Wind River subbasin restoration: Annual report of U.S. Geological Survey activities January 2014 through December 2014
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly
2015, Report
Executive Summary The Wind River subbasin in southwest Washington State provides habitat for a population of wild Lower Columbia River steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. No hatchery steelhead have been planted in the Wind River subbasin since 1994, and hatchery adults are estimated...
Potential metal recovery from waste streams
Kathleen S. Smith, Philip L. Hageman, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, James R. Budahn, Donald I. Bleiwas
2015, Conference Paper
‘Waste stream’ is a general term that describes the total flow of waste from homes, businesses, industrial facilities, and institutions that are recycled, burned or isolated from the environment in landfills or other types of storage, or dissipated into the environment. The recovery and reuse of chemical elements from waste...
A Systems Thinking approach to post-disaster restoration of maritime transportation systems
Lizzette Perez Lespier, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg
2015, Conference Paper
A Systems Thinking approach is used to examine elements of a maritime transportation system that are most likely to be impacted by an extreme event. The majority of the literature uses a high-level view that can fail to capture the damage at...
Storm tide monitoring during the blizzard of January 26-28, 2015, in eastern Massachusetts
Andrew J. Massey, Richard J. Verdi
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1081
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of six storm surge sensors and four barometric pressure sensors along the Atlantic coast in eastern Massachusetts, from Plymouth to Newburyport, before the blizzard of January 26–28, 2015 (Blizzard of January 2015), to record the timing and magnitude of storm...
Moment tensors and other source parameters of mining‐induced earthquakes in TauTona Mine, South Africa
Margaret S. Boettcher, Deborah L. Kane, Arthur F. McGarr, Malcolm J. S. Johnston, Ze’ev Reches
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 1576-1593
Induced seismicity exhibits diverse source mechanisms that are often difficult to constrain for small events. Here, we use data from the in‐mine seismic network, the Natural Earthquake Laboratory in South African Mines network, and a temporary Program for the Array Seismic Studies of the Continental Lithosphere deployment in TauTona Mine,...
Toxicity reference values for chlorophacinone and their application for assessing anticoagulant rodenticide risk to raptors
Barnett A. Rattner, Katherine E. Horak, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Sandra L. Schultz, Susan Knowles, Benjamin G. Abbo, Steven F. Volker
2015, Ecotoxicology (24) 720-734
Despite widespread use and benefit, there are growing concerns regarding hazards of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target wildlife which may result in expanded use of first-generation compounds, including chlorophacinone (CPN). The toxicity of CPN over a 7-day exposure period was investigated in American kestrels (Falco sparverius) fed...
Atypical pit craters on Mars: new insights from THEMIS, CTX and HiRISE observations
Glen Cushing, Chris H. Okubo, Timothy N. Titus
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research (120) 1023-1043
More than 100 pit craters in the Tharsis region of Mars exhibit morphologies, diameters and thermal behaviors that diverge from the much larger bowl-shaped pit craters that occur in most regions across Mars. These Atypical Pit Craters (APCs) generally have sharp and distinct rims, vertical or overhanging walls that extend...
Thiaminase activity in native freshwater mussels
Carrie J. Blakeslee, Stephanie Sweet, Heather S. Galbraith, Dale C. Honeyfield
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 516-519
Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in the Great Lakes has been attributed to elevated levels of thiaminase I enzyme activity in invasive prey species; however, few studies have investigated thiaminase activity in native prey species. Some of the highest levels of thiaminase activity have been measured in invasive dreissenid mussels with...
Temporal patterns in adult salmon migration timing across southeast Alaska
Ryan P. Kovach, Stephen Ellison, Sanjay Pyare, David Tallmon
2015, Global Change Biology (21) 1821-1833
Pacific salmon migration timing can drive population productivity, ecosystem dynamics, and human harvest. Nevertheless, little is known about long-term variation in salmon migration timing for multiple species across broad regions. We used long-term data for five Pacific salmon species throughout rapidly warming southeast Alaska to describe long-term changes in salmon...
