Significance Statements Communicate Our Science More Widely,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Significance Statements Communicate Our Science More Widely, Rezaul Mahmood
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) mission statement specifically calls for advancing ‘‘the atmospheric and related sciences . . . for the benefit of society.’’ To further the goal of communicating the importance of the science in our journals more widely, AMS is encouraging the inclusion in submitted papers of a ‘‘significance statement,’’ written in plain language and aimed at an educated layperson without formal training or education in the atmospheric and related sciences. As of 6 November 2020, Earth Interactions authors now have the option to include a significance statement with their submitted papers. A significance statement is an explanation …
Data Availability Principles And Practice,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Data Availability Principles And Practice, Rezaul Mahmood, Joseph A. Santanello, Xiaoyang Zhang
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Science requires evidence. Making data available lets other scientists confirm results, uncover errors, or find new insights. Moreover, gathering data can be expensive and time consuming. Since the same data can be used for a range of purposes, making data available can be an efficient use of limited research resources. Doing so can also improve traceability and, thus, accountability, when it comes to research findings. These reasons and more lie behind recent efforts to promote data availability. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) recently updated its data policy guidelines (https://www.ametsoc.org/ index.cfm/ams/publications/ethical-guidelines-and-ams-policies/data-policy-and-guidelines/) to require, among other things, that papers in its journals …
Loci Associated With Antibody Response In Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) Infected With Brucella Suis,
2020
USDA APHIS Wildlife Services
Loci Associated With Antibody Response In Feral Swine (Sus Scrofa) Infected With Brucella Suis, Courtney F. Pierce, Vienna R. Brown, Steven C. Olsen, Paola Boggiatto, Kerri Pedersen, Ryan S. Miller, Scott E. Speidel, Timothy J. Smyser
United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Feral swine (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species widespread throughout the United States that disrupt ecosystems, damage crops, and carry pathogens of concern for the health of domestic stock and humans including Brucella suis—the causative organism for swine brucellosis. In domestic swine, brucellosis results in reproductive failure due to abortions and infertility. Contact with infected feral swine poses spillover risks to domestic pigs as well as humans, companion animals, wildlife, and other livestock. Genetic factors influence the outcome of infectious diseases; therefore, genome wide association studies (GWAS) of differential immune responses among feral swine can provide …
A Review Of Avian Influenza A Virus Associations In Synanthropic Birds,
2020
USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research Center
A Review Of Avian Influenza A Virus Associations In Synanthropic Birds, Susan A. Shriner, J. Jeffrey Root
United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Avian influenza A viruses (IAV) have received significant attention due to the threat they pose to human, livestock, and wildlife health. In this review, we focus on what is known about IAV dynamics in less common avian species that may play a role in trafficking IAVs to poultry operations. Specifically, we focus on synanthropic bird species. Synanthropic species, otherwise known as peridomestic, are species that are ecologically associated with humans and anthropogenically modified landscapes, such as agricultural and urban areas. Aquatic birds such as waterfowl and shorebirds are the species most commonly associated with avian IAVs, and are generally considered …
Satellite-Based Monitoring Of Irrigation Water Use: Assessing Measurement Errors And Their Implications For Agricultural Water Management Policy,
2020
University of Manchester
Satellite-Based Monitoring Of Irrigation Water Use: Assessing Measurement Errors And Their Implications For Agricultural Water Management Policy, T. Foster, Taro Mieno, Nicholas Brozovic
Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications
Reliable accounting of agricultural water use is critical for sustainable water management. However, the majority of agricultural water use is not monitored, with limited metering of irrigation despite increasing pressure on both groundwater and surface water resources in many agricultural regions worldwide. Satellite remote sensing has been proposed as a low-cost and scalable solution to fill widespread gaps in monitoring of irrigation water use in both developed and developing countries, bypassing the technical, socioeconomic, and political challenges that to date have constrained in situ metering. In this paper, we show through a systematic meta-analysis that the relative accuracy of different …
Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem,
2020
