Water-quality trends for selected sites in the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds, Montana, based on data collected during water years 1997-2013
Steven K. Sando, Melanie L. Clark, Tom Cleasby, Elliott P. Barnhart
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5008
In the Boulder River and Tenmile Creek watersheds in southwestern Montana, there was intensive mining during a 40-year period after the discovery of gold in the early 1860s. Potential effects from the historic mining activities include acid-mine drainage and elevated concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements from mining remnants such...
Modelling non-Euclidean movement and landscape connectivity in highly structured ecological networks
Christopher Sutherland, Angela K. Fuller, J. Andrew Royle
2015, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (6) 169-177
Movement is influenced by landscape structure, configuration and geometry, but measuring distance as perceived by animals poses technical and logistical challenges. Instead, movement is typically measured using Euclidean distance, irrespective of location or landscape structure, or is based on arbitrary cost surfaces. A recently proposed extension of spatial...
Snake River fall Chinook salmon life history investigations, 1/1/2013 – 12/31/2013
Kenneth F. Tiffan, William P. Connor
2015, Report
Smallmouth bass predation on subyearling fall Chinook salmon was examined in the upper portion of Lower Granite Reservoir during 2013. During the time subyearlings were present in the reservoir, smallmouth bass were collected, their stomach contents removed for diet analysis, and their abundance estimated with mark-recapture techniques. In 2013, the...
Quantifying avian predation on fish populations: integrating predator-specific deposition probabilities in tag-recovery studies
Nathan J. Hostetter, Allen F. Evans, Bradley M. Cramer, Ken Collis, Donald E. Lyons, Daniel D. Roby
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 410-422
Accurate assessment of specific mortality factors is vital to prioritize recovery actions for threatened and endangered species. For decades, tag recovery methods have been used to estimate fish mortality due to avian predation. Predation probabilities derived from fish tag recoveries on piscivorous waterbird colonies typically reflect minimum estimates of predation...
Great (≥Mw8.0) megathrust earthquakes and the subduction of excess sediment and bathymetrically smooth seafloor
David W. Scholl, Stephe H. Kirby, Roland E. von Huene, Holly F. Ryan, Ray E. Wells, Eric L. Geist
2015, Geosphere (11) 236-265
Using older and in part flawed data, Ruff (1989) suggested that thick sediment entering the subduction zone (SZ) smooths and strengthens the trench-parallel distribution of interplate coupling. This circumstance was conjectured to favor rupture continuation and the generation of high-magnitude (≥Mw8.0) interplate thrust (IPT) earthquakes. Using larger and...
Geochemical maps of stream sediments in central Colorado, from New Mexico to Wyoming
Robert G. Eppinger, Stuart A. Giles, Terry L. Klein
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1025
The U.S. Geological Survey has completed a series of geologic, mineral resource, and environmental assessment studies in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado, from Leadville eastward to the range front and from New Mexico to the Wyoming border. Regional stream-sediment geochemical maps, useful for assessing mineral resources and environmental effects...
Water-quality characteristics in runoff for three discovery farms in North Dakota, 2008-12
Rochelle A. Nustad, Kathleen M. Rowland, Ronald Wiederholt
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5212
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with North Dakota State University Agriculture Research Extension and in collaboration with North Dakota State Department of Health, North Dakota State Water Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and several agricultural producers, helped organize a Discovery Farms program in North Dakota in 2007. Discharge measurements...
A multipurpose camera system for monitoring Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i
Matthew R. Patrick, Tim R. Orr, Lopaka Lee, Cyril J. Moniz
2015, Techniques and Methods 13-A2
We describe a low-cost, compact multipurpose camera system designed for field deployment at active volcanoes that can be used either as a webcam (transmitting images back to an observatory in real-time) or as a time-lapse camera system (storing images onto the camera system for periodic retrieval during field visits). The...
