Carbon stocks across a chronosequence of thinned and unmanaged red pine (Pinus resinosa) stands
Matthew D. Powers, Randall K. Kolka, John B. Bradford, Brian J. Palik, Shawn Fraver, Martin F. Jurgensen
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1297-1307
Forests function as a major global C sink, and forest management strategies that maximize C stocks offer one possible means of mitigating the impacts of increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. We studied the effects of thinning, a common management technique in many forest types, on age-related trends in C stocks using...
Determination and uncertainty of moment tensors for microearthquakes at Okmok Volcano, Alaska
J. D. Pesicek, J. Sileny, S. G. Prejean, C.H. Thurber
2012, Geophysical Journal International (190) 1689-1709
Efforts to determine general moment tensors (MTs) for microearthquakes in volcanic areas are often hampered by small seismic networks, which can lead to poorly constrained hypocentres and inadequate modelling of seismic velocity heterogeneity. In addition, noisy seismic signals can make it difficult to identify phase arrivals correctly for small magnitude...
Estimating rates of decompression from textures of erupted ash particles produced by 1999-2006 eruptions of Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador
Heather M.N. Wright, Katharine V. Cashman, Patricia A. Mothes, Minard L. Hall, Andres Gorki Ruiz, Jean-Luc Le Pennec
2012, Geology (40) 619-622
Persistent low- to moderate-level eruptive activity of andesitic volcanoes is difficult to monitor because small changes in magma supply rates may cause abrupt transitions in eruptive style. As direct measurement of magma supply is not possible, robust techniques for indirect measurements must be developed. Here we demonstrate that crystal textures...
Simulation of groundwater flow in the shallow aquifer system of the Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
Ward E. Sanford, Jason P. Pope, David L. Selnick, Ryan F. Stumvoll
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1140
Estimating future loadings of nitrogen to the Chesapeake Bay requires knowledge about the groundwater flow system and the traveltime of water and chemicals between recharge at the water table and the discharge to streams and directly to the bay. The Delmarva Peninsula has a relatively large proportion of its land...
Relations among water levels, specific conductance, and depths of bedrock fractures in four road-salt-contaminated wells in Maine, 2007–9
Charles W. Schalk, Nicholas W. Stasulis
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5205
Data on groundwater-level, specific conductance (a surrogate for chloride), and temperature were collected continuously from 2007 through 2009 at four bedrock wells known to be affected by road salts in an effort to determine the effects of road salting and fractures in bedrock that intersect the well at a depth...
Effects of hydroperiod duration on survival, developmental rate, and size at metamorphosis in boreal chorus frog tadpoles (Pseudacris maculata)
Staci Amburgey, W. Chris Funk, Melanie Murphy, Erin Muths
2012, Herpetologica (68) 456-467
Understanding the relationship between climate-driven habitat conditions and survival is key to preserving biodiversity in the face of rapid climate change. Hydroperiod—the length of time water is in a wetland—is a critical limiting habitat variable for amphibians as larvae must metamorphose before ponds dry. Changes in precipitation and temperature patterns...
Ohio River backwater flood-inundation maps for the Saline and Wabash Rivers in southern Illinois
Elizabeth A. Murphy, Jennifer B. Sharpe, David T. Soong
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5212
Digital flood-inundation maps for the Saline and Wabash Rivers referenced to elevations on the Ohio River in southern Illinois were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The inundation maps, accessible through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding...
Effect of brook trout removal from a spawning stream on an adfluvial population of Lahontan cutthroat trout
G. Gary Scoppettone, Peter H. Rissler, Sean P. Shea, William Somer
2012, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (32) 586-596
Independence Lake (Nevada and Sierra counties, California) harbors the only extant native population of Lahontan cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi in the Truckee River system and one of two extant adfluvial populations in the Lahontan basin. The persistence of this population has been precarious for more than 50 years, with...
