Interstratified arkosic and volcanic rocks of the Miocene Spanish Canyon Formation, Alvord Mountain area, California: Descriptions and interpretations
David C. Buesch
2014, Conference Paper, 2014 Desert Symposium proceedings: not a drop left to drink
The Spanish Canyon Foundation in the Alvord Mountain area, California, varies from about 50 to 120 m thick and records the interstratification of arkosic sandstone and conglomerate with tuffaceous deposits and lava flows. In the lower third of the formation, arkosic sandstone and conglomerate are interstratified with tuffaceous deposits....
Potentiometric surface of the Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas, 2010
John B. Czarnecki, Aaron L. Pugh, Joshua M. Blackstock
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5013
The Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas is composed of dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and shale of Late Cambrian to Middle Devonian age and ranges in thickness from approximately 1,100 feet to more than 4,000 feet. Hydrologically, the aquifer is complex, characterized by discrete and discontinuous flow components with large variations in...
Identifying resource manager information needs for the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative
Andrea Woodward, Theresa Liedtke, Karen Jenni
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1032
Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) are a network of 22 public-private partnerships, defined by ecoregion, that share and provide science to ensure the sustainability of land, water, wildlife and cultural resources in North America. LLCs were established by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) in recognition that response to climate change...
Ecological site-based assessments of wind and water erosion: informing accelerated soil erosion management in rangelands
Nicholas P. Webb, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Michael C. Duniway
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 1405-1420
Accelerated soil erosion occurs when anthropogenic processes modify soil, vegetation or climatic conditions causing erosion rates at a location to exceed their natural variability. Identifying where and when accelerated erosion occurs is a critical first step toward its effective management. Here we explore how erosion assessments structured in the context...
Borehole geophysical data for the East Poplar oil field area, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, northeastern Montana, 1993, 2004, and 2005
Bruce D. Smith, Joanna N. Thamke, Christa Tyrrell
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1288
Areas of high electrical conductivity in shallow aquifers in the East Poplar oil field area were delineated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, in order to interpret areas of saline-water contamination. Ground, airborne, and borehole geophysical data were collected in...
Application of threshold concepts to ecological management problems: Occupancy of Golden Eagles in Denali National Park, Alaska
Mitchell J. Eaton, Julien Martin, James D. Nichols, Carol McIntyre, Maggie C. McCluskie, Joel A. Schmutz, Bruce L. Lubow, Michael C. Runge
Glenn R. Guntenspergen, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Application of threshold concepts in natural resource decision making
In this chapter, we demonstrate the application of the various classes of thresholds, detailed in earlier chapters and elsewhere, via an actual but simplified natural resource management case study. We intend our example to provide the reader with the ability to recognize and apply the theoretical concepts of utility, ecological...
Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone
Jacob B. Lowenstern, William C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, Andrew G. Hunt
2014, Nature (506) 355-358
Helium is used as a critical tracer throughout the Earth sciences, where its relatively simple isotopic systematics is used to trace degassing from the mantle, to date groundwater and to time the rise of continents1. The hydrothermal system at Yellowstone National Park is famous for its high helium-3/helium-4 isotope ratio,...
Hydrogeologic framework and geologic structure of the Floridan aquifer system and intermediate confining unit in the Lake Okeechobee area, Florida
Ronald S. Reese
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3288
The successful implementation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) as a water-management tool requires detailed information on the hydrologic and hydraulic properties of the potential water storage zones. This report presents stratigraphic and hydrogeologic sections of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer system and the overlying confining unit or...
Regression models for estimating salinity and selenium concentrations at selected sites in the Upper Colorado River Basin, Colorado, 2009-2012
Joshua I. Linard, Keelin R. Schaffrath
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1015
Elevated concentrations of salinity and selenium in the tributaries and main-stem reaches of the Colorado River are a water-quality concern and have been the focus of remediation efforts for many years. Land-management practices with the objective of limiting the amount of salt and selenium that reaches the stream have focused...
