Cryptic extinction of a common Pacific lizard Emoia impar (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Hawaiian Islands.
Robert Fisher, Ivan Ineich
2012, Oryx (46) 187-195
Most documented declines of tropical reptiles are of dramatic or enigmatic species. Declines of widespread species tend to be cryptic. The early (1900s) decline and extinction of the common Pacific skink Emoia impar from the Hawaiian Islands is documented here through an assessment of literature, museum vouchers and recent fieldwork....
Streamflow gain and loss and water quality in the upper Nueces River Basin, south-central Texas, 2008-10
J. Ryan Banta, Rebecca B. Lambert, Richard N. Slattery, Darwin J. Ockerman
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5181
The U.S. Geological Survey-in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Nature Conservancy, the Real Edwards Conservation and Reclamation District, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department-investigated streamflow gain and loss and water quality in the upper Nueces River Basin, south-central Texas, specifically in the watersheds of the...
Specific conductance measurements in central and western New York streams - A retrospective characterization
William M. Kappel, Gaylen J. Sinclair, James E. Reddy, David A. Eckhardt, M. Peter deVries, Margaret E. Phillips
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1174
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Rescue Program funds were used to recover data from paper records for 139 streamgages across central and western New York State; 6,133 different streamflow measurement forms, collected between 1970-80, contained field water-quality measurements. The water-quality data were entered, reviewed, and uploaded into the USGS National...
Temporal changes in aquatic-invertebrate and fish assemblages in streams of the north-central and northeastern U.S.
Jonathan G. Kennen, Daniel J. Sullivan, Jason T. May, Amanda H. Bell, Karen M. Beaulieu, Donald E. Rice
2012, Ecological Indicators (18) 312-329
Many management agencies seek to evaluate temporal changes in aquatic assemblages at monitoring sites, but few have sites with ecological time series that are long enough for this purpose. Trends in aquatic-invertebrate and fish assemblage composition were assessed at 27 long-term monitoring sites in the north-central and northeastern United States....
Assessment of groundwater, soil-gas, and soil contamination at the Vietnam Armor Training Facility, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2009-2011
Wladmir B. Guimaraes, W. Fred Falls, Andral W. Caldwell, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn, James Landmeyer
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1160
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, Georgia, assessed the groundwater, soil gas, and soil for contaminants at the Vietnam Armor Training Facility (VATF) at Fort Gordon, from October...
Dissolved organic carbon and chromophoric dissolved organic matter properties of rivers in the USA
Robert G.M. Spencer, Kenna D. Butler, George R. Aiken
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (117)
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) parameters were measured over a range of discharge in 30 U.S. rivers, covering a diverse assortment of fluvial ecosystems in terms of watershed size and landscape drained. Relationships between CDOM absorption at a range of wavelengths (a254, a350, a440)...
Stable isotope deltas: Tiny, yet robust signatures in nature
Willi A. Brand, Tyler B. Coplen
2012, Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies (48) 393-409
Although most of them are relatively small, stable isotope deltas of naturally occurring substances are robust and enable workers in anthropology, atmospheric sciences, biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, food and drug authentication, forensic science, geochemistry, geology, oceanography, and paleoclimatology to study a variety of topics. Two fundamental processes explain the stable...
Trimming the UCERF2 hazard logic tree
Keith A. Porter, Edward H. Field, Kevin Milner
2012, Seismological Research Letters (83) 815-828
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast 2 (UCERF2) is a fully time‐dependent earthquake rupture forecast developed with sponsorship of the California Earthquake Authority (Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities [WGCEP], 2007; Field et al., 2009). UCERF2 contains 480 logic‐tree branches reflecting choices among nine modeling uncertainties in the earthquake rate...
Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2011
Joseph E. Beman
2012, Data Series 714
The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift within the basin. Drinking-water supplies throughout the basin were...
Frequency of nest use by golden eagles in southwestern Idaho
Michael N. Kochert, Karen Steenhof
2012, Journal of Raptor Research (46) 239-247
We studied nest use by Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) from 1966 to 2011 to assess nest reuse within territories, ascertain the length of time that elapses between uses of nests, and test the hypotheses that reproductive success and adult turnover influence nest switching. Golden Eagles used 454 nests in 66...
Guidelines for a graph-theoretic implementation of structural equation modeling
James B. Grace, Donald R. Schoolmaster Jr., Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Amanda M. Little, Brian R. Mitchell, Kathryn M. Miller, E. William Schweiger
2012, Ecosphere (3)
Structural equation modeling (SEM) is increasingly being chosen by researchers as a framework for gaining scientific insights from the quantitative analyses of data. New ideas and methods emerging from the study of causality, influences from the field of graphical modeling, and advances in statistics are expanding the rigor, capability, and...
Unsupervised classification of lidar-based vegetation structure metrics at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Christine J. Kranenburg, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Amar Nayegandhi, John Brock, Robert Woodman
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1096
Traditional vegetation maps capture the horizontal distribution of various vegetation properties, for example, type, species and age/senescence, across a landscape. Ecologists have long known, however, that many important forest properties, for example, interior microclimate, carbon capacity, biomass and habitat suitability, are also dependent on the vertical arrangement of branches and...
Mapping wintering waterfowl distributions using weather surveillance radar
Jeffrey J. Buler, Lori A. Randall, Joseph P. Fleskes, Wylie C. Barrow, Tianna Bogart, Daria Kluver
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The current network of weather surveillance radars within the United States readily detects flying birds and has proven to be a useful remote-sensing tool for ornithological study. Radar reflectivity measures serve as an index to bird density and have been used to quantitatively map landbird distributions during migratory stopover by...
