Factors Influencing Household Outdoor Residential Water Use Decisions in Suburban Boston (USA)

Water withdrawals for human use can reduce water in lakes and streams, with significant consequences for aquatic biota. Urbanization, particularly large lawn areas associated with low-density residential development, increases demand on freshwater resources. Outdoor water use accounts for the largest proportion of residential water use during the summer months, which corresponds to the lowest water levels in freshwater ecosystems. Prior studies have sought to understand property features associated with the highest water use; however, these studies do not consider other types of water use nor do they capture the decisions by residents that result in outdoor water use. Understanding these decisions is critical for developing policies and education tools that reduce outdoor water use by changing people’s water use behavior. Focusing on the Ipswich River Watershed, which has been impacted by extreme low flows due to water withdrawals, a mixed-methods approach was used to understand residents’ outdoor water use and the factors influencing the amount and timing of water use. To quantify water use meters were placed on outdoor spigots at residences, participants were provided with a written survey before and after water metering, and in-person interviews were conducted. Irrigation systems used the most water; however, garden watering occurred as frequently as lawn irrigation and many participants indicated that their garden was a primary factor in water use decisions. Participants’ water use decisions fell into categories from habitual (i.e., watering at the same time of day) to purely cognitive (i.e., watering based on weather and plant needs). While many participants felt that water conservation was necessary, their willingness to implement landscape-level conservation practices, such as rain barrels, did not differ from participants who believed water conservation was unnecessary. Interestingly, many residents reduced their outdoor water use behavior and increased their concern for other environmental issues in response to study participation. To have the greatest impact on overall water use, efforts should focus on residents running irrigation systems on a schedule. Outreach should emphasize individualized approaches to water conservation, regardless of water source (public or private), and include information and conservation options specific to the water needs of the individual property

Dryad - Rangewide blueback microsatellite data

This tab-delimited text file contains the raw microsatellite data (15 loci) for blueback herring (A. aestivalis) used by Palkovacs et al. (2013) 'Combining genetic and demographic information to prioritize conservation efforts for anadromous alewife and blueback herring' to examine genetic population structure, and by Hasselman et al. (2014) 'Human disturbance causes the formation of a hybrid swarm between two naturally sympatric fish species' to examine rangewide frequency of hybridization in river herrings

Data from: Combining genetic and demographic information to prioritize conservation efforts for anadromous alewife and blueback herring

A major challenge in conservation biology is the need to broadly prioritize conservation efforts when demographic data are limited. One method to address this challenge is to use population genetic data to define groups of populations linked by migration and then use demographic information from monitored populations to draw inferences about the status of unmonitored populations within those groups. We applied this method to anadromous alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis), species for which long-term demographic data are limited. Recent decades have seen dramatic declines in these species, which are an important ecological component of coastal ecosystems and once represented an important fishery resource. Results show that most populations comprise genetically distinguishable units, which are nested geographically within genetically distinct clusters or stocks. We identified three distinct stocks in alewife and four stocks in blueback herring. Analysis of available time series data for spawning adult abundance and body size indicate declines across the US ranges of both species, with the most severe declines having occurred for populations belonging to the Southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic Stocks. While all alewife and blueback herring populations deserve conservation attention, those belonging to these genetic stocks warrant the highest conservation prioritization

Admixed Kerr

This file contains multilocus data (15 microsatellite loci) for landlocked (Kerr Reservoir) hybrid alewife and blueback herring (n=119) used in analysis of genomic clines

Data from: Human disturbance causes the formation of a hybrid swarm between two naturally sympatric fish species

Most evidence for hybrid swarm formation stemming from anthropogenic habitat disturbance comes from the breakdown of reproductive isolation between incipient species, or introgression between allopatric species following secondary contact. Human impacts on hybridization between divergent species that naturally occur in sympatry has received considerably less attention. Theory predicts that reinforcement should act to preserve reproductive isolation under such circumstances, potentially making reproductive barriers resistant to human habitat alteration. Using 15 microsatellites we examined hybridization between sympatric populations of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (A. aestivalis) to test whether the frequency of hybridization and pattern of introgression have been impacted by the construction of a dam that isolated formerly anadromous populations of both species in a landlocked freshwater reservoir. The frequency of hybridization and pattern of introgression differed markedly between anadromous and landlocked populations. The range-wide frequency of hybridization among anadromous populations was generally 0-8%, whereas all landlocked individuals were hybrids. Although neutral introgression was observed among anadromous hybrids, directional introgression leading to increased prevalence of alewife genotypes was detected among landlocked hybrids. We demonstrate that habitat alteration can lead to hybrid swarm formation between divergent species that naturally occur sympatrically, and provide empirical evidence that reinforcement does not always sustain reproductive isolation under such circumstances

Loci

This file contains locus information for the 15 microsatellite loci used in the analysis of genomic clines by Hasselman et al. (2014)

Dryad - Rangewide alewife microsatellite data

This tab-delimited text file contains the raw microsatellite data (15 loci) for alewife (A. pseudoharengus) used by Palkovacs et al. (2013) 'Combining genetic and demographic information to prioritize conservation efforts for anadromous alewife and blueback herring' to examine genetic population structure, and by Hasselman et al. (2014) 'Human disturbance causes the formation of a hybrid swarm between two naturally sympatric fish species' to examine rangewide frequency of hybridization in river herrings

Parental BBH

This file contains multilocus data (15 microsatellite loci) for 100 purebred blueback herring specimens used in the simulation of hybrids (HYBRIDLAB v.1.0) and in the analysis of genomic clines by Hasselman et al. (2014)

Admixed anadromous

This file contains multilocus data (15 microsatellite loci) for anadromous hybrid alewife and blueback herring (n=92) used in analysis of genomic clines

Parental ALE

This file contains multilocus data (15 microsatellite loci) for 100 purebred alewife specimens used in the simulation of hybrids (HYBRIDLAB v.1.0) and in the analysis of genomic clines by Hasselman et al. (2014)