Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Ecological Risk Assessment Of Managed Relocation As A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, Aviv Karasov-Olson, Mark W. Schwartz, Julian D. Olden, Sarah Skikne, Jessica J. Hellmann, Sarah Allen, Christy Brigham, Danielle Buttke, David J. Lawrence, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Gregor W. Schuurman, Melissa Trammell, Cat Hawkins Hoffman

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Changing climate and introduced species are placing an increasing number of species at risk of extinction. Increasing extinction risk is increasing calls to protect species by relocating, or translocating, them to locations with more favorable biotic or climatic conditions. Managed relocation, or assisted migration, of species entails risks to both the conservation target organisms being moved as well as the recipient ecosystems into which they are moved.

Recognizing this risk, calls have been made for practitioners interested in considering a managed relocation project to engage in a serious risk assessment prior to advancing a project. We engaged a …

Sars-Cov-2 Exposure In Escaped Mink, Utah, Usa, Susan A. Shriner, Jeremy W. Ellis, J. Jeffrey Root, Annette Roug, Scott R. Stopak, Gerald W. Wiscomb, Jared R. Zierenberg, Hon S. Ip, Mia Kim Torchetti, Thomas J. Deliberto

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In August 2020, outbreaks of coronavirus disease were confirmed on mink farms in Utah, USA. We surveyed mammals captured on and around farms for evidence of infection or exposure. Free-ranging mink, presumed domestic escapees, exhibited high antibody titers, suggesting a potential severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission pathway to native wildlife.

We report a wildlife epidemiologic investigation of mammals captured on or near properties in Utah, USA, where outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection occurred in farmed mink. Mink farms are relatively common in the United States, and most are small family farms. The US …

Protocol For Monitoring Fish Communities In Small Streams In The Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network, Version 2.0, Hope R. Dodd, David G. Peitz, Gareth Rowell, Janice A. Hinsey, David E. Bowles, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael D. Debacker, Jennifer L. Haack-Gaynor, Jeffrey M. Williams

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Fish communities are an important component of aquatic systems and are good bioindicators of ecosystem health. Land use changes in the Midwest have caused sedimentation, erosion, and nutrient loading that degrades and fragments habitat and impairs water quality. Because most small wadeable streams in the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network (HTLN) have a relatively small area of their watersheds located within park boundaries, these streams are at risk of degradation due to adjacent land use practices and other anthropogenic disturbances. Shifts in the physical and chemical properties of aquatic systems have a dramatic effect on the biotic community. …

Toxicity Of Sodium Nitrite-Based Vertebrate Pesticides For European Starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris), Scott J. Werner, Shelagh T. Deliberto, Hailey E. Mclean, Katherine E. Horak, Kirt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In the 21st century, invasive animals rank second only to habitat destruction as the greatest threat to global biodiversity. Socially-acceptable and cost-effective strategies are needed to reduce the negative economic and environmental impacts of invasive animals. We investigated the potential for sodium nitrite (SN; CAS 7632-00-0) to serve as an avian toxicant for European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris L.). We also assessed the non-target hazard of an experimental formulation of SN that is being developed as a toxicant for invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa L.). In gavage experiments with European starlings, we identified a lowest observed adverse effect level …

Avian Visual Ecologists Should Consider Uv Absorbance And All Sensory Modalities: A Response To Wisenden Et Al. (2020), Sean T. O'Daniels, Scott J. Werner, Ken Yasukawa

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In a recent publication, Wisenden et al. (2020) examined responses of territorial male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to models constructed with ultraviolet (UV)-reflective red epaulets for the purpose of determining if the addition of UV reflectance to epaulets ("UV+") changed the effectiveness of signals to receivers relative to "control" epaulets under field conditions. The authors hypothesized that "UV+epaulet coloration represents a visual signal with increased efficacy in territorial interactions." They presented behavioral data but no visual modeling data. Our aims in this commentary are to suggest alternative terms to those used by the authors, to express concern about the use …

Great Expectations: Deconstructing The Process Pathways Underlying Beaver-Related Restoration, Caroline S. Nash, Gordon E. Grant, Susan Charnley, Jason B. Dunham, Hannah Gosnell, Mark B. Hausner, David S. Pilliod, Jimmy Taylor

