The predicted influence of climate change on lesser prairie-chicken reproductive parameters
Blake A. Grisham, Clint W. Boal, David A. Haukos, D. Davis, Kathy K. Boydston, Charles Dixon, Willard R. Heck
2013, PLoS ONE (8) 1-10
The Southern High Plains is anticipated to experience significant changes in temperature and precipitation due to climate change. These changes may influence the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in positive or negative ways. We assessed the potential changes in clutch size, incubation start date, and nest survival for lesser prairie-chickens for...
Geology, water-quality, hydrology, and geomechanics of the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, California, 2008--12
Rhett R. Everett, Dennis R. Gibbs, Randall T. Hanson, Donald S. Sweetkind, Justin T. Brandt, Sarah E. Falk, Christopher R. Harich
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5108
To assess the water resources of the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin in Santa Barbara County, California, a series of cooperative studies were undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Santa Barbara County Water Agency. Between 2008 and 2012, geologic, water-quality, hydrologic and geomechanical data were collected from selected sites...
Construction of 3-D geologic framework and textural models for Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, California
Donald S. Sweetkind, Claudia C. Faunt, Randall T. Hanson
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5127
Groundwater is the sole source of water supply in Cuyama Valley, a rural agricultural area in Santa Barbara County, California, in the southeasternmost part of the Coast Ranges of California. Continued groundwater withdrawals and associated water-resource management concerns have prompted an evaluation of the hydrogeology and water availability for the...
Accuracy assessment of a mobile terrestrial lidar survey at Padre Island National Seashore
Samsung Lim, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Brock, Dustin R. Kimbrow, Jeffrey J. Danielson, B.J. Reynolds
2013, International Journal of Remote Sensing (34) 6355-6366
The higher point density and mobility of terrestrial laser scanning (light detection and ranging (lidar)) is desired when extremely detailed elevation data are needed for mapping vertically orientated complex features such as levees, dunes, and cliffs, or when highly accurate data are needed for monitoring geomorphic changes. Mobile terrestrial lidar...
Preliminary stratigraphic and hydrogeologic cross sections and seismic profile of the Floridan aquifer system of Broward County, Florida
Ronald S. Reese, Kevin J. Cunningham
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1141
To help water-resource managers evaluate the Floridan aquifer system (FAS) as an alternative water supply, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a study, in cooperation with the Broward County Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, to refine the hydrogeologic framework of the FAS in the eastern part of Broward County. This...
Calcification rates of the massive coral Siderastrea siderea and crustose coralline algae along the Florida Keys (USA) outer-reef tract
I. B. Kuffner, T.D. Hickey, J.M. Morrison
2013, Coral Reefs (32) 987-997
Coral reefs are degrading on a global scale, and rates of reef-organism calcification are predicted to decline due to ocean warming and acidification. Systematic measurements of calcification over space and time are necessary to detect change resulting from environmental stressors. We established a network of calcification monitoring stations at four...
A kinematic model for the formation of the Siletz-Crescent forearc terrane by capture of coherent fragments of the Farallon and Resurrection plates
Patricia A. McCrory, Douglas S. Wilson
2013, Tectonics (32) 718-736
The volcanic basement of the Oregon and Washington Coast ranges has been proposed to represent a pair of tracks of the Yellowstone hotspot formed at a mid-ocean ridge during the early Cenozoic. This interpretation has been questioned on many grounds, especially that the range of ages does not match the...
The quality of our Nation’s waters--Ecological health in the Nation's streams, 1993-2005
Daren M. Carlisle, Michael R. Meador, Terry M. Short, Cathy M. Tate, Martin E. Gurtz, Wade L. Bryant Jr., James A. Falcone, Michael D. Woodside
2013, Circular 1391
This report summarizes a national assessment of the ecological health of streams done by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA). Healthy functioning stream ecosystems provide society with many benefits, including water purification, flood control, nutrient recycling, waste decomposition, fisheries, and aesthetics. The value to society of...
