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At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Shared leadership can promote success in collaborative research networks in ecology

1. While collaborative science is becoming the norm in ecology, many ecologists participating in collaborations are less aware of the body of research that studies the processes by which collaborative teams organize and communicate. 2. Here, we discuss how we successfully used a shared leadership model in the Dry Rivers Research Coordination Network. We discuss how this model promote dour success in different stages of the project, using the Tuckman model of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. 3. Shared leadership in the forming phase helped us recruit a diverse membership from different scientific disciplines. In the storming and norming phases, shared leadership was especially useful in ensuring that all voices were heard in establishing group norms that promoted adhesion among and investment by RCN members. Shared leadership in the performing phase was crucial in providing opportunities for early career members to lead projects, and in the adjourning phase we reflected upon our entire collaboration to identify that shared leadership was crucial to our success, generating the thesis for this commentary. 4. It is our hope that others may find this discussion of our experience in implementing a shared leadership model useful in developing their own fruitful collaborations.

Functional Ecology↗
USGS2023

Reanalysis ignores pertinent data, includes inappropriate observations, and disregards realities of applied ecology: Response to Huso and Dalthorp (2023)

1) We recently demonstrated efficacy of automated curtailment of wind turbines in reducing fatalities of eagles at a study site in Wyoming, USA. Huso and Dalthorp criticize our work, asserting that there are several ‘major errors’ that render our previous work as providing ‘no meaningful support’ for automated curtailment. As we show here, our data do indeed provide support for the efficacy of automated curtailment. 2) The purported major errors they identify include: having only 1 year of post-treatment data, having only one control and one treatment site, using the control site for inference, choosing an arbitrary demarcation date between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ periods, analysing the number, rather than the rate, of fatalities, and not including data they consider pertinent. These claims are unsupported because all result from misreading our study, ignoring realities of causal inference in field ecology, or are matters of preference. 3) Most importantly, we did not fail to include pertinent data and we provided sufficient criteria in the manuscript to explain inclusion of carcasses in our study. As stated in our previous study, the eagle carcasses we did not include were found either outside of search areas or incidentally, and thus did not meet criteria for inclusion. Further, Huso and Dalthorp present a standard for spatial and temporal replication that is inconsistent with their own recent work and many other studies in this field. Finally, their reanalysis of our data ignores the control site while including inappropriate data and thus is not suitable for inference. 4) We appreciate the unusually thorough critique of our work provided by Huso and Dalthorp. Despite the major errors in their argument, this discussion provides a platform for further evaluation of our original work. 5) Synthesis and applications . We show that incorporating control site data and using our a priori demarcation of before and after periods into Huso and Dalthorp's reanalysis returns meaningful support for automated curtailment. We also direct the reader to an updated analysis that uses components of the approach Huso and Dalthorp suggest, along with additional data and a number of other analytical improvements, to validate and strengthen our original conclusions.

Journal of Applied Ecology↗
USGS2024

Integration of Indigenous Research Methodologies, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and molecular scatology in an assessment of mesocarnivore presence, diet and habitat use on Yurok Ancestral Lands.

Partnerships between Tribes and researchers in wildlife monitoring and application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) have taken a variety of forms, and some scholars have noted a need for culturally sensitive approaches. Guided by Indigenous Research Methodologies, this research is coupled with Yurok TEK, or hlkelonah 'ue-megetohl ('to take care of the earth'), enabling an applied, culturally sensitive approach in partnership with the Yurok Tribe. We present results from a molecular scatology study of wildlife within the ancestral territory of the Yurok Tribe. Scats were collected opportunistically on road transects. All samples ( N = 132) were analysed via DNA barcoding and results matched to documented 'Oohl 'we-toh (Yurok language) names to determine the depositor species ( N = 8). Though there were four focal mesocarnivore species in our study, only bobcat ( Chmuuek; Lynx rufus ) and gray fox ( Wergers; Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) were detected as depositor species. Post hoc analyses were conducted to explore distribution, habitat use and selection in a use-availability context, and food habits of these two species. We found almost complete separation of bobcat and gray fox use of transects, as well as indication of partitioning of vegetation cover types and food. We demonstrate an integrated framework of Western and Indigenous sciences that allows the Indigenous researcher to transcend structured academic disciplinary boundaries. Our approach can be modified for partnerships between Tribes, agencies, academics and students for wildlife monitoring in broader geographic regions in various research applications.

