Central Idaho Research Articles

Cooling and exhumation of the southern Idaho batholith

We conducted a (U-Th)/He zircon thermochronology study of the southern part of the Idaho batholith (central Idaho, USA) to constrain cooling through ∼200 °C and exhumation of the batholith. Samples were collected adjacent to the Idaho-Oregon (IDOR) seismic transect and at localities where U-Pb zircon, geochemical, and fabric analyses were conducted. The rocks affected by the western Idaho shear zone and associated border zone suite of the batholith cooled through the closure temperature for He in zircon prior to ca. 60 Ma, before or during emplacement of the voluminous Atlanta lobe. In contrast, the Atlanta lobe (Atlanta peraluminous suite) records a relatively constant cooling rate, in which the (U-Th)/He zircon ages are systematically ∼30 m.y. younger than the U-Pb zircon ages. We interpret this data to reflect post-magmatic isobaric cooling with little or no unroofing. The only deviation from a smooth regional cooling pattern occurs near Sawtooth Valley, where samples from the Sawtooth Range on the west side of the valley show distinctly younger ages than those from the White Cloud Peaks to the east. We interpret this difference to reflect recent cooling and exhumation associated with extensional deformation. The regionally consistent pattern of cooling and hence exhumation indicates that the current exposure level of the Idaho batholith was <5 km deep (assuming a geothermal gradient of 40 °C/km) at 50 Ma during the initiation of Challis magmatism. Our data are consistent with the existence of a crustal plateau during formation of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith.

Mobilization of Mercury and Arsenic from a Carbonate-hosted Ore Deposit, Central Idaho, U.S.A.

The Cinnabar and Fern mine sites in central Idaho are primary source areas for elevated mercury and arsenic entering the South Fork of the Salmon River, which provides critical spawning habitat for bull trout and Chinook salmon. Mercury mineralization is hosted by carbonate rocks, which generate waters dominated by Ca2+ and HCO3− at pH 7 to 9. A synoptic sampling was conducted on headwater tributaries to determine geologic background concentrations and quantify trace metal concentrations in stream water associated with historical mining. Geologic background concentrations in unfiltered Cinnabar Creek water were 8 - 14 ng Hg L-1 and 4.8 - 9.5μg As L-1. Immediately downstream from the mine site, concentrations increased to 257 ng Hg L-1 and 20.6μg As L-1. Groundwater inflow diluted these concentrations by approximately half before the confluence of Cinnabar Creek with Sugar Creek. As expected, mercury and arsenic concentrations increased downstream in Sugar Creek below the confluence with Cinnabar Creek. However, the final downstream reach on Sugar Creek showed an increase in unfiltered mercury, methylmercury, and iron concentrations relative to the upstream reach. This increase is associated with historical mining activity in a mineralized area of carbonate rock that intersects the reach.

Estimation of Short and Long Run Derived Irrigation Water Demands and Elasticities

Short-run and long-run derived irrigation water demand functions are estimated using shadow price data obtained from a profit maximization mathematical programming model. Crop and soil-type specific production functions are expressed in terms of applied irrigation water. Demand functions for two South Central Idaho counties are estimated using linear, semi-log, double-log, and Box-Cox transformation forms. Price elasticities, at the mean shadow prices, range from 0.8 to 1.2, 1.49 to 1.84, and 2.9 to 4.9, for short run, long run with deficit irrigation, and long run with no deficit irrigation, respectively.

Effects of gradient, distance, curvature and aspect on steep burned and unburned hillslope soil erosion and deposition

