Decision-support systems for natural-hazards and land-management issues
Laura Dinitz, William Forney, Kristin Byrd
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3001
Scientists at the USGS Western Geographic Science Center are developing decision-support systems (DSSs) for natural-hazards and land-management issues. DSSs are interactive computer-based tools that use data and models to help identify and solve problems. These systems can provide crucial support to policymakers, planners, and communities for making better decisions about...
Reoccupation of floodplains by rivers and its relation to the age structure of floodplain vegetation
Christopher P. Konrad
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research
River channel dynamics over many decades provide a physical control on the age structure of floodplain vegetation as a river occupies and abandons locations. Floodplain reoccupation by a river, in particular, determines the interval of time during which vegetation can establish and mature. A general framework for analyzing floodplain reoccupation...
Bathymetric controls on sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary: Lateral asymmetry and frontal trapping
David K. Ralston, W. Rockwell Geyer, John C. Warner
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research (117)
Analyses of field observations and numerical model results have identified that sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary is laterally segregated between channel and shoals, features frontal trapping at multiple locations along the estuary, and varies significantly over the spring-neap tidal cycle. Lateral gradients in depth, and therefore baroclinic pressure...
Archive of single-beam bathymetry data collected during USGS cruise 07CCT01 nearshore of Fort Massachusetts and within Camille Cut, West and East Ship Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi, July 2007
Nancy T. DeWitt, James G. Flocks, B.J. Reynolds, Mark Hansen
2012, Data Series 722
The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) is composed of a series of barrier islands along the Mississippi - Alabama coastline. Historically these islands have undergone long-term shoreline change. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 prompted questions about the stability of the barrier islands and their potential response to future...
Geophysical studies in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley near Winnemucca, north-central Nevada
David A. Ponce
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1207
From May 2008 to September 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data from more than 660 gravity stations, 100 line-km of truck-towed magnetometer traverses, and 260 physical-property sites in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley, northern Nevada (fig. 1). Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data were collected to...
A risk-based approach to evaluating wildlife demographics for management in a changing climate: A case study of the Lewis's Woodpecker
Erin Towler, Victoria A. Saab, Richard S. Sojda, Katherine Dickinson, Cindy L. Bruyere, Karen R. Newlon
2012, Environmental Management (50) 1152-1163
Given the projected threat that climate change poses to biodiversity, the need for proactive response efforts is clear. However, integrating uncertain climate change information into conservation planning is challenging, and more explicit guidance is needed. To this end, this article provides a specific example of how a risk-based approach can...
South Fork Shenandoah River habitat-flow modeling to determine ecological and recreational characteristics during low-flow periods
Jennifer L. Krstolic, R. Clay Ramey
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5081
The ecological habitat requirements of aquatic organisms and recreational streamflow requirements of the South Fork Shenandoah River were investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Central Shenandoah Valley Planning District Commission, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Physical habitat simulation modeling was conducted...
Geomyces destructans -- White-nose syndrome in hibernating bats
Carol U. Meteyer, Gudrun Wibbelt
Dolores Gavier-Widen, J. Paul Duff, Anna Meredith, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Infectious diseases of wild mammals and birds in Europe
No abstract available....
Coupling at Mauna Loa and Kīlauea by stress transfer in an asthenospheric melt layer
Helge M. Gonnermann, James H. Foster, Michael Poland, Cecily J. Wolfe, Benjamin A. Brooks, Asta Miklius
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 826-829
The eruptive activity at the neighbouring Hawaiian volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, is thought to be linked despite both having separate lithospheric magmatic plumbing systems. Over the past century, activity at the two volcanoes has been anti-correlated, which could reflect a competition for the same magma supply. Yet, during the...
Summer temperature metrics for predicting brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution in streams
Donna L. Parrish, Ryan S. Butryn, Donna M. Rizzo
2012, Hydrobiologia (703) 47-57
We developed a methodology to predict brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution using summer temperature metrics as predictor variables. Our analysis used long-term fish and hourly water temperature data from the Dog River, Vermont (USA). Commonly used metrics (e.g., mean, maximum, maximum 7-day maximum) tend to smooth the data...
