Publications

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...

Traditional conservation efforts have centred on safeguarding individual species, but these strategies have limitations in a world where entire ecosystems are rapidly changing. Ecosystem conservation can maintain critical ecological functions, but often lacks the detail necessary for the effective conservation of threatened or endangered species. The conservation of such species is...

This study assesses the impacts of five proposed restoration actions at Little Dauphin Island, a low-lying relic spit in a semi-enclosed bay system on the Alabama coast. A Delft3D model is developed to simulate annual scale (five-year) sediment transport and resulting bed level changes. The model is validated with observed water level and wave data, as well as sediment tracers that were...

Microbial processing of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition regulates the retention and mobilization of N in soils, with important implications for water quality. Understanding the links between N deposition, microbial communities, N transformations, and water quality is critical as N deposition shifts toward reduced N and remains persistently high in many regions. Here, we investigated...