AbstractWildfire denudes vegetation and impacts chemical and physical soil properties, which can alter hillslope erosion rates. Post‐wildfire erosion can also contribute disproportionately to long‐term erosion rates and landscape evolution. Post‐fire hillslope erosion rates remain difficult to predict and document at the hillslope scale. Here we use 210Pbaex (lead‐210 mineral‐adsorbed excess) inventories to describe net sediment erosion on steep, convex hillslopes in three basins (unburned, moderately and severely burned) in mountainous central Idaho. We analyzed nearly 300 soil samples for 210Pbaex content with alpha spectrometry and related net sediment erosion to burn severity, aspect, gradient, curvature and distance from ridgetop. We also tested our data against models for advective, linear and non‐linear diffusive erosion. Statistically lower net soil losses on north‐ versus south‐facing unburned hillslopes suggest that greater vegetative cover and soil cohesion on north‐facing slopes decrease erosion. On burned hillslopes, erosion differences between aspects were less apparent and net erosion was more variable, indicating that vegetation influences erosion magnitude and fire drives erosion variability. We estimated net soil losses throughout the length of unburned hillslopes, including through a footslope transition to concave form. In contrast, on burned hillslopes, the subtle shift from convex to concave form was associated with deposition of a post‐fire erosion pulse. Such overall patterns of erosion and deposition are consistent with predictions from a non‐linear diffusion equation. This finding also suggests that concave sections of overall convex hillslopes affect post‐disturbance soil erosion and deposition. Despite these patterns, no strong relationships were evident between local net soil losses and gradient, curvature, distance from ridgetop, or erosion predicted with advection or diffusion equations. The observed relationship between gradient and erosion is therefore likely more complex or stochastic than often described theoretically, especially over relatively short timescales (60–100 years). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Wildfire effects on physiological properties in conifers of central Idaho forests, USA

Key message Conifers which substantially lost foliage in wildfires were also reduced in their relative hydraulic capacity, resulting in little change in water use efficiency.

Behavioral connectivity among bighorn sheep suggests potential for disease spread

ABSTRACTConnectivity is important for population persistence and can reduce the potential for inbreeding depression. Connectivity between populations can also facilitate disease transmission; respiratory diseases are one of the most important factors affecting populations of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). The mechanisms of connectivity in populations of bighorn sheep likely have implications for spread of disease, but the behaviors leading to connectivity between bighorn sheep groups are not well understood. From 2007–2012, we radio‐collared and monitored 56 bighorn sheep in the Salmon River canyon in central Idaho. We used cluster analysis to define social groups of bighorn sheep and then estimated connectivity between these groups using a multi‐state mark‐recapture model. Social groups of bighorn sheep were spatially segregated and linearly distributed along the Salmon River canyon. Monthly probabilities of movement between adjacent male and female groups ranged from 0.08 (±0.004 SE) to 0.76 (±0.068) for males and 0.05 (±0.132) to 0.24 (±0.034) for females. Movements of males were extensive and probabilities of movement were considerably higher during the rut. Probabilities of movement for females were typically smaller than those of males and did not change seasonally. Whereas adjacent groups of bighorn sheep along the Salmon River canyon were well connected, connectivity between groups north and south of the Salmon River was limited. The novel application of a multi‐state model to a population of bighorn sheep allowed us to estimate the probability of movement between adjacent social groups and approximate the level of connectivity across the population. Our results suggest high movement rates of males during the rut are the most likely to result in transmission of pathogens among both male and female groups. Potential for disease spread among female groups was smaller but non‐trivial. Land managers can plan grazing of domestic sheep for spring and summer months when males are relatively inactive. Removal or quarantine of social groups may reduce probability of disease transmission in populations of bighorn sheep consisting of linearly distributed social groups. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

Insights on the host associations and geographic distribution of Hymenolepis folkertsi (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) among rodents across temperate latitudes of North America.

Synoptic data and an understanding of helminth parasite diversity among diverse rodent assemblages across temperate latitudes of North America remain remarkably incomplete. Renewed attention to comprehensive survey and inventory to establish the structure of biodiverse faunas is essential in providing indicators and proxies for identifying the outcomes of accelerating change linked to climate warming and anthropogenic forcing. Subsequent to the description of Hymenolepis folkertsi in the oldfield mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, additional specimens of hymenolepidids were collected or discovered in archived museum repositories from multiple species of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus leucopus), the golden mouse (Ochrotomys nuttalli), chipmunks (Tamias striatus, Tamias amoenus), the 13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), and tree squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger) from disjunct localities in the USA spanning southern Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and central Idaho. Specimens were largely consistent morphologically with the original description of H. folkertsi. Initial DNA sequence data, from a portion of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, demonstrated intraspecific variation among three apparently geographically isolated populations attributed to H. folkertsi (uncorrected genetic distances of 2.7 % (Idaho and Michigan), 2.4 % (Virginia + Pennsylvania and Michigan), and 1.89 % (VA + PA and ID). Geography rather than host association explains the distribution and occurrence of H. folkertsi, and host colonization among deer mice, chipmunks, and other sciurids within regional sites is indicated. Genetic divergence revealed across localities for H. folkertsi suggests historically isolated populations, consistent with extended evolutionary and biogeographic trajectories among hymenolepidids and species of Peromyscus and Tamias in North America. Field inventory, that revealed these parasite populations, substantially alters our understanding of the distribution of diversity and provides insights about the nature of the complex relationships that serve to determine cestode faunas in rodents.

