Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 2, down to earth
Clifford I. Voss
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 1455-1458
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. (Frédéric Chopin, a musician and composer, quoted in If Not God, Then What? by Fost 2007)Despite the dubious developments...
Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 1, adrift in the details
Clifford I. Voss
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 1281-1284
Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it. …Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it. (Epigrams in Programming by Alan Perlis, a computer scientist; Perlis 1982).A doctoral student creating a groundwater model of a regional aquifer put individual...
Evaluating the potential for remote bathymetric mapping of a turbid, sand-bed river: 2. application to hyperspectral image data from the Platte River
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Brandon T. Overstreet
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
This study examined the possibility of mapping depth from optical image data in turbid, sediment-laden channels. Analysis of hyperspectral images from the Platte River indicated that depth retrieval in these environments is feasible, but might not be highly accurate. Four methods of calibrating image-derived depth estimates were evaluated. The first...
Evaluating the potential for remote bathymetric mapping of a turbid, sand-bed river: 1. Field spectroscopy and radiative transfer modeling
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Brandon T. Overstreet
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Remote sensing offers an efficient means of mapping bathymetry in river systems, but this approach has been applied primarily to clear-flowing, gravel bed streams. This study used field spectroscopy and radiative transfer modeling to assess the feasibility of spectrally based depth retrieval in a sand-bed river with a higher suspended...
An evaluation of the Bayesian approach to fitting the N-mixture model for use with pseudo-replicated count data
S.G. Toribo, B. R. Gray, S. Liang
2011, Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation (82) 1135-1143
The N-mixture model proposed by Royle in 2004 may be used to approximate the abundance and detection probability of animal species in a given region. In 2006, Royle and Dorazio discussed the advantages of using a Bayesian approach in modelling animal abundance and occurrence using a hierarchical N-mixture model. N-mixture...
An automated device for provoking and capturing wildlife calls
David E. Ausband, Jesse Skrivseth, Michael S. Mitchell
2011, Wildlife Society Bulletin (35) 498-503
Some animals exhibit call-and-response behaviors that can be exploited to facilitate detection. Traditionally, acoustic surveys that use call-and-respond techniques have required an observer's presence to perform the broadcast, record the response, or both events. This can be labor-intensive and may influence animal behavior and, thus, survey results. We developed an...
The human dimension of fire regimes on Earth
David M. J. S. Bowman, Jennifer Balch, Paulo Artaxo, William J. Bond, Mark A. Cochrane, Carla M. D'Antonio, Fay H. Johnston, Ruth DeFries, Jon E. Keeley, Meg A. Krawchuk, Christian A. Kull, Michelle Mack, Max A. Moritz, Stephen Pyne, Christopher I. Roos, Andrew C. Scott, Navjot S. Sodhi, Thomas W. Swetnam
2011, Journal of Biogeography (38) 2223-2236
Humans and their ancestors are unique in being a fire‐making species, but ‘natural’ (i.e. independent of humans) fires have an ancient, geological history on Earth. Natural fires have influenced biological evolution and global biogeochemical cycles, making fire integral to the functioning of some biomes. Globally, debate rages about the impact...
Alternative states of a semiarid grassland ecosystem: implications for ecosystem services
Mark E. Miller, R. Travis Belote, Matthew A. Bowker, Steven L. Garman
2011, Ecosphere (2)
Ecosystems can shift between alternative states characterized by persistent differences in structure, function, and capacity to provide ecosystem services valued by society. We examined empirical evidence for alternative states in a semiarid grassland ecosystem where topographic complexity and contrasting management regimes have led to spatial variations in levels of livestock...
Differences in macroinvertebrate community structure in streams and rivers with different hydrologic regimes in the semi-arid Colorado Plateau
Matthew P. Miller, Anne M.D. Brasher
2011, River Systems (19) 225-238
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are sensitive to changes in their chemical and physical environment, and as such, serve as excellent indicators of overall ecosystem health. Moreover, temporal and spatial differences in macroinvertebrate community structure can be used to investigate broad issues in aquatic science, such as the hypothesis that changes in climate...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of Thailand
Chris Schenk
2011, PTIT Focus (25) 38-42
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 1.6 billion barrels of undiscovered conventional oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered conventional natural gas in three geologic provinces of Thailand using a geology-based methodology. Most of the undiscovered conventional oil and gas resource is estimated to be in the...
Offshore sand-shoal development and evolution of Petit Bois Pass, Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands, Mississippi, USA
James G. Flocks, Kyle W. Kelso, Gregory C. Twichell, Noreen A. Buster, John N. Baehr
Julie D. Rosati, Ping Wang, Tiffany M. Roberts, editor(s)
2011, Book, The Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2011
Assessment of recently collected geophysical and sediment-core data identifies an extensive shoal field located off Dauphin and Petit Bois Islands. The shoals are the product of Pleistocene fluvial deposition and Holocene marine-transgressive processes, and their position and orientation oblique to the modern shoreline has been stable over the past century....
Use of stable isotopes and mercury to assess trophic positions of black carp and other large fishes in the Red-Atchafalaya River system, Louisiana, USA
L. Nico, A. Demopoulos, D. Gualtieri, C. Wieser
D.C. Chapman, M.H. Hoff, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Invasive Asian Carps in North America: American Fisheries Society Symposium 74
A new strategy for developing Vs30 maps
David J. Wald, Leslie McWhirter, Eric Thompson, Amanda S. Hering
2011, Book
Despite obvious limitations as a proxy for site amplification, the use of time-averaged shear-wave velocity over the top 30m (Vs30) is useful and widely practiced, most notably through its use as an explanatory variable in ground motion prediction equations (and thus hazard maps and ShakeMaps, among other applications). Local, regional,...
