Hybridization between Dusky Grouse and Sharp-tailed Grouse
Ryan P. O’Donnell
2015, Western Birds (46) 351-352
Cache County, Utah, 7 April 2013: rare hybrid combination of grouse noted. Hybridization between Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) and Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) has been rarely documented in the wild. The only published record was of one collected from Osoyoos, British Columbia, in 1906 (Brooks 1907, Lincoln 1950). There is...
Monitoring changes in seismic velocity related to an ongoing rapid inflation event at Okmok volcano, Alaska
Ninfa Bennington, Matthew M. Haney, Silvio De Angelis, Clifford Thurber, Jeff Freymueller
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research (120) 5664-5676
Okmok is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Arc. In an effort to improve our ability to detect precursory activity leading to eruption at Okmok, we monitor a recent, and possibly ongoing, GPS-inferred rapid inflation event at the volcano using ambient noise interferometry (ANI). Applying this method,...
Fire effects on aquatic ecosystems: An assessment of the current state of the science
Rebecca J. Bixby, Scott D. Cooper, Robert E. Gresswell, Lee E. Brown, Clifford N. Dahm, Kathleen A. Dwire
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 1340-1350
Fire is a prevalent feature of many landscapes and has numerous and complex effects on geological, hydrological, ecological, and economic systems. In some regions, the frequency and intensity of wildfire have increased in recent years and are projected to escalate with predicted climatic and landuse changes. In addition, prescribed burns...
Combining NLCD and MODIS to create a land cover-albedo database for the continental United States
J. Wickham, Christopher A. Barnes, M.S. Nash, T.G. Wade
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (170) 143-152
Land surface albedo is an essential climate variable that is tightly linked to land cover, such that specific land cover classes (e.g., deciduous broadleaf forest, cropland) have characteristic albedos. Despite the normative of land-cover class specific albedos, there is considerable variability in albedo within a land cover class. The National...
Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve: Geologic resources inventory report
Chad P. Hults, Christina A. Neal
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2015/1033
This GRI report is a companion document to previously completed GRI digital geologic map data. It was written for resource managers to support science-informed decision making. It may also be useful for interpretation. The report was prepared using available geologic information, and the NPS Geologic Resources Division conducted no new...
The nest-concealment hypothesis: New insights from a comparative analysis
Kathi L. Borgmann, Courtney J. Conway
2015, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (127) 646-660
Selection of a breeding site is critical for many animals, especially for birds whose offspring are stationary during development. Thus, birds are often assumed to prefer concealed nest sites. However, 74% of studies (n = 106) that have evaluated this relationship for open-cup nesting songbirds in North America failed to support...
Seismic hazard in the Intermountain West
Kathleen Haller, Morgan P. Moschetti, Charles Mueller, Sanaz Rezaeian, Mark D. Petersen, Yuehua Zeng
2015, Earthquake Spectra (31) S149-S176
The 2014 national seismic-hazard model for the conterminous United States incorporates new scientific results and important model adjustments. The current model includes updates to the historical catalog, which is spatially smoothed using both fixed-length and adaptive-length smoothing kernels. Fault-source characterization improved by adding faults, revising rates of activity, and incorporating...
SPARROW modeling of nitrogen sources and transport in rivers and streams of California and adjacent states, U.S.
Dina Saleh, Joseph L. Domagalski
2015, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (51) 1487-1507
The SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) model was used to evaluate the spatial distribution of total nitrogen (TN) sources, loads, watershed yields, and factors affecting transport and decay in the stream network of California and portions of adjacent states for the year 2002. The two major TN sources...
Differences in ecosystem carbon distribution and nutrient cycling linked to forest tree species composition in a mid-successional boreal forest
April M. Melvin, Michelle C. Mack, Jill F. Johnstone, A. David McGuire, Helene Genet, Edward A.G. Schuur
2015, Ecosystems (18) 1472-1488
In the boreal forest of Alaska, increased fire severity associated with climate change is expanding deciduous forest cover in areas previously dominated by black spruce (Picea mariana). Needle-leaf conifer and broad-leaf deciduous species are commonly associated with differences in tree growth, carbon (C) and nutrient cycling, and C...
