Interpreting the paleozoogeography and sea level history of thermally anomalous marine terrace faunas: A case study from the the last interglacial complex of San Clemente Island, California
Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, R. Randall Schumann
2014, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (7) 82-108
Marine invertebrate faunas with mixtures of extralimital southern and extralimital northern faunal elements, called thermally anomalous faunas, have been recognized for more than a century in the Quaternary marine terrace record of the Pacific Coast of North America. Although many mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, no single...
USGS ecosystem research for the next decade: advancing discovery and application in parks and protected areas through collaboration
Charles van Riper III, James D. Nichols, G. Lynn Wingard, Jeffrey L. Kershner, James E. Cloern, Robert B. Jacobson, Robin P. White, Anthony D. McGuire, Byron K. Williams, Guy Gelfenbaum, Carl D. Shapiro
2014, The George Wright Forum (31)
Ecosystems within parks and protected areas in the United States and throughout the world are being transformed at an unprecedented rate. Changes associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, food, land, energy and mineral resources are placing urgency on sound decision making that will help...
Sapronosis: a distinctive type of infectious agent
Armand M. Kuris, Kevin D. Lafferty, Susanne H. Sokolow
2014, Trends in Parasitology (30) 386-393
Sapronotic disease agents have evolutionary and epidemiological properties unlike other infectious organisms. Their essential saprophagic existence prevents coevolution, and no host–parasite virulence trade-off can evolve. However, the host may evolve defenses. Models of pathogens show that sapronoses, lacking a threshold of transmission, cannot regulate host populations, although they can reduce...
Legacy data for a northern prairie grassland: Woodworth Study Area, North Dakota, 1963-89
Shelby H. Williams, Jane E. Austin
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1188
Ecological data commonly become more valuable through time. Such legacy data provide baseline records of past biological, physical, and social information that provide historical perspective and are necessary for assessment of stasis or change. Legacy data collected at the Woodworth Study Area (WSA), a contiguous block of grasslands, croplands, and...
Deposit model for heavy-mineral sands in coastal environments
Bradley S. Van Gosen, David L. Fey, Anjana K. Shah, Philip L. Verplanck, Todd M. Hoefen
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-L
This report provides a descriptive model of heavy-mineral sands, which are sedimentary deposits of dense minerals that accumulate with sand, silt, and clay in coastal environments, locally forming economic concentrations of the heavy minerals. This deposit type is the main source of titanium feedstock for the titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments...
Incubation stage and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener patterns in an altricial and precocial bird species
Christine M. Custer, Thomas W. Custer, Stefan Thyen, Peter H. Becker
2014, Environmental Pollution (195) 109-114
The composition of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners was compared between non-incubated and embryonated eggs of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) and little terns (Sterna albifrons) to determine if measurable changes in PCB congeners occurred during the embryonic period. There was no indication of changes in PCB congener patterns over the incubation...
Toxicity of smelter slag-contaminated sediments from Upper Lake Roosevelt and associated metals to early life stage White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836)
E. E. Little, R.D. Calfee, G. Linder
2014, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (30) 1497-1507
The toxicity of five smelter slag-contaminated sediments from the upper Columbia River and metals associated with those slags (cadmium, copper, zinc) was evaluated in 96-h exposures of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) at 8 and 30 days post-hatch. Leachates prepared from slag-contaminated sediments were evaluated for toxicity. Leachates yielded...
Ecoregions of the conterminous United States: Evolution of a hierarchical spatial framework
James M. Omernik, Glenn E. Griffith
2014, Environmental Management (54) 1249-1266
A map of ecological regions of the conterminous United States, first published in 1987, has been greatly refined and expanded into a hierarchical spatial framework in response to user needs, particularly by state resource management agencies. In collaboration with scientists and resource managers from numerous agencies and institutions in the...
