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At least 1,603 records · Page 89Linked to original sources

USGS2019

Effect of permafrost thaw on plant and soil fungal community in the boreal forest: Does fungal community change mediate plant productivity response?

Permafrost thaw is leading to rapid shifts in boreal ecosystem function. Permafrost thaw affects soil carbon turnover through changes in soil hydrology, however, the biotic mechanisms regulating plant community response remain elusive. Here, we measured the response of fungal community composition and soil nutrient content in an intact permafrost plateau forest soil and an adjacent thermokarst bog using barcoded amplicon targeting ITS2 and 28S rRNA genes. Next, we used the soils from the permafrost plateau and the thermokarst bog as soil inoculum in a greenhouse experiment to measure whether shifts in fungal community and soil water level regulate plant productivity. Overall, we found that fungal community composition differed significantly between the thawed and intact permafrost sites, but soil nutrient content did not. Relative abundance of mycorrhizal fungal taxa decreased while relative abundance of putative fungal pathogens increased with permafrost thaw. In the greenhouse, we found that ecto- and arbuscular associated host plants had higher productivity in permafrost-intact soils relative to thawed soils. However, productivity of non-mycorrhizal tussock grass was more affected by soil water levels than soil communities. Our results suggest that fungal communities are crucial in mediating plant response to permafrost thaws inducing hydrology changes.

Alaska↗

USGS2016

Biogeography of boreal passerine range dynamics in western North America: past, present, and future

Many of the Neotropical migrant bird species that breed throughout the Canadian boreal region are not found in the Alaskan boreal region, separated by the northwestern cordilleran mountains, despite the presence of climatically suitable habitat. We asked whether biological or climatic factors constrain certain species from crossing this geographic barrier. Analyzing a comprehensive dataset for 80 boreal passerine species, we used phylogenetic logistic regression to evaluate the relative importance of physical, migratory and competition metrics versus current and paleoclimatic suitability factors. Controlling for current climatic suitability within boreal Alaska, we found that species with the greatest climatic suitability across the northwestern cordillera, presently and also during the mid-Holocene period, were most likely to be regular breeders in the Alaskan boreal region. Migratory strategy also played a role, but could not be disentangled from its strong phylogenetic basis. Our analysis suggests that the perceived barrier of the northwestern cordillera may be easily weakened as climate change improves conditions there for many forest species. The weakening of this barrier may lead to relatively rapid range expansions and the reshuffling of species communities. Species’ realized distributional shifts will be a function of the interplay between a changing climate and static topographic features.

Ecography: Pattern and Diversity in Ecology↗

USGS2016

Hydrologic restoration in a dynamic subtropical mangrove-to-marsh ecotone

Extensive hydrologic modifications in coastal regions across the world have occurred to support infrastructure development, altering the function of many coastal wetlands. Wetland restoration success is dependent on the existence of hydrologic regimes that support development of appropriate soils and the growth and persistence of wetland vegetation. In Florida, United States, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP) seeks to restore, protect, and preserve water resources of the greater Everglades region. Herein we describe vegetation dynamics in a mangrove-to-marsh ecotone within the impact area of a CERP hydrologic restoration project currently under development. Vegetation communities are also described for a similar area outside the project area. We found that vegetation shifts within the impact area occurred over a 7-year period; cover of herbaceous species varied by location, and an 88% increase in the total number of mangrove seedlings was documented. We attribute these shifts to the existing modified hydrologic regime, which is characterized by a low volume of freshwater sheet flow compared with historical conditions (i.e. before modification), as well as increased tidal influence. We also identified a significant trend of decreasing soil surface elevation at the impact area. The CERP restoration project is designed to increase freshwater sheet flow to the impact area. Information from our study characterizing existing vegetation dynamics prior to implementation of the restoration project is required to allow documentation of long-term project effects on plant community composition and structure within a framework of background variation, thereby allowing assessment of the project's success in restoring critical ecosystem functions.