Detection of Mycoplasma agassizii in the Texas Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri)
Amanda L. Guthrie, C. LeAnn White, Mary B. Brown, Thomas W. deMaar
2013, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (49) 704-708
Mycoplasma agassizii causes upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) in Texas tortoises (Gopherus berlandieri). To determine exposure to and shedding of M. agassizii, we collected blood samples and nasal swabs from 40 free-ranging Texas tortoises on public and private lands in Texas, USA, from May to October 2009. We used an...
Hydrologic conditions in New Hampshire and Vermont, water year 2011
Richard G. Kiah, Jason D. Jarvis, Robert F. Hegemann, Gregory S. Hilgendorf, Sanborn L. Ward
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1135
Record-high hydrologic conditions in New Hampshire and Vermont occurred during water year 2011, according to data from 125 streamgages and lake gaging stations, 27 creststage gages, and 41 groundwater wells. Annual runoff for the 2011 water year was the sixth highest on record for New Hampshire and the highest on...
Snake River fall Chinook salmon life history investigations: Annual report 2011 (April 2011 - March 2012)
Kenneth F. Tiffan, William P. Connor, Brian J. Bellgraph, Tobias J. Kock, Frank Mullins, R. Kirk Steinhorst, Helena E. Christiansen, Stephen D. McCormick, Lori A. Ortega, Kathleen M. Carter, Evan V. Arntzen, Katherine J.C. Klett, Z. Daniel Deng, Tylor K. Abel, Timothy J. Linley, Valerie I. Cullinan, Scott J. St John, John M. Erhardt, Brad K. Bickford, Amanda Schmidt, Tobyn N. Rhodes
2013, Report
Executive Summary Chapter One – This chapter was published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society in 2012. We conducted a three-year radiotelemetry study in the lower Snake River to answer the questions: do fall Chinook salmon juveniles pass dams during winter when bypass systems and structures designed to prevent...
Ecological health in the Nation's streams
Daren M. Carlisle, Michael D. Woodside
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3033
Aquatic biological communities, which are collections of organisms, are a direct measure of stream health because they indicate the ability of a stream to support life. This fact sheet highlights selected findings of a national assessment of stream health by the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological...
Can law foster social-ecological resilience?
Ahjond S. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, Melinda H. Benson
2013, Ecology and Society (18)
Law plays an essential role in shaping natural resource and environmental policy, but unfortunately, many environmental laws were developed around the prevailing scientific understanding that there was a “balance of nature” that could be managed and sustained. This view assumes that natural resource managers have the capacity to predict the...
Bayesian inversion of data from effusive volcanic eruptions using physics-based models: Application to Mount St. Helens 2004--2008
Kyle Anderson, Paul Segall
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 2017-2037
Physics-based models of volcanic eruptions can directly link magmatic processes with diverse, time-varying geophysical observations, and when used in an inverse procedure make it possible to bring all available information to bear on estimating properties of the volcanic system. We develop a technique for inverting geodetic, extrusive flux, and other...
The simulated effects of wastewater-management actions on the hydrologic system and nitrogen-loading rates to wells and ecological receptors, Popponesset Bay Watershed, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Donald A. Walter
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5060
The discharge of excess nitrogen into Popponesset Bay, an estuarine system on western Cape Cod, has resulted in eutrophication and the loss of eel grass habitat within the estuaries. Septic-system return flow in residential areas within the watershed is the primary source of nitrogen. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for...
Assessment of managed aquifer recharge at Sand Hollow Reservoir, Washington County, Utah, updated to conditions in 2012
Thomas M. Marston, Victor M. Heilweil
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5057
Sand Hollow Reservoir in Washington County, Utah, was completed in March 2002 and is operated primarily for managed aquifer recharge by the Washington County Water Conservancy District. From 2002 through 2011, surface-water diversions of about 199,000 acre-feet to Sand Hollow Reservoir have allowed the reservoir to remain nearly full since...
Hydrologic and geochemical characterization of the Santa Rosa Plain watershed, Sonoma County, California
Tracy Nishikawa
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5118
The Santa Rosa Plain is home to approximately half of the population of Sonoma County, California, and faces growth in population and demand for water. Water managers are confronted with the challenge of meeting the increasing water demand with a combination of water sources, including local groundwater, whose future availability...
