Pictorial account and landscape evolution of the crevasses near Fort St. Philip, Louisiana
Glenn M. Suir, William R. Jones, Adrienne L. Garber, John A. Barras
2014, MRG&P Report 2
Quantifying the effects of active natural and constructed crevasses is critical to the planning and success of future ecosystem restoration activities. This document provides a historical overview of landscape changes within the vicinity of the natural crevasses near Fort St. Philip, Louisiana. A significant event influencing landscape change within the...
Interrelations among the soil-water retention, hydraulic conductivity, and suction-stress characteristic curves
Ning Lu, Murat Kaya, Jonathan W. Godt
2014, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (140)
The three fundamental constitutive relations that describe fluid flow, strength, and deformation behavior of variably saturated soils are the soil-water retention curve (SWRC), hydraulic conductivity function (HCF), and suction-stress characteristic curve (SSCC). Until recently, the interrelations among the SWRC, HCF, and SSCC have not been well established. This work sought...
Elk monitoring in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: 2008-2012 synthesis report
Paul C. Griffin, Kurt J. Jenkins, Carla Cole, Chris Clatterbuck, John Boetsch, Katherine Beirne
2014, Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCCN/NRTR--2014/837
Maintaining elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) herds that frequent Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (NHP) is central to the park’s purpose of preserving the historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources associated with the winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Elk were critically important to the Lewis and Clark...
Resource selection and space use by sea ducks during the non-breeding season: Implications for habitat conservation planning in urbanized estuaries
Susan E. W. De La Cruz, John M. Eadie, A. Keith Miles, Julie Yee, Kyle A. Spragens, Eric C. Palm, John Y. Takekawa
2014, Biological Conservation (169) 68-78
Wide-ranging marine birds rely on multiple habitats for wintering, breeding, and migrating, and their conservation may be dependent on protecting networks of key areas. Urbanized estuaries are critical wintering and stopover areas for many declining sea ducks in North America; however, conservation measures within estuaries are difficult to establish given...
Automated Cropland Classification Algorithm (ACCA) for California using multi-sensor remote sensing
Zhuoting Wu, Prasad S. Thenkabail, James Verdin
2014, Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (80) 81-90
Increasing pressure to feed the growing population with scarce water resources requires accurate and routine cropland mapping. This paper develops and implements a rule-based automated cropland classification algorithm (ACCA) using multi-sensor remote sensing data. Pixel-by-pixel accuracy assessments showed that ACCA produced an overall accuracy of 96 percent (Khat = 0.8) when...
Source and progression of a submarine landslide and tsunami: The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake at Valdez
Thomas E. Parsons, Eric L. Geist, Holly F. Ryan, Homa J. Lee, Peter J. Haeussler, Patrick Lynett, Patrick E. Hart, Ray W. Sliter, Emily C. Roland
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth (119) 8502-8516
Like many subduction zone earthquakes, the deadliest aspects of the 1964 M = 9.2 Alaska earthquake were the tsunamis it caused. The worst of these were generated by local submarine landslides induced by the earthquake. These caused high runups, engulfing several coastal towns in Prince William Sound. In this paper, we study one...
Processes of zinc attenuation by biogenic manganese oxides forming in the hyporheic zone of Pinal Creek, Arizona
Christopher C. Fuller, John R. Bargar
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 2165-2172
The distribution and speciation of Zn sorbed to biogenic Mn oxides forming in the hyporheic zone of Pinal Creek, AZ, was investigated using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and microfocused synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (μSXRF) mapping, and chemical extraction. μSXRF and chemical extractions show that contaminant Zn co-varied with Mn...
Powell Center Newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 2
Marcia McNiff
2014, Report
Bi-annual newsletter for the John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis, covering news from the last half of FY2014...