UCERF3: A new earthquake forecast for California's complex fault system
Edward H. Field, 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3009
With innovations, fresh data, and lessons learned from recent earthquakes, scientists have developed a new earthquake forecast model for California, a region under constant threat from potentially damaging events. The new model, referred to as the third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast, or "UCERF" (http://www.WGCEP.org/UCERF3), provides authoritative estimates of...
Mercury in Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis):bioaccumulation and trans-Pacific Ocean migration
John A. Colman, Jacob I. Nogueira, Oscar C. Pancorbo, Carol A. Batdorf, Barbara A. Block
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1-9
Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) have the largest home range of any tuna species and are well known for the capacity to make transoceanic migrations. We report the measurement of mercury (Hg) concentrations in wild Pacific bluefin tuna (PBFT), the first reported with known size-of-fish and capture location. The results...
Assessing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy species barriers with an in vitro prion protein conversion assay
Christopher J. Johnson, Christina M. Carlson, Aaron R. Morawski, Alyson Manthei, Neil R. Cashman
2015, Journal of Visualized Experiments (97)
Studies to understanding interspecies transmission of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs, prion diseases) are challenging in that they typically rely upon lengthy and costly in vivo animal challenge studies. A number of in vitro assays have been developed to aid in measuring prion species barriers, thereby reducing animal use and providing quicker results than animal...
Multivariate analysis relating oil shale geochemical properties to NMR relaxometry
Justin E. Birdwell, Kathryn E. Washburn
2015, Energy & Fuels (29) 2234-2243
Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry has been used to provide insight into shale composition by separating relaxation responses from the various hydrogen-bearing phases present in shales in a noninvasive way. Previous low-field NMR work using solid-echo methods provided qualitative information on organic constituents associated with raw and pyrolyzed oil...
Trust Species and Habitat Branch: using the innovative approaches of today to conserve biodiversity for tomorrow
Patricia Stevens, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3071
Some of the biggest challenges facing wildlife today are changes to their environment from both natural and anthropogenic causes. Natural resource managers, planners, policy makers, industry and private landowners must make informed decisions and policies regarding management, conservation, and restoration of species, habitats, and ecosystem function in response to these...
Invasive Species Science Branch: research and management tools for controlling invasive species
Robert N. Reed, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3076
Invasive, nonnative species of plants, animals, and disease organisms adversely affect the ecosystems they enter. Like “biological wildfires,” they can quickly spread and affect nearly all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Invasive species have become one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century in economic, environmental, and human health...
National Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office
Susan E. Goplen, Jeff L. Sloan
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3013
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Project Office leads the implementation of UAS technology in the Department of the Interior (DOI). Our mission is to support the transition of UAS into DOI as a new cost-effective tool for collecting remote-sensing data to monitor environmental conditions, respond...
Aquatics Systems Branch: transdisciplinary research to address water-related environmental problems
Quan Dong, Katie D. Walters
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3073
The Aquatic Systems Branch at the Fort Collins Science Center is a group of scientists dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary science and providing science support to solve water-related environmental issues. Natural resource managers have an increasing need for scientific information and stakeholders face enormous challenges of increasing and competing demands for...
Integrated climate and land use change scenarios for California rangeland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, soil carbon, and water supply
Kristin B. Byrd, Lorraine E. Flint, Pelayo Alvarez, Frank Casey, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Christopher E. Soulard, Alan L. Flint, Terry L. Sohl
2015, Landscape Ecology (30) 729-750
Context In addition to biodiversity conservation, California rangelands generate multiple ecosystem services including livestock production, drinking and irrigation water, and carbon sequestration. California rangeland ecosystems have experienced substantial conversion to residential land use and more intensive agriculture. Objectives To understand the potential impacts to rangeland ecosystem services, we developed...
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of Pink-Footed Geese: 2014 progress summary
Fred A. Johnson, J. Madsen
2015, Report
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest-management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their agreed target level (60 thousand) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of the most recent...
