Publications
Filter Total Items: 1971
Ferruginous Hawk movements respond predictably to intra-annual variation but unexpectedly to anthropogenic habitats
Birds exhibit flexible movement responses to environmental variation across the annual cycle, and those responses can provide insight into potential impacts that environmental changes may have on these species. To understand year-round variation in space use by Ferruginous Hawks Buteo regalis, we tracked 12 birds breeding in southwestern Idaho, USA, using GPS telemetry collected over 207 bird-mont
Authors
Georgia H. Isted, Robert J. Thomas, Kevin S. Warner, Matthew J. Stuber, Ethan A. Ellsworth, Todd E. Katzner
Tree symbioses sustain nitrogen fixation despite excess nitrogen supply
Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) is a key ecological process whose impact depends on the strategy of SNF regulation—the degree to which rates of SNF change in response to limitation by N versus other resources. SNF that is obligate or exhibits incomplete downregulation can result in excess N fixation, whereas a facultative SNF strategy does not. We hypothesized that tree-based SNF strategies diff
Authors
Duncan N.L. Menge, Amelia A. Wolf, Jennifer L. Funk, Steven Perakis, Palani R. Akana, Rachel Arkebauer, Thomas A. Bytnerowicz, K. A. Carreras Pereira, Alexandra M. Huddell, Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Sarah K. Ortiz
Estimating northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) pair detection probabilities based on call-back surveys associated with long-term mark-recapture studies, 1993–2018
The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina; hereinafter NSO) was listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1990 and population declines have continued since that listing. Given the species’ protected status, any proposed activities on Federal lands that might impact NSO require consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and part of that consultation often includes
Authors
Katie M. Dugger, Alan B. Franklin, Damon B. Lesmeister, Raymond J. Davis, J. David Wiens, Gary C. White, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Charles B. Yackulic, Carl J. Schwarz, Steven H. Ackers, L. Steven Andrews, Larissa L. Bailey, Robin Bown, Jesse Burgher, Kenneth P. Burnham, Peter C. Carlson, Tara Chestnut, Mary M Conner, Krista E. Dilione, Eric D. Forsman, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, Julianna M Jenkins, William L. Kendall, David W Lamphear, Christopher McCafferty, Trent L. McDonald, Janice A Reid, Jeremy T. Rockweit, David C. Simon, Stan G Sovern, James K. Swingle, Heather Wise
Supervised versus unsupervised approaches to classification of accelerometry data
Sophisticated animal-borne sensor systems are increasingly providing novel insight into how animals behave and move. Despite their widespread use in ecology, the diversity and expanding quality and quantity of data they produce have created a need for robust analytical methods for biological interpretation. Machine learning tools are often used to meet this need. However, their relative effectiven
Authors
Maitreyi Sur, Jonathan C. Hall, Joseph Brandt, Molly Astell, Sharon Poessel, Todd E. Katzner
Who spawns where? Temperature, elevation, and discharge differentially affect the distribution of breeding by six Pacific salmonids within a large river basin
Within the geographic range of salmonid fishes, many apparently suitable rivers and streams are used for reproduction by some species but not others. This is widely known but seldom addressed, as studies often examine factors determining the distribution of one or only a few species. We examined physical factors associated with the spawning distribution of six native Pacific salmonids (pink, chum,
Authors
Catherine S Austin, Christian E. Torgersen, Thomas P. Quinn
A multi-level assessment of biological effects associated with mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu
Total mercury (THg) was measured in muscle (fillet) and liver tissue of adult smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu collected at multiple sites in the Potomac and Susquehanna River drainages within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Smallmouth bass in these drainages have experienced episodic mortality events, a high prevalence of skin lesions and reproductive endocrine disruption (intersex or testicula
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Adam Sperry, Brenna Raines, James Willacker, Collin Eagles-Smith
Nitrogen-bedrock interactions regulate multi-element nutrient limitation and sustainability in forests
Nutrient limitation of tree growth can intensify when nutrients are lost to forest harvest, creating challenges for forest growth and sustainability. Forest harvest accelerates nutrient loss by removing nutrient-containing biomass and by increasing nutrient leaching, shaping patterns of nutrient depletion that cause long-term shifts in nutrient limitation. Nitrogen most frequently limits tree grow
Authors
Kaveh G. Siah, Steven Perakis, Julie C. Pett-Ridge, Gregory van der Heijden
Trends, impacts, and cost of catastrophic and frequent wildfires in the sagebrush biome
Fire regimes in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems have been greatly altered across the western United States. Broad-scale invasion of non-native annual grasses, climate change, and human activities have accelerated wildfire cycles, increased fire size and severity, and lengthened fire seasons in many sagebrush ecosystems to the point that current wildfire-management practices and postfire rest
Authors
Michele R. Crist, Rick Belger, Kirk W. Davies, Dawn M. Davis, James Meldrum, Douglas J. Shinneman, Thomas E. Remington, Justin L. Welty, Kenneth E. Mayer
Goldilocks forbs: Survival is highest outside—but not too far outside—of Wyoming big sagebrush canopies
In arid and semiarid systems, positive effects of nurse shrubs generally occur immediately underneath and around shrub canopies, creating microsites that can be targeted to promote plant establishment in restoration settings. Alternatively, the best microsites may occur in the interspace zone immediately surrounding nurse shrubs if positive abiotic effects extend beyond nurse shrub canopy boundari
Authors
Sofia Koutzoukis, David A. Pyke, Mark W. Brunson, Jacopo A. Baggio, Carmen Calzado-Martinez, Kari E. Veblen
Assessing large landscape patterns of potential fire connectivity using circuit methods
ContextMinimizing negative impacts of wildfire is a major societal objective in fire-prone landscapes. Models of fire connectivity can aid in understanding and managing wildfires by analyzing potential fire spread and conductance patterns. We define ‘fire connectivity’ as the landscape’s capacity to facilitate fire transmission from one point on the landscape to another.ObjectivesOur objective was
Authors
Erin K. Buchholtz, Jason R. Kreitler, Douglas J. Shinneman, Michele R. Crist, Julie A. Heinrichs
Forecasting natural regeneration of sagebrush after wildfires using population models and spatial matching
ContextAddressing ecosystem degradation in the Anthropocene will require ecological restoration across large spatial extents. Identifying areas where natural regeneration will occur without direct resource investment will improve scalability of restoration actions.ObjectivesAn ecoregion in need of large scale restoration is the Great Basin of the Western US, where increasingly large and frequent w
Authors
Andrii Zaiats, Megan E Cattau, David Pilliod, Liu Rongsong, Juan M. Requena-Mullor, Trevor Caughlin
Symbiotic nitrogen fixation does not stimulate soil phosphatase activity under temperate and tropical trees
Symbiotic nitrogen (N)-fixing plants can enrich ecosystems with N, which can alter the cycling and demand for other nutrients. Researchers have hypothesized that fixed N could be used by plants and soil microbes to produce extracellular phosphatase enzymes, which release P from organic matter. Consistent with this speculation, the presence of N-fixing plants is often associated with high phosphata
Authors
Emily Jager, Andrew Quebbeman, Amelia A. Wolf, Steven Perakis, Jennifer L. Funk, Duncan N.L. Menge