Data and spatial studies of the USGS Texas Water Science Center
Thomas E. Burley
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3117
Hydrologists, geographers, geophysicists, and geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TXWSC) work in the USGS Water Mission Area on a diverse range of projects built on a foundation of spatial data. The TXWSC has developed sophisticated data and spatial-studies-related capabilities that are an integral part...
Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013 East African Rift
Gavin P. Hayes, Eric S. Jones, Timothy J. Stadler, William D. Barnhart, Daniel E. McNamara, Harley M. Benz, Kevin P. Furlong, Antonio Villaseñor
2014, Open-File Report 2010-1083-P
The East African Rift system (EARS) is a 3,000-km-long Cenozoic age continental rift extending from the Afar triple junction, between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, to western Mozambique. Sectors of active extension occur from the Indian Ocean, west to Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
From hybrid swarms to swarms of hybrids
Thomas J. Stohlgren, Allen L. Szalanski, John F. Gaskin, Nicholas E. Young, Amanda M. West, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Amber Tripodi
2014, Environment and Ecology Research (2) 311-318
Science has shown that the introgression or hybridization of modern humans (Homo sapiens) with Neanderthals up to 40,000 YBP may have led to the swarm of modern humans on earth. However, there is little doubt that modern trade and transportation in support of the humans has continued to introduce additional...
Golden alga presence and abundance are inversely related to salinity in a high-salinity river ecosystem, Pecos River, USA
Natascha Israel, Matthew M. VanLandeghem, Shawn Denny, John Ingle, Reynaldo Patino
2014, Harmful Algae (39) 81-91
Prymnesium parvum (golden alga, GA) is a toxigenic harmful alga native to marine ecosystems that has also affected brackish inland waters. The first toxic bloom of GA in the western hemisphere occurred in the Pecos River, one of the saltiest rivers in North America. Environmental factors (water quality) associated with...
Nitrogen transport within an agricultural landscape: insights on how hydrology, biogeochemistry, and the landscape intersect to control the fate and transport of nitrogen in the Mississippi Delta
Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Robert Kröger
2014, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (69) 11A-16A
Nitrogen (N) is a ubiquitous contaminant throughout agricultural landscapes due to both the application of inorganic and organic fertilizers to agricultural fields and the general persistence of nitrate (NO3 ) in oxygenated aqueous environments (Denver et al. 2010; Domagalski et al. 2008; Green et al. 2008; Coupe 2001; Nolan and...
GIS-based rapid-assessment of bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1845) suitability in reservoirs
James M. Long, Yu Liang, Daniel E. Shoup, Andrew R. Dzialowski, Joseph R. Bidwell
2014, Management of Biological Invasions (5) 363-370
Broad-scale niche models are good for examining the potential for invasive species occurrences, but can fall short in providing managers with site-specific locations for monitoring. Using Oklahoma as an example, where invasive bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) are established in certain reservoirs, but predicted to be widely distributed based on broad-scale...
Science during crisis: the application of social science during major environmental crises
Gary Machlis, Kris Ludwig
Michael J. Manfredo, Jerry J. Vaske, Andreas Rechkemmer, Esther Duke, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Understanding society and natural resources: forging new strands in integration across the social sciences
Historical and contemporary experience suggests that science plays an increasingly critical role in governmental and institutional responses to major environmental crises. Recent examples include major western wildfires (2009), the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010), the Fukushima nuclear accident (2011), and Hurricane Sandy (2012). The application of science during such crises has...
A century of studying effusive eruptions in Hawaii
Katherine V. Cashman, Margaret T. Mangan
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-9
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) was established as a natural laboratory to study volcanic processes. Since the most frequent form of volcanic activity in Hawai‘i is effusive, a major contribution of the past century of research at HVO has been to describe and quantify lava flow emplacement processes. Lava flow...
Development of dietary-based toxic reference values to assess the risk of chlorophacinone to non-target raptorial birds
Barnett A. Rattner, Rebecca S. Lazarus, S. L. Shultz, Katherine E. Horak, Benjamin G. Abbo, Steven F. Volker
R. M. Timms, J. M. O’Brien, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 26th Vertebrate Pest Conference
Regulatory changes in the use of some second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in parts of North America may result in expanded use of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs). Recent toxicological studies with captive raptors have demonstrated that these species are considerably more sensitive to the FGAR diphacinone than traditional avian wildlife test species...
