Decision-support systems for natural-hazards and land-management issues
Laura Dinitz, William Forney, Kristin Byrd
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3001
Scientists at the USGS Western Geographic Science Center are developing decision-support systems (DSSs) for natural-hazards and land-management issues. DSSs are interactive computer-based tools that use data and models to help identify and solve problems. These systems can provide crucial support to policymakers, planners, and communities for making better decisions about...
Archive of single-beam bathymetry data collected during USGS cruise 07CCT01 nearshore of Fort Massachusetts and within Camille Cut, West and East Ship Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi, July 2007
Nancy T. DeWitt, James G. Flocks, B.J. Reynolds, Mark Hansen
2012, Data Series 722
The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) is composed of a series of barrier islands along the Mississippi - Alabama coastline. Historically these islands have undergone long-term shoreline change. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 prompted questions about the stability of the barrier islands and their potential response to future...
Geophysical studies in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley near Winnemucca, north-central Nevada
David A. Ponce
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1207
From May 2008 to September 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data from more than 660 gravity stations, 100 line-km of truck-towed magnetometer traverses, and 260 physical-property sites in the vicinity of Blue Mountain and Pumpernickel Valley, northern Nevada (fig. 1). Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data were collected to...
Bathymetric controls on sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary: Lateral asymmetry and frontal trapping
David K. Ralston, W. Rockwell Geyer, John C. Warner
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research (117)
Analyses of field observations and numerical model results have identified that sediment transport in the Hudson River estuary is laterally segregated between channel and shoals, features frontal trapping at multiple locations along the estuary, and varies significantly over the spring-neap tidal cycle. Lateral gradients in depth, and therefore baroclinic pressure...
A risk-based approach to evaluating wildlife demographics for management in a changing climate: A case study of the Lewis's Woodpecker
Erin Towler, Victoria A. Saab, Richard S. Sojda, Katherine Dickinson, Cindy L. Bruyere, Karen R. Newlon
2012, Environmental Management (50) 1152-1163
Given the projected threat that climate change poses to biodiversity, the need for proactive response efforts is clear. However, integrating uncertain climate change information into conservation planning is challenging, and more explicit guidance is needed. To this end, this article provides a specific example of how a risk-based approach can...
Tagging and movement of sirenians
Miriam Marmontel, James Reid, James K. Sheppard, Benjamin Morales-Vela
Ellen Hines, John E. Reynolds III, Lemnuel Aragones, Antonio Mignucci-Giannoni, Miriam Marmontel, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Sirenian conservation: Issues and strategies in developing countries
Geomyces destructans -- White-nose syndrome in hibernating bats
Carol U. Meteyer, Gudrun Wibbelt
Dolores Gavier-Widen, J. Paul Duff, Anna Meredith, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Infectious diseases of wild mammals and birds in Europe
No abstract available....
South Fork Shenandoah River habitat-flow modeling to determine ecological and recreational characteristics during low-flow periods
Jennifer L. Krstolic, R. Clay Ramey
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5081
The ecological habitat requirements of aquatic organisms and recreational streamflow requirements of the South Fork Shenandoah River were investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Central Shenandoah Valley Planning District Commission, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Physical habitat simulation modeling was conducted...
Techniques for determining the food habits of sirenians
Cathy A. Beck, Mark T. Clementz
Ellen Hines, John E. Reynolds III, Lemnuel Aragones, Antonio Mignucci-Giannoni, Miriam Marmontel, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Sirenian conservation: Issues and strategies in developing countries
Coupling at Mauna Loa and Kīlauea by stress transfer in an asthenospheric melt layer
Helge M. Gonnermann, James H. Foster, Michael Poland, Cecily J. Wolfe, Benjamin A. Brooks, Asta Miklius
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 826-829
The eruptive activity at the neighbouring Hawaiian volcanoes, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, is thought to be linked despite both having separate lithospheric magmatic plumbing systems. Over the past century, activity at the two volcanoes has been anti-correlated, which could reflect a competition for the same magma supply. Yet, during the...
