Modeling the effects of land cover and use on landscape capability for urban ungulate populations
H. Brian Underwood, Chellby R. Kilheffer
Robert A. Francis, James D. A. Millington, Michael A. Chadwick, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter
Expanding ungulate populations are causing concerns for wildlife professionals and residents in many urban areas worldwide. Nowhere is the phenomenon more apparent than in the eastern US, where urban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations are increasing. Most habitat suitability models for deer have been developed in rural areas...
Prediction of fish and sediment mercury in streams using landscape variables and historical mining
Charles N. Alpers, Julie L. Yee, Joshua T. Ackerman, James L. Orlando, Darrell G. Slotton, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale
2016, Science of the Total Environment (571) 364-379
Widespread mercury (Hg) contamination of aquatic systems in the Sierra Nevada of California, U.S., is associated with historical use to enhance gold (Au) recovery by amalgamation. In areas affected by historical Au mining operations, including the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and downstream areas in northern California, such as...
Identifying alternate pathways for climate change to impact inland recreational fishers
Len M. Hunt, Eli P. Fenichel, David C. Fulton, Robert Mendelsohn, Jordan W. Smith, Tyler D. Tunney, Abigail J. Lynch, Craig P. Paukert, James E. Whitney
2016, Fisheries (41) 362-372
Fisheries and human dimensions literature suggests that climate change influences inland recreational fishers in North America through three major pathways. The most widely recognized pathway suggests that climate change impacts habitat and fish populations (e.g., water temperature impacting fish survival) and cascades to impact fishers. Climate change also impacts recreational...
Baseline reference range for trace metal concentrations in whole blood of wild and managed West Indian Manatees (Trichechus manatus) in Florida and Belize
Noel Y. Takeuchi, Michael T. Walsh, Robert K. Bonde, James A. Powell, Dean A. Bass, Joseph C. Gaspard, David S. Barber
2016, Aquatic Mammals (42) 440-453
The West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) is exposed to a number of anthropogenic influences, including metals, as they inhabit shallow waters with close proximity to shore. While maintaining homeostasis of many metals is crucial for health, there is currently no baseline reference range that can be used to make clinical...
Clinal patterns in genetic variation for northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens): Conservation status and population histories
Craig A. Stockwell, Justin D.L. Fisher, Kyle I. McLean
2016, Wetlands (36) 437-443
The security of the northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) varies spatially with populations east and west of North Dakota considered as secure and at risk, respectively. We used genetic markers to characterize the conservation status of northern leopard frog populations across North Dakota. We used multiple regression analyses...
Habitat selection by Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri) at multiple spatial scales in an urbanized estuary: The importance of salt ponds
Jill Bluso-Demers, Joshua T. Ackerman, John Y. Takekawa, Sarah H. Peterson
2016, Waterbirds (39) 375-387
The highly urbanized San Francisco Bay Estuary, California, USA, is currently undergoing large-scale habitat restoration, and several thousand hectares of former salt evaporation ponds are being converted to tidal marsh. To identify potential effects of this habitat restoration on breeding waterbirds, habitat selection of radiotagged Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri) was...
Climate change and the Delta
Michael D. Dettinger, Jamie Anderson, Michael L. Anderson, Larry R. Brown, Daniel Cayan, Edwin P. Maurer
2016, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (14) 1-26
Anthropogenic climate change amounts to a rapidly approaching, “new” stressor in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta system. In response to California’s extreme natural hydroclimatic variability, complex water-management systems have been developed, even as the Delta’s natural ecosystems have been largely devastated. Climate change is projected to challenge these management and ecological...
A new strategy for earthquake focal mechanisms using waveform-correlation-derived relative polarities and cluster analysis: Application to the 2014 Long Valley Caldera earthquake swarm
David R. Shelly, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, William L. Ellsworth, David P. Hill
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 8622-8641
In microseismicity analyses, reliable focal mechanisms can typically be obtained for only a small subset of located events. We address this limitation here, presenting a framework for determining robust focal mechanisms for entire populations of very small events. To achieve this, we resolve relative P and S wave polarities between...
