Distance to a road is associated with reproductive success and physiological stress response in a migratory landbird - J. Foufopoulos; L. M. Romero; C. C. Murdock (The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 2013)
We investigated the impacts of an unpaved road on the distribution, reproduction, and stress physiology of Mountain White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha) in a high-elevation subalpine ecosystem. We found and monitored 152 sparrow nests over 3 years and captured 123 sparrows over 2 years for standardized stress series experiments. Distance of a nest to the road was associated with reproductive success, and low success near the road was primarily because of high rates of nest desertion. The probability of a nest succeeding rose with increasing distance from road up to 40 m, but nests beyond 40 m experienced lower nest success, possibly because of increased predation. Nests at intermediate distance were approximately twice as likely to succeed (70% survival rate) as those near (36% survival) or far (37% survival) from the road. Stress response of male sparrows subjected to a standardized field stress protocol was elevated within 20 m of the road (38.34 ± 5.76 ng/ml) com

Revisiting Edward R. Warren: A Century of Beaver Castor canadensis Occupancy near Crested Butte, Colorado - B. M. Winkels (2013)

A genetic polymorphism evolving in parallel in two cell compartments and in two clades - E. Wang; R. R. Hudson; W. B. Watt; Baosheng Wang (BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2013)
Background: The enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, PEPCK, occurs in its guanosine-nucleotide-using form in animals and a few prokaryotes. We study its natural genetic variation in Colias (Lepidoptera, Pieridae). PEPCK offers a route, alternative to pyruvate kinase, for carbon skeletons to move between cytosolic glycolysis and mitochondrial Krebs cycle reactions. Results: PEPCK is expressed in both cytosol and mitochondrion, but differently in diverse animal clades. In vertebrates and independently in Drosophila, compartment-specific paralogous genes occur. In a contrasting expression strategy, compartment-specific PEPCKs of Colias and of the silkmoth, Bombyx, differ only in their first, 50, exons; these are alternatively spliced onto a common series of following exons. In two Colias species from distinct clades, PEPCK sequence is highly variable at nonsynonymous and synonymous sites, mainly in its common exons. Three major amino acid polymorphisms, Gly 335 ↔ Ser, Asp 503 ↔ Glu,

Chemical camouflage and the consequences of changing host plants in a treehopper-ant mutualism - J. A. Sanchez (2013)
Though many prey species use camouflage to escape predation, the role of non-visual camouflage in ecological systems remains understudied, potentially overlooking important mechanisms mediating interactions between species. For instance, some insect prey species use chemical camouflage to pacify predatory ants, which can be important for mediating mutualistic relationships between insect herbivores and ants. However, the effectiveness of this anti-predation mechanism may depend on the breadth of the herbivore’s diet, where herbivores that feed on many plant species can have mismatched, ineffective camouflage when migrating to new host species with different chemistry. Here I studied the potential for chemical camouflage to mediate the mutualism between phloem-feeding treehoppers and ants on different host plant species, expecting treehopper survival to decrease when transferred to new host species near ant nests. Relative to controls, treehopper survival was lower when transferred to a

The behavioral influence of nonlinear sound in Lincoln's Sparrow - S. A. Kapp (2013)
Animals that experience fear or stress may produce alarm calls, fear screams and mobbing calls and by doing so communicate their current state to conspecifics. These sounds are created by often easily identified because they contain nonlinear acoustic attributes that are somewhat acoustically unpredictable and sound harsh. The unpredictability hypothesis explains that because the nonlinearities are so variable and unpredictable, the sounds are difficult the habituate to. Animals should have increased responses to sounds with nonlinearities in them compared to sounds that don’t have nonlinearities. We studied Lincoln’s Sparrows (Melospiza lincolnii) and found that there are small but non-significant effects of non-linear sounds on sparrow behavior. This could be a function that the sparrows are relatively unhabituated and were responding more to the presence of the human than to the experimental playbacks.

Genetic variation in plant functional traits as drivers in arthropod community structure - G. F. Flores (2013)
Genetic variation and environmental influences are important drivers of variation in individual traits. Environment is an important selective force in shifting genetic variation as individuals respond to climate change. Climate change has a very strong effect on precipitation which affect many organisms especially plants, which leads to genetic variation among plant species as they respond to the effects of climate change. Genetic variation in plants has been shown to influence not only phenotypes of the plant itself, but also the community of organisms the plant interacts with. The objective of this study is to determine how traditional and extended phenotypes differ among source populations and maternal families and what plant traits drive differences among arthropod community interactions. We studied Valeriana edulis Nutt. ex Torr. and A. Gray subsp. edulis, a long lived dioecious perennial herb native to western North America and its associated arthropod community. A common-garden

Exploring within season temporal variation in plant-pollinator interactions in sub-alpine meadows using weekly pollination interaction networks - James L. Cunningham (2013)
It is known that sub-alpine meadows experience significant community level changes throughout the spring/summer season due to phenology. In this study we sought to interpret the within- season community-level changes in the sub-alpine meadows of Gothic, CO, USA through the construction of weekly plant-pollinator interaction networks. Creating a plant-pollinator interaction networks for every week from 24 May to 2 August 2013, allowed us to quantify and visualize the changes occurring in this system across the season. We found a large amount of variation between weeks as shown in the varying structure of the networks. Connectance was highest at the beginning and end of the season, showing a direct relationship with floral richness. This is most likely a result of biotic factors, specifically, the phenology of participating species, although to a lesser degree, abiotic factors may influence variation in weekly network structure. These results advance our understanding of community level

Talus turnover: A study of the distribution of lichens along elevational gradients - C. D. Bernard (2013)
Understanding the processes and mechanisms that underlie patterns of species diversity and distribution is a fundamental goal of community ecology. Elevational gradients enable ecologists to tease apart ecological drivers and mechanisms as reflected by distribution patterns. In spite of the considerable effort put forth in examining patterns of diversity along elevational gradients, relatively few studies have looked at lichen distributions along elevational gradients. In our study we aimed to address how lichen distributions vary with elevation. Lichen community surveys were conducted along two elevational gradients of granite talus spanning 600m in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Every 120m between 3170m and 3770m, lichen surveys were conducted for species occupancy, relative abundance, and lichen coverage in addition to covariates. Across all metrics weak correlation and low effect sizes indicated that elevation does not play a considerable role on community assemblage at this scale.

Asynchronous changes in phenology of migrating Broad-tailed Hummingbirds and their early season nectar resources - Amy M. McKinney; Billy Barr; C. David Bertelsen; Nickolas M. Waser; Paul J. CaraDonna; David W. Inouye (Ecology, 2012)

Polyploidy in Indian paintbrush (Castilleja; Orobanchaccae) species shapes but does not prevent gene flow across species boundaries - E. I. Hersch-Green (American Journal of Botany, 2012)
• Premise of study: A difference in chromosome numbers (ploidy variation) between species is usually considered a major barrier to gene flow. Therefore, it is surprising that little is known about whether ploidy variation, both within and among species, influences spatial patterns of interspecific hybridization. The role that polyploidy plays in structuring gene flow patterns between three co‐occurring Indian paintbrush (Castilleja) species is investigated.• Methods: Reciprocal hand pollinations were performed in populations where the three species co‐occur with and without variable plants (previous data tested the ancestral “hybrid” history of these variable plants). I measured fruit set, seed production, seed germination, and the DNA content of parent plants and 26 synthesized F1 hybrids. Data were combined with pollinator fidelity data to estimate the contribution of individual barriers to reproductive isolation.• Key results: Interspecific gene flow could occur in all directions, b

Assessing the impacts of long-term pan trapping on native bee populations in sub-alpine ecosystems - S. E. Turner (2012)
Pollination by native bees is an essential ecosystem service in both natural and agricultural systems. During the last several decades, there have been reported declines in native bee populations worldwide. Due to recent declines, there is an increasing need for standardized population monitoring programs worldwide. The standardized method of monitoring bee populations is the use of pan traps, which destructively sample bees by removing them from the ecosystem. Very little investigation has been done to date into the long-term impacts of using pan traps on native bee populations. This study tries to assess whether long-term use of pan traps has a negative impact on bee populations in sub-alpine ecosystems in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Our results suggest that repeated, long-term sampling for bees does not affect bee abundance. However, due to an unexpected but marginally significant difference in bee abundance between the three valleys where samples were taken, our results should be

Nonlinear effects of consumer density on multiple ecosystem processes - M. L. Ostrofsky; A. J. Klemmer; H. S. Greig; S. A. Wissinger (Journal of Animal Ecology, 2012)
Summary1. In the face of human‐induced declines in the abundance of common species, ecologists have become interested in quantifying how changes in density affect rates of biophysical processes, hence ecosystem function. We manipulated the density of a dominant detritivore (the cased caddisfly, Limnephilus externus) in subalpine ponds to measure effects on the release of detritus‐bound nutrients and energy.2. Detritus decay rates (k, mass loss) increased threefold, and the loss of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from detrital substrates doubled across a range of historically observed caddisfly densities. Ammonium and total soluble phosphorus concentrations in the water column also increased with caddisfly density on some dates. Decay rates, nutrient release and the change in total detritivore biomass all exhibited threshold or declining responses at the highest densities.3. We attributed these threshold responses in biophysical processes to intraspecific competition for limiting resour

Behavioral responses of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) to synthesized nonlinear phenomena - E. K. Bledsoe (2012)

Syrphid fly distributions along an elevation gradient in and around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) - S. L. Bruce (2012)
Much is known about bee pollination, but there is little information concerning pollination by syrphid flies. Syrphid flies are also important to study because they are the most significant flower visiting Dipteran insects, which are the second most important order among flower-visiting and flower-pollinating insects. Describing abundance and diversity along an elevation allows for the exploration of abiotic and biotic drivers of distribution. Our knowledge of syrphids needs to be enhanced concerning (i) How does syrphid abundance change over an elevation gradient, (ii) How does the number of syrphid morphospecies change over an elevation gradient, and (iii) What biotic and abiotic factors are associated with syrphid fly abundance and diversity? A five-week observational study was carried out at five weather stations in and around RMBL, covering an elevation range of 561m. Flower abundance was recorded at each site, followed by sampling of syrphids. Linear regression analysis revealed

A gain of function polymorphism controlling complex traits and fitness in nature - M. Eric Schranz; Antonio J. Manzaneda; Bao-Hua Song; Ibtehaj Naqvi; Sanjeewa G. Rupasinghe; Mary A. Schuler; Maria J. Clauss; Aaron J. Windsor; Carrie Olson-Manning; Kasavajhala V. S. K. Prasad (Science, 2012)

Forecasting phenology: from species variability to community forecasts - M. A. Crimmins; T. M. Crimmins; A. J. Miller-Rushing; S. J. Mazer; J. M. Diez; C. David Bertelsen; David W. Inouye (Ecology Letters, 2012)

Sociality, individual fitness and population dynamics of yellow-bellied marmots - Kenneth B. Armitage (Molecular Ecology, 2012)
Social behaviour was proposed as a density-dependent intrinsic mechanism that could regulate an animal population by affecting reproduction and dispersal. Populations of the polygynous yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) fluctuate widely from year to year primarily driven by the number of weaned young. The temporal variation in projected population growth rate was driven mainly by changes in the age of first reproduction and fertility, which are affected by reproductive suppression. Dispersal is unrelated to population density, or the presence of the father; hence, neither of these limits population growth or acts as an intrinsic mechanism of population regulation; overall, intrinsic regulation seems unlikely. Sociality affects the likelihood of reproduc- tion in that the annual probability of reproducing and the lifetime number of offspring are decreased by the number of older females and by the number of same-aged females present, but are increased by the number of younger a

Litter sex composition affects life-history traits in yellow-bellied marmots - R. Monclus; Daniel T. Blumstein (Journal of Animal Ecology, 2012)

No evidence of inbreeding avoidance despite survival costs in a polygynous rodent - Link E. Olson; J. P. Pollinger; Robert Wayne; Daniel T. Blumstein (Molecular Ecology, 2012)
Individuals are generally predicted to avoid inbreeding because of detrimental fitness effects. However, several recent studies have shown that limited inbreeding is tolerated by some vertebrate species. Here, we examine the costs and benefits of inbreeding in a largely polygynous rodent, the yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris). We use a pedigree constructed from 8 years of genetic data to determine the relatedness of all marmots in our study population and examine offspring survival, annual male reproductive success, relatedness between breeding pairs and the effects of group composition on likelihood of male reproduction to assess inbreeding in this species. We found decreased survival in inbred offspring, but equal net reproductive success among males that inbred and those that avoided it. Relatedness between breeding pairs was greater than that expected by chance, indicating that marmots do not appear to avoid breeding with relatives. Further, male marmots do not avoid inb

The shape of a species ' spatial abundance distribution - J. Conlisk; A. R. Kassim; E. Conlisk; Ian Billick; John Harte (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2012)
ABSTRACTAim The shape of a species' spatial abundance distribution may change with spatial scale. We predict that the shape will typically change from strictly downward‐sloping (falling) to humped (rising then falling) as the spatial scale increases. The prediction, motivated in part by central limit reasoning, is intended for common or abundant species over reasonably homogeneous habitats. We test the prediction using data on 800+ tree species, one ant species, and 14 bird species.Location Tree data are for Malaysia and Central America; ant and bird data are for North America.Methods For each species, histograms and relative mode shape statistics are compared across multiple spatial scales.Results The predicted pattern is broadly confirmed.Main conclusions The emerging hump pattern is a candidate for listing among macroecological regularities. In appropriate contexts, spatial theories might be asked to predict the pattern.

