An integrated multi-criteria scenario evaluation web tool for participatory land-use planning in urbanized areas: The Ecosystem Portfolio Model
Bill Labiosa, William M. Forney, Hearn Jr., Dianna M. Hogan, David R. Strong, Eric D. Swain, Ann-Margaret Esnard, D. Mitsova-Boneva, R. Bernknopf, Leonard Pearlstine, Hugh Gladwin
2013, Environmental Modelling and Software
Land-use land-cover change is one of the most important and direct drivers of changes in ecosystem functions and services. Given the complexity of the decision-making, there is a need for Internet-based decision support systems with scenario evaluation capabilities to help planners, resource managers and communities visualize, compare and consider trade-offs...
Long-term groundwater contamination after source removal—The role of sorbed carbon and nitrogen on the rate of reoxygenation of a treated-wastewater plume on Cape Cod, MA, USA
Richard L. Smith, Deborah A. Repert, Larry B. Barber, Denis R. LeBlanc
2013, Chemical Geology (337-338) 38-47
The consequences of groundwater contamination can remain long after a contaminant source has been removed. Documentation of natural aquifer recoveries and empirical tools to predict recovery time frames and associated geochemical changes are generally lacking. This study characterized the long-term natural attenuation of a groundwater contaminant plume in a sand...
Determination of flow losses in the Cape Fear River between B. Everett Jordan Lake and Lillington, North Carolina, 2008-2010
J. Curtis Weaver, Kristen Bukowski McSwain
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5226
During 2008-2010, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a hydrologic investigation in cooperation with the Triangle J Council of Governments Cape Fear River Flow Study Committee and the North Carolina Division of Water Resources to collect hydrologic data in the Cape Fear River between B. Everett Jordan Lake and Lillington in...
Detecting insect pollinator declines on regional and global scales
Gretchen Lubuhn, Sam Droege, Edward F. Connor, Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Simon G. Potts, Robert L. Minckley, Terry Griswold, Robert Jean, Emanuel Kula, David W. Roubik, Jim Cane, Karen W. Wright, Gordon Frankie, Frank Parker
2013, Conservation Biology (27) 113-120
Recently there has been considerable concern about declines in bee communities in agricultural and natural habitats. The value of pollination to agriculture, provided primarily by bees, is >$200 billion/year worldwide, and in natural ecosystems it is thought to be even greater. However, no monitoring program exists to accurately detect declines...
Abstracts for the October 2012 meeting on Volcanism in the American Southwest, Flagstaff, Arizona
Jacob B. Lowenstern
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1026
Though volcanic eruptions are comparatively rare in the American Southwest, the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah host Holocene volcanic eruption deposits and are vulnerable to future volcanic activity. Compared with other parts of the western United States, comparatively little research has been focused on this area,...
Hydrogeomorphology influences soil nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization in floodplain wetlands
Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp, Nancy B. Rybicki
2013, Ecosystems (16) 75-94
Conceptual models of river–floodplain systems and biogeochemical theory predict that floodplain soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) mineralization should increase with hydrologic connectivity to the river and thus increase with distance downstream (longitudinal dimension) and in lower geomorphic units within the floodplain (lateral dimension). We measured rates of in situ...
Impacts of post-harvest slash and live-tree retention on biomass and nutrient stocks in Populus tremuloides Michx.-dominated forests, northern Minnesota, USA
Paul A. Klockow, Anthony W. D’Amato, John B. Bradford
2013, Forest Ecology and Management (291) 278-288
Globally, there is widespread interest in using forest-derived biomass as a source of bioenergy. While conventional timber harvesting generally removes only merchantable tree boles, harvesting biomass feedstock can remove all forms of woody biomass (i.e., live and dead standing woody vegetation, downed woody debris, and stumps) resulting in a greater...
Persistence and changes in bioavailability of dieldrin, DDE and heptachlor epoxide in earthworms over 45 years
W. Nelson Beyer, Robert W. Gale
2013, Ambio (42) 83-89
The finding of dieldrin (88 ng/g), DDE (52 ng/g), and heptachlor epoxide (19 ng/g) in earthworms from experimental plots after a single moderate application (9 kg/ha) 45 years earlier attests to the remarkable persistence of these compounds in soil and their continued uptake by soil organisms. Half-lives (with 95 %...
