Patterns of host-associated fecal indicators driven by hydrology, precipitation, and land use attributes in Great Lakes watersheds
Deborah K. Dila, Steven R. Corsi, Peter L. Lenaker, Austin K. Baldwin, Melinda J. Bootsma, Sandra L. McLellan
2018, Environmental Science & Technology (52) 11500-11509
Fecal contamination from sewage and agricultural runoff is a pervasive problem in Great Lakes watersheds. Most work examining fecal pollution loads relies on discrete samples of fecal indicators and modeling land use. In this study, we made empirical measurements of human and ruminant-associated fecal indicator bacteria and combined these with...
Drought and land-cover conditions in the Great Plains
Heather J. Tollerud, Jesslyn F. Brown, Thomas Loveland, Rezaul Mahmood, Norman B. Bliss
2018, Earth Interactions (22) 1-25
Land–atmosphere interactions play a critical role in the Earth system, and a better understanding of these interactions could improve weather and climate models. The interaction among drought, vegetation productivity, and land cover is of particular significance. In a semiarid environment, such as the U.S. Great Plains, droughts can have a...
Spatial sampling bias in the Neotoma paleoecological archives affects species paleo-distribution models
Richard D. Inman, Janet Franklin, Todd Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear
2018, Journal of Quaternary Science Reviews (198) 115-125
The ability to infer paleo-distributions with limited knowledge of absence makes species distribution modeling (SDM) a useful tool for exploring paleobiogeographic questions. Spatial sampling bias is a known issue when modeling extant species. Here we quantify the spatial sampling bias in a North American packrat midden archive and explore its impact on...
Tidal flushing of mercury from the Bremerton Naval Complex through the PSNS015 stormwater drain system to Sinclair Inlet, Kitsap County, Washington, 2011 -12
Kathleen E. Conn, Anthony J. Paulson, Richard S. Dinicola, John F. DeWild
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5087
The sediments of Sinclair Inlet, in Puget Sound, Washington, have elevated levels of contaminants including mercury. The Bremerton Naval Complex is adjacent to Sinclair Inlet, and has known areas of historical soil mercury contamination. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, has been investigating the potential for...
Habitat overlap between Asiatic black bear Ursus thibetanus and red panda Ailurus fulgens in Himalaya
Manjit Bista, Saroj Panthi, Sarah R. Weiskopf
2018, PLoS ONE (13)
Studying habitat overlap between sympatric species is one of the best ways to identify interspecies relationships and to direct conservation efforts so that multiple species can benefit. However, studies exploring interspecies relationships are very limited in Nepal, making it difficult for the government of Nepal and conservation partners to manage...
Experimental infection of Tadarida brasiliensis with Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome
Michelle Verant, Carol U. Meteyer, Benjamin Stading, David S. Blehert
2018, mSphere (3)
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is causing significant declines in populations of North American hibernating bats, and recent western and southern expansions of the disease have placed additional species at risk. Understanding differences in species susceptibility and identifying management actions to reduce mortality of bats from WNS are top research priorities. However,...
The 2015 landslide and tsunami in Taan Fiord, Alaska
Brentwood Higman, Dan H. Shugar, Colin P. Stark, Goran Ekstrom, Michele N Koppes, Patrick Lynett, Anja Dufresne, Peter J. Haeussler, Marten Geertsema, Sean P.S. Gulick, Andrew Mattox, Jeremy G. Venditti, Maureen A. L. Walton, Naoma McCall, Erin Mckittrick, Breanyn MacInnes, Eric L. Bilderback, Hui Tang, Micheal Willis, Bruce Richmond, Bobby Reece, Christopher F. Larsen, Bjorn Olson, James Capra, Aykut Ayca, Colin K Bloom, Haley Williams, Doug Bonno, Robert Weiss, Adam Keen, Vassilios Skanavis, Micheal Loso
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Glacial retreat in recent decades has exposed unstable slopes and allowed deep water to extend beneath some of those slopes. Slope failure at the terminus of Tyndall Glacier on 17 October 2015 sent 180 million tons of rock into Taan Fiord, Alaska. The resulting tsunami reached elevations as high as...
