Field-trip guide for exploring pyroclastic density current deposits from the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington
Brittany D. Brand, Nicholas Pollock, Damiano Sarocchi, Josef Dufek, Michael A. Clynne
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-C
Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are one of the most dangerous phenomena associated with explosive volcanism. To help constrain damage potential, a combination of field studies, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling are used to establish conditions that influence PDC dynamics and depositional processes, including runout distance. The objective of this field...
Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union: Check-list of North American Birds
Terry Chesser, Kevin J Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, Kevin Winker
2017, The Auk (134) 751-773
This is the 17th supplement since publication of the 7th edition of the Check-list of North American Birds (American Ornithologists' Union [AOU] 1998). It summarizes decisions made between April 15, 2016, and April 15, 2017, by the AOS's Committee on Classification and Nomenclature—North and Middle America. The Committee has continued...
Baseline assessments for coral reef community structure and demographics on West Maui
Bernardo Vargas-Angel, Darla White, Curt D. Storlazzi, Tova Callender, Paulo Maurin
2017, Report
The coastal and upslope terrains of West Maui have had a long history of impacts owing to more than a century of human activities. Resource extraction, agriculture, as well as residential and resort development have caused land-based pollution that impairs water quality and adversely impact the adjacent marine ecosystem. Today,...
Acquisition of Borrelia burgdorferi infection by larval Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) associated with engorgement measures
Janelle Couret, M.C. Dyer, T.N. Mather, S. Han, J.I. Tsao, R.A. LeBrun, Howard S. Ginsberg
2017, Journal of Medical Entomology (54) 1055-1060
Measuring rates of acquisition of the Lyme disease pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, by the larval stage of Ixodes scapularis Say is a useful tool for xenodiagnoses of B. burgdorferi in vertebrate hosts. In the nymphal and adult stages of I. scapularis, the duration of attachment to hosts has been shown...
Hourly storm characteristics along the U.S. West Coast: Role of atmospheric rivers in extreme precipitation
Maryam A. Lamjiri, Michael D. Dettinger, F. Martin Ralph, B. Guan
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 7020-7028
Gridded hourly precipitation observations over the conterminous U.S., from 1948 to 2002, are analyzed to determine climatological characteristics of storm precipitation totals. Despite generally lower hourly intensities, precipitation totals along the U.S. West Coast (USWC) are comparable to those in southeast U.S. (SEUS). Storm durations, more so than hourly intensities,...
Determination of earthquake magnitude for early warning from the time-dependence of P-wave amplitudes
Shunta Noda, William L. Ellsworth
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1860-1867
We propose a method that utilizes the time dependence of P‐wave displacement amplitudes to estimate the final magnitude (M) for earthquake early warning (EEW) before the arrival of the peak amplitude. A relation between M and P‐wave displacement amplitude is employed for the method. Its value is set as a...
A spatiotemporal clustering model for the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3‐ETAS): Toward an operational earthquake forecast
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Morgan T. Page, Nicholas van der Elst, Thomas H. Jordan, Andrew J. Michael, Bruce E. Shaw, Maximillan J. Werner
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1049-1081
We, the ongoing Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities, present a spatiotemporal clustering model for the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3), with the goal being to represent aftershocks, induced seismicity, and otherwise triggered events as a potential basis for operational earthquake forecasting (OEF). Specifically, we add an epidemic‐type...
Adding a nitrogen footprint to Colorado State University’s sustainability plan
Jacob Kimiecik, Jill Baron, Timothy Weinmann, Emily Taylor
2017, Sustainability (10) 89-95
As a large land grant university with more than 32,000 students, Colorado State University has both on-campus non-agricultural and agricultural sources of nitrogen (N) released to the environment. We used the Nitrogen Footprint Tool to estimate the amount of N released from different sectors of the university for the CSU...
Life history constraints explain negative relationship between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon in lakes
Nicola Craig, Stuart E. Jones, Brian Weidel, Christopher T. Solomon
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 6201-6209
Resource availability constrains the life history strategies available to organisms and may thereby limit population growth rates and productivity. We used this conceptual framework to explore the mechanisms driving recently reported negative relationships between fish productivity and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in lakes. We studied populations of bluegill (Lepomis...
USGS Integration of New Science and Technology, Appendix A
Marybeth K. Brey, Brent C. Knights, Aaron R. Cupp, Jon Amberg, Duane Chapman, Robin D. Calfee, James J. Duncker
2017, Report, 2017 Asian Carp Monitoring and Response Plan
This product summarizes the USGS plans for integration of new science and technology into Asian Carp control efforts for 2017. This includes the 1) implementation and evaluation of new tactics and behavioral information for monitoring, surveillance, control and containment; 2) understanding behavior and reproduction of Asian carp in established and...