Barriers evolving: Reproductive isolation and the early stages of biological speciation. - Jesse D. Jennings (2012)

Effects of floral diversity and density on fly (Diptera:Bombyliidae and Syrphidae) floral foraging fidelity in subalpine meadows - N. Vila-Santana (2012)
Foraging behavior of pollinators is an extensively researched topic. Research on bee, butterfly, and hummingbird foraging behavior has led to a greater understanding of the impacts of plant community composition on foraging behavior. This research has been further enhanced by fly foraging behavior and its importance in ecosystems. In order to determine the relationship flies have with the plant community we are examining the effects of flower species diversity and conspecific floral density on fly (Diptera: Syrphidae and Bombyliidae) foraging fidelity. Fly foraging fidelity was seen to be effected by both of these floral community characteristics. It was observed that as flower species diversity increased we saw a decrease in foraging fidelity. Also as conspecific floral density increased we observed an increase in foraging fidelity. Future topics of interest may involve the impact of these effects, conspecific floral densities and floral species diversity, on plant fitness along with

Understanding the importance of coniferous understory versus open meadows for bees in times of drought - A. C. Ortega (2012)

Global assessment of experimental Climate warming on tundra vegetation: heterogeneity over space and time - J. A. Klein; C. H. Wahren; S. Pieper; G. R. Shaver; D. S. Hik; V. Loewen; P. J. Webber; T. A. Day; A. Hofgaard; R. D. Hollister; S. F. Oberbauer; W. A. Gould; et al. (Ecology Letters, 2012)
Sarah C. Elmendorf,1* Gregory H. R. Understanding the sensitivity of tundra vegetation to climate warming is critical to forecasting future Henry,1 Robert D. Hollister,2 Robert G. biodiversity and vegetation feedbacks to climate. In situ warming experiments accelerate climate change on a Björk,3 Anne D. Bjorkman,1 Terry V. small scale to forecast responses of local plant communities. Limitations of this approach include the apparent Callaghan,4,5 Laura Siegwart Collier,6 site-specificity of results and uncertainty about the power of short-term studies to anticipate longer term Elisabeth J. Cooper,7 Johannes H. C. Cornelissen,8 Thomas A. Day,9 change. We address these issues with a synthesis of 61 experimental warming studies, of up to 20 years Anna Maria Fosaa,10 William A. Gould,11 duration, in tundra sites worldwide. The response of plant groups to warming often differed with ambient Járngerur Grétarsdóttir,12 John Harte,13 summer temperature, soil moisture and experimental durat

Holocene alluvial stratigraphy and response to climate change in the Roaring River valley, Front Range, Colorado, USA - Richard F. Madole (Quaternary Research, 2012)
AbstractStratigraphic analyses and radiocarbon geochronology of alluvial deposits exposed along the Roaring River, Colorado, lead to three principal conclusions: (1) the opinion that stream channels in the higher parts of the Front Range are relics of the Pleistocene and nonalluvial under the present climate, as argued in a water-rights trial USA v. Colorado, is untenable, (2) beds of clast-supported gravel alternate in vertical succession with beds of fine-grained sediment (sand, mud, and peat) in response to centennial-scale changes in snowmelt-driven peak discharges, and (3) alluvial strata provide information about Holocene climate history that complements the history provided by cirque moraines, periglacial deposits, and paleontological data. Most alluvial strata are of late Holocene age and record, among other things, that: (1) the largest peak flows since the end of the Pleistocene occurred during the late Holocene; (2) the occurrence of a mid- to late Holocene interval (\ 2450–

Regrowth of Didymosphenia geminata after a removal event. - M. C. Owens (2012)
Didymosphenia geminata is a diatom native to the U.S. Rocky Mountains, and is found and considered an invasive species in many parts of the world. It grows in massive mats that carpet large portions of the streams it is found in. I tested the effects of removal on Didymosphenia because past studies have suggested that the mats may not recover after a disturbance event, but nothing had been decisively proven. In this study, I removed the mat from 8 different rocks across 3 streams in the East River Valley, and observed how the Didymosphenia regrew over a 40 day period. I also took microscope samples from each stream to analyze how it was reacting on a cellular level. At the end of the observation period, the Didymosphenia had grown back slightly, but had not recovered to the level of an untreated, Didymosphenia-covered rock. Also, the microscope data showed that the cells from the removed had a higher rate of cell division and had much shorter stalk attached to them. This suggests that

Scared and less noisy: glucocorticoids are associated with alarm call entropy (Biology Letters, 2012)

Large-scale manipulation of mayfly recruitment affects population size - Andrea Encalada; B. L. Peckarsky (Oecologia, 2012)

Plant responses to the joint effects of herbivores and pollinators - A. L. Buchanan (2012)

Desalination of the Colorado River water: A hybrid approach - Anand Venkatesan; Phillip C. Wankat (Desalination, 2012)

Carbon Cycle Uncertainty Increases Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Challenges - P. Higgins; John Harte (Journal of Climate, 2012)
Projections of greenhouse gas concentrations over the twenty-first century generally rely on two optimistic, but questionable, assumptions about the carbon cycle: 1) that elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations will enhance terrestrial carbon storage and 2) that plant migration will be fast relative to climate changes. This paper demonstrates that carbon cycle uncertainty is considerably larger than currently recognized and that plausible carbon cycle responses could strongly amplify climate warming. This has important implications for societal decisions that relate to climate change risk management because it implies that a given level of human emissions could result in much larger climate changes than we now realize or that stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a ‘‘safe’’ level could require lower human emissions than currently un- derstood. These results also suggest that terrestrial carbon cycle responses could be sufficiently strong to account for the changes in

Erratum to “Holocene alluvial stratigraphy and response to climate change in the Roaring River valley, Front Range, Colorado, USA” [Quat. Res.78 (2012) 197–208] - Richard F. Madole (Quaternary Research, 2012)
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Stable isotopes reflect the ecological stability of two high-elevation mammals from the late Quaternary of Colorado - Emslie S.D; McLean B.S (Quaternary Research, 2012)

Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) seedings in Western Colorado: what can we learn - Nikki Grant-Hoffman; James Dollerschell; Anna Lincoln; Amanda Clements (Management of Biological Invasions, 2012)
Non-native species have been widely transported, becoming components of ecosystems worldwide. In some cases this can change thestructure and function of an ecosystem. Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum, Agropyron spp.) was introduced into the Western U.S. inthe late 18th and early 19th centuries. Since introduction, it has been planted in western rangelands currently occupying millions of acres.Crested wheatgrass causes significant changes in areas where it dominates the vegetation, and restoring rangelands planted with crested wheatgrass to higher plant diversity and ecosystem function has been met with limited success. Here we revisit historical frequency monitoring data collected in western Colorado on public lands that were planted with crested wheatgrass between 1940 and 1980. We also monitored vegetation before and after mechanical treatment (removal of vegetation with the use of a dixie harrow pulled behind a tractor) and re-seeding of desirable species in three areas domin

Plant sex and induced responses independently influence herbivore performance, natural enemies and aphid-tending ants - A. L. Fremgen; William K. Petry; Kailen A. Mooney (Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 2012)
Plant sexual dimorphism and induced responses to herbivore damage independently influenced Herbivore performance and the composition of arthropod communities at higher trophic levels.

Evolving communicative complexity: insights from rodents and beyond - K. A. Pollard; Daniel T. Blumstein (Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012)
Social living goes hand in hand with communication, but the details of this relationship are rarely simple. Complex communication may be described by attributes as diverse as a species' entire repertoire, signallers' individualistic signatures, or complex acoustic phenomena within single calls. Similarly, attributes of social complexity are diverse and may include group size, social role diversity, or networks of interactions and relationships. How these different attributes of social and communicative complexity co-evolve is an active question in behavioural ecology. Sciurid rodents (ground squirrels, prairie dogs and marmots) provide an excellent model system for studying these questions. Sciurid studies have found that demographic role complexity predicts alarm call repertoire size, while social group size predicts alarm call individuality. Along with other taxa, sciurids reveal an important insight: different attributes of sociality are linked to different attributes of communicati

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) respond to yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) alarm calls - M. F. Carrasco; M. F. Carrasco; Daniel T. Blumstein (Ethology, 2012)
Individuals may obtain valuable information about the presence of predators by eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals. While playback studies have demonstrated that similarly-sized and taxonomically-related species may respond to the calls of each other, less work has been done to define the boundaries of eavesdropping. In theory, individuals should respond to calls from any species that provide information about the presence of important predators, regardless of body size and taxonomic relationship, however size is often associated with vulnerability. Coyotes (Canis latrans) in the Rocky Mountains prey upon both mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), which differ considerably in size, alarm vocalizations, and antipredator behavior. We conducted a playback experiment to see if deer discriminated between marmot alarm calls and the song of a common sympatric bird. We found that deer increased vigilance significantly more after hearing a

Influence of macronutrient imbalance on native ant foraging and interspecific interactions in the field - K. I. Perry; William K. Petry; Kailen A. Mooney (Ecological Entomology, 2012)
1. Ants interact with a diversity of organisms. These interactions, coupled with their abundance, cause ants to have ecologically important effects across multiple trophic levels. 2. Empirical study of ant nutritional ecology has led to the prediction that a macronutrient imbalance will affect ant behaviour and interspecific interactions that underlie these broad‐scale effects. Excess carbohydrate relative to protein is predicted to increase ant aggressiveness, predatory tendency and foraging activity, and to decrease collection of hemipteran honeydew and plant nectar. 3. In field experiments conducted in 2009 and 2010, captive colony fragments of a native ant, Formica podzolica (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), were provided with either simulated prey or carbohydrate solution ad libitum . Foraging behaviours and interactions with flowers, myrmecophilous aph

When resources don't rescue: flowering phenology and species interactions affect compensation to herbivory in Ipomopsis aggregata - Alison K. Brody; Rebecca E. Irwin (Oikos, 2012)
The ability of plants to tolerate, or compensate for, herbivore damage is highly variable and has been the subject of much research. Although many plants can compensate for herbivore damage, and some even overcompensate, we cannot yet generalize about the conditions that promote a positive response to damage. Here, we asked how abiotic resources (i.e. plant nutrient status) coupled with biotic interactions – i.e. subsequent interactions with pollinators, seed predators and nectar robbing bumble bees – affect the compensatory ability of Ipomopsis aggregata , a monocarpic herb that has been the subject of much previous debate. We hypothesized that compensation to herbivore damage in I. aggregata (Polemoniaceae) would depend first on plants having an ample supply of resources and, second, on the outcome of subsequent interactions with mutualist pollinators and enemy pre‐dispersal seed predators and nectar robb

Masculinized female yellow-bellied marmots initiate more social interactions - T. Cook; R. Monclus; Daniel T. Blumstein (Biology Letters, 2012)

The effects of floral traits on the behaviors of pollinators and pre-dispersal seed predators in a gynodioecious species, Polemonium foliosissimum. - L. Tong (2012)
In order to maintain in the population, female plants of gynodioecious species must compensate for their loss of male function. Understanding how mutualist pollinators and antagonists such as seed predators respond to floral cues presented by female and hermaphrodite flowers in ways that could contribute to differences fitness among the sexes. In this study, I investigated the effects of floral traits on visitation rates by pollinators and pre- dispersal seed predators in a gynodioecious species, Polemonium foliosissimum. I manipulated the petals and anthers of hermaphrodites to make them look like females and examined visitation rates by putative pollinators and rates of oviposition by a common pre-dispersal seed predator. Results showed that pollinator preference and oviposition rate did not differ among the treatment types, which indicated the pollinator and pre-dispersal seed predator did not use the size of petal and the presence of anther as cue to locate their host plants.

Sinister Spaces: Liminality and the Southern Ontario Gothic in Margaret Atwood's Fiction - Cara Diane Bartz-Edge (oURspace (University of Regina), 2012)
Margaret Atwood’s works are undoubtedly influenced by her academic training in Gothic and Victorian fiction. However, she also incorporates the influences of Southern Ontario – her backyard – and its regional subgenre of Southern Ontario Gothic. While traditional Gothic certainly incorporates binaries, Michael Hurley, the scholar at the forefront of the discussion of this unique subgenre, suggests that characters within this subgenre are entrapped in the liminal spaces created not simply by the meeting of seeming opposites, but at the points where their boundaries are blurred. Atwood’s fiction represents these liminal spaces; however, she provides options for a hopeful ending by providing her characters a means to escape their entrapment. Her characters must attempt to navigate the artificial representations of wilderness by society, examine the fluid boundary between life and death as morts-vivants, and attempt to resolve the separation of their identities into self and other by confe

The effect of human activity on the vigilance rates of Spermophilis lateralis and Tamias minimus - C. A. R. Jacobson (2012)
With human population on the rise, human presence in wildlife areas will rise along side it. The study of how human activity is affecting wild animals in any and all aspects is of vast importance. This growing overlap is due to effect both sides of the issue, the humans and the animals. My study focuses on how human activity affects vigilance rates in golden-mantled ground squirrels and least chipmunks. I conducted observations in six different locations that were grouped in to 3 categories based on predicted human activity levels; high, medium and low. Here I observed the rate of vigilance by recording what individual squirrels and chipmunks were doing every 10 seconds. My study showed that human activity does have an effect on the vigilance rates of squirrels and chipmunks. As the level of human activity increases the rate of vigilance in the squirrels and chipmunks decrease and foraging rates increase. If increased human activity also decreases the predator densities in the area the

Connoisseur's Choice: Enargite, Longfellow Mine, Red Mountain District, San Juan County, Colorado - Paul W. Pohwat (Rocks & Minerals, 2012)
Are all things beautiful? Are all types equally beautiful when we abstract from our practical prejudices? If the reader gives his assent … we must declare that no object is essentially ugly. —Georg...

Genetic and environmental variation in leaf traits and physiology of Ipomopsis - Madison Crowell (2012)
Selection that differs between environments may maintain genetic differences in traits between two closely related species. In a natural hybrid zone, this environment-mediated selection could also prevent hybrids from successfully occupying parental habitats. Environment-mediated selection can act on vegetative and physiological traits. Yet, the relationship between vegetative traits and physiological traits to hybrid fitness has not been described for many plant systems. In this study, we investigated Ipomopsis aggregata and Ipomopsis tenuituba and their hybrids in different environments, which allowed us to determine if genetic, environmental, or genetic x environmental effects were acting on specific traits. We measured vegetative traits and physiological traits (rosette size, specific leaf area, leaf hair density, chlorophyll concentration and intrinsic water-use efficiency) on individuals of Ipomopsis that had been planted in a reciprocal transplant at three different elevations i

Parasite infection and host dynamics in a naturally fluctuating rodent population - S. M. Altizer; M. J. Yabsley; Jamie C. Winternitz (Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2012)
Parasites can both influence and be affected by host population dynamics, and a growing number of case studies support a role for parasites in causing or amplifying host population cycles. In this study, we examined individual and population predictors of gastrointestinal parasitism on wild cyclic montane voles ( Microtus montanus (Peale, 1848)) to determine if evidence was consistent with theory implicating parasites in population cycles. We sampled three sites in central Colorado for the duration of a multiannual cycle and recorded the prevalence and intensity of directly transmitted Eimeria Schneider, 1875 and indirectly transmitted cestodes from a total of 267 voles. We found significant associations between host infection status, individual traits (sex, age, and reproductive status) and population variables (site, trapping period, and population density), including a positive association between host density and cestode prevalence, and a negative association between host density a

Do mule deer respond to the sounds of their predators? - A. M. Hettena (2012)
Many, but not all, animals respond to the sounds of their predators to assess predation risk. For those that can, does this ability persist after a predator has gone extinct? Are all predatory species equally likely to generate antipredator responses? And, more generally, what are the proximate mechanisms underlying these responses? We reviewed the literature to draw generalizations about predator discrimination abilities and found that prey broadly are responsive to the sounds of both familiar and unfamilar predators, that most of the predators used are birds and mammals, and that responses may require experience, but that some species appear predisposed to respond to certain types of predators. Given that ungulates face risks from a variety of predators, predator discrimination abilities in relatively few species of ungulates have been studied. We then asked whether mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) possessed the ability to discriminate between predator vocalizations by broadcasting th