Mid- and long-term effects of wildfire and debris flows on stream ecosystem metabolism

Wildfire is an important and prevalent agent of disturbance in vegetated landscapes across much of the Earth’s surface, including forested watersheds in the arid western USA. Between 1992 and 2003, >40% of the watersheds in the upper reaches of the Boise River watershed in central Idaho burned. The purpose of our study was to investigate the legacy effects of wildfire on stream ecosystems by analyzing the relationship between wildfire and resulting debris flows and their joint effects on stream ecosystem metabolism in 31 streams. The watersheds of ∼½ of these streams burned within the last 11 y, and some of these burned watersheds also experienced large-scale debris flows 1 y postfire. Streams with burned watersheds recovered quickly, and estimates of photosynthetically active radiation, gross primary production, and ecosystem respiration were indistinguishable from those in streams draining unburned watersheds. However, streams that experienced debris flows after their watersheds burned were remarkably different. They exhibited higher production and incident light and lower ecosystem respiration. Debris flows resulted in nearly complete removal of streamside vegetation, slowed recovery of the riparian canopy, and altered stream ecosystem metabolism. Our results suggest a synergistic interaction between wildfire and associated geomorphological processes whereby debris flows delay succession of stream ecosystems, possibly resulting in altered recovery trajectories, communities, and foodweb interactions.

Effects of habitat quality and ambient hyporheic flows on salmon spawning site selection

AbstractUnderstanding the role of stream hydrologic and morphologic variables on the selection of spawning sites by salmonid fishes at high resolution across broad scales is needed for effective habitat restoration and protection. Here we used remotely sensed meter‐scale channel bathymetry for a 13.5 km reach of Chinook salmon spawning stream in central Idaho to describe habitat quality and set boundary conditions for a two‐dimensional surface water model coupled with a three‐dimensional hyporheic flux model. Metrics describing ambient hyporheic flow intensity and habitat quality, which is quantified as a function of stream hydraulics and morphology, were compared to the locations of nests built by female salmon. Nest locations were predicted most accurately by habitat quality followed by channel morphology (i.e., riffles location). As a lesser degree than habitat quality, water surface curvature was also a good indicator of spawning location because its intensity can identify riffle morphology. The ambient hyporheic flow predicted at meter‐scale resolution was not a strong predictor of redd site selection. Furthermore, the study suggests direct morphological measurements obtained from easily measured channel bathymetry data could enable effective and rapid assessments of salmon spawning channels across broad areas.

Watershed structural influences on the distributions of stream network water and solute travel times under baseflow conditions

AbstractWatershed structure influences the timing, magnitude, and spatial location of water and solute entry to stream networks. In turn, stream reach transport velocities and stream network geometry (travel distances) further influence the timing of export from watersheds. Here, we examine how watershed and stream network organization can affect travel times of water from delivery to the stream network to arrival at the watershed outlet. We analysed watershed structure and network geometry and quantified the relationship between stream discharge and solute velocity across six study watersheds (11.4 to 62.8 km2) located in the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho, USA. Based on these analyses, we developed stream network travel time functions for each watershed. We found that watershed structure, stream network geometry, and the variable magnitude of inputs across the network can have a pronounced affect on water travel distances and velocities within a stream network. Accordingly, a sample taken at the watershed outlet is composed of water and solutes sourced from across the watershed that experienced a range of travel times in the stream network. We suggest that understanding and quantifying stream network travel time distributions are valuable for deconvolving signals observed at watershed outlets into their spatial and temporal sources, and separating terrestrial and in‐channel hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological influences on in‐stream observations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Discontinuous headwater stream networks with stable flowheads, Salmon River basin, Idaho

