Associations between cyanobacteria and indices of secondary production in the western basin of Lake Erie
James H. Larson, Mary Anne Evans, Robert J. Kennedy, Sean Bailey, Keith A. Loftin, Zachary R. Laughrey, Robin Femmer, Jeff Schaeffer, William B. Richardson, Timothy Wynne, J. C. Nelson, Joseph W. Duris
2018, Limnology and Oceanography (63) S232-S243
Large lakes provide a variety of ecological services to surrounding cities and communities. Many of these services are supported by ecological processes that are threatened by the increasing prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms which occur as aquatic ecosystems experience cultural eutrophication. Over the past 10 yr, Lake Erie experienced cyanobacterial blooms...
Geoelectric hazard assessment: the differences of geoelectric responses during magnetic storms within common physiographic zones
Stephen W. Cuttler, Jeffrey J. Love, Andrei Swidinsky
2018, Earth, Planets and Space (70)
Geomagnetic field data obtained through the INTERMAGNET program are convolved with with magnetotelluric surface impedance from four EarthScope USArray sites to estimate the geoelectric variations throughout the duration of a magnetic storm. A duration of time from June 22, 2016, to June 25, 2016, is considered which encompasses a magnetic storm of...
National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 offshore India; gas hydrate systems as revealed by hydrocarbon gas geochemistry
Thomas Lorenson, Timothy S. Collett
2018, Marine and Petroleum Geology (92) 477-492
The National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 (NGHP-01) targeted gas hydrate accumulations offshore of the Indian Peninsula and along the Andaman convergent margin. The primary objectives of coring were to understand the geologic and geochemical controls on the accumulation of methane hydrate and their linkages to underlying petroleum systems....
High‐prevalence and low‐intensity Ichthyophonus infections in Pacific Halibut
Paul Hershberger, Jacob L. Gregg, Claude L. Dykstra
2018, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (30) 13-19
Ichthyophonus occurred at high prevalence but low intensity in Pacific Halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis throughout the West Coast of North America, ranging from coastal Oregon to the Bering Sea. Infection prevalence in adults was variable on spatial and temporal scales, with the lowest prevalence typically occurring on the edges of the geographic range and...
U.S. Pacific coastal wetland resilience and vulnerability to sea-level rise
Karen M. Thorne, Glen M. MacDonald, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Richard F. Ambrose, Kevin J. Buffington, Bruce D. Dugger, Chase M. Freeman, Christopher Janousek, Lauren N. Brown, Jordan A. Rosencranz, James Homquist, John P. Smol, Kathryn Hargan, John Y. Takekawa
2018, Science Advances (4)
We used a first-of-its-kind comprehensive scenario approach to evaluate both the vertical and horizontal response of tidal wetlands to projected changes in the rate of sea-level rise (SLR) across 14 estuaries along the Pacific coast of the continental United States. Throughout the U.S. Pacific region, we found that tidal wetlands...
Volcanic aquifers of Hawai‘i—Hydrogeology, water budgets, and conceptual models
Scot K. Izuka, John A. Engott, Kolja Rotzoll, Maoya Bassiouni, Adam G. Johnson, Lisa D. Miller, Alan Mair
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5164
Hawai‘i’s aquifers have limited capacity to store fresh groundwater because each island is small and surrounded by saltwater. Saltwater also underlies much of the fresh groundwater. Fresh groundwater resources are, therefore, particularly vulnerable to human activity, short-term climate cycles, and long-term climate change. Availability of fresh groundwater for human use...
Response of beach-nesting American Oystercatchers to off-road vehicles: An experimental approach reveals physiological nuances and decreased nest attendance
Shilo K. Felton, Kenneth H. Pollock, Theodore R. Simons
2018, The Condor (120) 47-62
Shorebird populations face increasing challenges as rising sea levels and growing human populations constrain their breeding habitats. On recreational beaches, the nesting season often coincides with a season of high visitor use, increasing the potential for conflict, which may negatively influence beach-nesting shorebird species. We designed a field experiment to...
Quantifying seining detection probability for fishes of Great Plains sand‐bed rivers
Robert Mollenhauer, Daniel R. Logue, Shannon K. Brewer
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 329-341
Species detection error (i.e., imperfect and variable detection probability) is an essential consideration when investigators map distributions and interpret habitat associations. When fish detection error that is due to highly variable instream environments needs to be addressed, sand‐bed streams of the Great Plains represent a unique challenge. We quantified seining...