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Beaver-related restoration is a process-based strategy that seeks to address wide-ranging ecological objectives by reestablishing dam building in degraded stream systems. Although the beaver-related restoration has broad appeal, especially in water-limited systems, its effectiveness is not yet well documented. In this article, we present a process-expectation framework that links beaver-related restoration tactics to commonly expected outcomes by identifying the set of process pathways that must occur to achieve those expected outcomes. We explore the contingency implicit within this framework using social and biophysical data from project and research sites. This analysis reveals that outcomes are often predicated on complex process …

Factors Leading To Successful Island Rodent Eradications Following Initial Failure, Araceli Samaniego, Peter Kappes, Keith Broome, Steve Cranwell, Richard Griffiths, Grant Harper, Pete Mcclelland, Russell Palmer, Gerard Rocamora, Keith Springer, David Will, Shane Siers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Island rodent eradications are increasingly conducted to eliminate the negative impacts of invasive rodents. The success rate in the tropics has been lower than in temperate regions, triggering research and reviews. Environmental factors unique to the tropics (e.g., land crabs and year-round rodent breeding) have been associated with eradication failure. Operational factors have also been important, but these have not been comprehensively assessed. The environmental and operational factors using global cases where rodent eradication initially failed and subsequent attempts occurred were compared. It was determined whether operational factors explained the initial failures, whether operational improvements explained subsequent successes, and whether …

Decline Of Novel Ecosystems Used By Endangered Species: The Case Of Piping Plovers, Least Terns, And Aggregate Mines, Joel G. Jorgensen, Stephen J. Brenner, Lauren R. Greenwalt, Mark P. Vrtiska

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Sand and gravel mining creates novel ecosystems along the Platte, Loup, and Elkhorn rivers in Nebraska, USA. Piping plovers and least terns are state and/or federally threatened and endangered species, respectively, that nest and raise young at these sites and their derivatives. Despite hosting relatively large numbers of piping plovers and least terns for decades, an important question that has largely gone unaddressed is whether the industry that has produced these novel ecosystems is stable and will continue to produce habitat consistently in the future. We evaluated how the number, size, and spatial distribution of different site types hosting different …

Modeling The Release And Spreading Of Permanganate From Aerated Slow-Release Oxidants In A Laboratory Flow Tank, Ann Kambhu, Yusong Li, Troy E. Gilmore, Steve D. Comfort

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Aerated, slow-release oxidants are a relatively new technology for treating contaminated aquifers. A critical need for advancing this technology is developing a reliable method for predicting the radius of influence (ROI) around each drive point. In this work, we report a series of laboratory flow tank experiments and numerical modeling efforts designed to predict the release and spreading of permanganate from aerated oxidant candles (oxidant-wax composites). To mimic the design of the oxidant delivery system used in the field, a double screen was used in a series of flow tank experiments where the oxidant was placed inside the inner screen …

Could Energy Equilibrium And Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Agroecosystems Play A Key Role In Crop Replacement? A Case Study In Orange And Kiwi Orchards, Anastasios Mazis, Vassilis Litskas, Dimitrios P. Platis, Georgios .. Menexes, Christos D. Anagnostopoulos, Aggeliki Tsaboula, Andreas P. Mamolos, Kiriaki L. Kalburtji

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The development of agriculture is linked to energy resources. Consequently, energy analysis in agroecosystems could be a useful tool for monitoring some measures in the agricultural sector to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The objectives of this study were to (a) evaluate differences of energy indices in orange and kiwi orchards, and (b) point out whether inputs, outputs, efficiency, productivity, and carbon footprint can play a key role in crop replacement. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to select 26 orchards (10 oranges, 16 kiwis) from the Prefecture of Arta, western Greece, during 2015 and 2016. Univariate statistical methods were combined …

Protocol For Monitoring Aquatic Invertebrates Of Small Streams In The Heartland Inventory & Monitoring Network, Version 2.1, David E. Bowles, Michael H. Williams, Hope R. Dodd, Lloyd W. Morrison, Janice A. Hinsey, J. Tyler Cribbs, Gareth A. Rowell, Michael D. Debecker, Jennifer L. Haack-Gaynor, Jeffrey M. Williams

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network (HTLN) is a component of the National Park Service’s (NPS) strategy to improve park management through greater reliance on scientific information. The purposes of this program are to design and implement long-term ecological monitoring and provide information for park managers to evaluate the integrity of park ecosystems and better understand ecosystem processes. Concerns over declining surface water quality have led to the development of various monitoring approaches to assess stream water quality. Freshwater streams in network parks are threatened by numerous stressors, most of which originate outside park boundaries. Stream condition and …

