Forested floristic quality index: An assessment tool for forested wetland habitats using the quality and quantity of woody vegetation at Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) vegetation monitoring stations
William B. Wood, Gary P. Shaffer, Jenneke M. Visser, Ken W. Krauss, Sarai C. Piazza, Leigh Anne Sharp, Kari F. Cretini
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1002
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana and the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, developed the Forested Floristic Quality Index (FFQI) for the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS). The FFQI will help evaluate forested wetland sites on a continuum from...
Electrical resistivity investigation of fluvial geomorphology to evaluate potential seepage conduits to agricultural lands along the San Joaquin River, Merced County, California, 2012–13
Krishangi D. Groover, Matthew K. Burgess, James F. Howle, Steven P. Phillips
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5172
Increased flows in the San Joaquin River, part of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program, are designed to help restore fish populations. However, increased seepage losses could result from these higher restoration flows, which could exacerbate existing drainage problems in neighboring agricultural lands and potentially damage crops. Channel deposits of...
Stratigraphic cross sections of the Niobrara interval of the Cody Shale and associated rocks in the Wind River Basin, central Wyoming
Thomas M. Finn
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3370
The Wind River Basin in Wyoming is one of many structural and sedimentary basins that formed in the Rocky Mountain foreland during the Laramide orogeny. The basin is nearly 200 miles long, 70 miles wide, and encompasses about 7,400 square miles in central Wyoming. The basin is bounded by the...
The first 100 years of pollen analysis
Kevin J. Edwards, Ralph Fyfe, Stephen T. Jackson
2017, Nature Plants (3)
In 1916, Swedish geologist Ernst Jakob Lennart von Post delivered a provocative lecture in Oslo, Norway, advocating the use of pollen grains in bog sediments as indicators of past vegetation and climate. The lecture spawned many applications and represents a landmark in multidisciplinary science....
Comparing stream-specific to generalized temperature models to guide salmonid management in a changing climate
Andrew K. Carlson, William W. Taylor, Kelsey M. Hartikainen, Dana M. Infante, Beard Jr., Abigail Lynch
2017, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (2) 443-462
Global climate change is predicted to increase air and stream temperatures and alter thermal habitat suitability for growth and survival of coldwater fishes, including brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In a changing climate, accurate stream temperature modeling is increasingly important for sustainable...
DOI/GTN-P Climate and active-layer data acquired in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 1998–2015
Frank E. Urban, Gary D. Clow
2017, Data Series 1021
This report provides data collected by the climate monitoring array of the U.S. Department of the Interior on Federal lands in Arctic Alaska over the period August 1998 to July 2015; this array is part of the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (DOI/GTN-P). In addition to presenting data, this report...
Updated operational protocols for the U.S. Geological Survey Precipitation Chemistry Quality Assurance Project in support of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program
Gregory A. Wetherbee, RoseAnn Martin
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1213
The U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Quality Systems operates the Precipitation Chemistry Quality Assurance Project (PCQA) for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) and National Atmospheric Deposition Program/Mercury Deposition Network (NADP/MDN). Since 1978, various programs have been implemented by the PCQA to estimate data variability and bias contributed...
Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana from the August 2016 flood
Kara M. Watson, John B. Storm, Brian K. Breaker, Claire E. Rose
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5005
Heavy rainfall occurred across Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi in August 2016 as a result of a slow-moving area of low pressure and a high amount of atmospheric moisture. The storm caused major flooding in the southern portions of Louisiana including areas surrounding Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Flooding occurred along the...
A method to assess the population-level consequences of wind energy facilities on bird and bat species
James E. Diffendorfer, Julie A. Beston, Matthew D. Merrill, Jessica C. Stanton, M.D. Corum, Scott R. Loss, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Douglas H. Johnson, Richard A. Erickson, Kevin W. Heist
2017, Book chapter, Wind energy and wildlife interactions
For this study, a methodology was developed for assessing impacts of wind energy generation on populations of birds and bats at regional to national scales. The approach combines existing methods in applied ecology for prioritizing species in terms of their potential risk from wind energy facilities and estimating impacts of...
