Spatial distribution of thermokarst terrain in Arctic Alaska
Louise Farquharson, Dan H Mann, Guido Grosse, Benjamin M. Jones, Vladimir Romanovsky
2016, Geomorphology (273) 116-133
In landscapes underlain by ice-rich permafrost, the development of thermokarst landforms can have drastic impacts on ecosystem processes and human infrastructure. Here we describe the distribution of thermokarst landforms in the continuous permafrost zone of Arctic Alaska, analyze linkages to the underlying surficial geology, and discuss the vulnerability of different...
Methods for exploring uncertainty in groundwater management predictions
Joseph H. A. Guillaume, Randall J. Hunt, Alessandro Comunian, Baihua Fu, Rachel S Blakers
Anthony J. Jakeman, Olivier Barreteau, Randall J. Hunt, Jean-Daniel Rinaudo, Andrew Ross, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Integrated groundwater management
Models of groundwater systems help to integrate knowledge about the natural and human system covering different spatial and temporal scales, often from multiple disciplines, in order to address a range of issues of concern to various stakeholders. A model is simply a tool to express what we think we know....
Approaches to stream solute load estimation for solutes with varying dynamics from five diverse small watershed
Brent T. Aulenbach, Douglas A. Burns, James B. Shanley, Ruth D. Yanai, Kikang Bae, Adam Wild, Yang Yang, Dong Yi
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Estimating streamwater solute loads is a central objective of many water-quality monitoring and research studies, as loads are used to compare with atmospheric inputs, to infer biogeochemical processes, and to assess whether water quality is improving or degrading. In this study, we evaluate loads and associated errors to determine the...
Streamflow of 2015—Water year national summary
Xiaodong Jian, David M. Wolock, Harry F. Lins, Steve Brady
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3055
IntroductionThe maps and graphs in this summary describe national streamflow conditions for water year 2015 (October 1, 2014, to September 30, 2015) in the context of the 86-year period 1930–2015, unless otherwise noted. The illustrations are based on observed data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Streamflow Information Program...
Student and recent graduate employment opportunities
U.S. Geological Survey
2016, General Information Product 166
As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that affect our lives. Opportunities for undergraduate and...
Grant opportunities for academic research and training
U.S. Geological Survey
2016, General Information Product 165
As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that affect our lives. Grant opportunities for researchers...
Key ecological responses to nitrogen are altered by climate change
T.L. Greaver, C.M. Clark, J.E. Compton, D. Vallano, A. F. Talhelm, C.P. Weaver, L.E. Band, Jill Baron, E.A. Davidson, C.L. Tague, E. Felker-Quinn, J.A. Lynch, J.D. Herrick, L. Liu, C.L. Goodale, K. J. Novak, R. A. Haeuber
2016, Nature Climate Change (6) 836-843
Climate change and anthropogenic nitrogen deposition are both important ecological threats. Evaluating their cumulative effects provides a more holistic view of ecosystem vulnerability to human activities, which would better inform policy decisions aimed to protect the sustainability of ecosystems. Our knowledge of the cumulative effects of these stressors is growing,...
Tumours in white suckers from Lake Michigan tributaries: Pathology and prevalence
Vicki S. Blazer, H.L. Walsh, R.P. Braham, C. M. Hahn, P. Mazik, P.B. McIntyre
2016, Journal of Fish Diseases (40) 377-393
The prevalence and histopathology of neoplastic lesions were assessed in white suckerCatostomus commersonii captured at two Lake Michigan Areas of Concern (AOCs), the Sheboygan River and Milwaukee Estuary. Findings were compared to those observed at two non-AOC sites, the Root and Kewaunee rivers. At each site, approximately 200 adult suckers...
Allometric and temporal scaling of movement characteristics in Galapagos tortoises
Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Charles B. Yackulic, Jacqueline L. Frair, Freddy Cabrera, Stephen Blake
2016, Journal of Animal Ecology (85) 1171-1181
Understanding how individual movement scales with body size is of fundamental importance in predicting ecological relationships for diverse species. One-dimensional movement metrics scale consistently with body size yet vary over different temporal scales. Knowing how temporal scale influences the relationship between animal body size and movement would...