California↗
USGS2023

The unmarked R package: Twelve years of advances in occurrence and abundance modelling in ecology

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely applied to understand the processes governing spatial and temporal variation in species abundance and distribution but often do not account for measurement errors such as false negatives and false positives. We describe unmarked , a package for the freely available and open-source R software that provides a complete workflow for modelling species distribution and abundance while explicitly accounting for measurement errors. Here we focus on recent advances in unmarked functionality to support multi-species, multi-state, and multi-season data, as well as support for fitting models with random effects. For illustration, we present an analysis of Acadian Flycatcher Empidonax virescens abundance on Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina, USA, over 18 years. We found that Acadian Flycatcher abundance was initially greater in hardwood plantation habitat relative to bottomland hardwood forest along river levees but that abundance declined over time in both habitats. We plan for unmarked development to keep pace with advances in hierarchical modelling in ecology, including better handling of continuous-time data from camera trap and automated recording units and integrated models for multiple data streams.

Methods in Ecology & Evolution↗
USGS2018

Ecological genomics predicts climate vulnerability in an endangered southwestern songbird

Few regions have been more severely impacted by climate change in the USA than the Desert Southwest. Here, we use ecological genomics to assess the potential for adaptation to rising global temperatures in a widespread songbird, the willow flycatcher ( Empidonax traillii ), and find the endangered desert southwestern subspecies ( E. t. extimus ) most vulnerable to future climate change. Highly significant correlations between present abundance and estimates of genomic vulnerability – the mismatch between current and predicted future genotype–environment relationships – indicate small, fragmented populations of the southwestern willow flycatcher will have to adapt most to keep pace with climate change. Links between climate‐associated genotypes and genes important to thermal tolerance in birds provide a potential mechanism for adaptation to temperature extremes. Our results demonstrate that the incorporation of genotype–environment relationships into landscape‐scale models of climate vulnerability can facilitate more precise predictions of climate impacts and help guide conservation in threatened and endangered groups.

Ecology Letters↗
USGS2021

Why disease ecology needs life-history theory: A host perspective

When facing an emerging infectious disease of conservation concern, we often have little information on the nature of the host‐parasite interaction to inform management decisions. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the life‐history strategies of host species can be predictive of individual‐ and population‐level responses to infectious disease, even without detailed knowledge on the specifics of the host‐parasite interaction. Here, we argue that a deeper integration of life‐history theory into disease ecology is timely and necessary to improve our capacity to understand, predict and mitigate the impact of endemic and emerging infectious diseases in wild populations. Using wild vertebrates as an example, we show that host life‐history characteristics influence host responses to parasitism at different levels of organisation, from individuals to communities. We also highlight knowledge gaps and future directions for the study of life‐history and host responses to parasitism. We conclude by illustrating how this theoretical insight can inform the monitoring and control of infectious diseases in wildlife.

Ecology Letters↗
USGS2022

Defining an epidemiological landscape that connects movement ecology to pathogen transmission and pace-of-life

Pathogen transmission depends on host density, mobility and contact. These components emerge from host and pathogen movements that themselves arise through interactions with the surrounding environment. The environment, the emergent host and pathogen movements, and the subsequent patterns of density, mobility and contact form an ‘epidemiological landscape’ connecting the environment to specific locations where transmissions occur. Conventionally, the epidemiological landscape has been described in terms of the geographical coordinates where hosts or pathogens are located. We advocate for an alternative approach that relates those locations to attributes of the local environment. Environmental descriptions can strengthen epidemiological forecasts by allowing for predictions even when local geographical data are not available. Environmental predictions are more accessible than ever thanks to new tools from movement ecology, and we introduce a ‘movement-pathogen pace of life’ heuristic to help identify aspects of movement that have the most influence on spatial epidemiology. By linking pathogen transmission directly to the environment, the epidemiological landscape offers an efficient path for using environmental information to inform models describing when and where transmission will occur.