Assessment of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources in the Dnieper-Donets Basin and North Carpathian Basin Provinces, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and Poland, 2015
Timothy R. Klett, Christopher J. Schenk, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Tracey J. Mercier, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3082
Using a geology-based methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 13 million barrels of oil and 2,643 billion cubic feet of natural gas in the Dnieper-Donets Basin and North Carpathian Basin Provinces of Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and Poland....
Mountain goat abundance and population trends in the Olympic Mountains, northwestern Washington, 2016
Kurt J. Jenkins, Patricia J. Happe, Katherine F. Beirne, William T. Baccus
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1185
Executive SummaryWe estimated abundance and trends of non-native mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) in the Olympic Mountains of northwestern Washington, based on aerial surveys conducted during July 13–24, 2016. The surveys produced the seventh population estimate since the first formal aerial surveys were conducted in 1983. This was the second population...
Quantifying gas emissions from the 946 CE Millennium Eruption of Paektu volcano, Democratic People's Republic of Korea/China
Kayla Iacovino, Kim Ju-Song, Thomas W. Sisson, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Ri Ku-Hun, Jang Jong-Nam, Song Kun-Ho, Ham Song-Hwan, Clive Oppenheimer, James O.S. Hammond, Amy Donovan, Kosima Weber-Liu, Ryu Kum-Ran
2016, Science Advances (2) 1-11
Paektu volcano (Changbaishan) is a rhyolitic caldera that straddles the border between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China. Its most recent large eruption was the Millennium Eruption (ME; 23 km3 DRE) circa 946 CE, which resulted in the release of copious magmatic volatiles (H2O, CO2, sulfur, and...
Aqueous exposure to the progestin, levonorgestrel, alters anal fin development and reproductive behavior in the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
Tyler E. Frankel, Michael T. Meyer, Edward F. Orlando
2016, General and Comparative Endocrinology (234) 161-169
Endogenous progestogens are important regulators of vertebrate reproduction. Synthetic progestins are components of human contraceptive and hormone replacement pharmaceuticals. Both progestogens and progestins enter the environment through a number of sources, and have been shown to cause profound effects on reproductive health in various aquatic vertebrates. Progestins are designed to...
Model description and evaluation of the mark-recapture survival model used to parameterize the 2012 status and threats analysis for the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)
Catherine A. Langtimm, William L. Kendall, Cathy A. Beck, Howard I. Kochman, Amy L. Teague, Gaia Meigs-Friend, Claudia L. Penaloza
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1163
This report provides supporting details and evidence for the rationale, validity and efficacy of a new mark-recapture model, the Barker Robust Design, to estimate regional manatee survival rates used to parameterize several components of the 2012 version of the Manatee Core Biological Model (CBM) and Threats Analysis (TA). The CBM...
Was everything bigger in Texas? Characterization and trends of a land-based recreational shark fishery
Matthew J. Ajemian, Philip D. Jose, John T. Froeschke, Mark L. Wildhaber, Gregory W. Stunz
2016, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (8) 553-566
Although current assessments of shark population trends involve both fishery-independent and fishery-dependent data, the latter are generally limited to commercial landings that may neglect nearshore coastal habitats. Texas has supported the longest organized land-based recreational shark fishery in the United States, yet no studies have used this “non-traditional” data source...
Annualized earthquake loss estimates for California and their sensitivity to site amplification
Rui Chen, Kishor S. Jaiswal, D Bausch, H Seligson, C.J. Wills
2016, Seismological Research Letters (87) 1363-1372
Input datasets for annualized earthquake loss (AEL) estimation for California were updated recently by the scientific community, and include the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM), site‐response model, and estimates of shear‐wave velocity. Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s loss estimation tool, Hazus, was updated to include the most recent census...
Vive la résistance: genome-wide selection against introduced alleles in invasive hybrid zones
Ryan P. Kovach, Brian K. Hand, Paul A. Hohenlohe, Ted F. Cosart, Matthew C. Boyer, Helen H. Neville, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Stephen J. Amish, Kellie Carim, Shawn R. Narum, Winsor H. Lowe, Fred W. Allendorf, Gordon Luikart
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (283)
Evolutionary and ecological consequences of hybridization between native and invasive species are notoriously complicated because patterns of selection acting on non-native alleles can vary throughout the genome and across environments. Rapid advances in genomics now make it feasible to assess locus-specific and genome-wide patterns of natural selection acting on invasive...
