The 2005 catastrophic acid crater lake drainage, lahar, and acidic aerosol formation at Mount Chiginagak volcano, Alaska, USA: Field observations and preliminary water and vegetation chemistry results
J.R. Schaefer, W. E. Scott, William C. Evans, J. Jorgenson, R. G. McGimsey, B. Wang
2008, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (9)
A mass of snow and ice 400-m-wide and 105-m-thick began melting in the summit crater of Mount Chiginagak volcano sometime between November 2004 and early May 2005, presumably owing to increased heat flux from the hydrothermal system, or possibly from magma intrusion and degassing. In early May 2005, an estimated...
Fine root dynamics and forest production across a calcium gradient in northern hardwood and conifer ecosystems
B.B. Park, R.D. Yanai, T.J. Fahey, S.W. Bailey, T.G. Siccama, J. B. Shanley, N.L. Cleavitt
2008, Ecosystems (11) 325-341
Losses of soil base cations due to acid rain have been implicated in declines of red spruce and sugar maple in the northeastern USA. We studied fine root and aboveground biomass and production in five northern hardwood and three conifer stands differing in soil Ca status at Sleepers River, VT;...
Application of MODFLOW’s farm process to California’s Central Valley
Claudia C. Faunt, Randall T. Hanson, Wolfgang Schmid, Kenneth Belitz
2008, Conference Paper, California Central Valley Groundwater Modeling Workshop, Proceedings
Historically, California’s Central Valley has been one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. The Central Valley also is rapidly becoming an important area for California’s expanding urban population. During 1980–2007, the population nearly doubled in the Central Valley, increasing the competition for water. Because of the importance...
Biological and societal dimensions of lead poisoning in birds in the USA
Milton Friend, J. Christian Franson, William L. Anderson
2008, Book chapter, Ingestion of lead from spent ammunition: Implications for wildlife and humans: May 2008 Proceedings
The ingestion of spent lead shot was known to cause mortality in wild waterfowl in the US a century before the implementation of nontoxic shot regulations began in 1972. The biological foundation for this transition was strongly supported by both field observations and structured scientific investigations. Despite the overwhelming evidence,...
Restoration ecology and invasive riparian plants: An introduction to the special section on Tamarix spp. in western North America
Patrick B. Shafroth, Mark K. Briggs
2008, Restoration Ecology (16) 94-96
River systems around the world are subject to various perturbations, including the colonization and spread of non-native species in riparian zones. Riparian resource managers are commonly engaged in efforts to control problematic non-native species and restore native habitats. In western North America, small Eurasian trees or shrubs in the genus...
The California Clapper Rail and multispecies recovery planning
Michael L. Casazza, Cory T. Overton, Melissa A. Farinha, John Y. Takekawa, Tobias M. Rohmer
2008, Endangered Species Bulletin (33) 23-25
The California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) lives in remnant tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay, where less than 20 percent of the historic tidal wetlands remain. Listed as an endangered species in 1970 by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), this enigmatic bird faces a myriad of threats, including...
Mating behavior as a possible cause of bat fatalities at wind turbines
Paul M. Cryan
2008, Journal of Wildlife Management (72) 845-849
Bats are killed by wind turbines in North America and Europe in large numbers, yet a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon remains elusive. Most bat fatalities at turbines thus far occur during late summer and autumn and involve species that roost in trees. In this commentary I draw on existing...
Bats prove to be rich reservoirs for emerging viruses
Charles H. Calisher, Kathryn V. Holmes, Samuel R. Dominguez, Tony Schountz, Paul M. Cryan
2008, Microbe (3) 521-528
Emerging pathogens, many of them viruses, continue to surprise us, providing many newly recognized diseases to study and to try to control. Many of these emergent viruses are zoonotic, transmitted from reservoirs in wild or domestic animals to humans, either by insect vectors or by exposure to the droppings or...
When desert tortoises are rare: Testing a new protocol for assessing status
Kevin Keith, Kristin H. Berry, James F. Weigand
2008, California Fish and Game (94) 75-97
We developed and tested a new protocol for sampling populations of the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, a state- and federally listed species, in areas where population densities are very low, historical data are sparse, and anthropogenic uses may threaten the well-being of tortoise populations and habitat. We conducted a 3-year...