Ecosystem development after mangrove wetland creation: plant-soil change across a 20-year chronosequence
Michael J. Osland, Amanda C. Spivak, Janet A. Nestlerode, Jeannine M. Lessmann, Alejandro E. Almario, Paul T. Heitmuller, Marc J. Russell, Ken W. Krauss, Federico Alvarez, Darrin D. Dantin, James E. Harvey, Andrew S. From, Nicole Cormier, Camille L. Stagg
2012, Ecosystems (15) 848-866
Mangrove wetland restoration and creation efforts are increasingly proposed as mechanisms to compensate for mangrove wetland losses. However, ecosystem development and functional equivalence in restored and created mangrove wetlands are poorly understood. We compared a 20-year chronosequence of created tidal wetland sites in Tampa Bay, Florida (USA) to natural reference...
Groundwater data for selected wells within the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Subbasin, California, 2003-8
Dennis A. Clark, John A. Izbicki, Loren F. Metzger, Rhett R. Everett, Gregory A. Smith, David R. O’Leary, Nicholas F. Teague, Matthew K. Burgess
2012, Data Series 696
Data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 2003 through 2008 in the Eastern San Joaquin Groundwater Subbasin, 80 miles east of San Francisco, California, as part of a study of the increasing chloride concentrations in groundwater processes. Data collected include geologic, geophysical, chemical, and hydrologic data collected during...
Sediment fluxes from California Coastal Rivers: the influences of climate, geology, and topography
E.D. Andrews, Ronald C. Antweiler
2012, Journal of Geology (120) 349-366
The influences of geologic and climatic factors on erosion and sedimentation processes in rivers draining the western flank of the California Coast Range are assessed. Annual suspended, bedload, and total sediment fluxes were determined for 16 river basins that have hydrologic records covering all or most of the period from...
Effects of wildfire on source-water quality and aquatic ecosystems, Colorado Front Range
Jeffrey H. Writer, R. Blaine McCleskey, Sheila F. Murphy
Mike Stone, Adrian Collins, Martin C. Thoms, editor(s)
2012, IAHS Red Book 354
Watershed erosion can dramatically increase after wildfire, but limited research has evaluated the corresponding influence on source-water quality. This study evaluated the effects of the Fourmile Canyon wildfire (Colorado Front Range, USA) on source-water quality and aquatic ecosystems using high- frequency sampling. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nutrient loads in...
Methods of analysis-Determination of pesticides in sediment using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry
Michelle Hladik, Megan M. McWayne
2012, Techniques and Methods 5-C3
A method for the determination of 119 pesticides in environmental sediment samples is described. The method was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in support of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The pesticides included in this method were chosen through prior prioritization. Herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides along...
Candidatus Renichlamydia lutjani, a Gram-negative bacterium in internal organs of blue striped snapper Lutjanus kasmira from Hawaii
Daniele Corsaro, Thierry M. Work
2012, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (98) 249-254
The blue-striped snapper Lutjanus kasmira (Perciformes, Lutjanidae) are cosmopolitan in the Indo-Pacific but were introduced into Oahu, Hawaii, USA, in the 1950s and have since colonized most of the archipelago. Studies of microparasites in blue-striped snappers from Hawaii revealed chlamydia-like organisms (CLO) infecting the spleen and kidney, characterized by intracellular basophilic...
Freedom of Information Act
D.J. Newman
2012, Report
The Freedom of Information Act( FOIA), 5 U.S.C.§ 552, as amended, generally provides that any person has a right to request access to Federal agency records. The USGS proactively promotes information disclosure as inherent to its mission of providing objective science to inform decisionmakers and the general public. USGS...
Trends in selected streamflow statistics at 19 long-term streamflow-gaging stations indicative of outflows from Texas to Arkansas, Louisiana, Galveston Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico, 1922-2009
Dana L. Barbie, Loren L. Wehmeyer
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5182
Trends in selected streamflow statistics during 1922-2009 were evaluated at 19 long-term streamflow-gaging stations considered indicative of outflows from Texas to Arkansas, Louisiana, Galveston Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board, evaluated streamflow data from streamflow-gaging stations with more...
Abiotic & biotic responses of the Colorado River to controlled floods at Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, USA
Josh Korman, Ted Melis, Theodore A. Kennedy
2012, River Research and Applications (28) 764-776
Closure of Glen Canyon Dam reduced sand supply to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park by about 94% while its operation has also eroded the park's sandbar habitats. Three controlled floods released from the dam since 1995 suggest that sandbars might be rebuilt and maintained, but only if...
Landscape-level controls on dissolved carbon flux from diverse catchments of the circumboreal
Suzanne Tank, Karen E. Frey, Robert G. Striegl, Peter A. Raymond, R. Max Holmes, James W. McClelland, Bruce J. Peterson
2012, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (26)
While much of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) within rivers is destined for mineralization to CO2, a substantial fraction of riverine bicarbonate (HCO3-) flux represents a CO2 sink, as a result of weathering processes that sequester CO2 as HCO3-. We explored landscape-level controls on DOC and HCO3- flux in subcatchments...
Effects of flow regime on stream turbidity and suspended solids after wildfire, Colorado Front Range
Sheila F. Murphy, R. Blaine McCleskey, Jeffrey H. Writer
Mike Stone, Adrian Collins, Martin C. Thoms, editor(s)
2012, IAHS Red Book 354
Wildfires occur frequently in the Colorado Front Range and can alter the hydrological response of watersheds, yet little information exists on the impact of flow regime and storm events on post-wildfire water quality. The flow regime in the region is characterized by base-flow conditions during much of the year and...
Freedom of Information Act-Employee responsibilities
David J. Newman
2012, General Information Product 140
The Freedom of Information Act( FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, generally provides that any person has a right to request access to Federal agency records. The USGS proactively promotes information disclosure as inherent to its mission of providing objective science to inform decisionmakers and the general public....