AbstractHeadwater streams expand, contract, and disconnect in response to seasonal moisture conditions or those related to individual precipitation events. The fluctuation of the surface flow extent, or active drainage network, reflects catchment storage characteristics and has important impacts on stream ecology; however, the hydrological mechanisms that drive this phenomenon are still uncertain. Here, we present field surveys of the active drainage networks of four headwater streams in Central Idaho's Frank Church‐River of No Return Wilderness (7–21 km2) spanning the spring and summer months of 2014. We report the total length of the active drainage networks, which varied as a power law function with stream discharge with an average exponent of 0.11 ± 0.03 (range of 0.05–0.20). Generally, these active drainage networks were less responsive to changes in discharge than many streams in past studies. We observed that the locations where surface flow originates, or flowheads, were often stable, and an average of 64% of the change in active drainage network length was explained by downstream discontinuities. Analysis of geologic and geomorphic characteristics of individual watersheds and flowheads suggests that most flowheads below approximately 2200 m are supported by stable flowpaths controlled by bedrock structure. At higher elevations, small accumulation areas and saturation of shallow and conductive soil and colluvium after snowmelt result in more mobile flowhead locations. The dynamics of active drainage networks can help illuminate the spatiotemporal structure of flowpaths supporting surface flow. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

The effects of climate change and extreme wildfire events on runoff erosion over a mountain watershed

Summary Increases in wildfire occurrence and severity under an altered climate can substantially impact terrestrial ecosystems through enhancing runoff erosion. Improved prediction tools that provide high resolution spatial information are necessary for location-specific soil conservation and watershed management. However, quantifying the magnitude of soil erosion and its interactions with climate, hydrological processes, and fire occurrences across a large region (>10,000 km2) is challenging because of the large computational requirements needed to capture the fine-scale complexities of the land surface that govern erosion. We apply the physically-based coupled Variable Capacity Infiltration–Water Erosion Prediction Project (VIC–WEPP) model to study how wildfire occurrences can enhance soil erosion in a future climate over a representative watershed in the northern Rocky Mountains – the Salmon River Basin (SRB) in central Idaho. While the VIC model simulates hydrologic processes at larger scales, the WEPP model simulates erosion at the hillslope scale by sampling representative hillslopes. VIC–WEPP model results indicate that SRB streamflow will have an earlier shift in peak flow by one to two months under future climate scenarios in response to a declining snowpack under warming temperatures. The magnitude of peak flow increases with each higher severity fire scenario; and under the highest fire severity, the peak flow is shifted even earlier, exacerbating the effects of climate change. Similarly, sediment yield also increases with higher fire severities for both historical and future climates. Sediment yield is more sensitive to fire occurrence than to climate change by one to two orders of magnitude, which is not unexpected given that our fire scenarios were applied basin wide as worst case scenarios. In reality, fires only occur over portions of the basin in any given year and subsequent years’ vegetation regrowth reduces erosion. However, the effects of climate change on sediment yield result in greater spatial heterogeneities, primarily because of the spatial differences in precipitation projections, while fire conditions were uniformly applied. The combined effects of climate change and a possible continuation of increasing fire frequency and severity will compound excess sediment issues that already exist in this region of the intermountain West.

Westward Growth of Laurentia by Pre–Late Jurassic Terrane Accretion, Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho, United States: A Reply

Previous article No AccessWestward Growth of Laurentia by Pre–Late Jurassic Terrane Accretion, Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho, United States: A ReplyTodd A. LaMaskin and Rebecca J. DorseyTodd A. LaMaskin1. Department of Geography and Geology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, North Carolina 28403-5944, USA*Author for correspondence; e-mail: [email protected]. Search for more articles by this author and Rebecca J. Dorsey2. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, 1272 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1272, USA Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 124, Number 1January 2016 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/684120 Views: 206Total views on this site Citations: 5Citations are reported from Crossref HistoryReceived September 04, 2015Accepted September 09, 2015Published online December 16, 2015 © 2015 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Todd A. LaMaskin, Jonathan A. Rivas, David L. Barbeau, Joshua J. Schwartz, John A. Russell, Alan D. Chapman A crucial geologic test of Late Jurassic exotic collision versus endemic re-accretion in the Klamath Mountains Province, western United States, with implications for the assembly of western North America, GSA Bulletin 134, no.3-43-4 (Jul 2021): 965–988.https://doi.org/10.1130/B35981.1Paul M. Bremner, Mark P. Panning, R. M. Russo, Victor Mocanu, A. Christian Stanciu, Megan Torpey, Sutatcha Hongsresawat, John C. VanDecar, Todd A. LaMaskin, D. A. Foster Crustal Shear Wave Velocity Structure of Central Idaho and Eastern Oregon From Ambient Seismic Noise: Results From the IDOR Project, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 124, no.22 (Feb 2019): 1601–1625.https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016350B. Tikoff, J. Vervoort, J.A. Hole, R. Russo, R. Gaschnig, A. Fayon Introduction: EarthScope IDOR project (deformation and magmatic modification of a steep continental margin, western Idaho–eastern Oregon) themed issue, Lithosphere (Feb 2017): L628.1.https://doi.org/10.1130/L628.1N. Braudy, R.M. Gaschnig, D. Wilford, J.D. Vervoort, C.L. Nelson, C. Davidson, M.J. Kahn, B. Tikoff Timing and deformation conditions of the western Idaho shear zone, West Mountain, west-central Idaho, Lithosphere (Dec 2016): L519.1.https://doi.org/10.1130/L519.1Tracy L. Vallier, Keegan L. Schmidt, Todd A. LaMaskin Geology of the Wallowa terrane, Blue Mountains province, in the northern part of Hells Canyon, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, (): 211–249.https://doi.org/10.1130/2016.0041(07)

