Spring snow goose hunting influences body composition of waterfowl staging in Nebraska
Aaron T. Pearse, Gary L. Krapu, Robert R. Cox Jr.
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1393-1400
A spring hunt was instituted in North America to reduce abundance of snow geese (Chen caerulescens) by increasing mortality of adults directly, yet disturbance from hunting activities can indirectly influence body condition and ultimately, reproductive success. We estimated effects of hunting disturbance by comparing body composition of snow geese and...
Puerto Rico and Florida manatees represent genetically distinct groups
Margaret E. Hunter, Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni, Kimberly Pause Tucker, Tim L. King, Robert K. Bonde, Brian A. Gray, Peter M. McGuire
2012, Conservation Genetics (13) 1623-1635
The West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) populations in Florida (T. m. latirostris) and Puerto Rico (T. m. manatus) are considered distinct subspecies and are listed together as endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. Sustained management and conservation efforts for the Florida subspecies have led to the suggested reclassification...
Constraining the location of the Archean--Proterozoic suture in the Great Basin based on magnetotelluric soundings
Brian D. Rodriguez, Jay A. Sampson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1117
It is important to understand whether major mining districts in north-central Nevada are underlain by Archean crust, known to contain major orogenic gold deposits, or, alternatively, by accreted crust of the Paleoproterozoic Mojave province. Determining the location and orientation of the Archean-Proterozoic suture zone between the Archean crust and Mojave...
Sample design effects in landscape genetics
Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Bradley C. Fedy, Erin L. Landguth
2012, Conservation Genetics
An important research gap in landscape genetics is the impact of different field sampling designs on the ability to detect the effects of landscape pattern on gene flow. We evaluated how five different sampling regimes (random, linear, systematic, cluster, and single study site) affected the probability of correctly identifying the...
Generation of a U.S. national urban land use product
James A. Falcone, Collin G. Homer
2012, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (78) 1057-1068
Characterization of urban land uses is essential for many applications. However, differentiating among thematically-detailed urban land uses (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, etc.) over broad areas is challenging, in part because image-based solutions are not ideal for establishing the contextual basis for identifying economic function and use. At present no...
Decision-support systems for natural-hazards and land-management issues
Laura Dinitz, William Forney, Kristin Byrd
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3001
Scientists at the USGS Western Geographic Science Center are developing decision-support systems (DSSs) for natural-hazards and land-management issues. DSSs are interactive computer-based tools that use data and models to help identify and solve problems. These systems can provide crucial support to policymakers, planners, and communities for making better decisions about...
Geophysical studies in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley near Winnemucca, north-central Nevada
David A. Ponce
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1207
From May 2008 to September 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data from more than 660 gravity stations, 100 line-km of truck-towed magnetometer traverses, and 260 physical-property sites in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley, northern Nevada (fig. 1). Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data were collected to...
Archive of single-beam bathymetry data collected during USGS cruise 07CCT01 nearshore of Fort Massachusetts and within Camille Cut, West and East Ship Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi, July 2007
Nancy T. DeWitt, James G. Flocks, B.J. Reynolds, Mark Hansen
2012, Data Series 722
The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) is composed of a series of barrier islands along the Mississippi - Alabama coastline. Historically these islands have undergone long-term shoreline change. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 prompted questions about the stability of the barrier islands and their potential response to future...
Reoccupation of floodplains by rivers and its relation to the age structure of floodplain vegetation
Christopher P. Konrad
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research
River channel dynamics over many decades provide a physical control on the age structure of floodplain vegetation as a river occupies and abandons locations. Floodplain reoccupation by a river, in particular, determines the interval of time during which vegetation can establish and mature. A general framework for analyzing floodplain reoccupation...
A risk-based approach to evaluating wildlife demographics for management in a changing climate: A case study of the Lewis's Woodpecker
Erin Towler, Victoria A. Saab, Richard S. Sojda, Katherine Dickinson, Cindy L. Bruyere, Karen R. Newlon
2012, Environmental Management (50) 1152-1163
Given the projected threat that climate change poses to biodiversity, the need for proactive response efforts is clear. However, integrating uncertain climate change information into conservation planning is challenging, and more explicit guidance is needed. To this end, this article provides a specific example of how a risk-based approach can...
Bathymetric controls on sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary: Lateral asymmetry and frontal trapping
David K. Ralston, W. Rockwell Geyer, John C. Warner
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research (117)
Analyses of field observations and numerical model results have identified that sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary is laterally segregated between channel and shoals, features frontal trapping at multiple locations along the estuary, and varies significantly over the spring-neap tidal cycle. Lateral gradients in depth, and therefore baroclinic pressure...
South Fork Shenandoah River habitat-flow modeling to determine ecological and recreational characteristics during low-flow periods
Jennifer L. Krstolic, R. Clay Ramey
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5081
The ecological habitat requirements of aquatic organisms and recreational streamflow requirements of the South Fork Shenandoah River were investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Central Shenandoah Valley Planning District Commission, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Physical habitat simulation modeling was conducted...
Geomyces destructans -- White-nose syndrome in hibernating bats
Carol U. Meteyer, Gudrun Wibbelt
Dolores Gavier-Widen, J. Paul Duff, Anna Meredith, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Infectious diseases of wild mammals and birds in Europe
No abstract available....
Coupling at Mauna Loa and Kīlauea by stress transfer in an asthenospheric melt layer
Helge M. Gonnermann, James H. Foster, Michael Poland, Cecily J. Wolfe, Benjamin A. Brooks, Asta Miklius
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 826-829
The eruptive activity at the neighbouring Hawaiian volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, is thought to be linked despite both having separate lithospheric magmatic plumbing systems. Over the past century, activity at the two volcanoes has been anti-correlated, which could reflect a competition for the same magma supply. Yet, during the...