Does nutrient enrichment interact with Castilleja miniata to alter plant communities in montane meadows? - C. S. Calhoun (2012)
Many studies have demonstrated the negative effects of hemiparasites on host performance, such as decreased host biomass and reproductive capabilities. Much less work, however, has examined the role of hemiparasites in shaping plant community structure, though it has been proposed that the effect of a hemiparasite can vary based on a number of factors, including nutrient availability. Using Castilleja miniata as a test species, I tested for an interactive effect of hemiparasite removal and nitrogen enrichment on plant community structure. I found no evidence of an interactive effect altering species richness, total plant cover, diversity, or evenness. Nitrogen availability and C. miniata presence or absence may have an additive effect on nitrogen-fixer productivity. Nitrogen-fixers grew more in plots under ambient soil conditions where C. miniata was removed. The importance of nitrogen-fixers in an ecosystem warrants further research into the dynamics between nutrient cycling, hemipara

Herbivore growth responses to nutrient mobilization by detritivores - R. J. Burns (2012)
Past research suggests that the detritus pathway, or brown trophic pathway, is key to the availability of nutrients in nutrient-limited aquatic ecosystems. The interplay between the green and brown paths in aquatic food webs is relatively understudied, yet it is likely that the productivity of nutrient-limited aquatic systems relies on the bottom-up effects of nutrients released during detritus processing. The goal of my study was to clarify the role of detritivorous caddisfly larvae (Limnephilus externus), as mobilizers of detritus-bound nutrients in montane ponds? Specifically, I wanted to understand the role that these caddisflies play as join regulators the brown (detritus) trophic path (via conversion of detrital to animal production) in these ponds and of the green (algal) trophic path via the mobilization of limiting nutrients for algae? In asking these questions I hypothesized that caddisfly larvae are key to the ecological function of wetland ecosystems because they (1) libera

Increased aggression among Asynarchus nigriculus caddisfly larvae in a rapidly drying environment - J. O. Lund (2012)
Global climate change will likely result in warmer, dryer environments and influence the behavior and development of a number of species. Asynarchus nigriculus is a species of caddisfly whose larval stage lives exclusively in temporary ponds where they develop synchronously and quickly before the ponds dry in the early summer. The cues used by this species to sense pond drying and accelerate development are unknown but may include increasing density due to shrinking pond area and decreasing water level. It has been shown that A. nigriculus engage in cannibalism to supplement their nutrient-poor diet of detritus with protein. I hypothesized that if decreasing water level and increased density are cues of impending pond drying, then caddisfly larvae will respond to those cues by engaging in more cannibalism in order to obtain more protein to develop faster and emerge before the pond dries. Field experiments were set up varying two cues of drying: water level and larval density, and also

Investigating the impact of pollinator- and seed predator-mediated selection on floral traits in an Ipomopsis aggregata and I. tenuituba (Polemoniaceae) hybrid zone - L. G. Barbour (2012)
While the impacts of pollinator species on selection for floral traits in angiosperms are relatively well-studied, less is known about the contributions of herbivores towards selection on floral traits. We investigated the relationship among a variety of floral traits (including volatile emissions and morphological features) and oviposition by the seed predator fly Delia (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) in an Ipomopsis hybrid zone in Gunnison County, Colorado. We performed flower measurements on Ipomopsis individuals which had previously been planted at three elevations in a reciprocal transplant experiment at Poverty Gulch. Using a scent manipulation experiment near the Gothic town site, we also investigated the impacts of α- and β-pinene treatments on oviposition. We found no evidence for a correlation between Delia oviposition and any traits measured for Poverty Gulch flowers; however, other studies have suggested that oviposition may respond to increased corolla and sepal width. Single enan

Microsatellite loci in Ipomopsis aggregata (Polemoniaceae) and cross-species applicability for ecological genetics studies - C. J. Smith; A. J. Massaro; C. A. Wu (American Journal of Botany, 2012)
• Premise of the study: Novel microsatellite primers were developed for the native wildflower Ipomopsis aggregata to facilitate ongoing studies of the genetics of local adaptation and patterns of hybridization with closely related species within the genus.• Methods and Results: Thirteen primer sets were successfully developed and tested using populations from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. The primers amplified di‐, tri‐, and tetranucleotide repeats with 1–15 alleles per locus. All primers also amplified fragments with varying success in closely related Ipomopsis species and more distant members of the Polemoniaceae.• Conclusions: The polymorphism levels observed across all loci suggest that these microsatellites may be useful for population genetic studies in Ipomopsis, as well as in studies of other related taxa in the Polemoniaceae.

WITHDRAWN: Structural Geologic Influence on Coal Bursts in the North Fork of the Gunnison River Valley, Colorado - C. Mark; P. Tyrna; S.E. Phillipson; M. Gauna (International Journal of Coal Geology, 2012)

Local geographic distributions of bumble bees near Crested Butte, Colorado: Competition and community structure revisited - G. H. Pyke; James D. Thomson; David W. Inouye (Environmental Entomology, 2012)
Surveys in 1974 of bumble bee species distributions along elevational gradients (Pyke 1982) were revisited to reevaluate the original conclusion that coexistence of bumble bee species can be ascribed to niche differentiation, primarily on the basis of proboscis lengths and the associated corolla lengths of visited flowers. Each bee species largely visited a few plant species, which were preferred relative to other species. Bee proboscis length was correlated with average corolla length of visited flowers, but not when species with relatively long and short proboscises were considered separately. Bumble bee abundance was affected by presence or absence of major plant species and, contrary to the interpretation of Pyke (1982), elevation, with neither factor dominating. Multimodal distributions of proboscis lengths and altitudinal replacement of bee species of similar proboscis length were consistent with the original hypothesis that bumble bee species compete for floral resources, especi

Partnerships for empowerment : participatory research for community-based natural resource management - Jacquelyn Ross; William F. Elmendorf; Carl Wilmsen; Gail Wells; Brinda Sarathy; L. M. Fisher (Taylor and Francis eBooks, 2012)
Foreword by Jeffrey Campbell * Negotiating Community, Participation, Knowledge and Power in Participatory Research * Core Criteria and Assessment of Participatory Research * Challenges to Institutionalizing Participatory Research in Community Forestry in the US * From Environmental Racism to Civic Environmentalism: Using Participation and Nature to Develop Community in the Belmont Neighborhood of West Philadelphia * Creating Common Ground: A Collaborative Approach to Environmental Reclamation and Cultural Preservation * Opportunities and Challenges in Community Capacity-building: Lessons from Participatory Research in Macon County, North Carolina * Calibrating Collaboration: Monitoring and Adaptive Management of the Landscape Working Group Process on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests in Western Colorado * Inclusion and Exclusion: Immigrant Forest Workers and Participation in Natural Resource Management * Comparing Participatory Ecological Research in Two Context

Larval growth in polyphenic salamanders: making the best of a bad lot - C. J. Mecklin; J. J. Gutrich; M. Denoel; Nicole Gerlanc; Howard Whiteman; S. A. Wissinger (Oecologia, 2012)

Stochastic population dynamics of a montane ground-dwelling squirrel - J. A. Hostetler; E. Kneip; D. H. Van Vuren (PloS ONE, 2012)
Understanding the causes and consequences of population fluctuations is a central goal of ecology. We used demographic data from a long-term (1990–2008) study and matrix population models to investigate factors and processes influencing the dynamics and persistence of a golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) population, inhabiting a dynamic subalpine habitat in Colorado, USA. The overall deterministic population growth rate l was 0.946SE 0.05 but it varied widely over time, ranging from 0.4560.09 in 2006 to 1.5060.12 in 2003, and was below replacement (l,1) for 9 out of 18 years. The stochastic population growth rate ls was 0.92, suggesting a declining population; however, the 95% CI on ls included 1.0 (0.52–1.60). Stochastic elasticity analysis showed that survival of adult females, followed by survival of juvenile females and litter size, were potentially the most influential vital rates; analysis of life table response experiments revealed that the same three l

Sequence variation in couch potato gene and its effects on life-history traits in a northern malt fly, Drosophila montana - T. S. Salminen; H. Lampinen; M. Kankare; A. Hoikkala (J Insect Physiology, 2012)

Social attributes and associated performance measures in marmots: bigger male bullies and weakly affiliating females have higher annual reproductive success - T. W. Wey; Daniel T. Blumstein (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2012)
The utility of considering multiple dimensions when measuring the structure and functional consequences of social behavior is highlighted, and the relationship between an individual’s social attributes and several performance measures is examined.

Development and structure of boldness and aggression in yellow-bellied marmots - V. Alejandro; D. E. McCoy (2012)
The ontogeny of personality traits is crucial to understanding their ecological significance but has not yet been well-studied. We examined the development of two traits that are commonly correlated in a syndrome, boldness and aggression, in a long-term study of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmot flaviventris). Using data collected since 2002, we quantified the repeatability and syndrome structure of these two traits in two age groups (juveniles and yearlings/adults). We quantified boldness through Flight Initiation Distance (FID) tests and aggression through two methods: (i) summing scored behaviors of individuals during trapping to create an index of aggression, and (ii) examining each trapping behavior individually. We found that aggression is a repeatable personality trait in both age classes, but that boldness is only a repeatable personality trait in yearlings/adults. We found no correlation between boldness and aggression in either group. We found that variance in aggression decreas

"With a little help from my friends": Phylogenetic distance as a predictor of floral visitation in the plant communities of Gothic, CO. - C. R. Evans Peck (2012)

There's no place like home: Investigating the ideal nesting requirements of Megachilidae bees in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado - V. R. M. Milici (2012)
Solitary mason bees in the family Megachilidae are known to be important pollinators worldwide. They are important pollinators of natural ecosystems and also are widely used for the commercial pollination of crop plants such as almonds, cherries, peaches, plums, and apples. Given that they are such important pollinators, there is still little known about their nesting biology. The goal of this study was to determine which specific site characteristics Megachilids look for when choosing a nest. Eleven sub-alpine meadows around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado were selected, and ten artificial trap-nests were placed on trees within each meadow. Site-specific characteristics such as floral resources and quantity of nesting material, along with the nest-specific criteria of nest height and aspect were recorded and compared to nesting within each trap-nest and site as a whole. We found that floral resources within a site do not play a role in Megachilidae nesting

How do the effects of herbivory and light gradients impact the overall plant fitness within different environments? - G. J. Palomera (2012)
The strength of natural selection on phenotypic traits as a result of herbivory can be measured within and among environments by quantifying spatial variation in fitness and herbivory levels in the different environments. High spatial variation among different light gradients can be expected to cause higher directional selection favoring habitat differentiation (local adaptation) among environments. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that light quality habitats influence fitness indirectly through variationin herbivory among habitats. I measured a suite of plant traits across a light quality gradient using the plant bittercress as a model. Plants were measured across 18 phenotypic traits. The correlation between fruit/seed number in response to leaves mined, leaf area mined, sum of leaf mined is expected to have negative correlation when herbivory is high. The results indicate that there is a negative correlation between herbivory between seeds per plant (reference figure 6). Secon

Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming - T. G. Elumeeva; M. Gill; N. Boulanger-Lapointe; E. Dorrepaal; R. G. Bjork; R. D. Hollister; W. A. Gould; T. A. Day; G. H. R. Henry; E. J. Cooper; S. C. Elmendorf; Johannes H. C. Cornelissen; et al. (Nature Climate Change, 2012)

Genes involved in the evolution of herbivory by a leaf-mining drosophilid fly - B. A. Halkier; I. Sonderby; T. B. Sackton; F. A. Ausubel; N. E. Pierce; C. Kocks; R. L. Lapoint; S. C. Groen; A. D. Gloss; Parris T Humphrey; Noah K Whiteman (Genome Biology and Evolution, 2012)
Herbivorous insects are among the most successful radiations of life. However, we know little about the processes underpinning the evolution of herbivory. We examined the evolution of herbivory in the fly, Scaptomyza ﬂava, whose larvae are leaf miners on species of Brassicaceae, including the widely studied reference plant, Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). Scaptomyza ﬂava is phylogenetically nested within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila, and the whole genome sequences available for 12 species of Drosophila facilitated phylogenetic analysis and assembly of a transcriptome for S. ﬂava. A time-calibrated phylogeny indicated that leaf mining in Scaptomyza evolved between 6 and 16 million years ago. Feeding assays showed that biosynthesis of glucosinolates, the major class of antiherbivore chemical defense compounds in mustard leaves, was upregulated by S. ﬂava larval feeding. The presence of glucosinolates in wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis plants reduced S. ﬂava larval weight gain and inc

Harvesting and Marketing Cantaloupes and Honey Dew Melons in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado: Seasons of 1924 and 1925 - Neal D. Sanborn (Digital Collections of Colorado (Colorado State University), 2012)

The effect of ants on the population dynamics of a protective symbiont of aphids, Hamiltonella defensa - P. Abbot; E. A. Wood; D. M. Erickson; K. M. Oliver; Ian Billick (Annals of Entomological Society of America, 2012)
Abstract Mutualists that provide redundant services to the same organism have been shown both to coexist and compete for access to the partner. Aphids, for example, are known to receive protection against natural enemies from both heritable bacterial symbionts as well as ants, which tend aphids in exchange for sugary honeydew excretions. Little is known, however, about how ant attendance might influence interactions between aphids and their protective bacteria. Assuming costs to infection, we hypothesized that protective symbiont prevalence would decrease in the presence of ants, because of duplication of services. We surveyed natural aphid populations and found Hamiltonella defensa, a bacterium that provides resistance to aphids against parasitoid wasps in laboratory settings, among several aphid species, including Obtusicauda frigidae (Oestlund 1886). We excluded ants from protecting O. frigidae aggregations and measured the effect of ant absence on the frequency of pa

PASSIVE TREATMENT OF MINING INFLUENCED WASTEWATER WITH BIOCHEMICAL REACTOR TREATMENT AT THE STANDARD MINE SUPERFUND SITE, CRESTED BUTTE, COLORADO - Christina Progess; David Reisman; Eric Blumenstein; Neal Gallagher; Thomas Rutkowski; John DeAngelis (Journal American Society of Mining and Reclamation, 2012)
A pilot biochemical reactor (BCR) with a design flowrate of 3.8 l/m (1 gpm) has been operating at the Standard Mine Superfund Site for over four years, since August, 2007. The pilot system is entirely passive, using solar energy to power sampling equipment and pumping requirements. BCR treatment relies on biological and chemical reactions within an anaerobic reactor comprised of organic and inorganic materials including woodchips, straw, limestone and bacterial inoculum. The BCR pilot has been treating mining influenced wastewater (MIW) since construction was completed in the summer of 2007. Polishing and aeration of BCR effluent is accomplished in an aerobic polishing cell (APC) containing wetland plants in two of the three cells. The Standard Mine BCR is constructed at an elevation of 3,353 meters (11,000 ft ) above MSL with an average annual snowfall of 10.2 m (400 in ). Limited BCR treatment data from reactors operating under harsh alpine conditions was available before this system

Functional relationships between early play behavior and adult dominance roles in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) - L. K. Chung (2012)
Play has been defined as apparently functionless behavior, yet since play is costly, it must have some function (or functions) to outweigh its costs. We provide the strongest evidence for a long-standing, but poorly supported hypothesis: that early play is practice for later dominance relationships. We calculated the relative dominance rank by observing the directional outcome of playful interactions in both pup and yearling yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) using the Clutton-Brock index. We found that these play rank relationships were highly correlated with later dominance ranks calculated from agonistic interactions, which leads us to suggest that while play may have multiple functions, one of them can be to establish later dominance relationships in a minimally costly way.

