Climate changes and wildfire alter vegetation of Yellowstone National Park, but forest cover persists
Jason A. Clark, Rachel A. Loehman, Robert E. Keane
2017, Ecosphere (8)
We present landscape simulation results contrasting effects of changing climates on forest vegetation and fire regimes in Yellowstone National Park, USA, by mid-21st century. We simulated potential changes to fire dynamics and forest characteristics under three future climate projections representing a range of potential future conditions using the FireBGCv2 model....
Arsenic hazard and associated health risks: New England, USA aquifers
Joseph D. Ayotte
2017, Book chapter, Best practice guide on the control of arsenic in drinking water
No abstract available....
Understanding the past to interpret the future: Comparison of simulated groundwater recharge in the upper Colorado River basin (USA) using observed and general-circulation-model historical climate data
Fred D. Tillman, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Tom Pruitt
2017, Hydrogeology Journal (25) 347-358
In evaluating potential impacts of climate change on water resources, water managers seek to understand how future conditions may differ from the recent past. Studies of climate impacts on groundwater recharge often compare simulated recharge from future and historical time periods on an average monthly or overall average annual basis,...
A global analysis of traits predicting species sensitivity to habitat fragmentation
Douglas Keinath, Daniel F. Doak, Karen E. Hodges, Laura R. Prugh, William F. Fagan, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Stuart H. M. Buchart, Matthew J. Kauffman
2017, Global Ecology and Biogeography (26) 115-127
AimElucidating patterns in species responses to habitat fragmentation is an important focus of ecology and conservation, but studies are often geographically restricted, taxonomically narrow or use indirect measures of species vulnerability. We investigated predictors of species presence after fragmentation using data from studies around the world that included all four...
Dissolution of fluorapatite by Pseudomonas fluorescens P35 resulting in fluorine release
Jianping Zhou, Hongmei Wang, Charles A. Cravotta III, Qiang Dong, Xing Xiang
2017, Geomicrobiology Journal (34) 421-433
Chemical weathering of fluorine-bearing minerals is widely accepted as the main mechanism for the release of fluorine (F) to groundwater. Here, we propose a potential mechanism of F release via microbial dissolution of fluorapatite (Ca5(PO4)3F), which has been neglected previously. Batch culture experiments were conducted at 30°C with a phosphate-solubilizing...
Mapping tree canopy cover in support of proactive prairie grouse conservation in western North America
Michael J. Falkowski, Jeffrey S. Evans, David E. Naugle, Christian A. Hagen, Scott A. Carleton, Jeremy D. Maestas, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Aaron J. Poznanovic, Andrew J. Lawrence
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 15-24
Invasive woody plant expansion is a primary threat driving fragmentation and loss of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and prairie habitats across the central and western United States. Expansion of native woody plants, including conifer (primarily Juniperus spp.) and mesquite (Prosopis spp.), over the past century is primarily attributable to wildfire suppression, historic periods of intensive...
Impacts of mesquite distribution on seasonal space use of lesser prairie-chickens
Matthew A. Boggie, Cody R. Strong, Daniel Lusk, Scott A. Carleton, William R. Gould, Randy L. Howard, Clay T. Nichols, Michael J. Falkowski, Christian A. Hagen
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 68-77
Loss of native grasslands by anthropogenic disturbances has reduced availability and connectivity of habitat for many grassland species. A primary threat to contiguous grasslands is the encroachment of woody vegetation, which is spurred by disturbances that take on many forms from energy development, fire suppression, and grazing. These disturbances are...
Modeling waterfowl habitat selection in the Central Valley of California to better understand the spatial relationship between commercial poultry and waterfowl
Elliott Matchett, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes, T. Kelman, M. Cadena, M. Pitesky
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Sixty-Sixth Western Poultry Disease Conference
Wildlife researchers frequently study resource and habitat selection of wildlife to understand their potential habitat requirements and to conserve their populations. Understanding wildlife spatial-temporal distributions related to habitat have other applications such as to model interfaces between wildlife and domestic food animals in order to mitigate disease transmission to food...
