How uncertainty analysis of streamflow data can reduce costs and promote robust decisions in water management applications
Hilary McMilan, Jan Seibert, Asgeir Petersen-Overleir, Michel Lang, Paul White, Ton Snelder, Kit Rutherford, Tobias Krueger, Robert R. Mason, Jr., Julie E. Kiang
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 5220-5228
Streamflow data are used for important environmental and economic decisions, such as specifying and regulating minimum flows, managing water supplies, and planning for flood hazards. Despite significant uncertainty in most flow data, the flow series for these applications are often communicated and used without uncertainty information. In this commentary, we...
Chemical and isotopic evidence for CO2 charge and migration within Bravo Dome and potential CO2 leakage to the southwest
Sean T. Brennan
2017, Energy Procedia (114) 2996-3005
Gas analyses from northeastern New Mexico, USA indicate that previous interpretations of the location of gas charge into the northeastern portion of Bravo Dome are likely correct, and that there may be multiple migration pathways from the same source for different regions in northeastern New Mexico....
Geomorphic processes responsible for decadal-scale arroyo changes, Rio Puerco, New Mexico
Allen C. Gellis, John G. Elliott, Milan Pavich
2017, Geological Society of America Bulletin (129) 1660-1680
The channel and arroyo of the Rio Puerco have continued to evolve since incision in the late 1800s. Resurveys of channel cross sections and aerial imagery over time indicate that between the 1970s and 1990s, the upstream reaches (type 1 morphology) of the Rio Puerco have continued to undergo construction...
Understanding and finding solutions to the problem of sedimentation in the National Wildlife Refuge System
Max Post van der Burg, Karen Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Josh D. Eash, Gregory A. Knutsen
2017, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (8) 648-660
The National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) is a collection of public lands maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for migratory birds and other wildlife. Wetlands on individual National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges) may be at risk of increased sedimentation because of land use...
Inputs and internal cycling of nitrogen to a causeway influenced, hypersaline lake, Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA
David L. Naftz
2017, Aquatic Geochemistry (23) 199-216
Nitrogen inputs to Great Salt Lake (GSL), located in the western USA, were quantified relative to the resident nitrogen mass in order to better determine numeric nutrient criteria that may be considered at some point in the future. Total dissolved nitrogen inputs from four surface-water sources entering GSL were modeled...
Does bioelectrical impedance analysis accurately estimate the condition of threatened and endangered desert fish species?
Kimberly L. Dibble, Micheal D. Yard, David L. Ward, Charles B. Yackulic
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 888-902
Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a nonlethal tool with which to estimate the physiological condition of animals that has potential value in research on endangered species. However, the effectiveness of BIA varies by species, the methodology continues to be refined, and incidental mortality rates are unknown. Under laboratory conditions we...
Downscaling wind and wavefields for 21st century coastal flood hazard projections in a region of complex terrain
Andrea C. O'Neill, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard
2017, Earth and Space Science (4) 314-334
While global climate models (GCMs) provide useful projections of near-surface wind vectors into the 21st century, resolution is not sufficient enough for use in regional wave modeling. Statistically downscaled GCM projections from Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogues provide daily averaged near-surface winds at an appropriate spatial resolution for wave modeling within...
Use of eddy-covariance methods to "calibrate" simple estimators of evapotranspiration
David M. Sumner, Jeffrey S. Geurink, Amy Swancar
2017, Conference Paper, 2017 ASABE Annual International Meeting
Direct measurement of actual evapotranspiration (ET) provides quantification of this large component of the hydrologic budget, but typically requires long periods of record and large instrumentation and labor costs. Simple surrogate methods of estimating ET, if “calibrated†to direct measurements of ET, provide a reliable means to quantify ET. Eddy-covariance...
Numerical simulations of sand production in interbedded hydrate-bearing sediments during depressurization
Shun Uchida, Jeen-Shang Lin, Evgeniy Myshakin, Yongkoo Seol, Timothy S. Collett, Ray Boswell
2017, Conference Paper, Proceeding of the 9th International Conference on Gas Hydrates
Geomechanical behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments during gas production is complex, involving changes in hydrate-dependent mechanical properties. When interbedded clay layers are present, the complexity is more pronounced because hydrate dissociation tends to occur preferentially in the sediments adjacent to the clay layers due to clay layers acting as a heat...
