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Sampling Bias Overestimates Climate Change Impacts On Forest Growth In The Southwestern United States, Stefan Klesse, R. Justin Derose, Christopher H. Guiterman, Ann M. Lynch, Christopher D. O’Connor, John D. Shaw, Margaret E.K. Evans Dec 2018

Sampling Bias Overestimates Climate Change Impacts On Forest Growth In The Southwestern United States, Stefan Klesse, R. Justin Derose, Christopher H. Guiterman, Ann M. Lynch, Christopher D. O’Connor, John D. Shaw, Margaret E.K. Evans

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Climate−tree growth relationships recorded in annual growth rings have recently been the basis for projecting climate change impacts on forests. However, most trees and sample sites represented in the International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) were chosen to maximize climate signal and are characterized by marginal growing conditions not representative of the larger forest ecosystem. We evaluate the magnitude of this potential bias using a spatially unbiased tree-ring network collected by the USFS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. We show that U.S. Southwest ITRDB samples overestimate regional forest climate sensitivity by 41–59%, because ITRDB trees were sampled at warmer and …


Parental Habituation To Human Disturbance Over Time Reduces Fear Of Humans In Coyote Offspring, Christopher J. Schell, Julie K. Young, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Rachel M. Santymire, Jill M. Mateo Dec 2018

Parental Habituation To Human Disturbance Over Time Reduces Fear Of Humans In Coyote Offspring, Christopher J. Schell, Julie K. Young, Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, Rachel M. Santymire, Jill M. Mateo

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

A fundamental tenet of maternal effects assumes that maternal variance over time should have discordant consequences for offspring traits across litters. Yet, seldom are parents observed across multiple reproductive bouts, with few studies consider‐ ing anthropogenic disturbances as an ecological driver of maternal effects. We ob‐ served captive coyote (Canis latrans) pairs over two successive litters to determine whether among‐litter differences in behavior (i.e., risk‐taking) and hormones (i.e., cortisol and testosterone) corresponded with parental plasticity in habituation. Thus, we explicitly test the hypothesis that accumulating experiences of anthropogenic disturbance reduces parental fear across reproductive bouts, which should have disparate phenotypic …


Assessment Of The Effects Of Climate Change On Evapotranspiration With An Improved Elasticity Method In A Nonhumid Area, Lei Tian, Jiming Jin, Pute Wu, Guo-Yue Niu Dec 2018

Assessment Of The Effects Of Climate Change On Evapotranspiration With An Improved Elasticity Method In A Nonhumid Area, Lei Tian, Jiming Jin, Pute Wu, Guo-Yue Niu

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Climatic elasticity is a crucial metric to assess the hydrological influence of climate change. Based on the Budyko equation, this study performed an analytical derivation of the climatic elasticity of evapotranspiration (ET). With this derived elasticity, it is possible to quantitatively separate the impacts of precipitation, air temperature, net radiation, relative humidity, and wind speed on ET in a watershed. This method was applied in the Wuding River Watershed (WRW), located in the center of the Yellow River Watershed of China. The estimated rate of change in ET caused by climatic variables is −10.69 mm/decade, which is close to the …


Quantifying The Impact Of Climate Change And Human Activities On Streamflow In A Semi-Arid Watershed With The Budyko Equation Incorporating Dynamic Vegetation Information, Lei Tian, Jiming Jin, Pute Wu, Guo-Yue Niu Dec 2018

Quantifying The Impact Of Climate Change And Human Activities On Streamflow In A Semi-Arid Watershed With The Budyko Equation Incorporating Dynamic Vegetation Information, Lei Tian, Jiming Jin, Pute Wu, Guo-Yue Niu

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Understanding hydrological responses to climate change and land use and land cover change (LULCC) is important for water resource planning and management, especially for water-limited areas. The annual streamflow of the Wuding River Watershed (WRW), the largest sediment source of the Yellow River in China, has decreased significantly over the past 50 years at a rate of 5.2 mm/decade. Using the Budyko equation, this study investigated this decrease with the contributions from climate change and LULCC caused by human activities, which have intensified since 1999 due to China’s Grain for Green Project (GFGP). The Budyko parameter that represents watershed characteristics …


Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith Nov 2018

Ncer Assistance Agreement Annual Progress Report For Grant #83582401 - Assessment Of Stormwater Harvesting Via Manage Aquifer Recharge (Mar) To Develop New Water Supplies In The Arid West: The Salt Lake Valley Example, Ryan Dupont, Joan E. Mclean, Richard C. Peralta, Sarah E. Null, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The goals of the original proposed project remain the same, that is, to test the hypothesis that Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) for stormwater harvesting is a technically feasible, socially and environmentally acceptable, economically viable, and legally feasible option for developing new water supplies for arid Western urban ecosystems experiencing increasing population, and climate change pressures on existing water resources. The project is being carried out via three distinct but integrated components that include: 1) Monitoring of existing distributed MAR harvesting schemes involving a growing number of demonstration Green Infrastructure (GI) test sites; 2) Integrated stormwater/vadose zone/groundwater/ ecosystem services modeling; and …


Imagining Across Disciplines For A Sustainable Future, Emily James Nov 2018

Imagining Across Disciplines For A Sustainable Future, Emily James

Writing Center Analysis Papers

At present, the words sustainable and sustainability tend to be associated with environmental issues. Yet, the word sustain comes from the Old French sostenier meaning, “hold up, bear; suffer, endure” and Latin’s sustinere that adds, “hold upright; furnish with means of support; undergo.” Latin’s sustinere can further be broken down into the elements sub and tenere, the root of which, ten, means, “to stretch” (Harper). This paper reflects upon the ways in which the concept of sustainability affects my role as a writing tutor and composition instructor as I seek to help students stretch their abilities to develop ideas …


Can The Desiccation Of Great Salt Lake Be Stopped?, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Craig Miller, Sarah E. Null, R. Justin Derose, Peter Wilcock Nov 2018

Can The Desiccation Of Great Salt Lake Be Stopped?, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Craig Miller, Sarah E. Null, R. Justin Derose, Peter Wilcock

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Great Salt Lake is a terminal lake, with its watershed in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains of Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Like all terminal lakes, the water inflows are balanced only by evaporative loss from its surface—when inflows decrease the lake shrinks until evaporation matches that inflow.


Wild Bees Of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Richness, Abundance, And Spatio-Temporal Beta-Diversity, Olivia Messinger Carril, Terry Griswold, James Haefner, Joseph S. Wilson Nov 2018

Wild Bees Of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: Richness, Abundance, And Spatio-Temporal Beta-Diversity, Olivia Messinger Carril, Terry Griswold, James Haefner, Joseph S. Wilson

All PIRU Publications

Interest in bees has grown dramatically in recent years in light of several studies that have reported widespread declines in bees and other pollinators. Investigating declines in wild bees can be difficult, however, due to the lack of faunal surveys that provide baseline data of bee richness and diversity. Protected lands such as national monuments and national parks can provide unique opportunities to learn about and monitor bee populations dynamics in a natural setting because the opportunity for large-scale changes to the landscape are reduced compared to unprotected lands. Here we report on a 4-year study of bees in Grand …


Sustaining Wetlands To Mitigate Disasters And Protect People, Joanna Endter-Wada, Karin M. Kettenring, Ariana E. Sutton-Grier Oct 2018

Sustaining Wetlands To Mitigate Disasters And Protect People, Joanna Endter-Wada, Karin M. Kettenring, Ariana E. Sutton-Grier

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Hurricanes, flooding, droughts. Weather‐related disasters are dominating news cycles and causing widespread destruction, most recently with Typhoon Mangkhut and Hurricane Florence. The US had the most catastrophic hurricane season on record in 2017, with hundreds of billions of dollars in estimated damages. California is experiencing unprecedented tragedies from widespread wildfires and increased vulnerability to storms. Disasters that were once uncommon appear to be the new norm globally, and evidence suggests the frequency and impacts of extreme events will increase further with climate change.


