The interactive effects of excess reactive nitrogen and climate change on aquatic ecosystems and water resources of the United States
Jill Baron, E. K. Hall, B. T. Nolan, J. C. Finlay, E. S. Bernhardt, J. A. Harrison, F. Chan, E.W. Boyer
2013, Biogeochemistry (114) 71-92
Nearly all freshwaters and coastal zones of the US are degraded from inputs of excess reactive nitrogen (Nr), sources of which are runoff, atmospheric N deposition, and imported food and feed. Some major adverse effects include harmful algal blooms, hypoxia of fresh and coastal waters, ocean acidification, long-term harm to...
Increasing synchrony of high temperature and low flow in western North American streams: double trouble for coldwater biota?
Ivan Arismendi, Mohammad Safeeq, Sherri L. Johnson, Jason B. Dunham, Roy Haggerty
2013, Hydrobiologia (712) 61-70
Flow and temperature are strongly linked environmental factors driving ecosystem processes in streams. Stream temperature maxima (Tmax_w) and stream flow minima (Qmin) can create periods of stress for aquatic organisms. In mountainous areas, such as western North America, recent shifts toward an earlier spring peak flow and decreases in low...
Sensitivity analysis of lake mass balance in discontinuous permafrost: the example of disappearing Twelvemile Lake, Yukon Flats, Alaska (USA)
S.M. Jepsen, C.I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord, J.R. Rose, B. J. Minsley, B. D. Smith
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 185-200
Many lakes in northern high latitudes have undergone substantial changes in surface area over the last four decades, possibly as a result of climate warming. In the discontinuous permafrost of Yukon Flats, interior Alaska (USA), these changes have been non-uniform across adjacent watersheds, suggesting local controls on lake water budgets....
Effects of linking a soil-water-balance model with a groundwater-flow model
Jennifer S. Stanton, Derek W. Ryter, Steven M. Peterson
2013, Ground Water Journal (51) 613-622
A previously published regional groundwater-flow model in north-central Nebraska was sequentially linked with the recently developed soil-water-balance (SWB) model to analyze effects to groundwater-flow model parameters and calibration results. The linked models provided a more detailed spatial and temporal distribution of simulated recharge based on hydrologic processes, improvement of simulated...
Estimating shaking-induced casualties and building damage for global earthquake events: a proposed modelling approach
Emily So, Robin Spence
2013, Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering (11) 347-363
Recent earthquakes such as the Haiti earthquake of 12 January 2010 and the Qinghai earthquake on 14 April 2010 have highlighted the importance of rapid estimation of casualties after the event for humanitarian response. Both of these events resulted in surprisingly high death tolls, casualties and survivors made homeless. In...
Ecology of zoonotic infectious diseases in bats: current knowledge and future directions
D.T. Hayman, R. A. Bowen, P.M. Cryan, G.F. McCracken, T. J. O'Shea, A.J. Peel, A. Gilbert, C.T. Webb, J.L. Wood
2013, Zoonoses and Public Health (60) 2-21
Bats are hosts to a range of zoonotic and potentially zoonotic pathogens. Human activities that increase exposure to bats will likely increase the opportunity for infections to spill over in the future. Ecological drivers of pathogen spillover and emergence in novel hosts, including humans, involve a complex mixture of processes,...
Environmental factors regulating the recruitment of walleye Sander vitreus and white bass Morone chrysops in irrigation reservoirs
Jason A. DeBoer, Kevin L. Pope, Keith D. Koupal
2013, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (22) 43-54
Understanding the environmental factors that regulate fish recruitment is essential for effective management of fisheries. Generally, first-year survival, and therefore recruitment, is inherently less consistent in systems with high intra- and interannual variability. Irrigation reservoirs display sporadic patterns of annual drawdown, which can pose a substantial challenge to recruitment of...
Using variance components to estimate power in a hierarchically nested sampling design improving monitoring of larval Devils Hole pupfish
Maria C. Dzul, Philip M. Dixon, Michael C. Quist, Stephen J. Dinsomore, Michael R. Bower, Kevin P. Wilson, D. Bailey Gaines
2013, Population Ecology (185) 405-414
We used variance components to assess allocation of sampling effort in a hierarchically nested sampling design for ongoing monitoring of early life history stages of the federally endangered Devils Hole pupfish (DHP) (Cyprinodon diabolis). Sampling design for larval DHP included surveys (5 days each spring 2007–2009), events, and plots. Each...
