Estimating phosphorus availability for microbial growth in an emerging landscape
S.K. Schmidt, C.C. Cleveland, D.R. Nemergut, S.C. Reed, A.J. King, P. Sowell
2011, Geoderma (163) 135-140
Estimating phosphorus (P) availability is difficult—particularly in infertile soils such as those exposed after glacial recession—because standard P extraction methods may not mimic biological acquisition pathways. We developed an approach, based on microbial CO2 production kinetics and conserved carbon:phosphorus (C:P) ratios, to estimate the amount of P available for microbial...
The Augustine magmatic system as revealed by seismic tomography and relocated earthquake hypocenters from 1994 through 2009
E.M. Syracuse, C.H. Thurber, John A. Power
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116)
We incorporate 14 years of earthquake data from the Alaska Volcano Observatory with data from a 1975 controlled‐source seismic experiment to obtain the three‐dimensional P and S wave velocity structure and the first high‐precision earthquake locations at Augustine Volcano to be calculated in a fully three‐dimensional velocity model. Velocity tomography...
Accelerated construction of a regional DNA-barcode reference library: Caddisflies (Trichoptera) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
X. Zhou, J.L. Robinson, C.J. Geraci, C.R. Parker, O.S. Flint Jr., D.A. Etnier, D. Ruiter, R.E. DeWalt, L.M. Jacobus, P.D.N. Hebert
2011, Journal of the North American Benthological Society (30) 131-162
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) barcoding is an effective tool for species identification and lifestage association in a wide range of animal taxa. We developed a strategy for rapid construction of a regional DNA-barcode reference library and used the caddisflies (Trichoptera) of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) as a model....
Development of an aquatic pathogen database (AquaPathogen X) and its utilization in tracking emerging fish virus pathogens in North America
E.J. Emmenegger, E. Kentop, T.M. Thompson, S. Pittam, A. Ryan, D. Keon, J.A. Carlino, J. Ranson, R.B. Life, R.M. Troyer, K.A. Garver, Gael Kurath
2011, Journal of Fish Diseases (34) 579-587
The AquaPathogen X database is a template for recording information on individual isolates of aquatic pathogens and is freely available for download (http://wfrc.usgs.gov). This database can accommodate the nucleotide sequence data generated in molecular epidemiological studies along with the myriad of abiotic and biotic traits associated with isolates of various...
Use of waveform lidar and hyperspectral sensors to assess selected spatial and structural patterns associated with recent and repeat disturbance and the abundance of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) in a temperate mixed hardwood and conifer forest
J.E. Anderson, Mark J. Ducey, A. Fast, M.E. Martin, L. Lepine, M.-L. Smith, T.D. Lee, R.O. Dubayah, M.A. Hofton, P. Hyde, Birgit Peterson, J.B. Blair
2011, Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (5)
Waveform lidar imagery was acquired on September 26, 1999 over the Bartlett Experimental Forest (BEF) in New Hampshire (USA) using NASA's Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS). This flight occurred 20 months after an ice storm damaged millions of hectares of forestland in northeastern North America. Lidar measurements of the amplitude...
Environmental controls of wood entrapment in upper Midwestern streams
Eric C. Merten, Jacques Finlay, Lucinda Johnson, Raymond Newman, Heinz Stefan, Bruce C. Vondracek
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 593-602
Wood deposited in streams provides a wide variety of ecosystem functions, including enhancing habitat for key species in stream food webs, increasing geomorphic and hydraulic heterogeneity and retaining organic matter. Given the strong role that wood plays in streams, factors that influence wood inputs, retention and transport are critical to...
Ant-nest ichnofossils in honeycomb calcretes, Neogene Ogallala Formation, High Plains region of western Kansas, U.S.A.
J.J. Smith, B.F. Platt, Greg A. Ludvigson, J.R. Thomasson
2011, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (308) 383-394
Two new ant-nest trace fossils are described from calcic sandy paleosols of the Neogene Ogallala Formation in western Kansas. The ichnofossils are preserved within and below calcrete beds weathering in positive relief as carbonate-filled casts or as cavities in negative relief. Daimoniobarax ichnogenus nov. is established for burrow systems composed of...
