Publications
Explore WARC's science publications.
Filter Total Items: 3505
Video evidence of a Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) preying upon a live Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) duckling in Louisiana Video evidence of a Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) preying upon a live Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) duckling in Louisiana
Most animal matter in the diet of the omnivorous Trachemys scripta (Pond Slider) consists of invertebrate prey items such as insects, crustaceans, and mollusks, but often also includes fish and amphibians. Reptiles, birds, and mammals are less commonly reported, and even when found, it is usually unknown if they were captured alive, as Pond Sliders will certainly scavenge dead animals...
Authors
Brad Glorioso, Alex Landry, Gabrielle Mandill
Spawning and larval development of the mesophotic octocoral Swiftia exserta in aquaria Spawning and larval development of the mesophotic octocoral Swiftia exserta in aquaria
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill injured mesophotic and deep-sea environments over a vast area. In order to restore mesophotic and deep-sea coral species impacted by the spill, information on fundamental ecosystem processes such as reproduction is needed. During expeditions in 2021 and 2022, fragments of the mesophotic octocoral Swiftia exserta were collected from the northern Gulf...
Authors
Julia W. Johnstone, William Jenkins, Mackenzy Jankiewicz, Jonathan M. Quigley, Janessy Frometa, Enrique Salgado, Ben Higgins, Amanda Demopoulos, Christopher L. Gardner, Peter J. Etnoyer, Kristopher G. Benson
Waterfront property owners' shoreline preferences amid salt marsh to mangrove transitions Waterfront property owners' shoreline preferences amid salt marsh to mangrove transitions
1. We examined the influence of mangrove encroachment into salt marsh areas along the northern Gulf of Mexico (USA) on waterfront property owners' perceptions of coastal health and preferences for shoreline management. 2. Using mail-in and online surveys, we targeted over 3000 waterfront property owners across four jurisdictions experiencing or anticipating mangrove encroachment. 3. Our...
Authors
Jahson B. Alemu I, A. Randall Hughes, Michael Osland, Savannah H. Swinea, Kalaina A. Thorne, Remi Bardou, Christine C. Shepard, Steven B. Scyphers
Lower trophic level monitoring implementation plan for Barataria Basin: Protocols and programmatic management Lower trophic level monitoring implementation plan for Barataria Basin: Protocols and programmatic management
Prior work completed by Kiskaddon et al. (2021, 2022b, 2022a) identified critical data gaps for Lower Trophic Level (LTL) organisms in Barataria Basin, Louisiana. A Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Activity Implementation Plan (MAIP) was subsequently developed to describe a MAM Activity that would address and fill these critical data gaps (hereafter termed the “LTL project”). As...
Authors
Erin P. Kiskaddon, Sibel Bargu, Melissa Millman Baustian, Melissa Carle, Jean Cowan, Jennifer Doerr, Cassandra N. Glaspie, Brittany Jensen, Bingqing Liu, Emelia Marshall, Michael J. Polito, David B. Reeves, Shaye Sable, Malinda Sutor, Ian Zink
Exosomal micro RNA isolation in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for diagnostic biomarker discovery Exosomal micro RNA isolation in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) for diagnostic biomarker discovery
Molecular approaches are becoming more prevalent for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases in human medicine and can be extended to diagnosis of wildlife diseases such as chronic wasting disease and other prion diseases. These diseases have been associated with exosome-bound molecular biomarkers of disease progression, such as proteins and micro RNA molecules (miRNA). We tested and...
Authors
Maite De Maria, Lillian G. Maxwell, Margaret Hunter, Jason Ferrante
Integrating sea level rise scenarios into Everglades restoration planning Integrating sea level rise scenarios into Everglades restoration planning
One of the largest and most expensive restoration efforts in the world is occurring in the Everglades, a sub-tropical freshwater wetland system located in southern Florida. This unique ecosystem supports several endangered species, provides flood control for Florida’s large urban population, and provides water for both agriculture and drinking supply within the state. The Comprehensive...
Authors
Laura D’Acunto, Stephanie Romanach, Stephanie Castellano, Mysha Clarke
American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) as wetland ecosystem carbon stock regulators American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) as wetland ecosystem carbon stock regulators
Blue carbon refers to organic carbon sequestered by oceanic and coastal ecosystems. This stock has gained global attention as a high organic carbon repository relative to other ecosystems. Within blue carbon ecosystems, tidally influenced wetlands alone store a disproportionately higher amount of organic carbon than other blue carbon systems. North America harbors 42% of tidally...
