Movements of wolves at the northern extreme of the species' range, including during four months of darkness
L.D. Mech, H.D. Cluff
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Information about wolf (Canis lupus) movements anywhere near the northern extreme of the species' range in the High Arctic (<75??N latitude) are lacking. There, wolves prey primarily on muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and must survive 4 months of 24 hr/day winter darkness and temperatures reaching -53 C. The extent to which...
Factors affecting stream nutrient loads: A synthesis of regional SPARROW model results for the continental United States
Stephen D. Preston, Richard B. Alexander, Gregory E. Schwarz, Charles G. Crawford
2011, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (47) 891-915
We compared the results of 12 recently calibrated regional SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) models covering most of the continental United States to evaluate the consistency and regional differences in factors affecting stream nutrient loads. The models – 6 for total nitrogen and 6 for total phosphorus –...
Remote sensing of soil moisture using airborne hyperspectral data
M. Finn, M. Lewis, D. Bosch, Mario Giraldo, K. Yamamoto, D. Sullivan, R. Kincaid, R. Luna, G. Allam, Craig Kvien, Murray Williams
2011, GIScience and Remote Sensing (48) 522-540
Landscape assessment of soil moisture is critical to understanding the hydrological cycle at the regional scale and in broad-scale studies of biophysical processes affected by global climate changes in temperature and precipitation. Traditional efforts to measure soil moisture have been principally restricted to in situ measurements, so remote sensing techniques...
East Antarctic rifting triggers uplift of the Gamburtsev Mountains
Fausto Ferraccioli, Carol A. Finn, Tom A. Jordan, Robin E. Bell, Lester M. Anderson, Detlef Damaske
2011, Nature (479) 388-392
The Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains are the least understood tectonic feature on Earth, because they are completely hidden beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Their high elevation and youthful Alpine topography, combined with their location on the East Antarctic craton, creates a paradox that has puzzled researchers since the mountains were...
Black-footed ferrets and Siberian polecats as ecological surrogates and ecological equivalents
E. Biggins, Louis R. Hanebury, B.J. Miller, R. A. Powell
2011, Journal of Mammalogy (92) 710-720
Ecologically equivalent species serve similar functions in different communities, and an ecological surrogate species can be used as a substitute for an equivalent species in a community. Siberian polecats (Mustela eversmanii) and black-footed ferrets (M. nigripes) have long been considered ecological equivalents. Polecats also have been used as investigational surrogates...
Projected evolution of California's San Francisco bay-delta-river system in a century of climate change
James E. Cloern, Noah Knowles, Larry R. Brown, Daniel R. Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger, Tara L. Morgan, David H. Schoellhamer, Mark T. Stacey, Mick Van der Wegen, R.W. Wagner, Alan D. Jassby
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Background: Accumulating evidence shows that the planet is warming as a response to human emissions of greenhouse gases. Strategies of adaptation to climate change will require quantitative projections of how altered regional patterns of temperature, precipitation and sea level could cascade to provoke local impacts such as modified water supplies,...
A probabilistic seismic risk assessment procedure for nuclear power plants: (II) Application
Y.-N. Huang, A.S. Whittaker, N. Luco
2011, Conference Paper, Nuclear Engineering and Design
This paper presents the procedures and results of intensity- and time-based seismic risk assessments of a sample nuclear power plant (NPP) to demonstrate the risk-assessment methodology proposed in its companion paper. The intensity-based assessments include three sets of sensitivity studies to identify the impact of the following factors on the...
An isotopic approach to measuring nitrogen balance in caribou
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, Layne G. Adams, Richard G. Farnell, Katherine L. Parker
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 178-188
Nutritional restrictions in winter may reduce the availability of protein for reproduction and survival in northern ungulates. We refined a technique that uses recently voided excreta on snow to assess protein status in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in late winter. Our study was the first application of this non‐invasive, isotopic...
Absence of remotely triggered large earthquakes beyond the mainshock region
T. Parsons, A.A. Velasco
2011, Nature Geoscience (4) 312-316
Large earthquakes are known to trigger earthquakes elsewhere. Damaging large aftershocks occur close to the mainshock and microearthquakes are triggered by passing seismic waves at significant distances from the mainshock. It is unclear, however, whether bigger, more damaging earthquakes are routinely triggered at distances far from the mainshock, heightening the...
