A brief test of the Hewlett-Packard MEMS seismic accelerometer
Brian D. Homeijer, Donald J. Milligan, Charles R. Hutt
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1047
Testing was performed on a prototype of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) seismic accelerometer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory. This prototype was built using discrete electronic components. The self-noise level was measured during low seismic background conditions and found to be 9.8 ng/√Hz at periods below 0.2...
Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) resource selection in the northern Bering Sea
Chadwick V. Jay, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier, Anthony S. Fischbach, Trent L. McDonald, Lee W. Cooper, Fawn Hornsby
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
The Pacific walrus is a large benthivore with an annual range extending across the continental shelves of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. We used a discrete choice model to estimate site selection by adult radio-tagged walruses relative to the availability of the caloric biomass of benthic infauna and sea ice...
Land-use threats and protected areas: a scenario-based, landscape level approach
Tamara S. Wilson, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Rachel R. Sleeter, Christopher E. Soulard
2014, Land (3) 362-389
Anthropogenic land use will likely present a greater challenge to biodiversity than climate change this century in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Even if species are equipped with the adaptive capacity to migrate in the face of a changing climate, they will likely encounter a human-dominated landscape as a major dispersal...
Adverse moisture events predict seasonal abundance of Lyme disease vector ticks (Ixodes scapularis)
Kathryn A. Berger, Howard S. Ginsberg, Katherine D. Dugas, Lutz H. Hamel, Thomas N. Mather
2014, Parasites & Vectors (7)
Background: Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in north temperate regions worldwide, affecting an estimated 300,000 people annually in the United States alone. The incidence of LB is correlated with human exposure to its vector, the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). To date, attempts to model tick...
Statistics for stochastic modeling of volume reduction, hydrograph extension, and water-quality treatment by structural stormwater runoff best management practices (BMPs)
Gregory E. Granato
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5037
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to indicate the risk for stormwater concentrations, flows, and loads to be above user-selected water-quality goals and the potential effectiveness of mitigation measures to reduce such risks. SELDM...
Serologic evidence of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus in northern sea otters
Zhu-Nan Li, S. Ip, Jessica F. Frost, C. LeAnn White, Michael J. Murray, Paul J. Carney, Xiang-Jie Sun, James Stevens, Min Z. Levine, Jacqueline M. Katz
2014, Emerging Infectious Diseases (20)
Sporadic epizootics of pneumonia among marine mammals have been associated with multiple animal-origin influenza A virus subtypes (1–6); seals are the only known nonhuman host for influenza B viruses (7). Recently, we reported serologic evidence of influenza A virus infection in free-ranging northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) captured off...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Denver Basin, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska
Ronald M. Drake II, Sean T. Brennan, Jacob A. Covault, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
2014, Open-File Report 2012-1024-G
This is a report about the geologic characteristics of five storage assessment units (SAUs) within the Denver Basin of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. These SAUs are Cretaceous in age and include (1) the Plainview and Lytle Formations, (2) the Muddy Sandstone, (3) the Greenhorn Limestone, (4) the Niobrara Formation and...
Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations of burbot Lota lota from Great Slave Lake are very low but vary by sex
Charles P. Madenjian, Martin A. Stapanian, Peter A. Cott, Richard R. Rediske, James P. O'Keefe
2014, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (66) 529-537
Total polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations (ΣPCBs) in whole fish were determined for 18 ripe female burbot Lota lota and 14 ripe male burbot from Great Slave Lake, a lake with no known point sources of PCBs. In addition, ΣPCBs were determined both in the somatic tissue and in the gonads...
Blood lead concentrations in Alaskan tundra swans: linking breeding and wintering areas with satellite telemetry
Craig R. Ely, Christian Franson
2014, Ecotoxicology (23) 349-356
Tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) like many waterfowl species are susceptible to lead (Pb) poisoning, and Pb-induced mortality has been reported from many areas of their wintering range. Little is known however about Pb levels throughout the annual cycle of tundra swans, especially during summer when birds are on remote northern...
