Mining metal contamination is widespread across North American waterways. Paired microbial-geochemical surveys provide useful insights into ecological restoration in mining-impacted areas. We utilized 19 shotgun metagenomes from a recovering stream to examine connections between microbial community dynamics and aqueous geochemistry. Integrating microbial ecology with geochemical habitat data revealed highly site-and season-specific microbial community dynamics across the area. Spatially distinct storm-and wastewater-driven copper, sulfate, and potassium inputs shaped community composition and heterogeneity. All sites exhibited high seasonally driven community turnover. Comparisons against other impacted rivers indicated depressed diversity across the area comparable to other recovering systems. This study emphasizes anthropogenic controls on microbial ecology and provides new insights into mining's legacy in the American West.
The ecology and life history of many snake species remain poorly understood due to snakes' secretive nature. Morphological analysis of mensural characters (quantitative body measurements) offers a useful approach for examining inter-and intraspecific evolution in response to environmental pressures. Here, we examine morphological divergence, sexual dimorphism, and evolutionary responses to elevation and latitudinal clines in 2 sister species of colorful coral snake mimics, Lampropeltis pyromelana and L. knoblochi, through analysis of mensural characters from museum specimens. Our results reveal limited morphological differentiation between the 2 species and sexes. Weak correlations between morphology and geography are recovered, with broadly similar trends for the 2 species along latitudinal gradients, but differing patterns across elevation. Future studies incorporating genomic and dietary data are required to further elucidate adaptive responses to environmental gradients in Lampropeltis.
.-The global decline of bee species has intensified concern for their conservation and the critical pollination services they provide. Effective monitoring of bee diversity and population trends depends on robust sampling methods, yet the efficiency of these methods varies across regions, habitats, and taxa. Colorado supports over 1000 bee species, but areas west of the Rocky Mountains remain poorly studied compared to the eastern Front Range. To address this gap, we assessed the effectiveness of multiple active and passive sampling techniques for surveying native bee communities and their floral associations across western Colorado. From June to August 2024, we sampled 64 plots across shrubland, grassland, alpine, and forest ecosystems using blue vane traps, 4 colors of pan traps, and 3 active methods: targeted, sweep, and aerial netting. We collected 4872 bees representing 39 genera. Halictidae was the most abundant family (65.7%), followed by Apidae (19.5%) and Megachilidae (6.8%). Blue vane traps captured the highest number of individuals, (33 genera). Yellow pan traps yielded high bee counts but low diversity, dominated by Halictidae. Although aerial and sweep netting captured fewer bees, they contributed unique genera not represented in other methods. Bees visited 26 observations. We observed all 5 bee families on Melilotus officinalis, Sphaeralcea coccinea, and Cirsium spp. No single sampling method captured the complete diversity of bees, highlighting the need to combine active and passive approaches. This study provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of bee sampling in western Colorado to date and offers practical guidance to enhance monitoring, improve data comparability, and support bee conservation amid global declines.
We investigated the epiphytic lichen community growing on salt-tolerant shrubs around the margins of playas in the Great Basin Desert. Data from 82 sites in and around playas throughout the region are analyzed. Of the 29 species of epiphytic lichens encountered, a faithful core community of 8 species regularly co-occurred at most playa sites. Two of these species are new to science: Lecania clairii sp. nov. is similar to L. fuscella but consistently produces a purple pigment in the epihymenium, has strictly 8-spored asci, strongly capitate, pigmented paraphyses, and more strongly swollen cells in the amphithecial cortex. Rinodina salinaria sp. nov. is similar to and co-occurs with R. lobulata but consistently lacks the pigment Sedifolia-gray; additionally, its apothecia remain immersed longer, and it has smaller ascospores. The most abundant lichen encountered was Calogaya ferrugineoides, until recently known only from Central Asia. Another Central Asian species, Calogaya polycarpoides, is reported for the first time for North America. Two lichenicolous fungi are common in this community, Arthonia molendoi and another species new to science, Lichenochora endocalogaya sp. nov. The latter is similar to L. xanthoriae but occurs on a different host, Calogaya ferrugineoides instead of Rusavskia elegans, and does not induce the formation of galls. The range and ecology of this halophytic community is discussed and compared with other epiphytic communities found in the Great Basin Desert.
Suspected natural recruitment of federally threatened June Sucker Chasmistes liorus (Utah Lake, UT, USA) prompted a targeted microchemical analysis of bony tissue to determine provenance of wild specimens of unknown origin compositions of discrete pectoral-fin-ray areas (i.e., natal core, edge) corresponding to possible natal sources of June Sucker (n = 98). Quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA) was used to differentiate 4 possible natal sources: 1 hatchery, 2 refuge populations, and Utah Lake (wild origin). Elemental ratios of bony tissue that provided discriminatory power were Mg/Ca, log(e) K/Ca, log(e) Mn/Ca, loge Sr/Ca, and log(e) Ba/Ca. Elemental compositions from hatchery and Utah Lake specimens were differentiated, using QDA, though substantial overlap existed between the 2 refuge populations. Analysis of pectoral fin rays from 263 unknown-origin June Suckers (i.e., unmarked) collected between 2016 and 2020 substantiated the presence of wild recruits with natal origin of 11%-13% of samples assigned to Utah Lake. The remainder of the unmarked fish specimens were stocked fish (87%-89%), with Fisheries Experimental Station (Logan, UT) being the numerically dominant natal source of these specimens. The presence of multiple size-classes of wild recruits indicated that recruitment has occurred episodically. Our study confirms the use of hard-part microchemistry as an effective analytical technique to determine specimen provenance, which we combined with nonlethal sampling methods (e.g., removal of a pectoral-fin-ray section) to address a specific conservation problem and inform the recovery of this federally threatened species.
