A velocimetric survey of the Lower Missouri River from river mile 492.38 to 290.20, July-October 2011 and July 2012
Daniel J. Armstrong, Donald H. Wilkison, Richard D. Norman
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5197
Velocimetric surveys were made by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2011 and 2012 to provide data for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ ongoing study of bed degradation in the Lower Missouri River. Using Acoustic Doppler Current Profile technology, velocity data were collected at 87 river miles along the Lower...
Global geologic map of Ganymede
Geoffrey C. Collins, G. Wesley Patterson, James W. Head, Robert T. Pappalardo, Louise M. Prockter, Baerbel K. Lucchitta, Johnathan P. Kay
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3237
Ganymede is the largest satellite of Jupiter, and its icy surface has been formed through a variety of impact cratering, tectonic, and possibly cryovolcanic processes. The history of Ganymede can be divided into three distinct phases: an early phase dominated by impact cratering and mixing of non-ice materials in the...
Do digestive contents confound body mass as a measure of relative condition in nestling songbirds?
Henry M. Streby, Sean M. Peterson, Justin A. Lehman, Gunnar R. Kramer, Ben J. Vernasco, David E. Andersen
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 305-310
Relative nestling condition, typically measured as nestling mass or as an index including nestling mass, is commonly purported to correlate with fledgling songbird survival. However, most studies directly investigating fledgling survival have found no such relationship. We weighed feces and stomach contents of nestling golden-winged warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) to investigate...
Delivering climate science about the Nation's fish, wildlife, and ecosystems: the U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center
Elda Varela-Acevedo
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3110
Changes to the Earth’s climate—temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables—pose significant challenges to our Nation’s natural resources. Managers of land, water, and living resources require an understanding of the impacts of climate change—which exacerbate ongoing stresses such as habitat alteration and invasive species—in order to design effective response strategies. In...
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona: 2011-2012
Jamie P. Macy, Joel A. Unema
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1304
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of...
Metolachlor metabolite (MESA) reveals agricultural nitrate-N fate and transport in Choptank River watershed
Gregory W. McCarty, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Clifford P. Rice, W. Dean Hively, Laura L. McConnell, Ali M. Sadeghi, Megan W. Lang, David R. Whitall, Krystyna Bialek, Peter Downey
2014, Science of the Total Environment (473-474) 473-482
Over 50% of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been rated as poor or very poor based on the index of biological integrity. The Choptank River estuary, a Bay tributary on the eastern shore, is one such waterway, where corn and soybean production in upland areas of the watershed...
Maps showing thermal maturity of Upper Cretaceous marine shales in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming and Montana
Thomas M. Finn, Mark J. Pawlewicz
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3285
The Bighorn Basin is one of many structural and sedimentary basins that formed in the Rocky Mountain foreland during the Laramide orogeny, a period of crustal instability and compressional tectonics that began in latest Cretaceous time and ended in the Eocene. The basin is nearly 180 mi long, 100 mi...
Change in the length of the southern section of the Chandeleur Islands oil berm, January 13, 2011, through September 3, 2012
Nathaniel G. Plant, Kristy K. Guy
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1303
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig drilling at the Macondo Prospect site in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in a marine oil spill that continued to flow through July 15, 2010. One of the affected areas was the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, which consists...
Survival of bacterial indicators and the functional diversity of native microbial communities in the Floridan aquifer system, south Florida
John T. Lisle
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1011
The Upper Floridan aquifer in the southern region of Florida is a multi-use, regional scale aquifer that is used as a potable water source and as a repository for passively recharged untreated surface waters, and injected treated surface water and wastewater, industrial wastes, including those which contain greenhouse gases (for...
Trend analysis and selected summary statistics of annual mean streamflow for 38 selected long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in Texas, water years 1916-2012
William H. Asquith, Dana L. Barbie
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5230
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operated more than 500 continuous streamgages (streamflow-gaging stations) in Texas. In cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board, the USGS evaluated mean annual streamflow data for 38 selected streamgages that were active as of water year 2012. The 38 streamgages have annual mean...
Structural equation models of VMT growth in US urbanised areas.
Reid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, Frank Gallivan, Arthur C. Nelson, James B. Grace
2014, Urban Studies (51) 3079-3096
Vehicle miles travelled (VMT) is a primary performance indicator for land use and transportation, bringing with it both positive and negative externalities. This study updates and refines previous work on VMT in urbanised areas, using recent data, additional metrics and structural equation modelling (SEM). In a cross-sectional model for 2010,...
Assessing mobility and redistribution patterns of sand and oil agglomerates in the surf zone
P. Soupy Dalyander, Joesph W. Long, Nathaniel G. Plant, David M. Thompson
2014, Marine Pollution Bulletin (80) 200-209
Heavier-than-water sand and oil agglomerates that formed in the surf zone following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill continued to cause beach re-oiling 3 years after initial stranding. To understand this phenomena and inform operational response now and for future spills, a numerical method to assess the mobility and alongshore movement...
