Marine disease impacts, diagnosis, forecasting, management and policy
Kevin D. Lafferty, Eileen E. Hofmann
2016, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (371)
As Australians were spending millions of dollars in 2014 to remove the coral-eating crown of thorns sea star from the Great Barrier Reef, sea stars started washing up dead for free along North America's Pacific Coast. Because North American sea stars are important and iconic predators in marine communities, locals...
Long-term reactive nitrogen loading alters soil carbon and microbial community properties in a subalpine forest ecosystem
Claudia M. Boot, Ed K. Hall, Karolien Denef, Jill Baron
2016, Soil Biology and Biochemistry (92) 211-220
Elevated nitrogen (N) deposition due to increased fossil fuel combustion and agricultural practices has altered global carbon (C) cycling. Additions of reactive N to N-limited environments are typically accompanied by increases in plant biomass. Soil C dynamics, however, have shown a range of different responses to the addition of reactive...
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) suppression for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) recovery in Flathead Lake, Montana, North America
Michael J. Hansen, Barry S Hansen, David A. Beauchamp
2016, Hydrobiologia (783) 317-334
Non-native lake trout Salvelinus namaycush displaced native bull trout Salvelinus confluentus in Flathead Lake, Montana, USA, after 1984, when Mysis diluviana became abundant following its introduction in upstream lakes in 1968–1976. We developed a simulation model to determine the fishing mortality rate on lake...
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of selected headwater streams along the Allegheny Front, Blair County, Pennsylvania, July 2011–September 2013
Dennis J. Low, Robin A. Brightbill, Heather L. Eggleston, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1173
The Altoona Water Authority (AWA) obtains all of its water supply from headwater streams that drain western Blair County, an area underlain in part by black shale of the Marcellus Formation. Development of the shale-gas reservoirs will require new access roads, stream crossing, drill-pad construction, and pipeline installation, activities that...
Structure of the Hat Creek graben region: Implications for the structure of the Hat Creek graben and transfer of right-lateral shear from the Walker Lane north of Lassen Peak, northern California, from gravity and magnetic anomalies
Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Michael A. Clynne, L.J. Patrick Muffler
2016, Geosphere (12) 790-808
Interpretation of magnetic and new gravity data provides constraints on the geometry of the Hat Creek Fault, the amount of right-lateral offset in the area between Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak, and confirmation of the influence of pre-existing structure on Quaternary faulting. Neogene volcanic rocks coincide with short-wavelength magnetic anomalies...
Surface-air mercury fluxes across Western North America: A synthesis of spatial trends and controlling variables
Chris S. Eckley, Michael Tate, Che-Jen Lin, Mae S. Gustin, Stephen Dent, Collin Eagles-Smith, Michelle A. Lutz, Kimberly Wickland, Bronwen Wang, John E. Gray, Grant Edwards, David P. Krabbenhoft, David B. Smith
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 651-665
Mercury (Hg) emission and deposition can occur to and from soils, and are an important component of the global atmospheric Hg budget. This paper focuses on synthesizing existing surface-air Hg flux data collected throughout the Western North American region and is part of a series of geographically focused Hg synthesis...
Distribution and diversity of tunicates utilizing eelgrass as substrate in the western North Atlantic between 39° and 47° north latitude (New Jersey to Newfoundland)
M R Carman, Phillip D Colarusso, Eric P Nelson, David W Grunden, Melisa C Wong, Cynthia McKenzie, Kyle Matheson, Jeffrey G. Davidson, Sophia Fox, Hilary A. Neckles, Holly Bayley, Stephen Schott, Jennifer A Dijkstra, Sarah Stewart-Clark
2016, Management of Biological Invasions (7) 51-57
Seagrass meadows are ecologically important habitats that are declining globally at an accelerating rate due to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Their decline is a serious concern as this habitat provides many ecosystem services. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the dominant seagrass species in the western North Atlantic. It has recently been...
