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USGS2023

Model-based surveillance system design under practical constraints with application to white-nose syndrome

Infectious diseases are powerful ecological forces structuring ecosystems, causing devastating economic impacts and disrupting society. Successful prevention and control of pathogens requires knowledge of the current scope and severity of disease, as well as the ability to forecast future disease dynamics. Assessment of the current situation as well as prediction of the future conditions, rely on spatially referenced information regarding the presence or absence of a pathogen, and the prevalence of the pathogen in the population. In particular, knowledge about the location of the disease front is foundational for deploying disease countermeasures to prevent further disease spread and focusing control efforts to reduce disease intensity in affected areas. In this paper, we develop a model-based approach to designing sampling strategies for wildlife disease surveillance at the disease front. Specifically, we use a mechanistic spatio-temporal model based on an underlying partial differential equation to track the disease dynamics and predict the disease prevalence in the future. We also devise an optimal surveillance system design at the disease front that takes into account the practical constraints of sampling. We evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed design via a simulation study and demonstrate the application of the proposed approach by designing a surveillance strategy for the pathogen that causes white-nose syndrome.

Environmental and Ecological Statistics↗

USGS2024

Establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring, assessment, and management

Soil erosion can have a multitude of negative impacts on agroecosystems and society and there remains an urgent need for tools to support its management. Quantitative benchmarks based on holistic understanding of erosion processes, ecosystem function, and land use objectives can be used with monitoring data and models to inform assessments and make objective and actionable decisions about erosion management. However, managers currently lack a framework for establishing benchmarks. Here, we present a framework and evaluation of different approaches to establishing quantitative benchmarks for soil erosion and ecological monitoring and assessment that can inform land management decisions. We use monitoring data collected across Chihuahuan Desert ecosystems in the United States and an aeolian sediment transport model to illustrate how benchmarks can be established. Approaches include establishing benchmarks from relationships between soil erosion indicators, reference states and land potential, including state-and-transition models, and desired conditions from existing monitoring data. We discuss the benefits and caveats of the different approaches and show how combining different benchmarking approaches can help users ensure that benchmarks appropriately reflect thresholds for soil erosion and achievable management outcomes. We finish by identifying future research needs to support establishment and application of erosion benchmarks across agroecosystems and recognize the opportunity to extend the benchmarking approaches to management of other agroecosystem processes and services.

Ecological Indicators↗

USGS1960

Ecological systems and the water resources

In ancient Sparta there were two principal classes of society, the citizen and the helot. The citizen was trained principally to be a warrior. The helot, a serf, was the tiller of the land but could be called to military duty. The history of Herodotus makes it amply clear that making war was the biggest business of the times. Because the Spartans were always marching off to war with someone, they found the landbound position of their city, located as its is in a small central basin nearly surrounded by mountains, somewhat of a disadvantage. When they were under attack, of course, this situation was a favorable one inasmuch as a seaborne enemy had to march inland to come to grips with the Lacedaemonians. The relatively small size of the independent states meant that the Spartans had no direct access through their own lands to the sea. There is evidence that the Spartans reached an agreement with surrounding states concerning a free corridor. There would be maintained by all the Grecian states of the Peloponnesus an access route stretching essentially from Sparta to Corinth, through which a marching army could have access to a seaport. As a secondary benefit, this no man's land, which in our western lingo might be called a stock driveway, allowed merchants and their caravans to move freely between the flourishing trading port of Corinth and the inland cities to the south and west. Apparently one portion of the agreement between the states with regard to the use of this access zone was that there should be no permanent agricultural or grazing in the driveway. As a result, through several centuries B.C. during which there was high population density in the Aegean area, one strip of land was exempted from the pressures of grazing, lumbering, and agriculture which characterized most of the rest of the landscape. Today this driveway maintains a forest cover. In contrast, mountainsides nearby with an even larger annual rainfall support hardly a tree. It is not entirely apparent why subsequent centuries did not see this area denuded. Even with the scanty details known to me it seems clear that the peculiar history of this one area potentially offers us a greater insight into some aspects of forest and land conditions of classical times than extant written records. The several references to sources of timber and cutting of forests contained in the vivid chronicle of Herodotus are valuable, but they lack species identification for the most part. Though rich in human understanding and psychological insight, his history strongly resembles the travel sagas of the Spanish Conquistadors of our Southwest, who had no real eye for "country." Even a careful reading of the works of early travelers such as Coronado, Garces, and Espejo, gives no picture of the nature of the country, its vegetation, or its rivers. To describe a biota there is no substitute for a sample. It is logical to ask what one might want to know which would require the preservation of a sample. Whether such a question is asked at all is a reflection on the stage of intellectual maturity of a civilization. We take for granted that there is social gain in the erection and maintenance of a museum of fine arts, a museum of natural history, or a historical museum. Sooner or later we should be mature enough to extend this concept to include a "museum" consisting of samples of land types as nearly as possible unaffected by man.