Status of the desert tortoise in Red Rock Canyon State Park
Kristin H. Berry, Kevin Keith, Tracy Y. Bailey
2008, California Fish and Game (94) 98-118
We surveyed for desert tortoises, Gopherus agassizii, in the western part of Red Rock Canyon State Park and watershed in eastern Kern County, California, between 2002 and 2004. We used two techniques: a single demographic plot (~4 km2 ) and 37 landscape plots (1-ha each). We estimated population densities of...
On determining the significance of ephemeral continental wetlands to North American migratory shorebirds
Susan K. Skagen, Diane A. Granfors, Cynthia P. Melcher
2008, The Auk (125) 20-29
Conservation challenges enhance the need for quantitative information on dispersed bird populations in extensive landscapes, for techniques to monitor populations and assess environmental effects, and for conservation strategies at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. By estimating population sizes of shorebirds in the U.S. portion of the prairie pothole landscape in...
Complex seasonal patterns of primary producers at the land-sea interface
J. E. Cloern, A.D. Jassby
2008, Ecology Letters (11) 1294-1303
Seasonal fluctuations of plant biomass and photosynthesis are key features of the Earth system because they drive variability of atmospheric CO2, water and nutrient cycling, and food supply to consumers. There is no inventory of phytoplankton seasonal cycles in nearshore coastal ecosystems where forcings from ocean,...
Amphipod densities and indices of wetland quality across the upper-Midwest, USA
M.J. Anteau, A. D. Afton
2008, Wetlands (28) 184-196
Nutritional, behavioral, and diet data for lesser scaup (Aythya affinis [Eyton, 1838]) indicates that there has been a decrease in amphipod (Gammarus lacustris [G. O. Sars, 1863] and Hyalella azteca [Saussure, 1858]) density and wetland quality throughout the upper-Midwest, USA. Accordingly, we estimated densities of Gammarus and Hyalella in six...
Organic nitrogen chemistry during low-grade metamorphism
J.-P. Boudou, A. Schimmelmann, M. Ader, Maria Mastalerz, M. Sebilo, L. Gengembre
2008, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (72) 1199-1221
Most of the organic nitrogen (Norg) on Earth is disseminated in crustal sediments and rocks in the form of fossil nitrogen-containing organic matter. The chemical speciation of fossil Norg within the overall molecular structure of organic matter changes with time and heating during burial. Progressive thermal evolution of organic matter...
Bald eagles and sea otters in the Aleutian Archipelago: indirect effects of trophic cascades.
R.G. Anthony, J. A. Estes, M.A. Ricca, A.K. Miles, E.D. Forsman
2008, Ecology (89) 2725-2735
Because sea otters (Enhydra lutris) exert a wide array of direct and indirect effects on coastal marine ecosystems throughout their geographic range, we investigated the potential influence of sea otters on the ecology of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. We studied the diets,...
Controls on mineralisation in the Sierra Foothills gold province, central California, USA: A GIS-based reconnaissance prospectivity analysis
F.P. Bierlein, H.J. Northover, D.I. Groves, R.J. Goldfarb, E.E. Marsh
2008, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (55) 61-78
The assessment of spatial relationships between the location, abundance and size of orogenic-gold deposits in the highly endowed Sierra Foothills gold province in California, via the combination of field studies and a GIS-based analysis, illustrates the power of such an approach to the characterisation of important parameters of mineral systems,...
Ocean forecasting in terrain-following coordinates: Formulation and skill assessment of the Regional Ocean Modeling System
D.B. Haidvogel, H. Arango, W.P. Budgell, B.D. Cornuelle, E. Curchitser, Lorenzo E. Di, K. Fennel, W.R. Geyer, A.J. Hermann, L. Lanerolle, J. Levin, J.C. McWilliams, A.J. Miller, A.M. Moore, T.M. Powell, A.F. Shchepetkin, C. R. Sherwood, R. P. Signell, J.C. Warner, J. Wilkin
2008, Journal of Computational Physics (227) 3595-3624
Systematic improvements in algorithmic design of regional ocean circulation models have led to significant enhancement in simulation ability across a wide range of space/time scales and marine system types. As an example, we briefly review the Regional Ocean Modeling System, a member of a general class of three-dimensional, free-surface, terrain-following...
