All Publications

Populations of endangered Banbury Springs limpet (Idaholanx fresti) and threatened Bliss Rapids snail (Taylorconcha serpenticola) are declining in springs north of the Snake River along the southern Gooding County boundary, in south-central Idaho. One hypothesis for the decline is that increased macrophyte growth, associated with elevated nitrate concentrations in the springs, is...

Arctic marine mammals live in a rapidly changing environment due to the amplified effects of global warming. Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) have responded to declines in Arctic sea-ice extent by increasingly hauling out on land farther from their benthic foraging habitat. Energy models can be useful for better understanding the potential implications of changes in...

Identifying drivers of change in forage fish populations is key to understanding recovery potential for piscivorous species injured by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and ecosystem response to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. Forage fish are small pelagic schooling fish such as Pacific capelin (Mallotus catervarius), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes personatus), Pacific herring (Clupea...

We sampled juvenile wild Steelhead Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in headwater streams of the Wind River, WA, to characterize population attributes and investigate life-history metrics, particularly migratory patterns, and early life-stage survival. We used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTISs) to track juveniles and adults...

Light pollution is a global phenomenon where anthropogenic light sources continue to grow unabated, affecting both social and ecological systems. This is leaving parks and protected areas as some of the last vestiges of naturally dark environments for protecting views of the night sky. Yet, even parks and protected areas have outdoor lighting. Alternative lighting practices are needed to...

We investigate the effects of site response on source parameter estimates using earthquakes recorded by the LArge-n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO). While it is well known that near-surface unconsolidated sediments can cause an apparent breakdown of earthquake self-similarity, the influence of laterally varying site conditions remains unclear. We analyze site conditions across the...

Research examining organic-matter hosted porosity has significantly increased during the last decade due to greater focus on understanding hydrocarbon migration and storage in source-rock reservoirs, and technological advances in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) capabilities. The examination of nanometer-scale organic-matter hosted porosity by SEM requires the preparation of...

Shelters are critical for many species as protection from predators and extreme temperatures. Successful conservation of reptiles requires understanding both shelter site requirements and availability. The Eastern Indigo Snake (EIS; Drymarchon couperi) is endemic to the southeastern U.S. and is federally listed. Recovery has focused on maximizing unfragmented landscapes, with less...

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon mobile drilling platform on April 20, 2010, caused a massive oil spill and injury to natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico. Gavia immer (common loon) were negatively affected from the spill. The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group funded the project “Restoration of Common Loons in Minnesota” to restore common loons lost to the spill. Here, we...

Several coastal ecosystems—most notably mangroves and tidal marshes—exhibit biogenic feedbacks that are facilitating adjustment to relative sea-level rise (RSLR), including the sequestration of carbon and the trapping of mineral sediment1. The stability of reef-top habitats under RSLR is similarly linked to reef-derived sediment accumulation and the vertical accretion of protective coral...

Body condition indices and related metrics can help assess habitat quality and other ecological processes, and ideally, these metrics are based on measures of lipids directly extracted from the species of interest. In recent decades, barred owls (Strix varia) have become a species of conservation concern as they invaded older forests of the US Pacific Northwest, and caused population...

1) We recently demonstrated efficacy of automated curtailment of wind turbines in reducing fatalities of eagles at a study site in Wyoming, USA. Huso and Dalthorp criticize our work, asserting that there are several ‘major errors’ that render our previous work as providing ‘no meaningful support’ for automated curtailment. As we show here, our data do indeed provide support for the...