Colorado State University

About: Colorado State University is a education organization based out in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Radar. The organization has 31430 authors who have published 69040 publications receiving 2724463 citations. The organization is also known as: CSU & Colorado Agricultural College.

Fish invasion restructures stream and forest food webs by interrupting reciprocal prey subsidies

Abstract: Habitat alteration and biotic invasions are the two leading causes of global environmental change and biodiversity loss. Recent innovative experiments have shown that habitat disturbance can have drastic effects that cascade to adjacent ecosystems by altering the flow of resource subsidies from donor systems. Likewise, exotic species in- vasions could alter subsidies and affect distant food webs, but very few studies have tested this experimentally. Here we report evidence from a large-scale field experiment in northern Japan that invasion of nonnative rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) interrupted reciprocal flows of invertebrate prey that drove stream and adjacent riparian forest food webs. Rainbow trout usurped terrestrial prey that fell into the stream, causing native Dolly Varden charr (Salvelinus malma) to shift their foraging to insects that graze algae from the stream bottom. This indirectly increased algal biomass, but also decreased biomass of adult aquatic insects emerging from the stream to the forest. In turn, this led to a 65% reduction in the density of riparian-specialist spiders in the forest. Thus, species invasions can interrupt flows of resources between interconnected ecosystems and have effects that propagate across their boundaries, effects that may be difficult to anticipate without in-depth understanding of food web relationships.

How to Estimate and Interpret Various Effect Sizes

Abstract: The present article presents a tutorial on how to estimate and interpret various effect sizes. The 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2001) described the failure to report effect sizes as a “defect” (p. 5), and 23 journals have published author guidelines requiring effect size reporting. Although dozens of effect size statistics have been available for some time, many researchers were trained at a time when effect sizes were not emphasized, or perhaps even taught. Consequently, some readers may appreciate a review of how to estimate and interpret various effect sizes. In addition to the tutorial, the authors recommend effect size interpretations that emphasize direct and explicit comparisons of effects in a new study with those reported in the prior related literature, with a focus on evaluating result replicability. For decades, statistical significance has been the norm for evaluating results. In fact, little change has occurred since Carver (1993) noted: “A quick perusal of research journals, educational and psychological statistic textbooks, and doctoral dissertations will confirm that tests of statistical significance continue to dominate the interpretation of quantitative data in social science research” (p. 294). Although statistical significance “evaluates the probability or likelihood of the sample results, given the sample size, and assuming that the sample came from a population in which the null hypothesis is exactly true” (Thompson, 2003, p. 7), statistical

Computation and Analysis of Protein Circular Dichroism Spectra

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter presents computation and analysis of protein circular dichroism (CD) spectra. The origins of electronic CD in proteins, theoretical methods for computing protein CD, and empirical analysis of CD for estimating structural composition of proteins are described. The phenomenon of CD involves the absorption of light and it can be considered as a special type of absorption spectroscopy. The CD spectra of proteins are generally divided into three wavelength ranges, based on the energy of the electronic transitions that dominate in the given range. The basic approach used to compute the CD of complex systems, such as proteins and nucleic acids, is the divide and conquer approach. In addition to the isotropic atomic polarizabilities, the anisotropic polarizability of the first electrically allowed peptide transition was included in the dipole interaction model for protein CD calculations. Polarizability anisotropy data for simple amides were used for obtaining polarizability parameters. It is found that the CD spectrum of the typical β sheet has a negative band near 215-nm and a positive band near 198 nm.

A framework for assessing ecosystem dynamics in response to chronic resource alterations induced by global change

Abstract: In contrast to pulses in resource availability following disturbance events, many of the most pressing global changes, such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and nitrogen deposition, lead to chronic and often cumulative alterations in available resources. Therefore, predicting ecological responses to these chronic resource alterations will require the modification of existing disturbance-based frameworks. Here, we present a conceptual framework for assessing the nature and pace of ecological change under chronic resource alterations. The "hierarchical-response framework" (HRF) links well-documented, ecological mechanisms of change to provide a theoretical basis for testing hypotheses to explain the dynamics and differential sensitivity of ecosystems to chronic resource alterations. The HRF is based on a temporal hierarchy of mechanisms and responses beginning with individual (physiological/metabolic) responses, followed by species reordering within communities, and finally species loss and immigration. Each mechanism is hypothesized to differ in the magnitude and rate of its effects on ecosystem structure and function, with this variation depending on ecosystem attributes, such as longevity of dominant species, rates of biogeochemical cycling, levels of biodiversity, and trophic complexity. Overall, the HRF predicts nonlinear changes in ecosystem dynamics, with the expectation that interactions with natural disturbances and other global-change drivers will further alter the nature and pace of change. The HRF is explicitly comparative to better understand differential sensitivities of ecosystems, and it can be used to guide the design of coordinated, cross-site experiments to enable more robust forecasts of contemporary and future ecosystem dynamics.