Seasonal flux and assemblage composition of planktic foraminifera from the northern Gulf of Mexico, 2008-11
Caitlin E. Reynolds, Richard Z. Poore
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1158
The U.S. Geological Survey anchored a sediment trap in the northern Gulf of Mexico to collect seasonal time-series data on the flux and assemblage composition of live planktic foraminifers. This report provides an update of the previous time-series data to include results from 2011. Ten species, or varieties, constituted ~92...
Ecological correlates of variable organ sizes and fat loads in the most northerly-wintering shorebirds
Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Anne Dekinga, Robert E. Gill Jr., R.W. Summers, Theunis Piersma
2013, Canadian Journal of Zoology (91) 698-705
Shorebirds at northern latitudes during the nonbreeding season typically carry relatively large lipid stores and exhibit an up-regulation of lean tissues associated with digestion and thermogenesis. Intraspecific variation in these tissues across sites primarily reflects differences in environmental conditions. Rock (Calidris ptilocnemis (Coues, 1873)) and Purple (Calidris maritima (Brünnich, 1764))...
A wetting and drying scheme for ROMS
John C. Warner, Zafer Defne, Kevin Haas, Hernan G. Arango
2013, Computers & Geosciences (58) 54-61
The processes of wetting and drying have many important physical and biological impacts on shallow water systems. Inundation and dewatering effects on coastal mud flats and beaches occur on various time scales ranging from storm surge, periodic rise and fall of the tide, to infragravity wave motions. To correctly simulate...
Lidar-derived estimate and uncertainty of carbon sink in successional phases of woody encroachment
Temuulen Sankey, Rupesh Shrestha, Joel B. Sankey, Stuart Hardgree, Eva Strand
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (118) 1144-1155
Woody encroachment is a globally occurring phenomenon that contributes to the global carbon sink. The magnitude of this contribution needs to be estimated at regional and local scales to address uncertainties present in the global- and continental-scale estimates, and guide regional policy and management in balancing restoration activities, including removal...
Key landscape ecology metrics for assessing climate change adaptation options: Rate of change and patchiness of impacts
Laura López-Hoffman, David D. Breshears, Craig D. Allen, Marc L. Miller
2013, Ecosphere (4)
Under a changing climate, devising strategies to help stakeholders adapt to alterations to ecosystems and their services is of utmost importance. In western North America, diminished snowpack and river flows are causing relatively gradual, homogeneous (system-wide) changes in ecosystems and services. In addition, increased climate variability is also accelerating the...
Updated methodology for nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of shales
Kathryn E. Washburn, Justin E. Birdwell
2013, Journal of Magnetic Resonance (233) 17-28
Unconventional petroleum resources, particularly in shales, are expected to play an increasingly important role in the world’s energy portfolio in the coming years. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), particularly at low-field, provides important information in the evaluation of shale resources. Most of the low-field NMR analyses performed on shale samples rely...
Land-cover change in the conterminous United States from 1973 to 2000
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Terry L. Sohl, Thomas R. Loveland, Roger F. Auch, William Acevedo, Mark A. Drummond, Kristi L. Sayler, Stephen V. Stehman
2013, Global Environmental Change (23) 733-748
Land-cover change in the conterminous United States was quantified by interpreting change from satellite imagery for a sample stratified by 84 ecoregions. Gross and net changes between 11 land-cover classes were estimated for 5 dates of Landsat imagery (1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000). An estimated 673,000 km2(8.6%) of the...
Mapping risk of avian influenza transmission at the interface of domestic poultry and wild birds
Diann J. Prosser, Laura L. Hungerford, R. Michael Erwin, Mary Ann Ottinger, John Y. Takekawa, Erle C. Ellis
2013, Frontiers in Public Health (1)
Emergence of avian influenza viruses with high lethality to humans, such as the currently circulating highly pathogenic A(H5N1) (emerged in 1996) and A(H7N9) cause serious concern for the global economic and public health sectors. Understanding the spatial and temporal interface between wild and domestic populations, from which these viruses emerge,...
