Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands of California: experimental evidence of vegetation-driven changes in sediment biogeochemistry and methylmercury production
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Jennifer L. Agee, Le H. Kieu, Evangelos Kakouros
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 300-307
The role of live vegetation in sediment methylmercury (MeHg) production and associated biogeochemistry was examined in three types of agricultural wetlands (domesticated or white rice, wild rice, and fallow fields) and adjacent managed natural wetlands (cattail- and bulrush or tule-dominated) in the Yolo Bypass region of California's Central Valley, USA....
Modeling the effects of naturally occurring organic carbon on chlorinated ethene transport to a public supply well
Francis H. Chapelle, Leon J. Kauffman, Mark A. Widdowson
2014, Ground Water (52) 76-89
The vulnerability of public supply wells to chlorinated ethene (CE) contamination in part depends on the availability of naturally occurring organic carbon to consume dissolved oxygen (DO) and initiate reductive dechlorination. This was quantified by building a mass balance model of the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer, which is widely used for public...
Response of walleye and yellow perch to water-level fluctuations in glacial lakes
D.J. Dembkowski, Steven R. Chipps, B. G. Blackwell
2014, Fisheries Management and Ecology (21) 89-95
The influence of water levels on population characteristics of yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), and walleye, Sander vitreus (Mitchill), was evaluated across a range of glacial lakes in north-eastern South Dakota, USA. Results showed that natural variation in water levels had an important influence on frequently measured fish population characteristics. Yellow perch abundance was...
Understanding relationships among abundance, extirpation, and climate at ecoregional scales
Erik A. Beever, A. Mysnberge, J. Long, Solomon Dubrowski, N. B. Piekielek
2014, Ecology (94) 1563-1571
Recent research on mountain-dwelling species has illustrated changes in species’ distributional patterns in response to climate change. Abundance of a species will likely provide an earlier warning indicator of change than will occupancy, yet relationships between abundance and climatic factors have received less attention. We tested whether predictors of counts...
Spawning related movement of shovelnose sturgeon in the Missouri River above Fort Peck Reservoir, Montana
Ryan R. Richards, Christopher S. Guy, Molly A. Webb, William M. Gardner, C.B. Jensen
2014, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (30) 1-13
The hypotheses of this study were (i) that shovelnose sturgeon would make upstream movements to spawn, (ii) movement of spawning fish would be greater in a year with higher discharge, and (iii) that spawning fish would have greater movements than reproductively inactive fish. Shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus (Rafinesque, 1820) in...
Long-distance transport of Hg, Sb, and As from a mined area, conversion of Hg to methyl-Hg, and uptake of Hg by fish on the Tiber River basin, west-central Italy
John E. Gray, Valentina Rimondi, Pilario Costagliola, Orlando Vaselli, Pierfranco Lattanzi
2014, Environmental Geochemistry and Health (36) 145-157
Stream sediment, stream water, and fish were collected from a broad region to evaluate downstream transport and dispersion of mercury (Hg) from inactive mines in the Monte Amiata Hg District (MAMD), Tuscany, Italy. Stream sediment samples ranged in Hg concentration from 20 to 1,900 ng/g, and only 5 of the...
Skin pathology in Hawaiian goldring surgeonfish, Ctenochaetus strigosus (Bennett)
Thierry M. Work, Greta S. Aeby
2014, Journal of Fish Diseases (37) 357-362
Twenty-eight goldring surgeonfish, Ctenochaetus strigosus (Bennett), manifesting skin lesions and originating from the north-western and main Hawaiian Islands were examined. Skin lesions were amorphous and ranged from simple dark or light discolouration to multicoloured tan to white sessile masses with an undulant surface. Skin lesions covered 2–66% of the fish...
Climate change influences on marine infectious diseases: implications for management and society
Colleen A. Burge, C. Mark Eakin, Carolyn S. Friedman, Brett Froelich, Paul K. Hershberger, Eileen E. Hofmann, Laura E. Petes, Katherine C. Prager, Ernesto Weil, Bette L. Willis, Susan E. Ford, C. Drew Harvell
2014, Annual Review of Marine Science (6) 249-277
Infectious diseases are common in marine environments, but the effects of a changing climate on marine pathogens are not well understood. Here, we focus on reviewing current knowledge about how the climate drives hostpathogen interactions and infectious disease outbreaks. Climate-related impacts on marine diseases are being documented in corals, shellfish,...
