Annual Report: 2014: Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC)
Linda A. Weir, P. Nanjappa, J.J. Apodaca, J. Williams
2015, Report
Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) was established in 1999 to address the widespread declines, extinctions, and range reductions of amphibians and reptiles, with a focus on conservation of taxa and habitats in North America. Amphibians and reptiles are affected by a broad range of human activities, both as...
A sinuous tumulus over an active lava tube at Kīlauea Volcano: evolution, analogs, and hazard forecasts
Tim R. Orr, Jacob E. Bleacher, Matthew R. Patrick, Kelly M. Wooten
2015, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (291) 35-48
Inflation of narrow tube-fed basaltic lava flows (tens of meters across), such as those confined by topography, can be focused predominantly along the roof of a lava tube. This can lead to the development of an unusually long tumulus, its shape matching the sinuosity of the underlying lava tube. Such...
Evaluating nurse plants for restoring native woody species to degraded subtropical woodlands
Stephanie G. Yelenik, Nicole DiManno, Carla M. D’Antonio
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 300-313
Harsh habitats dominated by invasive species are difficult to restore. Invasive grasses in arid environments slow succession toward more desired composition, yet grass removal exacerbates high light and temperature, making the use of “nurse plants” an appealing strategy. In this study of degraded subtropical woodlands dominated by alien grasses in...
Reconnaissance coal study in the Susitna basin, 2014
Nina T. Harun, David L. LePain, Rebekah Tsigonis, Kenneth P. Helmold, Richard G. Stanley
2015, Report
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) conducted fieldwork during the summer of 2014 in the Susitna basin as part of an ongoing evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential of frontier basins, particularly those near the Railbelt region (for example, Decker and others, 2013; Gillis and others, 2013). Topical...
Long-term growth-increment chronologies reveal diverse influences of climate forcing on freshwater and forest biota in the Pacific Northwest
Bryan A. Black, Jason B. Dunham, Brett W. Blundon, Jayne Brim-Box, Alan J. Tepley
2015, Global Change Biology (21) 594-604
Analyses of how organisms are likely to respond to a changing climate have focused largely on the direct effects of warming temperatures, though changes in other variables may also be important, particularly the amount and timing of precipitation. Here, we develop a network of eight growth-increment width chronologies for freshwater...
Suburban groundwater quality as influenced by turfgrass and septic sources, Delmarva Peninsula, USA
Joshua W. Kasper, Judith M. Denver, Joanna K. York
2015, Journal of Environmental Quality (44) 642-654
Suburban land use is expanding in many parts of the United States and there is a need to better understand the potential water-quality impacts of this change. This study characterized groundwater quality in a sandy, water-table aquifer influenced by suburban development and compared the results to known patterns in water...
How are your berries? Perspectives of Alaska’s environmental managers on trends in wild berry abundance
Jerry W. Hupp, Michael Brubaker, Kira S. Wilkinson, Jennifer Williamson
2015, International Journal of Circumpolar Health (74)
Background: Wild berries are a valued traditional food in Alaska. Phytochemicals in wild berries may contribute to the prevention of vascular disease, cancer and cognitive decline, making berry consumption important to community health in rural areas. Little was known regarding which species of berries were important to...
Causes and consequences of ecosystem service regionalization in a coastal suburban watershed
Wilfred M. Wollheim, Mark B. Green, Brian A. Pellerin, Nathaniel B. Morse, Charles S. Hopkinson
2015, Estuaries and Coasts (1) 19-34
The demand for ecosystem services and the ability of natural ecosystems to provide those services evolve over time as population, land use, and management practices change. Regionalization of ecosystem service activity, or the expansion of the area providing ecosystem services to a population, is a common response in densely populated...
Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data
Nina L. Lanza, Ann M. Ollila, Agnes Cousin, Roger C. Wiens, Samuel M. Clegg, Nicolas Mangold, Nathan Bridges, Daniel Cooper, Mariek E. Schmidt, Jeffrey Berger, Raymond E. Arvidson, Noureddine Melikechi, Horton E. Newsom, Robert Tokar, Craig Hardgrove, Alissa Mezzacappa, Ryan S. Jackson, Benton C. Clark, Olivier Forni, Sylvestre Maurice, Marion Nachon, Ryan B. Anderson, Jennifer Blank, Matthew Deans, Dorothea Delapp, Richard Léveillé, Rhonda McInroy, Ronald Martinez, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Patrick Pinet
2015, Icarus (249) 62-73
Surface compositional features on rocks such as coatings and weathering rinds provide important information about past aqueous environments and water–rock interactions. The search for these features represents an important aspect of the Curiosity rover mission. With its unique ability to do fine-scale chemical depth profiling, the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy...
Songbirds as sentinels of mercury in terrestrial habitats of eastern North America
Allyson K. Jackson, David C. Evers, Evan M. Adams, Daniel A. Cristol, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Samuel T. Edmonds, Carrie E. Gray, Bart Hoskins, Oksana P. Lane, Amy Sauer, Timothy Tear
2015, Ecotoxicology (24) 453-467
Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed environmental contaminant with a variety of deleterious effects in fish, wildlife, and humans. Breeding songbirds may be useful sentinels for Hg across diverse habitats because they can be effectively sampled, have well-defined and small territories, and can integrate pollutant exposure over time and space....
Book review: Field guide to the common grasses of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska
Amy J. Symstad
2015, Prairie Naturalist (47) 53
Grass identification is not for the faint of heart, especially when one has to rely on dichotomous keys using terms like “glume” and “flexuous pedicels.” A good, illustrated field guide that avoids such specialized terms is invaluable for ranchers, amateur naturalists, landscapers, and a variety of grassland professionals that aren’t...
Towards sustainable management of huntable migratory waterbirds in Europe
Jesper Madsen, Matthieu Guillemain, Szabolcs Nagy, Pierre Defos du Rau, Jean-Yves Mondain-Monval, Cy Griffin, James Henty Williams, Nils Bunnefeld, Alexandre Czajkowski, Richard Hearn, Andreas Grauer, Mikko Alhainen, Angus Middleton, Fred A. Johnson
2015, Report
The EU Birds Directive and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement provide an adequate legal framework for sustainable management of migratory waterbird populations. The main shortcoming of both instruments is that it leaves harvest decisions of a shared resource to individual Member States and Contracting Parties without providing a shared information base...
Evaluating the use of side-scan sonar for detecting freshwater mussel beds in turbid river environments
Jarrod Powers, Shannon K. Brewer, James M. Long, Thomas Campbell
2015, Hydrobiologia (743) 127-137
Side-scan sonar is a valuable tool for mapping habitat features in many aquatic systems suggesting it may also be useful for locating sedentary biota. The objective of this study was to determine if side-scan sonar could be used to identify freshwater mussel (unionid) beds and the required environmental conditions. We...
Mineral potential for volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, (phase V, deliverable 77)
Cliff D. Taylor, Stuart A. Giles
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-L
Potential for base- and precious-metal-bearing volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits (VMS) exists in Mauritania in the greenstone belts of the southwestern Rgueïbat Shield and in the allochthonous portions of the central and southern Mauritanides. Additional potential exists for VMS deposits within the Tiris Complex of the central Rgueïbat Shield. Volcanosedimentary successions...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2014
Betsy L. Bodamer Scarbro, William Edwards, Carrie Gawne, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Richard T. Kraus, Mark W. Rogers, Taylor Stewart
2015, Report, Compiled reports to the Great Lakes Fishery commission of the annual bottom trawl and acoustics surveys, 2014
In 2014, the USGS LEBS successfully completed large vessel surveys in all three of Lake Erie’s basins. Lake Erie Biological Station’s primary vessel surveys included the Western Basin Forage Fish Assessment and East Harbor Forage Fish Assessment as well as contributing to the cooperative multi-agency Central Basin Hydroacoustics Assessment, the...
Challenges to sea otter recovery and conservation
Brenda E. Ballachey, James L. Bodkin
2015, Book chapter, Sea otter conservation
Similar to other species that in recent centuries experienced unregulated human exploitation, sea otters were extirpated throughout large portions of their historic range in the North Pacific. For most of the twentieth century, with cessation of the fur trade and because of concerted efforts at conservation, sea otters recovered much...
