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Publications

Filter Total Items: 1994

Flow regime, temperature, and biotic interactions drive differential declines of trout species under climate change

Broad-scale studies of climate change effects on freshwater species have focused mainly on temperature, ignoring critical drivers such as flow regime and biotic interactions. We use downscaled outputs from general circulation models coupled with a hydrologic model to forecast the effects of altered flows and increased temperatures on four interacting species of trout across the interior western Un
Authors
S.J. Wenger, D.J. Isaak, C.H. Luce, H.M. Neville, K.D. Fausch, J. B. Dunham, D.C. Dauwalter, M.K. Young, M.M. Elsner, B.E. Rieman, A.F. Hamlet, J.E. Williams

Temperature-associated population diversity in salmon confers benefits to mobile consumers

Habitat heterogeneity can generate intraspecific diversity through local adaptation of populations. While it is becoming increasingly clear that population diversity can increase stability in species abundance, less is known about how population diversity can benefit consumers that can integrate across population diversity in their prey. Here we demonstrate cascading effects of thermal heterogenei
Authors
Casey P. Ruff, Daniel E. Schindle, Jonathan B. Armstrong, Kale T. Bentle, Gabriel T. Brooks, Gordon W. Holtgrieve, Molly T. McGlauflin, Christian E. Torgersen, James E. Seeb

Persistent effects of wildfire and debris flows on the invertebrate prey base of rainbow trout in Idaho streams

Wildfire and debris flows are important physical and ecological drivers in headwater streams of western North America. Past research has primarily examined short-term effects of these disturbances; less is known about longer-term impacts. We investigated wildfire effects on the invertebrate prey base for drift-feeding rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, Walbaum) in Idaho headwater streams a decade
Authors
A.E. Rosenberger, J. B. Dunham, J.M. Buffington, M.S. Wipfli

Developing effective sampling designs for monitoring natural resources in Alaskan national parks: an example using simulations and vegetation data

Monitoring natural resources in Alaskan national parks is challenging because of their remoteness, limited accessibility, and high sampling costs. We describe an iterative, three-phased process for developing sampling designs based on our efforts to establish a vegetation monitoring program in southwest Alaska. In the first phase, we defined a sampling frame based on land ownership and specific ve
Authors
William L. Thompson, Amy E. Miller, Dorothy C. Mortenson, Andrea Woodward

The influence of stream channels on distributions of Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa in the Mojave Desert, CA, USA: Patterns, mechanisms and effects of stream redistribution

Drainage channels are among the most conspicuous surficial features of deserts, but little quantitative analysis of their influence on plant distributions is available. We analysed the effects of desert stream channels (‘washes’) on Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa density and cover on an alluvial piedmont in the Mojave Desert, based on a spatial analysis of transect data encompassing a total
Authors
S. Schwinning, D.R. Sandquist, D. M. Miller, D. R. Bedford, S. L. Phillips, J. Belnap

Effects of nitrogen deposition and empirical nitrogen critical loads for ecoregions of the United States

Human activity in the last century has led to a significant increase in nitrogen (N) emissions and atmospheric deposition. This N deposition has reached a level that has caused or is likely to cause alterations to the structure and function of many ecosystems across the United States. One approach for quantifying the deposition of pollution that would be harmful to ecosystems is the determination
Authors
L.H. Pardo, M.E. Fenn, C.L. Goodale, L.H. Geiser, C. T. Driscoll, E.B. Allen, Jill Baron, R. Bobbink, W.D. Bowman, C.M. Clark, B. Emmett, F.S. Gilliam, T.L. Greaver, S.J. Hall, E.A. Lilleskov, L. Liu, J.A. Lynch, K.J. Nadelhoffer, S.S. Perakis, M. J. Robin-Abbott, J.L. Stoddard, K.C. Weathers, R.L. Dennis

Decomposition of heterogeneous organic matter and its long-term stabilization in soils

Soil organic matter is a complex mixture of material with heterogeneous biological, physical, and chemical properties. Decomposition models represent this heterogeneity either as a set of discrete pools with different residence times or as a continuum of qualities. It is unclear though, whether these two different approaches yield comparable predictions of organic matter dynamics. Here, we compare
Authors
C.A. Sierra, M. E. Harmon, Steven Perakis

Seasonal movements and environmental triggers to fall migration of Sage Sparrows

Post-breeding ecology of shrubland passerines prior to onset of migration is unknown relative to dynamics of breeding areas. We radiomarked and monitored 38 Sage Sparrows (Amphispiza belli ssp. nevadensis) at one site in Oregon and two in Nevada from September to mid-November 2007 to track local movements, estimate seasonal range sizes, and characterize weather patterns triggering onset of migrati
Authors
K.A. Fesenmyer, S.T. Knick

Preening behavior of adult gyrfalcons tagged with backpack transmitters

Radio transmitters provide data that enhance understanding of raptor biology (Walls and Kenward 2007) and are now used to answer a multitude of research questions (Meyburg and Fuller 2007). However, transmitters affect the birds that carry them (Barron et al. 2010), and it is important to document and evaluate such effects (Casper 2009). For example, decreased survival has been documented in Prair
Authors
T.L. Booms, P.F. Schempf, M.R. Fuller

Non-native species impacts on pond occupancy by an anuran

Non-native fish and bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) are frequently cited as contributing to the decline of ranid frogs in the western United States, so we hypothesized that non-native species, habitat, or a combination of these relate to the probability of local extinction for northern red-legged frogs (Rana aurora) in Oregon, USA. We also hypothesized that the probability of colonization rela
Authors
Michael J. Adams, Christopher Pearl, Stephanie Galvan, Brome McCreary

Factors associated with extirpation of sage-grouse

Geographic ranges of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and Gunnison Sage-Grouse (C. minimus) have contracted across large areas in response to habitat loss and detrimental land uses. However, quantitative analyses of the environmental factors most closely associated with range contraction have been lacking, results of which could be highly relevant to conservation planning. Consequen
Authors
Michael J. Wisdom, Cara W. Meinke, Steven T. Knick, Michael A. Schroeder

Chapter 3: Changes to the Wyoming Basins landscape from oil and natural gas development

Oil and natural gas have been produced in Wyoming since the late 1800s although the rate of extraction has increased substantially in the last two decades. Well pads, roads, and infrastructure built to support resource development alter native vegetation configuration; however, the rate and effect of land cover change resulting from oil and gas extraction has not been quantified across the region.
Authors
Sean P. Finn, Steven T. Knick