Southwest Biological Science Center
Publications
The application of metacommunity theory to the management of riverine ecosystems
River managers strive to use the best available science to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem function. To achieve this goal requires consideration of processes at different scales. Metacommunity theory describes how multiple species from different communities potentially interact with local-scale environmental drivers to influence population...
Patrick, Christopher J.; Anderson, Kurt E.; Brown, Brown L.; Hawkins, Charles P.; Metcalfe, Anya; Saffarinia, Parsa; Siqueira, Tadeu; Swan, Christopher M.; Tonkin, Jonathan D.; Yuan, Lester L.
A river of change—The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region
The Big Bend region is located within the heart of the Chihuahan Desert of North America. Within this region, the Rio Grande, referred to as the Rio Bravo in Mexico, is the international border between the United States and Mexico. The area known as the Big Bend is named after the large northerly bend that the river makes before flowing southeast...
Dean, David J. Predicting non-native insect impact: Focusing on the trees to see the forest
Non-native organisms have invaded novel ecosystems for centuries, yet we have only a limited understanding of why their impacts vary widely from minor to severe. Predicting the impact of non-established or newly detected species could help focus biosecurity measures on species with the highest potential to cause widespread damage. However,...
Schulz, Ashley N.; Mech, Angela M.; Ayres, Matthew P.; Gandhi, Kamal J.K.; Havill, Nathan P.; Herms, Daniel A.; Hoover, Angela Marie; Hufbauer, Ruth A.; Liebhold, Andrew M.; Marsico, Travis D.; Raffa, Kenneth F.; Tobin, Patrick C.; Uden, Daniel R.; Thomas, Kathryn A. National seed strategy progress report, 2015-2020
Native plants are the true green infrastructure we rely on for healthy, resilient, and biodiverse ecosystems. They protect us against climate change and natural disasters; create habitat for wildlife, rare species, and pollinators; and are vital for carbon sequestration. Without native plants, especially their seeds, we do not have the ability to...
Mccormick, Molly Lutisha; Carr, Amanda N; DeAngelis, Patricia; Olwell, Margaret; Murray, Regan; Park, Maggie
Historical floods and geomorphic change in the lower Little Colorado River during the late 19th to early 21st centuries
The Little Colorado River is a major tributary to the Colorado River with a confluence at the boundary between Marble and Grand Canyons within Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The bedrock gorge of the lower Little Colorado River is home to the largest known population of Gila cypha (humpback chub), an endangered fish endemic to the Colorado...
Unema, Joel A.; Topping, David J.; Kohl, Keith A.; Pillow, Michael J.; Caster, Joshua J.
Strandlines from large floods on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Strandlines of peak-stage indicators (such as driftwood logs, woody debris, and trash) provide valuable data for understanding the maximum stage and extent of inundation during floods. A series of seven strandlines have been preserved along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA. A survey and analysis of these strandlines...
Sabol, Thomas A.; Griffiths, Ronald E.; Topping, David J.; Mueller, Erich R.; Tusso, Robert B.; Hazel, Joseph E. Incorporating antenna detections into abundance estimates of fish
Autonomous passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antennas are commonly used to detect fish marked with PIT tags but cannot detect unmarked fish, creating challenges for abundance estimation. Here we describe an approach to estimate abundance from paired physical capture and antenna detection data in closed and open mark-recapture models....
Dzul, Maria C.; Yackulic, Charles; Kendall, William L.; Winkelman, Dana L.; Conner, Mary M; Yard, Mike Spatiotemporal methane emission from global reservoirs
Inland aquatic systems, such as reservoirs, contribute substantially to global methane (CH4) emissions; yet are among the most uncertain components of the total CH4 budget. Reservoirs have received recent attention as they may generate high CH4 fluxes. Improved quantification of these CH4 fluxes, particularly their spatiotemporal...
