Assessing condition of macroinvertebrate communities and sediment toxicity in the St. Lawrence River at Massena Area-of-Concern
Brian T. Duffy, Barry P. Baldigo, Alexander J. Smith, Scott D. George, Anthony M. David
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 910-919
In 1972, the USA and Canada agreed to restore the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes ecosystem under the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In subsequent amendments, part of the St. Lawrence River at Massena, New York and segments of three tributaries, were designated as an...
Disease introduction is associated with a phase transition in bighorn sheep demographics
Kezia Manlove, E. Frances Cassirer, Paul C. Cross, Raina K. Plowright, Peter J. Hudson
2016, Ecology (97) 2593-2602
Ecological theory suggests that pathogens are capable of regulating or limiting host population dynamics, and this relationship has been empirically established in several settings. However, although studies of childhood diseases were integral to the development of disease ecology, few studies show population limitation by a disease affecting juveniles. Here, we...
Toxicity of bed sediments from the Niagara River Area of Concern and tributaries, New York, to Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca, 2014-15
Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo, Brian T. Duffy
2016, Data Series 1016
The Niagara River was designated as an Area of Concern in 1987 on both the United States and Canadian sides of the international boundary line because past industrial discharges and hazardous waste sites had caused extensive degradation of aquatic habitats. The degradation of the “benthos”, or the benthic macroinvertebrate community,...
Magnitude, frequency, and trends of floods at gaged and ungaged sites in Washington, based on data through water year 2014
Mark C. Mastin, Christopher P. Konrad, Andrea G. Veilleux, Alison E. Tecca
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5118
An investigation into the magnitude and frequency of floods in Washington State computed the annual exceedance probability (AEP) statistics for 648 U.S. Geological Survey unregulated streamgages in and near the borders of Washington using the recorded annual peak flows through water year 2014. This is an updated report from...
Genetic diversity and population structure in the threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) in western Oregon and northwestern California— Implications for future translocations and the establishment of new populations
Mark P. Miller, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1162
Executive SummaryWe present results of population genetic analyses performed on Oregon silverspot butterflies (OSB; Speyeria zerene hippolyta) in western Oregon and northwestern California. We used DNA sequences from a 561-base pair region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene for a dataset comprised of 112 S. z....
U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program—Mineral resource science supporting informed decisionmaking
Aleeza Wilkins, Jeff L. Doebrich
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3034
The USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP) delivers unbiased science and information to increase understanding of mineral resource potential, production, and consumption, and how mineral resources interact with the environment. The MRP is the Federal Government’s sole source for this mineral resource science and information. Program goals are to (1) increase...
Evaluation of single photon and Geiger mode Lidar for the 3D Elevation Program
Jason M. Stoker, Qassim Abdullah, Amar Nayegandhi, Jayna Winehouse
2016, Remote Sensing (8)
Data acquired by Harris Corporation’s (Melbourne, FL, USA) Geiger-mode IntelliEarth™ sensor and Sigma Space Corporation’s (Lanham-Seabrook, MD, USA) Single Photon HRQLS sensor were evaluated and compared to accepted 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) data and survey ground control to assess the suitability of these new technologies for the 3DEP. While not...
Evidence for shallow megathrust slip across the Unalaska seismic gap during the great 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake, eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska
D. J. Nicolsky, J.T. Freymueller, Robert C. Witter, E. N. Suleimani, R.D. Koehler
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 10328-10337
We reassess the slip distribution of the 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake in the eastern part of the aftershock zone where published slip models infer little or no slip. Eyewitness reports, tide gauge data, and geological evidence for 9–23 m tsunami runups imply seafloor deformation offshore Unalaska Island in 1957, in contrast...