Beaver colony density trends on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, 1987 – 2013
Christine Ribic, Deahn M. Donner, Albert J. Beck, David J. Rugg, Sue Reinecke, Dan Eklund
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-15
The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a managed species in the United States. In northern Wisconsin, as part of the state-wide beaver management program, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest removes beavers from targeted trout streams on U.S. Forest Service lands. However, the success of this management program has not been...
Riparian soil development linked to forest succession above and below dams along the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Laura G Perry, Patrick B. Shafroth, Steven Perakis
2017, Ecosystems (20) 104-129
Riparian forest soils can be highly dynamic, due to frequent fluvial disturbance, erosion, and sediment deposition, but effects of dams on riparian soils are poorly understood. We examined soils along toposequences within three river segments located upstream, between, and downstream of two dams on the Elwha River to evaluate relationships...
Detecting spatial regimes in ecosystems
Shana M. Sundstrom, Tarsha Eason, R. John Nelson, David G. Angeler, Chris Barichievy, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Nicholas A.J. Graham, Dean Granholm, Lance Gunderson, Melinda Knutson, Kirsty L. Nash, Trisha Spanbauer, Craig A. Stow, Craig R. Allen
2017, Ecology Letters (20) 19-32
Research on early warning indicators has generally focused on assessing temporal transitions with limited application of these methods to detecting spatial regimes. Traditional spatial boundary detection procedures that result in ecoregion maps are typically based on ecological potential (i.e. potential vegetation), and often fail to account for ongoing changes due...
Spatio-temporal development of vegetation die-off in a submerging coastal marsh
Lennert Schepers, Matthew Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman
2017, Limnology and Oceanography (62) 137-150
In several places around the world, coastal marsh vegetation is converting to open water through the formation of pools. This is concerning, as vegetation die-off is expected to reduce the marshes' capacity to adapt to sea level rise by vegetation-induced sediment accretion. Quantitative analyses of the spatial and temporal development...
Geochemical evidence for a complex origin for the Kelso dunes, Mojave National Preserve, California USA
Daniel R. Muhs, Nicholas Lancaster, Gary L. Skipp
2017, Geomorphology (276) 222-243
The Kelso Dune field in southern California is intriguing because although it is of limited areal extent (~ 100 km2), it has a wide variety of dune forms and contains many active dunes (~ 40 km2), which is unusual in the Mojave Desert. Studies over the past eight decades have concluded that the dunes...
Human footprint affects US carbon balance more than climate change
Dominique Bachelet, Ken Ferschweiler, Tim Sheehan, Barry Baker, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Zhiliang Zhu
2017, Book chapter, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences
The MC2 model projects an overall increase in carbon capture in conterminous United States during the 21st century while also simulating a rise in fire causing much carbon loss. Carbon sequestration in soils is critical to prevent carbon losses from future disturbances, and we show that natural ecosystems store more...
Behavioral connectivity among bighorn sheep suggests potential for disease spread
Nathan J. Borg, Michael S. Mitchell, Paul M. Lukacs, Curt M. Mack, Lisette P. Waits, Paul R. Krausman
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 38-45
Connectivity is important for population persistence and can reduce the potential for inbreeding depression. Connectivity between populations can also facilitate disease transmission; respiratory diseases are one of the most important factors affecting populations of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). The mechanisms of connectivity in populations of bighorn sheep likely have implications...
New techniques to measure cliff change from historical oblique aerial photographs and structure-from-motion photogrammetry
Jonathan A. Warrick, Andy Ritchie, Gabrielle Adelman, Ken Adelman, Patrick W. Limber
2017, Journal of Coastal Research (33) 39-55
Oblique aerial photograph surveys are commonly used to document coastal landscapes. Here it is shown that adequate overlap may exist in these photographic records to develop topographic models with Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques. Using photographs of Fort Funston, California, from the California Coastal Records Project, imagery were combined with ground...
Influence of restored koa in supporting bird communities
Richard J. Camp, Eben H. Paxton, Stephanie G. Yelenik
2017, Conference Paper, Acacia koa in Hawai‘i: facing the future. Proceedings of the 2016 Koa Symposium
Deforestation of Hawaiian forests has adversely impacted native wildlife, including forest birds, bats and arthropods. Restoration activities have included reforestation with the native koa (Acacia koa), a dominant canopy tree species that is easy to propagate, has high survivorship, and has fast growth rates. We review recent research describing the...
