Mortality in Aransas-Wood Buffalo Whooping Cranes: Timing, location, and causes
Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Barry K. Hartup, Mark T. Bidwell
2019, Book chapter, Whooping Cranes: Biology and conservation
For long-lived species with low fecundity rates, population growth rate can be sensitive to changes in annual survival. Understanding where, when, and why animals die provides useful information for prioritizing conservation practices designed to increase survival. As part of a satellite tracking study, we identified 19 confirmed and suspected deaths...
Revisiting the historic distribution and habitats of the Whooping Crane
Jane E. Austin, Matthew A. Hayes, Jeb A. Barzen
2019, Book chapter, Whooping cranes: Biology and conservation
The endangered Whooping Crane (Grus americana) historically had a wide distribution that covered diverse ecoregions across North America while retaining consistent habitat preferences within each ecoregion. We reevaluate the historic information compiled by Robert Porter Allen in 1952 and added 74 other records. Based on the ecological features of historic locations relative...
Statistical detection of flow regime changes in horizontal hydraulically fractured Bakken oil wells
Emil D. Attanasi, T.C. Coburn, B. Ran-McDonald
2019, Natural Resources Research (28) 259-272
The application of horizontal and hydraulically fractured wells for producing oil from low permeability formations has changed the face of the North American oil industry. One feature of the production profile of many such wells is a transition from transient linear oil flow to boundary-dominated flow. The identification of the...
Changing station coverage impacts temperature trends in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Stephanie A. McAfee, Gregory J. McCabe, Stephen Gray, Gregory T. Pederson
2019, International Journal of Climatology (39) 1517-1538
Over the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), temperatures in widely used gridded data products do not warm as much as mean temperatures from a stable set of U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) stations, located at generally lower elevations, in most months of the year. This is contrary to expectations of...
Globally detected volcanic lightning and umbrella dynamics during the 2014 eruption of Kelud, Indonesia
Kirstin A Hargie, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Larry G. Mastin, Robert H. Holzworth, John W. Ewert, Michael J. Pavolonis
2019, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (382) 81-91
Volcanic lightning shows considerable promise as a monitoring and research tool to characterize explosive eruptions. Its key strengths are rapid and remote detection, because the radio signals produced by lightning can propagate thousands of km at the speed of light. Despite...
Conservation challenges emerging from free-roaming horse management: a vexing social-ecological mismatch
Erik A. Beever, Lynn Huntsinger, Steven L. Petersen
2019, Conservation Letters (226) 321-328
Horses have been associated with human societies for millennia, and for many have come to symbolize wildness, power, resilience, and freedom. Although equids were extirpated from North America 10 000-12 000 years ago, descendants of domestic horses now roam freely in the USA and 17 other countries across six continents....
Tropical cyclone projections: Changing climate threats for Pacific Island defense installations
Matthew J. Widlansky, Hariharasubramanian Annamalai, Stephen B. Gingerich, Curt D. Storlazzi, John J. Marra, Kevin I. Hodges, Barry Choy, Akio Kitoh
2019, Weather, Climate, and Society (11)
Potential changing climate threats in the tropical and subtropical North Pacific Ocean were assessed, using coupled ocean-atmosphere and atmosphere-only general circulation models, to explore their response to projected increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Tropical cyclone occurrence, described by their frequency and intensity, near islands housing major U.S. defense installations was the...
Near-surface environmentally forced changes in the Ross Ice Shelf observed with ambient seismic noise
J. Chaput, R. C. Aster, D. McGrath, M.G.W. Baker, Robert E. Anthony, P. Gerstoft, P. Bromirski, A. Nyblade, R.A. Stephen, D. Wiens
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 11,187-11,196
Continuous seismic observations across the Ross Ice Shelf reveal ubiquitous ambient res- onances at frequencies >5 Hz. These firn-trapped surface wave signals arise through wind and snow bedform interactions coupled with very low velocity structures. Progressive and long-term spectral changes are associated with surface snow redistribution by wind and with a January 2016...
India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 summary of scientific results: Evaluation of natural gas hydrate-bearing pressure cores
R. Boswell, J. Yoneda, William F. Waite
2019, Journal of Marine and Petroleum Geology (108) 143-153
India’s National Gas Hydrate Program (NGHP) Expedition-02 was conducted in 2015 with the goal of investigating numerous locations that had been determined to be prospective for gas hydrate at high saturation in sand-rich reservoirs. Initial logging while drilling data revealed extensive sand-rich gas hydrate occurrences at multiple drill sites...