A 42 year inference of cloud base height trends in the Luquillo Mountains of northeastern Puerto Rico
Paul W. Miller, Thomas L. Mote, C.A. Ramseyer, Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Martha A. Scholl, Grizelle Gonzalez
2018, Climate Research (76) 87-94
The Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico are home to the only tropical rainforest managed by the United States Forest Service, with cloud-immersed forests historically occupying the highest elevations. However, within the past 50 yr, studies of the Luquillo cloud forest have suggested an increase in cloud base heights (CBH), although...
U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data
U.S. Geological Survey
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3053
U.S. Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) are a revolutionary new U.S. Geological Survey science product that allows the Landsat archive to be more accessible and easier to analyze and reduces the amount of time users spend on data processing for monitoring and assessing landscape change. U.S. Landsat ARD are Level-2 products derived...
What it is to be established: policy and management implications for non-native and invasive species
Patrick Kocovsky, Rochelle Sturtevant, James Schardt
2018, Management of Biological Invasions (9) 177-185
Management of invasive species, whether prevention, population reduction, or eradication, requires assessment of the invasive species’ population status and an assessment of the probability of success of management options. Perceptions of a species’ permanence in an environment or lack thereof frequently drives how limited time, financial, and personnel resources are...
New methods for predicting and measuring dispersion in rivers
Jonathan M. Nelson, Richard R. McDonald, Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Travis Terrell Ramos, Yutaka Higashi, Il Won Seo, Donghae Baek, Du Han Lee, Yonguk Ryu
2018, Conference Paper, E3S Web of Conferences
To develop a better predictive tool for dispersion in rivers over a range of temporal and spatial scales, our group has developed a simple Lagrangian model that is applicable for a wide range of coordinate systems and flow modeling methodologies. The approach allows dispersion computations for a large suite of...
Evaluating time-removal models for estimating availability of boreal birds during point count surveys: Sample size requirements and model complexity
Peter Solymos, Steven M. Matsuoka, Steven G. Cumming, Diana Stralberg, Patricia C. Fontaine, Fiona K. A. Schmiegelow, Samantha J. Song, Erin M. Bayne
2018, Condor (120) 765-786
We used conventional and finite mixture removal models with and without time-varying covariates to evaluate availability given presence for 152 bird species using data from point counts in boreal North America. We found that the choice of model had an impact on the estimability of unknown model parameters and affected...
Controls on submarine channel-modifying processes identified through morphometric scaling relationships
Lauren E. Shumaker, Zane R. Jobe, Samuel Johnstone, Luke A. Pettinga, Dingxin Cai, Jeremiah D. Moody
2018, Geosphere (14) 2171-2187
Submarine channels share morphological similarities with rivers, but observations from modern and ancient systems indicate they are formed under processes and controls unique to submarine settings. Morphologic characteristics of channels—e.g., width, depth, slope, and the relationships among them—can constrain interpretations of channel-forming processes. This work uses morphometric scaling relationships extracted...
Leveraging big data towards functionally-based, catchment scale restoration prioritization
John P. Lovette, Jonathan M. Duncan, Lindsey S. Smart, John P. Fay, Dean L. Urban, Nancy Daly, Jamie Blackwell, Anne B. Hoos, Ana M. Garcia, Lawrence E. Band
2018, Environmental Management (62) 1007-1024
The persistence of freshwater degradation has necessitated the growth of an expansive stream and wetland restoration industry, yet restoration prioritization at broad spatial extents is still limited and ad-hoc restoration prevails. The River Basin Restoration Prioritization tool has been developed to incorporate vetted, distributed data models into a catchment scale...
Marine threats overlap key foraging habitat for two imperiled sea turtle species in the Gulf of Mexico
Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Margaret M. Lamont, David N. Bucklin, Donna J. Shaver
2018, Frontiers in Marine Science (5)
Effective management of human activities affecting listed species requires understanding both threats and animal habitat-use patterns. However, the extent of spatial overlap between high-use foraging areas (where multiple marine species congregate) and anthropogenic threats is not well known. Our modeling approach incorporates data on sea turtle spatial ecology and a...
