The areal extent of brown shrimp habitat suitability in Mobile Bay, Alabama, USA: Targeting vegetated habitat restoration
L.M. Smith, J.A. Nestlerode, L.C. Harwell, P. Bourgeois
2010, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (171) 611-620
The availability of wetlands and shallow water habitats significantly influences Gulf of Mexico (GOM) penaeid shrimp fishery productivity. However, the GOM region has the highest rate of wetland loss in the USA. Protection and management of these vital GOM habitats are critical to sustainable shrimp fisheries. Brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus)...
Extension in Mona Passage, Northeast Caribbean
J.D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink
2010, Tectonophysics (493) 74-92
As shown by the recent Mw 7.0 Haiti earthquake, intra-arc deformation, which accompanies the subduction process, can present seismic and tsunami hazards to nearby islands. Spatially-limited diffuse tectonic deformation within the Northeast Caribbean Plate Boundary Zone likely led to the development of the submerged Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and...
Model selection bias and Freedman's paradox
P.M. Lukacs, K.P. Burnham, David R. Anderson
2010, Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (62) 117-125
In situations where limited knowledge of a system exists and the ratio of data points to variables is small, variable selection methods can often be misleading. Freedman (Am Stat 37:152-155, 1983) demonstrated how common it is to select completely unrelated variables as highly "significant" when the number of data points...
Effects of coalbed natural gas development on fish assemblages in tributary streams of the Powder and Tongue rivers
W.N. Davis, R.G. Bramblett, A.V. Zale
2010, Freshwater Biology (55) 2612-2625
1. Extraction of coalbed natural gas (CBNG) often results in disposal of large quantities of CBNG product water, which may affect aquatic ecosystems. We evaluated the effects of CBNG development on fish assemblages in tributary streams of the Powder and Tongue rivers. We used treatment and control, impact versus reference...
Radiocarbon dating of small terrestrial gastropod shells in North America
J.S. Pigati, J.A. Rech, J.C. Nekola
2010, Quaternary Geochronology (5) 519-532
Fossil shells of small terrestrial gastropods are commonly preserved in wetland, alluvial, loess, and glacial deposits, as well as in sediments at many archeological sites. These shells are composed largely of aragonite (CaCO3) and potentially could be used for radiocarbon dating, but they must meet two criteria before their 14C...
Night sampling improves indices used for management of yellow perch in Lake Erie
P.M. Kocovsky, M.A. Stapanian, C.T. Knight
2010, Fisheries Management and Ecology (17) 10-18
Catch rate (catch per hour) was examined for age-0 and age-1 yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), captured in bottom trawls from 1991 to 2005 in western Lake Erie: (1) to examine variation of catch rate among years, seasons, diel periods and their interactions; and (2) to determine whether sampling during...
On the application of multilevel modeling in environmental and ecological studies
Song S. Qian, Thomas F. Cuffney, Ibrahim Alameddine, Gerard McMahon, Kenneth H. Reckhow
2010, Ecology (91) 355-361
This paper illustrates the advantages of a multilevel/hierarchical approach for predictive modeling, including flexibility of model formulation, explicitly accounting for hierarchical structure in the data, and the ability to predict the outcome of new cases. As a generalization of the classical approach, the multilevel modeling approach explicitly models the hierarchical...
Evaluating the spatiotemporal variations of water budget across China over 1951-2006 using IBIS model
Q. Zhu, H. Jiang, J. Liu, X. Wei, C. Peng, X. Fang, S. Liu, G. Zhou, S. Yu, W. Ju
2010, Hydrological Processes (24) 429-445
The Integrated Biosphere Simulator is used to evaluate the spatial and temporal patterns of the crucial hydrological variables [run-off and actual evapotranspiration (AET)] of the water balance across China for the period 1951–2006 including a precipitation analysis. Results suggest three major findings. First, simulated run-off captured 85% of the spatial...
A California statewide three-dimensional seismic velocity model from both absolute and differential times
G. Lin, C.H. Thurber, H. Zhang, E. Hauksson, P.M. Shearer, F. Waldhauser, T.M. Brocher, J. Hardebeck
2010, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (100) 225-240
We obtain a seismic velocity model of the California crust and uppermost mantle using a regional-scale double-difference tomography algorithm. We begin by using absolute arrival-time picks to solve for a coarse three-dimensional (3D) P velocity (VP) model with a uniform 30 km horizontal node spacing, which we then use as...