Cenozoic planktonic marine diatom diversity and correlation to climate change
David Lazarus, John Barron, Johan Renaudie, Patrick Diver, Andreas Turke
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Marine planktonic diatoms export carbon to the deep ocean, playing a key role in the global carbon cycle. Although commonly thought to have diversified over the Cenozoic as global oceans cooled, only two conflicting quantitative reconstructions exist, both from the Neptune deep-sea microfossil occurrences database. Total diversity shows Cenozoic increase...
Magnetic susceptibility data for some exposed bedrock in the western conterminous United States
Mark E. Gettings, Mark W. Bultman
2014, Data Series 804
In-place rock magnetic susceptibility measurements for 746 sites in the western conterminous United States are reported in a database. Of these 746 sites, 408 sites are in the Silverton Caldera area of the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. Of the 408 sites in the Silverton Caldera area, 106 sites...
Groundwater level and nitrate concentration trends on Mountain Home Air Force Base, southwestern Idaho
Marshall L. Williams
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1022
Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho draws most of its drinking water from the regional aquifer. The base is located within the State of Idaho's Mountain Home Groundwater Management Area and is adjacent to the State's Cinder Cone Butte Critical Groundwater Area. Both areas were established by the...
Digital representation of oil and natural gas well pad scars in southwest Wyoming
Steven L. Garman, Jamie L. McBeth
2014, Data Series 800
The recent proliferation of oil and natural gas energy development in southwest Wyoming has stimulated the need to understand wildlife responses to this development. Central to many wildlife assessments is the use of geospatial methods that rely on digital representation of energy infrastructure. Surface disturbance of the well pad scars...
The chronic toxicity of sodium bicarbonate, a major component of coal bed natural gas produced waters
Aida M. Farag, David D. Harper
2014, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (33) 532-540
Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is the principal salt in coal bed natural gas produced water from the Powder River Structural Basin, Wyoming, USA, and concentrations of up to 3000 mg NaHCO3/L have been documented at some locations. No adequate studies have been performed to assess the chronic effects of NaHCO3 exposure. The...
Acute toxicity of sodium bicarbonate, a major component of coal bed natural gas produced waters, to 13 aquatic species as defined in the laboratory
David D. Harper, Aida M. Farag, Don Skaar
2014, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (33) 525-531
Water produced during coal bed natural gas (CBNG) extraction in the Powder River Structural Basin of Wyoming and Montana (USA) may contain concentrations of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) of more than 3000 mg/L. The authors evaluated the acute toxicity of NaHCO3, also expressed as bicarbonate (HCO3−), to 13 aquatic organisms. Of the...
Adaptive responses reveal contemporary and future ecotypes in a desert shrub
Bryce A. Richardson, Stanley G. Kitchen, Rosemary L. Pendleton, Burton K. Pendleton, Matthew J. Germino, Gerald E. Rehfeldt, Susan E. Meyer
2014, Ecological Applications (24) 413-427
Interacting threats to ecosystem function, including climate change, wildfire, and invasive species necessitate native plant restoration in desert ecosystems. However, native plant restoration efforts often remain unguided by ecological genetic information. Given that many ecosystems are in flux from climate change, restoration plans need to account for both contemporary and...
Improving paleoecology studies for future predictions: Role of spatial and temporal scales for understanding ecology of the arid and semiarid landscape of the Southwest
David M. Miller, Gene-Hua Crystal Ng, Katharine Maher
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1029
Paleoecology (or ecological biogeography) describes the past distribution of species or communities and is an informative path used to understand the future in the face of climate change. Paleoecological changes in the Southwest over the past several thousand years happened in the presence of landscape manipulations by humans, a factor...