Production Of Embryos And A Live Offspring Using Post Mortem Reproductive Material From Bison (Bison Bison Bison) Originating In Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Hayley M. Benham, Matthew P. Mccollum, Pauline Nol, Rebecca K. Frey, P. Ryan Clarke, Jack C. Rhyan, Jennifer P. Barfield

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bison from Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have an important genetic history. As one of the few wild herds of bison with no evidence of cattle DNA introgression and a large enough population to maintain genetic diversity, they are considered a conservation priority for the species. Unfortunately, there is a high prevalence of the zoonotic disease brucellosis in the herd. Part of the management strategy for controlling the disease and herd size in YNP is to remove bison from the population during the winter migration out of the park. This interagency management cull provides an opportunity to collect a large number …

Dispersal And Land Cover Contribute To Pseudorabies Virus Exposure In Invasive Wild Pigs, Felipe A. Hernandez, Amanda N. Carr, Michael P. Milleson, Hunter R. Merrill, Michael L. Avery, Brandon M. Parker, Cortney L. Pylant, James D. Austin, Samantha M. Wisely

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We investigated the landscape epidemiology of a globally distributed mammal, the wild pig (Sus scrofa), in Florida (U.S.), where it is considered an invasive species and reservoir to pathogens that impact the health of people, domestic animals, and wildlife. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that two commonly cited factors in disease transmission, connectivity among populations and abundant resources, would increase the likelihood of exposure to both pseudorabies virus (PrV) and Brucella spp. (bacterial agent of brucellosis) in wild pigs across the Kissimmee Valley of Florida. Using DNA from 348 wild pigs and sera from 320 individuals at 24 sites, we …

Red Imported Fire Ants Reduce Invertebrate Abundance, Richness, And Diversity In Gopher Tortoise Burrows, Deborah M. Epperson, Craig R. Allen, Katharine F. E. Hogan

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrows support diverse commensal invertebrate communities that may be of special conservation interest. We investigated the impact of red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) on the invertebrate burrow community at 10 study sites in southern Mis- sissippi, sampling burrows (1998–2000) before and after bait treatments to reduce fire ant populations. We sampled invertebrates using an ant bait attractant for ants and burrow vacuums for the broader invertebrate community and calculated fire ant abundance, invertebrate abundance, species richness, and species diversity. Fire ant abundance in gopher tortoise burrows was reduced by >98% in treated sites. There was …

Comment On: “A Review Of The Complementary Principle Of Evaporation: From The Original Linear Relationship To Generalized Nonlinear Functions” By Han And Tian (2020), Richard D. Crago, Jozsef Szilagyi, Russell Qualls

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The paper by Han and Tian (2020) reviews the history of developments in the complementary relationship (CR) between actual and potential evaporation and introduces the generalized complementary principle (GCP) developed by the authors. This comment assesses whether the GCP: (1) can give reasonable results from a wide range of surfaces worldwide; (2) is supported by experimental data that verify the three stages of evaporation implicit in the GCP, particularly in the wet-surface limit; (3) has been proven to be correct by the authors in a previous paper; and (4) is supported by model studies showing that wet surfaces occur predominantly …

Is Hay For The Birds? Investigating Landowner Willingness To Time Hay Harvests For Grassland Bird Conservation, Matthew P. Gruntorad, Katherine A. Graham, Nico Arcilla, Christopher J. Chizinski

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Birds in agricultural environments have exhibited steep global population declines in recent decades, and effective conservation strategies targeting their populations are urgently needed. In grasslands used for hay production, breeding birds’ nest success improves substantially if hay harvests are delayed until after mid-July. However, few studies have investigated private hay producers’ willingness to alter their harvesting practices to support bird conservation, a critical factor for bird conservation where most land is privately owned, such as in the North American Great Plains. We surveyed Nebraska hay producers to examine whether livestock production, wildlife knowledge, and hunting activity affects their willingness to …

A Unified Vegetation Index For Quantifying The Terrestrial Biosphere, Gustau Camps-Valls, Manuel Campos-Taberner, Alvaro Moreno-Martinez, Sophia Walther, Gregory Duveiller, Alessandro Cescatti, Miguel D. Mahecha, Jordi Munoz-Mari, Francisco Javier Garcia-Haro, Luis Guanter, Martin Jung, John A. Gamon, Markus Reichstein, Steven W. Running

