Biscayne aquifer drinking water (USGS45): a new isotopic reference material for δ2H and δ18O measurements of water
Jennifer M. Lorenz, Lauren V. Tarbox, Bryan Buck, Haiping Qi, Tyler B. Coplen
2014, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (28) 2031-2034
RATIONALE As a result of the scarcity of isotopic reference waters for daily use, a new secondary isotopic reference material for international distribution has been prepared from drinking water collected from the Biscayne aquifer in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. METHODS This isotopic reference water was filtered, homogenized, loaded into glass ampoules, sealed with a...
Prolonged instability prior to a regime shift
Trisha Spanbauer, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Tarsha Eason, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Kirsty L. Nash, Jeffery R. Stone
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-7
Regime shifts are generally defined as the point of ‘abrupt’ change in the state of a system. However, a seemingly abrupt transition can be the product of a system reorganization that has been ongoing much longer than is evident in statistical analysis of a single component of the system. Using...
Spatial structuring within a reservoir fish population: implications for management
David R. Stewart, James M. Long, Daniel E. Shoup
2014, Marine and Freshwater Research (66) 202-212
Spatial structuring in reservoir fish populations can exist because of environmental gradients, species-specific behaviour, or even localised fishing effort. The present study investigated whether white crappie exhibited evidence of improved population structure where the northern more productive half of a lake is closed to fishing to provide waterfowl hunting opportunities....
Mississippi River nitrate loads from high frequency sensor measurements and regression-based load estimation
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Robert J. Gilliom, Charles G. Crawford, John Franco Saraceno, C. Paul Frederick, Bryan D. Downing, Jennifer C. Murphy
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 12612-12619
Accurately quantifying nitrate (NO3–) loading from the Mississippi River is important for predicting summer hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and targeting nutrient reduction within the basin. Loads have historically been modeled with regression-based techniques, but recent advances with high frequency NO3– sensors allowed us to evaluate model performance relative to...
Thermal ecology of subadult and adult muskellunge in a thermally enriched reservoir
A. J. Cole, Phillip William Bettoli
2014, Fisheries Management and Ecology (21) 410-420
The movement of adult muskellunge, Esox masquinongy Mitchill, has been investigated in a variety of systems, but temperature selection by muskellunge has not been examined where well-oxygenated waters were available over a range of temperatures for much of the year. Thirty subadult and adult muskellunge tagged internally with temperature-sensing radio tags...
Transdisciplinary application of the cross-scale resilience model
Shana M. Sundstrom, David G. Angeler, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Jorge H. Garcia, Craig R. Allen
2014, Sustainability (6) 6925-6948
The cross-scale resilience model was developed in ecology to explain the emergence of resilience from the distribution of ecological functions within and across scales, and as a tool to assess resilience. We propose that the model and the underlying discontinuity hypothesis are relevant to other complex adaptive systems, and can...
The role of reserves and anthropogenic elements for functional connectivity and resilience of ephemeral habitats
Daniel R. Uden, Michelle L. Hellman, David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 1569-1582
Ecological reserves provide important wildlife habitat in many landscapes, and the functional connectivity of reserves and other suitable habitat patches is crucial for the persistence and resilience of spatially structured populations. To maintain or increase connectivity at spatial scales larger than individual patches, conservation actions may focus on creating and...
Laboratory generated M -6 earthquakes
Gregory C. McLaskey, Brian D. Kilgore, David A. Lockner, Nicholas M. Beeler
2014, Pure and Applied Geophysics (171) 2601-2615
We consider whether mm-scale earthquake-like seismic events generated in laboratory experiments are consistent with our understanding of the physics of larger earthquakes. This work focuses on a population of 48 very small shocks that are foreshocks and aftershocks of stick–slip events occurring on a 2.0 m by 0.4 m simulated strike-slip...
A computer program for uncertainty analysis integrating regression and Bayesian methods
Dan Lu, Ming Ye, Mary C. Hill, Eileen P. Poeter, Gary Curtis
2014, Environmental Modelling and Software (60) 45-56
This work develops a new functionality in UCODE_2014 to evaluate Bayesian credible intervals using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. The MCMC capability in UCODE_2014 is based on the FORTRAN version of the differential evolution adaptive Metropolis (DREAM) algorithm of Vrugt et al. (2009), which estimates the posterior probability density...
