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Abstract (from Ecological Society of America): Population dynamics are often correlated in space and time due to correlations in environmental drivers as well as synchrony induced by individual dispersal. Many statistical analyses of populations ignore potential autocorrelations and assume that survey methods (distance and time between samples) eliminate these correlations, allowing samples to be treated independently. If these assumptions are incorrect, results and therefore inference may be biased and uncertainty underestimated. We developed a novel statistical method to account for spatiotemporal correlations within dendritic stream networks, while accounting for imperfect detection in the surveys. Through simulations,...
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Survivability of aquatic organisms has been linked to stream temperature regimes. Climate change is anticipated to alter the current thermal patterns in riparian ecosystems and will have implications for these organisms. A water temperature change of 1 or 2 °C may have severe consequences for aquatic species, specifically coldwater fishes. Monitoring and modeling of stream temperature regimes is critical to assessing the vulnerability of coldwater species under the impacts of climate change in the Northeast United States. This research reviews the literature on existing stream temperature models for applicability over varying spatial and temporal scales. Collection of existing stream temperature data in the Northeast...
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Water temperature is one of the important characteristics of a stream that can be impacted by anthropogenic change. Such change can have significant ecological implications for the health of riparian systems. It is important for decision-makers to understand the impact of various physical characteristics on the stream temperature regime in a watershed. This research applies a statistical stream temperature model (Mohseni et al, 1998) to 905 sites across the northeastern United States to determine if such models can be useful to resource managers. Statistical analysis on the calibrated model parameters across the best-fit sites is used to provide information on watershed characteristics which may be critical to stream...
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