Trends in snowpack chemistry and comparison to National Atmospheric Deposition Program results for the Rocky Mountains, US, 1993-2004
G.P. Ingersoll, M.A. Mast, K. Campbell, D. W. Clow, L. Nanus, J.T. Turk
2008, Atmospheric Environment (42) 6098-6113
Seasonal snowpack chemistry data from the Rocky Mountain region of the US was examined to identify long-term trends in concentration and chemical deposition in snow and in snow-water equivalent. For the period 1993-2004, comparisons of trends were made between 54 Rocky Mountain Snowpack sites and 16 National Atmospheric Deposition Program...
Importance of unsaturated zone flow for simulating recharge in a humid climate
R. J. Hunt, David E. Prudic, J.F. Walker, Marilyn P. Anderson
2008, Ground Water (46) 551-560
Transient recharge to the water table is often not well understood or quantified. Two approaches for simulating transient recharge in a ground water flow model were investigated using the Trout Lake watershed in north-central Wisconsin: (1) a traditional approach of adding recharge directly to the water table and (2) routing...
What was the groundwater quality before mining in a mineralized region? Lessons from the Questa Project
D. Kirk Nordstrom
2008, Geosciences Journal (12) 139-149
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department and supported by Molycorp, Inc (currently Chevron Minerals), has completed a 5-year investigation (2001-2006) to determine the pre-mining ground-water quality at Molycorp's Questa molybdenum mine in northern New Mexico. Current mine-site ground waters are often contaminated with mine-waste...
Contrasting population trends of piscivorous seabirds in the Pribilof Islands: A 30-year perspective
G.V. Byrd, Joel A. Schmutz, H.M. Renner
2008, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (55) 1846-1855
The Pribilof Islands provide nesting habitat for one of the largest concentrations of piscivorous seabirds in the North Pacific region. Pribilof breeding populations of black-legged and red-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla and Rissa brevirostris), and common and thick-billed murres (Uria aalge and Uria lomvia) are supported by a highly productive marine...
Methanogenic pathways of coal-bed gas in the Powder River Basin, United States: The geologic factor
R. M. Flores, C. A. Rice, G. D. Stricker, A. Warden, M.S. Ellis
2008, International Journal of Coal Geology (76) 52-75
Coal-bed gas of the Tertiary Fort Union and Wasatch Formations in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, U.S. was interpreted as microbial in origin by previous studies based on limited data on the gas and water composition and isotopes associated with the coal beds. To fully evaluate the...
Modeling distribution of dispersal distances in male white-tailed deer
Duane R. Diefenbach, E.S. Long, C.S. Rosenberry, B.D. Wallingford, D. R. Smith
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 1296-1303
Dispersal distances and their distribution pattern are important to understanding such phenomena as disease spread and gene flow, but oftentimes dispersal characteristics are modeled as a fixed trait for a given species. We found that dispersal distributions differ for spring and autumn dispersals of yearling male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)...
Range-wide phylogeographic analysis of the spotted frog complex (Rana luteiventris and Rana pretiosa) in northwestern North America
W.C. Funk, C.A. Pearl, H.M. Draheim, M.J. Adams, T.D. Mullins, S. M. Haig
2008, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (49) 198-210
The dynamic geological and climatic history of northwestern North America has made it a focal region for phylogeography. We conducted a range-wide phylogeographic analysis of the spotted frog complex (Rana luteiventris and Rana pretiosa) across its range in northwestern North America to understand its evolutionary history and the distribution of...
Linking runoff response to burn severity after a wildfire
J. A. Moody, D.A. Martin, S.L. Haire, D.A. Kinner
2008, Hydrological Processes (22) 2063-2074
Extreme floods often follow wildfire in mountainous watersheds. However, a quantitative relation between the runoff response and burn severity at the watershed scale has not been established. Runoff response was measured as the runoff coefficient C, which is equal to the peak discharge per unit drainage area divided by the...
Seasonal and diel movements of white sturgeon in the lower columbia river
M.J. Parsley, N.D. Popoff, B. K. Van Der Leeuw, C.D. Wright
2008, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (137) 1007-1017
Continuous monitoring of the movements and depths used by white sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus with acoustic telemetry technologies in the lower Columbia River provided information on diel and seasonal migrations, local movements, and site fidelity. White sturgeon moved to shallower water at night and showed greater activity, inferred from rates of...
