Increased scientific rigor will improve reliability of research and effectiveness of management
Sarah N. Sells, Sarah B. Bassing, Kristin J. Barker, Shannon C. Forshee, Allison Keever, James W. Goerz, Michael S. Mitchell
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 485-494
Rigorous science that produces reliable knowledge is critical to wildlife management because it increases accurate understanding of the natural world and informs management decisions effectively. Application of a rigorous scientific method based on hypothesis testing minimizes unreliable knowledge produced by research. To evaluate the prevalence of scientific rigor in wildlife...
Migratory behavior and physiological development as potential determinants of life history diversity in fall Chinook Salmon in the Clearwater River
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Tobias J. Kock, William P. Connor, Marshall C. Richmond, William A. Perkins
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 400-413
We studied the influence of behavior, water velocity, and physiological development on the downstream movement of subyearling fall‐run Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in both free‐flowing and impounded reaches of the Clearwater and Snake rivers as potential mechanisms that might explain life history diversity in this stock. Movement rates and the percentage of...
Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote sensing approach
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Henry M. Johnson
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-22
Spring‐fed wetlands are ecologically important habitats in arid and semi‐arid regions. Springs have been suggested as possible hydrologic refugia from droughts and climate change; however, springs that depend on recent precipitation or snowmelt for recharge may be vulnerable to warming and drought intensification. Springs that are expected to maintain their...
Habitat mosaics and path analysis can improve biological conservation of aquatic biodiversity in ecosystems with low-head dams
Sean M. Hitchman, Martha E. Mather, Joseph M. Smith, Jane S. Fencl
2018, Science of the Total Environment (619-620) 221-231
Conserving native biodiversity depends on restoring functional habitats in the face of human-induced disturbances. Low-head dams are a ubiquitous human impact that degrades aquatic ecosystems worldwide. To improve our understanding of how low-head dams impact habitat and associated biodiversity, our research examined complex interactions among three spheres of the total environment. i.e.,...
Multiple drivers, scales, and interactions influence southern Appalachian stream salamander occupancy
Kristen K. Cecala, John C. Maerz, Brian J. Halstead, John R. Frisch, Ted L. Gragson, Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman, David S. Leigh, C. Rhett Jackson, James T. Peterson, Catherine M. Pringle
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-19
Understanding how factors that vary in spatial scale relate to population abundance is vital to forecasting species responses to environmental change. Stream and river ecosystems are inherently hierarchical, potentially resulting in organismal responses to fine‐scale changes in patch characteristics that are conditional on the watershed context. Here, we address how...
A multistate open robust design: population dynamics, reproductive effort, and phenology of sea turtles from tagging data
William L. Kendall, Seth Stapleton, Gary C. White, James I. Richardson, Kristen N. Pearson, Peri Mason
2018, Ecological Monographs (89)
Understanding population dynamics, and how it is influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors, is important to the study and conservation of species. Moreover, for migratory species, the phenology and duration of use of a given location can also influence population structure and dynamics. For many species, breeding abundance, survival, and...
Size, growth, and size‐selective mortality of subyearling Chinook Salmon during early marine residence in Puget Sound
Madilyn M. Gamble, Kristin A. Connelly, Jennifer R. Gardner, Joshua W. Chamberlin, Kenneth I. Warheit, David A. Beauchamp
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 370-289
In marine ecosystems, survival can be heavily influenced by size‐selective mortality during juvenile life stages. Understanding how and when size‐selective mortality operates on a population can reveal underlying growth dynamics and size‐selective ecological processes affecting the population and thus can be used to guide conservation efforts. For subyearling Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus...
Factors affecting long-term trends in surface-water quality in the Gwynns Falls watershed, Baltimore City and County, Maryland, 1998–2016
Emily H. Majcher, Ellen L. Woytowitz, Alexander J. Reisinger, Peter M. Groffman
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1038
Factors affecting water-quality trends in urban streams are not well understood, despite current regulatory requirements and considerable ongoing investments in gray and green infrastructure. To address this gap, long-term water-quality trends and factors affecting these trends were examined in the Gwynns Falls, Maryland, watershed during 1998–2016 in cooperation with Blue...
