Geology topics

C.A. Stow

Publications and source records attributed to C.A. Stow.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2018

The distribution and role of functional abundance in cross‐scale resilience

The cross‐scale resilience model suggests that system‐level ecological resilience emerges from the distribution of species’ functions within and across the spatial and temporal scales of a system. It has provided a quantitative method for calculating the resilience of a given system and so has been a valuable contribution to a largely qualitative field. As it is currently laid out, the model accounts for the spatial and temporal scales at which environmental resources and species are present and the functional roles species play but does not inform us about how much resource is present or how much function is provided. In short, it does not account for abundance in the distribution of species and their functional roles within and across the scales of a system. We detail the ways in which we would expect species’ abundance to be relevant to the cross‐scale resilience model based on the extensive abundance literature in ecology. We also put forward a series of testable hypotheses that would improve our ability to anticipate and quantify how resilience is generated, and how ecosystems will (or will not) buffer recent rapid global changes. This stream of research may provide an improved foundation for the quantitative evaluation of ecological resilience.

Ecology↗

USGS2018

A method to detect discontinuities in census data

The distribution of pattern across scales has predictive power in the analysis of complex systems. Discontinuity approaches remain a fruitful avenue of research in the quest for quantitative measures of resilience because discontinuity analysis provides an objective means of identifying scales in complex systems and facilitates delineation of hierarchical patterns in processes, structure, and resources. However, current discontinuity methods have been considered too subjective, too complicated and opaque, or have become computationally obsolete; given the ubiquity of discontinuities in ecological and other complex systems, a simple and transparent method for detection is needed. In this study, we present a method to detect discontinuities in census data based on resampling of a neutral model and provide the R code used to run the analyses. This method has the potential for advancing basic and applied ecological research.

Ecology and Evolution↗

USGS2006

Firm size diversity, functional richness, and resilience

This paper applies recent advances in ecology to our understanding of firm development, sustainability, and economic development. The ecological literature indicates that the greater the functional richness of species in a system, the greater its resilience - that is, its ability to persist in the face of substantial changes in the environment. This paper focuses on the effects of functional richness across firm size on the ability of industries to survive in the face of economic change. Our results indicate that industries with a richness of industrial functions are more resilient to employment volatility. ?? 2006 Cambridge University Press.

Environment and Development Economics↗

USGS1997

Modeling changes in growth and diet on polychlorinated biphenyl bioaccumulation in Coregonus hoyi

Restrictions on the release of PCBs into the environment began in the early 1970s, resulting in reduced PCB concentrations in Lake Michigan bloaters ( Coregonus hoyi ). However, since 1980, PCB concentrations in bloater have declined only slightly. The bloater population also increased 40-fold during 1970 through 1984, resulting in a diet shift and a density-dependent decline in growth. Our goal was to determine how these changes in diet and growth may have affected PCB accumulation in Lake Michigan bloater. We evaluated the consequences of these two changes on bloater PCB concentrations by developing a bioenergetics-based PCB bioaccumulation model. Bloater PCB concentrations increased little when we increased the amount of Diporeia hoyi, the most contaminated prey, in the bloater diet. By comparing constant growth (similar to those of the 1970s) to observed decline in growth rates, we found that lower growth rates during the 1980s placed older, more contaminated bloaters in the size range most vulnerable to predators and in the size range sampled by PCB monitoring programs. Bloater PCB concentration trends may be influenced by the sampling methodology of the United States Geological Survey. If fish PCB trends are to be used as an indicator of system-level PCB trends, sampling should include a representative sample of fish of known age from the population.

Ecological Applications↗