Associations between forest fragmentation patterns and geneticstructure in Pfrimer’s Parakeet (Pyrrhura pfrimeri), an endangered endemic to central Brazil’s dry forests
Susan M. Haig, Leonard F. Miller, Carlos Bianchi, Thomas D. Mullins
2012, Conservation Genetics (13)
When habitat becomes fragmented, populations of species may become increasingly isolated. In the absence of habitat corridors, genetic structure may develop and populations risk reductions in genetic diversity from increased genetic drift and inbreeding. Deforestation of the Cerrado biome of Brazil, particularly of the dry forests within the Parana˜ River...
Summary
Jonathan Bart, Paul A. Smith
Jonathan Bart, Victoria Johnston, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Arctic shorebirds in North America: a decade of monitoring
This chapter summarizes results in previous chapters by providing estimated densities and population sizes, in the areas we have surveyed, for Alaska, Canada, and both regions combined. A total of 1,554 rapid plots, covering 232 km2, and 83 intensive plots were surveyed during the study. The monograph presents >600 density...
Net trophic transfer efficiencies of polychlorinated biphenyl congeners to lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) from its prey
Charles P. Madenjian, Solomon R. David, Richard R. Rediske, James P. O’Keefe
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 2821-2827
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were fed bloater (Coregonus hoyi) in eight laboratory tanks over a 135-d experiment. At the start of the experiment, four to nine fish in each tank were sacrificed, and the concentrations of 75 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners within these fish were determined. Polychlorinated biphenyl congener concentrations...
Small-scale and reconnaissance surveys
Jonathan Bart, Brad A. Andres, Kyle Elliott, Charles M. Francis, Victoria Johnston, R. I. G. Morrison, Elin P. Pierce, Jennie Rausch
Jonathan Bart, Victoria Johnston, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Arctic shorebirds in North America: a decade of monitoring
This brief chapter addresses two related issues: how effort should be allocated to different parts of the sampling plan and, given optimal allocation, how large a sample will be required to achieve the PRISM accuracy target. Simulations based on data collected to date showed that 2 plots per cluster on...
Significance of a 3D Elevation Program to wetland mapping
Gregory I. Snyder, Megan Lang
2012, National Wetlands Newsletter (34) 11-15
The recent National Enhanced Assessment conducted by the U.S. Geology Survey identified billions of dollars in potential annual benefits if a national-scale enhanced elevation data program was implemented. Given the importance of topography to wetlands, wetland mapping could benefit significantly from improved elevation data. ...
A robust method to forecast volcanic ash clouds
Roger P. Denlinger, Michael J. Pavolonis, Justin Sieglaff
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres (117) 1-10
Ash clouds emanating from volcanic eruption columns often form trails of ash extending thousands of kilometers through the Earth's atmosphere, disrupting air traffic and posing a significant hazard to air travel. To mitigate such hazards, the community charged with reducing flight risk must accurately assess risk of ash ingestion for...
Near‐surface void detection using a seismic landstreamer and horizontal velocity and attenuation tomography
Sean F. Buckley, John W. Lane Jr.
2012, Conference Paper, Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2012
The detection and characterization of subsurface voids plays an important role in the study of karst formations and clandestine tunnels. Horizontal velocity and attenuation tomography (HVAT) using offset‐fan shooting and a towed seismic land streamer is a simple, rapid, minimally invasive method that shows promise for detecting near‐surface voids and...
Review and update of the applications of organic petrology: Part 2, geological and multidisciplinary applications
Isabel Suarez-Ruiz, Deolinda Flores, João Graciano Mendonça Filho, Paul C. Hackley
2012, International Journal of Coal Geology (98) 73-94
The present paper is focused on organic petrology applied to unconventional and multidisciplinary investigations and is the second part of a two part review that describes the geological applications and uses of this branch of earth sciences. Therefore, this paper reviews the use of organic petrology in investigations of: (i)...
