Environmental control of stomatal conductance in forest trees of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

To determine if stomatal conductance (g(s)) of forest trees could be predicted from measures of leaf microclimate, diurnal variability in in situ g(s) was measured in black cherry (Prunus serotina), red maple (Acer rubrum), and northern red oak (Quercus rubra). Relative to overstory trees, understory saplings exhibited little diurnal variability in g(s) and ozone uptake. Depending on species and site, up to 30% of diurnal and seasonal variation in g(s )of overstory trees was explained by photosynthetically active radiation and vapor pressure deficit. Daily maximum g(s) was significantly related to soil moisture in overstory northern red oak and black cherry (R(2) ranged from 33 to 65%). Although g(s) was not fully predicted using instantaneous measures of leaf microclimate, ozone uptake of large forest trees was reduced by low soil moisture.     

Evaluating long-term trends in littoral benthic macroinvertebrate communities of lakes recovering from acid deposition

The Mann–Kendall test has been proposed as a nonparametric method to evaluate trends in long-term water quality datasets with missing values, serial correlation, and non-normality. However, this test has rarely been used to evaluate long-term trends in biological data. In this study, we used the Mann–Kendall test to evaluate trends in 15?years of data on benthic macroinvertebrate communities from 17 Precambrian Shield lakes. We also used the van Belle and Hughes test of trend homogeneity to assess whether common among-lake temporal trends existed. We assumed that evidence of a common regional trend among lakes would support the hypothesis of long-term biological recovery from past acidification. We found decreasing proportions of Chironomidae and increasing proportions of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) in both single-lake and multi-lake trend analysis. Moreover, six of the nine lakes with significant trends in more than one benthos metric displayed a significant decrease in Chironomidae and increase in EPT concurrently, indicating a shift towards more acid-sensitive taxa. Weak trends in several of the biological metrics indicated that recovery in these lakes has been impeded. Results of this study indicate that the Mann–Kendall and van Belle and Hughes trend tests are useful statistical tools to evaluate long-term patterns in biological data.     

Downstream Dissipation of Storm Flow Heat Pulses: A Case Study and its Landscape‐Level Implications

Storms in urban areas route heat and other pollutants from impervious surfaces, via drainage networks, into streams with well‐described negative consequences on physical structure and biological integrity. We used heat pulses associated with urban storms as a tracer for pavement‐derived stormwater inputs, providing a conservative estimate of the frequency with which these pollutants are transported into and through protected stream reaches. Our study was conducted within a 1.5‐km reach in Durham, North Carolina, whose headwaters begin in suburban stormwater pipes before flowing through 1 km of protected, 100‐year‐old forest. We recorded heat‐pulse magnitudes and distances travelled downstream, analyzing how they varied with storm and antecedent flow conditions. We found heat pulses >1°C traveled more than 1 km downstream of urban inputs in 11 storms over one year. This best‐case management scenario of a reach within a protected forest shows that urban impacts can travel far downstream of inputs. Air temperature and flow intensity controlled heat‐pulse magnitude, while heat‐pulse size, mean flow, and total precipitation controlled dissipation distance. As temperatures and sudden storms intensify with climate change, heat‐pulse magnitude and dissipation distance will likely increase. Streams in urbanized landscapes, such as Durham municipality, where 98.9% of streams are within 1 downstream km of stormwater outfalls, will be increasingly impacted by urban stormwaters.     

Reproductive sharing and proximate factors mediating cooperative breeding in the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

Although dominant African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are generally believed to be the sole breeders within a pack, earlier behavioral and endocrine data suggest that reproduction could be shared with subordinates. We performed an extensive behavioral, demographic, and genetic evaluation of a wild dog population in South Africa to examine the level of such sharing and the proximate mechanisms influencing reproductive contributions of each sex. While a majority of pups were born to dominants because of a lack of subordinate potential breeders, we discovered a substantial portion of reproductive sharing between dominants and subordinates. Compared with alpha females that mated annually, subordinate beta females bred in 54.5% of years whereas thetas never bred. The three top-ranking males all sired pups (56.0%, 32.0%, and 12.0%, respectively) when three or more adult males were present. With only two pack males, alpha and beta individuals shared reproduction nearly equally (55.2% and 44.8%, respectively), and litters of mixed paternity were discovered on eight of 15 (53.3%) occasions. A skewed adult sex-ratio and frequent alpha mortalities for females and behavioral aggression in males allowed most individuals to attain dominant status in their lifetime, creating a constantly shifting social hierarchy. Genetic parentage results corresponded to reported hormone profiles, suggesting physiological suppression in some lower-ranked individuals of both sexes. Thus, a combination of demographic, behavioral, and hormonal proximate factors mediates reproductive partitioning in wild dogs. We conclude that reproductive sharing can be significant in this species, especially for males that have less robust suppressive mechanisms than females.     

Impacts of golf courses on macroinvertebrate community structure in Precambrian shield streams

The influence of golf course operation on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Precambrian Shield streams was evaluated using rapid bioassessment and the reference condition approach. Streams were sampled for water chemistry and invertebrates in 1999 and 2000, six on operational golf courses, and seven in forested reference locations. Correspondence analysis (CA) was used to determine the major patterns in the macroinvertebrate taxa, and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to evaluate relationships with environmental variables. The reference streams were used to define the normal range of variation for a variety of summary indices to evaluate the golf course streams. In all cases, golf course streams were higher in nutrients and dissolved ions and more alkaline than the forested reference streams. There was considerable variability in the macroinvertebrate fauna from the golf course streams, which was related to differences in golf course land management practices and to the potential influence of highway runoff. Of the management practices evaluated, fertilizer application rates in particular were important, as was the presence of ponds upstream on the course. Invertebrate taxa with higher abundances in golf course streams included Turbellaria, Isopoda, Amphipoda, Zygoptera, and Trombidiformes. Taxa more common in the reference streams included Ephemeroptera, Megaloptera, Culicidae, and Plecoptera. There were marked differences in the overall benthic macroinvertebrate community in three of the six golf course streams studied relative to the forested reference streams, suggesting that golf course land management on the Precambrian Shield can be associated with significant differences in macroinvertebrate community structure.