Waterfall Formation At A Desert River-Reservoir Delta Isolates Endangered Fishes, Charles N. Cathcart, Casey A. Pennock, Christopher A. Cheek, Mark C. Mckinstry, Peter D. Mackinnon, Mary M. Conner, Keith B. Gido Sep 2018

Waterfall Formation At A Desert River-Reservoir Delta Isolates Endangered Fishes, Charles N. Cathcart, Casey A. Pennock, Christopher A. Cheek, Mark C. Mckinstry, Peter D. Mackinnon, Mary M. Conner, Keith B. Gido

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Unforeseen interactions of dams and declining water availability have formed new obstacles to recovering endemic and endangered big-river fishes. During a recent trend of drying climate and declining reservoir water levels in the southwestern United States, a large waterfall has formed on two separate occasions (1989-1995 & 2001-present) in the transition zone between the San Juan River and Lake Powell reservoir because of deposited sediments. Because recovery plans for two large-bodied endangered fish species, razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), include annual stockings in the San Juan River, this waterfall potentially blocks upstream …


Climatic Drivers Of Ponderosa Pine Growth In Central Idaho, Joseph L. Pettit, R. Justin Derose, James N. Long Jul 2018

Climatic Drivers Of Ponderosa Pine Growth In Central Idaho, Joseph L. Pettit, R. Justin Derose, James N. Long

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Despite the widespread use of ponderosa pine as an important hydroclimate proxy, we actually understand very little about its climate response in the Northern Rockies. Here, we analyze two new ponderosa pine chronologies to investigate how climate influences annual growth. Despite differences in precipitation amount and timing and large elevation differences (1820 m versus 1060 m), ring width at both sites was strongly driven by water availability. The mid-elevation, water-limited site responded well to previous fall precipitation whereas the wetter, high-elevation site responded to growing season precipitation and temperature. When precipitation and temperature were simultaneously accounted for using the standardized …


The Effect Of Warmer Winters On The Demography Of An Outbreak Insect Is Hidden By Intraspecific Competition, Devin W. Goodsman, Guenchik Grosklos, Brian H. Aukema, Caroline Whitehouse, Katherine P. Bleiker, Nate G. Mcdowell, Richard S. Middleton, Chonggang Xu May 2018

The Effect Of Warmer Winters On The Demography Of An Outbreak Insect Is Hidden By Intraspecific Competition, Devin W. Goodsman, Guenchik Grosklos, Brian H. Aukema, Caroline Whitehouse, Katherine P. Bleiker, Nate G. Mcdowell, Richard S. Middleton, Chonggang Xu

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Warmer climates are predicted to increase bark beetle outbreak frequency, severity, and range. Even in favorable climates, however, outbreaks can decelerate due to resource limitation, which necessitates the inclusion of competition for limited resources in analyses of climatic effects on populations. We evaluated several hypotheses of how climate impacts mountain pine beetle reproduction using an extensive 9‐year dataset, in which nearly 10,000 trees were sampled across a region of approximately 90,000 km2, that was recently invaded by the mountain pine beetle in Alberta, Canada. Our analysis supports the hypothesis of a positive effect of warmer winter temperatures on …


Organic Compound Emissions From A Landfarm Used For Oil And Gas Solid Waste Disposal, Seth N. Lyman, Marc L. Mansfield May 2018

Organic Compound Emissions From A Landfarm Used For Oil And Gas Solid Waste Disposal, Seth N. Lyman, Marc L. Mansfield

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Solid or sludgy hydrocarbon waste is a byproduct of oil and gas exploration and production. One commonly-used method of disposing of this waste is landfarming. Landfarming involves spreading hydrocarbon waste on soils, tilling it into the soil, and allowing it to biodegrade. We used a dynamic flux chamber to measure fluxes of methane, a suite of 54 non-methane hydrocarbons, and light alcohols from an active and a remediated landfarm in eastern Utah, U.S.A. Fluxes from the remediated landfarm were not different from a PTFE sheet or from undisturbed soils in the region. Fluxes of methane, total non-methane hydrocarbons, and alcohols …


