Influence of poisoned prey on foraging behavior of ferruginous hawks
Nimish B. Vyas, Frank Kuncir, Criss C. Clinton
2017, The American Midland Naturalist (177) 75-83
We recorded 19 visits by ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) over 6 d at two black–tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) subcolonies poisoned with the rodenticide Rozol® Prairie Dog Bait (0.005% chlorophacinone active ingredient) and at an adjacent untreated subcolony. Before Rozol® application ferruginous hawks foraged in the untreated and treated subcolonies...
Colorado River fish monitoring in Grand Canyon, Arizona; 2002–14 humpback chub aggregations
William R. Persons, David R. Van Haverbeke, Michael J. Dodrill
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1177
The humpback chub (Gila cypha) is an endangered cyprinid species endemic to the Colorado River. The largest remaining population of the species spawns and rears in the Little Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Construction and operation of Glen Canyon Dam has altered the main-stem Colorado River in Glen and Grand...
Tambora and the mackerel year: Phenology and fisheries during an extreme climate event
Karen E. Alexander, William B. Leavenworth, Carolyn Hall, Steven Mattocks, Steven M. Bittner, Emily Klein, Michelle D. Staudinger, Alexander Bryan, Julianne Rosset, Theodore V. Willis, Benjamin H. Carr, Adrian Jordaan
2017, Science Advances (3)
Global warming has increased the frequency of extreme climate events, yet responses of biological and human communities are poorly understood, particularly for aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. Retrospective analysis of known outcomes may provide insights into the nature of adaptations and trajectory of subsequent conditions. We consider the 1815 eruption of...
The use of data-mining techniques for developing effective decisionsupport systems: A case study of simulating the effects ofclimate change on coastal salinity intrusion
Paul Conrads, Jr. Edwin Roehl
2017, Book chapter, Integrated environmental modelling to solve real world problems: Methods, vision and challenges
Natural-resource managers and stakeholders face difficult challenges when managing interactions between natural and societal systems. Potential changes in climate could alter interactions between environmental and societal systems and adversely affect the availability of water resources in many coastal communities. The availability of freshwater in coastal streams can be threatened by...
Glaciological measurements and mass balances from Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA, years 2005–2015
Adam Clark, Daniel B. Fagre, Erich H. Peitzsch, Blase A. Reardon, Joel T. Harper
2017, Earth System Science Data (9) 47-61
Glacier mass balance measurements help to provide an understanding of the behavior of glaciers and their response to local and regional climate. In 2005 the United States Geological Survey established a surface mass balance monitoring program on Sperry Glacier, Montana, USA. This project is the first quantitative study of mass...
Impacts of mangrove density on surface sediment accretion, belowground biomass and biogeochemistry in Puttalam Lagoon, Sri Lanka
D.H. Phillips, M.P. Kumara, L.P. Jayatissa, Ken W. Krauss, M. Huxham
2017, Wetlands (37) 471-483
Understanding the effects of seedling density on sediment accretion, biogeochemistry and belowground biomass in mangrove systems can help explain ecological functioning and inform appropriate planting densities during restoration or climate change mitigation programs. The objectives of this study were to examine: 1) impacts of mangrove seedling density on surface sediment...
Preliminary evaluation of the behavior and movements of adult spring Chinook salmon in the Chehalis River, southwestern Washington, 2014
Theresa L. Liedtke, William R. Hurst, Ryan G. Tomka, Tobias J. Kock, Mara S. Zimmerman
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1004
Recent interest in flood control and restoration strategies in the Chehalis River Basin has increased the need to understand the current status and ecology of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Spring Chinook salmon have the longest exposure of all adult Chinook salmon life histories to the low-flow and high water...
Storms, channel changes, and a sediment budget for an urban-suburban stream, Difficult Run, Virginia, USA
Allen C. Gellis, Michael Myers, Gregory E. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp, Edward Shenk, Luke Myers
2017, Geomorphology (278)-128
Determining erosion and deposition rates in urban-suburban settings and how these processes are affected by large storms is important to understanding geomorphic processes in these landscapes. Sediment yields in the suburban and urban Upper Difficult Run are among the highest ever recorded in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, ranging from 161...