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Empirical vegetation indices derived from spectral reflectance data are widely used in remote sensing of the biosphere, as they represent robust proxies for canopy structure, leaf pigment content, and, subsequently, plant photosynthetic potential. Here, we generalize the broad family of commonly used vegetation indices by exploiting all higher-order relations between the spectral channels involved. This results in a higher sensitivity to vegetation biophysical and physiological parameters. The presented nonlinear generalization of the celebrated normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) consistently improves accuracy in monitoring key parameters, such as leaf area index, gross primary productivity, and sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Results suggest that …

Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (Pfas) Transport From Groundwater To Streams Near A Pfas Manufacturing Facility In North Carolina, Usa, Marie-Amélie Pétré, David P. Genereux, Lydia Koropeckyj-Cox, Detlef R.U. Knappe, Sandrine Duboscq, Troy E. Gilmore, Zachary R. Hopkins

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We quantified per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) transport from groundwater to five tributaries of the Cape Fear River near a PFAS manufacturing facility in North Carolina (USA). Hydrologic and PFAS data were coupled to quantify PFAS fluxes from groundwater to the tributaries. Up to 29 PFAS were analyzed, including perfluoroalkyl acids and recently identified fluoroethers. Total quantified PFAS (ΣPFAS) in groundwater was 20−4773 ng/L (mean = 1863 ng/L); the range for stream water was 426−3617 ng/L (mean = 1717 ng/L). Eight PFAS constituted 98% of ΣPFAS; perfluoro-2-(perfluoromethoxy)propanoic acid (PMPA) and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX) accounted for 61%. For PFAS …

Combining Uav-Rgb High-Throughput Field Phenotyping And Genome-Wide Association Study To Reveal Genetic Variation Of Rice Germplasms In Dynamic Response To Drought Stress, Zhao Jiang, Haifu Tu, Baowei Bai, Chenghai Yang, Biquan Zhao, Ziyue Guo, Qian Liu, Hu Zhao, Wanneng Yang, Lizhong Xiong, Jian Zhang

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Accurate and high-throughput phenotyping of the dynamic response of a large rice population to drought stress in the field is a bottleneck for genetic dissection and breeding of drought resistance.

Here, high-efficiency and high-frequent image acquisition by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was utilized to quantify the dynamic drought response of a rice population under field conditions. Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) and canopy height models were applied to extract highly correlated phenotypic traits including UAV-based leaf-rolling score (LRS_uav), plant water content (PWC_uav) and a new composite trait, drought resistance index by UAV (DRI_uav).

The DCNNs achieved high accuracy (correlation …

Ecophysio-Optical Traits Of Semiarid Nebraska Grasslands Under Different Juniperus Virginiana And Pinus Ponderosa Canopy Covers, Anastasios Mazis, Julie A. Fowler, Jeremy Hiller, Yuzhen Zhou, Brian Wardlow, David A. Wedin, Tala Awada

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Despite conservation efforts in the U.S. Great Plains, woody species have continued to expand at an unprecedented rate, threatening key ecosystem services and resilience. Cross-scale monitoring of these grasslands is key to successful integrative management strategies. In this study we measured plant optical traits derived from hyperspectral proximal sensing techniques with a field spectrometer, coupled with field-based measurements, including fluorescence and chlorophyll content, to determine the impacts of Juniperus virginiana and Pinus ponderosa expansion on grasslands health in Nebraska Sandhills, and investigated the use of optical-based approaches as indicators of successful monitoring of grasslands. Our results showed that higher woody …

Differentiating Early From Later Diagenesis Cretaceous Sandstone And Petroleum Reservoir Of The Cedar Mountain Formation In Utah, C. Robertson, G.A. Ludvigson, R.M. Joeckel, S. Mohammadi, J.I. Kirkland

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Well Do U.S. Western Water Markets Convey Economic Information, R. Rimsaite, K. Fisher-Vanden, S. Olmstead, D. Grogan

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Satellite-Based Assessment Of The Relative Contribution Of Hydroclimatic Variables On Vegetation Growth In Global Agricultural And Non-Agricultural Regions, Akarsh Asoka, Brian Wardlow, Tsegaye Tadesse, Matthew Huber, Vimal Mishra

