Latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacial events in the Colonia valley, Northern Patagonia Icefield, southern Chile
David A. Nimick, Daniel Mcgrath, Shannon A. Mahan, Beverly A. Friesen, Jonathan Leidich
2016, Journal of Quaternary Science (31) 551-564
The Northern Patagonia Icefield (NPI) is the primary glaciated terrain worldwide at its latitude (46.5–47.5°S), and constraining its glacial history provides unique information for reconstructing Southern Hemisphere paleoclimate. The Colonia Glacier is the largest outlet glacier draining the eastern NPI. Ages were determined using dendrochronology, lichenometry, radiocarbon, cosmogenic 10Be and...
Climate change and dissolved organic carbon export to the Gulf of Maine
Thomas G. Huntington, William M. Balch, George R. Aiken, Justin Sheffield, Lifeng Luo, Collin S. Roesler, Philip Camill
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (121) 2700-2716
Ongoing climate change is affecting the concentration, export (flux), and timing of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) exported to the Gulf of Maine (GoM) through changes in hydrologic regime. DOC export was calculated for water years 1950 through 2013 for 20 rivers and for water years 1930 through 2013 for 14...
Variation of organic matter quantity and quality in streams at Critical Zone Observatory watersheds
Matthew P. Miller, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Diane M. McKnight, Michael G. Brown, Rachel S. Gabor, Carolyn T. Hunsaker, Lidiia Iavorivska, Shreeram Inamdar, Louis A. Kaplan, Dale W. Johnson, Henry Lin, William H. McDowell, Julia N. Perdrial
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 8202-8216
The quantity and chemical composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface waters influence ecosystem processes and anthropogenic use of freshwater. However, despite the importance of understanding spatial and temporal patterns in DOM, measures of DOM quality are not routinely included as part of large-scale ecosystem monitoring programs and variations...
Flow reconstructions in the Upper Missouri River Basin using riparian tree rings
Derek M. Schook, Jonathan M. Friedman, Sara L. Rathburn
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 8159-8173
River flow reconstructions are typically developed using tree rings from montane conifers that cannot reflect flow regulation or hydrologic inputs from the lower portions of a watershed. Incorporating lowland riparian trees may improve the accuracy of flow reconstructions when these trees are physically linked to the alluvial water table. We...
A case study on evaluating impacts of potential climate change on groundwater resources: Groundwater recharge in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fred D. Tillman, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Tom Pruitt
2016, Report
An investigation of the change in groundwater recharge in response to potential climate change was performed for the UCRB using the SWB groundwater recharge model and downscaled climate data from the CMIP5 multi-model dataset. Climate projections from 97 downscaled CMIP5 datasets were assumed to be equally likely and recharge simulation results were combined. Results...
Effects of lake trout refuges on lake whitefish and cisco in the Apostle Islands Region of Lake Superior
Chiara M. Zuccarino-Crowe, William W. Taylor, Michael J. Hansen, Michael J. Seider, Charles C. Krueger
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 1092-1101
Lake trout refuges in the Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior are analogous to the concept of marine protected areas. These refuges, established specifically for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and closed to most forms of recreational and commercial fishing, were implicated as one of several management actions leading to successful...
Ontogenetic development of otoliths in Alligator Gar
James M. Long, Richard A. Snow
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 537-544
The Alligator Gar Atractosteus spatula is a species of conservation concern throughout its range, and better definition of otoliths during early development would aid understanding its life history and ecology. We conducted X-ray computed tomography scans, scanning electron microscopy, and light microscopy to examine the three pairs of otoliths and...
Near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover in the Northern Great Basin, USA, 2015
Stephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie
2016, Rangelands (38) 278-284
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) dramatically changes shrub steppe ecosystems in the Northern Great Basin, United States.Current-season cheatgrass location and percent cover are difficult to estimate rapidly.We explain the development of a near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover dataset and map in the Northern Great Basin for the current year (2015), display the...
First record of invasive Burmese Python oviposition and brooding inside an anthropogenic structure
Emma Hanslowe, Bryan Falk, Michelle A. M. Collier, Jillian Josimovich, Thomas Rahill, Robert Reed
2016, Southeastern Naturalist (15) 103-106
We discovered an adult female Python bivittatus (Burmese Python) coiled around a clutch of 25 eggs in a cement culvert in Flamingo, FL, in Everglades National Park. To our knowledge, this is the first record of an invasive Burmese Python laying eggs and brooding inside an anthropogenic structure in Florida....