Leaf development and demography explain photosynthetic seasonality in Amazon evergreen forests
Jin Wu, Lauren Albert, Aline Lopes, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Matthew Hayek, Kenia T. Wiedemann, Kaiyu Guan, Scott C. Stark, Bradley Christoffersen, Neill Prohaska, Julia V. Tavares, Suelen Marostica, Hideki Kobayashi, Maurocio L. Ferreira, Kleber Silva Campos, Rodrigo da Silva, Paulo M. Brando, Dennis G. Dye, Travis E. Huxman, Alfredo Huete, Bruce Nelson, Scott Saleska
2016, Science (351) 972-976
In evergreen tropical forests, the extent, magnitude, and controls on photosynthetic seasonality are poorly resolved and inadequately represented in Earth system models. Combining camera observations with ecosystem carbon dioxide fluxes at forests across rainfall gradients in Amazônia, we show that aggregate canopy phenology, not seasonality of climate drivers, is the...
Influence of vertical and lateral heat transfer on permafrost thaw, peatland landscape transition, and groundwater flow
Barret L. Kurylyk, Masaki Hayashi, William L. Quinton, Jeffrey M. McKenzie, Clifford I. Voss
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 1286-1305
Recent climate change has reduced the spatial extent and thickness of permafrost in many discontinuous permafrost regions. Rapid permafrost thaw is producing distinct landscape changes in the Taiga Plains of the Northwest Territories, Canada. As permafrost bodies underlying forested peat plateaus shrink, the landscape slowly transitions into unforested wetlands. The...
Tolerance to multiple climate stressors: A case study of Douglas-fir drought and cold hardiness
Sheel Bansal, Constance A Harrington, John Bradley St. Clair
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 2074-2083
Drought and freeze events are two of the most common forms of climate extremes which result in tree damage or death, and the frequency and intensity of both stressors may increase with climate change. Few studies have examined natural covariation in stress tolerance traits to cope with multiple stressors...
Statistical analysis and mapping of water levels in the Biscayne aquifer, water conservation areas, and Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2000–2009
Scott T. Prinos, Joann F. Dixon
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5005
Statistical analyses and maps representing mean, high, and low water-level conditions in the surface water and groundwater of Miami-Dade County were made by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, to help inform decisions necessary for urban planning and development. Sixteen...
Water use in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, 2010, and water-use trends, 1985-2010
Stephen J. Lawrence
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5007
The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin encompasses about 20,230 square miles in parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Increasing population growth and agricultural production from the 1970s to 2010 has prompted increases in water-resources development and substantially increased water demand in the basin. Since the 1980s, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and the...
Groundwater
David A. Stonestrom
Ellen E. Wohl, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Oxford Bibliographies in Environmental Science
Introduction Groundwater represents the terrestrial subsurface component of the hydrologic cycle. As such, groundwater is generally in motion, moving from elevated areas of recharge to lower areas of discharge. Groundwater usually moves in accordance with Darcy’s law (Dalmont, Paris: Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de Dijon, 1856). Groundwater residence times...
A full annual cycle modeling framework for American black ducks
Orin J. Robinson, Conor P. McGowan, Patrick K. Devers, Rodney W. Brook, Min Huang, Malcom Jones, Daniel G. McAuley, Guthrie S. Zimmerman
2016, Natural Resource Modeling (29) 159-174
American black ducks (Anas rubripes) are a harvested, international migratory waterfowl species in eastern North America. Despite an extended period of restrictive harvest regulations, the black duck population is still below the population goal identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). It has been hypothesized that density-dependent factors...
Stochastic model for simulating Souris River Basin precipitation, evapotranspiration, and natural streamflow
Kelsey A. Kolars, Aldo V. Vecchia, Karen R. Ryberg
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5185
The Souris River Basin is a 61,000-square-kilometer basin in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the State of North Dakota. In May and June of 2011, record-setting rains were seen in the headwater areas of the basin. Emergency spillways of major reservoirs were discharging at full or nearly full...
Evaluation of downscaled, gridded climate data for the conterminous United States
Robert J. Behnke, Stephen J. Vavrus, Andrew Allstadt, Thomas P. Albright, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Volker C. Radeloff
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 1338-1351
Weather and climate affect many ecological processes, making spatially continuous yet fine-resolution weather data desirable for ecological research and predictions. Numerous downscaled weather data sets exist, but little attempt has been made to evaluate them systematically. Here we address this shortcoming by focusing on four major questions: (1) How accurate...