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Vegetation growth plays a crucial role in the carbon cycle and climate change mitigation. However, the relative contribution of hydroclimatic variables (relative humidity, terrestrial water storage, day and night-time land surface temperatures) on vegetation growth of agricultural and nonagricultural areas at the global scale remains unexplored. Using satellite-based datasets, we examined the changes in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the four hydroclimatic variables during 2003–2014. Also, the relative contribution of the four hydroclimatic variables on vegetation growth in agricultural and nonagricultural areas was estimated. A significant (p-value < 0.05) greening has occurred in the agricultural regions of India and Brazil during 2003–2014. Whereas in nonagriculture areas, a considerable greening occurred only in India and China during the 2003–2014 period. Among the four hydroclimatic variables, both day-time and night-time land surface temperature are the significant contributors of vegetation growth in the two-thirds of the global landmass. Terrestrial water storage is a substantial contributor to the vegetation growth in the tropics and subtropics. Night-time land surface temperature is strongly associated with the vegetation growth in the colder regions. The hydroclimatic variables do not explain the considerable amount of the total variance of vegetation growth over the agricultural areas in China, which is due to human agricultural management practices. Generally, the response of hydroclimate variables on vegetation growth in the agricultural and nonagricultural areas has significant implications in many areas, including food security, carbon sequestration, water resource management, and climate change.

Assessing The Value Extension Adds To Decision Making Among Natural Resource Leaders, R. Rimsaite, M. Kreye

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Guiding Principles For Using Satellite-Derived Maps In Rangeland Management, B.W. Allred, M.K. Creutzburg, J.C. Carlson, C.J. Cole, C.M. Dovichin, M.C. Duniway, O. Jones, J.D. Maestas, D.E. Naugle, T.W. Nauman, G.S. Okin, M.C. Reeves, Matthew C. Rigge, L. Savage, Dirac Twidwell, D.R. Uden, B. Zhou

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Landsat Predictions Of Rangeland Fractional Cover With Multi-Task Learning And Uncertainty, B.W. Allred, B. Bestelmeyer, C.S. Boyd, C. Brown, K.W. Davies, M. Ellsworth, T. Erickson, S.D. Fuhlendorf, T.V. Griffiths, V. Jansen, M.O. Jones, J. Karl, A. Knight, J.D. Maestas, J.J. Maynard, S.E. Mccord, D.E. Naugle, H.D. Starns, D. Twidwell, D.R. Uden

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Tracking Spatial Regimes As An Early Warning For A Species Of Conservation Concern, C.P. Roberts, D.R. Uden, S.M. Cady, B.W. Allred, S.D. Fuhlendorf, M.O. Jones, J.D. Maestas, D.E. Naugle, A.C. Olsen, J. Smith, J. Tack, D. Twidwell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Iterative Scenarios For Social-Ecological Systems, D. Herrmann, K. Schwarz, C. Allen, D. Angeler, T. Eason, A. Garmestani

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Boundary Spanning: Its Role In Trust Development Between Stakeholders In Integrated Water Resource Management, Jodi Lynn Delozier, Mark E. Burbach

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This study sheds light on the importance of boundary spanners in developing the conditions that foster trust between stakeholders in integrated water resource management (IWRM). Boundary spanners routinely reach across organizational borders to build interconnections and interdependencies in order to manage complex problems, inform policy, and encourage knowledge sharing. The importance of the boundary spanning role has been shown in organizational business practices, urban planning, and higher education yet little research exists on its impact in IWRM. The mixed methods approach used in this study involved surveying and interviewing individuals with previous experience with IWRM in Nebraska. The results of …

Challenges And Opportunities For Agroforestry Practitioners To Participate In State Preferential Property Tax Programs For Agriculture And Forestry, Stephanie Chizmar, Rajan Parajuli, Gregory E. Frey, Robert E. Bardon, Robert Andrew Branan, Katherine Macfarland, Matthew Smith, Lord Ameyaw

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

All 50 states offer preferential property tax programs that lower the taxes paid on enrolled agricultural and/or forest lands. While agroforestry is a land-use that combines elements of both agriculture and forestry, eligibility criteria and other rules and regulations may prevent landowners from enrolling agroforestry practices in one or more of the agricultural and forestry tax programs. This pilot-scale study developed conceptual and methodological frameworks to identify the current barriers to and opportunities in preferential tax policies applicable to agroforestry practices. We conducted an extensive review of state preferential property tax programs relevant for agroforestry practices, following focus group discussions …