Identifying nest predators of American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) in San Francisco Bay, California
Garth Herring, Joshua T. Ackerman, John Y. Takekawa, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, John M. Eadie
2011, Southwestern Naturalist (56) 35-43
We evaluated predation on nests and methods to detect predators using a combination of infrared cameras and plasticine eggs at nests of American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) and black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) in Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, California. Each...
Testing a high-resolution satellite interpretation technique for crop area monitoring in developing countries
M. T. Marshall, G.J. Husak, J. Michaelsen, Chris Funk, D. Pedreros, A. Adoum
2011, International Journal of Remote Sensing (32) 7997-8012
District-level crop area (CA) is a highly uncertain term in food production equations, which are used to allocate food aid and implement appropriate food security initiatives. Remote sensing studies typically overestimate CA and production, as subsistence plots are exaggerated at coarser resolution, which leads to overoptimistic food reports. In this...
Hypsometry of Titan
Ralph D. Lorenz, Elizabeth P. Turtle, Bryan Stiles, Alice Le Gall, Alexander Hayes, Oded Aharonson, Charles A. Wood, Ellen Stofan, Randy Kirk
2011, Icarus (211) 699-706
Cassini RADAR topography data are used to evaluate Titan’s hypsometric profile, and to make comparisons with other planetary bodies. Titan’s hypsogram is unimodal and strikingly narrow compared with the terrestrial planets. To investigate topographic extremes, a novel variant on the classic hypsogram is introduced, with a logarithmic abscissa to highlight...
Simulation of streamflow, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge in the Lower Frio River watershed, south Texas, 1961-2008
Joy S. Lizarraga, Darwin J. Ockerman
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5093
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District; the City of Corpus Christi; the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority; the San Antonio River Authority; and the San Antonio Water System, configured, calibrated, and tested a watershed model for a study area consisting of about...
Constraining the age and magnitude of uplift in the northern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA): Apatite fission-track analysis of samples from three wells
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Paul O'Sullivan
2011, Professional Paper 1784-A
A broad, post-mid-Cretaceous uplift is defined in the northern National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) by regional truncation of Cretaceous strata, thermal maturity patterns, and amounts of exhumation estimated from sonic logs. Apatite fission-track (AFT) analysis of samples from three wells (South Meade No. 1, Topagoruk No. 1, and Ikpikpuk...
Hydrologic and geomorphic considerations in restoration of river-floodplain connectivity in a highly altered river system, Lower Missouri River, USA
Robert B. Jacobson, Tyler P. Janke, Jason J. Skold
2011, Wetlands Ecology and Management (19) 295-316
Planning for restoration of river-floodplain systems requires understanding how often and how much of a floodplain may be inundated, and how likely the floodplain is to retain the water once flooded. These factors depend fundamentally on hydrology and geomorphology of the channel and floodplain. We discuss application of an index...
Occurrence, distribution, and concentrations of selected contaminants in streambed- and suspended-sediment samples collected in Bexar County, Texas, 2007-09
Jennifer T. Wilson
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3090
High concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants are typically associated with urban areas such as San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County, the seventh most populous city in the United States. U.S. Geological Survey personnel periodically collected surficial streambed-sediment samples during 2007-09 and collected suspended-sediment samples from selected streams after storms during 2008...
Identification of last interglacial deposits in eastern Beringia: a cautionary note from the Palisades, interior Alaska
Alberto V. Reyes, Grant D. Zazula, Svetlana Kuzmina, Thomas A. Ager, Duane G. Froese
2011, Journal of Quaternary Science (26) 345-352
Last interglacial sediments in unglaciated Alaska and Yukon (eastern Beringia) are commonly identified by palaeoecological indicators and stratigraphic position ~2-5m above the regionally prominent Old Crow tephra (124 + or - 10ka). We demonstrate that this approach can yield erroneous age assignments using data from a new exposure at the...
