Why bother about wildlife disease?
Milton Friend
2014, Circular 1401
In most developed countries, the maintenance of the numbers of wildlife1 is vested in the natural resource agencies of those countries. During earlier times, game species were the primary focus of natural resource agencies2,3 however, current wildlife conservation continues to transition towards a more holistic focus on biodiversity4 and environmental health5,6. Nevertheless, that...
Modeling uncertainty in coal resource assessments, with an application to a central area of the Gillette coal field, Wyoming
Ricardo A. Olea, James A. Luppens
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5196
Standards for the public disclosure of mineral resources and reserves do not require the use of any specific methodology when it comes to estimating the reliability of the resources. Unbeknownst to most intended recipients of resource appraisals, such freedom commonly results in subjective opinions or estimations based on suboptimal approaches,...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional study unit, 2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5174
Groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional (SNR) study unit was investigated as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide statistically unbiased assessments of the quality of untreated groundwater within the primary aquifer...
Groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada, California
Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3096
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access...
Managing the whole landscape: Historical, hybrid, and novel ecosystems
Richard J. Hobbs, Eric S. Higgs, Carol M. Hall, Peter Bridgewater, F. Stuart Chapin III, John J. Ewel, Erle C. Ellis, Lauren M. Hallett, James Harris, Kristen B. Hulvey, Stephen T. Jackson, Patricia L. Kennedy, Christoph Kueffer, Lori Lach, Trevor C. Lantz, Ariel E. Lugo, Joseph Mascaro, Stephen D. Murphy, Cara Nelson, Michael P. Perring, David M. Richardson, Timothy Seastedt, Rachel J. Standish, Brian M. Starzomski, Katharine N. Suding, Pedro M. Tognetti, Laith Yakob, Laurie Yung
2014, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (12) 557-564
The reality confronting ecosystem managers today is one of heterogeneous, rapidly transforming landscapes, particularly in the areas more affected by urban and agricultural development. A landscape management framework that incorporates all systems, across the spectrum of degrees of alteration, provides a fuller set of options for how and when to...
Making decisions in complex landscapes: Headwater stream management across multiple federal agencies
Rachel Katz, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Michael C. Runge, Bruce Connery, Marquette Crockett, Libby Herland, Sheela Johnson, Dawn Kirk, Jeb Wofford, Rick Bennett, Keith Nislow, Marian Norris, Daniel Hocking, Benjamin Letcher, Allison H. Roy
2014, Report
Headwater stream ecosystems are vulnerable to numerous threats associated with climate and land use change. In the northeastern US, many headwater stream species (e.g., brook trout and stream salamanders) are of special conservation concern and may be vulnerable to climate change influences, such as changes in stream temperature and streamflow....
Radiometric cross calibration of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)
Nischal Mishra, Obaidul Haque, Larry Leigh, David Aaron, Dennis Helder, Brian L. Markham
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 12619-12638
This study evaluates the radiometric consistency between Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) using cross calibration techniques. Two approaches are used, one based on cross calibration between the two sensors using simultaneous image pairs, acquired during an underfly event on 29–30 March 2013....
Mineral resource of the month: Strontium
Joyce A. Ober
2014, Earth
No abstract available...
Foraging and predation risk for larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Lake Superior: A modelling synthesis of empirical survey data
Jared T. Myers, Daniel L. Yule, Michael L. Jones, Henry R. Quinlan, Eric K. Berglund
2014, Ecological Modelling (294) 71-83
The relative importance of predation and food availability as contributors to larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) mortality in Lake Superior were investigated using a visual foraging model to evaluate potential predation pressure by rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and a bioenergetic model to evaluate potential starvation risk. The models were informed by...
Digital data for preliminary geologic map of the Mount Hood 30- by 60-minute quadrangle, northern Cascade Range, Oregon
Lina Ma, David R. Sherrod, William E. Scott
2014, Data Series 906
The Mount Hood 30- by 60-minute quadrangle covers the axis and east flank of the Cascade Range in northern Oregon. Its namesake, Mount Hood volcano, dominates the view in the northwest quarter of the quadrangle, but the entire area is underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of...
Groundwater quality in central New York, 2012
James E. Reddy
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1226
Water samples were collected from 14 production wells and 15 private wells in central New York from August through December 2012 in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The samples were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality...
Map of assessed coalbed-gas resources in the United States, 2014
U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, Laura R. H. Biewick (compiler)
2014, Data Series 69-II
This report presents a digital map of coalbed-gas resource assessments in the United States as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS quantitatively estimated potential volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas resources within coalbed-gas assessment...
Abundance of host fish and frequency of glochidial parasitism in fish assessed in field and laboratory settings and frequency of juvenile mussels or glochidia recovered from hatchery-held fish, central and southeastern Texas, 2012-13
Christopher L. Braun, Charrish L. Stevens, Patricia D. Echo-Hawk, Nathan A. Johnson, James B. Moring
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5217
In 2012–13, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), completed the first phase of a two-phase study of mussel host-fish relations for five endemic mussel species in central and southeastern Texas that were State-listed as threatened on January 17, 2010: (1) Texas...
