Environmentally relevant chemical mixtures of concern in waters of United States tributaries to the Great Lakes
Sarah M. Elliott, Mark E. Brigham, Richard L. Kiesling, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Zachary G. Jorgenson
2018, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (14) 509-518
The North American Great Lakes are a vital natural resource that provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as drinking water and waste assimilation services for millions of people. Tributaries to the Great Lakes receive chemical inputs from various point and nonpoint sources, and thus are expected to have complex...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian Strata, U.S. Gulf Coast, Texas, 2018
Katherine J. Whidden, Janet K. Pitman, Ofori N. Pearson, Stanley T. Paxton, Scott A. Kinney, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Christopher J. Schenk, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Lauri A. Burke, Russell F. Dubiel, Katherine L. French, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Seth S. Haines, Phuong A. Le, Kristen R. Marra, Tracey J. Mercier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Cheryl A. Woodall
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3033
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 8.5 billion barrels of oil and 66 trillion cubic feet of gas in continuous accumulations in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group and associated Cenomanian–Turonian strata in onshore lands of the U.S. Gulf Coast...
Fungal loop transfer of nitrogen depends on biocrust constituents and nitrogen form
Zachary T. Aanderud, Trevor B. Smart, Nan Wu, Alexander S. Taylor, Yuanming Zhang, Jayne Belnap
2018, Biogeosciences (15) 3831-3840
Besides performing multiple ecosystem services individually and collectively, biocrust constituents may also create biological networks connecting spatially and temporally distinct processes. In the fungal loop hypothesis rainfall variability allows fungi to act as conduits and reservoirs, translocating resources between soils and host plants. To evaluate the extent to which biocrust...
Extraction and development of inset models in support of groundwater age calculations for glacial aquifers
Daniel T. Feinstein, Leon J. Kauffman, Megan J. Haserodt, Brian R. Clark, Paul F. Juckem
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5038
The U.S. Geological Survey developed a regional model of Lake Michigan Basin (LMB). This report describes the construction of five MODFLOW inset models extracted from the LMB regional model and their application using the particle-tracking code MODPATH to simulate the groundwater age distribution of discharge to wells pumping from glacial...
Sediment supply to San Francisco Bay, water years 1995 through 2016: Data, trends, and monitoring recommendations to support decisions about water quality, tidal wetlands, and resilience to sea level rise
David H. Schoellhamer, Lester McKee, Sarah Pearce, Pete Kauhanen, Micha Saloman, Scott Dusterhoff, J. Letitia Grenier, Mathieu D. Marineau, Philip Trowbridge
2018, Report
Knowledge of the status and trends of sediment supply to San Francisco Bay is critically important for management decisions about dredging, marsh restoration, flood control, contaminants, water clarity (in relation to primary production), and sea level rise. Several sitespecific studies of sediment supply to San Francisco Bay have been conducted, but no synthesis of...
ShakeMap-based prediction of earthquake-induced mass movements in Switzerland calibrated on historical observations
Carlo Cauzzi, Donat Fah, David J. Wald, John Clinton, Stephane Losey, Stefan Wiemer
2018, Natural Hazards (92) 1211-1235
In Switzerland, nearly all historical Mw ~ 6 earthquakes have induced damaging landslides, rockslides and snow avalanches that, in some cases, also resulted in damage to infrastructure and loss of lives. We describe the customisation to Swiss conditions of a globally calibrated statistical approach originally developed to rapidly assess earthquake-induced landslide...
Arsenic geochemistry of alluvial sediments and pore waters affected by mine tailings along the Belle Fourche and Cheyenne River floodplains
Bryce D. Pfeifle, John F. Stamm, James J. Stone
2018, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (229) 1-18
Gold mining operations in the northern Black Hills of South Dakota resulted in the discharge of arsenopyrite-bearing mine tailings into Whitewood Creek from 1876 to 1977. Those tailings were transported further downstream along the Belle Fourche River, the Cheyenne River, and the Missouri River. An estimated 110 million metric tons...
Riparian spiders indicate the magnitude and sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination at a large contaminated sediment site
David M. Walters, Ryan R. Otter, Johanna M. Kraus, Marc A. Mills
2018, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (37) 2467-2474
We investigated PCB contamination at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern (AOC) following remedial dredging using araneid and tetragnathid spiders. PCB concentrations remain elevated in the AOC compared to reference conditions. Patterns of contamination were strikingly similar between taxa, but were higher in tetragnathids at the most contaminated sites. Spider...