Ecology Letters↗
USGS2018

Ecology and conservation of the American eel in the Caribbean region

The majority of American eel, Anguilla rostrata LeSueur, knowledge is derived from temperate regions in the United States and Canada, with little known from its tropical Caribbean distribution. Findings of original research on American eel distribution, abundance, population biology, habitat ecology and threats from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico were synthesised. American eel were captured from 48 of 116 sites (41.4%) in 26 of 49 river basins (53.1%) during 2005–2016, and it was extirpated upstream of dams and migration barriers >3.0 m high (38.9% of habitat). Mean density and biomass were 438.9 fish/ha and 23.44 kg/ha, respectively. Upstream habitats favoured larger individuals, and females were larger than males. The swim‐bladder parasite Anguillicoloides crassus Kuwahara, Niimi & Hagaki was not found in 120 eels examined. Realised threats include dams and other migratory barriers, habitat loss and alteration and pollution; exotic species and commercial fishing are impending threats; and the least understood is climate change.

Fisheries Management and Ecology↗
USGS2010

Stage structure alters how complexity affects stability of ecological networks

Resolving how complexity affects stability of natural communities is of key importance for predicting the consequences of biodiversity loss. Central to previous stability analysis has been the assumption that the resources of a consumer are substitutable. However, during their development, most species change diets; for instance, adults often use different resources than larvae or juveniles. Here, we show that such ontogenetic niche shifts are common in real ecological networks and that consideration of these shifts can alter which species are predicted to be at risk of extinction. Furthermore, niche shifts reduce and can even reverse the otherwise stabilizing effect of complexity. This pattern arises because species with several specialized life stages appear to be generalists at the species level but act as sequential specialists that are hypersensitive to resource loss. These results suggest that natural communities are more vulnerable to biodiversity loss than indicated by previous analyses.

Ecology Letters↗
USGS2008

Soil magnetic susceptibility: A quantitative proxy of soil drainage for use in ecological restoration

Flooded, saturated, or poorly drained soils are commonly anaerobic, leading to microbially induced magnetite/maghemite dissolution and decreased soil magnetic susceptibility (MS). Thus, MS is considerably higher in well-drained soils (MS typically 40-80 ?? 10-5 standard international [SI]) compared to poorly drained soils (MS typically 10-25 ?? 10-5 SI) in Illinois, other soil-forming factors being equal. Following calibration to standard soil probings, MS values can be used to rapidly and precisely delineate hydric from nonhydric soils in areas with relatively uniform parent material. Furthermore, soil MS has a moderate to strong association with individual tree species' distribution across soil moisture regimes, correlating inversely with independently reported rankings of a tree species' flood tolerance. Soil MS mapping can thus provide a simple, rapid, and quantitative means for precisely guiding reforestation with respect to plant species' adaptations to soil drainage classes. For instance, in native woodlands of east-central Illinois, Quercus alba , Prunus serotina, and Liriodendron tulipifera predominantly occur in moderately well-drained soils (MS 40-60 ?? 10-5 SI), whereas Acer saccharinum, Carya laciniosa, and Fraxinus pennsylvanica predominantly occur in poorly drained soils (MS <20 ?? 10-5 SI). Using a similar method, an MS contour map was used to guide restoration of mesic, wet mesic, and wet prairie species to pre-settlement distributions at Meadowbrook Park (Urbana, IL, U.S.A.). Through use of soil MS maps calibrated to soil drainage class and native vegetation occurrence, restoration efforts can be conducted more successfully and species distributions more accurately reconstructed at the microecosystem level. ?? 2008 Society for Ecological Restoration International.

Restoration Ecology↗
USGS2022

Natural and anthropogenic landscape factors shape functional connectivity of an ecological specialist in urban Southern California

