A novel high-frequency groundwater quality monitoring system
John Franco Saraceno, Justin T. Kulongoski, Timothy M. Mathany
2018, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (190) 1-14
High-frequency, long-term monitoring of water quality has revolutionized the study of surface waters in recent years. However, application of these techniques to groundwater has been limited by the ability to remotely pump and analyze groundwater. This paper describes a novel autonomous groundwater quality monitoring system which samples multiple wells to...
Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure
Janet M. Ruth, Susan K. Skagen
2018, The Condor (120) 596-616
Avian species endemic to desert grasslands of North America contend with significant ecological challenges, including monsoonal rains, droughts, and variable temperatures. These birds have evolved physiological and behavioral means of coping with such extremes, but ongoing changes to temperature and precipitation patterns are affecting their breeding phenology, reproductive success, and...
Assessment of Alaska rain-on-snow events using dynamical downscaling
Peter A. Bieniek, Uma S. Bhatt, John E. Walsh, Rick Lader, Brad Griffith, Jennifer K. Roach, Richard L. Thoman
2018, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (57) 1847-1863
The ice formed by cold-season rainfall or rain on snow (ROS) has striking impacts on the economy and ecology of Alaska. An understanding of the atmospheric drivers of ROS events is required to better predict them and plan for environmental change. The spatially/temporally sparse network of stations in Alaska makes...
Salinity tolerance among three freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) from Gulf Coastal Plain drainages
Nathan A. Johnson, Pamela J. Schofield, James D. Williams, James D. Austin
2018, Florida Scientist (81) 61-69
An important physiological constraint influencing distributions of coastal freshwater organisms is their tolerance for saline conditions. We experimentally evaluated salinity tolerance for three freshwater mussel species (Utterbackia imbecillis, Elliptio jayensis, and Glebula rotundata). Mussels were transferred abruptly from well water to one of five treatments (0 [control], 6, 12, 18...
Phenology forecasts predict pest seasonal activity to support decision making
Jake Weltzin, Theresa M. Crimmins, Erin Posthumous, Alyssaa Rosemartin, Katharine L. Gerst
2018, Report
The USA National Phenology Network (USANPN) produces and distributes daily national phenology maps – or Pheno Forecasts – indicating when key pest species may be most susceptible to management as part of a growing suite of phenology map products. The USA-NPN’s Pheno Forecast maps show when key pest species, including...
Examination of multiple working hypotheses to address reproductive failure in reintroduced Whooping Cranes
Jeb A. Barzen, Sarah J. Converse, Peter H. Adler, Anne E Lacy, Elmer Gray, Andrew Gossens
2018, Condor (120) 632-649
Understanding multiple challenges that restrict conservation success is a central task of applied ecology, especially when resources are limited and actions are expensive, such as with reintroduction programs. Simultaneous consideration of multiple hypotheses can expedite identification of factors that most limit conservation success. Since 2001, reintroduction of a migratory population...
Broad‐scale occurrence of a subsidized avian predator: reducing impacts of ravens on sage‐grouse and other sensitive prey
Shawn T. O’Neil, Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Pat J. Jackson, Kristy B. Howe, Ann M. Moser, Lee J. Foster, David J. Delehanty
2018, Journal of Applied Ecology (55) 2641-2652
Expanding human enterprise across remote environments impacts numerous wildlife species. Anthropogenic resources provide subsidies for generalist predators that can lead to cascading effects on prey species at lower trophic levels. A fundamental challenge for applied ecologists is to disentangle natural and anthropogenic influences on species occurrence, and subsequently develop spatially...
Seasonal streamflow extremes are key drivers of Brook Trout young‐of‐the‐year abundance
Annalise G. Blum, Yoichiro Kanno, Benjamin H. Letcher
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-16
To manage ecosystems in the context of climate change, we need to understand the relationship between extreme events and population dynamics. Floods and droughts are projected to occur more frequently, but how aquatic species will respond to these extreme events remains uncertain. Based on counts of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)...
