Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16795
A simplified method for correcting contaminant concentrations in eggs for moisture loss.
We developed a simplified and highly accurate method for correcting contaminant concentrations in eggs for the moisture that is lost from an egg during incubation. To make the correction, one injects water into the air cell of the egg until overflowing. The amount of water injected corrects almost perfectly for the amount of water lost during incubation or when an egg is left in the nest and dehyd
Authors
Gary H. Heinz, Katherine R. Stebbins, Jon D. Klimstra, David J. Hoffman
A new species of Platyrrhinus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) from western Colombia and Ecuador, with emended diagnoses of P. aquilus, P. dorsalis, and P. umbratus
The Neotropical bat genus Platyrrhinus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae) currently comprises 15 species. Our morphological and morphometric analysis of large and medium-sized Platyrrhinus revealed a distinctive Undescribed species from western South America. We also recognize P. aquilus (Handley & Ferris 1972) and P. umbratus (Lyon 1902) as valid species. We describe P. nitelinea sp. n
Authors
Paúl M. Velazco, Alfred L. Gardner
Bayesian inference in camera trapping studies for a class of spatial capture-recapture models
We develop a class of models for inference about abundance or density using spatial capture-recapture data from studies based on camera trapping and related methods. The model is a hierarchical model composed of two components: a point process model describing the distribution of individuals in space (or their home range centers) and a model describing the observation of individuals in traps. We s
Authors
J. Andrew Royle, K. Ullas Karanth, Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, N. Samba Kumar
A cautionary note on substituting spatial subunits for repeated temporal sampling in studies of site occupancy
1. Assessing the probability that a given site is occupied by a species of interest is important to resource managers, as well as metapopulation or landscape ecologists. Managers require accurate estimates of the state of the system, in order to make informed decisions. Models that yield estimates of occupancy, while accounting for imperfect detection, have proven useful by removing a potentially
Authors
William L. Kendall, Gary C. White
A new species of Reithrodontomys, subgenus Aporodon (Cricetidae: Neotominae), from the highlands of Costa Rica, with comments on Costa Rican and Panamanian Reithrodontomys
A new species of the rodent genus Reithrodontomys (Cricetidae: Neotominae) is described from Cerro Asuncion in the western Cordillera de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The long tail, elongate rostrum, bulbous braincase, and complex molars of the new species associate it with members of the subgenus Aporodon, tenuirostris species group. In its diminutive size and aspects of cranial shape, the new species (
Authors
Alfred L. Gardner, Michael D. Carleton
Identifying baldcypress-water tupelo regeneration classes in forested wetlands of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana
Baldcypress-water tupelo (cypress-tupelo) swamps are critically important coastal forested wetlands found throughout the southeastern U.S. The long-term survival and sustainability of these swamp forests is unknown due to large-scale changes in hydrologic regimes that prevent natural regeneration following logging or mortality. We used NWI wetland maps and remotely sensed hydrologic data to map cy
Authors
Stephen P. Faulkner, Prajwol Bhattarai, Yvonne C. Allen, John A. Barras, Glenn C. Constant
Salamander occupancy in headwater stream networks
1. Stream ecosystems exhibit a highly consistent dendritic geometry in which linear habitat units intersect to create a hierarchical network of connected branches. 2. Ecological and life history traits of species living in streams, such as the potential for overland movement, may interact with this architecture to shape patterns of occupancy and response to disturbance. Specifically, large-scal
Authors
E.H.C. Grant, L.E. Green, W.H. Lowe
Assessing allowable take of migratory birds
Legal removal of migratory birds from the wild occurs for several reasons, including subsistence, sport harvest, damage control, and the pet trade. We argue that harvest theory provides the basis for assessing the impact of authorized take, advance a simplified rendering of harvest theory known as potential biological removal as a useful starting point for assessing take, and demonstrate this app
Authors
M.C. Runge, J.R. Sauer, M.L. Avery, B.F. Blackwell, M.D. Koneff
Species richness and occupancy estimation in communities subject to temporary emigration
Species richness is the most common biodiversity metric, although typically some species remain unobserved. Therefore, estimates of species richness and related quantities should account for imperfect detectability. Community dynamics can often be represented as superposition of species-specific phenologies (e. g., in taxa with well-defined flight [insects], activity [rodents], or vegetation perio
Authors
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle, M. Plattner, R.M. Dorazio
Toxicity of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (de-71) in chicken (Gallus gallus), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), and American kestrel (Falco sparverius) embryos and hatchlings
Embryonic survival, pipping and hatching success, and sublethal biochemical, endocrine, and histological endpoints were examined in hatchling chickens (Gallus gallus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following air cell administration of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether (penta-BDE; DE-71) mixture (0.01-20 mu g/g egg) or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener
Authors
M.A. McKernan, Barnett A. Rattner, R. C. Hale, M. A. Ottinger
Hierarchical models for estimating density from DNA mark-recapture studies
Genetic sampling is increasingly used as a tool by wildlife biologists and managers to estimate abundance and density of species. Typically, DNA is used to identify individuals captured in an array of traps ( e. g., baited hair snares) from which individual encounter histories are derived. Standard methods for estimating the size of a closed population can be applied to such data. However, due
Authors
B. Gardner, J. Andrew Royle, M.T. Wegan
An evaluation of density-dependent and density-independent influences on population growth rates in Weddell seals
Much of the existing literature that evaluates the roles of density-dependent and density-independent factors on population dynamics has been called into question in recent years because measurement errors were not properly dealt with in analyses. Using state-space models to account for measurement errors, we evaluated a set of competing models for a 22-year time series of mark-resight estimates
Authors
J.J. Rotella, W. A. Link, J. D. Nichols, G.L. Hadley, R.A. Garrott, K.M. Proffitt