Variability in expression of anadromy by female Oncorhynchus mykiss within a river network
Justin S. Mills, Jason B. Dunham, Gordon H. Reeves, John R. McMillan, Christian E. Zimmerman, Chris E. Jordan
2012, Environmental Biology of Fishes (93) 505-517
We described and predicted spatial variation in marine migration (anadromy) of female Oncorhynchus mykiss in the John Day River watershed, Oregon. We collected 149 juvenile O. mykiss across 72 sites and identified locations used by anadromous females by assigning maternal origin (anadromous versus non-anadromous) to each juvenile. These assignments used...
Streamflow statistics for selected streams in North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan
Tara Williams-Sether
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1147
Statistical summaries of streamflow data for the periods of record through water year 2009 for selected active and discontinued U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations in North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan were compiled. The summaries for each streamflow-gaging station include a brief station description, a graph of the annual peak...
Residence time, chemical and isotopic analysis of nitrate in the groundwater and surface water of a small agricultural watershed in the Coastal Plain, Bucks Branch, Sussex County, Delaware
John W. Clune, Judith M. Denver
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5235
Nitrate is a common contaminant in groundwater and surface water throughout the Nation, and water-resource managers need more detailed small-scale watershed research to guide conservation efforts aimed at improving water quality. Concentrations of nitrate in Bucks Branch are among the highest in the state of Delaware and a scientific investigation...
Synchronous cycling of Ichthyophoniasis with Chinook salmon density revealed during the annual Yukon River spawning migration
Stanley Zuray, Richard Kocan, Paul Hershberger
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 615-623
Populations of Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha in the Yukon River declined by more than 57% between 2003 and 2010, probably the result of a combination of anthropogenic and environmental factors. One possible contributor to this decline is Ichthyophonus, a mesomycetozoan parasite that has previously been implicated in significant losses of...
The state of amphibians in the United States
E. Muths, M.J. Adams, E.H.C. Grant, Dick Miller, P.S. Corn, L.C. Ball
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3092
More than 25 years ago, scientists began to identify unexplained declines in amphibian populations around the world. Much has been learned since then, but amphibian declines have not abated and the interactions among the various threats to amphibians are not clear. Amphibian decline is a problem of local, national, and...
Downstream movement of fall Chinook salmon juveniles in the lower Snake River reservoirs during winter and early spring
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Tobias J. Kock, William P. Connor, Frank Mullins, R. Kirk Steinhorst
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 285-293
We conducted a 3-year radiotelemetry study in the lower Snake River to (1) determine whether juvenile fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha pass dams during winter, when bypass systems and structures designed to prevent mortality are not operated; (2) determine whether downstream movement rate varies annually, seasonally, and from reservoir to...
Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) of the Great Plains, United States
Daniel Howard, Tagir Gilmanov, Yingxin Gu, Bruce Wylie, Li Zhang
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3134
Gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) are the fundamental environmental characteristics that promote carbon exchanges with the atmosphere (Chapin and others, 2009), although other exchanges of carbon, such as direct oxidation (Lovett and others, 2006), can modify net ecosystem production (NEP). The accumulation of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems...
Wetland fire remote sensing research--The Greater Everglades example
John Jones
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3133
Fire is a major factor in the Everglades ecosystem. For thousands of years, lightning-strike fires from summer thunderstorms have helped create and maintain a dynamic landscape suited both to withstand fire and recover quickly in the wake of frequent fires. Today, managers in the Everglades National Park are implementing controlled...
Revolutionary land use change in the 21st century: Is (rangeland) science relevant?
J. E. Herrick, J.R. Brown, B.T. Bestelmeyer, S.S. Andrews, G. Baldi, J. Davies, M. Duniway, K. M. Havstad, J.W. Karl, D.L. Karlen, Debra P. C. Peters, J.N. Quinton, C. Riginos, P.L. Shaver, D. Steinaker, S. Twomlow
2012, Rangeland Ecology and Management (65) 590-598
Rapidly increasing demand for food, fiber, and fuel together with new technologies and the mobility of global capital are driving revolutionary changes in land use throughout the world. Efforts to increase land productivity include conversion of millions of hectares of rangelands to crop production, including many marginal lands with low...
