Influence of monsoon-related riparian phenology on yellow-billed cuckoo habitat selection in Arizona
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Charles van Riper III
2013, Journal of Biogeography (40) 2094-2107
Aim: The western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis), a Neotropical migrant bird, is facing steep population declines in its western breeding grounds owing primarily to loss of native habitat. The favoured esting habitat for the cuckoo in the south-western United States is low-elevation riparian forests and woodlands. Our aim...
Ecological thresholds as a basis for defining management triggers for National Park Service vital signs: case studies for dryland ecosystems
Matthew A. Bowker, Mark E. Miller, R. Travis Belote, Steven L. Garman
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1244
Threshold concepts are used in research and management of ecological systems to describe and interpret abrupt and persistent reorganization of ecosystem properties (Walker and Meyers, 2004; Groffman and others, 2006). Abrupt change, referred to as a threshold crossing, and the progression of reorganization can be triggered by one or more...
Influence of management and precipitation on carbon fluxes in greatplains grasslands
Matthew B. Rigge, Bruce K. Wylie, Li Zhang, Stephen P. Boyte
2013, Ecological Indicators (34) 590-599
Suitable management and sufficient precipitation on grasslands can provide carbon sinks. The net carbon accumulation of a site from the atmosphere, modeled as the Net Ecosystem Productivity (NEP), is a useful means to gauge carbon balance. Previous research has developed methods to integrate flux tower data with satellite biophysical datasets...
Estimating riparian and agricultural evapotranspiration by reference crop evapotranspiration and MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index
Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Uyen Nguyen, Russell Scott, Tania Doody
2013, Remote Sensing (5) 3849-3871
Dryland river basins frequently support both irrigated agriculture and riparian vegetation and remote sensing methods are needed to monitor water use by both crops and natural vegetation in irrigation districts. We developed an algorithm for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution...
InSAR Evidence for an active shallow thrust fault beneath the city of Spokane Washington, USA
Charles W. Wicks Jr., Craig S. Weaver, Paul Bodin, Brian Sherrod
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 1268-1276
In 2001, a nearly five month long sequence of shallow, mostly small magnitude earthquakes occurred beneath the city of Spokane, a city with a population of about 200,000, in the state of Washington. During most of the sequence, the earthquakes were not well located because seismic instrumentation was sparse. Despite...
Foreshocks during the nucleation of stick-slip instability
Gregory C. McLaskey, Brian D. Kilgore
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (118) 2982-2997
We report on laboratory experiments which investigate interactions between aseismic slip, stress changes, and seismicity on a critically stressed fault during the nucleation of stick-slip instability. We monitor quasi-static and dynamic changes in local shear stress and fault slip with arrays of gages deployed along a simulated strike-slip fault (2 m...
Direct and indirect effects of land use on floral resources and flower-visiting insects across an urban landscape
K.C. Matteson, James B. Grace, E.S. Minor
2013, Oikos (122) 682-694
Although urban areas are often considered to have uniformly negative effects on biodiversity, cities are most accurately characterized as heterogeneous mosaics of buildings, streets, parks, and gardens that include both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ areas for wildlife. However, to date, few studies have evaluated how human impacts vary in direction and...
Irrigation trends in Kansas, 1991-2011
Joan F. Kenny, Kyle E. Juracek
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3094
This fact sheet examines trends in total reported irrigation water use and acres irrigated as well as irrigation water use by crop type and system type in Kansas for the years 1991 through 2011. During the 21-year period, total reported irrigation water diversions varied substantially from year to year as...
Survival of mountain quail translocated from two distinct source populations
Ronald J. Troy, Peter S. Coates, John W. Connelly, Gifford Gillette, David J. Delehanty
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 1031-1037
Translocation of mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) to restore viable populations to their former range has become a common practice. Because differences in post-release vital rates between animals from multiple source populations has not been well studied, wildlife and land managers may arbitrarily choose the source population or base the source...
Pathogen exposure and blood chemistry in the Washington population of northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni)
C. LeAnn White, Krysten L. Schuler, Nancy J. Thomas, Julie L. Webb, Jeremiah T. Saliki, S. Ip, J. P. Dubey, Elizabeth R. Frame
2013, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (49) 867-899
Northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) from Washington State, United States were evaluated in 2011 to determine health status and pathogen exposure. Antibodies to Brucella spp. (10%) and influenza A virus (23%) were detected for the first time in this population in 2011. Changes in clinical pathology values (serum chemistries),...
Low copper and high manganese levels in prion protein plaques
Christopher J. Johnson, P.U.P.A. Gilbert, Mike Abrecth, Katherine L. Baldwin, Robin E. Russell, Joel A. Pedersen, Debbie McKenzie
2013, Viruses (5) 654-662
Accumulation of aggregates rich in an abnormally folded form of the prion protein characterize the neurodegeneration caused by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). The molecular triggers of plaque formation and neurodegeneration remain unknown, but analyses of TSE-infected brain homogenates and preparations enriched for abnormal prion protein suggest that reduced levels of...
Can reliable sage-grouse lek counts be obtained using aerial infrared technology
Gifford L. Gillette, Peter S. Coates, Steven Petersen, John P. Romero
2013, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (4)
More effective methods for counting greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are needed to better assess population trends through enumeration or location of new leks. We describe an aerial infrared technique for conducting sage-grouse lek counts and compare this method with conventional ground-based lek count methods. During the breeding period in 2010...
Chuckwalla Valley multiple-well monitoring site, Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County
Rhett R. Everett
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1221
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, is evaluating the geohydrology and water availability of the Chuckwalla Valley, California. As part of this evaluation, the USGS installed the Chuckwalla Valley multiple-well monitoring site (CWV1) in the southeastern portion of the Chuckwalla Basin. Data collected...
