Articles

A wild Agassiz's desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, with bilateral eyelid reduction and plaques of tissue covering the superior surface of both corneas was examined in the field and subsequently submitted to the University of Florida for diagnostics. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), from a swab of both corneas, was positive for Mycoplasma agassizii. Two months later, the tortoise was

Global change has altered the nature of disturbance regimes, and megafire events are increasingly common. Megafires result in immediate changes to habitat available to terrestrial wildlife over broad landscapes, yet we know surprisingly little about how such changes shape space use of sensitive species in habitat that remains. Functional responses provide a framework for understanding...

Wastewater treatment plant effluent can increase stream water temperature from near freezing to 5°C–12°C in winter months. Recent research in the South Platte River Basin in Colorado showed that this warming alters the reproductive timing of some fishes. However, the spatial extent and magnitude of this warming are unknown. Thus, we created winter water temperature models both upstream...

Coal mine methane is a safety concern in active mines due to explosion risk and an environmental concern due to the greenhouse gas (GHG) properties of methane emissions to the atmosphere. Depending on the mine design and operation, structural and stratigraphic characteristics of the geology, and the properties of coal beds affected by mining, a significant amount of methane can be...

Inaccurate taxonomy can lead to species in need of conservation being overlooked, which makes revisionary systematics crucially important for imperilled groups. The freshwater mussel genus Alasmidonta is one such group in need of study. Here, we take a multilocus phylogenetic approach to assess species-level taxonomy of Alasmidonta and test monophyly of this genus. Phylogenetic inference...

The Goochland terrane is a structurally isolated crustal block in the eastern Piedmont of Virginia. It is composed of the previously named State Farm Gneiss, Montpelier Anorthosite, Sabot Amphibolite, and Maidens Gneiss, but also includes the Scotchtown Gneiss, Teman Gneiss, and Old Bandana Gneiss which are formally named and defined herein. The eastern part of the Goochland terrane is...

A multi-agency study of 438 organic and 62 inorganic chemicals measured in urban stormwater during 50 total runoff events at 21 sites across the United States demonstrated that stormwater discharges can generate localized, aquatic exposures to extensive contaminant mixtures, including organics suspected to cause adverse aquatic-health effects. The aggregated risks to multiple aquatic...

Context

Increasing reliance on the use of triploid oysters to support aquaculture production relies on their generally superior growth rate and meat quality over that of diploid oysters. Reports of elevated triploid mortality have generated questions about potential trade-offs between growth and tolerance to environmental stressors. These questions are particularly relevant as climate change...

Here we show how ultra-high resolution seabed mapping using new technology can help to understand processes that sculpt submarine canyons. Time-lapse seafloor surveys were conducted in the axis of Monterey Canyon, ∼50 km from the canyon head (∼1,840 m water depth) over an 18-month period. These surveys comprised 5-cm resolution multibeam bathymetry, 1-cm resolution lidar bathymetry, and...

Scientists, resource managers, and decision-makers increasingly use knowledge co-production to guide the stewardship of future landscapes under climate change. This process was applied in the California Central Valley, USA to solve complex conservation problems, where managed wetlands and croplands are flooded between fall and spring to support some of the largest concentrations of...

The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) in California (USA) is an important part of the state’s freshwater system and is also a major source of agricultural and natural resources. However, the Delta is traversed by a series of faults that make up the easternmost part of the San Andreas fault system at this latitude and pose seismic hazard to this region. In this study, we use new high...