Distribution of a climate-sensitive species at an interior range margin
Chris Ray, Erik A. Beever, Thomas J. Rodhouse
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Advances in understanding the factors that limit a species’ range, particularly in the context of climate change, have come disproportionately through investigations at range edges or margins. The margins of a species’ range might often correspond with anomalous microclimates that confer habitat suitability where the species would otherwise fail to...
Niche shifts and energetic condition of songbirds in response to phenology of food-resource availability in a high-elevation sagebrush ecosystem
Kyle A. Cutting, Michelle L. Anderson, Erik A. Beever, Sean Schroff, Nathan Korb, Eric Klaphake, Scott R. McWilliams
2016, The Auk (133) 685-697
Seasonal fluctuations in food availability can affect diets of consumers, which in turn may influence the physiological state of individuals and shape intra- and inter-specific patterns of resource use. High-elevation ecosystems often exhibit a pronounced seasonal “pulse” in productivity, although few studies document how resource use and energetic condition by...
Toward an integrated understanding of perceived biodiversity values and environmental conditions in a national park
Carena J. van Riper, Gerard T. Kyle, Benson C. Sherrouse, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Stephen G. Sutton
2016, Ecological Indicators (72) 278-287
In spatial planning and management of protected areas, increased priority is being given to research that integrates social and ecological data. However, public viewpoints of the benefits provided by ecosystems are not easily quantified and often implicitly folded into natural resource management decisions. Drawing on a spatially explicit participatory mapping...
Sediment oxygen demand in eastern Kansas streams, 2014 and 2015
Guy M. Foster, Lindsey R. King, Jennifer L. Graham
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5113
Dissolved oxygen concentrations in streams are affected by physical, chemical, and biological factors in the water column and streambed, and are an important factor for the survival of aquatic organisms. Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) rates in Kansas streams are not well understood. During 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey,...
Groundwater quality at the Saline Valley Conservancy District well field, Gallatin County, Illinois
Magdalena Gorczynska, Robert T. Kay
2016, Data Series 1009
The Saline Valley Conservancy District (SVCD) operates wells that supply water to most of the water users in Saline and Gallatin Counties, Illinois. The SVCD wells draw water from a shallow sand and gravel aquifer located in close proximity to an abandoned underground coal mine, several abandoned oil wells, and...
Time-slice maps showing age, distribution, and style of deformation in Alaska north of 60° N.
Thomas E. Moore, Stephen E. Box
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1138
The structural architecture of Alaska is the product of a complex history of tectonism that occurred along the Cordilleran and Arctic margins of North America through interactions with ancient and modern ocean plates and with continental elements derived from Laurentia, Siberia, and Baltica. To unravel the tectonic history of Alaska,...
Shallower structure and geomorphology of the southern Puerto Rico offshore margin
Bruna J.L. Granja, A. Munoz-Martin, A. Carbó-Gorosabel, Estrada P. Llanes
2016, Marine and Petroleum Geology (67) 30-56
Oblique convergence between the North American and Caribbean plates along the eastern Greater Antilles island arc has yielded the compressive Muertos margin in the backarc region. The Muertos margin is characterized by an asymmetric thrust belt with overall opposite vergence to the subduction system in the forearc region. Offshore south of Puerto Rico,...
The role of snowpack, rainfall, and reservoirs in buffering California against drought effects
Mary Johannis, Lorraine E. Flint, Michael D. Dettinger, Alan L. Flint, Regina Ochoa
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3062
California’s vast reservoir system, fed by annual snow-and rainfall, plays an important part in providing water to the State’s human and wildlife population. There are almost 1,300 reservoirs throughout the State, but only approximately 200 of them are considered storage reservoirs, and many of the larger ones are critical...