Insight from Integration - L. M. Kueppers; John Harte (Nature, 2012)

Fungal Communities Associated with Rock Varnish in Black Canyon, New Mexico: Casual Inhabitants or Essential Partners? - Andrea Porras-Alfaro; April M. Nyberg; Diana E. Northup; Kylea J. Parchert; Michael N. Spilde (Geomicrobiology Journal, 2012)
Rock varnish is a darkly pigmented coating rich in manganese oxides. Though microbes inhabit varnish deposits, it is unclear whether they are involved in varnish formation. The fungal communities of rock varnish and adjacent rock sites with no visible varnish deposits were examined. Microcolonial fungi were identified at all sampling sites, and were associated with manganese oxides in patches of incipient varnish at non-varnish sites. Fungi were closely related to manganese-oxidizing genera and seventeen isolates oxidized manganese in culture, producing six distinct manganese-oxide morphologies. Our results indicate that microcolonial fungi may play a crucial role in rock varnish formation. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the free supplemental file.

The value of dihydrogen monoxide to a jumping mouse: habitat use and preference in Zapus princeps. - John Ward Smith (2012)
The western jumping mouse, Zapus princeps is common in riparian habitat. There are multiple hypotheses (need for water, food type, or anti-predator/cover) for why this is. The objective of this project was to determine the use of mesic and adjacent drier habitats by Zapus using both a live-trapping study and a historical study using records of Zapus captures at three sites in the East River Valley, Gunnison, CO. I also conducted a test to determine if the presence of water vs. cover had a greater influence on Zapus habitat selection. I live-trapped individuals of Z. princeps in three different habitats: riparian, intermediate, and dry, replicated at three sites. I marked the mice uniquely to indicate the habitat in which they were first trapped. This allowed me to study frequency of recaptures both within and among habitat types. I also compared trapping success between two different microhabitats (wet/cover vs. dry/cover). The third study used historical trapping records on permanent

Two distinct genomic regions, harboring the period and fruitless genes, affect male courtship song in Drosophila montana - R. K. Butlin; M. Lagisz; M. A. Schafer; J. Routtu; R. Morales-Hojas; S. Y. Wen; K. Klappert; J. Vieira; M. G. Ritchie; A. Hoikkala (Heredity, 2012)

Potential Wolverine Habitat vs. Winter Recreation. Conflict in Colorado! - Paul Quigley (2012)
The Global list of endangered species of flora and fauna is growing, with the most highly specialized species often at ‘critically endangered’ status. Managing these populations effectively involves numerous and varied organizations, conflicting motivations, arbitrary anthropogenic boundaries and often most importantly, data compilation and management. We are seeing many more reintroductions of locally extirpated species back into habitats of historical prevalence – and as extreme a method of conservation as this is, there is still a need for more extreme methods. High profile and highly specialized endangered species are often managed in a ‘crisis’ mode, where complex behaviors and interactions are lost for the sake of simple preservation of the species (for instance the Giant Panda in China). Since many animal species depend on vegetation, which is geography-dependent, GIS has become an essential tool in the conservation process, allowing large quantitative and qualitative datasets t

Real and experimental ecosystem warming: interacting effects on snowmelt, plant community composition and carbon storage in a Rocky Mountain subalpine meadow - C. R. Levy (2012)
A 22 year warming experiment at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory has elucidated short term (15 year) responses in plant community and soil organic carbon to artificial warming. This summer’s research evaluates long-term (>15 year) changes and, because of recent climate change effects, the relevance of experimental data for predicting real world effects. Ten long-term plots, half heated by 22 W/m2 of warming, were tested for changes in soil carbon using soil cores and in plant community composition using aerial coverage measurements converted into biomass. Long term changes in the heated plots showed that soil carbon, which was initially reduced, could recover to previous levels. Carbon is strongly controlled by shrub and forb biomass, which are in turn controlled by melt date. Heated plots were generally predictive of changes due to climate in the controls, with the exception of changes in soil carbon and shrub cover. Responses to real-world warming in control plots have shown a mo

Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in wild yellow-bellied marmots: experimental validation, individual differences and ecological correlates - D. Wantuck; G. L. Florant; John Ward Smith; R. Monclus; Daniel T. Blumstein (General and Comparative Endocrinology, 2012)
This study performs biological and physiological validations of a minimally-invasive technique for assessing fecal corticosterone metabolites in captive and wild groups of yellow-bellied marmots and finds repeatable inter-individual differences in FCMs, suggesting this hormonal trait might be a meaningful target of selection.

Multisensory perception in uncertain environments - Nathalie Munoz; Daniel T. Blumstein (Behavioral Ecology, 2012)
Animals must use cues from smells, sounds, and sights to reduce uncertainty about the environment. Despite the ecological relevance of multisensory perception in helping animals cope with uncertainty, empirical support from natural systems is rarely placed within an adaptive framework. The field of psychophysics provides a model for the study of cognitive processes by studying behavior. Using this as a foundation, we develop a framework that can be used to understand the evolutionary significance of multimodal perception. We develop predictions about the conditions under which multiple stimuli combine differently. A key outcome of our analysis is that the ecological context can influence the processes by which animals perceive multisensory stimuli. In addition to its theoretical importance, this framework predicts that anthropogenic activities can affect how animals perceive their environment, which may have profound ecological consequences.

Iron is not responsible for Didymosphenia geminata bloom formation in phosphorus-poor rivers - E. T. Ellison; U. Silins; K. A. Bladon; C. A. Gillis; D. A. James; C. Kilroy; M. L. Bothwell; B. W. Taylor (Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 2012)
Blooms of the river benthic diatom Didymosphenia geminata are an enigma because they occur under phosphorus-poor conditions. A recent proposal that ferric–ferrous iron redox shifts sequester the additional phosphorus needed to stimulate and sustain D. geminata blooms does not agree with published experimental data showing that blooms only occur when cells are phosphorus-limited. The “iron hypothesis” also infers that blooms would be favoured in rivers with elevated iron, and management should target iron. Surveys of rivers around the world affected by D. geminata show that blooms most often occur in iron-poor rivers. Phosphorus uptake experiments conducted under realistic environmental conditions with living D. geminata colonies showed no effect of iron enrichment on phosphorus uptake. Iron does not solve the mystery of D. geminata growth causing nuisance blooms worldwide.

Niobrara source rock maturity in the denver basin: a study of differential heating and tectonics on petroleum prospectivity using programmed pyrolysis - David Thul (Digital Collections of Colorado (Colorado State University), 2012)
The Niobrara Formation of the Denver Basin is an unconventional oil and gas drilling target composed of alternating chalk and marl units.These units act as the source, seal and trap for hydrocarbons generated in the organic rich marl beds of the Niobrara.Organic geochemical data, such as oil-to-source rock correlations, oil biomarkers and gas isotopes, indicate that the fluids accumulated within the reservoirs closely match the source rocks in type and maturity; therefore, this is a system of in-situ generation and accumulation as well as short-distance migration.In a system where migration is minimal, proximity to an effective source rock is a prerequisite for a productive well.With such a prerequisite, play delineation should begin with regional source rock maturity assessment.Historically, source rock maturity has been studied through programmed pyrolysis (such as Rock-Eval), vitrinite reflectance, log interpretation or basin modeling.Recently, a new pyrolysis instrument called the

Stratigraphic and geochemical implications on the petroleum potential of the lower Mancos Group (Niobrara), Piceance Basin, Colorado - Martin Krueger (Digital Collections of Colorado (Colorado State University), 2012)

Phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution contribute to advancing flowering phenology in response to climate change - Amy M. McKinney; Robert I. Colautti; David W. Inouye (Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 2012)
Anthropogenic climate change has already altered the timing of major life-history transitions, such as the initiation of reproduction. Both phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution can underlie rapid phenological shifts in response to climate change, but their relative contributions are poorly understood. Here, we combine a continuous 38 year field survey with quantitative genetic field experiments to assess adaptation in the context of climate change. We focused on Boechera stricta (Brassicaeae), a mustard native to the US Rocky Mountains. Flowering phenology advanced significantly from 1973 to 2011, and was strongly associated with warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt dates. Strong directional selection favoured earlier flowering in contemporary environments (2010–2011). Climate change could drive this directional selection, and promote even earlier flowering as temperatures continue to increase. Our quantitative genetic analyses predic

Single-visit pollination efficacy of psithyrus insularism and megachile on chamerion augustifolium - A. J. Petroff (2012)
There are many types of pollinators, all of which have an effect on a plant’s reproductive success. As the types of pollinators are variable, so are their effects on the plant. In this study, I estimated the single-‐visit efficacy of two different Colorado bees, Psithyrus insularis and Megachile, on Chamerion augustifolium, a common wildflower. Single-‐visit efficacy was measured by counting pollen deposition on stigmas from virgin flowers that had been visited by a bee. The proportion of heterospecific pollen deposited was found to be significantly less in P. insularis individuals than in Megachile individuals, making P. insularis the more effective pollinator.

How do above and belowground grass-fungus symbioses change over elevational gradients in mountainous Colorado? - W. Q. Hendricks; L. B. Ranelli (2012)
Plants and fungi are closely associated and likely have been since terrestrial ecosystems were first inhabited. These symbiotic relationships have taken two main forms: internal aboveground symbionts known as endophytes, and belowground root associated fungi, the most common of which are mycorrhizal fungi. Fungal endophytes produce alkaloids that help the grass defend against herbivory, and have been shown to increase drought tolerance and overall production; mycorrhizal fungi help the plant obtain nutrients and water from the soil. Current data on fungal symbionts do not clearly predict how fungal abundance varies with elevation. Our survey, the first broad grass-endophyte survey in Colorado, spans greater host diversity and steeper gradients than have been examined in previous research and has potential to increase the ability to predict how fungal symbionts will vary along environmental gradients and with important abiotic factors. We surveyed 7 elevational gradients—7 peaks and eve

Trophic transfer of contaminants in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting near Lake Calumet, Illinois - Susan Gallo (Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), 2012)
Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) nestlings, eggs, and diet and sediment grab samples were used to quantify risks of exposure to15 trace elements, 31 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 15 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners and 13 organochlorine pesticides in the Calumet area of northeastern Illinois, USA. Nesting success and clutch size were measured in tree swallows to determine whether local contaminants reduced tree swallow fitness. Overall nesting success was not reduced when compared among sites and to range averages; 71-90% of clutches started had at least one nestling fledge. Likewise there were no differences among sites in the proportion of eggs that hatched and nestlings that fledged. Generally, contaminant concentrations in the media were considered low or not elevated, although sediment concentrations of cadmium, chromium, and nickel at some sites were higher than the ???probable effects concentration??? or the ???probable effects level??? for sediment d

Crucial nesting habitat for gunnison sage‐grouse: A spatially explicit hierarchical approach - Zachary H. Bowen; Theresa M. Childers; Kenneth E. Stahlnecker (The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2012)
AbstractGunnison sage‐grouse (Centrocercus minimus) is a species of special concern and is currently considered a candidate species under Endangered Species Act. Careful management is therefore required to ensure that suitable habitat is maintained, particularly because much of the species' current distribution is faced with exurban development pressures. We assessed hierarchical nest site selection patterns of Gunnison sage‐grouse inhabiting the western portion of the Gunnison Basin, Colorado, USA, at multiple spatial scales, using logistic regression‐based resource selection functions. Models were selected using Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small sample sizes (AICc) and predictive surfaces were generated using model averaged relative probabilities. Landscape‐scale factors that had the most influence on nest site selection included the proportion of sagebrush cover >5%, mean productivity, and density of 2 wheel‐drive roads. The landscape‐scale predictive surface captu

X-ray imaging of leaf venation networks - F. De Carlo; M. Rivers; J. A. Moore; Brian J. Enquist; Benjamin Blonder (New Phytologist, 2012)
Summary Leaf venation networks mediate many plant resource fluxes and are therefore of broad interest to research questions in plant physiology, systematics, paleoecology, and physics. However, the study of these networks is limited by slow and destructive imaging methods. X‐ray imaging of leaf veins is potentially rapid, of high resolution, and nondestructive. Here, we have developed theory for absorption‐ and phase‐contrast X‐ray imaging. We then experimentally test these approaches using a synchrotron light source and two commercially available X‐ray instruments. Using synchrotron light, we found that major veins could be consistently visualized using absorption‐contrast imaging with X‐ray energies < 10 keV, while both major and minor veins could be consistently visualized with the use of an iodine contrast agent at an X‐ray energy of 33.269 keV. Phase‐contrast imaging at a range of energies provided high resolution but highlighted individual cell walls more than veins. Both

Examining top-down and bottom up effects on aphid abundance on Ligusticum porteri - C. A. Sandrow (2012)
Top-down and bottom-up effects can be seen in tritrophic systems of plants, herbivores and predators. Understanding what factors have a significant impact on herbivores can explain patterns of herbivory in the field. In this study, I report on the aphid Cavariella aegopodii on the plant, Ligusticum porteri and investigate which effects impact aphid populations. In the observational study, I censeused plants weekly in shade and sun light environments to establish patterns of aphid (Cavariella aegopodii) and aphid predator abundance. In an experimental study, I applied aphid populations to plants in a variety of light environments as a bioassay of plant quality. I also used sticky stem traps on experimental plants to examine abundance of predators and mutualists among light environments. The observational census demonstrated light was a significant predictor of aphid presence (χ2 =3.88, P < 0.049). The presence of a facultative predator (Hemiptera: Lygus spp.) was greater in shaded envir

The indirect consequences of a mutualism: comparing positive and negative components of the net interaction between honeydew-tending ants and host plants - Joshua B. Grinath; Ian Billick; N. C. Underwood; Brian D. Inouye (Journal of Animal Ecology, 2012)

How do riparian songbirds (Passerines) coexist? Effects of vegetative structural complexity on habitat selection in willow (Salix spp.) - Annika S. Nelson (2012)
The diversity of avian species and their coexistence in riparian habitat has become increasingly significant in the face of rapidly decreasing vegetation along hydric areas, primarily due to pollution, urbanization, overgrazing, and climate change. The complex and rare riparian habitat system is primarily supported by willow (Salix spp.) vegetation in the high-altitude areas along the East River Valley in the Rocky Mountains, which provide a multitude of niche types for many species of songbird (Passerines). The objective of this study was to evaluate songbird community response to differences in vegetative structure of willow, concentrating on the overall avian abundance, richness, and species diversity, as well as a number of individual focal species. We predicted that the warbler species would demonstrate a more specialized habitat selection to more complex willow vegetation, while the sparrow group would likely select for less complex vegetative structure. We sampled bird abundance

Evolutionary and ecological responses to anthropogenic climate change - A. M. Panetta (Plant Physiology, 2012)
Strategies that enable species to persist in changing environments have historically been divided into ecological (distributional shifts and phenotypic plasticity) and evolutionary (adaptation and gene flow). However, most species will likely need to rely on a combination of approaches to mitigate