Structure and development of old-growth, unmanaged second-growth, and extended rotation Pinus resinosa forests in Minnesota, USA
Emily J. Silver, Anthony W. D’Amato, Shawn Fraver, Brian J. Palik, John B. Bradford
2013, Forest Ecology and Management (291) 110-118
The structure and developmental dynamics of old-growth forests often serve as important baselines for restoration prescriptions aimed at promoting more complex structural conditions in managed forest landscapes. Nonetheless, long-term information on natural patterns of development is rare for many commercially important and ecologically widespread forest types. Moreover, the effectiveness of...
Strategies for minimizing sample size for use in airborne LiDAR-based forest inventory
Virpi Junttila, Andrew O. Finley, John B. Bradford, Tuomo Kauranne
2013, Forest Ecology and Management (292) 75-85
Recently airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) has emerged as a highly accurate remote sensing modality to be used in operational scale forest inventories. Inventories conducted with the help of LiDAR are most often model-based, i.e. they use variables derived from LiDAR point clouds as the predictive variables that are...
Molecular techniques to distinguish morphologically similar Hydrilla verticillata, Egeria densa, Elodea nuttallii, and Elodea canadensis
Nancy B. Rybicki, Julie D. Kirshtein, Mary A. Voytek
2013, Journal of Aquatic Plant Management (51) 94-102
The four submerged aquatic species, hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata [monoecious and dioecious]), Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa), Canadian waterweed (Elodea canadensis), and western waterweed (Elodea nuttallii), are difficult to positively identify because of their morphological similarity to each other, resulting in possible misidentification. This limits our ability to understand their past and...
Prediction, time variance, and classification of hydraulic response to recharge in two karst aquifers
Andrew J. Long, Barbara Mahler
2013, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (17) 281-294
Many karst aquifers are rapidly filled and depleted and therefore are likely to be susceptible to changes in short-term climate variability. Here we explore methods that could be applied to model site-specific hydraulic responses, with the intent of simulating these responses to different climate scenarios from high-resolution climate models. We...
Groundwater quality and the relation between pH values and occurrence of trace elements and radionuclides in water samples collected from private wells in part of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma Jurisdictional Area, central Oklahoma, 2011
Carol Becker
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5253
From 1999 to 2007, the Indian Health Service reported that gross alpha-particle activities and concentrations of uranium exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Levels for public drinking-water supplies in water samples from six private wells and two test wells in a rural residential neighborhood in the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma Jurisdictional Area,...
Quaternary geologic map of the Shelby 1° x 2° quadrangle, Montana
David S. Fullerton, Roger B. Colton, Charles A. Bush
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1170
The Shelby quadrangle encompasses approximately 16,084 km2 (6,210 mi2). The northern boundary is the Montana/Saskatchewan (U.S./Canada) boundary. The quadrangle is in the Northern Plains physiographic province and it includes the Sweet Grass Hills. The primary river is the Marias River. The ancestral Missouri River was diverted south of the Bearpaw...
Electron donor concentrations in sediments and sediment properties at the agricultural chemicals team research site near New Providence, Iowa, 2006-07
Bijesh Maharjan, Scott F. Korom, Erik A. Smith
2013, Data Series 737
The concentrations of electron donors in aquifer sediments are important to the understanding of the fate and transport of redox-sensitive constituents in groundwater, such as nitrate. For a study by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 50 sediment samples were collected from below the water table from 11...
Development of a database-driven system for simulating water temperature in the lower Yakima River main stem, Washington, for various climate scenarios
Frank Voss, Alec Maule
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1010
A model for simulating daily maximum and mean water temperatures was developed by linking two existing models: one developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and one developed by the Bureau of Reclamation. The study area included the lower Yakima River main stem between the Roza Dam and West Richland, Washington....
Impacts of climate, lake size, and supra- and sub-permafrost groundwater flow on lake-talik evolution, Yukon Flats, Alaska (USA)
Tristan Wellman, Clifford I. Voss, Michelle Ann Walvoord
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 281-298
In cold regions, hydrologic systems possess seasonal and perennial ice-free zones (taliks) within areas of permafrost that control and are enhanced by groundwater flow. Simulation of talik development that follows lake formation in watersheds modeled after those in the Yukon Flats of interior Alaska (USA) provides insight on the coupled...