Bacterial community diversity of the deep-sea octocoral Paramuricea placomus
Christina A. Kellogg, Steve W. Ross, Sandra D. Brooke
2016, PeerJ (4)
Compared to tropical corals, much less is known about deep-sea coral biology and ecology. Although the microbial communities of some deep-sea corals have been described, this is the first study to characterize the bacterial community associated with the deep-sea octocoral, Paramuricea placomus. Samples from five colonies of P. placomus were...
Seismic imaging beneath an InSAR anomaly in eastern Washington State: Shallow faulting associated with an earthquake swarm in a low-hazard area
William J. Stephenson, Jackson K. Odum, Charles W. Wicks Jr., Thomas L. Pratt, Richard J. Blakely
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 1461-1469
In 2001, a rare swarm of small, shallow earthquakes beneath the city of Spokane, Washington, caused ground shaking as well as audible booms over a five‐month period. Subsequent Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data analysis revealed an area of surface uplift in the vicinity of the earthquake swarm. To investigate...
Dynamic distributions and population declines of Golden-winged Warblers
Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Tom Will, David A. Buehler, Sara Barker Swarthout, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Ruth E. Bennett, Richard Chandler
2016, Book chapter, Golden-winged Warbler ecology, conservation, and habitat management (Studies in Avian Biology, volume 49)
With an estimated breeding population in 2010 of 383,000 pairs, the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is among the most vulnerable and steeply declining of North American passerines. This species also has exhibited among the most dynamic breeding distributions, with populations expanding and then contracting over the past 150 years in...
Linking field-based metabolomics and chemical analyses to prioritize contaminants of emerging concern in the Great Lakes basin
John M. Davis, Drew R. Ekman, Quincy Teng, Gerald T. Ankley, Jason P. Berninger, Jenna E. Cavallin, Kathleen M. Jensen, Michael D. Kahl, Anthony L. Schroeder, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Zachary G. Jorgenson, Kathy Lee, Timothy W. Collette
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 2493-2502
The ability to focus on the most biologically relevant contaminants affecting aquatic ecosystems can be challenging because toxicity-assessment programs have not kept pace with the growing number of contaminants requiring testing. Because it has proven effective at assessing the biological impacts of potentially toxic contaminants, profiling of endogenous metabolites (metabolomics)...
Synthesising empirical results to improve predictions of post-wildfire runoff and erosion response
Richard A. Shakesby, John A. Moody, Deborah A. Martin, Peter R. Robichaud
2016, International Journal of Wildland Fire (25) 257-261
Advances in research into wildfire impacts on runoff and erosion have demonstrated increasing complexity of controlling factors and responses, which, combined with changing fire frequency, present challenges for modellers. We convened a conference attended by experts and practitioners in post-wildfire impacts, meteorology and related research, including modelling, to focus on...
Primary production in the Delta: Then and now
James E. Cloern, April Robinson, Amy Richey, Letitia Grenier, Robin Grossinger, Katharyn E. Boyer, Jon Burau, Elizabeth A. Canuel, John F. DeGeorge, Judith Z. Drexler, Chris Enright, Emily R. Howe, Ronald Kneib, Anke Mueller-Solger, Robert J. Naiman, James L. Pinckney, Samuel M. Safran, David H. Schoellhamer, Charles A. Simenstad
2016, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (3)
To evaluate the role of restoration in the recovery of the Delta ecosystem, we need to have clear targets and performance measures that directly assess ecosystem function. Primary production is a crucial ecosystem process, which directly limits the quality and quantity of food available for secondary consumers such as invertebrates...
Geologic history of Martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa 7034: Evidence for hydrothermal activity and lithologic diversity in the Martian crust
Francis M. McCubbin, Jeremy W. Boyce, Timea Novak-Szabo, Alison Santos, Romain Tartese, Nele Muttik, Gabor Domokos, Jorge A. Vazquez, Lindsay P. Keller, Desmond E. Moser, Douglas J. Jerolmack, Charles K. Shearer, Andrew Steele, Stephen M. Elardo, Zia Rahman, Mahesh Anand, Thomas Delhaye, Carl B. Agee
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (121) 2120-2149
The timing and mode of deposition for Martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 were determined by combining petrography, shape analysis, and thermochronology. NWA 7034 is composed of igneous, impact, and brecciated clasts within a thermally annealed submicron matrix of pulverized crustal rocks and devitrified impact/volcanic glass. The brecciated clasts...