3D volumetric modeling of grapevine biomass using Tripod LiDAR
K.E. Keightley, G.W. Bawden
2010, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (74) 305-312
Tripod mounted laser scanning provides the means to generate high-resolution volumetric measures of vegetation structure and perennial woody tissue for the calculation of standing biomass in agronomic and natural ecosystems. Other than costly destructive harvest methods, no technique exists to rapidly and accurately measure above-ground perennial tissue for woody plants...
Identifying regions of strong scattering at the core-mantle boundary from analysis of PKKP precursor energy
S. Rost, P.S. Earle
2010, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (297) 616-626
We detect seismic scattering from the core-mantle boundary related to the phase PKKP (PK. KP) in data from small aperture seismic arrays in India and Canada. The detection of these scattered waves in data from small aperture arrays is new and allows a better characterization of the fine-scale structure of...
Teaching citizen science skills online: Implications for invasive species training programs
G. Newman, A. Crall, M. Laituri, J. Graham, T. Stohlgren, J.C. Moore, K. Kodrich, K.A. Holfelder
2010, Applied Environmental Education and Communication (9) 276-286
Citizen science programs are emerging as an efficient way to increase data collection and help monitor invasive species. Effective invasive species monitoring requires rigid data quality assurances if expensive control efforts are to be guided by volunteer data. To achieve data quality, effective online training is needed to improve field...
Rapid evolution in lekking grouse: Implications for taxonomic definitions
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Judy St. John, Thomas W. Quinn
2010, Ornithological Monographs (67) 114-122
Species and subspecies delineations were traditionally defined by morphological and behavioral traits, as well as by plumage characteristics. Molecular genetic data have more recently been used to assess these classifications and, in many cases, to redefine them. The recent practice of utilizing molecular genetic data to examine taxonomic questions has...
Active remote sensing of snow using NMM3D/DMRT and comparison with CLPX II airborne data
X. Xu, D. Liang, L. Tsang, K.M. Andreadis, E.G. Josberger, D.P. Lettenmaier, D.W. Cline, S.H. Yueh
2010, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (3) 689-697
We applied the Numerical Maxwell Model of three-dimensional simulations (NMM3D) in the Dense Media Radiative Theory (DMRT) to calculate backscattering coefficients. The particles' positions are computer-generated and the subsequent Foldy-Lax equations solved numerically. The phase matrix in NMM3D has significant cross-polarization, particularly when the particles are densely packed. The NMM3D...
Effects of amphibian chytrid fungus on individual survival probability in wild boreal toads
D. S. Pilliod, E. Muths, R. D. Scherer, P.E. Bartelt, P.S. Corn, B. R. Hossack, B.A. Lambert, R. Mccaffery, C. Gaughan
2010, Conservation Biology (24) 1259-1267
Chytridiomycosis is linked to the worldwide decline of amphibians, yet little is known about the demographic effects of the disease. We collected capture-recapture data on three populations of boreal toads (Bufo boreas [Bufo = Anaxyrus]) in the Rocky Mountains (U.S.A.). Two of the populations were infected with chytridiomycosis and one...
Emplacement of the youngest flood lava on Mars: A short, turbulent story
Windy L. Jaeger, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, James A. Skinner, Moses P. Milazzo, Alfred S. McEwen, Timothy N. Titus, Mark R. Rosiek, Donna M. Galuszka, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Randolph L. Kirk, the HiRISE TEam
2010, Icarus (205) 230-243
Recently acquired data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Context (CTX) imager, and Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft were used to investigate the emplacement of the youngest flood-lava flow on Mars. Careful mapping finds that...
Prescribed fires as ecological surrogates for wildfires: A stream and riparian perspective
R.S. Arkle, D. S. Pilliod
2010, Forest Ecology and Management (259) 893-903
Forest managers use prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk and to provide resource benefits, yet little information is available on whether prescribed fires can function as ecological surrogates for wildfire in fire-prone landscapes. Information on impacts and benefits of this management tool on stream and riparian ecosystems is particularly lacking....