A single climate driver has direct and indirect effects on insect population dynamics - Carol L. Boggs; David W. Inouye (Ecology Letters, 2012)
Carol L. Boggs1,2* and David W. Weather drives population dynamics directly, through effects on vital rates, or indirectly, through effects on the Inouye1,3 populationÕs competitors, predators or prey and thence on vital rates. Indirect effects may include non-additive 1 Rocky Mountain Biological interactions with density dependence. Detection of climate drivers is critical to predicting climate change Laboratory, PO Box 519, Crested effects, but identification of potential drivers may depend on knowing the underlying mechanisms. For the Butte, CO 81224, USA butterfly Speyeria mormonia, one climate driver, snow melt date, has multiple effects on population growth. Snow 2 Department of Biology, 371 Serra melt date in year t has density-dependent indirect effects. Through frost effects, early snow melt decreases floral Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, resources, thence per-capita nectar availability, which determines fecundity in the lab. Snow melt date in year CA 94305-5020, USA t +

Breeding bird density does not drive vocal individuality - G. Alarcon; D. R. McClain; C. De Jesus; Daniel T. Blumstein (Current Zoology, 2012)
Abstract Many species produce individually specific vocalizations and sociality is a hypothesized driver of such individuality. Previous studies of how social variation influenced individuality focused on colonial or non-colonial avian species, and how social group size influenced individuality in sciurid rodents. Since sociality is an important driver of individuality, we expected that bird species that defend nesting territories in higher density neighborhoods should have more individually-distinctive calls than those that defend nesting territories in lower-density neighborhoods. We used Beecher’s information statistic to quantify individuality, and we examined the relationship between bird density (calculated with point-counts) and vocal individuality on seven species of passerines. We found non-significant relationships between breeding bird density and vocal individuality whether regressions were fitted on species values, or on phylogenetically-independent contrast

The structure and function of subalpine ecosystems in the face of climate change - C. A. Lamanna (2012)
Subalpine ecosystems are experiencing rapid changes in snow pack, temperature, and precipitation regime as a result of anthropogenic climate forcing. These changes in climate can have a profound effect on subalpine ecosystem structure and functioning, which may ultimately feed back to climate change. In this study, I examined the response of the subalpine meadow plant communities at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory to natural and simulated climate change. First, I looked at whether changes in growing season precipitation or temperature regime would have the larger effect on subalpine ecosystem carbon flux. In a simulated warming experiment, changes in growing season precipitation had a tenfold larger effect on cumulative carbon flux than did the warming treatment. Along a natural climatic and elevational gradient, precipitation stimulates carbon uptake, particularly at higher elevations. Given projected decreases in summer precipitation in the high elevation Rockies, we predict

Effects of bacterial endophytes on plant-insect interactions - Martha M Villalobos (2012)
Insects must interact with bacterial endophytes when sharing a common host. To test the hypothesis that larvae of Scaptomyza nigrita detects and prefers Cardamine cordifolia infected with different strains of Pseudomonas bacteria. Thus, unitizing the JA/SA induced antagonism. When given the choice between an infected leaf and a non-‐infected leaf, larvae demonstrated a significant preference towards leaves infected with Pseudomonas bacteria. Plants in which leaves were treated with Pseudomonas strains showed a significant reduction in chlorophyll content. Suggesting that larval preference correlates with the effect the bacterium has on its host plant.

The use and misuse of species area relationship in predicting climate-driven extinction - J. Kitzes; John Harte (2012)

The effects of flowering phenology and plant fitness within and across a light quality gradient for a native mustard, Cardamine cordifolia - K. L. Miazgowicz (2012)
There are many abiotic and biotic factors that affect plant distribution. Both of these have the potential to create strong selective pressures and drive habitat specialization. Here Cardamine cordifolia is used to investigate the differences in flowering phenology and bittercress fitness across and among a light quality gradient. Cardamine cordifolia (bittercress) is a native mustard found along streams and sustainable water sources in sup-alpine regions, and in particular in the Rocky Mountains. Bittercress exhibits distinctive phenotypes at varying light qualities resulting from phenotypic plasticity and to some extent ecotypic differentiation (Whiteman el at 2012 in review). Flowering phenology for this plant was monitored determine if a separation of flowering time within the different evironmetns was a mechanism for a pre-zygotic isolation barrier, which would facilitate local adaption by limiting gene flow. Furthermore, the fitness of the bittercress was assessed to gain and und

Evolutionary biology: Insects converge on resistance - Noah K Whiteman; Kailen A. Mooney (Nature, 2012)

Sex differences in play behavior, personality, and philopatry in golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis) - L. A. Koenig (2012)
Natal dispersal is a primary force in shaping ecological processes and population dynamics. There are several costs to the disperser that may be outweighed by potential benefits, including increased resources or access to mates in a new population site. Personality types or behavioral syndromes appear to outfit some individuals with traits that are advantageous in inducing or surviving dispersal. Social interactions may also be indicators of whether an individual is likely to leave the natal site. This study examined the behavioral traits of boldness and aggression by evaluating trappability and interactions in juvenile golden-mantled ground squirrels, an asocial small mammal. This species contradicts the mammal male-biased dispersal trend. Many female juveniles also disperse, suggesting that dispersal may be mediated by personality in addition to sex differentiated life history strategies. In order to explain individual variation in dispersal for these squirrels, we used trappability,

The Ecology of Place - H. R. Pulliam; J. D. Allan; A. R. McIntosh; Ian Billick; Nickolas M. Waser; B. W. Taylor; Kenneth B. Armitage; B. L. Peckarsky (2011)

Millennial-Length Records of Streamflow From Three Major Upper Colorado River Tributaries1 - Stephen T. Gray; Jeffrey J. Lukas; Connie A. Woodhouse (JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 2011)
Gray, Stephen T., Jeffrey J. Lukas, and Connie A. Woodhouse, 2011. Millennial-Length Records of Streamflow From Three Major Upper Colorado River Tributaries. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(4):702-712. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00535.x Abstract: Drought, climate change, and shifting consumptive use are prompting a widespread reassessment of water availability in the Upper Colorado River basin. Here, we present millennial-length records of water year (October-September) streamflow for key Upper Colorado tributaries: the White, Yampa, and Little Snake Rivers. Based on tree rings, these records represent the first paleohydrological reconstructions from these subbasins to overlap with a series of Medieval droughts (∼ad 800 to 1300). The reconstructions show marked interannual variability imbedded in nonstationary behavior over decadal to multidecadal time scales. These reconstructions suggest that, even in a millennial context, gaged flows from a handful

Why do vulnerable mayflies thrive in trout streams? - Andrea Encalada; A. R. McIntosh; B. L. Peckarsky (American Entomologist, 2011)
higher densities in streams with the highest risk of vertebrate predation. Along with many students and other colleagues, we have spent many years trying to understand that perplexing pattern. Adaptive behavior and life history strategies that can be induced experimentally by predator risk result in equivalent probabilities of surviving the larval stage, but do not explain the high relative abundance of Baetis populations in streams -

Phylogenetic distance can predict susceptibility to attack by natural enemies - E. J. Rollinson; J. H. Ness; Kenneth D. Whitney (Oikos, 2011)
If related species share enemies, variation in the damage experienced by species within a community may be predictable based on phylogeny. We examined the hypothesis that plant species more closely related to other community members experience greater herbivory by assessing leaf damage to native and exotic plants in two North American communities: an Eastern hardwood forest and a Rocky Mountain montane community. Pairwise phylogenetic distances between focal species and the hundreds of other native species in each community were calculated. We examined the influence of four measures of relatedness within each community: NND (phylogenetic distance to the nearest native neighbor), MPD (mean phylogenetic distance to the native species in the community), and two new metrics, MIPD (mean inverse phylogenetic distance) and INND (inverse nearest neighbor distance). These new metrics assume a nonlinear increase in interaction strength with relatedness; in the context of natural enemies, they po

Quantifying human disturbance on antipredator behavior and flush initiation distance in yellow-bellied marmots - Z. Jiang; T. L. Maul; C. Z. Li; R. Monclus; Daniel T. Blumstein (Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2011)
Yellow-bellied marmots were studied to understand the effects of specific types of human disturbance on antipredator behavior, a behavior whose performance enhances survival, and found that when the presence of motorized vehicles and bicycles was high, marmot increased the proportion of time spent vigilant and decreased the time spent foraging.

Testing predictions of the coexistence of golden-mantled ground squirrels, Spermophilus lateralis, and least chipmunks, Tamias minimus, in meadows with various distances from cover - B. L. Baas (2011)
Differing sensitivities to predation risk contribute to diversity by allowing similar organisms to coexist. Such is the case with the golden-mantled ground squirrel, Spermophilus lateralis, and the least chipmunk, Tamias minimus. These sciurids are both abundant in the area surrounding the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Gunnison County, Colorado. Because of predation risk, T. minimus tends to forage closer to cover, while S. lateralis forages more efficiently farther from cover (Smith 1991). This phenomena was revisited to support the theory that these two species differ in sensitivities to predation risk. Meadows with various distances from cover were observed during the sciurids’ active hours. Most meadows with less than 14 meters from cover contained only T. minimus, and most meadows with equal to or greater than 14 meters from cover contained both T. minimus and S. lateralis, showing the importance of predation risk to species coexistence.

Can rarefaction be used to estimate song repertoire size in birds? - K. R. Peshek; Daniel T. Blumstein (Current Zoology, 2011)
Abstract Song repertoire size is the number of distinct syllables, phrases, or song types produced by an individual or population. Repertoire size estimation is particularly difficult for species that produce highly variable songs and those that produce many song types. Estimating repertoire size is important for ecological and evolutionary studies of speciation, studies of sexual selection, as well as studies of how species may adapt their songs to various acoustic environments. There are several methods to estimate repertoire size, however prior studies discovered that all but a full numerical count of song types might have substantial inaccuracies associated with them. We evaluated a somewhat novel approach to estimate repertoire size—rarefaction; a technique ecologists use to measure species diversity on individual and population levels. Using the syllables within American robins’ Turdus migratorius repertoire, we compared the most commonly used techniques of estimat

The effect of ant tending on the fitness of aphids during and after colony establishment - J. L. Dryburgh (2011)
Mutualisms are mutually exploitative relationships in which the benefits to both partners outweigh the costs. Mutualisms are expected to exist in a fragile balance, and these interactions may vary, both across their geographic range and temporally. Valeriana edulis, a dioecious perennial, is host to an ant-aphid interaction that previous work has found to be deleterious to established colonies of the aphid, Aphis valerianae. Ant exclusion experiments and observations were performed on artificially established colonies at two sites to determine if the effect of ants was different for new or established colonies, or if it varied spatially or by plant sex. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that ants had a negative effect on both new and established aphid colonies at both sites, and that there was no density-dependant effect on per capita aphid growth. Aphids performed better on female plants at one site, but the was no sex bias at the other site. Observational studies showed aphids pre

Proximate causes of natal dispersal in female yellow-bellied marmots, Marmota flaviventris - D. H. Van Vuren; Kenneth B. Armitage (Ecology, 2011)

Effects of frost on wildflowers: an unexpected consequence of climate change - David W. Inouye (2011)

Emergence of a mid-season period of low floral resources in a montane meadow ecosystem associated with climate change - George Aldridge; W. A. Barr; A. J. Miller-Rushing; Jessica R.K. Forrest; David W. Inouye (Journal of Ecology, 2011)
1. Shifts in the spatial and temporal patterns of flowering could affect the resources available to pollinators, and such shifts might become more common as climate change progresses. 2. As mid-summer temperatures have warmed, we found that a montane meadow ecosystem in the southern Rocky Mountains of the United States exhibits a trend toward a bimodal distribution of flower abundance, characterized by a mid-season reduction in total flower number, instead of a broad, unimodal flowering peak lasting most of the summer season. 3. We examined the shapes of community-level flowering curves in this system and found that the typical unimodal peak results from a pattern of complementary peaks in flowering among three distinct meadow types (dry, mesic and wet) within the larger ecosystem. However, high mid-summer temperatures were associated with divergent shifts in the flowering curves of these individual meadow types. Specifically, warmer summers appeared to cause increasing bimodality in m

Local adaptation to habitat-specific herbivory and light levels in Cardamine cordifolia - J. M. Frazier (2011)
In this study I examined the effects of phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation to light environment in the crucifer Cardamine cordifolia, at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, in Gothic, Colorado. Previous work by Louda and colleagues showed that plants in sun environments were subject to heavy herbivore attack, whereas plants in shaded environments essentially escaped herivory. Louda et al.’s reciprocal transplant experiments in adjacent sun and willow-shade habitats showed that sun and shade plants exhibited phenotypic plasticity in response to low and high sun environments and that they were not locally adapted to these habitats. However, plant genotypes in deep shade habitats (under spruce trees) that have potentially been subjected to many generations of low light and low herbivory rates are likely to be locally adapted to this environment, as opposed to plants in high light, high herbivore environments. This dichotomy has not been studied previously and was the aim of

Role of floral nectaries and plant sex in mediating ant-aphid interactions on Valeriana edulis - S. K. Rudeen (2011)
Multi-species interactions profoundly affect community composition and function of ecosystems. Foraging behavior and resource allocation are two key factors that determine how species interact. This study investigates the role of floral nectaries and plant sex in mediating ant-aphid interactions on the dioecious plant Valeriana edulis. Male and female plants were selected in a paired experiment, with one control and one “exclusion” flowering stalk per plant. Open flowers of exclusion stalks were glued closed to deny ants’ access to floral nectar as a food resource. No effect of nectary exclusion was found, but plant sex and aphid abundance were important factors in determining ant visitation to experimental plants. Consistent with previous studies on this system, ant visitation was greater on female plants. Despite lower ant visitation on males, a trend suggested higher aphid-tending by ants on male plants. Both results elicit further investigation into resource quality and quantity as

Diptera behavioral response to targeted Bombus removal - J. N. Brokaw (2011)

Impacts of climate disruption on avian species in the southern Rocky Mountains: a retroanalysis of the Gothic breeding bird survey and pilot point count surveys at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory weather stations - E. O. Liput (2011)
Changes in species distributions across elevations can be responses to anthropogenic climate disruption. Movement of species to higher elevations can result in local extirpations and colonization that could escalate and critically endanger native species. Studying systems that have experienced historical and ongoing elevation range changes is vital for understanding species responses to climate disruption. This study examines avian species abundance over time and elevation ranges to investigate response to climate disruption in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Data collected over a thirteen-year period by the Gothic Breeding Bird Survey are used to assess trends in species abundance over time. Point count surveys along an elevation gradient (8,100-11,224ft) are used to determine approximate elevation ranges for comparison with historical ranges. Long-term data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest that species are responding not through simple upward elevation shifts or general declines,

Vegetation pattern dependency along the southwest-facing hillslope of the upper East River Watershed - C. M. Berman (2011)

