A framework for decision points to trigger adaptive management actions in long-term incidental take permits
Daniel Dalthorp, Manuela M. Huso
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1227
Introduction The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has begun to issue incidental take permits (ITPs) to wind power companies to allow limited take of bird and bat species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Huso...
Assessment of undiscovered sandstone-hosted uranium resources in the Texas Coastal Plain, 2015
Mark J. Mihalasky, Susan M. Hall, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Kathleen R. Tureck, Mark T. Hannon, George N. Breit, Robert A. Zielinski, Brent Elliott
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3069
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 220 million pounds of recoverable uranium oxide (U3O8 ) remaining as potential undiscovered resources in southern Texas. This estimate used a geology-based assessment method for Tertiary sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain sedimentary strata (fig.1)....
Petrology and reservoir quality of the Gaikema Sandstone: Initial impressions
Kenneth P. Helmold, Richard G. Stanley
2015, Report
The Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and Division of Oil & Gas (DOG) are currently conducting a study of the hydrocarbon potential of Cook Inlet basin (LePain and others, 2011). The Tertiary stratigraphic section of the basin includes coal-bearing units that are prolific gas reservoirs, particularly the Neogene...
Rapid characterization of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake sequence and its seismotectonic context
Gavin P. Hayes, Richard W. Briggs, William D. Barnhart, William L. Yeck, Daniel E. McNamara, David J. Wald, Jennifer Nealy, Harley M. Benz, Ryan D. Gold, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Kristin Marano, Paul S. Earle, Mike Hearne, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Lisa A. Wald, Sergey Samsonov
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 1557-1567
Earthquake response and related information products are important for placing recent seismic events into context and particularly for understanding the impact earthquakes can have on the regional community and its infrastructure. These tools are even more useful if they are available quickly, ahead of detailed information from the areas affected...
Seismic hazard in the eastern United States
Charles Mueller, Oliver S. Boyd, Mark D. Petersen, Morgan P. Moschetti, Sanaz Rezaeian, Allison Shumway
2015, Earthquake Spectra (31) 85-107
The U.S. Geological Survey seismic hazard maps for the central and eastern United States were updated in 2014. We analyze results and changes for the eastern part of the region. Ratio maps are presented, along with tables of ground motions and deaggregations for selected cities. The Charleston fault model was...
Evaluating predictors of local dabbling duck abundance during migration: Managing the spectrum of conditions faced by migrants
Kevin Aagaard, Shawn M. Crimmins, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Brian G. Tavernia, James E. Lyons
2015, Wildfowl (65) 100-120
The development of robust modelling techniques to derive inferences from large-scale migratory bird monitoring data at appropriate scales has direct relevance to their management. The Integrated Waterbird Management and Monitoring programme (IWMM) represents one of the few attempts to monitor migrating waterbirds across entire flyways using targeted local surveys. This...
Factors associated with the deposition of Cladophora on Lake Michigan beaches in 2012
Stephen C. Riley, Taaja R. Tucker, Jean V. Adams, Lisa R. Fogarty, Brenda Moraska Lafrancois
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 1094-1105
Deposition of the macroalgae Cladophora spp. was monitored on 18 beaches around Lake Michigan during 2012 at a high temporal frequency. We observed a high degree of spatial variability in Cladophora deposition among beaches on Lake Michigan, even within local regions, with no clear regional pattern in the intensity of...
Forty years of grizzly bear recovery in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Frank T. van Manen, Cecily M. Costello, Kerry A. Gunther, Mark A. Haroldson
2015, Yellowstone Science (23) 4-6
No abstract available....
Depth, ice thickness, and ice-out timing cause divergent hydrologic responses among Arctic lakes
Christopher D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, Anna K. Liljedahl, Kenneth M. Hinkel, Jeffery A. Welker
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 9379-9401
Lakes are prevalent in the Arctic and thus play a key role in regional hydrology. Since many Arctic lakes are shallow and ice grows thick (historically 2-m or greater), seasonal ice commonly freezes to the lake bed (bedfast ice) by winter's end. Bedfast ice fundamentally alters lake energy balance and...
