Browsing by Author "Reinhold, Ann Marie"

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Characters matter: How narratives shape affective responses to risk communication
(Public Library of Science, 2019-12) Shanahan, Elizabeth A.; Reinhold, Ann Marie; Raile, Eric D.; Poole, Geoffrey C.; Ready, Richard C.; Izurieta, Clemente; McEvoy, Jamie; Bergmann, Nicolas T.; King, Henry
Introduction. Whereas scientists depend on the language of probability to relay information about hazards, risk communication may be more effective when embedding scientific information in narratives. The persuasive power of narratives is theorized to reside, in part, in narrative transportation. Purpose. This study seeks to advance the science of stories in risk communication by measuring real-time affective responses as a proxy indicator for narrative transportation during science messages that present scientific information in the context of narrative. Methods. This study employed a within-subjects design in which participants (n = 90) were exposed to eight science messages regarding flood risk. Conventional science messages using probability and certainty language represented two conditions. The remaining six conditions were narrative science messages that embedded the two conventional science messages within three story forms that manipulated the narrative mechanism of character selection. Informed by the Narrative Policy Framework, the characters portrayed in the narrative science messages were hero, victim, and victim-to-hero. Natural language processing techniques were applied to identify and rank hero and victim vocabularies from 45 resident interviews conducted in the study area; the resulting classified vocabulary was used to build each of the three story types. Affective response data were collected over 12 group sessions across three flood-prone communities in Montana. Dial response technology was used to capture continuous, second-by-second recording of participants’ affective responses while listening to each of the eight science messages. Message order was randomized across sessions. ANOVA and three linear mixed-effects models were estimated to test our predictions. Results. First, both probabilistic and certainty science language evoked negative affective responses with no statistical differences between them. Second, narrative science messages were associated with greater variance in affective responses than conventional science messages. Third, when characters are in action, variation in the narrative mechanism of character selection leads to significantly different affective responses. Hero and victim-to-hero characters elicit positive affective responses, while victim characters produce a slightly negative response. Conclusions// In risk communication, characters matter in audience experience of narrative transportation as measured by affective responses.
Persistent and lagged effects of fire on stream solutes linked to intermittent precipitation in arid lands
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024) Lowman, Heili; Blaszczak, Joanna; Cale, Ashely; Dong, Xiaoli; Earl, Stevan; Grabow, Julia; Grimm, Nancy B.; Harms, Tamara K.; Reinhold, Ann Marie; Summers, Betsy; Webster, Alex J.
Increased occurrence, size, and intensity of fire result in significant but variable changes to hydrology and material retention in watersheds with concomitant effects on stream biogeochemistry. In arid regions, seasonal and episodic precipitation results in intermittency in flows connecting watersheds to recipient streams that can delay the effects of fire on stream chemistry. We investigated how the spatial extent of fire within watersheds interacts with variability in amount and timing of precipitation to influence stream chemistry of three forested, montane watersheds in a monsoonal climate and four coastal, chaparral watersheds in a Mediterranean climate. We applied state-space models to estimate effects of precipitation, fire, and their interaction on stream chemistry up to five years following fire using 15 + years of monthly observations. Precipitation alone diluted specific conductance and flushed nitrate and phosphate to Mediterranean streams. Fire had positive and negative effects on specific conductance in both climates, whereas ammonium and nitrate concentrations increased following fire in Mediterranean streams. Fire and precipitation had positive interactive effects on specific conductance in monsoonal streams and on ammonium in Mediterranean streams. In most cases, the effects of fire and its interaction with precipitation persisted or were lagged 2–5 years. These results suggest that precipitation influences the timing and intensity of the effects of fire on stream solute dynamics in aridland watersheds, but these responses vary by climate, solute, and watershed characteristics. Time series models were applied to data from long-term monitoring that included observations before and after fire, yielding estimated effects of fire on aridland stream chemistry. This statistical approach captured effects of local-scale temporal variation, including delayed responses to fire, and may be used to reduce uncertainty in predicted responses of water quality under changing fire and precipitation regimes of arid lands.
Responses of fish assemblages to bank stabilization in a large river
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2014) Reinhold, Ann Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Alexander V. Zale; Geoffrey C. Poole, Robert G. Bramblett, Alexander V. Zale and David W. Roberts were co-authors of the article, 'Cumulative effects of floodplain dikes and linear bank stabilization on Yellowstone River side channels' submitted to the journal 'Freshwater science' which is contained within this thesis.; Robert G. Bramblett, Alexander V. Zale, David W. Roberts and Geoffrey C. Poole were co-authors of the article, 'Use of side channels by a large-river fish assemblage' submitted to the journal 'Freshwater biology' which is contained within this thesis.; Robert G. Bramblett, Alexander V. Zale, Geoffrey C. Poole and David W. Roberts were co-authors of the article, 'Spatially-dependent responses of a large-river fish assemblage to bank stabilization and side channels' submitted to the journal 'Ecological applications' which is contained within this thesis.
The Yellowstone River remains the longest unimpounded river in the conterminous United States. However, bank stabilization and floodplain dikes have altered its fish habitat. Therefore, I surveyed fish habitat and fish from Laurel to Sidney, Montana, to (1) quantify changes to side channels attributable to linear bank stabilization and floodplain dikes, (2) compare the habitat use of side channels to main channels by small fish during runoff and base flow, and (3) determine if bank stabilization and side channels influenced main-channel fish assemblages during base flow. Floodplain dike frequency, but not linear bank-stabilization extent, directly correlated to a net loss of side channels from the 1950s to 2001. However, side channels provided important fish habitat. Fish habitat use was similar between side and main channels during base flow, but not during runoff when catch rates in side channels were several times higher than in main channels and assemblage structure differed between side and main channels. Shallow, slow-current velocity (SSCV) habitats were slightly slower in side channels and SSCV patches were larger in side channels than in main channels during runoff, but not during base flow. These habitat differences partially explained the patterns in fish catch rates between channel types. During base flow, fish assemblages in main channels varied with bank-stabilization extent and side-channel availability in alluvial (unconfined) and bluff (confined) river bends. Bank stabilization and side channels had different and sometimes opposite influences on fish assemblage structure. Influences of bank stabilization and side channels on fish relative abundances varied depending on species and river bend geomorphology. Assemblage responses to side channels were more consistent and widespread than to bank stabilization, and more fish species associated with side channels than bank stabilization. Physical differences probably contributed to the assemblage differences between reference and stabilized river bends; stabilized alluvial pools were deeper than reference alluvial pools. The strengths of the relationships among fish assemblages, bank stabilization, and side channels were spatial scale-dependent; optimum scales ranged from less than 200 m to 3,200 m up- and down-stream, suggesting that bank stabilization and side channels influenced fish across multiple spatial scales.