Food-web dynamics in a large river discontinuum
Wyatt F. Cross, Colden V. Baxter, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Robert O. Hall Jr., Theodore A. Kennedy, Kevin C. Donner, Holly A. Wellard Kelly, Sarah E.Z. Seegert, Kathrine E. Behn, Michael D. Yard
2013, Ecological Monographs (83) 311-337
Nearly all ecosystems have been altered by human activities, and most communities are now composed of interacting species that have not co-evolved. These changes may modify species interactions, energy and material flows, and food-web stability. Although structural changes to ecosystems have been widely reported, few studies have linked such changes...
On the twenty-first-century wet season projections over the Southeastern United States
Christopher Selman, Vasu Misra, Lydia Stefanova, Steven Dinapoli, Thomas J. Smith III
2013, Regional Environmental Change (13) 153-164
This paper reconciles the difference in the projections of the wet season over the Southeastern United States (SEUS) from a global climate model (the Community Climate System Model Version 3 [CCSM3]) and from a regional climate model (the Regional Spectral Model [RSM]) nested in the CCSM3. The CCSM3 projects a...
Geologic occurrences of erionite in the United States: an emerging national public health concern for respiratory disease
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Thomas A. Blitz, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Gregory P. Meeker, M. Patrick Pierson
2013, Environmental Geochemistry and Health (35) 419-430
Erionite, a mineral series within the zeolite group, is classified as a Group 1 known respiratory carcinogen. This designation resulted from extremely high incidences of mesothelioma discovered in three small villages from the Cappadocia region of Turkey, where the disease was linked to environmental exposures to fibrous forms of erionite....
The variability of California summertime marine stratus: impacts on surface air temperatures
Sam F. Iacobellis, Daniel R. Cayan
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres (118) 9105-9122
This study investigates the variability of clouds, primarily marine stratus clouds, and how they are associated with surface temperature anomalies over California, especially along the coastal margin. We focus on the summer months of June to September when marine stratus are the dominant cloud type. Data used include satellite cloud...
Comparison of age distributions estimated from environmental tracers by using binary-dilution and numerical models of fractured and folded karst: Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia, USA
Richard M. Yager, Niel Plummer, Leon J. Kauffman, Daniel H. Doctor, David L. Nelms, Peter Schlosser
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1193-1217
Measured concentrations of environmental tracers in spring discharge from a karst aquifer in the Shenandoah Valley, USA, were used to refine a numerical groundwater flow model. The karst aquifer is folded and faulted carbonate bedrock dominated by diffuse flow along fractures. The numerical model represented bedrock structure and discrete features...
Geochemical and isotopic variations in shallow groundwater in areas of the Fayetteville Shale development, north-central Arkansas
Nathaniel R. Warner, Timothy M. Kresse, Phillip D. Hays, Adrian Down, Jonathan D. Karr, R.B. Jackson, Avner Vengosh
2013, Applied Geochemistry (35) 207-220
Exploration of unconventional natural gas reservoirs such as impermeable shale basins through the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has changed the energy landscape in the USA providing a vast new energy source. The accelerated production of natural gas has triggered a debate concerning the safety and possible environmental...
Consequences of flight height and line spacing on airborne (helicopter) gravity gradient resolution in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado
M. Andy Kass
2013, The Leading Edge (32) 932-938
Line spacing and flight height are critical parameters in airborne gravity gradient surveys; the optimal trade-off between survey costs and desired resolution, however, is different for every situation. This article investigates the additional benefit of reducing the flight height and line spacing though a study of a survey conducted over...
Posthandling survival and PIT tag retention by alewives—a comparison of gastric and surgical implants
Theodore Castro-Santos, Volney Voni
2013, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (33) 790-794
We compared survival and tag retention of Alewives Alosa pseudoharengus tagged with PIT tags, using intraperitoneal (IP) surgical implants, gastric implants (GI), and untagged controls held for 38 d. Retention was 100% for IP-tagged Alewives and 98% for GI-tagged implants. No significant difference in survival was observed among any of...
On the insignificance of Herschel's sunspot correlation
Jeffrey J. Love
2013, Geophysical Research Letters (40) 4171-4176
We examine William Herschel's hypothesis that solar-cycle variation of the Sun's irradiance has a modulating effect on the Earth's climate and that this is, specifically, manifested as an anticorrelation between sunspot number and the market price of wheat. Since Herschel first proposed his hypothesis in 1801, it has been regarded...
