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Vegetation and land-cover changes are not always directional but follow complex trajectories over space and time, driven by changing anthropogenic and abiotic conditions. We present a multi-observational approach to land-change analysis that addresses the complex geographic and temporal variability of vegetation changes related to climate and land use. Using land-ownership...

Lower order, non-fish-bearing streams, often termed “headwater streams”, have received minimal research effort and protection priority, especially in mesic forests where distinction between riparian and upland vegetation can be subtle. Though it is generally thought that breeding bird abundance is higher in riparian zones, little is known about species distributions...

Biological invasions can have dramatic effects on freshwater ecosystems and introduced crayfish can be particularly impacting. We document crayfish distribution in three large hydrographic basins (Rogue, Umpqua, Willamette/Columbia) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We used occupancy analyses to investigate habitat relationships and evidence for displacement of native Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana,...

The peak discharge of a flood can be estimated from the elevation of high-water marks near the inlet and outlet of a culvert after the flood has occurred. This type of discharge estimate is called an “indirect measurement” because it relies on evidence left behind by the flood, such as...

The Shoreline fault is a vertical strike‐slip fault running along the coastline near San Luis Obispo, California. Much is unknown about the Shoreline fault, including its slip rate and the details of its geometry. Here, I study the geometry of the Shoreline fault at seismogenic depth, as well as the...

The diversity of ecosystems across boreal landscapes, successional changes after disturbance and complicated permafrost histories, present enormous challenges for assessing how vegetation, water and soil carbon may respond to climate change in boreal regions. To address this complexity, we used a chronosequence approach to assess changes in vegetation composition, water...

Secondary sexual characters in animals are exaggerated ornaments or weapons for intrasexual competition. Unexpectedly, we found that a male secondary sexual character in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus ) is a thermogenic adipose tissue that instantly increases its heat production during sexual encounters. This secondary sexual character, developed in front of...

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is the most widespread tree species in North America, and it is found throughout much of the Mountain West (MW) across a broad range of bioclimatic regions. Aspen typically regenerates asexually and prolifically after fire, and due to its seral status in many western conifer...

This fact sheet summarizes basic information on the water resources of Claiborne Parish. Information on groundwater and surface-water availability, quality, development, use, and trends is based on previously published reports listed in the Cited References section. In 2010, about 2.60 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn in...

In British Columbia, Canada (BC), aquaculture of finfish in ocean netpens has the potential for pathogen transmission between wild and farmed species due to the sharing of an aquatic environment. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) is enzootic in BC and causes serious disease in wild Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, which...

The 5–9 March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption along the east rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai`i, followed months of pronounced inflation at Kīlauea summit. We examine dike opening during and after the eruption using a comprehensive interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data set in combination with continuous GPS data. We...

Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods for detecting aquatic species are advancing rapidly, but with little evaluation of field protocols or precision of resulting estimates. We compared sampling results from traditional field methods with eDNA methods for two amphibians in 13 streams in central Idaho, USA. We also evaluated three water collection...

Studies of nesting success can be valuable in assessing the status of raptor populations, but differing monitoring protocols can present unique challenges when comparing populations of different species across time or geographic areas. We used large datasets from long-term studies of 3 raptor species to compare estimates of apparent nest...

West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEEV) are both primarily bird viruses, which can be transmitted by several mosquito species. Differences in larval habitats, flight, and biting patterns of the primary vector species result in substantial differences in epidemiology, with WNV more common, primarily occurring in urban...

1. Ecosystem invasibility is determined by combinations of environmental variables, invader attributes, disturbance regimes, competitive abilities of resident species and evolutionary history between residents and disturbance regimes. Understanding the relative importance of each factor is critical to limiting future invasions and restoring ecosystems. 2. We investigated factors potentially controlling Bromus tectorum...

Recently developed spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models represent a major advance over traditional capture–recapture (CR) models because they yield explicit estimates of animal density instead of population size within an unknown area. Furthermore, unlike nonspatial CR methods, SCR models account for heterogeneity in capture probability arising from the juxtaposition of animal...

1. Understanding space usage and resource selection is a primary focus of many studies of animal populations. Usually, such studies are based on location data obtained from telemetry, and resource selection functions (RSFs) are used for inference. Another important focus of wildlife research is estimation and modeling population size and...

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and can be found in nearly all rocks and sediments. It is a lithophile element with a strong affinity for oxygen and is not found as a pure metal in nature. Titanium was first isolated as a pure metal...

In 2012, U.S. apparent consumption of strontium (contained in celestite and manufactured strontium compounds) decreased to 16.7 kt (18,400 st) from 17.3 kt (19,100 st) in 2011. Gross weight of imports was 34.3 kt (37,800 st), 86 percent of which originated in Mexico....

Global mine production of rare earths was estimated to have declined slightly in 2012 relative to 2011 (Fig. 1). Production in China was estimated to have decreased to 95 from 105 kt (104,700 from 115,700 st) in 2011, while new mine production in the United States and Australia increased....

Production of pumice in the United States during 2012 was estimated to be 515 kt (568,000 st), a 5-percent increase compared to 2011. The unit value of pumice varied widely by end use in 2012. Pumice used as an abrasive was priced at $10.30/t ($9.34/st), while specialty-grade pumice, used in...

In 2012, world potash production, consumption and sales decreased from 2011. High inventories of potash, primarily in China and India, forced major producers to reduce output in 2012. U.S. production was estimated to have decreased to 900 kt (990,000 st) potassium oxide (K2O) in 2012 from 1 Mt (1.1 million...

Domestic production and prices of crude processed perlite in the United States were estimated to have increased in 2012 compared with 2011. Perlite trade, both imports and exports, slowed in 2012 compared with 2011. With imports of perlite down by about 13 percent and domestic production up slightly, the balance...

In 2012, domestic production of peat, excluding Alaska, was estimated to be 560 kt (617,000 st), compared with 568 kt (626,000 st) in 2011. In 2012, imports decreased to 940 kt (1 million st) compared with 982 kt (1.1 million st) in 2011, and exports were estimated to have increased...

Ammonia was produced by 13 companies at 25 plants in 16 states during 2012. Sixty-one percent of total U.S. ammonia production capacity was centered in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas because of those states’ large reserves of natural gas, the dominant domestic feedstock....