Error propagation in energetic carrying capacity models
Aaron T. Pearse, Joshua D. Stafford
2014, Journal of Conservation Planning (10) 17-24
Conservation objectives derived from carrying capacity models have been used to inform management of landscapes for wildlife populations. Energetic carrying capacity models are particularly useful in conservation planning for wildlife; these models use estimates of food abundance and energetic requirements of wildlife to target conservation actions. We provide a general...
Hydrogeologic framework and occurrence, movement, and chemical characterization of groundwater in Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada
Jena M. Huntington, C. Amanda Garcia, Michael R. Rosen
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5152
Dixie Valley, a primarily undeveloped basin in west-central Nevada, is being considered for groundwater exportation. Proposed pumping would occur from the basin-fill aquifer. In response to proposed exportation, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and Churchill County, conducted a study to improve the understanding of...
Groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada, March 2009-September 2011
C. Amanda Garcia, Jena M Huntington, Susan G. Buto, Michael T. Moreo, J. LaRue Smith, Brian J. Andraski
2014, Professional Paper 1805
With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert Southwest are progressively looking toward remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Pending applications by Churchill County for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin east of the Carson Desert, have prompted a reevaluation of...
Quality of surface-water supplies in the Triangle area of North Carolina, water year 2009
C. A. Pfeifle, M. J. Giorgino, R. B. Rasmussen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1192
Surface-water supplies are important sources of drinking water for residents in the Triangle area of North Carolina, which is located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River Basins. Since 1988, the U.S. Geological Survey and a consortium of governments have tracked water-quality conditions and trends in several of the...
Great Lakes restoration success through science: U.S. Geological Survey accomplishments 2010 through 2013
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2014, Circular 1404
The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth and serve as an important source of drinking water, transportation, power, and recreational opportunities for the United States and Canada. They also support an abundant commercial and recreational fishery, are crucial for...
Assessment of the spatial extent and height of flooding in Lake Champlain during May 2011, using satellite remote sensing and ground-based information
David M. Bjerklie, Thomas J. Trombley, Scott A. Olson
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5163
Landsat 5 and moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer satellite imagery were used to map the area of inundation of Lake Champlain, which forms part of the border between New York and Vermont, during May 2011. During this month, the lake’s water levels were record high values not observed in the previous...
Concentration and flux of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids for monitored tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990-2012
Laura Medalie
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1209
Annual and daily concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids were estimated for 18 monitored tributaries to Lake Champlain by using the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Seasons regression model. Estimates were made for 21 or 23 years, depending on data...
Systematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
Valeria da C. Tavares, Alfred L. Gardner, Hector E. Ramirez-Chaves, Paul M. Velazco
2014, American Museum Novitates
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies...
SToRM: A Model for Unsteady Surface Hydraulics Over Complex Terrain
Francisco J. Simoes
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Hydroscience & Engineering
A two-dimensional (depth-averaged) finite volume Godunov-type shallow water model developed for flow over complex topography is presented. The model is based on an unstructured cellcentered finite volume formulation and a nonlinear strong stability preserving Runge-Kutta time stepping scheme. The numerical discretization is founded on the classical and well established shallow...
Capture-recapture of white-tailed deer using DNA from fecal pellet-groups
Matthew J Goode, Jared T Beaver, Lisa I Muller, Joseph D. Clark, Frank T. van Manen, Craig T Harper, P Seth Basinger
2014, Wildlife Biology (20) 270-278
Traditional methods for estimating white-tailed deer population size and density are affected by behavioral biases, poor detection in densely forested areas, and invalid techniques for estimating effective trapping area. We evaluated a noninvasive method of capture—recapture for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) density estimation using DNA extracted from fecal pellets as...
Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor
Kristin McDougall, Adriana Yanet Miranda Martinez
2014, Geosphere (10) 842-869
Foraminiferal assemblages in the stratigraphically lower part of the Bouse Formation in the Blythe Basin indicate marine conditions whereas assemblages in the upper part of the Bouse Formation indicate lacustrine conditions and suggest the presence of a saline lake. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the lower part of the Bouse...
Estimates of vital rates for a declining loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) subpopulation: implications for management
Margaret M. Lamont, Ikuko Fujisaki, Raymond R. Carthy
2014, Marine Biology (161) 2659-2668
Because subpopulations can differ geographically, genetically and/or phenotypically, using data from one subpopulation to derive vital rates for another, while often unavoidable, is not optimal. We used a two-state open robust design model to analyze a 14-year dataset (1998–2011) from the St. Joseph Peninsula, Florida (USA; 29.748°, −85.400°) which is...
Interspecific habitat associations of juvenile salmonids in Lake Ontario tributaries: implications for Atlantic salmon restoration
James H. Johnson, Marc A. Chalupnicki
2014, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (30) 853-861
Diel variation in habitat use of subyearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), subyearling coho salmon (O. kisutch), yearling steelhead (O. mykiss), and yearling Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was examined during the spring in two tributaries of Lake Ontario. A total of 1318 habitat observations were made on juvenile salmonids including 367...
Development of a shared vision for groundwater management to protect and sustain baseflows of the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona, USA
Holly E. Richter, Bruce Gungle, Laurel J. Lacher, Dale S. Turner, Brooke M. Bushman
2014, Water (6) 2519-2538
Groundwater pumping along portions of the binational San Pedro River has depleted aquifer storage that supports baseflow in the San Pedro River. A consortium of 23 agencies, business interests, and non-governmental organizations pooled their collective resources to develop the scientific understanding and technical tools required to optimize the management of...
