Morphometric sexing of Northwest Atlantic Roseate Terns
Brian G. Palestis, Ian C. T. Nisbet, Jeremy J. Hatch, Patricia Szczys, Jeffrey A. Spendelow
2012, Waterbirds (35) 479-484
A difficulty in the study of monomorphic species is the inability of observers to visually distinguish females from males. Based on a sample of 745 known-sex birds nesting at Bird Island, MA, USA, a discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to sex Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) of the Northwest...
Low-level copper exposures increase visibility and vulnerability of juvenile coho salmon to cutthroat trout predators
Jenifer K. McIntyre, David H. Baldwin, David A. Beauchamp, Nathaniel L. Scholz
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1460-1471
Copper contamination in surface waters is common in watersheds with mining activities or agricultural, industrial, commercial, and residential human land uses. This widespread pollutant is neurotoxic to the chemosensory systems of fish and other aquatic species. Among Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.), copper-induced olfactory impairment has previously been shown to disrupt...
Large-scale monitoring of shorebird populations using count data and N-mixture models: Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) surveys by land and sea
James E. Lyons, Royle J. Andrew, Susan M. Thomas, Elise Elliott-Smith, Joseph R. Evenson, Elizabeth G. Kelly, Ruth L. Milner, David R. Nysewander, Brad A. Andres
2012, The Auk (129) 645-652
Large-scale monitoring of bird populations is often based on count data collected across spatial scales that may include multiple physiographic regions and habitat types. Monitoring at large spatial scales may require multiple survey platforms (e.g., from boats and land when monitoring coastal species) and multiple survey methods. It becomes especially...
Hierarchical distance-sampling models to estimate population size and habitat-specific abundance of an island endemic
Scott T. Sillett, Richard B. Chandler, J. Andrew Royle, Marc Kéry, Scott A. Morrison
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1997-2006
Population size and habitat-specific abundance estimates are essential for conservation management. A major impediment to obtaining such estimates is that few statistical models are able to simultaneously account for both spatial variation in abundance and heterogeneity in detection probability, and still be amenable to large-scale applications. The hierarchical distance-sampling model...
This shrew is a jumping mouse (Mammalia, Dipodidae): Sorex dichrurus Rafinesque 1833 is a synonym of Zapus hudsonius (Zimmermann 1780)
Neal Woodman
Michael D. Carleton, editor(s)
2012, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (125) 308-316
Constantine S. Rafinesque described Sorex dichrurus as a shrew in 1833, based on a specimen he found in a proprietary museum near Niagara Falls on the New York/Ontario border. The name subsequently has been ignored by the scientific community. By describing this specimen as a shrew and ascribing it to...
Geologic map of the southern Funeral Mountains including nearby groundwater discharge sites in Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada
C. J. Fridrich, R. A. Thompson, J. L. Slate, M. E. Berry, M. N. Machette
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3151
This 1:50,000-scale geologic map covers the southern part of the Funeral Mountains, and adjoining parts of four structural basins—Furnace Creek, Amargosa Valley, Opera House, and central Death Valley—in California and Nevada. It extends over three full 7.5-minute quadrangles, and parts of eleven others—an area of about 1,000 square kilometers (km2)....
Reconnaissance soil geochemistry at the Riverton Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Site, Fremont County, Wyoming
David B. Smith, Michael J. Sweat
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1257
Soil samples were collected and chemically analyzed from the Riverton Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Site, which lies within the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fremont County, Wyoming. Nineteen soil samples from a depth of 0 to 5 centimeters were collected in August 2011 from the site. The samples were...
Quaternary geologic map of the Glasgow 1° x 2° quadrangle, Montana
David S. Fullerton, Roger B. Colton, Charles A. Bush
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1217
The Glasgow quadrangle encompasses approximately 16,084 km2 (6,210 mi2). The northern boundary is the Montana/Saskatchewan (U.S./Canada) boundary. The quadrangle is in the Northern Plains physiographic province and it includes the Boundary Plateau, Peerless Plateau, and Larb Hills. The primary river is the Milk River. The map units are surficial deposits and...