Quartz solubility in the H2O-NaCl system: A framework for understanding vein formation in porphyry copper deposits
Thomas Monecke, Jochen Monecke, T James Reynolds, Subaru Tsuruoka, Mitchell M. Bennett, Wiley B Skewes, Richard M. Palin
2018, Economic Geology (113) 1007-1046
Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The present contribution proposes an interpretive framework for the formation of porphyry veins that is based on quartz solubility calculations in the H2O-NaCl system at temperatures...
The perpetual state of emergency that sacrifices protected areas in a changing climate
Dirac Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka, Christine H. Bielski, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Jacob Drozda, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Julia Johnson, Larkin A. Powell, Caleb P. Roberts
2018, Conservation Biology (32) 905-915
A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g. historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to...
Complex bedding geometry in the upper portion of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars
Ryan B. Anderson, Lauren A. Edgar, David M. Rubin, Kevin W. Lewis, Claire Newman
2018, Icarus (314) 246-264
The Upper formation of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater exhibits curvilinear bedding patterns on the surfaces of several erosional benches that have been interpreted as cross-bedding. We use High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) stereo topography to test this hypothesis by measuring the bedding geometry within these benches. The bedding...
Evaluation of targeted and untargeted effects-based monitoring tools to assess impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on fish in the South Platte River, CO
Drew R. Ekman, Kristen Keteles, Jon Beihoffer, Jenna E. Cavallin, Kenneth Dahlin, John M. Davis, Aaron Jastrow, James M. Lazorchak, Marc A. Mills, Mark Murphy, David Nguyen, Alan M. Vajda, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Dana L. Winkelman, Timothy W. Collette
2018, Environmental Pollution (239) 706-713
Rivers in the arid Western United States face increasing influences from anthropogenic contaminants due to population growth, urbanization, and drought. To better understand and more effectively track the impacts of these contaminants, biologically-based monitoring tools are increasingly being used to complement routine chemical monitoring. This study was initiated to assess the...
Hydrothermal discharge from the El Tatio basin, Atacama, Chile
Carolina Munoz-Saez, Michael Manga, Shaul Hurwitz
2018, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (361) 25-35
El Tatio in northern Chile is one of the best-studied geothermal fields in South America. However, there remain open questions about the mass and energy budgets, water recharge rates and residence time in the subsurface, origin of dissolved solutes, and processes affecting the phase and chemical composition of groundwater and...
A new tool for studying waterfowl immune and metabolic responses: Molecular level analysis using kinome profiling
Giovanni Pagano, Casey Johnson, Caldwell Hahn, Ryan J. Arsenault
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 8537-8546
Here, we describe the design of an Anas‐specific kinome peptide array that can be used to study the immunometabolic responses of mallard and American black duck to pathogens, contaminants, and environmental stress. The peptide arrays contain 2,642 unique phosphorylate‐able peptide sequences representing 1,900 proteins. These proteins cover a wide array of...
International Society for Aeolian Research Distinguished Career Award, 2018 Joseph M. Prospero, Dr. Professor Emeritus, University of Miami
Daniel R. Muhs
2018, Aeolian Research (33) iii-iv
It is a pleasure and an honor to present Dr. Joseph M. Prospero of the University of Miami with the International Society for Aeolian Research(ISAR) Distinguished Career Award for 2018. Joe was born at home in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, one of three sons of Italian immigrant parents. He got interested in...
Next‐generation conservation genetics and biodiversity monitoring
Margaret E. Hunter, Sean M. Hoban, Michael W. Bruford, Gernot Segelbacher, Louis Bernatchez
2018, Evolutionary Applications (11) 1029-1034
This special issue of Evolutionary Applications consists of 10 publications investigating the use of next‐generation tools and techniques in population genetic analyses and biodiversity assessment. The special issue stems from a 2016 Next Generation Genetic Monitoring Workshop, hosted by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) in Tennessee, USA. The...
Food web contaminant dynamics of a large Atlantic Slope river: Implications for common and imperiled species
Thomas J. Kwak, Tiffany N. Penland, Casey A. Grieshaber, W. Gregory Cope, Ryan J. Heise, Forrest W. Sessions
2018, Science of the Total Environment (633) 1062-1077
Persistent and bioaccumulative contaminants often reach concentrations that threaten aquatic life by causing alterations in organism behavior and development, disruption of biological processes, reproductive abnormalities, and mortality. The objectives of this research were to determine the aquatic food web structure and trophic transfer and accumulation of contaminants within a riverine...
