Wing abnormality in wild-hatched Whooping Crane (Grus americana) chick from the Louisiana nonmigratory population
Phillip L. Vasseur, Sara E. Zimorski, Eva K Szyszkoski, James M LaCour, Julia S. Lankton
2019, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (55) 954-957
We describe a wing abnormality present in a wild-hatched Whooping Crane (Grus americana) chick from the reintroduced Louisiana nonmigratory population. Despite its compromised flight ability, the chick fledged, reached independence, and lived until 13 months of age. Necropsy revealed a healed fracture near the left carpus likely resulting from trauma....
Interactions of microhabitat and time control grassland bacterial and fungal composition
Michaeline BN Albright, Rebecca C. Mueller, La Verne Gallegos-Graves, Jayne Belnap, Sasha C. Reed, Cheryl R. Kuske
2019, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7)
Dryland grasslands are vast and globally important and, as in all terrestrial ecosystems, soil microbial communities play fundamental roles in regulating dryland ecosystem function. A typical characteristic of drylands is the spatial mosaic of vascular plant cover surrounded by interspace soils, where biological soil crusts (biocrusts)—a complex community of...
Prioritizing chemicals of ecological concern in Great Lakes tributaries using high-throughput screening data and adverse outcome pathways
Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Brett Blackwell, Kellie Fay, Gerald Ankley, Austin K. Baldwin
2019, Science of the Total Environment (686) 995-1009
Chemical monitoring data were collected in surface waters from 57 Great Lakes tributaries from 2010-13 to identify chemicals of potential biological relevance and sites at which these chemicals occur. Traditional water-quality benchmarks for aquatic life based on in vivo toxicity data were available for 34 of 67 evaluated chemicals. To...
Pathogen prevalence in American black bears (Ursus americanus) of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA
Susan M. Bard, James W. Cain III
2019, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (55) 745-754
Informed management of American black bears (Ursus americanus) requires knowledge of the distribution and pathology of diseases affecting the species. Little information is available on pathogen prevalence from black bear populations in the Southwest, US, and it is unknown how these infections may influence black...
Withdrawal and consumption of water by thermoelectric power plants in the United States, 2015
Melissa A. Harris, Timothy H. Diehl
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5103
The U.S. Geological Survey has developed models to estimate thermoelectric water use based on linked heat and water budgets. The models produced plant-level withdrawal and consumption estimates using consistent methods for 1,122 water-using, utility-scale thermoelectric power plants in the United States for 2015. Total estimated withdrawal for 2015 was about...
Groundwater/surface-water interactions along Ellerbe Creek in Durham, North Carolina, 2016–18
Dominick J. Antolino
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5097
An assessment of groundwater/surface-water interactions along Ellerbe Creek, a major tributary to upper Falls Lake in Durham County, North Carolina, was conducted from July 2016 to March 2018 to determine if groundwater is a likely source of elevated nitrate input to the stream. Groundwater/surface-water interactions were characterized by synoptic streamflow...
Water for Long Island: Now and for the future
John P. Masterson, Robert F. Breault
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3052
Do you ever wonder where your water comes from? If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, the answer is, groundwater. Groundwater is water that started out as precipitation (rain and snow melt) and seeped into the ground. This seepage recharges the freshwater stored underground, in the spaces between the...
Earthquake arrival association with backprojection and graph theory
Ian McBrearty, Joan S. Gomberg, Andrew Delorey, Paul Johnson
2019, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (109) 2510-2531
The association of seismic‐wave arrivals with causative earthquakes becomes progressively more challenging as arrival detection methods become more sensitive, and particularly when earthquake rates are high. For instance, seismic waves arriving across a monitoring network from several sources may overlap in time, false arrivals may be detected, and some arrivals...
