The effect of restored and native oxbows on hydraulic loads of nutrients and stream water quality
Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Laura E. Hubbard, Joseph P.Schubauer-Berigan
2016, Report
The use of oxbow wetlands has been identified as a potential strategy to reduce nutrient transport from agricultural drainage tiles to streams in Iowa. In 2013 and 2014, a study was conducted in north-central Iowa in a native oxbow in the Lyons Creek watershed and two restored oxbow wetlands in...
Use of mineral/solution equilibrium calculations to assess the potential for carnotite precipitation from groundwater in the Texas Panhandle, USA
Anthony J. Ranalli, Douglas B. Yager
2016, Applied Geochemistry (73) 118-131
This study investigated the potential for the uranium mineral carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O) to precipitate from evaporating groundwater in the Texas Panhandle region of the United States. The evolution of groundwater chemistry during evaporation was modeled with the USGS geochemical code PHREEQC using water-quality data from 100 groundwater wells downloaded from the...
Transformative environmental governance
Brian C. Chaffin, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Lance H. Gunderson, Melinda Harm Benson, David G. Angeler, Craig Anthony Arnold, Barbara Cosens, Robin Kundis Craig, J.B. Ruhl, Craig R. Allen
2016, Annual Review of Environment and Resources (41) 399-423
Transformative governance is an approach to environmental governance that has the capacity to respond to, manage, and trigger regime shifts in coupled social-ecological systems (SESs) at multiple scales. The goal of transformative governance is to actively shift degraded SESs to alternative, more desirable, or more functional regimes by altering the...
Validation of a side-scan sonar method for quantifying walleye spawning habitat availability in the littoral zone of northern Wisconsin Lakes
Jacob T. Richter, Brian L. Sloss, Daniel A. Isermann
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 942-950
Previous research has generally ignored the potential effects of spawning habitat availability and quality on recruitment of Walleye Sander vitreus, largely because information on spawning habitat is lacking for many lakes. Furthermore, traditional transect-based methods used to describe habitat are time and labor intensive. Our objectives were to determine if...
Circumpolar distribution and carbon storage of thermokarst landscapes
David Olefeldt, S. Goswami, G. Grosse, D. Hayes, G. Hugelius, P. Kuhry, A. David McGuire, V.E. Romanovsky, A. B. K. Sannel, E.A.G. Schuur, M.R. Turetsky
2016, Nature Communications (7) 1-11
Thermokarst is the process whereby the thawing of ice-rich permafrost ground causes land subsidence, resulting in development of distinctive landforms. Accelerated thermokarst due to climate change will damage infrastructure, but also impact hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry. Here, we present a circumpolar assessment of the distribution of thermokarst landscapes, defined as...
Long-term deer exclusion has complex effects on a suburban forest understory
Edward K. Faison, David R. Foster, Stephen DeStefano
2016, Rhodora (118) 382-402
Herbivory by deer is one of the leading biotic disturbances on forest understories (i.e., herbs, small shrubs, and small tree seedlings). A large body of research has reported declines in height, abundance, and reproductive capacity of forbs and woody plants coupled with increases in abundance of graminoids, ferns, and exotic...
Controls on selenium distribution and mobilization in an irrigated shallow groundwater system underlain by Mancos Shale, Uncompahgre River Basin, Colorado, USA
Taylor J. Mills, M. Alisa Mast, Judith C. Thomas, Gabrielle L. Keith
2016, Science of the Total Environment (566-567) 1621-1631
Elevated selenium (Se) concentrations in surface water and groundwater have become a concern in areas of the Western United States due to the deleterious effects of Se on aquatic ecosystems. Elevated Se concentrations are most prevalent in irrigated alluvial valleys underlain by Se-bearing marine shales where Se can be leached...
Integrating seasonal information on nutrients and benthic algal biomass into stream water quality monitoring
Christopher P. Konrad, Mark D. Munn
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 1223-1237
Benthic chlorophyll a (BChl a) and environmental factors that influence algal biomass were measured monthly from February through October in 22 streams from three agricultural regions of the United States. At-site maximum BChl a ranged from 14 to 406 mg/m2 and generally varied with dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN): 8 out of...
Blood serum chemistry of wild Alaskan Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) with avian keratin disorder
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Colleen M. Handel
2016, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (52) 927-930
We measured serum chemistries in wild Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) from Alaska to test for potential differences associated with beak deformities characteristic of avian keratin disorder. Lower uric acid in affected birds was the only difference detected between groups, although sample sizes were small. This difference could be associated with...