Keanakākoʻi Tephra produced by 300 years of explosive eruptions following collapse of Kīlauea's caldera in about 1500 CE
Donald A. Swanson, Timothy R. Rose, Richard S. Fiske, John P. McGeehin
2012, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (215-216) 8-25
The Keanakākoʻi Tephra at Kīlauea Volcano has previously been interpreted by some as the product of a caldera-forming eruption in 1790 CE. Our study, however, finds stratigraphic and 14C evidence that the tephra instead results from numerous eruptions throughout a 300-year period between about 1500 and 1800. The stratigraphic evidence...
The discourses of incidents: Cougars on Mt. Elden and in Sabino Canyon, Arizona
David J. Mattson, Susan G. Clark
2012, Policy Sciences (45)
Incidents are relatively short periods of intensified discourse that arise from public responses to symbolically important actions by public officials, and an important part of the conflict that increasingly surrounds state wildlife management in the West. In an effort to better understand incidents as a facet of this conflict, we...
Significant earthquakes on the Enriquillo fault system, Hispaniola, 1500-2010: Implications for seismic hazard
William H. Bakun, Claudia H. Flores, Uri S. ten Brink
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 18-30
Historical records indicate frequent seismic activity along the north-east Caribbean plate boundary over the past 500 years, particularly on the island of Hispaniola. We use accounts of historical earthquakes to assign intensities and the intensity assignments for the 2010 Haiti earthquakes to derive an intensity attenuation relation for Hispaniola. The...
Energy density of bloaters in the upper Great Lakes
Steven A. Pothoven, David B. Bunnell, Charles P. Madenjian, Owen T. Gorman, Edward F. Roseman
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 772-780
We evaluated the energy density of bloaters Coregonus hoyi as a function of fish size across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior in 2008–2009 and assessed how differences in energy density are related to factors such as biomass density of bloaters and availability of prey. Additional objectives were to compare energy...
Computing maximum-likelihood estimates for parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish
David I. Donato
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1181
This report presents the mathematical expressions and the computational techniques required to compute maximum-likelihood estimates for the parameters of the National Descriptive Model of Mercury in Fish (NDMMF), a statistical model used to predict the concentration of methylmercury in fish tissue. The expressions and techniques reported here were prepared to...
Hawaiian fissure fountains 1: decoding deposits-episode 1 of the 1969-1974 Mauna Ulu eruption
C.E. Parcheta, Bruce F. Houghton, D. A. Swanson
2012, Bulletin of Volcanology (74) 1729-1743
Deposits from episode 1 of the 1969–1974 Mauna Ulu eruption of Kīlauea provide an exceptional opportunity to study processes of low intensity Hawaiian fissure fountains. Episode 1 lava flows passed through dense forest that had little impact on flow dynamics; in contrast, the pattern of spatter preservation was strongly influenced...
Geomorphic and stratigraphic evidence for an unusual tsunami or storm a few centuries ago at Anegada, British Virgin Islands
Brian F. Atwater, Uri S. ten Brink, Mark Buckley, Robert S. Halley, Bruce E. Jaffe, Alberto M. Lopez-Venegas, Eduard G. Reinhardt, Maritia P. Tuttle, Steve Watt, Yong Wei
2012, Natural Hazards (63) 51-84
Waters from the Atlantic Ocean washed southward across parts of Anegada, east-northeast of Puerto Rico, during a singular event a few centuries ago. The overwash, after crossing a fringing coral reef and 1.5 km of shallow subtidal flats, cut dozens of breaches through sandy beach ridges, deposited a sheet of...
Identifying bubble collapse in a hydrothermal system using hiddden Markov models
Phillip B. Dawson, M.C. Benitez, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Bernard A. Chouet
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39)
Beginning in July 2003 and lasting through September 2003, the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park exhibited an unusual increase in ground temperature and hydrothermal activity. Using hidden Markov model theory, we identify over five million high-frequency (>15 Hz) seismic events observed at a temporary seismic station deployed in...
