Water and nutrient budgets for Vancouver Lake, Vancouver, Washington, October 2010-October 2012
Rich W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman, Cameron A. Marshall, Wendy B. Welch
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5201
Vancouver Lake, a large shallow lake in Clark County, near Vancouver, Washington, has been undergoing water-quality problems for decades. Recently, the biggest concern for the lake are the almost annual harmful cyanobacteria blooms that cause the lake to close for recreation for several weeks each summer. Despite decades of interest...
Science to support the understanding of Ohio's water resources, 2014-15
Kimberly Shaffer, Stephanie P. Kula
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3097
Ohio’s water resources support a complex web of human activities and nature—clean and abundant water is needed for drinking, recreation, farming, and industry, as well as for fish and wildlife needs. Although rainfall in normal years can support these activities and needs, occasional floods and droughts can disrupt streamflow, groundwater,...
Stream-water and groundwater quality in and near the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tribal Jurisdictional Area, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, 2012-13
Carol Becker
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5178
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation needs to characterize their existing surface-water and groundwater resources in and near their tribal jurisdictional area to complete a water-resource management plan. Water resources in this area include surface water from the North Canadian and Little Rivers and groundwater from the terrace and alluvial aquifers and...
Coseismic landslides reveal near-surface rock strength in a high-relief tectonically active setting
Sean F. Gallen, Marin K. Clark, Jonathan W. Godt
2014, Geology (43) 11-14
We present quantitative estimates of near-surface rock strength relevant to landscape evolution and landslide hazard assessment for 15 geologic map units of the Longmen Shan, China. Strength estimates are derived from a novel method that inverts earthquake peak ground acceleration models and coseismic landslide inventories to obtain material proper- ties...
Water quality and algal conditions in the North Umpqua River, Oregon, 1995-2007, and their response to Diamond Lake restoration
Kurt D. Carpenter, Chauncey W. Anderson, Mikeal E. Jones
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1098
The Wild and Scenic North Umpqua River is one of the highest-quality waters in the State of Oregon, supporting runs of wild salmon, steelhead, and trout. For many years, blooms of potentially toxic blue-green algae in Diamond and Lemolo Lakes have threatened water quality, fisheries, and public health. The blooms...
Flood-inundation maps and updated components for a flood-warning system or the City of Marietta, Ohio and selected communities along the Lower Muskingum River and Ohio River
Matthew T. Whitehead, Chad J. Ostheimer
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5195
Digital flood-inundation maps for lower reaches of the Muskingum River and a reach of the Ohio River in southeast Ohio were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the City of Marietta, Ohio. To complete the inundation maps, Ohio River and...
Multisensor earth observations to characterize wetlands and malaria epidemiology in Ethiopia
Alemayehu Midekisa, Gabriel Senay, Michael C. Wimberly
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 8791-8806
Malaria is a major global public health problem, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The spatial heterogeneity of malaria can be affected by factors such as hydrological processes, physiography, and land cover patterns. Tropical wetlands, for example, are important hydrological features that can serve as mosquito breeding habitats. Mapping and monitoring of...
Roads influence movement and home ranges of a fragmentation-sensitive carnivore, the bobcat, in an urban landscape
Sharon A Poessel, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa M. Lyren, Robert N. Fisher, Christopher L. Burdett, Robert S. Alonso, Kevin R. Crooks
2014, Biological Conservation (180) 224-232
Roads in urbanized areas can impact carnivore populations by constraining their movements and increasing mortality. Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are felids capable of living in urban environments, but are sensitive to habitat fragmentation and, thus, useful indicators of landscape connectivity; in particular, bobcat habitat selection, movement, and mortality may be affected...
Mapping current and potential distribution of non-native Prosopis juliflora in the Afar region of Ethiopia
Tewodros Wakie, Paul H. Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Melinda Laituri
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-9
We used correlative models with species occurrence points, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation indices, and topo-climatic predictors to map the current distribution and potential habitat of invasive Prosopis juliflora in Afar, Ethiopia. Time-series of MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Indices (EVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices (NDVI) with 250 m2 spatial...
