Relation of urbanization to stream fish assemblages and species traits in nine metropolitan areas of the United States
Larry R. Brown, M. Brian Gregory, Jason T. May
2009, Urban Ecosystems (12) 391-416
We examined associations of fish assemblages and fish traits with urbanization and selected environmental variables in nine major United States metropolitan areas. The strongest relations between fishes and urbanization occurred in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; and Portland, Oregon. In these areas, environmental variables with...
Compositions of modern dust and surface sediments in the Desert Southwest, United States
M.C. Reheis, J. R. Budahn, P. J. Lamothe, R. L. Reynolds
2009, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (114)
Modern dusts across southwestern United States deserts are compositionally similar to dust-rich Av soil horizons (depths of 0-0.5 cm and 1-4 cm at 35 sites) for common crustal elements but distinctly different for some trace elements. Chemical compositions and magnetic properties of the soil samples are similar among sites relative...
On constraining pilot point calibration with regularization in PEST
M.N. Fienen, C.T. Muffels, R. J. Hunt
2009, Ground Water (47) 835-844
Ground water model calibration has made great advances in recent years with practical tools such as PEST being instrumental for making the latest techniques available to practitioners. As models and calibration tools get more sophisticated, however, the power of these tools can be misapplied, resulting in poor parameter estimates and/or...
Monitoring of land subsidence and ground fissures in Xian, China 2005-2006: Mapped by sar Interferometry
C.Y. Zhao, Q. Zhang, X.-L. Ding, Z. Lu, C.S. Yang, X.M. Qi
2009, Environmental Geology (58) 1533-1540
The City of Xian, China, has been experiencing significant land subsidence and ground fissure activities since 1960s, which have brought various severe geohazards including damages to buildings, bridges and other facilities. Monitoring of land subsidence and ground fissure activities can provide useful information for assessing the extent of, and mitigating...
Contributions of vital rates to growth of a protected population of American black bears
M.S. Mitchell, L.B. Pacifici, J.B. Grand, R. A. Powell
2009, Ursus (20) 77-84
Analyses of large, long-lived animals suggest that adult survival generally has the potential to contribute more than reproduction to population growth rate (λ), but because survival varies little, high variability in reproduction can have a greater influence. This pattern has been documented for several species...
Seasonal-scale nearshore morphological evolution: Field observations and numerical modeling
P. Ruggiero, D.-J.R. Walstra, G. Gelfenbaum, Ormondt M. van
2009, Coastal Engineering (56) 1153-1172
A coupled waves-currents-bathymetric evolution model (DELFT-3D) is compared with field measurements to test hypotheses regarding the processes responsible for alongshore varying nearshore morphological changes at seasonal time scales. A 2001 field experiment, along the beaches adjacent to Grays Harbor, Washington, USA, captured the transition between the high-energy erosive conditions of...
Using high-frequency sampling to detect effects of atmospheric pollutants on stream chemistry
Stephen D. Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, Elizabeth W. Boyer
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
We combined information from long-term (weekly over many years) and short-term (high-frequency during rainfall and snowmelt events) stream water sampling efforts to understand how atmospheric deposition affects stream chemistry. Water samples were collected at the Sleepers River Research Watershed, VT, a temperate upland forest site that receives elevated atmospheric deposition...
Selected achievements, science directions, and new opportunities for the WEBB small watershed research program
Pierre D. Glynn, Matthew C. Larsen, Earl A. Greene, Heather L. Buss, David W. Clow, Randall J. Hunt, M. Alisa Mast, Sheila F. Murphy, Norman E. Peters, Stephen D. Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, John F. Walker
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
Over nearly two decades, the Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) small watershed research program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has documented how water and solute fluxes, nutrient, carbon, and mercury dynamics, and weathering and sediment transport respond to natural and humancaused drivers, including climate, climate change, and atmospheric...
Adaptive management of watersheds and related resources
Byron K. Williams
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
The concept of learning about natural resources through the practice of management has been around for several decades and by now is associated with the term adaptive management. The objectives of this paper are to offer a framework for adaptive management that includes an operational definition, a description of conditions...
Engaging stakeholders for adaptive management using structured decision analysis
Elise R. Irwin, D. Kathryn, Mickett Kennedy
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
Adaptive management is different from other types of management in that it includes all stakeholders (versus only policy makers) in the process, uses resource optimization techniques to evaluate competing objectives, and recognizes and attempts to reduce uncertainty inherent in natural resource systems. Management actions are negotiated by stakeholders, monitored results...
Evaluating hydrological response to forecasted land-use change—scenario testing with the automated geospatial watershed assessment (AGWA) tool
William G. Kepner, Darius J. Semmens, Mariano Hernandez, David C. Goodrich
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
Envisioning and evaluating future scenarios has emerged as a critical component of both science and social decision-making. The ability to assess, report, map, and forecast the life support functions of ecosystems is absolutely critical to our capacity to make informed decisions to maintain the sustainable nature of our ecosystem services...
Environmental effects of hydrothermal alteration and historical mining on water and sediment quality in Central Colorado
S. E. Church, D. L. Fey, T. L. Klein, T.S. Schmidt, R. B. Wanty, E.H. deWitt, B.W. Rockwell, Juan C.A. San
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted an environmental assessment of 198 catchments in a 54,000-km2 area of central Colorado, much of which is on Federal land. The Colorado Mineral Belt, a northeast-trending zone of historical base- and precious-metal mining, cuts diagonally across the study area. The investigation was intended to test...
Evaluation of strobe lights to reduce turbine entrainment of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at Cowlitz Falls Dam, Washington
Tobias J. Kock, Scott D. Evans, Theresa L. Liedtke, Dennis W. Rondorf, Mike Kohn
2009, Northwest Science (83) 308-314
We conducted a radiotelemetry evaluation to determine if strobe lights could be used to decrease turbine entrainment of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at Cowlitz Falls Dam, Washington. We found that radio-tagged juvenile steelhead approached and entered two spillbays (one lighted, one unlighted) in equal proportions. However, the presence of strobe...
