Pacific walrus coastal haulout database, 1852-2016— Background report
Anthony S. Fischbach, Anatoly A. Kochnev, Joel L. Garlich-Miller, Chadwick V. Jay
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1108
Walruses are large benthic predators that rest out of water between foraging bouts. Coastal “haulouts” (places where walruses rest) are formed by adult males in summer and sometimes by females and young when sea ice is absent, and are often used repeatedly across seasons and years. Understanding the geography and historical...
An automated approach to Litchfield and Wilcoxon's evaluation of dose–effect experiments using the R package LW1949
Jean V. Adams, Karen Slaght, Michael A. Boogaard
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 3058-3061
The authors developed a package, LW1949, for use with the statistical software R to automatically carry out the manual steps of Litchfield and Wilcoxon's method of evaluating dose–effect experiments. The LW1949 package consistently finds the best fitting dose–effect relation by minimizing the chi-squared statistic of the observed and expected number...
Arctic sea ice decline contributes to thinning lake ice trend in northern Alaska
Vladimir Alexeev, Christopher D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Lei Cai
2016, Environmental Research Letters (11)
Field measurements, satellite observations, and models document a thinning trend in seasonal Arctic lake ice growth, causing a shift from bedfast to floating ice conditions. September sea ice concentrations in the Arctic Ocean since 1991 correlate well (r = +0.69,p < 0.001) to this lake regime shift. To understand how and to what extent...
Effects of aquifer storage and recovery activities on water quality in the Little Arkansas River and Equus Beds Aquifer, south-central Kansas, 2011–14
Mandy L. Stone, Jessica D. Garrett, Barry C. Poulton, Andrew C. Ziegler
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5042
The Equus Beds aquifer in south-central Kansas is aprimary water source for the city of Wichita. The Equus Beds aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) project was developed to help the city of Wichita meet increasing current (2016) and future water demands. The Equus Beds ASR project pumps water out of...
State-and-transition simulation models: a framework for forecasting landscape change
Colin Daniel, Leonardo Frid, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Marie-Josee Fortin
2016, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (7) 1413-1423
SummaryA wide range of spatially explicit simulation models have been developed to forecast landscape dynamics, including models for projecting changes in both vegetation and land use. While these models have generally been developed as separate applications, each with a separate purpose and audience, they share many...
Rediscovery of the 220-year-old holotype of the Banded Iguana, Brachylophus fasciatus (Brongniart, 1800) in the Paris Natural History Museum
Ivan Ineich, Robert N. Fisher
2016, Zootaxa (4138) 381-391
The Paris Natural History Museum herpetological collection (MNHN-RA) has seven historical specimens of Brachylophus spp. collected late in the 18th and early in the 19th centuries. Brachylophus fasciatus was described in 1800 by Brongniart but its type was subsequently considered as lost and never present in MNHN-RA collections. We found...
Dam operations affect route-specific passage and survival of juvenile Chinook salmon at a main-stem diversion dam
Russell W. Perry, Tobias J. Kock, Ian I Couter, Thomas M Garrison, Joel D Hubble, David B Child
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 2009-2019
Diversion dams can negatively affect emigrating juvenile salmon populations because fish must pass through the impounded river created by the dam, negotiate a passage route at the dam and then emigrate through a riverine reach that has been affected by reduced river discharge. To quantify the effects of a main-stem...
Benefits of prescribed flows for salmon smolt survival enhancement vary longitudinally in a highly managed river system
Ian Courter, Thomas Garrison, Tobias J. Kock, Russell W. Perry, David Child, Joel Hubble
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1999-2008
The influence of streamflow on survival of emigrating juvenile Pacific salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. (smolts) is a major concern for water managers throughout the northeast Pacific Rim. However, few studies have quantified flow effects on smolt survival, and available information does not indicate a consistent flow–survival relationship within the typical range of flows...
