Effects of river regulation on aeolian landscapes, Colorado River, southwestern USA
Amy E. Draut
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (117)
Connectivity between fluvial and aeolian sedimentary systems plays an important role in the physical and biological environment of dryland regions. This study examines the coupling between fluvial sand deposits and aeolian dune fields in bedrock canyons of the arid to semiarid Colorado River corridor, southwestern USA. By quantifying significant differences...
Nature's Notebook 2011: Data & participant summary
Jherime L. Kellermann, Theresa Crimmins, Ellen G. Denny, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, R. Lee Marsh, Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Jake F. Weltzin
2012, USA-NPN Technical Series 2012‐001
Introduction The USA National Phenology Network The USA National Phenology Network (USA‐NPN; www.usanpn.org) seeks to engage a diverse range of citizen scientist volunteers, federal, state, and non‐governmental organizations, educators and professional research scientists to collect phenological observations of plants and animals using consistent standards and to contribute their observations to a...
Preliminary investigation of the effects of sea-level rise on groundwater levels in New Haven, Connecticut
David M. Bjerklie, John R. Mullaney, Janet Radway Stone, Brian J. Skinner, Matthew A. Ramlow
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1025
Global sea level rose about 0.56 feet (ft) (170 millimeters (mm)) during the 20th century. Since the 1960s, sea level has risen at Bridgeport, Connecticut, about 0.38 ft (115 mm), at a rate of 0.008 ft (2.56 mm + or - 0.58 mm) per year. With regional subsidence, and with...
R-SWAT-FME user's guide
Yiping Wu, Shu-Guang Liu
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1071
R program language-Soil and Water Assessment Tool-Flexible Modeling Environment (R-SWAT-FME) (Wu and Liu, 2012) is a comprehensive modeling framework that adopts an R package, Flexible Modeling Environment (FME) (Soetaert and Petzoldt, 2010), for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model (Arnold and others, 1998; Neitsch and others, 2005). This...
Infection by Haemoproteus parasites in four species of frigatebirds and the description of a new species of Haemoproteus (Haemosporida: Haemoproteidae)
Santiago Merino, Janos Hennicke, Javier Martinez, Katrin Ludynia, Roxana Torres, Thierry M. Work, Stedson Stroud, Juan F. Masello, Petra Quillfeldt
2012, Journal of Parasitology (98) 388-397
Among seabirds, the fregatids stand out with a high prevalence of blood parasites. Four of 5 species in this family have been found to be infected with Haemoproteus; however, complete species descriptions with molecular phylogeny are lacking. Seventy-five samples from 4 species of frigatebirds, i.e., Fregata andrewsi, Fregata minor, Fregata...
Trends in Marine Debris along the U.S. Pacific Coast and Hawai’i 1998-2007
Christine Ribic, Seba B. Sheavly, David J. Rugg, Eric S. Erdmann
2012, Marine Pollution Bulletin (64) 944-1004
We assessed amounts, composition, and trends of marine debris for the U.S. Pacific Coast and Hawai’i using National Marine Debris Monitoring Program data. Hawai’i had the highest debris loads; the North Pacific Coast region had the lowest debris loads. The Southern California Bight region had the highest land-based debris loads....
Three pathogens in sympatric populations of pumas, bobcats, and domestic cats: Implications for infections disease transmission
Sarah N. Bevins, Scott Carver, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa M. Lyren, Mat Alldredge, Kenneth A. Logan, Seth P.D. Riley, Robert N. Fisher, T. Winston Vickers, Walter Boyce, Mo Salman, Michael R. Lappin, Kevin R. Crooks, Sue VandeWoude
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
Anthropogenic landscape change can lead to increased opportunities for pathogen transmission between domestic and non-domestic animals. Pumas, bobcats, and domestic cats are sympatric in many areas of North America and share many of the same pathogens, some of which are zoonotic. We analyzed bobcat, puma, and feral domestic cat samples...
Role of bird movements in the epidemiology of West Nile and avian influenza virus
Sabir Bin Muzaffar, Nichola J. Hill, John Y. Takekawa, William M. Perry, Lacy M. Smith, Walter M. Boyce
2012, Human-Wildlife Interactions (6) 72-88
Avian influenza virus (AIV) is influenced by site fidelity and movements of bird hosts. We examined the movement ecology of American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) as potential hosts for West Nile virus (WNV) and greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons frontalis) as potential hosts for AIVs. Research was based on radio-telemetry studies...