AMDTreat 5.0+ with PHREEQC titration module to compute caustic chemical quantity, effluent quality, and sludge volume
Charles A. Cravotta III, Brent P Means, Willam Arthur, Robert M McKenzie, David L. Parkhurst
2015, Mine Water and the Environment (34) 136-152
Alkaline chemicals are commonly added to discharges from coal mines to increase pH and decrease concentrations of acidity and dissolved aluminum, iron, manganese, and associated metals. The annual cost of chemical treatment depends on the type and quantities of chemicals added and sludge produced. The AMDTreat computer program, initially developed...
The interaction of intraspecific competition and habitat on individual diet specialization: a near range-wide examination of sea otters
Seth D. Newsome, M. Tim Tinker, Verena A. Gill, Zachary N. Hoyt, Angela M. Doroff, Linda Nichol, James L. Bodkin
2015, Oecologia (178) 45-59
The quantification of individuality is a common research theme in the fields of population, community, and evolutionary ecology. The potential for individuality to arise is likely context-dependent, and the influence of habitat characteristics on its prevalence has received less attention than intraspecific competition. We examined individual diet specialization in 16...
Experimental dosing of wetlands with coagulants removes mercury from surface water and decreases mercury bioaccumulation in fish
Joshua T. Ackerman, Tamara E.C. Kraus, Jacob A. Fleck, David P. Krabbenhoft, William R. Horwarth, Sandra M. Bachand, Mark P. Herzog, C. Alex Hartman, Philip Bachand
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 6304-6311
Mercury pollution is widespread globally, and strategies for managing mercury contamination in aquatic environments are necessary. We tested whether coagulation with metal-based salts could remove mercury from wetland surface waters and decrease mercury bioaccumulation in fish. In a complete randomized block design, we constructed nine experimental wetlands in California’s Sacramento–San...
From patterns to causal understanding: Structural equation modeling (SEM) in soil ecology
Nico Eisenhauer, Jeff R Powell, James B. Grace, Matthew A. Bowker
2015, Pedobiologia (58) 65-72
In this perspectives paper we highlight a heretofore underused statistical method in soil ecological research, structural equation modeling (SEM). SEM is commonly used in the general ecological literature to develop causal understanding from observational data, but has been more slowly adopted by soil ecologists. We provide some basic information on...
Inter-laboratory variation in the chemical analysis of acidic forest soil reference samples from eastern North America
Donald S. Ross, Scott W Bailiey, Russell D Briggs, Johanna Curry, Ivan J. Fernandez, Guinevere Fredriksen, Christine L. Goodale, Paul W. Hazlett, Paul R Heine, Chris E. Johnson, John T Larson, Gregory B. Lawrence, Randy K Kolka, Ouimet, D Pare, Daniel D. Richter, Charles D Shirmer, Richard A.F. Warby
2015, Ecosphere (6) 1-22
Long-term forest soil monitoring and research often requires a comparison of laboratory data generated at different times and in different laboratories. Quantifying the uncertainty associated with these analyses is necessary to assess temporal changes in soil properties. Forest soil chemical properties, and methods to measure these properties, often differ from...
Landscape characteristics influencing the genetic structure of greater sage-grouse within the stronghold of their range: a holistic modeling approach
Jeff R Row, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Michael S. O’Donnell, Kevin E. Doherty, Cameron L. Aldridge, Zachary H. Bowen, Brad C. Fedy
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 1955-1969
Given the significance of animal dispersal to population dynamics and geographic variability, understanding how dispersal is impacted by landscape patterns has major ecological and conservation importance. Speaking to the importance of dispersal, the use of linear mixed models to compare genetic differentiation with pairwise resistance derived from landscape resistance surfaces...
Dam-breach analysis and flood-inundation mapping for selected dams in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and near Atoka, Oklahoma
Molly J. Shivers, S. Jerrod Smith, Trevor S. Grout, Jason M. Lewis
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5052
Dams provide beneficial functions such as flood control, recreation, and storage of water supplies, but they also entail risk; dam breaches and resultant floods can cause substantial property damage and loss of life. The State of Oklahoma requires each owner of a high-hazard dam, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
Geologic and structural controls on rupture zone fabric: A field-based study of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor–Cucapah earthquake surface rupture
Orlando Teran, John L. Fletcher, Michael Oskin, Thomas Rockwell, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Ronald Spelz, Sinan Akciz, Ana Paula Hernandez-Flores, Alexander Morelan
2015, Geosphere (11) 899-920
We systematically mapped (scales >1:500) the surface rupture of the 4 April 2010 Mw (moment magnitude) 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake through the Sierra Cucapah (Baja California, northwestern Mexico) to understand how faults with similar structural and lithologic characteristics control rupture zone fabric, which is here defined by the thickness, distribution,...