Circular↗

USGS2017

Regime shifts and panarchies in regional scale social-ecological water systems

In this article we summarize histories of nonlinear, complex interactions among societal, legal, and ecosystem dynamics in six North American water basins, as they respond to changing climate. These case studies were chosen to explore the conditions for emergence of adaptive governance in heavily regulated and developed social-ecological systems nested within a hierarchical governmental system. We summarize resilience assessments conducted in each system to provide a synthesis and reference by the other articles in this special feature. We also present a general framework used to evaluate the interactions between society and ecosystem regimes and the governance regimes chosen to mediate those interactions. The case studies show different ways that adaptive governance may be triggered, facilitated, or constrained by ecological and/or legal processes. The resilience assessments indicate that complex interactions among the governance and ecosystem components of these systems can produce different trajectories, which include patterns of (a) development and stabilization, (b) cycles of crisis and recovery, which includes lurches in adaptation and learning, and (3) periods of innovation, novelty, and transformation. Exploration of cross scale (Panarchy) interactions among levels and sectors of government and society illustrate that they may constrain development trajectories, but may also provide stability during crisis or innovation at smaller scales; create crises, but may also facilitate recovery; and constrain system transformation, but may also provide windows of opportunity in which transformation, and the resources to accomplish it, may occur. The framework is the starting point for our exploration of how law might play a role in enhancing the capacity of social-ecological systems to adapt to climate change.

Ecology and Society↗

USGS2026

From understanding to action: Integrating new and old methodologies to manage marine infectious disease

Marine diseases can have far-reaching effects on population, community and ecosystem health; however, our ability to track, predict and manage these diseases has, historically, been poor. As a result, the fields of disease ecology and epidemiology have developed at a slower pace for marine than terrestrial systems [ 1 ]. New methodologies, including genomic tools for diagnostics [ 2 , 3 ], transcriptomic tools for measuring host and pathogen responses to infection (e.g. [ 4 , 5 ]), regional oceanic modelling systems that estimate environmental conditions influencing pathogen dispersal and disease progression [ 6 ], artificial intelligence methods for quantifying pathology from images (e.g. [ 7 ]) and advanced disease modelling techniques [ 8 , 9 ] are precipitating a rapid increase in our understanding of marine pathosystems. In 2016, these efforts led to the first special issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B ( Marine diseases, volume 371, issue 1689) focused entirely on marine disease ecology and evolution, and in 2020, the first book, Marine disease ecology, was devoted to this topic [ 10 ]. This special issue, focused on marine disease management , is being published a decade after the first Philosophical Transactions special issue on marine diseases. The shift to a management focus reflects an urgent need for management strategies to address high-impact diseases and the rapid methodological advances that have resulted. The papers included in this issue demonstrate the value of combining classical approaches (e.g. routine disease surveillance, reductionistic pathogen challenge trials, rapid throughput diagnostics) with cutting-edge technologies (e.g. high-resolution oceanographic models, Bayesian models, replicated transcriptomic studies) to identify drivers of disease, quantify impacts and suggest management strategies.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, S↗

USGS2011

Patterns of morphological variation amongst semifossorial shrews in the highlands of Guatemala, with the description of a new species (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae)

Members of the Cryptotis goldmani group of small-eared shrews (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) represent a clade within the genus that is characterized by modifications of the forelimb that include broadened forefeet, elongated and broadened foreclaws, and massive humeri with enlarged processes. These modifications are consistent with greater adaptation to their semifossorial habits than other members of the genus. The species in this group occur discontinuously in temperate highlands from southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, to Honduras. In Guatemala, there are three species: the relatively widespread Cryptotis goodwini and two species ( Cryptotis lacertosus , Cryptotis mam ) endemic to highland forests in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes of western Guatemala. Ongoing studies focusing on the relationships of variation in cranial and postcranial skeletal morphology have revealed a fourth species from remnant cloud forest in the Sierra de Yalijux, central Guatemala. In this paper, I describe this new species and characterize its morphology relative to other species in the C. goldmani group and to other species of Cryptotis in Guatemala. In addition, I summarize available details of its habitat and ecology.

