A hidden view of wildlife conservation: How camera traps aid science, research and management
Allan F. O’Connell
2015, The Wildlife Professional (9) 56-59
Florida panthers are among the world’s most endangered — and elusive — animals. For approximately four decades, scientists have been researching this small population of panthers that inhabit the dense forests and swamps of south Florida. Because of their wide habitat range along with an absence of clear visual features,...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2014
Miya N. Barr
2015, Data Series 971
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2014 water year (October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014), data were collected at...
Beyond annual streamflow reconstructions for the Upper Colorado River Basin: a paleo-water-balance approach
Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Gregory J. McCabe, Connie A. Woodhouse
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 9763-9774
In this paper, we present a methodology to use annual tree-ring chronologies and a monthly water balance model to generate annual reconstructions of water balance variables (e.g., potential evapotrans- piration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), snow water equivalent (SWE), soil moisture storage (SMS), and runoff (R)). The method involves resampling monthly...
Monitoring of vegetation response to elk population and habitat management in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2008–14
Linda Zeigenfuss, Therese L. Johnson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1216
Since 2008, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado has been implementing an elk and vegetation management plan with the goal of managing elk populations and their habitats to improve the condition of key vegetation communities on elk winter range. Management actions that have been taken thus far include small reductions...
Trans-Amazon Drilling Project (TADP): origins and evolution of the forests, climate, and hydrology of the South American tropics
P.A. Baker, S.C. Fritz, C.G. Silva, C.A. Rigsby, M.L. Absy, R.P. Almeida, Maria C. Caputo, C.M. Chiessi, F.W. Cruz, C.W. Dick, S.J. Feakins, J. Figueiredo, K.H. Freeman, C. Hoorn, C.A. Jaramillo, A. Kern, E.M. Latrubesse, M.P. Ledru, A. Marzoli, A. Myrbo, A. Noren, W.E. Piller, M.I.F. Ramos, C.C. Ribas, R. Trinadade, A.J. West, I. Wahnfried, Debra A. Willard
2015, Scientific Drilling (20) 41-49
This article presents the scientific rationale for an ambitious ICDP drilling project to continuously sample Late Cretaceous to modern sediment in four different sedimentary basins that transect the equatorial Amazon of Brazil, from the Andean foreland to the Atlantic Ocean. The goals of this project are to document the evolution...
Upstream factors affecting Tualatin River algae—Tracking the 2008 Anabaena algae bloom to Wapato Lake, Oregon
Stewart A. Rounds, Kurt D. Carpenter, Kristel J. Fesler, Jessica L. Dorsey
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5178
Significant Findings A large bloom that included floating mats of the blue-green algae Anabaena flos-aquae occurred in the lower 20 miles of the Tualatin River in northwestern Oregon between July 7 and July 17, 2008. The floating bloom was deemed a hazard to recreational users of the river due to the potential...
csa2sac—A program for computing discharge from continuous slope-area stage data
Stephen M. Wiele
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1229
Introduction Continuous Slope-Area (CSA) gages were developed by the Arizona Water Science Center to enable the estimation of hydrographs when direct measurements of discharge cannot be made (Smith and others, 2010). CSA gages extend standard U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) methods for determining peak discharges to mid and high flows over a...
Coastal landforms and processes at the Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts—A primer
Graham S. Giese, S. Jeffress Williams, Mark Adams
2015, Circular 1417
Anyone who spends more than a few days on Cape Cod (the Cape) quickly becomes a coastal geologist, quickly learning the rhythms of daily tides and the seasonal cycles of beaches growing and being swept away by storms; swimmers and surfers track how the breakers appear, and dog-walkers notice the...
Land-cover types, shoreline positions, and sand extents derived From Landsat satellite imagery, Assateague Island to Metompkin Island, Maryland and Virginia, 1984 to 2014
Julie Bernier, Steven H. Douglas, Joseph F. Terrano, John A. Barras, Nathaniel G. Plant, Christopher G. Smith
2015, Data Series 968
The U.S. Geological Survey has a long history of responding to and documenting the impacts of storms along the Nation’s coasts and incorporating these data into storm impact and coastal change vulnerability assessments. These studies, however, have traditionally focused on sandy shorelines and sandy barrier-island systems, without consideration of impacts...
