Tracking change over time: River flooding
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2014, General Information Product 133-A
Landsat satellites have been capturing images of Earth from space since 1972. These images provide a long-term record of natural and human-induced changes on the global landscape. Comparing images from multiple years reveals slow and subtle changes as well as rapid and devastating ones. Landsat images are available from the...
State-and-transition prototype model of riparian vegetation downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Barbara E. Ralston, Anthony M. Starfield, Ronald S. Black, Robert A. Van Lonkhuyzen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1095
Facing an altered riparian plant community dominated by nonnative species, resource managers are increasingly interested in understanding how to manage and promote healthy riparian habitats in which native species dominate. For regulated rivers, managing flows is one tool resource managers consider to achieve these goals. Among many factors that can...
Long-term soil monitoring at U.S. Geological Survey reference watersheds
Michael R. McHale, Jason Siemion, Gregory B. Lawrence, M. Alisa Mast
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3002
Monitoring the environment by making repeated measurements through time is essential to evaluate and track the health of ecosystems (fig. 1). Long-term datasets produced by such monitoring are indispensable for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental legislation and for designing mitigation strategies to address environmental changes in an era when human...
Influence of the Kingak Shale ultimate shelf margin on frontal structures of the Brooks Range in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska
Natalie E. Stier, Christopher D. Connors, David W. Houseknecht
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5056
The Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Kingak Shale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) includes several southward-offlapping depositional sequences that culminate in an ultimate shelf margin, which preserves the depositional profile in southern NPRA. The Kingak Shale thins abruptly southward across the ultimate shelf margin and grades into condensed shale, which...
Invasive lionfish use a diversity of habitats in Florida
Pamela J. Schofield, Lad Akins, Denise R. Gregoire-Lucente, Rachel J. Pawlitz
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3032
Two species of lionfish (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) are the first marine fishes known to invade and establish self-sustaining populations along the eastern seaboard of the United States. First documented off the coast of Florida in 1985, lionfish are now found along the Atlantic coast of the United States...
Distribution, abundance, and migration timing of Greater and Lesser Sandhill Cranes wintering in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region of California
Gary L. Ivey, Bruce D. Dugger, Caroline P. Herziger, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes
2014, Book, Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region of California (hereafter, Delta region) is an important wintering region for the Central Valley Population of greater sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida) and lesser sandhill cranes (G. c. canadensis), but basic information about the ecology of these birds is lacking to design a biologically sound conservation strategy....
Susceptibility of Koi and Yellow Perch to infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus by experimental exposure
Alexander D. Palmer, Eveline J. Emmenegger
2014, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (26) 78-83
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a novirhabdoviral pathogen that originated in western North America among anadromous Pacific salmonids. Severe disease epidemics in the late 1970s resulting from IHNV's invasion into farmed Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in North America, Asia, and Europe emphasized IHNV's ability to adapt to new hosts...
Investigating the importance of sediment resuspension in Alexandrium fundyense cyst population dynamics in the Gulf of Maine
Bradford Butman, Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Patrick J. Dickhudt, P. Soupy Dalyander, Christopher R. Sherwood, Donald M. Anderson, Bruce A. Keafer, Richard P. Signell
2014, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (103) 79-95
Cysts of Alexandrium fundyense, a dinoflagellate that causes toxic algal blooms in the Gulf of Maine, spend the winter as dormant cells in the upper layer of bottom sediment or the bottom nepheloid layer and germinate in spring to initiate new blooms. Erosion measurements were made on sediment cores collected...
Stratigraphic controls on fluid and solute fluxes across the sediment-water interface of an estuary
Audrey H. Sawyer, Olesya Lazareva, Kevin D. Kroeger, Kyle Crespo, Clara S. Chan, Thomas Stieglitz, Holly A. Michael
2014, Limnology and Oceanography (59) 997-1010
Shallow stratigraphic features, such as infilled paleovalleys, modify fresh groundwater discharge to coastal waters and fluxes of saltwater and nutrients across the sediment–water interface. We quantify the spatial distribution of shallow surface water–groundwater exchange and nitrogen fluxes near a paleovalley in Indian River Bay, Delaware, using a hand resistivity probe,...
A new look at the Lake Superior biomass size spectrum
Peder M. Yurista, Daniel L. Yule, Matt Balge, Jon D. VanAlstine, Jo A. Thompson, Allison E. Gamble, Thomas R. Hrabik, John R. Kelly, Jason D. Stockwell, Mark R. Vinson
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 1324-1333
We synthesized data from multiple sampling programs and years to describe the Lake Superior pelagic biomass size structure. Data consisted of Coulter counts for phytoplankton, optical plankton counts for zooplankton, and acoustic surveys for pelagic prey fish. The size spectrum was stable across two time periods separated by 5 years....
Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the SALCC - an update
Amy J. Benson
2014, Report
The USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database (NAS; nas.er.usgs.gov) is a comprehensive tool for demonstrating where and when nonindigenous species have been sighted across the U.S. Information in the database is used for state-level invasive species management plans, to focus monitoring efforts, for public education, predictive modeling, and for avoiding unintentional...
