At-sea behavior varies with lunar phase in a nocturnal pelagic seabird, the swallow-tailed gull
Sebastian M. Cruz, Mevin Hooten, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Carolina B. Proano, David J. Anderson, Vsevolod Afanasyev, Martin Wikelski
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Strong and predictable environmental variability can reward flexible behaviors among animals. We used long-term records of activity data that cover several lunar cycles to investigate whether behavior at-sea of swallow-tailed gulls Creagrus furcatus, a nocturnal pelagic seabird, varied with lunar phase in the Galápagos Islands. A Bayesian hierarchical model showed...
Circuit theory and model-based inference for landscape connectivity
Ephraim M. Hanks, Mevin Hooten
2013, Journal of the American Statistical Association (108) 22-33
Circuit theory has seen extensive recent use in the field of ecology, where it is often applied to study functional connectivity. The landscape is typically represented by a network of nodes and resistors, with the resistance between nodes a function of landscape characteristics. The effective distance between two locations on...
Spatial occupancy models for large data sets
Devin S. Johnson, Paul B. Conn, Mevin Hooten, Justina C. Ray, Bruce A. Pond
2013, Ecology (94) 801-808
Since its development, occupancy modeling has become a popular and useful tool for ecologists wishing to learn about the dynamics of species occurrence over time and space. Such models require presence–absence data to be collected at spatially indexed survey units. However, only recently have researchers recognized the need to correct...
Age-specific survival of tundra swans on the lower Alaska Peninsula
Brandt W. Meixell, Mark S. Lindberg, Paul B. Conn, Christian P. Dau, John E. Sarvis, Kristine M. Sowl
2013, The Condor (115) 280-289
The population of Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) breeding on the lower Alaska Peninsula represents the southern extremity of the species' range and is uniquely nonmigratory. We used data on recaptures, resightings, and recoveries of neck-collared Tundra Swans on the lower Alaska Peninsula to estimate collar loss, annual apparent survival,...
Variation in body mass dynamics among sites in Black Brant Branta bernicla nigricans supports adaptivity of mass loss during moult
Thomas F. Fondell, Paul L. Flint, Joel A. Schmutz, Jason L. Schamber, Christopher A. Nicolai
2013, Ibis (155) 593-604
Birds employ varying strategies to accommodate the energetic demands of moult, one important example being changes in body mass. To understand better their physiological and ecological significance, we tested three hypotheses concerning body mass dynamics during moult. We studied Black Brant in 2006 and 2007 moulting at three sites in...
Influence of richness and seeding density on invasion resistance in experimental tallgrass prairie restorations
Kristine T. Nemec, Craig R. Allen, Christopher J. Helzer, David A. Wedin
2013, Ecological Restoration (31) 168-185
In recent years, agricultural producers and non-governmental organizations and agencies have restored thousands of hectares of cropland to grassland in the Great Plains of the United States. However, little is known about the relationships between richness and seeding density in these restorations and resistance to invasive plant species. We assessed...
Field trial of a pulsed limestone diversion well
Philip L. Sibrell, C. Denholm, Margaret Dunn
2013, Conference Paper, 2nd Wyoming reclamation and restoration symposium and 30th annual meeting of the American society of mining and reclamation: Reclamation across industries
The use of limestone diversion wells to treat acid mine drainage (AMD) is well-known, but in many cases, acid neutralization is not as complete as would be desired. Reasons for this include channeling of the water through the limestone bed, and the slow reaction rate of the limestone gravel. A...
One hundred and six years of population and community dynamics of Sonoran Desert Laboratory perennials
Susana Rodriguez-Buritica, Helen Raichle, Robert H. Webb, Raymond M. Turner, Larry Venable
2013, Ecological Archives (94) 976-976
This data set constitutes all information associated with the Spalding-Shreve permanent vegetation plots from 1906 through 2012, which is the longest-running plant monitoring program in the world. The program consists of detailed maps of all Sonoran Desert perennial plants in 30 permanent plots located on Tumamoc Hill, near Tucson, Arizona,...
