Reconstructing vegetation response to altered hydrology and its use for restoration, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
Christopher E. Bernhardt, Laura A. Brandt, Bryan D. Landacre, Marci E. Marot, Debra A. Willard
2013, Wetlands (33) 1139-1149
We present reconstructed hydrologic and vegetation trends of the last three centuries across the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Florida in order to understand the effects of 20th century water management. We analyzed pollen assemblages from cores at marsh sites along three transects to document vegetation and infer...
Three new Psammothidium species from lakes of Olympic and Cascade Mountains in Washington State, USA
Mihaela D. Enache, Marina Potapova, Rich Sheibley, Patrick Moran
2013, Phytotaxa (127) 49-57
Populations of several Psammothidium species were found in core sediments from nine remote, high elevation, ultraoligotrophic and oligotrophic, Olympic and Cascade Mountain lakes. Three of these species, P. lacustre, P. alpinum, and P. nivale, are described here as new. The morphology of the silica frustules of these species was documented...
Histopathological analysis of fish from Acorn Fork Creek, Kentucky exposed to hydraulic fracturing fluid releases
Diana M. Papoulias, Anthony L. Velasco
2013, Southeastern Naturalist (12) 92-111
Fracking fluids were released into Acorn Fork, KY, a designated Outstanding State Resource Water, and habitat for the threatened Chrosomus cumberlandensis (Blackside Dace). As a result, stream pH dropped to 5.6 and stream conductivity increased to 35,000 μS/cm, and aquatic invertebrates and fish were killed or distressed. The objective of this study was to...
In vitro prion protein conversion suggests risk of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Christopher J. Johnson, A.R. Morawski, C.M. Carlson, H. Chang
2013, BMC Veterinary Research (9)
Background: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) affect both domestic sheep (scrapie) and captive and free-ranging cervids (chronic wasting disease; CWD). The geographical range of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis; BHS) overlaps with states or provinces that have contained scrapie-positive sheep or goats and areas with present epizootics of CWD in cervids. No...
A sand budget for Marble Canyon, Arizona: implications for long-term monitoring of sand storage change
Paul E. Grams
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3074
Recent U.S. Geological Survey research is providing important insights into how best to monitor changes in the amount of tributary-derived sand stored on the bed of the Colorado River and in eddies in Marble Canyon, Arizona. Before the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and other dams upstream, sandbars in Glen,...
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) movement in relation to water temperature, season, and habitat features in Arrowrock Reservoir, Idaho, 2012
Terry R. Maret, Justin E. Schultz
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5158
Acoustic telemetry was used to determine spring to summer (April–August) movement and habitat use of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in Arrowrock Reservoir (hereafter “Arrowrock”), a highly regulated reservoir in the Boise River Basin of southwestern Idaho. Water management practices annually use about 86 percent of the reservoir water volume to...
Great gray owls (Strix nebulosa) in Yosemite National Park: on the importance of food, forest structure, and human disturbance
Charles van Riper III, Joseph J. Fontaine, Jan W. van Wagtendonk
2013, Natural Areas Journal (33) 286-295
We studied great gray owls (Strix nebulosa Forster) in Yosemite National Park, California, measuring variables that could potentially influence patterns of occurrence and conservation of this stateendangered species. We found that owl presence was closely tied to habitat (red fir (Abies magnified A. Murray) and the abundance of meadows), prey,...
Water levels and water quality in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer (middle Claiborne aquifer) in Arkansas, spring-summer 2009
T.P. Schrader
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5100
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey has monitored water levels in the Sparta Sand of Claiborne Group and Memphis Sand of Claiborne Group (herein referred to as the Sparta Sand and the Memphis Sand, respectively) since the 1920s. Groundwater...
Analysis and inundation mapping of the April-May 2011 flood at selected locations in northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri
Drew A. Westerman, Katherine R. Merriman, Jeanne L. De Lanois, Charles Berenbrock
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5148
Precipitation that fell from April 19 through May 3, 2011, resulted in widespread flooding across northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri. The first storm produced a total of approximately 16 inches of precipitation over an 8-day period, and the following storms produced as much as 12 inches of precipitation...
