All Publications

OBJECTIVE We examined the association of arsenic in federally regulated community water systems (CWSs) and unregulated private wells with type 2 diabetes (T2D) incidence in the Strong Heart Family Study (SHFS), a prospective study of American Indian communities, and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a prospective study of racially and ethnically diverse urban U.S...

Prymnesium parvum is a harmful alga found in brackish waters worldwide whose toxins can be lethal to aquatic organisms. Established field methods to control blooms of this species, however, are unavailable. Earlier studies showed that various extracts of giant reed (Arundo donax) can suppress P. parvum growth and that ellipticine, an allelochemical present in giant reed, is a potent...

The spread of ecosystem modifying invasive plant (EMIP) species is one of the largest threats to native ecosystems in Hawaiʻi. However, differences in niche characteristics between Hawaiʻi’s isolated insular environment and the wider global distribution of these species have not been carefully examined. We used species distribution modeling (SDM) methods to assess similarities and...

Estuarine and coastal ecosystems support human populations in myriad ways. Traditionally, researchers have focused on the biophysical processes that underlie these benefits and their economic values. In the decade since the 1st Treatise, the literature on cultural ecosystem services, human health benefits, and the equitable distribution of societal benefits and burdens has grown...

Nearly one in five reptile species is at risk of extinction. Changes in habitat area, its configuration, and vegetation diversity could affect habitat use, but their relative importance is understudied. We assessed how these factors affected reptile presence in agricultural landscapes figure in Iowa, United States, using 695 cover boards visited 16,441 times in 2015–2020. Species-wise...

Freshwater mussels provide invaluable ecological services but are threatened by habitat alteration, poor water quality, invasive species, climate change, and contaminants, including contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Contaminants of emerging concerns are well documented in aquatic environments, including the Great Lakes Basin, but limited information is available on how...

Digesta were collected from the intestines of seven species of bottom-feeding fish to better understand the role of incidental ingestion of sediment in exposing fish to inorganic contaminants. A composite sediment tracer variable, based on concentrations of Co, Cr, Ni, Ti, V, and Y in digesta and in sediment, was calculated to estimate sediment content of digesta. Concentration factors...

Salt and brackish marshes (hereafter salt marshes) are the dominant coastal wetland in temperate and boreal intertidal settings. Human-enhanced disturbances threaten their persistence and functionality, with consequences to many ecosystem services. Restoration potentials are very site specific, varying by degree of disturbance and target goals. Global changes in climate and land-use will...

The Parkfield transitional segment of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) is characterized by the production of frequent quasi-periodical M6 events that break the very same asperity. The last Parkfield mainshock occurred on 28 September 2004, 38 years after the 1966 earthquake, and after the segment showed a ∼22 years average recurrence time. The main reason for the much longer interevent period...

Organisms naturalized outside their native range can reveal new life history patterns in new environments. Here, we compare life history patterns of American shad, Alosa sapidissima, from five rivers along the U.S. Pacific coast (introduced range) with contemporary data from the Atlantic coast source populations. The Pacific coast fish grew slower, matured at a younger age, and were less...

Coastal flooding affects low-lying communities worldwide and is expected to increase with climate change, especially along reef-lined coasts, where wave-driven flooding is particularly prevalent. However, current regional modeling approaches are either insufficient or too computationally expensive to accurately assess risks in these complex environments. This study introduces and...