Methane hydrates in nature - Current knowledge and challenges
Timothy S. Collett
2014, Journal of Chemical and Engineering Data (60) 319-329
Recognizing the importance of methane hydrate research and the need for a coordinated effort, the United States Congress enacted the Methane Hydrate Research and Development Act of 2000. At the same time, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan launched a research program to develop plans for a...
Simulation of groundwater flow and the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the Willamette Basin and Central Willamette subbasin, Oregon
Nora B. Herrera, Erick R. Burns, Terrence D. Conlon
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5136
Full appropriation of tributary streamflow during summer, a growing population, and agricultural needs are increasing the demand for groundwater in the Willamette Basin. Greater groundwater use could diminish streamflow and create seasonal and long-term declines in groundwater levels. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD)...
Seasonal weather patterns drive population vital rates and persistence in a stream fish
Yoichiro Kanno, Benjamin Letcher, Nathaniel P. Hitt, David A. Boughton, John E. B. Wofford, Elise Zipkin
2014, Global Change Biology (21) 1856-1870
Climate change affects seasonal weather patterns, but little is known about the relative importance of seasonal weather patterns on animal population vital rates. Even when such information exists, data are typically only available from intensive fieldwork (e.g., mark–recapture studies) at a limited spatial extent. Here, we investigated effects of seasonal...
A cross-validation package driving Netica with python
Michael N. Fienen, Nathaniel G. Plant
2014, Environmental Modelling and Software (63) 14-23
Bayesian networks (BNs) are powerful tools for probabilistically simulating natural systems and emulating process models. Cross validation is a technique to avoid overfitting resulting from overly complex BNs. Overfitting reduces predictive skill. Cross-validation for BNs is known but rarely implemented due partly to a lack of software tools designed to...
The effects of Missouri River mainstem reservoir system operations on 2011 flooding using a Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System model
Adel E. Haj Jr., Daniel E. Christiansen, Roland J. Viger
2014, Professional Paper 1798-K
In 2011 the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System (Reservoir System) experienced the largest volume of flood waters since the initiation of record-keeping in the nineteenth century. The high levels of runoff from both snowpack and rainfall stressed the Reservoir System’s capacity to control flood waters and caused massive damage and...
Surveillance for zoonotic and selected pathogens in harbor seals Phoca vitulina from central California
Denise J. Greig, S. Ip, Frances M. D. Gulland, Woutrina A. Miller, Patricia A. Conrad, Cara L. Field, Michelle Fleetwood, James T. Harvey, Spencer Jang, Andrea Packham, Elizabeth Wheeler, Ailsa J. Hall
2014, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (111) 93-106
The infection status of harbor seals Phoca vitulina in central California, USA, was evaluated through broad surveillance for pathogens in stranded and wild-caught animals from 2001 to 2008, with most samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Stranded animals from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County were sampled at a...
Fatal paralytic shellfish poisoning in Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) nestlings, Alaska, USA
Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Ellen W. Lance, Robin Corcoran, John F. Piatt, Barbara Bodenstein, Elizabeth Frame, James Lawonn
2014, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (50) 933-937
Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is an acute toxic illness in humans resulting from ingestion of shellfish contaminated with a suite of neurotoxins (saxitoxins) produced by marine dinoflagellates, most commonly in the genus Alexandrium. Poisoning also has been sporadically suspected and, less often, documented in marine wildlife, often in association with...
Avian influenza virus ecology in Iceland shorebirds: intercontinental reassortment and movement
Jeffrey S. Hall, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Kamol Suwannanarn, Srinand Sreevatsen, S. Ip, Joshua L. TeSlaa, Sean W. Nashold, Robert J. Dusek
2014, Infection, Genetics and Evolution (28) 130-136
Shorebirds are a primary reservoir of avian influenza viruses (AIV). We conducted surveillance studies in Iceland shorebird populations for 3 years, documenting high serological evidence of AIV exposure in shorebirds, primarily in Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres; seroprevalence = 75%). However, little evidence of virus infection was found in these shorebird...
