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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Evaluating Otter Reintroduction Outcomes Using Genetic Spatial Capture-Recapture Modified For Dendritic Networks, Sean M. Murphy, Jennifer R. Adams, Lisette P. Waits, John J. Cox Oct 2021

Evaluating Otter Reintroduction Outcomes Using Genetic Spatial Capture-Recapture Modified For Dendritic Networks, Sean M. Murphy, Jennifer R. Adams, Lisette P. Waits, John J. Cox

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Monitoring the demographics and genetics of reintroduced populations is critical to evaluating reintroduction success, but species ecology and the landscapes that they inhabit often present challenges for accurate assessments. If suitable habitats are restricted to hierarchical dendritic networks, such as river systems, animal movements are typically constrained and may violate assumptions of methods commonly used to estimate demographic parameters. Using genetic detection data collected via fecal sampling at latrines, we demonstrate applicability of the spatial capture–recapture (SCR) network distance function for estimating the size and density of a recently reintroduced North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) population in …


Diet Composition: A Proximate Mechanism Explaining Stream Salamander Declines In Surface Waters With Elevated Specific Conductivity, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Stephen C. Richter, Christopher D. Barton Jul 2021

Diet Composition: A Proximate Mechanism Explaining Stream Salamander Declines In Surface Waters With Elevated Specific Conductivity, Jacob M. Hutton, Steven J. Price, Stephen C. Richter, Christopher D. Barton

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Changes in land use, such as mountaintop removal mining with valley fills (MTR-VF), often results in headwater streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Stream salamanders appear to be particularly sensitive to elevated SC, as previous studies have shown occupancy and abundance decline consistently among all species and life stages as SC increases. Yet, the proximate mechanism responsible for the population declines in streams with elevated SC have eluded researchers. We sampled salamander assemblages across a continuous SC gradient (30–1966 μS/cm) in southeastern Kentucky and examined the diet of larval and adult salamanders to determine if the ratio of aquatic to …


Bundles And Hotspots Of Multiple Ecosystem Services For Optimized Land Management In Kentucky, United States, Yang Bai, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Jian Yang, Domena A. Agyeman Jan 2021

Bundles And Hotspots Of Multiple Ecosystem Services For Optimized Land Management In Kentucky, United States, Yang Bai, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Jian Yang, Domena A. Agyeman

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Ecosystem services are benefits that the natural environment provides to support human well-being. A thorough understanding and assessment of these services are critical to maintain ecosystem services flow through sustainable land management to optimize bundles of ecosystem services provision. Maximizing one particular ecosystem service may lead to reduction in another. Therefore, identifying ecosystem services tradeoffs and synergies is key in addressing this challenge. However, the identification of multiple ecosystem services tradeoffs and synergies is still limited. A previous study failed to effectively capture the spatial interaction among ecosystem services as it was limited by “space-to-time” substitution method used because of …