Copper localization, elemental content, and thallus colour in the copper hyperaccumulator lichen Lecanora sierrae from California
O. W. Purvis, J. P. Bennett, J. Spratt
2011, Lichenologist (43) 165-173
An unusual dark blue-green lichen, Lecanora sierrae, was discovered over 30 years ago by Czehura near copper mines in the Lights Creek District, Plumas County, Northern California. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy, Czehura found that dark green lichen samples from Warren Canyon contained 4% Cu in ash and suggested that its...
Volcanic plume height measured by seismic waves based on a mechanical model
Stephanie G. Prejean, Emily E. Brodsky
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116) B01306
In August 2008 an unmonitored, largely unstudied Aleutian volcano, Kasatochi, erupted catastrophically. Here we use seismic data to infer the height of large eruptive columns such as those of Kasatochi based on a combination of existing fluid and solid mechanical models. In so doing, we propose a connection between a...
Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands
K.L. Wolf, C. Ahn, G.B. Noe
2011, Wetlands (31) 699-712
Mitigation wetlands are expected to compensate for the loss of structure and function of natural wetlands within 5–10 years of creation; however, the age-based trajectory of development in wetlands is unclear. This study investigates the development of coupled structural (soil properties) and functional (nitrogen cycling) attributes of created non-tidal freshwater...
The Forecast Interpretation Tool—a Monte Carlo technique for blending climatic distributions with probabilistic forecasts
Gregory J. Husak, Joel Michaelsen, P. Kyriakidis, James P. Verdin, Chris Funk, Gideon Galu
2011, International Journal of Climatology (31) 461-467
Probabilistic forecasts are produced from a variety of outlets to help predict rainfall, and other meteorological events, for periods of 1 month or more. Such forecasts are expressed as probabilities of a rainfall event, e.g. being in the upper, middle, or lower third of the relevant distribution of rainfall in...
Fish community and bioassessment responses to stream network position
N.P. Hitt, P. L. Angermeier
2011, Journal of the North American Benthological Society (30) 296-309
If organisms move beyond the boundaries of local sampling units, regional metacommunity dynamics could undermine the ability of bioassessment studies to characterize local environmental quality. We tested the prediction that fish dispersal influences local fish community structure and bioassessment metrics as a function of site position within stream networks. We...
Molecular characterization and comparison of shale oils generated by different pyrolysis methods using FT-ICR mass spectrometry
J.M. Jin, S. Kim, J.E. Birdwell
2011, Conference Paper, ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts
Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT ICR-MS) was applied in the analysis of shale oils generated using two different pyrolysis systems under laboratory conditions meant to simulate surface and in situ oil shale retorting. Significant variations were observed in the shale oils, particularly the degree of conjugation of...
Status and distribution of the Kittlitz's murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris in Kenai Fjords, Alaska
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, John F. Piatt, Marc D. Romano, Thomas I. van Pelt
2011, Marine Ornithology: Journal of Seabird Research and Conservation (39) 13-22
The Kittlitz's Murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris is a candidate species for listing under the US Endangered Species Act because of its apparent declines within core population areas of coastal Alaska. During the summers of 2006-2008, we conducted surveys in marine waters adjacent to Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska, to estimate the...
Fish as major carbonate mud producers and missing components of the tropical carbonate factory
C.T. Perry, M.A. Salter, A.R. Harborne, S.F. Crowley, Howard L. Jelks, R.W. Wilson
2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (108) 3865-3869
Carbonate mud is a major constituent of recent marine carbonate sediments and of ancient limestones, which contain unique records of changes in ocean chemistry and climate shifts in the geological past. However, the origin of carbonate mud is controversial and often problematic to resolve. Here we show that tropical marine...
210Po in Nevada groundwater and its relation to gross alpha radioactivity
R. L. Seiler
2011, Ground Water (49) 160-171
Polonium-210 (210Po) is a highly toxic alpha emitter that is rarely found in groundwater at activities exceeding 1 pCi/L. 210Po activities in 63 domestic and public-supply wells in Lahontan Valley in Churchill County in northern Nevada, United States, ranged from 0.01 ± 0.005 to 178 ± 16 pCi/L with a...
