Occurrence and potential sources of pyrethroid insecticides in stream sediments from seven U.S. metropolitan areas
Kathryn Kuivila, Michelle Hladik, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Nile E. Kemble, Patrick W. Moran, Daniel L. Calhoun, Lisa H. Nowell, Robert J. Gilliom
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 4297-4303
A nationally consistent approach was used to assess the occurrence and potential sources of pyrethroid insecticides in stream bed sediments from seven metropolitan areas across the United States. One or more pyrethroids were detected in almost half of the samples, with bifenthrin detected the most frequently (41%) and in each...
Predicting biological condition in southern California streams
Larry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Andrew C. Rehn, Peter R. Ode, Ian R. Waite, Jonathan G. Kennen
2012, Landscape and Urban Planning (108) 17-27
As understanding of the complex relations among environmental stressors and biological responses improves, a logical next step is predictive modeling of biological condition at unsampled sites. We developed a boosted regression tree (BRT) model of biological condition, as measured by a benthic macroinvertebrate index of biotic integrity (BIBI), for streams...
Dissolved organic matter reduces algal accumulation of methylmercury
Allison C. Luengen, Nicholas S. Fisher, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 1712-1719
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) significantly decreased accumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) by the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana in laboratory experiments. Live diatom cells accumulated two to four times more MeHg than dead cells, indicating that accumulation may be partially an energy-requiring process. Methylmercury enrichment in diatoms relative to ambient water was measured...
Recent advances in applying decision science to managing national forests
Bruce G. Marcot, Matthew P. Thompson, Michael C. Runge, Frank R. Thompson, Steven McNulty, David Cleaves, Monica Tomosy, Larry A. Fisher, Bliss Andrew
2012, Forest Ecology and Management (285) 123-132
Management of federal public forests to meet sustainability goals and multiple use regulations is an immense challenge. To succeed, we suggest use of formal decision science procedures and tools in the context of structured decision making (SDM). SDM entails four stages: problem structuring (framing the problem and defining objectives and...
United States Geological Survey fire science: Fire danger monitoring and forecasting
Jeff C. Eidenshink, Stephen M. Howard
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3121
Each day, the U.S. Geological Survey produces 7-day forecasts for all Federal lands of the distributions of number of ignitions, number of fires above a given size, and conditional probabilities of fires growing larger than a specified size. The large fire probability map is an estimate of the likelihood that...
Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1 through December 31, 2011
James P. Dixon, Scott D. Stihler, John A. Power, Cheryl K. Searcy
2012, Data Series 730
Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) located 4,364 earthquakes, of which 3,651 occurred within 20 kilometers of the 33 volcanoes with seismograph subnetworks. There was no significant seismic activity above background levels in 2011 at these instrumented volcanic centers. This catalog includes locations, magnitudes,...
Pathology in euthermic bats with white nose syndrome suggests a natural manifestation of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
Carol U. Meteyer, Daniel Barber, Judith N. Mandl
2012, Virulence (3) 583-588
White nose syndrome, caused by Geomyces destructans, has killed more than 5 million cave hibernating bats in eastern North America. During hibernation, the lack of inflammatory cell recruitment at the site of fungal infection and erosion is consistent with a temperature-induced inhibition of immune cell trafficking. This immune suppression allows...
Compartment-based hydrodynamics and water quality modeling of a northern Everglades wetland, Florida, USA
Hongqing Wang, Ehab A. Meselhe, Michael G. Waldon, Matthew C. Harwell, Chunfang Chen
2012, Ecological Modelling (247) 273-285
The last remaining large remnant of softwater wetlands in the US Florida Everglades lies within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. However, Refuge water quality today is impacted by pumped stormwater inflows to the eutrophic and mineral-enriched 100-km canal, which circumscribes the wetland. Optimal management is a challenge...
