Groundwater geochemical and selected volatile organic compound data, Operable Unit 1, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington, July 2015
Raegan L. Huffman
2016, Data Series 998
Previous investigations indicate that concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) are substantial in groundwater beneath the 9-acre former landfill at Operable Unit 1, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington. The U.S. Geological Survey has continued to monitor groundwater geochemistry to ensure that conditions remain favorable for contaminant...
Estimating national water use associated with unconventional oil and gas development
Janet M. Carter, Kathleen M. Macek-Rowland, Joanna N. Thamke, Gregory C. Delzer
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3032
The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP) goals are to provide a more accurate assessment of the status of the water resources of the United States and assist in the determination of the quantity and quality of water that is available for beneficial uses. These...
Changes in habitat availability for outmigrating juvenile salmon (Oncorhychus spp.) following estuary restoration
Christopher S. Ellings, Melanie J. Davis, Eric E. Grossman, Sayre Hodgson, Kelley L. Turner, Isa Woo PR, Glynnis Nakai, Jean E. Takekawa, John Y. Takekawa
2016, Restoration Ecology (24) 415-427
The restoration of the Nisqually River Delta (Washington, U.S.A.) represents one of the largest efforts toward reestablishing the ecosystem function and resilience of modified habitat in the Puget Sound, particularly for anadromous salmonid species. The opportunity for outmigrating salmon to access and benefit from the expansion of available tidal habitat...
Ecology of nonnative Siberian prawn (Palaemon modestus) in the lower Snake River, Washington, USA
John M. Erhardt, Kenneth F. Tiffan
2016, Aquatic Ecology (50) 607-621
We assessed the abundance, distribution, and ecology of the nonnative Siberian prawn Palaemon modestus in the lower Snake River, Washington, USA. Analysis of prawn passage abundance at three Snake River dams showed that populations are growing at exponential rates, especially at Little Goose Dam where over 464,000 prawns were collected...
Where is the hot rock and where is the ground water— Using CSAMT to map beneath and around Mount St. Helens
Jeff Wynn, Adam R. Mosbrucker, Herbert Pierce, Kurt R. Spicer
2016, Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics (21) 79-87
We have observed several new features in recent controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotelluric (CSAMT) soundings on and around Mount St. Helens, Washington State, USA. We have identified the approximate location of a strong electrical conductor at the edges of and beneath the 2004–08 dome. We interpret this conductor to be hot brine...
Value-focused framework for defining landscape-scale conservation targets
Stephanie S. Romanach, Allison M. Benscoter, Laura A. Brandt
2016, Journal for Nature Conservation (32) 53-61
Conservation of natural resources can be challenging in a rapidly changing world and require collaborative efforts for success. Conservation planning is the process of deciding how to protect, conserve, and enhance or minimize loss of natural and cultural resources. Establishing conservation targets (also called indicators or endpoints), the measurable expressions...
Landsat 8 and ICESat-2: Performance and potential synergies for quantifying dryland ecosystem vegetation cover and biomass
Nancy F. Glenn, Amy Neuenschwander, Lee A. Vierling, Lucas Spaete, Aihua Li, Douglas J. Shinneman, David S. Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Susan McIlroy
2016, Remote Sensing of Environment (185) 233-242
The Landsat 8 mission provides new opportunities for quantifying the distribution of above-ground carbon at moderate spatial resolution across the globe, and in particular drylands. Furthermore, coupled with structural information from space-based and airborne laser altimetry, Landsat 8 provides powerful capabilities for large-area, long-term studies that quantify temporal and...
Continuous 1985-2012 Landsat monitoring to assess fire effects on meadows in Yosemite National Park, California
Christopher E. Soulard, Christine M. Albano, Miguel L. Villarreal, Jessica J. Walker
2016, Remote Sensing (8)
To assess how montane meadow vegetation recovered after a wildfire that occurred in Yosemite National Park, CA in 1996, Google Earth Engine image processing was applied to leverage the entire Landsat Thematic Mapper archive from 1985 to 2012. Vegetation greenness (normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI]) was summarized every 16 days...
A review of the relationships between drought and forest fire in the United States
Jeremy S. Littell, David L. Peterson, Karin L. Riley, Yongquiang Liu, Charles H. Luce
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 2353-2369
The historical and pre-settlement relationships between drought and wildfire are well documented in North America, with forest fire occurrence and area clearly increasing in response to drought. There is also evidence that drought interacts with other controls (forest productivity, topography, fire weather, management activities) to affect fire intensity, severity, extent,...