Growth and degradation of Hawaiian volcanoes
David A. Clague, David R. Sherrod
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-3
The 19 known shield volcanoes of the main Hawaiian Islands—15 now emergent, 3 submerged, and 1 newly born and still submarine—lie at the southeast end of a long-lived hot spot chain. As the Pacific Plate of the Earth’s lithosphere moves slowly northwestward over the Hawaiian hot spot, volcanoes are successively...
Petrologic insights into basaltic volcanism at historically active Hawaiian volcanoes
Rosalind T. Helz, David A. Clague, Thomas W. Sisson, Carl R. Thornber
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-6
Study of the petrology of Hawaiian volcanoes, in particular the historically active volcanoes on the Island of Hawai‘i, has long been of worldwide scientific interest. When Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar, Jr., established the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) in 1912, detailed observations on basaltic activity at Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes...
The evolution of seismic monitoring systems at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Paul G. Okubo, Jennifer S. Nakata, Robert Y. Koyanagi
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-2
In the century since the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) put its first seismographs into operation at the edge of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera, seismic monitoring at HVO (now administered by the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]) has evolved considerably. The HVO seismic network extends across the entire Island of Hawai‘i and...
One hundred volatile years of volcanic gas studies at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
A.J. Sutton, Tamar Elias
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-7
The first volcanic gas studies in Hawai‘i, beginning in 1912, established that volatile emissions from Kīlauea Volcano contained mostly water vapor, in addition to carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. This straightforward discovery overturned a popular volatile theory of the day and, in the same action, helped affirm Thomas A. Jaggar,...
Instability of Hawaiian volcanoes
Roger P. Denlinger, Julia K. Morgan
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-4
Hawaiian volcanoes build long rift zones and some of the largest volcanic edifices on Earth. For the active volcanoes on the Island of Hawai‘i, the growth of these rift zones is upward and seaward and occurs through a repetitive process of decades-long buildup of a magma-system head along the rift...
Dietary breadth of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Kerry A. Gunther, Rebecca Shoemaker, Kevin L. Frey, Mark A. Haroldson, Steven L. Cain, Frank T. van Manen, Jennifer K. Fortin
2014, Ursus (25) 60-72
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) are opportunistic omnivores that eat a great diversity of plant and animal species. Changes in climate may affect regional vegetation, hydrology, insects, and fire regimes, likely influencing the abundance, range, and elevational distribution of the plants and animals consumed by...
Effects of satellite transmitters on captive and wild mallards
Dylan C. Kesler, Andrew H. Raedeke, Jennifer R. Foggia, William S. Beatty, Elisabeth B. Webb, Dale D. Humburg, Luke W. Naylor
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 557-565
Satellite telemetry has become a leading method for studying large-scale movements and survival in birds, yet few have addressed potential effects of the larger and heavier tracking equipment on study subjects. We simultaneously evaluated effects of satellite telemetry equipment on captive and wild mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) to assess impacts on...
Landscape effects on mallard habitat selection at multiple spatial scales during the non-breeding period
William S. Beatty, Elisabeth B. Webb, Dylan C. Kesler, Andrew H. Raedeke, Luke W. Naylor, Dale D. Humburg
2014, Landscape Ecology (29) 989-1000
Previous studies that evaluated effects of landscape-scale habitat heterogeneity on migratory waterbird distributions were spatially limited and temporally restricted to one major life-history phase. However, effects of landscape-scale habitat heterogeneity on long-distance migratory waterbirds can be studied across the annual cycle using new technologies, including global positioning system satellite transmitters....
Quantifying understorey vegetation in the US Lake States: a proposed framework to inform regional forest carbon stocks
Matthew B. Russell, Anthony W. D’Amato, Bethany K. Schulz, Christopher W. Woodall, Grant M. Domke, John B. Bradford
2014, Forestry (87) 629-638
The contribution of understorey vegetation (UVEG) to forest ecosystem biomass and carbon (C) across diverse forest types has, to date, eluded quantification at regional and national scales. Efforts to quantify UVEG C have been limited to field-intensive studies or broad-scale modelling approaches lacking field measurements. Although large-scale inventories of UVEG...
