King Rail (Rallus elegans) Nesting and Brood Rearing Ecology at Red Slough WMA, SE Oklahoma
David G. Krementz, Karen L. Willard, M. Carroll, Katie M. Dugger
2016, Waterbirds (39) 241-249
Temperature and hydrology affect methane emissions from Prairie Pothole Wetlands
Sheel Bansal, Brian Tangen, Raymond Finocchiaro
2016, Wetlands (36) 371-381
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) in central North America consists of millions of depressional wetlands that each have considerable potential to emit methane (CH4). Changes in temperature and hydrology in the PPR from climate change may affect methane fluxes from these wetlands. To assess the potential effects of changes in...
Filling the interspace—restoring arid land mosses: source populations, organic matter, and overwintering govern success
Lea Condon, David A. Pyke
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 7623-7632
Biological soil crusts contribute to ecosystem functions and occupy space that could be available to invasive annual grasses. Given disturbances in the semiarid shrub steppe communities, we embarked on a set of studies to investigate restoration potential of mosses in sagebrush steppe ecosystems. We examined establishment and growth of two...
Dense surface seismic data confirm non-double-couple source mechanisms induced by hydraulic fracturing
Jeremy Pesicek, Konrad Cieslik, Marc-Andre Lambert, Pedro Carrillo, Brad Birkelo
2016, Geophysics (81) KS207-KS217
We have determined source mechanisms for nine high-quality microseismic events induced during hydraulic fracturing of the Montney Shale in Canada. Seismic data were recorded using a dense regularly spaced grid of sensors at the surface. The design and geometry of the survey are such that the recorded P-wave amplitudes essentially...
Migratory bird habitat in relation to tile drainage and poorly drained hydrologic soil groups
Brandi Kastner, Victoria G. Christensen, Tanja N. Williamson, Christopher A. Sanocki
2016, Conference Paper, 10th International Drainage Symposium Conference
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is home to more than 50% of the migratory waterfowl in North America. Although the PPR provides an abundance of temporary and permanent wetlands for nesting and feeding, increases in commodity prices and agricultural drainage practices have led to a trend of wetland drainage. The...
Effects of land use and sample location on nitrate-stream flow hysteresis descriptors during storm events
Lawrence S. Feinson, Jacob Gibs, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Jessica D. Garrett
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 1493-1508
The U.S. Geological Survey's New Jersey and Iowa Water Science Centers deployed ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric sensors at water-quality monitoring sites on the Passaic and Pompton Rivers at Two Bridges, New Jersey, on Toms River at Toms River, New Jersey, and on the North Raccoon River near Jefferson, Iowa to continuously measure...
Organizing environmental flow frameworks to meet hydropower mitigation needs
Ryan A. McManamay, Shannon K. Brewer, Henriette Jager, Matthew J. Troia
2016, Environmental Management (58) 365-385
The global recognition of the importance of natural flow regimes to sustain the ecological integrity of river systems has led to increased societal pressure on the hydropower industry to change plant operations to improve downstream aquatic ecosystems. However, a complete reinstatement of natural flow regimes is often unrealistic when balancing...
Analyses of infrequent (quasi-decadal) large groundwater recharge events in the northern Great Basin: Their importance for groundwater availability, use, and management
Melissa D. Masbruch, Christine Rumsey, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, David D. Susong, Tom Pruitt
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 7819-7836
There has been a considerable amount of research linking climatic variability to hydrologic responses in the western United States. Although much effort has been spent to assess and predict changes in surface water resources, little has been done to understand how climatic events and changes affect groundwater resources. This study...
Development of novel microsatellite markers for the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and their utility in cross-species amplification
Christy Haughey, George K. Sage, Gabriel Degange, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra L. Talbot
2016, Avian Biology Research (9) 195-199
The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a large forest raptor with a Holarctic distribution and, in some portions of its range, a species of conservation concern. To augment previously reported genetic markers, 13 novel polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed to establish individual identification and familial relationships, to assess levels of...