Avian influenza ecology in North Atlantic sea ducks: Not all ducks are created equal
Jeffrey S. Hall, Robin E. Russell, J. Christian Franson, Catherine Soos, Robert J. Dusek, R. Bradford Allen, Sean W. Nashold, Joshua L. Teslaa, Jon Einar Jonsson, Jennifer R. Ballard, Naomi Jnae Harms, Justin D. Brown
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-16
Wild waterfowl are primary reservoirs of avian influenza viruses (AIV). However the role of sea ducks in the ecology of avian influenza, and how that role differs from freshwater ducks, has not been examined. We obtained and analyzed sera from North Atlantic sea ducks and determined the seroprevalence in those...
Assessment of undiscovered shale gas and shale oil resources in the Mississippian Barnett Shale, Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin Province, North-Central Texas
Kristen R. Marra, Ronald R. Charpentier, Christopher J. Schenk, Michael D. Lewan, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Timothy R. Klett, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Phuong A. Le, Tracey J. Mercier, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3078
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of 53 trillion cubic feet of shale gas, 172 million barrels of shale oil, and 176 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Barnett Shale of the Bend Arch–Fort Worth Basin Province of Texas....
Fall and winter movements and habitat use of the introduced American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeiana) in a Montana pond
Adam J. Sepulveda, Megan J. Layhee
2015, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (10) 978-984
American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus) have been introduced across the globe, including in many northern latitude habitats where wetlands are ice-covered for part of the year. Because bullfrogs are less mobile at low temperatures, greater knowledge about their overwintering habitat may provide additional opportunities for control. Here, we described fall and...
Standard operating procedures for collection of soil and sediment samples for the Sediment-bound Contaminant Resiliency and Response (SCoRR) strategy pilot study
Shawn C. Fisher, Timothy J. Reilly, Daniel K. Jones, William Benzel, Dale W. Griffin, Keith A. Loftin, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Jonathan A. Cohl
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1188-B
An understanding of the effects on human and ecological health brought by major coastal storms or flooding events is typically limited because of a lack of regionally consistent baseline and trends data in locations proximal to potential contaminant sources and mitigation activities, sensitive ecosystems, and recreational facilities where exposures are...
Functional response of ungulate browsers in disturbed eastern hemlock forests
Stephen DeStefano
2015, Forest Ecology and Management (32) 177-183
Ungulate browsing in predator depleted North American landscapes is believed to be causing widespread tree recruitment failures. However, canopy disturbances and variations in ungulate densities are sources of heterogeneity that can buffer ecosystems against herbivory. Relatively little is known about the functional response (the rate of consumption in relation to...
Quantifying 10 years of improved earthquake-monitoring performance in the Caribbean region
Daniel E. McNamara, Christa Hillebrandt-Andrade, Jean-Marie Saurel, V. Huerfano-Moreno, Lloyd Lynch
2015, Seismological Research Letters (87)
Over 75 tsunamis have been documented in the Caribbean and adjacent regions during the past 500 years. Since 1500, at least 4484 people are reported to have perished in these killer waves. Hundreds of thousands are currently threatened along the Caribbean coastlines. Were a great tsunamigenic earthquake to occur in...
Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus maculosus ) spatial distribution, breeding water depth, and use of artificial spawning habitat in the Detroit River
Jaquelyn M. Craig, David A. Mifsud, Andrew S. Briggs, James C. Boase, Gregory W. Kennedy
2015, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (10) 926-934
Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus maculosus) populations have been declining in the Great Lakes region of North America. However, during fisheries assessments in the Detroit River, we documented Mudpuppy reproduction when we collected all life stages from egg through adult as by-catch in fisheries assessments. Ten years of fisheries sampling resulted in...
Desert wetlands—Archives of a wetter past
Jeffery S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Craig R. Manker
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3077
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are finding evidence of a much wetter past in the deserts of the American Southwest using a most unlikely source—wetlands. Wetlands form in arid environments where water tables approach or breach the ground surface. Often thought of as stagnant and unchanging, new evidence...