Detection probability of least tern and piping plover chicks in a large river system
Erin A. Roche, Terry L. Shaffer, Michael J. Anteau, Mark H. Sherfy, Jennifer H. Stucker, Mark T. Wiltermuth, Colin M. Dovichin
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 709-720
Monitoring the abundance and stability of populations of conservation concern is often complicated by an inability to perfectly detect all members of the population. Mark-recapture offers a flexible framework in which one may identify factors contributing to imperfect detection, while at the same time estimating demographic parameters such as abundance...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Farah mineral district in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis
2014, Data Series 709-FF
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Ghazni2 mineral district in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis
2014, Data Series 709-EE
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Local-area-enhanced, 2.5-meter resolution natural-color and color-infrared satellite-image mosaics of the Ghazni1 mineral district in Afghanistan
Philip A. Davis
2014, Data Series 709-DD
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, prepared databases for mineral-resource target areas in Afghanistan. The purpose of the databases is to (1) provide useful data to ground-survey crews for use in performing detailed assessments of the...
Water resources of Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, Vincent E. White, John K. Lovelace
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3017
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability,...
Water resources of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, John K. Lovelace, Vincent E. White
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3016
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability,...
Nutrient budgets, marsh inundation under sea-level rise scenarios, and sediment chronologies for the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary at Acadia National Park
Thomas G. Huntington, Charles W. Culbertson, Christopher C. Fuller, Patricia Glibert, Luke Sturtevant
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1031
Eutrophication in the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary on Mount Desert Island, Maine, is an ongoing problem manifested by recurring annual blooms of green macroalgae species, principally Enteromorpha prolifera and Enteromorpha flexuosa, blooms that appear in the spring and summer. These blooms are unsightly and impair the otherwise natural beauty of...
Juvenile anadromous salmonid production in upper Columbia River side channels with different levels of hydrological connection
Kyle D. Martens, Patrick J. Connolly
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (3) 757-767
We examined the contribution of three types of side channels based on their hydrologic connectivity (seasonally disconnected, partially connected, and connected) to production of juvenile anadromous salmonids. Juvenile steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss and Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha were found in all three of these side channel types and in each year...
Lack of sex-biased dispersal promotes fine-scale genetic structure in alpine ungulates
Gretchen H. Roffler, Sandra L. Talbot, Gordon Luikart, George K. Sage, Kristy L. Pilgrim, Layne G. Adams, Michael K. Schwartz
2014, Conservation Genetics (15) 837-851
Identifying patterns of fine-scale genetic structure in natural populations can advance understanding of critical ecological processes such as dispersal and gene flow across heterogeneous landscapes. Alpine ungulates generally exhibit high levels of genetic structure due to female philopatry and patchy configuration of mountain habitats. We assessed the spatial scale of...
Occurrence of pesticides in groundwater and sediments and mineralogy of sediments and grain coatings underlying the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, 2007
Timothy J. Reilly, Kelly L. Smalling, Michael T. Meyer, Mark W. Sandstrom, Michelle Hladik, Adam R. Boehlke, Neil S. Fishman, William A. Battaglin, Kathryn Kuivila
2014, Data Series 811
Water and sediment samples were collected from June through October 2007 from seven plots at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, and analyzed for a suite of pesticides (including fungicides) and other physical and chemical parameters (including sediment mineralogy) by the U.S. Geological Survey....
Modeling nitrate at domestic and public-supply well depths in the Central Valley, California
Bernard T. Nolan, JoAnn M. Gronberg, Claudia C. Faunt, Sandra M. Eberts, Ken Belitz
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 5643-5651
Aquifer vulnerability models were developed to map groundwater nitrate concentration at domestic and public-supply well depths in the Central Valley, California. We compared three modeling methods for ability to predict nitrate concentration >4 mg/L: logistic regression (LR), random forest classification (RFC), and random forest regression (RFR). All three models indicated...
Metabolism of a nitrogen-enriched coastal marine lagoon during the summertime
Robert W. Howarth, Melanie Hayn, Roxanne M. Marino, Neil Ganju, Kenneth H. Foreman, Karen McGlathery, Anne E. Giblin, Peter Berg, Jeffrey D. Walker
2014, Biogeochemistry (118) 1-20
We measured metabolism rates in a shallow, nitrogen-enriched coastal marine ecosystem on Cape Cod (MA, USA) during seven summers using an open-water diel oxygen method. We compared two basins, one directly receiving most of the nitrogen (N) load (“Snug Harbor”) and another further removed from the N load and better...
Water level response in back-barrier bays unchanged following Hurricane Sandy
Alfredo L. Aretxabaleta, Bradford Butman, Neil K. Ganju
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 3163-3171
On 28–30 October 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding along portions of the northeast coast of the United States and cut new inlets across barrier islands in New Jersey and New York. About 30% of the 20 highest daily maximum water levels observed between 2007 and 2013 in Barnegat and...
Mechanisms of drift-feeding behavior in juvenile Chinook salmon and the role of inedible debris in a clear water Alaskan stream
Jason R. Neuswanger, Mark S. Wipfli, Amanda E. Rosenberger, Nicholas F. Hughes
2014, Environmental Biology of Fishes (97) 489-503
Drift-feeding fish are challenged to discriminate between prey and similar-sized particles of debris, which are ubiquitous even in clear-water streams. Spending time and energy pursuing debris mistaken as prey could affect fish growth and the fitness potential of different foraging strategies. Our goal was to determine the extent to which...
