Estimation of salt loads for the Dolores River in the Paradox Valley, Colorado, 1980–2015
M. Alisa Mast
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5059
Regression models that relate total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations to specific conductance were used to estimate salt loads for two sites on the Dolores River in the Paradox Valley in western Colorado. The salt-load estimates will be used by the Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate salt loading to the river...
Maternal transfer of mercury to songbird eggs
Joshua T. Ackerman, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog
2017, Environmental Pollution (230) 463-468
We evaluated the maternal transfer of mercury to eggs in songbirds, determined whether this relationship differed between songbird species, and developed equations for predicting mercury concentrations in eggs from maternal blood. We sampled blood and feathers from 44 house wren (Troglodytes aedon) and 34 tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) mothers and...
Behavioral flexibility as a mechanism for coping with climate change
Erik A. Beever, L. Embere Hall, Johanna Varner, Anne E. Loosen, Jason B. Dunham, Megan K. Gahl, Felisa A. Smith, Joshua J. Lawler
2017, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (15) 299-308
Of the primary responses to contemporary climate change – “move, adapt, acclimate, or die” – that are available to organisms, “acclimate” may be effectively achieved through behavioral modification. Behavioral flexibility allows animals to rapidly cope with changing environmental conditions, and behavior represents an important component of a species’ adaptive capacity...
Deepwater sculpin status and recovery in Lake Ontario
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, Michael J. Connerton, Brian F. Lantry, Jana R. Lantry, Jeremy P. Holden, Michael J. Yuille, James A. Hoyle
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 854-862
Deepwater sculpin are important in oligotrophic lakes as one of the few fishes that use deep profundal habitats and link invertebrates in those habitats to piscivores. In Lake Ontario the species was once abundant, however drastic declines in the mid-1900s led some to suggest the species had been extirpated and...
Improved efficiency of maximum likelihood analysis of time series with temporally correlated errors
John O. Langbein
2017, Journal of Geodesy (91) 985-994
Most time series of geophysical phenomena have temporally correlated errors. From these measurements, various parameters are estimated. For instance, from geodetic measurements of positions, the rates and changes in rates are often estimated and are used to model tectonic processes. Along with the estimates of the size of the parameters,...
Sand ridge morphology and bedform migration patterns derived from bathymetry and backscatter on the inner-continental shelf offshore of Assateague Island, USA
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Laura L. Brothers, E. Robert Thieler, Edward Sweeney
2017, Continental Shelf Research (144) 80-97
The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration conducted geophysical and hydrographic surveys, respectively, along the inner-continental shelf of Fenwick and Assateague Islands, Maryland and Virginia over the last 40 years. High resolution bathymetry and backscatter data derived from surveys over the last decade are used to describe the morphology...
Microfossil measures of rapid sea-level rise: Timing of response of two microfossil groups to a sudden tidal-flooding experiment in Cascadia
B. P. Horton, Yvonne Milker, T. Dura, Kelin Wang, W.T. Bridgeland, Laura S. Brophy, M. Ewald, Nicole Khan, S.E. Engelhart, Alan R. Nelson, Robert C. Witter
2017, Geology (45) 535-538
Comparisons of pre-earthquake and post-earthquake microfossils in tidal sequences are accurate means to measure coastal subsidence during past subduction earthquakes, but the amount of subsidence is uncertain, because the response times of fossil taxa to coseismic relative sea-level (RSL) rise are unknown. We measured the response of diatoms and foraminifera...
Allowable take of a population of red-winged blackbirds in the northern Great Plains
Michael C. Runge, John R. Sauer
2017, Book chapter, Ecology and management of blackbirds (Icteridae) in North America
Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), which has provisions against take. Blackbirds may be taken legally without a Federal permit, however, under an existing Depredation Order (50 CFR 21.43), which allows for take of blackbirds that are in the process of doing, or...
Ecohydrological role of biological soil crusts across a gradient in levels of development
Kristen M. Whitney, Enrique R. Vivoni, Michael C. Duniway, John B. Bradford, Sasha C. Reed, Jayne Belnap
2017, Ecohydrology (10)
Though biological soil crusts (biocrusts) form abundant covers in arid and semiarid regions, their competing effects on soil hydrologic conditions are rarely accounted for in models. This study presents the modification of a soil water balance model to account for the presence of biocrusts at different levels of development (LOD)...
The effects of varying injection rates in Osage County, Oklahoma, on the 2016 Mw5.8 Pawnee earthquake
Andrew J. Barbour, Jack H. Norbeck, Justin L. Rubinstein
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 1040-1053
The 2016 Mw 5.8 Pawnee earthquake occurred in a region with active wastewater injection into a basal formation group. Prior to the earthquake, fluid injection rates at most wells were relatively steady, but newly collected data show significant increases in injection rate in the years leading up to earthquake. For the same...
The estimation of growth dynamics for Pomacea maculata from hatchling to adult
Karyn L. Sutton, Lihong Zhao, Jacoby Carter
2017, Ecosphere (8)
Pomacea maculata is a relatively new invasive species to the Gulf Coast region and potentially threatens local agriculture (rice) and ecosystems (aquatic vegetation). The population dynamics of P. maculata have largely been unquantified, and therefore, scientists and field-workers are ill-equipped to accurately project population sizes and the resulting impact of this species. We studied...
Land area change in coastal Louisiana (1932 to 2016)
Brady R. Couvillion, Holly Beck, Donald Schoolmaster, Michelle Fischer
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3381
Coastal Louisiana wetlands are one of the most critically threatened environments in the United States. These wetlands are in peril because Louisiana currently experiences greater coastal wetland loss than all other States in the contiguous United States combined. The analyses of landscape change presented here have utilized historical surveys, aerial,...