Summer temperature metrics for predicting brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution in streams
Donna L. Parrish, Ryan S. Butryn, Donna M. Rizzo
2012, Hydrobiologia (703) 47-57
We developed a methodology to predict brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution using summer temperature metrics as predictor variables. Our analysis used long-term fish and hourly water temperature data from the Dog River, Vermont (USA). Commonly used metrics (e.g., mean, maximum, maximum 7-day maximum) tend to smooth the data...
The 11 April 2012 east Indian Ocean earthquake triggered large aftershocks worldwide
Fred F. Pollitz, Ross S. Stein, Volkan Sevilgen, Roland Burgmann
2012, Nature (490) 250-253
Large earthquakes trigger very small earthquakes globally during passage of the seismic waves and during the following several hours to days1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, but so far remote aftershocks of moment magnitude M≥5.5 have not been identified11, with the lone exception of an M=6.9...
Sandstone copper assessment of the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan: Chapter E in Global mineral resource assessment
Stephen E. Box, Boris Syusyura, Timothy S. Hayes, Cliff D. Taylor, Michael L. Zientek, Murray W. Hitzman, Reimar Seltmann, Vladimir Chechetkin, Alla Dolgopolova, Pamela M. Cossette, John C. Wallis
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-E
Mineral resource assessments represent a synthesis of available information to estimate the location, quality, and quantity of undiscovered mineral resources in the upper part of the Earth’s crust. This report presents a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered sandstone copper deposits within the late Paleozoic Chu-Sarysu Basin in central Kazakhstan...
Ecology for conserving our sirenians
Robert K. Bonde
2012, Ecology (93) 2127-2128
Review of: Ecology and conservation of the sirenia: dugongs and manatees. Helene Marsh, Thomas J. O'Shea and John E. Reynolds III. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, 521 pp, ISBN 978-0-521-88828-8, US$135 and 978-0-521-71643-7, US$65....
Preliminary assessment of channel stability and bed-material transport in the Tillamook Bay tributaries and Nehalem River basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Mackenzie K. Keith, Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1187
This report summarizes a preliminary study of bed-material transport, vertical and lateral channel changes, and existing datasets for the Tillamook (drainage area 156 square kilometers [km2]), Trask (451 km2), Wilson (500 km2), Kilchis (169 km2), Miami (94 km2), and Nehalem (2,207 km2) Rivers along the northwestern Oregon coast. This study,...
Mercury in waters, soils, and sediments of the New Jersey Coastal Plain: A comparison of regional distribution and mobility with the mercury contamination at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Julia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. Reilly
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5115
Mercury in soils, surface water, and groundwater at the William J. Hughes Technical Center , Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been found at levels that exceed established background concentrations in Coastal Plain waters, and, in some cases, New Jersey State standards for mercury in various media. As of 2012, it...
An economic approach to assessing import policies designed to prevent the arrival of invasive species: the case of Puccinia psidii in Hawai'i
Kimberly Burnett, Sean D’Evelyn, Lloyd Loope, Christopher A. Wada
2012, Environmental Science and Policy (19-20) 158-168
Since its first documented introduction to Hawai‘i in 2005, the rust fungus Puccinia psidii has already severely damaged Syzygium jambos (Indian rose apple) trees and the federally endangered Eugenia koolauensis (nioi). Fortunately, the particular strain has yet to cause serious damage to Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a), which comprises roughly 80% of...
Passive thermal refugia provided warm water for Florida manatees during the severe winter of 2009-2010
B.M. Stith, D. H. Slone, M. de Wit, H.H. Edwards, C.A. Langtimm, E.D. Swain, L.E. Soderqvist, J.P. Reid
2012, Marine Ecology Progress Series (462) 287-301
Haloclines induced by freshwater inflow over tidal water have been identified as an important mechanism for maintaining warm water in passive thermal refugia (PTR) used by Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris during winter in extreme southwestern Florida. Record-setting cold during winter 2009–2010 resulted in an unprecedented number of manatee deaths,...
Estimating pesticide sampling rates by the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) in the presence of natural organic matter and varying hydrodynamic conditions
Lucner Charlestra, Aria Amirbahman, David L. Courtemanch, David A. Alvarez, Howard Patterson
2012, Environmental Pollution (169) 98-104
The polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) was calibrated to monitor pesticides in water under controlled laboratory conditions. The effect of natural organic matter (NOM) on the sampling rates (Rs) was evaluated in microcosms containing -1 of total organic carbon (TOC). The effect of hydrodynamics was studied by...
Rapid invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) in the Florida Keys, USA: evidence from multiple pre-and post-invasion data sets
Benjamin I. Ruttenberg, Pamela J. Schofield, J. Lad Akins, Alejandro Acosta, Michael W. Feeley, Jeremiah Blondeau, Steven G. Smith, Jerald S. Ault
2012, Bulletin of Marine Science (88) 1051-1059
Over the past decade, Indo-Pacific lionfishes, Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), venomous members of the scorpionfish family (Scorpaenidae), have invaded and spread throughout much of the tropical and subtropical northwestern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. These species are generalist predators of fishes and invertebrates with the...
Revealing the appetite of the marine aquarium fish trade: the volume and biodiversity of fish imported into the United States
Andrew L. Rhyne, Michael F. Tlusty, Pamela J. Schofield, Les Kaufman, James A. Morris Jr., Andrew W. Bruckner
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The aquarium trade and other wildlife consumers are at a crossroads forced by threats from global climate change and other anthropogenic stressors that have weakened coastal ecosystems. While the wildlife trade may put additional stress on coral reefs, it brings income into impoverished parts of the world and may stimulate...