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts In The Kenya Greater Tsavo Ecosystem, Joseph M. Mukeka, Joseph O. Ogutu, Erustus Kanga, Eivin Røskaft
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Biodiversity conservation in developing countries is faced with many and mounting challenges, including increasing human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs). In Africa and other developing countries, increasing HWCs, particularly those adjacent to protected areas, can adversely affect local stakeholder perceptions and support for conservation. We analyzed HWC reports for multiple wildlife species compiled >23 years (1995–2017) from the Greater Tsavo Ecosystem (GTE) in Kenya to determine HWC trends. The GTE is the largest protected area in Kenya, covering 22,681 km2. Overall, 39,022 HWC incidents were reported in 6 GTE regions (i.e., Taveta, Mutomo, Kibwezi, Rombo, Galana, Bachuma). The 5 wildlife species …
Indigenous Guardianship And Moose Monitoring: Weaving Indigenous And Western Ways Of Knowing,
2020
Mount Allison University
Indigenous Guardianship And Moose Monitoring: Weaving Indigenous And Western Ways Of Knowing, Jesse N. Popp, Pauline Priadka, Megan Young, Kevin Koch, James Morgan
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Increasing global rates of wildlife species extinctions, extirpations, and declines warrant improvements to population monitoring and management approaches. To address regional environmental and wildlife issues, Indigenous communities globally are re-establishing traditional roles as stewards of the land through emerging Indigenous Guardianship Programs (IGPs). By providing the opportunity for community-level participation in monitoring and management, IGPs help foster cohesive solutions for long-term conservation of species while promoting environmental stewardship at the community level. Addressing challenges in monitoring and management of wildlife is especially critical for species that are of cultural and ecological importance at both community and distribution-wide scales. Herein, we …
Resource Selection At Homesites By Wolves And Eastern Coyotes In A Canis Hybrid Zone,
2020
University of Ljubljana
Resource Selection At Homesites By Wolves And Eastern Coyotes In A Canis Hybrid Zone, Teresa Oliveira, John F. Benson, Connor Thompson, Brent R. Patterson
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
We modeled resource selection by wolves (Canis spp.), eastern coyotes (C. latrans), and admixed canids during the pup-rearing season at den and rendezvous sites (collectively, homesites) within a largely unprotected landscape proposed as the recovery zone for federally and provincially threatened eastern wolves (C. lycaon) in Ontario, Canada. Overall, canids selected wetlands, while avoiding secondary roads and open-structure rock-grass habitat patches. Packs with greater wolf ancestry selected wetlands and tertiary roads more strongly, while avoiding mixed conifer-hardwood forests. Contrary to our prediction, canids with greater coyote ancestry did not establish homesites closer to roads, which likely mitigated their risk of …
Developing A Model Of Graduate Teaching Assistant Teacher Efficacy: How Do High And Low Teacher Efficacy Teaching Assistants Compare?,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Developing A Model Of Graduate Teaching Assistant Teacher Efficacy: How Do High And Low Teacher Efficacy Teaching Assistants Compare?, Cody R. Smith, Cesar Delgado
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Graduate teaching assistants (TAs) are often responsible for teaching introductory courses to undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students. The TAs are usually novices at teaching, and an important factor in their resilience and persistence in the face of inevitable challenges is self-efficacy. Little is known about what affects TA teacher efficacy or whether and how high- and low-efficacy TAs differ in their development as teachers. Bridging these gaps in the literature will inform best practices in developing and implementing professional development (PD) for TAs. Using a mixed-methods sequential exploratory research design, this study found differences in high- and low-efficacy …
A Profile Shape Correction To Reduce The Vertical Sensitivity Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing Of Soil Moisture,
2020
Institute of Environmental Science and Geography, University of Potsdam, Germany
A Profile Shape Correction To Reduce The Vertical Sensitivity Of Cosmic-Ray Neutron Sensing Of Soil Moisture, Lena M. Scheiffele, Gabriele Baroni, Trenton E. Franz, Jannis Jakobi, Sascha E. Oswald
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
n recent years, cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has shown a large potential among proximal sensing techniques to monitor soil moisture noninvasively, with high frequency and a large support volume (radius up to 240 m and sensing depth up to 80 cm). This signal is, however, more sensitive to closer distances and shallower depths. Inherently, CRNS-derived soil moisture is a spatially weighted value, different from an average soil moisture as retrieved by a sensor network. In this study, we systematically test a new profile shape correction on CRNS-derived soil moisture, based on additional soil moisture profile measurements and vertical unweighting, which …