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society↗

USGS2005

Uncertainty and research needs for supplementing wild populations of anadromous Pacific salmon

Substantial disagreement and uncertainty attend the question of whether the benefits from supplementing wild populations of anadromous salmonids with hatchery fish outweigh the risks. Prudent decisions about supplementation are most likely when the suite of potential benefits and hazards and the various sources of uncertainty are explicitly identified. Models help by indicating the potential consequences of various levels of supplementation but perhaps are most valuable for showing the limitations of available data and helping design studies and monitoring to provide critical data. Information and understanding about the issue are deficient. I discuss various benefits, hazards, and associated uncertainties for supplementation, and implications for the design of monitoring and research. Several studies to reduce uncertainty and facilitate prudent supplementation are described and range from short-term reductionistic studies that help define the issue or help avoid deleterious consequences from supplementation to long-term studies (ca. 10 or more fish generations) that evaluate the net result of positive and negative genetic, behavioral, and ecological effects from supplementation.

American Fisheries Society Symposium↗

USGS2013

Book review: Conservation, ecology, and management of catfish: The second international symposium

This is the second publication in a series published by the American Fisheries Society devoted to catfish research, biology, and management, which was organized as a symposium held in St. Louis Missouri, in 2010 and builds upon the first symposium that was held in Davenport, Iowa, in 1998 (Irwin et al. 1999). The organizations of the second symposium stated that this was to "serve as an addendum to Catfish 2000" and "to cover the four corners of catfish science: catfish biology, ecology, management, and conservation" (p. xi). The book meets this standard easily. With 64 pages organized into nine sections (plenary, catfishes as sport fish, non-game catfishes, nonnative catfishes, movement and habitat use, sampling and population assessment, age and growth, behavior, and future directions), this publication covers these four corners and more. Review info: Conservation, Ecology, and Management of Catfish: The Second International Symposium. Edited by P. H. Michaletz and V. H. Travnichek, 2011. ISBN: 978-1934874257, 800 pp.

Fisheries↗

USGS2007

Reproductive phenologies in a diverse temperate ant fauna

1. Ant nuptial flights are central to understanding ant life history and ecology but have been little studied. This study examined the timing of nuptial flights, the synchronicity of nuptial flights (as a potential index of mating strategy), and variation in nuptial flights with elevation and among years in a diverse temperate ant fauna. 2. Flights occurred throughout the year, but were concentrated in the beginning of summer and in early fall (autumn). Relative to the entire flight season, closely related species tended to be more likely than expected by chance to fly at similar times, perhaps because of phylogenetic constraints on life history evolution. 3. Flights were relatively synchronous within species for nearly all species considered, but synchronicity did not appear to be a robust estimate of overall mating strategy. 4. Overall patterns in nuptial flights among species and the timing of flights for individual species varied with elevation, but did not vary greatly among years. 5. Although this study is one of the most comprehensive on the reproductive flight phenologies of ants, much remains to be learned about the causes and consequences of such spatial and temporal variation in flight phenology. ?? 2007 The Royal Entomological Society.

Ecological Entomology↗

USGS1996

Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Colonial Waterbirds in the Mediterranean Region

(excerpt from Forword) The Mediterranean Symposium, part of the annual conference of The Colonial Waterbird Society in October 1993 in Arles, France, was the successful culmination of ideas shared among leading European waterbird and wetland scientists... Both invited and contributed papers focused on two areas - breeding biology (especially of threatened or little known species), and feeding ecology. Eighteen oral presentations were given and 27 poster papers were developed.

Colonial Waterbirds↗

USGS2015

Global change and conservation triage on National Wildlife Refuges

National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while at the same time facing tighter budgets and reduced staff. We engaged in workshops with NWR managers along the U.S. Atlantic coast to understand the problems they face from global-change processes and began a multidisciplinary collaboration to use decision science to help address them. We are applying a values-focused approach to base management decisions on the resource objectives of land managers, as well as those of stakeholders who may benefit from the goods and services produced by a refuge. Two insights that emerged from our workshops were a conspicuous mismatch between the scale at which management can influence outcomes and the scale of environmental processes, and the need to consider objectives related to ecosystem goods and services that traditionally have not been explicitly considered by refuges (e.g., protection from storm surge). The broadening of objectives complicates the decision-making process, but also provides opportunities for collaboration with stakeholders who may have agendas different from those of the refuge, as well as an opportunity for addressing problems across scales. From a practical perspective, we recognized the need to (1) efficiently allocate limited staff time and budgets for short-term management of existing programs and resources under the current refuge design and (2) develop long-term priorities for acquiring or protecting new land/habitat to supplement or replace the existing refuge footprint and thus sustain refuge values as the system evolves over time. Structuring the decision-making problem in this manner facilitated a better understanding of the issues of scale and suggested that a long-term solution will require a significant reassessment of objectives to better reflect the comprehensive values of refuges to society. We discuss some future considerations to integrate these two problems into a single framework by developing novel optimization approaches for dynamic problems that account for uncertainty in future conditions.

