Evaluating the impact of irrigation on surface water – groundwater interaction and stream temperature in an agricultural watershed
Hedeff I. Essaid, Rodney R. Caldwell
2017, Science of the Total Environment (599-600) 581-596
Changes in groundwater discharge to streams caused by irrigation practices can influence stream temperature. Observations along two currently flood-irrigated reaches in the 640-square-kilometer upper Smith River watershed, an important agricultural and recreational fishing area in west-central Montana, showed a downstream temperature decrease resulting from groundwater discharge to the stream. A...
Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems
Erick R. Burns, Yonghui Zhu, Hongbin Zhan, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jason B. Dunham
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 3341-3351
Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and temperature...
Map projections and the Internet
Fritz Kessler, Sarah E. Battersby, Michael P. Finn, Keith Clarke
2017, Book chapter, Choosing a map projection
The field of map projections can be described as mathematical, static, and challenging. However, this description is evolving in concert with the development of the Internet. The Internet has enabled new outlets for software applications, learning, and interaction with and about map projections . This chapter examines specific ways in...
Estimates of immediate effects on world markets of a hypothetical disruption to Russia’s supply of six mineral commodities
Elena Safirova, James J. Barry, Sinan Hastorun, Grecia R. Matos, Alberto Alexander Perez, George M. Bedinger, E. Lee Bray, Stephen M. Jasinski, Peter H. Kuck, Patricia J. Loferski
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1023
The potential immediate effects of a hypothetical shock to Russia’s supply of selected mineral commodities on the world market and on individual countries were determined and monetized (in 2014 U.S. dollars). The mineral commodities considered were aluminum (refined primary), nickel (refined primary), palladium (refined) and platinum (refined), potash, and titanium...
Satellite-based water use dynamics using historical Landsat data (1984–2014) in the southwestern United States
Gabriel B. Senay, Matthew Schauer, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Ramesh Singh
2017, Remote Sensing of Environment (202) 98-112
Remote sensing-based field-scale evapotranspiration (ET) maps are useful for characterizing water use patterns and assessing crop performance. The relative impact of climate variability and water management decisions are better studied and quantified using historical data that are derived using a set of consistent datasets and methodology. Historical (1984–2014) Landsat-based ET maps were generated for...
Occupancy and abundance of Eleutherodactylus frogs in coffee plantations in Puerto Rico
Kelen D. Monroe, Jaime A. Collazo, Krishna Pacifici, Brian J. Reich, Alberto R. Puente-Rolon, Adam J. Terando
2017, Herpetologica (73) 297-306
Shaded coffee plantations are of conservation value for many taxa, particularly for resident avifauna in the face of extensive landscape changes. Yet, little is known about the value of coffee plantations for amphibians because there are scant demographic data to index their value among species with different habitat preferences. We...
Estimating evaporative fraction from readily obtainable variables in mangrove forests of the Everglades, U.S.A.
Ali Levent Yagci, Joseph A. Santanello, John Jones, Jordan G. Barr
2017, International Journal of Remote Sensing (38) 3981-4007
A remote-sensing-based model to estimate evaporative fraction (EF) – the ratio of latent heat (LE; energy equivalent of evapotranspiration –ET–) to total available energy – from easily obtainable remotely-sensed and meteorological parameters is presented. This research specifically addresses the shortcomings of existing ET retrieval methods such as calibration requirements of...
Effect of salinity on mercury methylating benthic microbes and their activities in Great Salt Lake, Utah
Eric S. Boyd, Ri-Qing Yu, Tamar Barkay, Trinity L. Hamilton, Bonnie K. Baxter, David L. Naftz, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale
2017, Science of the Total Environment (581-582) 495-506
Surface water and biota from Great Salt Lake (GSL) contain some of the highest documented concentrations of total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in the United States. In order to identify potential biological sources of MeHg and controls on its production in this ecosystem, THg and MeHg concentrations, rates of...
Is GPS telemetry location error screening beneficial?
Kirsten E. Ironside, David J. Mattson, Terence R. Arundel, Jered R. Hansen
2017, Wildlife Biology
The accuracy of global positioning system (GPS) locations obtained from study animals tagged with GPS monitoring devices has been a concern as to the degree it influences assessments of movement patterns, space use, and resource selection estimates. Many methods have been proposed for screening data to retain the most accurate...