Broad accommodation of rift-related extension recorded by dyke intrusion in Saudi Arabia
J.S. Pallister, W.A. McCausland, Sigurjon Jonsson, Z. Lu, H.M. Zahran, Hadidy S. El, A. Aburukbah, I.C.F. Stewart, P.R. Lundgren, R.A. White, M.R.H. Moufti
2010, Nature Geoscience (3) 705-712
The extensive harrat lava province of Arabia formed during the past 30 million years in response to Red Sea rifting and mantle upwelling. The area was regarded as seismically quiet, but between April and June 2009 a swarm of more than 30,000 earthquakes struck one of the lava fields in...
Population synchrony of a native fish across three Laurentian Great Lakes: Evaluating the effects of dispersal and climate
D.B. Bunnell, J.V. Adams, O. T. Gorman, C.P. Madenjian, S.C. Riley, E.F. Roseman, J.S. Schaeffer
2010, Oecologia (162) 641-651
Climate and dispersal are the two most commonly cited mechanisms to explain spatial synchrony among time series of animal populations, and climate is typically most important for fishes. Using data from 1978-2006, we quantified the spatial synchrony in recruitment and population catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) for bloater (Coregonus hoyi) populations across lakes...
Design and analysis of simple choice surveys for natural resource management
John Fieberg, Louis Cornicelli, David C. Fulton, Marrett D. Grund
2010, Journal of Wildlife Management (74) 871-879
We used a simple yet powerful method for judging public support for management actions from randomized surveys. We asked respondents to rank choices (representing management regulations under consideration) according to their preference, and we then used discrete choice models to estimate probability of choosing among options (conditional on the set...
Silica-rich deposits and hydrated minerals at Gusev Crater, Mars: Vis-NIR spectral characterization and regional mapping
M.S. Rice, J.F. Bell III, E.A. Cloutis, A. Wang, S. W. Ruff, M.A. Craig, D.T. Bailey, J. R. Johnson, P.A. De Souza Jr., W. H. Farrand
2010, Icarus (205) 375-395
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit has discovered surprisingly high concentrations of amorphous silica in soil and nodular outcrops in the Inner Basin of the Columbia Hills. In Pancam multispectral observations, we find that an absorption feature at the longest Pancam wavelength (1009 nm) appears to be characteristic of these...
Optimized autonomous space in-situ sensor web for volcano monitoring
W.-Z. Song, B. Shirazi, R. Huang, M. Xu, N. Peterson, R. LaHusen, J. Pallister, D. Dzurisin, S. Moran, M. Lisowski, S. Kedar, S. Chien, F. Webb, A. Kiely, J. Doubleday, A. Davies, D. Pieri
2010, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (3) 541-546
In response to NASA's announced requirement for Earth hazard monitoring sensor-web technology, a multidisciplinary team involving sensor-network experts (Washington State University), space scientists (JPL), and Earth scientists (USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO)), have developed a prototype of dynamic and scalable hazard monitoring sensor-web and applied it to volcano monitoring. The...
Inherent Limitations of Hydraulic Tomography
Geoffrey C. Bohling, J.J. Butler
2010, Ground Water (48) 809-824
We offer a cautionary note in response to an increasing level of enthusiasm regarding high-resolution aquifer characterization with hydraulic tomography. We use synthetic examples based on two recent field experiments to demonstrate that a high degree of nonuniqueness remains in estimates of hydraulic parameter fields even when those estimates are...
Habitat suitability and conservation of the Giant Gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas) in the Sacramento Valley of California
B.J. Halstead, G.D. Wylie, Michael L. Casazza
2010, Copeia 591-599
Resource managers often have little information regarding the habitat requirements and distribution of rare species. Factor analysis-based habitat suitability models describe the ecological niche of a species and identify locations where these conditions occur on the landscape using existing occurrence data. We used factor analyses to assess the suitability of...
Exploring the limits of identifying sub-pixel thermal features using ASTER TIR data
R. Greg Vaughan, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Ashley G. Davies, David J. Schneider, Cheryl Jaworowski, Henry Heasler
2010, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (189) 225-237
Understanding the characteristics of volcanic thermal emissions and how they change with time is important for forecasting and monitoring volcanic activity and potential hazards. Satellite instruments view volcanic thermal features across the globe at various temporal and spatial resolutions. Thermal features that may be a precursor to a major eruption,...