Experimental infection of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) with sheep scrapie
CM Carlson, Jay R. Schneider, Janice C. Pedersen, Dennis M. Heisey, Christopher J. Johnson
2015, Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research (79) 68-73
Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) are permissive to chronic wasting disease (CWD) infection, but their susceptibility to other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) is poorly characterized. In this initial study, we intracerebrally challenged 6 meadow voles with 2 isolates of sheep scrapie. Three meadow voles acquired a TSE after the scrapie challenge...
Migrations and swimming capabilities of endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) to guide passage designs in the fragmented Yellowstone River
P. J. Braaten, Caroline M. Elliott, Jason C. Rhoten, D. B. Fuller, Brandon J. McElroy
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 186-195
Fragmentation of the Yellowstone River is hypothesized to preclude recruitment of endangered Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon) by impeding upstream spawning migrations and access to upstream spawning areas, thereby limiting the length of free-flowing river required for survival of early life stages. Building on this hypothesis, the reach of the Yellowstone River affected...
A scientific basis for restoring fish spawning habitat in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers of the Laurentian Great Lakes
Bruce A. Manny, Edward F. Roseman, Gregory W. Kennedy, James C. Boase, Jaquelyn Craig, David H. Bennion, Jennifer Read, Lynn Vaccaro, Justin A. Chiotti, Richard Drouin, Roseanne Ellison
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 149-156
Loss of functional habitat in riverine systems is a global fisheries issue. Few studies, however, describe the decision-making approach taken to abate loss of fish spawning habitat. Numerous habitat restoration efforts are underway and documentation of successful restoration techniques for spawning habitat of desirable fish species in large rivers connecting...
2013 Monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
Kristi Morris, M. Alisa Mast, David W. Clow, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David A. Gay, Daniel Bowker
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR—2015/997
In 2004, multiple agencies including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) met to address the effects and trends of nitrogen deposition and related air quality issues at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). These agencies...
Permissive tracts for sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 73)
Jeffrey L. Mauk
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-J
Although Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits have not been recognized in Mauritania there are permissive tracts for these deposits in the regionally extensive Proterozoic carbonate rocks of the Taoudeni Basin. Permissive tracts for undiscovered MVT Pb-Zn-Ag deposits in the Proterozoic carbonate units are supported by the occurrences of MVT mineral and...
Land use structures fish assemblages in reservoirs of the Tennessee River
Leandro E. Miranda, J. M. Bies, D. A. Hann
2015, Marine and Freshwater Research (66) 526-534
Inputs of nutrients, sediments and detritus from catchments can promote selected components of reservoir fish assemblages, while hindering others. However, investigations linking these catchment subsidies to fish assemblages have generally focussed on one or a handful of species. Considering this paucity of community-level awareness, we sought to explore the association...
Wolves on the hunt: The behavior of wolves hunting wild prey
L. David Mech, Douglas W. Smith, Daniel R. MacNulty
2015, Book
The interactions between apex predators and their prey are some of the most awesome and meaningful in nature—displays of strength, endurance, and a deep coevolutionary history. And there is perhaps no apex predator more impressive and important in its hunting—or more infamous, more misjudged—than the wolf. Because of wolves’ habitat,...
Lake Ontario benthic prey fish assessment, 2014
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh
2015, Report, 2014 Annual Report Bureau of Fisheries Lake Ontario Unit and St. Lawrence River Unit to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Ontario Committee
Benthic prey fishes are an important component of the Lake Ontario fish community and serve as vectors that move energy from benthic invertebrates into native and introduced sport fishes. Since the 1970’s, the USGS Lake Ontario Biological Station has assessed benthic fish populations and community dynamics with bottom trawls at...
Database creation, data quality assessment, and geochemical maps (phase V, deliverable 59)—Final report on compilation and validation of geochemical data
Robert G. Eppinger, Stuart A. Giles, Gregory K. Lee, Steven M. Smith
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-D
Under the World Bank-funded Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la Republique Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II), this Phase V geochemistry report follows earlier Phase I and Phase II summary reports on geochemical data (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007 and Eppinger, 2007; respectively). All the reports are based on...