Groundwater-quality data for the Madera/Chowchilla–Kings shallow aquifer study unit, 2013–14: Results from the California GAMA Program
Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram
2017, Data Series 1019
Groundwater quality in the 2,390-square-mile Madera/Chowchilla–Kings Shallow Aquifer study unit was investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey from August 2013 to April 2014 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program’s Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide a statistically...
Nonlethal laparoscopic detection of intersex (testicular oocytes) in largemouthbass (Micropterus salmoides) and smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
Vicki S. Blazer, Alexander H Macleod, Mark A Matsche, Lance T Yonkos
2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (36) 1924-1933
Intersex in wild fish populations has received considerable attention in the scientific literature and public media. Conventional detection of testicular oocytes (TO), the presence of immature oocytes within testis of male fish, employs transverse sectioning of excised testis and is lethal. This present study used a non-lethal laparoscopic technique to...
Detecting Renibacterium salmoninarum in wild brown trout by use of multiple organ samples and diagnostic methods
S. Guomundsdottir, Lynn M. Applegate, I.O. Arnason, A. Kristmundsson, Maureen K. Purcell, Diane G. Elliott
2017, Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists (37) 31-40
Renibacterium salmoninarum, the causative agent of salmonid bacterial kidney disease (BKD), is endemic in many wild trout species in northerly regions. The aim of the present study was to determine the optimal R. salmoninarum sampling/testing strategy for wild brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) populations in Iceland. Fish were netted in...
The Wetland and Aquatic Research Center strategic science plan
U.S. Geological Survey
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1193
IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) has two primary locations (Gainesville, Florida, and Lafayette, Louisiana) and field stations throughout the southeastern United States and Caribbean. WARC’s roots are in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Park Service research units that were brought into...
Resampling of spatially correlated data with preferential sampling for the estimation of frequency distributions and semivariograms
Ricardo A. Olea
2017, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (31) 481-491
Spatial data are commonly minimal and may have been collected in the process of confirming the profitability of a mining venture or investigating a contaminated site. In such situations, it is common to have measurements preferentially taken in the most critical areas (sweet spots, allegedly contaminated areas), thus conditionally biasing...
In situ assessment of lampricide toxicity to age-0 lake sturgeon
Lisa M. O’Connor, Thomas C. Pratt, Todd B. Steeves, Brian Stephens, Michael A. Boogaard, Cheryl Kaye
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 189-198
The lampricides 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2′, 5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide (niclosamide) are used to control sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), an invasive species in the Great Lakes. Age-0 lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), a species of conservationconcern, share similar stream habitats with larval sea lampreys and these streams can be...
Assessment of transfer patterns and origins of in-channel wood in large rivers using repeated field surveys and wood characterisation (the Isère River upstream of Pontcharra, France)
Herve Piegay, Bertrand Moulin, Cliff R. Hupp
2017, Geomorphology (279) 27-43
When and whence does wood enter large mountain alluvial rivers? How stable through time are characteristics and quantities of wood deposited in a reach? These simple questions related to the complex practice of wood budgeting are explored on the Isère...
Human health screening and public health significance of contaminants of emerging concern detected in public water supplies
Robert Benson, Octavia D. Conerly, William Sander, Angela L. Batt, J. Scott Boone, Edward T. Furlong, Susan T. Glassmeyer, Dana W. Kolpin, Heath Mash
2017, Science of Total Environment (579) 1643-1648
The source water and treated drinking water from twenty five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) across the United States were sampled in 2010–2012. Samples were analyzed for 247 contaminants using 15 chemical and microbiological methods. Most of these contaminants are not regulated currently either in drinking water or in discharges...
The role of initial coherence and path materials in the dynamics of three rock avalanche case histories
Jordan Aaron, Scott McDougall, Jeffrey R. Moore, Jeffrey A. Coe, Oldrich Hungr
2017, Geoenvironmental Disasters (4)
BackgroundRock avalanches are flow-like landslides that can travel at extremely rapid velocities and impact surprisingly large areas. The mechanisms that lead to the unexpected mobility of these flows are unknown and debated. Mechanisms proposed in the literature can be broadly classified into those that rely...
