Publications
Explore WARC's science publications.
Filter Total Items: 3386
Quantifying changes to infaunal communities associated with several deep-sea coral habitats in the Gulf of Mexico and their potential recovery from the DWH oil spill
Extensive information is available about infaunal soft-sediment communities in the Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) (Pequegnat et al. 1990, Rowe and Kennicutt II 2009, Wei et al. 2010), particularly from the large-scale sampling effort of the Deep Gulf of Mexico Benthos (DGOMB) project in the early 2000s (Rowe and Kennicutt II 2009). Infaunal soft-sediment communities in the northern Gulf differ by geographi
Authors
Jill R. Bourque, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
Scientist’s guide to developing explanatory statistical models using causal analysis principles
Recent discussions of model selection and multimodel inference highlight a general challenge for researchers, which is how to clearly convey the explanatory content of a hypothesized model or set of competing models. The advice from statisticians for scientists employing multimodel inference is to develop a well‐thought‐out set of candidate models for comparison, though precise instructions for ho
Authors
James B. Grace, Kathryn Irvine
Plot Locator: An app for locating plots in the field
PREMISE: One of the challenges in field biology is locating previously sampled plots. The Plot Locator app was developed to assist field biologists with plot identification and location, with or without GPS or online connectivity. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Plot Locator Android app helps users locate field plots by creating a searchable database that stores study area information, such as site/plot
Authors
Jere Boudell, Beth Middleton
Using maintenance records from a long-term sensor monitoring network to evaluate the relationship between maintenance schedule and data quality
Sensor-based environmental monitoring networks are beginning to provide the large-scale, long-term data required to address important fundamental and applied questions in ecology. However, the data quality from deployed sensors can be difficult and costly to ensure. In this study, we use maintenance records from the 12-year history of Louisiana’s Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) to ass
Authors
Donald Schoolmaster, Sarai Piazza
Simulation of post-hurricane impact on invasive species with biological control management
Understanding the effects of hurricanes and other large storms on ecological communities and the post-event recovery in these communities can guide management and ecosystem restoration. This is particularly important for communities impacted by invasive species, as the hurricane may affect control efforts. Here we consider the effect of a hurricane on tree communities in southern Florida that has
Authors
Linhao Xu, Marya Claire Zdechlik, Melissa C. Smith, Min B. Rayamajhi, Don DeAngelis, Bo Zhang
Traveling to thermal refuges during stressful temperatures leads to foraging constraints in a central-place forager
Central-place foragers can be constrained by the distance between habitats. When an organism relies on a central place for thermal refuge, the distance to food resources can potentially constrain foraging behavior. We investigated the effect of distance between thermal refuges and forage patches of the cold-intolerant marine mammal, the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), on foraging
Authors
Catherine G. Haase, Robert J. Fletcher, Daniel H. Slone, James P. Reid, Susan M. Butler
Response of tidal marsh vegetation to pulsed increases in flooding and nitrogen
Worldwide, human activities have modified hydrology and nutrient loading regimes in coastal wetlands. Understanding the interplay between these drivers and subsequent response of wetland plant communities is essential to informing wetland management and restoration efforts. Recent restoration strategies in Louisiana proposes to use sediment diversions from the Mississippi River to build land in ad
Authors
Meagan M McCoy, Taylor M Sloey, Rebecca J. Howard, Mark W. Hester
A comparison of the Trojan Y Chromosome strategy to harvesting models for eradication of nonnative species
The Trojan Y Chromosome strategy (TYC) is a promising eradication method for biological control of nonnative species. The strategy works by manipulating the sex ratio of a population through the introduction of supermales that guarantee male offspring. In the current study, we compare the TYC method with a pure harvesting strategy. We also analyze a hybrid harvesting model that mirrors the TYC str
Authors
Jingjing Lyu, Pamela J. Schofield, Kristen Reaver, Matthew Beauregard, Rana D. Parshad
Comparing live-capture methods for nutria: single- versus multiple-capture cage traps
Herbivory and burrowing by nutria (Myocastor coypus) cause substantial ecological
and economic damage. Trapping is a common, effective practice for reducing nutria damage;
however, trapping approaches must continually be adapted to keep pace with evolving animal
welfare and ethical issues and to more effectively target pest species of interest. Our objective
was to evaluate the efficacy of 2 nonle
Authors
Trevor R. Sheffels, Jacoby Carter, Mark S. Sytsma, Jimmy D. Taylor
Asian swamp eels in North America linked to the live-food trade and prayer-release rituals
We provide a history of swamp eel (family Synbranchidae) introductions around the globe and report the first confirmed nonindigenous records of Amphipnous cuchia in the wild. The species, native to Asia, is documented from five sites in the USA: the Passaic River, New Jersey (2007), Lake Needwood, Maryland (2014), a stream in Pennsylvania (2015), the Tittabawassee River, Michigan (2017), and Meado
Authors
Leo Nico, Jay V. Kilian, Andrew J. Ropicki, Matthew Harper
Mathematical ecologists describe apparently long-stable dynamics that undergo sudden change to a different regime: Comment on “Long transients in ecology: theory and applications by Andrew Morozov et al.”
No abstract available.
Authors
Donald L. DeAngelis
Dispersal asymmetry in a two-patch system with source–sink populations
This paper analyzes source–sink systems with asymmetric dispersal between two patches. Complete analysis on the models demonstrates a mechanism by which the dispersal asymmetry can lead to either an increased total size of the species population in two patches, a decreased total size with persistence in the patches, or even extinction in both patches. For a large growth rate of the species in the
Authors
Hong Wu, Yuanshi Wang, Yufeng Li, Donald L. DeAngelis