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Filter Total Items: 171122

Transporting timbers to Chaco Canyon: How heavy, how many carriers and how far/fast?

A total of 200,000+ large timbers were transported >75 km to Chaco Canyon, a political and religious center in the precontact U.S. Southwest, using only human power. Previous researchers reported that typical primary roof beams (vigas) of Chacoan Great Houses averaged 0.22 m in diameter and 5 m in length with a mass of 275 kg. However, the 275 kg mass appears to be a miscalculation. Here, we calcu
Authors
James A. Wilson, Robert S. Weiner, Jeffrey S. Dean, Julio L. Betancourt, Rodger Kram

Spatial and temporal variation of large wood in a coastal river

Large wood (LW) is a critical habitat-forming feature in rivers, but our understanding of its spatial and temporal dynamics remains incomplete due to its historical removal from waterways. Few studies have the necessary spatial and temporal extent and resolution to assess wood dynamics over long time periods or in response to flood disturbance. We used an exceptional dataset from 65 km of a free-f
Authors
Kimberly Yazzie, Christian E. Torgersen, Daniel Schindler, Gordon H. Reeves

Viscous relaxation of Oort and Edgeworth craters on Pluto: Possible indicators of an epoch of early high heat flow

Impact craters, with their well-defined initial shapes, have proven useful as heat flow probes of a number of icy bodies, provided characteristics of viscous relaxation can be identified. For Pluto's numerous craters, such identifications are hampered/complicated by infilling and erosion by mobile volatile ices, but not in every case. Large craters offer relatively deep probes of rheological struc
Authors
W. B. McKinnon, Michael T. Bland, K. Singer, P. M. Schenk, S. Robbins

Capsaicin-treated bait is ineffective in deterring non-target mammals from trap disturbance during invasive lizard control

Excluding non-target species from invasive species control efforts can be challenging due to non-target attraction to trap structure, baits, and lures. Various methods have been used to deter non-target species from entering or disturbing traps including altered features (e.g., mesh size, trip mechanism, or entrances), staking traps, and chemical deterrents. Invasive populations of Argentine Black
Authors
Lance D McBrayer, Daniel Haro, Michael Brennan, Bryan G. Falk, Amy A. Yackel Adams

Assessing environmental change associated with early Eocene hyperthermals in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, USA

Eocene transient global warming events (hyperthermals) can provide insight into a future warmer world. While much research has focused on the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), hyperthermals of a smaller magnitude can be used to characterize climatic responses over different magnitudes of forcing. This study identifies two events, namely the Eocene Thermal Maximum 2 (ETM2 and H2), in shallow
Authors
William Rush, Jean Self-Trail, Yan Zhan, Appy Sluijs, Henk Brinkhuis, James Zachos, James G. Ogg, Marci M. Robinson

Trace elements and consequent ecological risks in mining- influenced streams of Appalachia

Appalachian coal surface mines fracture geologic materials, causing release of both major ions and trace elements to water via accelerated weathering. When elevated above natural background, trace elements in streams may produce adverse effects to biota via direct exposure from water and sediment and via dietary exposure in food sources. Other studies have found elevated water concentrations of mu
Authors
Elyse V. Clark, David J. Soucek, Stephen H. Schoenholtz, Keridwen M. Whitmore, Carl E. Zipper

The International Volcanic Health Hazard Network (IVHHN): Reflections on 20 years of progress

No abstract available.
Authors
Claire J. Horwell, Peter J. Baxter, David Damby, Tamar Elias, Evgenia Ilyinskaya, R Stephen J Sparks, Carol Stewart, Ines Tomasek

Discrete streamflow measurements and waterborne self-potential logging of a 43-kilometer-long reach of the Elm Fork Trinity River upstream from Dallas, Texas

Continuous and discrete streamflow data were combined with waterborne self-potential (WaSP), surface-water temperature and surface-water conductivity surveys obtained along an approximately 43-kilometer (26.7 mile) surveyed reach of the Elm Fork Trinity River (hereinafter referred to as “Elm Fork”) upstream from Dallas, Texas, to investigate areas of gaining and losing streamflow under various str
Authors
Jonathan V. Thomas, Scott Ikard, Roger K. Trader, David Rodriguez

The challenges of success: Future wolf conservation and management in the United States

Gray wolf (Canis lupus) recovery and conservation has been a remarkable success over the last 30 years in the United States. Remarkable success yields remarkable challenges, however. As populations expand, wolves will colonize more human-dominated landscapes and face numerous challenges, such as fragmented habitats, barriers to dispersal, and increased encounters with humans, pets, and livestock.
Authors
David Edward Ausband, L. David Mech

Mapping planetary bodies

As the United States and its space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), looks to send humans back to the Moon, many other countries and their space agencies are also sending orbiters, rovers, and sample return missions across the Solar System. We are living in an extraordinary age of planetary exploration, where every mission builds on the decades of advancements in sa
Authors
Trent M. Hare

Global methane emissions from rivers and streams

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas and its concentrations have tripled in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. There is evidence that global warming has increased CH4 emissions from freshwater ecosystems1,2, providing positive feedback to the global climate. Yet for rivers and streams, the controls and the magnitude of CH4 emissions remain highly uncertain3,4. Here we report a spa
Authors
Gerard Rocher-Ros, Emily H. Stanley, Luke C. Loken, Nora J. Casson, Peter A. Raymond, Shaoda Liu, Giuseppe Amatulli, Ryan A. Sponseller

Functional traits explain waterbirds’ host status, subtype richness, and community-level infection risk for avian influenza

Species functional traits can influence pathogen transmission processes, and consequently affect species' host status, pathogen diversity, and community-level infection risk. We here investigated, for 143 European waterbird species, effects of functional traits on host status and pathogen diversity (subtype richness) for avian influenza virus at species level. We then explored the association betw
Authors
Shenglai Yin, Ning Li, Wenjie Xu, Daniel Becker, Willem F. de Boer, Chi Xu, Taej Mundkur, Nicholas M Fountain-Jones, Chunlin Li, Guan-zhu Han, Qiang Wu, Diann Prosser, Lijuan Cui, Zheng Huang