Rapid mapping of ultrafine fault zone topography with structure from motion
Kendra Johnson, Edwin Nissen, Srikanth Saripalli, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Patrick McGarey, Katherine M. Scharer, Patrick Williams, Kimberly Blisniuk
2014, Geosphere (10) 969-986
Structure from Motion (SfM) generates high-resolution topography and coregistered texture (color) from an unstructured set of overlapping photographs taken from varying viewpoints, overcoming many of the cost, time, and logistical limitations of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and other topographic surveying methods. This paper provides the first investigation of SfM...
Interspecific nest parasitism by chukar on greater sage-grouse
Michelle L. Fearon, Peter S. Coates
2014, Western Birds (45) 224-227
Nest parasitism occurs when a female bird lays eggs in the nest of another and the host incubates the eggs and may provide some form of parental care for the offspring (Lyon and Eadie 1991). Precocial birds (e.g., Galliformes and Anseriformes) are typically facultative nest parasites of both their own...
Modelling methane emissions from natural wetlands by development and application of the TRIPLEX-GHG model
Qing Zhu, Jinxun Liu, C. Peng, H. Chen, X. Fang, H. Jiang, G. Yang, D. Zhu, W. Wang, X. Zhou
2014, Geoscientific Model Development (7) 981-999
A new process-based model TRIPLEX-GHG was developed based on the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS), coupled with a new methane (CH4) biogeochemistry module (incorporating CH4 production, oxidation, and transportation processes) and a water table module to investigate CH4 emission processes and dynamics that occur in natural wetlands. Sensitivity analysis indicates that...
Error propagation in energetic carrying capacity models
Aaron T. Pearse, Joshua D. Stafford
2014, Journal of Conservation Planning (10) 17-24
Conservation objectives derived from carrying capacity models have been used to inform management of landscapes for wildlife populations. Energetic carrying capacity models are particularly useful in conservation planning for wildlife; these models use estimates of food abundance and energetic requirements of wildlife to target conservation actions. We provide a general...
Hydrogeologic framework and occurrence, movement, and chemical characterization of groundwater in Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada
Jena M. Huntington, C. Amanda Garcia, Michael R. Rosen
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5152
Dixie Valley, a primarily undeveloped basin in west-central Nevada, is being considered for groundwater exportation. Proposed pumping would occur from the basin-fill aquifer. In response to proposed exportation, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and Churchill County, conducted a study to improve the understanding of...
Groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, Dixie Valley, west-central Nevada, March 2009-September 2011
C. Amanda Garcia, Jena M Huntington, Susan G. Buto, Michael T. Moreo, J. LaRue Smith, Brian J. Andraski
2014, Professional Paper 1805
With increasing population growth and land-use change, urban communities in the desert Southwest are progressively looking toward remote basins to supplement existing water supplies. Pending applications by Churchill County for groundwater appropriations from Dixie Valley, Nevada, a primarily undeveloped basin east of the Carson Desert, have prompted a reevaluation of...
Quality of surface-water supplies in the Triangle area of North Carolina, water year 2009
C. A. Pfeifle, M. J. Giorgino, R. B. Rasmussen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1192
Surface-water supplies are important sources of drinking water for residents in the Triangle area of North Carolina, which is located within the upper Cape Fear and Neuse River Basins. Since 1988, the U.S. Geological Survey and a consortium of governments have tracked water-quality conditions and trends in several of the...
Great Lakes restoration success through science: U.S. Geological Survey accomplishments 2010 through 2013
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2014, Circular 1404
The Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth and serve as an important source of drinking water, transportation, power, and recreational opportunities for the United States and Canada. They also support an abundant commercial and recreational fishery, are crucial for...
Assessment of the spatial extent and height of flooding in Lake Champlain during May 2011, using satellite remote sensing and ground-based information
David M. Bjerklie, Thomas J. Trombley, Scott A. Olson
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5163
Landsat 5 and moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer satellite imagery were used to map the area of inundation of Lake Champlain, which forms part of the border between New York and Vermont, during May 2011. During this month, the lake’s water levels were record high values not observed in the previous...
