Detection probabilities of electrofishing, hoop nets, and benthic trawls for fishes in two western North American rivers
Christopher D. Smith, Michael C. Quist, Ryan S. Hardy
2015, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (6) 371-391
Research comparing different sampling techniques helps improve the efficiency and efficacy of sampling efforts. We compared the effectiveness of three sampling techniques (small-mesh hoop nets, benthic trawls, boat-mounted electrofishing) for 30 species in the Green (WY, USA) and Kootenai (ID, USA) rivers by estimating conditional detection probabilities (probability of detecting...
User-interactive sediment budgets in a browser: A web application for river science and management
David M. Sibley, David J. Topping, Megan Hines, Bradley D. Garner
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 5th Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference and the 10th Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference
Decision-support tools providing accurate, near-real-time data and user-friendly interactive visualizations are of critical value to resource managers tasked with planning and carrying out management programs in their domain. Creating a system to continuously aggregate datasets and recompute derived values is difficult and error-prone when attempted by hand. To address this...
The effect of UV-C exposure on larval survival of the dreissenid quagga mussel
Alecia Stewart-Malone, Michael Misamore, Siri K. Wilmoth, Alejandro Reyes, Wai Hing Wong, Jackson Gross
2015, PLoS ONE (10 )
The rapid spread of quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) has lead to their invasion of Lake Mead, Nevada, the largest reservoir in North America and partially responsible for providing water to millions of people in the southwest. Current strategies for mitigating the growth and spread of quagga mussels primarily include...
Gopherus Agassizii (Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise). Mechanical Injury
Amanda Smith, Laura A. Tennant, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Terence R. Arundel
2015, Herpetological Review (46) 423-424
On 3 June 2015 at 1024 h, a team of U.S. Geological Survey scientists located an immature Gopherus agassizii (Agassiz’s desert tortoise) at Joshua Tree National Park, near the southern Cottonwood Canyon entrance. The habitat in the area is typical of the Sonoran Desert in that part of California with...
Artificial reefs and reef restoration in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Matthew W. McLean, Edward F. Roseman, Jeremy J. Pritt, Gregory W. Kennedy, Bruce A. Manny
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 1-8
We reviewed the published literature to provide an inventory of Laurentian Great Lakes artificial reef projects and their purposes. We also sought to characterize physical and biological monitoring for artificial reef projects in the Great Lakes and determine the success of artificial reefs in meeting project objectives. We found records...
Science foundation Chapter 5 Appendix 5.1: Case study dabbling ducks
Gregory S. Yarris, Joshua T. Ackerman
2015, Report, The baylands and climate change what we can do: Baylands ecosystem habitat goals science update 2015
Dabbling ducks are the most abundant group of waterfowl that overwinter in the shallow wetlands and ponds of San Francisco Bay (SFB). Species within this group are primarily omnivorous, feeding on both plant material and macroinvertebrate prey by “tipping” to access benthic foods in bottom sediments or by foraging in...
Science foundation Chapter 5 Appendix 5.1: Case study california ridgway's rail (Rallus obseoletus obsoletus)
Cory T. Overton, Julian Wood
2015, Report, The baylands and climate change what we can do: Baylands ecosystem habitat goals science update 2015
The clapper rail (Rallus longirostris) recently was split into two sister groups (Chesser et al. 2014) on the basis of phylogenetic analyses (Maley and Brumfield 2013). The original grouping is now represented on the East Coast of North America by the Clapper rail (Rallus crepitans) and on the West Coast...
Effects of population reduction on white-tailed deer home-range dynamics
Shawn M. Crimmins, John W. Edwards, Tyler A Campbell, W. Mark Ford, Patrick D. Keyser, Brad F. Miller, Karl V. Miller
2015, Northeastern Naturalist (22) 403-412
Management strategies designed to reduce the negative impacts of overabundant Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) populations on forest regeneration may be influenced by changes in both population density and timber harvest. However, there is conflicting evidence as to how such changes in per capita resource availability influence home-range patterns. We compared home-range patterns...