Microbial-sized, carboxylate-modified microspheres as surrogate tracers in a variety of subsurface environments: An overview
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Denis R. LeBlanc
2017, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science (17) 372-375
Since 1986, fluorescent carboxylate-modified polystyrene/latex microspheres (FCM) have been co-injected into aquifers along with conservative tracers and viruses, bacteria, and (or) protozoa. Use of FCM has resulted in new information about subsurface transport behaviors of microorganisms in fractured crystalline rock, karst limestone, soils, and granular aquifers. FCM have been used...
Selenium: Mercury molar ratios in freshwater fish in the Columbia River Basin: Potential applications for specific fish consumption advisories
Leanne K. Cusack, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Anna K. Harding, Molly Kile, Dave Stone
2017, Biological Trace Element Research (178) 136-146
Fish provide a valuable source of beneficial nutrients and are an excellent source of low fat protein. However, fish are also the primary source of methylmercury exposure in humans. Selenium often co-occurs with mercury and there is some evidence that selenium can protect against mercury toxicity yet States issue fish...
Monitoring water content dynamics of biological soil crusts
Michael H. Young, Lynn F. Fenstermaker, Jayne Belnap
2017, Journal of Arid Environments (142) 41-49
Biological soil crusts (hereafter, “biocrusts”) dominate soil surfaces in nearly all dryland environments. To better understand the influence of water content on carbon (C) exchange, we assessed the ability of dual-probe heat-pulse (DPHP) sensors, installed vertically and angled, to measure changes in near-surface water content. Four DPHP sensors were installed...
PeRL: A circum-Arctic Permafrost Region Pond and Lake database
Sina Muster, Kurt Roth, Moritz Langer, Stephan Lange, Fabio Cresto Aleina, Annett Bartsch, Anne Morgenstern, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, A. B. K. Sannel, Ylva Sjoberg, Frank Gunther, Christian Andresen, Alexandra Veremeeva, Prajna R. Lindgren, Frederic Bouchard, Mark J. Lara, Daniel Fortier, Simon Charbonneau, Tarmo A. Virtanen, Gustaf Hugelius, J. Palmtag, Matthias B. Siewert, William J. Riley, Charles Koven, Julia Boike
2017, Earth System Science Data (9) 317-348
Ponds and lakes are abundant in Arctic permafrost lowlands. They play an important role in Arctic wetland ecosystems by regulating carbon, water, and energy fluxes and providing freshwater habitats. However, ponds, i.e., waterbodies with surface areas smaller than 1. 0 × 104 m2, have not been inventoried on global and regional scales. The Permafrost...
Intra-reach headwater fish assemblage structure
James E. McKenna Jr.
2017, The Open Ecology Journal (10) 1-12
Large-scale conservation efforts can take advantage of modern large databases and regional modeling and assessment methods. However, these broad-scale efforts often assume uniform average habitat conditions and/or species assemblages within stream reaches....
Volcanic unrest and hazard communication in Long Valley Volcanic Region, California
David P. Hill, Margaret T. Mangan, Stephen R. McNutt
2017, Book chapter, Advances in volcanology
The onset of volcanic unrest in Long Valley Caldera, California, in 1980 and the subsequent fluctuations in unrest levels through May 2016 illustrate: (1) the evolving relations between scientists monitoring the unrest and studying the underlying tectonic/magmatic processes and their implications for geologic hazards, and (2) the challenges in communicating...
Numerical studies of depressurization-induced gas production from an interbedded marine turbidite gas hydrate reservoir model
Evgeniy Myshakin, Jeen-Shang Lin, Shun Uchida, Yongkoo Seol, Timothy S. Collett, Ray Boswell
2017, Conference Paper, Proceeding of the 9th International Conference on Gas Hydrates
The numerical simulation of thin hydrate-bearing sand layers interbedded with mud layers is investigated. In this model, the lowest hydrate layer occurs at the base of gas hydrate stability and overlies a thinly-interbedded saline aquifer. The predicted gas rates reach 6.25 MMscf/day (1.77 x 105 m3 /day) after 90 days...
Integration of vegetation community spatial data into a prescribed fire planning process at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia (USA)
John A. Young, Carolyn G. Mahan, Melissa Forder
2017, Natural Areas Journal (37) 394-405
Many eastern forest communities depend on fire for regeneration or are enhanced by fire as a restoration practice. However, the use of prescribed fire in the mesic forested environments and the densely populated regions of the eastern United States has been limited. The objective of our research was to develop...
