Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions?
Matthew J. Cohen, Irena F. Creed, Laurie C. Alexander, Nandita Basu, Aram J.K. Calhoun, Christopher Craft, Ellen D’Amico, Edward S. DeKeyser, Laurie Fowler, Heather E. Golden, James W. Jawitz, Peter Kalla, L. Katherine Kirkman, Charles R. Lane, Megan Lang, Scott G. Leibowitz, David Bruce Lewis, John Marton, Daniel L. McLaughlin, David M. Mushet, Hadas Raanan-Kiperwas, Mark C. Rains, Lora Smith, Susan C. Walls
2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), those surrounded by uplands, exchange materials, energy, and organisms with other elements in hydrological and habitat networks, contributing to landscape functions, such as flow generation, nutrient and sediment retention, and biodiversity support. GIWs constitute most of the wetlands in many North American landscapes, provide a disproportionately...
Avian disease and mosquito vectors in the Kahuku unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and Ka`u Forest Reserve
Jacqueline Gaudioso, Dennis A. LaPointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Ariel N. Egan
2015, Technical Report HCSU-070
While avian disease has been well-studied in windward forests of Hawai‘i Island, there have been few studies in leeward Ka‘u. We surveyed four altitudinal sites ranging from 1,200 to 2,200 m asl in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (Kahuku) and three altitudinal sites ranging from 1,200 to...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2013 through September 2014) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1223
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize...
Methods for estimating flow-duration curve and low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged locations on small streams in Minnesota
Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, David L. Lorenz, Christopher A. Sanocki, Christiana R. Czuba
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5170
Knowledge of the magnitude and frequency of low flows in streams, which are flows in a stream during prolonged dry weather, is fundamental for water-supply planning and design; waste-load allocation; reservoir storage design; and maintenance of water quality and quantity for irrigation, recreation, and wildlife conservation. This report presents the...
Back-Island and Open-Ocean Shorelines, and Sand Areas of the Undeveloped Areas of New Jersey Barrier Islands, March 9, 1991, to July 30, 2013
Kristy K. Guy
2015, Data Series 960
Assessing the physical change to shorelines and wetlands is critical for determining the resiliency of wetland systems that protect adjacent habitat and communities. The wetland and back-barrier shorelines of the New Jersey barrier islands were changed by wave action and storm surge from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The U.S. Geological...
Taxonomic characterization of honey bee (Apis mellifera) pollen foraging based on non-overlapping paired-end sequencing of nuclear ribosomal loci
Robert S. Cornman, Clint Otto, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Jeffery S Pettis
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-26
Identifying plant taxa that honey bees (Apis mellifera) forage upon is of great apicultural interest, but traditional methods are labor intensive and may lack resolution. Here we evaluate a high-throughput genetic barcoding approach to characterize trap-collected pollen from multiple North Dakota apiaries across multiple years. We used the Illumina MiSeq...
Chemical concentrations and instantaneous loads, Green River to the Lower Duwamish Waterway near Seattle, Washington, 2013–15
Kathleen E. Conn, Robert W. Black, Ann M. Vanderpool-Kimura, James R. Foreman, Norman T. Peterson, Craig A. Senter, Stephen K. Sissel
2015, Data Series 973
In November 2013, U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging equipment was installed at a historical water-quality station on the Duwamish River, Washington, within the tidal influence at river kilometer 16.7 (U.S. Geological Survey site 12113390; Duwamish River at Golf Course at Tukwila, WA). Publicly available, real-time continuous data includes river streamflow, stream...
An apparatus reconstruction of the conodont Caenodontus serrulatus Behnken 1975
Merlynd K. Nestell, Bruce R. Wardlaw
2015, Micropaleontology (v. 61) 293-300
The conodont species Caenodontus serrulatus Behnken is a rare coniform element first described in 1975 from Guadalupian strata exposed in the Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains of West Texas. Because it is rare, coniform, and occurs long after most coniform elements supposedly disappeared, it has been hauntingly mysterious. Based on new...
Hydrogeology of the Owego-Apalachin Elementary School geothermal fields, Tioga County, New York
John H. Williams, William M. Kappel
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5155
The hydrogeology of the Owego-Apalachin Elementary School geothermal fields, which penetrate saline water and methane in fractured upper Devonian age bedrock in the Owego Creek valley, south-central New York, was characterized through the analysis of drilling and geophysical logs, water-level monitoring data, and specific-depth water samples. Hydrogeologic insights gained during...
Evaluating connection of aquifers to springs and streams, Great Basin National Park and vicinity, Nevada
David E. Prudic, Donald S. Sweetkind, Tracie R. Jackson, K. Elaine Dotson, Russell W. Plume, Christine E. Hatch, Keith J. Halford
2015, Professional Paper 1819
Federal agencies that oversee land management for much of the Snake Range in eastern Nevada, including the management of Great Basin National Park by the National Park Service, need to understand the potential extent of adverse effects to federally managed lands from nearby groundwater development. As a result, this study...
Benthic response to water quality and biotic pressures in lower south San Francisco Bay, Alviso Slough, and Coyote Creek
Francis Parchaso, Janet K. Thompson, Jeff S. Crauder, Rosa I. Anduaga, Sarah A. Pearson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1234
Benthic invertebrate communities are monitored because the composition of those communities can effect and be affected by the water quality of an aquatic system. Benthic communities use and sometimes regulate the cycling of essential elements (for example, carbon). Benthic invertebrate taxa may also indicate acutely and chronically stressful environments...
Surficial geology and shaded seafloor relief of Georges Bank, Fundian Channel and Northeast Channel, Gulf of Maine
B.J. Todd, Page C. Valentine
2015, Report, Geological Survey of Canada Open File series
Georges Bank is a shallow submarine bank that lies south of Nova Scotia and east of Cape Cod and bounds the seaward side of the Gulf of Maine. The international boundary between Canada and the United States transects the bank, and the eastern part of the bank (~7500 square kilometres)...
