Publications

The Appalachian-Interior-Northeast Mesic Forest ecosystem, historically buffered by cool, moist conditions, may experience significant stress under future climate change, particularly due to intensifying droughts and milder winters in the midwestern United States. Droughts are expected to intensify in frequency and severity, depleting soil moisture, increasing tree mortality, and...

Technology for the acoustic detection of animals has advanced rapidly over the past few decades. Due to ease of use, consistency, and safety, acoustic methods are particularly useful for science applications that engage the public. In this study, we evaluated the technological and educational trade-offs between 2 acoustic bat detectors in a participatory science application along the...

Recent evidence indicates that green-wave surfing behaviour in ungulates and the migrations that stem from this behaviour are socially learned, culturally transmitted across generations and become more efficient via cumulative cultural evolution. But given a lack of corroborative evidence, whether ungulate migration is a cultural phenomenon remains a hypothesis deserving of further...

The Klamath Network, comprising six national park units in northern California and southern Oregon, initiated a vegetation monitoring protocol in 2011 to discern ecologically significant vegetation trends in these parks. The premise of the protocol is that multivariate analyses of species composition data is the most robust means for early detection of vegetation change over time. Here...

Sea-level fluctuations due to the growth and decay of continental ice sheets of the Quaternary exert a strong influence on geologic processes along coastlines. The California Channel Islands are no exception to this, and many studies have been conducted that focus on the extremes of these glacial-interglacial cycles, such as the last glacial period (marine isotope stage [MIS] 2) and the...

Wildlife conservation and management increasingly considers genetic information to plan, understand and evaluate implemented population interventions. These actions commonly include conservation translocation and population reductions through removals. Change in genetic variation in response to management actions can be unintuitive due to the influence of multiple interacting drivers (e...

The Dragonfly Mercury Project is a collaborative initiative that utilizes dragonfly larvae as biosentinels to monitor mercury concentrations across 180 national parks and other protected lands, including Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA). These indicators serve as surrogates for environmental risk and can indicate where fish consumption could pose health risks through exposure to mercury...

Aoudad (Ammotragus lervia), native to northern Africa, were introduced as exotic game animals to the Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas, USA, and have become invasive. Aoudad and bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) are adapted to rugged terrain in arid climates, and both persist in desert regions with low primary productivity and limited perennial water availability, which suggests...

Species inventories are crucial for conservation but are difficult to assemble and maintain. Bioblitzes, which encourage the public to document biodiversity in a particular area and timeframe, may offer useful information but their integration with other datasets poses challenges. We investigated the potential contribution of bioblitzes to natural resource management using observations...

Constructed water quality wetlands, designed to accept tile drainage and surface runoff, are a promising solution for reducing surface water nutrient loading from agricultural systems. In addition to their water quality benefits, these systems may also offset losses of migratory waterbird stopover sites resulting from historical and future agricultural drainage modernization. To assess...

The sea star Pisaster ochraceus and sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are two predators capable of shaping rocky intertidal and kelp forest community structure and functioning. In 2013, a sea star wasting event decimated populations of Pisaster along the west coast of North America. The collapse of this species in the rocky intertidal revealed an unexpected relationship between two keystone...

Wetlands play an important role in carbon retention, which is greatly dependent on hydrological conditions. Therefore, the interest in wetland hydrology has increased over recent decades. In wetland hydrology, stable water isotopes (δ2H, δ18O) have found increasing use, as laser-based instruments have become readily available and allow for faster analysis and lower costs. However, the...