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Filter Total Items: 171109

Complex landslide patterns explained by local intra-unit variability of stratigraphy and structure: Case study in the Tyee Formation, Oregon, USA

Lithology and geologic structure are important controls on landslide susceptibility and are incorporated into many regional landslide hazard models. Typically, metrics for mapped geologic units are used as model input variables and a single set of values for material strength are assumed, regardless of spatial heterogeneities that may exist within a map unit. Here we describe how differences in be
Authors
Sean Richard LaHusen, Alex R. R. Grant

Environmental and geographical factors influence the occurrence and abundance of the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in Hawai‘i

Hawaiian honeycreepers, a group of endemic Hawaiian forest birds, are being threatened by avian malaria, a non-native disease that is driving honeycreepers populations to extinction. Avian malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium relictum, which is transmitted by the invasive mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus. Environmental and geographical factors play an important role in shaping mosquito-born
Authors
Oswaldo Villena, Katherine Maria McClure, Richard J. Camp, Dennis Lapointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Helen Sofaer, Lucas Fortini

The geographic extent of bird populations affected by renewable-energy development

Bird populations are declining globally. Wind and solar energy can reduce emissions of fossil fuels that drive anthropogenic climate change, yet renewable-energy production represents a potential threat to bird species. Surveys to assess potential effects at renewable-energy facilities are exclusively local, and the geographic extent encompassed by birds killed at these facilities is largely unkno

Authors
Hannah Vander Zander, David H. Nelson, Tara Conkling, Taber Allison, James E. Diffendorfer, Thomas Dietsch, Amy L Fesnock, Scott Loss, Patricia Ortiz, Robin Paulmann, Krysta Rodgers, Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Todd E. Katzner

Limitations of invasive snake control tools in the context of a new invasion on an island with abundant prey

In October 2020, a new population of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) was discovered on the 33-ha Cocos Island, 2.5 km off the south coast of Guam. Cocos Island is a unique conservation resource, providing refuge for many lizards and birds, including endangered species, which were extirpated from mainland Guam by invasive predators including brown treesnakes. We sought to evaluate the
Authors
Shane R. Siers, Melia Gail Nafus, Jaried E. Calaor, Rachel M. Volsteadt, Matthew S. Grassi, Megan Volsteadt, Aaron F. Collins, Patrick D Barnhart, Logan Tanner Huse, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Diane L. Vice

Heterogeneous multi-stage accretionary orogenesis — Evidence from the Gunnison block in the Yavapai Province, southwest USA

Proterozoic rocks exposed in the southwestern U.S.A. represent one of the best examples of crustal growth by arc-related magmatism and accretionary orogenesis. Within the Southwest the 1.8–1.7 Ga Yavapai Province is widely regarded as a classic example of juvenile arc crust, however 1.8–2.5 Ga inherited zircon and Nd and Hf model ages have been recognized near Gunnison in central Colorado. These d
Authors
Ian William Hillenbrand, Amy K. Gilmer, Michael L. Williams, Karl E. Karlstrom, Amanda (Kate) Souders, Jorge A. Vazquez, Wayne R. Premo

Spawning habitat selection and egg deposition by reintroduced Lake Sturgeon in a tributary to Cayuga Lake, NY

In June 2017, we documented the first observed spawning event by a reintroduced population of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in Fall Creek, a tributary to Cayuga Lake, New York, USA. This is the first observed spawning encounter of adult Lake Sturgeon since the beginning of the multi-agency Lake Sturgeon restoration effort in Cayuga Lake initiated in 1995 by the New York State Department of
Authors
Dawn E. Dittman, Marc Chalupnicki, Phyllis Randall, Emily C. Zollweg‐Horan

The importance of nodal plane orientation diversity for earthquake focal mechanism stress inversions

Inversions of earthquake focal mechanisms are among the most accessible and reliable methods for determining crustal stress. However, the use of this method varies widely, and assumptions that underpin it are often violated, potentially compromising stress estimates. We investigate the consequences of violating the little-studied assumption that the focal mechanisms have diverse orientations. Our
Authors
Jens-Erik Lundstern, Eric Beauce, Orlando J. Teran

Using local monitoring results to inform the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model

The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Watershed Model (CBWM) has been used as an accounting tool for the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). However, some of the fundamental parameters that underpin the watershed model may not represent local watershed characteristics at all scales. Significant investments have been made by state and local governments, and other local stakeholders, who are int
Authors
Karl Berger, Katherine C. Filippino, Gary W. Shenk, Normand Goulet, Michael Lookenbill, Doug L. Moyer, Gregory Noe, Aaron J. Porter, James Shallenberger, Bryant Thomas, Guido Yactayo

Contrasting demographic responses under future climate for two populations of a montane amphibian

For species with complex life histories, climate change can have contrasting effects for different life stages within locally adapted populations and may result in responses counter to general climate change predictions. Using data from two, 14-year demographic studies for a North American montane amphibian, Cascades frog (Rana cascadae), we quantified how aspects of current climate influenced ann
Authors
Amanda M. Kissel, Wendy J. Palen, Michael J. Adams, Justin M Garwood

Major fluvial erosion and a 500-Mt sediment pulse triggered by lava-dam failure, Río Coca, Ecuador

The failure of a 144-m-high lava-dam waterfall on the Río Coca, Ecuador, in February 2020 initiated a catastrophic watershed reset—regressive erosion upstream and a massive sediment pulse downstream—as the river evolves towards a new equilibrium grade. The evolution of this river corridor after a sudden base-level fall embodies the “complex response” concepts long understood through laboratory exp
Authors
Pedro D. Barrera Crespo, Pablo Espinoza Giron, Renan Bedoya, Stanford Gibson, Amy E. East, Eddy J. Langendoen, Paul M Boyd

A dataset of amphibian species in U.S. National Parks

National parks and other protected areas are important for preserving landscapes and biodiversity worldwide. An essential component of the mission of the United States (U.S.) National Park Service (NPS) requires understanding and maintaining accurate inventories of species on protected lands. We describe a new, national-scale synthesis of amphibian species occurrence in the NPS system. Many park u
Authors
Benjamin Lafrance, Andrew M. Ray, Robert N. Fisher, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Charles Shafer, David Beamer, Stephen Frank Spear, Todd W Pierson, Jon M. Davenport, Matthew L. Niemiller, R. Alexander Pyron, Brad Glorioso, William Barichivich, Brian J. Halstead, Kory Roberts, Blake R. Hossack

Non-negligible near-term risk of extinction to the eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies—An updated assessment (2006–22)

The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) started declining as early as the mid-1970s and seemed to stop declining by the early 2000s; the population now (about 2022) persists at a much-reduced abundance. Stochastic variation in abundance, at levels typical of monarch butterflies and other insects, was assessed to determine whether this population is at heightened
Authors
Wayne E. Thogmartin