Publications

Use of small spots (≤20µm) for laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb zircon geochronology is of increasing interest in the Earth sciences because the temporal record of geologic processes is often preserved on a fine-scale within zircon grains. However the systematic biases and external sources of uncertainity of U-Pb ages is poorly defined when...

Nutrient resorption is a fundamental physiological process in plants, with important ecological controls over numerous ecosystem functions. However, the role of community assembly in driving responses of nutrient resorption to perturbation remains largely unknown. Following the Price equation framework and the Community Assembly and Ecosystem Function framework, we quantified the...

Many freshwater mussel species are critically imperiled, and propagation is essential for species ‘recovery.’ Fungal contamination can negatively affect in vitro propagation of freshwater mussels; thus, we investigated methods of mitigating fungal contamination. Specifically, we tested the effect of medium replacement frequency and antifungal (Amphotericin B) concentrations on risk of...

Invasion risk assessments of habitat suitability provide insight on early detection effort allocation; however, sufficient data are rarely available to inform assessments. We explored tradeoffs of leveraging big data from the National Water Quality Portal (WQP), a standardized water quality database in the United States, to inform calcium- and pH-based risk assessments of invasive mussel

Consideration of the full annual cycle population dynamics can provide useful insight for conservation efforts, but collecting data needed to estimate demographic parameters is often logistically difficult. For species that breed in remote areas, monitoring is often conducted during migratory stopover or at nonbreeding sites, and the recruitment rate of new breeding adults can be...

A devastating novel coral disease outbreak, referred to as Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), was first described in 2014. It is thought to have originated offshore of Miami-Dade County, FL, but has persisted and spread, affecting new reefs along the Florida Reef Tract and reefs of at least 8 other Caribbean jurisdictions. We investigated the microbial communities of clinically...

No abstract available.

The proliferation of energy rights-of-way (pipelines and powerlines; ROWs) in the central Appalachian region has prompted wildlife management agencies to consider ways to use these features to manage and conserve at-risk songbird species. However, little empirical evidence exists regarding best management strategies to enhance habitat surrounding ROWs for the songbird community during...

Acipenseriformes (sturgeons and paddlefishes) are of substantial conservation concern, and development of genomic resources for these species is difficult due to past whole genome duplication. Development of disomic markers for polyploid organisms can be challenging due to difficulty in resolving alleles at a single locus from those among duplicated loci. In this study, we detail the...

The Auckland Volcanic Field (AVF), which last erupted ca. 550 years ago, is a late Quaternary monogenetic basaltic volcanic field (ca. 500 km2) in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Prior to this study only 12 out of the 53 identified eruptive centres of the AVF had been reliably dated. Careful sample preparation and 40Ar/39Ar analysis has increased the number of well-dated...

Introduction: Throughout their range, bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations have seen significant disease-associated declines. Unfortunately, understanding of the underlying epidemiological processes driving the disease dynamics in this species has hindered conservation efforts aimed at improving the health and long-term viability of these populations. Individual response to...

Grassland birds are among the most globally threatened bird groups due to substantial degradation of native grassland habitats. However, the current network of grassland conservation areas may not be adequate for halting population declines and biodiversity loss. Here, we evaluate a network of grassland conservation areas within Wisconsin, U.S.A., that includes both large Focal...