Ecosystem engineering of harvester ants: Effects on vegetation in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem
Elyce Gosselin, Joseph D. Holbrook, Katey Huggler, Emily Brown, Kerri T. Vierling, Robert Arkle, David S. Pilliod
2016, Western North American Naturalist (76) 82-89
Harvester ants are influential in many ecosystems because they distribute and consume seeds, remove vegetation, and redistribute soil particles and nutrients. Understanding the interaction between harvester ants and plant communities is important for management and restoration efforts, particularly in systems altered by fire and invasive species such as the sagebrush-steppe....
Building science-based groundwater tools and capacity in Armenia for the Ararat Basin
Janet M. Carter, Joshua F. Valder, Mark T. Anderson, Patrick Meyer, Jo L. Eimers
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3033
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) began a study in 2016 to help build science-based groundwater tools and capacity for the Ararat Basin in Armenia. The growth of aquaculture and other uses in the Ararat Basin has been accompanied by increased withdrawals of groundwater,...
Conditions and processes affecting sand resources at archeological sites in the Colorado River corridor below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Amy E. East, Brian D. Collins, Joel B. Sankey, Skye C. Corbett, Helen C. Fairley, Joshua J. Caster
2016, Professional Paper 1825
This study examined links among fluvial, aeolian, and hillslope geomorphic processes that affect archeological sites and surrounding landscapes in the Colorado River corridor downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona. We assessed the potential for Colorado River sediment to enhance the preservation of river-corridor archeological resources through aeolian sand deposition...
Depth calibration of the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar, EAARL-B
C. Wayne Wright, Christine J. Kranenburg, Rodolfo J. Troche, Richard W. Mitchell, David B. Nagle
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1048
Introduction The original National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) was extensively modified to increase the spatial sampling density and to improve performance in water ranging from 3 to 44 meters (m). The new (EAARL-B) sensor features a higher spatial density that was achieved by optically...
Effects of geolocators on hatching success, return rates, breeding movements, and change in body mass in 16 species of Arctic-breeding shorebirds
Emily Weiser, Richard B. Lanctot, Stephen C. Brown, José A. Alves, Phil F. Battley, Rebecca L. Bentzen, Joel Bety, Mary Anne Bishop, Megan Boldenow, Loic Bollache, Bruce Casler, Maureen Christie, Jonathan T. Coleman, Jesse R. Conklin, Willow B. English, H. River Gates, Olivier Gilg, Marie-Andree Giroux, Ken Gosbell, Chris J. Hassell, Jim Helmericks, Andrew C. Johnson, Borgny Katrinardottir, Kari Koivula, Eunbi Kwon, Jean-Francois Lamarre, Johannes Lang, David B. Lank, Nicolas Lecomte, Joseph R. Liebezeit, Vanessa Loverti, Laura McKinnon, Clive Minton, David S. Mizrahi, Erica Nol, Veli-Matti Pakanen, Johanna Perz, Ron Porter, Jennie Rausch, Jeroen Reneerkens, Nelli Ronka, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Nathan R. Senner, Benoit Sittler, Paul A. Smith, Kristine M. Sowl, Audrey Taylor, David H. Ward, Stephen Yezerinac, Brett K. Sandercock
2016, Movement Ecology (4)
Background Geolocators are useful for tracking movements of long-distance migrants, but potential negative effects on birds have not been well studied. We tested for effects of geolocators (0.8–2.0 g total, representing 0.1–3.9 % of mean body mass) on 16 species of migratory shorebirds, including five species with 2–4...
Management strategy evaluation of pheromone-baited trapping techniques to improve management of invasive sea lamprey
Heather Dawson, Michael L. Jones, Brian J. Irwin, Nicholas S. Johnson, C. Michael Wagner, Melissa Szymanski
2016, Natural Resource Modeling (29) 448-469
We applied a management strategy evaluation (MSE) model to examine the potential cost-effectiveness of using pheromone-baited trapping along with conventional lampricide treatment to manage invasive sea lamprey. Four pheromone-baited trapping strategies were modeled: (1) stream activation wherein pheromone was applied to existing traps to achieve 10−12 mol/L in-stream concentration, (2) stream...
Regional oxygen reduction and denitrification rates in groundwater from multi-model residence time distributions, San Joaquin Valley, USA
Christopher T. Green, Bryant C. Jurgens, Yong Zhang, Jeffrey Starn, Michael J. Singleton, Bradley K. Esser
2016, Journal of Hydrology (145) 47-55
Rates of oxygen and nitrate reduction are key factors in determining the chemical evolution of groundwater. Little is known about how these rates vary and covary in regional groundwater settings, as few studies have focused on regional datasets with multiple tracers and methods of analysis that account for effects of...
Nitrosation and nitration of fulvic acid, peat and coal with nitric acid
Kevin A. Thorn, Larry G. Cox
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Nitrohumic acids, produced from base extraction of coals and peats oxidized with nitric acid, have received considerable attention as soil ammendments in agriculture. The nitration chemistry however is incompletely understood. Moreover, there is a need to understand the reaction of nitric acid with natural organic matter (NOM) in general, in...