Identifying how natural (i.e., unaltered by human activity) and anthropogenic landscape variables influence contemporary functional connectivity in terrestrial organisms can elucidate the genetic consequences of environmental change. We examine population genetic structure and functional connectivity among populations of a declining species, the Blainville's horned lizard ( Phrynosoma blainvillii ), in the urbanized landscape of the Greater Los Angeles Area in Southern California, USA. Using single nucleotide polymorphism data, we assessed genetic structure among populations occurring at the interface of two abutting evolutionary lineages, and at a fine scale among habitat fragments within the heavily urbanized area. Based on the ecology of P. blainvillii , we predicted which environmental variables influence population structure and gene flow and used gravity models to distinguish among hypotheses to best explain population connectivity. Our results show evidence of admixture between two evolutionary lineages and strong population genetic structure across small habitat fragments. We also show that topography, microclimate, and soil and vegetation types are important predictors of functional connectivity, and that anthropogenic disturbance, including recent fire history and urban development, are key factors impacting contemporary population dynamics. Examining how natural and anthropogenic sources of landscape variation affect contemporary population genetics is critical to understanding how to best manage sensitive species in a rapidly changing landscape.

California↗
USGS2019

Can’t see the random forest for the decision trees: Selecting predictive models for restoration ecology

Improving predictions of restoration outcomes is increasingly important to resource managers for accountability and adaptive management, yet there is limited guidance for selecting a predictive model from the multitude available. The goal of this paper was to identify an optimal predictive framework for restoration ecology using eleven modeling frameworks (including, machine learning, inferential, and ensemble approaches), and three data groups (field data, geographic data [GIS], and a combination thereof). We test this approach with a dataset from a large post-fire sagebrush reestablishment project in the Great Basin, USA. Predictive power varied among models and data groups, ranging from 58-79% accuracy. Finer scale field data generally had the greatest predictive power, although GIS data were present in the best models overall. An ensemble prediction computed from the ten models parameterized to field data was well above average for accuracy but was outperformed by others that prioritized model parsimony by selecting predictor variables based on rankings of their importance among all candidate models. The variation in predictive power among a suite of modeling frameworks underscores the importance of a model comparison and refinement approach that evaluates multiple models and data groups, and selects variables based on their contribution to predictive power. The enhanced understanding of factors influencing restoration outcomes accomplished by this framework has the potential to aid the adaptive management process for improving future restoration outcomes.

Restoration Ecology↗
USGS2020

Biological soil crusts in ecological restoration: Emerging research and perspectives

Drylands encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems and face significant anthropogenic degradation causing a loss of ecosystem integrity, services, and deterioration of social‐ecological systems. To combat this degradation, some dryland restoration efforts have focused on the use of biological soil crusts (biocrusts): complex communities of cyanobacteria, algae, lichens, bryophytes, and other organisms living in association with the top millimeters of soil. Biocrusts are common in many ecosystems and especially drylands. They perform a suite of ecosystem functions: stabilizing soil surfaces to prevent erosion, contributing carbon through photosynthesis, fixing nitrogen, and mediating the hydrological cycle in drylands. Biocrusts have emerged as a potential tool in restoration; developing methods to implement effective biocrust restoration has the potential to return many ecosystem functions and services. Although culture‐based approaches have allowed researchers to learn about the biology, physiology, and cultivation of biocrusts, transferring this knowledge to field implementation has been more challenging. A large amount of research has amassed to improve our understanding of biocrust restoration, leaving us at an opportune time to learn from one another and to join approaches for maximum efficacy. The articles in this special issue improve the state of our current knowledge in biocrust restoration, highlighting efforts to effectively restore biocrusts through a variety of different ecosystems, across scales and utilizing a variety of lab and field methods. This collective work provides a useful resource for the scientific community as well as land managers.

Restoration Ecology↗
USGS2024

Perspectives on the future of ecology, evolution, and biodiversity from the Council on Microbial Sciences of the American Society for Microbiology

The field of microbial ecology, evolution, and biodiversity (EEB) is at the leading edge of understanding how microbes shape our biosphere and influence the well-being of humankind. To that end, EEB is developing new tools to analyze the massive, complex, transdisciplinary datasets that result from such studies. The American Society for Microbiology’s Council on Microbial Sciences hosted a virtual retreat in 2023 to identify the trajectory of EEB both within the Society and microbiology at large. Retreat presentations and discussions collectively emphasized the interconnectedness of microbes and their outsized global influence on environmental and host health. The retreat repeatedly emphasized that the future of science is through transdisciplinary collaborations that promote integration of diverse datasets and advanced technologies, while also genuinely fostering inclusivity, global collaborations, and public engagement. The American Society for Microbiology and EEB stand poised to lead a paradigm shift that will result in a new era of collaboration, innovation, and societal relevance for microbiology.