Assessing effects of nonnative crayfish on mosquito survival
Gary M. Bucciarelli, Daniel Suh, Avery Davis Lamb, Dave Roberts, Debra Sharpton, H. Bradley Shaffer, Robert N. Fisher, Lee B. Kats
2019, Conservation Biology (33) 122-131
Introductions of nonnative predators often reduce biodiversity and affect natural predator–prey relationships and may increase the abundance of potential disease vectors (e.g., mosquitoes) indirectly through competition or predation cascades. The Santa Monica Mountains (California, U.S.A.), situated in a global biodiversity hotspot, is an area of conservation concern due to climate...
Prevalence of three-chick nests in Adelie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae at Cape Crozier, Ross Island
Virginia Morandini, Amelie Lescröel, Dennis Jongsomjit, Suzanne Winquist, Annie Schmidt, Grant Ballard, Peter Kappes, Katie Dugger
2019, Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation (47) 77-80
In 2017/18, we recorded multiple instances of Adelie Penguin Pygoscelis adeliae nests containing three chicks at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, Antarctica. In one sub-colony, 0.67 % of nests had three chicks, or two chicks and one egg. We found that some Adelie Penguin pairs were willing to brood three chicks, as well as...
Potential responses of the Lower Missouri River Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) population to a commercial fishing ban
Nicholas S. Green, Mark L. Wildhaber, Janice L. Albers
2019, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (35) 370-377
We developed an age‐structured population matrix model to perform population viability analysis for Lower Missouri River (LMR) shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus). We investigated potential effects of the commercial fishing moratorium put in place to help protect the similar‐appearing pallid sturgeon (S. albus). The model applies different components of total variance...
Water-quality trends in U.S. rivers, 2002 to 2012: Relations to levels of concern
Megan E. Shoda, Lori A. Sprague, Jennifer C. Murphy, Melissa L. Riskin
2019, Science of the Total Environment (650) 2314-2324
Effective management and protection of water resources relies upon understanding how water-quality conditions are changing over time. Water-quality trends for ammonia, chloride, nitrate, sulfate, total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were assessed at 762 sites located in the conterminous United States between 2002 and 2012. Annual mean concentrations...
Testing the potential role of brine reflux in the formation of sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) ore deposits
Andrew H. Manning, Poul Emsbo
2019, Ore Geology Reviews (102) 862-874
Sedimentary exhalative (sedex) ore deposits are the world’s largest Zn-Pb deposits. While the geologic processes that formed these deposits are generally well understood, the fundamental hydrologic processes that drove these massive hydrothermal systems remain an area of debate. We use numerical modeling to test an emerging hypothesis, supported by recent...
Evidence for shelf acidification during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Timothy J. Bralower, Lee R. Kump, Marci M. Robinson, Jean Self-Trail, Shelby L. Lyons, Tali Babila, Edward Ballaron, Katherine H. Freeman, Elizabeth A. Hajek, William Rush, James C. Zachos
2019, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology (33) 1408-1426
A transect of paleoshelf cores from Maryland and New Jersey contains a ~0.19 m to 1.61 m thick interval with reduced percentages of carbonate during the onset of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Outer paleoshelf cores are barren of nannofossils and correspond to two minor disconformities. Middle paleoshelf...
Formation and occurrence of ferromanganese crusts: Earth’s storehouse for critical metals
Paul A. Lusty, James R. Hein, Pierre Josso
Samantha Whisman, editor(s)
2019, Elements (14) 313-318
Marine ferromanganese oxide crusts (Fe–Mn crusts) are potentially important metal resources formed on the seafloor by precipitation of dissolved and colloidal components from ambient seawater onto rocky surfaces. The unique properties and slow growth rates of the crusts promote adsorption of numerous elements from seawater: some, such as Te and...
How hydrologic connectivity regulates water quality in river corridors
Judson Harvey, Jesus Gomez-Velez, Noah Schmadel, Durelle Scott, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Richard Alexander, Ken Eng, Heather E. Golden, Albert Kettner, Christopher Konrad, Richard Moore, Jim Pizzuto, Gregory E. Schwarz, Chris Soulsby, Jay Choi
2019, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (55) 369-381
Downstream flow in rivers is repeatedly delayed by hydrologic exchange with off‐channel storage zones where biogeochemical processing occurs. We present a dimensionless metric that quantifies river connectivity as the balance between downstream flow and the exchange of water with the bed, banks, and floodplains. The degree of connectivity directly influences...