Interspecific hybridization contributes to high genetic diversity and apparent effective population size in an endemic population of mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula maculosa)
Jeffrey L. Peters, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Philip Lavretsky, Michael Rezsutek, William P. Johnson, Kevin G. McCracken
2014, Conservation Genetics (15) 509-520
Under drift-mutation equilibrium, genetic diversity is expected to be correlated with effective population size (Ne). Changes in population size and gene flow are two important processes that can cause populations to deviate from this expected relationship. In this study, we used DNA sequences from six independent loci to examine the...
Integrating disparate lidar data at the national scale to assess the relationships between height above ground, land cover and ecoregions
Jason M. Stoker, Mark A. Cochrane, David P. Roy
2014, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (80) 59-70
With the acquisition of lidar data for over 30 percent of the US, it is now possible to assess the three-dimensional distribution of features at the national scale. This paper integrates over 350 billion lidar points from 28 disparate datasets into a national-scale database and evaluates if height above ground...
Legumes in prairie restoration: evidence for wide cross-nodulation and improved inoculant delivery
Elena Beyhaut, Diane L. Larson, Deborah L. Allan, Peter H. Graham
2014, Plant and Soil (377) 245-258
Background and aims Prairie restoration aims to create self-sustaining, resilient prairies that ameliorate biodiversity loss and soil deterioration associated with conversion of native grasslands to agriculture. Legumes are a key component of the nitrogen-limited prairie ecosystem. Evidence suggests that lack of suitable rhizobia may explain legume absence from restored prairies. This...
Reproductive ecology of American Oystercatchers nesting on shell rakes
Patrick G.R. Jodice, Janet M. Thibault, S.A. Collins, Mark D. Spinks, Felicia J. Sanders
2014, Condor (116) 588-598
Degradation of nesting habitat for coastal birds has led to the use of nontraditional nesting habitat. The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is listed as a "Species of High Concern'' by the U. S. Shorebird Conservation Plan and is declining in the southern portion of its U. S. breeding range, where...
Asian carp distribution in North America
K. Baerwaldt, Amy Benson, K. Irons
2014, Report
No abstract available....
Rhynchelmis subgenus Sutroa Eisen new rank, with two new species from western North America (Annelida, Clitellata, Lumbriculidae)
Steven V. Fend, James L. Carter
2014, Zootaxa (3760) 180-210
The lumbriculid Rhynchelmis subgenus Sutroa Eisen, 1888 new rank is defined for a group of Nearctic species having multiple diverticula originating at the spermathecal ducts and eversible penial bulbs. Characters are confirmed in specimens of the type species, Rhynchelmis (Sutroa) rostrata (Eisen, 1888), collected from the type locality. Rhynchelmis (Sutroa)...
2012 monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
Kristi Morris, Alisa Mast, Gregory Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David Gay, Jared Heath
2014, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/ARD/NRR--2014/757
No abstract available....
Linking channel hydrology with riparian wetland accretion in tidal rivers
Scott H. Ensign, Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (119) 28-44
The hydrologic processes by which tide affects river channel and riparian morphology within the tidal freshwater zone are poorly understood, yet are fundamental to predicting the fate of coastal rivers and wetlands as sea level rises. We investigated patterns of sediment accretion in riparian wetlands along the non-tidal through oligohaline...
Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2013
David M. Warner, Steven A. Farha, Timothy P. O’Brien, Lynn Ogilvie, Randall M. Claramunt, Dale Hanson
2014, Report
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2013 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic...
Trace element geochemistry (Li, Ba, Sr, and Rb) using Curiosity's ChemCam: early results for Gale crater from Bradbury Landing Site to Rocknest
Ann M. Ollila, Horton E. Newsom, Benton Clark III, Roger C. Wiens, Agnes Cousin, Jen G. Blank, Nicolas Mangold, Violaine Sautter, Sylvestre Maurice, Samuel M. Clegg, Olivier Gasnault, Olivier Forni, Robert Tokar, Eric Lewin, M. Darby Dyar, Jeremie Lasue, Ryan Anderson, Scott M. McLennan, John Bridges, Dave Vaniman, Nina Lanza, Cecile Fabre, Noureddine Melikechi, Glynis M. Perett, John L. Campbell, Penelope L. King, Bruce Barraclough, Dorothea Delapp, Stephen Johnstone, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Anya Rosen-Gooding, Josh Williams
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (119) 255-285
The ChemCam instrument package on the Mars rover, Curiosity, provides new capabilities to probe the abundances of certain trace elements in the rocks and soils on Mars using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique. We focus on detecting and quantifying Li, Ba, Rb, and Sr in targets analyzed during the first...