Reconnaissance investigation of the alluvial gold deposits in the North Takhar Area of Interest, Takhar Province, Afghanistan
Peter G. Chirico, Katherine C. Malpeli, Thomas W. Moran
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1180
This study is a reconnaissance assessment of the alluvial gold deposits of the North Takhar Area of Interest (AOI) in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. Soviet and Afghan geologists collected data and calculated the gold deposit reserves in Takhar Province in the 1970s, prior to the development of satellite-based remote-sensing platforms and...
Reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Katherine C. Malpeli, Peter G. Chirico, Isabel H. McLoughlin
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1179
This study is a reconnaissance investigation of the placer gold deposits in the Zarkashan Area of Interest (AOI) in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. Detailed investigations of the Zarkashan gold deposits were conducted by Soviet and Afghan geologists in the 1960s and 1970s, prior to the development of satellite-based remote-sensing platforms and...
Assessing hazards along our Nation's coasts
Hilary F. Stockdon, Cheryl J. Hapke, E. Robert Thieler, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3077
Coastal areas are essential to the economic, cultural, and environmental health of the Nation, yet by nature coastal areas are constantly changing due to a variety of events and processes. Extreme storms can cause dramatic changes to our shorelines in a matter of hours, while sea-level rise can profoundly alter...
Coastal change from Hurricane Sandy and the 2012-13 winter storm season: Fire Island, New York
Cheryl J. Hapke, Owen Brenner, Rachel E. Henderson, B.J. Reynolds
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1231
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mounted a substantial effort in response to Hurricane Sandy including an assessment of the morphological impacts to the beach and dune system at Fire Island, New York. Field surveys of the beach and dunes collected just prior to and after landfall were used to quantify...
Stratigraphy of lower to middle Paleozoic rocks of northern Nevada and the Antler orogeny
Keith B. Ketner
2013, Professional Paper 1799
Commonly accepted concepts concerning the lower Paleozoic stratigraphy of northern Nevada are based on the assumption that the deep-water aspects of Ordovician to Devonian siliceous strata are due to their origin in a distant oceanic environment, and their presence where we find them is due to tectonic emplacement by the...
Epidote from the Zard Mountains, Kharan, Balochistan, Pakistan
Michael E. Brownfield, Heather Lowers, William K. Betterton
2013, Mindat.org
The authors received two unusual crystals of epidote from Rock Currier, Jewel Tunnel Imports, in 2012. The mineral specimens were collected at Zard Mountain (Zard Koh), in the central part of the Ruskoh Mountains (Rusk Koh), west of Kharan, Balochistan, Pakistan (written communication, Rock Currier, 2013). The epidote locality was...
Carolinas coastal change processes project data report for nearshore observations at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
Brandy N. Armstrong, John C. Warner, George Voulgaris, Jeffrey H. List, Robert Thieler, Marinna A. Martini, Ellyn T. Montgomery, Jesse E. McNinch, Jeffrey W. Book, Kevin Haas
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1219
An oceanographic field study conducted in February 2010 investigated processes that control nearshore flow and sediment transport dynamics at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This report describes the project background, field program, instrumentation setup, and locations of the sensor deployments. The data collected, and supporting meteorological and streamflow observations, are presented...
Effects of fire on the thermal stability of permafrost in lowland and upland black spruce forests of interior Alaska in a changing climate
Elchin E. Jafarov, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Helene Genet, Anthony D. McGuire, Sergey S. Marchenko
2013, Environmental Research Letters (8)
Fire is an important factor controlling the composition and thickness of the organic layer in the black spruce forest ecosystems of interior Alaska. Fire that burns the organic layer can trigger dramatic changes in the underlying permafrost, leading to accelerated ground thawing within a relatively short time. In this study,...
