Geology topics

Daniel C. Barton

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel C. Barton.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2024

It's about time: A multistate semicontinuous time mark–recapture model to evaluate seasonal survival and movement rates of juvenile Coho Salmon in a small coastal watershed

Objective Many mark–recapture models assume that releases and recaptures are discrete events, and researchers often aggregate continuous recapture data (e.g., passive integrated transponder [PIT] detections) into coarse temporal scales to satisfy this assumption. This temporal discretization could result in parameter biases by ignoring the individual heterogeneity in the time susceptible to mortality after recapture and the conditions experienced (e.g., temperature and predation risk) before and after recapture. Our objectives were to (1) estimate the amount of bias in survival and emigration rates due to different temporal discretization durations when recapture events occur continuously and (2) apply this semicontinuous model to estimate rates of early emigration and overwinter survival for Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch in a coastal California watershed. Methods We developed a semicontinuous time multistate mark–recapture model to separately estimated emigration and survival rates throughout the year. We used weekly time-varying occasions paired with discrete spatial states and conducted extensive simulation trials to explore potential model bias. We then applied the model to an existing 4-year dataset of Coho Salmon PIT tag detections. Result Our simulations indicated that that the amount of bias in survival and movement rates decreased as the temporal discretization duration decreased. The confidence interval of the bias estimates included zero with a duration of 8 days, indicating that this duration was sufficiently short to model movement and survival. Results from our Coho Salmon analysis suggest that overwinter survival rate ranged from 0.72 to 0.83, which is higher than previous estimates for Coho Salmon in this region. We estimate that a substantial proportion of smaller juveniles (0.21–0.28 annually) move to downstream nonnatal rearing habitats before the spring smolt migration. Conclusion Our semicontinuous modeling approach can be implemented relatively easily and used to analyze continuous detection data to accurately estimate survival and movement rates. Our analysis of Coho Salmon PIT tag detections implies that previous low estimates of apparent overwinter survival of Coho Salmon were partially due to high movement rates to alternative rearing locations. This contrasts with conclusions from the previous research that suggested that overwinter survival was a major limiting factor for population recovery and implies that species recovery may be improved by considering multiple emigration patterns in the design of future research, monitoring, and restoration projects.

California↗

USGS2012

Timing and proximate causes of mortality in wild bird populations: testing Ashmole’s hypothesis

Fecundity in birds is widely recognized to increase with latitude across diverse phylogenetic groups and regions, yet the causes of this variation remain enigmatic. Ashmole’s hypothesis is one of the most broadly accepted explanations for this pattern. This hypothesis suggests that increasing seasonality leads to increasing overwinter mortality due to resource scarcity during the lean season (e.g., winter) in higher latitude climates. This mortality is then thought to yield increased per-capita resources for breeding that allow larger clutch sizes at high latitudes. Support for this hypothesis has been based on indirect tests, whereas the underlying mechanisms and assumptions remain poorly explored. We used a meta-analysis of over 150 published studies to test two underlying and critical assumptions of Ashmole’s hypothesis: first, that ad ult mortality is greatest during the season of greatest resource scarcity, and second, t hat most mortality is caused by starvation. We found that the lean season (winter) was generally not the season of greatest mortality. Instead, spring or summer was most frequently the season of greatest mortality. Moreover, monthly survival rates were not explained by monthly productivity, again opposing predictions from Ashmole’s hypothesis. Finally, predation, rather than starvation, was the most frequent proximate cause o f mortality. Our results do not support the mechanistic predictions of Ashmole‘s hypothesis, and suggest alternative explanations of latitudinal variation in clutch size should remain under consideration. Our meta-analysis also highlights a paucity of data available on the timing and causes of mortality in many bird populations, particularly tropical bird populations, despite the clear theoretical and empirical importance of such data.

Thesis↗

USGS2011

Growth rate variation among passerine species in tropical and temperate sites: an antagonistic interaction between parental food provisioning and nest predation risk

Causes of interspecific variation in growth rates within and among geographic regions remain poorly understood. Passerine birds represent an intriguing case because differing theories yield the possibility of an antagonistic interaction between nest predation risk and food delivery rates on evolution of growth rates. We test this possibility among 64 Passerine species studied on three continents, including tropical and north and south temperate latitudes. Growth rates increased strongly with nestling predation rates within, but not between, sites. The importance of nest predation was further emphasized by revealing hidden allometric scaling effects. Nestling predation risk also was associated with reduced total feeding rates and per-nestling feeding rates within each site. Consequently, faster growth rates were associated with decreased per-nestling food delivery rates across species, both within and among regions. These relationships suggest that Passerines can evolve growth strategies in response to predation risk whereby food resources are not the primary limit on growth rate differences among species. In contrast, reaction norms of growth rate relative to brood size suggest that food may limit growth rates within species in temperate, but not tropical, regions. Results here provide new insight into evolution of growth strategies relative to predation risk and food within and among species.

Evolution↗