Using landscape epidemiological models to understand the distribution of chronic wasting disease in the Midwestern USA
Stacie J. Robinson, Michael D. Samuel, Robert E. Rolley, Paul Shelton
2013, Landscape Ecology (28) 1923-1935
Animal movement across the landscape plays a critical role in the ecology of infectious wildlife diseases. Dispersing animals can spread pathogens between infected areas and naïve populations. While tracking free-ranging animals over the geographic scales relevant to landscape-level disease management is challenging, landscape features that influence gene flow among wildlife...
Mineral resource of the month: Phosphate rock
Stephen M. Jasinski
2013, Earth (December 2013)
As a mineral resource, “phosphate rock” is defined as unprocessed ore and processed concentrates that contain some form of apatite, a group of calcium phosphate minerals that is the primary source for phosphorus in phosphate fertilizers, which are vital to agriculture....
Consideration of reference points for the management of renewable resources under an adaptive management paradigm
Brian J. Irwin, Michael J. Conroy
2013, Environmental Conservation (40) 302-309
The success of natural resource management depends on monitoring, assessment and enforcement. In support of these efforts, reference points (RPs) are often viewed as critical values of management-relevant indicators. This paper considers RPs from the standpoint of objective-driven decision making in dynamic resource systems, guided by principles of structured decision...
Effect of land cover and use on dry season river runoff, runoff efficiency, and peak storm runoff in the seasonal tropics of Central Panama
Fred L. Ogden, Trey D. Crouch, Robert F. Stallard, Jefferson S. Hall
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 8443-8462
A paired catchment methodology was used with more than 3 years of data to test whether forests increase base flow in the dry season, despite reduced annual runoff caused by evapotranspiration (the “sponge-effect hypothesis”), and whether forests reduce maximum runoff rates and totals during storms. The three study catchments were:...
Protocol for monitoring forest-nesting birds in National Park Service parks
Deanna K. Dawson, Murray G. Efford
2013, Report
These documents detail the protocol for monitoring forest-nesting birds in National Park Service parks in the National Capital Region Network (NCRN). In the first year of sampling, counts of birds should be made at 384 points on the NCRN spatially randomized grid, developed to sample terrestrial resources. Sampling should begin...
ASARCO Incorporated’s Car Project, 1990-94, western Gabbs Valley, Mineral Co., Nevada: precious metal exploration transitioned to geothermal exploration
Peter G. Vikre, Fleetwood Koutz
Larry J. Garside, editor(s)
2013, Book chapter, Geothermal and petroleum developments in several extensional basins of the central Walker Lane, Nevada: Nevada Petroleum and Geothermal Society 2013 field trip guidebook
No abstract available....
Multiple factors affect a population of Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in the Northwestern Mojave Desert
Kristin H. Berry, Julie L. Yee, Ashley A. Coble, William M. Perry, Timothy A. Shields
2013, Herpetological Monographs (27) 87-109
Numerous factors have contributed to declines in populations of the federally threatened Agassiz's Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and continue to limit recovery. In 2010, we surveyed a low-density population on a military test facility in the northwestern Mojave Desert of California, USA, to evaluate population status and identify potential factors...
Public lakes, private lakeshore: Modeling protection of native aquatic plants
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton
2013, Environmental Management (52) 99-112
Protection of native aquatic plants is an important proenvironmental behavior, because plant loss coupled with nutrient loading can produce changes in lake ecosystems. Removal of aquatic plants by lakeshore property owners is a diffuse behavior that may lead to cumulative impacts on lake ecosystems. This class of behavior is challenging...
Hydrologic monitoring and selected hydrologic and environmental studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Georgia, 2011–2013
John S. Clarke, Melinda J. Dalton (compiler)
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1278
This compendium of papers describes results of hydrologic monitoring and hydrologic and environmental studies completed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Georgia during 2011–2013. The USGS addresses a wide variety of water issues in the State of Georgia working with local, State, and Federal partners. As the primary Federal...
Flood-inundation maps for the Elkhart River at Goshen, Indiana
Kellan R. Strauch
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3269
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, created digital flood-inundation maps for an 8.3-mile reach of the Elkhart River at Goshen, Indiana, extending from downstream of the Goshen Dam to downstream from County Road 17. The inundation maps, which can be...
Occurrence of fungicides and other pesticides in surface water, groundwater, and sediment from three targeted-use areas in the United States, 2009
James L. Orlando, Kelly L. Smalling, Timothy J. Reilly, Adam Boehlke, Michael T. Meyer, Kathryn Kuivila
2013, Data Series 797
Surface-water, groundwater, and suspended- and bedsediment samples were collected in three targeted-use areas in the United States where potatoes were grown during 2009 and analyzed for an extensive suite of fungicides and other pesticides by gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Fungicides were detected in all...
Changes in nitrogen loading to the Northeast Creek Estuary, Bar Harbor, Maine, 2000 to 2010
Martha G. Nielsen
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1256
Since 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service have been monitoring land use and nitrogen loading in a 26.3-square-kilometer (10-square-mile) estuarine watershed at Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island, Maine. The initial study linking land use and nitrogen loads entering the Northeast Creek estuary was completed in...
First evidence of grass carp recruitment in the Great Lakes Basin
Duane Chapman, J. Jeremiah Davis, Jill A. Jenkins, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Jeffrey G. Miner, John Farver, P. Ryan Jackson
2013, Journal of Great Lakes Research (39) 547-554
We use aging techniques, ploidy analysis, and otolith microchemistry to assess whether four grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella captured from the Sandusky River, Ohio were the result of natural reproduction within the Lake Erie Basin. All four fish were of age 1 +. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that these fish...
