In estuaries where native eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) and Pacific oyster ( Magallana gigas ) aquaculture co-occur along the US Pacific Coast, contemporary landscape-scale distributions are essential to properly assess the interaction between these habitats and balance priorities of eelgrass conservation and sustainable aquaculture. We classified eelgrass distribution and delineated active oyster aquaculture throughout Willapa...

Species persist through resistance and recovery traits induced by natural stressors. Whether human activities exacerbate or moderate the effects of natural stressors is an open question. Because eelgrass ( Zostera marina ) creates coastal habitat, its response to natural stressors and human activities is of particular management importance. In this study, traits of intertidal eelgrass were examined across cumulative stressors...

Summary Chemolithoautotrophic bacteria from the genera Hydrogenovibrio, Thiomicrorhabdus and Thiomicrospira are common, sometimes dominant, isolates from sulfidic habitats including hydrothermal vents, soda and salt lakes and marine sediments. Their genome sequences confirm their membership in a deeply branching clade of the Gammaproteobacteria . Several adaptations to heterogeneous habitats are apparent. Their genomes include...

Controlling invasive species is critical for conservation but can have unintended consequences for native species and divert resources away from other efforts. This dilemma occurs on a grand scale in the North American Great Lakes, where dams and culverts block tributary access to habitat of desirable fish species and are a lynchpin of long‐standing efforts to limit ecological damage inflicted by the invasive, parasitic sea la...

Animals can be important in modulating ecosystem‐level nutrient cycling, although their importance varies greatly among species and ecosystems. Nutrient cycling rates of individual animals represent valuable data for testing the predictions of important frameworks such as the Metabolic Theory of Ecology ( MTE ) and ecological stoichiometry ( ES ). They also represent an important set of functional traits that may reflect both...

The prevalence and histopathology of neoplastic lesions were assessed in white sucker Catostomus commersonii captured at two Lake Michigan Areas of Concern ( AOC s), the Sheboygan River and Milwaukee Estuary. Findings were compared to those observed at two non‐ AOC sites, the Root and Kewaunee rivers. At each site, approximately 200 adult suckers were collected during their spawning migration. Raised skin lesions were observed...

Unintended effects of recreational activities in protected areas are of growing concern. We used an adaptive‐management framework to develop guidelines for optimally managing hiking activities to maintain desired levels of territory occupancy and reproductive success of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in Denali National Park (Alaska, U.S.A.). The management decision was to restrict human access (hikers) to particular nesting...