Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) Program Summary Report: Data and Analyses 2006 through 2010
Jack L. Kindinger, Noreen A. Buster, James G. Flocks, Julie Bernier, Mark A. Kulp
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1083
The Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program was implemented under the Louisiana Coastal Area Science and Technology (LCA S&T) office as a component of the System Wide Assessment and Monitoring (SWAMP) program. The BICM project was developed by the State of Louisiana (Coastal Protection Restoration Authority [CPRA], formerly Department of...
Construction of a 3-arcsecond digital elevation model for the Gulf of Maine
Erin R. Twomey, Richard P. Signell
2013, Open-File Report 2011-1127
A system-wide description of the seafloor topography is a basic requirement for most coastal oceanographic studies. The necessary detail of the topography obviously varies with application, but for many uses, a nominal resolution of roughly 100 m is sufficient. Creating a digital bathymetric grid with this level of resolution can...
Digital database of the Holocene tephras of the Mono-Inyo Craters, California
Marcus Bursik, Kerry Sieh
2013, Data Series 758
This digital product comprises a collection of age and isopach data for the Holocene tephras of the Mono-Inyo Craters, California. Data on the most recent eruptions from this volcanic chain are relatively comprehensive, getting less so the further back in time. For the most recent eruptions to about 1,500 years...
Thermal sensitivity of immune function: evidence against a generalist-specialist trade-off among endothermic and ectothermic vertebrates
Michael W. Butler, Zachary R. Stahlschmidt, Daniel R. Ardia, Scott Davies, Jon Davis, Louis J. Guillette Jr., Nicholas Johnson, Stephen D. McCormick, Kevin J. McGraw, Dale F. DeNardo
2013, American Naturalist (181) 761-774
Animal body temperature (Tbody) varies over daily and annual cycles, affecting multiple aspects of biological performance in both endothermic and ectothermic animals. Yet a comprehensive comparison of thermal performance among animals varying in Tbody (mean and variance) and heat production is lacking. Thus, we examined the thermal sensitivity of immune...
County-level estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure for the conterminous United States, 2002
David K. Mueller, Jo Ann M. Gronberg
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1065
County-level nitrogen and phosphorus inputs from animal manure for the conterminous United States for 2002 were estimated from animal populations from the 2002 Census of Agriculture by using methods described in U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5012. These estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure were compiled in...
Methods, quality assurance, and data for assessing atmospheric deposition of pesticides in the Central Valley of California
Celia Zamora, Michael S. Majewski, William T. Foreman
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5023
The U.S. Geological Survey monitored atmospheric deposition of pesticides in the Central Valley of California during two studies in 2001 and 2002–04. The 2001 study sampled wet deposition (rain) and storm-drain runoff in the Modesto, California, area during the orchard dormant-spray season to examine the contribution of pesticide concentrations to...
A test of critical thresholds and their indicators in a desertification-prone ecosystem: more resilience than we thought
Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Michael C. Duniway, Darren K. James, Laura M. Burkett, Kris M. Havstad
2013, Ecology Letters (16) 339-345
Theoretical models predict that drylands can cross critical thresholds, but experimental manipulations to evaluate them are non-existent. We used a long-term (13-year) pulse-perturbation experiment featuring heavy grazing and shrub removal to determine if critical thresholds and their determinants can be demonstrated in Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. We asked if cover values...
Ambient conditions and fate and transport simulations of dissolved solids, chloride, and sulfate in Beaver Lake, Arkansas, 2006--10
W. Reed Green
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5019
Beaver Lake is a large, deep-storage reservoir located in the upper White River Basin in northwestern Arkansas, and was completed in 1963 for the purposes of flood control, hydroelectric power, and water supply. Beaver Lake is affected by point and nonpoint sources of minerals, nutrients, and sediments. The City of...