Reconnecting fragmented sturgeon populations in North American rivers
Henriette Jager, Michael J. Parsley, Joseph J. Cech, R. L. McLaughlin, Patrick S. Forsythe, Robert S. Elliott
2016, Fisheries (41) 140-148
The majority of large North American rivers are fragmented by dams that interrupt migrations of wide-ranging fishes like sturgeons. Reconnecting habitat is viewed as an important means of protecting sturgeon species in U.S. rivers because these species have lost between 5% and 60% of their historical ranges. Unfortunately, facilities designed...
Genetic diversity of Wolbachia endosymbionts in Culex quinquefasciatus from Hawai`i, Midway Atoll, and Samoa
Carter T. Atkinson, William Watcher-Weatherwax, Dennis Lapointe
2016, Technical Report HCSU-074
Incompatible insect techniques are potential methods for controlling Culex quinquefasciatus and avian disease transmission in Hawai‘i without the use of pesticides or genetically modified organisms. The approach is based on naturally occurring sperm-egg incompatibilities within the Culex pipiens complex that are controlled by different strains of the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia...
Are brown trout replacing or displacing bull trout populations in a changing climate?
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, David A. Schmetterling, Chris Clancy, Pat Saffel, Ryan Kovach, Leslie Nyce, Brad Liermann, Wade A. Fredenberg, Ron Pierce
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 1395-1404
Understanding how climate change may facilitate species turnover is an important step in identifying potential conservation strategies. We used data from 33 sites in western Montana to quantify climate associations with native bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta) abundance and population growth rates (λ). We estimated...
Ecoregions of California
Glenn E. Griffith, James M. Omernik, David W. Smith, Terry D. Cook, Ed Tallyn, Kendra Moseley, Colleen B. Johnson
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1021
Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. By recognizing the spatial differences in the capacities and potentials of...
Groundwater ages from the freshwater zone of the Edwards aquifer, Uvalde County, Texas—Insights into groundwater flow and recharge
Andrew G. Hunt, Gary P. Landis, Jason R. Faith
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5163
Tritium–helium-3 groundwater ages of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas were determined as part of a long-term study of groundwater flow and recharge in the Edwards and Trinity aquifers. These ages help to define groundwater residence times and to provide constraints for calibration of groundwater flow models. A suite of...
Geology and assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources of Armenia, 2013
T. R. Klett
2016, Data Series 69-PP
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Armenia in 2013. A Paleozoic and a Cenozoic total petroleum system (TPS) were identified within the country of Armenia. The postulated petroleum system elements are uncertain, resulting in low geologic probabilities for significant oil an...
The effectiveness of water-treatment systems for arsenic used in 11 homes in Southwestern and Central Ohio, 2013
Mary Ann Thomas, Mike Ekberg
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5156
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Miami Conservancy District investigated the effectiveness of methods used to remove arsenic from drinking water at 11 homes in southwestern and central Ohio. The untreated (raw) ground-water had arsenic concentrations of 7.7–382 micrograms per liter (µg/L), and the median concentration was 30...
Arsenic in groundwater of Licking County, Ohio, 2012—Occurrence and relation to hydrogeology
Mary Ann Thomas
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5148
Arsenic concentrations were measured in samples from 168 domestic wells in Licking County, Ohio, to document arsenic concentrations in a wide variety of wells and to identify hydrogeologic factors associated with arsenic concentrations in groundwater. Elevated concentrations of arsenic (greater than 10.0 micrograms per liter [µg/L]) were detected in 12...
Active tectonics within the NW and SE extensions of the Pambak-Sevan-Syunik fault: Implications for the present geodynamics of Armenia
Jeff Ritz, A. Avagyan, M. Mkrtchyan, H. Nazari, P. H. Blard, A. Karakhanian, H. Philip, Sanda Balescu, Shannon A. Mahan, Sebastien Huot, P. Munch, M. Lamothe
2016, Quaternary International (395) 61-78
This study analyzes the active tectonics within the northwestern and southeastern extensions of the Pambak-Sevan-Syunik fault (PSSF), a major right-lateral strike-slip fault cutting through Armenia. Quantifying the deformations in terms of geometry, kinematics, slip rates and earthquake activity, using cosmogenic 3He, OSL/IRSL and radiocarbon dating techniques, reveal different behaviors between...