Chesapeake Bay fish–osprey (Pandion haliaetus) food chain: Evaluation of contaminant exposure and genetic damage
Rebecca S. Lazarus, Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. McGowan, Robert C. Hale, Natalie K. Karouna-Reiner, Richard A. Erickson, Mary Ann Ottinger
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 1560-1575
From 2011 to 2013, a large-scale ecotoxicological study was conducted in several Chesapeake Bay (USA) tributaries (Susquehanna River and flats, the Back, Baltimore Harbor/Patapsco Rivers, Anacostia/ middle Potomac, Elizabeth and James Rivers) and Poplar Island as a mid-Bay reference site. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) diet and the transfer of contaminants from...
Behavior patterns and fates of adult steelhead, Chinook salmon, and coho salmon released into the upper Cowlitz River Basin, 2005–09 and 2012, Washington
Tobias J. Kock, Brian K. Ekstrom, Theresa L. Liedtke, John D. Serl, Mike Kohn
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1144
A multiyear radiotelemetry evaluation was conducted to monitor adult steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and coho salmon (O. kisutch) behavior and movement patterns in the upper Cowlitz River Basin. Volitional passage to this area was eliminated by dam construction in the mid-1960s, and a reintroduction program began...
Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative strategic plan 2015 - 2025
Carl Markon, Eric Schroff
2016, Report
The Northwest Boreal Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NWB LCC) is a voluntary, diverse, self-directed management-science partnership, informing and promoting integrated science, sustainable natural and cultural resource management, and conservation to address impacts of climate change and other stressors within and across ecosystems. The NWB LCC area includes parts of Alaska, Yukon,...
Seasonal variation exceeds effects of salmon carcass additions on benthic food webs in the Elwha River
S.A. Morley, H.J. Coe, J.J. Duda, L.S. Dunphy, M.L. McHenry, B.R. Beckman, M. Elofson, E. M. Sampson, L. Ward
2016, Ecosphere (7) article e01422
Dam removal and other fish barrier removal projects in western North America are assumed to boost freshwater productivity via the transport of marine-derived nutrients from recolonizing Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.). In anticipation of the removal of two hydroelectric dams on the Elwha River in Washington State, we tested this hypothesis...
Centimeter-scale surface deformation caused by the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake sequence at the Carter farm site—Subsidiary structures with a quaternary history
Richard W. Harrison, J. Stephen Schindler, Milan J. Pavich, J. Wright Horton Jr., Mark W. Carter
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1134
Centimeter-scale ground-surface deformation was produced by the August 23, 2011, magnitude (M) 5.8 earthquake that occurred in Mineral, Virginia. Ground-surface deformation also resulted from the earthquake aftershock sequence. This deformation occurred along a linear northeast-trend near Pendleton, Virginia. It is approximately 10 kilometers (km) northeast of the M5.8 epicenter and...
Water-surface elevation and discharge measurement data for the Red River of the North and its tributaries near Fargo, North Dakota, water years 2014–15
William C. Damschen, Joel M. Galloway
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1139
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Fargo Diversion Board of Authority, collected water-surface elevations during a range of discharges needed for calibration of hydrologic and hydraulic models for specific reaches of interest in water years 2014–15. These water-surface elevation and discharge measurement data were collected for design planning...
Precipitation changes in the western tropical Pacific over the past millennium
Julie N. Richey, Julian P. Sachs
2016, Geology (8) 671-674
Modern seasonal and inter-annual precipitation variability in Palau is linked to both meridional movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and changes in the Pacific Walker Circula- tion (PWC) associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Thus, Palau’s hydroclimate should be sensitive to mean shifts in the ITCZ and PWC on decadal...
Patchiness in a large floodplain river: Associations among hydrology, nutrients, and fish communities
Nathan R. De Jager, Jeffrey N. Houser
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1915-1926
Large floodplain rivers have internal structures shaped by directions and rates of water movement. In a previous study, we showed that spatial variation in local current velocities and degrees of hydrological exchange creates a patch-work mosaic of nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and ratios in the Upper Mississippi River. Here, we...