The difficulty of measuring the absorption of scattered sunlight by H2O and CO2 in volcanic plumes: A comment on Pering et al. “A novel and inexpensive method for measuring volcanic plume water fluxes at high temporal resolution,” Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 146
Christoph Kern
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
In their recent study, Pering et al. (2017) presented a novel method for measuring volcanic water vapor fluxes. Their method is based on imaging volcanic gas and aerosol plumes using a camera sensitive to the near-infrared (NIR) absorption of water vapor. The imaging data are empirically calibrated by comparison with...
Remote measurement of high preeruptive water vapor emissions at Sabancaya volcano by passive differential optical absorption spectroscopy
Christoph Kern, Pablo Masias, Fredy Apaza, Kevin Reath, Ulrich Platt
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (122) 3540-3564
Water (H2O) is by far the most abundant volcanic volatile species and plays a predominant role in driving volcanic eruptions. However, numerous difficulties associated with making accurate measurements of water vapor in volcanic plumes have limited their use as a diagnostic tool. Here we present the first detection of water...
Diel periodicity and chronology of upstream migration in yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata)
Joni L. Aldinger, Stuart A. Welsh
2017, Environmental Biology of Fishes (100) 829-838
Yellow-phase American eel (Anguilla rostrata) upstream migration is temporally punctuated, yet migration chronology within diel time periods is not well-understood. This study examined diel periodicity, chronology, and total length (TL) of six multi-day, high-count (285–1,868 eels) passage events of upstream migrant yellow-phase American eels at the Millville Dam...
How uncertainty analysis of streamflow data can reduce costs and promote robust decisions in water management applications
Hilary McMilan, Jan Seibert, Asgeir Petersen-Overleir, Michel Lang, Paul White, Ton Snelder, Kit Rutherford, Tobias Krueger, Robert R. Mason, Jr., Julie E. Kiang
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 5220-5228
Streamflow data are used for important environmental and economic decisions, such as specifying and regulating minimum flows, managing water supplies, and planning for flood hazards. Despite significant uncertainty in most flow data, the flow series for these applications are often communicated and used without uncertainty information. In this commentary, we...
Chemical and isotopic evidence for CO2 charge and migration within Bravo Dome and potential CO2 leakage to the southwest
Sean T. Brennan
2017, Energy Procedia (114) 2996-3005
Gas analyses from northeastern New Mexico, USA indicate that previous interpretations of the location of gas charge into the northeastern portion of Bravo Dome are likely correct, and that there may be multiple migration pathways from the same source for different regions in northeastern New Mexico....
Geomorphic processes responsible for decadal-scale arroyo changes, Rio Puerco, New Mexico
Allen C. Gellis, John G. Elliott, Milan Pavich
2017, Geological Society of America Bulletin (129) 1660-1680
The channel and arroyo of the Rio Puerco have continued to evolve since incision in the late 1800s. Resurveys of channel cross sections and aerial imagery over time indicate that between the 1970s and 1990s, the upstream reaches (type 1 morphology) of the Rio Puerco have continued to undergo construction...
Understanding and finding solutions to the problem of sedimentation in the National Wildlife Refuge System
Max Post van der Burg, Karen Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Josh D. Eash, Gregory A. Knutsen
2017, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (8) 648-660
The National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) is a collection of public lands maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for migratory birds and other wildlife. Wetlands on individual National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges) may be at risk of increased sedimentation because of land use...
A cosmopolitan late Ediacaran biotic assemblage: new fossils from Nevada and Namibia support a global biostratigraphic link
E. F. Smith, L. L. Nelson, S. M. Tweedt, H. Zeng, Jeremiah B. Workman
2017, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (284) 1-10
Owing to the lack of temporally well-constrained Ediacaran fossil localities containing overlapping biotic assemblages, it has remained uncertain if the latest Ediacaran (ca 550–541 Ma) assemblages reflect systematic biological turnover or environmental, taphonomic or biogeographic biases. Here, we report new latest Ediacaran fossil discoveries from the lower member of the Wood...