Three responses of wetland conditions to climatic extremes in the Prairie Pothole Region
Ryann L. Cressey, Jane E. Austin, Joshua D. Stafford
2016, Wetlands (36) 357-370
Wetlands in central North Dakota were revisited after 50 years to assess changes following extreme drought and a prolonged wet period. We compared data collected during 1961–1966 to current (2013–2014) wetland conditions. We revisited 80 wetlands in 2013 and 2014 across three study areas and measured wetland area, ponded-water depth, and...
California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) census results, Spring 2016
M. Tim Tinker, Brian B. Hatfield
2016, Data Series 1018
The 2016 census of southern sea otters Enhydra lutris nereis was conducted in May along the mainland coast of central California and in April at San Nicolas Island in southern California. The 3-year average of combined counts from the mainland range and San Nicolas Island was 3,272. This is the first...
Flood-inundation map library for the Licking River and South Fork Licking River near Falmouth, Kentucky
Jeremiah G. Lant
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5108
Digital flood inundation maps for a 17-mile reach of Licking River and 4-mile reach of South Fork Licking River near Falmouth, Kentucky, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Pendleton County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Louisville District. The inundation maps, which can be accessed...
Collapsing avian community on a Hawaiian island
Eben H. Paxton, Richard J. Camp, P. Marcos Gorresen, Lisa H. Crampton, David L. Leonard Jr., Eric VanderWerf
2016, Science Advances (2)
The viability of many species has been jeopardized by numerous negative factors over the centuries, but climate change is predicted to accelerate and increase the pressure of many of these threats, leading to extinctions. The Hawaiian honeycreepers, famous for their spectacular adaptive radiation, are predicted to experience negative responses to...
Magma transfer at Campi Flegrei caldera (Italy) before the 1538 AD eruption
Mauro A. Di Vito, Valerio Acocella, Giuseppe Aiello, Diana Barra, Maurizio Battaglia, Antonio Carandente, Carlo Del Gaudio, Sandro de Vita, Giovanni P. Ricciardi, Ciro Ricco, Roberto Scandone, Filippo Terrasi
2016, Scientific Reports (6)
Calderas are collapse structures related to the emptying of magmatic reservoirs, often associated with large eruptions from long-lived magmatic systems. Understanding how magma is transferred from a magma reservoir to the surface before eruptions is a major challenge. Here we exploit the historical, archaeological and geological record of Campi Flegrei...
Methods for estimating selected spring and fall low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged stream sites in Iowa, based on data through June 2014
David A. Eash, Kimberlee K. Barnes, Padraic S. O'Shea
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5111
A statewide study was led to develop regression equations for estimating three selected spring and three selected fall low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged stream sites in Iowa. The estimation equations developed for the six low-flow frequency statistics include spring (April through June) 1-, 7-, and 30-day mean low flows for...
Development of ion-exchange collectors for monitoring atmospheric deposition of inorganic pollutants in Alaska parklands
William G. Brumbaugh, Jesse W. Arms, Greg L. Linder, Vanessa D. Melton
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5096
Between 2010 and 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey completed a series of laboratory and field experiments designed to develop methodology to support the National Park Service’s long-term atmospheric pollutant monitoring efforts in parklands of Arctic Alaska. The goals of this research were to develop passive sampling methods that could be...
Mediterranean biomes: Evolution of their vegetation, floras and climate
Philip W. Rundel, Mary T.K. Arroyo, R.M. Cowling, J. E. Keeley, B.B. Lamont, Pablo Vargas
2016, Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics (47) 383-407
Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs) possess the highest levels of plant species richness in the world outside of the wet tropics. Sclerophyll vegetation similar to today’s mediterranean-type shrublands was already present on oligotrophic soils in the wet and humid climate of the Cretaceous, with fire-adapted Paleogene lineages in southwestern Australia and the...
Foraging at the wildland–urban interface decouples weather as a driver of recruitment for desert bighorn sheep
Kathleen M. Longshore, Chris E. Lowrey, Patrick Cummings
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin (40) 494-499
A growing number of ungulate populations are living within or near the wildland–urban interface. When resources at the interface are of greater quality than that of adjacent natural habitat, wildlife can be attracted to these developed areas. Little is known about how use of the wildland–urban interface by wildlife may...