Controls on the deposition and preservation of the Cretaceous Mowry Shale and Frontier Formation and equivalents, Rocky Mountain region, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming
Mark A. Kirschbaum, Tracey J. Mercier
2013, AAPG Bulletin (97) 899-921
Regional variations in thickness and facies of clastic sediments are controlled by geographic location within a foreland basin. Preservation of facies is dependent on the original accommodation space available during deposition and ultimately by tectonic modification of the foreland in its postthrusting stages. The preservation of facies within the foreland...
Bedrock topography of western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, based on bedrock altitudes from geologic borings and analysis of ambient seismic noise by the horizontal-to-vertical spectral-ratio method
Gillian M. Fairchild, John W. Lane Jr., Emily B. Voytek, Denis R. LeBlanc
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3233
This report presents a topographic map of the bedrock surface beneath western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, that was prepared for use in groundwater-flow models of the Sagamore lens of the Cape Cod aquifer. The bedrock surface of western Cape Cod had been characterized previously through seismic refraction surveys and borings drilled...
Implications for future survival of delta smelt from four climate change scenarios for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California
Larry R. Brown, William A. Bennett, R. Wayne Wagner, Tara Morgan-King, Noah Knowles, Frederick Feyrer, David H. Schoellhamer, Mark T. Stacey, Mike Dettinger
2013, Estuaries and Coasts (36) 754-774
Changes in the position of the low salinity zone, a habitat suitability index, turbidity, and water temperature modeled from four 100-year scenarios of climate change were evaluated for possible effects on delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus, which is endemic to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. The persistence of delta smelt in much...
Simulated effects of Lower Floridan aquifer pumping on the Upper Floridan aquifer at Pooler, Chatham County, Georgia
Gregory S. Cherry, John S. Clarke
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5004
A revised regional groundwater-flow model was used to assess the potential effects on the Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA) of pumping the Lower Floridan aquifer (LFA) from a new well (35Q069) located at the City of Pooler in coastal Georgia near Savannah. The spatial resolution of the original regional, steady-state, groundwater-flow...
Concentrations of elements in fish fillets, fish muscle plugs, and crayfish from the 2011 Missouri Department of Conservation general contaminant monitoring program
Thomas W. May, Michael J. Walther, William G. Brumbaugh, Michael J. McKee
2013, Open-File Report 2012-1268
This report presents the results of a contaminant monitoring survey conducted annually by the Missouri Department of Conservation to examine the levels of selected elemental contaminants in fish fillets, fish muscle plugs, and crayfish. Fillet samples of yellow bullhead (Ameiurus natalis), golden redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum), longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis), and...
Description of input and examples for PHREEQC version 3: A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical calculations
David L. Parkhurst, C.A.J. Appelo
2013, Techniques and Methods 6-A43
PHREEQC version 3 is a computer program written in the C and C++ programming languages that is designed to perform a wide variety of aqueous geochemical calculations. PHREEQC implements several types of aqueous models: two ion-association aqueous models (the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory model and WATEQ4F), a Pitzer specific-ion-interaction aqueous...
The Greenville Fault: preliminary estimates of its long-term creep rate and seismic potential
James J. Lienkaemper, Robert G. Barry, Forrest E. Smith, Joseph D. Mello, Forrest S. McFarland
2013, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (103) 2729-2738
Once assumed locked, we show that the northern third of the Greenville fault (GF) creeps at 2 mm/yr, based on 47 yr of trilateration net data. This northern GF creep rate equals its 11-ka slip rate, suggesting a low strain accumulation rate. In 1980, the GF, easternmost strand of the...
Nutrient cycling, connectivity, and free-floating plant abundance in backwater lakes of the Upper Mississippi River
Jeffrey N. Houser, Shawn M. Giblin, William F. James, H.A. Langrehr, James T. Rogala, John F. Sullivan, Brian R. Gray
2013, River Systems (21) 71-89
River eutrophication may cause the formation of dense surface mats of free floating plants (FFP; e.g., duckweeds and filamentous algae) which may adversely affect the ecosystem. We investigated associations among hydraulic connectivity to the channel, nutrient cycling, FFP, submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) in ten backwater...
