Spatial patterns of atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur using ion-exchange resin collectors in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
David W. Clow, Heidi Roop, Leora Nanus, Mark Fenn, Graham A. Sexstone
2015, Atmospheric Environment (101) 149-157
Lakes and streams in Class 1 wilderness areas in the western United States (U.S.) are at risk from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S), and protection of these resources is mandated under the Federal Clean Air Act and amendments. Assessment of critical loads, which are the maximum exposure...
Correspondence of biological condition models of California streams at statewide and regional scales
Jason T. May, Larry R. Brown, Andrew C. Rehn, Ian R. Waite, Peter R Ode, Raphael D Mazor, Kenneth C Schiff
2015, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (187)
We used boosted regression trees (BRT) to model stream biological condition as measured by benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomic completeness, the ratio of observed to expected (O/E) taxa. Models were developed with and without exclusion of rare taxa at a site. BRT models are robust, requiring few assumptions compared with traditional modeling...
Getting out of harm's way - evacuation from tsunamis
Jeanne M. Jones, Nathan J. Wood, Leslie C. Gordon
2015, Sound Waves: Coastal science and research news from across the USGS (2015)
Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have developed a new mapping tool, the Pedestrian Evacuation Analyst, for use by researchers and emergency managers to estimate how long it would take for someone to travel on foot out of a tsunami-hazard zone. The ArcGIS software extension, released in September 2014,...
Preliminary analysis of suspended sediment rating curves for the Kalamazoo River and its tributaries from Marshall to Kalamazoo, Michigan
David T. Soong, Christopher J. Hoard, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Ronald B. Zelt
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Joint Federal Interagency Conference 2015
Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) rating curves for the Kalamazoo River and its tributaries from Marshall to Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A., were developed based on measured data. The slopes of the atsite SSC rating curves were of two general types: either increasing or decreasing with increasing discharges. By examining the basin characteristics...
Determining origin in a migratory marine vertebrate: a novel method to integrate stable isotopes and satellite tracking
Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Anton D. Tucker, Kristen M. Hart, Margaret M. Lamont, Ikuko Fujisaki, David S. Addison, Katherine L. Mansfield, Katrina F. Phillips, Michael B. Wunder, Gabriel J. Bowen, Mariela Pajuelo, Alan B. Bolten, Karen A. Bjorndal
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 320-335
Stable isotope analysis is a useful tool to track animal movements in both terrestrial and marine environments. These intrinsic markers are assimilated through the diet and may exhibit spatial gradients as a result of biogeochemical processes at the base of the food web. In the marine environment, maps to predict...
Impacts of fire management on aboveground tree carbon stocks in Yosemite and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
John R. Matchett, James A. Lutz, Leland W. Tarnay, Douglas G. Smith, Kendall M.L. Becker, Matthew L. Brooks
2015, Report, Natural Resource Report NPS/SIEN/NRR—2015/910
Forest biomass on Sierra Nevada landscapes constitutes one of the largest carbon stocks in California, and its stability is tightly linked to the factors driving fire regimes. Research suggests that fire suppression, logging, climate change, and present management practices in Sierra Nevada forests have altered historic patterns of landscape carbon...
Hyperspectral remote sensing for terrestrial applications
Prasad S. Thenkabail, Pardhasaradhi G. Teluguntla, Murali Krishna Gumma, Venkateswarlu Dheeravath
2015, Book chapter, Land resources monitoring, modeling, and mapping with remote sensing
Remote sensing data are considered hyperspectral when the data are gathered from numerous wavebands, contiguously over an entire range of the spectrum (e.g., 400–2500 nm). Goetz (1992) defines hyperspectral remote sensing as “The acquisition of images in hundreds of registered, contiguous spectral bands such that for each picture element of...
A revision of the Norian Conchostracan Zonation in North America and its implications for Late Triassic North American tectonic history
Robert E. Weems, Spencer G. Lucas
2015, Book chapter, Fossil Record 4. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 67
Collections of Upper Triassic (Norian) conchostracans from the upper Cumnock and lower Sanford formations (North Carolina), Bull Run Formation (Virginia), Gettysburg Formation (Pennsylvania), Passaic Formation (New Jersey), Blomidon Formation (Nova Scotia), and Redonda Formation (New Mexico) have significantly expanded our knowledge of the Norian conchostracan faunas in these units. These...
