Evolution of 3-D geologic framework modeling and its application to groundwater flow studies
Charles D. Blome, David V. Smith
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3106
In this Fact Sheet, the authors discuss the evolution of project 3-D subsurface framework modeling, research in hydrostratigraphy and airborne geophysics, and methodologies used to link geologic and groundwater flow models....
Water-quality and geophysical data for three study sites within the Williston Basin and Prairie Pothole Region
Todd M. Preston, Bruce D. Smith, Joanna N. Thamke, Tara L. Chesley-Preston
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1149
This report is a data release for water geochemical sample analyses and geophysical surveys for three sites within the Williston Basin and Prairie Pothole Region of Montana and North Dakota. The data collection sites and procedures are described....
Shifting species interactions in terrestrial dryland ecosystems under altered water availability and climate change
Kevin E. McCluney, Jayne Belnap, Scott L. Collins, Angélica L. González, Elizabeth M. Hagen, J. Nathaniel Holland, Burt P. Kotler, Fernando T. Maestre, Stanley D. Smith, Blair O. Wolf
2012, Biological Reviews (87) 563-582
Species interactions play key roles in linking the responses of populations, communities, and ecosystems to environmental change. For instance, species interactions are an important determinant of the complexity of changes in trophic biomass with variation in resources. Water resources are a major driver of terrestrial ecology and climate change is...
Estimating tag loss of the Atlantic Horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, using a multi-state model
Catherine Alyssa Butler, Conor P. McGowan, J. Barry Grand, David Smith
2012, Conference Paper
The Atlantic Horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, is a valuable resource along the Mid-Atlantic coast which has, in recent years, experienced new management paradigms due to increased concern about this species role in the environment. While current management actions are underway, many acknowledge the need for improved and updated parameter estimates...
Dawn at Vesta: testing the protoplanetary paradigm
C.T. Russell, C.A. Raymond, A. Coradini, H.Y. McSween, M.T. Zuber, A. Nathues, Maria-Cristina DeSanctis, R. Jaumann, A.S. Konopliv, F. Preusker, S.W. Asmar, R.S. Park, R. Gaskell, H.U. Keller, S. Mottola, T. Roatsch, J.E.C. Scully, D.E. Smith, P. Tricarico, M.J. Toplis, U.R. Christensen, W. C. Feldman, D. J. Lawrence, T.J. McCoy, T.H. Prettyman, R.C. Reedy, M.E. Sykes, T.N. Titus
2012, Science (336) 684-686
The Dawn spacecraft targeted 4 Vesta, believed to be a remnant intact protoplanet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation, based on analyses of howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites that indicate a differentiated parent body. Dawn observations reveal a giant basin at Vesta's south pole, whose excavation was sufficient to produce...
Archive eggs: a research and management tool for avian conservation breeding
Des H.V. Smith, Axel Moehrenschlager, Nancy Christensen, Dwight Knapik, Keith Gibson, Sarah J. Converse
2012, Wildlife Society Bulletin (36) 342-349
Worldwide, approximately 168 bird species are captive-bred for reintroduction into the wild. Programs tend to be initiated for species with a high level of endangerment. Depressed hatching success can be a problem for such programs and has been linked to artificial incubation. The need for artificial incubation is driven by...
Interim results from a study of the behavior of juvenile Chinook salmon at Cougar Reservoir and Dam, Oregon, March--August 2011
John W. Beeman, Hal C. Hansel, Amy C. Hansen, Philip V. Haner, Jamie M. Sprando, Collin D. Smith, Scott D. Evans
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1106
The movements and dam passage of yearling juvenile Chinook salmon implanted with acoustic transmitters and passive integrated transponder tags were studied at Cougar Reservoir and Dam, near Springfield, Oregon. A total of 411 hatchery fish and 26 wild fish were tagged and released between March 7 and May 21, 2011....
Use of real-time PCR to detect canine parvovirus in feces of free-ranging wolves
L. David Mech, Emily S. Almberg, Douglas Smith, Sagar Goyal, Randall S. Singer
2012, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (48) 473-476
Using real-time PCR, we tested 15 wolf (Canis lupus) feces from the Superior National Forest (SNF), Minnesota, USA, and 191 from Yellowstone National Park (YNP), USA, collected during summer and 13 during winter for canine parvovirus (CPV)-2 DNA. We also tested 20 dog feces for CPV-2 DNA. The PCR assay...
Characterization of nutrients and fecal indicator bacteria at a concentrated swine feeding operation in Wake County, North Carolina, 2009-2011
Stephen L. Harden, Shane W. Rogers, Michael A. Jahne, Carrie E. Shaffer, Douglas G. Smith
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1047
Hydrologic and water-quality data were collected during October 2009–January 2011 to characterize nutrient and bacteria concentrations in stormwater runoff from agricultural fields that receive wastewater originating at a swine facility at North Carolina State University's Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory (LWRFL) in Wake County, North Carolina. The swine facility consists...