Using structural damage statistics to derive macroseismic intensity within the Kathmandu valley for the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake
Sean McGowan, Kishor S. Jaiswal, David J. Wald
2017, Tectonophysics (714-715) 158-172
We make and analyze structural damage observations from within the Kathmandu valley following the 2015 M7.8 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake to derive macroseismic intensities at several locations including some located near ground motion recording sites. The macroseismic intensity estimates supplement the limited strong ground motion data in order to characterize the...
Changes in vocal repertoire of the Hawaiian crow, Corvus hawaiiensis,from past wild to current captive populations
Ann M. Tanimoto, Patrick J. Hart, Adam A. Pack, Richard Switzwer, Paul C. Banko, Donna L. Ball, Esther Sebastian-Gonzalez, Lisa Komarczyk, Miyako H. Warrington
2017, Animal Behaviour (123) 427-432
For most avian species, social behaviour is critically important for survival and reproductive success. Many social behaviours in birds are culturally transmitted, and as bird populations decline across the globe, important elements of these behaviours may be...
Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, Republican River Basin in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska, 2002 to 2015
V. L. McGuire
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3373
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. More than 95 percent of the water withdrawn from the High Plains aquifer is used for irrigation. Water-level declines began in parts of...
Temporary wetlands: Challenges and solutions to conserving a ‘disappearing’ ecosystem
Aram J.K. Calhoun, David M. Mushet, Kathleen P. Bell, Dani Boix, James A. Fitzsimons, Francis Isselin-Nondedeu
2017, Biological Conservation (211) 3-11
Frequent drying of ponded water, and support of unique, highly specialized assemblages of often rare species, characterize temporary wetlands, such as vernal pools, gilgais, and prairie potholes. As small aquatic features embedded in a terrestrial landscape, temporary wetlands enhance biodiversity and provide aesthetic, biogeochemical, and hydrologic functions. Challenges to conserving...
Warming and provenance limit tree recruitment across and beyond the elevation range of subalpine forest
Lara M. Kueppers, Erin Conlisk, Cristina Castanha, Andrew B. Moyes, Matthew J. Germino, Perry de Valpine, Margaret S. Torn, Jeffry B. Mitton
2017, Global Change Biology (23) 2383-2395
Climate niche models project that subalpine forest ranges will extend upslope with climate warming. These projections assume that the climate suitable for adult trees will be adequate for forest regeneration, ignoring climate requirements for seedling recruitment, a potential demographic bottleneck. Moreover, local genetic adaptation is expected to facilitate range expansion,...
Challenges with secondary use of multi-source water-quality data in the United States
Lori A. Sprague, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Denise M. Argue
2017, Water Research (110) 252-261
Combining water-quality data from multiple sources can help counterbalance diminishing resources for stream monitoring in the United States and lead to important regional and national insights that would not otherwise be possible. Individual monitoring organizations understand their own data very well, but issues can arise when their data are combined...
The practice of prediction: What can ecologists learn from applied, ecology-related fields?
Frank Pennekamp, Matthew Adamson, Owen L Petchey, Jean-Christophe Poggiale, Maira Aguiar, Bob W. Kooi, Daniel B. Botkin, Donald L. DeAngelis
2017, Ecological Complexity (32) 156-167
The pervasive influence of human induced global environmental change affects biodiversity across the globe, and there is great uncertainty as to how the biosphere will react on short and longer time scales. To adapt to what the future holds and to manage the impacts of global change, scientists need to...
Arsenite as an electron donor for anoxygenic photosynthesis: Description of three strains of Ectothiorhodospria from Mono Lake, California, and Big Soda Lake, Nevada
Shelley McCann, Alison Boren, Jaime Hernandez-Maldonado, Brendon Stoneburner, Chad W Saltikov, John F. Stolz, Ronald S. Oremland
2017, Life Sciences (7)
Three novel strains of photosynthetic bacteria from the family Ectothiorhodospiraceae were isolated from soda lakes of the Great Basin Desert, USA by employing arsenite (As(III)) as the sole electron donor in the enrichment/isolation process. Strain PHS-1 was previously isolated from a hot spring in Mono Lake, while strain MLW-1 was...