Water velocity, turbulence, and migration rate of subyearling fall Chinook salmon in the free-flowing and impounded Snake River
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Tobias J. Kock, Craig A. Haskell, William P. Connor, R. Kirk Steinhorst
2009, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (138) 373-384
We studied the migratory behavior of subyearling fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in free-flowing and impounded reaches of the Snake River to evaluate the hypothesis that velocity and turbulence are the primary causal mechanisms of downstream migration. The hypothesis states that impoundment reduces velocity and turbulence and alters the migratory...
An ecosystem services framework for multidisciplinary research in the Colorado River headwaters
D.J. Semmens, J.S. Briggs, D.A. Martin
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
A rapidly spreading Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic is killing lodgepole pine forest in the Rocky Mountains, causing landscape change on a massive scale. Approximately 1.5 million acres of lodgepoledominated forest is already dead or dying in Colorado, the infestation is still spreading rapidly, and it is expected that in excess...
Responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to urbanization in nine metropolitan areas of the conterminous United States
T. F. Cuffney, G. McMahon, R. Kashuba, J. T. May, I.R. Waite
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
The effects of urbanization on benthic macroinvertebrates were investigated in nine metropolitan areas (Boston, MA; Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Milwaukee–Green Bay, WI; Denver, CO; Dallas–Fort Worth, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; and Portland, OR) as a part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program. Several...
Primary factors affecting water quality and quantity in four watersheds in Eastern Puerto Rico
Sheila F. Murphy, Robert F. Stallard
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program, four small watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico were monitored to identify and evaluate the effects of geology, landcover, atmospheric deposition, and other factors on stream water quality and quantity. Two catchments are located on coarse-grained...
SToRM: A numerical model for environmental surface flows
Francisco J. Simoes
2009, Conference Paper, 33rd IAHR Congress: Water Engineering for a Sustainable Environment
SToRM (System for Transport and River Modeling) is a numerical model developed to simulate free surface flows in complex environmental domains. It is based on the depth-averaged St. Venant equations, which are discretized using unstructured upwind finite volume methods, and contains both steady and unsteady solution techniques. This article provides...
A review of plague persistence with special emphasis on fleas
Jeffrey Wimsatt, Dean E. Biggins
2009, Journal of Vector Borne Diseases (46) 85-99
Sylvatic plague is highly prevalent during infrequent epizootics that ravage the landscape of western North America. During these periods, plague dissemination is very efficient. Epizootics end when rodent and flea populations are decimated and vectored transmission declines. A second phase (enzootic plague) ensues when plague is difficult to detect from...
A decade of U.S. Air Force bat strikes
Suzanne C. Peurach, Carla J. Dove, Laura Stepko
2009, Human-Wildlife Conflicts (3) 199-207
From 1997 through 2007, 821 bat strikes were reported to the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Safety Center by aircraft personnel or ground crew and sent to the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for identification. Many samples were identified by macroscopic and or microscopic comparisons with bat specimens housed...
The effect of off-road vehicles on barrier beach invertebrates at Cape Cod and Fire Island National Seashores
J. M. Kluft, Howard S. Ginsberg
2009, Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR--2009/138
The effects of off-road vehicles (ORVS) on invertebrates inhabiting seaweed debris (wrack) and supratidal sands on energetic beaches in the northeastern United States were studied at Cape Cod National Seashore, MA, and Fire Island, NY. Cores, wrack quadrats, and pitfall traps were used to sample four beaches, which all had...
Analyzing bat migration
Paul M. Cryan, Robert H. Diehl
2009, Book chapter, Ecological and behavioral methods for the study of bats
T HE MIGRATORY MOVEIvl.ENTS OF BATS have proven ex tremely difficult to determine. Despite extensive efforts during the past century to track the movements of bats across landscapes, efficient methods of following small- to medium-size volant animals <240 gl for extended periods (>8 weeks) over long distances (>100 km) have...
Effects of spatial heterogeneity on butterfly species richness in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, USA
S. Kumar, S.E. Simonson, T.J. Stohlgren
2009, Biodiversity and Conservation (18) 739-763
We investigated butterfly responses to plot-level characteristics (plant species richness, vegetation height, and range in NDVI [normalized difference vegetation index]) and spatial heterogeneity in topography and landscape patterns (composition and configuration) at multiple spatial scales. Stratified random sampling was used to collect data on butterfly species richness from seventy-six 20...
Estimating survival of precocial chicks during the prefledging period using a catch-curve analysis and count-based age-class data
C.P. McGowan, J.J. Millspaugh, M.R. Ryan, C.D. Kruse, G. Pavelka
2009, Journal of Field Ornithology (80) 79-87
Estimating reproductive success for birds with precocial young can be difficult because chicks leave nests soon after hatching and individuals or broods can be difficult to track. Researchers often turn to estimating survival during the prefledging period and, though effective, mark-recapture based approaches are not always feasible due to cost,...
Major- and trace-element characterization, expanded distribution, and a new chronology for the latest Pleistocene Glacier Peak tephras in western North America
S.C. Kuehn, D.G. Froese, P. E. Carrara, F.F. Foit Jr., N.J.G. Pearce, P. Rotheisler
2009, Quaternary Research (71) 201-216
The Glacier Peak tephra beds are among the most widespread and arguably some of the most important late Pleistocene chronostratigraphic markers in western North America. These beds represent a series of closely-spaced Plinian and sub-Plinian eruptions from Glacier Peak, Washington. The two most widespread beds, Glacier Peak 'G' and 'B',...