Global trends in satellite-based emergency mapping
Stefan Voigt, Fabio Giulio-Tonolo, Josh Lyons, Jan Kucera, Brenda Jones, Tobias Schneiderhan, Gabriel Platzeck, Kazuya Kaku, Manzul Kumar Hazarika, Lorant Czaran, Suju Li, Wendi Pedersen, Godstime Kadiri James, Catherine Proy, Denis Macharia Muthike, Jerome Bequignon, Debarati Guha-Sapir
2016, Science (353) 247-252
Over the past 15 years, scientists and disaster responders have increasingly used satellite-based Earth observations for global rapid assessment of disaster situations. We review global trends in satellite rapid response and emergency mapping from 2000 to 2014, analyzing more than 1000 incidents in which satellite monitoring was used for assessing...
Spatial and temporal assessment of back-barrier erosion on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, 2011–2013
Daniel L. Calhoun, Jeffrey W. Riley
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5071
Much research has been conducted to better understand erosion and accretion processes for the seaward zones of coastal barrier islands; however, at Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, the greater management concern is the effect that erosion is having on the resources of the island’s western shoreline, or the back barrier....
Input-form data for the U.S. Geological Survey assessment of the Mississippian Barnett Shale of the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province, 2015
Kristen R. Marra, Ronald R. Charpentier, Christopher J. Schenk, Michael D. Lewan, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Timothy R. Klett, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Phuong A. Le, Tracey J. Mercier, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1097
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released an updated assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable shale gas and shale oil resources of the Mississippian Barnett Shale in north-central Texas (Marra and others, 2015). The Barnett Shale was assessed using the standard continuous (unconventional) methodology established by the USGS for two...
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources of the Cooper Basin, Australia, 2016
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Timothy R. Klett, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Sarah J. Hawkins, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3050
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean continuous resources of 482 million barrels of oil and 29.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Cooper Basin of Australia....
Missouri River Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon) effects analysis—Integrative report 2016
Robert B. Jacobson, Mandy L. Annis, Michael E. Colvin, Daniel A. James, Timothy L. Welker, Michael J. Parsley
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5064
The Missouri River Pallid Sturgeon Effects Analysis was designed to carry out three components of an assessment of how Missouri River management has affected, and will affect, population dynamics of endangered Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon): (1) collection of reliable scientific information, (2) critical assessment and synthesis of available data and...
Parameter regionalization of a monthly water balance model for the conterminous United States
Andrew R. Bock, Lauren E. Hay, Gregory J. McCabe, Steven L. Markstrom, R. Dwight Atkinson
2016, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (20) 2861-2876
A parameter regionalization scheme to transfer parameter values from gaged to ungaged areas for a monthly water balance model (MWBM) was developed and tested for the conterminous United States (CONUS). The Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test, a global-sensitivity algorithm, was implemented on a MWBM to generate parameter sensitivities on a...
Wound repair in Pocillopora
Jenny Carolina Rodríguez-Villalobos, Thierry M. Work, Luis Eduardo Calderon-Aguileraa
2016, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology (139) 1-5
Corals routinely lose tissue due to causes ranging from predation to disease. Tissue healing and regeneration are fundamental to the normal functioning of corals, yet we know little about this process. We described the microscopic morphology of wound repair in Pocillopora damicornis. Tissue was removed by airbrushing fragments from three healthy...
Theory and application of semiochemicals in nuisance fish control
Peter W. Sorensen, Nicholas S. Johnson
2016, Journal of Chemical Ecology (42) 698-715
Controlling unwanted, or nuisance, fishes is becoming an increasingly urgent issue with few obvious solutions. Because fish rely heavily on semiochemicals, or chemical compounds that convey information between and within species, to mediate aspects of their life histories, these compounds are increasingly being considered as an option to help control...
Low-flow frequency and flow duration of selected South Carolina streams in the Savannah and Salkehatchie River Basins through March 2014
Toby D. Feaster, Wladmir B. Guimaraes
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1101
An ongoing understanding of streamflow characteristics of the rivers and streams in South Carolina is important for the protection and preservation of the State’s water resources. Information concerning the low-flow characteristics of streams is especially important during critical flow periods, such as during the historic droughts that South Carolina has...