Changes in the soil C cycle at the arid-hyperarid transition in the Atacama Desert
S.A. Ewing, J. L. Macalady, K. Warren-Rhodes, C.P. McKay, Ronald Amundson
2008, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (113)
We examined soil organic C (OC) turnover and transport across the rainfall transition from a biotic, arid site to a largely abiotic, hyperarid site. With this transition, OC concentrations decrease, and C cycling slows precipitously, both in surface horizons and below ground. The concentration and isotopic character of soil OC...
Dispersal of Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) in a Hawaiian rain forest
D.A. Lapointe
2008, Journal of Medical Entomology (45) 600-609
Introduced mosquito-borne pathogens avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum Grassi and Feletti) and avian pox virus (Avipoxvirus) have been implicated in the past extinctions and declines of Hawaiian avifauna and remain significant obstacles to the recovery and restoration of endemic Hawaiian birds. Effective management of avian disease will require extensive mosquito control...
Fish assemblages of the Casiquiare River, a corridor and zoogeographical filter for dispersal between the Orinoco and Amazon basins
K.O. Winemiller, H. Lopez-Fernandez, D.C. Taphorn, L.G. Nico, A.B. Duque
2008, Journal of Biogeography (35) 1551-1563
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether the Casiquiare River functions as a free dispersal corridor or as a partial barrier (i.e. filter) for the interchange of fish species of the Orinoco and Negro/Amazon basins using species assemblage patterns according to geographical location and environmental features. Location:...
Effect of imbalanced nutrients and immigration on Prymnesium parvum community dominance and toxicity: Results from in-lake microcosm experiments
R.M. Errera, D. L. Roelke, R.L. Kiesling, B.W. Brooks, J. P. Grover, L. Schwierzke, F. Urena-Boeck, J.W. Baker, J.L. Pinckney
2008, Aquatic Microbial Ecology (52) 33-44
Prymnesium parvum, a haptophyte species, forms harmful blooms, including those that have caused severe fish kills in Texas, USA, over the past 6 yr. We studied P. parvum dynamics using in situ microcosm experiments at Lake Possum Kingdom, Texas, during 3 seasons (fall 2004, winter and spring 2005). Experimental treatments...
On the in situ aqueous alteration of soils on Mars
Ronald Amundson, S. Ewing, W. Dietrich, B. Sutter, J. Owen, O. Chadwick, K. Nishiizumi, Michelle Ann Walvoord, C. McKay
2008, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (72) 3845-3864
Early (>3 Gy) wetter climate conditions on Mars have been proposed, and it is thus likely that pedogenic processes have occurred there at some point in the past. Soil and rock chemistry of the Martian landing sites were evaluated to test the hypothesis that in situ aqueous alteration and downward...
Using chemical and microbiological indicators to track the impacts from the land application of treated municipal wastewater and other sources on groundwater quality in a karstic springs basin
B. G. Katz, Dale W. Griffin
2008, Environmental Geology (55) 801-821
Multiple chemical constituents (nutrients; N, O, H, C stable isotopes; 64 organic wastewater compounds, 16 pharmaceutical compounds) and microbiological indicators were used to assess the impact on groundwater quality from the land application of approximately 9.5 million liters per day of treated municipal sewage effluent to a sprayfield in the...
Modeling the effects of wave skewness and beach cusps on littoral sand transport
K.A. Haas, L.A. Check, D.M. Hanes
2008, Journal of Coastal Research (24) 141-149
A process-based numerical modeling system is utilized for predicting littoral sand transport. The intent is to examine conditions slightly more complex than linear waves impinging upon a plane beach. Two factors that we examine are wave skewness and longshore varying bathymetry. An empirical model is used for calculating the skewed...
Effectiveness of piscicides for controlling round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus)
Theresa M. Schreier, V. K. Dawson, W. Larson
2008, Journal of Great Lakes Research (34) 253-264
Round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) were introduced to the Great Lakes presumably as a result of ballast water releases from seagoing freighters returning from European water bodies. These unwelcome fish have become established in the Great Lakes region and are expanding their range to suitable portions of other interior drainage basins...
