Controls on methane concentrations and fluxes in streams draining human-dominated landscapes
John T. Crawford, Emily H. Stanley
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 1581-1591
Streams and rivers are active processors of carbon, leading to significant emissions of CO2 and possibly CH4 to the atmosphere. Patterns and controls of CH4 in fluvial ecosystems remain relatively poorly understood. Furthermore, little is known regarding how major human impacts to fluvial ecosystems may be transforming their role as...
Composition and structure of the shallow subsurface of Ceres revealed by crater morphology
Michael T. Bland, Carol A. Raymond, Paul M. Schenk, Roger R. Fu, Thomas Kneisl, Jan Hendrick Pasckert, Harald Hiesinger, Frank Preusker, Ryan S. Park, Simone Marchi, Scott King, Julie C. Castillo-Rogez, Christopher T. Russell
2016, Nature Geoscience (9) 538-542
Before NASA’s Dawn mission, the dwarf planet Ceres was widely believed to contain a substantial ice-rich layer below its rocky surface. The existence of such a layer has significant implications for Ceres’s formation, evolution, and astrobiological potential. Ceres is warmer than icy worlds in the outer Solar System and, if...
Hyperspectral surveying for mineral resources in Alaska
Raymond F. Kokaly, Garth E. Graham, Todd M. Hoefen, Karen D. Kelley, Michaela R. Johnson, Bernard E. Hubbard
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3029
Alaska is a major producer of base and precious metals and has a high potential for additional undiscovered mineral resources. However, discovery is hindered by Alaska’s vast size, remoteness, and rugged terrain. New methods are needed to overcome these obstacles in order to fully evaluate Alaska’s geology and mineral resource...
Disease surveillance of Atlantic herring: molecular characterization of hepatic coccidiosis and a morphological report of a novel intestinal coccidian
Sarah E Friend, J Lovey, Paul Hershberger
2016, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (120) 91-107
Surveillance for pathogens of Atlantic herring, including viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV),Ichthyophonus hoferi, and hepatic and intestinal coccidians, was conducted from 2012 to 2016 in the NW Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, USA. Neither VHSV nor I. hoferi was detected in any sample. Goussia clupearum was found in the livers of 40 to 78% of...
Delta smelt: Life history and decline of a once abundant species in the San Francisco Estuary
Peter B. Moyle, Larry R. Brown, John R Durand, James A. Hobbs
2016, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (14)
This paper reviews what has been learned about Delta Smelt and its status since the publication of The State of Bay-Delta Science, 2008 (Healey et al. 2008). The Delta Smelt is endemic to the upper San Francisco Estuary. Much of its historic habitat is no longer available and...
A framework for assessing the feasibility of native fish conservation translocations: Applications to threatened bull trout
Benjamin T. Galloway, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Christopher S. Guy, Christopher C. Downs, Wade A. Fredenberg
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 754-768
There is an urgent need to consider more aggressive and direct interventions for the conservation of freshwater fishes that are threatened by invasive species, habitat loss, and climate change. Conservation introduction (moving a species outside its indigenous range to other areas where conditions are predicted to be more suitable)...
Widespread detection of highly pathogenic H5 influenza viruses in wild birds from the Pacific Flyway of the United States
S.N. Bevins, Robert J. Dusek, C. LeAnn White, Thomas Gidlewski, B. Bodenstein, Kristin G. Mansfield, Paul DeBruyn, Donald K. Kraege, E. L. Rowan, Colin Gillin, B. Thomas, S. Chandler, J. Baroch, B. Schmit, M. J. Grady, R. S. Miller, M.L. Drew, S. Stopak, B. Zscheile, J. Bennett, J. Sengl, Caroline Brady, S. Ip, Erica Spackman, M. L. Killian, Mia Kim Torchetti, Jonathan M. Sleeman, T.J. DeLiberto
2016, Scientific Reports (6)
A novel highly pathogenic avian influenza virus belonging to the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 variant viruses was detected in North America in late 2014. Motivated by the identification of these viruses in domestic poultry in Canada, an intensive study was initiated to conduct highly pathogenic avian influenza surveillance in wild birds...
Detection, prevalence, and transmission of avian hematozoa in waterfowl at the Arctic/sub-Arctic interface: co-infections, viral interactions, and sources of variation.
Brandt W. Meixell, Todd W. Arnold, Mark S. Lindberg, Matthew M. Smith, Andrew M. Ramey, Jonathan A. Runstadler
2016, Parasites & Vectors (9)
Background: The epidemiology of avian hematozoa at high latitudes is still not well understood, particularly in sub-Arctic and Arctic habitats, where information is limited regarding seasonality and range of transmission, co-infection dynamics with parasitic and viral agents, and possible fitness consequences of infection. Such information is important as climate warming...
