Self-imposed length limits in recreational fisheries
Christopher J. Chizinski, Dustin R. Martin, Keith L. Hurley, Kevin L. Pope
2014, Fisheries Research (155) 83-89
A primary motivating factor on the decision to harvest a fish among consumptive-orientated anglers is the size of the fish. There is likely a cost-benefit trade-off for harvest of individual fish that is size and species dependent, which should produce a logistic-type response of fish fate (release or harvest) as...
Testing the accuracy of a 1-D volcanic plume model in estimating mass eruption rate
Larry G. Mastin
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres (119) 2474-2495
During volcanic eruptions, empirical relationships are used to estimate mass eruption rate from plume height. Although simple, such relationships can be inaccurate and can underestimate rates in windy conditions. One-dimensional plume models can incorporate atmospheric conditions and give potentially more accurate estimates. Here I present a 1-D model for plumes...
The Southeast Stream Quality Assessment
Peter C. Van Metre, Celeste A. Journey
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3023
In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) is assessing stream quality across the Piedmont and southern Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States. The goal of the Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA) is to characterize multiple water-quality factors that are stressors to aquatic life—contaminants, nutrients,...
High fidelity does not preclude colonization: range expansion of molting Black Brant on the Arctic coast of Alaska
Paul L. Flint, Brandt W. Meixell, Edward J. Mallek
2014, Journal of Field Ornithology (85) 75-83
High rates of site fidelity have been assumed to infer static distributions of molting geese in some cases. To test this assumption, we examined movements of individually marked birds to understand the underlying mechanisms of range expansion of molting Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP)...
Greenhouse gases generated from the anaerobic biodegradation of natural offshore asphalt seepages in southern California
T.D. Lorenson, Florence L. Wong, Peter Dartnell, Ray W. Sliter
2014, Geo-Marine Letters (34) 281-295
Significant offshore asphaltic deposits with active seepage occur in the Santa Barbara Channel offshore southern California. The composition and isotopic signatures of gases sampled from the oil and gas seeps reveal that the coexisting oil in the shallow subsurface is anaerobically biodegraded, generating CO2 with secondary CH4 production. Biomineralization can...
Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River fall Chinook salmon ESU, 1/1/2012 – 12/31/2013: Annual report, 1991-029-00
William P. Connor, Frank Mullins, Kenneth F. Tiffan, Russell W. Perry, John M. Erhardt, Scott J. St. John, Brad K. Bickford, Tobyn N. Rhodes
2014, Report
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ESU that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 1992–2014 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other Federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1) numeric and habitat...
Comparing cropland net primary production estimates from inventory, a satellite-based model, and a process-based model in the Midwest of the United States
Zhengpeng Li, Shuguang Liu, Zhengxi Tan, Norman B. Bliss, Claudia J. Young, Tristram O. West, Stephen M. Ogle
2014, Ecological Modelling (277) 1-12
Accurately quantifying the spatial and temporal variability of net primary production (NPP) for croplands is essential to understand regional cropland carbon dynamics. We compared three NPP estimates for croplands in the Midwestern United States: inventory-based estimates using crop yield data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics...
Large scale Wyoming transportation data: a resource planning tool
Michael S. O'Donnell, Tammy S. Fancher, Aaron T. Freeman, Abra E. Ziegler, Zachary H. Bowen, Cameron L. Aldridge
2014, Data Series 821
The U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center created statewide roads data for the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office using 2009 aerial photography from the National Agriculture Imagery Program. The updated roads data resolves known concerns of omission, commission, and inconsistent representation of map scale, attribution, and ground...
From headwaters to coast: Influence of human activities on water quality of the Potomac River Estuary
Suzanne B. Bricker, Karen C. Rice, Owen P. Bricker III
2014, Aquatic Geochemistry (20) 291-323
The natural aging process of Chesapeake Bay and its tributary estuaries has been accelerated by human activities around the shoreline and within the watershed, increasing sediment and nutrient loads delivered to the bay. Riverine nutrients cause algal growth in the bay leading to reductions in light penetration with consequent declines...
Groundwater studies: principal aquifer surveys
Karen R. Burow, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3024
In 1991, the U.S. Congress established the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to develop nationally consistent long-term datasets and provide information about the quality of the Nation’s streams and groundwater. The USGS uses objective and reliable data, water-quality models, and systematic scientific studies to...
The impacts of recent permafrost thaw on land-atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange
Daniel J. Hayes, David W. Kicklighter, A. David McGuire, Min Chen, Qianlai Zhuang, Fengming Yuan, Jerry M. Melillo, Stan D. Wullschleger
2014, Environmental Research Letters (9)
Permafrost thaw and the subsequent mobilization of carbon (C) stored in previously frozen soil organic matter (SOM) have the potential to be a strong positive feedback to climate. As the northern permafrost region experiences as much as a doubling of the rate of warming as the rest of the Earth,...
Decision support system development at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Timothy J. Fox, J. C. Nelson, Jason J. Rohweder
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3021
A Decision Support System (DSS) can be defined in many ways. The working definition used by the U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) is, “A spatially based computer application or data that assists a researcher or manager in making decisions.” This is quite a broad definition—and it...
Water use characteristics of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) communities along an ecotone with marsh at a northern geographical limit
Ken W. Krauss, Karen L. McKee, Mark W. Hester
2014, Ecohydrology (7) 354-365
Mangroves are expanding into warm temperate-zone salt marsh communities in several locations globally. Although scientists have discovered that expansion might have modest effects on ecosystem functioning, water use characteristics have not been assessed relative to this transition. We measured early growing season sapflow (Js) and leaf transpiration (Tr) in Avicennia...
Accuracy of aging ducks in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Waterfowl Parts Collection Survey
Aaron T. Pearse, Douglas H. Johnson, Kenneth D. Richkus, Frank C. Rohwer, Robert R. Cox Jr., Paul I. Padding
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 26-32
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts an annual Waterfowl Parts Collection Survey to estimate composition of harvested waterfowl by species, sex, and age (i.e., juv or ad). The survey relies on interpretation of duck wings by a group of experienced biologists at annual meetings (hereafter, flyway wingbees). Our objectives...
Laharz_py: GIS tools for automated mapping of lahar inundation hazard zones
Steve P. Schilling
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1073
Laharz_py is written in the Python programming language as a suite of tools for use in ArcMap Geographic Information System (GIS). Primarily, Laharz_py is a computational model that uses statistical descriptions of areas inundated by past mass-flow events to forecast areas likely to be inundated by hypothetical future events. The...
Assessment of potential shale oil and tight sandstone gas resources of the Assam, Bombay, Cauvery, and Krishna-Godavari Provinces, India, 2013
Timothy R. Klett, Christopher J. Schenk, Craig J. Wandrey, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Donald L. Gautier
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3113
Using a well performance-based geologic assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a technically recoverable mean volume of 62 million barrels of oil in shale oil reservoirs, and more than 3,700 billion cubic feet of gas in tight sandstone gas reservoirs in the Bombay and Krishna-Godavari Provinces of India. The...
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...