Evidence for haemosporidian parasite infections in Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) sampled in Alaska during the breeding season
John A. Reed, Matthew G. Sexson, Matthew M. Smith, Joel A. Schmutz, Andrew M. Ramey
2018, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (54) 877-880
We assessed hematozoa infection in Spectacled Eiders (Somateria fischeri) at two areas in Alaska. No Haemoproteus or Plasmodium species were detected. Leucocytozoon prevalence was 6.5% for adults across sites and 41.9% for juveniles sampled in the Arctic, providing evidence for local transmission. All Leucocytozoon haplotypes were previously detected in waterfowl....
Tracing enhanced oil recovery signatures in casing gases from the Lost Hills oil field using noble gases
Peter H. Barry, Justin T. Kulongoski, Matthew K. Landon, R. L. Tyne, Janice M. Gillespie, Michael J. Stephens, D.J. Hillegonds, D.J. Byrne, C.J. Ballentine
2018, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (496) 57-67
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and hydraulic fracturing practices are commonly used methods to improve hydrocarbon extraction efficiency; however the environmental impacts of such practices remain poorly understood. EOR is particularly prevalent in oil fields throughout California where water resources are in high demand and disposal of high volumes of produced...
Experimental evidence of long-term reproductive costs in a colonial nesting seabird
Aly McKnight, Erik J. Blomberg, Gregory H. Golet, David B. Irons, Cyndy Loftin, Shawn T. McKinney
2018, Journal of Avian Biology (49)
Trade-offs between current and future reproduction are central to the evolution of life histories. Experiments that manipulate brood size provide an effective approach to investigating future costs of current reproduction. Most manipulative studies to date, however, have addressed only the short-term effects of brood size manipulation. Our goal was to...
Regional spectral analysis of moderate earthquakes in northeastern North America—Final Report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Project V6240, Task 3
Jack Boatwright
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1073
We analyze the Fourier spectra of S+Lg+surface wave groups from the horizontal and vertical components of broadband and accelerogram recordings of 120 small and moderate (2< Mw <6) earthquakes recorded by Canadian and American stations sited on rock at distances from 3 to 600 kilometers. There are seven Mw 4.0–4.5,...
Stability of mercury concentration measurements in archived soil and peat samples
Tomas Navratil, Douglas A. Burns, Tereza Novakova, Jiri Kana, Jan Rohovec, Michal Roll, Vojtech Ettler
2018, Chemosphere (208) 707-711
Archived soil samples can provide important information on the history of environmental contamination and by comparison with recently collected samples, temporal trends can be inferred. Little previous work has addressed whether mercury (Hg) concentrations in soil samples are stable with long-term storage under standard laboratory conditions. In this study, we...
Response of mercury in an Adirondack (NY, USA) forest stream to watershed lime application
Geoffrey D. Millard, Charles T. Driscoll, Douglas A. Burns, Mario R. Montesdeoca, Karen Riva-Murray
2018, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (20) 607-620
Surface waters in Europe and North America previously impacted by acid deposition are recovering in conjunction with declining precursor emissions since the 1980s. Lime has been applied to some impacted watersheds to accelerate recovery. The response to liming can be considered a proxy for future recovery from acid deposition. Increases...
Shoreline erosion at selected areas along Lake Sharpe on the Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota, 1966–2015
Ryan F. Thompson, John F. Stamm
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5058
The Lower Brule Reservation in central South Dakota is losing land because of shoreline erosion along Lake Sharpe, a reservoir on the Missouri River, which has caused detrimental effects for the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe including losses of cultural sites, recreation access points, wildlife habitat, irrigated cropland, and landmass. To...
Use of Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) burrows as shelter by Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks
Peter C. McGowan, Kaitlyn Reintsma, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Katie P. DeVoss, Jennifer L. Wall, Mia D. Zimnik, Carl R. Callahan, Bill Schultz, Diann J. Prosser
2018, Waterbirds (41) 179-182
The availability of shelter to avoid predation and ameliorate physiologically stressful conditions is often important to the survival of avian hatchlings. However, as changes in habitat availability force birds to nest in nontraditional locations, young must quickly adapt to using novel sources of shelter. Two Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) colonies...
Efficiently optimizing for dendritic connectivity on tree-structured networks in a multi-objective framework
Quinru Shi, Jonathan M. Gomes-Selman, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Suresh Sethi, Alexander S. Flecker, Carla P. Gomes
2018, Conference Paper, COMPASS '18: Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCAS conference on computing and sustainable societies
We provide an exact and approximation algorithm based on Dynamic Programming and an approximation algorithm based on Mixed Integer Programming for optimizing for the so-called dendritic connectivity on tree-structured networks in a multi-objective setting. Dendritic connectivity describes the degree of connectedness of a network. We consider different variants of dendritic...
