In vitro immune functions in thiamine-replete and -depleted lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
Christopher A. Ottinger, Dale C. Honeyfield, Christine L. Densmore, Luke R. Iwanowicz
2014, Fish & Shellfish Immunology (38) 211-220
In this study we examined the impacts of in vivo thiamine deficiency on lake trout leukocyte function measured in vitro. When compared outside the context of individual-specific thiamine concentrations no significant differences were observed in leukocyte bactericidal activity or in concanavalin A (Con A), and phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) stimulated leukocyte proliferation....
Direct measurement of sub-surface mass change using the variable-baseline gravity gradient method
Jeffrey Kennedy, Ty P.A. Ferré, Andreas Guntner, Maiko Abe, Benjamin Creutzfeldt
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 2827-2834
Time-lapse gravity data provide a direct, non-destructive method to monitor mass changes at scales from cm to km. But, the effectively infinite spatial sensitivity of gravity measurements can make it difficult to isolate the signal of interest. The variable-baseline gravity gradient method, based on the difference of measurements between two...
Coastal storm monitoring in Virginia
Shaun Wicklein, Mark Bennett
2014, General Information Product 156
Coastal communities in Virginia are prone to flooding, particularly during hurricanes, nor’easters, and other coastal low-pressure systems. These weather systems affect public safety, personal and public property, and valuable infrastructure, such as transportation, water and sewer, and electric-supply networks. Local emergency managers, utility operators, and the public are tasked with making...
Trends in precipitation, runoff, and evapotranspiration for rivers draining to the Gulf of Maine in the United States
Thomas G. Huntington, M. Billmire
2014, Journal of Hydrometeorology (15) 726-743
Climate warming is projected to result in increases in total annual precipitation in northeastern North America. The response of runoff to increases in precipitation is likely to be more complex because increasing evapotranspiration (ET) could counteract increasing precipitation. This study was conducted to examine these competing trends in the historical...
Reproductive effects on fecal nitrogen as an index of diet quality: an experimental assessment
Kyle B. Monteith, Kevin L. Monteith, R. Terry Bowyer, David M. Leslie Jr., Jonathan A. Jenks
2014, Journal of Mammalogy (95) 301-310
Concentration of fecal nitrogen has been used widely as an indicator of dietary quality for free-ranging ruminants. Differences in digestive function between species of dimorphic ungulates render interspecific comparisons of fecal nitrogen unreliable; however, whether intraspecific sexual differences in digestive function also bias this nutritional index is unknown. Our objective...
Spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Green River Formation using Fischer Assay, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1059
The spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado was studied in detail using some 321,000 Fischer assay analyses in the U.S. Geological Survey oil-shale database. The oil-shale section was subdivided into 17 roughly time-stratigraphic intervals,...
Uncertainty, robustness, and the value of information in managing a population of northern bobwhites
Fred A. Johnson, Greg Hagan, William E. Palmer, Michael Kemmerer
2014, Journal of Wildlife Management (78) 531-539
The abundance of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) has decreased throughout their range. Managers often respond by considering improvements in harvest and habitat management practices, but this can be challenging if substantial uncertainty exists concerning the cause(s) of the decline. We were interested in how application of decision science could be...
Characterization of stormwater at selected South Carolina Department of Transportation maintenance yards and section shed facilities in Ballentine, Conway, and North Charleston, South Carolina, 2010-12
Celeste A. Journey, Kevin J. Conlon
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3011
Increased impervious surfaces (driveways, parking lots, and buildings) and human activities (residential, industrial, and commercial) have been linked to substantial changes in both the quality and quantity of stormwater on a watershed scale (Brabec and others, 2002; Pitt and Maestre, 2005). Small-scale storage and equipment repair facilities increase impervious surfaces...
Estimating abundances of interacting species using morphological traits, foraging guilds, and habitat
Robert M. Dorazio, Edward F. Connor
2014, PLoS ONE (9) 1-9
We developed a statistical model to estimate the abundances of potentially interacting species encountered while conducting point-count surveys at a set of ecologically relevant locations - as in a metacommunity of species. In the model we assume that abundances of species with similar traits (e.g., body size) are potentially correlated...
Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure
Old Faithful Science Review Panel, Duncan Foley, Robert O. Fournier, Henry P. Heasler, Bern Hinckley, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jacob B. Lowenstern, David D. Susong
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1058
A panel of leading experts (The Old Faithful Science Review Panel) was convened by Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to review and summarize the geological and hydrological understanding that can inform National Park Service management of the Upper Geyser Basin area. We give an overview of present geological and hydrological knowledge...
Extreme drought-summary of hydrologic conditions in Georgia, 2012
Andrew E. Knaak, Michael F. Peck
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3028
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Georgia Water Science Center (GaWSC) maintains a long-term hydrologic monitoring network of more than 330 real-time streamgages, including 10 real-time lake-level monitoring stations, 63 real-time water-quality monitors, and 48 water-quality sampling stations. Additionally, the GaWSC operates more than 180 groundwater monitoring wells, 42 of which...
