Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Ecoregion: Chapter 12 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Daniel G. Sorenson
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A-12
The Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Ecoregion (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997) covers approximately 57,329 km² (22,135 mi²) in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California (fig. 1). The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the Columbia Plateau, Blue Mountains, and Northern Basin and Range Ecoregions; on...
Biomedical health assessments of the Florida manatee in Crystal River - providing opportunities for training during the capture, handling, and processing of this endangered aquatic mammal
Robert K. Bonde, Andrew Garrett, Michael Belanger, Nesime Askin, Luke Tan, Carin Wittnich
2012, Journal of Marine Animals and Their Ecology (5) 17-28
Federal and state researchers have been involved in manatee (Trichechus manatus) biomedical health assessment programs for a couple of decades. These benchmark studies have provided a foundation for the development of consistent capture, handling, and processing techniques and protocols. Biologists have implemented training and encouraged multi-agency participation whenever possible to...
Food availability and offspring sex in a monogamous seabird: insights from an experimental approach
Thomas Merkling, Sarah Leclaire, Etienne Danchin, Emeline Lhuillier, Richard H. Wagner, Joel White, Scott A. Hatch, Pierrick Blanchard
2012, Behavioral Ecology (23) 751-758
Sex allocation theory predicts that parents should favor offspring of the sex that provides the greatest fitness return. Despite growing evidence suggesting that vertebrates are able to overcome the constraint of chromosomal sex determination, the general pattern remains equivocal, indicating a need for experimental investigations. We used an experimental feeding...
Vegetation shifts observed in arctic tundra 17 years after fire
Kirsten Barrett, Adrian V. Rocha, Martine Janet van de Weg, Gaius Shaver
2012, Remote Sensing Letters (3) 729-736
With anticipated climate change, tundra fires are expected to occur more frequently in the future, but data on the long-term effects of fire on tundra vegetation composition are scarce. This study addresses changes in vegetation structure that have persisted for 17 years after a tundra fire on the North Slope...
Listening to Glaciers: Passive hydroacoustics near marine-terminating glaciers
E.C. Pettit, J.A. Nystuen, Shad O’Neel
2012, Oceanography (25) 104-105
The catastrophic breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf in the Weddell Sea in 2002 paints a vivid portrait of the effects of glacier-climate interactions. This event, along with other unexpected episodes of rapid mass loss from marine-terminating glaciers (i.e., tidewater glaciers, outlet glaciers, ice streams, ice shelves) sparked intensified...
Effects of sea ice on winter site fidelity of Pacific common eiders (Somateria mollissima v-nigrum)
Margaret R. Petersen, David C. Douglas, Heather M. Wilson, Sarah E. McCloskey
2012, The Auk (129) 399-408
In northern marine habitats, the presence or absence of sea ice results in variability in the distribution of many species and the quality and availability of pelagic winter habitat. To understand the effects of ice on intra- and inter-annual winter site fidelity and movements in a northern sea-duck species, we...
A multi-sensor lidar, multi-spectral and multi-angular approach for mapping canopy height in boreal forest regions
David J. Selkowitz, Gordon Green, Birgit E. Peterson, Bruce Wylie
2012, Remote Sensing of Environment (121) 458-471
Spatially explicit representations of vegetation canopy height over large regions are necessary for a wide variety of inventory, monitoring, and modeling activities. Although airborne lidar data has been successfully used to develop vegetation canopy height maps in many regions, for vast, sparsely populated regions such as the boreal forest biome,...
Bioenergetics model for estimating food requirements of female Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens)
S.R. Noren, Mark S. Udevitz, C.V. Jay
2012, Marine Ecology Progress Series (460) 261-275
Pacific walruses Odobenus rosmarus divergens use sea ice as a platform for resting, nursing, and accessing extensive benthic foraging grounds. The extent of summer sea ice in the Chukchi Sea has decreased substantially in recent decades, causing walruses to alter habitat use and activity patterns which could affect their energy...
