Low transient storage and uptake efficiencies in seven agricultural streams: implications for nutrient demand
Rich W. Sheibley, John H. Duff, Anthony J. Tesoriero
2014, Journal of Environmental Quality (43) 1980-1990
We used mass load budgets, transient storage modeling, and nutrient spiraling metrics to characterize nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+), and inorganic phosphorus (SRP) demand in seven agricultural streams across the United States and to identify in-stream services that may control these conditions. Retention of one or all nutrients was observed in...
Estimated water use in Puerto Rico, 2010
Wanda L. Molina-Rivera
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1117
Water-use data were aggregated for the 78 municipios of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for 2010. Five major offstream categories were considered: public-supply water withdrawals and deliveries, domestic and industrial self-supplied water use, crop-irrigation water use, and thermoelectric-power freshwater use. One instream water-use category also was compiled: power-generation instream water...
Post-parturition habitat selection by elk calves and adult female elk in New Mexico
James W. Pitman, James W. Cain III, Stewart Liley, William R. Gould, Nichole T. Quintana, Warren Ballard
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1216-1227
Neonatal survival and juvenile recruitment are crucial to maintaining viable elk (Cervus elaphus) populations. Neonate survival is known to be influenced by many factors, including bed-site selection. Although neonates select the actual bed-site location, they must do so within the larger calf-rearing area selected by the mother. As calves age,...
A nuclear DNA perspective on delineating evolutionarily significant lineages in polyploids: the case of the endangered shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum)
Tim L. King, Anne P. Henderson, Boyd E. Kynard, Micah C. Kieffer, Douglas L. Peterson, Aaron Aunins, Bonnie L. Brown
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
The shortnose sturgeon, Acipenser brevirostrum, oft considered a phylogenetic relic, is listed as an “endangered species threatened with extinction” in the US and “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. Effective conservation of A. brevirostrum depends on understanding its diversity and evolutionary processes, yet challenges associated with the polyploid nature of...
Re-evaluating the northeastern Minnesota moose decline and the role of wolves
L. David Mech, John Fieberg
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 1143-1150
We re-evaluated findings from Lenarz et al. (2009) that adult moose (Alces alces) survival in northeastern Minnesota was related to high January temperatures and that predation by wolves (Canis lupus) played a minor role. We found significant inverse relationships between annual wolf numbers in part of the moose range and...
Irruptive dynamics of introduced caribou on Adak Island, Alaska: an evaluation of Riney-Caughley model predictions
Mark A. Ricca, Dirk H. Van Vuren, Floyd W. Weckerly, Jeffrey C. Williams, A. Keith Miles
2014, Ecosphere (5)
Large mammalian herbivores introduced to islands without predators are predicted to undergo irruptive population and spatial dynamics, but only a few well-documented case studies support this paradigm. We used the Riney-Caughley model as a framework to test predictions of irruptive population growth and spatial expansion of caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti)...
Freshwater mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River, Virginia and Tennessee, USA: a featured collection
Carl E. Zipper, Braven Beaty, Gregory C. Johnson, Jess W. Jones, Jennifer Lynn Krstolic, Brett J.K. Ostby, William J. Wolfe, Patricia Donovan
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 807-819
The Clinch River of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee is arguably the most important river for freshwater mussel conservation in the United States. This featured collection presents investigations of mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River. Analyses of historic water- and sediment-quality data suggest that water column...
Evidence of repeated wildfires prior to human occupation on San Nicolas Island, California
Jeffrey S. Pigati, John P. McGeehin, Gary L. Skipp, Daniel R. Muhs
2014, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (7) 35-47
Understanding how early humans on the California Channel Islands might have changed local fire regimes requires a baseline knowledge of the frequency of natural wildfires on the islands prior to human occupation. A sedimentary sequence that was recently discovered in a small canyon on San Nicolas Island contains evidence of...
Can air temperature be used to project influences of climate change on stream temperature?