Downscaled climate projections for the Southeast United States: evaluation and use for ecological applications
Adrienne Wootten, Kara Smith, Ryan Boyles, Adam Terando, Lydia Stefanova, Vasru Misra, Tom Smith, David L. Blodgett, Fredrick Semazzi
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1190
Climate change is likely to have many effects on natural ecosystems in the Southeast U.S. The National Climate Assessment Southeast Technical Report (SETR) indicates that natural ecosystems in the Southeast are likely to be affected by warming temperatures, ocean acidification, sea-level rise, and changes in rainfall and evapotranspiration. To better...
Ecosystem effects in the Lower Mississippi River Basin
D. Phil Turnipseed, Yvonne C. Allen, Brady R. Couvillion, Karen L. McKee, William C. Vervaeke
2014, Professional Paper 1798-L
The 2011 Mississippi River flood in the Lower Mississippi River Basin was one of the largest flood events in recorded history, producing the largest or next to largest peak streamflow for the period of record at a number of streamgages on the lower Mississippi River. Ecosystem effects include changes to...
Watching the dark: New surveillance cameras are changing bat research
Paul M. Cryan, P. Marcos Gorresen
2014, BATS Magazine (32) 2-4
It is, according to an old proverb, “better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” And those of us trying to discover new insights into the mysterious lives of bats often do a lot of cursing in the darkness. Bats do most things under cover of night, and...
Shaking from injection-induced earthquakes in the central and eastern United States
Susan E. Hough
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 2619-2626
In this study I consider the ground motions generated by 11 moderate (Mw4.0-5.6) earthquakes in the central and eastern United States that are thought or suspected to be induced by fluid injection. Using spatially rich intensity data from the USGS “Did You Feel It?” system, I show that the...
Mercury deposition and methylmercury formation in Narraguinnep Reservoir, southwestern Colorado, USA
John E. Gray, Mark E. Hines, Harland L. Goldstein, Richard L. Reynolds
2014, Applied Geochemistry (50) 82-90
Narraguinnep Reservoir in southwestern Colorado is one of several water bodies in Colorado with a mercury (Hg) advisory as Hg in fish tissue exceed the 0.3 μg/g guideline to protect human health recommended by the State of Colorado. Concentrations of Hg and methyl-Hg were measured in reservoir bottom sediment and...
Effects of disturbance and climate change on ecosystem performance in the Yukon River Basin boreal forest
Bruce K. Wylie, Matthew B. Rigge, Brian Brisco, Kevin Mrnaghan, Jennifer R. Rover, Jordan Long
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 9145-9169
A warming climate influences boreal forest productivity, dynamics, and disturbance regimes. We used ecosystem models and 250 m satellite Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data averaged over the growing season (GSN) to model current, and estimate future, ecosystem performance. We modeled Expected Ecosystem Performance (EEP), or anticipated productivity, in undisturbed...
Depletion and capture: revisiting “The source of water derived from wells"
Leonard F. Konikow, Stanley A. Leake
2014, Groundwater (52) 100-111
A natural consequence of groundwater withdrawals is the removal of water from subsurface storage, but the overall rates and magnitude of groundwater depletion and capture relative to groundwater withdrawals (extraction or pumpage) have not previously been well characterized. This study assesses the partitioning of long-term cumulative withdrawal volumes into fractions...
Seismological and geodetic constraints on the 2011 Mw5.3 Trinidad, Colorado earthquake and induced deformation in the Raton Basin
William D. Barnhart, Harley M. Benz, Gavin P. Hayes, Justin L. Rubinstein, E. Bergman
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 7923-7933
The Raton Basin of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico is an actively produced hydrocarbon basin that has experienced increased seismicity since 2001, including the August 2011 Mw5.3 Trinidad normal faulting event. Following the 2011 earthquake, regional seismic observations were used to relocate 21 events, including the 2011 main shock,...