Explicitly reporting tests of hypotheses improves communication of science
Michael S. Mitchell, Sarah N. Sells, Sarah B. Bassing, Kristin J. Barker, Allison Keever, Shannon C. Forshee, James W. Goerz
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 671-673
Hypothesis testing is fundamental to producing therigorous biological inferences needed to reliably inform wildlife managemen...
Proximate composition, lipid utilization and validation of a non‐lethal method to determine lipid content in migrating American shad Alosa sapidissima
Shannon Michael Bayse, Amy M. Regish, Stephen D. McCormick
2018, Journal of Fish Biology (92) 1832-1848
Lipid content forms the most important energy reserve in anadromous fish and can limit survival, migration and reproductive success. A fat meter was evaluated and compared with a traditional extractive method of measuring available lipid for migrating American shad Alosa sapidissima in the Connecticut River, U.S.A. The fat meter gives rapid (<10 s)...
One-meter topobathymetric digital elevation model for Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 1944 to 2016
Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Sandra K. Poppenga, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Maria Kottermair, Andrea Jalandoni, Edward Carlson, Cindy A. Thatcher, Matthew M. Barbee
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5047
Atoll and island coastal communities are highly exposed to sea-level rise, tsunamis, storm surges, rogue waves, king tides, and the occasional combination of multiple factors, such as high regional sea levels, extreme high local tides, and unusually strong wave set-up. The elevation of most of these atolls averages just under...
Overview of the geologic effects of the November 14, 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake
Randall W. Jibson, Kate E. Allstadt, Francis K. Rengers, Jonathan W. Godt
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5146
The November 14, 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake (moment magnitude [Mw] 7.8) triggered more than 10,000 landslides over an area of about 12,000 square kilometers in the northeastern part of the South Island of New Zealand. In collaboration with GNS Science (the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Limited), we...
A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era
Jessica R. Rodysill, Lesleigh Anderson, Thomas M. Cronin, Miriam C. Jones, Robert S. Thompson, David B. Wahl, Debra A. Willard, Jason A. Addison, Jay R. Alder, Katherine H. Anderson, Lysanna Anderson, John A. Barron, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Steven W. Hostetler, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Nicole Khan, Julie N. Richey, Scott W. Starratt, Laura E. Strickland, Michael Toomey, Claire C. Treat, G. Lynn Wingard
2018, Global and Planetary Change (162) 175-198
This study presents a synthesis of century-scale hydroclimate variations in North America for the Common Era (last 2000 years) using new age models of previously published multiple proxy-based paleoclimate data. This North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) examines regional hydroclimate patterns and related environmental indicators, including vegetation, lake water elevation, stream flow...
Identifying holes in the greater sage-grouse conservation umbrella
Jason D. Carlisle, Douglas A. Keinath, Shannon E. Albeke, Anna D. Chalfoun
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 948-957
The umbrella species concept, wherein multiple species are indirectly protected under the umbrella of a reserve created for one, is intended to enhance conservation efficiency. Although appealing in theory and common in practice, empirical tests of the concept have been scarce. We used a real-world, semi-protected reserve established to protect...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2015 through September 2016) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger, Matthew A. Turner
2018, Open-File Report 2017-1136
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in selected streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to...
Benthic assemblages of mega epifauna on the Oregon continental margin
Lenaig G. Hemery, Sarah K. Henkel, Guy R. Cochrane
2018, Continental Shelf Research (159) 24-32
Environmental assessment studies are usually required by a country's administration before issuing permits for any industrial activities. One of the goals of such environmental assessment studies is to highlight species assemblages and habitat composition that could make the targeted area unique. A section of the Oregon continental slope that had...
Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in migratory birds inhabiting remote Alaska
Andrew M. Ramey, Jorge Hernandez, Veronica Tyrlov, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Joel A. Schmutz, Clara Atterby, Josef D. Jarhult, Jonas Bonnedahl
2018, EcoHealth (15) 72-81
We explored the abundance of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli among migratory birds at remote sites in Alaska and used a comparative approach to speculate on plausible explanations for differences in detection among species. At a remote island site, we detected antibiotic-resistant E. coli phenotypes in samples collected from glaucous-winged gulls (<i...
Lessons learned from research and surveillance directed at highly pathogenic influenza A viruses in wild birds inhabiting North America
Andrew M. Ramey, Thomas J. DeLiberto, Yohannes Berhane, David E. Swayne, David E. Stallknecht
2018, Virology (518) 55-63
Following detections of highly pathogenic (HP) influenza A viruses (IAVs) in wild birds inhabiting East Asia after the turn of the millennium, the intensity of sampling of wild birds for IAVs increased throughout much of North America. The objectives for many research and surveillance efforts were directed towards detecting Eurasian...
Evaluating and monitoring forest fuel treatments using remote sensing applications in Arizona, U.S.A.
Roy E. Petrakis, Miguel L. Villarreal, Zhuoting Wu, Robert Hetzler, Barry R. Middleton, Laura M. Norman
2018, Forest Ecology and Management (413) 48-61
The practice of fire suppression across the western United States over the past century has led to dense forests, and when coupled with drought has contributed to an increase in large and destructive wildfires. Forest management efforts aimed at reducing flammable fuels through various fuel treatments can help to restore...
Anthropocene landscape change and the legacy of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Catchment, Colorado Front Range
David P. Dethier, William B. Ouimet, Sheila F. Murphy, Maneh Kotikian, Will Wicherski, Rachel M. Samuels
2018, Annals of the American Association of Geographers (108) 917-937
Human impacts on earth surface processes and materials are fundamental to understanding the proposed Anthropocene epoch. This study examines the magnitude, distribution, and long-term context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century mining in the Fourmile Creek catchment, Colorado, coupling airborne LiDAR topographic analysis with historical documents and field studies of river banks...
Mineral constraints on arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus): a spatial and phenological perspective
K. W. Oster, P.S. Barboza, David D. Gustine, Kyle Joly, R. D. Shively
2018, Ecosphere (9)
Arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus) have the longest terrestrial migration of any ungulate but little is known about the spatial and seasonal variation of minerals in summer forages and the potential impacts of mineral nutrition on the foraging behavior and nutritional condition of arctic caribou. We investigated the phenology, availability, and...
Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jinxun Liu, Colin Daniel, Bronwyn Rayfield, Jason T. Sherba, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Paul Selmants, Thomas R. Loveland
2018, Environmental Research Letters (13)
Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating...
GIS database and discussion for the distribution, composition, and age of Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Pacific Northwest Volcanic Aquifer System study area
David R. Sherrod, Mackenzie K. Keith
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1030
A substantial part of the U.S. Pacific Northwest is underlain by Cenozoic volcanic and continental sedimentary rocks and, where widespread, these strata form important aquifers. The legacy geologic mapping presented with this report contains new thematic categorization added to state digital compilations published by the U.S. Geological Survey for Oregon,...
The Ozark Plateaus Regional Aquifer Study—Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Ozark Plateaus
Brian R. Clark, Joseph M. Richards, Katherine J. Knierim
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5035
Recent short-term drought conditions have emphasized the need to better understand the delicate balance between abundance, sustainability, and scarcity of groundwater in the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey began construction of a groundwater-flow model as a tool for the assessment of groundwater availability in the...
Wave attenuation across a tidal marsh in San Francisco Bay
Madeline R. Foster-Martinez, Jessica R. Lacy, Matthew C. Ferner, Evan A. Variano
2018, Coastal Engineering (136) 26-40
Wave attenuation is a central process in the mechanics of a healthy salt marsh. Understanding how wave attenuation varies with vegetation and hydrodynamic conditions informs models of other marsh processes that are a function of wave energy (e.g. sediment transport) and allows for the incorporation of marshes into coastal protection...