Upstream dam passage and use of an eel ladder by the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon)
Stuart A. Welsh, Zachary J. Loughman
2015, Herpetological Review (46) 176-179
No abstract available....
GEAR1: A Global Earthquake Activity Rate model constructed from geodetic strain rates and smoothed seismicity
Peter Bird, David D. Jackson, Yan Y. Kagan, Corne Kreemer, Ross Stein
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 2538-2554
Global earthquake activity rate model 1 (GEAR1) estimates the rate of shallow earthquakes with magnitudes 6–9 everywhere on Earth. It was designed to be reproducible and testable. Our preferred hybrid forecast is a log–linear blend of two parent forecasts based on the Global Centroid Moment Tensor (CMT) catalog (smoothing 4602...
Gondolellid conodonts and depositional setting of the Phosphoria Formation
Bruce R. Wardlaw
2015, Micropaleontology (61) 335-368
The Phosphoria Formation and related rocks were deposited over an 8.9 m.y. interval beginning approximately 274.0Ma and ending approximately 265.1Ma. The Meade Peak Phosphatic Shale Member was deposited in southeastern Idaho and adjacent Wyoming over 5.4 m.y. from approximately 273.2 to 268.6 Ma. The Retort Phosphatic Shale Member was deposited...
Biology and ecology of Neosho Smallmouth Bass and the genetically distinct Ouachita lineage
Shannon K. Brewer, James M. Long
Michael D. Tringali, James M. Long, Timothy W. Birdsong, Michael S. Allen, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Black Bass diversity: Multidisciplinary science for conservation
We reviewed the published and gray literature associated with Neosho Smallmouth Bass and the genetically-distinct Ouachita lineage. Substantial inter-stream variation appears to occur among these populations, particularly related to age. The Neosho subspecies is more abundant, grows faster, and lives longer than the genetically-distinct Ouachita lineage. Recruitment is highly variable...
The cost of karst subsidence and sinkhole collapse in the United States compared with other natural hazards
David J. Weary
2015, Conference Paper, 14th Sinkhole Conference
Rocks with potential for karst formation are found in all 50 states. Damage due to karst subsidence and sinkhole collapse is a natural hazard of national scope. Repair of damage to buildings, highways, and other infrastructure represents a significant national cost. Sparse and incomplete data show that the average cost...
Density-dependent effects of omnivorous stream crayfish on benthic trophic dynamics
J.P. Ludlam, B. T. Banks, Daniel D. Magoulick
2015, Freshwater Crayfish (21) 165-170
Crayfish are abundant and important consumers in aquatic food webs and crayfish invasions have demonstrated strong effects of crayfish on multiple trophic levels. Density may be an important factor determining the role of omnivorous crayfish in benthic communities, especially if density alters the strength of trophic interactions. The effect of...
Life on the edge in eastern Alaska: Basal Ordovician(Tremadocian), platform-margin faunas of the Jones Ridge Formation
J. F. Taylor, T. J. Allen, John E. Repetski, J. V. Strauss, S. J. Irwin
2015, Stratigraphy (12) 71-77
As the most fossiliferous and least deformed succession of unequivocally Laurentian lower Paleozoic strata in Alaska, the Jones Ridge Limestone has provided critical data for numerous stratigraphic studies (e. g. Palmer 1968; Harris et al. 1995; Dumoulin et al. 2002; Dumoulin and Harris 2012) focused on the Cambrian and Ordovician...
Refinements to the Graves and Pitarka (2010) Broadband Ground Motion Simulation Method
Robert Graves, Arben Pitarka
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 75-80
This brief article describes refinements to the Graves and Pitarka (2010) broadband ground motion simulation methodology (GP2010 hereafter) that have been implemented in version 14.3 of the SCEC Broadband Platform (BBP). The updated version of our method on the current SCEC BBP is referred to as GP14.3. Our simulation technique...
