Phytoplankton assemblages are of great importance as indicators of water quality. However, knowledge of New Jersey freshwater phytoplankton assemblages is very limited. We collected a total of 196 samples between June and October each year from 2016 to 2019 and analyzed them for water-quality parameters, microcystins, and phytoplankton community composition. We documented a total of 91 phytoplankton taxa. The cyanophytes were the most dominant phytoplankton group statewide and by ecoregion, with Synechococcus being the most frequently observed cyanophyte. Fluorescence of phycocyanin significantly correlated with cyanobacterial cell density and microcystins, suggesting phycocyanin can be used as a proxy for estimating harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCB) conditions. The results of this study provide insight into the freshwater phytoplankton communities during the HCB season and their relationship with water-quality conditions in New Jersey.

We observed Tamias striatus (Eastern Chipmunk) over 6 years in a mature deciduous forest and in a nearby urban area in Blair County, PA. Our objective was to examine differences in relative behavioral frequencies between the forested and urban habitat. Using focal-animal sampling techniques, we observed 17 distinct behaviors. Four behaviors showed significant difference between habitats: pause, vertical pause, forage, run. We attribute these differences to the characteristics of the landscape. Pause and vertical pause occurred in the urban habitat more often than expected, most likely due to the openness and lack of protection from predators overhead. Foraging was more frequent within the urban habitat, perhaps due to greater variety, distribution, and availability of anthropogenic food sources. Run behavior was less prevalent in the urban habitat, likely because chipmunks and other animals have become accustomed to human presence. Our work supports findings by others that indicate wildlife that persist in human-modified environments display behavioral differences influenced by habitat.

This first annotated checklist of the lichens and associated fungi from Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve (Québec, Canada) was compiled with the aim of enhancing the ecological knowledge from this regional biodiversity hotspot. I collected specimens in 2021 and 2022 and reviewed previous records based on vouchers deposited at the Louis-Marie Herbarium. A total of 257 species belonging to 96 genera are reported for the protected area, 3 of which represent the first published occurrence with an associated, digitized voucher for the province of Québec: Lecanactis abietina, Opegrapha vulgata, and Usnea diplotypus. This work highlights that Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve has the potential to be recognized as an area of high lichen diversity in northeastern North America.

Human habitat disturbances impact wildlife, including cavity-nesting birds. We explored species-specific relationships between 4 anthropogenically altered nest-box features (canopy cover, human activity, noise, and artificial light at night) on the nest-box use, nestling quality, and fledgling success of Sialia sialis (Eastern Bluebird) and Tachycineta bicolor (Tree Swallow). Both species, but especially Tree Swallows, used boxes with lower canopy cover, and Tree swallows used boxes with more human activity, while Bluebirds used low-activity boxes. Fledging success varied significantly by species, and nestling quality showed a weak positive trend with noise. These results suggest that impacts of human disturbance should be considered on a species-by-species basis, even in groups with significant overlap in habitat preference and life-history traits.

Dreissena polymorpha (Zebra Mussel) disrupt biological processes throughout aquatic ecosystems in which they are introduced, while simultaneously increasing benthic habitat complexity and food availability by forming druses on various substrates. Numerous studies have investigated the effects of infestation on benthic communities; however, because Zebra Mussels were already established within these systems, it is possible that results were influenced by ecosystem-wide changes in water clarity and suspended nutrient concentrations. In this study, we placed tiles with artificial Zebra Mussel druses in Lake Bemidji, which did not have a well-established Zebra Mussel population at that time, to investigate the effects of benthic habitat modification on macroinvertebrate communities and carbon accumulation. We used control (n = 0 druses) tiles as well as 3 treatment tiles—low (n = 247), medium (n = 428), or high (n = 610) number of individuals per tile—to examine how Zebra Mussel density affected macroinvertebrate communities and carbon accumulation. Macroinvertebrate abundance (ANOVA: P < 0.001) was higher on the treatments compared to the control tiles. However, macroinvertebrate density was highest on control tiles (one-way test: P = 0.002), and treatment did not influence overall community structure (NMDS: P = 0.111) or macroinvertebrate diversity (ANOVA: P = 0.630). Furthermore, organic matter ash-free dry mass (AFDM) density was highest on control tiles (one-way test: P = 0.021), while treatment did not influence invertebrate AFDM density (one-way test: P = 0.098). These results indicate that while macroinvertebrates are able to exploit the additional habitat provided by druses, biological processes such as water filtration, carbon transfer, and benthification facilitated by living Zebra Mussels were also likely crucial in restructuring benthic communities to the extent observed in previous studies.