Energy map of southwestern Wyoming, Part B: oil and gas, oil shale, uranium, and solar
Laura R.H. Biewick, Anna B. Wilson
2014, Data Series 843
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled Part B of the Energy Map of Southwestern Wyoming for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI). Part B consists of oil and gas, oil shale, uranium, and solar energy resource information in support of the WLCI. The WLCI represents the USGS partnership with...
Investigations of novel unsaturated bile salts of male sea lamprey as potential chemical cues
Nicholas S. Johnson, Sang-Seon Yun, Weiming Li
2014, Journal of Chemical Ecology (40) 1152-1160
Sulfated bile salts function as chemical cues that coordinate reproduction in sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus. 7α, 12α, 24-trihydroxy-5α-cholan-3-one 24-sulfate (3kPZS) is the most abundant known bile salt released by sexually mature male sea lampreys and attracts ovulated females. However, previous studies showed that the male-produced pheromone consists of unidentified components...
Developing and testing temperature models for regulated systems: a case study on the Upper Delaware River
Jeffrey C. Cole, Kelly O. Maloney, Matthias Schmid, James E. McKenna Jr.
2014, Journal of Hydrology (519) 588-598
Water temperature is an important driver of many processes in riverine ecosystems. If reservoirs are present, their releases can greatly influence downstream water temperatures. Models are important tools in understanding the influence these releases may have on the thermal regimes of downstream rivers. In this study, we developed and tested...
Carbonate margin, slope, and basin facies of the Lisburne Group (Carboniferous-Permian) in northern Alaska
Julie A. Dumoulin, Craig A. Johnson, John F. Slack, Kenneth J. Bird, Michael T. Whalen, Thomas E. Moore, Anita G. Harris, Paul B. O’Sullivan
Klaas Verwer, Ted E. Playton, Paul M. Harris, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Deposits, architecture, and controls of carbonate margin, slope and basinal settings
The Lisburne Group (Carboniferous-Permian) consists of a carbonate platform that extends for >1000 km across northern Alaska, and diverse margin, slope, and basin facies that contain world-class deposits of Zn and Ba, notable phosphorites, and petroleum source rocks....
Minimal role of eastern fence lizards in Borrelia burgdorferi transmission in central New Jersey oak/pine woodlands
Eric L. Rulison, Kaetlyn T Kerr, Megan C Dyer, Seungeun Han, Russell L. Burke, Jean I. Tsao, Howard S. Ginsberg
2014, Journal of Parasitology (100) 578-582
The Eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, is widely distributed in eastern and central North America, ranging through areas with high levels of Lyme disease, as well as areas where Lyme disease is rare or absent. We studied the potential role of S. undulatus in transmission dynamics of Lyme spirochetes by...
Effects of wastewater effluent discharge on stream quality in Indian Creek, Johnson County, Kansas
Jennifer L. Graham, Guy M. Foster
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3100
Contaminants from point and other urban sources affect stream quality in Indian Creek, which is one of the most urban drainage basins in Johnson County, Kansas. The Johnson County Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin and Tomahawk Creek Wastewater Treatment Facilities discharge to Indian Creek. Data collected by the U.S. Geological...
Effects of wastewater effluent discharge and treatment facility upgrades on environmental and biological conditions of Indian Creek, Johnson County, Kansas, June 2004 through June 2013
Jennifer L. Graham, Mandy L. Stone, Teresa J. Rasmussen, Guy M. Foster, Barry C. Poulton, Chelsea R. Paxson, Theodore D. Harris
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5187
Indian Creek is one of the most urban drainage basins in Johnson County, Kansas, and environmental and biological conditions of the creek are affected by contaminants from point and other urban sources. The Johnson County Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin (hereafter referred to as the “Middle Basin”) and Tomahawk Creek...
Dynamics of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system
Shaul Hurwitz, Jacob B. Lowenstern
2014, Reviews of Geophysics (52) 375-411
The Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field is characterized by extensive seismicity, episodes of uplift and subsidence, and a hydrothermal system that comprises more than 10,000 thermal features, including geysers, fumaroles, mud pots, thermal springs, and hydrothermal explosion craters. The diverse chemical and isotopic compositions of waters and gases derive from mantle,...
Temporal variability of carbon and nutrient burial, sediment accretion, and mass accumulation over the past century in a carbonate platform mangrove forest of the Florida Everglades.
Josh L. Breithaupt, Joseph M. Smoak, Thomas J. Smith III, Christian J. Sanders
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (119) 2032-2048
The objective of this research was to measure temporal variability in accretion and mass sedimentation rates (including organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorous (TP)) from the past century in a mangrove forest on the Shark River in Everglades National Park, USA. The 210Pb Constant Rate of Supply...
The atmosphere can be a source of certain water soluble volatile organic compounds in urban streams
Scott J. Kenner, David A. Bender, John S. Zogorski, James F. Pankow, James F. Pankow
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 1124-1137
Surface water and air volatile organic compound (VOC) data from 10 U.S. Geological Survey monitoring sites were used to evaluate the potential for direct transport of VOCs from the atmosphere to urban streams. Analytical results of 87 VOC compounds were screened by evaluating the occurrence and detection levels in both...
An online database for informing ecological network models: http://kelpforest.ucsc.edu
Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Mark Novak, Mark H. Carr, M. Tim Tinker, August Black, Jennifer E. Caselle, Michael Hoban, Dan Malone, Alison C. Iles
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Ecological network models and analyses are recognized as valuable tools for understanding the dynamics and resiliency of ecosystems, and for informing ecosystem-based approaches to management. However, few databases exist that can provide the life history, demographic and species interaction information necessary to parameterize ecological network models. Faced with the difficulty...
