Developing fish trophic interaction indicators of climate change for the Great Lakes
Richard T. Kraus, Carey T. Knight, Ann Marie Gorman, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Brian Weidel, Mark W. Rogers
2016, Report
This project addressed regional climate change effects on aquatic food webs in the Great Lakes. We sought insights by examining Lake Erie as a representative system with a high level of anthropogenic impacts, strong nutrient gradients, seasonal hypoxia, and spatial overlap of cold- and cool-water fish guilds. In Lake Erie...
Parameterization of the InVEST Crop Pollination Model to spatially predict abundance of wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) native bee pollinators in Maine, USA
Shannon C. Groff, Cynthia S. Loftin, Frank Drummond, Sara Bushmann, Brian J. McGill
2016, Environmental Modelling and Software (79) 1-9
Non-native honeybees historically have been managed for crop pollination, however, recent population declines draw attention to pollination services provided by native bees. We applied the InVEST Crop Pollination model, developed to predict native bee abundance from habitat resources, in Maine's wild blueberry crop landscape. We evaluated model performance with parameters...
Assessing the role of seabirds in the ecology of influenza A viruses
Andrew S. Lang, Camille Lebarbenchon, Andrew M. Ramey, Gregory J. Robertson, Jonas Waldenstrom, Michelle Wille
2016, Avian Diseases (60) 378-386
Wild waterbirds, specifically waterfowl, gulls, and shorebirds, are recognized as the primordial reservoir of influenza A viruses (IAVs). However, the role of seabirds, an abundant, diverse, and globally distributed group of birds, in the perpetuation and transmission of IAVs is less clear. Here we summarize published and publicly available data...
Demographic outcomes of diverse migration strategies assessed in a metapopulation of tundra swans
Craig R. Ely, Brandt W. Meixell
2016, Movement Ecology (4)
Background Migration is a prominent aspect of the life history of many avian species, but the demographic consequences of variable migration strategies have only infrequently been investigated, and rarely when using modern technological and analytical methods for assessing survival, movement patterns, and long-term productivity in the context of life history theory....
Megafloods and Clovis cache at Wenatchee, Washington
Richard B. Waitt
2016, Quaternary Research (85) 430-444
Immense late Wisconsin floods from glacial Lake Missoula drowned the Wenatchee reach of Washington's Columbia valley by different routes. The earliest debacles, nearly 19,000 cal yr BP, raged 335 m deep down the Columbia and built high Pangborn bar at Wenatchee. As advancing ice blocked the northwest of Columbia valley, several giant floods descended...
NGA-West2 equations for predicting vertical-component PGA, PGV, and 5%-damped PSA from shallow crustal earthquakes
Jonathan P. Stewart, David M. Boore, Emel Seyhan, Gail M. Atkinson
2016, Earthquake Spectra (32) 1005-1031
We present ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for computing natural log means and standard deviations of vertical-component intensity measures (IMs) for shallow crustal earthquakes in active tectonic regions. The equations were derived from a global database with M 3.0–7.9 events. The functions are similar to those for our horizontal GMPEs....
Assessing predation risks for small fish in a large river ecosystem between contrasting habitats and turbidity conditions
Michael J. Dodrill, Michael D. Yard, William E. Pine III
2016, American Midland Naturalist (175) 206-221
This study examined predation risk for juvenile native fish between two riverine shoreline habitats, backwater and debris fan, across three discrete turbidity levels (low, intermediate, high) to understand environmental risks associated with habitat use in a section of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, AZ. Inferences are particularly important to...
Challenges for mapping cyanotoxin patterns from remote sensing of cyanobacteria
Rick P Stumpf, Timothy W. Davis, Timothy T. Wynne, Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin, T.H. Johengen, D. Gossiaux, D. Palladino, A. Burtner
2016, Harmful Algae (54) 160-173
Using satellite imagery to quantify the spatial patterns of cyanobacterial toxins has several challenges. These challenges include the need for surrogate pigments – since cyanotoxins cannot be directly detected by remote sensing, the variability in the relationship between the pigments and cyanotoxins – especially microcystins (MC), and the lack of...