The petroleum geologist and the insurance policy
Susan E. Hough, Morgan T. Page
2015, Seismological Research Letters (87) 171-176
In a recent study, Hough and Page (2015) presented several lines of evidence suggesting that most of the significant earthquakes in Oklahoma during the twentieth century, including the Mw 5.7 El Reno earthquake of 9 April 1952, were likely induced by wastewater injection and possibly secondary oil recovery operations. We...
Reintroduction of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) into the St. Regis River, NY: Post-release assessment of habitat use and growth
Dawn E. Dittman, Marc A. Chalupnicki, James H. Johnson, James Snyder
2015, Northeastern Naturalist (22) 704-716
One of the depleted endemic fish species of the Great Lakes, Acipenser fulvescens (Lake Sturgeon), has been the target of extensive conservation efforts. One strategy is reintroduction into historically productive waters. The St. Regis River, NY, represents one such adaptive-management effort, with shared management between New York and the St....
California State Waters map series — Offshore of Pigeon Point, California
Guy R. Cochrane, Janet Watt, Peter Dartnell, H. Gary Greene, Mercedes D. Erdey, Bryan E. Dieter, Nadine E. Golden, Samuel Y. Johnson, Charles A. Endris, Stephen R. Hartwell, Rikk G. Kvitek, Clifton W. Davenport, Lisa M. Krigsman, Andrew C. Ritchie, Ray W. Sliter, David P. Finlayson, Katherine L. Maier
Guy R. Cochrane, Susan A. Cochran, editor(s)
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1232
Introduction In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration,...
Qualitative assessment of selected areas of the world for undiscovered sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits: Chapter Y in Global mineral resource assessment
Michael L. Zientek, Niki E. Wintzer, Timothy S. Hayes, Heather L. Parks, Deborah A. Briggs, J. Douglas Causey, Shyla A. Hatch, M. Christopher Jenkins, David J. Williams
Michael L. Zientek, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Kathleen M. Johnson, editor(s)
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-Y
A qualitative mineral resource assessment of sediment-hosted stratabound copper mineralized areas for undiscovered copper deposits was performed for 10 selected areas of the world. The areas, in alphabetical order, are (1) Belt-Purcell Basin, United States and Canada; (2) Benguela and Cuanza Basins, Angola; (3) Chuxiong Basin, China; (4) Dongchuan Group...
Assessing local population vulnerability to wind energy development with branching process models: an application to wind energy development
Richard A. Erickson, Eric A. Eager, Jessica C. Stanton, Julie A. Beston, James E. Diffendorfer, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2015, Ecosphere (6)
Quantifying the impact of anthropogenic development on local populations is important for conservation biology and wildlife management. However, these local populations are often subject to demographic stochasticity because of their small population size. Traditional modeling efforts such as population projection matrices do not consider this source of variation whereas individual-based...
Air- and stream-water-temperature trends in the Chesapeake Bay region, 1960-2014
John D. Jastram, Karen C. Rice
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1207
Water temperature is a basic, but important, measure of the condition of all aquatic environments, including the flowing waters in the streams that drain our landscape and the receiving waters of those streams. Climatic conditions have a strong influence on water temperature, which is therefore naturally variable both in time...
Sediment transport and evaluation of sediment surrogate ratings in the Kootenai River near Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Water Years 2011–14
Molly S. Wood, Ryan L. Fosness, Alexandra B. Etheridge
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5169
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and other native fish species are culturally important to the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, but their habitat and recruitment have been affected by anthropogenic changes to the river. Although the interconnections among anthropogenic changes and their impacts on fish are complex, the Kootenai...
Comparison of U.S. net import reliance for nonfuel mineral commodities—A 60-year retrospective (1954–1984–2014)
Steven M. Fortier, DeYoung Jr., Elizabeth S. Sangine, Emily K. Schnebele
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3082
Introduction The economic vitality and national security of the United States depend on the reliable supply of numerous nonfuel mineral commodities. Over the past six decades, many of these commodities have been sourced increasingly from outside the United States. The mix of commodities for which the United States is import dependent...