Four Cordilleran paleorivers that connected Sevier thrust zones in Idaho to depocenters in California, Washington, Wyoming, and, indirectly, Alaska

Upper Cretaceous sandstones from 17 localities from California to southeastern Alaska (United States) contain unexpectedly large populations of detrital zircons with Proterozoic U-Pb ages, with age peaks at 1800–1650 and 1380 Ma. These peaks are indicative of a sediment source region in the southern part of the Proterozoic Belt Supergoup basin in central Idaho, which hosts 1800–1650 Ma detrital zircons and which was intruded by rift-related 1380 Ma bimodal plutons and sills. Belt rocks were strongly uplifted and eroded during Late Cretaceous Sevier shortening and fed four paleoriver systems. The Lemhi Pass–Hawley Creek river system flowed east and sourced the Beaverhead-Harebell-Pinyon nonmarine megafan in the Cordilleran foreland basin. The Kione River flowed southwest to northern California, where it sourced a very large, ca. 82–80 Ma, ∼600-m-thick delta and submarine fan complex within the northern Great Valley forearc basin. Considerable Kione detritus also transited the forearc basin to reach the Franciscan trench, sourcing a pulse of deposition and subduction accretion in central California and even part of southern California. The Swakane River flowed northwest out of Idaho into Washington, sourcing the protolith for the high-grade Swakane gneiss. More speculatively, a Yakutat River may have flowed northwest and deposited Yakutat strata in a trench off Washington or British Columbia, before those rocks were translated north to southeastern Alaska. Recognition of a major source area in central Idaho for zircons with an uncommon age of 1380 Ma helps constrain the ca. 85–65 Ma paleogeography and paleotectonics of major sectors of the North American convergent margin orogen.

Debris flows amplify effects of wildfire on magnitude and composition of tributary subsidies to mainstem habitats

AbstractPostfire disturbances, such as debris flows, may alter the recovery of stream ecosystems from wildfire. Furthermore, changes to productivity and the dynamics of nutrients and organic matter (OM) in tributaries may affect fluxes of materials and organisms to mainstem habitats. We investigated the consequences of watershed wildfire and debris flows for exports from tributaries to mainstem habitats in the South Fork Salmon River Basin of central Idaho, USA. We compared fluxes from 15 streams (n = 5 unaffected [UA], n = 5 fire-affected [FA], and n = 5 fire + debris flow-affected [FDA]) in summer 2011 (4 y postfire, 3 y postdebris flow). In early June, FDA streams exported 650% higher concentrations of sediment to downstream habitats than did UA streams (mean, FDA: 18.7 g/m3, UA: 1.9 g/m3). Overall, concentrations of dissolved organic C were 75% greater in FDA than in UA streams (FDA: 2.8, UA: 1.6 mg/L), and the quality of OM was higher (i.e., more chlorophyll a [chl a] and higher chl a:OM) in FDA than...