Phase II modification of the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) for Kentucky: The sinkhole-drainage process, point-and-click basin delineation, and results of karst test-basin simulations
Charles J. Taylor, Tanja N. Williamson, Jeremy K. Newson, Randy L. Ulery, Hugh L. Nelson, Peter J. Cinotto
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5071
This report describes Phase II modifications made to the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER), which applies the process-based TOPMODEL approach to simulate or predict stream discharge in surface basins in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The previous (Phase I) version of WATER did not provide a means of identifying...
Snake River fall Chinook salmon life history investigations: Annual report 2010
Kenneth F. Tiffan, William P. Connor, Rebecca A. Buchanan, Scott J. St John, John M. Erhardt, Craig A. Haskell
2012, Report
This report summarizes three research activities conducted in 2010-2011. The first was a radiotelemetry study conducted in the lower Clearwater River. The second was a hydroacoustic study conducted in Lower Granite and Little Goose reservoirs. The third was an analysis of covariates affecting juvenile fall Chinook salmon survival and behavior....
Spatial genetic structure and asymmetrical gene flow within the Pacific walrus
Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Chadwick V. Jay, Anthony S. Fischbach, George K. Sage, Sandra L. Talbot
2012, Journal of Mammalogy (93) 1512-1524
Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) occupying shelf waters of Pacific Arctic seas migrate during spring and summer from 3 breeding areas in the Bering Sea to form sexually segregated nonbreeding aggregations. We assessed genetic relationships among 2 putative breeding populations and 6 nonbreeding aggregations. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control...
Survival and growth of juvenile Pacific lampreys tagged with passive integrated transponders (PIT) in freshwater and seawater
Matthew G. Mesa, Elizabeth S. Copeland, Helena E. Christiansen, Jacob L. Gregg, Sean R. Roon, Paul K. Hershberger
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 1260-1268
Tagging methods are needed for both adult and juvenile life stages of Pacific lampreys Lampetra tridentata to better understand their biology and factors contributing to their decline. We developed a safe and efficient technique for tagging juvenile Pacific lampreys with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. We tested the short-term survival...
Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Tamara S. Wilson, William Acevedo, editor(s)
2012, Professional Paper 1794-A
Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–A is the first in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Western United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes...
Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide degassing and cryptic thermal input to Brimstone Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
D. Bergfeld, William C. Evans, J. B. Lowenstern, S. Hurwitz
2012, Chemical Geology (330-331) 233-243
Brimstone Basin, a remote area of intense hydrothermal alteration a few km east of the Yellowstone Caldera, is rarely studied and has long been considered to be a cold remnant of an ancient hydrothermal system. A field campaign in 2008 confirmed that gas emissions from the few small vents were...
Ecosystem services valuation to support decisionmaking on public lands—A case study of the San Pedro River watershed, Arizona
Kenneth J. Bagstad, Darius J. Semmens, Rob Winthrop, Delilah Jaworksi, Joel Larson
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5251
This report details the findings of the Bureau of Land Management–U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Services Valuation Pilot Study. This project evaluated alternative methods and tools that quantify and value ecosystem services, and it assessed the tools’ readiness for use in the Bureau of Land Management decisionmaking process. We tested these...
Burial increases seed longevity of two Artemisia tridentata (Asteraceae) subspecies
Upekala C. Wijayratne, David A. Pyke
2012, American Journal of Botany (99) 438-447
Premise of the study: Seed longevity and persistence in soil seed banks may be especially important for population persistence in ecosystems where opportunities for seedling establishment and disturbance are unpredictable. The fire regime, an important driver of population dynamics in sagebrush steppe ecosystems, has been altered by exotic annual grass...