Numerical simulations of sand production in interbedded hydrate-bearing sediments during depressurization
Shun Uchida, Jeen-Shang Lin, Evgeniy Myshakin, Yongkoo Seol, Timothy S. Collett, Ray Boswell
2017, Conference Paper, Proceeding of the 9th International Conference on Gas Hydrates
Geomechanical behavior of hydrate-bearing sediments during gas production is complex, involving changes in hydrate-dependent mechanical properties. When interbedded clay layers are present, the complexity is more pronounced because hydrate dissociation tends to occur preferentially in the sediments adjacent to the clay layers due to clay layers acting as a heat...
An “EAR” on environmental surveillance and monitoring: A case study on the use of Exposure–Activity Ratios (EARs) to prioritize sites, chemicals, and bioactivities of concern in Great Lakes waters
Brett R. Blackwell, Gerald T. Ankley, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Kieth A. Houck, Richard S. Judson, Shibin Li, Matthew T. Martin, Elizabeth Murphy, Anthony L. Schroeder, Edwin R. Smith, Joe Swintek, Daniel L. Villeneuve
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 8713-8724
Current environmental monitoring approaches focus primarily on chemical occurrence. However, based on concentration alone, it can be difficult to identify which compounds may be of toxicological concern and should be prioritized for further monitoring, in-depth testing, or management. This can be problematic because toxicological characterization is lacking for many emerging...
Habitat associations of juvenile Burbot in a tributary of the Kootenai River
Zachary S. Beard, Michael C. Quist, Ryan S. Hardy, Tyler J. Ross
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 1008-1015
Burbot Lota lota in the lower Kootenai River, Idaho, have been the focus of extensive conservation efforts, particularly conservation aquaculture. One of the primary management strategies has been the release of Burbot into small tributaries in the Kootenai River basin, such as Deep Creek. Since 2012, approximately 12,000 juvenile Burbot have been...
Estimating ages of Utah chubs by use of pectoral fin rays, otoliths, and scales
Kayla M Griffin, Zachary S. Beard, John M. Flinders, Michael C. Quist
2017, Western North American Naturalist (77) 189-194
Utah chub Gila atraria is native to the Upper Snake River system in Wyoming and Idaho and to the Lake Bonneville Basin in Utah and southeastern Idaho. However, the Utah chub has been introduced into many other waterbodies in the western United States, where it competes with ecologically and economically important species....
Nitrogenase activity by biological soil crusts in cold sagebrush steppe ecosystems
Stacy G. Schwabedissen, Kathleen A. Lohse, Sasha C. Reed, Ken A. Aho, Timothy S. Magnuson
2017, Biogeochemistry (134) 57-76
In drylands worldwide, biological soil crusts (BSC) form a thin photosynthetic cover across landscapes, and provide vital benefits in terms of stabilizing soil and fixing nitrogen (N) and carbon (C). Numerous studies have examined the effects of climate and disturbance on BSC functions; however, few have characterized these responses in...
Real-time geomagnetic monitoring for space weather-related applications: Opportunities and challenges
Jeffrey J. Love, Carol Finn
2017, Space Weather (15) 820-827
An examination is made of opportunities and challenges for enhancing global, real-time geomagnetic monitoring that would be beneficial for a variety of operational projects. This enhancement in geomagnetic monitoring can be attained by expanding the geographic distribution of magnetometer stations, improving the quality of magnetometer data, increasing acquisition sampling rates,...
Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale
Joseph A. LaManna, Scott A. Mangan, Alfonso Alonso, Norman Bourg, Warren Y. Brockelman, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Li-Wan Chang, Jyh-Min Chiang, George B. Chuyong, Keith Clay, Richard Condit, Susan Cordell, Stuart J. Davies, Tucker J. Furniss, Christian P. Giardina, I.A.U. Nimal Gunatilleke, C.V. Savitri Gunatilleke, Fangliang He, Robert W. Howe, Stephen P. Hubbell, Chang-Fu Hsieh, Faith M. Inman-Narahari, David Janik, Daniel J. Johnson, David Kenfack, Lisa Korte, Kamil Kral, Andrew J. Larson, James A. Lutz, Sean M. McMahon, William J. McShea, Herve R. Memiaghe, Anuttara Nathalang, Vojtech Novotny, Perry S. Ong, David A. Orwig, Rebecca Ostertag, Geoffrey G. Parker, Richard P. Phillips, Lawren Sack, I-Fang Sun, J. Sebastian Tello, Duncan W. Thomas, Benjamin L. Turner, Dilys M. Vela Diaz, Tomas Vrska, George D. Weiblen, Amy Wolf, Sandra Yap, Jonathan A. Myers
2017, Science (356) 1389-1392
Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree...
