State-dependent resource harvesting with lagged information about system states
Fred A. Johnson, Paul L. Fackler, G Scott Boomer, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, Byron K. Williams, James D. Nichols, Robert Dorazio
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-21
Markov decision processes (MDPs), which involve a temporal sequence of actions conditioned on the state of the managed system, are increasingly being applied in natural resource management. This study focuses on the modification of a traditional MDP to account for those cases in which an action must be chosen after...
United States copper metal and scrap use and trade patterns, 1995‒2014
Thomas G. Goonan
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5075
In 1995, China accounted for 10 percent of world copper consumption. By 2014, China accounted for about 49 percent of world copper consumption. This change has affected global copper and copper scrap prices, the sources of copper supply, and U.S. trade of copper-containing materials. This report considers changes to the copper...
Estimating species – area relationships by modeling abundance and frequency subject to incomplete sampling
Yuichi Yamaura, Edward F. Connor, Andy Royle, Katsuo Itoh, Kiyoshi Sato, Hisatomo Taki, Yoshio Mishima
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 4836-4848
Models and data used to describe species–area relationships confound sampling with ecological process as they fail to acknowledge that estimates of species richness arise due to sampling. This compromises our ability to make ecological inferences from and about species–area relationships. We develop and illustrate hierarchical community models of...
Late Pleistocene and Holocene tephrostratigraphy of interior Alaska and Yukon: Key beds and chronologies over the past 30,000 years
Lauren J. Davies, Britta J.L. Jensen, Duane G. Froese, Kristi L. Wallace
2016, Quaternary Science Reviews (146) 28-53
The Aleutian Arc-Alaska Peninsula and Wrangell volcanic field are the main source areas for tephra deposits found across Alaska and northern Canada, and increasingly, <a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about tephra...
Estimating juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) abundance from beach seine data collected in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, California
Russell W. Perry, Joseph E. Kirsch, A. Noble Hendrix
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1099
Resource managers rely on abundance or density metrics derived from beach seine surveys to make vital decisions that affect fish population dynamics and assemblage structure. However, abundance and density metrics may be biased by imperfect capture and lack of geographic closure during sampling. Currently, there is considerable uncertainty about the...
Gravity and magnetic studies of the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada
Kevin M. Denton, David A. Ponce
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1070
IntroductionFrom May 2011 to August 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected gravity data at more than 2,300 stations and physical property measurements on more than 640 rock samples from outcrops in the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada. Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data are used to study and locate...
Community exposure to tsunami hazards in Hawai‘i
Jamie L. Jones, Matthew R. Jamieson, Nathan J. Wood
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5053
Hawai‘i has experienced numerous destructive tsunamis and the potential for future inundation has been described over the years using various historical events and scenarios. To support tsunami preparedness and risk-reduction planning in Hawai‘i, this study documents the variations among 91 coastal communities and 4 counties in the amounts, types, and...
Trade-offs between energy maximization and parental care in a central place forager, the sea otter
N M Thometz, M. M. Staedler, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, James L. Bodkin, G.B. Bentall, M. Tim Tinker
2016, Behavioral Ecology (27) 1552-1566
Between 1999 and 2014, 126 archival time–depth recorders (TDRs) were used to examine the foraging behavior of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) off the coast of California, in both resource-abundant (recently occupied, low sea otter density) and resource-limited (long-occupied, high sea otter density) locations. Following predictions of foraging theory,...
Detection of hepatitis E virus and other livestock-related pathogens in Iowa streams
Carrie E. Givens, Dana W. Kolpin, Mark A. Borchardt, Joseph W. Duris, Thomas B. Moorman, Susan K. Spencer
2016, Science of the Total Environment (566-567) 1042-1051
Manure application is a source of pathogens to the environment. Through overland runoff and tile drainage, zoonotic pathogens can contaminate surface water and streambed sediment and could affect both wildlife and human health. This study examined the environmental occurrence of gene markers for livestock-related bacterial, protozoan, and viral pathogens and...