Ecology and Society↗

USGS2017

Why social values cannot be changed for the sake of conservation

The hope for creating widespread change in social values has endured among conservation professionals since early calls by Aldo Leopold for a “land ethic.” However, there has been little serious attention in conservation to the fields of investigation that address values, how they are formed, and how they change. We introduce a social–ecological systems conceptual approach in which values are seen not only as motivational goals people hold but also as ideas that are deeply embedded in society's material culture, collective behaviors, traditions, and institutions. Values define and bind groups, organizations, and societies; serve an adaptive role; and are typically stable across generations. When abrupt value changes occur, they are in response to substantial alterations in the social–ecological context. Such changes build on prior value structures and do not result in complete replacement. Given this understanding of values, we conclude that deliberate efforts to orchestrate value shifts for conservation are unlikely to be effective. Instead, there is an urgent need for research on values with a multilevel and dynamic view that can inform innovative conservation strategies for working within existing value structures. New directions facilitated by a systems approach will enhance understanding of the role values play in shaping conservation challenges and improve management of the human component of conservation.

Conservation Biology↗

USGS2007

Disruptions of stream sediment size and stability by lakes in mountain watersheds: Potential effects on periphyton biomass

The location of a stream reach relative to other landforms in a watershed is an important attribute. We hypothesized that lakes disrupt the frequency of finer, more mobile sediments and thereby change sediment transport processes such that benthic substrates are more stable (i.e., less mobile) below lakes than above lakes. In turn, we hypothesized that this reduced mobility would lead to greater periphyton biomass below lakes. We tested these hypotheses in study reaches above and below lakes in 3 mountain watersheds. To expand this comparison, we analyzed the relationship between sediment attributes and periphyton biomass in one watershed with and one watershed without a lake. We hypothesized that no clear pattern or change in sediment size or chlorophyll a (chl a) would be observed over a 3-km-long study reach without a lake. In contrast, we expected a clear discontinuity in both sediment size and chl a in a 7-km-long study reach interrupted by a lake. Average median sediment size (D50) was significantly larger (p < 0.01) in lake-outlet than lake-inlet reaches (41 mm vs 10 mm). Bed sediments in lake-outlet reaches were immobile during bankfull flows, whereas sediments at lake-inlet reaches were mobile during bankfull flows. Chlorophyll a was ???10x greater in lake-outlet reaches than in lake-inlet reaches, although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.17). The longitudinal analysis clearly showed geomorphic transitions in sediment size and mobility downstream of mountain lakes, and these geomorphic transitions might be associated with changes in periphyton biomass. Geomorphic transitions can alter sediment transport and should be considered in concert with other factors that are considered more commonly in benthic ecology, such as light, nutrients, and temperature. ?? 2007 by The North American Benthological Society.

Journal of the North American Benthological Societ↗

USGS2022

Using a vegetation index to assess wetland condition in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America

Wetlands deliver a suite of ecosystem services to society. Anthropogenic activities, such as wetland drainage, have resulted in considerable wetland loss and degradation, diminishing the intrinsic value of wetland ecosystems worldwide. Protecting remaining wetlands and restoring degraded wetlands are common management practices to preserve and reclaim wetland benefits to society. Accordingly, methods for monitoring and assessing wetlands are required to evaluate their ecologic condition and outcomes of restoration activities. We used an established methodology for conducting vegetation-based assessments and describe a case study consisting of a wetland condition assessment in the Prairie Pothole Region of the North American Great Plains. We provide an overview of an existing method for selecting wetlands to sample across broad geographic distributions using a spatially balanced statistical design. We also describe site assessment protocols, including vegetation survey methods, and how field data were applied to a vegetation index that categorized wetlands according to ecologic condition. Results of the case study indicated that vegetation communities in nearly 50% of the surveyed wetlands were in very poor or poor condition, while only about 25% were considered good or very good . Approximately 70% of wetlands in native grasslands were categorized as good or very good compared to only 12% of those in reseeded grasslands (formerly cropland). In terms of informing restoration and management activities, results indicated that improved restoration practices could include a greater focus on establishing natural vegetation communities, and both restored and native prairie wetlands would benefit from enhanced management of invasive species.