Influence of grazing and land use on stream-channel characteristics among small dairy farms in the Eastern United States
Genevieve Brand, Bruce C. Vondracek, Nicholas R. Jordan
2015, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (30) 524-536
Rotational grazing (RG) is a livestock management practice that rotates grazing cattle on a scale of hours to days among small pastures termed paddocks. It may beneficially affect stream channels, relative to other livestock management practices. Such effects and other beneficial effects on hydrology are important to RG's potential to...
The importance of considering shifts in seasonal changes in discharges when predicting future phosphorus loads in streams
Meredith B. LaBeau, Alex S. Mayer, Veronica Griffis, David Jr. Watkins, Dale M. Robertson, Rabi Gyawali
2015, Biogeochemistry (126) 153-172
In this work, we hypothesize that phosphorus (P) concentrations in streams vary seasonally and with streamflow and that it is important to incorporate this variation when predicting changes in P loading associated with climate change. Our study area includes 14 watersheds with a range of land uses throughout the U.S....
2014 Update of the Pacific Northwest portion of the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps
Arthur D. Frankel, Rui Chen, Mark D. Petersen, Morgan P. Moschetti, Brian L. Sherrod
2015, Earthquake Spectra (31) S131-S148
Several aspects of the earthquake characterization were changed for the Pacific Northwest portion of the 2014 update of the national seismic hazard maps, reflecting recent scientific findings. New logic trees were developed for the recurrence parameters of M8-9 earthquakes on the Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) and for the eastern edge...
Geologic cross sections and preliminary geologic map of the Questa Area, Taos County, New Mexico
Paul W. Bauer, V. J. S. Grauch, Peggy S. Johnson, Ren A. Thompson, Benjamin J. Drenth, Keith I. Kelson
2015, Open-File Report 578
In 2011, the senior authors were contacted by Ron Gardiner of Questa, and Village of Questa Mayor Esther Garcia, to discuss the existing and future groundwater supply for the Village of Questa. This meeting led to the development of a plan in 2013 to perform an integrated geologic, geophysical, and...
General herpetological collecting is size-biased for five Pacific lizards
Gordon H. Rodda, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Earl W. Campbell III, Thomas H. Fritts
2015, Journal of Herpetology (49) 507-512
Accurate estimation of a species' size distribution is a key component of characterizing its ecology, evolution, physiology, and demography. We compared the body size distributions of five Pacific lizards (Carlia ailanpalai, Emoia caeruleocauda, Gehyra mutilata, Hemidactylus frenatus, and Lepidodactylus lugubris) from general herpetological collecting (including visual surveys and glue boards) with...
Estimating the risks for adverse effects of total phosphorus in receiving streams with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Gregory E. Granato, Susan C. Jones
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2015)
Studies from North Carolina (NC) indicate that increasing concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and other constituents are correlated to adverse effects on stream ecosystems as evidenced by differences in benthic macroinvertebrate populations in streams across the state. As a result, stringent in-stream criteria based on the Water Quality Assessed by...
Assessment of model estimates of land-atmosphere CO2 exchange across northern Eurasia
M.A. Rawlins, A. D. McGuire, J.S. Kimball, P. Dass, D. Lawrence, E. Burke, X. Chen, C. Delire, C. Koven, A. MacDougall, S. Peng, A. Rinke, K. Saito, W. Zhang, R. Alkama, T. J. Bohn, P. Ciais, B. Decharme, I. Gouttevin, T. Hajima, D. Ji, G. Krinner, D.P. Lettenmaier, P. Miller, J.C. Moore, B. Smith, T. Sueyoshi
2015, Biogeosciences (12) 4385-4405
A warming climate is altering land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, with a potential for increased vegetation productivity as well as the mobilization of permafrost soil carbon stores. Here we investigate land-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO2) cycling through analysis of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and its component fluxes of gross primary productivity (GPP)...
High-resolution remote sensing of water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary
Cedric G. Fichot, Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, David R. Thompson, Michelle M. Gierach
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 573-583
The San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary watershed is a major source of freshwater for California and a profoundly human-impacted environment. The water quality monitoring that is critical to the management of this important water resource and ecosystem relies primarily on a system of fixed water-quality monitoring stations, but the limited spatial...