Florida↗

USGS2019

Passive restoration of vegetation and biological soil crusts following 80 years of exclusion from grazing across the Great Basin

Restoration targets for biological soil crusts are largely unknown. We surveyed seven 80‐year‐old grazing exclosures across northern Nevada for biocrusts to quantify reference conditions at relatively undisturbed sites. Exclosures were associated with the following plant communities: Wyoming big sagebrush, black sagebrush, and areas co‐dominated by winterfat and Wyoming big sagebrush. Cover of biocrusts and shrubs were generally higher than other plant groups at these sites, regardless of being inside or outside of the exclosures, suggesting these groups make up most of the native flora across the region. Important in forming soil structure, cyanobacteria of the order Oscillatoriales were less abundant and diverse in black sagebrush communities. Grazing had a negative effect on the abundance of Oscillatoriales but not the number of algal taxa, including cyanobacteria. Abundance of light algal crusts were not influenced by plant community or grazing. Dark algal crusts were generally less abundant on grazed sites. Influences of plant community and grazing were most apparent when accounting for reproductive rates of lichens and mosses based on establishment mechanisms. Abundance of shrubs, perennial grasses, Oscillatoriales, fast reproducing biocrusts and the number of algal and cyanobacterial taxa, varied by plant community, suggesting that restoration should be plant community specific. We demonstrate the affinity of rapidly reproducing biocrusts for winterfat‐Wyoming big sagebrush co‐dominated plant communities, regardless of grazing pressure. Across sites, the effects of grazing were most evident on the abundance of Oscillatoriales and slowly reproducing biocrusts following 80 years of cessation from grazing.

Great Basin↗

USGS2009

Untangling the biological contributions to soil stability in semiarid shrublands

Communities of plants, biological soil crusts (BSCs), and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are known to influence soil stability individually, but their relative contributions, interactions, and combined effects are not well understood, particularly in arid and semiarid ecosystems. In a landscape-scale field study we quantified plant, BSC, and AM fungal communities at 216 locations along a gradient of soil stability levels in southern Utah, USA. We used multivariate modeling to examine the relative influences of plants, BSCs, and AM fungi on surface and subsurface stability in a semiarid shrubland landscape. Models were found to be congruent with the data and explained 35% of the variation in surface stability and 54% of the variation in subsurface stability. The results support several tentative conclusions. While BSCs, plants, and AM fungi all contribute to surface stability, only plants and AM fungi contribute to subsurface stability. In both surface and subsurface models, the strongest contributions to soil stability are made by biological components of the system. Biological soil crust cover was found to have the strongest direct effect on surface soil stability (0.60; controlling for other factors). Surprisingly, AM fungi appeared to influence surface soil stability (0.37), even though they are not generally considered to exist in the top few millimeters of the soil. In the subsurface model, plant cover appeared to have the strongest direct influence on soil stability (0.42); in both models, results indicate that plant cover influences soil stability both directly (controlling for other factors) and indirectly through influences on other organisms. Soil organic matter was not found to have a direct contribution to surface or subsurface stability in this system. The relative influence of AM fungi on soil stability in these semiarid shrublands was similar to that reported for a mesic tallgrass prairie. Estimates of effects that BSCs, plants, and AM fungi have on soil stability in these models are used to suggest the relative amounts of resources that erosion control practitioners should devote to promoting these communities. This study highlights the need for system approaches in combating erosion, soil degradation, and arid-land desertification.

Utah↗

USGS2024

Lack of strong responses to the Pacific marine heatwave by benthivorous marine birds indicates importance of trophic drivers