Toxicity of waters from the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area-of-Concern to the plankton species Selenastrum capricornutum and Ceriodaphnia dubia
Barry P. Baldigo, Brian T. Duffy, Christopher J. Nally, Anthony M. David
2012, Journal of Great Lakes Research (38) 812-820
In 1972, the US and Canada committed to restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes Ecosystem under the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. During subsequent amendments, part of the St. Lawrence River at Massena NY, and segments of three tributaries, were designated as one Area...
Characterizing post-drainage succession in Thermokarst Lake Basins on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska with TerraSAR-X Backscatter and Landsat-based NDVI data
Prajna Regmi, Guido Grosse, Miriam C. Jones, Benjamin M. Jones, Katey Walter Anthony
2012, Remote Sensing (4) 3741-3765
Drained thermokarst lake basins accumulate significant amounts of soil organic carbon in the form of peat, which is of interest to understanding carbon cycling and climate change feedbacks associated with thermokarst in the Arctic. Remote sensing is a tool useful for understanding temporal and spatial dynamics of drained basins. In...
Evidence of accelerated beak growth associated with avian keratin disorder in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus)
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Colleen M. Handel, Todd M. O'Hara
2012, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (48) 686-694
We recently documented an epizootic of beak deformities in more than 2,000 Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and other wild bird species in North America. This emerging avian disease, which has been termed avian keratin disorder, results in gross overgrowth of the rhamphotheca, the outer, keratinized layer of the beak. To...
Cenozoic tectono-thermal history of the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska: Paleocene-Eocene ridge subduction, decreasing relief, and late Neogene faulting
Jeff A. Benowitz, Peter J. Haeussler, Paul W. Layer, Paul B. O'Sullivan, Wes K. Wallace, Robert J. Gillis
2012, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (13)
Topographic development inboard of the continental margin is a predicted response to ridge subduction. New thermochronology results from the western Alaska Range document ridge subduction related orogenesis. K-feldspar thermochronology (KFAT) of bedrock samples from the Tordrillo Mountains in the western Alaska Range complement existing U-Pb, 40Ar/39Ar and AFT (apatite fission track)...
Analysis of low-frequency seismic signals generated during a multiple-iceberg calving event at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland
Fabian Walter, Jason M. Amundson, Shad O’Neel, Martin Truffer, Mark Fahnestock, Helen A. Fricker
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research (117)
We investigated seismic signals generated during a large-scale, multiple iceberg calving event that occurred at Jakobshavn Isbræ, Greenland, on 21 August 2009. The event was recorded by a high-rate time-lapse camera and five broadband seismic stations located within a few hundred kilometers of the terminus. During the event two full-glacier-thickness...
The impact of antecedent fire area on burned area in southern California coastal ecosystems
Owen F. Price, Ross A. Bradstock, Jon E. Keeley, Alexandra D. Syphard
2012, Journal of Environmental Management (113) 301-307
Frequent wildfire disasters in southern California highlight the need for risk reduction strategies for the region, of which fuel reduction via prescribed burning is one option. However, there is no consensus about the effectiveness of prescribed fire in reducing the area of wildfire. Here, we use 29 years of historical...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the North Takhar mineral district in Afghanistan: Chapter D in Local-area-enhanced, high-resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of mineral districts in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis, Laura E. Cagney
2012, Data Series 709-D
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Hydrostratigraphic interpretation of test-hole and surface geophysical data, Elkhorn and Loup River Basins, Nebraska, 2008 to 2011
Christopher M. Hobza, Paul A. Bedrosian, Benjamin R. Bloss
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1227
The Elkhorn-Loup Model (ELM) was begun in 2006 to understand the effect of various groundwater-management scenarios on surface-water resources. During phase one of the ELM study, a lack of subsurface geological information was identified as a data gap. Test holes drilled to the base of the aquifer in the ELM...
