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...
Reservoir controls on the occurrence and production of gas hydrates in marine and Arctic permafrost settings
Timothy S. Collett
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 8th international conference on gas hydrates
No abstract available....
Slip-pulse rupture behavior on a 2 meter granite fault
Gregory C. McLaskey, Brian D. Kilgore, Nicholas M. Beeler
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 7039-7045
We describe observations of dynamic rupture events that spontaneously arise on meter-scale laboratory earthquake experiments. While low-frequency slip of the granite sample occurs in a relatively uniform and crack-like manner, instruments capable of detecting high frequency motions show that some parts of the fault slip abruptly (velocity >100 mm∙s-1, acceleration...
Estimating switchgrass productivity in the Great Plains using satellite vegetation index and site environmental variables
Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie, Daniel M. Howard
2015, Ecological Indicators (48) 472-476
Switchgrass is being evaluated as a potential feedstock source for cellulosic biofuels and is being cultivated in several regions of the United States. The recent availability of switchgrass land cover maps derived from the National Agricultural Statistics Service cropland data layer for the conterminous United States provides an opportunity to...
Quality assurance testing of acoustic doppler current profiler transform matrices
Brandy Armstrong, Janice M. Fulford, Kirk G. Thibodeaux
2015, Conference Paper, 2015 IEEE/OES Eleveth Current, Waves and Turbulence Measurement (CWTM)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) is nationally responsible for the design, testing, evaluation, repair, calibration, warehousing, and distribution of hydrologic instrumentation in use within the USGS Water Mission Area (WMA). The HIF's Hydraulic Laboratory has begun routine quality assurance (QA) testing and documenting the performance of...
Cambrian–Ordovician of the central Appalachians:Correlations and event stratigraphy of carbonate platform andadjacent deep-water deposits
David K. Brezinski, John F. Taylor, John E. Repetski, James D. Loch
2015, Book chapter, Geological Society of America field guide
This trip seeks to illustrate the succession of Cambrian and Ordovician facies deposited within the Pennsylvania and Maryland portion of the Great American Carbonate Bank. From the Early Cambrian (Dyeran) through Late Ordovician (Turinan), the Laurentian paleocontinent was rimmed by an extensive carbonate platform. During this protracted period of time, a...
Numerical modeling of injection, stress and permeability enhancement during shear stimulation at the Desert Peak Enhanced Geothermal System
David Dempsey, Sharad Kelkar, Nick Davatzes, Stephen H. Hickman, Daniel Moos
2015, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences (78) 190-206
Creation of an Enhanced Geothermal System relies on stimulation of fracture permeability through self-propping shear failure that creates a complex fracture network with high surface area for efficient heat transfer. In 2010, shear stimulation was carried out in well 27-15 at Desert Peak geothermal field, Nevada, by injecting cold water...
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2014
Mark R. Vinson, Lori M. Evrard, Owen T. Gorman, Daniel Yule
2015, Report, Compiled reports to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission of the annual bottom trawl and acoustics surveys, 2014
In 2014, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom trawls at 73 nearshore and 30 offshore stations. Spring and summer water temperatures were the coldest measured for the period of records for the surveys. In the nearshore zone, a total of 15,372 individuals from 28 species or...
Quantifying stream thermal regimes at management-pertinent scales: combining thermal infrared and stationary stream temperature data in a novel modeling framework.
Shane J. Vatland, Robert E. Gresswell, Geoffrey C. Poole
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 31-46
Accurately quantifying stream thermal regimes can be challenging because stream temperatures are often spatially and temporally heterogeneous. In this study, we present a novel modeling framework that combines stream temperature data sets that are continuous in either space or time. Specifically, we merged the fine spatial resolution of thermal infrared...
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...
A decision-analytic approach to adaptive resource management
Fred A. Johnson, Byron K. Williams
Craig R. Allen, Ahjond S. Garmestani, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Adaptive Management of Social-Ecological Systems
Mobilization of microspheres from a fractured soil during intermittent infiltration events
Sanjay Mohanty, Mark Bulicek, David W. Metge, Ronald W. Harvey, Joseph N. Ryan, Alexandria B. Boehm
2015, Vadose Zone Journal (14)
Pathogens or biocolloids mobilized in the vadose zone may consequently contaminate groundwater. We found that microspheres were mobilized from a fractured soil during intermittent rainfall and the mobilization was greater when the microsphere size was larger and when the soil had greater water permeability.The vadose zone filters pathogenic microbes from...
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...
Episodic deflation-inflation events at Kīlauea Volcano and implications for the shallow magma system
Kyle R. Anderson, Michael P. Poland, Jessica H. Johnson, Asta Miklius
Rebecca Carey, Valerie Cayol, Michael P. Poland, Dominique Weis, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Hawaiian volcanoes: From source to surface
Episodic variations in magma pressures and flow rates at Kīlauea Volcano, defined by a characteristic temporal evolution and termed deflation-inflation (DI) events, have been observed since at least the 1990s. DI events consist of transient, days-long deflations and subsequent reinflations of the summit region, accompanied since 2008 by fluctuations in...