Refuge habitats for fishes during seasonal drying in an intermittent stream: Movement, survival and abundance of three minnow species
S.W. Hodges, D.D. Magoulick
2011, Aquatic Sciences (73) 513-522
Drought and summer drying can be important disturbance events in many small streams leading to intermittent or isolated habitats. We examined what habitats act as refuges for fishes during summer drying, hypothesizing that pools would act as refuge habitats. We predicted that during drying fish would show directional movement into...
Stratigraphy of the Younger Dryas Chronozone and paleoenvironmental implications: Central and Southern Great Plains
V.T. Holliday, D.J. Meltzer, R. Mandel
2011, Quaternary International (242) 520-533
The Great Plains of the United States was the setting for some of the earliest research in North America into patterns and changes in the character of late Pleistocene environments and their effects on contemporary human populations. Many localities in the region have well-stratified records of terminal Pleistocene and early...
A Miocene river in northern Arizona and its implications for the Colorado River and Grand Canyon
Ivo Lucchitta, Richard F. Holm, Baerbel K. Lucchitta
2011, GSA Today (21) 4-10
The southwesterly course of the pre–late Miocene Crooked Ridge River can be traced continuously for 48 km and discontinuously for 91 km in northern Arizona. It is visible today in inverted relief. Pebbles in the river gravel came from at least as far northeast as the San Juan Mountains. The...
Challenges of using electrical resistivity method to locate karst conduits-A field case in the Inner Bluegrass Region, Kentucky
J. Zhu, J.C. Currens, J.S. Dinger
2011, Journal of Applied Geophysics (75) 523-530
Conduits serve as major pathways for groundwater flow in karst aquifers. Locating them from the surface, however, is one of the most challenging tasks in karst research. Geophysical methods are often deployed to help locate voids by mapping variations of physical properties of the subsurface. Conduits can cause significant contrasts...
Temperature-associated population diversity in salmon confers benefits to mobile consumers
Casey P. Ruff, Daniel E. Schindle, Jonathan B. Armstrong, Kale T. Bentle, Gabriel T. Brooks, Gordon W. Holtgrieve, Molly T. McGlauflin, Christian E. Torgersen, James E. Seeb
2011, Ecology (92) 2073-2084
Habitat heterogeneity can generate intraspecific diversity through local adaptation of populations. While it is becoming increasingly clear that population diversity can increase stability in species abundance, less is known about how population diversity can benefit consumers that can integrate across population diversity in their prey. Here we demonstrate cascading effects...
A Web-Based Decision Support System for Assessing Regional Water-Quality Conditions and Management Actions
N.L. Booth, E.J. Everman, I.-L. Kuo, L. Sprague, L. Murphy
2011, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (47) 1136-1150
The U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program has completed a number of water-quality prediction models for nitrogen and phosphorus for the conterminous United States as well as for regional areas of the nation. In addition to estimating water-quality conditions at unmonitored streams, the calibrated SPAtially Referenced Regressions On...
Peat Formation Processes Through the Millennia in Tidal Marshes of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA
J.Z. Drexler
2011, Estuaries and Coasts (34) 900-911
The purpose of this study was to determine peat formation processes throughout the millennia in four tidal marshes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Peat cores collected at each site were analyzed for bulk density, loss on ignition, and percent organic carbon. Core data and spline fit age-depth models were used...
Native Americans, regional drought and tree Island evolution in the Florida Everglades
C. Bernhardt
2011, Holocene (21) 967-978
This study uses palynologic data to determine the effects of regional climate variability and human activity on the formation and development of tree islands during the last ~4000 years. Although prolonged periods of aridity have been invoked as one mechanism for their formation, Native American land use has also been...
Arsenic associations in sediments from shallow aquifers of northwestern Hetao Basin, Inner Mongolia
Y. Deng, Y. Wang, T. Ma, H. Yang, J. He
2011, Environmental Earth Sciences (64) 2001-2011
Understanding the mechanism of arsenic mobilization from sediments to groundwater is important for water quality management in areas of endemic arsenic poisoning, such as the Hetao Basin in Inner Mongolia, northern China. Aquifer geochemistry was characterized at three field sites (SH, HF, TYS) in Hangjinhouqi County of northwestern Hetao Basin....