Investigation of land subsidence in the Houston-Galveston region of Texas by using the Global Positioning System and interferometric synthetic aperture radar, 1993-2000
Gerald W. Bawden, Michaela R. Johnson, Mark C. Kasmarek, Justin T. Brandt, Clifton S. Middleton
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5211
Since the early 1900s, groundwater has been the primary source of municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supplies for the Houston-Galveston region, Texas. The region's combination of hydrogeology and nearly century-long use of groundwater has resulted in one of the largest areas of subsidence in the United States; by 1979, as...
Watershed regressions for pesticides (warp) models for predicting atrazine concentrations in Corn Belt streams
Wesley W. Stone, Robert J. Gilliom
2012, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (48) 970-986
Watershed Regressions for Pesticides (WARP) models, previously developed for atrazine at the national scale, are improved for application to the United States (U.S.) Corn Belt region by developing region-specific models that include watershed characteristics that are influential in predicting atrazine concentration statistics within the Corn Belt. WARP models for the...
Landslides in Colorado, USA--Impacts and loss estimation for 2010
Lynn M. Highland
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1204
The focus of this study is to investigate landslides and consequent losses which affected Colorado in the year 2010. By obtaining landslide reports from a variety of sources, this report will demonstrate the feasibility of creating a profile of landslides and their effects on communities. A short overview of the...
A basin-scale approach for assessing water resources in a semiarid environment: San Diego region, California and Mexico
L. E. Flint, A. L. Flint, Bernard J. Stolp, W.R. Danskin
2012, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (16) 3817-3833
Many basins throughout the world have sparse hydrologic and geologic data, but have increasing demands for water and a commensurate need for integrated understanding of surface and groundwater resources. This paper demonstrates a methodology for using a distributed parameter water-balance model, gaged surface-water flow, and a reconnaissance-level groundwater flow model...
Prevalence of a potentially lethal parasite of wading birds in natural and agricultural wetlands in south Louisiana
Margaret C. Luent, Melissa Collins, Clinton Jeske, Paul Leberg
2012, Southeastern Naturalist (11) 415-422
Gambusia affinis (Western Mosquitofish) were sampled from 18 sites representing marsh, forested wetlands, and agricultural wetlands in south Louisiana to determine distribution and infection parameters of Eustrongylides ignotus, a potentially lethal nematode parasite of wading birds, (n = 400 per site). Overall, prevalence of infection was 0.3%, with significantly higher...
Hydrozincite seasonal precipitation at Naracauli (Sardinia – Italy): Hydrochemical factors and morphological features of the biomineralization process
D. Medas, R. Cidu, P. Lattanzi, F. Podda, Richard B. Wanty, G. De Giudici
2012, Applied Geochemistry (27) 1814-1820
Hydrozincite [Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6] precipitation from Naracauli waters (SW Sardinia) is, among other things, promoted by a microbial community made up of a filamentous cyanobacterium (Scytonema sp.) and a microalgae (Chlorella sp.). Hydrozincite bioprecipitation is responsible for the natural removal of harmful metals, especially Zn, from the stream waters. Thus, hydrozincite could be used...
Wildlife contact analysis: Emerging methods, questions, and challenges
Paul C. Cross, Tyler G. Creech, Michael R. Ebinger, Dennis M. Heisey, Kathryn M. Irvine, Scott Creel
2012, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (66) 1437-1447
Recent technological advances, such as proximity loggers, allow researchers to collect complete interaction histories, day and night, among sampled individuals over several months to years. Social network analyses are an obvious approach to analyzing interaction data because of their flexibility for fitting many different social structures as well as the...
Geologic assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources--Middle Eocene Claiborne Group, United States part of the Gulf of Mexico Basin
Paul C. Hackley
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1144
The Middle Eocene Claiborne Group was assessed using established U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment methodology for undiscovered conventional hydrocarbon resources as part of the 2007 USGS assessment of Paleogene-Neogene strata of the United States part of the Gulf of Mexico Basin including onshore and State waters. The assessed area is...