Woodland Caribou Habitat Selection Patterns In Relation To Predation Risk And Forage Abundance Depend On Reproductive State, Rebecca Viejou, Tal Avgar, Glen S. Brown, Brent R. Patterson, Doug E. B. Reid, Arthur R. Rodgers, Jennifer Shuter, Ian D. Thompson, John M. Fryxell May 2018

Woodland Caribou Habitat Selection Patterns In Relation To Predation Risk And Forage Abundance Depend On Reproductive State, Rebecca Viejou, Tal Avgar, Glen S. Brown, Brent R. Patterson, Doug E. B. Reid, Arthur R. Rodgers, Jennifer Shuter, Ian D. Thompson, John M. Fryxell

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The ideal free distribution assumes that animals select habitats that are beneficial to their fitness. When the needs of dependent offspring differ from those of the parent, ideal habitat selection patterns could vary with the presence or absence of offspring. We test whether habitat selection depends on reproductive state due to top‐down or bottom‐up influences on the fitness of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), a threatened, wide‐ranging herbivore. We combined established methods of fitting resource and step selection functions derived from locations of collared animals in Ontario with newer techniques, including identifying calf status from video collar footage and seasonal …


Low Offspring Survival In Mountain Pine Beetle Infesting The Resistant Great Basin Bristlecone Pine Supports The Preference-Performance Hypothesis, Erika L. Eidson, Karen E. Mock, Barbara J. Bentz May 2018

Low Offspring Survival In Mountain Pine Beetle Infesting The Resistant Great Basin Bristlecone Pine Supports The Preference-Performance Hypothesis, Erika L. Eidson, Karen E. Mock, Barbara J. Bentz

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The preference-performance hypothesis states that ovipositing phytophagous insects will select host plants that are well-suited for their offspring and avoid host plants that do not support offspring performance (survival, development and fitness). The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), a native insect herbivore in western North America, can successfully attack and reproduce in most species of Pinus throughout its native range. However, mountain pine beetles avoid attacking Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva), despite recent climate-driven increases in mountain pine beetle populations at the high elevations where Great Basin bristlecone pine grows. Low preference for a potential …


Building Up Biogeography: Pattern To Process, William D. Pearse, A. Marcia Barbosa, Susanne A. Fritz, Sally A. Keith, Luke J. Harmon, John Harte, Daniele Silvestro, Xiao Xiao, T. Jonathan Davies Apr 2018

Building Up Biogeography: Pattern To Process, William D. Pearse, A. Marcia Barbosa, Susanne A. Fritz, Sally A. Keith, Luke J. Harmon, John Harte, Daniele Silvestro, Xiao Xiao, T. Jonathan Davies

Ecology Center Publications

Linking pattern to process across spatial and temporal scales has been a key goal of the field of biogeography. In January 2017, the 8th biennial conference of the International Biogeography Society sponsored a symposium on Building up biogeography—process to pattern that aimed to review progress towards this goal. Here we present a summary of the symposium, in which we identified promising areas of current research and suggested future research directions. We focus on (1) emerging types of data such as behavioral observations and ancient DNA, (2) how to better incorporate historical data (such as fossils) to move beyond what we …


Spatial Processes Decouple Management From Objectives In A Heterogeneous Landscape: Predator Control As A Case Study, Peter J. Mahoney, Julie K. Young, Kent R. Hersey, Randy T. Larsen, Brock R. Mcmillan, David C. Stoner Apr 2018

Spatial Processes Decouple Management From Objectives In A Heterogeneous Landscape: Predator Control As A Case Study, Peter J. Mahoney, Julie K. Young, Kent R. Hersey, Randy T. Larsen, Brock R. Mcmillan, David C. Stoner