Hemispheric-scale wind selection facilitates bar-tailed godwit circum-migration of the Pacific
Robert E. Gill Jr., David C. Douglas, Colleen M. Handel, T. Lee Tibbitts, Gary Hufford, Theunis Piersma
2014, Animal Behaviour (90) 117-130
The annual 29 000 km long migration of the bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica baueri, around the Pacific Ocean traverses what is arguably the most complex and seasonally structured atmospheric setting on Earth. Faced with marked variation in wind regimes and storm conditions across oceanic migration corridors, individuals must make critical decisions...
Remediation scenarios for attenuating peak flows and reducing sediment transport in Fountain Creek, Colorado, 2013
Michael S. Kohn, John W. Fulton, Cory A. Williams, Stogner
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5019
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Fountain Creek Watershed, Flood Control and Greenway District assessed remediation scenarios to attenuate peak flows and reduce sediment loads in the Fountain Creek watershed. To evaluate these strategies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) hydrologic and hydraulic...
Development of a regionally consistent geospatial dataset of agricultural lands in the Upper Colorado River Basin, 2007-10
Susan G. Buto, Brittany L. Gold, Kimberly A. Jones
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5039
Irrigation in arid environments can alter the natural rate at which salts are dissolved and transported to streams. Irrigated agricultural lands are the major anthropogenic source of dissolved solids in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Understanding the location, spatial distribution, and irrigation status of agricultural lands and the method...
Variability in wood-frame building damage using broad-band synthetic ground motions: a comparative numerical study with recorded motions
Shiling Pei, John W. van de Lindt, Stephen H. Hartzell, Nicolas Luco
2014, Journal of Earthquake Engineering (18) 389-406
Earthquake damage to light-frame wood buildings is a major concern for North America because of the volume of this construction type. In order to estimate wood building damage using synthetic ground motions, we need to verify the ability of synthetically generated ground motions to simulate realistic damage for this structure...
Toxoplasmosis
Dolores E. Hill, J. P. Dubey, Rachel C. Abbott, Charles van Riper III, Elizabeth A. Enright
Rachel C. Abbott, Charles van Riper III, Elizabeth A. Enright, editor(s)
2014, Circular 1389
Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii), one of the better known and more widespread zoonotic diseases, originated in wildlife species and is now well established as a human malady. Food- and waterborne zoonoses, such as toxoplasmosis, are receiving increasing attention as components of disease emergence and resurgence. Toxoplasmosis is transmitted to humans via...
Simulated effects of existing and proposed surface-water impoundments and gas-well pads on streamflow and suspended sediment in the Cypress Creek watershed, Arkansas
Rheannon M. Hart
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5057
Cypress Creek is located in central Arkansas and is the main tributary to Brewer Lake, which serves as the primary water supply for Conway, Arkansas, and the surrounding areas. A model of the Cypress Creek watershed was developed and calibrated in cooperation with Southwestern Energy Company using detailed precipitation, streamflow,...
A review of environmental impacts of salts from produced waters on aquatic resources
Aïda M. Farag, David D. Harper
2014, International Journal of Coal Geology (126) 157-161
Salts are frequently a major constituent of waste waters produced during oil and gas production. These produced waters or brines must be treated and/or disposed and provide a daily challenge for operators and resource managers. Some elements of salts are regulated with water quality criteria established for the protection of...
Three-dimensional distribution of igneous rocks near the Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit in southwestern Alaska: constraints from regional-scale aeromagnetic data
Eric D. Anderson, Wei Zhou, Yaoguo Li, Murray W. Hitzman, Thomas Monecke, James R. Lang, Karen D. Kelley
2014, Geophysics (79) B63-B79
Aeromagnetic data helped us to understand the 3D distribution of plutonic rocks near the Pebble porphyry copper deposit in southwestern Alaska, USA. Magnetic susceptibility measurements showed that rocks in the Pebble district are more magnetic than rocks of comparable compositions in the Pike Creek–Stuyahok Hills volcano-plutonic complex. The reduced-to-pole transformation...
The long-term trends (1982-2006) in vegetation greenness of the alpine ecosystem in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Li Zhang, Huadong Guo, Cuizhen Wang, Lei Ji, Jing Li, Kun Wang, Lin Dai
2014, Environmental Earth Sciences (72) 1827-1841
The increased rate of annual temperature in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau exceeded all other areas of the same latitude in recent decades. The influence of the warming climate on the alpine ecosystem of the plateau was distinct. An analysis of alpine vegetation under changes in climatic conditions was conducted in this...
The influence of interspecific interactions on species range expansion rates
Jens-Christian Svenning, Dominique Gravel, Robert D. Holt, Frank M. Schurr, Wilfried Thuiller, Tamara Munkemuller, Katja H. Schiffers, Stefan Dullinger, Thomas C. Edwards Jr., Thomas Hickler, Steven I. Higgins, Julia E.M.S. Nabel, Jorn Pagel, Signe Normand
2014, Ecography (37) 1198-1209
Ongoing and predicted global change makes understanding and predicting species’ range shifts an urgent scientific priority. Here, we provide a synthetic perspective on the so far poorly understood effects of interspecific interactions on range expansion rates. We present theoretical foundations for how interspecific interactions may modulate range expansion rates, consider...
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)...
