Migrations and swimming capabilities of endangered pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) to guide passage designs in the fragmented Yellowstone River
P. J. Braaten, Caroline M. Elliott, Jason C. Rhoten, D. B. Fuller, Brandon J. McElroy
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 186-195
Fragmentation of the Yellowstone River is hypothesized to preclude recruitment of endangered Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon) by impeding upstream spawning migrations and access to upstream spawning areas, thereby limiting the length of free-flowing river required for survival of early life stages. Building on this hypothesis, the reach of the Yellowstone River affected...
2014-2015 Partnership accomplishments report on joint activities: National Gap Analysis Program and LANDFIRE
Anne Davidson, Alexa McKerrow, Don Long, Todd Earnhardt
2015, Report
The intended target audience for this document initially is management and project technical specialist and scientists involved in the Gap Analysis Program (GAP) and the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools - (LANDFIRE) program to help communicate coordination activities to all involved parties. This document is also intended to...
Songbirds as sentinels of mercury in terrestrial habitats of eastern North America
Allyson K. Jackson, David C. Evers, Evan M. Adams, Daniel A. Cristol, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Samuel T. Edmonds, Carrie E. Gray, Bart Hoskins, Oksana P. Lane, Amy Sauer, Timothy Tear
2015, Ecotoxicology (24) 453-467
Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed environmental contaminant with a variety of deleterious effects in fish, wildlife, and humans. Breeding songbirds may be useful sentinels for Hg across diverse habitats because they can be effectively sampled, have well-defined and small territories, and can integrate pollutant exposure over time and space....
Seasonal variability in benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in the southwest Virginia coalfields
Sara E. Sweeten, Alexander Silvis, W. Mark Ford
2015, Conference Paper, 2nd Proceedings of Environmental Considerations in Energy Production
No abstract available....
Application and utility of a low-cost unmanned aerial system to manage and conserve aquatic resources in four Texas rivers
Timothy W. Birdsong, Megan Bean, Timothy B. Grabowski, Thomas B. Hardy, Thomas Heard, Derrick Holdstock, Kristy Kollaus, Stephan J. Magnelia, Kristina Tolman
2015, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (2015) 80-85
Low-cost unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have recently gained increasing attention in natural resources management due to their versatility and demonstrated utility in collection of high-resolution, temporally-specific geospatial data. This study applied low-cost UAS to support the geospatial data needs of aquatic resources management projects in four Texas rivers. Specifically,...
A scientific basis for restoring fish spawning habitat in the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers of the Laurentian Great Lakes
Bruce A. Manny, Edward F. Roseman, Gregory W. Kennedy, James C. Boase, Jaquelyn Craig, David H. Bennion, Jennifer Read, Lynn Vaccaro, Justin A. Chiotti, Richard Drouin, Roseanne Ellison
2015, Restoration Ecology (23) 149-156
Loss of functional habitat in riverine systems is a global fisheries issue. Few studies, however, describe the decision-making approach taken to abate loss of fish spawning habitat. Numerous habitat restoration efforts are underway and documentation of successful restoration techniques for spawning habitat of desirable fish species in large rivers connecting...
Acidic deposition along the Appalachian Trail corridor and its effects on acid-sensitive terrestrial and aquatic resources
Gregory B. Lawrence, Timothy J. Sullivan, Douglas A. Burns, Scott W. Bailey, Bernard J. Cosby, Martin Dovciak, Holly A. Ewing, Todd C. McDonnell, Rakesh Minocha, Rachel Riemann, Juliana Quant, Karen C. Rice, Jason Siemion, Kathleen C. Weathers
2015, Report
The Appalachian National Scenic Trail (AT), a unit of the National Park Service (NPS), spans nearly 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine, encompassing a diverse range of ecosystems. Acidic deposition (acid rain) threatens the AT’s natural resources. Acid rain is a result of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) compounds produced...
Combined effects of climate, predation, and density dependence on Greater and Lesser Scaup population dynamics
Beth E. Ross, Mevin Hooten, Jean-Michel DeVink, David N. Koons
2015, Ecological Applications (25) 1606-1617
An understanding of species relationships is critical in the management and conservation of populations facing climate change, yet few studies address how climate alters species interactions and other population drivers. We use a long-term, broad-scale data set of relative abundance to examine the influence of climate, predators, and density dependence...