Status of rainbow smelt in the U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2013
Brian Weidel, Michael J. Connerton
2014, NYSDEC Lake Ontario Annual Report 2013-12
Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax are the second most abundant pelagic prey fish in Lake Ontario after Alewife Alosa psuedoharengus. The 2013, USGS/NYSDEC bottom trawl assessment indicated the abundance of Lake Ontario age-1 and older Rainbow Smelt decreased by 69% relative to 2012. Length frequency-based age analysis indicated that age-1 Rainbow...
Surface-water and groundwater interactions in an extensively mined watershed, upper Schuylkill River, Pennsylvania, USA
Charles A. Cravotta III,, Daniel J. Goode, Michael D. Bartles, Dennis W. Risser, Daniel G. Galeone
2014, Hydrological Processes (28) 3574-3601
Streams crossing underground coal mines may lose flow, while abandoned mine drainage (AMD) restores flow downstream. During 2005-12, discharge from the Pine Knot Mine Tunnel, the largest AMD source in the upper Schuylkill River Basin, had near-neutral pH and elevated concentrations of iron, manganese, and sulfate. Discharge from the tunnel...
The Mussel Watch California pilot study on contaminants of emerging concern (CECs): synthesis and next steps
Keith A. Maruya, Nathan G. Dodder, Stephen B. Weisberg, Dominic Gregorio, Jonathan S. Bishop, Susan Klosterhaus, David A. Alvarez, Edward T. Furlong, Suzanne B. Bricker, Kimani L. Kimbrough, Gunnar G. Lauenstein
2014, Marine Pollution Bulletin (81) 355-363
A multiagency pilot study on mussels (Mytilus spp.) collected at 68 stations in California revealed that 98% of targeted contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were infrequently detectable at concentrations ⩽1 ng/g. Selected chemicals found in commercial and consumer products were more frequently detected at mean concentrations up to 470 ng/g dry wt. The...
Refocusing Mussel Watch on contaminants of emerging concern (CECs): the California pilot study (2009-10)
Keith A. Maruya, Nathan G. Dodder, Rebecca A. Schaffner, Stephen B. Weisberg, Dominic Gregorio, Susan Klosterhaus, David A. Alvarez, Edward T. Furlong, Kimani L. Kimbrough, Gunnar G. Lauenstein, John D. Christensen
2014, Marine Pollution Bulletin (81) 334-339
To expand the utility of the Mussel Watch Program, local, regional and state agencies in California partnered with NOAA to design a pilot study that targeted contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Native mussels (Mytilus spp.) from 68 stations, stratified by land use and discharge scenario, were collected in 2009–10 and analyzed...
Book review: Environmental flows: A definitive guide
Jason B. Dunham
2014, Environmental Biology of Fishes (97) 223-224
It is no secret that rivers have become one of our most important and imperiled resources around the globe. Guidance on how to manage rivers is urgently needed. Thankfully, a new book written by Dr. Angela Arthington: “Environmental Flows: Saving Rivers in the Third Millennium” takes a detailed...
Remote biopsy darting and marking of polar bears
Anthony M. Pagano, Elizabeth L. Peacock, Melissa A. McKinney
2014, Marine Mammal Science (30) 169-183
Remote biopsy darting of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) is less invasive and time intensive than physical capture and is therefore useful when capture is challenging or unsafe. We worked with two manufacturers to develop a combination biopsy and marking dart for use on polar bears. We had an 80% success...
A stakeholder project to model water temperature under future climate scenarios in the Satus and Toppenish watersheds of the Yakima River Basinin Washington, USA
D. Graves, A. Maule
2014, Climatic Change (124) 399-411
The goal of this study was to support an assessment of the potential effects of climate change on select natural, social, and economic resources in the Yakima River Basin. A workshop with local stakeholders highlighted the usefulness of projecting climate change impacts on anadromous steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a...
A geological synthesis of the Precambrian shield in Madagascar
Robert D. Tucker, J.Y. Roig, B. Moine, C. Delor, S. G. Peters
2014, Journal of African Earth Sciences (94) 9-30
Available U–Pb geochronology of the Precambrian shield of Madagascar is summarized and integrated into a synthesis of the region’s geological history. The shield is described in terms of six geodynamic domains, from northeast to southwest, the Bemarivo, Antongil–Masora, Antananarivo, Ikalamavony, Androyan–Anosyan, and Vohibory domains. Each domain is defined by distinctive...