Development of habitat suitability indices for the Candy Darter, with cross-scale validation across representative populations
Corey G. Dunn, Paul L. Angermeier
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 1266-1281
Understanding relationships between habitat associations for individuals and habitat factors that limit populations is a primary challenge for managers of stream fishes. Although habitat use by individuals can provide insight into the adaptive significance of selected microhabitats, not all habitat parameters will be significant at the population level, particularly when...
Potential interactions among disease, pesticides, water quality and adjacent land cover in amphibian habitats in the United States
William A. Battaglin, Kelly L. Smalling, Chauncey W. Anderson, Daniel L. Calhoun, Tara E. Chestnut, Erin L. Muths
2016, Science of the Total Environment (566-567) 320-332
To investigate interactions among disease, pesticides, water quality, and adjacent land cover, we collected samples of water, sediment, and frog tissue from 21 sites in 7 States in the United States (US) representing a variety of amphibian habitats. All samples were analyzed for > 90 pesticides and pesticide degradates, and...
Species traits and catchment-scale habitat factors influence the occurrence of freshwater mussel populations and assemblages
Tamara J. Pandolfo, Thomas J. Kwak, W. Gregory Cope, Ryan J. Heise, Robert B. Nichols, Krishna Pacifici
2016, Freshwater Biology (61) 1671-1684
Conservation of freshwater unionid mussels presents unique challenges due to their distinctive life cycle, cryptic occurrence and imperilled status. Relevant ecological information is urgently needed to guide their management and conservation.We adopted a modelling approach, which is a novel application to freshwater mussels to enhance inference on...
Late Oligocene to present contractional structure in and around the Susitna basin, Alaska—Geophysical evidence and geological implications
Richard W. Saltus, Richard G. Stanley, Peter J. Haeussler, James V. Jones III, Christopher J. Potter, Kristen A. Lewis
2016, Geosphere (12) 1378-1390
The Cenozoic Susitna basin lies within an enigmatic lowland surrounded by the Central Alaska Range, Western Alaska Range (including the Tordrillo Mountains), and Talkeetna Mountains in south-central Alaska. Some previous interpretations show normal faults as the defining structures of the basin (e.g., Kirschner, 1994). However, analysis of new and existing...
Inferring invasive species abundance using removal data from management actions
Amy J. Davis, Mevin Hooten, Ryan S. Miller, Matthew L. Farnsworth, Jesse S. Lewis, Michael Moxcey, Kim M. Pepin
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 2339-2346
Evaluation of the progress of management programs for invasive species is crucial for demonstrating impacts to stakeholders and strategic planning of resource allocation. Estimates of abundance before and after management activities can serve as a useful metric of population management programs. However, many methods of estimating population size are too...
Fragmented patterns of flood change across the United States
Stacey A. Archfield, Robert M. Hirsch, A. Viglione, G. Blöschl
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 10232-10239
Trends in the peak magnitude, frequency, duration, and volume of frequent floods (floods occurring at an average of two events per year relative to a base period) across the United States show large changes; however, few trends are found to be statistically significant. The multidimensional behavior of flood change across...
Evaluating methods to establish habitat suitability criteria: A case study in the upper Delaware River Basin, USA
Heather S. Galbraith, Carrie J. Blakeslee, Jeffrey C. Cole, Colin Talbert, Kelly O. Maloney
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1765-1775
Defining habitat suitability criteria (HSC) of aquatic biota can be a key component to environmental flow science. HSC can be developed through numerous methods; however, few studies have evaluated the consistency of HSC developed by different methodologies. We directly compared HSC for depth and velocity developed by the Delphi method...
Determining the flux of methane into Hudson Canyon at the edge of methane clathrate hydrate stability
A. Weinsten, L Navarrete, Carolyn D. Ruppel, T.C. Weber, M. Leonte, M. Kellermann, E. Arrington, D.L. Valentine, M.L Scranton, John D. Kessler
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 3882-3892
Methane seeps were investigated in Hudson Canyon, the largest shelf-break canyon on the northern US Atlantic Margin. The seeps investigated are located at or updip of the nominal limit of methane clathrate hydrate stability. The acoustic identification of bubble streams was used to guide water column sampling in a 32...