Optimizing conservation strategies for Mexican freetailed bats: a population viability and ecosystem services approach
Ruscena Wiederholt, Laura Lopez-Hoffman, Colleen Svancara, Gary McCracken, Wayne E. Thogmartin, James E. Diffendorfer, Brady Mattson, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Paul M. Cryan, Amy Russell, Darius J. Semmens, Rodrigo A. Medellin
2015, Biodiversity and Conservation (24) 63-82
Conservation planning can be challenging due to the need to balance biological concerns about population viability with social concerns about the benefits biodiversity provide to society, often while operating under a limited budget. Methods and tools that help prioritize conservation actions are critical for the management of at-risk species. Here,...
Historic and Contemporary Status of Sea Otters in the North Pacific
James L. Bodkin
Shawn E. Larson, Arthur Gross, Glenn R. VanBlaricom, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Sea Otter Conservation
Similar to other species that in recent centuries experienced unregulated human exploitation, sea otters were extirpated throughout large portions of their historic range in the North Pacific. For most of the twentieth century, with cessation of the fur trade and because of concerted efforts at conservation, sea otters recovered much...
National Park Service vegetation inventory program: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Minnesota
Kevin D. Hop, Jim Drake, Andrew C. Strassman, Erin E. Hoy, Joseph Jakusz, Shannon Menard, Jennifer Dieck
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/GLKN/NRR—2015/1002
The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS) vegetation mapping project is an initiative of the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Inventory Program (VIP) to classify and map vegetation types of MISS. (Note: “MISS” is also referred to as “park” throughout this report.) The goals of the project are to...
Challenges to sea otter recovery and conservation
Brenda E. Ballachey, James L. Bodkin
2015, Book chapter, Sea otter conservation
Similar to other species that in recent centuries experienced unregulated human exploitation, sea otters were extirpated throughout large portions of their historic range in the North Pacific. For most of the twentieth century, with cessation of the fur trade and because of concerted efforts at conservation, sea otters recovered much...
Shoreface response and recovery to Hurricane Sandy: Fire Island, NY
Timothy R. Nelson, Cheryl J. Hapke
Ping Wang, Julie D. Rosati, Jun Cheng, editor(s)
2015, Conference Paper, The proceedings of the coastal sediments 2015
The shoreface of Fire Island was extensively modified by Hurricane Sandy and subsequent storms in the following winter months. The changes were evaluated using various morphometrics of the shoreface from four bathymetric surveys, one prior to Hurricane Sandy, and three over the course of twenty months following Sandy. The datasets...
A comparison of survey methods for documenting presence of Myotis leibii (Eastern Small-Footed Bats) at roosting areas in Western Virginia
John K. Huth, Alexander Silvis, Paul R. Moosman Jr., W. Mark Ford, Sara E. Sweeten
2015, Virginia Journal of Science (66) 413-425
Many aspects of foraging and roosting habitat of Myotis leibii (Eastern Small-Footed Bat), an emergent rock roosting-obligate, are poorly described. Previous comparisons of effectiveness of acoustic sampling and mist-net captures have not included Eastern Small-Footed Bat. Habitat requirements of this species differ from congeners in the region, and it is...
Ordovician of Germany Valley, West Virginia
John T. Haynes, Keith E. Goggin, Randall C. Orndorff, Lisa R. Goggin
2015, Stratigraphy (12) 1-45
This trip will consist of stops at five locations (Fig. 1) that provide a detailed look at the strata in a major part of the Ordovician section in Germany Valley, Pendleton County, West Virginia. At these stops, we will highlight a varied sequence of carbonate and siliciclastic strata that accumulated during the...
Book review: Seismic reflections of rock properties
Seth S. Haines
2015, The Leading Edge (34) 244-244
No abstract available....
Ecological effects of the harvest phase of geoduck clam (Panopea generosa Gould, 1850) aquaculture on infaunal communities in southern Puget Sound, Washington USA.