Time-varying interseismic strain rates and similar seismic ruptures on the Nias-Simeulue patch of the Sunda megathrust
Aron J. Meltzner, Kerry E. Sieh, Hong-Wei Chiang, Chung-Che Wu, Louisa L.H. Tsang, Chuan-Chou Shen, Emma M. Hill, Bambang W. Suwargadi, Danny H. Natawidjaja, Belle Philibosian, Richard W. Briggs
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (122) 258-281
Fossil coral microatolls from fringing reefs above the great (MW 8.6) megathrust rupture of 2005 record uplift during the historically reported great earthquake of 1861. Such evidence spans nearly the entire 400-km strike length of the 2005 rupture, which was previously shown to be bounded by two persistent barriers...
Evidence for slip partitioning and bimodal slip behavior on a single fault: Surface slip characteristics of the 2013 Mw7.7 Balochistan, Pakistan earthquake
William D. Barnhart, Richard W. Briggs, Nadine G. Reitman, Ryan D. Gold, Gavin P. Hayes
2015, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (420) 1-11
Deformation is commonly accommodated by strain partitioning on multiple, independent strike-slip and dip-slip faults in continental settings of oblique plate convergence. As a corollary, individual faults tend to exhibit one sense of slip – normal, reverse, or strike-slip – until whole-scale changes in boundary conditions reactivate preexisting faults in a...
Status assessment of the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia and other large mammals in the Kyrgyz Alay, using community knowledge corrected for imperfect detection
Julia Taubmann, Koustubh Sharma, Kubanychbek Zhumabai Uulu, James E. Hines, Charudutt Mishra
2015, Oryx (50) 220-230
The Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia occurs in the Central Asian Mountains, which cover c. 2 million km2. Little is known about its status in the Kyrgyz Alay Mountains, a relatively narrow stretch of habitat connecting the southern and northern...
Structural superposition in fault systems bounding Santa Clara Valley, California
Russell W. Graymer, Richard G. Stanley, David A. Ponce, Robert C. Jachens, Robert W. Simpson, Carl M. Wentworth
2015, Geosphere (11) 63-75
Santa Clara Valley is bounded on the southwest and northeast by active strike-slip and reverse-oblique faults of the San Andreas fault system. On both sides of the valley, these faults are superposed on older normal and/or right-lateral normal oblique faults. The older faults comprised early components of the San Andreas...
Variables associated with nest survival of Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) among vegetation communities commonly used for nesting
Kyle R. Aldinger, Theron M. Terhune II, Petra Bohall Wood, David A. Buehler, Marja H. Bakermans, John L. Confer, David J. Flaspohler, Jeffrey L. Larkin, John P. Loegering, Katie L. Percy, Amber M. Roth, Curtis G. Smalling
2015, Avian Conservation and Ecology (10)
Among shrubland- and young forest-nesting bird species in North America, Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) are one of the most rapidly declining partly because of limited nesting habitat. Creation and management of high quality vegetation communities used for nesting are needed to reduce declines. Thus, we examined whether common characteristics could...
Tornadic storm avoidance behavior in breeding songbirds
Henry M. Streby, Gunnar R. Kramer, Sean M. Peterson, Justin A. Lehman, David A. Buehler, David E. Andersen
2015, Current Biology (25) 98-102
Migration is a common behavior used by animals of many taxa to occupy different habitats during different periods. Migrant birds are categorized as either facultative (i.e., those that are forced to migrate by some proximal cue, often weather) or obligate (i.e., those that migrate on a regular cycle). During migration,...
Predicted changes in climatic niche and climate refugia of conservation priority salamander species in the northeastern United States
William B. Sutton, Kyle Barrett, Allison T. Moody, Cynthia S. Loftin, Phillip G. deMaynadier, Priya Nanjappa
2015, Forests (6) 1-26
Global climate change represents one of the most extensive and pervasive threats to wildlife populations. Amphibians, specifically salamanders, are particularly susceptible to the effects of changing climates due to their restrictive physiological requirements and low vagility; however, little is known about which landscapes and species are vulnerable to climate change....
Lithobates sylvaticus (wood frog). Habitat use.
Luke A. Groff, Aram J.K. Calhoun, Cynthia S. Loftin
2015, Herpetological Review (46) 234-234
Lithobates sylvaticus is the second most widely distributed anuran in North America (Martof and Humphries 1959. Am. Midl. Nat. 61:350–389), and its habitat use reflects the environmental variation that exists across its geographic range (Semlitsch et al. 2009. BioScience 59:853–862). Although L. sylvaticus post-breeding habitat selection has been described in...
Day-roost tree selection by northern long-eared bats—What do non-roost tree comparisons and one year of data really tell us?