The potassic sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater, Mars, as seen by ChemCam Onboard Curiosity
Laetitia Le Deit, Nicolas Mangold, Olivier Forni, Agnes Cousin, Jeremie Lasue, Susanne Schröder, Roger C. Wiens, Dawn Y. Sumner, Cecile Fabre, Katherine M. Stack, Ryan B. Anderson, Diana L. Blaney, Samuel M. Clegg, Gilles Dromart, Martin Fisk, Olivier Gasnault, John P. Grotzinger, Sanjeev Gupta, Nina Lanza, Stephane Le Mouelic, Sylvestre Maurice, Scott M. McLennan, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Marion Nachon, Horton E. Newsom, Valerie Payre, William Rapin, Melissa Rice, Violaine Sautter, Allan H. Treiman
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research (121) 784-804
The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity encountered potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks at two sites in Gale Crater, the waypoints Cooperstown and Kimberley. These rocks include several distinct meters thick sedimentary outcrops ranging from fine sandstone to conglomerate, interpreted to record an ancient fluvial or fluvio-deltaic depositional system. From ChemCam Laser-Induced...
Effects of variations in flow characteristics through W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam on downstream water quality in the Caloosahatchee River Estuary and in McIntyre Creek in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, southern Florida, 2010–13
Amanda Booth, Lars E. Soderqvist, Travis M. Knight
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5033
The U.S. Geological Survey studied water-quality trends at the mouth of McIntyre Creek, an entry point to the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, to investigate correlations between flow rates and volumes through the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam and water-quality constituents inside the refuge from March 2010 to December...
Freshwater wrack along Great Lakes coasts harbors Escherichia coli: Potential for bacterial transfer between watershed environments
Meredith Nevers, Kasia Przybyla-Kelly, Ashley Spoljaric, Dawn A. Shively, Richard L. Whitman, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 760-767
We investigated the occurrence, persistence, and growth potential of Escherichia coli associated with freshwater organic debris (i.e., wrack) frequently deposited along shorelines (shoreline wrack), inputs from rivers (river CPOM), and parking lot runoffs (urban litter). Samples were collected from 9 Great Lakes beaches, 3 creeks, and 4 beach parking lots....
Preliminary investigation of groundwater flow and trichloroethene transport in the Surficial Aquifer System, Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, Fridley, Minnesota
Jeffrey N. King, J. Hal Davis
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1066
Industrial practices at the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, in Fridley, Minnesota, caused soil and groundwater contamination. Some volatile organic compounds from the plant might have discharged to the Mississippi River, forced by the natural hydraulic gradient in the surficial aquifer system. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency included the Naval...
Lithospheric flexure under the Hawaiian volcanic load: Internal stresses and a broken plate revealed by earthquakes
Fred W. Klein
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 2400-2428
Several lines of earthquake evidence indicate that the lithospheric plate is broken under the load of the island of Hawai`i, where the geometry of the lithosphere is circular with a central depression. The plate bends concave downward surrounding a stress-free hole, rather than bending concave upward as with past assumptions. Earthquake focal mechanisms show...
Wind energy development: Methods for assessing risks to birds and bats pre-construction
Todd E. Katzner, Victoria Bennett, Tricia A. Miller, Adam E. Duerr, Melissa A. Braham, Amanda Hale
2016, Human-Wildlife Interactions (10) 42-52
Wind power generation is rapidly expanding. Although wind power is a low-carbon source of energy, it can impact negatively birds and bats, either directly through fatality or indirectly by displacement or habitat loss. Pre-construction risk assessment at wind facilities within the United States is usually required only on public lands....
Wind energy development: Methods to assess bird and bat fatality rates post-construction
Manuela M. Huso, Daniel Dalthorp, T. J. Miller, Dawn Bruns
2016, Human-Wildlife Interactions (10) 62-70
Monitoring fatalities at wind energy facilities after they have been constructed can provide valuable information regarding impacts of wind power development on wildlife. The objective of this monitoring is to estimate abundance of a super-population of carcasses that entered the area within a designated period of time. By definition, the...
Exotic plant infestation is associated with decreased modularity and increased numbers of connectors in mixed-grass prairie pollination networks
Diane L. Larson, Paul A. Rabie, Sam Droege, Jennifer L. Larson, Milton Haar
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-18
The majority of pollinating insects are generalists whose lifetimes overlap flowering periods of many potentially suitable plant species. Such generality is instrumental in allowing exotic plant species to invade pollination networks. The particulars of how existing networks change in response to an invasive plant over the course of its phenology...