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Predator control is often implemented with the intent of disrupting top‐down regulation in sensitive prey populations. However, ambiguity surrounding the efficacy of predator management, as well as the strength of top‐down effects of predators in general, is often exacerbated by the spatially implicit analytical approaches used in assessing data with explicit spatial structure. Here, we highlight the importance of considering spatial context in the case of a predator control study in south‐central Utah. We assessed the spatial match between aerial removal risk in coyotes (Canis latrans) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) resource selection during parturition using …


Gymnosperms On The Edge, Félix Forest, Justin Moat, Elisabeth Baloch, Neil A. Brummitt, Steve P. Bachman, Steffi Ickert-Bond, Peter M. Hollingsworth, Aaron Liston, Damon P. Little, Sarah Mathews, Hardeep Rai, Catarina Rydin, Dennis W. Stevenson, Philip Thomas, Sven Buerki Apr 2018

Gymnosperms On The Edge, Félix Forest, Justin Moat, Elisabeth Baloch, Neil A. Brummitt, Steve P. Bachman, Steffi Ickert-Bond, Peter M. Hollingsworth, Aaron Liston, Damon P. Little, Sarah Mathews, Hardeep Rai, Catarina Rydin, Dennis W. Stevenson, Philip Thomas, Sven Buerki

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Driven by limited resources and a sense of urgency, the prioritization of species for conservation has been a persistent concern in conservation science. Gymnosperms (comprising ginkgo, conifers, cycads, and gnetophytes) are one of the most threatened groups of living organisms, with 40% of the species at high risk of extinction, about twice as many as the most recent estimates for all plants (i.e. 21.4%). This high proportion of species facing extinction highlights the urgent action required to secure their future through an objective prioritization approach. The Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) method rapidly ranks species based on their evolutionary …


Phenological Mismatch In Coastal Western Alaska May Increase Summer Season Greenhouse Gas Uptake, Katharine C. Kelsey, A. Joshua Leffler, Karen H. Beard, Ryan T. Choi, Joel A. Schmutz, Jeffery M. Welker Apr 2018

Phenological Mismatch In Coastal Western Alaska May Increase Summer Season Greenhouse Gas Uptake, Katharine C. Kelsey, A. Joshua Leffler, Karen H. Beard, Ryan T. Choi, Joel A. Schmutz, Jeffery M. Welker

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

High latitude ecosystems are prone to phenological mismatches due to climate change- driven advances in the growing season and changing arrival times of migratory herbivores. These changes have the potential to alter biogeochemical cycling and contribute to feedbacks on climate change by altering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) through large regions of the Arctic. Yet the effects of phenological mismatches on gas fluxes are currently unexplored. We used a three-year field experiment that altered the start of the growing season and timing of grazing to …


Site Conditions Determine A Key Native Plant’S Contribution To Invasion Resistance In Grasslands, Kristin B. Hulvey, Brittany J. Teller Mar 2018

Site Conditions Determine A Key Native Plant’S Contribution To Invasion Resistance In Grasslands, Kristin B. Hulvey, Brittany J. Teller

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Many plant invasion studies in grasslands suggest that resident plants that share functional traits with invaders can reduce invasion by competing for limiting resources. However, since invasion studies often occur in highly controlled plots or microcosms, it is unclear how heterogeneous site conditions alter competitive interactions under realistic scenarios. To explore how landscape heterogeneity affects biotic resistance provided by competitive resident plants, we conducted a field‐based experiment across four sites in California grasslands. Plots contained naturally occurring populations of native Hemizonia congesta, but differed in other characteristics, including litter cover, annual grass cover, soil moisture, and species richness. We invaded …


Introducing And Evaluating A Knowledge Transfer Approach To Support Problem Solving In And Around Protected Areas, Brady J. Mattsson, Marie Fischborn, Mark W. Brunson, Harald Vacik Mar 2018

Introducing And Evaluating A Knowledge Transfer Approach To Support Problem Solving In And Around Protected Areas, Brady J. Mattsson, Marie Fischborn, Mark W. Brunson, Harald Vacik