Tools, Techniques And Teamwork: Transferring New Technologies For Wildlife Management,
Conservation And Economic Development,
2020
USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
Tools, Techniques And Teamwork: Transferring New Technologies For Wildlife Management, Conservation And Economic Development, John Eisemann, Gail Keirn
United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Did you ever wonder who invented radio telemetry? Or breakaway snares? What about the bird repellent methyl anthranilate or the livestock protection collar? These and many other tools used in wildlife damage management resulted from creative thinking by biologists, technicians, researchers and managers working to solve complex wildlife issues. Over the past 90 years, these “aha moments” within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program have ranged from developing novel scare devices, traps and vaccines to exploiting an animal’s visual capabilities to stop unwanted behaviors. Once discovered, these unique ideas may lead to practical, feasible and cost-effective wildlife damage …
An Open-Sourced, Web-Based Application To Improve Our Ability To Understand Hunter And Angler Purchasing Behavior From License Data,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
An Open-Sourced, Web-Based Application To Improve Our Ability To Understand Hunter And Angler Purchasing Behavior From License Data, Nathaniel B. Price, Christopher J. Chizinski, Joseph J. Fontaine, Kevin L. Pope, Micaela Rahe, Jeff Rawlinson
Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications
State fish and wildlife agencies rely on hunters and anglers (i.e., sportspersons) to fund management actions through revenue generated from license sales and excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment. There is a need to develop new techniques that bridge the information gap on participation and provide agencies with an understanding of sportspersons at a resolution that can more directly inform efforts to engage sportspersons. Monitoring sportsperson participation using information about their license-purchasing behavior has the potential to reveal important patterns in recruitment (first-time purchase of a hunting or fishing license), retention (continued purchase of licenses across multiple years), and …
Droughtscape, Fall 2020,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Droughtscape, Fall 2020, National Drought Mitigation Center
DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)
DroughtScape, Fall 2020
Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling,
2020
USDA-ARS NWRC
Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French
United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Studying physiologic stress responses can assist in understanding the welfare of animals. One method of measuring the physiologic stress response is evaluating concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites in feces. Previously, using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we found fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were a reliable indicator of physiologic stress response in coyotes (Canis latrans). We determine whether glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations remain stable when collecting feces over a 2-week period, a timeframe commonly used in scat surveys for wild canids. We collected feces from 6 captive coyotes maintained at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Predator …
Interests And Priorities In Sockeye Salmon Management: How Are Policies Enacted And Interpreted On Three Alaskan Rivers?,
2020
Portland State University
Interests And Priorities In Sockeye Salmon Management: How Are Policies Enacted And Interpreted On Three Alaskan Rivers?, Jake P. Palazzi
University Honors Theses
The large export abundance of Alaskan salmon is well documented, and many studies have been performed to assess the economic and environmental viability of the industry and its management. Less research has been done to characterize how state intentions regarding fisheries allocation are conceived of by management or perceived by vulnerable groups in the user pool. This study seeks to qualitatively characterize the disconnect between state and Native Alaskan perceptions of management effectiveness, public interest, and Native Alaskan involvement using interviews. Results showed that Native Alaskan and state manager respondents had very different perceptions of management effectiveness and equity. When …
Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling,
2020
US Department of Agriculture
Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French
Human–Wildlife Interactions
Studying physiologic stress responses can assist in understanding the welfare of animals. One method of measuring the physiologic stress response is evaluating concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites in feces. Previously, using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we found fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were a reliable indicator of physiologic stress response in coyotes (Canis latrans). We determine whether glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations remain stable when collecting feces over a 2-week period, a timeframe commonly used in scat surveys for wild canids. We collected feces from 6 captive coyotes maintained at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Predator …