A 4-year study of invasive and native spider populations in Maine
Elizabeth M. Jakob, Adam H. Porter, Howard Ginsberg, Julie V. Bednarski, Jeremy Houser
2011, Canadian Journal of Zoology (89) 668-677
Invasive spiders pose potential threats to native spiders. In 2002, the European spider Linyphia triangularis (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Linyphiidae) was discovered in all but one county in Maine. At Acadia National Park, we conducted a 4-year study of L. triangularis and three native linyphiid species of a similar size (Frontinella communis (Hentz,...
Characterization of culturable bacteria isolated from the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa
Julia P. Galkiewicz, Zoe A. Pratte, Michael A. Gray, Christina A. Kellogg
2011, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (77) 333-346
Microorganisms associated with corals are hypothesized to contribute to the function of the host animal by cycling nutrients, breaking down carbon sources, fixing nitrogen, and producing antibiotics. This is the first study to culture and characterize bacteria from Lophelia pertusa, a cold-water coral found in the deep sea, in an...
Population status and population genetics of northern leopard frogs in Arizona
Tad C. Theimer, Charles A. Drost, Ryan P. O’Donnell, Karen E. Mock
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1186
Increasing isolation of populations by habitat fragmentation threatens the persistence of many species, both from stochastic loss of small isolated populations, and from inbreeding effects in populations that have become genetically isolated. In the southwestern United States, amphibian habitat is naturally patchy in occurrence because of the prevailing aridity of...
Estimated suspended-sediment loads and yields in the French and Brandywine Creek Basins, Chester County, Pennsylvania, water years 2008-09
Ronald A. Sloto, Leif E. Olson
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5109
Turbidity and suspended-sediment concentration data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at four stream stations--French Creek near Phoenixville, West Branch Brandywine Creek near Honey Brook, West Branch Brandywine Creek at Modena, and East Branch Brandywine Creek below Downingtown--in Chester County, Pa. Sedimentation and siltation is the leading cause...
A whole ecosystem approach to studying climate change in interior Alaska
Susan Riggins, Robert G. Striegl, Michael McHale
2011, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (92) 155-155
Yukon River Basin Principal Investigators Workshop; Portland, Oregon, 18-20 January 2011; High latitudes are known to be particularly susceptible to climate warming, leading to an emphasis of field and modeling research on arctic regions. Subarctic and boreal regions such as the Yukon River Basin (YRB) of interior Alaska and western...
Geophysical data from offshore of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Cat Island to Western Horn Island, Mississippi
E.A. Pendleton, W. E. Baldwin, W. W. Danforth, N. T. DeWitt, A.S. Forde, D.S. Foster, K.W. Kelso, W.R. Pfeiffer, A.M. Turecek, J. G. Flocks, D.C. Twichell
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1178
This report contains the geophysical and geospatial data that were collected along the western offshore side of the Gulf Islands of Mississippi on the research vessel Tommy Munro during two cruises in 2010. Geophysical data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and St. Petersburg, Forida,...
Geodatabase of Wyoming statewide oil and gas drilling activity to 2010
Laura Biewick
2011, Data Series 625
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) compiled a geographic information system (GIS) of Wyoming statewide historical oil and gas drilling activity for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). The WLCI is representative of the partnerships being formed by the USGS with other Department of the Interior bureaus, State and local agencies,...
Evaluating trapping techniques to reduce potential for injury to Mexican wolves
T.T. Turnbull, J.W. Cain III, G.W. Roemer
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1190
Increased scrutiny of furbearer trapping has resulted in more regulation and even prohibition of common trapping methods in some States. Concerns regarding the potential negative impacts of regulated furbearer trapping on reintroduced Mexican gray wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) led now former Governor Bill Richardson to issue an executive order prohibiting...
Summary of the Georgia Agricultural Water Conservation and Metering Program and evaluation of methods used to collect and analyze irrigation data in the middle and lower Chattahoochee and Flint River basins, 2004-2010
Lynn J. Torak, Jaime A. Painter
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5126
Since receiving jurisdiction from the State Legislature in June 2003 to implement the Georgia Agricultural Water Conservation and Metering Program, the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission (Commission) by year-end 2010 installed more than 10,000 annually read water meters and nearly 200 daily reporting, satellite-transmitted, telemetry sites on irrigation systems...