Quantification of human-associated fecal indicators reveal sewage from urban watersheds as a source of pollution to Lake Michigan
Hayley T. Olds, Deborah K. Dila, Melinda J. Bootsma, Steven R. Corsi, Sandra L. McLellan
2016, Water Research (100) 556-567
Sewage contamination of urban waterways from sewer overflows and failing infrastructure is a major environmental and public health concern. Fecal coliforms (FC) are commonly employed as fecal indicator bacteria, but do not distinguish between human and non-human sources of fecal contamination. Human Bacteroides and humanLachnospiraceae, two genetic markers for human-associated indicator bacteria,...
Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2016
C.L. Afonso, Gael Kurath, 82 Additional Authors
2016, Archives of Virology (161) 2351-2360
In 2016, the order Mononegavirales was emended through the addition of two new families (Mymonaviridae and Sunviridae), the elevation of the paramyxoviral subfamily Pneumovirinae to family status (Pneumoviridae), the addition of five free-floating genera (Anphevirus, Arlivirus, Chengtivirus, Crustavirus, and Wastrivirus), and several other changes at the genus and species levels....
Geologic and geophysical models for Osage County, Oklahoma, with implications for groundwater resources
Mark R. Hudson, David V. Smith, Michael P. Pantea, Carol Becker
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5067
This report summarizes a three-dimensional (3-D) geologic model that was constructed to provide a framework to investigate groundwater resources of the Osage Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. This report also presents an analysis of an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey that assessed the spatial variation of electrical resistivity to depths as great...
Historical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
David G. Frank
2016, Data Series 1004
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The information about a mining property that...
Preliminary peak stage and streamflow data at selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages for flooding in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016
Robert R. Holmes Jr., Kara M. Watson, Thomas E. Harris
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1092
Flooding occurred in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016. The flooding was the result of more than 20 inches of rain falling in a 19 day period from December 12 to December 31, 2015. U.S. Geological Survey streamgages recorded 23 peaks of record during...
Building groundwater modeling capacity in Mongolia
Joshua F. Valder, Janet M. Carter, Mark T. Anderson, Kyle W. Davis, Michelle A. Haynes, Dorjsuren Dechinlhundev
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1096
Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia (fig. 1), is dependent on groundwater for its municipal and industrial water supply. The population of Mongolia is about 3 million people, with about one-half the population residing in or near Ulaanbaatar (World Population Review, 2016). Groundwater is drawn from a network of shallow...
Principles for urban stormwater management to protect stream ecosystems
Christopher J. Walsh, Derek B. Booth, Matthew J. Burns, Tim D. Fletcher, Rebecca Hale, Lan N. Hoang, Grant Livingston, Megan A. Rippy, Allison H. Roy, Mateo Scoggins, Angela Wallace
2016, Freshwater Science (35) 398-411
Urban stormwater runoff is a critical source of degradation to stream ecosystems globally. Despite broad appreciation by stream ecologists of negative effects of stormwater runoff, stormwater management objectives still typically center on flood and pollution mitigation without an explicit focus on altered hydrology. Resulting management approaches are unlikely to protect...
A primer on potential impacts, management priorities, and future directions for Elodea spp. in high latitude systems: learning from the Alaskan experience
Michael P. Carey, Suresh A Sethi, Sabrina J Larsen, Cecil F Rich
2016, Hydrobiologia (777) 1-19
Invasive species introductions in Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems are growing as climate change manifests and human activity increases in high latitudes. The aquatic plants of the genus Elodea are potential invaders to Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems circumpolar and at least one species is already established in Alaska, USA. To illustrate...
Benthos and plankton community data for selected rivers and harbors along the western Lake Michigan shoreline, 2014
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Daniel J. Burns, Hayley T. Olds, Amanda H. Bell, Kassidy T. Mapel
2016, Data Series 1000
Benthos (benthic invertebrates) and plankton (zooplankton and phytoplankton) communities were sampled in 2014 at 10 Wisconsin rivers and harbors, including 4 sites in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and 6 less degraded comparison sites with similar physical and chemical characteristics, including climate, latitude, geology, and land use. Previous U.S. Geological...