The Pacific marine heatwave (PMH) of 2014-2016 was an intense, long-lasting environmental disturbance expressed throughout the north Pacific. While dramatic consequences of the PMH on pelagic food webs have been well documented, effects on nearshore food webs, i.e., those based on macroalgae primary productivity, benthic invertebrate intermediate consumers, and specialized benthivorous top predators including some marine birds, are not well understood. We conducted summer and winter coastline surveys in two National Parks in the northern Gulf of Alaska from 2006 – 2022. We evaluated changes in abundance of benthivorous marine birds in relation to the heatwave, after accounting for effects of season and region. We also evaluated changes in abundance of nearshore benthic invertebrate prey data to allow specific consideration of a prey-based mechanism for effects of the PMH across food webs. We found that benthivorous marine birds, consisting largely of sea ducks and shorebirds, did not show a strong response to the PMH, unlike significant effects demonstrated by piscivorous birds in pelagic biomes. Unlike extreme reductions in quantity and quality of forage fish documented in other studies, we found that common benthic invertebrate prey abundance remained relatively stable, with only minor increases or decreases, in association with the PMH. Our results support the hypothesis that food availability has a strong mediating effect of the PMH on upper trophic levels across food webs. These findings show how a large-scale environmental perturbation affects biological communities through trophic pathways, provides insight into ecosystem resiliency, and can inform management strategies in the face of persistent climate change.

Alaska↗

USGS2005

Oceanographic conditions structure forage fishes into lipid-rich and lipid-poor communities in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA

Forage fishes were sampled with a mid-water trawl in lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA, from late July to early August 1996 to 1999. We sampled 3 oceanographically distinct areas of lower Cook Inlet: waters adjacent to Chisik Island, in Kachemak Bay, and near the Barren Islands. In 163 tows using a mid-water trawl, 229437 fishes with fork length <200 mm were captured. More than 39 species were captured in lower Cook Inlet, but Pacific sand lance Ammodytes hexapterus, juvenile Pacific herring Clupea pallasi, and juvenile walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma comprised 97.5% of the total individuals. Both species richness and species diversity were highest in warm, low-salinity, weakly stratified waters near Chisik Island. Kachemak Bay, which had thermohaline values between those found near Chisik Island and the Barren Islands, had an intermediate value of species richness. Species richness was lowest at the Barren Islands, an exposed region that regularly receives oceanic, upwelled water from the Gulf of Alaska. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to compute axes of species composition based on an ordination of pairwise site dissimilarities. Each axis was strongly rank-correlated with unique groups of species and examined separately as a function of environmental parameters (temperature, salinity, depth), area, and year. Oceanographic parameters accounted for 41 and 12% of the variability among forage fishes indicated by Axis 1 and Axis 2, respectively. Axis 1 also captured the spatial variability in the upwelled area of lower Cook Inlet and essentially contrasted the distribution of species among shallow, nearshore (sand lance, herring) and deep, offshore (walleye pollock) habitats. Axis 2 captured the spatial variability in forage fish communities from the north (Chisik Island) to the south (Barren Islands) of lower Cook Inlet and essentially contrasted a highly diverse community dominated by salmonids and osmerids (warmer, less saline) with a fish community dominated by Pacific sand lance (colder, more saline). Axis 3 reflected the negative spatial association of capelin Mallotus villosus and Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus. Correlations of year with Axes 1 and 3 indicate that from 1996 to 1999 the forage fish community significantly decreased in lipid-poor gadids (walleye pollock and Pacific cod), and significantly increased in lipid-rich species such as Pacific sand lance, Pacific herring, and capelin.

Alaska↗

USGS2020

Broad-scale impacts of an invasive native predator on a sensitive native prey species within the shifting avian community of the North American Great Basin

Human enterprise has modified ecosystem processes through direct and indirect alteration of native predators’ distribution and abundance. For example, human activities subsidize food, water, and shelter availability to generalist predators whose subsequent increased abundance impacts lower trophic-level prey species. The common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven) is an avian predator, native to the northern hemisphere, that can become invasive when subsidized. Raven populations are increasing at unprecedented rates in many regions globally. Information regarding scale of impact and potential ecological thresholds is needed to guide conservation actions aimed at reducing adverse effects on sensitive prey. We conducted a multi-part analysis to investigate broad-scale variation in raven densities and impacts on nesting greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an indicator species for sagebrush ecosystems in western North America. We estimated raven densities using 16,000 point surveys over 10 years within the Great Basin, USA, and examined associations with anthropogenic and environmental covariates. Average density was 0.54 ravens km-2 (95% CI: 0.42–0.70), with higher densities at lower relative elevations comprising increased agriculture and development. We then used a reduced dataset to estimate the effect of raven density on sage-grouse nest survival (nests = 737). We identified negative impacts to nesting sage-grouse, especially where raven density exceeded ~ 0.40 km-2, a potential ecological threshold. We mapped regions where elevated raven densities were predicted to depress sage-grouse population growth in the absence of compensatory demographic responses from other sage-grouse life-history stages, and found ~ 64% of sage-grouse breeding areas were adversely impacted by high raven density.