A simple control for sediment-toxicity exposures using the amphipod, Hyalella azteca
Peter J. Lasier, Matthew L. Urich
2014, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (93) 263-267
Sediment-toxicity exposures comparing survival and growth of the freshwater amphipod, Hyalella azteca, are often components of aquatic-habitat assessments. Standardized exposure methods have been established and require evaluations for quality assurance. Test acceptability using performance-based criteria can be determined from exposures to control sediments, which are collected from the environment or...
Baseline well inventory and groundwater-quality data from a potential shale gas resource area in parts of Lee and Chatham Counties, North Carolina, October 2011-August 2012
Melinda J. Chapman, Laura N. Gurley, Sharon A. Fitzgerald
2014, Data Series 861
Records were obtained for 305 wells and 1 spring in northwestern Lee and southeastern Chatham counties, North Carolina. Well depths ranged from 26 to 720 feet and yields ranged from 0.25 to 100 gallons per minute. A subset of 56 wells and 1 spring were sampled for baseline groundwaterquality constituents...
A modified procedure for mixture-model clustering of regional geochemical data
Karl J. Ellefsen, David B. Smith, John D. Horton
2014, Applied Geochemistry (51) 315-326
A modified procedure is proposed for mixture-model clustering of regional-scale geochemical data. The key modification is the robust principal component transformation of the isometric log-ratio transforms of the element concentrations. This principal component transformation and the associated dimension reduction are applied before the data are clustered. The principal advantage of...
Vulnerability of breeding waterbirds to climate change in the Prairie Pothole Region, U.S.A.
Valerie Steen, Susan K. Skagen, Barry R. Noon
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the north-central U.S. and south-central Canada contains millions of small prairie wetlands that provide critical habitat to many migrating and breeding waterbirds. Due to their small size and the relatively dry climate of the region, these wetlands are considered at high risk for negative...
Simulation of the Lower Walker River Basin hydrologic system, west-central Nevada, using PRMS and MODFLOW models
Kip K. Allander, Richard G. Niswonger, Anne E. Jeton
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5190
Walker Lake is a terminal lake in west-central Nevada with almost all outflow occurring through evaporation. Diversions from Walker River since the early 1900s have contributed to a substantial reduction in flow entering Walker Lake. As a result, the lake is receding, and salt concentrations have increased to a level...
Deformation from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake near the southwest margin of the Santa Clara Valley, California
Kevin M. Schmidt, Stephen D. Ellen, David M. Peterson
2014, Geosphere (10) 1177-1202
Damage to pavement and near-surface utility pipes, caused by the 17 October 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake, provides evidence for ground deformation in a 663 km2 area near the southwest margin of the Santa Clara Valley, California (USA). A total of 1427 damage sites, collected from more than 30 sources, are...
The relative impacts of climate and land-use change on conterminous United States bird species from 2001 to 2075
Terry L. Sohl
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Species distribution models often use climate data to assess contemporary and/or future ranges for animal or plant species. Land use and land cover (LULC) data are important predictor variables for determining species range, yet are rarely used when modeling future distributions. In this study, maximum entropy modeling was used to...
Abandoned floodplain plant communities along a regulated dryland river
L. V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, P. K. House
2014, River Research and Applications (30) 1084-1098
Rivers and their floodplains worldwide have changed dramatically over the last century because of regulation by dams, flow diversions and channel stabilization. Floodplains no longer inundated by river flows following dam-induced flood reduction comprise large areas of bottomland habitat, but the effects of abandonment on plant communities are not well...
A high-elevation, multi-proxy biotic and environmental record of MIS 6-4 from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA
Ian M. Miller, Jeffrey S. Pigati, R. Scott Anderson, Kirk R. Johnson, Shannon Mahan, Thomas A. Ager, Richard G. Baker, Maarten Blaauw, Jordon Bright, Peter M. Brown, Bruce Bryant, Zachary T. Calamari, Paul E. Carrara, Cherney Michael D., John R. Demboski, Scott A. Elias, Daniel C. Fisher, Harrison J. Gray, Danielle R. Haskett, Jeffrey S. Honke, Stephen T. Jackson, Gonzalo Jiménez-Moreno, Douglas Kline, Eric M. Leonard, Nathaniel A. Lifton, Carol Lucking, H. Gregory McDonald, Dane M. Miller, Daniel R. Muhs, Stephen E. Nash, Cody Newton, James B. Paces, Lesley Petrie, Mitchell A. Plummer, David F. Porinchu, Adam N. Rountrey, Eric Scott, Joseph J. W. Sertich, Saxon E. Sharpe, Gary L. Skipp, Laura E. Strickland, Richard K. Stucky, Robert S. Thompson, Jim Wilson
2014, Quaternary Research (82) 618-634
In North America, terrestrial records of biodiversity and climate change that span Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 are rare. Where found, they provide insight into how the coupling of the ocean–atmosphere system is manifested in biotic and environmental records and how the biosphere responds to climate change. In 2010–2011,...