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Protected areas (PAs) can generate many benefits inside and outside their borders, and achieving objectives for diverse stakeholders raises many challenges. There are many examples of successful PA management around the globe, although a systematic and comprehensive approach to developing and sharing these solutions has been lacking. We present “solutioning” as a structured process of peer-learning, which can inform management strategies in and around protected areas. We explain how the PANORAMA—Solutions for a Healthy Planet initiative has put solutioning into practice through an interactive community and web portal to learn about protected area solutions around the globe. Unlike other web …


A Network Model For Primary Production Highlights Linkages Between Salmonid Populations And Autochthonous Resources, W. Carl Saunders, Nicolaas Bouwes, Peter Mchugh, Chris E. Jordan Mar 2018

A Network Model For Primary Production Highlights Linkages Between Salmonid Populations And Autochthonous Resources, W. Carl Saunders, Nicolaas Bouwes, Peter Mchugh, Chris E. Jordan

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Spatial variation in fish densities across river networks suggests that the influence of food and habitat resources on assemblages varies greatly throughout watersheds. Conceptual models predict that in situ primary production should vary with river characteristics, but the influence of autochthonous resource availability on the capacity for river reaches to support fish is poorly understood. We estimated primary production throughout the South Fork and Middle Fork of the John Day River, Oregon, by measuring diel cycles in dissolved oxygen (DO) during July 2013. Using these data, we (1) evaluated the extent to which juvenile salmonid abundance and resource limitation correlated …


Direct Effects Of Warming Increase Woody Plant Abundance In A Subarctic Wetland, Lindsay G. Carlson, Karen H. Beard, Peter B. Adler Feb 2018

Direct Effects Of Warming Increase Woody Plant Abundance In A Subarctic Wetland, Lindsay G. Carlson, Karen H. Beard, Peter B. Adler

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Both the direct effects of warming on a species’ vital rates and indirect effects of warming caused by interactions with neighboring species can influence plant populations. Furthermore, herbivory mediates the effects of warming on plant community composition in many systems. Thus, determining the importance of direct and indirect effects of warming, while considering the role of herbivory, can help predict long-term plant community dynamics. We conducted a field experiment in the coastal wetlands of western Alaska to investigate how warming and herbivory influence the interactions and abundances of two common plant species, a sedge, Carex ramenskii, and a dwarf …


Biodiverse Cities: The Nursery Industry, Homeowners, And Neighborhood Differences Drive Urban Tree Composition, Meghan L. Avolio, Diane E. Pataki, Tara L. E. Trammell, Joanna Endter-Wada Feb 2018

Biodiverse Cities: The Nursery Industry, Homeowners, And Neighborhood Differences Drive Urban Tree Composition, Meghan L. Avolio, Diane E. Pataki, Tara L. E. Trammell, Joanna Endter-Wada

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

In arid and semiarid regions, where few if any trees are native, city trees are largely human planted. Societal factors such as resident preferences for tree traits, nursery offerings, and neighborhood characteristics are potentially key drivers of urban tree community composition and diversity, however, they remain critically understudied. We investigated patterns of urban tree structure in residential neighborhoods of the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, combining biological variables, such as neighborhood and plant nursery tree species and trait composition, and sociological data comprised of resident surveys and U.S. Census data. We sampled nine neighborhoods that varied in household income and age …


Estimating Discharge In Low-Order Rivers With High-Resolution Aerial Imagery, Tyler V. King, Bethany T. Neilson, Mitchell T. Rasmussen Feb 2018

Estimating Discharge In Low-Order Rivers With High-Resolution Aerial Imagery, Tyler V. King, Bethany T. Neilson, Mitchell T. Rasmussen

Publications

Remote sensing of river discharge promises to augment in situ gauging stations, but the majority of research in this field focuses on large rivers (>50 m wide). We present a method for estimating volumetric river discharge in low-order (wide) rivers from remotely sensed data by coupling high-resolution imagery with one-dimensional hydraulic modeling at so-called virtual gauging stations. These locations were identified as locations where the river contracted under low flows, exposing a substantial portion of the river bed. Topography of the exposed river bed was photogrammetrically extracted from high-resolution aerial imagery while the geometry of the remaining inundated portion …