Spatial and temporal variation in river corridor exchange across a 5th order mountain stream network
Adam S Ward, Steven Wondzell, Noah Schmadel, Skuyler Herzog, Jay P. Zarnetske, Viktor Baranov, Phillip J Blaen, Nicolai Brekenfeld, Rosalie Chu, Romain Derelle, Jennifer D. Drummond, Jan Fleckenstein, Vanessa Garayburu-Caruso, Emily B. Graham, David Hannah, Ciaran Harman, Jase Hixson, Julia L.A. Knapp, Stefan Krause, Marie Kurz, Jorg Lewandowski, Angang Li, Eugènia Martí, Melinda Miller, Alexander Milner, Kerry Neil, Luisa Orsini, Aaron I. Packman, Stephen Plont, Lupita Renteria, Kevin Roche, Todd V Royer, Catalina Segura, James Stegen, Jason Toyoda, Jacqueline Wells, Nathan Wisnoski
2019, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (23) 5199-5225
Although most field and modeling studies of river corridor exchange have been conducted a scales ranging from 10’s to 100’s of meters; results of these studies are used to predict their ecological and hydrological influences at the scale of river networks. Further complicating prediction, exchanges are expected to vary with...
Hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2018
Angela H. Unrein
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3042
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring stations in Kansas. In water year 2018, this network included 219 real-time streamgages. A water year is the 12-month period from October 1 through September 30 and is designated by the calendar year in which...
Geology of the Monte Blanco borate deposits, Furnace Creek Wash, Death Valley, California
S.J. Muessig, W.M. Pennell, Jeffrey R. Knott, James P. Calzia
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1111
The Monte Blanco borate deposits are located along the southern margin of Death Valley’s Furnace Creek Wash, south of Twenty Mule Team Canyon road in California. Topographic and geologic mapping by S. Muessig and F.M. Byers, Jr., in 1954 documented these deposits’ geologic settings, geometries, mineralogies, and chemical characteristics. They...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
Scott D. Hull, Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl
2019, Professional Paper 1842-MM
The key to Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) management is providing large areas of contiguous grassland of moderate height with significant grass cover and moderate forb density. Eastern Meadowlarks have been reported to use habitats with 10–187 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 6–88 cm visual obstruction reading, 53–86 percent grass cover,...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Amy L. Zimmerman, Jason P. Thiele, Betty R. Euliss
2019, Professional Paper 1842-N
Keys to Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) management are providing suitable nest sites, protecting active nest areas from human disturbance, and providing suitable habitat for prey....
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Meghan F. Dinkins, Christopher M. Goldade, Travis L. Wooten, Betty R. Euliss
2019, Professional Paper 1842-M
The key to Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) management is providing open grasslands that contain patches of trees for nesting and perching, sometimes near cultivated areas....
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Jason P. Thiele, Betty R. Euliss
2019, Professional Paper 1842-L
The key to Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) management is providing tall, dense vegetation in extensive mesic or xeric grasslands or in wetlands. Northern Harriers have been reported to use habitats with 15–106 centimeter (cm) average vegetation height, 28–75 cm visual obstruction reading, 24–53 percent grass cover, 18–25 percent forb cover,...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)
Mary M. Rowland
2019, Professional Paper 1842-B
Keys to Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) management are maintenance of expansive stands of sagebrush (Artemisia species [spp.]), especially varieties of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) with abundant forbs in the understory, particularly during spring; undisturbed and somewhat open sites for leks; and healthy perennial grass and forb stands intermixed with sagebrush...
Regression models for estimating sediment and nutrient concentrations and loads at the Iroquois River near Foresman, Indiana, March 2015 through July 2018
Timothy R. Lathrop, Aubrey R. Bunch, Myles S. Downhour, Daniel M. Perkins
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5087
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Iroquois River Conservancy District, deployed continuous water-quality monitors and began collecting representative discrete water-quality samples at the Iroquois River near Foresman, Indiana, streamflow-gaging station (U.S. Geological Survey station 05524500). By relating continuously monitored water-quality data and discrete water-quality samples collected...