The 11 April 2012 east Indian Ocean earthquake triggered large aftershocks worldwide
Fred F. Pollitz, Ross S. Stein, Volkan Sevilgen, Roland Burgmann
2012, Nature (490) 250-253
Large earthquakes trigger very small earthquakes globally during passage of the seismic waves and during the following several hours to days1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, but so far remote aftershocks of moment magnitude M≥5.5 have not been identified11, with the lone exception of an M=6.9...
Sandstone copper assessment of the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan: Chapter E in Global mineral resource assessment
Stephen E. Box, Boris Syusyura, Timothy S. Hayes, Cliff D. Taylor, Michael L. Zientek, Murray W. Hitzman, Reimar Seltmann, Vladimir Chechetkin, Alla Dolgopolova, Pamela M. Cossette, John C. Wallis
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-E
Mineral resource assessments represent a synthesis of available information to estimate the location, quality, and quantity of undiscovered mineral resources in the upper part of the Earth’s crust. This report presents a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered sandstone copper deposits within the late Paleozoic Chu-Sarysu Basin in central Kazakhstan...
Preliminary assessment of channel stability and bed-material transport in the Tillamook Bay tributaries and Nehalem River basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Mackenzie K. Keith, Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1187
This report summarizes a preliminary study of bed-material transport, vertical and lateral channel changes, and existing datasets for the Tillamook (drainage area 156 square kilometers [km2]), Trask (451 km2), Wilson (500 km2), Kilchis (169 km2), Miami (94 km2), and Nehalem (2,207 km2) Rivers along the northwestern Oregon coast. This study,...
Mercury in waters, soils, and sediments of the New Jersey Coastal Plain: A comparison of regional distribution and mobility with the mercury contamination at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Julia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. Reilly
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5115
Mercury in soils, surface water, and groundwater at the William J. Hughes Technical Center , Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been found at levels that exceed established background concentrations in Coastal Plain waters, and, in some cases, New Jersey State standards for mercury in various media. As of 2012, it...
Ecology for conserving our sirenians
Robert K. Bonde
2012, Ecology (93) 2127-2128
Review of: Ecology and conservation of the sirenia: dugongs and manatees. Helene Marsh, Thomas J. O'Shea and John E. Reynolds III. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, 521 pp, ISBN 978-0-521-88828-8, US$135 and 978-0-521-71643-7, US$65....
An economic approach to assessing import policies designed to prevent the arrival of invasive species: the case of Puccinia psidii in Hawai'i
Kimberly Burnett, Sean D’Evelyn, Lloyd Loope, Christopher A. Wada
2012, Environmental Science and Policy (19-20) 158-168
Since its first documented introduction to Hawai‘i in 2005, the rust fungus Puccinia psidii has already severely damaged Syzygium jambos (Indian rose apple) trees and the federally endangered Eugenia koolauensis (nioi). Fortunately, the particular strain has yet to cause serious damage to Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a), which comprises roughly 80% of...
The genome of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 harbors atypical genes
Mathias Ackermann, Maxim Koriabine, Fabienne Hartmann-Fritsch, Pieter J. de Jong, Teresa D. Lewis, Nelli Schetle, Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, George H. Balazs, Jo-Ann C. Leong
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The Chelonid fibropapilloma-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV; ChHV5) is believed to be the causative agent of fibropapillomatosis (FP), a neoplastic disease of marine turtles. While clinical signs and pathology of FP are well known, research on ChHV5 has been impeded because no cell culture system for its propagation exists. We have cloned...
Rapid invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) in the Florida Keys, USA: evidence from multiple pre-and post-invasion data sets
Benjamin I. Ruttenberg, Pamela J. Schofield, J. Lad Akins, Alejandro Acosta, Michael W. Feeley, Jeremiah Blondeau, Steven G. Smith, Jerald S. Ault
2012, Bulletin of Marine Science (88) 1051-1059
Over the past decade, Indo-Pacific lionfishes, Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), venomous members of the scorpionfish family (Scorpaenidae), have invaded and spread throughout much of the tropical and subtropical northwestern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. These species are generalist predators of fishes and invertebrates with the...
