WERC research roundups are in a biweekly format, complete with PDF version. Check back every two weeks for a run down of new research and events from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. To add your name to the email distribution list for the PDF newsletter, please contact blandis@usgs.gov.

Download the current issue (1.16)




HEADLINE


Image Credit: Jessica Weinberg/NPS


Website Links Salmon Stream Vital Signs of Point Reyes, Golden Gate and Redwood Parks
In cooperation with the National Park Service, WERC scientist Mary Ann Madej has compiled NPS Vital Signs data for the Klamath (KLMN) and San Francisco Bay Area (SFAN) networks of national park units onto a one-stop resource. The graphs visualize long-term records, such as stream discharge at 28 different stream gages, as well as weather, stream temperature and salmonid counts for some streams. The PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University contributed information on local climate parameters. The website is part of a project with USGS Western Geographic Science Center scientist Alicia Torregrosa and USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center scientist Andrea Woodward to create a systems dynamics model that simulates the freshwater portion of the coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) lifecycle.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/project.aspx?projectID=229




NEW JOURNAL ARTICLES

Lafferty, KD. 2012. Biodiversity loss decreases parasite diversity: theory and patterns. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 367(1604): 2814-2827. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0110
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=4786




NEW DATA PAPERS

Ellis, MM., JL Williams, P Lesica, TJ Bell, P Bierzychudek, M Bowles, EE Crone, DF Doak, J Ehrlen, A Ellis-Adam, K McEachern, R Ganesan, P Latham, S Luijten, TN Kaye, TM Knight, ES Menges, WF Morris, H den Nijs, G Oostermeijer, PF Quintana-Ascencio, JS Shelly, A Stanley, A Thorpe, T Ticktin, T Valverde, CW Weekley. 2012. Matrix population models from 20 long-term studies of perennial plant populations. Ecology 93:951/Ecological Archives E093-083. doi: 10.1890/11-1052.1
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=4785




EVENTS


Image Credit: San Diego Zoo


Sept. 24, 2012 (Santa Barbara, CA)
WERC scientist Nicole LaRoche will discuss sea otter research in California at a free public lecture hosted by the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. Part of Sea Otter Awareness Week.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=122


Sept. 27-30, 2012 (San Diego, CA)
WERC scientists from the San Diego Field Station will speak with kids and parents and hand out coloring sheets at the San Diego Zoo’s 2012 Reptilemania. (NOTE: The dates of this event listed in past issues were incorrect. Our apologies.)
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=115


Sept. 27, 2012 (Menlo Park, CA)
USGS Alaska Science Center scientist James Bodkin will discuss WERC and USGS Pacific Nearshore Project in this free public lecture and live webcast. Part of Sea Otter Awareness Week.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=116


Sept. 27, 2012 (Webinar)
In this USGS webinar, WERC scientist John Takekawa will discuss new research modeling on sea level rise impacts to coastal marshes along the Pacific Coast.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=121


Sept. 29, 2012 (Monterey, CA)
WERC scientists Ben Weitzman and Joe Tomoleoni will speak at the 2012 AAUS Diving for Science Symposium on research diving techniques used in USGS sea otter studies.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=116


October 2, 2012 (Sacramento, CA)
Peter Coates will explain WERC research on greater sage-grouse as part of the CSU Sacramento Fall Ecology Colloquium.
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/Event.aspx?ID=118




IN THE NEWS

Adak Caribou: Invasive Species or Meals on the Hoof? (Anchorage Press)
Reporter Mary Lochner mentions WERC scientist Mark Ricca’s Biological Invasions study on the nonnative caribou populations on Adak Island in Alaska.
http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/article_c22217da-f2fd-11e1-8221-0019bb2963f4.html


Greater Sandhill Cranes Glide into California’s Central Valley Early This Year (Sacramento Bee)
Reporter Edward Ortiz’s story features WERC data and interviews Mike Casazza research collaborator Gary Ivey of the International Crane Foundation.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/02/4779552/greater-sandhill-cranes-glide.html


Endangered Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs Might Get a Hoppy Ending (Los Angeles Times)
Reporter Louis Sahagun accompanied WERC scientists Adam Backlin and Liz Gallegos into the San Gabriel Mountains and provides an update on the recovery of the federally listed Rana muscosa.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-frog-refuge-20120916,0,4132145.story




WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Visit the USGS YouTube Channel to watch the “Catching Sea Otters in the Wild” and “Dry Suits” videos, featuring scientists from the USGS Alaska Science Center and WERC. Footage was shot by ASC scientist Vanessa von Biela during the 2011 Alaska expedition of the Pacific Nearshore Project. WERC produced the films, edited by CSU Humboldt student and former USGS Calif. Water Science Center intern Martha Aimé Cardona.








WERC IN PROGRESS



Linking Populations with Watersheds
Researchers collaborating on the Pacific Nearshore Project are trying to integrate data from coastral terrestrial systems with nearshore marine systems in order to model the land-sea interactions that drive nearshore marine productivity and health — including those of finfish and sea otters — and compare trends from California north to Alaska. WERC scientists Roberto Lugo and Bill Perry have been testing ways to extrapolate existing population data to enhance the model, and arrived at an interpolation method which extrapolates U.S. Census block data onto roadways, then clipped by subwatershed boundaries (roughly HUC14). Researchers and modelers who wish to comment or offer ideas on the method can reach Lugo at rlugo@usgs.gov.




This Biweekly Update is produced as a service to USGS/WERC staff, colleagues, partners and the interested public. To add your email address to the mailing list or to report errors/suggestions, please contact blandis@usgs.gov. Download the current issue (1.16)