The influence of light, stream gradient, and iron on Didymosphenia geminata bloom development in the Black Hills, South Dakota
Daniel A. James, Kyle Mosel, Steven R. Chipps
2014, Hydrobiologia (721) 117-127
The aquatic nuisance species Didymosphenia geminata was first documented in Rapid Creek of South Dakota’s Black Hills during 2002. Since then, blooms have occurred primarily in a 39-km section of Rapid Creek while blooms were rarely observed in other Black Hills streams. In this study, we evaluated factors related to...
Bioavailability and bioaccumulation of metal-based engineered nanomaterials in aquatic environments: Concepts and processes
Samuel N. Luoma, Farhan R. Khan, Marie-Noele Croteau
2014, Book chapter, Frontiers of nanoscience: Nanoscience and the environment
Bioavailability of Me-ENMs to aquatic organisms links their release into the environment to ecological implications. Close examination shows some important differences in the conceptual models that define bioavailability for metals and Me-ENMs. Metals are delivered to aquatic animals from Me-ENMs via water, ingestion, and incidental surface exposure. Both metal released...
Spatially explicit modeling to evaluate regional stream water quality
Stephen D. Preston, Richard B. Alexander, Gregory Schwarz, Richard A. Smith
2014, Book chapter, Comprehensive water quality and purification
Spatially referenced regressions on watershed attributes (SPARROW) models have been developed and applied over the past two decades to address the need for large-scale, spatially explicit information on stream water quality conditions. The strength of SPARROW models is that they describe the primary environmental processes that affect the supply and transport of...
Human infrastructure and invasive plant occurrence across rangelands of southwestern Wyoming, U.S.A.
Daniel J. Manier, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O’Donnell, Spencer Schell
2014, Rangeland Ecology and Management (67) 160-172
Although human influence across rural landscapes is often discussed, interactions between the native, natural systems and human activities are challenging to measure explicitly. We assessed the distribution of introduced, invasive species as related to anthropogenic infrastructure and environmental conditions across southwestern Wyoming. to discern...
Minimal changes in heart rate of incubating American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) in response to human activity
Tracy E. Borneman, Eli T. Rose, Theodore R. Simons
2014, The Condor (116) 493-503
An organism's heart rate is commonly used as an indicator of physiological stress due to environmental stimuli. We used heart rate to monitor the physiological response of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) to human activity in their nesting environment. We placed artificial eggs with embedded microphones in 42 oystercatcher nests to...
Dry forest restoration and unassisted native tree seedling recruitment at Auwahi, Maui
Arthur C. Medeiros, E. I. von Allmen, C.G. Chimera
2014, Pacific Science (68) 33-45
Efforts to restore highly degraded but biologically significant forests draw from a limited toolbox. With less than 10% of their former distribution remaining, Hawaiian dry forests, though critically endangered, remain important biological and cultural refugia. At restoration onset (1997), vegetation of restoration and control areas of degraded Auwahi dry forest,...
Sampling characteristics and calibration of snorkel counts to estimate stream fish populations
D. Weaver, Thomas J. Kwak, Kenneth Pollock
2014, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (34) 1159-1166
Snorkeling is a versatile technique for estimating lotic fish population characteristics; however, few investigators have evaluated its accuracy at population or assemblage levels. We evaluated the accuracy of snorkeling using prepositioned areal electrofishing (PAE) for estimating fish populations in a medium-sized Appalachian Mountain river during fall 2008 and summer 2009....