Mangrove postcard
Lianne C. Ball
2016, General Information Product 164
Mangrove ecosystems protect vulnerable coastlines from storm effects, recycle nutrients, stabilize shorelines, improve water quality, and provide habitat for commercial and recreational fish species as well as for threatened and endangered wildlife. U.S. Geological Survey scientists conduct research on mangrove ecosystems to provide reliable scientific information about their ecology, productivity,...
Assessing the influence of watershed characteristics on chlorophyll a in waterbodies at global and regional scales
Whitney Woelmer, Yu-Chun Kao, David B. Bunnell, Andrew M. Deines, David Bennion, Mark W. Rogers, Colin N. Brooks, Michael J. Sayers, David M. Banach, Amanda G. Grimm, Robert A. Shuchman
2016, Inland Waters (6) 379-392
Prediction of primary production of lentic water bodies (i.e., lakes and reservoirs) is valuable to researchers and resource managers alike, but is very rarely done at the global scale. With the development of remote sensing technologies, it is now feasible to gather large amounts of data across the world, including...
Assessing the sensitivity of avian species abundance to land cover and climate
Jaymi J. LeBrun, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Frank R. Thompson III, William D. Dijak, Joshua J. Millspaugh
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Climate projections for the Midwestern United States predict southerly climates to shift northward. These shifts in climate could alter distributions of species across North America through changes in climate (i.e., temperature and precipitation), or through climate-induced changes on land cover. Our objective was to determine the relative impacts of land...
Long-term decreases in phosphorus and suspended solids, but not nitrogen, in six upper Mississippi River tributaries, 1991–2014
Rebecca Kreiling, Jeffrey N. Houser
2016, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (188)
Long-term trends in tributaries provide valuable information about temporal changes in inputs of nutrients and sediments to large rivers. Data collected from 1991 to 2014 were used to investigate trends in total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), nitrate (NO3–N), soluble-reactive P (SRP), and total suspended solids (TSS) in the following...
Islands in the ice stream: were spawning habitats for native salmonids in the Great Lakes created by paleo-ice streams?
Stephen Riley, Thomas R. Binder, Taaja R. Tucker, John Menzies, Nick Eyles, John Janssen, Andrew M. Muir, Peter C. Esselman, Nigel J. Wattrus, Charles C. Krueger
2016, Fish and Fisheries (18) 347-359
Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis and cisco Coregonus artedi are salmonid fishes native to the Laurentian Great Lakes that spawn on rocky substrates in the fall and early winter. After comparing the locations of spawning habitat for these species in the main basin of Lake Huron with surficial substrates and the hypothesized...
Gas-hydrate-bearing sand reservoir systems in the offshore of India: Results of the India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02
P. Kumar, Timothy S. Collett, K. Vishwanath, K.M. Shukla, J. Nagalingam, M.V. Lall, Y Yamada, P. Schultheiss, M. Holland
2016, Fire in the Ice: NETL Methane Hydrate Newsletter (16) 1-8
The India National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 02 (NGHP-02) was conducted from 3-March-2015 to 28-July-2015 off the eastern coast of India using the deepwater drilling vessel Chikyu. The primary goal of this expedition was to explore for highly saturated gas hydrate occurrences in sand reservoirs that would become targets for...
Operational thermal remote sensing and lava flow monitoring at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Matthew R. Patrick, James P. Kauahikaua, Tim R. Orr, Ashley G. Davies, Michael S. Ramsey
2016, Geological Society of London Special Publications (426) 489-503
Hawaiian volcanoes are highly accessible and well monitored by ground instruments. Nevertheless, observational gaps remain and thermal satellite imagery has proven useful in Hawai‘i for providing synoptic views of activity during intervals between field visits. Here we describe the beginning of a thermal remote sensing programme at the US Geological...
Habitat and fish assemblage associations and current status of northern leatherside chub Lepidomeda copei in western Wyoming
Luke Schultz, Pete Cavalli, Hilda Sexauer, David Zafft
2016, Western North American Naturalist (76) 427-440
Human activities have extensively altered native fish assemblages and their habitats in the western United States. Conservation and restoration for long-term persistence of these fishes requires knowledge of their distributional patterns and life history requirements. Northern leatherside chub Lepidomeda copei (hereafter northern leatherside) is a cyprinid native to the Snake and Bear...
