Articles

Body and caudal fin locomotion is ubiquitous in aquatic vertebrates, and kinematic models describing it are used in robotics, biomechanics and fisheries research. This paper presents a new algorithm to translate continuous body midlines of fish into a series of interconnected segments by identifying favorable joint positions along the body. The algorithm employs binary search to generate

Illinois contributes substantial nutrient loads to the Gulf of America, warranting watershed-scale assessment. This study estimated nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate-N) and total phosphorus (TP) loads and yields for 49 Illinois 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC8) watersheds draining to the Mississippi River Basin from 1997–2022, comparing recent (2018–2022) to baseline (1997–2011) conditions...

Salt marsh vulnerability to sea-level rise (SLR) is typically assessed using point measurements of vertical accretion, neglecting three-dimensionality of geomorphic evolution and spatial variability. Recent studies suggest links between vertical and horizontal vulnerability, with differences between oligohaline and polyhaline marshes, yet these relationships remain untested in estuary...

The modern drainage network of eastern Tibet is widely believed to have developed through a series of river capture and flow reversal events; however, the timing and mechanisms driving this reorganization remain contentious. Among these events, the river capture that formed the First Bend of the Yangtze River (YFB) stands out as both iconic and particularly debated. Here we present...

The Neoarchean Mentor anorthosite intrusive complex (MAIC) lies within the Wawa subprovince in northwestern Minnesota, in a region where the Wawa, Quetico, and Wabigoon subprovinces are juxtaposed in close proximity. Archean rocks are entirely concealed, and interpretations are developed from aeromagnetic, gravity, and borehole samples. The MAIC includes both anorthosite (dense, weakly...

Resource managers are tasked with protecting natural areas from invasive species with limited resources. Further, invasive management goals can vary greatly based on different management priorities specific to management agencies or taxa of interest. The site prioritization tool for invasive species management addresses these challenges by creating a platform to view and combine diverse...

A serious emerging threat to southern California riparian ecosystems is the invasive shot hole borer (Euwallacea spp.; SHB), a non-native beetle that cultivates a pathogenic fungus that kills trees of 66 reproductive host species. We examined the response of the bird community at the Tijuana River, California, to a massive SHB infestation in 2015 using data from a Monitoring Avian...

The 2025 Mw 7.7 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar), earthquake ruptured 475 km of the central Sagaing fault and is the longest continental strike-slip rupture on record. The observed rupture length is 1.6–4.7 times the value expected (100–300 km) from existing length-magnitude scaling relations for strike-slip earthquakes. The earthquake resulted from shallow dextral faulting and ruptured...

In 2014, California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) mandated local agencies to devise and implement groundwater sustainability plans to address critically overdrafted conditions throughout the state's aquifers. However, the feasibility of these agencies' sustainability goals has not previously been assessed through a regional-scale, integrative lens. Here, we develop and...

The MultiResolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium’s National Land Cover Database (NLCD) was established as an operational, stakeholder-oriented land cover monitoring program with the release of the NLCD2001 database. Both land cover and land cover change data became available with the release of NLCD2006. Here, we report the land cover and land cover change accuracies for...

Contaminants found in treated wastewater discharged to streams, including pharmaceuticals and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are of global concern due to their deleterious effects on aquatic ecosystems and potential impacts to human health. Hyporheic zones have strong potential for contaminant attenuation. Assessing this potential requires collection of physical and...

Gopher Tortoises inhabit coastal systems, including barrier islands, across the southeastern U.S. St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge is an uninhabited barrier island located off the coast of northwestern Florida. Although tortoises have been observed on the island, no information is available on the status of the population. We conducted a line transect distance sampling survey to...