A new freshwater snail genus and species (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda, Cochliopidae) with extremely spinous shells from sub-recent spring deposits in northeastern Mexico.

A new monotypic genus of freshwater snail from late Holocene spring deposits in Viesca, Coahuila (Mexico), is described based on shell morphology. Spinopyrgus luismaedai n. gen.

Effects of macroconsumers on benthic communities: Rapid increases in dry-season accrual of calcium in a tropical karst stream.

Species loss from upper trophic levels can result in some major changes in community structure and ecosystem functions. Here, we experimentally excluded macroconsumers (e.g.

Critical Uncertainties and Gaps in the Environmental- and Social-Impact Assessment of the Proposed Interoceanic Canal through Nicaragua.

The proposed interoceanic canal will connect the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean, traversing Lake Nicaragua, the major freshwater reservoir in Central America. If completed, the canal would be the largest infrastructure-related excavation project on Earth. In November 2015, the Nicaraguan government approved an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the canal.

Application of Effective Discharge Analysis to Environmental Flow Decision-Making.

Well-informed river management decisions rely on an explicit statement of objectives, repeatable analyses, and a transparent system for assessing trade-offs. These components may then be applied to compare alternative operational regimes for water resource infrastructure (e.g.

An Economic Valuation of Biotic Pollination Services in Georgia.

As agriculture faces documented decline in bees and other insect pollinators, empirical assessments of potential economic losses are critical for contextualizing the impacts of this decline and for prioritizing research needs. For the state of Georgia, we show that the annual economic value of biotic pollinators is substantial--US$367 million, equivalent to 13 percent of the total production value of crops studied and 3 percent of the total production value of Georgia's agricultural sector. Our unique Geographic Information Systems analysis reveals an irregular pattern of vulnerability.

Freshwater decapods of Puerto Rico: a checklist and reports of new localities.

An updated checklist of the freshwater decapod species of Puerto Rico is presented based on records of shrimp and crab species whose presence has been confirmed in Puerto Rico as a result of extensive field collections, examination of carcinological collections, literature review, and personal communications from researchers. The freshwater decapods fauna of Puerto Rico consists of 18 species of shrimps belonging to eight genera and three families, and one species of crab belonging to the family Pseudothelphusidae.

Weather and landscape factors associated with adult mosquito abundance in southwestern Georgia, U.S.A.

Mosquito community composition and population dynamics were compared to weather variables and land use/cover data during 2008 to determine which variables affected population dynamics at the J.W. Jones Ecological Research Center in southwestern Georgia.

Effects of omnivorous shrimp in a montane tropical stream: sediment removal, disturbance of sessile invertebrates and enhancement of understory algal biomass.

Freshwater shrimp dominate the faunal biomass of many headwater tropical streams: however, their role in community organization is unclear. Enclosure/exclosure experiments in a montane Puerto Rican stream examined direct and indirect effects of two dominant taxa of atyid (Atyidae) shrimp, Atya lanipes Holthuis and Xiphocaris elongata Guerin-Meneville. Both shrimp taxa caused significant reductions in sediment cover on rock substrata, reducing sedimentation and enhancing algal biovolume on clay tiles in cages.