Florida Panhandle
Lawrence R. Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, Barbara Albrecht, Karen Bruening, Alison McDowell, René Baumstark, Ryan Moyer, Cindy A. Thatcher
2013, Report, Emergent wetlands status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010
Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a multitude of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the...
Juvenile movement among different populations of cutthroat trout introduced as embryos to vacant habitat
Tessa M. Andrews, Bradley B. Shepard, Andrea R. Litt, Carter G. Kruse, Alexander V. Zale, Steven T. Kalinowski
2013, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (33) 795-805
Translocations are frequently used to increase the abundance and range of endangered fishes. One factor likely to affect the outcome of translocations is fish movement. We introduced embryos from five Westslope Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi populations (both hatchery and wild) at five different locations within a fishless watershed. We then examined...
Landscape-level estimation of nitrogen removal in coastal Louisiana wetlands: potential sinks under different restoration scenarios
Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Benjamin Branoff, Ehab Meselhe, Alex McCorquodale, Mark Dortch, Gregory D. Steyer, Jenneke Visser, Hongqing Wang
2013, Journal of Coastal Research (Summer 2013) 75-87
Coastal eutrophication in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is the primary anthropogenic contributor to the largest zone of hypoxic bottom waters in North America. Although biologically mediated processes such as denitrification (Dn) are known to act as sinks for inorganic nitrogen, it is unknown what contribution denitrification makes to...
Effects of surface applications of biosolids on groundwater quality and trace-element concentrations in crops near Deer Trail, Colorado, 2004-2010
Tracy J.B. Yager, James G. Crock, David B. Smith, Edward T. Furlong, Philip L. Hageman, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5065
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Metro Wastewater Reclamation District (Metro District), studied biosolids composition and the effects of biosolids applications on groundwater quality and trace-element concentrations in crops of the Metro District properties near Deer Trail, Colorado, during 2004 through 2010. Priority parameters for each monitoring component...
Predicting the toxicity of metal mixtures
Laurie S. Balistrieri, Christopher A. Mebane
2013, Science of the Total Environment (466-467) 788-799
The toxicity of single and multiple metal (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) solutions to trout is predicted using an approach that combines calculations of: (1) solution speciation; (2) competition and accumulation of cations (H, Ca, Mg, Na, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) on low abundance, high affinity and high abundance,...
User’s guide and reference to Ash3d—A three-dimensional model for Eulerian atmospheric tephra transport and deposition
Larry G. Mastin, Michael J. Randall, Hans F. Schwaiger, Roger P. Denlinger
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1122
Ash3d is a three-dimensional Eulerian atmospheric model for tephra transport, dispersal, and deposition to study and forecast hazards of volcanic ash clouds and tephra fall. In this report, we explain how to set up simulations using a web interface, and how to view and interpret model output. We also summarize...
Leaf gas exchange and nutrient use efficiency help explain the distribution of two Neotropical mangroves under contrasting flooding and salinity
Pablo Cardona-Olarte, Ken W. Krauss, Robert R. Twilley
2013, International Journal of Forestry Research
Rhizophora mangle and Laguncularia racemosa co-occur along many intertidal floodplains in the Neotropics. Their patterns of dominance shift along various gradients, coincident with salinity, soil fertility, and tidal flooding. We used leaf gas exchange metrics to investigate the strategies of these two species in mixed culture to simulate competition under...
Forecasting the effects of coastal protection and restoration projects on wetland morphology in coastal Louisiana under multiple environmental uncertainty scenarios
Brady R. Couvillion, Gregory D. Steyer, Hongqing Wang, Holly J. Beck, John M. Rybczyk
2013, Journal of Coastal Research 29-50
Few landscape scale models have assessed the effects of coastal protection and restoration projects on wetland morphology while taking into account important uncertainties in environmental factors such as sea-level rise (SLR) and subsidence. In support of Louisiana's 2012 Coastal Master Plan, we developed a spatially explicit wetland morphology model and...