Concentration and flux of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids for monitored tributaries of Lake Champlain, 1990-2012
Laura Medalie
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1209
Annual and daily concentrations and fluxes of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, chloride, and total suspended solids were estimated for 18 monitored tributaries to Lake Champlain by using the Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Seasons regression model. Estimates were made for 21 or 23 years, depending on data...
SToRM: A Model for Unsteady Surface Hydraulics Over Complex Terrain
Francisco J. Simoes
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Hydroscience & Engineering
A two-dimensional (depth-averaged) finite volume Godunov-type shallow water model developed for flow over complex topography is presented. The model is based on an unstructured cellcentered finite volume formulation and a nonlinear strong stability preserving Runge-Kutta time stepping scheme. The numerical discretization is founded on the classical and well established shallow...
Systematics of Vampyressa melissa Thomas, 1926 (Chiroptera, Phyllostomidae), with descriptions of two new species of Vampyressa
Valeria da C. Tavares, Alfred L. Gardner, Hector E. Ramirez-Chaves, Paul M. Velazco
2014, American Museum Novitates
Vampyressa melissa is a poorly known phyllostomid bat listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Since its description in 1926, fewer than 40 V. melissa have been reported in the literature, and less than half of these may have been correctly identified. During revisionary studies...
Capture-recapture of white-tailed deer using DNA from fecal pellet-groups
Matthew J Goode, Jared T Beaver, Lisa I Muller, Joseph D. Clark, Frank T. van Manen, Craig T Harper, P Seth Basinger
2014, Wildlife Biology (20) 270-278
Traditional methods for estimating white-tailed deer population size and density are affected by behavioral biases, poor detection in densely forested areas, and invalid techniques for estimating effective trapping area. We evaluated a noninvasive method of capture—recapture for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) density estimation using DNA extracted from fecal pellets as...
Evidence for a marine incursion along the lower Colorado River corridor
Kristin McDougall, Adriana Yanet Miranda Martinez
2014, Geosphere (10) 842-869
Foraminiferal assemblages in the stratigraphically lower part of the Bouse Formation in the Blythe Basin indicate marine conditions whereas assemblages in the upper part of the Bouse Formation indicate lacustrine conditions and suggest the presence of a saline lake. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the lower part of the Bouse...
Estimates of vital rates for a declining loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) subpopulation: implications for management
Margaret M. Lamont, Ikuko Fujisaki, Raymond R. Carthy
2014, Marine Biology (161) 2659-2668
Because subpopulations can differ geographically, genetically and/or phenotypically, using data from one subpopulation to derive vital rates for another, while often unavoidable, is not optimal. We used a two-state open robust design model to analyze a 14-year dataset (1998–2011) from the St. Joseph Peninsula, Florida (USA; 29.748°, −85.400°) which is...
Interspecific habitat associations of juvenile salmonids in Lake Ontario tributaries: implications for Atlantic salmon restoration
James H. Johnson, Marc A. Chalupnicki
2014, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (30) 853-861
Diel variation in habitat use of subyearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), subyearling coho salmon (O. kisutch), yearling steelhead (O. mykiss), and yearling Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) was examined during the spring in two tributaries of Lake Ontario. A total of 1318 habitat observations were made on juvenile salmonids including 367...
Development of a shared vision for groundwater management to protect and sustain baseflows of the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona, USA
Holly E. Richter, Bruce Gungle, Laurel J. Lacher, Dale S. Turner, Brooke M. Bushman
2014, Water (6) 2519-2538
Groundwater pumping along portions of the binational San Pedro River has depleted aquifer storage that supports baseflow in the San Pedro River. A consortium of 23 agencies, business interests, and non-governmental organizations pooled their collective resources to develop the scientific understanding and technical tools required to optimize the management of...