Evaluation of angler reporting accuracy in an off-site survey to estimate statewide steelhead harvest
J. L. McCormick, D. Whitney, D. J. Schill, Michael C. Quist
2015, Fisheries Management and Ecology (22) 134-142
Accuracy of angler-reported data on steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), harvest in Idaho, USA, was quantified by comparing data recorded on angler harvest permits to the numbers that the same group of anglers reported in an off-site survey. Anglers could respond to the off-site survey using mail or Internet; if they did not...
Groundwater movement, recharge, and perchlorate occurrence in a faulted alluvial aquifer in California (USA)
John A. Izbicki, Nicholas F. Teague, Paul B. Hatzinger, John Karl Bohlke, Neil C. Sturchio
2015, Hydrogeology Journal (23) 467-491
Perchlorate from military, industrial, and legacy agricultural sources is present within an alluvial aquifer in the Rialto-Colton groundwater subbasin, 80 km east of Los Angeles, California (USA). The area is extensively faulted, with water-level differences exceeding 60 m across parts of the Rialto-Colton Fault separating the Rialto-Colton and Chino groundwater...
Vegetation community response to tidal marsh restoration of a large river estuary
Lisa J. Belleveau, John Y. Takekawa, Isa Woo, Kelley L. Turner, Jesse B. Barham, Jean E. Takekawa, Christopher S. Ellings, Gerardo Chin-Leo
2015, Northwest Science (89) 136-147
Estuaries are biologically productive and diverse ecosystems that provide ecosystem services including protection of inland areas from flooding, filtering freshwater outflows, and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Alteration of historic habitats, including diking for agriculture, has decreased the function of many estuarine systems, and recent conservation efforts have been...
First record of a banded Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) moving from England to the United States
Jeffrey A. Spendelow
2015, Waterbirds (38) 425-426
A Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis sandvicensis) banded as a chick in 2002 at Coquet Island off the northeast coast of Great Britain was observed at two locations on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, in August and September 2013. This is the first record of a banded Sandwich Tern from the United...
Strontium isotopes delineate fine-scale natal origins and migration histories of Pacific salmon
Sean R. Brennan, Christian E. Zimmerman, Diego P. Fernandez, Thure E. Cerling, Megan V. McPhee, Matthew J. Wooller
2015, Science Advances (1)
Highly migratory organisms present major challenges to conservation efforts. This is especially true for exploited anadromous fish species, which exhibit long-range dispersals from natal sites, complex population structures, and extensive mixing of distinct populations during exploitation. By tracing the migratory histories of individual Chinook salmon caught in fisheries using strontium...
Intertidal biological indicators of coseismic subsidence during the Mw 7.8 Haida Gwaii, Canada, earthquake
Peter J. Haeussler, Robert C. Witter, Kelin Wang
2015, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (105) 1265-1279
The 28 October 2012 Mw 7.8 Haida Gwaii earthquake was a megathrust earthquake along the very obliquely convergent Queen Charlotte margin of British Columbia, Canada. Coseismic deformation is not well constrained by geodesy, with only six Global Positioning System (GPS) sites and two tide gauge stations within 250 km of the rupture area....
Life-stage-specific physiology defines invasion extent of a riverine fish
David J. Lawrence, David A. Beauchamp, Julian D. Olden
2015, Journal of Animal Ecology (84) 879-888
Many ecologists have called for mechanism-based investigations to identify the underlying controls on species distributions. Understanding these controls can be especially useful to construct robust predictions of how a species range may change in response to climate change or the extent to which a non-native species may...
A comparison of high-resolution specific conductance-based end-member mixing analysis and a graphical method for baseflow separation of four streams in hydrologically challenging agricultural watersheds
Scott C. Kronholm, Paul D. Capel
2015, Hydrological Processes (29) 2521-2533
Quantifying the relative contributions of different sources of water to a stream hydrograph is important for understanding the hydrology and water quality dynamics of a given watershed. To compare the performance of two methods of hydrograph separation, a graphical program [baseflow index (BFI)] and an end-member mixing analysis that used...