Evidence for regional nitrogen stress on chlorophyll a in lakes across large landscape and climate gradients
Christopher T. Filstrup, Tyler Wagner, Samantha K. Oliver, Craig A. Stow, Katherine E. Webster, Emily H. Stanley, John A. Downing
2018, Limnology and Oceanography (63) S324-S339
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) commonly stimulate phytoplankton production in lakes, but recent observations from lakes from an agricultural region suggest that nitrate may have a subsidy‐stress effect on chlorophyll a (Chl a). It is unclear, however, how generalizable this effect might be. Here, we analyzed a large water quality dataset of 2385...
Integrate urban‐scale seismic hazard analyses with the U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model
Morgan P. Moschetti, Nico Luco, Arthur D. Frankel, Mark D. Petersen, Brad T. Aagaard, Annemarie S. Baltay, Michael L. Blanpied, Oliver S. Boyd, Richard W. Briggs, Ryan D. Gold, Robert Graves, Stephen H. Hartzell, Sanaz Rezaeian, William J. Stephenson, David J. Wald, Robert A. Williams, Kyle B. Withers
2018, Seismological Research Letters (89) 967-970
For more than 20 yrs, damage patterns and instrumental recordings have highlighted the influence of the local 3D geologic structure on earthquake ground motions (e.g., M">MM 6.7 Northridge, California, Gao et al., 1996; <span id="MathJax-Element-2-Frame"...
2017 Landsat Science Team Summer Meeting Summary
Christopher J. Crawford, Thomas R. Loveland, Michael A. Wulder, James R. Irons
2018, The Earth Observer (30) 21-25
The summer meeting of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-NASA Landsat Science Team (LST) was held June 11-13, 2017, at the USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, SD. This was the final meeting of the Second (2012-2017) LST.1 Frank Kelly [EROS—Center Director] welcomed the attendees and...
Bottom trawl assessment of Lake Ontario prey fishes
Brian Weidel, Michael J. Connerton, Jeremy Holden
2018, Report, NYSDEC Lake Ontario Annual Report 2017
Managing Lake Ontario fisheries in an ecosystem-context requires prey fish community and population data. Since 1978, multiple annual bottom trawl surveys have quantified prey fish dynamics to inform management relative to published Fish Community Objectives. In 2017, two whole-lake surveys collected 341 bottom trawls (spring: 204, fall: 137), at depths...
Improving predictions of hydrological low-flow indices in ungaged basins using machine learning
Scott C. Worland, William H. Farmer, Julie E. Kiang
2018, Environmental Modelling and Software (101) 169-182
We compare the ability of eight machine-learning models (elastic net, gradient boosting, kernel-k-nearest neighbors, two variants of support vector machines, M5-cubist, random forest, and a meta-learning ensemble M5-cubist model) and four baseline models (ordinary kriging, a unit area discharge model, and two variants of censored regression) to generate estimates of the...
Timber harvest as the predominant disturbance regime in northeastern U.S. forests: Effects of harvest intensification
Michelle L. Brown, Charles D. Canham, Lora Murphy, Therese M. Donovan
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-19
Harvesting is the leading cause of adult tree mortality in forests of the northeastern United States. While current rates of timber harvest are generally sustainable, there is considerable pressure to increase the contribution of forest biomass to meet renewable energy goals. We estimated current harvest regimes for different forest types...
Stability and change in kelp forest habitats at San Nicolas Island
Michael C. Kenner, M. Tim Tinker
2018, Western North American Naturalist (78) 633-643
Kelp forest communities are highly variable over space and time. Despite this complexity it has been suggested that kelp forest communities can be classified into one of 2 states: kelp dominated or sea urchin dominated. It has been further hypothesized that these represent “alternate stable states” because a site can...
Environmental contaminants of health-care origin: Exposure and potential effects in wildlife
Thomas Bean, Barnett A. Rattner
2018, Book chapter, Health care and environmental contamination
A diverse range of fauna could be exposed to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) via diet, dermal absorption or bioconcentration. Low level exposures of free-ranging wildlife to APIs has only been demonstrated for a few pathways (e.g., ingestion of fish in estuaries by piscivorous birds), and many remain hypothetical (e.g., ingestion...