Operationalising Digital Soil Mapping – Lessons From Australia,
2020
Department of Primary Industries Parks Water and Environment Tasmania
Operationalising Digital Soil Mapping – Lessons From Australia, Darren Kidd, Ross Searle, Mike Grundy, Alex Mcbratney, Nathan Robinson, Lauren O'Brien, Peter Zund, Dominique Arrouays, Mark Thomas, José Padarian, Edward Jones, John Mclean Bennett, Budiman Minasny, Karen Holmes, Brendan P. Malone, Craig Liddicoat, Elizabeth A. Meier, Uta Stockmann, Peter Wilson, John Wilford, Jim Payne, Anthony Ringrose-Voase, Brian Slater, Nathan Odgers, Jonathon Gray, Dennis Van Gool, Kaitlyn Andrews, Ben Harms, Liz Stower, John Triantafilis
Natural Resources Research Articles
Australia has advanced the science and application of Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Over the past decade, DSM in Australia has evolved from being purely research focused to become ‘operational’, where it is embedded into many soil-agency land resource assessment programs around the country. This has resulted from a series of ‘drivers’, such as an increased need for better quality and more complete soil information, and ‘enablers’, such as existing soil information systems, covariate development, serendipitous project funding, collaborations, and Australian DSM ‘champions’. However, these accomplishments were not met without some barriers along the way, such as a need to demonstrate …
Effects Of Riparian Deforestation On Benthic Invertebrate Community And Leaf Processing In Atlantic Forest Streams,
2020
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Effects Of Riparian Deforestation On Benthic Invertebrate Community And Leaf Processing In Atlantic Forest Streams, Monalisa Silva-Araujo, Eduardo F. Silva-Junior, Vinicius Neres-Lima, Rafael Feijo-Lima, Flavia Tromboni, Christine Lourenco-Amorim, Steven A. Thomas, Timothy P. Moulton
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Riparian deforestation may strongly affect stream functioning, with consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem services. These effects can be assessed using bioindicators relating to biotic community structure and ecosystem functioning. We evaluated the effects of riparian deforestation on 1. measures of community structure using aquatic benthic invertebrates, and 2. an aspect of ecosystem functioning, aquatic leaf processing. We selected sites along gradients of riparian land use in four Atlantic rainforest streams and measured physical and chemical properties for their association with riparian deforestation. We sampled benthic invertebrates and calculated metrics of community structure at each site. We measured rates of leaf …
Dynamic Scaling Of The Generalized Complementary Relationship (Gcr) Improves Long-Term Tendency Estimates In Land Evaporation,
2020
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dynamic Scaling Of The Generalized Complementary Relationship (Gcr) Improves Long-Term Tendency Estimates In Land Evaporation, Jozsef Szilagyi, Richard Crago, Ning Ma
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Most large-scale evapotranspiration (ET) estimation methods require detailed information of land use, land cover, and/or soil type on top of various atmospheric measurements. The complementary relationship of evaporation (CR) takes advantage of the inherent dynamic feedback mechanisms found in the soil−vegetation−atmosphere interface for its estimation of ET rates without the need of such biogeophysical data. ET estimates over the conterminous United States by a new, globally calibrated, static scaling (GCR-stat) of the generalized complementary relationship (GCR) of evaporation were compared to similar estimates of an existing, calibration-free version (GCR-dyn) of the GCR that employs a temporally varying dynamic scaling. Simplified …
Geochemical Characterization Of Base Metals In Stream Water And Sediments In The Caddo Lake Watershed, Cass, Harrison, And Marion Counties, Texas,
2020
Stephen F Austin State University
Geochemical Characterization Of Base Metals In Stream Water And Sediments In The Caddo Lake Watershed, Cass, Harrison, And Marion Counties, Texas, Melinda S. Faulkner, Melanie L. Ertons, Joseph D. Watkins
Faculty Publications
The Caddo Lake watershed is located in northeastern Texas and encompasses much of Cass, Harrison, and Marion counties. The watershed is drained by major streams and tributaries flowing in an easterly direction over Eocene-aged rocks and sediments of the Wilcox and Claiborne groups, and empty into the western arm of Caddo Lake. Since 1995, Caddo Lake and some of its tributaries have been included on the State of Texas Clean Water Act 303(d) list by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for impairment due to mercury content in edible tissue, depressed dissolved oxygen, base metal concentrations, and low pH …