Linkages between lake shrinkage/expansion and sublacustrine permafrost distribution determined from remote sensing of interior Alaska, USA
Steven M. Jepsen, Clifford I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Burke J. Minsley, Jennifer Rover
2013, Geophysical Research Letters (40) 882-887
[1] Linkages between permafrost distribution and lake surface-area changes in cold regions have not been previously examined over a large scale because of the paucity of subsurface permafrost information. Here, a first large-scale examination of these linkages is made over a 5150 km2 area of Yukon Flats, Alaska, USA, by...
Stratigraphy and chronology of Provo shoreline deposits and lake-level implications, Late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, eastern Great Basin, USA
David M. Miller, Charles G. Oviatt, John P. McGeehin
2013, Boreas (42) 342-361
The Provo shoreline of Lake Bonneville formed following the Bonneville flood, and, based on previous dating, was formed during a period of overflow from about 17.5 to 15.0 cal. ka. In many places the Provo shoreline consists of a pair of distinct shorelines, one ∼3 m higher than the other. We...
Atmospheric propagation modeling indicates homing pigeons use loft-specific infrasonic ‘map’ cues
Jonathan T. Hagstrum
2013, Journal of Experimental Biology (216) 687-699
Results from an acoustic ray-tracing program using daily meteorological profiles are presented to explain ‘release-site biases’ for homing pigeons at three experimental sites in upstate New York where W. T. Keeton and his co-workers at Cornell University conducted extensive releases between 1968 and 1987 in their investigations of the avian...
Groundwater quality and water-well characteristics in the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma Jurisdictional Area, central Oklahoma, 1948--2011
Carol Becker
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1255
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, compiled historical groundwater-quality data collected from 1948 to 2011 and water-well completion information in parts of Lincoln, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie Counties in central Oklahoma to support the development of a comprehensive water-management plan for the Tribe’s...
Erosion monitoring along the Coosa River below Logan Martin Dam near Vincent, Alabama, using terrestrial light detection and ranging (T-LiDAR) technology
Dustin R. Kimbrow, Kathryn G. Lee
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5128
Alabama Power operates a series of dams on the Coosa River in east central Alabama. These dams form six reservoirs that provide power generation, flood control, recreation, economic opportunity, and fish and wildlife habitats to the region. The Logan Martin Reservoir is located approximately 45 kilometers east of Birmingham and...
Marine benthic habitat mapping of the West Arm, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Timothy O. Hodson, Guy R. Cochrane, Ross D. Powell
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3253
Seafloor geology and potential benthic habitats were mapped in West Arm, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, using multibeam sonar, groundtruthed observations, and geological interpretations. The West Arm of Glacier Bay is a recently deglaciated fjord system under the influence of glacial and paraglacial marine processes. High glacially derived...
Observations on the crystallization of spodumene from aqueous solutions in a hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell
Jianking Li, I-Ming Chou, Shunda Yuan, Robert A. Burruss
2013, Geofluids (13) 467-474
Crystallization experiments were conducted in a new type of hydrothermal diamond-anvil cell (HDAC; type V) using LiAlSi2O6 (S) gel and H2O (W) as starting materials. A total of 21 experiments were performed at temperatures up to 950°C and pressures up to 788 MPa. In the samples with relatively low W/S...
A high-resolution bioclimate map of the world: a unifying framework for global biodiversity research and monitoring
Marc J. Metzger, Robert G.H. Bunce, Rob H.G. Jongman, Roger G. Sayre, Antonio Trabucco, Robert Zomer
2013, Global Ecology and Biogeography (22) 630-638
Aim: To develop a novel global spatial framework for the integration and analysis of ecological and environmental data. Location: The global land surface excluding Antarctica. Methods: A broad set of climate-related variables were considered for inclusion in a quantitative model, which partitions geographic space into bioclimate regions. Statistical screening produced a subset...