Grounding simulation models with qualitative case studies: Toward a holistic framework to make climate science usable for US public land management
Tyler A. Beeton, Shannon M. McNeeley, Brian W. Miller, Dennis S. Ojima
2019, Climate Risk Management (23) 50-66
Policies directing agencies and public land managers to incorporate climate change into management face several barriers. These stem, in part, from a disconnect between the information that is produced and the information needs of local resource managers. A disproportionate focus on the natural and physical sciences in climate vulnerability and adaptation assessment...
Mineralization at oceanic transform faults and fracture zones
Amy Gartman, James R. Hein
Joao C. Duarte, editor(s)
2019, Book chapter, Transform plate boundaries and fracture zones
Mineral formation in the modern oceans can take place over millions of years as a result precipitation from ambient ocean water, or orders of magnitude more rapidly from hydrothermal activity related to magmatic and tectonic processes. Here, we review associations between transform faults and related fracture zones and marine minerals. We define marine transform faults as strike-slip or...
Assessment of chronic low‐dose elemental and radiological exposures of biota at the Kanab North uranium mine site in the Grand Canyon watershed
Danielle M. Cleveland, Jo Ellen Hinck, Julia S. Lankton
2019, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (15) 112-125
High‐grade U ore deposits are in various stages of exploitation across the Grand Canyon watershed, yet the effects of U mining on ecological and cultural resources are largely unknown. We characterized the concentrations of Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, Th, U,...
Holocene surface rupture history of an active forearc fault redefines seismic hazard in Southwestern British Columbia, Canada
K. D. Morell, C. Regalla, C. Amos, S. Bennett, L. Leonard, A. Graham, T. Reedy, V. Levson, A. Telka
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 11605-11611
Characterizing the hazard associated with Quaternary‐active faults in the forearc crust of the northern Cascadia subduction zone has proven challenging due to historically low rates of seismicity, late Quaternary glacial scouring, and dense vegetation that often obscures fault‐related geomorphic features. We couple lidar topography with paleoseismic trenching across the Leech...
Point sources and agricultural practices control spatial-temporal patterns of orthophosphate in tributaries to Chesapeake Bay
Rosemary M. Fanelli, Joel Blomquist, Robert M. Hirsch
2019, Science of the Total Environment (652) 422-433
Orthophosphate (PO4) is the most bioavailable form of phosphorus (P). Excess PO4 may cause harmful algal blooms in aquatic ecosystems. A major restoration effort is underway for Chesapeake Bay (CB) to reduce P, nitrogen, and sediment loading to CB. Although PO4 cycling and delivery to streams has been characterized in small-scale studies, regional drivers of PO4 patterns...
Microhabitat use of native fishes in the Kootenai River: A fine‐scale evaluation of large‐scale habitat rehabilitation efforts
Philip R. Branigan, Michael C. Quist, Bradley B. Shepard, Susan C. Ireland
2019, River Research and Applications (34) 1267-1277
Fish and microhabitat data were collected at 542 prepositioned electrofishing sites (surface area of each site = 4 m2) in the Kootenai River, Idaho, during 2014 and 2015 to evaluate small‐scale habitat use by fishes, as it relates to large‐scale habitat rehabilitation efforts. Samples were collected from a 12‐km braided segment of river...
Towards globally customizable ecosystem service models
Javier Martinez-Lopez, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Stefano Balbi, Ainhoa Magrach, Brian Voigt, Ioannis Athanasiadis, Marta Pascual, Simon Willcock, Ferdinando Villa
2019, Science of the Total Environment (650) 2325-2336
Scientists, stakeholders and decision makers face trade-offs between adopting simple or complex approaches when modeling ecosystem services (ES). Complex approaches may be time- and data-intensive, making them more challenging to implement and difficult to scale, but can produce more accurate and locally specific results. In contrast, simple approaches allow for...
Relationships between landscape constraints and a crayfish assemblage with consideration of competitor presence
J.B. Mouser, Robert Mollenhauer, Shannon K. Brewer
2019, Diversity and Distributions (25) 61-73
AimCrayfish are globally diverse and one of the most important taxa in North American streams. Despite their importance, many species are of conservation concern and efforts to improve conditions are limited. Here, we address two major impediments to improving conditions: (a) our lack of knowledge of the...