Inter-population differences in salinity tolerance and osmoregulation of juvenile wild and hatchery-born Sacramento splittail
Christine E. Verhille, Theresa F. Dabruzzi, Dennis E. Cocherell, Brian Mahardja, Frederick V. Feyrer, Theodore C. Foin, Melinda R. Baerwald, Nann A. Fangue
2016, Conservation Physiology (4)
The Sacramento splittail (Pogonichthys macrolepidotus) is a minnow endemic to the highly modified San Francisco Estuary of California, USA and its associated rivers and tributaries. This species is composed of two genetically distinct populations, which, according to field observations and otolith strontium signatures, show largely allopatric distribution patterns as recently...
The importance of species name synonyms in literature searches
Gerald Guala
2016, PLoS ONE (11) e0162648
The synonyms of biological species names are shown to be an important component in comprehensive searches of electronic scientific literature databases but they are not well leveraged within the major literature databases examined. For accepted or valid species names in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) which have synonyms in...
Pockmark asymmetry and seafloor currents in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil
U. Schattner, M. Lazar, L. A. P. Souza, Uri S. ten Brink, M. M. Mahiques
2016, Geo-Marine Letters (36) 457-464
Pockmarks form by gas/fluid expulsion into the ocean and are preserved under conditions of negligible sedimentation. Ideally, they are circular at the seafloor and symmetrical in profile. Elliptical pockmarks are more enigmatic. They are associated with seafloor currents while asymmetry is connected to sedimentation patterns. This study examines these associations...
A world of minerals in your mobile device
Jane E. Jenness, Joyce A. Ober, Aleeza Wilkins, Joseph Gambogi
2016, General Information Product 167
Mobile phones and other high-technology communications devices could not exist without mineral commodities. More than one-half of all components in a mobile device—including its electronics, display, battery, speakers, and more—are made from mined and semiprocessed materials (mineral commodities). Some mineral commodities can be recovered as byproducts during the production and...
Element concentrations in surface soils of the Coconino Plateau, Grand Canyon region, Coconino County, Arizona
Bradley S. Van Gosen
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1160
This report provides the geochemical analyses of a large set of background soils collected from the surface of the Coconino Plateau in northern Arizona. More than 700 soil samples were collected at 46 widespread areas, sampled from sites that appear unaffected by mineralization and (or) anthropogenic contamination. The soils were...
Comparison of methods for quantifying surface sublimation over seasonally snow-covered terrain
Graham A. Sexstone, David W. Clow, David I. Stannard, Steven R. Fassnacht
2016, Hydrological Processes (30) 3373-3389
Snow sublimation can be an important component of the snow-cover mass balance, and there is considerable interest in quantifying the role of this process within the water and energy balance of snow-covered regions. In recent years, robust eddy covariance (EC) instrumentation has been used to quantify snow sublimation over snow-covered...
Vegetative response to water availability on the San Carlos Apache Reservation
Roy Petrakis, Zhuoting Wu, Jason McVay, Barry R. Middleton, Dennis G. Dye, John M. Vogel
2016, Forest Ecology and Management (378) 14-23
On the San Carlos Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona, U.S.A., vegetation types such as ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and grasslands have significant ecological, cultural, and economic value for the Tribe. This value extends beyond the tribal lands and across the Western United States. Vegetation across the Southwestern United States...
Prerequisites for understanding climate-change impacts on northern prairie wetlands
Michael J. Anteau, Mark T. Wiltermuth, Max Post van der Burg, Aaron T. Pearse
2016, Wetlands (36) 299-307
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) contains ecosystems that are typified by an extensive matrix of grasslands and depressional wetlands, which provide numerous ecosystem services. Over the past 150 years the PPR has experienced numerous landscape modifications resulting in agricultural conversion of 75–99 % of native prairie uplands and drainage of...