Estimating natural recharge in San Gorgonio Pass watersheds, California, 1913–2012
Joseph Hevesi, Allen H. Christensen
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5122
A daily precipitation-runoff model was developed to estimate spatially and temporally distributed recharge for groundwater basins in the San Gorgonio Pass area, southern California. The recharge estimates are needed to define transient boundary conditions for a groundwater-flow model being developed to evaluate the effects of pumping and climate on...
Establishing conservation baselines with dynamic distribution models for bat populations facing imminent decline
Thomas J. Rodhouse, Patricia C. Ormsbee, Kathryn M. Irvine, Lee A. Vierling, Joseph M. Szewczak, Kerri T. Vierling
2015, Diversity and Distributions (21) 1401-1413
Aim Bat mortality rates from white-nose syndrome and wind power development are unprecedented. Cryptic and wide-ranging behaviours of bats make them difficult to survey, and population estimation is often intractable. We advance a model-based framework for making spatially explicit predictions about summertime distributions of bats from capture and acoustic surveys. Motivated...
The U.S. Geological Survey coal quality (COALQUAL) database version 3.0
Curtis A. Palmer, Charles L. Oman, Andy J. Park, James A. Luppens
2015, Data Series 975
Since the mid-1970s, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has maintained a coal quality database of national scope named USCHEM, which currently contains data for over 13,000 samples. A subset of the USCHEM database called COALQUAL Version 1.3 was initially published in 1994 and was followed by Version 2.0 in 1997....
Simulated responses of streams and ponds to groundwater withdrawals and wastewater return flows in southeastern Massachusetts
Carl S. Carlson, Donald A. Walter, Jeffrey R. Barbaro
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5168
Water use, such as withdrawals, wastewater return flows, and interbasin transfers, can alter streamflow regimes, water quality, and the integrity of aquatic habitat and affect the availability of water for human and ecosystem needs. To provide the information needed to determine alteration of streamflows and pond water levels in southeastern...
Regional potentiometric surface of the Ozark aquifer in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma, November 2014–January 2015
Anna M. Nottmeier
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3348
The Ozark aquifer, within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (herein referred to as the “Ozark system”), is the primary groundwater source in the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province (herein referred to as the “Ozark Plateaus”) of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Groundwater from the Ozark system has historically been an important...
U.S. Geological Survey assessment of reserve growth outside of the United States
Timothy R. Klett, Troy A. Cook, Ronald R. Charpentier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5091
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated volumes of potential additions to oil and gas reserves for the United States by reserve growth in discovered accumulations. These volumes were derived by using a new methodology developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and reviewed by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Committee on...
A hidden view of wildlife conservation: How camera traps aid science, research and management
Allan F. O’Connell
2015, The Wildlife Professional (9) 56-59
Florida panthers are among the world’s most endangered — and elusive — animals. For approximately four decades, scientists have been researching this small population of panthers that inhabit the dense forests and swamps of south Florida. Because of their wide habitat range along with an absence of clear visual features,...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2014
Miya N. Barr
2015, Data Series 971
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2014 water year (October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014), data were collected at...
Beyond annual streamflow reconstructions for the Upper Colorado River Basin: a paleo-water-balance approach
Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Gregory J. McCabe, Connie A. Woodhouse
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 9763-9774
In this paper, we present a methodology to use annual tree-ring chronologies and a monthly water balance model to generate annual reconstructions of water balance variables (e.g., potential evapotrans- piration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), snow water equivalent (SWE), soil moisture storage (SMS), and runoff (R)). The method involves resampling monthly...
Monitoring of vegetation response to elk population and habitat management in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2008–14
Linda Zeigenfuss, Therese L. Johnson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1216
Since 2008, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado has been implementing an elk and vegetation management plan with the goal of managing elk populations and their habitats to improve the condition of key vegetation communities on elk winter range. Management actions that have been taken thus far include small reductions...
Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP): origins and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics
P.A. Baker, S.C. Fritz, C.G. Silva, C.A. Rigsby, M.L. Absy, R.P. Almeida, Maria C. Caputo, C.M. Chiessi, F.W. Cruz, C.W. Dick, S.J. Feakins, J. Figueiredo, K.H. Freeman, C. Hoorn, C.A. Jaramillo, A. Kern, E.M. Latrubesse, M.P. Ledru, A. Marzoli, A. Myrbo, A. Noren, W.E. Piller, M.I.F. Ramos, C.C. Ribas, R. Trinadade, A.J. West, I. Wahnfried, Debra A. Willard
2015, Scientific Drilling (20) 41-49
This article presents the scientific rationale for an ambitious ICDP drilling project to continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in four different sedimentary basins that transect the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The goals of this project are to document the evolution...
Upstream factors affecting Tualatin River algae—Tracking the 2008 Anabaena algae bloom to Wapato Lake, Oregon
Stewart A. Rounds, Kurt D. Carpenter, Kristel J. Fesler, Jessica L. Dorsey
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5178
Significant Findings A large bloom that included floating mats of the blue-green algae Anabaena flos-aquae occurred in the lower 20 miles of the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon between July 7 and July 17, 2008. The floating bloom was deemed a hazard to recreational users of the river due to the potential...
csa2sac—A program for computing discharge from continuous slope-area stage data
Stephen M. Wiele
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1229
Introduction Continuous Slope-Area (CSA) gages were developed by the Arizona Water Science Center to enable the estimation of hydrographs when direct measurements of discharge cannot be made (Smith and others, 2010). CSA gages extend standard U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) methods for determining peak discharges to mid and high flows over a...