A computational- And storage-cloud for integration of biodiversity collections
A. Matsunaga, A. Thompson, R. J. Figueiredo, C.C Germain-Aubrey, M. Collins, R.S Beeman, B.J. Macfadden, G. Riccardi, P.S Soltis, L. M. Page, J.A.B Fortes
2013, Conference Paper, Proceedings - IEEE 9th International Conference on e-Science, e-Science 2013
A core mission of the Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) project is the building and deployment of a cloud computing environment customized to support the digitization workflow and integration of data from all U.S. nonfederal biocollections. iDigBio chose to use cloud computing technologies to deliver a cyberinfrastructure that is flexible, agile,...
Deriving Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Standards
Peter J. Tango, Richard A. Batiuk
2013, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (49) 1007-1024
Achieving and maintaining the water quality conditions necessary to protect the aquatic living resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries has required a foundation of quantifiable water quality criteria. Quantitative criteria serve as a critical basis for assessing the attainment of designated uses and measuring progress toward meeting...
Evaluation of Pleistocene groundwater flow through fractured tuffs using a U-series disequilibrium approach, Pahute Mesa, Nevada, USA
James B. Paces, Paul J. Nichols, Leonid A. Neymark, Harihar Rajaram
2013, Chemical Geology (358) 101-118
Groundwater flow through fractured felsic tuffs and lavas at the Nevada National Security Site represents the most likely mechanism for transport of radionuclides away from underground nuclear tests at Pahute Mesa. To help evaluate fracture flow and matrix–water exchange, we have determined U-series isotopic compositions on more than 40...
Pregnancy rates in central Yellowstone bison
Peter J. Gogan, Robin E. Russell, Edward M. Olexa, Kevin M. Podruzny
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 1271-1279
Plains bison (Bison b. bison) centered on Yellowstone National Park are chronically infected with brucellosis (Brucella abortus) and culled along the park boundaries to reduce the probability of disease transmission to domestic livestock. We evaluated the relationship between pregnancy rates and age, dressed carcass weight, and serological status for brucellosis...
Recreational water quality response to a filtering barrier at a Great Lakes beach
Kasia Przybyla-Kelly, Meredith Nevers, Cathy Breitenbach, Richard L. Whitman
2013, Journal of Environmental Management (129) 635-641
Recent research has sought to determine the off- or onshore origin of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in order to improve local recreational water quality. In an effort to reduce offshore contamination, a filtering barrier (FB) was installed at Calumet Beach, Lake Michigan, Chicago, IL. A horseshoe-shaped curtain (146 m long,...
Detecting channel riparian vegetation response to best-management-practices implementation in ephemeral streams with the use of spot high-resolution visible imagery
Kendall Vande Kamp, Matthew B. Rigge, Nels H. Troelstrup Jr., Alexander J. Smart, Bruce Wylie
2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management (66) 63-70
Heavily grazed riparian areas are commonly subject to channel incision, a lower water table, and reduced vegetation, resulting in sediment delivery above normal regimes. Riparian and in-channel vegetation functions as a roughness element and dissipates flow energy, maintaining stable channel geometry. Ash Creek, a tributary of the Bad River in...
Can shale safely host US nuclear waste?
C. E. Neuzil
2013, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (94) 261-262
"Even as cleanup efforts after Japan’s Fukushima disaster offer a stark reminder of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stored at nuclear plants worldwide, the decision in 2009 to scrap Yucca Mountain as a permanent disposal site has dimmed hope for a repository for SNF and other high-level nuclear waste (HLW)...
A new species of Helobdella (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae) from Oregon
William E. Moser, Steven V. Fend, Dennis J. Richardson, Charlette I. Hammond, Eric A. Lazo-Wasem, Fredric R. Govedich, Bettina S. Gullo
2013, Zootaxa (3718) 287-294
Helobdella bowermani n. sp. is described from specimens collected in fine sediment of open water benthos of Upper Klamath Lake, Klamath County, Oregon. The new species has pale yellow/buff coloration with scattered chromatophore blotches throughout the dorsal surface, lateral extensions or papillae only on the a2 annulus, dorsal medial row...
The influence of geomorphology on the role of women at artisanal and small-scale mine sites
Katherine C. Malpeli, Peter G. Chirico
2013, Natural Resources Forum (37) 43-54
The geologic and geomorphic expressions of a mineral deposit determine its location, size, and accessibility, characteristics which in turn greatly influence the success of artisans mining the deposit. Despite this critical information, which can be garnered through studying the surficial physical expression of a deposit, the geologic and geomorphic sciences...
Comparison of a karst groundwater model with and without discrete conduit flow
Stephen P. Saller, Michael J. Ronayne, Andrew J. Long
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1555-1566
Karst aquifers exhibit a dual flow system characterized by interacting conduit and matrix domains. This study evaluated the coupled continuum pipe-flow framework for modeling karst groundwater flow in the Madison aquifer of western South Dakota (USA). Coupled conduit and matrix flow was simulated within a regional finite-difference model over a...
Effects of incubation substrates on hatch timing and success of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) embryos
Michael J. Parsley, Eric Kofoot
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5180
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1994 because several decades of failed spawning had put the population at risk of extinction. Natural spawning is known to occur at several locations in the Kootenai River, Idaho, but there is little...
The type localities of the mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817), and the Kansas white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus macrourus (Rafinesque, 1817), are not where we thought they were
Neal Woodman
2013, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (126) 187-198
Among the iconic mammals of the North American West is the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). This species and a western subspecies of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus macrourus) were two of seven mammals originally named and described as new species in 1817 by Constantine S. Rafinesque. Rafinesque never saw the...
