Marsh rabbit mortalities tie pythons to the precipitous decline of mammals in the Everglades
Robert A. McCleery, Adia Sovie, Robert N. Reed, Mark W. Cunningham, Margaret E. Hunter, Kristen M. Hart
2015, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (282)
To address the ongoing debate over the impact of invasive species on native terrestrial wildlife, we conducted a large-scale experiment to test the hypothesis that invasive Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) were a cause of the precipitous decline of mammals in Everglades National Park (ENP). Evidence linking pythons to mammal...
Polar bear population dynamics in the southern Beaufort Sea during a period of sea ice decline
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Trent L. McDonald, Ian Stirling, Andrew E. Derocher, Evan S. Richardson, Eric V. Regehr, David C. Douglas, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, Steven C. Amstrup
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 634-651
In the southern Beaufort Sea of the United States and Canada, prior investigations have linked declines in summer sea ice to reduced physical condition, growth, and survival of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Combined with projections of population decline due to continued climate warming and the ensuing loss of sea ice...
Storage and mobilization of natural and septic nitrate in thick unsaturated zones, California
John A. Izbicki, Alan L. Flint, David R. O’Leary, Tracy Nishikawa, Peter Martin, Russell D. Johnson, Dennis A. Clark
2015, Journal of Hydrology (524) 147-165
Mobilization of natural and septic nitrate from the unsaturated zone as a result of managed aquifer recharge has degraded water quality from public-supply wells near Yucca Valley in the western Mojave Desert, California. The effect of nitrate storage and potential for denitrification in the unsaturated zone to mitigate increasing nitrate...
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope trophic enrichment factors for Steller sea lion vibrissae relative to milk and fish/invertebrate diets
Craig A. Stricker, Aaron M. Christ, Michael B. Wunder, Andrew C. Doll, Sean D. Farley, Lorrie D. Rea, David A. S. Rosen, R. D. Scherer, Dominic J. Tollit
2015, Marine Ecology Progress Series (523) 255-266
Nutritional constraints have been proposed as a contributor to population declines in the endangered Steller sea lion Eumetopias jubatus in some regions of the North Pacific. Isotopic analysis of vibrissae (whiskers) is a potentially useful approach to resolving the nutritional ecology of this species because long-term (up to 8 yr)...
The impact of Hurricane Sandy on the shoreface and inner shelf of Fire Island, New York: large bedform migration but limited erosion
John A. Goff, Roger D. Flood, James A. Austin Jr., William C. Schwab, Beth A. Christensen, Cassandra M. Browne, Jane F. Denny, Wayne E. Baldwin
2015, Continental Shelf Research (98) 13-25
We investigate the impact of superstorm Sandy on the lower shoreface and inner shelf offshore the barrier island system of Fire Island, NY using before-and-after surveys involving swath bathymetry, backscatter and CHIRP acoustic reflection data. As sea level rises over the long term, the shoreface and inner shelf are eroded...
Nonequilibrium clumped isotope signals in microbial methane
David T. Wang, Danielle S. Gruen, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Lucy C. Stewart, James F. Holden, Alexander N. Hristov, John W. Pohlman, Penny L. Morrill, Martin Konneke, Kyle B. Delwiche, Eoghan P. Reeves, Chelsea N. Sutcliffe, Daniel J. Ritter, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Jennifer C. McIntosh, Harold F. Hemond, Michael D. Kubo, Dawn Cardace, Tori M. Hoehler, Shuhei Ono
2015, Science (348) 428-431
Methane is a key component in the global carbon cycle with a wide range of anthropogenic and natural sources. Although isotopic compositions of methane have traditionally aided source identification, the abundance of its multiply-substituted “clumped” isotopologues, e.g., 13CH3D, has recently emerged as a proxy for determining methane-formation temperatures; however, the...
Porewater dynamics of silver, lead and copper in coastal sediments and implications for benthic metal fluxes
Linda H. Kalnejais, W. R. Martin, Michael H. Bothner
2015, Science of the Total Environment (517) 178-194
To determine the conditions that lead to a diffusive release of dissolved metals from coastal sediments, porewater profiles of Ag, Cu, and Pb have been collected over seven years at two contrasting coastal sites in Massachusetts, USA. The Hingham Bay (HB) site is a contaminated location in Boston Harbor, while...