Predicted eelgrass response to sea level rise and its availability to foraging Black Brant in Pacific coast estuaries
Frank J. Shaughnessy, Whelan Gilkerson, Jeffrey M. Black, David H. Ward, Mark Petrie
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1743-1761
Managers need to predict how animals will respond to habitat redistributions caused by climate change. Our objective was to model the effects of sea level rise on total eelgrass (Zostera marina) habitat area and on the amount of that area that is accessible to Brant geese (Branta bernicla), specialist grazers...
Under trees and water at Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Joel E. Robinson, Charles R. Bacon, Chris Wayne
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3223
Crater Lake partially fills the caldera that formed approximately 7,700 years ago during the eruption of a 12,000-ft-high volcano known as Mount Mazama. The caldera-forming, or climactic, eruption of Mount Mazama devastated the surrounding landscape, left a thick deposit of pumice and ash in adjacent valleys, and spread a blanket...
Soil data for a collapse-scar bog chronosequence in Koyukuk Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2008
Jonathan A. O’Donnell, Jennifer W. Harden, Kristen L. Manies, M. Torre Jorgenson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1230
Peatlands in the northern permafrost region store large amounts of organic carbon, most of which is currently stored in frozen peat deposits. Recent warming at high-latitudes has accelerated permafrost thaw in peatlands, which will likely result in the loss of soil organic carbon from previously frozen peat deposits to the...
Peat accumulation in drained thermokarst lake basins in continuous, ice-rich permafrost, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska
Miriam C. Jones, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Katey Walter Anthony
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (117) G00M07
Thermokarst lakes and peat-accumulating drained lake basins cover a substantial portion of Arctic lowland landscapes, yet the role of thermokarst lake drainage and ensuing peat formation in landscape-scale carbon (C) budgets remains understudied. Here we use measurements of terrestrial peat thickness, bulk density, organic matter content, and basal radiocarbon age...
Carry-over effects of winter location contribute to variation in timing of nest initiation and clutch size in black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans)
Jason L. Schamber, James S. Sedinger, David H. Ward
2012, The Auk (129) 205-210
We assessed carry-over effects from winter location on timing of nest initiation and clutch size of Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) using observations of individually marked brant breeding at the Tutakoke River colony in Alaska, and wintering along a latitudinal gradient at three areas on the Pacific coast of Baja...
Linking physical monitoring to coho and Chinook salmon populations in the Redwood Creek Watershed, California—Summary of May 3–4, 2012 Workshop
Mary Ann Madej, Alicia A. Torregrosa, Andrea Woodward
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1245
On Thursday, May 3, 2012, a science workshop was held at the Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) office in Arcata, California, with researchers and resource managers working in RNSP to share data and expert opinions concerning salmon populations and habitat in the Redwood Creek watershed. The focus of the...
Slope-Area Computation Program Graphical User Interface 1.0—A Preprocessing and Postprocessing Tool for Estimating Peak Flood Discharge Using the Slope-Area Method
D. Nathan Bradley
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3112
The slope-area method is a technique for estimating the peak discharge of a flood after the water has receded (Dalrymple and Benson, 1967). This type of discharge estimate is called an “indirect measurement” because it relies on evidence left behind by the flood, such as high-water marks (HWMs) on trees...
Preliminary catalog of the sedimentary basins of the United States
James L. Coleman Jr., Steven M. Cahan
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1111
One hundred forty-four sedimentary basins (or groups of basins) in the United States (both onshore and offshore) are identified, located, and briefly described as part of a Geographic Information System (GIS) data base in support of the Geologic Carbon Dioxide Sequestration National Assessment Project (Brennan and others, 2010). This catalog...
The Fort Collins Science Center
Juliette T. Wilson, Michele M. Banowetz
2012, General Information Product 139
With a focus on biological research, the U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) develops and disseminates science-based information and tools to support natural resource decision-making. This brochure succinctly describes the integrated science capabilities, products, and services that the FORT science community offers across the disciplines of aquatic systems,...
