A report on genetic affinities and relatedness of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at opposite ends of the Coachella Valley in California
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Taylor Edwards, Brian Kreiser, Shellie R. Puffer, Mickey Agha
2017, Report, Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan—2017 Annual Report
This report summarizes the results for mtDNA and STR genotyping of 41 desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) DNA samples from opposite sides of the Coachella Valley: one sample from the west side at the Mesa wind energy facility in the Whitewater Hills and the other from the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon...
Ecology of the Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) at Rainey Slough, Florida: A vanished Eden
J. Steve Godley, Brian J. Halstead, Roy W. McDiarmid
2017, Herpetological Monographs (31) 47-68
Eastern Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula) are an important component and predator in herpetofaunal communities, but many Eastern Kingsnake populations have declined precipitously in the last few decades, particularly in the southeastern United States. Here, we describe an intensive capture–mark–recapture study of L. getula conducted during 1974–1978 in a canal bank–Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia...
Impacts of mastication fuel treatments on California, USA, chaparral vegetation structure and composition
Teresa J. Brennan, Jon E. Keeley
2017, Fire Ecology (13) 120-138
Mechanical fuel treatments are a primary pre-fire strategy for potentially mitigating the threat of wildland fire, yet there is limited information on how they impact shrubland ecosystems. Our goal was to assess the impact of mechanical mastication fuel treatments on chaparral vegetation and to determine the extent to which they...
Climate change and collapsing thermal niches of Mexican endemic reptiles
Barry Sinervo, Donald B. Miles, Rafael A. Lara Resendiz, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Joshua R. Ennen, Johannes Muller, Robert D. Cooper, Philip C. Rosen, Joseph A. E. Stewart, Juan Carlos Santos, Jack W. Sites Jr., Paul Gibbons, Eric Goode, L. Scott Hillard, Luke Welton, Mickey Agha, Gabriel Caetano, Mercy Vaughn, Cristina Melendez Torres, Hector Gadsden, Gamaliel Castenada Gaytan, Patricia Galina-Tessaro, Fernando I. Valle Jimenez, Jorge H. Valdez-Villavicencio, Norberto Martinez Mendez, Guillermo Woolrich Pina, Victor Luja Molina, Anibal Diaz de la Vega Perez, Diego M. Arenas Moreno, Saul Dominguez Guerrero, Natalia Fierro, Scott Butterfield, Michael Westpha, Raymond B. Huey, William Mautz, Víctor Sánchez-Cordero, Fausto R. Mendez de la Cruz
2017, Report
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins, and contraction at southern and low elevation margins due to extinction. Climate models predict dramatic extinctions and distributional shifts in the next century, but there are few ground-truths of these dire forecasts leading to...
Strontium isotopic systematics of mineralized and background water samples, Montezuma Mining District, Colorado
Philip L. Verplanck, Robert L. Runkel
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-12)
Surface and groundwater samples within the Montezuma mining district were sampled to evaluate the use of strontium isotopic compositions as signatures of different water types. Waters draining Precambrian metamorphic units had distinctly higher 87Sr/ 86Sr values (0.72893 to 0.73833) than waters draining Tertiaryage plutonic rocks (0.71064 and 0.71114). Waters draining...
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus)
2017, EGMP Technical Report 5
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest-management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information...
For what it's worth : appreciating the economic value of wildlife
P. Howensee, Michael D. Samuel, D. Drake
2017, The Wildlife Professional (11) 43
No abstract available....
Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2016
Frank T. van Manen, Mark A. Haroldson, Bryn Karabensh, editor(s)
2017, Report
This Annual Report summarizes results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) monitoring and research conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2016. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations. ...
Scientific records appraisal process: U.S. Geological Survey case study
John Faundeen
Lisa R. Johnston, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Curating research data, volume two: A handbook of current practice
No abstract available....
USGS revision of global iron ore production data—Clarification of the reporting of iron ore production in China and application of a uniform comparison methodology (2000-2015)
Candice C. Tuck, Sean Xun, Sheryl A. Singerling
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 20-23
Iron ore is the source of primary iron for the world’s iron and steel industries. Its production can be reported as crude ore, usable ore or iron content of ore. Historically, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used reported crude ore production from China in tabulations of world iron ore production...
Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
2017, Book chapter, Field excursions in Southern California: Field guides to the 2016 Geological Society of American cordilleran section meeting
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA. TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much...
Mapping marginal croplands suitable for cellulosic feedstock crops in the Great Plains, United States
Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie
2017, GCB Bioenergy (9) 836-844
Growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) for biofuel is more environmentally sustainable than corn-based ethanol. Specifically, this practice can reduce soil erosion and water quality impairment from pesticides and fertilizer, improve ecosystem services and sustainability (e.g., serve as carbon sinks), and minimize impacts on global food supplies. The main goal...
Pathogen transport in groundwater systems: Contrasts with traditional solute transport
Randall J. Hunt, William P. Johnson
2017, Hydrogeology Journal (25) 921-930
Water quality affects many aspects of water availability, from precluding use to societal perceptions of fit-for-purpose. Pathogen source and transport processes are drivers of water quality because they have been responsible for numerous outbreaks resulting in large economic losses due to illness and, in some cases, loss of life. Outbreaks...
A hidden-process model for estimating prespawn mortality using carcass survey data
J. Tyrell DeWeber, James T. Peterson, Cameron Sharpe, Michael L. Kent, Michael E. Colvin, Carl B. Schreck
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 162-175
After returning to spawning areas, adult Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. often die without spawning successfully, which is commonly referred to as prespawn mortality. Prespawn mortality reduces reproductive success and can thereby hamper conservation, restoration, and reintroduction efforts. The primary source of information used to estimate prespawn mortality is collected through carcass surveys,...