Johnson, Matthew S; Matthews, E; Bastviken, D; Deemer, Bridget; Du, Jinyang; Genovese, V Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator
Invasive species can cause extinctions of native species and widespread biodiversity loss. Invader removal is a common management response, but the use of long-term field experiments to characterize effectiveness of removals in benefitting impacted native species is rare. We used a large-scale removal experiment to investigate the demographic...
Wiens, David; Dugger, Catherine M.; Higley, J. Mark; Lesmeister, Damon B.; Franklin, Alan B.; Hamm, Keith A.; White, Gary C.; Dilione, Krista E.; Simon, David C.; Bown, Robin R.; Carlson, Peter C.; Yackulic, Charles; Nichols, James D.; Hines, James E.; Davis, Raymond J.; Lamphear, David W.; McCafferty, Christopher; McDonald, Trent L.; Sovern, Stan G. Simulating the effort necessary to detect changes in northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) populations using passive acoustic monitoring
Passive acoustic monitoring is a promising method for monitoring rare and nocturnal species, and for tracking changes in forest wildlife biodiversity. We conducted simulations to compare and evaluate various passive acoustic sampling designs effectiveness for monitoring spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) population trends. We found that each...
Lesmeister, Damon B.; Appel, Cara L.; Davis, Raymond J.; Yackulic, Charles; Ruff, Zachary J. Drivers of seedling establishment success in dryland restoration efforts
Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas. Bold global targets have been set for dryland restoration to restore millions of hectares of degraded land. These targets have been questioned as overly ambitious, but...
Shackelford, Nancy; Paterno, Gustavo B.; Winkler, Daniel E.; Erickson, Todd E.; Leger, Elizabeth A.; Svejcar, Lauren N.; Breed, Martin F.; Faist, Akasha M.; Harrison, Peter L.; Curran, Michael F.; Guo, Qinfeng; Kirmer, Anita; Law, Darin J.; Mganga, Kevin; Munson, Seth M.; Porensky, Lauren M.; Quiroga, Raul Emiliano; Török, Péter; Wainwright, Claire E.; Abdullahi, Ali; Bahm, Matt A.; Ballenger, Elizabeth A.; Barger, Nichole; Baughman, Owen W.; Becker, Carina; Lucas-Borja, Manuel Esteban; Boyd, Chad S.; Burton, Carla M.; Burton, Philip J.; Calleja, Eman; Carrick, Peter J.; Caruana, Alex; Clements, Charlie D.; Davies, Kirk W.; Deák, Balázs; Drake, Jessica; Dullau, Sandra; Eldridge, Joshua; Espeland, Erin; Finn, Carol A.; Fick, Stephen E.; Garbowski, Magda; de la Riva, Enrique G.; Golos, Peter J.; Grey, Penelope A.; Heydenrych, Barry; Holmes, Patricia M.; James, Jeremy J.; Jonas-Bratten, Jayne; Kiss, Réka; Kramer, Andrea T.; Larson, Julie E.; Lorite, Juan; Mayence, C. Ellery; Merino-Martín, Luis; Miglécz, Tamás; Milton, Suanne Jane; Monaco, Thomas A.; Montalvo, Arlee M.; Navarro-Cano, Jose A.; Paschke, Mark W.; Peri, Pablo Luis; Pokorny, Monica L.; Rinella, Matthew J.; Saayman, Nelmarie; Schantz, Merilynn C.; Parkhurst, Tina; Seabloom, Eric W.; Stuble, Katharine L.; Uselman, Shauna M.; Valkó, Orsolya; Veblen, Kari E.; Wilson, Scott D.; Wong, Megan; Xu, Zhiwei; Suding, Katharine L.
Instruments, methods, rationale, and derived data used to quantify and compare the trapping efficiencies of four types of pressure-difference bedload samplers
Bedload and ancillary data were collected to calculate and compare the bedload trapping efficiencies of four types of pressure-difference bedload samplers as part of episodic, sediment-recirculating flume experiments at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in January–March 2006. The bedload-sampler experiments,...
Gray, John R.; Schwarz, Gregory E.; Dean, David J.; Czuba, Jonathan A. ; Groten, Joel T.