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Tara Chesley-Preston

Although biotic responses to contemporary climate change are spatially pervasive and often reflect synergies between climate and other ecological disturbances, the relative importance of climatic factors versus habitat extent for species persistence remains poorly understood. To address this shortcoming, we performed surveys for American pikas (Ochotona princeps) at > 910 locations in 3 geographic regions of western North America during 2014 and 2015, complementing earlier modern (1994–2013) and historical (1898–1990) surveys. We sought to compare extirpation rates and the relative importance of climatic factors versus habitat area for pikas in a mainland-versus-islands framework. In each region, we found widespread...
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Characterization of Montane Ecosystems, Their Microclimates, and Wildlife Distribution and Abundance Across the Hydrographic Great Basin
FY2013This project retrieves four years of data from over 200 temperature sensors nested within 28 sites across ~40 million hectares of the hydrographic Great Basin. The sensors span all major aspects and up to 700 m of elevation within sites, and occur in numerous management jurisdictions in 18 mountain ranges plus other areas not in ranges. This project: Quantifies the variability of climate at micro-, meso-, and macroscales across the Basin, and across diel, seasonal, and interannual periods. Informs management and conservation efforts, in terms of helping calibrate and refine the climatic stage upon which all biological actors and efforts hinge (Beier and Brost 2010). Feeds into other bioclimatic and wildlife...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2013, 2014, Academics & scientific researchers, California, California, All tags...
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The Williston Basin is an intracratonic basin that underlies portions of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada. The Williston Basin has been a top domestic oil producing region since the 1960s and is currently in the midst of a major “oil boom” triggered by the discovery of substantial reserves associated with the Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation, along with advances in petroleum-recovery technologies and economic incentives related to the price of oil.
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Contamination to aquatic resources from co-produced water (brine) associated with energy development has been documented in the northeastern portion of the Williston Basin; an area mantled by glacial drift. The presence and magnitude of brine contamination can be determined using the contamination index (CI) value from water samples. Recently, the U.S. Geological Survey published a section (~2.59 km2) level risk assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources for Sheridan County, Montana, using oilfield and hydrogeological parameters. Our goal was to improve the Sheridan County assessment (SCA) and evaluate the use of this new Williston Basin assessment (WBA) across 31 counties mantled by glacial drift in...
Categories: Data; Types: ArcGIS REST Map Service, ArcGIS Service Definition, Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Bakken Formatioin, Bakken Formation, Benson, North Dakota, Blaine, Montana, Bottineau, North Dakota, All tags...
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