Analysis of the impact of African dust storms on the presence of enteric viruses in the atmosphere in Tenerife, Spain
Cristina Gonzalez-Martin, Nieves Coronado-Alvarez, Nuria Teigell-Perez, Raquel Diaz-Solano, Francisco Exposito, Juan Diaz, Dale W. Griffin, Basilio Valladares
2018, Aerosol and Air Quality Research (18) 1863-1873
Airborne viruses and their relation to dust storms, as a possible route for dispersion, have not been widely investigated. There are, however, studies that have described the airborne dispersal of pathogenic viruses and their potential impact on public and agronomical health. Atmospheric samples were collected in an urban area of...
Age and performance at fledging are a cause and consequence of juvenile mortality between life stages
Thomas E. Martin, Bret Tobalske, Margaret M. Riordan, Samuel B. Case, Kenneth P. Dial
2018, Science Advances (4) 1-8
Should they stay or should they leave? The age at which young transition between life stages, such as living in a nest versus leaving it, differs among species and the reasons why are unclear. We show that offspring of songbird species that leave the nest at a younger age have...
Landscape composition mediates movement and habitat selection in bobcats (Lynx rufus): Implications for conservation planning
Hanem G. Abouelezz, Therese M. Donovan, Ruth M. Mickey, James D. Murdoch, Mark Freeman, Kimberly Royar
2018, Landscape Ecology (33) 1301-1318
ContextThe analysis of individual movement choices can be used to better understand population-level resource selection and inform management.ObjectivesWe investigated movements and habitat selection of 13 bobcats in Vermont, USA, under the assumption individuals makes choices based upon their current location. Results were used to identify “movement-defined”...
A model ensemble for projecting multi‐decadal coastal cliff retreat during the 21st century
Patrick W. Limber, Patrick L. Barnard, Sean Vitousek, Li H. Erikson
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (123) 1566-1589
Sea cliff retreat rates are expected to accelerate with rising sea levels during the 21st century. Here we develop an approach for a multi‐model ensemble that efficiently projects time‐averaged sea cliff retreat over multi‐decadal time scales and large (>50 km) spatial scales. The ensemble consists of five simple 1‐D models...
Isotope niche dimension and trophic overlap between bigheaded carps and native filter-feeding fish in the lower Missouri River, USA
Jianzhu Wang, Duane Chapman, Jun Xu, Yang Wang, Binhe Gu
2018, PLoS ONE (13)
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values (δ13C and δ15N) were used to evaluate trophic niche overlap between two filter-feeding fishes (known together as bigheaded carp) native to China, silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), and three native filter-feeding fish including bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus), gizzard shad (Dorosoma...
Analysis of mean seismic ground motion and its uncertainty based on the UCERF3 geologic slip rate model with uncertainty for California
Yuehua Zeng
2018, Seismological Research Letters (89) 1410-1419
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast v.3 (UCERF3) model (Field et al., 2014) considers epistemic uncertainty in fault‐slip rate via the inclusion of multiple rate models based on geologic and/or geodetic data. However, these slip rates are commonly clustered about their mean value and do not reflect the broader distribution...
A simple, cost-effective emitter for controlled release of fish pheromones: development, testing, and application to management of the invasive sea lamprey
C. Michael Wagner, James E. Hanson, Trevor D. Meckley, Nicholas S. Johnson, Jason D. Bals
2018, PLoS ONE (13) 1-17
Semiochemicals that elicit species-specific attraction or repulsion have proven useful in the management of terrestrial pests and hold considerable promise for control of nuisance aquatic species, particularly invasive fishes. Because aquatic ecosystems are typically large and open, use of a semiochemical to control a spatially dispersed invader will require the...
Avian keratin disorder of Alaska black-capped chickadees is associated with Poecivirus infection
Maxine Zylberberg, Caroline R. Van Hemert, Colleen M. Handel, Joseph L. DeRisi
2018, Virology Journal (15)
BackgroundAvian keratin disorder (AKD) is an epizootic of debilitating beak deformities, first documented in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) in Alaska during the late 1990s. Similar deformities have now been recorded in dozens of species of birds across multiple continents. Despite this, the etiology of AKD has remained elusive, making it...