Paleoseismic potential of sublacustrine landslide records in a high-seismicity setting (south-central Alaska)
Nore Praet, Jasper Moernaut, Maarten Van Daele, Evelien Boes, Peter J. Haeussler, Michael Strupler, Sabine Schmidt, Michael G. Loso, Marc De Batist
2017, Marine Geology (384) 103-119
Sublacustrine landslide stratigraphy is considered useful for quantitative paleoseismology in low-seismicity settings. However, as the recharging of underwater slopes with sediments is one of the factors that governs the recurrence of slope failures, it is not clear if landslide deposits can provide continuous paleoseismic records in settings of frequent strong shaking. To...
A discrete stage-structured model of California newt population dynamics during a period of drought
Marjorie T. Jones, William R. Milligan, Lee B. Kats, Thomas L. Vandergon, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Robert N. Fisher, Courtney L. Davis, Timothy A. Lucas
2017, Journal of Theoretical Biology (414) 245-253
We introduce a mathematical model for studying the population dynamics under drought of the California newt (Taricha torosa), a species of special concern in the state of California. Since 2012, California has experienced a record-setting drought, and multiple studies predict drought conditions currently underway will persist and even increase in...
Oxygen isotope geochemistry of mafic phenocrysts in primitive mafic lavas from the southernmost Cascade Range, California
Sandra J. Underwood, Michael A. Clynne
2017, American Mineralogist (102) 251-261
Previously reported whole-rock δ18O values (5.6–7.8‰) for primitive quaternary mafic lavas from the southernmost Cascades (SMC) are often elevated (up to 1‰) relative to δ18O values expected for mafic magmas in equilibrium with mantle peridotite. Olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase crystals were separated from 29 geochemically well-characterized mafic lavas for δ18O...
Confirmation of the southwest continuation of the Cat Square terrane, southern Appalachian Inner Piedmont, with implications for middle Paleozoic collisional orogenesis
Matthew T. Huebner, Robert D. Hatcher Jr., Arthur J. Merschat
2017, American Journal of Science (317) 95-176
Detailed geologic mapping, U-Pb zircon geochronology and whole-rock geochemical analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis that the southwestern extent of the Cat Square terrane continues from the northern Inner Piedmont (western Carolinas) into central Georgia. Geologic mapping revealed the Jackson Lake fault, a ∼15 m-thick, steeply dipping sillimanite-grade...
Multi-year microbial source tracking study characterizing fecal contamination in an urban watershed
Rebecca N. Bushon, Amie M.G. Brady, Eric D. Christensen, Erin A. Stelzer
2017, Water Environment Research (89) 127-143
Microbiological and hydrological data were used to rank tributary stream contributions of bacteria to the Little Blue River in Independence, Missouri. Concentrations, loadings and yields of E. coli and microbial source tracking (MST) markers, were characterized during base flow and storm events in five subbasins within Independence, as well as...
Variability of runoff-based drought conditions in the conterminous United States
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Samuel H. Austin
2017, International Journal of Climatology (37) 1014-1021
In this study, a monthly water-balance model is used to simulate monthly runoff for 2109 hydrologic units (HUs) in the conterminous United States (CONUS) for water-years 1901 through 2014. The monthly runoff time series for each HU were smoothed with a 3-month moving average, and then the 3-month moving-average runoff...
Is “morphodynamic equilibrium” an oxymoron?
Zeng Zhou, Giovanni Coco, Ian Townend, Maitane Olabarrieta, Mick van der Wegen, Zheng Gong, Andrea D’Alpaos, Shu Gao, Bruce E. Jaffe, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Qing He, Yaping Wang, Stefano Lanzoni, Zhengbing Wang, Han Winterwerp, Changkuan Zhang
2017, Earth-Science Reviews (165) 257-267
Morphodynamic equilibrium is a widely adopted yet elusive concept in the field of geomorphology of coasts, rivers and estuaries. Based on the Exner equation, an expression of mass conservation of sediment, we distinguish three types of equilibrium defined as static and dynamic, of which two different types exist. Other expressions...