Impacts of Northern Pike on stocked Rainbow Trout in Pactola Reservoir, South Dakota
Natalie C. Scheibel, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Jacob L. Davis, Steven R. Chipps
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 230-240
Establishment of nonnative Northern Pike Esox lucius in Pactola Reservoir, South Dakota, has prompted concern among biologists about the influence of this species on the lake’s intensively managed salmonid fisheries. Ancedotal information suggests that catch rates of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss have declined while mean size and abundance of Northern Pike has increased, although...
Movement patterns of Brook Trout in a restored coastal stream system in southern Massachusetts
Erin L. Snook, Benjamin H. Letcher, Todd L. Dubreuil, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Matthew J. O'Donnell, Andrew R. Whiteley, Stephen T. Hurley, Andy J. Danylchuk
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 360-375
Coastal Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations are found from northern Canada to New England. The extent of anadromy generally decreases with latitude, but the ecology and movements of more southern populations are poorly understood. We conducted a 33-month acoustic telemetry study of Brook Trout in Red Brook, MA, and adjacent...
Head-started Kemp’s ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) nest recorded in Florida: Possible implications
Donna J. Shaver, Margaret M. Lamont, Sharon Maxwell, Jennifer Shelby Walker, Ted Dillingham
2016, Chelonian Conservation and Biology (15) 138-143
A head-started Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) was documented nesting on South Walton Beach, Florida on 25 May 2015. This record supports the possibility that exposure to Florida waters after being held in captivity through 1–3 yrs of age during the head-starting process may have influenced future nest site...
Historical baselines and the future of shell calcification for a foundation species in a changing ocean
Catherine A. Pfister, Kaustuv Roy, Timothy J. Wootton, Sophie J. McCoy, Robert T. Paine, Tom Suchanek, Eric Sanford
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (283) 1-8
Seawater pH and the availability of carbonate ions are decreasing due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, posing challenges for calcifying marine species. Marine mussels are of particular concern given their role as foundation species worldwide. Here, we document shell growth and calcification patterns in Mytilus californianus, the California mussel, over millennial...
Habitat use and growth of the western painted crayfish Orconectes palmeri longimanus
Joseph J. Dyer, Joshua Mouser, Shannon K. Brewer
2016, Journal of Crustacean Biology (36) 172-179
Identifying ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by aquatic organisms is necessary for improving conservation strategies; however, our ability to designate life stages based on surrogate metrics (i.e., length) is questionable without validation. This study identified growth patterns of age-0 western painted crayfish Orconectes palmeri longimanus (Faxon, 1898) reared in the laboratory, provided...
Physiology of the invasive apple snail Pomacea maculata: tolerance to low temperatures
Lewis E. Deaton, William Schmidt, Brody Leblanc, Jacoby Carter, Kristy Mueck, Sergio Merino
2016, Journal of Shellfish Research (35) 207-210
Apple snails of the genus Pomacea native to South America have invaded and become established in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Both the channeled apple snail Pomacea canaliculata and the island apple snail Pomacea maculata have been reported in the United States. The two species are difficult to distinguish...
How can present and future satellite missions support scientific studies that address ocean acidification?
Joseph Salisbury, Douglas Vandemark, Bror Jonsson, William Balch, Sumit Chakraborty, Steven Lohrenz, Bertrand Chapron, Burke Hales, Antonio Mannino, Jeremy T. Mathis, Nicolas Reul, Sergio Signorini, Rik Wanninkhof, Kimberly K. Yates
2016, Oceanography (2) 108-121
Space-based observations offer unique capabilities for studying spatial and temporal dynamics of the upper ocean inorganic carbon cycle and, in turn, supporting research tied to ocean acidification (OA). Satellite sensors measuring sea surface temperature, color, salinity, wind, waves, currents, and sea level enable a fuller understanding of a range of...