Influence of stocking, site quality, stand age, low-severity canopy disturbance, and forest composition on sub-boreal aspen mixedwood carbon stocks
Michael Reinikainen, Anthony W. D’Amato, John B. Bradford, Shawn Fraver
2014, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (44) 230-242
Low-severity canopy disturbance presumably influences forest carbon dynamics during the course of stand development, yet the topic has received relatively little attention. This is surprising because of the frequent occurrence of such events and the potential for both the severity and frequency of disturbances to increase as a result of...
Gravity, aeromagnetic and rock-property data of the central California Coast Ranges
V.E. Langenheim
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1282
Gravity, aeromagnetic, and rock-property data were collected to support geologic-mapping, water-resource, and seismic-hazard studies for the central California Coast Ranges. These data are combined with existing data to provide gravity, aeromagnetic, and physical-property datasets for this region. The gravity dataset consists of approximately 18,000 measurements. The aeromagnetic dataset consists of...
Season and application rates affect vaccine bait consumption by prairie dogs in Colorado and Utah, USA
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Sean P. Streich, Nathanael L. Brown, Julia Rodriguez-Ramos Fernandez, Michael W. Miller
2014, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (50) 224-234
Plague, a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, causes high rates of mortality in prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.). An oral vaccine against plague has been developed for prairie dogs along with a palatable bait to deliver vaccine and a biomarker to track bait consumption. We conducted field trials...
A rapid field test for sylvatic plague exposure in wild animals
Rachel C. Abbott, Robert Hudak, Roy Mondesire, Laurie A. Baeten, Robin E. Russell, Tonie E. Rocke
2014, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (50) 384-388
Plague surveillance is routinely conducted to predict future epizootics in wildlife and exposure risk for humans. The most common surveillance method for sylvatic plague is detection of antibodies to Yersinia pestis F1 capsular antigen in sentinel animals, such as coyotes (Canis latrans). Current serologic tests for Y. pestis, hemagglutination (HA)...
Lectins stain cells differentially in the coral, Montipora capitata
Thierry M. Work, Yael Farah
2014, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology (117) 42-50
A limitation in our understanding of coral disease pathology and cellular pathogenesis is a lack of reagents to characterize coral cells. We evaluated the utility of plant lectins to stain tissues of a dominant coral, Montipora capitata, from Hawaii. Of 22 lectins evaluated, nine of these stained structures in the...
Isotopic nitrogen in fecal fiber as an indicator of winter diet in caribou and muskoxen
David D. Gustine, Perry S. Barboza, Jennifer Addison, Rachel Shively, Lola Oliver
2014, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (28) 625-634
RATIONALE: The ratios of stable nitrogen isotopes (δ15N values) in excreta have been used to examine aspects of trophic and nutritional ecology across taxa. Nitrogen fractions in feces of herbivores include endogenous (e.g., sloughed intestinal cells, unresorbed digestive secretions, and microbial debris) and dietary sources. For animals such as large...
A spatial modeling framework to evaluate domestic biofuel-induced potential land use changed and emissions
Joshua Elliot, Bhavna Sharma, Neil Best, Michael Glotter, Jennifer B. Dunn, Ian Foster, Fernando Miguez, Steffen Mueller, Michael Wang
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 2488-2486
We present a novel bottom-up approach to estimate biofuel-induced land-use change (LUC) and resulting CO2 emissions in the U.S. from 2010 to 2022, based on a consistent methodology across four essential components: land availability, land suitability, LUC decision-making, and induced CO2 emissions. Using high-resolution geospatial data and modeling, we construct probabilistic assessments...
Health of white sucker within the St. Louis River area of concern associated with habitat usage as assessed using stable isotopes
V. S. Blazer, J. Hoffman, H.L. Walsh, R.P. Braham, C. Hahn, P. Collins, Z. Jorgenson, T. Ledder
2014, Ecotoxicology (23) 236-251
In Spring 2011, 200 adult white sucker were collected in four areas of the St. Louis River area of concern (AOC), located in Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA. The areas included the upper AOC as a reference area, the upper estuary, St. Louis Bay and Superior Bay. Grossly visible abnormalities were...