Plant allocation of carbon to defense as a function of herbivory, light and nutrient availability
Donald L. DeAngelis, Shu Ju, Rongsong Liu, John P. Bryant, Stephen A. Gourley
2012, Theoretical Ecology (5) 445-456
We use modeling to determine the optimal relative plant carbon allocations between foliage, fine roots, anti-herbivore defense, and reproduction to maximize reproductive output. The model treats these plant components and the herbivore compartment as variables. Herbivory is assumed to be purely folivory. Key external factors include nutrient availability, degree of...
Discordant introgression in a rapidly expanding hybrid swarm
Jessica L. Ward, Mike J. Blum, David M. Walters, Brady A. Porter, Noel Burkhead, Byron Freeman
2012, Evolutionary Applications (5) 380-392
The erosion of species boundaries can involve rapid evolutionary change. Consequently, many aspects of the process remain poorly understood, including the formation, expansion, and evolution of hybrid swarms. Biological invasions involving hybridization present exceptional opportunities to study the erosion of species boundaries because timelines of interactions and outcomes are frequently...
Revealing the appetite of the marine aquarium fish trade: the volume and biodiversity of fish imported into the United States
Andrew L. Rhyne, Michael F. Tlusty, Pamela J. Schofield, Les Kaufman, James A. Morris Jr., Andrew W. Bruckner
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The aquarium trade and other wildlife consumers are at a crossroads forced by threats from global climate change and other anthropogenic stressors that have weakened coastal ecosystems. While the wildlife trade may put additional stress on coral reefs, it brings income into impoverished parts of the world and may stimulate...
Analysis of the trap gene provides evidence for the role of elevation and vector abundance in the genetic diversity of Plasmodium relictum in Hawaii
Margaret E.M. Farias, Carter T. Atkinson, Dennis A. LaPointe, Susan I. Jarvi
2012, Malaria Journal (11)
Background: The avian disease system in Hawaii offers an ideal opportunity to investigate host-pathogen interactions in a natural setting. Previous studies have recognized only a single mitochondrial lineage of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) in the Hawaiian Islands, but cloning and sequencing of nuclear genes suggest a higher degree of genetic...
Short seed longevity, variable germination conditions, and infrequent establishment events provide a narrow window for Yucca brevifolia (Agavaceae) recruitment
M. Bryant, J. Reynolds, Lesley A. DeFalco, Todd C. Esque
2012, American Journal of Botany (99) 1647-1654
PREMISE OF THE STUDY: The future of long-lived stand-forming desert plants such as Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree) has come into question in light of climate variation and landscape-scale disturbances such as wildfire. Understanding plant establishment dynamics is important for mitigating the impacts of disturbances and promoting revegetation. • METHODS: We...
Health assessment and seroepidemiologic survey of potential pathogens in wild Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus)
Kathryn Sulzner, Christine Kreuder Johnson, Robert K. Bonde, Nicole Auil Gomez, James Powell, Klaus Nielsen, M. Page Luttrell, A.D.M.E. Osterhaus, A. Alonso Aguirre
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus), a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, inhabits fresh, brackish, and warm coastal waters distributed along the eastern border of Central America, the northern coast of South America, and throughout the Wider Caribbean Region. Threatened primarily by human encroachment, poaching, and habitat degradation, Antillean...
Bird populations on the Island of Tinian: persistence despite wholesale loss of native forests
Richard J. Camp, Frederick A. Amidon, Ann P. Marshall, Thane K. Pratt
2012, Pacific Science (66) 283-298
Bird habitat on the island of Tinian, Mariana Islands, has been substantially altered, and only around 5% of the island has native forest today. The modern bird fauna is likely to be a subset of the original avifauna where only species tolerant to native forest loss and human disturbance have...