Evaluation of gas production potential from gas hydrate deposits in National Petroleum Reserve Alaska using numerical simulations
Manish S. Nandanwar, Brian J. Anderson, Taiwo Ajayi, Timothy S. Collett, Margarita V. Zyrianova
2016, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering (36) 760-772
An evaluation of the gas production potential of Sunlight Peak gas hydrate accumulation in the eastern portion of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) of Alaska North Slope (ANS) is conducted using numerical simulations, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gas hydrate Life Cycle Assessment program. A field...
Regional meteorological drivers and long term trends of winter-spring nitrate dynamics across watersheds in northeastern North America
Jill Crossman, M Catherine Eimers, Nora J. Casson, Douglas A. Burns, John L. Campbell, Gene E Likens, Myron J Mitchell, Sarah J. Nelson, James B. Shanley, Shaun A. Watmough, Kara L Webster
2016, Biogeochemistry (130) 247-265
This study evaluated the contribution of winter rain-on-snow (ROS) events to annual and seasonal nitrate (N-NO3) export and identified the regional meteorological drivers of inter-annual variability in ROS N-NO3 export (ROS-N) at 9 headwater streams located across Ontario, Canada and the northeastern United States. Although on average only 3.3 %...
Long-term continuous acoustical suspended-sediment measurements in rivers – Theory, evaluation, and results from 14 stations on five rivers
David J. Topping, Scott Wright, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean
2016, Conference Paper, River Flow 2016, Proceedings of the International Conference on Fluvial Hydraulics
We have developed a physically based method for using two acoustic frequencies to measure suspended-silt-and-clay concentration, suspended-sand concentration, and suspended-sand median grain size in river cross sections at 15-minute intervals over decadal timescales. The method is strongly grounded in the extensive scientific literature on the scattering of sound by...
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Source of cooperation or contention?
Meron Teferi Taye, Tsegaye Tadesse, Gabriel B. Senay, Paul Block
2016, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (142) 1-5
This paper discusses the challenges and benefits of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is under construction and expected to be operational on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia in a few years. Like many large-scale projects on transboundary rivers, the GERD has been criticized for potentially jeopardizing downstream...
A suspended dive-net technique for catching territorial divers
Brian D. Uher-Koch, Daniel Rizzolo, Kenneth G. Wright, Joel A. Schmutz
2016, Ringing and Migration (31) 19-22
A variety of methods such as night-lighting and lift nets have been used to catch divers (Gavidae), although 24-hour daylight in the Arctic summer and the remote nature of field sites can make the use of these traditional methods impossible. Our research required capture of adult divers at remote locations...
Effects of consumption-oriented versus trophy-oriented fisheries on Muskellunge population size structure in northern Wisconsin
Matthew D. Faust, Michael J. Hansen
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 1336-1346
To determine whether a consumption-oriented fishery was compatible with a trophy-oriented fishery for Muskellunge Esox masquinongy, we modeled effects of a spearing fishery and recreational angling fishery on population size structure (i.e., numbers of fish ≥ 102, 114, and 127 cm) in northern Wisconsin. An individual-based simulation model was used...
Review of footnotes and annotations to the 1949–2013 tables of standard atomic weights and tables of isotopic compositions of the elements (IUPAC Technical Report)
Tyler B. Coplen, Norman E. Holden
2016, Pure and Applied Chemistry (88) 689-699
The Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights uses annotations given in footnotes that are an integral part of the Tables of Standard Atomic Weights to alert users to the possibilities of quite extraordinary occurrences, as well as sources with abnormal atomic-weight values outside an otherwise acceptable range. The basic...
Do rivermouths alter nutrient and seston delivery to the nearshore?
James H. Larson, Paul C. Frost, Jon M. Vallazza, John C. Nelson, William B. Richardson
2016, Freshwater Biology (61) 1935-1949
Tributary inputs to lakes and seas are often measured at riverine gages, upstream of lentic influence. Between these riverine gages and the nearshore zones of large waterbodies lie rivermouths, which may retain, transform and contribute materials to the nearshore zone. However, the magnitude and timing of these...