Nonlinear effects of group size on the success of wolves hunting elk
Daniel R. MacNulty, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, John A. Vucetich, Craig Packer
2012, Behavioral Ecology (23) 75-82
Despite the popular view that social predators live in groups because group hunting facilitates prey capture, the apparent tendency for hunting success to peak at small group sizes suggests that the formation of large groups is unrelated to prey capture. Few empirical studies, however, have tested for nonlinear relationships between...
Biosolids, crop, and groundwater data for a biosolids-application area near Deer Trail, Colorado, 2009 and 2010
Tracy J.B. Yager, David B. Smith, James G. Crock
2012, Data Series 664
During 2009 and 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored the chemical composition of biosolids, crops, and groundwater related to biosolids applications near Deer Trail, Colorado, in cooperation with the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District. This monitoring effort was a continuation of the monitoring program begun in 1999 in cooperation with the...
Available benthic habitat type may influence predation risk in larval lampreys
Dustin M. Smith, Stuart A. Welsh, Philip J. Turk
2012, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (21) 160-163
Population declines of lamprey species have largely been attributed to habitat degradation, yet there still remain many unanswered questions about the relationships between lampreys and their habitats (Torgensen & Close 2004; Smith et al. 2011). One...
Airborne electromagnetic imaging of discontinuous permafrost
B. J. Minsley, J.D. Abraham, B. D. Smith, J. C. Cannia, C.I. Voss, M.T. Jorgenson, Michelle Ann Walvoord, B.K. Wylie, L. Anderson, L.B. Ball, M. Deszcz-Pan, T.P. Wellman, T. A. Ager
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39) 1-8
The evolution of permafrost in cold regions is inextricably connected to hydrogeologic processes, climate, and ecosystems. Permafrost thawing has been linked to changes in wetland and lake areas, alteration of the groundwater contribution to streamflow, carbon release, and increased fire frequency. But detailed knowledge about the dynamic state of permafrost...
Patterns of mortality in free-ranging California condors (Gymnogyps californianus)
B.A. Rideout, I. Stalis, R. Papendick, A. Pessier, B. Puschner, M.E. Finkelstein, D. R. Smith, Matthew Johnson, M. Mace, R. Stroud, J. Brandt, J. Burnett, C. Parish, J. Petterson, C. Witte, C. Stringfield, K. Orr, J. Zuba, M. Wallace, J. Grantham
2012, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (48) 95-112
We document causes of death in free-ranging California Condors (Gymnogyps californianus) from the inception of the reintroduction program in 1992 through December 2009 to identify current and historic mortality factors that might interfere with establishment of self-sustaining populations in the wild. A total of 135 deaths occurred from October 1992...
Parasite invasion following host reintroduction: a case of Yellowstone’s wolves
Paul C. Cross, Emily S. Almberg, Andrew P. Dobson, Douglas W. Smith, Peter J. Hudson
2012, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (367) 2840-2851
Wildlife reintroductions select or treat individuals for good health with the expectation that these individuals will fare better than infected animals. However, these individuals, new to their environment, may also be particularly susceptible to circulating infections and this may result in high morbidity and mortality, potentially jeopardizing the goals of...
Nonlinear effects of group size on the success of wolves hunting elk
D.R. MacNulty, D.W. Smith, L. David Mech, J.A. Vucetich, C. Packer
2012, Behavioral Ecology (23) 75-82
Despite the popular view that social predators live in groups because group hunting facilitates prey capture, the apparent tendency for hunting success to peak at small group sizes suggests that the formation of large groups is unrelated to prey capture. Few empirical studies, however, have tested for nonlinear relationships between...
Experimental and environmental factors affect spurious detection of ecological thresholds
Jonathan P. Daily, Nathaniel P. Hitt, David Smith, Craig D. Snyder
2012, Ecology (93) 17-23
Threshold detection methods are increasingly popular for assessing nonlinear responses to environmental change, but their statistical performance remains poorly understood. We simulated linear change in stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities and evaluated the performance of commonly used threshold detection methods based on model fitting (piecewise quantile regression [PQR]), data partitioning (nonparametric...
Multi-species attributes as the condition for adaptive sampling of rare species using two-stage sequential sampling with an auxiliary variable
B. Panahbehagh, D. R. Smith, M.M. Salehi, D.J. Hornbach, D.J. Brown
F. Chan, D. Marinova, R.S. Anderssen, editor(s)
2011, Conference Paper, MODSIM2011, 19th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, December 2011
Assessing populations of rare species is challenging because of the large effort required to locate patches of occupied habitat and achieve precise estimates of density and abundance. The presence of a rare species has been shown to be correlated with presence or abundance of more common species. Thus, ecological community...
