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Escalated wildfire activity within the western U.S. has widespread societal impacts and long-term consequences for the imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome. Shifts from historical fire regimes and the interplay between frequent disturbance and invasive annual grasses may initiate permanent state transitions as wildfire frequency outpaces sagebrush communities’ innate capacity to recover. Therefore, wildfire management is at the core of conservation plans for sagebrush ecosystems, especially critical habitat for species of conservation concern such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse). Fuel breaks help facilitate wildfire suppression by modifying behavior through fuels...
Removal of two large dams from the Elwha River, Washington USA, in 2011-2014 released ~20.5 metric tons (Mt) of impounded sediment, ~5.4 Mt of which was deposited in the river delta and estuary. This dataset presents measurements of geomorphic surfaces, vegetation colonization, and plant community development in the Elwha River delta and estuary after dam removal. Geomorphic surfaces and vegetation colonization were estimated from aerial imagery of the delta and estuary in 2016 and 2018. Plant community development was quantified from field plot surveys of pioneer plant communities on new surfaces in 2014 and 2018 and of established delta and estuarine plant communities on older surfaces in 2007, 2014, and 2018....
Sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) samples were collected from marshes on five different keys (Big Pine, Torch, Ramrod, Cudjoe, and Sugarloaf Keys) within National Key Deer Refuge in January and June of 2015 and analyzed for contamination by the mosquito control insecticide permethrin. Permethrin was detected on 17 of 57 samples collected in January while it was detected on 40 of 56 samples collected in June. The concentrations on samples collected in January (below detection to 16 ng/g ww) were lower than concentrations on samples collected in June (below detection to 57.7 ng/g).
We created a comprehensive estimate of potential distribution for a subset of 17 ecosystem modifying invasive plants (EMIPs) in Hawaiʻi. This work uses methods that integrate a wide set of data sources including agency and citizen science data, but perhaps more importantly, the integration of regional and global distribution information for these species. We built three sets of ensemble species distribution models (SDMs) for each species. We first built global and regional ensemble distribution models for each species. Then, to create a comprehensive estimate of potential invasive species distribution for our study species in Hawaiʻi, we built nested regional models that integrate our global and regional ensemble...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Baseline Climate,
Ecology,
Ensemble Model Projections,
Hawai’i,
Invasive Plants,
One of the determinants of runoff is the occurrence of excess rainfall events where rainfall rates exceed the infiltration capacity of soils. To help understand runoff risks, we calculated the probability of excess rainfall events across the Hawaiian landscape by comparing the probability distributions of projected rainfall frequency and land cover-specific infiltration capacity. We characterized soil infiltration capacity based on different land cover types (bare soil, grasses, and woody vegetation) and compared them to the frequency of large rainfall events under current and future (pseudo-global warming) climate scenarios. This simple analysis allowed us to map the potential risk of excess rainfall across the...
Global downscaled projections are now some of the most widely used climate datasets in the world, however, they are rarely examined for representativeness of local climate or the plausibility of their projected changes. Here we apply steps to improve the utility of two such global datasets (CHELSA and WorldClim2) to provide credible climate scenarios for climate change impact studies in Hawaii. Our approach is based on three steps: 1) Using a standardized baseline period, comparing available global downscaled projections with regional observation-based datasets and regional downscaled datasets (if available); 2) bias correcting projections using observation-based data; and 3) creating ensembles to make use of the...
From 31 May to 29 June, 2022, a Virginia Tech team of 4-5 sampled the fish community in 30 Delmarva Peninsula streams (Maryland and Delaware, USA) as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature, macroinvertebrates, and fish health at the same 30 streams. These 30 Chesapeake Bay Watershed tributaries had upstream drainage areas of 9 to 54 sq. km. At each stream, we sampled fish from two reaches using two-pass backpack electrofishing and seining. Reach A was the main reach surveyed by all the interdisciplinary teams; Reach B was surveyed for fish communities only. Reach length was 20 wetted channel widths, capped at 150 meters. Fish were identified...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Caroline County,
Chester River,
Choptank River,
Delaware,
Delmarva Peninsula,
The Maumee River transports huge loads of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to Lake Erie. The increased concentrations of N and P are causing eutrophication of the lake, creating hypoxic zones, and contributing to phytoplankton blooms. It is hypothesized that the P loads are a major contributor to harmful algal blooms that occur in the western basin of Lake Erie, particularly in summer. The Maumee River has been identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a priority watershed where action needs to be taken to reduce nutrient loads. This study quantified rates of biogeochemical processes affecting downstream flux of N and P by 1) measuring indices of potential sediment P retention and 2) measuring...
Categories: Data,
Data Release - Revised;
Tags: Fort Wayne,
Indiana,
Maumee River,
Maumee River Basin,
Michigan,
The Hudson River, New York, was contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from two General Electric plants over a period of ~30 years and PCBs are still present in sediment and biota today. The river provides habitat for a variety of plants and animals, including native freshwater mussels. Although little is known about mussels in this river, managers were concerned that a 7-year remediation program to remove PCB-contaminated sediments could affect mussels. From 2013-2019, we conducted stratified (non-remediated, before remediation, after remediation) quantitative surveys across 17-pool-stratum combinations across nine pools. Sampling was done during August through October of each year. At each site, divers...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Aquatic Biology,
Assemblage structure,
Ecosystem services,
Hudson River,
Native freshwater mussels,
Over the summer of 2020, the Illinois Waterway (IWW) was closed to complete maintenance on lock chambers along the Illinois River. This closure restricted vessel traffic along the river and potentially changed habitat characteristics for aquatic vegetation establishment and growth. To assess if patterns of vegetation establishment and growth changed during the closure, peak biomass imagery from 2019 (pre closure) and 2021 (post closure) were compared for a vegetation response. This assessment found locations where aquatic vegetation increased and locations where aquatic vegetation decreased.
