All Publications

The subject of investigating causation in ecology has been widely discussed in recent years, especially by advocates of a structural causal model (SCM) approach. Some of these advocates have criticized the use of predictive models and model selection for drawing inferences about causation. We argue that the comparison of model-based predictions with observations is a key step in...

Among the colorful local lore in the Charleston, South Carolina, area, are a number of ghost stories, shared not only over campfires but also in published books. Among the most well-known of the stories is the tale of the Summerville Light. Local lore holds that a strange light sometimes seen in a remote area is a lantern carried by the ghost of a local woman who once waited hours for...

American horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus populations are recovering because of cooperation among diverse stakeholders and data-driven collective action. Limulus polyphemus is one of four extant species facing common threats, and conservation successes and limitations hold lessons applicable to all the species. We review the advancement in management and monitoring over recent decades...

Large carnivores are capable of consuming substantial biomasses that can significantly alter their body mass and condition over short periods. Here we examine the intra-seasonal variation of polar bear (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) body mass, energy intake, and condition in the spring from two subpopulations. We evaluate the biological and temporal factors that may have driven changes...

A species' distribution depends on its tolerance to environmental conditions. These conditions are defined by a minimum, maximum, and optimal ranges of single and combined factors. Forays into environmental conditions outside the minimum or maximum tolerance of a species (i.e., thresholds) are predicted to have large effects on a species' population and may help predict population...

Beginning in 2020, the National Park Service (NPS) began a systematic effort to document the occurrence of stratotypes exposed within, partially within, and near NPS administrative boundaries. The NPS stratotype inventory project represents an important component of a geologic resource inventory, as these designations are vital to our national geologic heritage (“geoheritage”) and...

In subduction zones worldwide, seafloor pressure data are used to observe tectonic deformation, particularly from megathrust earthquakes and slow slip events (SSEs). However, such measurements are also sensitive to oceanographic circulation-generated pressures over a range of frequencies that conflate with tectonic signals of interest. Using seafloor pressure and temperature data from...

Effective, practical options for managing disease in wildlife populations are limited, especially after diseases become established. Removal strategies (e.g., hunting or culling) are used to control wildlife diseases across a wide range of systems, despite conflicting evidence of their effectiveness. This is especially true for chronic wasting disease (CWD), an untreatable, fatal prion...

Among the most immediate drivers of American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus Olivier) declines, nontarget toxicity to pesticides is poorly understood. Acute, episodic exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides at environmentally relevant concentrations is linked to negative impacts on beneficial terrestrial insect taxa. Beyond mortality, behavioral indicators of toxicity are often...

We hypothesized that bighorn sheep ewes with chronic nasal Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae carriage are the source of infection that results in fatal lamb pneumonia. We tested this hypothesis in captive bighorn ewes at two study facilities over a 5-year period, by identifying carrier ewes and then comparing lamb fates in groups that did (exposed pens) or did not (non-exposed pens) include one...

Wildfires can have a profound impact on hydrosedimentary interactions, or the relationship between sediment and runoff, in forested headwater streams. Quantification of sediment-runoff dynamics at the event scale is integral for understanding source areas and transport of suspended-sediment through a watershed following wildfire. Here we used high-frequency turbidity and stream discharge...

More landscapes require restoration than can feasibly be treated, and so decision-support tools to prioritize areas for treatment are needed. Moreover, restoration is complicated by the threat of biological invasion in disturbed areas, and so indicators of ecosystem resistance to invasion and resilience to disturbance (hereafter R&R) are important candidate criteria for prioritizing...