Summer temperature metrics for predicting brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution in streams
Donna L. Parrish, Ryan S. Butryn, Donna M. Rizzo
2012, Hydrobiologia (703) 47-57
We developed a methodology to predict brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) distribution using summer temperature metrics as predictor variables. Our analysis used long-term fish and hourly water temperature data from the Dog River, Vermont (USA). Commonly used metrics (e.g., mean, maximum, maximum 7-day maximum) tend to smooth the data...
The 11 April 2012 east Indian Ocean earthquake triggered large aftershocks worldwide
Fred F. Pollitz, Ross S. Stein, Volkan Sevilgen, Roland Burgmann
2012, Nature (490) 250-253
Large earthquakes trigger very small earthquakes globally during passage of the seismic waves and during the following several hours to days1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, but so far remote aftershocks of moment magnitude M≥5.5 have not been identified11, with the lone exception of an M=6.9...
Sandstone copper assessment of the Chu-Sarysu Basin, Central Kazakhstan: Chapter E in Global mineral resource assessment
Stephen E. Box, Boris Syusyura, Timothy S. Hayes, Cliff D. Taylor, Michael L. Zientek, Murray W. Hitzman, Reimar Seltmann, Vladimir Chechetkin, Alla Dolgopolova, Pamela M. Cossette, John C. Wallis
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-E
Mineral resource assessments represent a synthesis of available information to estimate the location, quality, and quantity of undiscovered mineral resources in the upper part of the Earth’s crust. This report presents a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered sandstone copper deposits within the late Paleozoic Chu-Sarysu Basin in central Kazakhstan...
Preliminary assessment of channel stability and bed-material transport in the Tillamook Bay tributaries and Nehalem River basin, northwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, Mackenzie K. Keith, Jim E. O'Connor, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1187
This report summarizes a preliminary study of bed-material transport, vertical and lateral channel changes, and existing datasets for the Tillamook (drainage area 156 square kilometers [km2]), Trask (451 km2), Wilson (500 km2), Kilchis (169 km2), Miami (94 km2), and Nehalem (2,207 km2) Rivers along the northwestern Oregon coast. This study,...
Mercury in waters, soils, and sediments of the New Jersey Coastal Plain: A comparison of regional distribution and mobility with the mercury contamination at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic County, New Jersey
Julia L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, Pamela A. Reilly
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5115
Mercury in soils, surface water, and groundwater at the William J. Hughes Technical Center , Atlantic County, New Jersey, has been found at levels that exceed established background concentrations in Coastal Plain waters, and, in some cases, New Jersey State standards for mercury in various media. As of 2012, it...
Ecology for conserving our sirenians
Robert K. Bonde
2012, Ecology (93) 2127-2128
Review of: Ecology and conservation of the sirenia: dugongs and manatees. Helene Marsh, Thomas J. O'Shea and John E. Reynolds III. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012, 521 pp, ISBN 978-0-521-88828-8, US$135 and 978-0-521-71643-7, US$65....
Bird populations on the Island of Tinian: persistence despite wholesale loss of native forests
Richard J. Camp, Frederick A. Amidon, Ann P. Marshall, Thane K. Pratt
2012, Pacific Science (66) 283-298
Bird habitat on the island of Tinian, Mariana Islands, has been substantially altered, and only around 5% of the island has native forest today. The modern bird fauna is likely to be a subset of the original avifauna where only species tolerant to native forest loss and human disturbance have...
Passive thermal refugia provided warm water for Florida manatees during the severe winter of 2009-2010
B.M. Stith, D. H. Slone, M. de Wit, H.H. Edwards, C.A. Langtimm, E.D. Swain, L.E. Soderqvist, J.P. Reid
2012, Marine Ecology Progress Series (462) 287-301
Haloclines induced by freshwater inflow over tidal water have been identified as an important mechanism for maintaining warm water in passive thermal refugia (PTR) used by Florida manatees Trichechus manatus latirostris during winter in extreme southwestern Florida. Record-setting cold during winter 2009–2010 resulted in an unprecedented number of manatee deaths,...