A meta‐population model to predict occurrence and recovery of wolves

ABSTRACTWolves (Canis lupis) have been recolonizing Washington since 2008. In an effort to guide recovery and management decisions for wolves, we created a spatially explicit meta‐population matrix model using vital rates based on empirical data from other states in the northwestern United States to estimate probability of occurrence, terminal extinction rates, and potential recovery time. We applied an existing habitat model for Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to the Washington landscape to determine the extent of probable habitat. We then simulated an evenly distributed metapopulation based on average size of pack territories reported in central Idaho where average probability of occurrence exceeded 40%. Using the program RAMAS GIS, we created a female‐only, stage matrix model with dispersal using population metrics from central Idaho and northwestern Montana. Model simulations that begin in 2009 suggest Washington should reach its recovery goals in approximately 12 years (2021). We used the model to project recovery timeframes and the risk of declining below recovery objectives if management scenarios are considered during recovery. This model is also intended to be a versatile and adaptive tool for managers to project potential carrying capacity and the minimum viable population in the future when locally derived empirical data become available as wolves recolonize Washington. The model framework can be easily adapted to guide management decisions of wolves in other states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming) or countries and it can also provide a way to identify recovery thresholds (quasi‐extinction) in other areas considered for recovery where no data are currently available. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

Production and Nutrient Content of Two Shrub Species Related to Fire in Central Idaho

Abstract. Nutrient content and weight of current year's growth of Cercocarpus ledifolius Nuttall and Physocarpus malvaceus (Greene) Kuntze in central Idaho were obtained during early July in the years 1987–2007. The purpose of this work was to determine whether there was significant variation between years and whether mean monthly temperatures and total monthly precipitation could predict the variation. A wildfire in August 2000 caused P. malvaceus to vigorously resprout. Significant differences between years occurred for all nutrients for both species. October temperatures best predicted weight of current year's growth in C. ledifolius, whereas prediction equations for nutrients involved spring temperatures and precipitation, primarily for June. January mean temperature and December precipitation best predicted weight of current year's growth, and spring mean monthly temperatures best predicted nutrient levels in P. malvaceus. Future changes in production and nutrient content of these species that are no...

Using Mobile Devices to Engage Students in Evolutionary Thinking

We used personal mobile electronic devices (PMEDs) to engage students in a lesson to support evolutionary thinking in an undergraduate biology course. Community-college students enrolled in Biodiversity &amp; Evolution, a core majors biology course, met for an optional field trip at the University of Idaho's McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) in central Idaho during the summer of 2014. Ten students participated in the classroom and outdoor activities. Students were provided with directions and objectives for the lesson, and students’ own PMEDs were used to capture images of the community of organisms in and around the outdoor campus. After returning from the field, students analyzed their digital data in the context of morphological similarities and differences to construct a phylogenetic hypothesis for the relationships of the organisms observed. Students’ comments were solicited regarding the activity, and feedback was generally positive. From the teachers’ perspective, students appeared highly engaged and the novel method was a success. We discuss the theoretical basis for using PMEDs and provide a detailed lesson plan.

Using Detection Dogs and Rspf Models to Assess Habitat Suitability for Bears in Greater Yellowstone

Abstract. In the northern U.S. Rockies, including the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), connectivity is a concern because large carnivores have difficulties dispersing successfully between protected areas. One area of high conservation value because of its importance for connecting the GYE to wilderness areas of central Idaho is the Centennial Mountains and surrounding valleys (2500 km2) along the Idaho—Montana border just west of Yellowstone National Park. The current expansion of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and other large carnivore populations outside protected areas of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park has placed a greater emphasis on potential linkage zones in the northern Rockies. Here we use black bears (Ursus americanus) as a test case to demonstrate the utility of using detection dogs and DNA analysis coupled with resource selection probability function (RSPF) models to examine habitat suitability for large carnivores in critical linkage zones. Detection dogs specificall...

Movement Patterns of Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus v. viridis) across a Mountainous Landscape in a Designated Wilderness Area

Abstract Many snake species make lengthy linear migrations between overwintering sites and summer foraging or mating habitats. Although mountainous topography may restrict migratory movements, most previous studies on migratory snake populations have occurred in areas with low to moderate topographic relief. The objectives of this study were to describe the movement patterns of Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus v. viridis) in a mountainous landscape, compare those patterns to those of migratory snake populations from areas with lower topographic relief, and test for variation in movement patterns between sexes and among years. We used radiotelemetry to monitor the movements of 21 male and 6 nonpregnant female Prairie Rattlesnakes in the Frank Church Wilderness in central Idaho during the summers of 2006–2008. Mean total distance moved during the entire activity season in 2008 was 4.46 km (range 1.38–7.67); mean maximum distance moved from the hibernaculum was 1.46 km (range 0.69–2.71). Although the movement ...