Authors
Christopher M. Murray, Tyler S. Coleman, Wray Gabel, Ken Krauss
Biotic and abiotic drivers of ecosystem temporal stability in herbaceous wetlands in China Biotic and abiotic drivers of ecosystem temporal stability in herbaceous wetlands in China
Maintaining the stability of ecosystems is critical for supporting essential ecosystem services over time. However, our understanding of the contribution of the diverse biotic and abiotic factors to this stability in wetlands remains limited. Here, we combined data from a field vegetation survey of 725 herbaceous wetland sites in China with remote sensing information from the Enhanced...
Authors
Guodong Wang, Nanlin Hu, Yann Hautier, Beth Middleton, Ming Wang, Meiling Zhao, Jingci Meng, Zijun Ma, Bo Liu, Yanjie Liu, Mingkai Jiang
Forecasting water levels using the ConvLSTM algorithm in the Everglades, USA Forecasting water levels using the ConvLSTM algorithm in the Everglades, USA
Forecasting water levels in complex ecosystems like wetlands can support effective water resource management, ecological conservation, and understanding surface and groundwater hydrology. Predictive models can be used to simulate the complex interactions among natural processes, hydrometeorological factors, and human activities. The Greater Everglades in the USA is a well-known example...
Authors
Raidan Bassah, Gerald A. Corzo Perez, Biswa Bhattacharya, Saira M. Haider, Eric D. Swain, Nicholas Aumen
Navigating new threats: Prey naivete in native mammals Navigating new threats: Prey naivete in native mammals
1. Invasive predators pose a substantial threat to global biodiversity. Native prey species frequently exhibit naïveté to the cues of invasive predators, and this phenomenon may contribute to the disproportionate impact of invasive predators on prey populations. However, not all species exhibit naïveté, which has led to the generation of many hypotheses to explain patterns in prey...
Authors
Rebecca K. McKee, Kristen Hart, Spencer Zeitoune, Robert A. McCleery
The MIEM guidelines: Minimum information for reporting of environmental metabarcoding data The MIEM guidelines: Minimum information for reporting of environmental metabarcoding data
Environmental DNA (eDNA) and RNA (eRNA) metabarcoding has become a popular tool for assessing biodiversity from environmental samples, but inconsistent documentation of methods, data and metadata makes results difficult to reproduce and synthesise. A working group of scientists have collaborated to produce a set of minimum reporting guidelines for the constituent steps of metabarcoding...
Authors
Katy E. Klymus, Jacoby D. Baker, Cathryn L. Abbott, Rachel J. Brown, Joseph M. Craine, Zachary Gold, Margaret Hunter, Mark D. Johnson, Devin Nicole Jones-Slobodian, Michelle J. Jungbluth, Sean P. Jungbluth, Yer Lor, Aaron P. Maloy, Christopher M. Merkes, Rachel T. Noble, Nastassia V. Patin, Adam Sepulveda, Stephen Frank Spear, Joshua A. Steele, Miwa Takahashi, Alison W. Watts, Susanna Theroux
Vertebrates in trade that pose high invasion risk to the United States Vertebrates in trade that pose high invasion risk to the United States
The United States imports thousands of live vertebrate species annually as part of legal trade. Escapes and releases from captivity are major pathways of invasion, however, the risk posed by the thousands of imported vertebrate species has not been systematically assessed. We conducted a horizon scan that used a data-driven climate match to filter a list of nearly 15,000 taxa drawn from...
Authors
Wesley Daniel, Helen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Richard A. Erickson, Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Peder Scott Engelstad, Jonathan A. Freedman, Susan Canavan, Emily M. Dean, Michael J Adams, Charmayne L. Anderson, Mindy Barnett, Marybeth K. Brey, Kyle J. Brumm, Matthew S. Bunting, Emily Caffrey, Laura Cardador, Jacoby Carter, Phillip Cassey, Duane Chapman, Natalie M. Claunch, Timothy D. Counihan, Kristin P. Davis, Anant Deshwal, Andrew K. Douglas, Corey Garland Dunn, Chase Ehlo, Katie Everett, Jason M. Gleditsch, Andrew Grosse, Zoey Hendrickson, Steven C. Hess, Jeffrey E. Hill, Nick D. Holmes, Ana V. Longo, Julie L. Lockwood, Doran M. Mason, Ashley McDonald, Matthew Neilson, Kristen M. Reaver, Robert Reed, Caleb Powell Roberts, Jane S. Rogosch, Christina Romagosa, James C. Russell, Annie Simpson, Scott A. Smith, Jinelle Sperry, Quenton M. Tuckett, Kurt VerCauteren, J. Hardin Waddle, Christian Wanamaker, John D. Willson, Arden Williams, Deah Lieurance