Effects of species composition change under experimental warming on soil microclimate in a montane meadow - J. M. Vollering (2011)
The results of a long-term experimental warming study, in a montane meadow in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, have shown that Artemisia tridentata (Common Sagebrush) is likely to increase in abundance under climate change, as perennial forb species decrease in abundance. This change in species composition in the ecosystem could have a feedback effect on microclimate conditions. In this study we examined the potential effects on soil microclimate, by measuring various temperature variables in the soil around selected forb species and A. tridentata, as well as soil moisture among the two vegetation types. Results showed significant, and sometimes dramatic, differences in soil temperature between A. tridentata and the forbs. Soil moisture appeared to be higher surrounding A. tridentata, compared to forb species, but this result was not significant. Thus, the change in species composition towards A. tridentata seems to act as a local negative feedback to an external heat forcing, in this

The Ecology of Place (2011)
Studies of predation traditionally focus on how predators influence prey communities and prey population oscillations via mortality. Studies carried out for nearly 40 years in one place have enabled us to evaluate the gener- ality of this focus. Early observations in one high-altitude, rocky-bottom stream in western Colorado fit the traditional model of negative correla- tion between predator and prey abundance, suggesting that predation by 186 chapter nine salmonid fishes may explain spatial variation in the abundance of stream insects. In contrast, a large-scale experiment showed that predation did not explain variation in abundance of primary consumers (mayflies) or large insect predators (stoneflies). We describe a series of studies conducted in more streams over many years that forced traditional thinking to give way to a new appreciation for predator-induced changes in prey behavior and life history. Our research used a “follow your nose” approach, which allowed the place to moti

The effects of phenology on Delphinium nuttallianum - A. W. Datta (2011)
The phenology of plants in the alpine environment of the Rocky Mountains is heavily dependent on snowmelt time (Inouye and McGuire 1991, Thomson 2010). In this study we have manipulated the timing of snowmelt in order to change the phenology of Delphinium nuttallianum in the subalpine environment of the Rocky Mountains; treatments included snow addition, snow removal and control. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of phenological change on D. nuttallianum in terms of peak flower abundance, species interactions, floral morphology, and pollen receipt. The date of peak flowering was significantly earlier in snow removal plots, resulting in altered floral diameter and petal length. Changes in floral display may alter plant-pollinator interactions and could thereby affect the reproductive success of the plant (Waser and Price 1991). Ninety percent of angiosperms rely on such plant-pollinator interactions, suggesting that changes in snowmelt may have significant impacts o

Cross-resistance between the parasites Pseudomonas syringae and Scaptomyza nigrita in the native crucifer Cardamine coridifolia - T. J. Ortiz (2011)

Ecological causes and consequences of flower color polymorphism in Boechera stricta - E. R. Embick (2011)

Social group size predicts the evolution of individuality - K. A. Pollard; Daniel T. Blumstein (Current Biology, 2011)

Plant size influences mycorrhizal colonization of Polemonium foliosissimum - J. B. Gonzalez (2011)
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the relationship between the different genders of the gynodioecious species P. foliosissimum and their mycorrhizal associates. Mcyorrhizal colonization of roots was quantified, and soil and plant tissue analyses were performed. Further, a full factorial clipping experiment was conducted in which plants of both genders were reduced in size by approximately one half in order to stress the associations by reducing the potential carbon assimilation available to be exchanged with the fungal partner. Colonization of roots of plants involved in the experiment was then quantified and plant tissue analysis will be performed. Gender did not influence overall mycorrhizal colonization or proportional colonization of mycorrhizal structures within roots; however, soil and plant tissue analyses indicate that females may be extracting higher amounts of nutrients from the soil than hermaphrodites, in particular magnesium, though this difference could no

Seasonal change in a pollinator community and the maintenance of style length variation in Mertensia fusiformis (Boraginaceae) - A. M. Gorischek; James D. Thomson; Jane E. Ogilvie; Jessica R.K. Forrest (Annals of Botany, 2011)
Seasonal change in pollinator-mediated selection on style length may help maintain variation in this trait in M. fusiformis, but adaptation to local flowering time is not apparent. The prevalence of short styles in these populations requires further explanation.

Testing the maximum entropy theory of ecology in the warming meadow - T. C. Leuthner (2011)
As global climate change responses are increasingly observed, theories in macroecology are being tested in order to up-scale species richness data to estimate extinction rates under habitat loss or degradation due to land use and climate change. Insight into effects that anthropogenic warming can have on subalpine meadow ecosystems has been of increasing interest and is the site used for this study of a macroecological theory. Over the past 21 years, many observational changes as a result of heating have been measured in the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Warming Meadow. It is thought that the heated meadows are a disturbed ecosystem due to the responses to earlier snowmelt date such as changes in soil microclimate, flowering phenology, plant species composition, and soil organic carbon levels. To test the validity of the Maximum Entropy Theory of Ecology (METE) in disturbed and undisturbed sites, we calculated species area relationships (SARs) and species abundance distributions

Biotic factors influencing feeding preferences of Scaptomyza nigrita (Drosphilidae) on its host plant, Cardamine cordifolia (Brassicaceae) - Martha M Villalobos (2011)

Effects of altitude on co-flowering phenology in a montane wildflower community - Ross M. Brennan; Ross M. Brennan (2011)
Phenology is an important life history trait. As altitude increases in alpine environments, the growing season shortens and flowering phenology is more compressed. Co-flowering could occur more at higher elevations as a compensation for the shorter growing season. However, interspecific competition is another force that could result in no change in co-flowering as altitude changes. I examined whether co-flowering changes as altitude changes. I censused wildflower species throughout the 2010 growing season in Virginia Basin outside of Gothic, Colorado. I found that co-flowering does not change significantly as over an altitudinal gradient from 2900 m to 3700 m above sea level. Instead, all species may shorten their flowering periods. Other changes in plant phenology and community did occur. Examining this question over an altitudinal gradient could serve as a proxy for long-term climate change studies.

Complex life cycles and the responses of insects to climate change - H. A. Woods; Kim M. Potter; J. K. Higgins; J. G. Kingsolver; H. J. MacLean; L. B. Buckley (Integrative & Comparitive Biology, 2011)
Many organisms have complex life cycles with distinct life stages that experience different environmental conditions. How does the complexity of life cycles affect the ecological and evolutionary responses of organisms to climate change? We address this question by exploring several recent case studies and synthetic analyses of insects. First, different life stages may inhabit different microhabitats, and may differ in their thermal sensitivities and other traits that are important for responses to climate. For example, the life stages of Manduca experience different patterns of thermal and hydric variability, and differ in tolerance to high temperatures. Second, life stages may differ in their mechanisms for adaptation to local climatic conditions. For example, in Colias, larvae in different geographic populations and species adapt to local climate via differences in optimal and maximal temperatures for feeding and growth, whereas adults adapt via differences in melanin of the wings a

A comparative study of plant species diversity on three historic mining sites - A. C. Popma (2011)
In order to determine the degree of ecological damage inflicted as a result of mining operations around the Gothic area, three tailings piles were identified in Gothic and Crested Butte and an observational study of plant species on and around them carried out. It was found that both total numbers of species on our observed plots and total numbers of individual plants increased significantly with increasing distance from the tailings centrepoint, as well as the Simpson and Shannon indices derived from those numbers (P < .0001), indicating that revegetation has largely failed to occur on these tailings—despite a century or more of elapsed time since their deposition.

Intraspecific variation of specific leaf area along an elevational gradient - C. B. Sides (2011)
We measured Specific leaf area for 23 plants across six elevational sites spanning a total of 610 meters. Within each site, we sampled twenty individuals from each species that was present to determine intraspecific variance in SLA. Nine species showed a significant positive relationship with elevation, while three species displayed a negative relationship. These results demonstrate that intraspecific changes in SLA for most species parallel shifts in mean community SLA values at different elevations. This finding indicates that intraspecific variation in SLA may be a large contributor to changes in community mean SLA values, in addition to species turnover between different elevations. Abundance measurements were taken with five 1.3 X 1.3 meter plots to estimate abundance values of species at all sites. There was no relationship between intraspecific variance and within or across community abundance measurements; however, greater intraspecific variance was positively correlated with s

Causes of predation intensity in an ant/aphid mutualist system - D. V. DeSantiago (2011)

The influence of recruitment on within-generation population dynamics of a mayfly - Andrea Encalada; B. L. Peckarsky (Ecosphere, 2011)
The relative contributions of recruitment and post-recruitment processes are pivotal to understanding the mechanisms influencing the population dynamics of organisms. We estimated recruitment by oviposition to populations of the mayfly Baetis bicaudatus in multiple streams of one drainage basin in western Colorado, USA, and subsequent changes in larval population densities of one cohort over one generation. Our goal was to compare the potential for recruitment limitation and post-recruitment processes to explain variation in population dynamics of one cohort in streams with predatory fish (brook trout) and fishless streams. We censused Baetis egg masses oviposited in 14 streams during summer 2001, and estimated larval densities of this cohort during September 2001, April and June 2002. There was substantial variability among streams in densities of eggs and subsequent larval densities, with qualitatively different larval dynamics in fish and fishless streams. In fishless streams egg de

Pollinator exclusion devices permitting easy access to flowers of small herbaceous plants - James D. Thomson; Jane E. Ogilvie; Jessica R.K. Forrest (Journal of Pollination Ecology, 2011)
Pollinator exclusion bags for small herbaceous plants are much more convenient to apply and remove if their bottom edge is made in the form of a cloth tunnel loaded with sand to conform to the terrain. Damage and inadvertent selfing of flowers are minimized.

Additive effects of herbivory, nectar robbing and seed predation on male and female fitness components of the host plant Ipomopsis aggregata - Alison K. Brody; Rebecca E. Irwin (Oecologia, 2011)

The bees of Colorado - V. L. Scott; C. R. Nufio; John S. Ascher; T. Griswold (2011)

The Ecology of Place: Contributions of Place-Based Research to Ecological Understanding - Ian Billick; Mary V. Price (2011)

Irrigation and Landscape Change in Colorado's Grand Valley: 1880-1920 - Joshua L. Becker (Minds at UW (University of Wisconsin), 2011)

The effects of dataset length and mast seeding on the demography of Frasera speciosa, a long-lived monocarpic plant - J. P. Che-Castaldo; David W. Inouye (Ecosphere, 2011)

Responses of soil and water chemistry to mountain pine beetle induced tree mortality in Grand County, Colorado, USA - Megan Caldwell; Jennifer Briggs; William M. Lewis; Charles Rhoades; David W. Clow (Applied Geochemistry, 2011)

Activity and abundance of bumble bees near Crested Butte, CO: diel, seasonal, and elevation effects - G. H. Pyke; James D. Thomson; David W. Inouye (Ecological Entomology, 2011)
1. We revisited bumble bee survey data collected by Pyke in 1974 (Pyke, Ecology , 63 , 555–573, 1982) to evaluate seasonal changes in abundances of bumble bees and their floral resources, diel patterns of bumble bee activity, and elevation effects on plant and bumble bee phenology. 2. Bumble bee abundance increased during summer as spring queens founded colonies that produced workers, followed by males and autumn queens. The number of plant species visited by bumble bees increased to a peak in midsummer, then declined. 3. The number of bumble bees recorded per person‐hour peaked later than the number of flowering plant species used by the bees. Few autumn queens were observed. 4. Despite species differences in emergence times of spring queens, there were no apparent phenological differences among species in worker abundances.

Mining the plant-insect interface with a leafmining Drosophila of Arabidopsis - T. R. Gregory; C. Denoux; D. Chevasco; N. Beckwith; N. Mammarella; F. A. Ausubel; N. E. Pierce; S. C. Groen; Noah K Whiteman (Molecular Ecology, 2011)
Experimental infections of Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) with genomically charac- terized plant pathogens such as Pseudomonas syringae have facilitated the dissection of canonical eukaryotic defence pathways and parasite virulence factors. Plants are also attacked by herbivorous insects, and the development of an ecologically relevant genetic model herbivore that feeds on Arabidopsis will enable the parallel dissection of host defence and reciprocal resistance pathways such as those involved in xenobiotic metabolism. An ideal candidate is Scaptomyza flava, a drosophilid fly whose leafmining larvae are true herbivores that can be found in nature feeding on Arabidopsis and other crucifers. Here, we describe the life cycle of S. flava on Arabidopsis and use multiple approaches to characterize the response of Arabidopsis to S. flava attack. Oviposition choice tests and growth performance assays on different Arabidopsis ecotypes, defence- related mutants, and hormone and chitin-treated

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) respond to yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) alarm calls (2011)
Individuals may obtain valuable information about the presence of predators by eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm signals. While playback studies have demonstrated that similarly-sized and taxonomically-related species may respond to the calls of each other, less work has been done to define the boundaries of eavesdropping. In theory, individuals should respond to calls from any species that provide information about the presence of important predators, regardless of body size and taxonomic relationship, however size is often associated with vulnerability. Coyotes (Canis latrans) in the Rocky Mountains prey upon both mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), which differ considerably in size, alarm vocalizations, and antipredator behavior. We conducted a playback experiment to see if deer discriminated between marmot alarm calls and the song of a common sympatric bird. We found that deer increased vigilance significantly more after hearing a

Sequence-Stratigraphic Analysis of the Rollins and the Cozzette Sandstone Members, the Upper Cretaceous Mount Garfield Formation of the Piceance Basin, Colorado. - Fatma Zahra Ouaichouche (KU ScholarWorks (The University of Kansas), 2011)
Sequence-stratigraphic study of the Cozzette and the Rollins Sandstone members, of the Mt. Garfield Formation of the Mesaverde Group, in the southern part of the Piceance basin (western Colorado), utilizes mainly well-log data along with limited outcrop data. Outcrop description of the Rollins Sandstone Member indicates a depositional succession that changes from complex marginal marine deposits at the base to marine wave-dominated shoreface successions at the top. The lower marginal-marine deposits are interpreted to occur within multiple incised-valley fills that nest and form a main stratigraphic element landward, particularly within the uppermost part of the Cozzette Sandstone Member. Incised-valley fills thin basinward. Sequence-stratigraphic interpretation of the subsurface data provides a stratigraphic history similar to that interpreted from the outcrop exposures across a regional realm. The subsurface analysis of the study interval distinguishes 5 depositional sequences that c

A Winter Operational Cloud Seeding Program: Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado - Mark E. Solak; Don A. Griffith; David P. Yorty (The Journal of Weather Modification, 2011)
A winter orographic cloud seeding program has been conducted in the Gunnison, Colorado region for the past eight winter seasons. The intended target area is elevations above 9,000 feet MSL that provide streamflow to Blue Mesa Resevoir located in western Gunnison County. The goal of this operational program has been to augment higher elevation winter snowpack, which subsequently contributes to spring and summer sreamflow. This program has operated under permits granted by a number of local entities and it has also recieved some funding support from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The program is supported by a number of local entities and it has also received some funding support from the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the three Lower Colorado river basin States (Arizona, California and Nevada). A network of 20-25 ground based silver iodide generators has been used to seed all storm periods thought to represent good seeding opportunities based upon targeting considerations