Lidar-based mapping of flood control levees in south Louisiana
Cindy A. Thatcher, Samsung Lim, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Dustin R. Kimbrow
2016, International Journal of Remote Sensing (37) 5708-5725
Flood protection in south Louisiana is largely dependent on earthen levees, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the state’s levee system has received intense scrutiny. Accurate elevation data along the levees are critical to local levee district managers responsible for monitoring and maintaining the extensive system of non-federal levees...
Characterization and relation of precipitation, streamflow, and water-quality data at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, water years 2013–14
Michael J. Holmberg, Stogner, James F. Bruce
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5145
To evaluate the influence of military training activities on streamflow and water quality, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army, began a hydrologic data collection network on the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson in 1978 and on the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in 1983....
Collection methods and descriptions of coral cores extracted from massive corals in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A.
Michael S. Weinzierl, Christopher D. Reich, T. Donald Hickey, Lucy A. Bartlett, Ilsa B. Kuffner
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1182
Cores from living coral colonies were collected from Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, U.S.A., to obtain skeletal records of past coral growth and allow geochemical reconstruction of environmental variables during the corals’ centuries-long lifespans. The samples were collected as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Coral Reef Ecosystems Studies project...
Management implications of brood division in Golden-winged Warblers
Sean M. Peterson, Henry M. Streby, David E. Andersen
2016, Book chapter, Golden-winged Warbler ecology, conservation, and habitat management (Studies in Avian Biology, volume 49)
Brood division in the postfledging period is a common avian behavior that is not well understood. Brood division has been reported in Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera), but it is not known how common this behavior is, whether males and females exhibit different strategies related to parental care and habitat use,...
Mapping site index and volume increment from forest inventory, Landsat, and ecological variables in Tahoe National Forest, California, USA
Shengli Huang, Carlos Ramirez, Scott Conway, Kama Kennedy, Tanya Kohler, Jinxun Liu
2016, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (47) 113-124
High-resolution site index (SI) and mean annual increment (MAI) maps are desired for local forest management. We integrated field inventory, Landsat, and ecological variables to produce 30 m SI and MAI maps for the Tahoe National Forest (TNF) where different tree species coexist. We converted species-specific SI using adjustment factors....
Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi from flood of March 2016
Brian K. Breaker, Kara M. Watson, Paul A. Ensminger, John B. Storm, Claire E. Rose
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5162
Heavy rainfall occurred across Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi in March 2016 as a result of a slow-moving southward dip in the jetstream, funneling tropical moisture into parts of the Gulf Coast States and the Mississippi River Valley. The storm caused major flooding in the northwestern and southeastern parts of...
Processes of multibathyal aragonite undersaturation in the Arctic Ocean
J.G. Wynn, L. L. Robbins, L.G. Anderson
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (121) 8248-8267
During 3 years of study (2010–2012), the western Arctic Ocean was found to have unique aragonite saturation profiles with up to three distinct aragonite undersaturation zones. This complexity is produced as inflow of Atlantic-derived and Pacific-derived water masses mix with Arctic-derived waters, which are further modified by physiochemical and biological...
Borehole deviation and correction factor data for selected wells in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5163
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has maintained a water-level monitoring program at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 1949. The purpose of the program is to systematically measure and report water-level data to assess the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and...
Groundwater and surface-water interaction, water quality, and processes affecting loads of dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium in Fountain Creek, near Pueblo, Colorado, 2012–2014
L. Rick Arnold, Roderick F. Ortiz, Christopher R. Brown, Kenneth R. Watts
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5134
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas River Basin Regional Resource Planning Group, initiated a study of groundwater and surface-water interaction, water quality, and loading of dissolved solids, selenium, and uranium to Fountain Creek near Pueblo, Colorado, to improve understanding of sources and processes affecting loading...