If the creeks don't rise: the May 2010 Flood in Nashville
Rodney R. Knight, William J. Wolfe, David E. Ladd
2011, Water Resources Impact (13) 9-12
The aftermath, recovery, and lessons of the future following a major flood that inundated the greater Nashville area one year ago are the subjects of this article. The authors discuss what led up to the event, its impacts, and what, if anything, can be done to prevent or diminish the...
Ranavirus outbreaks in amphibian populations of northern Idaho
Danelle M. Russell, Caren S. Goldberg, Laura Sprague, Lisette P. Waits, D. Earl Green, Krysten L. Schuler, Erica Bree Rosenblum
2011, Herpetological Review (42) 223-225
Ranavirus outbreaks, caused by pathogens in the genus Ranavirus (Family Iridoviridae), were the largest single cause of reported amphibian mass mortality events in the United States from 1996–2001 (Green et al. 2002). Mortality events associated with ranaviruses have been documented on five continents and throughout the latitudes and elevations where...
Diet overlap of top-level predators in recent sympatry: bull trout and nonnative lake trout
Christopher S. Guy, Thomas E. McMahon, Wade A. Fredenberg, Clinton J. Smith, David W. Garfield, Benjamin S. Cox
2011, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (2) 183-189
The establishment of nonnative lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in lakes containing lacustrine–adfluvial bull trout Salvelinus confluentus often results in a precipitous decline in bull trout abundance. The exact mechanism for the decline is unknown, but one hypothesis is related to competitive exclusion for prey resources. We had the rare opportunity...
The fate and transport of nitrate in shallow groundwater in northwestern Mississippi, USA
Heather L. Welch, Christopher T. Green, Richard H. Coupe
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 1239-1252
Agricultural contamination of groundwater in northwestern Mississippi, USA, has not been studied extensively, and subsurface fluxes of agricultural chemicals have been presumed minimal. To determine the factors controlling transport of nitrate-N into the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, a study was conducted from 2006 to 2008 to estimate fluxes of...
The evaluation of a rake method to quantify submersed vegetation in the Upper Mississippi River
Yao Yin, Rebecca M. Kreiling
2011, Hydrobiologia (675) 187-195
A long-handled, double-headed garden rake was used to collect submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) and compared to in-boat visual inspection to record species presence at 67 individual sites. Six rake subsamples were taken at each site and a rake density rating was given to each species collected in the subsamples. Presence...
A multi-year comparison of IPCI scores for prairie pothole wetlands: implications of temporal and spatial variation
Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet
2011, Wetlands (31) 713-723
In the prairie pothole region of North America, development of Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) to detect anthropogenic impacts on wetlands has been hampered by naturally dynamic inter-annual climate fluctuations. Of multiple efforts to develop IBIs for prairie pothole wetlands, only one, the Index of Plant Community Integrity (IPCI), has...
Impacts of multispecies parasitism on juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Oregon
Jayde A. Ferguson, Jeremy Romer, Jean C. Sifneos, Lisa Madsen, Carl B. Schreck, Michael Glynn, Michael L. Kent
2011, Aquaculture (362-3) 184-192
We are studying the impacts of parasites on threatened stocks of Oregon coastal coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). In our previous studies, we have found high infections of digeneans and myxozoans in coho salmon parr from the lower main stem of West Fork Smith River (WFSR), Oregon. In contrast parr from...
Carbon gas fluxes in re-established wetlands on organic soils differ relative to plant community and hydrology
Robin L. Miller
2011, Wetlands (31) 1055-1066
We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes for 6 years following permanent flooding of an agriculturally managed organic soil at two water depths (~25 and ~55 cm standing water) in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, as part of research studying C dynamics in re-established wetlands. Flooding rapidly reduced gaseous C losses,...
Catch of channel catfish with tandem-set hoop nets and gill nets in lentic systems of Nebraska
Lindsey K. Richters, Kevin L. Pope
2011, American Fisheries Society Symposium (77) 573-580
Twenty-six Nebraska water bodies representing two ecosystem types (small standing waters and large standing waters) were surveyed during 2008 and 2009 with tandem-set hoop nets and experimental gill nets to determine if similar trends existed in catch rates and size structures of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus captured with these gears....
Are isolated wetlands isolated?
Loren M. Smith, Ned H. Euliss Jr., David A. Haukos
2011, National Wetlands Newsletter (33) 26-27
While federal regulations during the past 10 years have treated isolated wetlands as unconnected to aquatic resources protected by the Clean Water Act, they provide critical ecosystem services to society that extend well beyond their wetland boundaries. The authors offer well-documented examples from the scientific literature on some of the...
Book review: Sandhill and whooping cranes: Ancient voices over America's wetlands
Jane E. Austin
2011, The Prairie Naturalist (43) 131-132
Paul Johnsgard has long been captivated by wild cranes and their unique vocalizations, courtship dances, and wide-ranging migrations. As a scientist and an admirer, Johnsgard has watched their migrations and behaviors for decades as hundreds of thousands of cranes staged each spring by the central Platte River, not far from...
US Topo - A new national map series
Laurence R. Moore
2011, Directions Magazine (2011)
In the second half of the 20th century, the foundation of the U.S. Geological Survey's national map series was the handcrafted 7.5-minute topographic map. Times change, budgets get squeezed and currency expectations become ever more challenging. The USGS's Larry Moore, who oversees data production operations at two National Geospatial Technical...