Assessment of aquifer properties, evapotranspiration, and the effects of ditching in the Stoney Brook watershed, Fond du Lac Reservation, Minnesota, 2006-9
Perry M. Jones, Abigail A. Tomasek
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5007
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, assessed hydraulic properties of geologic material, recharge, and evapotranspiration, and the effects of ditching on the groundwater resources in the Stoney Brook watershed in the Fond du Lac Reservation. Geologic, groundwater, and surface-water data...
Transgenerational effects from early developmental exposures to bisphenol A or 17α-ethinylestradiol in medaka, Oryzias latipes
Ramji K. Bhandari, Frederick S. vom Saal, Donald E. Tillitt
2015, Scientific Reports (5)
The transgenerational consequences of environmental contaminant exposures of aquatic vertebrates have the potential for broad ecological impacts, yet are largely uninvestigated. Bisphenol A (BPA) and 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) are two ubiquitous estrogenic chemicals present in aquatic environments throughout the United States and many other countries. Aquatic organisms, including fish, are...
Home range use and movement patterns of non-native feral goats in a tropical island montane dry landscape
Mark W. Chynoweth, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Creighton M. Litton, Steve C. Hess, James Kellner, Susan Cordell
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-15
Advances in wildlife telemetry and remote sensing technology facilitate studies of broad-scale movements of ungulates in relation to phenological shifts in vegetation. In tropical island dry landscapes, home range use and movements of non-native feral goats (Capra hircus) are largely unknown, yet this information is important to help guide the...
Evaluation of two juvenile salmon collection devices at Cowlitz Falls Dam, Washington, 2014
Tobias J. Kock, Theresa L. Liedtke, Brian K. Ekstrom, William Hurst
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1054
Collection of juvenile salmon at Cowlitz Falls Dam is a critical part of the effort to restore salmon in the upper Cowlitz River, Washington. Many of the fish that are not collected pass downstream and enter Riffe Lake, become landlocked, and are lost to the anadromous population. In addition to...
Downscaling 250-m MODIS growing season NDVI based on multiple-date landsat images and data mining approaches
Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie
2015, Remote Sensing (7) 3489-3506
The satellite-derived growing season time-integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GSN) has been used as a proxy for vegetation biomass productivity. The 250-m GSN data estimated from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors have been used for terrestrial ecosystem modeling and monitoring. High temporal resolution with a wide range of...
Presence and abundance of non-native plant species associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin
Todd M. Preston
2015, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (187)
The Williston Basin, located in the Northern Great Plains, is experiencing rapid energy development with North Dakota and Montana being the epicenter of current and projected development in the USA. The average single-bore well pad is 5 acres with an estimated 58,485 wells in North Dakota alone. This landscape-level disturbance...
Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River fall Chinook salmon ESU, 1/1/2014 - 12/31/2014
William P. Connor, Frank L. Mullins, Kenneth F. Tiffan, Russell W. Perry, John M. Erhardt, Scott J. St John, Brad K. Bickford, Tobyn N. Rhodes
2015, Report
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2014 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other Federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat...
Porphyry copper assessment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides: China, Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India: Chapter X in Global mineral resource assessment
Mark J. Mihalasky, Stephen Ludington, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Dmitriy V. Alexeiev, Thomas P. Frost, Thomas D. Light, Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., Deborah A. Briggs, John C. Wallis, Robert J. Miller, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Andre Panteleyev, Andre Chitalin, Reimar Seltmann, Yan Guangsheng, Lian Changyun, Mao Jingwen, Li Jinyi, Xiao Keyan, Qiu Ruizhao, Shao Jianbao, Shai Gangyi, Du Yuliang
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-X
The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with international colleagues to assess undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and eastern Tethysides. These areas host 20 known porphyry copper deposits, including the world class Oyu Tolgoi deposit in Mongolia that was discovered in the late 1990s. The...
