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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Erratum: regional moisture balance control of landslide motion: implications for landslide forecasting in a changing climate
Jeffrey A. Coe
2012, Geology (40) 666-666
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...
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...
Life at the hyperarid margin: novel bacterial diversity in arid soils of the Atacama Desert, Chile
Julia W. Neilson, Jay Quade, Marianyoly Ortiz, William M. Nelson, Antje Legatzki, Fei Tian, Michelle LaComb, Julio L. Betancourt, Rod A. Wing, Carol A. Soderlund, Raina M. Maier
2012, Extremophiles (16) 553-566
Nearly half the earth's surface is occupied by dryland ecosystems, regions susceptible to reduced states of biological productivity caused by climate fluctuations. Of these regions, arid zones located at the interface between vegetated semiarid regions and biologically unproductive hyperarid zones are considered most vulnerable. The objective of this study was...
Flood-inundation maps for the St. Marys River at Fort Wayne, Indiana
Chad D. Menke, Moon H. Kim, Kathleen K. Fowler
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3205
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9-mile reach of the St. Marys River that extends from South Anthony Boulevard to Main Street at Fort Wayne, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the City of Fort Wayne. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the...
Endocrine disrupting chemicals in Minnesota lakes - Water-quality and hydrological data from 2008 and 2010
Larry B. Barber, Jeffrey H. Writer, Steffanie K. Keefe, Greg K. Brown, Mark L. Ferrey, Nathan D. Jahns, Richard L. Kiesling, James R. Lundy, Beth H. Poganski, Donald O. Rosenberry, Howard E. Taylor, Olivia P. Woodruff, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1124
Understanding the sources, fate, and effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals in aquatic ecosystems is important for water-resource management. This study was conducted during 2008 and 2010 to establish a framework for assessing endocrine disrupting chemicals, and involved a statewide survey of their occurrence in 14 Minnesota lakes and a targeted...
Variance of discharge estimates sampled using acoustic Doppler current profilers from moving boats
Carlos M. Garcia, Leticia Tarrab, Kevin Oberg, Ricardo Szupiany, Mariano I. Cantero
2012, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
This paper presents a model for quantifying the random errors (i.e., variance) of acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) discharge measurements from moving boats for different sampling times. The model focuses on the random processes in the sampled flow field and has been developed using statistical methods currently available for uncertainty...
Vulnerability of recently recharged groundwater in principal aquifers of the United States to nitrate contamination
Jason J. Gurdak, Sharon L. Qi
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 6004-6012
Recently recharged water (defined here as <60 years old) is generally the most vulnerable part of a groundwater resource to nonpoint-source nitrate contamination. Understanding at the appropriate scale the interactions of natural and anthropogenic controlling factors that influence nitrate occurrence in recently recharged groundwater is critical to support best management...
Bathymetric contours of Breckenridge Reservoir, Quantico, Virginia
S.M. Wicklein, R.R. Lotspeich, R.B. Banks III
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3213
Breckenridge Reservoir, built in 1938, is fed by Chopawamsic Creek and South Branch Chopawamsic Creek. The Reservoir is a main source of drinking water for the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Base in Quantico, Virginia. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the USMC, conducted a bathymetric survey of Breckenridge...
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
Progress report for project modeling Arctic barrier island-lagoon system response to projected Arctic warming
Li H. Erikson, Ann E. Gibbs, Bruce M. Richmond, Curt D. Storlazzi, Benjamin M. Jones
2012, Report
Changes in Arctic coastal ecosystems in response to global warming may be some of the most severe on the planet. A better understanding and analysis of the rates at which these changes are expected to occur over the coming decades is crucial in order to delineate high-priority areas that are...
Use of vertical temperature gradients for prediction of tidal flat sediment characteristics
Jennifer L. Miselis, K. Todd Holland, Allen H. Reed, Andrei Abelev
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (117) C03012-C03023
Sediment characteristics largely govern tidal flat morphologic evolution; however, conventional methods of investigating spatial variability in lithology on tidal flats are difficult to employ in these highly dynamic regions. In response, a series of laboratory experiments was designed to investigate the use of temperature diffusion toward sediment characterization. A vertical...