Quantifying the adaptive cycle
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Olle Hjerne, Monika Winder
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
The adaptive cycle was proposed as a conceptual model to portray patterns of change in complex systems. Despite the model having potential for elucidating change across systems, it has been used mainly as a metaphor, describing system dynamics qualitatively. We use a quantitative approach for testing premises (reorganisation, conservatism, adaptation)...
Substantial contribution of biomethylation to aquifer arsenic cycling
Scott C. Maguffin, Matthew F. Kirk, Ashley R. Daigle, Stephen R. Hinkle, Qusheng Jin
2015, Nature Geoscience (8) 290-293
Microbes play a prominent role in transforming arsenic to and from immobile forms in aquifers1. Much of this cycling involves inorganic forms of arsenic2, but microbes can also generate organic forms through methylation3, although this process is often considered insignificant in aquifers4, 5, 6, 7. Here we identify the presence...
Water quality and fish dynamics in forested wetlands associated with an oxbow lake
Caroline S. Andrews, Leandro E. Miranda, Robert Kroger
2015, Southeastern Naturalist (14) 623-634
Forested wetlands represent some of the most distinct environments in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Depending on season, water in forested wetlands can be warm, stagnant, and oxygen-depleted, yet may support high fish diversity. Fish assemblages in forested wetlands are not well studied because of difficulties in sampling heavily structured...
Evaluation of three aging techniques and back-calculated growth for introduced Blue Catfish from Lake Oconee, Georgia
Michael D. Homer Jr., James T. Peterson, Cecil A. Jennings
2015, Southeastern Naturalist (14) 740-756
Back-calculation of length-at-age from otoliths and spines is a common technique employed in fisheries biology, but few studies have compared the precision of data collected with this method for catfish populations. We compared precision of back-calculated lengths-at-age for an introducedIctalurus furcatus (Blue Catfish) population among 3 commonly used cross-sectioning techniques....
Conodont faunas from a complete basinal succession of the upper part of the Wordian (Middle Permian, Guadalupian, West Texas)
Bruce R. Wardlaw, Merlynd K. Nestell
2015, Micropaleontology (61) 257-292
In the southern part of the Patterson Hills just to the west of the Guadalupe Mountains escarpment ofWest Texas, a 29m outcrop of alternating calcareous siltstone and silty limestone with a few thin fine sandstone interbeds displays the overlap occurrence of a narrowmorphotype of Jinogondolella nankingensis (herein named J. nankingensis...
Conodont biostratigraphy of the Permian-Triassic boundary sequence at Lung Cam, Vietnam
Bruce R. Wardlaw, Merlynd K. Nestell, Galina P. Nestell, Brooks B. Ellwood, Luu Thi Phuong Lan
2015, Micropaleontology (61) 313-334
The occurrences of a few specimens of Clarkina and many specimens of Hindeodus at the Permian-Triassic boundary section at Lung Cam, Vietnam allow accurate graphic correlation to the P-T boundary stratotype at Meishan, China. One species of Clarkina, ten species and two subspecies of Hindeodus, and the apparatuses of Hindeodus...
Ground motion models used in the 2014 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps
Sanaz Rezaeian, Mark D. Petersen, Morgan P. Moschetti
2015, Earthquake Spectra (31) S59-S84
The National Seismic Hazard Maps (NSHMs) are an important component of seismic design regulations in the United States. This paper compares hazard using the new suite of ground motion models (GMMs) relative to hazard using the suite of GMMs applied in the previous version of the maps. The new source...
Seismic source characterization for the 2014 update of the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model
Morgan P. Moschetti, Peter M. Powers, Mark D. Petersen, Oliver S. Boyd, Rui Chen, Edward H. Field, Arthur D. Frankel, Kathleen Haller, Stephen Harmsen, Charles S. Mueller, Russell Wheeler, Yuehua Zeng
2015, Earthquake Spectra (31) S31-S57
We present the updated seismic source characterization (SSC) for the 2014 update of the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the conterminous United States. Construction of the seismic source models employs the methodology that was developed for the 1996 NSHM but includes new and updated data, data types, source models,...