Detailed interpretation of aeromagnetic data from the Patagonia Mountains area, southeastern Arizona
Mark W. Bultman
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5029
The induced magnetic field and the remanent magnetic field of rock masses are important to geologic modeling based on Earth’s magnetic field data. The orientation of the induced magnetic field is approximately parallel to the orientation of Earth’s geomagnetic field and its intensity can be derived from measured magnetic susceptibilities...
Wide-area ratios of evapotranspiration to precipitation in monsoon-dependent semiarid vegetation communities
Edward P. Glenn, Russell L. Scott, Uyen Nguyen, Pamela L. Nagler
2015, Journal of Arid Environments (117) 84-95
Evapotranspiration (ET) and the ratio of ET to precipitation (PPT) are important factors in the water budget of semiarid rangelands and are in part determined by the dominant plant communities. Our goal was to see if landscape changes such as tree or shrub encroachment and replacement of native grasses by...
Recovery of a mining-damaged stream ecosystem
Christopher A. Mebane, Robert J. Eakins, Brian G. Fraser, William J. Adams
2015, Elementa: Science of the anthropocene (3) 1-34
This paper presents a 30+ year record of changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities and fish populations associated with improving water quality in mining-influenced streams. Panther Creek, a tributary to the Salmon River in central Idaho, USA suffered intensive damage from mining and milling operations at the Blackbird Mine that released...
Archive of digital chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS Cruise 13CCT04 offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi, August 2013
Arnell S. Forde, James G. Flocks, Jack L. Kindinger, Julie Bernier, Kyle W. Kelso, Dana S. Wiese
2015, Data Series 924
From August 13-23, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on barrier island framework and long-term sediment transport offshore of Petit Bois Island, Mississippi. This investigation is part of a broader USGS study...
Relative importance of phosphorus, invasive mussels and climate for patterns in chlorophyll a and primary production in Lakes Michigan and Huron
David M. Warner, Barry M. Lesht
2015, Freshwater Biology (60) 1029-1043
1. Lakes Michigan and Huron, which are undergoing oligotrophication after reduction of phosphorus loading, invasion by dreissenid mussels and variation in climate, provide an opportunity to conduct large-scale evaluation of the relative importance of these changes for lake productivity. We used remote sensing, field data and an information-theoretic approach to...
Use of satellite images to determine surface-water cover during the flood event of September 13, 2013, in Lyons and western Longmont, Colorado
Christopher J. Cole, Beverly A. Friesen, Earl M. Wilson, Stanley R. Wilds, Suzanne M. Noble
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1042
The flooding that occurred in north-central Colorado in 2013 was some of the most destructive in the state’s history. Following a summer of drought and wildfires, a wet weather system stalled over the Front Range area from Fort Collins in the north to Colorado Springs in the south, including the...
Geospatial assessment of ecological functions and flood-related risks on floodplains along major rivers in the Puget Sound Basin, Washington
Christopher P. Konrad
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5033
Ecological functions and flood-related risks were assessed for floodplains along the 17 major rivers flowing into Puget Sound Basin, Washington. The assessment addresses five ecological functions, five components of flood-related risks at two spatial resolutions—fine and coarse. The fine-resolution assessment compiled spatial attributes of floodplains from existing, publicly available sources and...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for West Virginia
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3017
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of West Virginia, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation, flood risk management, forest resources management, infrastructure and construction management, agriculture and...
Observing a catastrophic thermokarst lake drainage in northern Alaska
Benjamin M. Jones, Christopher D. Arp
2015, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (26) 119-128
The formation and drainage of thermokarst lakes have reshaped ice-rich permafrost lowlands in the Arctic throughout the Holocene. North of Teshekpuk Lake, on the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, thermokarst lakes presently occupy 22.5% of the landscape, and drained thermokarst lake basins occupy 61.8%. Analysis of remotely sensed imagery...
Book review: Analysis of capture–recapture data
Andy Royle
2015, Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics (20) 431-432
Analysis of Capture–Recapture Data by McCrea and Morgan is an excellent, easy to read monograph about capture–recapture models. In this book, the authors provide a concise overview of traditional closed population capture–recapture models (Models M0, Mb, Mh, etc.), individual covariate models, and open population models such as the...