Soil clay content underlies prion infection odds
W. David Walter, D.P. Walsh, Matthew L. Farnsworth, Dana L. Winkelman, M.W. Miller
2011, Nature Communications (2)
Environmental factors—especially soil properties—have been suggested as potentially important in the transmission of infectious prion diseases. Because binding to montmorillonite (an aluminosilicate clay mineral) or clay-enriched soils had been shown to enhance experimental prion transmissibility, we hypothesized that prion transmission among mule deer might also be enhanced in ranges with...
Hydrological mobilization of mercury and dissolved organic carbon in a snow-dominated, forested watershed: Conceptualization and modeling
J. Schelker, Douglas A. Burns, M. Weiler, H. Laudon
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (116)
The mobilization of mercury and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during snowmelt often accounts for a major fraction of the annual loads. We studied the role of hydrological connectivity of riparian wetlands and upland/wetland transition zones to surface waters on the mobilization of Hg and DOC in Fishing Brook, a headwater...
Relationship of external fish condition to pathogen prevalence and out-migration survival in juvenile steelhead
Nathan J. Hostetter, A.F. Evans, Daniel D. Roby, K. Collis, M. Hawbecker, B.P. Sandford, D.E. Thompson, F.J. Loge
2011, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (140) 1158-1171
Understanding how the external condition of juvenile salmonids is associated with internal measures of health and subsequent out‐migration survival can be valuable for population monitoring programs. This study investigated the use of a rapid, nonlethal, external examination to assess the condition of run‐of‐the‐river juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss migrating from the Snake River...
Cruise ships as a source of avian mortality during fall migration
Carol I. Bocetti
2011, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (123) 176-178
AAvian mortality during fall migration has been studied at many anthropogenic structures, most of which share the common feature of bright lighting. An additional, unstudied source of avian mortality during fall migration is recreational cruise ships that are brightly lit throughout the night. I documented a single mortality event of...
Evaluation of ground motion scaling methods for analysis of structural systems
A. P. O’Donnell, O.A. Beltsar, Y.C. Kurama, E. Kalkan, A.A. Taflanidis
2011, Conference Paper, Structures Congress 2011 - Proceedings of the 2011 Structures Congress
Ground motion selection and scaling comprises undoubtedly the most important component of any seismic risk assessment study that involves time-history analysis. Ironically, this is also the single parameter with the least guidance provided in current building codes, resulting in the use of mostly subjective choices in design. The relevant research...
San Andreas fault earthquake chronology and Lake Cahuilla history at Coachella, California
B. Philibosian, T. Fumal, R. Weldon
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 13-38
The southernmost ~100 km of the San Andreas fault has not ruptured historically. It is imperative to determine its rupture history to better predict its future behavior. This paleoseismic investigation in Coachella, California, establishes a chronology of at least five and up to seven major earthquakes during the past ~1100...
Neoproterozoic extension in the greater dharwar craton: A reevaluation of the "betsimisaraka suture" in madagascar
R. D. Tucker, J.-Y. Roig, C. Delor, Y. Amlin, P. Goncalves, M.H. Rabarimanana, A.V. Ralison, R.W. Belcher
2011, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (48) 389-417
The Precambrian shield of Madagascar is reevaluated with recently compiled geological data and new U-Pb sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) geochronology. Two Archean domains are recognized: the eastern Antongil-Masora domain and the central Antananarivo domain, the latter with distinctive belts of metamafic gneiss and schist (Tsaratanana Complex). In the eastern...
Sea otter mortality in fish and shellfish traps: Estimating potential impacts and exploring possible solutions
Brian B. Hatfield, J.A. Ames, J. A. Estes, M. Timothy Tinker, A.B. Johnson, M. M. Staedler, M.D. Harris
2011, Endangered Species Research (13) 219-229
Sea otters Enhydra lutris can be bycaught and drowned in fishing pots and traps, which may pose a threat to the welfare of otter populations. We explored this potential problem and its solutions using a wide variety of analyses. We exposed live California (USA) sea otters to finfish traps, lobster traps, and...
Scale-dependent factors affecting North American river otter distribution in the midwest
Mackenzie R. Jeffress, Craig P. Paukert, Joanna B. Whittier, B. K. Sandercock, P. S. Gipson
2011, American Midland Naturalist (166) 177-193
The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is recovering from near extirpation throughout much of its range. Although reintroductions, trapping regulations and habitat improvements have led to the reestablishment of river otters in the Midwest, little is known about how their distribution is influenced by local- and landscape-scale habitat....