California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah↗

USGS2004

Using larval trematodes that parasitize snails to evaluate a saltmarsh restoration project

We conducted a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study using larval digeneans infecting the California horn snail, Cerithidea californica, to evaluate the success of an ecological restoration project at Carpinteria Salt Marsh in California, USA. Digenean trematodes are parasites with complex life cycles requiring birds and other vertebrates as final hosts. We tested two hypotheses for prevalence and species richness of larval trematodes in C. californica: (1) prior to the restoration, sites to be restored would have lower trematode prevalence and species richness relative to unimpacted control sites, and (2) that these differences would diminish after restoration. The sites to be restored were initially degraded for trematode species. They had a mean trematode prevalence (12%) and species richness (4.5 species) that were lower than control sites (28% trematode prevalence and 7 species). Despite the differences in prevalence, the proportional representation of each trematode species in the total community was similar between sites to be restored and control sites. Over the six years following restoration, trematode prevalence nearly quadrupled at restored sites (43%) while the prevalence at control sites (26%) remained unchanged. In addition, species richness at restored sites doubled (9 species), while species richness at the control sites (7.8 species) did not change. Immediately after restoration, the relative abundance of trematode species using fishes as second intermediate hosts declined while those using molluscs as second intermediate hosts increased. Trematode communities at restored and control sites gradually returned to being similar. We interpret the increase in trematode prevalence and species richness at restored sites to be a direct consequence of changes in bird use of the restored habitat. This study demonstrates a new comparative technique for assessing wetlands, and while it does not supplant biotic surveys, it informs such taxonomic lists. Most importantly, it provides a synthetic quantification of the linkages among species in wetland food webs.

Ecological Applications↗

USGS2014

Shifts in plant functional types have time-dependent and regionally variable impacts on dryland ecosystem water balance

Summary 1. Terrestrial vegetation influences hydrologic cycling. In water-limited, dryland ecosystems, altered ecohydrology as a consequence of vegetation change can impact vegetation structure, ecological functioning and ecosystem services. Shrub steppe ecosystems dominated by big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) are widespread across western North America, and provide a range of ecosystem services. While sagebrush abundance in these ecosystems has been altered over the past century, and changes are likely to continue, the ecohydrological consequences of sagebrush removal and reestablishment remain unclear. 2. To characterize the immediate and medium-term patterns of water cycling and availability following sagebrush plant community alteration, we applied the SOILWAT ecosystem water balance model to 898 sites across the distribution of sagebrush ecosystems, representing the three primary sagebrush ecosystem types: sagebrush shrublands, sagebrush steppe and montane sagebrush. At each site, we examined three vegetation conditions representing intact sagebrush, recently disturbed sagebrush and recovered but grass-dominated vegetation. 3. Transition from shrub to grass dominance decreased precipitation interception and transpiration and increased soil evaporation and deep drainage. Relative to intact sagebrush vegetation, simulated soils in the herbaceous vegetation phases typically had drier surface layers and wetter deep layers. 4. Our simulations suggested that alterations in ecosystem water balance may be most pronounced in vegetation representing recently disturbed conditions (herbaceous vegetation with low biomass) and only modest in conditions representing recovered, but still grass-dominated vegetation. Furthermore, the ecohydrological impact of simulated sagebrush removal depended on climate; while short-term changes in water balance were greatest in wet areas represented by the montane sagebrush ecosystem type, medium-term impacts were greatest in dry areas of sagebrush shrublands and sagebrush steppe. 5. Synthesis. This study provides a novel, regional-scale assessment of how plant functional type transitions may impact ecosystem water balance in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems of North America. Results illustrate that the ecohydrological consequences of changing vegetation depend strongly on climate and suggest that decreasing woody plant abundance may have only limited impact on evapotranspiration and water yield.

