their...
Effects of cave gating on population trends at individual hibernacula of the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalist)
Shawn M. Crimmins, Patrick C. McKann, Jennifer A. Szymanski, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2014, Acta Chiropterologica (16) 129-137
Installing gates at cave entrances to protect hibernating bat colonies is a widespread conservation action, particularly for endangered bat species such as the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). However, there is surprisingly little evidence on the efficacy of gates for improving population growth rates. We used change-point models to determine the...
Sex-biased gene flow among elk in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem
Brian K. Hand, Shanyuan Chen, Neil Anderson, Albano Beja-Pereira, Paul C. Cross, Michael R. Ebinger, Hank Edwards, Robert A. Garrott, Marty D. Kardos, Matthew J. Kauffman, Erin L. Landguth, Arthur Middleton, Brandon M. Scurlock, P.J. White, Pete Zager, Michael K. Schwartz, Gordon Luikart
2014, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (5) 124-132
We quantified patterns of population genetic structure to help understand gene flow among elk populations across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. We sequenced 596 base pairs of the mitochondrial control region of 380 elk from eight populations. Analysis revealed high mitochondrial DNA variation within populations, averaging 13.0 haplotypes with high mean...
Minimizing the cost of keeping options open for conservation in a changing climate
Morena Mills, Samuel Nicol, Jessie A. Wells, Jose J. Lahoz-Monfort, Brendan Wintle, Michael Bode, Martin Wardrop, Terry Walshe, William J. M. Probert, Michael C. Runge, Hugh P. Possingham, Eve McDonald Madden
2014, Conservation Biology (28) 646-653
Policy documents advocate that managers should keep their options open while planning to protect coastal ecosystems from climate-change impacts. However, the actual costs and benefits of maintaining flexibility remain largely unexplored, and alternative approaches for decision making under uncertainty may lead to better joint outcomes for conservation and other societal...
Assessing effects of variation in global climate data sets on spatial predictions from climate envelope models
Stephanie S. Romanach, James I. Watling, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Carolina Speroterra, David N. Bucklin, Laura A. Brandt, Leonard G. Pearlstine, Yesenia Escribano, Frank J. Mazzotti
2014, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (5) 14-25
Climate change poses new challenges for natural resource managers. Predictive modeling of species–environment relationships using climate envelope models can enhance our understanding of climate change effects on biodiversity, assist in assessment of invasion risk by exotic organisms, and inform life-history understanding of individual species. While increasing interest has focused on...
Nest site characteristics, nesting movements, and lack of long-term nest site fidelity in Agassiz's desert tortoises at a wind energy facility in southern California
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Mickey Agha, Charles B. Yackulic, Kathie Meyer-Wilkins, Curtis Bjurlin, Joshua R. Ennen, Terry R. Arundel, Meaghan Austin
2014, California Fish and Game (100) 404-416
Nest site selection has important consequences for maternal and offspring survival and fitness. Females of some species return to the same nesting areas year after year. We studied nest site characteristics, fidelity, and daily pre-nesting movements in a population of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at a wind energy facility...
Associations of wintering birds with habitat in semidesert and plains grasslands in Arizona
Janet M. Ruth, Thomas R. Stanley, Caleb E. Gordon
2014, Southwestern Naturalist (59) 199-211
We studied associations with winter habitat for seven species of birds, one species-group (eastern and western meadowlarks combined), and total sparrows at seven sites in the semidesert and plains grasslands of southeastern Arizona from 1999–2001, sampling with mist-nets and survey-transects. We measured structure and composition of vegetation, assessing vegetative differences...
Evaluation of the importance of clay confining units on groundwaterflow in alluvial basins using solute and isotope tracers: the case of Middle San Pedro Basin in southeastern Arizona (USA)
Candice B. Hopkins, Jennifer C. McIntosh, Chris Eastoe, Jesse E. Dickinson, Thomas Meixner
2014, Hydrogeology Journal (22) 829-849
As groundwater becomes an increasingly important water resource worldwide, it is essential to understand how local geology affects groundwater quality, flowpaths and residence times. This study utilized multiple tracers to improve conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow in the Middle San Pedro Basin in southeastern Arizona (USA) by determining...
Pharmacokinetics of hydromorphone hydrochloride after intravenous and intramuscular administration of a single dose to American kestrels (Falco sparverius)
David Sanchez-Migallon Guzman, Butch KuKanich, Tracy L. Drazenovich, Glenn H. Olsen, Joanne R. Paul-Murphy
2014, American Journal of Veterinary Research (75) 527-531
Objective—To determine the pharmacokinetics of hydromorphone hydrochloride after IV and IM administration in American kestrels (Falco sparverius). Animals—12 healthy adult American kestrels. Procedures—A single dose of hydromorphone (0.6 mg/kg) was administered IM (pectoral muscles) and IV (right jugular vein); the time between IM and IV administration experiments was 1 month. Blood...
Habitat availability is a more plausible explanation than insecticide acute toxicity for U.S. grassland bird species declines
Jason M. Hill, J. Franklin Egan, Glenn E. Stauffer, Duane R. Diefenbach
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-8
Grassland bird species have experienced substantial declines in North America. These declines have been largely attributed to habitat loss and degradation, especially from agricultural practices and intensification (the habitat-availability hypothesis). A recent analysis of North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) “grassland breeding” bird trends reported the surprising conclusion that insecticide...
Mount Baker lahars and debris flows, ancient, modern, and future
David S. Tucker, Kevin M. Scott, Eric E. Grossman, Scott Linneman
2014, GSA Field Guides 33-52
The Middle Fork Nooksack River drains the southwestern slopes of the active Mount Baker stratovolcano in northwest Washington State. The river enters Bellingham Bay at a growing delta 98 km to the west. Various types of debris flows have descended the river, generated by volcano collapse or eruption (lahars),...