Rainfall intensity-duration thresholds for postfire debris-flow emergency-response planning
S.H. Cannon, E.M. Boldt, J.L. Laber, J. W. Kean, D.M. Staley
2011, Natural Hazards (59) 209-236
Following wildfires, emergency-response and public-safety agencies can be faced with evacuation and resource-deployment decisions well in advance of coming winter storms and during storms themselves. Information critical to these decisions is provided for recently burned areas in the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California. A compilation of information on the...
Adverse foraging conditions may impact body mass and survival of a high Arctic seabird
Ann Harding, Jorg Welcker, Harald Steen, Keith C. Hamer, Alexander S. Kitaysky, Jerome Fort, Sandra L. Talbot, Leslie A. Cornick, Nina J. Karnovsky, Geir W. Gabrielsen, David Gremillet
2011, Oecologia (167) 49-59
Tradeoffs between current reproduction and future survival are widely recognized, but may only occur when food is limited: when foraging conditions are favorable, parents may be able to reproduce without compromising their own survival. We investigated these tradeoffs in the little auk (Alle alle), a small seabird with a single-egg...
From deposition to erosion: Spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources, storage, and transport in a small agricultural watershed
J.L. Florsheim, B.A. Pellerin, N.H. Oh, N. Ohara, P.A.M. Bachand, Sandra M. Bachand, B.A. Bergamaschi, P.J. Hernes, M.L. Kavvas
2011, Geomorphology (132) 272-286
The spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources, storage, and transport were investigated in a small agricultural watershed draining the Coast Ranges and Sacramento Valley in central California. Results of field, laboratory, and historical data analysis in the Willow Slough fluvial system document changes that transformed a transport-limited depositional system...
Estimating water supply arsenic levels in the New England bladder cancer study
J.R. Nuckols, Freeman L.E. Beane, J.H. Lubin, M.S. Airola, D. Baris, J. D. Ayotte, A. Taylor, C. Paulu, M.R. Karagas, J. Colt, M.H. Ward, A.-T. Huang, W. Bress, S. Cherala, D.T. Silverman, K.P. Cantor
2011, Environmental Health Perspectives (119) 1279-1285
Background: Ingestion of inorganic arsenic in drinking water is recognized as a cause of bladder cancer when levels are relatively high (≥ 150 µg/L). The epidemiologic evidence is less clear at the low-to-moderate concentrations typically observed in the United States. Accurate retrospective exposure assessment over a long time period is...
Estimating Hydraulic Parameters When Poroelastic Effects Are Significant
S.J. Berg, P. A. Hsieh, W.A. Illman
2011, Ground Water (49) 815-829
For almost 80 years, deformation-induced head changes caused by poroelastic effects have been observed during pumping tests in multilayered aquifer-aquitard systems. As water in the aquifer is released from compressive storage during pumping, the aquifer is deformed both in the horizontal and vertical directions. This deformation in the pumped aquifer...
Activity and stability of immobilized carbonic anhydrase for promoting CO2 absorption into a carbonate solution for post-combustion CO2 capture
S. Zhang, Z. Zhang, Y. Lu, M. Rostam-Abadi, A. Jones
2011, Bioresource Technology (102) 10194-10201
An Integrated Vacuum Carbonate Absorption Process (IVCAP) currently under development could significantly reduce the energy consumed when capturing CO2 from the flue gases of coal-fired power plants. The biocatalyst carbonic anhydrase (CA) has been found to effectively promote the absorption of CO2 into the potassium carbonate solution that would be used in the IVCAP....
Tracking nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in human-impacted watersheds
Sujay S. Kaushal, Peter M Groffman, Lawrence Band, Emily M. Elliott, Catherine A. Shields, Carol Kendall
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 8225-8232
Nonpoint source nitrogen (N) pollution is a leading contributor to U.S. water quality impairments. We combined watershed N mass balances and stable isotopes to investigate fate and transport of nonpoint N in forest, agricultural, and urbanized watersheds at the Baltimore Long-Term Ecological Research site. Annual N retention was 55%, 68%,...