Journal of Ecology↗

USGS2026

An overview of the NASA Adaptation and Response in Drylands field experiment scoping study

Drylands cover 41% of Earth’s land surface, support 36% of the global population, and contribute 60% of global food production. Despite these ecosystems’ importance and high vulnerability to droughts and heatwaves, drylands remain some of the most understudied systems on Earth. Monitoring drylands is challenging due to their complex ecosystem structure of visible soil mixed with diverse plant species that respond rapidly to weather and climate. In 2023 and 2024, a NASA scoping study was conducted for a proposed dryland terrestrial ecology field campaign called Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID). Thereafter, the NASA ARID scoping team submitted their campaign proposal to NASA Headquarters, providing a study design for how field, aircraft, and satellite measurements, as well as modeling, would address the most critical fundamental and applied science questions in drylands. The extensive study plan was created by and for the drylands research community – including remote sensors, modelers, experimentalists, and ecologists from across the world – and the overall approach can be further utilized and changed for different uses and data information needs. Here, we summarize the ARID research road map, including its main objectives, field campaign strategy, data end-user support strategy, and U.S. and global community engagement.

Drylands↗

USGS2008

Planning riparian restoration in the context of tamarix control in Western North America

Throughout the world, the condition of many riparian ecosystems has declined due to numerous factors, including encroachment of non-native species. In the western United States, millions of dollars are spent annually to control invasions of Tamarix spp., introduced small trees or shrubs from Eurasia that have colonized bottomland ecosystems along many rivers. Resource managers seek to control Tamarix in attempts to meet various objectives, such as increasing water yield and improving wildlife habitat. Often, riparian restoration is an implicit goal, but there has been little emphasis on a process or principles to effectively plan restoration activities, and many Tamarix removal projects are unsuccessful at restoring native vegetation. We propose and summarize the key steps in a planning process aimed at developing effective restoration projects in Tamarix-dominated areas. We discuss in greater detail the biotic and abiotic factors central to the evaluation of potential restoration sites and summarize information about plant communities likely to replace Tamarix under various conditions. Although many projects begin with implementation, which includes the actual removal of Tamarix, we stress the importance of pre-project planning that includes: (1) clearly identifying project goals; (2) developing realistic project objectives based on a detailed evaluation of site conditions; (3) prioritizing and selecting Tamarix control sites with the best chance of ecological recovery; and (4) developing a detailed tactical plan before Tamarix is removed. After removal, monitoring and maintenance as part of an adaptive management approach are crucial for evaluating project success and determining the most effective methods for restoring these challenging sites. ?? 2008 Society for Ecological Restoration International.