Prediction of lithofacies and reservoir quality using well logs, Late Cretaceous Williams Fork Formation, Mamm Creek field, Piceance Basin, Colorado - Aysen Ozkan; Kitty L. Milliken; Stephen P. Cumella; Stephen E. Laubach (AAPG Bulletin, 2011)
Understanding the controls and distribution of reservoir quality is important for the economic success of tight-gas reservoirs in which diagenesis interacts with primary depositional variations in environment and texture to exert a strong control on pore networks, rock mechanical properties, and natural fractures. In the Upper Cretaceous Williams Fork Formation of the Piceance Basin, framework grain composition is a major control on compaction and the occurrence of authigenic phases. Alteration of volcanic grains in the upper Williams Fork led to grain-coating clay precipitation. Ferroan dolomite cement is found only in the deeper marine-influenced intervals in which dolostone fragments are present. This study shows that careful petrographic assessment of lithofacies heterogeneity can be upscaled by correlation with log properties to yield tools for field-scale reservoir quality prediction. Twelve lithofacies are identified based on sand-grain populations, cement types, and clay matrix

Thermal regime suitability: Assessment of upstream range restoration potential for Colorado pikeminnow, a warmwater endangered fish - Doug B. Osmundson (River Research and Applications, 2011)
AbstractDams have reduced distribution of the endangered Colorado pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius in the upper Colorado River basin: low‐head diversion dams blocked upstream passage and large dams inundated free‐flowing segments and cooled downstream reaches with deep‐water releases. To date, range restoration efforts in the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers have focused on building fish ladders around diversion dams to allow recolonization of upstream reaches. Upstream thermal suitability for this warmwater cyprinid was assessed using temperature data and existing distributional information from river reaches where Colorado pikeminnow movements were unrestricted. Among‐site thermal regime comparisons were made using mean annual thermal units (ATU), derived from mean daily temperatures during 1986–2005 and the relation between temperature and Colorado pikeminnow growth. Upstream distributional limits in the Yampa and Gunnison Rivers occurred where in‐channel thermal regimes fell below a lon

Prototype Decision Support System for Operations on the Gunnison Basin with Improved Forecasts - Balaji Rajagopalan; Satish Kumar Regonda; Edith Zagona (Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 2011)
Numerous studies have developed new methods for skillful long-lead seasonal streamflow forecasts, especially in the western United States, and most assume that the streamflow forecast skills translate into improved water resources decision making, but there has been little comprehensive demonstration of this. This translation is not straightforward because the decision system is nonlinear. This paper develops a prototype decision support system (DSS) to systematically evaluate the translation of streamflow forecast skills to water resource operational variables and decision variables in the Gunnison River basin (GRB). The DSS consists of two main modules: (1) a multimodel ensemble streamflow forecast module that uses large-scale climate information and issues forecast ensembles, and (2) a decision support module (developed in the generalized decision tool, RiverWare) that captures the seasonal operations and management of the GRB water resources system. Ensembles of streamflow forecast

Ontogenetic and sex differences influence alarm call responses in mammals: A meta-analysis - A. J. Lea; Daniel T. Blumstein (Ethology, 2011)
Animals respond to alarm calls by increasing their antipredator behavior; however, responses may consistently differ by age or sex. Although several adaptive explanations have been proposed to account for age-dependent antipredator behavior, similar explanations are rarely extended to sex-specific responses. Furthermore, no attempts have been made to quantitatively estimate the direction or magnitude of these differences across studies. Here, we use meta-analysis to discover overall trends in the literature, as well as differences owing to experimental or population parameters. Across our sample of available studies (unfortunately biased toward rodents and primates), males respond more than females, and young respond more than adults. Furthermore, young of quickly maturing species display more adult-like antipredator behavior than young of slowly maturing species, suggesting that young must develop antipredator behavior at a pace consistent with the length of their ontogenetic period (

Correlates and consequences of dominance in a social rodent - B. Huang; T. W. Wey; Daniel T. Blumstein (Ethology, 2011)
In harem-polygynous societies, body condition is often correlated with dominance rank. However, the consequences of dominance are less clear. High-ranking males do not inevitably have the highest reproductive success, especially in systems where females mate with multiple males. In such societies, we expect male reproductive success to be more highly skewed than female reproductive success, but reproductive skew in females can still arise from rankings established within matrilineal societies. Dominance can also impact life-history decisions by influencing dispersal patterns in yearlings. To better understand the function of dominance in harem-polygynous societies, we studied the causes and consequences of dominance in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), a social rodent with skewed male reproductive success and female reproductive suppression. Specifically, we examined body condition as a predictor and the probability of breeding, number of offspring, and dispersal as outcom

Maximum entropy and ecology: A theory of abundance, distribution, and energetics - John Harte (2011)

Effects of photoperiodically induced reproductive diapause and cold hardening on the cold tolerance of Drosophila montana - L. Vesala; A. Hoikkala (J Insect Physiology, 2011)

Parental investment in burying beetles (Nicrophorus investigator): influence of seasonal timing and prior experience and efficacy of minimally guided instructional strategies in K-12 and undergraduate science classrooms: a meta-analysis - E. S. Pennell (2011)
My research investigates parental investment into offspring during reproduction in an invertebrate species that exhibits a unique combination of two life history traits, iteroparity (multiple reproductive bouts) and extended biparental care. I present a brief

Hybridization between the invasives Tragopogon pratensis and T. dubius in the Gunnison Valley - Stone E.P (2011)

Does species diversity of caddisflies enhance detritus breakdown and nutrient release in temporary ponds? - D. M. Krejsa (2011)
In small temporary ponds (“Kettle Ponds”) near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, several species of detritivorous caddisflies coexist as detritus processors. Three congeneric caddisflies, Limnephilus externus, Limnephilus sublunatus, and Limnephilus tarsalis play an important role in aquatic trophic cascades by: 1) liberating N and P stored in detritus and 2) stimulating algal growth, as well as being a direct food source for carnivores. To test whether these species have the same trophic position and ecosystem function, and therefore are functionally redundant, I assembled single-species and multi-species assemblages with the same total biomass in microcosms for 30 days and compared water nutrient levels (NH4+ and P) and algal growth as the experiment progressed. I predicted that multi-species caddisfly treatments would process more detritus to support the hypothesis that each species occupies a specific niche and so are not functionally redundant. I also p

A Channel for Life: Gunnison Tunnel - James V. Jones (Civil Engineering Magazine, 2011)
After a harrowing expedition down the Gunnison River through Colorado’s Black Canyon, Abraham Lincoln Fellows and his surveying partner, William W. Torrence, helped spur the construction of Gunnison Tunnel and the delivery of badly needed irrigation water to farmland.

The effects of hemiparasitism by Castilleja spp on community structure in alpine ecosystems - J. R. Reed (2011)

An examination of synchrony between insect emergence and flowering in Rocky Mountain meadows - James D. Thomson; Jessica R.K. Forrest (Ecological Monographs, 2011)
One possible effect of climate change is the generation of a mismatch in the seasonal timing of interacting organisms, owing to species-specific shifts in phenology. Despite concerns that plants and pollinators might be at risk of such decoupling, there have been few attempts to test this hypothesis using detailed phenological data on insect emergence and flowering at the same localities. In particular, there are few data sets on pollinator flight seasons that are independent of flowering phenology, because pollinators are typically collected at flowers. To address this problem, we established standardized nesting habitat (trap nests) for solitary bees and wasps at sites along an elevational gradient in the Rocky Mountains, and monitored emergence during three growing seasons. We also recorded air temperatures and flowering phenology at each site. Using a reciprocal transplant experiment with nesting bees, we confirmed that local environmental conditions are the primary determinants of

Static connectivity of fluvial sandstones in a lower coastal-plain setting: An example from the Upper Cretaceous lower Williams Fork Formation, Piceance Basin, Colorado - Matthew J. Pranter; Nicholas K. Sommer (AAPG Bulletin, 2011)
This study addresses the field-scale architecture and static connectivity of fluvial sandstones of the lower Williams Fork Formation through analysis and reservoir modeling of analogous outcrop data from Coal Canyon, Piceance Basin, Colorado. The Upper Cretaceous lower Williams Fork Formation is a relatively low net-to-gross ratio (commonly 30%) succession of fluvial channel sandstones, crevasse splays, flood-plain mudstones, and coals that were deposited by meandering river systems within a coastal-plain setting. The lower Williams Fork outcrops serve as proximal reservoir analogs because the strata dip gently eastward into the Piceance Basin where they form natural gas reservoirs. Three-dimensional architectural-element models (3-D reservoir models) of the lower Williams Fork Formation that are constrained to outcrop-derived data (e.g., sandstone body types, dimensions, stratigraphic position) from Coal Canyon show how static sandstone body connectivity is sensitive to sandstone body

Causes and consequences of variation in social network attributes in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) - T. W. Wey (2011)
Social behavior consists of distinct and measurable social attributes. While many previous studies have categorized species as social or not, or quantified group size, studying the functional correlates of separate attributes may offer more specific insights into the adaptive value of sociality, but this approach remains largely untested. In a study of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), we examined the relationships among a number of social network attributes (Initiation, Reception, Out-closeness, In-closeness, Expansiveness, Attractiveness) in both affiliative and agonistic networks, and several fitness measures (annual reproductive success, parasite diversity, stress) in four different age-sex groups (adult females, adult males, yearling females, yearling males). Several general trends emerged. There were more benefits than costs associated with high values of both affiliative and agonistic social attributes; thus, sociality appears to be currently adaptive for this facul

Older mothers follow conservative strategies under predator pressure: The adaptive role of maternal glucocorticoids in yellow-bellied marmots - J. Tiulim; R. Monclus; Daniel T. Blumstein (Hormones and Behavior, 2011)

Estimating the strength of consumptive and nonconsumptive interactions between trout and mayflies - B. J. Koch (2011)

Evolutionary genetics of plant adaptation - J. H. Willis (Trends in Genetics, 2011)
The importance of field studies for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of model and nonmodel systems are emphasized, a key life history trait (flowering time) is highlighted and emerging conservation issues are discussed.

The effects of climate change on plant traits and fruiting phenology of Delphinium nuttallianum. - K. T. Spiegelhalter (2011)

Investigating patterns of juvenile dispersal in golden mantled ground squirrels, Callospermophilus lateralis - J. Huang (2011)
Dispersal is the permanent relocation of an individual away from its natal burrow. This phenomenon is male biased in many mammal species and potential causes include inbreeding avoidance or resource competition. In this study, the dispersal behavior and exploratory excursion distances were recorded and analyzed for the golden-mantled ground squirrel pups (Callospermophilus lateralis) at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). Daily observations of pup distances from natal burrows were recorded and compared between male and females pups and males with their sisters and their non-sisters. There was no difference in mean exploratory travel distances for males and females or the distances between males and their sisters vs. non-sisters. This could be because of high space availability, which may discourage pups from traveling farther than is necessary. An alternative hypothesis is that it is still too early in the active season to know whether or not dispersal will occur. Further

Ant presences alter plants: The impact Formica obscuripes presence on plants and soil micro-anthropod diversity - K. Park (2011)

Behavioral syndromes in yellow-bellied marmots, Marmota flaviventris: Is there a correlation between boldness and exploration? (2011)
Animal personality typically refers to a behavioral manifestations stable across time and contexts (Sih et al. 2004, Réale et al. 2007). Personality has been shown to shape fitness and may therefore shape population dynamics though such traits as dominance, response to stress, and reproductive performance. Within the personality framework, behavioral syndromes refer to personality traits expressed population-wide that are consistent over a variety of contexts (e.g., an individual might be aggressive in mating, feeding, parental care), or correlations between different traits (e.g aggression and boldness) (Réale et al. 2007). Using flight-initiation distance and open-field trials, respectively, we searched for correlations between boldness and exploration in 42 yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) from the area around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado. We did not find a behavioral syndrome linking boldness and exploration in the marmots of RMBL.

Influence of population density and climate on the demography of subalpine golden-mantled ground squirrels - J. A. Hostetler; E. Kneip; D. H. Van Vuren (Journal of Mammalogy, 2011)
Temporal fluctuation in abundance is common in many wildlife populations, but the causes and consequences to population dynamics of these fluctuations remain poorly understood. We used long-term (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008) field data to investigate the influence of population size and environmental factors (climatic variables and predation) on the demography of golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis). Survival varied by sex and age class, with highest survival for adult females (W 5 0.519, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 5 0.462-0.576) and lowest survival for juvenile males (W 5 0.120, 95% CI 5 0.094-0.152). Population size negatively influenced survival with a time lag of 1 year. Among environmental factors, current year's rainfall and intensity of predation substantially influenced survival. Probability of successful reproduction (probability that a female weans 1 pups) was h

Crested Butte, Colorado - Crested Butte Mountain Resort; Duane Vandenbusche (2011)

Folsom adaptive systems in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado: An analysis of the Mountaineer site. - Brian N. Andrews (2011)

Late Quaternary Paleoecology of Two High-Elevation Mammal Species from the Southern Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA - B. S. McLean (2011)
The Quaternary period has been characterized by global climate and environmental

Can fungal symbionts shift host niche dimensions to promote species coexistence? (2011)
A central question in the study of biodiversity is, what mechanisms allow species to coexist? While most attention to this question has focused on antagonistic species interactions, positive species interactions have recently gained attention and may rival antagonisms in their importance. Grasses with vertically transmitted fungal endophytes provide useful systems for studying symbiont-‐mediated species coexistence because the endophyte does not spread contagiously and the infection status of a plant can be experimentally controlled. Here, we examined whether the vertically transmitted fungal endophyte Neotyphodium sp. can shift the niche of the subalpine bluegrass Poa leptocoma so that it overlaps less with the niche of the ecologically similar grass Poa reflexa. P. leptocoma often grows in wetter environments closer to streams than P. reflexa, although the two species can grow intermixed in some environments. Our results show that the endophyte shifts the niche of P. leptocoma so th

Irrigation Work in the United States - C. J. Blanchard (2011)
: The Arid Regions of the United States. The True Desert. Laws Recognizing Irrigation. The Uncompahgre Project, Colorado. The Salt River Project, Arizona. Large Irrigation Works of the Federal Government.