Viability of Razorback-Flannelmouth Sucker hybrids
Pilar N. Wolters, David L. Rogowski, David Ward, Alice C. Gibb
2019, The Southwestern Naturalist (63) 280-283
Razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus) and flannelmouth sucker (Catostomus latipinnis) live in sympatry in the Colorado River basin. Although morphological intermediates have been described since 1889, hybrids were seemingly rare. Rarity of hybrids was likely attributed to razorback suckers' ability to find conspecific mates throughout the basin. Dams have segmented the...
Deer do not affect short-term rates of vegetation recovery in overwash fans on Fire Island after Hurricane Sandy
Chellby R. Kilheffer, H. Brian Underwood, Jordan Raphael, Lindsay Ries, Shannon Farrell, Donald J. Leopold
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 11742-11751
1. Coastal resilience is threatened as storm-induced disturbances become more frequent and intense with anticipated changes in weather patterns. After severe storms, rapid recovery of vegetation, especially that of dune-stabilizing plants, is a fundamental property of coastal resilience. Herbivores may affect resilience by selectively foraging palatable plant species in disturbed...
Abundance-occupancy patterns in a riverine fish assemblage
Leandro E. Miranda, K. J. Kilgore
2019, Freshwater Biology (64) 2221-2233
The interspecific relationships between abundance and site occupancy have been widely studied in plants and animals, but principally in terrestrial systems. With few exceptions, a positive abundance–occupancy relationship has been reported. Few publications have included freshwater fish, possibly suggesting a general lack of abundance–occupancy patterns for this taxonomic group.We...
Looking to the Future: Key points for sustainable management of Northern Great Plains grasslands
Lora Perkins, Marissa Ahlering, Diane L. Larson
2019, Restoration Ecology (27) 1212-1219
The grasslands of the northern Great Plains region of North America are considered endangered ecosystems and priority conservation areas yet have great ecological and economic importance. Grasslands in the northern Great Plains (referred to as NGP from this point) are no longer self-regulating adaptive systems. The challenges to these grasslands...
Biotic interactions are the dominant drivers of phylogenetic and functional structure in bird communities along a tropical elevational gradient
Andy J. Boyce, Subir Shakya, Frederick H. Sheldon, Robert G. Moyle, Thomas E. Martin
2019, The Auk (136)
Understanding how biotic and abiotic interactions influence community assembly and composition is a fundamental goal in community ecology. Addressing this issue is particularly tractable along elevational gradients in tropical mountains that feature substantial abiotic gradients and rates of species turnover. We examined elevational patterns of avian community structure on 2...
Predicting fish species richness and habitat relationships using Bayesian hierarchical multispecies occupancy models
Shannon White, Evan Faulk, Caleb Tzilkowski, Andrew Weber, Matt Marshall, Tyler Wagner
2019, Canadian Journal Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (77)
Understanding how stream fishes respond to changes in habitat availability is complicated by low occurrence rates of many species, which in turn reduces the ability to quantify species–habitat relationships and account for imperfect detection in estimates of species richness. Multispecies occupancy models have been used sparingly in the analysis of...
Standardizing a non-lethal method for characterizing the reproductive status and larval development of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida)
Caitlin Beaver, Susan Geda, Nathan Johnson
2019, Journal of Visualized Experiments (152)
Actively monitoring the timing, development, and reproductive patterns of endangered species is critical when managing for population recovery. Freshwater mussels are among the most imperiled organisms in the world, but information about early larval (glochidial) development and brooding periods is still lacking for many species. Previous studies have focused on...
Decline of the North American avifauna
John R. Sauer, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Adriaan M. Dokter, Peter J. Blancher, Adam C. Smith, Paul A. Smith, Jessica C. Stanton, Arvind O. Panjabi, Laura Helft, Michael J. Parr, Peter P. Marra
2019, Science (366) 120-124
Species extinctions have defined the global biodiversity crisis, but extinction begins with loss in abundance of organisms that can result in extreme compositional and functional changes of ecosystems. Using multiple and independent monitoring networks, we report major population losses across much of the North American avifauna, including in once common...