Temporal variations of geyser water chemistry in the Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA
Shaul Hurwitz, Andrew G. Hunt, William C. Evans
2012, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (13)
Geysers are rare features that reflect a delicate balance between an abundant supply of water and heat and a unique geometry of fractures and porous rocks. Between April 2007 and September 2008, we sampled Old Faithful, Daisy, Grand, Oblong, and Aurum geysers in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin and...
Waste rice seed in conventional and stripper-head harvested fields in California: Implications for wintering waterfowl
Joseph P. Fleskes, Brian J. Halstead, Michael L. Casazza, Peter S. Coates, Jeffrey D. Kohl, Daniel A. Skalos
2012, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (3) 266-275
Waste rice seed is an important food for wintering waterfowl and current estimates of its availability are needed to determine the carrying capacity of rice fields and guide habitat conservation. We used a line-intercept method to estimate mass-density of rice seed remaining after harvest during 2010 in the Sacramento Valley...
Flood-inundation maps for the White River at Newberry, Indiana
Kathleen K. Fowler, Moon H. Kim, Chad D. Menke
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3231
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 4.9-mile reach of the White River at Newberry, Indiana (Ind.), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site...
Geology and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the medium- to high-K Tanaga volcanic cluster, western Aleutians
Brian R. Jicha, Michelle L. Coombs, Andrew T. Calvert, Brad S. Singer
2012, Geological Society of America Bulletin (124) 842-856
We used geologic mapping and geochemical data augmented by 40Ar/39Ar dating to establish an eruptive chronology for the Tanaga volcanic cluster in the western Aleutian arc. The Tanaga volcanic cluster is unique in comparison to other central and western Aleutian volcanoes in that it consists of three closely spaced, active,...
Evaluation of water-quality characteristics and sampling design for streams in North Dakota, 1970–2008
Joel M. Galloway, Aldo V. Vecchia, Kevin C. Vining, Brenda K. Densmore, Robert F. Lundgren
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5216
In response to the need to examine the large amount of historic water-quality data comprehensively across North Dakota and evaluate the efficiency of the State-wide sampling programs, a study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Dakota State Water Commission and the North Dakota Department...
United States Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Hazards Response
Rynn M. Lamb, Brenda K. Jones
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3061
The primary goal of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Hazards Response is to ensure that the disaster response community has access to timely, accurate, and relevant geospatial products, imagery, and services during and after an emergency event. To accomplish this goal, products and services provided by the National Geospatial Program...
Geologic map of Kalaupapa Peninsula, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i, USA
Chris H. Okubo
2012, Journal of Maps (8) 267-270
Kalaupapa Peninsula, along the northern coast of East Moloka‘i volcano, is a remarkably well-preserved example of rejuvenated-stage volcanism from a Hawaiian volcano. Mapping of lava flows, vents and other volcanic constructs reveals a diversity of landforms on this small monogenetic basaltic shield. The late-stage lava distributary system of this shield...
Understanding the influence of predation on introduced fishes on juvenile salmonids in the Columbia River Basin: Closing some knowledge gaps. Late summer and fall diet and condition of smallmouth bass, walleye, and channel catfish in the middle Columbia River, USA. Interim Report of Research 2011.
Brien P. Rose, Gabriel S. Hansen, Michele Weaver Michele, David Ayers, Erick S. Van Dyke, Matthew G. Mesa
2012, Report
American shad Alosa sapidissima in the middle Columbia River (MCR)—a high energy food available in the summer and fall—may be contributing to the increased growth and enhanced condition of nonnative piscivores. To test this hypothesis we quantified the late summer and autumn diets of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, walleye...
Producing fractional rangeland component predictions in a sagebrush ecosystem, a Wyoming sensitivity analysis
George Xian, Collin G. Homer, Brian Granneman, Debra K. Meyer
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1239
Remote sensing information has been widely used to monitor vegetation condition and variations in a variety of ecosystems, including shrublands. Careful application of remotely sensed imagery can provide additional spatially explicit, continuous, and extensive data on the composition and condition of shrubland ecosystems. Historically, the most widely available remote sensing...