Isotopic insights into biological regulation of zinc in contaminated systems
Richard B. Wanty, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Jeff S. Wesner, David Walters, Travis S. Schmidt, Francesca Podda, G. De Giudici, Craig A. Stricker, Johanna M. Kraus, Pierfranco Lattanzi, Ruth E. Wolf, R. Cidu
2015, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science (13) 60-63
Aquatic organisms use a variety of biogeochemical reactions to regulate essential and non-essential trace metals. Many of these mechanisms can lead to isotopic fractionation, thus measurement of metal isotopes may yield insights into the processes by which organisms respond to metal exposure. We illustrate these concepts with two case studies,...
The role of suspension events in cross-shore and longshore suspended sediment transport in the surf zone
Bruce E. Jaffe
2015, Conference Paper, The Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2015
Suspension of sand in the surf zone is intermittent. Especially striking in a time series of concentration are periods of intense suspension, suspension events, when the water column suspended sediment concentration is an order of magnitude greater than the mean concentration. The prevalence, timing, and contribution of suspension events to...
Mechanisms of sediment flux between shallows and marshes
Jessica R. Lacy, L.M. Schile, J.C. Callaway, M.C. Ferner
2015, Conference Paper, The Proceedings of Coastal Sediments 2015
We conducted a field study to investigate temporal variation and forcing mechanisms of sediment flux between a salt marsh and adjacent shallows in northern San Francisco Bay. Suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), tidal currents, and wave properties were measured over the marsh, in marsh creeks, and in bay shallows. Cumulative sediment flux...
Seismic hazard assessment: Honing the debate, testing the models
Ross Stein, Mark W. Stirling
2015, Eos, Earth and Space Science News
Four workshops held in 2013–2014 at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis brought together university, government, and insurance industry scientists from countries that straddle plate boundaries and those in plate interiors. Participants were invited; the workshops’ goals involved developing tests of Probabilistic Seismic...
Underpressure in Mesozoic and Paleozoic rock units in the Midcontinent of the United States
Philip H. Nelson, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Ronald M. Drake II
2015, AAPG Bulletin (99) 1861-1892
Potentiometric surfaces for Paleozoic strata, based on water well levels and selected drill-stem tests, reveal the control on hydraulic head exerted by outcrops in eastern Kansas and Oklahoma. From outcrop in the east, the westward climb of hydraulic head is much less than that of the land surface, with heads...
Combining split-beam and dual-frequency identification sonars to estimate abundance of anadromous fishes in the Roanoke River, North Carolina
Jacob B. Hughes, Joseph E. Hightower
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 229-240
Riverine hydroacoustic techniques are an effective method for evaluating abundance of upstream migrating anadromous fishes. To use these methods in the Roanoke River, North Carolina, at a wide site with uneven bottom topography, we used a combination of split-beam sonar and dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) deployments. We aimed a split-beam...
Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II) Phase V
Cliff D. Taylor, editor(s)
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280
In 1996, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists produced a strategic plan for the acquisition, improvement and modernization of multidisciplinary sets of data to support the growth of the Mauritanian minerals sector and to highlight the...
Development of flood regressions and climate change scenarios to explore estimates of future peak flows
Douglas A. Burns, Martyn J. Smith, Douglas A. Freehafer
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1235
A new Web-based application, titled “Application of Flood Regressions and Climate Change Scenarios To Explore Estimates of Future Peak Flows”, has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Transportation, that allows a user to apply a set of regression equations to...
Application of a process-based shallow landslide hazard model over a broad area in Central Italy
Eleonora Gioia, Gabriella Speranza, Maurizio Ferretti, Jonathan W. Godt, Rex L. Baum, Fausto Marincioni
2015, Landslides 1-18
Process-based models are widely used for rainfall-induced shallow landslide forecasting. Previous studies have successfully applied the U.S. Geological Survey’s Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-Based Regional Slope-Stability (TRIGRS) model (Baum et al. 2002) to compute infiltration-driven changes in the hillslopes’ factor of safety on small scales (i.e., tens of square...
