Chronic hydrocarbon exposure of harlequin ducks in areas affected by the Selendang Ayu oil spill at Unalaska Island, Alaska
Paul L. Flint, J.L. Schamber, K.A. Trust, A.K. Miles, J.D. Henderson, B.W. Wilson
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 2828-2831
We evaluated chronic exposure of harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) to hydrocarbons associated with the 2004 M/V Selendang Ayu oil spill at Unalaska Island, Alaska. We measured levels of hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity (EROD) in liver biopsy samples as an indicator of hydrocarbon exposure in three oiled bays and one reference bay in...
Bioenergy potential of the United States constrained by satellite observations of existing productivity
Sasha C. Reed, William K. Smith, Cory C. Cleveland, Norman L. Miller, Steven W. Running
2012, Conference Paper, Ecological Society of America 97th Annual Meeting, August 5-10, 2012, Portland, Oregon
Background/Question/Methods Currently, the United States (U.S.) supplies roughly half the world’s biofuel (secondary bioenergy), with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) stipulating an additional three-fold increase in annual production by 2022. Implicit in such energy targets is an associated increase in annual biomass demand (primary bioenergy) from...
Using surface velocities to calculate ice thickness and bed topography: A case study at Columbia Glacier, Alaska, USA
R.W. McNabb, R. Hock, Shad O’Neel, Lowell A. Rasmussen, Y. Ahn, M. Braun, H. Conway, S. Herreid, I. Joughin, W.T. Pfeffer, B.E. Smith, M. Truffer
2012, Journal of Glaciology (58) 1151-1164
Information about glacier volume and ice thickness distribution is essential for many glaciological applications, but direct measurements of ice thickness can be difficult and costly. We present a new method that calculates ice thickness via an estimate of ice flux. We solve the familiar continuity equation between adjacent flowlines, which...
Moderating Argos location errors in animal tracking data
David C. Douglas, Rolf Weinziert, Sarah C. Davidson, Roland Kays, Martin Wikelski, Gil Bohrer
2012, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (3) 999-1007
1. The Argos System is used worldwide to satellite-track free-ranging animals, but location errors can range from tens of metres to hundreds of kilometres. Low-quality locations (Argos classes A, 0, B and Z) dominate animal tracking data. Standard-quality animal tracking locations (Argos classes 3, 2 and 1) have larger errors...
Structure of marine predator and prey communities along environmental gradients in a glaciated fjord
Martin Renner, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt
2012, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (69) 2029-2045
Spatial patterns of marine predator communities are influenced to varying degrees by prey distribution and environmental gradients. We examined physical and biological attributes of an estuarine fjord with strong glacier influence to determine the factors that most influence the structure of predator and prey communities. Our results suggest that some...
Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion: Chapter 26 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Jana Ruhlman, Leila Gass, Barry Middleton
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-26
Situated between ecoregions of distinctly different topographies and climates, the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion represents a large area of approximately 192,869 km2 (74,467 mi2) that stretches across northern Arizona, central and northwestern New Mexico, and parts of southwestern Colorado; in addition, a small part extends into southeastern Nevada (fig. 1)...
Chihuahuan Deserts Ecoregion: Chapter 27 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Jana Ruhlman, Leila Gass, Barry Middleton
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-27
The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest of the North American deserts, extending from southern New Mexico and Texas deep into Mexico, with approximately 90 percent of its area falling south of the United States–Mexico border (Lowe, 1964, p. 24). The Chihuahuan Deserts Ecoregion covers approximately 174,472 km2 (67,364 mi2) within...
Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion: Chapter 28 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Jana Ruhlman, Leila Gass, Barry Middleton
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-28
The Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997), also known as the “Madrean Sky Islands” or “Sky Islands,” covers an area of approximately 40,536 km2 (15,651 mi2) in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico (fig. 1). The ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Sonoran Basin...
Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 29 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Christian G. Raumann
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-29
This chapter has been modified from original material published in Sleeter and Raumann (2006), entitled “Land-cover trends in the Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion” (U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5098). The Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) covers approximately 130,922 km2 (50,549 mi2)...
Individual condition and stream temperature influence early maturation of rainbow and steelhead trout, ncorhynchus mykiss
John R. McMillan, Jason B. Dunham, Gordon H. Reeves, Justin S. Mills, Chris E. Jordan
2012, Environmental Biology of Fishes (93) 343-355
Alternative male phenotypes in salmonine fishes arise from individuals that mature as larger and older anadromous marine-migrants or as smaller and younger freshwater residents. To better understand the processes influencing the expression of these phenotypes we examined the influences of growth in length (fork length) and whole body lipid content...
Sonoran Basin and Range Ecoregion: Chapter 30 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
James P. Calzia, Tamara S. Wilson
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-30
The Sonoran Basin and Range Ecoregion covers approximately 116,364 km2 (44,928 mi2) of desert landscape in southeastern California and southwestern Arizona (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). This ecoregion is bounded on the west by the Southern and Central California Chaparral and Oak Woodlands and the Southern...
Evaluation of modal pushover-based scaling of one component of ground motion: Tall buildings
Erol Kalkan, Anil K. Chopra
2012, Earthquake Spectra (28) 1469-1493
Nonlinear response history analysis (RHA) is now increasingly used for performance-based seismic design of tall buildings. Required for nonlinear RHAs is a set of ground motions selected and scaled appropriately so that analysis results would be accurate (unbiased) and efficient (having relatively small dispersion). This paper evaluates accuracy and efficiency...