mSphere↗
USGS2018

Geomorphometry in landscape ecology: Issues of scale, physiography, and application

Topographic measures are frequently used in a variety of landscape ecology applications, in their simplest form as elevation, slope, and aspect, but increasingly more complex measures are being employed. We explore terrain metric similarity with changes in scale, both grain and extent, and examine how selecting the best measures is sensitive to changes in application. There are three types of topographic measures: 1) those that relate to orientation for approximating solar input, 2) those that capture variability in terrain configuration, and 3) those that provide metrics about landform features. Many biodiversity hotspots and predators have been found to coincide with areas of complexity, yet most complexity measures cannot differentiate between terrain steepness and uneven and broken terrain. Currently characterizing terrain in landscape-level analyses can be challenging, especially at coarser spatial resolutions but developing methods that improve landscape-level assessments include multivariate approaches and the use of neighborhood statistics. Some measures are sensitive to the spatial grain of calculation, the physiography of the landscape, and the scale of application. We show which measures have the potential to be multi-collinear, and illustrate with a case study how the selection of the best measures can change depending on the question at hand using mountain lion (Puma concolor) occurrence data. The case study showed a combination of infrequently employed metrics, such as view-shed analysis and focal statistics, outperform more commonly employed singular metrics. The use of focal statistics as a measure of topographic complexity shows promise for improving how mountain lions use terrain features.

Environment and Ecology Research↗
USGS2002

Ecological resource management: A call to arms

As the human population enlarges, it becomes increasingly difficult to sus tain valued ecological resources. Hu man use of resources, whether it is t h e harvest of ocean fisheries, logging of forests, or farming of arable lands, has resulted in significant population de clines i n many wildlife species. The growth of urban areas and the exp ansion of impermeable surfaces alter landscape diversity and modify hydro logic patterns in ways that decrease habitat quality for many desired plant, fish, and wildlife species. Impaired wa ter, air, and soil quality related to in dustrial, municipal, and agricultural ac tivities have altered the composition of aquatic and terrestrial communities.

Ecological Society Bulletin↗
USGS2008

Ecology in the information age: Patterns of use and attrition rates of internet-based citations in ESA journals, 1997–2005

As the amount of information available on the internet has increased, so too has the number of citations to network-accessible information in scholarly research. We searched all papers in four Ecological Society of America journals from 1997 to 2005 for articles containing a citation to material on the internet. We then tested the links to determine whether the information cited in the paper was still accessible. We identified 877 articles that contained at least one link to information on the internet and a total of 2100 unique links. The majority of these citations were based on an object's location (Uniform Resource Locator; 77%), whereas the rest were based on an object's identity (eg Digital Object Identifier, GenBank Accession number). We found that 19–30% of the location-based links were unavailable and that there was a positive relationship between the age of an article and the probability of the link being inactive. Using an internet search engine, we recovered 72–84% of the lost information, leaving a total of 6.2% of the total citations unavailable. Our results highlight the problem of persistence of information stored on the world wide web and we include recommendations for minimizing this problem.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment↗
USGS2009

Tamarisk biocontrol in the western United States: Ecological and societal implications

Tamarisk species (genus Tamarix), also commonly known as saltcedar, are among the most successful plant invaders in the western United States. At the same time, tamarisk has been cited as having enormous economic costs. Accordingly, local, state, and federal agencies have undertaken considerable efforts to eradicate this invasive plant and restore riparian habitats to pre-invasion status. Traditional eradication methods, including herbicide treatments, are now considered undesirable, because they are costly and often have unintended negative impacts on native species. A new biological control agent, the saltcedar leaf beetle (Diorhabda elongata), has been released along many watersheds in the western US, to reduce the extent of tamarisk cover in riparian areas. However, the use of this insect as a biological control agent may have unintended ecological, hydrological, and socioeconomic consequences that need to be anticipated by land managers and stakeholders undertaking restoration efforts. Here, we examine the possible ramifications of tamarisk control and offer recommendations to reduce potential negative impacts on valued riparian systems in the western US.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment↗