Seismic calibration shots conducted in 2009 in the Imperial Valley, southern California, for the Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP)
Janice Murphy, Mark Goldman, Gary Fuis, Michael Rymer, Robert Sickler, Summer Miller, Lesley Butcher, Jason Ricketts, Coyn Criley, Joann Stock, John Hole, Greg Chavez
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1295
Rupture of the southern section of the San Andreas Fault, from the Coachella Valley to the Mojave Desert, is believed to be the greatest natural hazard facing California in the near future. With an estimated magnitude between 7.2 and 8.1, such an event would result in violent shaking, loss of...
A method for estimating peak and time of peak streamflow from excess rainfall for 10- to 640-acre watersheds in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area
William H. Asquith, Theodore G. Cleveland, Meghan C. Roussel
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5104
Estimates of peak and time of peak streamflow for small watersheds (less than about 640 acres) in a suburban to urban, low-slope setting are needed for drainage design that is cost-effective and risk-mitigated. During 2007-10, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Harris County Flood Control District and...
Water availability and use pilot: Methods development for a regional assessment of groundwater availability, southwest alluvial basins, Arizona
Fred D. Tillman, Jeffrey T. Cordova, Stanley A. Leake, Blakemore E. Thomas, James B. Callegary
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5071
Executive Summary: Arizona is located in an arid to semiarid region in the southwestern United States and is one of the fastest growing States in the country. Population in Arizona surpassed 6.5 million people in 2008, an increase of 140 percent since 1980, when the last regional U.S. Geological...
Wave exposure of Corte Madera Marsh, Marin County, California: A field investigation
Jessica R. Lacy, Daniel J. Hoover
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1183
Tidal wetlands provide valuable habitat, are an important source of primary productivity, and can help to protect the shoreline from erosion by attenuating approaching waves. These functions are threatened by the loss of tidal marshes, whether due to erosion, sea-level rise, or land-use practices. Erosion protection by wetlands is expected...
From ridge to reef—linking erosion and changing watersheds to impacts on the coral reef ecosystems of Hawai‘i and the Pacific Ocean
Jonathan D. Stock, Susan A. Cochran, Michael E. Field, James D. Jacobi, Gordon Tribble
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3049
Coral reef ecosystems are threatened by unprecedented watershed changes in the United States and worldwide. These ecosystems sustain fishing and tourism industries essential to the economic survival of many communities. Sediment, nutrients, and pollutants from watersheds are increasingly transported to coastal waters, where these contaminants damage corals. Although pollution from...
Distribution, persistence, and hydrologic characteristics of salmon spawning habitats in clearwater side channels of the Matanuska River, southcentral Alaska
Janet H. Curran, Monica L. McTeague, Sean E. Burril, Christian E. Zimmerman
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5102
Turbid, glacially influenced rivers are often considered to be poor salmon spawning and rearing habitats and, consequently, little is known about salmon habitats that do occur within rivers of this type. To better understand salmon spawning habitats in the Matanuska River of southcentral Alaska, the distribution and characteristics of clearwater...
Geophysical logs and water-quality data collected for boreholes Kimama-1A and -1B, and a Kimama water supply well near Kimama, southern Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay
2011, Data Series 622
In September 2010, a research consortium led by scientists from Utah State University began drilling the first of three continuously cored boreholes on the Snake River Plain in southern Idaho. The goals of this effort, the Snake River Scientific Drilling Project, are to study the interaction between the Earth's crust...
Burn severity and non-native species in Yosemite National Park, California, USA
Kristen M. Kaczynski, Susan W. Beatty, Jan W. van Wagtendonk, Kristin N. Marshall
2011, Fire Ecology (7) 145-149
We examined non-native species density three years after the Tuolumne Fire, which burned 1540 ha in upper montane forest in California, USA. We sampled 60 plots, stratified by burn severity (low, moderate, or high severity) and landscape position (lowland or upland). We detected non-native species in 8 of 11 (73...