Rocky Mountain Birds: Birds and Birding in the Central and Northern Rockies - Paul A. Johnsgard (Insecta mundi, 2011)
“The Rocky Mountain region has fascinated me ever since I traveled to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a teenager, and saw for the first time such wonderful birds as ospreys, American dippers, and Lewis’s woodpeckers.” This book is in part based on the author’s earlier Birds of the Rocky Mountains (1986, revised 2009), but over a third of the original text has been eliminated. The rest has been updated, expanded and modified to be less technical and more useful to birders in the field. Bird enthusiasts will find viewing locations and updated contact information for hundreds of sites in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Alberta, and British Columbia. Part 1 outlines the habitats, ecology, and bird geography of the Rocky Mountains north of the New Mexico–Colorado border, including recent changes in the ecology and avifauna of the region. It provides detailed lists of major birding locations and guidance about where to search for specific Rocky Mountain birds. Part 2 conside

The potential to encode sex, age, and individual identity in the alarm calls of three species of Marmotinae - E. V. Volodina; V. A. Matrosova; I. A. Volodin; Daniel T. Blumstein (Naturwissenschaften, 2011)
In addition to encoding referential information and information about the sender's motivation, mammalian alarm calls may encode information about other attributes of the sender, providing the potential for recognition among kin, mates, and neighbors. Here, we examined 96 speckled ground squirrels (Spermophilus suslicus), 100 yellow ground squirrels (Spermophilus fulvus) and 85 yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) to determine whether their alarm calls differed between species in their ability to encode information about the caller's sex, age, and identity. Alarm calls were elicited by approaching individually identified animals in live-traps. We assume this experimental design modeled a naturally occurring predatory event, when receivers should acquire information about attributes of a caller from a single bout of alarm calls. In each species, variation that allows identification of the caller's identity was greater than variation allowing identification of age or sex. We disc

Life history QTLs and natural selection on flowering time in Boechera stricta, a perennial relative of Arabidopsis (Evolution, 2011)

Butterflies show flower colour preferences but not constancy in foraging at four plant species - J. I. Van Wyk; N. B. M. Pohl; Diane R. Campbell (Ecological Entomology, 2011)
1. The extent to which flower colour and other visual cues influence butterfly flower choice in the field is poorly understood, especially in comparison with choices by Hymenoptera. 2. Using a novel approach to studies of visitation behaviour by butterflies, flower colour of four Asteraceae species was phenotypically manipulated to decouple the influence of that trait from others (including morphology and nectar rewards) on visitation by Lycaena heteronea , Speyeria mormonia , Cercyonis oetus , and Phyciodes campestris. 3. Flower visits were recorded to experimental flower arrays in subalpine meadows to measure (i) spontaneous preference by butterflies for particular colours and other traits and (ii) flower constancy (longer than expected strings of visits made to flowers o

Age and sex influence marmot antipredator behavior during periods of heightened risk - A. J. Lea; Daniel T. Blumstein (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2011)
Animals adjust their antipredator behavior according to environmental variation in risk, and to account for their ability to respond to threats. Intrinsic factors that influence an animal's ability to respond to predators (e.g., age, body condition) should explain variation in antipredator behavior. For example, a juvenile might allocate more time to vigilance than an adult because mortality as a result of predation is often high for this age class; however, the relationship between age/vulnerability and antipredator behavior is not always clear or as predicted. We explored the influence of intrinsic factors on yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) antipredator behavior using data pooled from 4 years of experiments. We hypothesized that inherently vulnerable animals (e.g., young, males, and individuals in poor condition) would exhibit more antipredator behavior prior to and immediately following conspecific alarm calls. As expected, males and yearlings suppressed foraging more t

Environmental learning and the social construction of an exurban landscape in Fremont County, Colorado - Curtis J. Sorenson; Soren C. Larsen; Matt Foulkes (Geoforum, 2011)

Impact of mound-building ants on ecosystem properties create islands of fertility in alpine meadows - S. J. Wood (2011)

Trends in Western U.S. Snowpack and Related Upper Colorado River Basin Streamflow1 - W. Paul Miller (JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 2011)
Miller, W. Paul and Thomas C. Piechota, 2011. Trends in Western U.S. Snowpack and Related Upper Colorado River Basin Streamflow. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(6):1197–1210. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00565.x Abstract: Water resource managers in the Western United States (U.S.) are currently faced with the challenge of adapting to unprecedented drought and uncertain impacts of climate change. Recent research has indicated increasing regional temperature and changes to precipitation and streamflow characteristics throughout the Western U.S. As such, there is increased uncertainty in hydroclimatological forecasts, which impact reservoir operations and water availability throughout the Western U.S., particularly in the Colorado River Basin. Previous research by the authors hypothesized a change in the character of precipitation (i.e., the frequency and amount of rainfall and snowfall events) throughout the Colorado River Basin. In the current study, 398

On the generality of a climate-mediated shift in the distribution of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) - R. Guralnick; L. P. Erb (Ecology, 2011)
Alpine species are among those most threatened by climatic shifts due to their physiological and geographic constraints. The American pika (Ochotona princeps), a small mammal found in mountainous, rocky habitats throughout much of western North America, has experienced recent population extirpations in the Great Basin linked to climatic drivers. It remains unclear whether these patterns of climate-related loss extend to other portions of the species' range. We investigated the distribution of the American pika and the climatic processes shaping this distribution within the Southern Rocky Mountain region. Results from a survey of 69 sites historically occupied by pikas indicate that only four populations have been extirpated within this region over the past few decades. Despite relatively few extirpations, low annual precipitation is implicated as a limiting factor for pika persistence in the Southern Rockies. Extirpations occurred only at sites that were consistently dry over the last

Patterns of sap-foraging on willows (Salix spp.i) by a keystone species: the Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) - E. D. Thorne (2011)
The Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) is a keystone species in montane/subalpine ecosystems of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. By excavating nest cavities in aspen trees and sap wells in willow shrubs, sapsuckers indirectly provide nest holes and food, respectively, to many other species. The objective of my project was to determine which characteristics of willow shrubs were most important to sapsuckers in their choice of stems to drill for sap. The most important factors revealed in my study were the frequency of past sap well excavation. The probability of a stem being excavated for sap wells decreased as the frequency of past foraging increased, as measured by the proportion of stems that were dead (sap well excavation kills the willow stem) and/or had old sap well scars. Presumably willow shrubs with a higher frequency of past sap well excavation were less healthy and thus less optimal for new sap drilling, possibly due to decreased sap flow potential. The negative relat

Frenemies: conflict and cooperation in burying beetle (Nicrophorus investigator) parental care - M. Singh (2011)
Conflict and cooperation can drive how unrelated individuals interact, while illustrating whether the interests of two individuals converge or diverge. The subsocial, biparental beetle Nicrophorus investigator provides an excellent model to study these two interactions because researchers can manipulate aspects of the system and observe ensuing cooperation or conflict. In this experiment, we chose to test what we term the “Happy Couple assumption”, a tendency among scientists to presuppose that there is little conflict in the brood chamber of burying beetles. We found that medium-sized males paired with larger females leave the brood about 45% earlier than both large males paired with large females or medium males with medium females. We also found that injuries occurred in more than 25% of beetle pairs across both treatments and sexes. These findings collectively suggest that not only does conflict exist in burying beetles pairs, but that having a male in the brood chamber can be cost

Factors that affect the repeatability of personality in yellow-bellied marmots, Marmota flaviventris - J. L. Sojka (2011)
Animal personality is becoming increasingly relevant behavioral ecology because of its potential impact on reproductive success. Measuring personality however can be difficult because many factors, such as microhabitat variation and habituation, affect how an animal responds to a given test. Using novel object tests to measure exploration and a flight initiation distance test to measure boldness, we quantified which variables significantly affect individual responses in a population of yellow-bellied marmots near Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. We found that alert distance and distance to burrow affect boldness tests. Furthermore, although we could not demonstrate habituation over time to the tests, other significant factors, such as age class and location in the valley suggests that the marmots may already be habituated to humans.

Does the morphology of beaver ponds alter downstream ecosystems? - Mark W. Fuller; B. L. Peckarsky (Hydrobiologia, 2011)

The Ecology of Place (2011)

Ecosystem engineering by beavers affects mayfly life histories - Mark W. Fuller; B. L. Peckarsky (Freshwater Biology, 2011)
1. The North American beaver has been studied as a model ecosystem engineer for many decades. Previous studies have documented physical, chemical and biological impacts attributed to beaver engineering in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. This study focused on the effects of ecosystem engineering by beavers on life histories of a common mayfly and on the potential consequences for mayfly populations. 2. We studied 18 montane beaver ponds of varying size and shape in western Colorado near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Our goal was to test whether variation in beaver pond morphology (pond size and shape) explains downstream changes in stream temperature, mayfly size and timing of emergence. 3. Downstream water temperatures varied predictably with pond morphology, being colder downstream of high-head dams and warmer downstream of low-head dams. Pond morphology was also a significant predictor of variation in the size of mature female Baetis bicaudatus (the most abunda

Multiple quantitative trait loci influence intra-specific variation in genital morphology between phylogenetically distinct lines of Drosophila montana - C. Schlotterer; J. Vieira; J. Routtu; M. A. Schafer; M. G. Ritchie; A. Hoikkala (J Evol Biol, 2011)

Honey Bee Colony Health: Challenges and Sustainable Solutions - David W. Inouye (2011)

Acoustic monitoring in terrestrial environments using microphone arrays: applications, technological considerations and prospectus - L. Girod; D. J. Mennill; K. A. Cortopassi; A. H. Krakauer; B. McCowan; J. L. Deppe; A. N. G. Kirschel; K. Yao; S. F. Hanser; G. Patricelli; P. Clemins; C. Clark; et al. (Journal of Applied Ecology, 2011)
1. Animals produce sounds for diverse biological functions such as defending territories, attracting mates, deterring predators, navigation, finding food and maintaining contact with members of their social group. Biologists can take advantage of these acoustic behaviours to gain valuable insights into the spatial and temporal scales over which individuals and populations interact. Advances in bioacoustic technology, including the development of autonomous cabled and wireless recording arrays, permit data collection at multiple locations over time. These systems are transforming the way we study individuals and populations of animals and are leading to significant advances in our understandings of the complex interactions between animals and their habitats. 2. Here, we review questions that can be addressed using bioacoustic approaches, by providing a primer on technologies and approaches used to study animals at multiple organizational levels by ecologists, behaviourists and conservat

Can breeding bird density influence vocal individuality in bird song? - C. E. DeJesus (2011)
Individuality is defined as the characteristics that determine the differences from one individual in species from another individual of the same species. Many animals use acoustic signals to communicate. These signals send messages about territorial defense, mate attraction and kin-ship. The ability to recognize who is singing is important for neighbor-stranger discrimination. Discrimination is also important if a species lives in a group or in colonies. It has been shown that there is a relationship between social group size and individuality both in rodents and many swallows. However many bird due not live in social groups but breeding bird density could also drive the evolution of individuality. We hypothesized that bird density will influence vocal individuality. We recorded 10 male birds from each of the following species; Green Tailed Towhees, House Wrens, Lazuli Buntings that sang 20 songs. Point counts in six open meadows and aspen patches were taken to measure density. These

Trade-offs associated with food availability and predator avoidance behavior of a stream mayfly - S. A. Hernandez (2011)
We studied the effects of food availability and predator cues on mayflies at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, CO. Organisms in a wide variety of ecological systems must deal with trade-offs between functions necessary to sustain their populations. Specifically, we were interested in how food availability in the presence of predators induces changes in predator avoidance behavior, growth rate, and grazer-algal impact. We manipulated the environment of mayflies (Baetis bicaudatus) using treatments with or without chemical cues from brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and different levels of periphyton resources in order to test for trade-offs between food availability and predator avoidance behavior. We found that trade-offs do in fact exist between food availability and predator avoidance behavior. Mayflies only exhibited daytime drift, which is a food search behavior that increases the risk of predation, when there were not only no predator cues present but al

The effects of elevation and climate on butterfly (Lepidoptera) abundance and activity - R. E. Batzel (2011)
Numerous factors, including climate, resource availability, and habitat diversity, act as determinants of global species diversity. I collected baseline species richness data at three sites along an elevation gradient. Discovery curves indicated that I recorded all species at a site. Interestingly, the most types of butterflies were observed at the middle elevation site. In addition, I investigated the direct effects of the climate variables temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and solar radiation on butterfly activity at three sites. Increased temperature and solar radiation resulted in increased butterfly activity; no relationship between relative humidity or wind and butterfly activity was observed. These abiotic factors are important determinants of butterfly activity, however, the effect of temperature was only observed at 2 of the 3 sites.

Spatial distribution of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus): Effects of plant palatability and habitat structure - A. N. Pistoia (2011)
Scientists at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) have recorded more mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) activity density within the Gothic town site relative to outside the town site. One hypothesis to account for increased deer activity in Gothic is that coyotes, who prey on deer fawns, avoid areas of concentrated human activity, causing deer to aggregate in these “safe sites.” To put this hypothesis under scrutiny, we wanted to test an alternate hypothesis that deals with vegetation as an influence for deer spatial distribution. I hypothesized that if Gothic is rich in preferred plant species and habitats then high deer activity density will correlate. To follow up with previous observations on deer activity density in Gothic, two predetermined routes, inside and outside Gothic, were walked for a four‐week period to observe deer spatial distribution. To look at the availability of preferred plants, multiple plant transects were conducted to observe average palatability of a

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) detect coyote (Canis latrans) scent - T. C. Snyder (2011)
A trophic cascade is an ecological process in which predators affect the producer biomass and community composition of an ecosystem by limiting plant consumption by herbivores. Predators not only control herbivore populations through predation, but their mere presence can affect herbivore behavior. I investigated whether mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) reduce foraging in the presence of signals that indicate a predator. I set up feed blocks at two predetermined sites. Once the deer were consistently eating the food, I started the treatment period. During this period, I would place one of two treatments at the site: one containing coyote urine (experimental) or one containing water (control). I quantified behavior whenever a deer was within 10 meters of the feed block. To avoid pseudoreplication, only the first set of behavior observations (focal) from each individual deer was analyzed. I found that there is a significant overall change in deer foraging behavior and time spent in the st

The effect of ants on the population dynamics of Hamiltonella defensa a protective symbiont of aphids - P. Abbot; D. M. Erickson (2011)

The effects of floral fragrance manipulations of Ipomopsis aggregata on the seed predator Hylemya - C. Y. Feng (2011)

Bottlenecks and rescue effects in a fluctuating population of golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis) - J. M. Eadie; M. B. McEachern; B. May; C. H. Floyd; D. H. Van Vuren (Conservation Genetics, 2011)

Ecological interactions of the cadmium- and zinc-hyperaccumulating plant, Thlaspi caerulescens, and their implications for phytoremediation - J. P. Che-Castaldo (2011)

Testing the oviposition cues that drive preference of Hylemya for different sexes of Polemonium foliosissimum - C. S. Melo (2010)
This investigation focused on how mutualists and antagonists affect the flowers of different sexes within the same species. My study examined plant and insect interactions in Polemonium foliosissimum to better understand the selective pressures that influenced the evolution of gynodioecy in this plant species. My manipulative experiment and observations were designed to determine (1) if the pre-dispersal seed predator Hylemya chooses floral cues such as flower size and presence of pollen in selecting a plant to lay eggs on and (2) if Hylemya chooses the same floral cues as pollinators in plant selection. I found that plant sex and floral traits seemed to not be a factor in plant selection by these insects, but a trend in un-manipulated plant selection indicated that they preferred visiting undamaged plants. The results of this study imply that other mechanisms such as plant defense or perhaps plant appearance may influence Hylemya and pollinator preference. Key Words: Polemonium folios

A microsatellite linkage map for Drosophila montana shows large variation in recombination rates, and a courtship song trait maps to an area of low recombination - D. Mazzi; H. Kauranen; C. Schlotterer; K. Klappert; J. Vieira; M. A. Schafer; M. G. Ritchie; A. Hoikkala (J Evol Biol, 2010)