Photoreduction fuels biogeochemical cycling of iron in Spain's acid rivers
C.H. Gammons, D. A. Nimick, S.R. Parker, D.M. Snyder, R. Blaine McCleskey, R. Amils, S.R. Poulson
2008, Chemical Geology (252) 202-213
A number of investigations have shown that photoreduction of Fe(III) causes midday accumulations of dissolved Fe(II) in rivers and lakes, leading to large diel (24-h) fluctuations in the concentration and speciation of total dissolved iron. Less well appreciated is the importance of photoreduction in...
Ordovician sponges from west-central and east-central Alaska and western Yukon Territory, Canada
J.K. Rigby, R. B. Blodgett, B.B. Britt
2008, Bulletin of Geosciences (83) 153-168
Moderate collections of fossil sponges have been recovered over a several-year period from a few scattered localities in west-central and east-central Alaska, and from westernmost Yukon Territory of Canada. Two fragments of the demosponge agelasiid cliefdenellid, Cliefdenella alaskaensis Stock, 1981, and mostly small unidentifiable additional fragments were recovered from a...
Humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005 quantified by using multitemporal and multiresolution remotely sensed data
Matthew C. Hansen, S.V. Stehman, Peter V. Potapov, Thomas R. Loveland, J.R.G. Townshend, R.S. DeFries, K.W. Pittman, B. Arunarwati, F. Stolle, M.K. Steininger, M. Carroll, C. DiMiceli
2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (105) 9439-9444
Forest cover is an important input variable for assessing changes to carbon stocks, climate and hydrological systems, biodiversity richness, and other sustainability science disciplines. Despite incremental improvements in our ability to quantify rates of forest clearing, there is still no definitive understanding on global trends. Without timely and accurate forest...
Egg size variation among tropical and temperate songbirds: An embryonic temperature hypothesis
T. E. Martin
2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (105) 9268-9271
Species with 'slow' life history strategies (long life, low fecundity) are thought to produce high-quality offspring by investing in larger, but fewer, young. Larger eggs are indeed associated with fewer eggs across taxa and can yield higher-quality offspring. Tropical passerines appear to follow theory because they commonly exhibit slow life...
Development of new microsatellite loci and multiplex reactions for muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)
Brian L. Sloss, R.P. Franckowiak, E.L. Murphy
2008, Molecular Ecology Resources (8) 811-813
The muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) is a valued fisheries species throughout its native range. Numerous studies have documented performance and phenotypic differences among muskellunge populations, but genetic markers for assessment have been lacking. We characterized 14 microsatellite loci and developed five multiplex polymerase chain reactions. Successful amplification of northern pike (Esox...
Classification tree models for predicting distributions of michigan stream fish from landscape variables
P.J. Steen, T.G. Zorn, P.W. Seelbach, J.S. Schaeffer
2008, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (137) 976-996
Traditionally, fish habitat requirements have been described from local-scale environmental variables. However, recent studies have shown that studying landscape-scale processes improves our understanding of what drives species assemblages and distribution patterns across the landscape. Our goal was to learn more about constraints on the distribution of Michigan stream fish by...
Movements of wintering Dunlin Calidris alpina and changing habitat availability in an agricultural wetland landscape
O.W. Taft, P.M. Sanzenbacher, S. M. Haig
2008, Ibis (150) 541-549
Few studies have assessed how the dynamics of wetland bird movements relate to changing resource availability, particularly at more than one spatial scale. Within western Oregon's Williamette Valley, we examined winter resident Dunlin Calidris alpina movements in relation to a decrease in availability of preferred shorebird foraging habitat from early...
Deer hunting on Pennsylvania's public and private lands: A two-tiered system of hunters?
R.C. Stedman, P. Bhandari, A.E. Luloff, Duane R. Diefenbach, J.C. Finley
2008, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (13) 222-233
Recreational hunting is crucial for controlling white-tailed deer populations. Public land is increasingly important as access to private lands declines. However, differences between public and private land hunters remain unknown. Our study of Pennsylvania hunters revealed differences between private and public land hunters that may pose problems for management. Hunters...