History of earthquakes and tsunamis along the eastern Aleutian-Alaska megathrust, with implications for tsunami hazards in the California Continental Borderland
Holly F. Ryan, Roland E. von Huene, Ray E. Wells, David W. Scholl, Stephen Kirby, Amy E. Draut
Julie A. Dumoulin, C. Dusel-Bacon, editor(s)
2012, Professional Paper 1795-A
During the past several years, devastating tsunamis were generated along subduction zones in Indonesia, Chile, and most recently Japan. Both the Chile and Japan tsunamis traveled across the Pacific Ocean and caused localized damage at several coastal areas in California. The question remains as to whether coastal California, in particular...
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS cruise 10BIM04 offshore Cat Island, Mississippi, September 2010
Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Jack L. Kindinger, Jennifer L. Miselis, Dana S. Wiese, Noreen A. Buster
2012, Data Series 724
In September of 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), conducted a geophysical survey to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework of Cat Island, Miss., as part of a broader USGS study on Barrier Island Mapping (BIM). These surveys...
Archive of digital boomer subbottom profile data collected in the Atlantic Ocean offshore northeast Florida during USGS cruises 03FGS01 and 03FGS02 in September and October of 2003
Karynna Calderon, Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, Dana S. Wiese, Daniel C. Phelps
2012, Data Series 670
In September and October of 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Florida Geological Survey, conducted geophysical surveys of the Atlantic Ocean offshore northeast Florida from St. Augustine, Florida, to the Florida-Georgia border. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer subbottom profile data, trackline...
N2-fixing red alder indirectly accelerates ecosystem nitrogen cycling
Steven S. Perakis, Joselin J. Matkins, David E. Hibbs
2012, Ecosystems (15) 1182-1193
Symbiotic N2-fixing tree species can accelerate ecosystem N dynamics through decomposition via direct pathways by producing readily decomposed leaf litter and increasing N supply to decomposers, as well as via indirect pathways by increasing tissue and detrital N in non-fixing vegetation. To evaluate the relative importance of these pathways, we...
Radio telemetry equipment and applications for carnivores
Mark R. Fuller, Todd K. Fuller
Luigi Boitani, Roger A. Powell, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Carnivore ecology and conservation: A handbook of techniques
Radio-telemetry was not included in the first comprehensive manual of wildlife research techniques (Mosby 1960) because the first published papers were about physiological wildlife telemetry (LeMunyan et al. 1959) and because research using telemetry in field ecology was just being initiated (Marshall et al. 1962; Cochran and Lord 1963). Among...
Health assessment of captive and wild-caught West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus)
M. Andrew Stamper, Robert K. Bonde
Ellen Hines, John E. Reynolds III, Lemnuel Aragones, Antonio Mignucci-Giannoni, Miriam Marmontel, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Sirenian conservation: Isues and strategies in developing countries
A random biogeochemical walk into three soda lakes of the western USA: With an introduction to a few of their microbial denizens
Ronald S. Oremland
Joseph Seckbach, Aharon Oren, Helga Stan-Lotter, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Polyextremophiles -- Organisms living under multiple stress
Influence of permafrost distribution on groundwater flow in the context of climate-driven permafrost thaw: Example from Yukon Flats Basin, Alaska, United States
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Clifford I. Voss, Tristan P. Wellman
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Understanding the role of permafrost in controlling groundwater flow paths and fluxes is central in studies aimed at assessing potential climate change impacts on vegetation, species habitat, biogeochemical cycling, and biodiversity. Recent field studies in interior Alaska show evidence of hydrologic changes hypothesized to result from permafrost degradation. This study...
Remaining recoverable petroleum in giant oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin, southern California
Donald L. Gautier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Troy A. Cook, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3120
Using a probabilistic geology-based methodology, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently assessed the remaining recoverable oil in 10 oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin in southern California. The results of the assessment suggest that between 1.4 and 5.6 billion barrels of additional oil could be recovered...
