Gentrification drives patterns of alpha and beta diversity in cities.

While there is increasing recognition that social processes in cities like gentrification have ecological consequences, we lack nuanced understanding of the ways gentrification affects urban biodiversity. We analyzed a large camera trap dataset of mammals (>500 g) to evaluate how gentrification impacts species richness and community composition across 23 US cities. After controlling for the negative effect of impervious cover, gentrified parts of cities had the highest mammal species richness.

Biodiversity of Parasitic Hymenoptera Across Sky Islands of Arkansas, United States.

Sky islands are often areas of endemism and high species diversity around the world. In central North America, the Ozark and Ouachita Highlands contain numerous modestly high elevational islands that are slightly cooler and wetter than surrounding lowlands and these areas are known to contain many unique species. We studied parasitic Hymenoptera biodiversity on three sky islands in Arkansas, both in canopy and understory strata of mature post oak forests.

Recent climate change is creating hotspots of butterfly increase and decline across North America.

Some insect populations are experiencing dramatic declines, endangering the crucial ecosystem services they provide. Yet, other populations appear robust, highlighting the need to better define patterns and underlying drivers of recent change in insect numbers. We examined abundance and biodiversity trends for North American butterflies using a unique citizen-science dataset that has recorded observations of over 8 million butterflies across 456 species, 503 sites, nine ecoregions, and 26 years.

Potential for Reclamation of Abandoned Gas Wells to Restore Ecosystem Services in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas.

Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) drilling has expanded rapidly across the United States, including in the Fayetteville Shale formation in north-central Arkansas where drilling began in 2004. As one of the oldest regions of UOG activity in the United States, this area has experienced significant land-use changes, specifically development of natural habitat and agricultural land for gas infrastructure. In recent years, drilling of new wells has stopped and production has declined.

A Comparison of the Impacts of Wind Energy and Unconventional Gas Development on Land-use and Ecosystem Services: An Example from the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma, USA.

The United States energy industry is transforming with the rapid development of alternative energy sources and technological advancements in fossil fuels. Two major changes include the growth of wind turbines and unconventional oil and gas. We measured land-use impacts and associated ecosystem services costs of unconventional gas and wind energy development within the Anadarko Basin of the Oklahoma Woodford Shale, an area that has experienced large increases in both energy sectors.

Vocal divergence and discrimination of long calls in tamarins: A comparison of allopatric populations of Saguinus fuscicollis nigrifrons and S. f. lagonotus.

Divergence in vocalizations can reduce gene flow by serving as a premating barrier during secondary contact between previously isolated populations. In primates, vocal divergence in long calls of separated populations has been documented, yet recognition of these differences by the respective populations has seldom been studied in the field. To investigate this issue, we studied populations of two subspecies of saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis nigrifrons and S.

Habitat loss and modification due to gas development in the Fayetteville shale.

Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have become major methods to extract new oil and gas deposits, many of which exist in shale formations in the temperate deciduous biome of the eastern United States. While these technologies have increased natural gas production to new highs, they can have substantial environmental effects. We measured the changes in land use within the maturing Fayetteville Shale gas development region in Arkansas between 2001/2002 and 2012.