Geologic map of the Valdez D-1 and D-2 quadrangles (Mount Wrangell Volcano), Alaska
D.H. Richter, R. G. McGimsey, Keith A. Labay, M. A. Lanphere, R. B. Moore, C.J. Nye, D. S. Rosenkrans, G. R. Winkler
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3351
Geologic Note Mount Wrangell (elev. 4,317 m) is the youngest and only active volcano in the Oligocene to Holocene-aged Wrangell volcanic field that extends from beyond the Alaska-Yukon border northwest through the Wrangell Mountains to the Copper River Basin. The volcano is a very large (900 km3) broad shield containing an...
Urban infrastructure and water management—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
Shawn C. Fisher, Rosemary M. Fanelli, William R. Selbig
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3025
Managing the urban-water cycle has increasingly become a challenge for water-resources planners and regulators faced with the problem of providing clean drinking water to urban residents. Sanitary and combined sanitary and storm sewer networks convey wastewater to centralized treatment plants. Impervious surfaces, which include roads, parking lots, and buildings, increase...
Urban development and stream ecosystem health—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
Pamela A. Reilly, Zoltan Szabo, James F. Coles
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3026
Urban development creates multiple stressors that can degrade stream ecosystems by changing stream hydrology, water quality, and physical habitat. Contaminants, habitat destruction, and increasing streamflow variability resulting from urban development have been associated with the disruption of biological communities, particularly the loss of sensitive aquatic biota. Understanding how algal, invertebrate,...
Contaminants in urban waters—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
John D. Jastram, Kenneth E. Hyer
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3024
Streams and estuaries with urban watersheds commonly exhibit increased streamflow and decreased base flow; diminished stream-channel stability; excessive amounts of contaminants such as pesticides, metals, industrial and municipal waste, and combustion products; and alterations to biotic community structure. Collectively, these detrimental effects have been termed the “urban-stream syndrome.” Water-resource managers...
Urban hydrology—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
Joseph M. Bell, Amy E. Simonson, Irene J. Fisher
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3023
Urbanization affects streamflow characteristics, coastal flooding, and groundwater recharge. Increasing impervious areas, streamflow diversions, and groundwater pumpage are some of the ways that the natural water cycle is affected by urbanization. Assessment of the relations among these factors and changes in land use helps water-resource managers with issues such as...
Seasonal patterns in carbon dioxide in 15 mid-continent (USA) reservoirs
John R. Jones, Daniel V. Obrecht, Jennifer L. Graham, Michelle B. Balmer, Christopher T. Filstrup, John A. Downing
2016, Inland Waters (2) 265-272
Evidence suggests that lakes are important sites for atmospheric CO2 exchange and so play a substantial role in the global carbon budget. Previous research has 2 weaknesses: (1) most data have been collected only during the open-water or summer seasons, and (2) data are concentrated principally on natural lakes in...
Baseline coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana, to Brownsville, Texas, September 9-10, 2008
Karen L. M. Morgan, Karen A. Westphal
2016, Data Series 991
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On September 9-10, 2008, the USGS conducted an oblique...
Post-Hurricane Ike coastal oblique aerial photographs collected along the Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana barrier islands and the north Texas coast, September 14-15, 2008
Karen L. M. Morgan, M. Dennis Krohn, Kristy K. Guy
2016, Data Series 990
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On September 14-15, 2008, the USGS conducted an oblique...
Direct observations of ice seasonality reveal changes in climate over the past 320–570 years
Sapna Sharma, John J. Magnuson, Ryan D. Batt, Luke Winslow, Johanna Korhonen, Yasuyuki Aono
2016, Scientific Reports (6)
Lake and river ice seasonality (dates of ice freeze and breakup) responds sensitively to climatic change and variability. We analyzed climate-related changes using direct human observations of ice freeze dates (1443–2014) for Lake Suwa, Japan, and of ice breakup dates (1693–2013) for Torne River, Finland. We found a rich array...
The bee microbiome: Impact on bee health and model for evolution and ecology of host-microbe interactions
Philipp Engel, Waldan K. Kwong, Quinn McFrederick, Kirk E. Anderson, Seth Michael Barribeau, James Angus Chandler, Robert S. Cornman, Jacques Dainat, Joachim R. de Miranda, Vincent Doublet, Olivier Emery, Jay D. Evans, Laurent Farinelli, Michelle Flenniken, Fredrik Granberg, Juris A. Grasis, Laurent Gauthier, Juliette Hayer, Hauke Koch, Sarah Kocher, Vincent G. Martinson, Nancy Moran, Monica Munoz-Torres, Irene Newton, Robert J. Paxton, Eli Powell, Ben M. Sadd, Paul Schmid-Hempel, Regula Schmid-Hempel, Jin Song, Ryan S. Schwarz, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Benjamin Dainat
2016, mBio
As pollinators, bees are cornerstones for terrestrial ecosystem stability and key components in agricultural productivity. All animals, including bees, are associated with a diverse community of microbes, commonly referred to as the microbiome. The bee microbiome is likely to be a crucial factor affecting host health. However, with the exception...