Hydrocarbons on Saturn's satellites Iapetus and Phoebe
D. P. Cruikshank, E. Wegryn, Ore Dalle, R. H. Brown, J.-P. Bibring, B. J. Buratti, R. N. Clark, T. B. McCord, P. D. Nicholson, Y.J. Pendleton, T.C. Owen, G. Filacchione, A. Coradini, P. Cerroni, F. Capaccioni, R. Jaumann, R.M. Nelson, K. H. Baines, Christophe Sotin, G. Bellucci, M. Combes, Y. Langevin, B. Sicardy, D. L. Matson, V. Formisano, P. Drossart, V. Mennella
2008, Icarus (193) 334-343
Material of low geometric albedo (pV ??? 0.1) is found on many objects in the outer Solar System, but its distribution in the saturnian satellite system is of special interest because of its juxtaposition with high-albedo ice. In the absence of clear, diagnostic spectral features, the composition of this low-albedo...
Simulation assessment of the direct‐push permeameter for characterizing vertical variations in hydraulic conductivity
Gaisheng Liu, Geoffrey C. Bohling, James J. Butler Jr.
2008, Water Resources Research (44)
The direct‐push permeameter (DPP) is a tool for the in situ characterization of hydraulic conductivity (K) in shallow, unconsolidated formations. This device, which consists of a short screened section with a pair of pressure transducers near the screen, is advanced into the subsurface with direct‐push technology. K...
Mineralogy and geochemistry of boehmite-rich coals: New insights from the Haerwusu Surface Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, China
S. Dai, D. Li, C. L. Chou, L. Zhao, Y. Zhang, D. Ren, Y. Ma, Y. Sun
2008, International Journal of Coal Geology (74) 185-202
Boehmite-rich coal of Pennsylvanian age was discovered earlier at the Heidaigou Surface Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, China. This paper reports new results on 29 bench samples of the no. 6 coal from a drill core from the adjacent Haerwusu Surface Mine, and provides new insights into the origin of...
Implications of black-tailed prairie dog spatial dynamics to black-footed ferrets
D.S. Jachowski, J.J. Millspaugh, E. Biggins, T.M. Livieri, Marc R. Matchett
2008, Natural Areas Journal (28) 14-25
The spatial dynamics of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies affect the utility of these environments for other wildlife, including the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). We used location data of active and inactive black-tailed prairie dog burrows to investigate colony structure, spatial distribution, and patch dynamics of two colonies...
Widespread occurrence of the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the southeastern USA
B.B. Rothermel, S.C. Walls, J.C. Mitchell, C.K. Dodd Jr., L.K. Irwin, D. E. Green, Victoria M. Vazquez, James W. Petranka, Dirk J. Stevenson
2008, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (82) 3-18
From 1999 to 2006, we sampled >1200 amphibians for the fungal pathogen Batrachochytnum dendrobatidis (Bd) at 30 sites in the southeastern USA. Using histological techniques or PCR assays, we detected chytrid infection in 10 species of aquatic-breeding amphibians in 6 states. The prevalence of chytrid infection was 17.8% for samples...
Multiple plagioclase crystal populations identified by crystal size distribution and in situ chemical data: Implications for timescales of magma chamber processes associated with the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak, CA
M.J. Salisbury, W.A. Bohrson, M.A. Clynne, F.C. Ramos, P. Hoskin
2008, Journal of Petrology (49) 1755-1780
Products of the 1915 Lassen Peak eruption reveal evidence for a magma recharge–magma mixing event that may have catalyzed the eruption and from which four compositional members were identified: light dacite, black dacite, andesitic inclusion, and dark andesite. Crystal size distribution, textural, and in situ chemical (major and trace element...
Kaguyak dome field and its Holocene caldera, Alaska Peninsula
J. Fierstein, W. Hildreth
2008, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (177) 340-366
Kaguyak Caldera lies in a remote corner of Katmai National Park, 375 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska. The 2.5-by-3-km caldera collapsed ~ 5.8 ± 0.2 ka (14C age) during emplacement of a radial apron of poorly pumiceous crystal-rich dacitic pyroclastic flows (61–67% SiO2). Proximal pumice-fall deposits are thin...
Seabed mapping and characterization of sediment variability using the usSEABED data base
J.A. Goff, C.J. Jenkins, Williams S. Jeffress
2008, Continental Shelf Research (28) 614-633
We present a methodology for statistical analysis of randomly located marine sediment point data, and apply it to the US continental shelf portions of usSEABED mean grain size records. The usSEABED database, like many modern, large environmental datasets, is heterogeneous and interdisciplinary. We statistically test the database as a source...