Trails through time: A geologist's guide to Jefferson County open space parks
John C. Reed
2014, Book
Introduction Jefferson County straddles one of the most conspicuous and important geographic and geologic boundaries in westernNorth America, the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains. To the east you can travel 1,100 miles across Great Plains andCentral Lowlands before you sight the western foothills of the Appalachians. If you...
Mars Global Digital Dune Database (MGD3): Global dune distribution and wind pattern observations
Rosalyn K. Hayward, Lori Fenton, Timothy N. Titus
2014, Icarus (230) 38-46
The Mars Global Digital Dune Database (MGD3) is complete and now extends from 90°N to 90°S latitude. The recently released south pole (SP) portion (MC-30) of MGD3 adds ∼60,000 km2 of medium to large-size dark dune fields and ∼15,000 km2 of sand deposits and smaller dune fields to the previously...
Influence of sex, migration distance, and latitude on life history expression in steelhead and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Haley A. Ohms, Matthew R. Sloat, Gordon H. Reeves, Chris E. Jordan, Jason B. Dunham
2014, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (71) 70-80
Abstract:In partially migratory species, such as Oncorhynchus mykiss, the emergence of life history phenotypes is often attributed to fitness trade-offs associated with growth and survival. Fitness trade-offs can be linked to reproductive tactics that vary between the sexes, as well as the influence of environmental conditions. We found that O....
Groundwater flow cycling between a submarine spring and an inland fresh water spring
J. Hal Davis, Richard Verdi
2014, Ground Water (52) 705-716
Spring Creek Springs and Wakulla Springs are large first magnitude springs that derive water from the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The submarine Spring Creek Springs are located in a marine estuary and Wakulla Springs are located 18 km inland. Wakulla Springs has had a consistent increase in flow from the 1930s to...
Glyphosate and its degradation product AMPA occur frequently and widely in U.S. soils, surface water, groundwater, and precipitation
William A. Battaglin, Michael T. Meyer, Kathryn Kuivila, Julie E. Dietze
2014, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (50) 275-290
Glyphosate use in the United States increased from less than 5,000 to more than 80,000 metric tons/yr between 1987 and 2007. Glyphosate is popular due to its ease of use on soybean, cotton, and corn crops that are genetically modified to tolerate it, utility in no-till farming practices, utility in urban...
History of late Holocene earthquakes at the Willow Creek site on the Nephi segment, Wasatch fault zone, Utah
Anthony J. Crone, Stephen F. Personius, Christopher DuRoss, Michael N. Machette, Shannon A. Mahan
2014, Report
This 43-page report presents new data from the Willow Creek site that provides well-defined and narrow bounds on the times of the three youngest earthquakes on the southern strand of the Nephi segment, Wasatch Fault zone, and refines the time of the youngest earthquake to about 200 years ago. This...
Macroinvertebrate community change associated with the severity of streamflow alteration
Daren M. Carlisle, Ken Eng, S. M. Nelson
2014, River Research and Applications (30) 29-39
Natural streamflows play a critical role in stream ecosystems, yet quantitative relations between streamflow alteration and stream health have been elusive. One reason for this difficulty is that neither streamflow alteration nor ecological responses are measured relative to their natural expectations. We assessed macroinvertebrate community condition in 25 mountain streams...
From streets to streams: Assessing the toxicity potential of urban sediment by particle size
William R. Selbig, Roger T. Bannerman, Steven Corsi
2014, Science of the Total Environment (444) 381-391
Urban sediment can act as a transport mechanism for a variety of pollutants to move towards a receiving water body. The concentrations of these pollutants oftentimes exceed levels that are toxic to aquatic organisms. Many treatment structures are designed to capture coarse sediment but do not work well to similarly...
A method for estimating spatially variable seepage and hydrualic conductivity in channels with very mild slopes
Margaret Shanafield, Richard G. Niswonger, David E. Prudic, Greg Pohll, Richard Susfalk, Sorab Panday
2014, Hydrological Processes (28) 51-61
Infiltration along ephemeral channels plays an important role in groundwater recharge in arid regions. A model is presented for estimating spatial variability of seepage due to streambed heterogeneity along channels based on measurements of streamflow-front velocities in initially dry channels. The diffusion-wave approximation to the Saint-Venant equations, coupled with Philip's...