Common raven occurrence in relation to energy transmission line corridors transiting human-altered sagebrush steppe
Peter S. Coates, Kristy B. Howe, Michael L. Casazza, David J. Delehanty
2014, Journal of Arid Environments (111) 68-78
Energy-related infrastructure and other human enterprises within sagebrush steppe of the American West often results in changes that promote common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven) populations. Ravens, a generalist predator capable of behavioral innovation, present a threat to many species of conservation concern. We evaluate the effects of detailed features...
A comprehensive analysis of small-passerine fatalities from collisions with turbines at wind energy facilities
Wallace P. Erickson, Melissa M. Wolfe, Kimberly J. Bay, Douglas H. Johnson, Joelle L. Gehring
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Small passerines, sometimes referred to as perching birds or songbirds, are the most abundant bird group in the United States (US) and Canada, and the most common among bird fatalities caused by collision with turbines at wind energy facilities. We used data compiled from 39 studies conducted in the US...
2013 National Park visitor spending effects: economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
Catherine M. Cullinane Thomas, Christopher C. Huber, Lynne Koontz
2014, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR--2014/824
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the nation's most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors form across the nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. This economic effects analysis measures how NPS visitor...
Two decision-support tools for assessing the potential effects of energy development on hydrologic resources as part of the Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area interactive energy atlas
Joshua I. Linard, Anne Marie Matherne, Kenneth J. Leib, Natasha B. Carr, James E. Diffendorfer, Sarah J. Hawkins, Natalie Latysh, Drew A. Ignizio, Nils C. Babel
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1158
The U.S. Geological Survey project—Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA)—has developed a set of virtual tools in the form of an online interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico to facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may...
Ground level environmental protein concentrations in various ecuadorian environments: potential uses of aerosolized protein for ecological research
Sarah J.R. Staton, Andrea Woodward, Josemar A. Castillo, Kelly Swing, Mark A. Hayes
2014, Ecological Indicators (48) 389-395
Large quantities of free protein in the environment and other bioaerosols are ubiquitous throughout terrestrial ground level environments and may be integrative indicators of ecosystem status. Samples of ground level bioaerosols were collected from various ecosystems throughout Ecuador, including pristine humid tropical forest (pristine), highly altered secondary humid tropical forest...
Structure and vulnerability of Pacific Northwest tidal wetlands – A summary of wetland climate change research by the Western Ecology Division, U.S. EPA
Christina L Folger, Henry Lee II, Christopher N. Janousek, Deborah A. Reusser
2014, Report
Climate change poses a serious threat to the tidal wetlands of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the U.S. In response to this threat, scientists at the Western Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA at and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with other partners,...
Comparison of the U.S. lead recycling industry in 1998 and 2011
David R. Wilburn
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5086
Since 1998, the structure of the lead recycling industry has changed and trade patterns of the domestic lead recycling industry have shifted. Although the domestic demand for lead has remained relatively constant since 1998, production of lead has increasingly shifted to the domestic secondary lead industry. The last primary lead...
Quantitative rock-fall hazard and risk assessment for Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California
Greg M. Stock, Nicolas Luco, Brian D. Collins, Edwin L. Harp, Paola Reichenbach, Kurt L. Frankel
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5129
Rock falls are common in Yosemite Valley, California, posing substantial hazard and risk to the approximately four million annual visitors to Yosemite National Park. Rock falls in Yosemite Valley over the past few decades have damaged structures and caused injuries within developed regions located on or adjacent to talus slopes...
Decision analysis of mitigation and remediation of sedimentation within large wetland systems: a case study using Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
Max Post van der Burg, Karen E. Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Josh D. Eash, Gregory A. Knutsen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1180
Sedimentation has been identified as an important stressor across a range of wetland systems. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the responsibility of maintaining wetlands within its National Wildlife Refuge System for use by migratory waterbirds and other wildlife. Many of these wetlands could be negatively affected by accelerated...
