Research about West Vigninia

USGS2019

Proximity to unconventional shale gas infrastructure alters breeding bird abundance and distribution

Unconventional shale gas development is a rapidly expanding driver of forest loss and fragmentation in the central Appalachian region. We evaluated the relationship between breeding passerine abundances and distance from shale gas development at a long-term (2008–2017) study site in northern West Virginia, USA. We examined responses of 27 species within 3 habitat guilds: forest interior, early successional, and synanthropic. More than half of the species evaluated showed sensitivity to distance from unconventional shale gas infrastructure (e.g., well pads, access roads, pipelines). Five forest interior species occurred in greater abundances farther from shale gas development, whereas 3 forest interior gap specialists increased in abundance closer to shale gas. Early successional and synanthropic species, including the nest-parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird ( Molothrus ater ), generally occurred in greater abundances closer to shale gas infrastructure. We used interpolated distributions of 4 focal species to assess their spatial response to unconventional shale gas development over time. Our results indicate that breeding passerine distributions and community composition are changing with forest disturbance driven by unconventional shale gas energy development.

West Vigninia↗

USGS2009

Zoogeography, conservation, and ecology of crayfishes within the Cheat River basin of the Upper Monongehela River drainage, West Virginia

During summer 2008, we studied the geographic distribution and conservation status of crayfishes within the Cheat River basin of the upper Monongahela River drainage. Stream sites (n = 73) were selected with a probabilistic sampling design, whereas one reservoir (Cheat Lake) and seven terrestrial sites for burrowing crayfishes were selected non-randomly. Stream crayfishes were seined or hand-collected following standardized protocols, and physical habitat and physiochemical water quality parameters were recorded at each site. Cambarus b. bartonii , C. carinirostris , and Orconectes obscurus were initially documented within the Cheat River basin in 1956. Surveys conducted in the late 1980s documented the presence of C. carinirostris , C. dubius , C. monongalensis , and O. obscurus . Our data on crayfish distributions from 2008 are consistent with those of the late 1980s. Survey data from 1956, however, indicated depauperate populations of Cambarus throughout the basin during a time period of basin-wide habitat and water quality degradation. Currently, C. carinirostris is abundant throughout the Cheat River system, except in areas with low pH and elevated conductivity. Orconectes obscurus populations within the Cheat River basin are stable and occur primarily in higher stream orders. Future astacological efforts in the Cheat River basin, however, are needed to define the distribution of the basins two burrowing species, C. dubius and C. monongalensis .

West Vigninia↗