Publications

Since the creation of the first public lands in the United States, they have been a source of turmoil, admiration, and prolonged political debate Nevertheless, our public lands have become an intrinsic part of our national identity and economic progress, exemplifying our divergent attitudes towards nature preservation and resource development. With this in mind, Randall K. Wilson makes a case for

IntroductionIn Minnesota, high-quality elevation data are essential for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, water supply and quality, coastal zone management, and many other business uses. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on light detection and ranging (lidar) data t

IntroductionMontana, America’s fourth largest State with an area of 147,040 square miles, is defined by its diverse terrain. The western two-fifths of the State falls within the Rocky Mountains and the eastern three-fifths is in the Great Plains. Because of its location along the Continental Divide, the rivers in Montana drain into either the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. Montana is often c

Smallmouth bass populations have expanded far beyond their native range and these predatory fish present a pervasive threat to native aquatic species throughout North America. In the western United States, smallmouth bass are now present in river and reservoir habitats where Pacific salmon are found and are considered a potential threat to salmon recovery in many locations. We conducted a study to

Mitigating future forest risks, safeguarding timber revenues and improving biodiversity are key considerations for current boreal forest management. Alternatives to rotation forestry likely have an important role, but how they will perform under a changing climate remains unclear. We used a boreal forest growth simulator to explore how variations on traditional clear-cutting, in rotation length, t

Studying how species interact with their environment and other co-occurring species are 2 main aspects of ecology. For marine turtles, ocean currents drive migratory routes and may determine the location of surrounding foraging grounds. As a result, circumglobal species like the hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata and green turtle Chelonia mydas adapt to diverse foraging habitats and employ va

Haleakalā National Park and montane areas on east Maui, Hawaiian Archipelago, support critical nesting habitat for endangered ‘ua‘u Hawaiian petrel Pterodroma sandwichensis. Habitat loss, non-native predators, and damage by feral ungulates are limiting factors for ground-nesting petrels at Haleakalā and throughout Hawai‘i. Because nesting habitats differ among the Hawaiian Islands, habitat distrib

The middle Eocene lower Coaledo Formation was interpreted as ten shoaling upward delta-margin cycles based on sediments and macrofauna. The strata, however, contains deep-water foraminifers. Explanations to resolve this anomaly included reworking, bathymetric range extension, or upward migration of water masses. Paleoecology analysis of foraminifers indicates that the few shelf species are poorly

Ecological disturbances such as fish kills can negatively impact ecosystem processes in coastal lagoons. To gain an understanding of factors causing fish kills, we examined conditions associated with a summertime fish kill in a northeastern Pacific coastal lagoon (Rodeo Lagoon, CA, USA). Examination of available data indicated the fish kill was likely caused by hypoxia involving the following etio

This report on baseline assessment of fish community assemblage and migratory patterns of fishes in the lower Boardman River (LBR; Traverse City, MI (USA)) is one of four assessment projects conceived circa 2017 after the Boardman (Ottaway) River was selected by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and collaborating agencies as the future site of the Selective Bi-directional Fish Passage (Fis

Eruptions from Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone (SWRZ) pose a significant threat to nearby communities due to high eruption rates and steep slopes resulting in little time for evacuation. Despite the large body of research done on Mauna Loa, knowledge of the timing and duration of magma residence and transfer through its internal plumbing system is still poorly constrained. This study presents a fi