Animal Movement Affectsinterpretation Of Occupancy Models From Camera Trap Surveys Of Unmarked Animals, Eric W. Neilson, Tal Avgar, A. Cole Burton, Kate Broadley, Stan Boutin Jan 2018

Animal Movement Affectsinterpretation Of Occupancy Models From Camera Trap Surveys Of Unmarked Animals, Eric W. Neilson, Tal Avgar, A. Cole Burton, Kate Broadley, Stan Boutin

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Occupancy models are increasingly applied to data from wildlife camera-trap (CT) surveys to estimate distribution, habitat use, or relative abundance of unmarked animals. Fundamental to the occupancy modeling framework is the temporal pattern of detections at camera stations, which is influenced by animal population density and the speed and scale of animal movement. How these factors interact with CT sampling designs to affect the interpretation of occupancy parameter estimates is unclear. We developed a simple yet ecologically relevant animal movement simulation to create CT detections for animal populations varying in movement rate, home range area, and population density. We also …


Bonding And Bridging Forms Of Social Capital In Wildlife Tourism Microentrepreneurship: An Application Of Social Network Analysis, K. C. Birendra, Duarte B. Morals, Erin Seekamp, Jordan Smith, M. Nils Peterson Jan 2018

Bonding And Bridging Forms Of Social Capital In Wildlife Tourism Microentrepreneurship: An Application Of Social Network Analysis, K. C. Birendra, Duarte B. Morals, Erin Seekamp, Jordan Smith, M. Nils Peterson

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Tourism has been recognized as an important economic sector, requiring a high degree of involvement from the entrepreneurial sector to diversify tourism products and services to meet increasing demand. Tourism is often considered a tool for economic development and a strategy to improve the livelihoods of rural citizens. Specifically, nature-based tourism, such as wildlife tourism, is growing faster than tourism in general, providing a myriad of opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurial engagement. However, several obstacles exist for these small-scale tourism enterprises, such as a lack of social capital. This study examined a network of wildlife tourism microentrepreneurs for bonding and bridging …


Survival Rates Indicate That Correlations Between Community-Weighted Mean Traits And Environments Can Be Unreliable Estimates Of The Adaptive Value Of Traits, Daniel C. Laughlin, Robert T. Strahan, Peter B. Adler, Margaret M. Moore Jan 2018

Survival Rates Indicate That Correlations Between Community-Weighted Mean Traits And Environments Can Be Unreliable Estimates Of The Adaptive Value Of Traits, Daniel C. Laughlin, Robert T. Strahan, Peter B. Adler, Margaret M. Moore

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Correlations between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits and environmental gradients are often assumed to quantify the adaptive value of traits. We tested this assumption by comparing these correlations with models of survival probability using 46 perennial species from long-term permanent plots in pine forests of Arizona. Survival was modeled as a function of trait-by-environment interactions, plant size, climatic variation, and neighborhood competition. The effect of traits on survival depended on the environmental conditions, but the two statistical approaches were inconsistent. For example, CWM specific leaf area (SLA) and soil fertility were uncorrelated. However, survival was highest for species with low SLA …


Community-Level Plant–Soil Feedbacks Explain Landscape Distribution Of Native And Non-Native Plants, Andrew Kulmatiski Jan 2018

Community-Level Plant–Soil Feedbacks Explain Landscape Distribution Of Native And Non-Native Plants, Andrew Kulmatiski

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) have gained attention for their potential role in explaining plant growth and invasion. While promising, most PSF research has measured plant monoculture growth on different soils in short-term, greenhouse experiments. Here, five soil types were conditioned by growing one native species, three non-native species, or a mixed plant community in different plots in a common-garden experiment. After 4 years, plants were removed and one native and one non-native plant community were planted into replicate plots of each soil type. After three additional years, the percentage cover of each of the three target species in each community was …