A multispecies statistical age-structured model to assess predator-prey balance: application to an intensively managed Lake Michigan pelagic fish community
Iyob Tsehaye, Michael L. Jones, James R. Bence, Travis O. Brenden, Charles P. Madenjian, David M. Warner
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 627-644
Using a Bayesian model fitting approach, we developed a multispecies statistical catch-at-age model to assess trade-offs between predatory demands and prey productivities, focusing on the Lake Michigan pelagic fish community. We assessed these trade-offs in terms of predation mortalities and productivities of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax)...
Projecting climate effects on birds and reptiles of the Southwestern United States
Charles van Riper III, James R. Hatten, J. Tomasz Giermakowski, David Mattson, Jennifer A. Holmes, Matthew J. Johnson, Erika M. Nowak, Kirsten Ironside, Michael Peters, Paul Heinrich, K.L. Cole, C. Truettner, Cecil R. Schwalbe
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1050
We modeled the current and future breeding ranges of seven bird and five reptile species in the Southwestern United States with sets of landscape, biotic (plant), and climatic global circulation model (GCM) variables. For modeling purposes, we used PRISM data to characterize the climate of the Western United States between 1980...
Parasite-mediated selection drives an immunogenetic tradeoff in plains zebra (Equus quagga)
Pauline L. Kamath, Wendy C. Turner, Martina Kusters, Wayne M. Getz
2014, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (281)
Pathogen evasion of the host immune system is a key force driving extreme polymorphism in genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Although this gene family is well characterized in structure and function, there is still much debate surrounding the mechanisms by which MHC diversity is selectively maintained. Many studies...
Differential invasion success of salmonids in southern Chile: patterns and hypotheses
Ivan Arismendi, Brooke E. Penaluna, Jason B. Dunham, Carlos García de Leaniz, Doris Soto, Ian A. Fleming, Daniel Gomez-Uchidam, Gonzalo Gajardo, Pamela V. Vargas, Jorge Leon-Munoz
2014, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries
Biological invasions create complex ecological and societal issues worldwide. Most of the knowledge about invasions comes only from successful invaders, but less is known about which processes determine the differential success of invasions. In this review, we develop a framework to identify the main dimensions driving the success and failure...
Viruses as groundwater tracers: using ecohydrology to characterize short travel times in aquifers
Randall J. Hunt, Mark A. Borchardt, Kenneth R. Bradbury
2014, Ground Water (52) 187-193
Viruses are attractive tracers of short (<3 year) travel times in aquifers because they have unique genetic signatures, are detectable in trace quantities, and are mobile in groundwater. Virus “snaphots” result from infection and disappearance in a population over time; therefore, the virus snapshot shed in the fecal wastes of an...
Identifying marine Important Bird Areas using at-sea survey data
Melanie A. Smith, Nathan J. Walker, Christopher M. Free, Matthew J. Kirchhoff, Gary S. Drew, Nils Warnock, Iain J. Stenhouse
2014, Biological Conservation (172) 180-189
Effective marine bird conservation requires identification of at-sea locations used by populations for foraging, staging, and migration. Using an extensive database of at-sea survey data spanning over 30 years, we developed a standardized and data-driven spatial method for identifying globally significant marine Important Bird Areas in Alaska. To delineate these...
Post-release behavior and movement patterns of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) after capture using alternative commercial fish gear, lower Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, 2013
Theresa L. Liedtke, Tobias J. Kock, Scott D. Evans, Gabriel S. Hansen, Dennis W. Rondorf
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1069
Commercial salmon Oncorhynchus spp. fishers traditionally have used gill nets, and more recently tangle nets, to capture adult salmon in the lower Columbia River, Washington and Oregon, but these gear types are not selective and can result in unintentional injury or death to non-target species, which is a problem when...