Geology, selected geophysics, and hydrogeology of the White River and parts of the Great Salt Lake Desert regional groundwater flow systems, Utah and Nevada
Peter D. Rowley, Gary L. Dixon, James M. Watrus, Andrews G. Burns, Edward A. Mankinen, Edwin H. McKee, Keith T. Pari, E. Bartlett Ekren, William G. Patrick
John B. Comer, Paul C. Inkenbrandt, K.A. Krahulec, Michael L. Pinnell, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Resources and Geo- logy of Utah's West Desert
The east-central Great Basin near the Utah-Nevada border contains two great groundwater flow systems. The first, the White River regional groundwater flow system, consists of a string of hydraulically connected hydrographic basins in Nevada spanning about 270 miles from north to south. The northernmost basin is Long Valley...
Expert elicitation of population-level effects of disturbance
Erica Fleishman, Mark Burgman, Michael C. Runge, Robert S Schick, Scott Krauss
Arthur N. Popper, Anthony Hawkins, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, The effects of noise on aquatic life II
Expert elicitation is a rigorous method for synthesizing expert knowledge to inform decision making and is reliable and practical when field data are limited. We evaluated the feasibility of applying expert elicitation to estimate population-level effects of disturbance on marine mammals. Diverse experts estimated parameters related to mortality and sublethal...
Regional land subsidence caused by the compaction of susceptible aquifer systems accompanying groundwater extraction
Devin L. Galloway, Stanley A. Leake
Vijay P. Singh, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Handbook of applied hydrology
Land subsidence includes both gentle downwarping and sudden sinking of segments of the land surface. Major anthropogenic causes of land subsidence are extraction of fluids including water, oil, and gas. Measurement and detec- tion of land subsidence include both ground-based and remotely sensed air- borne and space-based methods. Methods for measurement of subsidence at points...
A Lota lota consumption: Trophic dynamics of nonnative Burbot in a valuable sport fishery
Stephen L. Klobucar, W. Carl Saunders, Phaedra E. Budy
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 1386-1398
Unintentional and illegal introductions of species disrupt food webs and threaten the success of managed sport fisheries. Although many populations of Burbot Lota lota are declining in the species’ native range, a nonnative population recently expanded into Flaming Gorge Reservoir (FGR), Wyoming–Utah, and threatens to disrupt predator–prey interactions within this popular sport...
Negative impacts of invasive plants on conservation of sensitive desert wildlife
K. Kristina Drake, Lizabeth Bowen, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Andrew J. Berger, Nathan Custer, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Jay D. Johnson, A. Keith Miles, Rebecca L. Lewison
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Habitat disturbance from development, resource extraction, off-road vehicle use, and energy development ranks highly among threats to desert systems worldwide. In the Mojave Desert, United States, these disturbances have promoted the establishment of nonnative plants, so that native grasses and forbs are now intermixed with, or have been replaced by...
Laboratory evaluation of the Design Analysis Associates DAA H-3613i radar water-level sensor—Results of temperature, distance, and SDI-12 tests
Mark V. Carnley
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1124
The Design Analysis Associates (DAA) DAA H-3613i radar water-level sensor (DAA H-3613i), manufactured by Xylem Incorporated, was evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) for conformance to manufacturer’s accuracy specifications for measuring a distance throughout the sensor’s operating temperature range, for measuring distances from 3 to...
Preliminary geologic mapping of Cretaceous and Tertiary formations in the eastern part of the Little Snake River coal field, Carbon County, Wyoming
Jon E. Haacke, C. S. Venable Barclay, Robert D. Hettinger
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1170
In the 1970s and 1980s, C.S. Venable Barclay conducted geologic mapping of areas primarily underlain by Cretaceous coals in the eastern part of the Little Snake River coal field (LSR) in Carbon County, southwest Wyoming. With some exceptions, most of the mapping data were never published. Subsequently, after his retirement...
Assessing potential scour using the South Carolina bridge-scour envelope curves
Stephen T. Benedict, Toby D. Feaster, Andral W. Caldwell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3065
SummaryBridge-scour equations presented in the Federal Highway Administration Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 18 reflect the current state-of-the practice for predicting scour at bridges. Although these laboratory-derived equations provide an important resource for assessing scour potential, there is a measure of uncertainty when applying these equations to field conditions. The uncertainty...