The 3D Elevation Program—Landslide recognition, hazard assessment, and mitigation support
Vicki Lukas, Carswell
2017, Fact Sheet 2016-3094
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach. All of these activities benefit from the availability of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) elevation information in the form of light...
Development and evaluation of a reservoir model for the Chain of Lakes in Illinois
Marian M. Domanski
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5155
Forecasts of flows entering and leaving the Chain of Lakes reservoir on the Fox River in northeastern Illinois are critical information to water-resource managers who determine the optimal operation of the dam at McHenry, Illinois, to help minimize damages to property and loss of life because of flooding on the...
Microbially mediated barite dissolution in anoxic brines
Bingjie Ouyang, Denise M. Akob, Darren S. Dunlap, Devon Renock
2017, Applied Geochemistry (76) 51-59
Fluids injected into shale formations during hydraulic fracturing of black shale return with extraordinarily high total-dissolved-solids (TDS) and high concentrations of barium (Ba) and radium (Ra). Barite, BaSO4, has been implicated as a possible source of Ba as well as a problematic mineral scale that forms on internal well surfaces,...
Depositional environment and organic matter accumulation of Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian marine shale in the Upper Yangtze Platform, South China
Yangfang Li, Tongwei Zhang, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Deyong Shao
2017, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (466) 252-264
The main controlling factors of organic matter accumulation in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng–Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formations are complex and remain highly controversial. This study investigates the vertical variation of total organic carbon (TOC) content as well as major and trace element concentrations of four Ordovician–Silurian transition sections from the...
Development of a coupled wave-flow-vegetation interaction model
Alexis Beudin, Tarandeep S. Kalra, Neil K. Ganju, John C. Warner
2017, Computers & Geosciences (100) 76-86
Emergent and submerged vegetation can significantly affect coastal hydrodynamics. However, most deterministic numerical models do not take into account their influence on currents, waves, and turbulence. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a wave-flow-vegetation module into a Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system that includes a flow model (ROMS)...
NDVI, scale invariance and the modifiable areal unit problem: An assessment of vegetation in the Adelaide Parklands
Hamideh Nouri, Sharolyn Anderson, Paul Sutton, Simon Beecham, Pamela L. Nagler, Christopher J. Jarchow, Dar A. Roberts
2017, Science of the Total Environment (584–585) 11-18
This research addresses the question as to whether or not the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is scale invariant (i.e. constant over spatial aggregation) for pure pixels of urban vegetation. It has been long recognized that there are issues related to the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) pertaining to indices...
Molecular systematics of the critically-endangered North American spinymussels (Unionidae: Elliptio and Pleurobema) and description of Parvaspina gen. nov.
Michael A. Perkins, Nathan A. Johnson, Michael M. Gangloff
2017, Conservation Genetics (18) 745-757
Despite being common in numerous marine bivalve lineages, lateral spines are extremely rare among freshwater bivalves (Bivalvia: Unionidae), with only three known species characterized by the presence of spines: Elliptio spinosa, Elliptio steinstansana, and Pleurobema collina. All three taxa are endemic to the Atlantic Slope of...
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of Great Meadow wetland, Acadia National Park, Maine
Pamela J. Lombard
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5159
The U.S. Geological Survey completed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of Cromwell Brook and the Sieur de Monts tributary in Acadia National Park, Maine, to better understand causes of flooding in complex hydrologic and hydraulic environments, like those in the Great Meadow wetland and Sieur de Monts Spring area. Regional regression...
Comparison of climate envelope models developed using expert-selected variables versus statistical selection
Laura A. Brandt, Allison Benscoter, Rebecca G. Harvey, Carolina Speroterra, David N. Bucklin, Stephanie S. Romanach, James I. Watling, Frank J. Mazzotti
2017, Ecological Modelling (345) 10-20
Climate envelope models are widely used to describe potential future distribution of species under different climate change scenarios. It is broadly recognized that there are both strengths and limitations to using climate envelope models and that outcomes are sensitive to initial assumptions, inputs, and modeling methods Selection of predictor variables,...