Glenn R. VanBlaricom, Jennifer L. Eccles, Julian D. Olden, P. Sean Mcdonald
2015, Journal of Shellfish Research (34) 171-187
Intertidal aquaculture for geoducks (Panopea generosa Gould, 1850) is expanding in southern Puget Sound, Washington, where gently sloping sandy beaches are used for field culture. Geoduck aquaculture contributes significantly to the regional economy, but has become controversial because of a range of unresolved questions involving potential biological impacts on marine ecosystems....
Field measurement and analysis of climatic factors affecting dune mobility near Grand Falls on the Navajo Nation, southwestern United States
Rian Bogle, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, John M. Vogel
2015, Geomorphology (228) 41-51
Aeolian sand covers extensive areas of the Navajo Nation in the southwestern United States. Much of this sand is currently stabilized by vegetation, although many drier parts of these Native lands also have active and partly active dunes. Current prolonged drought conditions that started in the mid-1990s are producing significant...
Dispersal, movements and site fidelity of post-fledging King Eiders Somateria spectabilis and their attendant females
Rebecca L. Bentzen, Abby N. Powell
2015, Ibis (157) 133-146
Post-fledging dispersal and site fidelity are poorly understood, particularly for sea ducks that spend the majority of their annual cycle at sea. This is the first description of movements and their timing for first-year (juvenile) and second-year (subadult) King Eiders Somateria spectabilis in relation to their attendant females. We fitted satellite transmitters...
Micrometer-scale U–Pb age domains in eucrite zircons, impact re-setting, and the thermal history of the HED parent body
M.D. Hopkins, S.J. Mojzsis, W.F. Bottke, Oleg Abramov
2015, Icarus (245) 367-378
Meteoritic zircons are rare, but some are documented to occur in asteroidal meteorites, including those of the howardite–eucrite–diogenite (HED) achondrite clan (Rubin, A. [1997]. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 32, 231–247). The HEDs are widely considered to originate from the Asteroid 4 Vesta. Vesta and the other large main belt asteroids record...
To predict the niche, model colonization and extinction
Charles B. Yackulic, James D. Nichols, Janice Reid, Ricky Der
2015, Ecology (96) 16-23
Ecologists frequently try to predict the future geographic distributions of species. Most studies assume that the current distribution of a species reflects its environmental requirements (i.e., the species' niche). However, the current distributions of many species are unlikely to be at equilibrium with the current distribution of environmental conditions, both...
Algoma-, Superior-, and oolitic-type iron deposits of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 83)
Cliff D. Taylor, Carol A. Finn, Eric D. Anderson, M. Y. Joud, M. A. Taleb, John D. Horton
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-O
High-grade hematitic iron ores (or HIF, containing 60–65 percent Fe) have been mined in Mauritania from Superior-type iron deposits since 1952. Depletion of the high grade ores in recent years has resulted in a number of new projects focused on lower grade magnetite ores in Algoma-type banded iron formation (or...
Mineral potential for volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, (phase V, deliverable 77)
Cliff D. Taylor, Stuart A. Giles
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-L
Potential for base- and precious-metal-bearing volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits (VMS) exists in Mauritania in the greenstone belts of the southwestern Rgueïbat Shield and in the allochthonous portions of the central and southern Mauritanides. Additional potential exists for VMS deposits within the Tiris Complex of the central Rgueïbat Shield. Volcanosedimentary successions...
Mineral potential for sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 75)
Cliff D. Taylor, Stuart A. Giles
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-K
The presence of Neoproterozoic through Cambrian, continental, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks interbedded with dolomitic carbonates, shales, and glacial tillites similar to the Katanga Supergroup host rocks of the Central African Copperbelt and other sediment-hosted copper-bearing Proterozoic sequences worldwide, is first order criteria for consideration of the Neoproterozoic units of the Taoudeni...
Ice-clad volcanoes
Richard B. Waitt, B.R. Edwards, Andrew G. Fountain
C. Huggel, Mark Carey, John J. Clague, Andreas Kaab, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, The high-mountain cryosphere: Environmental changes and human risks
An icy volcano even if called extinct or dormant may be active at depth. Magma creeps up, crystallizes, releases gas. After decades or millennia the pressure from magmatic gas exceeds the resistance of overlying rock and the volcano erupts. Repeated eruptions build a cone that pokes one or two kilometers...