Perception, experience, and indigenous knowledge of climate change and variability: the case of Accra, a sub-Saharan African city
Samuel N.A. Codjoe, George Owusu, Virginia Burkett
2014, Regional Environmental Change (14) 369-383
Several recent international assessments have concluded that climate change has the potential to reverse the modest economic gains achieved in many developing countries over the past decade. The phenomenon of climate change threatens to worsen poverty or burden populations with additional hardships, especially in poor societies with weak infrastructure and...
Assessment of conservation easements, total phosphorus, and total suspended solids in West Fork Beaver Creek, Minnesota, 1999-2012
Victoria G. Christensen, Kristen A. Kieta
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5002
This study examined conservation easements and their effectiveness at reducing phosphorus and solids transport to streams. The U.S. Geological Survey cooperated with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and worked collaboratively with the Hawk Creek Watershed Project to examine the West Fork Beaver Creek Basin in Renville County,...
The effect of adjusting model inputs to achieve mass balance on time-dynamic simulations in a food-web model of Lake Huron
Brian J. Langseth, Michael L. Jones, Stephen C. Riley
2014, Ecological Modelling (273) 44-54
Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) is a widely used modeling tool in fishery research and management. Ecopath requires a mass-balanced snapshot of a food web at a particular point in time, which Ecosim then uses to simulate changes in biomass over time. Initial inputs to Ecopath, including estimates for biomasses, production...
Identifying objectives and alternative actions to frame a decision problem.
Michael C. Runge, Terry Walshe
2014, Book chapter
In this chapter, we discuss the role of objectives and alternative actions in framing a natural resource management decision problem, with particular attention to thresholds. We outline a number of considerations in developing objectives and measurable attributes, including when utility thresholds may be needed to express the decision-makers’ values.We also...
Active tensor magnetic gradiometer system final report for Project MM–1514
David V. Smith, Jeffrey D. Phillips, S. Raymond Hutton
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1228
An interactive computer simulation program, based on physical models of system sensors, platform geometry, Earth environment, and spheroidal magnetically-permeable targets, was developed to generate synthetic magnetic field data from a conceptual tensor magnetic gradiometer system equipped with an active primary field generator. The system sensors emulate the prototype tensor magnetic...
The transport of nonindigenous microorganisms into caves by human visitation: a case study at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Dale W. Griffin, Michael A. Gray, Michael B. Lyles, Diana E. Northup
2014, Geomicrobiology Journal (31) 175-185
A series of atmospheric investigations was conducted in Carlsbad Cavern to determine if human visitation is a possible cause for the contamination of the cave system with non-indigenous microorganisms. In 2004, site-specific culture-based data demonstrated that Staphylococcus spp. colony-forming units (CFUs) were the most prevalent members of the atmospheric community...
Geochemistry of groundwater in the Beaver and Camas Creek drainage basins, eastern Idaho
Gordon W. Rattray, Michael L. Ginsbach
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5226
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, is studying the fate and transport of waste solutes in the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in eastern Idaho. This effort requires an understanding of the natural and anthropogenic geochemistry...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for New York
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3006
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of New York, elevation data are critical for coastal zone management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, flood risk management, infrastructure and...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Maryland
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3005
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Maryland, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation such as the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed, flood...
Polar bears exhibit genome-wide signatures of bioenergetic adaptation to life in the Arctic environment
Andreanna J. Welch, Oscar C. Bedoya-Reina, Lorenzo Carretero-Paulet, Webb Miller, Karyn D. Rode, Charlotte Lindqvist
2014, Genome Biology and Evolution (6) 433-450
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) face extremely cold temperatures and periods of fasting, which might result in more severe energetic challenges than those experienced by their sister species, the brown bear (U. arctos). We have examined the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of polar and brown bears to investigate if polar bears...
Market forces and technological substitutes cause fluctuations in the value of bat pest-control services for cotton
Laura López-Hoffman, Ruscena Wiederholt, Chris Sansone, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Paul M. Cryan, James E. Diffendorfer, Joshua Goldstein, Kelsie LaSharr, John Loomis, Gary McCracken, Rodrigo A. Medellin, Amy Russell, Darius J. Semmens
2014, PLoS ONE (2)
Critics of the market-based, ecosystem services approach to biodiversity conservation worry that volatile market conditions and technological substitutes will diminish the value of ecosystem services and obviate the “economic benefits” arguments for conservation. To explore the effects of market forces and substitutes on service values, we assessed how the value...
Comparisons of genetic diversity in captive versus wild populations of the federally endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino Behr; Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae)
Mark P. Miller, Gordon F. Pratt, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig
2014, Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington (116) 80-90
Captive populations can play a significant role in threatened and endangered species management. An important consideration when developing and managing captive populations, however, is the maintenance of genetic diversity to ensure that adequate variation exists to avoid the negative consequences of inbreeding. In this investigation, we compared genetic diversity patterns...
Arkansas StreamStats: a U.S. Geological Survey web map application for basin characteristics and streamflow statistics
Aaron L. Pugh
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3041
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides streamflow and other related information needed by water-resource managers responsible for protecting people and property from floods, planning and managing water-resource activities, and protecting water quality. Streamflow statistics provided by the USGS, such as the 1-percent annual exceedance probability (100-year flood) and the 7-day...