Alexander Silvis, W. Mark Ford, Eric R. Britzke
2015, Global Ecology and Conservation (3) 756-763
Bat day-roost selection often is described through comparisons of day-roosts with randomly selected, and assumed unused, trees. Relatively few studies, however, look at patterns of multi-year selection or compare day-roosts used across years. We explored day-roost selection using 2 years of roost selection data for female northern long-eared bats (Myotis...
A methodology for quantifying and mapping ecosystem services provided by watersheds
Amy M. Villamagna, Paul L. Angermeier
2015, Book chapter, Ecosystem services and river basin ecohydrology
Watershed processes – physical, chemical, and biological – are the foundation for many benefits that ecosystems provide for human societies. A crucial step toward accurately representing those benefits, so they can ultimately inform decisions about land and water management, is the development of a coherent methodology that can translate available...
Influence of Smallmouth Bass predation on recruitment of age-0 Yellow Perch in South Dakota glacial lakes
Daniel J. Dembkowski, D.W. Willis, B. G. Blackwell, Steven R. Chipps, T. D. Bacula, M.R. Wuellner
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 736-747
We estimated the influence of predation by Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu on recruitment of age-0 Yellow Perch Perca flavescens in two northeastern South Dakota glacial lakes. We estimated a likely range in consumption of age-0 Yellow Perch using Smallmouth Bass diet information from two time periods when age-0 Yellow Perch...
Angler satisfaction in South Dakota
Kjetil R. Henderson, Larry M. Gigliotti
2015, Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science (94) 171-186
Many industries use satisfaction measures to evaluate performance. The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks identified satisfaction as one of their performance measures for evaluating fishing in South Dakota. In fisheries management, the perspectives’ of license buyers are valuable to determine if management activities are providing the benefits...
Radio-transmitters have no impact on survival of pre-fledged American Woodcocks
Kyle O. Daly, David E. Andersen, Wayne L. Brininger, Thomas R. Cooper
2015, Journal of Field Ornithology (86) 345-351
American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor) are a high priority species of conservation need across most of their breeding range due to long-term population declines. Survival of juveniles may be key to understanding these population declines, but there have been few direct estimates of juvenile woodcock survival rates, and no recent assessment...
Having it both ways? Land use change in a U.S. midwestern agricultural ecoregion
Roger F. Auch, Chris R. Laingen
2015, Professional Geographer (67) 84-97
Urbanization has been directly linked to decreases in area of agricultural lands and, as such, has been considered a threat to food security. Although the area of land used to produce food has diminished, often overlooked have been changes in agricultural output. The Eastern Corn Belt Plains (ECBP) is an...
Estimating mean long-term hydrologic budget components for watersheds and counties: An application to the commonwealth of Virginia, USA
Ward E. Sanford, David L. Nelms, Jason P. Pope, David L. Selnick
2015, Hydrology: Current Research (6) 1-22
Mean long-term hydrologic budget components, such as recharge and base flow, are often difficult to estimate because they can vary substantially in space and time. Mean long-term fluxes were calculated in this study for precipitation, surface runoff, infiltration, total evapotranspiration (ET), riparian ET, recharge, base flow (or groundwater discharge) and...
Paleoseismologic evidence for large-magnitude (Mw 7.5-8.0) earthquakes on the Ventura blind thrust fault: Implications for multifault ruptures in the Transverse Ranges of southern California
Lee J. McAuliffe, James F. Dolan, Edward J. Rhodes, Judith Hubbard, John H. Shaw, Thomas L. Pratt
2015, Geosphere (11) 1629-1650
Detailed analysis of continuously cored boreholes and cone penetrometer tests (CPTs), high-resolution seismic-reflection data, and luminescence and 14C dates from Holocene strata folded above the tip of the Ventura blind thrust fault constrain the ages and displacements of the two (or more) most recent earthquakes. These two earthquakes, which are...
A field comparison of multiple techniques to quantify groundwater - surface-water interactions
Ricardo Gonzalez-Pinzon, Adam S Ward, Christine E Hatch, Adam N. Wlostowski, Kamini Singha, Michael N. Gooseff, Roy Haggerty, Judson Harvey, Olaf A Cirpka, James T Brock
2015, Freshwater Science (34) 139-160
Groundwater–surface-water (GW-SW) interactions in streams are difficult to quantify because of heterogeneity in hydraulic and reactive processes across a range of spatial and temporal scales. The challenge of quantifying these interactions has led to the development of several techniques, from centimeter-scale probes to whole-system tracers, including chemical, thermal, and electrical...