Communicating science: from cuneiform to the contemporary and beyond
Cecil A. Jennings
Cecil A. Jennings, Thomas E. Lauer, Bruce C. Vondracek, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Scientific Communication for Natural Resource Professionals
No abstract available....
Illumination of rheological mantle heterogeneity by the M7.2 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake
Fred F. Pollitz, Roland Bürgmann, Wayne R. Thatcher
2012, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (13)
Major intracontinental strike-slip faults tend to mark boundaries between lithospheric blocks of contrasting mechanical properties along much of their length. Both crustal and mantle heterogeneities can form such boundaries, but the role of crustal versus mantle strength contrasts for localizing strain sufficiently to generate major faults remains unclear. Using the...
Laboratory investigations of the effects of nitrification-induced acidification on Cr cycling in vadose zone material partially derived from ultramafic rocks
Christopher T. Mills, Martin B. Goldhaber
2012, Science of the Total Environment (435-436) 363-373
Sacramento Valley (California, USA) soils and sediments have high concentrations of Cr(III) because they are partially derived from ultramafic material. Some Cr(III) is oxidized to more toxic and mobile Cr(VI) by soil Mn oxides. Valley soils typically have neutral to alkaline pH at which Cr(III) is highly immobile. Much of...
Estimating White-tailed Deer abundance at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site
David P. Stainbrook, Duane R. Diefenbach
2012, Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2012/626
The mission at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site (GNMP-ENHS) is to preserve the historic character of the parks to enable current and future generations to understand and interpret the events that took place at each park. Management objectives include maintaining the landscape as it existed during...
Overwintering tadpoles and loss of fitness correlates in Polypedates braueri tadpoles that use artificial pools in a lowland agroecosystem
Juei-Ling Hsu, Yeong-Choy Kam, Gary M. Fellers
2012, Herpetologica (68) 184-194
We studied growth, development, and metamorphic traits of Polypedates braueri tadpoles in Taiwan to elucidate the cause of tadpole overwintering in man-made water containers in lowland orchards on the Bagua Terrace. Polypedates braueri bred from March to August, but tadpoles were present year round. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that tadpole overwintering...
Burn severity mapping in Australia 2009
Randy McKinley, J. Clark, Jennifer Lecker
2012, Conference Paper, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B8
In 2009, the Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment estimated approximately 430,000 hectares of Victoria Australia were burned by numerous bushfires. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams from the United States were deployed to Victoria to assist local fire managers. The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Center...
Verifiable metamodels for nitrate losses to drains and groundwater in the Corn Belt, USA
Bernard T. Nolan, Robert W. Malone, Jo Ann M. Gronberg, K.R. Thorp, Liwang Ma
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 901-908
Nitrate leaching in the unsaturated zone poses a risk to groundwater, whereas nitrate in tile drainage is conveyed directly to streams. We developed metamodels (MMs) consisting of artificial neural networks to simplify and upscale mechanistic fate and transport models for prediction of nitrate losses by drains and leaching in the...
Keanakākoʻi Tephra produced by 300 years of explosive eruptions following collapse of Kīlauea's caldera in about 1500 CE
Donald A. Swanson, Timothy R. Rose, Richard S. Fiske, John P. McGeehin
2012, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (215-216) 8-25
The Keanakākoʻi Tephra at Kīlauea Volcano has previously been interpreted by some as the product of a caldera-forming eruption in 1790 CE. Our study, however, finds stratigraphic and 14C evidence that the tephra instead results from numerous eruptions throughout a 300-year period between about 1500 and 1800. The stratigraphic evidence includes:...
Thinning of young Douglas-fir forests decreases density of northern flying squirrels in the Oregon Cascades
Tom Manning, Joan C. Hagar, Brenda C. McComb
2012, Forest Ecology and Management (264) 115-124
Large-scale commercial thinning of young forests in the Pacific Northwest is currently promoted on public lands to accelerate the development of late-seral forest structure for the benefit of wildlife species such as northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) and their prey, including the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus). Attempts to...