This dataset contains data from an ongoing trapping effort beginning in 2019 targeting alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) in the Atchafalaya Basin of south-central Louisiana.
A National Park Service Partnership Program project was conducted in 2017 - 2019 on water quality parameters up-stream and downstream of a confined animal feeding operation on a Buffalo National River tributary (Big Creek). Monthly, over a period of 20 months, patterns of nutrients in water (nitrogen and phosphorus), periphyton (chlorophyll a and algal assemblages), and bacterial responses (viable bacterial densities, total bacterial counts, and live bacterial metabolic activity) were measured at six sites along Buffalo National River. Heterotrophic bacteria were concentrated from the water samples. The metabolic activity of heterotrophic bacteria was determined by fluorescent staining of enzyme (esterase) activity...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Ecology,
USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC),
Upper Arkansas,
bacteria,
environment,
We integrated recent climate model projections developed for the State of Hawai’i with current climatological datasets to generate updated regionally defined bioclimatic variables. We derived updated bioclimatic variables from new projections of baseline and future monthly minimum, mean, and maximum temperature (Tmin, Tmean, Tmax) and mean precipitation (Pmean) data at 250 m resolution. We used observation-based data for the baseline bioclimatic variables from the Rainfall Atlas of Hawai’i. We used the most up-to-date dynamically downscaled future projections based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model from the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research...
This dataset comprises high-resolution geotif files representing various aspects of the ʻākohekohe (Palmeria dolei) potential habitat on the Island of Hawaiʻi. It includes a habitat suitability map showing average suitability scores, a map of homogenous forested areas (HFAs) depicting clusters with consistent suitability scores, and a map of pixel-wise standard deviation across habitat suitability models. These maps were generated through a comprehensive analysis using lidar-based metrics, offering detailed insights into the habitat preferences of ʻākohekohe.
Categories: Data;
Types: Downloadable,
GeoTIFF,
Map Service,
Raster;
Tags: Assisted colonization,
Climate Change,
Conservation Introduction,
Endangered Species,
Hawaii,
East Maui, Hawaiʻi optimization of climate resilient habitat for native plant species recovery, 2021
Multi-species recovery planning can be a challenging natural resource management task. In collaboration with state and federal agencies, and botanical and technical experts, we developed and tested a multi-step optimization process to assist in identifying the minimum climate resilient habitat for the recovery of multiple threatened, endangered, and at-risk plant species across east Maui. Data include the underlying land-use configuration file, predictive climate models, list of plant species and number of populations to recover/protect, habitat and forest bird distribution information, presence of fencing, land management status, and naming protocol file. We identified a suite of potential conservation footprints...
Fog has been demonstrated to support plant growth, survival and ecosystem maintenance spanning rainfall and elevation gradients across the world. Persistent fog and strong winds on high mountain slopes in Hawaiʻi create a unique ecological environment. We collected stem diameter measurements of three native plant species at Nakula Natural Area Reserve, Maui, during 2016-2019 and numerous environmental variables to examine how rain, fog and soil moisture influence plant water deficit and growth. We also collected seedling growth and survival data within plots where grass was removed, and control plots (no grass removal), to assess if and how grass removal influenced seedling growth and soil moisture.
Vegetation change is an important issue facing managers at Isle Royale National Park (ISRO). These data were created using high-resolution imagery collected in the winter of 2017 which was compared to the vegetation map of the National Park published in 2000 (project imagery collected in 1994 and 1996). These data review where vegetation cover type, density, and pattern have changed since imagery collection for the 2000 publication and provide a proposed reason for the change.
From 20 May - 8 June 2021, a Virginia Tech team of 2-3 sampled the macroinvertebrate community in 30 Shenandoah Valley streams (Virginia and West Virginia, USA) as part of a larger stream-health study including other teams who surveyed geomorphology, water quality, flow, temperature,fish community, and fish health at the same 30 streams. The macroinvertebrate community team also characterized the habitat units sampled for macroinvertebrates. At each stream, we sampled macroinvertebrates in two ways:1) in each stream we took 5 slack samples in riffles according to NAWQA protocol, and 2) we selected the most available and productive habitat where we used the Slack sampler to collect 5 additional samples in wood debris...
This is a dataset containing aggregated non-native plant occurrence and abundance data for the contiguous United States. We used these data to develop habitat suitability models for species found in the Eastern United States using locations with 5% cover or greater. We adapted the INHABIT modeling workflow (Young et al. 2020), using a consistent set of climatic predictors that were important in the INHABIT models. We developed models using five algorithms with VisTrails: Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling [SAHM 2.2.2]. We accounted for sampling bias by using the target background approach, and constructed model ensembles using the five models for each species for three different thresholds (conservative to targeted;1st...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Botany,
Contiguous United States,
Ecology,
SAHM,
Species Distribution Modeling,
Translocating individuals of Eleutherodactylus frogs to alternative, suitable habitat is an adaptation strategy designed to minimize the impact of projected warming and drying in Puerto Rico. The action increases species persistence by increasing spatial redundancy, but it could also be used to supplement extant populations. We released 34 Eleutherodactylus coqui to determine initial, post-release survival under two treatments – non-translocated (N = 14), and translocated (N=20) to a different location 0.8 km away, but sharing similar habitat and environmental conditions. We defined “initial” as the first 17 days post-release, a period where we hypothesized that translocated individuals would have lower survival...
Categories: Data;
Tags: Adaptation Strategy,
Climate Change,
Coqui,
Eleutherodactylus,
Managed Translocations,
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