Coarse-scale movement patterns of a small-bodied fish inhabiting a desert stream
M.C. Dzul, M.C. Quist, S.J. Dinsmore, D.B. Gaines, M.R. Bower
2013, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (28) 27-38
Located on the floor of Death Valley (CA, USA), Salt Creek harbors a single fish species, the Salt Creek pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus salinus, which has adapted to this extremely harsh environment. Salt Creek is fed by an underground spring and is comprised of numerous pools, runs, and marshes that exhibit...
Trends and shifts in streamflow in Hawaii, 1913-2008
Maoya Bassiouni, Delwyn S. Oki
2013, Hydrological Processes (27) 1484-1500
This study addresses a need to document changes in streamflow and base flow (groundwater discharge to streams) in Hawai'i during the past century. Statistically significant long-term (1913-2008) downward trends were detected (using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test) in low-streamflow and base-flow records. These long-term downward trends are likely related to a...
An 80-year record of sediment quality in the lower Mississippi River
Peter C. Van Metre, Arthur J. Horowitz
2013, Hydrological Processes (27) 2438-2448
In 1937, the US Army Corps of Engineers cut through the "neck" of a large meander on the lower Mississippi River (below the confluence with the Ohio River) forming the Caulk Neck cutoff and creating Lake Whittington, a 26-km long oxbow lake, in northern Mississippi. Since 1938, seasonal flooding and...
Intra- and inter-basin mercury comparisons: Importance of basin scale and time-weighted methylmercury estimates
Paul M. Bradley, Celeste A. Journey, Mark E. Bringham, Douglas A. Burns, Daniel T. Button, Karen Riva-Murray
2013, Environmental Pollution (172) 42-52
To assess inter-comparability of fluvial mercury (Hg) observations at substantially different scales, Hg concentrations, yields, and bivariate-relations were evaluated at nested-basin locations in the Edisto River, South Carolina and Hudson River, New York. Differences between scales were observed for filtered methylmercury (FMeHg) in the Edisto (attributed to wetland coverage differences)...
Gonadal abnormalities in frogs (Lithobates spp.) collected from managed wetlands in an agricultural region of Nebraska, USA
Diana M. Papoulias, Matt S. Schwarz, Lourdes Mena
2013, Environmental Pollution (172) 1-8
Nebraska's Rainwater Basin (RWB) provides important wetland habitat for North American migratory birds. Concern exists that pesticide and nutrient runoff from surrounding row-crops enters wetlands degrading water quality and adversely affecting birds and wildlife. Frogs may be especially vulnerable. Plains leopard (Lithobates blairi) metamorphs from RWB wetlands with varying concentrations...
Density and Genetic Structure of Black Bears in Coastal South Carolina
J. Michael Drewry, Frank T. van Manen, Deanna M. Ruth
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 153-164
The role of fire on soil mounds and surface roughness in the Mojave Desert
Christopher E. Soulard, Todd C. Esque, David R. Bedford, Sandra Bond
2013, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (38) 111-121
A fundamental question in arid land management centers on understanding the long-term effects of fire on desert ecosystems. To assess the effects of fire on surface topography, soil roughness, and vegetation, we used terrestrial (ground-based) LiDAR to quantify the differences between burned and unburned surfaces by creating a series of...
Successional stage of biological soil crusts: an accurate indicator of ecohydrological condition
Jayne Belnap, Bradford P. Wilcox, Matthew V. Van Scoyoc, Susan L. Phillips
2013, Ecohydrology (6) 474-482
Biological soil crusts are a key component of many dryland ecosystems. Following disturbance, biological soil crusts will recover in stages. Recently, a simple classification of these stages has been developed, largely on the basis of external features of the crusts, which reflects their level of development (LOD). The classification system...
Toxicity of sediment pore water in Puget Sound (Washington, USA): a review of spatial status and temporal trends
Edward R. Long, R. Scott Carr, James M. Biedenbach, Sandra Weakland, Valerie Partridge, Margaret Dutch
2013, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (185) 755-775
Data from toxicity tests of the pore water extracted from Puget Sound sediments were compiled from surveys conducted from 1997 to 2009. Tests were performed on 664 samples collected throughout all of the eight monitoring regions in the Sound, an area encompassing 2,294.1 km2. Tests were performed with the gametes...