Timing and proximate causes of mortality in wild bird populations: testing Ashmole’s hypothesis
Daniel C. Barton, Thomas E. Martin
2012, Thesis, Ecological causes of life history variation tested by meta-analysis, comparison, and experimental approaches
Fecundity in birds is widely recognized to increase with latitude across diverse phylogenetic groups and regions, yet the causes of this variation remain enigmatic. Ashmole’s hypothesis is one of the most broadly accepted explanations for this pattern. This hypothesis suggests that increasing seasonality leads to increasing overwinter mortality due to...
Tidal triggering of low frequency earthquakes near Parkfield, California: Implications for fault mechanics within the brittle-ductile transition
A.M. Thomas, R. Burgmann, David R. Shelly, Nicholas M. Beeler, M.L. Rudolph
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (117) 1-24
Studies of nonvolcanic tremor (NVT) have established the significant impact of small stress perturbations on NVT generation. Here we analyze the influence of the solid earth and ocean tides on a catalog of ∼550,000 low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) distributed along a 150 km section of the San Andreas Fault centered...
Effects of land cover and regional climate variations on long-term spatiotemporal changes in sagebrush ecosystems
George Z. Xian, Collin G. Homer, Cameron L. Aldridge
2012, GIScience and Remote Sensing (49) 378-396
This research investigated the effects of climate and land cover change on variation in sagebrush ecosystems. We combined information of multi-year sagebrush distribution derived from multitemporal remote sensing imagery and climate data to study the variation patterns of sagebrush ecosystems under different potential disturbances. We found that less than 40%...
Habitat persistence for sedentary organisms in managed rivers: the case for the federally endangered dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon) in the Delaware River
Kelly O. Maloney, William A. Lellis, Randy M. Bennett, Terry J. Waddle
2012, Freshwater Biology (57) 1315-1327
1. To manage the environmental flow requirements of sedentary taxa, such as mussels and aquatic insects with fixed retreats, we need a measure of habitat availability over a variety of flows (i.e. a measure of persistent habitat). Habitat suitability measures in current environmental flow assessments are measured on a ‘flow by...
Floodplain wetlands of the southeastern coastal plain
Sammy L. King, Loretta L. Battaglia, Cliff R. Hupp, Richard F. Keim, B. Graeme Lockaby
2012, Book chapter, Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns
n/a...
Red-tailed Hawk movements and use of habitat in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico
Francisco Vilella, Wyatt F. Nimitz
2012, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (124) 758-766
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a top predator of upland ecosystems in the Greater Antilles. Little information exists on the ecology of the insular forms of this widely distributed species. We studied movements and resource use of the Red-tailed Hawk from 2000 to 2002 in the montane forests...
Status and trends of the land bird avifauna on Tinian and Aguiguan, Mariana Islands
Richard J. Camp, Thane K. Pratt, Fred Amidon, Ann P. Marshall, Shelly Kremer, Megan Laut
2012, Technical Report HCSU-029
Avian surveys were conducted on the islands of Tinian and Aguiguan, Marianas Islands, in 2008 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide current baseline densities and abundances and assess population trends using data collected from previous surveys. On Tinian, during the three surveys (1982, 1996, and 2008), 18...
LiDAR and field observations of slip distribution for the most recent surface ruptures along the central San Jacinto fault
J.B. Salisbury, T.K. Rockwell, T.J. Middleton, Kenneth W. Hudnut
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 598-619
We measured offsets on tectonically displaced geomorphic features along 80 km of the Clark strand of the San Jacinto fault (SJF) to estimate slip‐per‐event for the past several surface ruptures. We identify 168 offset features from which we make over 490 measurements using B4 light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imagery and...
Manning's roughness coefficient for Illinois streams
David T. Soong, Crystal D. Prater, Teresa M. Halfar, Loren A. Wobig
2012, Data Series 668
Manning's roughness coefficients for 43 natural and constructed streams in Illinois are reported and displayed on a U.S. Geological Survey Web site. At a majority of the sites, discharge and stage were measured, and corresponding Manning's coefficients—the n-values—were determined at more than one river discharge. The n-values discussed in this...