Infectious diseases in Yellowstone’s canid community
Emily S. Almberg, Paul C. Cross, L. David Mech, Doug W. Smith, Jennifer W. Sheldon, Robert L. Crabtree
2011, Yellowstone Science (19) 16-24
Each summer Yellowstone Wolf Project staff visit den sites to monitor the success of wolf reproduction and pup rearing behavior. For the purposes of wolf monitoring, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is divided into two study areas, the northern range and the interior, each distinguished by their ecological and physiographical differences....
Demographic consequences of migratory stopover: Linking red knot survival to horseshoe crab spawning abundance
Conor P. McGowan, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, James E. Lyons, David Smith, Kevin S. Kalasz, Lawrence J. Niles, Amanda D. Dey, Nigel A. Clark, Philip W. Atkinson, Clive D.T. Minton, William Kendall
2011, Ecosphere (2)
Understanding how events during one period of the annual cycle carry over to affect survival and other fitness components in other periods is essential to understanding migratory bird demography and conservation needs. Previous research has suggested that western Atlantic red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) populations are greatly affected by horseshoe...
Airborne electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey data of the Yukon Flats and Fort Wainwright areas, central Alaska, June 2010
Lyndsay B. Ball, Bruce D. Smith, Burke J. Minsley, Jared D. Abraham, Clifford I. Voss, Beth N. Astley, Maria Deszcz-Pan, James C. Cannia
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1304
In June 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys of the Yukon Flats and Fort Wainwright study areas in central Alaska. These data were collected to estimate the three-dimensional distribution of permafrost at the time of the survey. These data were also collected to evaluate the...
Helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey data, Hunton anticline, south-central Oklahoma
Bruce D. Smith, David V. Smith, Maryla Deszcz-Pan, Charles D. Blome, Patricia Hill
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1240
This report is a digital data release for multiple geophysical surveys conducted in the Hunton anticline area of south-central Oklahoma. The helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic surveys were flown on March 16–17, 2007, in four areas of the Hunton anticline in south-central Oklahoma. The objective of this project is to improve...
Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness
Peter B. Adler, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Helmut Hillebrand, Yann Hautier, Andy Hector, W. Stanley Harpole, Lydia R. O'Halloran, James B. Grace, T. Michael Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Cynthia S. Brown, Yvonne M. Buckley, Laura B. Calabrese, Cheng-Jin Chu, Elsa E. Cleland, Scott L. Collins, Kathryn L. Cottingham, Michael J. Crawley, Ellen Ingman Damschen, Kendi F. Davies, Nicole M. DeCrappeo, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Paul Frater, Eve I. Gasarch, Daneil S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Hope Humphries, Virginia L. Jin, Adam D. Kay, Kevin P. Kirkman, Julia A. Klein, Johannes M.H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, John G. Lambrinos, Wei Li, Andrew S. MacDougall, Rebecca L. McCulley, Brett A. Melbourne, Charles E. Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Brent Mortensen, John L. Orrock, Suzanne M. Prober, David A. Pyke, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schuetz, Melinda D. Smith, Carly J. Stevens, Lauren L. Sullivan, Gang Wang, Peter D. Wragg, Justin P. Wright, Louie H. Yang
2011, Science (333) 1750-1753
For more than 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating local diversity. The original view, which is still widely accepted, holds that the relationship is hump-shaped, with richness first rising and then declining with increasing productivity....
Pb-concentrations and Pb-isotope ratios in soils collected along an east-west transect across the United States
Clemens Reimann, David B. Smith, Laurel G. Woodruff, Belinda Flem
2011, Applied Geochemistry (26) 1623-1631
Analytical results for Pb-concentrations and isotopic ratios from ca. 150 samples of soil A horizon and ca. 145 samples of soil C horizon collected along a 4000-km east–west transect across the USA are presented. Lead concentrations along the transect show: (1) generally higher values in the soil A-horizon than the...
A study of the effects of implementing agricultural best management practices and in-stream restoration on suspended sediment, stream habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrates at three stream sites in Surry County, North Carolina, 2004-2007-Lessons learned
Douglas G. Smith, G.M. Ferrell, Douglas A. Harned, Thomas F. Cuffney
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5098
The effects of agricultural best management practices and in-stream restoration on suspended-sediment concentrations, stream habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were examined in a comparative study of three small, rural stream basins in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces of North Carolina and Virginia between 2004 and 2007. The study...