Artificial nest shelters have long been used as a conservation tool for waterfowl management to provide safe nesting sites and improve breeding success of local populations. We examined occupancy rates, temperature, and humidity in 2 nest-shelter types provided for Somateria mollissima dresseri (American Common Eider) on coastal islands in the Eastern Shore Islands Wildlife Management Area, NS, Canada. We placed temperature and humidity loggers inside existing plastic barrel shelters, newly designed wooden A-frame shelters, and in natural nesting habitat on 3 islands. The annual proportion of shelters used for each shelter type varied considerably among islands, but we found no difference between the occupancy rates of wooden A-frame shelters (40%) and plastic barrels (39%). We found that wooden A-frame shelters closely mimicked daily mean temperature and humidity in natural nesting habitat, whereas barrel shelters created much hotter, drier conditions compared to natural nesting habitat and A-frame shelters. We suspect microclimate conditions under plastic barrels may cause dehydration for nesting eiders and lead to adverse effects. Therefore, we recommend the removal of plastic barrel shelters from eider colonies. Further research is needed to confirm whether A-frame shelters reduce rates of predation on eider hens and their eggs by large gulls and eagles compared to natural nesting habitat.

We discovered mammalian hair in the feces of an adult female Emydoidea blandingii (Blanding's Turtle) in a palustrine marsh in northern Illinois on 28 April 2021. Comparison and analysis of guard-hair length, proximal shaft pattern, and cross section of the shield region revealed the hair to be that of an Ondatra zibethicus (Muskrat). This is the first recorded mammalian food item of a Blanding's Turtle and is the second time a novel prey item has been documented in the diet of a Blanding's Turtle at this site. In light of this discovery, we suggest a need for additional diet studies on this turtle.

A Morone saxatilis (Striped Bass) without horizontal black stripes, typically used to identify this species, was caught by an angler in the Miramichi River, near Chatham, NB, on 11 October 2020. The 6-year-old specimen measured 59 cm total length (56 cm fork length) and weighed 2.22 kg. Striped Bass are typically characterized by 7 to 8 dark horizontal lines expressed laterally. Stripes vary in pattern, including straight and parallel lines, broken or disjointed lines, or in the extreme, a checkerboard pattern. The specimen was identified as a Striped Bass morphologically using the arrangement of tongue dentition and the lack of antrorse spines on the pre-operculum, and molecularly using the barcoding region. This specimen appears to be the first Striped Bass recorded without stripes.

Nicrophorus hebes is a recently revalidated species of burying beetle in the family Staphylinidae (formerly Silphidae) reported as a wetland specialist. We observed a first record of N. hebes in a recently deceased juvenile Emydoidea blandingii (Blanding's Turtle). To date only 2 other Nicrophorus species (N. sayi and N. marginatus) have been shown to use turtle carcasses in an experimental study. This observation presents the first record for N. hebes utilizing turtle carrion and the first natural observation of the use of turtle carcasses by a Nicrophorus species. This unique observation may help researchers better understand food webs within wetlands and the prey items burying beetles are using within wetland habitats.

We documented multiple attempted predation events of Neotoma magister (Allegheny Woodrat) by Strix varia (Barred Owl) and Buteo jamaicensis (Red-tailed Hawk) using camera traps paired with live-traps. Given our observations, the life histories of these predators and how they relate to Allegheny Woodrats needs to be further investigated. Pairing passive monitoring tools with live-trapping efforts will not only improve the safety and efficacy of live-trapping practices, but can also elucidate temporal activity patterns of study species and provide natural history observations as outlined here.