2013 Monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
Kristi Morris, M. Alisa Mast, David W. Clow, Gregory A. Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David A. Gay, Daniel Bowker
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR—2015/997
In 2004, multiple agencies including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the National Park Service (NPS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) met to address the effects and trends of nitrogen deposition and related air quality issues at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). These agencies...
Having it both ways? Land use change in a U.S. midwestern agricultural ecoregion
Roger F. Auch, Chris R. Laingen
2015, Professional Geographer (67) 84-97
Urbanization has been directly linked to decreases in area of agricultural lands and, as such, has been considered a threat to food security. Although the area of land used to produce food has diminished, often overlooked have been changes in agricultural output. The Eastern Corn Belt Plains (ECBP) is an...
Cenozoic stratigraphy and structure of the Chesapeake Bay region
David S. Powars, Lucy E. Edwards, Susan M. Kidwell, J. Stephen Schindler
2015, Book
The Salisbury embayment is a broad tectonic downwarp that is filled by generally seaward-thickening, wedge-shaped deposits of the central Atlantic Coastal Plain. Our two-day field trip will take us to the western side of this embayment from the Fall Zone in Washington, D.C., to some of the bluffs along Aquia...
How are your berries? Perspectives of Alaska’s environmental managers on trends in wild berry abundance
Jerry W. Hupp, Michael Brubaker, Kira S. Wilkinson, Jennifer Williamson
2015, International Journal of Circumpolar Health (74)
Background: Wild berries are a valued traditional food in Alaska. Phytochemicals in wild berries may contribute to the prevention of vascular disease, cancer and cognitive decline, making berry consumption important to community health in rural areas. Little was known regarding which species of berries were important to...
Aftershocks illuminate the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake causative fault zone and nearby active faults
J. Wright Horton Jr., Anjana K. Shah, Daniel E. McNamara, Stephen L. Snyder, Aina M Carter
2015, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America (509) 253-271
Deployment of temporary seismic stations after the 2011 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake produced a well-recorded aftershock sequence. The majority of aftershocks are in a tabular cluster that delineates the previously unknown Quail fault zone. Quail fault zone aftershocks range from ~3 to 8 km in depth and are in a...
Preface
J. Wright Horton Jr., Martin C. Chapman, Russell A. Green
2015, Geological Society of America Special Papers (509) vii-vii
This book grew out of a topical session on “Central Virginia Earthquakes of 2011: Geology, Geophysics, and Significance for Seismic Hazards in Eastern North America” at the 2012 The Geological Society of America (GSA) Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA). It also benefitted from related sessions...
Spatial patterns of atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur using ion-exchange resin collectors in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
David W. Clow, Heidi Roop, Leora Nanus, Mark Fenn, Graham A. Sexstone
2015, Atmospheric Environment (101) 149-157
Lakes and streams in Class 1 wilderness areas in the western United States (U.S.) are at risk from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S), and protection of these resources is mandated under the Federal Clean Air Act and amendments. Assessment of critical loads, which are the maximum exposure...
Correspondence of biological condition models of California streams at statewide and regional scales
Jason T. May, Larry R. Brown, Andrew C. Rehn, Ian R. Waite, Peter R Ode, Raphael D Mazor, Kenneth C Schiff
2015, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (187)
We used boosted regression trees (BRT) to model stream biological condition as measured by benthic macroinvertebrate taxonomic completeness, the ratio of observed to expected (O/E) taxa. Models were developed with and without exclusion of rare taxa at a site. BRT models are robust, requiring few assumptions compared with traditional modeling...
High-speed limnology: Using advanced sensors to investigate spatial variability in biogeochemistry and hydrology
John T. Crawford, Luke C. Loken, Nora J. Casson, Colin Smith, Amanda G. Stone, Luke A. Winslow
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 442-450
Advanced sensor technology is widely used in aquatic monitoring and research. Most applications focus on temporal variability, whereas spatial variability has been challenging to document. We assess the capability of water chemistry sensors embedded in a high-speed water intake system to document spatial variability. This new sensor platform continuously samples...
Spatial and temporal variation in recruitment and growth of Channel Catfish Alabama bass and Tallapoosa Bass in the Tallapoosa River and associated tributaries
Elise R. Irwin, Taconya Goar
2015, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS -116
Effects of hydrology on growth and hatching success of age-0 black basses and Channel Catfish were examined in regulated and unregulated reaches of the Tallapoosa River, Alabama. Species of the family Centrarchidae, Ictalurus punctatus Channel Catfish and Pylodictis olivaris Flathead Catfish were also collected from multiple tributaries in the basin....
Lake Ontario benthic prey fish assessment, 2014
Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh
2015, Report, 2014 Annual Report Bureau of Fisheries Lake Ontario Unit and St. Lawrence River Unit to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Ontario Committee
Benthic prey fishes are an important component of the Lake Ontario fish community and serve as vectors that move energy from benthic invertebrates into native and introduced sport fishes. Since the 1970’s, the USGS Lake Ontario Biological Station has assessed benthic fish populations and community dynamics with bottom trawls at...