Estimating pesticide sampling rates by the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) in the presence of natural organic matter and varying hydrodynamic conditions
Lucner Charlestra, Aria Amirbahman, David L. Courtemanch, David A. Alvarez, Howard Patterson
2012, Environmental Pollution (169) 98-104
The polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) was calibrated to monitor pesticides in water under controlled laboratory conditions. The effect of natural organic matter (NOM) on the sampling rates (Rs) was evaluated in microcosms containing -1 of total organic carbon (TOC). The effect of hydrodynamics was studied by...
Eastern mosquitofish resists invasion by nonindigenous poeciliids through agonistic behaviors
Kevin A. Thompson, Jeffrey E. Hill, Leo G. Nico
2012, Biological Invasions (14) 1515-1529
Florida is a hotspot for nonindigenous fishes with over 30 species established, although few of these are small-bodied species. One hypothesis for this pattern is that biotic resistance of native species is reducing the success of small-bodied, introduced fishes. The eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki is common in many freshwater habitats...
Preliminary geologic map of the Stanardsville 7.5' quadrangle, Greene and Madison Counties, Virginia
William C. Burton, Christopher M. Bailey, E. Allen Crider
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1190
The Stanardsville 7.5-minute quadrangle is located about 30 kilometers north of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge and within the Blue Ridge physiographic province. The quadrangle contains a small part of the eastern margin of Shenandoah National Park along Saddleback Mountain just north of Swift...
Rapid invasion of the Indo-Pacific lionfishes (Pterois volitans and Pterois miles) in the Florida Keys, USA: evidence from multiple pre-and post-invasion data sets
Benjamin I. Ruttenberg, Pamela J. Schofield, J. Lad Akins, Alejandro Acosta, Michael W. Feeley, Jeremiah Blondeau, Steven G. Smith, Jerald S. Ault
2012, Bulletin of Marine Science (88) 1051-1059
Over the past decade, Indo-Pacific lionfishes, Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pterois miles (Bennett, 1828), venomous members of the scorpionfish family (Scorpaenidae), have invaded and spread throughout much of the tropical and subtropical northwestern Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. These species are generalist predators of fishes and invertebrates with the...
Diet and conservation implications of an invasive chameleon, Chamaeleo jacksonii (Squamata: Chamaeleonidae) in Hawaii
Fred Kraus, Arthur Medeiros, David Preston, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Gordon H. Rodda
2012, Biological Invasions (14) 579-593
We summarize information on current distribution of the invasive lizard Chamaeleo jacksonii and predict its potential distribution in the Hawaiian Islands. Potential distribution maps are based on climate models developed from known localities in its native range and its Hawaiian range. We also present results of analysis of stomach contents...
Plant allocation of carbon to defense as a function of herbivory, light and nutrient availability
Donald L. DeAngelis, Shu Ju, Rongsong Liu, John P. Bryant, Stephen A. Gourley
2012, Theoretical Ecology (5) 445-456
We use modeling to determine the optimal relative plant carbon allocations between foliage, fine roots, anti-herbivore defense, and reproduction to maximize reproductive output. The model treats these plant components and the herbivore compartment as variables. Herbivory is assumed to be purely folivory. Key external factors include nutrient availability, degree of...
Ecology and conservation biology of avian malaria
Dennis A. LaPointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Michael D. Samuel
2012, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (1249) 211-226
Avian malaria is a worldwide mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. These parasites occur in many avian species but primarily affect passerine birds that have not evolved with the parasite. Host pathogenicity, fitness, and population impacts are poorly understood. In contrast to continental species, introduced avian malaria poses a substantial...