Spatial and temporal patterns of avian paramyxovirus-1 outbreaks in Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the USA
C. LeAnn White, S. Ip, Carol U. Meteyer, Daniel P. Walsh, Jeffrey S. Hall, Michelle Carstensen, Paul C. Wolf
2014, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (51) 101-112
Morbidity and mortality events caused by avian paramyxovirus-1 (APMV-1) in Double-crested Cormorant (DCCO; Phalacrocorax auritus) nesting colonies in the US and Canada have been sporadically documented in the literature. We describe APMV-1 associated outbreaks in DCCO in the US from the first reported occurrence in 1992 through 2012. The frequency of...
The Late Cretaceous Middle Fork caldera, its resurgent intrusion, and enduring landscape stability in east-central Alaska
Charles R. Bacon, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John N. Aleinikoff, John F. Slack
2014, Geosphere (10) 1432-1455
Dissected caldera structures expose thick intracaldera tuff and, uncommonly, cogenetic shallow plutons, while remnants of correlative outflow tuffs deposited on the pre-eruption ground surface record elements of ancient landscapes. The Middle Fork caldera encompasses a 10 km × 20 km area of rhyolite welded tuff and granite porphyry in...
Physical habitat and water quality correlates of crayfish distributions in a mined watershed
Stuart A. Welsh, Zachary J. Loughman
2014, Hydrobiologia (745) 85-96
In mined watersheds, water quality alters aquatic faunas, but few studies have focused on associations between stream habitat and crayfish distributions. We examined associations of water quality and physical habitat quality on presence/absence of six crayfish species in the upper Kanawha River drainage of southern West Virginia, USA, a region...
Wildlife friendly roads: the impacts of roads on wildlife in urban areas and potential remedies
Seth P.D. Riley, Justin L. Brown, Jeff A. Sikich, Catherine M. Schoonmaker, Erin E. Boydston
2014, Book chapter, Urban Wildlife Conservation
Roads are one of the most important factors affecting the ability of wildlife to live and move within an urban area. Roads physically replace wildlife habitat and often reduce habitat quality nearby, fragment the remaining habitat, and cause increased mortality through vehicle collisions. Much ecological research on roads has focused...
USGS Field Activities 12BHM01, 12BHM02, 12BHM03, 12BHM04, and 12BHM05 on the West Florida Shelf, in February, April, May, June, and August 2012
Lisa L. Robbins, Paul O. Knorr, Kendra L. Daly, Kira E. Barrera
2014, Data Series 883
Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by the ocean’s surface where it combines with seawater to form a weak, naturally occurring acid called carbonic acid (H2CO3). Increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in the absorption of more CO2 by the ocean and, therefore, increases in the acidity of...
Surface wave site characterization at 27 locations near Boston, Massachusetts, including 2 strong-motion stations
Eric M. Thompson, Bradley A. Carkin, Laurie G. Baise, Robert E. Kayen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1232
The geotechnical properties of the soils in and around Boston, Massachusetts, have been extensively studied. This is partly due to the importance of the Boston Blue Clay and the extent of landfill in the Boston area. Although New England is not a region that is typically associated with seismic hazards,...
USGS investigations of water produced during hydrocarbon reservoir development
Mark A. Engle, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Bruce D. Smith
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3104
Significant quantities of water are present in hydrocarbon reservoirs. When brought to the land surface during oil, gas, and coalbed methane production, the water—either naturally occurring or injected as a method to enhance production—is termed produced water. Produced water is currently managed through processes such as recycling, treatment and discharge,...