Forecasting the impact of storm waves and sea-level rise on Midway Atoll and Laysan Island within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument—a comparison of passive versus dynamic inundation models
Curt D. Storlazzi, Paul Berkowitz, Michelle H. Reynolds, Joshua B. Logan
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1069
Two inundation events in 2011 underscored the potential for elevated water levels to damage infrastructure and affect terrestrial ecosystems on the low-lying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The goal of this study was to compare passive "bathtub" inundation models based on geographic information systems (GIS) to...
California State Waters Map Series — Offshore of Ventura, California
Samuel Y. Johnson, Peter Dartnell, Guy R. Cochrane, Nadine E. Golden, Eleyne L. Phillips, Andrew C. Ritchie, Rikk G. Kvitek, H. Gary Greene, Lisa M. Krigsman, Charles A. Endris, Gordon G. Seitz, Carlos I. Gutierrez, Ray W. Sliter, Mercedes D. Erdey, Florence L. Wong, Mary M. Yoklavich, Amy E. Draut, Patrick E. Hart
Samuel Y. Johnson, Susan A. Cochran, editor(s)
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3254
In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration,...
Emergent sandbar dynamics in the lower Platte River in eastern Nebraska: methods and results of pilot study, 2011
Jason S. Alexander, Devin M. Schultze, Ronald B. Zelt
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5031
The lower Platte River corridor provides important habitats for two State- and federally listed bird species: the interior least tern (terns; Sternula antillarum athallassos) and the piping plover (plovers; Charadrius melodus). However, many of the natural morphological and hydrological characteristics of the Platte River have been altered substantially by water...
A quantitative assessment of the conservation benefits of the Wetlands Reserve Program to amphibians
J. Hardin Waddle, Brad M. Glorioso, Stephen P. Faulkner
2013, Restoration Ecology (21) 200-206
The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) originally consisted of nearly contiguous bottomland hardwood (BLH) forest encompassing approximately 10 million hectares. Currently, only 20–25% of the historical BLH forests remain in small patches fragmented by agricultural lands. The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was established to restore and protect the functions and values...
Avian influenza in shorebirds: experimental infection of ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres) with avian influenza virus
Jeffrey S. Hall, Scott Krauss, J. Christian Franson, Joshua L. TeSlaa, Sean W. Nashold, David E. Stallknecht, Richard J. Webby, Robert G. Webster
2013, Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses (7) 85-92
Background: Low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (LPAIV) have been reported in shorebirds, especially at Delaware Bay, USA, during spring migration. However, data on patterns of virus excretion, minimal infectious doses, and clinical outcome are lacking. The ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is the shorebird species with the highest prevalence of influenza...
Use of surrogate technologies to estimate suspended sediment in the Clearwater River, Idaho, and Snake River, Washington, 2008-10
Molly S. Wood, Gregg N. Teasdale
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5052
Elevated levels of fluvial sediment can reduce the biological productivity of aquatic systems, impair freshwater quality, decrease reservoir storage capacity, and decrease the capacity of hydraulic structures. The need to measure fluvial sediment has led to the development of sediment surrogate technologies, particularly in locations where streamflow alone is not...
Characterizing the thermal suitability of instream habitat for salmonids: A cautionary example from the Rocky Mountains
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Seth J. Wegner, Daniel J. Isaak, Jeffrey L. Kershner
2013, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (142) 793-801
Understanding a species’ thermal niche is becoming increasingly important for management and conservation within the context of global climate change, yet there have been surprisingly few efforts to compare assessments of a species’ thermal niche across methods. To address this uncertainty, we evaluated the differences in model performance and interpretations...
Adaptive management of flows from dams: a win-win framework for water users
Elise R. Irwin
2013, Book chapter, Auburn Speaks: On Water
Alabama is blessed with more than 77,000 miles of rivers and streams that carve through the terrestrial landscape of the state. When you think about it, every road you drive on crosses a river and many of our major cities are located on the bank of a river....