Spatial and temporal patterns of mercury concentrations in freshwater fish across the Western United States and Canada
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, James J. Willacker, Michael T. Tate, Michelle A. Lutz, Jacob Fleck, A. Robin Stewart, James G. Wiener, David C. Evers, Jesse M. Lepak, Jay A. Davis, Colleen Flanagan Pritz
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 1171-1184
Methylmercury contamination of fish is a global threat to environmental health. Mercury (Hg) monitoring programs are valuable for generating data that can be compiled for spatially broad syntheses to identify emergent ecosystem properties that influence fish Hg bioaccumulation. Fish total Hg (THg) concentrations were evaluated across the Western United States...
Carbon dioxide as a tool to deter the movement of invasive bigheaded carps
Michael R. Donaldson, Jon Amberg, Shivani Adhikari, Aaron R. Cupp, Nathan Jensen, Jason G. Romine, Adam Wright, Mark P. Gaikowski, Cory D. Suski
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 657-670
Nonnative bigheaded carps are established in the Mississippi River and there is substantial concern about their potential entry into the interconnected Laurentian Great Lakes. While electrical barriers currently exist as a preventative measure, there is need for additional control mechanisms to promote barrier security through redundancy. We tested the effectiveness...
Magnetotelluric investigation of the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Group, East Antarctica
Jared R. Peacock, Katherine Selway
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 2258-2273
The Vestfold Hills and Rauer Group in East Antarctica have contrasting Archean to Neoproterozoic geological histories and are believed to be juxtaposed along a suture zone that now lies beneath the Sørsdal Glacier. Exact location and age of this suture zone are unknown, as is its relationship to regional deformation...
Will changes in phenology track climate change? A study of growth initiation timing in coast Douglas-fir
Kevin R. Ford, Constance A. Harrington, Sheel Bansal, Petter J. Gould, Bradley St. Clair
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 3712-3723
Under climate change, the reduction of frost risk, onset of warm temperatures and depletion of soil moisture are all likely to occur earlier in the year in many temperate regions. The resilience of tree species will depend on their ability to track these changes in climate with shifts in phenology...
Fluctuating water depths affect American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) body condition in the Everglades, Florida, USA
Laura A. Brandt, Jeffrey S. Beauchamp, Brian M. Jeffery, Michael S. Cherkiss, Frank J. Mazzotti
2016, Ecological Indicators (67) 441-450
Successful restoration of wetland ecosystems requires knowledge of wetland hydrologic patterns and an understanding of how those patterns affect wetland plant and animal populations.Within the Everglades, Florida, USA restoration, an applied science strategy including conceptual ecological models linking drivers to indicators is being used to organize current scientific understanding to...
Longitudinal evaluation of leukocyte transcripts in killer whales (Orcinus Orca)
Tatjana Sitt, Lizabeth Bowen, Chia-Shan Lee, Myra Blanchard, James McBain, Christopher Dold, Jeffrey L. Stott
2016, Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology (175) 7-15
Early identification of illness and/or presence of environmental and/or social stressors in free-ranging and domestic cetaceans is a priority for marine mammal health care professionals. Incorporation of leukocyte gene transcript analysis into the diagnostic tool kit has the potential to augment classical diagnostics based upon ease of sample storage and...
Interactions between hatch dates, growth rates, and mortality of Age-0 native Rainbow Smelt and nonnative Alewife in Lake Champlain
Donna L. Parrish, Paul W. Simonin, Lars G. Rudstam, Bernard Pientka, Patrick J. Sullivan
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 649-656
Timing of hatch in fish populations can be critical for first-year survival and, therefore, year-class strength and subsequent species interactions. We compared hatch timing, growth rates, and subsequent mortality of age-0 Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax and Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, two common open-water fish species of northern North America. In our study site, Lake...