Nutrient processes at the stream-lake interface for a channelized versus unmodified stream mouth
Richard G. Niswonger, Ramon C. Naranjo, David Smith, James E. Constantz, Kip K. Allander, Donald O. Rosenberry, Bethany Neilson, Michael R. Rosen, David A. Stonestrom
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 237-256
Inorganic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous impact freshwater lakes by stimulating primary production and affecting water quality and ecosystem health. Communities around the world are motivated to sustain and restore freshwater resources and are interested in processes controlling nutrient inputs. We studied the environment where streams flow into lakes, referred...
Evaluating mountain meadow groundwater response to Pinyon-Juniper and temperature in a great basin watershed
Rosemary W.H. Carroll, Justin L. Huntington, Keirith A. Snyder, Richard G. Niswonger, Charles Morton, Tamzen K. Stringham
2017, Ecohydrology (10) 1-18
This research highlights development and application of an integrated hydrologic model (GSFLOW) to a semiarid, snow-dominated watershed in the Great Basin to evaluate Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) and temperature controls on mountain meadow shallow groundwater. The work used Google Earth Engine Landsat satellite and gridded climate archives for model evaluation. Model simulations...
Integrating landslide and liquefaction hazard and loss estimates with existing USGS real-time earthquake information products
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, Mike Hearne, M. Anna Nowicki Jessee, J. Zhu, David J. Wald, Hakan Tanyas
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has made significant progress toward the rapid estimation of shaking and shakingrelated losses through their Did You Feel It? (DYFI), ShakeMap, ShakeCast, and PAGER products. However, quantitative estimates of the extent and severity of secondary hazards (e.g., landsliding, liquefaction) are not currently included in scenarios...
Apparent late Quaternary fault slip rate increase in the southwestern Lower Rhine Graben, central Europe
Ryan D. Gold, Anke M. Friedrich, Simon Kubler, Martin Salamon
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 563-580
In regions of low strain, long earthquake recurrence intervals (104–106 yrs) and erosive processes limit preservation of Quaternary markers suitable for distinguishing whether faults slip at uniform or secularly varying rates. The Lower Rhine graben in the border region of Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium provides a unique opportunity to...
Woody encroachment in northern Great Plains grasslands: Perceptions, actions, and needs
Amy J. Symstad, Sherry A. Leis
2017, Natural Areas Journal (37) 118-127
The United States Northern Great Plains (NGP) has a high potential for landscape-scale conservation, but this grassland landscape is threatened by encroachment of woody species. We surveyed NGP land managers to identify patterns in, and illustrate a broad range of, individual managers' perceptions on (1) the threat of woody encroachment...
Best practices for virtual participation in meetings: Experiences from synthesis centers
Stephanie E. Hampton, Benjamin S. Halpern, Marten Winter, Jennifer K. Balch, John N. Parker, Jill Baron, Margaret Palmer, Mark P. Schildhauer, Pamela Bishop, Thomas R. Meagher, Alison Specht
2017, Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America (98) 57-63
The earth environment is a complex system, in which collaborative scientific approaches can provide major benefits by bringing together diverse perspectives, methods, and data, to achieve robust, synthetic understanding (Fig. 1). Face-to-face scientific meetings remain extremely valuable because of...
Enhanced Al and Zn removal from coal-mine drainage during rapid oxidation and precipitation of Fe oxides at near-neutral pH
Jill E. Burrows, Charles A. Cravotta, Stephen C. Peters
2017, Applied Geochemistry (78) 194-210
Net-alkaline, anoxic coal-mine drainage containing ∼20 mg/L FeII and ∼0.05 mg/L Al and Zn was subjected to parallel batch experiments: control, aeration (Aer 1 12.6 mL/s; Aer 2 16.8 mL/s; Aer 3 25.0 mL/s), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to test the hypothesis that aeration increases pH, FeII oxidation, hydrous FeIII oxide (HFO) formation, and...
Integrating Radarsat-2, Lidar, and Worldview-3 Imagery to maximize detection of forested inundation extent in the Delmarva Peninsula, USA
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Hayley Distler, Di Ana Mendiola, Megan Lang
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
Natural variability in surface-water extent and associated characteristics presents a challenge to gathering timely, accurate information, particularly in environments that are dominated by small and/or forested wetlands. This study mapped inundation extent across the Upper Choptank River Watershed on the Delmarva Peninsula, occurring within both Maryland and Delaware. We integrated...