Geologic map of the Murray Quadrangle, Newton County, Arkansas
Mark R. Hudson, Kenzie J. Turner
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3360
This map summarizes the geology of the Murray quadrangle in the Ozark Plateaus region of northern Arkansas. Geologically, the area is on the southern flank of the Ozark dome, an uplift that has the oldest rocks exposed at its center, in Missouri. Physiographically, the Murray quadrangle is within the Boston...
Forecasting the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors on polar bears
Todd C. Atwood, Bruce G. Marcot, David C. Douglas, Steven C. Amstrup, Karyn D. Rode, George M. Durner, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Effective conservation planning requires understanding and ranking threats to wildlife populations. We developed a Bayesian network model to evaluate the relative influence of environmental and anthropogenic stressors, and their mitigation, on the persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Overall sea ice conditions, affected by rising global temperatures, were the most...
Identifying bird and reptile vulnerabilities to climate change in the southwestern United States
James R. Hatten, J. Tomasz Giermakowski, Jennifer A. Holmes, Erika M. Nowak, Matthew J. Johnson, Kirsten E. Ironside, Charles van Riper III, Michael Peters, Charles Truettner, Kenneth L. Cole
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1085
Current and future breeding ranges of 15 bird and 16 reptile species were modeled in the Southwestern United States. Rather than taking a broad-scale, vulnerability-assessment approach, we created a species distribution model (SDM) for each focal species incorporating climatic, landscape, and plant variables. Baseline climate (1940–2009) was characterized with Parameter-elevation...
Biogeochemical controls of uranium bioavailability from the dissolved phase in natural freshwaters
Marie Noele Croteau, Christopher C. Fuller, Daniel J. Cain, Kate M. Campbell, George R. Aiken
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 8120-8127
To gain insights into the risks associated with uranium (U) mining and processing, we investigated the biogeochemical controls of U bioavailability in the model freshwater speciesLymnaea stagnalis (Gastropoda). Bioavailability of dissolved U(VI) was characterized in controlled laboratory experiments over a range of water hardness, pH, and in the presence of complexing...
Identifying Kittlitz's Murrelet nesting habitat in North America at the landscape scale
Jonathan J. Felis, Michelle L. Kissling, Robb S.A. Kaler, Leah A. Kenney, Matthew J. Lawonn
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 323-333
The Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) is a small, non-colonial seabird endemic to marine waters of Alaska and eastern Russia that may have experienced significant population decline in recent decades, in part because of low reproductive success and terrestrial threats. Although recent studies have shed new light on Kittlitz's Murrelet nesting...
The Pilot Valley shoreline: An early record of Lake Bonneville dynamics
David M. Miller, Geoffrey Phelps
2016, Book chapter, Developments in Earth Surface Processes 20
The Pilot Valley shoreline is named for distinctive gravel beaches on the eastern, northern, and western sides of Pilot Valley playa, Utah. The shoreline has been identified across the Bonneville basin where it is characterized by one to three beach crests between ~ 1305 and 1309 m elevation, all overlain by deep-water...
Spectral nature of CO2 adsorption onto meteorites
Genesis Berlanga, Charles A Hibbitts, Driss Takir, Draby M Dyar, Elizabeth Sklute
2016, Icarus (280) 366-377
Previous studies have identified carbon dioxide (CO2) on the surfaces of Jovian and Galilean satellites in regions of non-ice material that are too warm for CO2 ice to exist. CO2 ice would quickly sublimate if not retained by a less-volatile material. To ascertain what non-ice species may be responsible for stabilizing this...
External quality assurance project report for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network, 2013–14
Gregory A. Wetherbee, RoseAnn Martin
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5069
The U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Quality Systems operated five distinct programs to provide external quality assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s (NADP) National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network during 2013–14. The National Trends Network programs include (1) a field audit program to evaluate sample contamination and...
A goodness-of-fit test for occupancy models with correlated within-season revisits
Wilson Wright, Kathryn M. Irvine, Thomas J. Rodhouse
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 5404-5415
Occupancy modeling is important for exploring species distribution patterns and for conservation monitoring. Within this framework, explicit attention is given to species detection probabilities estimated from replicate surveys to sample units. A central assumption is that replicate surveys are independent Bernoulli trials, but this assumption becomes untenable when ecologists serially...