Ivan Arismendi, Mohammad Safeeq, Jason B. Dunham, Sherri L. Johnson
2014, Environmental Research Letters (9)
Worldwide, lack of data on stream temperature has motivated the use of regression-based statistical models to predict stream temperatures based on more widely available data on air temperatures. Such models have been widely applied to project responses of stream temperatures under climate change, but the performance of these models has...
The offshore benthic fish community
Brian F. Lantry, Jana R. Lantry, Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh, James A. Hoyle, Teodore Schaner, Fraser B. Neave, Michael Keir
2014, Report, The state of Lake Ontario in 2008
Lake Ontario’s offshore benthic fish community includes primarily slimy sculpin, lake whitefish, rainbow smelt, lake trout, burbot, and sea lamprey. Of these, lake trout have been the focus of an international restoration effort for more than three decades (Elrod et al. 1995; Lantry and Lantry 2008). The deepwater sculpin and...
Hydrology and numerical simulation of groundwater movement and heat transport in Snake Valley and surrounding areas, Juab, Miller, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada
Melissa D. Masbruch, Philip M. Gardner, Lynette E. Brooks
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5103
Snake Valley and surrounding areas, along the Utah-Nevada state border, are part of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system. The groundwater system in the study area consists of water in unconsolidated deposits in basins and water in consolidated rock underlying the basins and in the adjacent mountain blocks....
Guidelines for the collection of continuous stream water-temperature data in Alaska
Ryan C. Toohey, Edward G. Neal, Gary L. Solin
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1182
Objectives of stream monitoring programs differ considerably among many of the academic, Federal, state, tribal, and non-profit organizations in the state of Alaska. Broad inclusion of stream-temperature monitoring can provide an opportunity for collaboration in the development of a statewide stream-temperature database. Statewide and regional coordination could reduce overall monitoring...
Field‐readable alphanumeric flags are valuable markers for shorebirds: use of double‐marking to identify cases of misidentification
Erin A. Roche, Colin M. Dovichin, Todd W. Arnold
2014, Journal of Field Ornithology (85) 329-338
Implicit assumptions for most mark-recapture studies are that individuals do not lose their markers and all observed markers are correctly recorded. If these assumptions are violated, e.g., due to loss or extreme wear of markers, estimates of population size and vital rates will be biased. Double-marking experiments have been widely...
Water resources of Sabine Parish, Louisiana
Lawrence B. Prakken, Vincent E. White, John K. Lovelace
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3040
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Sabine Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability,...
Widespread methane leakage from the sea floor on the northern US Atlantic margin
Adam Skarke, Carolyn Ruppel, Mali’o Kodis, Daniel S. Brothers, Elizabeth A. Lobecker
2014, Nature Geoscience (7) 657-661
Methane emissions from the sea floor affect methane inputs into the atmosphere, ocean acidification and de-oxygenation, the distribution of chemosynthetic communities and energy resources. Global methane flux from seabed cold seeps has only been estimated for continental shelves, at 8 to 65 Tg CH4 yr−1, yet other parts of marine...
Relatively high prevalence of pox-like lesions in Henslow's Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) among nine species of migratory grassland passerines in Wisconsin, USA
Kevin S. Ellison, Erik K. Hofmeister, Christine A. Ribic, David W. Sample
2014, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (50) 810-816
Globally, Avipoxvirus species affect over 230 species of wild birds and can significantly impair survival. During banding of nine grassland songbird species (n = 346 individuals) in southwestern Wisconsin, USA, we noted species with a 2–6% prevalence of pox-like lesions (possible evidence of current infection) and 4–10% missing digits (potential evidence of...
Experimental investigation of changes in methane adsorption of bitumen-free Woodford Shale with thermal maturation induced by hydrous pyrolysis
Haiyan Hu, Tongwei Zhang, Jaclyn D. Wiggins-Camacho, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Michael D. Lewan, Xiayong Zhang
2014, Marine and Petroleum Geology (59) 114-128
This study quantifies the effects of organic-matter (OM) thermal maturity on methane (CH4) sorption, on the basis of five samples that were artificially matured through hydrous pyrolysis achieved by heating samples of immature Woodford Shale under five different time–temperature conditions. CH4-sorption isotherms at 35 °C, 50 °C, and 65 °C,...