Geology along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia
Mark W. Carter, C. Scott Southworth, Richard P. Tollo, Arthur J. Merschat, Sara Wagner, Ava Lazor, John N. Aleinikoff
2017, Book chapter, From the Blue Ridge to the beach: Geological field excursions across Virginia
Detailed geologic mapping and new SHRIMP (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe) U-Pb zircon, Ar/Ar, Lu-Hf, 14C, luminescence (optically stimulated), thermochronology (fission-track), and palynology reveal the complex Mesoproterozoic to Quaternary geology along the ~350 km length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Traversing the boundary of the central and southern Appalachians, rocks...
Trends in methyl tert-butyl ether concentrations in private wells in southeast New Hampshire: 2005 to 2015
Sarah Flanagan, Joseph P. Levitt, Joseph D. Ayotte
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 1168-1175
In southeast New Hampshire, where reformulated gasoline was used from the 1990s to 2007, methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE) concentrations ≥0.2 μg/L were found in water from 26.7% of 195 domestic wells sampled in 2005. Ten years later in 2015, and eight years after MtBE was banned, 10.3% continue to have MtBE....
Evaluation of modeled bacteria loads along an impaired stream reach receiving discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system in Independence, Mo.
Allison Flickinger, Eric D. Christensen
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, WEFTEC 2017
The Little Blue River in Jackson County, Missouri, was listed as impaired in 2012 due to Escherichia coli (E. coli) from urban runoff and storm sewers. A study was initiated to characterize E. coli concentrations and loads to aid in the development of a total maximum daily load implementation plan. Longitudinal sampling along the...
Investigating impacts of oil and gas development on greater sage-grouse
Adam Green, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O’Donnell
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 46-57
The sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem is one of the largest ecosystems in western North America providing habitat for species found nowhere else. Sagebrush habitats have experienced dramatic declines since the 1950s, mostly due to anthropogenic disturbances. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a sagebrush-obligate species that has experienced population declines over...
What can volunteer angler tagging data tell us about the status of the Giant Trevally (ulua aukea) Caranx ignobilis fishery in Hawaii: revisiting data collected during Hawaii’s Ulua and Papio Tagging Project 2000-2016
Timothy B. Grabowski, Erik C. Franklin
2017, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-126-2017
Giant Trevally (ulua aukea) Caranx ignobilis is one of the most highly prized and frequentlytargeted nearshore species. However, there is very little information on its current status inHawaiian waters. This study uses mark-recapture data collected as part of recreational anglertagging program conducted by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural...
Validation of daily increments periodicity in otoliths of spotted gar
Richard A. Snow, James M. Long, Bryan D. Frenette
2017, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (4) 60-65
Accurate age and growth information is essential in successful management of fish populations and for understanding early life history. We validated daily increment deposition, including the timing of first ring formation, for spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) through 127 days post hatch. Fry were produced from hatchery-spawned specimens, and up to...
Guidance documents: Continued support to improve operations of fish hatcheries and field sites to reduce the impact or prevent establishment of New Zealand Mudsnails and other invasive mollusks
Christine M. Moffitt
2017, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-124-2017
This project tested and revised a risk assessment/management tool authored by Moffitt and Stockton designed to provide hatchery biologists and others a structure to measure risk and provide tools to control, prevent or eliminate invasive New Zealand mudsnails (NZMS) and other invasive mollusks in fish hatcheries and hatchery operations. The...
Geology of the Petersburg batholith, eastern Piedmont, Virginia
Brent E. Owens, Mark W. Carter, Christopher M. Bailey
2017, Book chapter, From the Blue Ridge to the beach Geological field excursions across Virginia
The 295-300 Ma Petersburg batholith in east-central Virginia forms one of the largest and northernmost of the Alleghanian plutonic complexes in the southern Appalachian Piedmont. The batholith is primarily composed of granite including massive and foliated (both magmatic and solid-state fabrics) varieties. The plutonic complex intruded medium-grade metamorphosed volcanic/plutonic rocks...
Fisheries and aquatic resources of Prairie Creek, Redwood National Park
Peggy Wilzbach, Vicki Ozaki
2017, Natural Resource Report NPS/REDW/NRR—2017/1492
This report synthesizes information on the status of fisheries and aquatic resources in the Prairie Creek sub-basin of Redwood Creek in Humboldt County in northern California, founded on a bibliographic search we conducted of historic and current datasets, unpublished reports, theses, and publications. The compiled Prairie Creek Fisheries Bibliography is...
Remote measurement of surface-water velocity using infrared videography and PIV: a proof-of-concept for Alaskan rivers
Paul J. Kinzel, Carl J. Legleiter, Jonathan M. Nelson, Jeffrey S. Conaway
2017, Conference Paper, E-proceedings of the 37th IAHR World Congress
Thermal cameras with high sensitivity to medium and long wavelengths can resolve features at the surface of flowing water arising from turbulent mixing. Images acquired by these cameras can be processed with particle image velocimetry (PIV) to compute surface velocities based on the displacement of thermal features as they advect...
Disentangling the complexities of how legumes and their symbionts regulate plant nitrogen access and storage
Sasha C. Reed
2017, New Phytologist (213) 478-480
Nitrogen (N) availability strongly influences the structure and function of ecosystems (e.g. Vitousek & Howarth, 1991), but only a relatively small number of microbial groups have the ability to convert the N2 in our atmosphere into biologically available forms.This process,...