Lineament analysis of mineral areas of interest in Afghanistan
Bernard E. Hubbard, Thomas J. Mack, Allyson L. Thompson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1048
During a preliminary mineral resource assessment of Afghanistan (Peters and others, 2007), 24 mineralized areas of interest (AOIs) were highlighted as the focus for future economic development throughout various parts of the country. In addition to located mineral resources of value, development of a viable mining industry in Afghanistan will...
Acute lead toxicosis via ingestion of spent ammunition in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor)
Julia Burco, Anne Mary Myers, Krysten Schuler, Colin Gillin
2012, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (48) 216-219
Lead toxicity has long been documented and acknowledged as a significant health issue of water birds and avian scavengers. However, few instances of toxic effects to higher mammalian carnivores have been documented. Here we present an acute case of lead toxicity in a free-ranging cougar (Puma concolor) in Oregon....
Gene flow and pathogen transmission among bobcats (Lynx rufus) in a fragmented urban landscape
Justin S. Lee, Emily W. Ruell, Erin E. Boydston, Lisa M. Lyren, Robert S. Alonso, Jennifer L. Troyer, Kevin R. Crooks, Sue VandeWoude
2012, Molecular Ecology (21) 1617-1631
Urbanization can result in the fragmentation of once contiguous natural landscapes into a patchy habitat interspersed within a growing urban matrix. Animals living in fragmented landscapes often have reduced movement among habitat patches because of avoidance of intervening human development, which potentially leads to both reduced gene flow and pathogen...
Are Agrofuels a conservation threat or opportunity for grassland birds in the United States?
Bruce A. Robertson, Robert A. Rice, Christine Ribic, Bruce A. Babcock, Douglas A. Landis, James R. Herkert, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Joseph J Fontaine, Patrick J. Doran, Douglas W. Schemske
2012, The Condor (114) 679-688
In the United States, government-mandated growth in the production of crops dedicated to biofuel (agrofuels) is predicted to increase the demands on existing agricultural lands, potentially threatening the persistence of populations of grassland birds they support. We review recently published literature and datasets to (1) examine the ability of alternative...
Air-water oxygen exchange in a large whitewater river
Robert O. Hall, Theodore A. Kennedy, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall
2012, Limnology and Oceanography: Fluids and Environments (2) 1-11
Air–water gas exchange governs fluxes of gas into and out of aquatic ecosystems. Knowing this flux is necessary to calculate gas budgets (i.e., O2) to estimate whole‐ecosystem metabolism and basin‐scale carbon budgets. Empirical data on rates of gas exchange for streams, estuaries, and oceans are readily available. However, there are...
MERGANSER: an empirical model to predict fish and loon mercury in New England lakes
James B. Shanley, Richard Moore, Richard A. Smith, Eric K. Miller, Alison Simcox, Neil Kamman, Diane Nacci, Keith Robinson, John M. Johnston, Melissa M. Hughes, Craig Johnston, David Evers, Kate Williams, John Graham, Susannah King
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 4641-4648
MERGANSER (MERcury Geo-spatial AssessmeNtS for the New England Region) is an empirical least-squares multiple regression model using mercury (Hg) deposition and readily obtainable lake and watershed features to predict fish (fillet) and common loon (blood) Hg in New England lakes. We modeled lakes larger than 8 ha (4404 lakes), using...
Methods for evaluating temporal groundwater quality data and results of decadal-scale changes in chloride, dissolved solids, and nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the United States, 1988-2010
Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael G. Rupert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5049
Decadal-scale changes in groundwater quality were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Samples of groundwater collected from wells during 1988-2000 - a first sampling event representing the decade ending the 20th century - were compared on a pair-wise basis to samples from the same wells...
Climatic changes and effect on wild sheep habitat
Edwin L. Pfeifer, Wayne Heimer, Gretchen Roffler, Raul Valdez, Megan Gahl
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3060
Wild sheep are sensitive to environmental change and may be an effective indicator species of climate change in arctic and high mountain ecosystems. To understand the effects of climatic changes on Dall sheep habitat, U.S. Geological Survey scientists have been studying selected areas in Alaska since 2007. The research focus...