Dissolved pesticide concentrations entering the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, California, 2012-13
James L. Orlando, Megan McWayne, Corey Sanders, Michelle Hladik
2014, Data Series 876
Surface-water samples were collected from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers where they enter the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, and analyzed by the U.S. Geological Survey for a suite of 99 current-use pesticides and pesticide degradates. Samples were collected twice per month from May 2012 through July 2013 and from May...
Influence of septic systems on stream base flow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin near Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, 2012
John S. Clarke, Jaime A. Painter
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5144
Septic systems were identified at 241,733 locations in a 2,539-square-mile (mi2) study area that includes all or parts of 12 counties in the Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, area. Septic system percolation may locally be an important component of streamflow in small drainage basins where it augments natural groundwater recharge, especially during...
Effects of permafrost thaw on CO2 and CH4 exchange in a western Alaska peatland chronosequence
Carmel E. Johnston, Stephanie A. Ewing, Jennifer W. Harden, Ruth K. Varner, Kimberly P. Wickland, Joshua C. Koch, Christopher C. Fuller, Kristen L. Manies, M. Torre Jorgenson
2014, Environmental Research Letters (8) 1-12
Permafrost soils store over half of global soil carbon (C), and northern frozen peatlands store about 10% of global permafrost C. With thaw, inundation of high latitude lowland peatlands typically increases the surface-atmosphere flux of methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. To examine the effects of lowland permafrost thaw over...
Resource manager information needs regarding hydrologic regime shifts for the North Pacific Landscape Conservation
Andrea Woodward, Karen Jenni
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1178
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are a network of 22 public-private partnerships, defined by ecoregion, that share and provide science to ensure the sustainability of land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources in North America. LCCs were established by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) in recognition of the fact that...
Behavior and dam passage of juvenile Chinook salmon at Cougar Reservoir and Dam, Oregon, March 2012 - February 2013
John W. Beeman, Hal C. Hansel, Amy C. Hansen, Scott D. Evans, Philip V. Haner, Tyson Hatton, Eric E. Kofoot, Jamie M. Sprando, Collin Smith
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1177
The movements and dam passage of individual juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) were studied at Cougar Reservoir and Dam, near Springfield, Oregon, during 2012 and 2013. Cougar Dam is a high-head flood-control reservoir with a temperature control tower as its outlet enabling selective withdrawals of water at various depths to...
Analysis of water quality in the Blue River watershed, Colorado, 1984 through 2007
Nancy J. Bauch, Lisa D. Miller, Sharon Yacob
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5129
Water quality of streams, reservoirs, and groundwater in the Blue River watershed in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado has been affected by local geologic conditions, historical hard-rock metal mining, and recent urban development. With these considerations, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Summit Water Quality Committee, conducted...
High-resolution topography and geomorphology of select archeological sites in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Brian D. Collins, Skye C. Corbett, Joel B. Sankey, Helen C. Fairley
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5126
Along the Colorado River corridor between Glen Canyon Dam and Lees Ferry, Arizona, located some 25 km downstream from the dam, archaeological sites dating from 8,000 years before present through the modern era are located within and on top of fluvial and alluvial terraces of the prehistorically undammed river. These...
Integration of seismic-reflection and well data to assess the potential impact of stratigraphic and structural features on sustainable water supply from the Floridan aquifer system, Broward County, Florida
Kevin J. Cunningham
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1136
The U.S. Geological Survey and Broward County water managers commenced a 3.5-year cooperative study in July 2012 to refine the geologic and hydrogeologic framework of the Floridan aquifer system (FAS) in Broward County. A lack of advanced stratigraphic knowledge of the physical system and structural geologic anomalies (faults and fractures...