The role of protected area wetlands in waterfowl habitat conservation: implications for protected area network design
William S. Beatty, Dylan C. Kesler, Elisabeth B. Webb, Andrew H. Raedeke, Luke W. Naylor, Dale D. Humburg
2014, Biological Conservation (176) 144-152
The principal goal of protected area networks is biodiversity preservation, but efficacy of such networks is directly linked to animal movement within and outside area boundaries. We examined wetland selection patterns of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) during non-breeding periods from 2010 to 2012 to evaluate the utility of protected areas to...
Productivity and carbon dioxide exchange of leguminous crops: estimates from flux tower measurements
Tagir G. Gilmanov, John M. Baker, Carl J. Bernacchi, David P. Billesbach, George G. Burba, Saulo Castro, Jiquan Chen, Werner Eugster, Marc L. Fischer, John A. Gamon, Maheteme T. Gebremedhin, Aaron J. Glenn, Timothy J. Griffis, Jerry L. Hatfield, Mark W. Heuer, Daniel M. Howard, Monique Y. Leclerc, Henry W. Loescher, Oliver Marloie, Tilden P. Meyers, Albert Olioso, Rebecca L. Phillips, John H. Prueger, R. Howard Skinner, Andrew E. Suyker, Mario Tenuta, Bruce K. Wylie
2014, Agronomy Journal (106) 545-559
Net CO2 exchange data of legume crops at 17 flux tower sites in North America and three sites in Europe representing 29 site-years of measurements were partitioned into gross photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration by using the nonrectangular hyperbolic light-response function method. The analyses produced net CO2 exchange data and new ecosystem-scale ecophysiological...
Seasonal shifts in the diet of the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus), Fort Collins, Colorado
Ernest W. Valdez, Thomas J. O’Shea
2014, Southwestern Naturalist (59) 511-516
Recent analyses suggest that the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) may be less of a beetle specialist (Coleoptera) in the western United States than previously thought, and that its diet might also vary with temperature. We tested the hypothesis that big brown bats might opportunistically prey on moths by analyzing...
Geomorphic evidence for enhanced Pliocene-Quaternary faulting in the northwestern Basin and Range
Magdalena A Ellis, Barnes Jason B, Joseph P. Colgan
2014, Lithosphere (7) 59-72
Mountains in the U.S. Basin and Range Province are similar in form, yet they have different histories of deformation and uplift. Unfortunately, chronicling fault slip with techniques like thermochronology and geodetics can still leave sizable, yet potentially important gaps at Pliocene–Quaternary (∼105–106 yr) time scales. Here, we combine existing geochronology...
Effects of low and high salinity regimes on seasonal gametogenesis of the ribbed mussel Geukensia granosissima in coastal Louisiana, USA
Aaron Honig, Megan K. LaPeyre, John Supan
2014, Sexuality and Early Development in Aquatic Organisms (1) 75-82
Benthic intertidal bivalves play an essential role in estuarine ecosystems by contributing to habitat provision, water filtration, and host vegetation productivity. As such, ecosystem level changes that impact population distributions and persistence of local bivalve populations may have large ecosystem level consequences, making it important to better understand the population...
Satellite tracking of the migration of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus wintering in Japan
Tetsuo Shimada, Noriyuki M. Yamaguchi, N. Hijikata, Emiko N. Hiraoka, Jerry W. Hupp, Paul L. Flint, Ken-ichi Tokita, Go Fujita, Kiyoshi Uchida, F. Sato, Masayuki Kurechi, John M. Pearce, Andrew M. Ramey, Hiroyoshi Higuchi
2014, Ornithological Science (13) 67-75
We satellite-tracked Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus wintering in northern Japan to document their migration routes and timing, and to identify breeding areas. From 47 swans that we marked at Lake Izunuma-Uchinuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeast Honshu, and at Lake Kussharo, east Hokkaido, we observed 57 spring and 33 autumn migrations from...
Foraging and growth potential of juvenile Chinook Salmon after tidal restoration of a large river delta
Aaron T. David, Christopher Ellings, Isa Woo, Charles A. Simenstad, John Y. Takekawa, Kelley L. Turner, Ashley L. Smith, Jean E. Takekawa
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1515-1529
We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth potential,...