Tradeoffs between homing and habitat quality for spawning site selection by hatchery-origin Chinook salmon
Jeremy M. Cram, Christian E. Torgersen, Ryan S. Klett, George R. Pess, Darran May, Todd N. Pearsons, Andrew H. Dittman
2013, Environmental Biology of Fishes (96) 109-122
Spawning site selection by female salmon is based on complex and poorly understood tradeoffs between the homing instinct and the availability of appropriate habitat for successful reproduction. Previous studies have shown that hatchery-origin Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) released from different acclimation sites return with varying degrees of fidelity to these...
Shovelnose sturgeon spawning in relation to varying discharge treatments in a Missouri River tributary
B.J. Goodman, C.S. Guy, S.L. Camp, W.M. Gardner, K.M. Kappenman, M.A.H. Webb
2013, River Research and Applications (29) 1004-1015
Many lotic fish species use natural patterns of variation in discharge and temperature as spawning cues, and these natural patterns are often altered by river regulation. The effects of spring discharge and water temperature variation on the spawning of shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus have not been well documented. From 2006...
Sediment redistributed by coastal marsh mosquito ditching in Cape May County, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Ronald E. Kirby, Lee E. Widjeskog
2013, Journal of Coastal Research (29) 86-93
Effects of mosquito ditching on salt marsh sediment budgets have not been quantified for lack of sufficient records, but such information is necessary to provide historical context for current management objectives. We were able to do so in Cape May County New Jersey where Mosquito Extermination Commission records reported 1,493,900...
Predicted macroinvertebrate response to water diversion from a montane stream using two-dimensional hydrodynamic models and zero flow approximation
Jeffrey G. Holmquist, Terry J. Waddle
2013, Ecological Indicators (28) 115-124
We used two-dimensional hydrodynamic models for the assessment of water diversion effects on benthic macroinvertebrates and associated habitat in a montane stream in Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada Mountains, CA, USA. We sampled the macroinvertebrate assemblage via Surber sampling, recorded detailed measurements of bed topography and flow, and coupled a...
Vegetation dynamics in response to water inflow rates and fire in a brackish Typha domingensis Pers. marsh in the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico
Lourdes Mexicano, Pamela L. Nagler, Francisco Zamora-Arroyo, Edward P. Glenn
2013, Ecological Engineering (59) 167-175
The Cienega de Santa Clara is a 5600 ha, anthropogenic wetland in the delta of the Colorado River in Mexico. It is the inadvertent creation of the disposal of brackish agricultural waste water from the U.S. into the intertidal zone of the river delta in Mexico, but has become an internationally important wetland for resident and migratory water...
Rejuvenating Pre-GPS era geophysical surveys using The National Map
Michael P. Finn, Thomas G. Shoberg, Paul Stoddard
2013, Journal of Surveying Engineering (138) 57-65
Old geophysical surveys [pre–Global Positioning System (GPS)] stand as valuable, largely untapped sources of scientific data. If data from these surveys were in a format that had reasonable accuracy, availability, and ease of access, they could be more widely used. In this paper, a pre-GPS survey is integrated into a...
Evaluation of potential sources and transport mechanisms of fecal indicator bacteria to beach water, Murphy Park Beach, Door County, Wisconsin
Paul F. Juckem, Steven R. Corsi, Colleen McDermott, Gregory Kleinheinz, Lisa R. Fogarty, Sheridan K. Haack, Heather E. Johnson
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5190
Fecal Indicator Bacteria (FIB) concentrations in beach water have been used for many years as a criterion for closing beaches due to potential health concerns. Yet, current understanding of sources and transport mechanisms that drive FIB occurrence remains insufficient for accurate prediction of closures at many beaches. Murphy Park Beach,...
The role of photogeologic mapping in traverse planning: Lessons from DRATS 2010 activities
James A. Skinner, Corey M. Fortezzo
2013, Acta Astronautica (90) 242-253
We produced a 1:24,000 scale photogeologic map of the Desert Research and Technology Studies (DRATS) 2010 simulated lunar mission traverse area and surrounding environments located within the northeastern part of the San Francisco Volcanic Field (SFVF), north-central Arizona. To mimic an exploratory mission, we approached the region “blindly” by rejecting...