Concentration, flux, and the analysis of trends of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chloride in 18 tributaries to Lake Champlain, Vermont and New York, 1990–2011
Laura Medalie
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5021
Annual concentration, flux, and yield for total phosphorus, dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chloride for 18 tributaries to Lake Champlain were estimated for 1990 through 2011 using a weighted regression method based on time, tributary streamflows (discharges), and seasonal factors. The weighted regression method generated two series of daily estimates...
An individual-based model for population viability analysis of humpback chub in Grand Canyon
William Pine Pine III, Brian Healy, Emily Omana Smith, Melissa Trammell, Dave Speas, Rich Valdez, Mike Yard, Carl Walters, Rob Ahrens, Randy Vanhaverbeke, Dennis Stone, Wade Wilson
2013, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (33) 626-641
We developed an individual-based population viability analysis model (females only) for evaluating risk to populations from catastrophic events or conservation and research actions. This model tracks attributes (size, weight, viability, etc.) for individual fish through time and then compiles this information to assess the extinction risk of the population across...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Wisconsin
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3032
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Wisconsin, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, water supply...
Hydrogeology of the West Branch Delaware River basin, Delaware County, New York
Richard J. Reynolds
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5025
In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, began a study of the hydrogeology of the West Branch Delaware River (Cannonsville Reservoir) watershed. There has been recent interest by energy companies in developing the natural gas reserves that are trapped within...
In situ quantification of Br and Cl in minerals and fluid inclusions by LA-ICP-MS: a powerful tool to identify fluid sources
Johannes Hammerli, Brian Rusk, Carl Spandler, Poul Emsbo, Nicholas H.S. Oliver
2013, Chemical Geology (337-338) 75-87
Bromine and chlorine are important halogens for fluid source identification in the Earth's crust, but until recently we lacked routine analytical techniques to determine the concentration of these elements in situ on a micrometer scale in minerals and fluid inclusions. In this study, we evaluate the potential of in situ...
Improving predictive power of physically based rainfall-induced shallow landslide models: a probablistic approach
S. Raia, M. Alvioli, M. Rossi, R.L. Baum, J. W. Godt, F. Guzzetti
2013, Geoscientific Model Development and Discussions (6) 1367-1426
Distributed models to forecast the spatial and temporal occurrence of rainfall-induced shallow landslides are deterministic. These models extend spatially the static stability models adopted in geotechnical engineering and adopt an infinite-slope geometry to balance the resisting and the driving forces acting on the sliding mass. An infiltration model is used...
Resilience thinking and a decision-analytic approach to conservation: strange bedfellows or essential partners?
Fred A. Johnson, Byron K. Williams, James D. Nichols
2013, Ecology and Society (18)
There has been some tendency to view decision science and resilience theory as opposing approaches, or at least as contending perspectives, for natural resource management. Resilience proponents have been especially critical of optimization in decision science, at least for those cases where it is focused on the aggressive pursuit of...
Ecology of potential West Nile virus vectors in southeastern Louisiana: enzootic transmission in the relative absence of Culex quinquefasciatus
Marvin S. Godsey Jr., Raymond J. King, Kristen Burkhalter, Mark Delorey, Leah Colton, Dawn Charnetzky, Genevieve Sutherland, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Lawrence A. Wilson, Michelle Coffey, Lesley E. Milheim, Viki G. Taylor, Charles Palmisano, Dawn M. Wesson, Stephen C. Guptill
2013, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (88) 986-996
A study of West Nile virus (WNV) ecology was conducted in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2004. Mosquitoes were collected weekly throughout the year using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps placed at 1.5 and 6 m above the ground and gravid traps. A total...
Field survey and damage assessment of the Mineral, Virginia, earthquake of August 23, 2011
Helen R. Thomas, Katharine Turkle
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1198
The town of Mineral, Virginia (Va.), underwent an M=5.8 earthquake on August 23, 2011. A U.S. Geological Survey team was sent to visually inspect and document the damage in the cities of Richmond, Charlottesville, Louisa, and Mineral, Va. Our inspection concluded that the Modified Mercalli Intensity rating of moderate (V)...
