Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: an ecosystem-level approach
David Raffaelli, Alan M. Friedlander
Martin Solan, Rebecca J. Aspden, David M. Paterson, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Frameworks, methodologies, and integration
Forecast Mekong 2012: Building scientific capacity
James E. Stefanov
2012, General Information Product 144
In 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton joined the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in launching the Lower Mekong Initiative to enhance U.S. engagement with the countries of the Lower Mekong River Basin in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure. The U.S. Geological...
National Enhanced Elevation Assessment at a glance
Gregory I. Snyder
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3088
Elevation data are essential for hazards mitigation, conservation, infrastructure development, national security, and many other applications. Under the leadership of the U.S. Geological Survey and the member States of the National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), Federal agencies, State agencies, and others work together to acquire high-quality elevation data for the...
Nutrient and suspended-sediment trends, loads, and yields and development of an indicator of streamwater quality at nontidal sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 1985-2010
Michael Langland, Joel Blomquist, Douglas Moyer, Kenneth Hyer
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5093
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) updates information on loads of, and trends in, nutrients and sediment annually to help the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) investigators assess progress toward improving water-quality conditions in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. CBP scientists and managers have worked since 1983 to improve water quality...
Nutrient concentrations and loads in the northeastern United States - Status and trends, 1975-2003
Elaine C. Todd Trench, Richard B. Moore, Elizabeth A. Ahearn, John R. Mullaney, R. Edward Hickman, Gregory E. Schwarz
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5114
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) began regional studies in 2003 to synthesize information on nutrient concentrations, trends, stream loads, and sources. In the northeastern United States, a study area that extends from Maine to central Virginia, nutrient data were evaluated for 130 USGS water-quality monitoring...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary of program direction
Gregory I. Snyder
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3089
The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative responds to a growing need for high-quality topographic data and a wide range of other three-dimensional representations of the Nation's natural and constructed features. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (NEEA), which was completed in 2011, clearly documented this need within government and industry sectors....
Science implementation of Forecast Mekong for food and environmental security
D. Phil Turnipseed
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3086
Forecast Mekong is a significant international thrust under the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (DRAGON) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and was launched in 2009 by the U.S. Department of State and the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam under U.S. Department of State Secretary Hillary...
Field evaluation of distance-estimation error during wetland-dependent bird surveys
Christopher P. Nadeau, Courtney J. Conway
2012, Wildlife Research (39) 311-320
Context: The most common methods to estimate detection probability during avian point-count surveys involve recording a distance between the survey point and individual birds detected during the survey period. Accurately measuring or estimating distance is an important assumption of these methods; however, this assumption is rarely tested in the context...
The new IASPEI standards for determining magnitudes from digital data and their relation to classical magnitudes
Peter Bormann, James W. Dewey
Peter Bormann, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, New Manual of Seismological Observatory Practice 2 (NMSOP-2)
Why there is a need for measurement standards of magnitudes: In October 2005, the Commission on Seismic Observation and Interpretation of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth´s Interior (IASPEI) adopted the summary recommendations made by the IASPEI Working Group on Magnitudes on new measurement standards for widely used local, regional...
Brook trout movement in response to temperature, flow, and thermal refugia within a complex Appalachian riverscape
J. Todd Petty, Jeff L. Hansbarger, Brock M. Huntsman, Patricia M. Mazik
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 1060-1073
We quantified movements of brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta in a complex riverscape characterized by a large, open-canopy main stem and a small, closed-canopy tributary in eastern West Virginia, USA. Our objectives were to quantify the overall rate of trout movement and relate movement behaviors to...
The macroecology of sustainability
Joseph R. Burger, Craig D. Allen, James H. Brown, William R. Burnside, Ana D. Davidson, Trevor S. Fristoe, Marcus J. Hamilton, Norman Mercado-Silva, Jeffrey C. Nekola, Jordan G. Okie, Wenyun Zuo
2012, PLoS Biology (10)
The discipline of sustainability science has emerged in response to concerns of natural and social scientists, policymakers, and lay people about whether the Earth can continue to support human population growth and economic prosperity. Yet, sustainability science has developed largely independently from and with little reference to key ecological principles...
Assessment of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in selected surface water of the National Park Service Northern Colorado Plateau Network, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, from 1972 through 2007
Juliane B. Brown, David P. Thoma
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5043
Nutrients are a nationally recognized concern for water quality of streams, rivers, groundwater, and water bodies. Nutrient impairment is documented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a primary cause of degradation in lakes and reservoirs, and nutrients are related to organic enrichment and oxygen depletion, which is an important...
Hydrologic and landscape database for the Cache and White River National Wildlife Refuges and contributing watersheds in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma
Gary R. Buell, Loren L. Wehmeyer, Daniel L. Calhoun
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1026
A hydrologic and landscape database was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for the Cache River and White River National Wildlife Refuges and their contributing watersheds in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The database is composed of a set of ASCII files,...