Osteopilus septentrionalis (Cuban treefrog)
Brad M. Glorioso, Philip Vanbergen, Joseph Roy, Matthew Walter, Lauren Leonpacher, Mark Freistak
2018, Herpetological Review (49) 70-71
USA: LOUISIANA: east baton Rouge paRish: private property in a garden center on a bromeliad in the 1700 block of Millerville Road in Baton Rouge (ca. 30.443°N, 91.023°W; WGS 84). 29 November 2016. Joseph Roy. Verified by Hardin Waddle. Florida Museum of Natural History (UF 181952; photo voucher). New parish...
History of state wildlife management in the United States
John F. Organ
2018, Book chapter, State wildlife management and conservation
No abstract available....
Fire and grazing influence site resistance to Bromus tectorum through their effects on shrub, bunchgrass and biocrust communities in the Great Basin (USA)
Lea A. Condon, David A. Pyke
2018, Ecosystems (21) 1416-1431
Shrubs, bunchgrasses and biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are believed to contribute to site resistance to plant invasions in the presence of cattle grazing. Although fire is a concomitant disturbance with grazing, little is known regarding their combined impacts on invasion resistance. We are the first to date to test the...
Developing a framework for evaluating tallgrass prairie reconstruction methods and management
Diane L. Larson, Marissa Ahlering, Pauline Drobney, Rebecca Esser, Jennifer L. Larson, Karen Viste-Sparkman
2018, Ecological Restoration (36) 6-18
The thousands of hectares of prairie reconstructed each year in the tallgrass prairie biome can provide a valuable resource for evaluation of seed mixes, planting methods, and post-planting management if methods used and resulting characteristics of the prairies are recorded and compiled in a publicly accessible database. The objective of...
Potential effects of elevated base flow and midsummer spike flow experiments on riparian vegetation along the Green River
Jonathan M. Friedman
2018, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/WRD/NRR—2018/1603
The Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program has requested experimental flow releases from Flaming Gorge Dam for (1) elevated summer base flows to promote larval endangered Colorado pikeminnow, and (2) midsummer spike flows to disadvantage spawning invasive smallmouth bass. This white paper explores the effects of these proposed flow...
Monitoring Least Bitterns (Ixobrychis exilis) in Vermont: Detection probability and occupancy modeling
Aswini Cherukuri, Allan Strong, Therese M. Donovan
2018, Northeastern Naturalist (25) 56-71
Ixobrychus exillis (Least Bittern) is listed as a species of high concern in the North American Waterbird Conservation Plan and is a US Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird species of conservation concern in the Northeast. Little is known about the population of Least Bitterns in the Northeast because of their...
Distinguishing values from science in decision making: Setting harvest quotas for mountain lions in Montana
Michael S. Mitchell, Hilary Cooley, Justin A. Gude, Jay Kolbe, J. Joshua Nowak, Kelly M. Proffitt, Sarah N. Sells, Mike Thompson
2018, Wildlife Society Bulletin (42) 13-21
The relative roles of science and human values can be difficult to distinguish when informal processes are used to make complex and contentious decisions in wildlife management. Structured Decision Making (SDM) offers a formal process for making such decisions, where scientific results and concepts can be disentangled from the values...
Rearing environment influences boldness and prey acquisition behavior, and brain and lens development of bull trout
William R. Brignon, Martin M. Pike, Lars O.E. Ebbesson, Howard A. Schaller, James T. Peterson, Carl B. Schreck
2018, Environmental Biology of Fishes (101) 383-401
Animals reared in barren captive environments exhibit different developmental trajectories and behaviors than wild counterparts. Hence, the captive phenotypes may influence the success of reintroduction and recovery programs for threatened and endangered species. We collected wild bull trout embryos from the Metolius River Basin, Oregon and reared them in differing...
Efficacy of otoliths and first dorsal spines for preliminary age and growth determination in Atlantic Tripletails
Russell T. Parr, Robert B. Bringolf, Cecil A. Jennings
2018, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (10) 71-79
The Atlantic Tripletail Lobotes surinamensis is a popular sport fish for which age and growth data are scarce in general and nonexistent for Georgia (GA), USA, waters. These data are necessary to ensure that management regulations are adequate to protect this species, especially given its popularity as a sport fish. We evaluated...