First direct evidence of long-distance seasonal movements and hibernation in a migratory bat
Theodore J. Weller, Kevin T. Castle, Felix Liechti, Cris D. Hein, Michael R. Schirmacher, Paul M. Cryan
2016, Scientific Reports (6)
Understanding of migration in small bats has been constrained by limitations of techniques that were labor-intensive, provided coarse levels of resolution, or were limited to population-level inferences. Knowledge of movements and behaviors of individual bats have been unknowable because of limitations in size of tracking devices and methods to attach...
Testing fault growth models with low-temperature thermochronology in the northwest Basin and Range, USA
Magdalena A. E. Curry, Jason B. Barnes, Joseph P. Colgan
2016, Tectonics (35) 2467-2492
Common fault growth models diverge in predicting how faults accumulate displacement and lengthen through time. A paucity of field-based data documenting the lateral component of fault growth hinders our ability to test these models and fully understand how natural fault systems evolve. Here we outline a framework for using apatite...
Coastal deposits of heavy mineral sands; Global significance and US resources
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Donald I. Bleiwas, George M. Bedinger, Karl J. Ellefsen, Anjana K. Shah
2016, Mining Engineering (68) 36-43
Ancient and modern coastal deposits of heavy mineral sands (HMS) are the principal source of several heavy industrial minerals, with mining and processing operations on every continent except Antarctica. For example, HMS deposits are the main source of titanium feedstock for the titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments industry, obtained from the...
Considerations for building climate-based species distribution models
David N. Bucklin, Mathieu Basille, Stephanie S. Romanach, Laura A. Brandt, Frank J. Mazzotti, James I. Watling
2016, Report
Climate plays an important role in the distribution of species. A given species may adjust to new conditions in-place, move to new areas with suitable climates, or go extinct. Scientists and conservation practitioners use mathematical models to predict the effects of future climate change on wildlife and plan for a...
Negative impacts of invasive plants on conservation of sensitive desert wildlife
K. Kristina Drake, Lizabeth Bowen, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Andrew J. Berger, Nathan Custer, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Jay D. Johnson, A. Keith Miles, Rebecca L. Lewison
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Habitat disturbance from development, resource extraction, off-road vehicle use, and energy development ranks highly among threats to desert systems worldwide. In the Mojave Desert, United States, these disturbances have promoted the establishment of nonnative plants, so that native grasses and forbs are now intermixed with, or have been replaced by...
Laboratory evaluation of the Design Analysis Associates DAA H-3613i radar water-level sensor—Results of temperature, distance, and SDI-12 tests
Mark V. Carnley
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1124
The Design Analysis Associates (DAA) DAA H-3613i radar water-level sensor (DAA H-3613i), manufactured by Xylem Incorporated, was evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) for conformance to manufacturer’s accuracy specifications for measuring a distance throughout the sensor’s operating temperature range, for measuring distances from 3 to...
Preliminary geologic mapping of Cretaceous and Tertiary formations in the eastern part of the Little Snake River coal field, Carbon County, Wyoming
Jon E. Haacke, C. S. Venable Barclay, Robert D. Hettinger
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1170
In the 1970s and 1980s, C.S. Venable Barclay conducted geologic mapping of areas primarily underlain by Cretaceous coals in the eastern part of the Little Snake River coal field (LSR) in Carbon County, southwest Wyoming. With some exceptions, most of the mapping data were never published. Subsequently, after his retirement...
Assessing potential scour using the South Carolina bridge-scour envelope curves
Stephen T. Benedict, Toby D. Feaster, Andral W. Caldwell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3065
SummaryBridge-scour equations presented in the Federal Highway Administration Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18 reflect the current state-of-the practice for predicting scour at bridges. Although these laboratory-derived equations provide an important resource for assessing scour potential, there is a measure of uncertainty when applying these equations to field conditions. The uncertainty...
Characterizing changes in streamflow and sediment supply in the Sacramento River Basin, California, using hydrological simulation program—FORTRAN (HSPF)
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Justin Toby Minear, Alan L. Flint, Scott Wright
2016, Water (8) 432
A daily watershed model of the Sacramento River Basin of northern California was developed to simulate streamflow and suspended sediment transport to the San Francisco Bay-Delta. To compensate for sparse data, a unique combination of model inputs was developed, including meteorological variables, potential evapotranspiration, and parameters defining hydraulic geometry. A...