Non-invasive flow path characterization in a mining-impacted wetland
James Bethune, Jackie Randell, Robert L. Runkel, Kamini Singha
2015, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (183) 29-39
Time-lapse electrical resistivity (ER) was used to capture the dilution of a seasonal pulse of acid mine drainage (AMD) contamination in the subsurface of a wetland downgradient of the abandoned Pennsylvania mine workings in central Colorado. Data were collected monthly from mid-July to late October of 2013, with an additional...
A new record of the late Pleistocene coral Pocillopora palmata from the Dry Tortugas, Florida reef tract, USA
Lauren T. Toth, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Hai Cheng, R. Lawrence Edwards
2015, Palaios (30) 827-835
Pocilloporid corals dominated shallow-water environments in the Caribbean during much of the Cenozoic; however, the regional diversity of this family declined over the last 15 My, culminating with the extinction of its final member, Pocillopora palmata, during the latest Pleistocene. Here we present a new record of P. palmata from...
Challenges to a molecular approach to prey identification in the Burmese python, Python molurus bivittatus
Bryan Falk, Robert N. Reed
2015, PeerJ (3)
Molecular approaches to prey identification are increasingly useful in elucidating predator–prey relationships, and we aimed to investigate the feasibility of these methods to document the species identities of prey consumed by invasive Burmese pythons in Florida. We were particularly interested in the diet of young snakes, because visual identification of...
Quantifying soil carbon loss and uncertainty from a peatland wildfire using multi-temporal LiDAR
Ashwan D. Reddy, Todd Hawbaker, F. Wurster, Zhiliang Zhu, S. Ward, Doug Newcomb, R. Murray
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (170) 306-316
Peatlands are a major reservoir of global soil carbon, yet account for just 3% of global land cover. Human impacts like draining can hinder the ability of peatlands to sequester carbon and expose their soils to fire under dry conditions. Estimating soil carbon loss from peat fires can be challenging...
The 1868 Hayward fault, California, earthquake: Implications for earthquake scaling relations on partially creeping faults
Susan E. Hough, Stacey Martin
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 2894-2909
The 21 October 1868 Hayward, California, earthquake is among the best-characterized historical earthquakes in California. In contrast to many other moderate-to-large historical events, the causative fault is clearly established. Published magnitude estimates have been fairly consistent, ranging from 6.8 to 7.2, with 95% confidence limits including values as low as...
U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census: Colorado River Basin Geographic Focus Area Study
Breton W. Bruce, David W. Clow, Molly A. Maupin, Matthew P. Miller, Gabriel B. Senay, Graham A. Sexstone, David D. Susong
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3080
Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) concept of a national census (or accounting) of water resources has evolved over the last several decades as the Nation has experienced increasing concern over water availability for multiple competing uses. The implementation of a USGS National Water Census was described in the USGS 2007...
Seasonal variation in habitat use of juvenile Steelhead in a tributary of Lake Ontario
Emily W. Studdert, James H. Johnson
2015, Northeastern Naturalist (22) 717-729
We examined seasonal-habitat use by subyearling and yearling Oncorhynchus mykiss (Rainbow Trout or Steelhead) in Trout Brook, a tributary of the Salmon River, NY. We determined daytime fish-habitat use and available habitat during August and October of the same year and observed differences in habitat selection among year classes. Water...
Portfolio theory as a management tool to guide conservation and restoration of multi-stock fish populations
Mark R. DuFour, Cassandra J. May, Edward F. Roseman, Stuart A. Ludsin, Christopher S. Vandergoot, Jeremy J. Pritt, Michael E. Fraker, Jeremiah J. Davis, Jeffery T. Tyson, Jeffery G. Miner, Elizabeth A. Marschall, Christine M. Mayer
2015, Ecosphere (6)
Habitat degradation and harvest have upset the natural buffering mechanism (i.e., portfolio effects) of many large-scale multi-stock fisheries by reducing spawning stock diversity that is vital for generating population stability and resilience. The application of portfolio theory offers a means to guide management activities by quantifying the importance of multi-stock...