Restoration Ecology↗

USGS2005

GIS compilation of data collected from the Pulley Ridge Deep Coral Reef region

Pulley Ridge is a chain of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-90 m water depths (Fig. 1). This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida (Jarrett and others, 2005). These islands formed during the early Holocene marine transgression approximately 12,000 - 14,000 years before present, and were then submerged by sea level rise and preserved near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge is the focus of this study. This area hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This largely photosynthetic community is unique in that it thrives with less than 5% of the light typically associated with shallow-water reefs with similar fauna. Several factors help to account for the existence of this unique deep-water community. First, the underlying drowned barrier islands provide both elevated topography and lithified substrate for the establishment of the hardbottom community. Second, the region is commonly bathed by the Loop Current, which brings relatively clear and warm water to this area. Third, the ridge's position on the continental shelf places it within the thermocline which provides nutrients to the reef during upwelling (Halley and others, 2003). The USGS has made two proposals to resource managers for the designation of marine protected areas based on the geophysical and photographic data in this report. The proposals describe areas that may require some regulatory protection of marine life utilizing the sea floor (Fig. 1). The first proposal is that the area of greatest hermatypic coral cover (Fig. 1) is considered for future management actions and designated a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. HAPCs are identified on the basis of habitat level considerations: The importance of the ecological function provided by the habitat. The extent to which the habitat is sensitive to human-induced environmental degradation. Whether and to what extent development activities are or will be stressing the habitat. The rarity of the habitat type. The second proposed area is for Coral Essential Fish Habitat (CEFH, Fig. 1). CEFHs are defined as "those waters and substrate necessary to corals for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity." The following definitions are provided for clarification: waters is defined as "aquatic areas and their associated physical, chemical, and biological properties that are used by corals" substrate means "sediment, hard bottom, structures underlying the waters, and associated biological communities" necessary means "the habitat required to support a sustainable population and the managed species' contribution to a healthy ecosystem" spawning,breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity covers the full life cycle of a species. The CEFH shown in Figure 1 is the greatest coral cover in the region as determined by the bottom photo and video transects acquired during this study. This report presents the geophysical and photographic data that were collected to describe the surficial and shallow subsurface geologic framework of the area where these deep-water corals are known to occur. The data types include multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, images of high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, and bottom photographs. In addition, the tracklines for the seismic data, locations of bottom photographs and camera drifts, and tracklines along which submersible and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) observations were made are contained in the GIS files accompanying this report. Unfortunately, video footage from the camera drifts, submersible, and ROV cruises is not available on this DVD due to the quantity of data. The bottom photograph data set has been previously published (Cross and others, 2004), however it is included in this publication in an effort to integrate the varying data sets in one location. This integration is accomplished through the GIS data included on this DVD.

Florida↗

USGS1984

The ecological effect of acid conditions and precipitation of hydrous metal oxides in a Rocky Mountain stream

Periphyton and benthic invertebrates assemblages were studied at the confluence of two Rocky Mountain streams, Deer Creek and the Snake River near Montezuma, Colorado. Upstream from the confluence the Snake River is acidic and enriched in dissolved trace metals, while Deer Creek is a typical Rocky Mountain stream. In the Snake River, downstream from the confluence, the pH increases and hydrous metal oxides precipitate and cover the streambed. The algal and benthic invertebrate communities in the upstream reaches of the Snake River and in Deer Creek were very different. A liverwort, Scapania undulata var. undulata, was abundant in the Snake River, and although periphyton were very sparse, there were as many benthic invertebrates as in Deer Creek. Downstream from the confleunce, the precipitation of hydrous metal oxides greatly decreased the abundance of periphyton and benthic invertebrates. This study shows that in streams metal precipitates covering the streambed may have a more deleterious effect on stream communities than high metal-ion activities.

Colorado↗

USGS2019

Bats in a changing landscape: Linking occupancy and traits of a diverse montane bat community to fire regime

1. Wildfires are increasing in incidence and severity across the western US, leading to changes in forest structure and wildlife habitats. Knowledge of how species respond to fire-driven habitat changes in these landscapes is limited and generally disconnected from our understanding of adaptations that underpin responses to fire. 2. We aimed to identify relationships between fire regime, physiographic and forest structure variables, and occupancy and functional traits of a diverse bat community, to inform forest management in a fire-prone landscape. 3. We recorded bats acoustically at 83 sites (n = 249 recording nights) across the Plumas National Forest in the northern Sierra Nevada over 3 summers (2015-2017). We investigated relationships between fire regime, physiographic and forest structure and probability of bat occupancy for 9 species. We used fourth corner regression and RLQ analysis to identify ecomorphological traits (body mass; call frequency, bandwidth and duration; and open, edge or clutter (structurally complex vegetation) adapted foraging strategy) driving species-environment relationships across all 17 bat species. 4. Relationships between bat traits and fire regime were driven by adaptations to diverse forest structure. Bats adapted to foraging in open habitats and emitting longer duration and narrow bandwidth calls were associated with higher severity and more frequent fires, and bats adapted to foraging in a more cluttered environment were negatively associated with fire. Relationships between edge-adapted bat species and fire were driven by prey preference or habitat availability and configuration at a landscape scale. 5. Predicted increases in fire frequency and severity in the western US are likely to shift dominance in the bat community to species adapted to open environments and those able to exploit post-fire resource pulses (aquatic insects, beetles, snags). Managing for pyrodiversity within the western US is likely important for maintaining bat community diversity, as well as diversity of other biotic communities. Identifying trait-fire regime relationships will help forest managers develop appropriate management interventions and focus limited resources to provide for a broad range of species.