Characterizing recent and projecting future potential patterns of mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the Southern Rocky Mountains
Lu Liang, Todd Hawbaker, Yanlei Chen, Zhi-Liang Zhu, Peng Gong
2014, Applied Geography (55) 165-175
The recent widespread mountain pine beetle (MPB) outbreak in the Southern Rocky Mountains presents an opportunity to investigate the relative influence of anthropogenic, biologic, and physical drivers that have shaped the spatiotemporal patterns of the outbreak. The aim of this study was to quantify the landscape-level drivers that explained the...
Can mercury in fish be reduced by water level management? Evaluating the effects of water level fluctuation on mercury accumulation in yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
James H. Larson, Ryan P. Maki, Brent C. Knights, Brian R. Gray
2014, Ecotoxicology (23) 1555-1563
Mercury (Hg) contamination of fisheries is a major concern for resource managers of many temperate lakes. Anthropogenic Hg contamination is largely derived from atmospheric deposition within a lake’s watershed, but its incorporation into the food web is facilitated by bacterial activity in sediments. Temporal variation in Hg content of fish...
Behavior of bats at wind turbines
Paul M. Cryan, P. Marcos Gorresen, Cris D. Hine, Michael Schirmacher, Robert H. Diehl, Manuela M. Huso, David T.S. Hayman, Paul D. Fricker, Frank J. Bonaccorso, Douglas H. Johnson, Kevin W. Heist, David C. Dalton
2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (111) 15126-15131
Wind turbines are causing unprecedented numbers of bat fatalities. Many fatalities involve tree-roosting bats, but reasons for this higher susceptibility remain unknown. To better understand behaviors associated with risk, we monitored bats at three experimentally manipulated wind turbines in Indiana, United States, from July 29 to October 1, 2012, using...
Bat flight and zoonotic viruses
Thomas J. O’Shea, Paul M. Cryan, Andrew A. Cunningham, Anthony R. Fooks, David T.S. Hayman, Angela D. Luis, Alison J. Peel, Raina K. Plowright, James L.N. Wood
2014, Emerging Infectious Diseases (20) 741-745
Bats are sources of high viral diversity and high-profile zoonotic viruses worldwide. Although apparently not pathogenic in their reservoir hosts, some viruses from bats severely affect other mammals, including humans. Examples include severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, Ebola and Marburg viruses, and Nipah and Hendra viruses. Factors underlying high viral...
Evaluation of the National Gap Analysis Program (GAP): survey of users of GAP data: report to respondents
Joan M. Ratz
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1166
This report provides a summary of responses to the questions included in a survey of individuals who use or have used data created and provided by the U.S. Geological Survey National Gap Analysis Program (GAP). The survey was commissioned by the GAP main office and was conducted by U.S. Geological...
U.S. Geological Survey quality-assurance plan for continuous water-quality monitoring in Kansas, 2014
Trudy J. Bennett, Jennifer L. Graham, Guy M. Foster, Mandy L. Stone, Kyle E. Juracek, Teresa J. Rasmussen, James E. Putnam
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1151
A quality-assurance plan for use in conducting continuous water-quality monitoring activities has been developed for the Kansas Water Science Center in accordance with guidelines set forth by the U.S. Geological Survey. This quality-assurance plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas for activities...
Caution on the use of NBS 30 biotite for hydrogen-isotope measurements with on-line high-temperature conversion systems
Haiping Qi, Tyler B. Coplen, Gerard Olack, Torsten W. Vennemann
2014, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (28) 1987-1994
RATIONALEThe supply of NBS 30 biotite is nearly exhausted. During measurements of NBS 30 and potential replacements, reproducible δ2HVSMOW-SLAP values could not be obtained by three laboratories using high-temperature conversion (HTC) systems. The cause of this issue has been investigated using the silver-tube technique for hydrogen-isotope measurements of water.METHODSThe δ2HVSMOW-SLAP...
Bird mortality during nocturnal migration over Lake Michigan: A case study
Robert H. Diehl, John M. Bates, David E. Willard, Thomas P. Gnoske
2014, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (126) 19-29
Millions of birds die each year during migration. Most of this mortality goes unobserved and conditions surrounding the actual events are often not thoroughly documented. We present a case study of substantial migrant casualties along the shores of southwestern Lake Michigan during May 1996 when we found 2,981 dead birds...