Mortality patterns in endangered Hawaiian geese (Nene; Branta sandvicensis)
Thierry M. Work, Julie Dagenais, Robert Rameyer, Renee Breeden
2015, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 688-695
Understanding causes of death can aid management and recovery of endangered bird populations. Toward those ends, we systematically examined 300 carcasses of endangered Hawaiian Geese (Nene; Branta sandvicensis) from Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Kauai between 1992 and 2013. The most common cause of death was emaciation, followed by trauma (vehicular strikes...
Increased land use by Chukchi Sea polar bears in relation to changing sea ice conditions
Karyn D. Rode, Ryan H. Wilson, Eric V. Regehr, Michelle St. Martin, David C. Douglas, Jay Olson
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Recent observations suggest that polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are increasingly using land habitats in some parts of their range, where they have minimal access to their preferred prey, likely in response to loss of their sea ice habitat associated with climatic warming. We used location data from female polar bears...
Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey standard elevation products in a two-dimensional hydraulic modeling application for a low relief coastal floodplain
Emitt C. Witt III
2015, Journal of Hydrology (531) 759-767
Growing use of two-dimensional (2-D) hydraulic models has created a need for high resolution data to support flood volume estimates, floodplain specific engineering data, and accurate flood inundation scenarios. Elevation data are a critical input to these models that guide the flood-wave across the landscape allowing the computation of valuable...
Probabilistic 3-D time-lapse inversion of magnetotelluric data: Application to an enhanced geothermal system
Marina Rosas-Carbajal, Nicolas Linde, Jared R. Peacock, F. I. Zyserman, Thomas Kalscheuer, Stephan Thiel
2015, Geophysical Journal International (203) 1946-1960
Surface-based monitoring of mass transfer caused by injections and extractions in deep boreholes is crucial to maximize oil, gas and geothermal production. Inductive electromagnetic methods, such as magnetotellurics, are appealing for these applications due to their large penetration depths and sensitivity to changes in fluid conductivity and fracture connectivity. In...
Validation of mercury tip-switch and accelerometer activity sensors for identifying resting and active behavior in bears
Jasmine Ware, Karyn D. Rode, Anthony M. Pagano, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Charles T. Robbins, Joy Erlenbach, Shannon Jensen, Amy Cutting, Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, Amy Hash, Megan A. Owen, Heiko Jansen
2015, Ursus (26) 8-18
Activity sensors are often included in wildlife transmitters and can provide information on the behavior and activity patterns of animals remotely. However, interpreting activity-sensor data relative to animal behavior can be difficult if animals cannot be continuously observed. In this study, we examined the performance of a mercury tip-switch and...
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn risk from Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) predation during summer
L. David Mech, Aaron Morris, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer
2015, Canadian Field-Naturalist (129) 368-373
Little is known about how often various prey animals are at risk of predation by Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). We used a system to monitor the presence during the day of two radio-collared Gray Wolves within 2 km of a radio-collared White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with a fawn or fawns...
Alpine biodiversity and assisted migration: The case of the American pika (Ochotona princeps)
Jennifer L. Wilkening, Chris Ray, Nathan G. Ramsay, Kelly Klingler
2015, Biodiversity (16) 1-13
Alpine mammals are predicted to be among the species most threatened by climate change, due to the projected loss and further fragmentation of alpine habitats. As temperature or precipitation regimes change, alpine mammals may also be faced with insurmountable barriers to dispersal. The slow rate or inability to adjust to...
On the prediction of threshold friction velocity of wind erosion using soil reflectance spectroscopy
Junran Li, Cody B. Flagg, Gregory S. Okin, Thomas H. Painter, Kebonye Dintwe, Jayne Belnap
2015, Aeolian Research (19) 129-136
Current approaches to estimate threshold friction velocity (TFV) of soil particle movement, including both experimental and empirical methods, suffer from various disadvantages, and they are particularly not effective to estimate TFVs at regional to global scales. Reflectance spectroscopy has been widely used to obtain TFV-related soil properties (e.g., moisture, texture,...
