Using explainable machine learning methods to evaluate vulnerability and restoration potential of ecosystem state transitions.

Ecosystem state transitions can be ecologically devastating or be a restoration success. State transitions are common within aquatic systems worldwide, especially considering human-mediated changes to land use and water use. We created a transferable conceptual framework to enable multiscale assessments of state resilience and early warnings of state transitions that can inform strategic restorations and avoid ecosystem collapse.

Quantifying ecosystem states and state transitions of the Upper Mississippi River System using topological data analysis.

Aquatic systems worldwide can exist in multiple ecosystem states (i.e., a recurring collection of biological and chemical attributes), and effectively characterizing multidimensionality will aid protection of desirable states and guide rehabilitation.

Land conservation can mitigate freshwater ecosystem services degradation due to climate change in a semiarid catchment: The case of the Portneuf River catchment, Idaho, USA.

There is increasing evidence of environmental change impacts on freshwater ecosystem services especially through land use and climate change. However, little is known about how land conservation could help mitigate adverse water-sustainability impacts. In this paper, we utilized the InVEST tool and the Residual Trends method to assess the joint effects and relative contributions of climate change and land conservation on freshwater ecosystem services in the Portneuf River catchment in Idaho, USA.

Ecotoxicological assessments show sucralose and fluoxetine affect the aquatic plant, Lemna minor.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) are prevalent in aquatic systems, yet the fate and impacts on aquatic plants needs quantification for many compounds. We measured and detected sucralose (an artificial sweetener), fluoxetine (an antidepressant), and other PPCP in the Portneuf River in Idaho, USA, where Lemna minor (an aquatic plant in the environment and used in ecotoxicology studies) naturally occurs. Sucralose was hypothesized to negatively affect photosynthesis and growth of L.

Grassland fire and cattle grazing regulate reptile and amphibian assembly among patches.

Fire and grazing are common management schemes of grasslands globally and are potential drivers of reptilian and amphibian (herpetofauna) metacommunity dynamics. Few studies have assessed the impacts of fire and cattle grazing on herpetofauna assemblages in grasslands. A patch-burn grazing study at Osage Prairie, MO, USA in 2011-2012 created landscape patches with treatments of grazing, fire, and such legacies.

Ecosystem characteristics of remnant, headwater tallgrass prairie streams.

North America has lost >95% of its native tallgrass prairie due to land conversion, making prairie streams one of the most endangered ecosystems. Research on the basic ecosystem characteristics of the remaining natural prairie streams will inform conservation and management. We examined the structure and function of headwater streams draining tallgrass prairie tracts at Osage Prairie in Missouri and the Konza Prairie Biological Station in Kansas and compared those values with literature values for streams draining agricultural watersheds in the region.