Chemical and biological quality of water in Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio, 2011-12, with emphasis on cyanobacteria
Denise H. Dumouchelle, Erin A. Stelzer
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5210
Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM) is a shallow lake in northwest Ohio, which is about 9 miles long and 3 miles wide with depths averaging less than 8 feet. Cyanobacteria blooms are common in GLSM, and high concentrations of microcystins—toxins produced by cyanobacteria—have been documented therein. During 2011–12, the U.S....
Effects of projected climate (2011–50) on karst hydrology and species vulnerability—Edwards aquifer, south-central Texas, and Madison aquifer, western South Dakota
Barbara Mahler, John F. Stamm, Mary F. Poteet, Amy J. Symstad, MaryLynn Musgrove, Andrew J. Long, Parker A. Norton
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3046
Karst aquifers—formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone—are critical groundwater resources in North America, and karst springs, caves, and streams provide habitat for unique flora and fauna. Springflow and groundwater levels in karst terrane can change greatly over short time scales, and therefore are likely to respond...
Geopressure gradient maps of Southern Louisiana, state, and vicinity
Lauri Burke, Scott A Kinney, Russell F Dubiel, Janet K. Pitman
2014, Report
This series of five maps characterizes the subsurface pressure system of southern Louisiana, including the associated State and Federal waters. These maps were generated using the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) comprehensive geopressure-gradient model (Burke et al., 2012b, 2013) that delineates the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore Gulf...
Simulated effects of increased groundwater withdrawals in the Cave Springs area, Hixson, Tennessee
Connor J. Haugh
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5222
Concern for future water supplies in Tennessee has grown in recent years as a result of increased awareness of competing needs, the impact of droughts, and the need for more water to support growing populations. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts investigations to improve the knowledge about interactions of geology, climate,...
The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center annual report for 2013
Elda Varela-Acevedo
2014, Circular 1402
In 2008, Congress created the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The center was formed to respond to the demands of natural resource managers for rigorous scientific information and effective tools for assessing and responding to climate change. Located at the USGS...
Analysis of floods, including the tropical storm Irene inundation, of the Ottauquechee River in Woodstock, Bridgewater, and Killington and of Reservoir Brook in Bridgewater and Plymouth, Vermont
Robert H. Flynn
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5214
Digital flood-inundation maps were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District for a 25-mile reach of the Ottauquechee River and a 2-mile reach of Reservoir Brook in Vermont. The reach of the Ottauquechee River that was studied extends...
The Caloosahatchee River Estuary: a monitoring partnership between Federal, State, and local governments, 2007-13
Eduardo Patino
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3121
The tidal Caloosahatchee River and downstream estuaries have substantial environmental, recreational, and economic value for southwest Florida residents and visitors. Modifications to the Caloosahatchee River watershed have altered the predevelopment hydrology, thereby threatening the environmental health of estuaries in the area. Hydrologic monitoring of the freshwater contributions from tributaries to...
Genetic diversity and demography of two endangered captive pronghorn subspecies from the Sonoran Desert
Anastasia Klimova, Adrian Munguia-Vega, Joseph I. Hoffman, Melanie Culver
2014, Journal of Mammalogy (95) 1263-1277
Species that have experienced population reduction provide valuable case studies for understanding genetic responses to demographic change. Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) were once widespread across the North American plains but were subject to drastic population reductions due to overexploitation and habitat fragmentation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A....
Understanding the magnitude dependence of PGA and PGV in NGA-West 2 data
Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Thomas C. Hanks
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 2851-2865
The Next Generation Attenuation‐West 2 (NGA‐West 2) 2014 ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) model ground motions as a function of magnitude and distance, using empirically derived coefficients (e.g., Bozorgniaet al., 2014); as such, these GMPEs do not clearly employ earthquake source parameters beyond moment magnitude (M) and focal mechanism. To better understand the...
River chloride trends in snow-affected urban watersheds: increasing concentrations outpace urban growth rate and are common among all seasons
Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. De Cicco, Michelle A. Lutz, Robert M. Hirsch
2014, Science of the Total Environment (508) 488-497
Chloride concentrations in northern U.S. included in this study have increased substantially over time with average concentrations approximately doubling from 1990 to 2011, outpacing the rate of urbanization in the northern U.S. Historical data were examined for 30 monitoring sites on 19 streams that had chloride concentration and flow records...
Historical and projected climate (1901–2050) and hydrologic response of karst aquifers, and species vulnerability in south-central Texas and western South Dakota
John F. Stamm, Mary F. Poteet, Amy J. Symstad, MaryLynn Musgrove, Andrew J. Long, Barbara Mahler, Parker A. Norton
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5089
Two karst aquifers, the Edwards aquifer in the Balcones Escarpment region of south-central Texas and the Madison aquifer in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, were evaluated for hydrologic response to projected climate change through 2050. Edwards aquifer sites include Barton Springs, the Bexar County Index Well, and Comal...
Impacts of mountaintop mining on terrestrial ecosystem integrity: Identifying landscape thresholds for avian species in the central Appalachians, United States
Douglas A. Becker, Petra Bohall Wood, Michael P. Strager, Christine Mazzarella
2014, Landscape Ecology (30) 339-356
Context Mountaintop removal/valley fill (MTR/VF) mining in the central Appalachians is a major driver of landscape change within terrestrial ecosystems. Objective We quantified avian community and individual taxa thresholds in response to changing landscapes from MTR/VF using a Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis approach. <h4...
