In North America, Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat) has experienced precipitous declines from white-nose syndrome. As these bats become rare and difficult to capture, additional day-roost assessments to inform management may fill gaps in our understanding, particularly in habitats and regions where such roosts have never been surveyed. Over 2 summers, we radio-tracked 16 individuals from a maternity colony on Long Island, NY, in a small forested patch surrounded by development and ocean. These bats disproportionately selected small, suppressed Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust) trees or snags for roosting. Generally, roosts occurred within the interior or edges of this forest patch, rather than surrounding suburbia, reinforcing the hypothesis that Northern Long-eared Bats are forest adapted. Our study shows even small tracts of forest in coastal, urban areas may have conservation value in providing day-roost and foraging habitat.

Accurately documenting aquatic insects is of the utmost importance given recent proposals for a paradigm shift in conservation to protect less-charismatic species that are necessary for ecosystem functioning. We used both field techniques and molecular methods to assess biodiversity in a stream in southwest Virginia. We used emergence traps to collect organisms that emerged from the stream as reproducing adults over a 4-week period and collected environmental samples (e.g., water, sediment) to sequence the DNA found in the samples. Emerging aquatic insect abundance, richness, and diversity increased over time. More family richness was detected using environmental DNA (eDNA) than traditional field sampling; however, many families detected using field techniques were not recovered using eDNA, furthering support that both protocols are necessary for fully documenting biodiversity. We did not have much success in identifying eDNA sequences to species with high sequence similarity, suggesting that invertebrate biodiversity of southwest Virginia is not well-documented in open-source DNA sequence databases. In addition to documenting insect biodiversity, we measured the levels of heavy metals in the stream sediment. Sediment values for cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury and lead were within regulatory limits and were not significantly correlated with biodiversity measures.

I conducted a survey of individuals of Viola rotundifolia Michx. (Roundleaf Yellow Violet) during the spring and summer of 2021 in order to determine flowering and fruiting phenologies and to assess the extent to which individuals display chasmogamous (open) and cleistogamous (closed) flowering and fruiting at Ricketts Glen State Park in northeastern Pennsylvania. A total of 171 plants were marked and observed weekly. The majority of plants (73%) displayed chasmogamous flowering, with 65% displaying chasmogamous flowering exclusively. Cleistogamous flowering was displayed by 27% of the plants, with 19% being exclusively cleistogamous. Both conditions were displayed by 8% of the plants, and 8% remained vegetative. Among the plants assessed, 20 chasmogamous and 7 cleistogamous capsules were excised and removed, presumably by a small mammal or slug.

With extensive and ongoing human development in coastal areas, effective shoreline-protection strategies against erosion and rising sea level that also provide natural ecosystem services will become increasingly important. Constructed living shoreline marshes can serve as successful management solutions when implemented correctly, but studies comparing these created estuarine habitats to their natural marsh counterparts are needed to assess their ecological functionality. We compared adult Palaemonetes pugio (Daggerblade Grass Shrimp) population demographics and diets from 13 pairs of living shoreline and natural marsh sites in the southwestern portion of the Chesapeake Bay. No significant differences were observed in demographics including abundance, weight, length, number of gravid females, and egg abundance and quality. Gut-content analysis detected significantly more terrestrial debris in shrimp from living shorelines, but the omnivorous dietary needs appeared met in all marsh sites. Overall, shrimp populations differed more among site pairs from different shorescape settings than between created and natural marshes from the same settings, suggesting that living shorelines are approaching ecosystem functionality similar to natural marsh habitats. However, the observed negative effect of agricultural land use on shrimp abundance and the discovery of microplastics in gut contents from all sites sampled indicate the need for further consideration of human impacts in both constructed and natural coastal habitats.

Peromyscus leucopus (White-Footed Deermouse) and Peromyscus maniculatus (North American Deermouse) are 2 widespread rodent species in North America, with North American Deermice more ecologically diverse and widely distributed than White-footed Deermice. Commonly, White-Footed Deermice are ecological generalists, and North American Deermice are ecological specialists. In the Inner Bluegrass Region of Kentucky, these 2 species are sympatric in agroecosystems habitats, including the University of Kentucky North Farm. This farm was the most trapped location in central Kentucky from 1950 to 1968, with results indicating the White-Footed Deermoouse was the more common of these species. Trapping from 1995 to 2015 found that North American Deermice were caught rarely. Our study examined agroecosystems habitats at the UK North Farm, including all perennial and annual habitats, to determine the relative abundance and habitat use by both these species. In our study, North American Deermice was the most commonly captured species; it was trapped rarely in perennial habitats but much more frequently in annual crops. Perennial clover fields and Medicago sativa (Alfalfa) were the 2 exceptions; however, these are short crops with exposed soil between rows. Essentially, North American Deermice were observed in the agricultural equivalent of early successional habitat. In contrast, White-Footed Deermice were captured in both perennial and annual habitats, but more commonly in perennial habitats, the exception being annual Salvia hispanica (Chia) fields where dense, green plants produced a thick canopy. Overall, the best predictor of habitat for North American Deermice was bare, exposed soil, whereas the best predictor for White-Footed Deermice was dense growth and overhead cover.