Monitoring and understanding changes in heat waves, cold waves, floods, and droughts in the United States: State of knowledge
Thomas C. Peterson, Richard R. Heim Jr., Robert M. Hirsch, Dale P. Kaiser, Harold Brooks, Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Randall M. Dole, Jason P. Giovannettone, Kristen Guirguis, Thomas R. Karl, Richard W. Katz, Kenneth E. Kunkel, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Gregory J. McCabe, Christopher J. Paciorek, Karen R. Ryberg, BS Silva K Wolter, Siegfried Schubert, Viviane B. S. Silva, Brooke C. Stewart, Aldo V. Vecchia, Gabriele Villarini, Russell S. Vose, John Walsh, Michael Wehner, David Wolock, Klaus Wolter, Connie A. Woodhouse, Donald Wuebbles
2013, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (June 2013) 821-834
Weather and climate extremes have been varying and changing on many different time scales. In recent decades, heat waves have generally become more frequent across the United States, while cold waves have been decreasing. While this is in keeping with expectations in a warming climate, it turns out that decadal...
New perspectives on the geometry of the Albuquerque Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico: Insights from geophysical models of rift-fill thickness
V. J. Grauch, Sean D. Connell
2013, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America (494) 427-462
Discrepancies among previous models of the geometry of the Albuquerque Basin motivated us to develop a new model using a comprehensive approach. Capitalizing on a natural separation between the densities of mainly Neogene basin fill (Santa Fe Group) and those of older rocks, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) geophysical model...
Properties of basin-fill deposits, a 1971–2000 water budget, and surface-water-groundwater interactions in the upper Humboldt River basin, northeastern Nevada
Russell W. Plume, J. LaRue Smith
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5077
This study was done in cooperation with Elko County, Nevada in response to concerns over growing demand for water within the county and increasing external demands that are occurring statewide. The upper Humboldt River basin encompasses 4,360 square miles in northeastern Nevada and includes the headwaters area of the Humboldt...
Groundwater well inventory and assessment in the area of the proposed Normally Pressured Lance natural gas development project, Green River Basin, Wyoming, 2012
Michael J. Sweat
2013, Data Series 770
During May through September 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, inventoried and assessed existing water wells in southwestern Wyoming for inclusion in a possible groundwater-monitor network. Records were located for 3,282 wells in the upper Green River Basin, which includes the U.S. Geological...
Human and biophysical influences on fire occurrence in the United States
Todd Hawbaker, Volker C. Radeloff, Susan I. Stewart, Roger B. Hammer, Nicholas S. Keuler, Murray K. Clayton
2013, Ecological Applications (23) 565-582
National-scale analyses of fire occurrence are needed to prioritize fire policy and management activities across the United States. However, the drivers of national-scale patterns of fire occurrence are not well understood, and how the relative importance of human or biophysical factors varies across the country is unclear. Our research goal...
Phytotoxicity of zinc and manganese to seedlings grown in soil contaminated by zinc smelting
W. N. Beyer, C.E. Green, M. Beyer, R. L. Chaney
2013, Environmental Pollution (179) 167-176
Historic emissions from two zinc smelters have injured the forest on Blue Mountain near Palmerton, Pennsylvania, USA. Seedlings of soybeans and five tree species were grown in a greenhouse in a series of mixtures of smelter-contaminated and reference soils and then phytotoxic thresholds were calculated. As little as 10% Palmerton...
Flagging versus dragging as sampling methods for nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae)
Eric L. Rulison, Isis Kuczaj, Genevieve Pang, Graham J. Hickling, Jean I. Tsao, Howard S. Ginsberg
2013, Journal of Vector Ecology (38) 163-167
The nymphal stage of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), is responsible for most transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, to humans in North America. From 2010 to fall of 2012, we compared two commonly used techniques, flagging and dragging, as sampling methods for nymphal...
Understanding how social networking influences perceived satisfaction with conference experiences
Carena J. van Riper, Charles van Riper III, Gerard T. Kyle, Martha E. Lee
2013, Annals of Leisure Research (16) 103-114
Social networking is a key benefit derived from participation in conferences that bind the ties of a professional community. Building social networks can lead to satisfactory experiences while furthering participants' long- and short-term career goals. Although investigations of social networking can lend insight into how to effectively engage individuals and...