Paleoclimate Records: Providing context and understanding of current Arctic change
Emily Osborne, Thomas M. Cronin, Jesse Farmer
2018, Bulletin American Meteorological Society (99) s150-s152
At present, the Arctic Ocean is experiencing changes in ocean surface temperature and sea ice extent that are unprecedented in the era of satellite observations, which extend from the 1980s to the present (see sections 5c,d). To provide context for current changes, scientists turn to paleoclimate records to document and...
Nymphoides humboldtiana (Menyanthaceae) in Florida (U.S.A.) verified by DNA data
Beth A. Middleton, Evelyn R. Anemaet, Tracy Elsey Quirk, Nicholas P. Tippery
2018, Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (12) 257-263
Certain Nymphoides populations in Florida, U.S.A., previously identified as the non-native N. indica (L.) Kuntze, are actually N. humboldtiana (Kunth) Kuntze, as verified using nuclear and plastid DNA data. These new records of N. humboldtiana in Florida are the only known localities in the U.S.A. outside of Uvalde County, Texas....
Dynamic modeling of barrier island response to hurricane storm surge under future sea level rise
Davina Passeri, Matthew V. Bilskie, Nathaniel G. Plant, Joseph W. Long, Scott C. Hagen
2018, Climatic Change (149) 413-425
Sea level rise (SLR) has the potential to exacerbate the impacts of extreme storm events on the coastal landscape. This study examines the coupled interactions of SLR on storm-driven hydrodynamics and barrier island morphology. A numerical model is used to simulate the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic impacts of two Gulf of...
A case study and a meta-analysis of seasonal variation in fish mercury concentrations
Nathan Mills, Darcy Cashatt, Michael Weber, Clay Pierce
2018, Ecotoxicology (27) 641-649
Mercury contamination in aquatic ecosystems is a concern due to health risks of consuming fish. Fish mercury concentrations are highly variable and influenced by a range of environmental factors. However, seasonal variation in mercury levels are typically overlooked when monitoring fish mercury concentrations, establishing consumption advisories, or creating accumulation models....
Evaluating and managing environmental water regimes in a water-scarce and uncertain future
Jonathan Kennen, Eric D. Stein, J. Angus Webb
2018, Freshwater Biology (63) 733-737
While the number of environmental flows and water science programmes continues to grow across the globe, there remains a critical need to better balance water availability in support of human and ecological needs and to recognise the environment as a legitimate user of water. In water‐stressed areas, this recognition...
Density estimation of sound-producing terrestrial animals using single automatic acoustic recorders and distance sampling
Esther Sebastian-Gonzalez, Richard J. Camp, Ann M. Tanimoto, Priscilla Monteiro de Oliveira, Bruna Barreto Lima, Tiago A. Marques, Patrick J. Hart
2018, Avian Conservation and Ecology (13)
Obtaining accurate information on the distribution, density, and abundance of animals is an important first step toward their conservation. Methodological approaches using automatic acoustic recorders for species that communicate acoustically are gaining increased interest because of their advantages over traditional sampling methods. In this study, we created and evaluated a...
Quantifying population-level effects of water temperature, flow velocity and chemical-induced reproduction depression: A simulation study with smallmouth bass
Tyler Wagner, Vicki S. Blazer, Yan Li
2018, Ecological Modelling (384) 63-74
Evaluating stochastic abiotic factors and their combined effects on fish and wildlife populations have been challenging in environmental sciences. Contributing to this challenge is the paucity of data describing how observations made on individuals related to exposure to chemical compounds ultimately effect population vital rates, and how this exposure interacts...
High resolution measurement of levee subsidence related to energy infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Benjamin A. Brooks, Jennifer Telling, Todd Leroy Ericksen, Craig L. Glennie, Noah Knowles, Daniel Cayan, Darren L. Hauser, Adam LeWinter
2018, Report, California’s fourth climate change assessment
We assess flood overtopping potential (when flood water elevation exceeds levee elevation) to the levees surrounding the islands in the interior of California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Because critical natural gas infrastructure is susceptible to overtopping-related disruption, we focus our analysis on regions that are crossed by the network of the...