Using near-real-time monitoring data from Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent at Kīlauea Volcano for training and educational purposes
Rachel Teasdale, Katrien van der Hoeven Kraft, Michael P. Poland
2015, Journal of Applied Volcanology (4)
Training non-scientists in the use of volcano-monitoring data is critical preparation in advance of a volcanic crisis, but it is currently unclear which methods are most effective for improving the content-knowledge of non-scientists to help bridge communications between volcano experts and non-experts. We measured knowledge gains for beginning-(introductory-level students) and...
Evaluating the status of individuals and populations: Advantages of multiple approaches and time scales
Daniel H. Monson, Lizabeth Bowen
2015, Book chapter, Sea Otter Conservation
The assessment of population status is a central goal of applied wildlife research and essential to the field of wildlife conservation. “Population status” has a number of definitions, the most widely used having to do with the current trajectory of the population (i.e., growing, stable, or declining), or the...
A Laurentian margin back-arc: the Ordovician Wedowee-Emuckfaw-Dahlonega basin
Clinton I. Barineau, James F. Tull, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma
2015, GSA Field Guides (39) 21-78
Independent researchers working in the Talladega belt, Ashland-Wedowee-Emuckfaw belt, and Opelika Complex of Alabama, as well as the Dahlonega gold belt and western Inner Piedmont of Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas, have mapped stratigraphic sequences unique to each region. Although historically considered distinct terranes of disparate origin, a synthesis of...
Urgent need for warming experiments in tropical forests
Molly A. Calaveri, Sasha C. Reed, W. Kolby Smith, Tana E. Wood
2015, Global Change Biology (21) 2111-2121
Although tropical forests account for only a fraction of the planet's terrestrial surface, they exchange more carbon dioxide with the atmosphere than any other biome on Earth, and thus play a disproportionate role in the global climate. In the next 20 years, the tropics will experience unprecedented warming, yet there...
Heterogeneous movement of insectivorous Amazonian birds through primary and secondary forest: A case study using multistate models with radiotelemetry data
James E. Hines, Luke L. Powell, Jared D. Wolfe, Erik l. Johnson, James D. Nichols, Phillip C. Stouffer
2015, Biological Conservation (188) 100-108
Given rates of deforestation, disturbance, and secondary forest accumulation in tropical rainforests, there is a great need to quantify habitat use and movement among different habitats. This need is particularly pronounced for animals most sensitive to disturbance, such as insectivorous understory birds. Here we use multistate capture–recapture models with radiotelemetry...
Workgroup for Hydraulic laboratory Testing and Verification of Hydroacoustic Instrumentation
Janice M. Fulford, Brandy N. Armstrong, Kirk G. Thibodeaux
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of eleventh current, waves and turbulence measurement workshop
An international workgroup was recently formed for hydraulic laboratory testing and verification of hydroacoustic instrumentation used for water velocity measurements. The activities of the workgroup have included one face to face meeting, conference calls and an inter-laboratory exchange of two acoustic meters among participating laboratories. Good agreement was found among...
The Mw6.0 24 August 2014 South Napa earthquake
Thomas M. Brocher, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Fred F. Pollitz, Jessica R. Murray, Andrea L. Llenos, David P. Schwartz, J. Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, James J. Lienkaemper, Victoria E. Langenheim, Timothy E. Dawson, Kenneth W. Hudnut, David R. Shelly, Douglas S. Dreger, John Boatwright, Brad T. Aagaard, David J. Wald, Richard M. Allen, William D. Barnhart, Keith L. Knudsen, Benjamin A. Brooks, Katherine M. Scharer
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 309-326
The Mw 6.0 South Napa earthquake, which occurred at 10:20 UTC 24 August 2014 was the largest earthquake to strike the greater San Francisco Bay area since the Mw 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The rupture from this right‐lateral earthquake propagated mostly unilaterally to the north and up‐dip, directing the strongest shaking toward the...