Adverse reproductive and developmental health outcomes following prenatal exposure to a 2 hydraulic fracturing chemical mixture in female C57Bl/6 mice
Christopher D. Kassotis, John J. Bromfield, Kara C. Klemp, Chun-Xia Meng, Andrew R. Wolfe, Thomas Zoeller, Victoria D. Balise, Chiamaka J. Isiguzo, Donald E. Tillitt, Susan C. Nagel
2016, Endocrinology (157) 3469-3481
Unconventional oil and gas operations using hydraulic fracturing can contaminate surface and groundwater with endocrine-disrupting chemicals. We have previously shown that 23 of 24 commonly used hydraulic fracturing chemicals can activate or inhibit the estrogen, androgen, glucocorticoid, progesterone, and/or thyroid receptors in a human endometrial cancer cell reporter gene assay...
Preserving reptiles for research
Steve W. Gotte, Jeremy F. Jacobs, George R. Zug
C. Kenneth Dodd, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Reptile ecology and conservation
What are voucher specimens and why do we collect them? Voucher specimens are animals and/or their parts that are deposited in a research museum to document the occurrence of a taxon at a specific location in space and time (Pleijel et al., 2008; Reynolds and McDiarmid, 2012). For field biologists,...
Experimental whole-lake increase of dissolved organic carbon concentration produces unexpected increase in crustacean zooplankton density
Patrick T. Kelly, Nicola Craig, Christopher T. Solomon, Brian Weidel, Jacob A. Zwart, Stuart E. Jones
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 2766-2775
The observed pattern of lake browning, or increased terrestrial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, across the northern hemisphere has amplified the importance of understanding how consumer productivity varies with DOC concentration. Results from comparative studies suggest these increased DOC concentrations may reduce crustacean zooplankton productivity due to reductions in resource...
Implications of climate change for wetland-dependent birds in the Prairie Pothole Region
Valerie Steen, Susan K. Skagen, Cynthia P. Melcher
2016, Wetlands (36) 445-459
The habitats and food resources required to support breeding and migrant birds dependent on North American prairie wetlands are threatened by impending climate change. The North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) hosts nearly 120 species of wetland-dependent birds representing 21 families. Strategic management requires knowledge of avian habitat requirements and...
Blood selenium concentrations in female Pacific black brant molting in Arctic Alaska: Relationships with age and habitat salinity
J. Christian Franson, Paul L. Flint, Joel A. Schmutz
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (111) 453-455
Blood samples collected from 81 female Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) molting near Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska, were analyzed for selenium concentration. The concentration of selenium in blood of after second year (hatched two or more years ago) females (0.84 μg/g wet weight) was significantly greater than the concentration in second...
Extraordinary sediment delivery and rapid geomorphic response following the 2008–2009 eruption of Chaitén Volcano, Chile
Jon J. Major, Daniel Bertin, Thomas C. Pierson, Alvaro Amigo, Andres Iroume, Hector Ulloa, Jonathan M. Castro
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 5075-5094
The 10 day explosive phase of the 2008–2009 eruption of Chaitén volcano, Chile, draped adjacent watersheds with a few cm to >1 m of tephra. Subsequent lava-dome collapses generated pyroclastic flows that delivered additional sediment. During the waning phase of explosive activity, modest rainfall triggered an extraordinary sediment flush which...
A framework for effective use of hydroclimate models in climate-change adaptation planning for managed habitats with limited hydrologic response data
Rachel A. Esralew, Lorraine E. Flint, James H. Thorne, Ryan Boynton, Alan L. Flint
2016, Environmental Management (58) 60-75
Climate-change adaptation planning for managed wetlands is challenging under uncertain futures when the impact of historic climate variability on wetland response is unquantified. We assessed vulnerability of Modoc National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) through use of the Basin Characterization Model (BCM) landscape hydrology model, and six global climate models, representing projected...
Hepatic insulin-like growth-factor binding protein (igfbp) responses tofood restriction in Atlantic salmon smolts
Jason P. Breves, Silas K. Phipps-Costin, Chelsea K. Fujimoto, Ingibjorg E. Einarsdottir, Amy M. Regish, Björn Thrandur Björnsson, Stephen D. McCormick
2016, General and Comparative Endocrinology (233) 79-87
The growth hormone (Gh)/insulin-like growth-factor (Igf) system plays a central role in the regulation of growth in fishes. However, the roles of Igf binding proteins (Igfbps) in coordinating responses to food availability are unresolved, especially in anadromous fishes preparing for seaward migration. We assayed plasma Gh, Igf1, thyroid hormones and...