Regeneration in bottomland forest canopy gaps six years after variable retention harvests to enhance wildlife habitat
Daniel J. Twedt, Scott G. Somershoe
James M. Guldin, editor(s)
2013, General Technical Report SRS-175
To promote desired forest conditions that enhance wildlife habitat in bottomland forests, managers prescribed and implemented variable-retention harvest, a.k.a. wildlife forestry, in four stands on Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge, LA. These treatments created canopy openings (gaps) within which managers sought to regenerate shade-intolerant trees. Six years after prescribed harvests,...
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database with a focus on the introduced fishes of the lower Tennessee and Cumberland drainages
Pamela L. Fuller, Matthew Cannister
Rebecca Johansen, Dwayne Estes, Steven W. Hamilton, Andrew N. Barrass, editor(s)
2013, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 14th Symposium on the Natural History of Lower Tennessee and Cumberland River Valleys
The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) database (http://nas.er.usgs.gov) functions as a national repository and clearinghouse for occurrence data for introduced species within the United States. Included is locality information on over 1,100 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, and vascular plants introduced as early as 1850. Taxa include foreign (exotic) species and species...
Consumption of seeds of southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) by Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
David J. Mattson, Terry A. Arundel
2013, Southwestern Naturalist (58) 243-245
We report a discovery of black bears (Ursus americanus) consuming seeds of southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) on north slopes of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, in high-elevation, mixed-species conifer forest. In one instance, a bear had obtained seeds from cones excavated from a larder horde made by...
Quantifying wetland–aquifer interactions in a humid subtropical climate region: An integrated approach
Itza Mendoza-Sanchez, Mantha S. Phanikumar, Jie Niu, Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Jennifer T. McGuire
2013, Journal of Hydrology (498) 237-253
Wetlands are widely recognized as sentinels of global climate change. Long-term monitoring data combined with process-based modeling has the potential to shed light on key processes and how they change over time. This paper reports the development and application of a simple water balance model based on long-term climate, soil,...
Climate downscaling effects on predictive ecological models: a case study for threatened and endangered vertebrates in the southeastern United States
David N. Bucklin, James I. Watling, Carolina Speroterra, Laura A. Brandt, Frank J. Mazzotti, Stephanie S. Romañach
2013, Regional Environmental Change (13) 57-68
High-resolution (downscaled) projections of future climate conditions are critical inputs to a wide variety of ecological and socioeconomic models and are created using numerous different approaches. Here, we conduct a sensitivity analysis of spatial predictions from climate envelope models for threatened and endangered vertebrates in the southeastern United States to...
Modelling interactions of toxicants and density dependence in wildlife populations
Aafke M. Schipper, Harrie W.M. Hendriks, Matthew J. Kauffman, A. Jan Hendriks, Mark A.J. Huijbregts
2013, Journal of Applied Ecology (50) 1469-1478
1. A major challenge in the conservation of threatened and endangered species is to predict population decline and design appropriate recovery measures. However, anthropogenic impacts on wildlife populations are notoriously difficult to predict due to potentially nonlinear responses and interactions with natural ecological processes like density dependence. 2. Here, we incorporated...
Immunological markers for tolerance to avian malaria in Hawai`i `Amakihi: new tools for restoring native Hawaiian forest birds?
Carter T. Atkinson, Eben H. Paxton
2013, Report
We evaluated three assays for non-specific or innate immune capacity to see if measurements were independent of malarial infection and capable of distinguishing malaria-tolerant, low-elevation Hawaiʽi ʽAmakihi from malaria-susceptible, high-elevation ʽAmakihi. ʽAmakihi were captured at Malama Ki Forest Reserve (20 m), Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (1800 m), and Upper...
Quantifying long-term risks to sea otters from the 1989 'Exxon Valdez' oil spill: reply to Harwell & Gentile (2013)
Brenda E. Ballachey, James L. Bodkin, Daniel H. Monson
2013, Marine Ecology Progress Series (488) 297-301
Recovery of sea otter populations in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, has been delayed for more than 2 decades following the 1989 ‘Exxon Valdez’ oil spill. Harwell & Gentile (2013; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 488:291–296) question our conclusions in Bodkin et al. (2012; Mar Ecol Prog Ser 447:273-287) regarding adverse...