A hierarchical model for estimating the spatial distribution and abundance of animals detected by continuous-time recorders
Robert Dorazio, K. Ullas Karanth
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-18
MotivationSeveral spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models have been developed to estimate animal abundance by analyzing the detections of individuals in a spatial array of traps. Most of these models do not use the actual dates and times of detection, even though this information is readily available when using...
Predicting wading bird and aquatic faunal responses to ecosystem restoration scenarios
James M. Beerens, Joel C. Trexler, Christopher P. Catano
2017, Restoration Ecology (25) S86-S98
In large-scale conservation decisions, scenario planning identifies key uncertainties of ecosystem function linked to ecological drivers affected by management, incorporates ecological feedbacks, and scales up to answer questions robust to alternative futures. Wetland restoration planning requires an understanding of how proposed changes in surface hydrology, water storage, and landscape connectivity...
Local and cross-seasonal associations of climate and land use with abundance of monarch butterflies Danaus plexippus
Sarah P. Saunders, Leslie Ries, Karen S. Oberhasuer, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Elise F. Zipkin
2017, Ecography (40) 001-012
Quantifying how climate and land use factors drive population dynamics at regional scales is complex because it depends on the extent of spatial and temporal synchrony among local populations, and the integration of population processes throughout a species’ annual cycle. We modeled weekly, site-specific summer abundance (1994–2013) of monarch butterflies...
Characterization of the juvenile green turtle (Chelonia mydas) microbiome throughout an ontogenetic shift from pelagic to neritic habitats
James T. Price, Frank V. Paladino, Margaret M. Lamont, Blair E. Witherington, Scott T. Bates, Tanya Soule
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-13
The gut microbiome of herbivorous animals consists of organisms that efficiently digest the structural carbohydrates of ingested plant material. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas) provide an interesting model of change in these microbial communities because they undergo a pronounced shift from a surface-pelagic distribution and omnivorous diet to a neritic distribution...
Performance and retention of lightweight satellite radio tags applied to the ears of polar bears (Ursus maritimus)
Oystein Wiig, Erik W. Born, Kristin L. Laidre, Rune Dietz, Mikkel Villum Jensen, George M. Durner, Anthony M. Pagano, Eric V. Regehr, Michelle St. Martin, Stephen N. Atkinson, Markus Dyck
2017, Animal Biotelemetry (5) 1-11
BackgroundSatellite telemetry studies provide information that is critical to the conservation and management of species affected by ecological change. Here we report on the performance and retention of two types (SPOT-227 and SPOT-305A) of ear-mounted Argos-linked satellite transmitters (i.e., platform transmitter terminal, or PTT) deployed...
Habitat degradation affects the summer activity of polar bears
Jasmine V. Ware, Karyn D. Rode, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, David C. Douglas, Ryan H. Wilson, Eric V. Regehr, Steven C. Amstrup, George M. Durner, Anthony M. Pagano, Jay Olson, Charles T. Robbins, Heiko T Jansen
2017, Oecologia (184) 87-99
Understanding behavioral responses of species to environmental change is critical to forecasting population-level effects. Although climate change is significantly impacting species’ distributions, few studies have examined associated changes in behavior. Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) subpopulations have varied in their near-term responses to sea ice decline. We examined behavioral...
Arsenic and mercury contamination related to historical goldmining in the Sierra Nevada, California
Charles N. Alpers
2017, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (17) 92-100
Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring constituent in low-sulphide gold-quartz vein deposits, the dominant deposit type for lode mines in the Sierra Nevada Foothills (SNFH) gold (Au) province of California. Concentrations of naturally occurring mercury (Hg) in the SNFH Au province are low, but extensive use...
Estimating loss of Brucella abortus antibodies from age-specific serological data in elk
J. A. Benavides, D. Caillaud, B. M. Scurlock, E. J. Maichak, W.H. Edwards, Paul C. Cross
2017, EcoHealth (14) 234-243
Serological data are one of the primary sources of information for disease monitoring in wildlife. However, the duration of the seropositive status of exposed individuals is almost always unknown for many free-ranging host species. Directly estimating rates of antibody loss typically requires difficult longitudinal sampling of individuals following seroconversion. Instead,...