Molecular detection of hematozoa infections in tundra swans relative to migration patterns and ecological conditions at breeding grounds
Andrew M. Ramey, Craig R. Ely, Joel A. Schmutz, John M. Pearce, Darryl J. Heard
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) are broadly distributed in North America, use a wide variety of habitats, and exhibit diverse migration strategies. We investigated patterns of hematozoa infection in three populations of tundra swans that breed in Alaska using satellite tracking to infer host movement and molecular techniques to assess the...
High-resolution tephrochronology of the Wilson Creek Formation (Mono Lake, California) and Laschamp event using 238U-230Th SIMS dating of accessory mineral rims
Jorge A. Vazquez, Marsha I. Lidzbarski
2012, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (357-358) 54-67
Sediments of the Wilson Creek Formation surrounding Mono Lake preserve a high-resolution archive of glacial and pluvial responses along the eastern Sierra Nevada due to late Pleistocene climate change. An absolute chronology for the Wilson Creek stratigraphy is critical for correlating the paleoclimate record to other archives in the western...
High plains playas
Loren M. Smith, David A. Haukos, Scott T. McMurry
Darold P. Batzer, Andrew H. Baldwin, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Wetland habitats of North America: Ecology and conservation concern
Coast Range Ecoregion: Chapter 1 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Terry L. Sohl
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-1
The Coast Range Ecoregion, which covers approximately 57,338 km2 (22,138 mi2), is a thin, linear ecoregion along the Pacific Coast, stretching roughly 1,300 km from the Olympic Peninsula, in northwest Washington, to an area south of San Francisco, California (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). It is...
Puget Lowland Ecoregion: Chapter 2 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Daniel G. Sorenson
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-2
The Puget Lowland Ecoregion covers an area of approximately 18,009 km² (6,953 mi²) within northwestern Washington (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). The ecoregion is located between the Coast Range Ecoregion to the west, which includes the Olympic Mountains, and the North Cascades and the Cascades Ecoregions...
Willamette Valley Ecoregion: Chapter 3 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Tamara S. Wilson, Daniel G. Sorenson
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-3
The Willamette Valley Ecoregion (as defined by Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) covers approximately 14,458 km² (5,582 mi2), making it one of the smallest ecoregions in the conterminous United States. The long, alluvial Willamette Valley, which stretches north to south more than 193 km and ranges from 32...
Influences on Bythotrephes longimanus life-history characteristics in the Great Lakes
Steven A. Pothoven, Henry A. Vanderploeg, David M. Warner, Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Stuart A. Ludsin, Randall M. Claramunt, Thomas F. Nalepa
2012, Journal of Great Lakes Research (38) 134-141
We compared Bythotrephes population demographics and dynamics to predator (planktivorous fish) and prey (small-bodied crustacean zooplankton) densities at a site sampled through the growing season in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Although seasonal average densities of Bythotrephes were similar across lakes (222/m2 Erie, 247/m2 Huron, 162/m2 Michigan), temporal trends in...
Canadian Rockies Ecoregion: Chapter 4 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Janis L. Taylor
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-4
The Canadian Rockies Ecoregion covers approximately 18,494 km2 (7,141 mi2) in northwestern Montana (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). The east side of the ecoregion is bordered by the Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Ecoregion, which also forms a large part of the western border of the ecoregion. In...
Tectonic influences on the preservation of marine terraces: Old and new evidence from Santa Catalina Island, California
R. Randall Schumann, Scott A. Minor, Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, John P. McGeehin
2012, Geomorphology (179) 208-224
The California Channel Islands contain some of the best geologic records of past climate and sea-level changes, recorded in uplifted, fossil-bearing marine terrace deposits. Among the eight California Channel Islands and the nearby Palos Verdes Hills, only Santa Catalina Island does not exhibit prominent emergent marine terraces, though the same...
Middle Rockies Ecoregion: Chapter 5 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Janis L. Taylor
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-5
The Middle Rockies Ecoregion—characterized by steep, high-elevation mountain ranges and intermountain valleys—is a disjunct ecoregion composed of three distinct geographic areas: the Greater Yellowstone area in northwest Wyoming, southwest Montana, and eastern Idaho; the Bighorn Mountains in north-central Wyoming and south-central Montana; and the Black Hills in western South Dakota...
The nature of porosity in organic-rich mudstones of the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation, North Sea, offshore United Kingdom
Neil S. Fishman, Paul C. Hackley, Heather Lowers, Ronald J. Hill, Sven O. Egenhoff, Dennis D. Eberl, Alex E. Blum
2012, International Journal of Coal Geology (103)
Analyses of organic-rich mudstones from wells that penetrated the Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation, offshore United Kingdom, were performed to evaluate the nature of both organic and inorganic rock constituents and their relation to porosity in this world-class source rock. The formation is at varying levels of thermal maturity, ranging...
Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Ecoregion: Chapter 6 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Janis L. Taylor
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-6
The Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Ecoregion comprises numerous intermountain valleys and low-elevation foothill prairies spread across the western half of Montana, on both sides of the Continental Divide (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). The ecoregion, which covers approximately 64,658 km2 (24,965 mi2), includes the Flathead Valley and...
Northern Rockies Ecoregion: Chapter 7 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Janis L. Taylor
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-7
The Northern Rockies Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) covers approximately 162,746 km2 (63,200 mi2), primarily in Idaho but also including areas in western Montana and northeastern Washington (fig. 1). Canada forms the northern border of the ecoregion. To the west it is bordered by the Columbia Plateau...
