IntroductionWhereas 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.PurposeThis 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.MethodsThis 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.ResultsFirst, 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.ConclusionsIn risk communication, characters matter in audience experience of narrative transportation as measured by affective responses.

Summary Ecological theory and field studies suggest that lateral floodplain connectivity and habitat heterogeneity provided by side channels impart favourable habitat conditions for lotic fishes, especially fluvial fishes dependent on large patches of shallow, slow velocity habitats for some portion of their life cycle. However, anthropogenic modification of large, temperate floodplain rivers has led to extensive channel simplification and side‐channel loss. Highly modified rivers consist of simplified channels in contracted, less dynamic floodplains. Most research examining the seasonal importance of side channels for fish assemblages in large rivers has been carried out in heavily modified rivers, where side‐channel extents are substantially reduced from pre‐settlement times, and has often overlooked small‐bodied fishes. Inferences about the ecological importance of side channels for small‐bodied fishes in large rivers can be ascertained only from investigations of large rivers with largely intact floodplains. The Yellowstone River, our study area, is a rare example of one such river. We targeted small‐bodied fishes and compared their habitat use in side and main channels in two geomorphically distinct types of river bends during early and late snowmelt runoff, and autumn base flow. Species compositions of side and main channels differed throughout hydroperiods concurrent with the seasonal redistribution of the availability of shallow, slow current‐velocity habitats. More species of fish used side channels than main channels during runoff. Additionally, catch rates of small fishes were generally greater in side channels than in main channels and quantitative assemblage compositions differed between channel types during runoff, but not during base flow. Presence of and access to diverse habitats facilitated the development and persistence of diverse fish assemblages in our study area. Physical dissimilarities between side and main channels may have differentially structured the side‐ and main‐channel fish assemblages during runoff. Patches of shallow, slow current‐velocity (SSCV) habitats in side channels were larger and had slightly slower water velocities than SSCV habitat patches in main channels during runoff, but not during base flow. Our findings establish a baseline importance of side channels to riverine fishes in a large, temperate river without heavy anthropogenic modification. Establishing this baseline contributes to basic fluvial ecology and provides empirical justification for restoration efforts that reconnect large rivers with their floodplains.

Hyporheic exchange is now widely acknowledged as a key driver of ecosystem processes in many streams. Yet stream ecologists have been slow to adopt nuanced hydrologic frameworks developed and applied by engineers and hydrologists to describe the relationship between water storage, water age, and water balance in finite hydrosystems such as hyporheic zones. Here, in the context of hyporheic hydrology, we summarize a well-established mathematical framework useful for describing hyporheic hydrology, while also applying the framework heuristically to visualize the relationships between water age, rates of hyporheic exchange, and water volume within hyporheic zones. Building on this heuristic application, we discuss how improved accuracy in the conceptualization of hyporheic exchange can yield a deeper understanding of the role of the hyporheic zone in stream ecosystems. Although the equations presented here have been well-described for decades, our aim is to make the mathematical basis as accessible as possible and to encourage broader understanding among aquatic ecologists of the implications of tailed age distributions commonly observed in water discharged from and stored within hyporheic zones. Our quantitative description of “hyporheic hydraulic geometry,” associated visualizations, and discussion offer a nuanced and realistic understanding of hyporheic hydrology to aid in considering hyporheic exchange in the context of river and stream ecosystem science and management.

The alteration of rivers by anthropogenic bank stabilization to prevent the erosion of economically valuable lands and structures has become commonplace. However, such alteration has ambiguous consequences for fish assemblages, especially in large rivers. Because most large, temperate rivers have impoundments, it can be difficult to separate the influences of bank stabilization structures from those of main‐stem impoundments, especially because both stabilization structures and impoundments can cause side‐channel loss. Few large rivers are free flowing and retain extensive side channels, but the Yellowstone River (our study area) is one such river. We hypothesized that in this river (1) bank stabilization has changed fish assemblage structure by altering habitats, (2) side‐channel availability has influenced fish assemblage structure by providing habitat heterogeneity, and (3) the influences of bank stabilization and side channels on fish assemblages were spatially scale dependent. We developed a spatially explicit framework to test these hypotheses. Fish assemblage structure varied with the extent of bank stabilization and the availability of side channels; however, not all assemblage subsets were influenced. Nevertheless, bank stabilization and side channels had different and sometimes opposite influences on the fish assemblage. The effects of side channels on fish were more consistent and widespread than those of bank stabilization; the catches of more fishes were positively correlated with side‐channel availability than with the extent of bank stabilization. The influences of bank stabilization and side channels on the relative abundances of fish also varied, depending on species and river bend geomorphology. The variation in river morphology probably contributed to the assemblage differences between stabilized and reference river bends; stabilized alluvial pools were deeper than reference alluvial pools, but the depths of stabilized and reference bluff pools did not differ. The strengths of the relationships among fish assemblages, bank stabilization, and side channels were spatially scale dependent; optimum spatial scales ranged from less than 200 m to 3,200 m up‐ and downstream, suggesting that bank stabilization and side channels influenced fish assemblages across multiple spatial scales. Received October 7, 2016; accepted January 23, 2017 Published online July 31, 2017

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1. Long-term deployment of in-stream data loggers provides valuable information about stream conditions, particularly at times when streams are difficult to sample manually. However, in streams with high water velocities and substantial shear stress, the detachment of loggers from their installation points is a common problem. Thus, successful logger retrieval requires a durable installation method.2. We present a method for data logger installation using rock-climbing hardware that is simple to assemble, economical and minimally invasive. The method is applicable in streams with exposed bedrock or boulders, which serve as attachment points for loggers. Installed loggers are capable of withstanding extreme environmental conditions.After deploying 18 loggers for approximately 15 months in six different streams with snowmelt-dominated hydrographs, we retrieved 16 of the 18 loggers originally deployed. Where loggers were not recovered, hardware failure at installation sites was not likely the cause.4. In addition to application in streams, the use of rock-climbing hardware may be well-suited to securing long-term data logger installations on rock substrates in any extreme environment. K E Y W O R D Sclimbing hardware, data logger, extreme flows, installation, long-term, river, stream, temperature logger | 685 FOGG et al. Methods in Ecology and Evoluঞon

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