Landscape controls on the timing of spring, autumn, and growing season length in mid-Atlantic forests
A.J. Elmore, S.M. Guinn, B. J. Minsley, A.D. Richardson
2012, Global Change Biology (18) 656-674
The timing of spring leaf development, trajectories of summer leaf area, and the timing of autumn senescence have profound impacts to the water, carbon, and energy balance of ecosystems, and are likely influenced by global climate change. Limited field-based and remote-sensing observations have suggested complex spatial patterns related to geographic...
Climatic forcing of Quaternary deep-sea benthic communities in the North Pacific Ocean
Moriaki Yasuhara, G. Hunt, T. M. Cronin, N. Hokanishi, H. Kawahata, Akira Tsujimoto, M. Ishitake
2012, Paleobiology (38) 162-179
There is growing evidence that changes in deep-sea benthic ecosystems are modulated by climate changes, but most evidence to date comes from the North Atlantic Ocean. Here we analyze new ostracod and published foraminiferal records for the last 250,000 years on Shatsky Rise in the North Pacific Ocean. Using linear...
Exploring mechanisms underlying sex-specific differences in mortality of Lake Michigan bloaters
D.B. Bunnell, C.P. Madenjian, M.W. Rogers, J.D. Holuszko, L.J. Begnoche
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 204-214
Sex-specific differences in mortality rates have been observed among freshwater and marine fish taxa, and underlying mechanisms can include sex-specific differences in (1) age at maturity, (2) growth rate, or (3) activity or behavior during the spawning period. We used a long-term (1973–2009) Lake Michigan data set to evaluate whether...
Ocean-atmosphere dynamics during Hurricane Ida and Nor'Ida: An application of the coupled ocean-atmosphere-wave-sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Brandy N. Armstrong, Joseph B. Zambon, Ruoying He
2012, Ocean Modelling (43-44) 112-137
The coupled ocean–atmosphere–wave–sediment transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to investigate atmosphere–ocean–wave interactions in November 2009 during Hurricane Ida and its subsequent evolution to Nor’Ida, which was one of the most costly storm systems of the past two decades. One interesting aspect of this...
A spatial cluster analysis of tractor overturns in Kentucky from 1960 to 2002
D.M. Saman, H.P. Cole, A. Odoi, M.L. Myers, D.I. Carey, S.C. Westneat
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Background:Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain...
A plant distribution shift: temperature, drought or past disturbance?
Dylan W. Schwilk, Jon E. Keeley
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Simple models of plant response to warming climates predict vegetation moving to cooler and/or wetter locations: in mountainous regions shifting upslope. However, species-specific responses to climate change are likely to be much more complex. We re-examined a recently reported vegetation shift in the Santa Rosa Mountains, California, to better understand...
Oxygen and sulfur isotope systematics of sulfate produced during abiotic and bacterial oxidation of sphalerite and elemental sulfur
N. Balci, B. Mayer, W. C. Pat Shanks III, K.W. Mandernack
2012, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (77) 335-351
Studies of metal sulfide oxidation in acid mine drainage (AMD) systems have primarily focused on pyrite oxidation, although acid soluble sulfides (e.g., ZnS) are predominantly responsible for the release of toxic metals. We conducted a series of biological and abiotic laboratory oxidation experiments with pure and Fe-bearing sphalerite (ZnS &...
The unexpected discovery of blind snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) in Micronesia: Two new species of Ramphotyphlops from the Caroline Islands
A.H. Wynn, R.P. Reynolds, D.W. Buden, M. Falanruw, B. Lynch
2012, Zootaxa 39-54
Two new blind snakes in the genus Ramphotyphlops are described from Ulithi (R. hatmaliyeb sp. nov.) and Ant Atoll (R. adocetus sp. nov.) in the Caroline Islands, the first blind snake species known from Micronesia east of Palau (excluding Ramphotyphlops braminus). Both species are unusual in being known only from...