Design and maintenance of a network for collecting high-resolution suspended-sediment data at remote locations on rivers, with examples from the Colorado River
Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Topping, Timothy Andrews, Glenn E. Bennett, Thomas A. Sabol, Theodore S. Melis
2012, Techniques and Methods 8-C2
Management of sand and finer sediment in fluvial settings has become increasingly important for reasons ranging from endangered-species habitat to transport of sediment-associated contaminants. In all rivers, some fraction of the suspended load is transported as washload, and some as suspended bed material. Typically, the washload is composed of silt-and-clay-size...
Preserving science for the ages--USGS data rescue
Carol Wippich
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3078
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a steward for over 130 years of rich, diverse natural science and information resources. We document one-of-a-kind observations of natural phenomena and cultural impacts on our changing world. In order for society to deal with national and global trends, the USGS must enable access...
Dynamics of Potamopyrgus antipodarum infestations and seasonal water temperatures in a heavily used recreational watershed in intermountain North America
Christine M. Moffitt, Christopher A. James
2012, Aquatic Invasions (7) 193-202
Following the discovery of New Zealand mudsnails, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, in the Silver Creek watershed in Idaho, we investigated the distribution and dynamics of the snail populations over two years in field surveys. Despite extensive fishing and recreational activities in the watershed, the infestations appeared limited in extent. As with other...
Spatial ecology of refuge selection by an herbivore under risk of predation
Tammy L. Wilson, Andrew P. Rayburn, Thomas C. Edwards Jr.
2012, Ecosphere (3)
Prey species use structures such as burrows to minimize predation risk. The spatial arrangement of these resources can have important implications for individual and population fitness. For example, there is evidence that clustered resources can benefit individuals by reducing predation risk and increasing foraging opportunity concurrently, which leads to higher...
Source parameters of microearthquakes on an interplate asperity off Kamaishi, NE Japan over two earthquake cycles
Naoki Uchida, Toru Matsuzawa, William L. Ellsworth, Kazutoshi Imanishi, Kouhei Shimamura, Akira Hasegawa
2012, Geophysical Journal International (189) 999-1014
We have estimated the source parameters of interplate earthquakes in an earthquake cluster off Kamaishi, NE Japan over two cycles of M~ 4.9 repeating earthquakes. The M~ 4.9 earthquake sequence is composed of nine events that occurred since 1957 which have a strong periodicity (5.5 ± 0.7 yr) and constant...
Rotenone persistence model for montane streams
Peter J. Brown, Alexander V. Zale
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 560-569
The efficient and effective use of rotenone is hindered by its unknown persistence in streams. Environmental conditions degrade rotenone, but current label instructions suggest fortifying the chemical along a stream based on linear distance or travel time rather than environmental conditions. Our objective was to develop models that use measurements...
Regional moisture balance control of landslide motion: implications for landslide forecasting in a changing climate
Jeffrey A. Coe
2012, Geology (40) 323-326
I correlated 12 years of annual movement of 18 points on a large, continuously moving, deep-seated landslide with a regional moisture balance index (moisture balance drought index, MBDI). I used MBDI values calculated from a combination of historical precipitation and air temperature data from A.D. 1895 to 2010, and downscaled...
Analysis of streamflow-gaging network for monitoring stormwater in small streams in the Puget Sound Basin, Washington
Christopher P. Konrad, Frank D. Voss
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5020
The streamflow-gaging network in the Puget Sound basin was analyzed for its capacity to monitor stormwater in small streams. The analysis consisted of an inventory of active and inactive gages and an evaluation of the coverage and resolution of the gaging network with an emphasis on lowland areas. The active...
Magnitude of flood flows for selected annual exceedance probabilities in Rhode Island through 2010
Phillip J. Zarriello, Elizabeth A. Ahearn, Sara B. Levin
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5109
Heavy persistent rains from late February through March 2010 caused severe widespread flooding in Rhode Island that set or nearly set record flows and water levels at many long-term streamgages in the State. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, conducted a study...
Flood-inundation maps for Peachtree Creek from the Norfolk Southern Railway bridge to the Moores Mill Road NW bridge, Atlanta, Georgia
Jonathan W. Musser
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3189
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 5.5-mile reach of the Peachtree Creek from the Norfolk Southern Railway bridge to the Moores Mill Road NW bridge, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Atlanta, Georgia. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS...
Explaining differences between bioaccumulation measurements in laboratory and field data through use of a probabilistic modeling approach
Henriette Selck, Ken Drouillard, Karen Eisenreich, Albert A. Koelmans, Annemette Palmqvist, Anders Ruus, Daniel Salvito, Irv Schultz, A. Robin Stewart, Annie Weisbrod, Nico W. van den Brink, Martine van den Heuvel-Greve
2012, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (8) 42-63
In the regulatory context, bioaccumulation assessment is often hampered by substantial data uncertainty as well as by the poorly understood differences often observed between results from laboratory and field bioaccumulation studies. Bioaccumulation is a complex, multifaceted process, which calls for accurate error analysis. Yet, attempts to quantify and compare propagation...
Northern California Redwood Forests provide important seasonal habitat for migrant bats
Theodore J. Weller, Craig A. Stricker
Richard B. Standiford, Theodore J. Weller, Douglas J. Piirto, John D. Stuart, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Proceedings of coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers; General Technical Report PSW-GTR-238
