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Assessment and management of ecological integrity: Chapter 12
Assessing and understanding the impacts of human activities on aquatic ecosystems has long been a focus of ecologists, water resources managers, and fisheries scientists. While traditional fisheries management focused on single-species approaches to enhance fish stocks, there is a growing emphasis on management approaches at community and...
Kwak, Thomas J.; Freeman, MaryFisheries indicators, freshwater
Freshwater fisheries exist among diverse ecosystems and fauna, provide societal benefits, and are influenced by human activities. Fisheries scientists assess the status and sustainability of fisheries by multiple approaches, including abundance and condition indices, population parameters, community indices, modeling, and surveys of habitat and...
Kwak, Thomas J.Alaska’s changing fire regime - Implications for the vulnerability of its boreal forests
A synthesis was carried out to examine Alaska’s boreal forest fire regime. During the 2000s, an average of 767 000 ha·year–1 burned, 50% higher than in any previous decade since the 1940s. Over the past 60 years, there was a decrease in the number of lightning-ignited fires, an increase in extreme lightning-ignited fire...
Kasischke, Eric S.; Verbyla, David L.; Rupp, T. Scott; McGuire, A. David; Murphy, Karen A.; Jandt, Randi; Barnes, Jennifer L.; Hoy, E.; Duffy, Paul A.; Calef, Monika; Turetsky, Merritt R.Resilience of Alaska’s boreal forest to climatic change
This paper assesses the resilience of Alaska’s boreal forest system to rapid climatic change. Recent warming is associated with reduced growth of dominant tree species, plant disease and insect outbreaks, warming and thawing of permafrost, drying of lakes, increased wildfire extent, increased postfire recruitment of deciduous trees, and...
Chapin, F.S.; McGuire, A. David; Ruess, Roger W.; Hollingsworth, Teresa N.; Mack, M.C.; Johnstone, J.F.; Kasischke, E.S.; Euskirchen, E.S.; Jones, J.B.; Jorgenson, M.T.; Kielland, K.; Kofinas, G.; Turetsky, M.R.; Yarie, J.; Lloyd, A.H.; Taylor, D.L.Calibrating recruitment estimates for mourning doves from harvest age ratios
We examined results from the first national-scale effort to estimate mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) age ratios and developed a simple, efficient, and generalizable methodology for calibrating estimates. Our method predicted age classes of unknown-age wings based on backward projection of molt distributions from fall harvest collections to...
Miller, David A.; Otis, David L.Upper thermal tolerances of early life stages of freshwater mussels
Freshwater mussels (order Unioniformes) fulfill an essential role in benthic aquatic communities, but also are among the most sensitive and rapidly declining faunal groups in North America. Rising water temperatures, caused by global climate change, industrial discharges, drought, or land development, could further challenge imperiled unionid...
Pandolfo, Tamara J.; Cope, W. Gregory; Arellano, Consuelo; Bringolf, Robert B.; Barnhart, M. Christopher; Hammer, EThe effects of road crossings on prairie stream habitat and function
Improperly designed stream crossing structures may alter the form and function of stream ecosystems and habitat and prohibit the movement of aquatic organisms. Stream sections adjoining five concrete box culverts, five low-water crossings (concrete slabs vented by one or multiple culverts), and two large, single corrugated culvert vehicle...
Bouska, Wesley W.; Keane, Timothy; Paukert, Craig P.Development of standard weight equations for Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico amphidromous fishes
We collected and compiled length and weight information from four countries and one commonwealth to develop standard weight (Ws) equations for three amphidromous fish species native to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico regions: mountain mullet Agonostomus monticola (N = 9,768 individuals, 52 populations), river goby Awaous banana (N = 1,847...
Cooney, Patrick B.; Kwak, Thomas J.The changing effects of Alaska’s boreal forests on the climate system
In the boreal forests of Alaska, recent changes in climate have influenced the exchange of trace gases, water, and energy between these forests and the atmosphere. These changes in the structure and function of boreal forests can then feed back to impact regional and global climates. In this manuscript, we examine the type and magnitude of the...
Euskirchen, E.S.; McGuire, A. David; Chapin, F.S.; Rupp, T.S.Climate change, cranes, and temperate floodplain ecosystems
Floodplain ecosystems provide important habitat to cranes globally. Lateral, longitudinal, vertical, and temporal hydrologic connectivity in rivers is essential to maintaining the functions and values of these systems. Agricultural development, flood control, water diversions, dams, and other anthropogenic activities have greatly affected...
King, Sammy L.Interactive effects of senescence and natural disturbance on the annual survival probabilities of snail kites
Individuals in wild populations face risks associated with both intrinsic (i.e. aging) and external (i.e. environmental) sources of mortality. Condition-dependent mortality occurs when there is an interaction between such factors; however, few studies have clearly demonstrated condition-dependent mortality and some have even argued that condition-...
Reichert, Brian E.; Martin, J.; Kendall, William L.; Cattau, Christopher E.; Kitchens, Wiley M.Effects of visible implant elastomer mark colour on the predation of red shiners by largemouth bass
No abstract available.
Bouska, Wesley W.; Paukert, Craig P.