We assessed Alosa pseudoharengus (Alewife) upstream passage during 2016–2019 spawning runs using radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking through a periodically submerged and a constantly submerged top-hinged tide gate in the LaPlanche and Missaquash rivers, respectively, on the Chignecto Isthmus, Canada. First detection of individuals tagged in previous years (i.e., returnees) revealed synchronous upstream run timing in both rivers during 2015 and 2018. Greater delays of migrants attempting passage through the periodically submerged tide gate prompted temporary removal of 1 flapper door during 2016–2019 runs. During a 7-day period following door removal, the number of individuals passing per day increased 4- to 6-fold during 2016–2017 and less than 2-fold during 2018–2019. More than 80% of returnees passed the periodically submerged gate following door removal, decreasing mean delay to less than that of migrants attempting passage of the constantly submerged gate. Most individuals passed the periodically submerged gate during mid-flood daily tide phases and none passed during low-tide outflow due to high water velocities. Passage of the constantly submerged gate occurred during all tide phases, with 77% passing during ebb and low tides. The constantly submerged tide gate provided greater windows of opportunity, resulting in relatively shorter delays compared to the periodically submerged tide gate. Long-term monitoring in this study highlighted the effectiveness of temporary and/or adaptive mitigation when addressing issues in river connectivity and fish passage.

There are few undisturbed, freshwater habitats remaining in the populated areas of the United States. Aquatic organisms, such as dragonflies (Odonata), have therefore either had to adapt to disturbed and modified secondary habitats, such as farms, golf courses, storm-water remediation basins, and community-park ponds, or risk extirpation. The species that readily adapt to these habitats are usually widespread common species. However, other aquatic habitats inadvertently created at abandoned work sites often evolve distinctive characteristics over time that provide refuge for species rarely or never found at deliberately created pond habitats. For 17 years, we have monitored the diverse Odonata fauna at several floristically distinct ponds formed in depressions left from the dredging of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal in the 1960s. Among the species found are ones not known elsewhere locally or ones found in unusual abundance at 1 or more of the ponds, though infrequently encountered regionally. These dredge-spoil ponds are important for conserving regional Odonata biodiversity by providing unique habitats in an increasingly urbanized environment.

Marine macroalgae are a polyphyletic group of photosynthetic eukaryotes and play critical roles in oxygen production, as primary producers, and in providing physical habitat structure. They harbor diverse microbial communities, including mutualistic, commensalistic, and parasitic fungi. These fungi may be obligately or facultatively marine and symbiotic. In this investigation, we isolated endophytic algicolous fungi from marine macroalgae collected from 5 intertidal sites in Nova Scotia. Fungi were cultured from surface-sterilized algal tissue and identified using ITS rDNA barcoding. From 21 marine macroalgal species collected, 11 algal species harbored endophytic fungi. We identified 23 endophytic algicolous fungi from the Bay of Fundy and Atlantic coasts of Nova Scotia. Marine endophytes are a promising new resource for bioactive compounds.

We report the first New Jersey record of the accidentally introduced Coelioxys coturnix (Red-tailed Cuckoo Leaf-cutter Bee). The male bee was collected from a utility right of way in a highly developed area of central New Jersey. Coelioxys coturnix is native to Eurasia and was first collected in Washington, DC, in 2004. Since then, it has continued to spread in eastern North America.

We report the presence of Evorthodus lyricus (Lyre Goby) in a Hudson River tidal wetland in Yonkers, Westchester County, NY. This is the first record for this species in the Hudson River and the first published record north of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. We also provide an identification key to the Oxudercidae and Gobiidae of the Hudson River.

In 2016, Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat) was listed as federally threatened in the United States, due largely to declines from white-nose syndrome (WNS). The dramatic decline of this species heightens the significance of new occurrences outside the known range. Herein we report the first ever capture and genetic confirmation of an adult male Northern Long-eared Bat on the Delmarva Peninsula, MD, located on the northern portion of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This finding suggests further surveys are needed along the Atlantic Coastal Plain to determine if this region is being increasingly utilized by this species in the era of WNS.

We collected a single specimen of Rattus rattus (Roof Rat) in Highland County, VA, a previously unknown locality for the species. We collected ecto- and endoparasites, including the louse Polyplax spinulosa, the tick Dermacentor variabilis (American Dog Tick), and the nematode Aspicularis americana. which we archived along with the host voucher specimen. Sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene confirmed the rodent species identification based on comparisons to R. rattus sequences available in the GenBank database. Herein we review specimen records of Roof Rats and Rattus norvegicus (Brown Rat). Both species have a deep history in Virginia, but Roof Rats appear to have declined in coastal cities, while Brown Rats have become more common in those areas. Roof Rats apparently persist in rural relictual populations such as that identified in Highland County.