Social–ecological landscape patterns predict woody encroachment from native tree plantings in a temperate grassland
V.M. Donvan, J.L. Burnett, C.H. Bielski, H.E. Birge, R. Bevans, D. Twidwell, Craig R. Allen
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 9624-9632
Afforestation is often viewed as the purposeful planting of trees in historically nonforested grasslands, but an unintended consequence is woody encroachment, which should be considered part of the afforestation process. In North America's temperate grassland biome, Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is a native species used in tree plantings that aggressively...
The interaction of exposure and warming tolerance determines fish species vulnerability to warming stream temperatures
Annika W. Walters, Caitlin P. Mandeville, Frank J. Rahel
2018, Biology Letters (14)
Species vulnerability to climate change involves an interaction between the magnitude of change (exposure) and a species's tolerance to change. We evaluated fish species vulnerability to predicted stream temperature increases by examining warming tolerances across the Wyoming fish assemblage. Warming tolerance combines stream temperature with a thermal tolerance metric to...
Aerial surveys of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Lower Cook Inlet, Alaska, May, 2017
Joel Gerlach-Miller, George G. Esslinger, Ben Weitzman
2018, Report, USFWS Technical Report
Portions of two stocks of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) occur in Lower Cook Inlet (LCI), Alaska. Sea otters on the west side of LCI are considered part of the southwest Alaska stock; sea otters occupying eastern LCI are considered part of the southcentral Alaska stock. Information...
Behavioral differences following ingestion of large meals and consequences for management of a harmful invasive snake: A field experiment
Shane R. Siers, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Robert Reed
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 10075-10093
Many snakes are uniquely adapted to ingest large prey at infrequent intervals. Digestion of large prey is metabolically and aerobically costly, and large prey boluses can impair snake locomotion, increasing vulnerability to predation. Cessation of foraging and use of refugia with microclimates facilitating digestion are expected...
High-water marks from Hurricane Sandy for coastal areas of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, October 2012
Lance J. Ostiguy, Timothy C. Sargent, Brittney Izbicki, Gardner C. Bent
2018, Data Series 1094
Because coastal areas in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts were heavily affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under a mission agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, collected storm tide high-water marks in those coastal areas. This effort was undertaken to better understand the...
Quantifying geomorphic and vegetation change at sandbar campsites in response to flow regulation and controlled floods, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
Daniel R. Hadley, Paul E. Grams, Matthew A. Kaplinski
2018, River Research and Applications (34) 1208-1218
Sandbars along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, USA, are an important recreational resource used as campsites by over 25,000 river runners and hikers annually. The number and size of campsites decreased following the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963 due to reductions of sediment that replenish...
Discussion of “Case study: Oso, Washington, landslide of March 22, 2014-Material properties and failure mechanism” by Timothy D. Stark, Ahmed K. Baghdady, Oldrich Hungr, and Jordan Aaron
Richard M. Iverson
2018, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (144)
The original paper discusses factors that may have contributed to the occurrence and long runout of a disastrous landslide near the community of Oso, Washington, on March 22, 2014. The paper reinforces a prior finding that the long runout likely resulted from liquefaction of wet colluvium that was...
Documentation of single-well aquifer tests and integrated borehole analyses, Pahute Mesa and Vicinity, Nevada
Rebecca J. Frus, Keith J. Halford
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5096
Single-well aquifer testing has been carried out at Pahute Mesa in southern Nevada since 1962. These tests include single-well pumping and slug tests to estimate geologic formation hydraulic properties. Initially, aquifer tests focused on identifying low-permeability rocks suitable for testing large-yield nuclear devices, whereas later hydrologic investigations focused on potential...
The influence of tectonic environment on dynamic earthquake triggering: A review and case study on Alaskan volcanoes
Stephanie Prejean, David P. Hill
2018, Tectonophysics (745) 293-304
The phenomenon of dynamic earthquake triggering, when seismic waves from an earthquake trigger seismicity at distant sites, has been recognized for over 25 years, yet knowledge of the global distribution of dynamic triggering remains far from complete. Because occurrences...
Conservation Tools and Strategies
Jeffrey R. Walters, Dylan C. Kesler, Elisabeth B. Webb
2018, Book chapter, Ornithology: Foundation, analysis, and application