Long-term and widespread changes in agricultural practices influence ring-necked pheasant abundance in California
Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Kristy B. Howe, Joseph P. Fleskes, Ian Dwight, Daniel P. Connelly, Matt G. Meshriy, Scott C. Gardner
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 2546-2559
Declines in bird populations in agricultural regions of North America and Europe have been attributed to agricultural industrialization, increases in use of agrochemical application, and increased predation related to habitat modification. Based on count data compiled from Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) from 1974 to 2012, Christmas Bird Count (CBC) collected...
Upper thermal limits of growth in brook trout and their relationship to stress physiology
Joseph G Chadwick, Stephen D. McCormick
2017, Journal of Experimental Biology (220) 3976-3987
Despite the threat of climate change, the physiological mechanisms responsible for reduced performance at high temperatures remain unclear for most species. Elevated but sublethal temperatures may act via endocrine and cellular stress responses to limit performance in important life-history traits such as growth. Here, brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) subjected to...
U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, San Antonio, Texas, May 16–18, 2017
Eve L. Kuniansky, Lawrence E. Spangler, editor(s)
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5023
Introduction and AcknowledgmentsKarst aquifer systems are present throughout parts of the United States and some of its territories, and have developed in carbonate rocks (primarily limestone and dolomite) and evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, and halite) that span an interval of time encompassing more than 550 million years. The depositional environments, diagenetic...
Climatology and interannual variability of boreal spring wet season precipitation in the eastern Horn of Africa and implications for its recent decline
Brant Liebmann, Ileana Blade, Dave Allured, Xiao-Wei Quan, Chris Funk, Martin P Hoerling, Andrew Hoell, Peter Peterson, Wassila Mamadou Thiaw
2017, Journal of Climate (30) 3867-3886
The 1981–2014 climatology and variability of the March–May eastern Horn of Africa boreal spring wet season are examined using precipitation, upper- and lower-level winds, low-level specific humidity, and convective available potential energy (CAPE), with the...
Comparative cophylogenetics of Australian phabine pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) and their feather lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera)
Andrew D. Sweet, R. Terry Chesser, Kevin P. Johnson
2017, International Journal for Parasitology (47) 347-356
Host–parasite coevolutionary histories can differ among multiple groups of parasites associated with the same group of hosts. For example, parasitic wing and body lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) of New World pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) differ in their cophylogenetic patterns, with body lice exhibiting higher phylogenetic congruence with their hosts than...
Sources, composition and spatial distribution of marine debris along the Mediterranean coast of Israel
Galia Pasternak, Dov Zviely, Christine Ribic, Asaf Ariel, Ehud Spanier
2017, Marine Pollution Bulletin (114) 1036-1045
Marine debris (litter) is a complex problem that affects human activities and the marine environment worldwide. The Clean Coast Program in Israel has had some success in keeping most of the coasts clean most of the time, but without understanding the mechanisms of accumulation of marine debris on the coasts...
Using decision analysis to support proactive management of emerging infectious wildlife diseases
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Erin L. Muths, Rachel A. Katz, Stefano Canessa, M. J. Adams, Jennifer R. Ballard, Lee Berger, Cheryl J. Briggs, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, Matthew J. Gray, M. Camille Harris, Reid N. Harris, Blake R. Hossack, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Jonathan E. Kolby, Karen R. Lips, Robert E. Lovich, Hamish I. McCallum, Joseph R. Mendelson III, Priya Nanjappa, Deanna H. Olson, Jenny G. Powers, Katherine L. D. Richgels, Robin E. Russell, Benedikt R. Schmidt, Annemarieke Spitzen-van der Sluijs, Mary Kay Watry, Douglas C. Woodhams, C. LeAnn White
2017, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (15) 214-221
Despite calls for improved responses to emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, management is seldom considered until a disease has been detected in affected populations. Reactive approaches may limit the potential for control and increase total response costs. An alternative, proactive management framework can identify immediate actions that reduce future impacts...
Challenges for creating a site-specific groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central USA) from 1900 to 2010
Katherine J. Knierim, Anna M. Nottmeier, Scott C. Worland, Drew A. Westerman, Brian R. Clark
2017, Hydrogeology Journal (25) 1779-1793
Hydrologic budgets to determine groundwater availability are important tools for water-resource managers. One challenging component for developing hydrologic budgets is quantifying water use through time because historical and site-specific water-use data can be sparse or poorly documented. This research developed a groundwater-use record for the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (central...