Annual crop type classification of the U.S. Great Plains for 2000 to 2011
Daniel M. Howard, Bruce K. Wylie
2014, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (6) 537-549
The purpose of this study was to increase the spatial and temporal availability of crop classification data. In this study, nearly 16.2 million crop observation points were used in the training of the US Great Plains classification tree crop type model (CTM). Each observation point was further defined by weekly...
The UCERF3 grand inversion: Solving for the long‐term rate of ruptures in a fault system
Morgan T. Page, Edward H. Field, Kevin Milner, Peter M. Powers
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 1181-1204
We present implementation details, testing, and results from a new inversion‐based methodology, known colloquially as the “grand inversion,” developed for the Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3). We employ a parallel simulated annealing algorithm to solve for the long‐term rate of all ruptures that extend through the seismogenic thickness on...
Ecological change on California's Channel Islands from the Pleistocene to the Anthropocene
Torben C. Rick, T. Scott Sillett, Cameron K. Ghalambor, Courtney A. Hofman, Katherine Ralls, R. Scott Anderson, Christina L. Boser, Todd J. Braje, Daniel R. Cayan, R. Terry Chesser, Paul W. Collins, Jon M. Erlandson, Kate R. Faulkner, Robert C. Fleischer, W. Chris Funk, Russell Galipeau, Ann Huston, Julie King, Lyndal L. Laughrin, Jesus Maldonado, Kathryn McEachern, Daniel R. Muhs, Seth D. Newsome, Leslie Reeder-Myers, Christopher Still, Scott A. Morrison
2014, BioScience
Historical ecology is becoming an important focus in conservation biology and offers a promising tool to help guide ecosystem management. Here, we integrate data from multiple disciplines to illuminate the past, present, and future of biodiversity on California's Channel Islands, an archipelago that has undergone a wide range of land-use...
Vulnerability of age-0 pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus to predation; effects of predator type, turbidity, body size, and prey density
William E. French, Brian D. S. Graeb, Steven R. Chipps, Robert A. Klumb
2014, Environmental Biology of Fishes (97) 635-646
Predation can play an important role in the recruitment dynamics of fishes with intensity regulated by behavioral (i.e., prey selectivity) and/or environmental conditions that may be especially important for rare or endangered fishes. We conducted laboratory experiments to quantify prey selection and capture efficiency by three predators employing distinct foraging...
Assessing landscape constraints on species abundance: Does the neighborhood limit species response to local habitat conservation programs?
Christopher F. Jorgensen, Larkin A. Powell, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Andrew A. Bishop, Joseph J. Fontaine
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-13
Landscapes in agricultural systems continue to undergo significant change, and the loss of biodiversity is an ever-increasing threat. Although habitat restoration is beneficial, management actions do not always result in the desired outcome. Managers must understand why management actions fail; yet, past studies have focused on assessing habitat attributes at...
Forcing functions governing salt transport processes in coastal navigation canals and connectivity to surrounding marshes in South Louisiana using Houma Navigation Canal as a surrogate
Gregg Snedden
2014, Report
Understanding how circulation and mixing processes in coastal navigation canals influence the exchange of salt between marshes and coastal ocean, and how those processes are modulated by external physical processes, is critical to anticipating effects of future actions and circumstance. Examples of such circumstances include deepening the channel, placement of...
Occupancy patterns of regionally declining grassland sparrow populations in a forested Pennsylvania landscape
Jason M. Hill, Duane R. Diefenbach
2014, Conservation Biology (28) 735-744
Organisms can be affected by processes in the surrounding landscape outside the boundary of habitat areas and by local vegetation characteristics. There is substantial interest in understanding how these processes affect populations of grassland birds, which have experienced substantial population declines. Much of our knowledge regarding patterns of occupancy and...
Global ocean conveyor lowers extinction risk in the deep sea
Lea-Anne Henry, Norbert Frank, Dierk Hebbeln, Claudia Weinberg, Laura Robinson, Tina van de Flierdt, Mikael Dahl, Melanie Douarin, Cheryl L. Morrison, Matthias Lopez Correa, Alex D. Rogers, Mario Ruckelshausen, J. Murray Roberts
2014, Deep Sea Research Part A, Oceanographic Research Papers (88) 8-16
General paradigms of species extinction risk are urgently needed as global habitat loss and rapid climate change threaten Earth with what could be its sixth mass extinction. Using the stony coral Lophelia pertusa as a model organism with the potential for wide larval dispersal, we investigated how the global ocean...
Land-margin ecosystem hydrologic data for the coastal Everglades, Florida, water years 1996-2012
Gordon H. Anderson, Thomas J. Smith III, Karen M. Balentine
2014, Data Series 853
Mangrove forests and salt marshes dominate the landscape of the coastal Everglades (Odum and McIvor, 1990). However, the ecological effects from potential sea-level rise and increased water flows from planned freshwater Everglades restoration on these coastal systems are poorly understood. The National Park Service (NPS) proposed the South Florida Global...
Three-dimensional seismic velocity structure of Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes in Hawaii from local seismic tomography
Guoqing Lin, Peter M. Shearer, Robin S. Matoza, Paul G. Okubo, Falk Amelung
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 4377-4392
We present a new three-dimensional seismic velocity model of the crustal and upper mantle structure for Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes in Hawaii. Our model is derived from the first-arrival times of the compressional and shear waves from about 53,000 events on and near the Island of Hawaii between 1992...