Inland waters and their role in the carbon cycle of Alaska
Sarah M. Stackpoole, David E. Butman, David W. Clow, Kristine L. Verdin, Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Hélène Genet, Robert G. Striegl
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 1403-1420
The magnitude of Alaska (AK) inland waters carbon (C) fluxes is likely to change in the future due to amplified climate warming impacts on the hydrology and biogeochemical processes in high latitude regions. Although current estimates of major aquatic C fluxes represent an essential baseline against which future change can be...
Dispersal hazards of Pseudogymnoascus destructans by bats and human activity at hibernacula in summer
Anne Ballmann, Miranda R. Torkelson, Elizabeth A. Bohuski, Robin E. Russell, David S. Blehert
2017, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (53) 725-735
Bats occupying hibernacula during summer are exposed to Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), the causative agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), and may contribute to its dispersal. Furthermore, equipment and clothing exposed to cave environments are a potential source for human-assisted spread of Pd. To explore dispersal hazards for Pd during the nonhibernal season, we tested samples that...
The long-term legacy of geomorphic and riparian vegetation feedbacks on the dammed Bill Williams River, Arizona, USA
Li Kui, John C. Stella, Patrick B. Shafroth, Kyle House, Andrew C. Wilcox
2017, Ecohydrology (10)
On alluvial rivers, fluvial landforms and riparian vegetation communities codevelop as a result of feedbacks between plants and abiotic processes. The influence of vegetation on river channel and floodplain geomorphology can be particularly strong on dammed rivers with altered hydrology and reduced flood disturbance. We used a 56-year...
Coupling gene-based and classic veterinary diagnostics improves interpretation of health and immune function in the Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
K. Kristina Drake, Lizabeth Bowen, Rebecca L. Lewison, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth Nussear, Josephine Braun, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, A. Keith Miles
2017, Conservation Physiology (5)
The analysis of blood constituents is a widely used tool to aid in monitoring of animal health and disease. However, classic blood diagnostics (i.e. hematologic and plasma biochemical values) often do not provide sufficient information to determine the state of an animal’s health. Field studies on wild tortoises and other...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the West Korea Bay–North Yellow Sea Basin, North Korea and China, 2017
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Sarah J. Hawkins, Thomas M. Finn, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Timothy R. Klett, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Cheryl A. Woodall
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3041
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional resources of 1.1 billion barrels of oil and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in the West Korea Bay–North Yellow Sea Basin, North Korea and China....
Map of the approximate inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in the Model Land Area of Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2016
Scott T. Prinos
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3380
The inland extent of saltwater at the base of the Biscayne aquifer in the Model Land Area of Miami-Dade County, Florida, was mapped in 2011. Since that time, the saltwater interface has continued to move inland. The interface is near several active well fields; therefore, an updated approximation of the...
An introduction to high-frequency nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Tamara E.C. Kraus, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Bryan D. Downing
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5071
Executive SummaryThis report is the first in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). This first report provides an introduction to the reasons for and fundamental concepts behind collecting HF measurements, and...
Synthesis of data from high-frequency nutrient and associated biogeochemical monitoring for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Bryan D. Downing, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Tamara E.C. Kraus
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5066
Executive SummaryThis report is the second in a series of three reports that provide information about high-frequency (HF) nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California (Delta). The purpose of this report is to synthesize the data available from a nutrient and water-quality HF (about...
Revised tephra volumes for Cascade Range volcanoes
Manuel Nathenson
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (341) 42-52
Isopach maps from tephra eruptions from Mount St. Helens were reported in Carey et al. (1995) and for tephra eruptions from Glacier Peak in Gardner et al. (1998). For exponential thinning, the isopach data only define a single slope on a log thickness versus square root of area plot. Carey...
Landscape context and the biophysical response of rivers to dam removal in the United States
Melissa M. Foley, Francis J. Magilligan, Christian E. Torgersen, Jon J. Major, Chauncey W. Anderson, Patrick J. Connolly, Daniel J. Wieferich, Patrick B. Shafroth, James E. Evans, Dana M. Infante, Laura Craig
2017, PLoS ONE (7)
Dams have been a fundamental part of the U.S. national agenda over the past two hundred years. Recently, however, dam removal has emerged as a strategy for addressing aging, obsolete infrastructure and more than 1,100 dams have been removed since the 1970s. However, only 130 of these removals had any...
Designing a high-frequency nutrient and biogeochemical monitoring network for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, northern California
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Bryan D. Downing, Tamara E.C. Kraus, Brian A. Pellerin
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5058
Executive SummaryThis report is the third in a series of three reports that provide information about how high-frequency (HF) nutrient monitoring may be used to assess nutrient inputs and dynamics in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California (Delta). The purpose of this report is to provide the background, principles, and...
Water quality and quantity and simulated surface-water and groundwater flow in the Laurel Hill Creek Basin, southwestern Pennsylvania, 1991–2007
Daniel G. Galeone, Dennis W. Risser, Lee W. Eicholtz, Scott A. Hoffman
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5082
Laurel Hill Creek is considered one of the most pristine waterways in southwestern Pennsylvania and has high recreational value as a high-quality cold-water fishery; however, the upper parts of the basin have documented water-quality impairments. Groundwater and surface water are withdrawn for public water supply and the basin has been...
Geologic map of the northern White Hills, Mohave County, Arizona
Keith A. Howard, Susan S. Priest, Scott C. Lundstrom, Debra L. Block
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3372
IntroductionThe northern White Hills map area lies within the Kingman Uplift, a regional structural high in which Tertiary rocks lie directly on Proterozoic rocks as a result of Cretaceous orogenic uplift and erosional stripping of Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata. The Miocene Salt Spring Fault forms the major structural boundary in...