The 3D Elevation Program initiative: a call for action
Larry J. Sugarbaker, Eric W. Constance, Hans Karl Heidemann, Allyson L. Jason, Vicki Lukas, David L. Saghy, Jason M. Stoker
2014, Circular 1399
The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative is accelerating the rate of three-dimensional (3D) elevation data collection in response to a call for action to address a wide range of urgent needs nationwide. It began in 2012 with the recommendation to collect (1) high-quality light detection and ranging (lidar) data for...
A synopsis of short-term response to alternative restoration treatments in sagebrush-steppe: the SageSTEP project
James McIver, Mark Brunson, Steve Bunting, Jeanne Chambers, Paul Doescher, James Grace, April Hulet, Dale Johnson, Steven T. Knick, Richard Miller, Mike Pellant, Fred Pierson, David Pyke, Benjamin Rau, Kim Rollins, Bruce Roundy, Eugene Schupp, Robin Tausch, Jason Williams
2014, Rangeland Ecology and Management (67) 584-598
The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) is an integrated long-term study that evaluates ecological effects of alternative treatments designed to reduce woody fuels and to stimulate the herbaceous understory of sagebrush steppe communities of the Intermountain West. This synopsis summarizes results through 3 yr posttreatment. Woody vegetation reduction by...
U.S. Geological Survey 2013 assessment of undiscovered resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations of the U.S. Williston Basin Province
Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra
2014, AAPG Bulletin (99) 639-660
The Upper Devonian Three Forks and Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Bakken Formations comprise a major United States continuous oil resource. Current exploitation of oil is from horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of the Middle Member of the Bakken and upper Three Forks, with ongoing exploration of the lower Three...
Novel single-nucleotide polymorphism markers confirm successful spawning of endangered pallid sturgeon in the upper Missouri River Basin
Jennifer S. Eichelberger, P. J. Braaten, D. B. Fuller, Matthew S. Krampe, Edward J. Heist
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1373-1385
Spawning of the federally endangered Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus is known to occur in the upper Missouri River basin, but progeny from natural reproductive events have not been observed and recruitment to juvenile or adult life stages has not been documented in recent decades. Identification of Pallid Sturgeon progeny is...
Using science to strengthen our Nation's resilience to tomorrow's challenges: understanding and preparing for coastal impacts
Dale L. Simmons, Matthew E. Andersen, Teresa A. Dean, Michael J. Focazio, John W. Fulton, John W. Haines, Mason Jr., Ann B. Tihansky, John A. Young
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3062
Hurricane Sandy caused unprecedented damage across some of the most densely populated coastal areas of the northeastern United States. The costly, landscape-altering destruction left in the wake of this storm is a stark reminder of our Nation’s need to become more resilient as we inevitably face future coastal hazards. As our...
Seismic structure of the central US crust and upper mantle: Uniqueness of the Reelfoot Rift
Frederick Pollitz, Walter D. Mooney
2014, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (402) 157-166
Using seismic surface waves recorded with Earthscope's Transportable Array, we apply surface wave imaging to determine 3D seismic velocity in the crust and uppermost mantle. Our images span several Proterozoic and early Cambrian rift zones (Mid-Continent Rift, Rough Creek Graben—Rome trough, Birmingham trough, Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, and Reelfoot Rift). While...
Estimates of annual survival, growth, and recruitment of a white-tailed ptarmigan population in Colorado over 43 years
Gregory T. Wann, Cameron L. Aldridge, Clait E. Braun
2014, Population Ecology (56) 555-567
Long-term datasets for high-elevation species are rare, and considerable uncertainty exists in understanding how high-elevation populations have responded to recent climate warming. We present estimates of demographic vital rates from a 43-year population study of white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), a species endemic to alpine habitats in western North America. We...
Sediment data collected in 2012 from the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
Julie Bernier, Kyle W. Kelso, Noreen A. Buster, James G. Flocks, Jennifer L. Miselis, Nancy T. DeWitt
2014, Data Series 850
As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected sediment samples from the northern Chandeleur Islands in March and September 2012. The overall objective of this project, which integrates geophysical (bathymetric, seismic,...