Ecology and Evolution↗

USGS2024

Importance of a lake-wetland complex for a resilient Walleye fishery

Wetlands serve as unique habitats that can support high biodiversity. Large-scale loss of wetland habitats can threaten important linkages between lake and wetland habitats that could affect diversity and growth of aquatic organisms. In this study, we compare prey diversity and abundance as well as Walleye ( Sander vitreus ) diets and condition in a large glacial lake (Lake Kampeska, South Dakota) with a connected wetland to better understand seasonal changes in the benefits provided by each habitat. We examined seasonal differences (spring, summer, and fall) through two years (summer 2021 through fall 2022) between the habitats using prey fish catch per unit effort, richness, Shannon diversity, and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity as well as Walleye relative weight, percent of empty stomachs, diet weight, stomach fullness, diet energy, and diet taxa importance. The prey fish community was more diverse and abundant in the wetland, and Walleye consumed more prey (by weight) in the wetland during all seasons except spring. Wetland reconnection can be a tool for managers to improve water quality while providing seasonal habitat needs for fish. Additionally, the diversity of prey resources provided by wetlands, many of which are unique, support resilience in the face of ecological change. Protection of wetlands may be critical for maintaining healthy and resilient fisheries into the future.

South Dakota↗

USGS2003

Effects of two classification strategies on a Benthic Community Index for streams in the Northern Lakes and Forests Ecoregion

Ninety-four sites were used to analyze the effects of two different classification strategies on the Benthic Community Index (BCI). The first, a priori classification, reflected the wetland status of the streams; the second, a posteriori classification, used a bio-environmental analysis to select classification variables. Both classifications were examined by measuring classification strength and testing differences in metric values with respect to group membership. The a priori (wetland) classification strength (83.3%) was greater than the a posteriori (bio-environmental) classification strength (76.8%). Both classifications found one metric that had significant differences between groups. The original index was modified to reflect the wetland classification by re-calibrating the scoring criteria for percent Crustacea and Mollusca. A proposed refinement to the original Benthic Community Index is suggested. This study shows the importance of using hypothesis-driven classifications, as well as exploratory statistical analysis, to evaluate alternative ways to reveal environmental variability in biological assessment tools.

Ecological Indicators↗

USGS2021

Does restoration of plant diversity trigger concomitant soil microbiome changes in dryland ecosystems?

Drylands are highly vulnerable to land degradation, and despite increasing efforts, restoration success remains low. Although often ignored in the design and deployment of management strategies, soil microbial communities might be critical for dryland restoration due to their central role in promoting soil stability, nutrient cycling and plant establishment. We collected soil samples from eight dryland restoration sites within RestoreNet, a restoration field trial network, and determined their soil microbiome using 16S rRNA (bacteria and archaea) and ITS (fungi) amplicon sequencing. Each previously degraded site was treated with monoculture (single species) and polyculture (multiple species) seedling plantings. Contrary to our initial expectations, we found that these different revegetation interventions did not trigger changes in microbial diversity, composition or relative abundance of functional groups across sites after 1 year of revegetation. Synthesis and applications . Considering the crucial role of soil micro-organisms in dryland ecosystem functions, our results suggest that site-specific targeted microbiome restoration should be considered to accelerate the establishment of desired microbial communities. Plant community-based restoration practices such as revegetation have a limited impact on soil micro-organisms in the short term.

Journal of Applied Ecology↗