The interacting roles of climate, soils, and plant production on soil microbial communities at a continental scale
Mark P. Waldrop, JoAnn M. Holloway, David B. Smith, Martin B. Goldhaber, R. E. Drenovsky, K. M. Scow, R. Dick, Daniel M. Howard, Bruce K. Wylie, James B. Grace
2017, Ecology (98) 1957-1967
Soil microbial communities control critical ecosystem processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil organic matter formation. Continental scale patterns in the composition and functioning of microbial communities are related to climatic, biotic, and edaphic factors such as temperature and precipitation, plant community composition, and soil carbon, nitrogen, and pH....
Landform features and seasonal precipitation predict shallow groundwater influence on temperature in headwater streams
Zachary C. Johnson, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 5788-5812
Headwater stream responses to climate change will depend in part on groundwater‐surface water exchanges. We used linear modeling techniques to partition likely effects of shallow groundwater seepage and air temperature on stream temperatures for 79 sites in nine focal watersheds using hourly air and water temperature measurements collected during summer...
Autonomous acoustic recorders reveal complex patterns in avian detection probability
Sarah J. Thompson, Colleen M. Handel, Lance B. McNew
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1228-1241
Avian point‐count surveys are typically designed to occur during periods when birds are consistently active and singing, but seasonal and diurnal patterns of detection probability are often not well understood and may vary regionally or between years. We deployed autonomous acoustic recorders to assess how avian availability for detection (i.e.,...
Physical response of a back-barrier estuary to a post-tropical cyclone
Alexis Beudin, Neil Kamal Ganju, Zafer Defne, Alfredo Aretxabaleta
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (122) 5888-5904
This paper presents a modeling investigation of the hydrodynamic and sediment transport response of Chincoteague Bay (VA/MD, USA) to Hurricane Sandy using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment-Transport (COAWST) modeling system. Several simulation scenarios with different combinations of remote and local forces were conducted to identify the dominant physical processes. While 80% of...
Genetic assessment of the effects of streamscape succession on coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch colonization in recently deglaciated streams
Kim T. Scribner, Chad Soiseth, Jeffrey J. McGuire, G. Kevin Sage, Lyman K. Thorsteinson, J. L. Nielsen, E. Knudsen
2017, Journal of Fish Biology (91) 195-218
Measures of genetic diversity within and among populations and historical geomorphological data on stream landscapes were used in model simulations based on approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) to examine hypotheses of the relative importance of stream features (geomorphology and age) associated with colonization events and gene flow for coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch breeding...
Seasonal movements and multiscale habitat selection of Whooping Crane (Grus americana) in natural and agricultural wetlands
Bradley A. Pickens, Sammy L. King, Phillip L. Vasseur, Sara E. Zimorski, Will Selman
2017, Waterbirds (40) 322-333
Eleven of 15 species of cranes (family: Gruidae) are considered vulnerable or endangered, and the increase of agriculture and aquaculture at the expense of natural wetlands and grasslands is a threat to Gruidae worldwide. A reintroduced population of Whooping Crane (Grus americana) was studied in coastal and agricultural wetlands of...
Geomorphology of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
Samuel P. D. Birch, Y. Tang, A. G. Hayes, Randolph L. Kirk, D. Bodewitz, H. Campins, Y. Fernandez, R. de Freitas Bart, N. W. Kutsop, H. Sierks, J. M. Soderblom, S. W. Squyres, J.-B. Vincent
2017, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (469) S50-S67
We present a global geomorphological map of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) using data acquired by the Rosetta Orbiter’s OSIRIS Narrow Angle Camera. The images used in our study were acquired between 2014 August and 2015 May, before 67P/C-G passed through perihelion. Imagery of the Southern hemisphere was included in our study, allowing us...
Challenges to oil spill assessment for seabirds in the deep ocean
J. Christopher Haney, Patrick G.R. Jodice, William Montevecchi, David C. Evers
2017, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (73) 33-39
We synthesize impediments for evaluating effects to seabirds from open ocean hydrocarbon releases. Effects on seabirds from ship discharges, spills, and well blowouts often are poorly detected and monitored far from land. Regulatory regimes for ocean spills can result in monitoring efforts that are not entirely transparent. We illustrate how...