Association of toxin-producing Clostridium botulinum with the macroalga Cladophora in the Great Lakes
Chan Lan Chun, Urs Ochsner, Muruleedhara N. Byappanahalli, Richard L. Whitman, William H. Tepp, Guangyun Lin, Eric A. Johnson, Julie Peller, Michael J. Sadowsky
2013, Environmental Science & Technology (47) 2587-2594
Avian botulism, a paralytic disease of birds, often occurs on a yearly cycle and is increasingly becoming more common in the Great Lakes. Outbreaks are caused by bird ingestion of neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum, a spore-forming, gram-positive, anaerobe. The nuisance, macrophytic, green alga Cladophora (Chlorophyta; mostly Cladophora glomerata L.)...
Effects of past and future groundwater development on the hydrologic system of Verde Valley, Arizona
Bradley D. Garner, D. R. Pool
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3016
Communities in central Arizona’s Verde Valley must manage limited water supplies in the face of rapidly growing populations. Developing groundwater resources to meet human needs has raised questions about the effects of groundwater withdrawals by pumping on the area’s rivers and streams, particularly the Verde River. U.S. Geological Survey hydrologists...
Map of assessed shale gas in the United States, 2012
U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, Laura R. H. Biewick (compiler)
2013, Data Series 69-Z
The U.S. Geological Survey has compiled a map of shale-gas assessments in the United States that were completed by 2012 as part of the National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey quantitatively estimated potential volumes of undiscovered gas within shale-gas assessment...
Human effects on the hydrologic system of the Verde Valley, central Arizona, 1910–2005 and 2005–2110, using a regional groundwater flow model
Bradley D. Garner, D. R. Pool, Fred D. Tillman, Brandon T. Forbes
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5029
Water budgets were developed for the Verde Valley of central Arizona in order to evaluate the degree to which human stresses have affected the hydrologic system and might affect it in the future. The Verde Valley is a portion of central Arizona wherein concerns have been raised about water availability,...
Assessment of spectral band impact on intercalibration over desert sites using simulation based on EO-1 Hyperion data
P. Henry, G. Chander, B. Fougnie, C. Thomas, Xiaoxiong Xiong
2013, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (51) 1297-1308
Since the beginning of the 1990s, stable desert sites have been used for the calibration monitoring of many different sensors. Many attempts at sensor intercalibration have been also conducted using these stable desert sites. As a result, site characterization techniques and the quality of intercalibration techniques have gradually improved over...
Automated cloud and shadow detection and filling using two-date Landsat imagery in the United States
Suming Jin, Collin G. Homer, Limin Yang, George Xian, Joyce Fry, Patrick Danielson, Philip A. Townsend
2013, International Journal of Remote Sensing (34) 1540-1560
A simple, efficient, and practical approach for detecting cloud and shadow areas in satellite imagery and restoring them with clean pixel values has been developed. Cloud and shadow areas are detected using spectral information from the blue, shortwave infrared, and thermal infrared bands of Landsat Thematic Mapper or Enhanced Thematic...
Simplified stratigraphic cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
John D. Dietrich, Ronald C. Johnson
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1012
Thirteen stratigraphic cross sections of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado are presented in this report. Originally published in a much larger and more detailed form by Self and others (2010), they are shown here in simplified, page-size versions that are easily accessed and...
Pesticides in Wyoming Groundwater, 2008-10
Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Timothy T. Bartos, Michelle L. Taylor
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5064
Groundwater samples were collected from 296 wells during 1995-2006 as part of a baseline study of pesticides in Wyoming groundwater. In 2009, a previous report summarized the results of the baseline sampling and the statistical evaluation of the occurrence of pesticides in relation to selected natural and anthropogenic (human-related) characteristics....
An evaluation of liquid ammonia (ammonium hydroxide) as a candidate piscicide
David L. Ward, R. Morton-Starner, Shaula J. Hedwall
2013, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (33) 400-405
Eradication of populations of nonnative aquatic species for the purpose of reintroducing native fish is often difficult because very few effective tools are available for removing aquatic organisms. This creates the need to evaluate new chemicals that could be used as management tools for native fish conservation. Ammonia is a...
