Postmortem diagnostics play an important role in the ability to understand the cause of death of an animal. However, removal from oxygen supply, either by surgical excision or at death, leads to cell and tissue decomposition. Knowledge about factors impacting reliability of test results is extremely important for accurate diagnostics....
Managers of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) in central Arkansas want to provide sufficient habitat resources to meet its population objectives for wintering waterfowl. Nutrient reserves acquired during the wintering period appear to support spring migration and subsequent reproductive success for some species,...
Black Rockfish are important commercial and recreational species and understanding their biology is useful in developing best management practices. A common means to assess diet in both freshwater and marine fishes is stomach content analysis, which can determine diet composition and infer foraging behaviors. We conducted a stomach content analysis...
Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is a common environmental pollutant produced from the incomplete combustion of organic matter, such as fossil fuel emissions. In vertebrates, B[a]P exposure is associated with hyperactivity, though the underlying mechanisms driving this effect are undescribed. Mounting evidence indicates that the gut microbiome, which is the diverse community of...
Food webs are extraordinarily complex, containing myriad direct interactions and indirect effects. Determining how this network of interactions and effects influences a food web’s qualitative dynamics is a challenging task, especially because data on food web structure and individual interaction strengths is unknown in virtually all real-world ecosystems. The goal...
Bird scaring lines (BSLs) protect longline fishing gear from seabird attacks, save bait, reduce incidental seabird mortality and are the most commonly prescribed seabird bycatch mitigation measure worldwide. We collaborated with fishermen to assess the efficacy of applying BSL regulations from the demersal longline sablefish fishery in Alaska to a...
Sea otters fulfill a keystone role in several Northeastern Pacific nearshore ecosystems. However, their influence has been absent in Oregon coastal waters since their extirpation in the 19th and early 20th century. Interest has been growing for a translocation attempt to reintroduce sea otters to Oregon from one or more...
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging biological monitoring tool that can aid in assessing the effects of forestry and forest manufacturing activities on biota. Monitoring taxa across broad spatial and temporal scales is necessary to ensure forest management and forest manufacturing activities meet their environmental goals of maintaining biodiversity. Our...
Coastal wetland plants are adapted to varying degrees of inundation. However, functional relationships between inundation and productivity are poorly characterized for most species. Determining species-specific tolerances to inundation is necessary to evaluate sea-level rise (SLR) effects on future marsh plant community composition, quantify organic matter inputs to marsh accretion, and...
Although calderas and the caldera cycle are well studied, the relationship between caldera-forming eruptions and post-caldera volcanism is poorly understood. The chemical characteristics of the erupted products suggest that two end member compositions are involved during resurgence: (1) remnant magma of similar composition to the magma of the climactic eruption;...