Seismic imaging of the metamorphism of young sediment into new crystalline crust in the actively rifting Imperial Valley, California
Liang Han, John Hole, Joann Stock, Gary S. Fuis, Colin F. Williams, Jonathan Delph, Kathy Davenport, Amanda Livers
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 4566-4584
Plate-boundary rifting between transform faults is opening the Imperial Valley of southern California and the rift is rapidly filling with sediment from the Colorado River. Three 65–90 km long seismic refraction profiles across and along the valley, acquired as part of the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project, were analyzed to...
Static and dynamic controls on fire activity at moderate spatial and temporal scales in the Alaskan boreal forest
Kirsten Barrett, Tatiana Loboda, A. David McGuire, Hélène Genet, Elizabeth Hoy, Eric Kasischke
2016, Ecosphere (7) 1-21
Wildfire, a dominant disturbance in boreal forests, is highly variable in occurrence and behavior at multiple spatiotemporal scales. New data sets provide more detailed spatial and temporal observations of active fires and the post-burn environment in Alaska. In this study, we employ some of these new data to analyze variations...
Multiple browsers structure tree recruitment in logged temperate forests
Edward K. Faison, Stephen DeStefano, David R. Foster, Joshua M. Rapp, Justin A. Compton
2016, PLoS ONE (11) 1-14
Historical extirpations have resulted in depauperate large herbivore assemblages in many northern forests. In eastern North America, most forests are inhabited by a single wild ungulate species, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and relationships between deer densities and impacts on forest regeneration are correspondingly well documented. Recent recolonizations by moose (Alces...
Volcano dome dynamics at Mount St. Helens: Deformation and intermittent subsidence monitored by seismicity and camera imagery pixel offsets
Jacqueline T. Salzer, Weston A. Thelen, Mike R. James, Thomas R. Walter, Seth C. Moran, Roger P. Denlinger
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 7882-7902
The surface deformation field measured at volcanic domes provides insights into the effects of magmatic processes, gravity- and gas-driven processes, and the development and distribution of internal dome structures. Here we study short-term dome deformation associated with earthquakes at Mount St. Helens, recorded by a permanent optical camera and seismic...
Climate-change signals in national atmospheric deposition program precipitation data
Gregory A. Wetherbee, M. Alisa Mast
2016, Climate Dynamics (47) 3141-3155
National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP)/National Trends Network precipitation type, snow-season duration, and annual timing of selected chemical wet-deposition maxima vary with latitude and longitude within a 35-year (1979–2013) data record for the contiguous United States and Alaska. From the NADP data collected within the region bounded by 35.6645°–48.782° north latitude...
Three whole-wood isotopic reference materials, USGS54, USGS55, and USGS56, for δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, and δ18O measurements
Haiping Qi, Tyler B. Coplen, James A. Jordan
2016, Chemical Geology (442) 47-53
Comparative measurements of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in wood are hampered by the lack of proper reference materials (RMs). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has prepared three powdered, whole-wood RMs, USGS54 (Pinus contorta, Canadian lodgepole pine), USGS55 (Cordia cf. dodecandra, Mexican ziricote), and USGS56 (Berchemia cf. zeyheri, South...
Evaluation of fisher (Pekania pennanti) restoration in Olympic National Park and the Olympic Recovery Area: 2015 final annual progress report
Patricia J. Happe, Kurt J. Jenkins, Thomas J. Kay, Kristie Pilgrim, Michael K. Schwartz, Jeffrey C. Lewis, Keith B. Aubry
2016, Natural Resource Report NPS/OLYM/NRR—2016/1274
With the translocation and release of 90 fishers (Pekania pennanti) from British Columbia to Olympic National Park during 2008–2010, the National Park Service (NPS) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) accomplished the first phase of fisher restoration in Washington State. Beginning in 2013, we initiated a new research...
Age, distribution and style of deformation in Alaska north of 60°N: Implications for assembly of Alaska
Thomas E. Moore, Stephen E. Box
2016, Tectonophysics (691) 133-170
The structural architecture of Alaska is the product of a complex history of deformation along both the Cordilleran and Arctic margins of North America involving oceanic plates, subduction zones and strike-slip faults and with continental elements of Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia. We use geological constraints to assign regions of deformation...