Modeling the effects of fire severity and climate warming on active layer and soil carbon dynamics of black spruce forests across the landscape in interior Alaska
H. Genet, Anthony D. McGuire, K. Barrett, A. Breen, E.S. Euskirchen, J.F. Johnstone, E.S. Kasischke, A.M. Melvin, A. Bennett, M.C. Mack, T.S. Rupp, A.E.G. Schuur, M.R. Turetsky, F. Yuan
2013, Environmental Research Letters (8)
There is a substantial amount of carbon stored in the permafrost soils of boreal forest ecosystems, where it is currently protected from decomposition. The surface organic horizons insulate the deeper soil from variations in atmospheric temperature. The removal of these insulating horizons through consumption by fire increases the vulnerability of...
Geophysical-log and hydraulic-test analyses of groundwater-production wells at the Hannahville Indian Community, Menominee County, Michigan
E. Randall Bayless, J. Alton Anderson, David C. Lampe, John H. Williams
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5172
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Hannahville Indian Community, evaluated the geohydrology of the bedrock formations and hydraulic properties of groundwater-production wells at the Hannahville Indian Community in Menominee County, Michigan. Geophysical logs were collected from five wells at two sites during September 2012. The logs were analyzed...
Modeling earthquake rate changes in Oklahoma and Arkansas: possible signatures of induced seismicity
Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 2850-2861
The rate of ML≥3 earthquakes in the central and eastern United States increased beginning in 2009, particularly in Oklahoma and central Arkansas, where fluid injection has occurred. We find evidence that suggests these rate increases are man‐made by examining the rate changes in a catalog of ML≥3 earthquakes in Oklahoma,...
Sea-floor geology and topography offshore in northeastern Long Island Sound
L.J. Poppe, K.Y. McMullen, S.D. Ackerman, K.A. Glomb
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1060
Datasets of gridded multibeam bathymetry, covering approximately 52.9 square kilometers, were used to interpret character and geology of the sea floor in northeastern Long Island Sound. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H12012, these acoustic data and the sea-floor sampling and photography...
Nearshore temperature findings for the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, Arizona: possible implications for native fish
Robert P. Ross, William S. Vernieu
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3104
Since the completion of Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, in 1963, downstream water temperatures in the main channel of the Colorado River in Glen, Marble, and Grand Canyons are much colder in summer. This has negatively affected humpback chub (Gila cypha) and other native fish adapted to seasonally warm water, reducing...
Estimation of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in streams of the Middle Columbia River Basin (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) using SPARROW models, with emphasis on the Yakima River Basin, Washington
Henry M. Johnson, Robert W. Black, Daniel R. Wise
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5199
The watershed model SPARROW (Spatially Related Regressions on Watershed attributes) was used to predict total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads and yields for the Middle Columbia River Basin in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The new models build on recently published models for the entire Pacific Northwest, and provide...
Extreme ground motions and Yucca Mountain
Thomas C. Hanks, Norman A. Abrahamson, Jack W. Baker, David M. Boore, Mark Board, James N. Brune, C. Allin Cornell, John W. Whitney
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1245
Yucca Mountain is the designated site of the underground repository for the United States' high-level radioactive waste (HLW), consisting of commercial and military spent nuclear fuel, HLW derived from reprocessing of uranium and plutonium, surplus plutonium, and other nuclear-weapons materials. Yucca Mountain straddles the western boundary of the Nevada Test...
USGS National Wildlife Health Center quarterly mortality report
Anne E. Ballmann, C. LeAnn White, Barbara L. Bodenstein, Jennifer L. Buckner
2013, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 6-8
No abstract available....
Assessment of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands Exclusive Economic Zone, 2013
Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Janet K. Pitman, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier, Craig J. Wandrey, Jean N. Weaver
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3101
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 19 million barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 244 billion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in the Puerto Rico–U.S. Virgin Islands Exclusive Economic Zone....
An integrated model of environmental effects on growth, carbohydrate balance, and mortality of Pinus ponderosa forests in the southern Rocky Mountains
Christina L. Tague, Nathan G. McDowell, Craig D. Allen
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Climate-induced tree mortality is an increasing concern for forest managers around the world. We used a coupled hydrologic and ecosystem carbon cycling model to assess temperature and precipitation impacts on productivity and survival of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Model predictions were evaluated using observations of productivity and survival for three...
Petrologic and isotopic data from the Cretaceous (Campanian) Blackhawk Formation and Star Point Sandstone (Mesaverde Group), Wasatch Plateau, Utah
Neil S. Fishman, Christine E. Turner, Fred Peterson
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1254
The presence of discrete minerals associated with coal—whether (1) detrital or authigenic constituents of the coals or in thin mudstone or siltstone units interbedded with coals, or (2) authigenic phases that formed along cleats—might influence its utilization as an energy resource. The build-up of sintered ash deposits on the surfaces...
Streamflow statistics for unregulated and regulated conditions for selected locations on the Yellowstone, Tongue, and Powder Rivers, Montana, 1928-2002
Katherine J. Chase
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5173
Major floods in 1996 and 1997 on the Yellowstone River in Montana intensified public debate over the effects of human activities on the Yellowstone River. In 1999, the Yellowstone River Conservation District Council was formed to address conservation issues on the river. The Yellowstone River Conservation District Council partnered with...