Simulation of groundwater flow and interaction of groundwater and surface water on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin
Paul F. Juckem, Michael N. Fienen, Randall J. Hunt
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5020
The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Indian Health Service are interested in improving the understanding of groundwater flow and groundwater/surface-water interaction on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation (Reservation) in southwest Vilas County and southeast Iron County, Wisconsin, with particular interest in an understanding of the potential...
Groundwater availability in the Crouch Branch and McQueen Branch aquifers, Chesterfield County, South Carolina, 1900-2012
Bruce G. Campbell, James Landmeyer
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5050
Chesterfield County is located in the northeastern part of South Carolina along the southern border of North Carolina and is primarily underlain by unconsolidated sediments of Late Cretaceous age and younger of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Approximately 20 percent of Chesterfield County is in the Piedmont Physiographic Province, and this...
Neotectonics and geomorphic evolution of the northwestern arm of the Yellowstone Tectonic Parabola: Controls on intra-cratonic extensional regimes, southwest Montana
Chester A. Ruleman, Mort Larsen, Michael C. Stickney
2014, Book chapter, Geological Society of America Field Guide 37
The catastrophic Hebgen Lake earthquake of 18 August 1959 (MW 7.3) led many geoscientists to develop new methods to better understand active tectonics in extensional tectonic regimes that address seismic hazards. The Madison Range fault system and adjacent Hebgen Lake–Red Canyon fault system provide an intermountain active tectonic analog for...
Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs within the Cascadia Forearc, Washington and Oregon
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1064
This U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for a pilot study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs within the Cascadia forearc of Washington and Oregon. Estimates of the depth to the underlying Juan de Fuca oceanic plate beneath the sample...
Groundwater-quality data in seven GAMA study units: results from initial sampling, 2004-2005, and resampling, 2007-2008, of wells: California GAMA Program Priority Basin Project
Robert H. Kent, Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram
2014, Data Series 795
The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program was developed in response to the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 and is being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The GAMA-PBP began...
Distribution and extent of heavy metal accumulation in Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia), upper Santa Cruz River watershed, southern Arizona, 2011-12
Michael B. Lester, Charles van Riper III
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1072
Riparian ecosystems in arid environments provide critical habitat for breeding, migratory, and wintering birds, yet are often at risk of contamination by heavy metals. Birds and other animals living in contaminated areas are susceptible to adverse health effects as a result of long-term exposure and bioaccumulation of heavy metals. We...
Mercury in the soil of two contrasting watersheds in the eastern United States
Douglas A. Burns, Laurel G. Woodruff, Paul M. Bradley, William F. Cannon
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Soil represents the largest store of mercury (Hg) in terrestrial ecosystems, and further study of the factors associated with soil Hg storage is needed to address concerns about the magnitude and persistence of global environmental Hg bioaccumulation. To address this need, we compared total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations and...
Testing metapopulation concepts: effects of patch characteristics and neighborhood occupancy on the dynamics of an endangered lagomorph
Mitchell J. Eaton, Phillip T. Hughes, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols
2014, Oikos (123) 662-676
Metapopulation ecology is a field that is richer in theory than in empirical results. Many existing empirical studies use an incidence function approach based on spatial patterns and key assumptions about extinction and colonization rates. Here we recast these assumptions as hypotheses to be tested using 18 years of historic...
Clinal variation or validation of a subspecies? A case study of the Graptemys nigrinoda complex (Testudines: Emydidae)
Joshua R. Ennen, Marley E. Kalis, Adam L. Patterson, Brian R. Kreiser, Jeffrey E. Lovich, James Godwin, Carl P. Qualls
2014, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (111) 810-822
Widely distributed species often display intraspecific morphological variation due to the abiotic and biotic gradients experienced across their ranges. Historically, in many vertebrate taxa, such as birds and reptiles, these morphological differences within a species were used to delimit subspecies. Graptemys nigrinoda is an aquatic turtle species endemic to the...