Prairie Pothole Region↗

USGS1996

Water transfer projects and the role of fisheries biologists

Water transfer projects are commonly considered important mechanisms for meeting increasing water demands. However, the movement of water from one area to another may have broad ecosystem effects, including on fisheries. The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society held a symposium in 1995 at Virginia Beach, Virginia, to discuss the ecological consequences of water transfer and identify the role of fisheries biologists in such projects. Presenters outlined several case studies, including the California State Water Project, Garrison Diversion Project (North Dakota), Lake Texoma Water Transfer Project (Oklahoma-Texas), Santee-Cooper Diversion and Re-diversion projects (South Carolina), and Tri-State Comprehensive Study (Alabama-Florida-Georgia). Results from these studies suggest that fisheries biologists have provided critical information regarding potential ecological consequences of water transfer. If these professionals continue to be called for information regarding the ecological consequences of water transfer projects, developing a broader understanding of the ecological processes that affect the fish species they manage may be necessary. Although the traditional role of fisheries biologists has focused on the fishing customer base, fisheries management issues are only one component of the broad spectrum of ecosystem issues resulting from water transfer.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2001

Statistics for wildlifers: how much and what kind?

Quantitative methods are playing increasingly important roles in wildlife ecology and, ultimately, management. This change poses a challenge for wildlife practitioners and students who are not well-educated in mathematics and statistics. Here we give our opinions on what wildlife biologists should know about statistics, while recognizing that not everyone is inclined mathematically. For those who are, we recommend that they take mathematics coursework at least through calculus and linear algebra. They should take statistics courses that are focused conceptually , stressing the Why rather than the How of doing statistics. For less mathematically oriented wildlifers, introductory classes in statistical techniques will furnish some useful background in basic methods but may provide little appreciation of when the methods are appropriate. These wildlifers will have to rely much more on advice from statisticians. Far more important than knowing how to analyze data is an understanding of how to obtain and recognize good data. Regardless of the statistical education they receive, all wildlife biologists should appreciate the importance of controls, replication, and randomization in studies they conduct. Understanding these concepts requires little mathematical sophistication, but is critical to advancing the science of wildlife ecology.

Wildlife Society Bulletin↗

USGS2015

Golden Eagle predation of an adult turkey vulture

The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is a large, apex predator that occurs at low densities, has a long life span, experiences delayed maturity, has low reproductive rates, and has no natural predators (Watson 1997, Kochert et al. 2002). Golden Eagles are sensitive to anthropogenic driven landscape changes in land cover and land use (Hunt 2002, Kochert and Steenhof 2002). Landscape level alterations, such as encroachment of woody vegetation in eagle foraging areas, may result in decreased abundance of suitable prey or interfere with the eagle’s ability to see or capture prey. Currently, there is substantial concern for Golden Eagle conservation due to widespread anthropogenic changes to landscapes across much of the species distribution (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013). In particular, the rapid expansion of wind energy development has led to heightened concerns for Golden Eagle conservation, as the species is susceptible to mortality through collision with turbines (Hunt 2002, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013). This has resulted in a recent increase in research to develop a better understanding of the species’ ecology.

Bulletin of the Texas Ornithological Society↗

USGS2007

The microbial community structure in petroleum-contaminated sediments corresponds to geophysical signatures

The interdependence between geoelectrical signatures at underground petroleum plumes and the structures of subsurface microbial communities was investigated. For sediments contaminated with light non-aqueousphase liquids, anomalous high conductivity values have been observed. Vertical changes in the geoelectrical properties of the sediments were concomitant with significant changes in the microbial community structures as determined by the construction and evaluation of 16S rRNA gene libraries. DNA sequencing of clones from four 16S rRNA gene libraries from different depths of a contaminated field site and two libraries from an uncontaminated background site revealed spatial heterogeneity in the microbial community structures. Correspondence analysis showed that the presence of distinct microbial populations, including the various hydrocarbon-degrading, syntrophic, sulfate-reducing, and dissimilatory-iron-reducing populations, was a contributing factor to the elevated geoelectrical measurements. Thus, through their growth and metabolic activities, microbial populations that have adapted to the use of petroleum as a carbon source can strongly influence their geophysical surroundings. Since changes in the geophysical properties of contaminated sediments parallel changes in the microbial community compositions, it is suggested that geoelectrical measurements can be a cost-efficient tool to guide microbiological sampling for microbial ecology studies during the monitoring of natural or engineered bioremediation processes. Copyright ?? 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology↗