Mineral resource of the month: aggregates
Jason C. Willett
2012, Earth (57) 25-25
Crushed stone and construction sand and gravel, the two major types of natural aggregates, are among the most abundant and accessible natural resources on the planet. The earliest civilizations used aggregates for various purposes, mainly construction. Today aggregates provide the basic raw materials for the foundation of modern society....
Pyrethroid insecticides in bed sediments from urban and agricultural streams across the United States
Michelle Hladik, Kathryn Kuivila
2012, Journal of Environmental Monitoring (14) 1838-1845
Pyrethroid insecticides are hydrophobic compounds that partition to streambed sediments and have been shown to cause toxicity to non-target organisms; their occurrence is well documented in parts of California, but there have been limited studies in other urban and agricultural areas across the United States. To broaden geographic understanding of...
Spatio-temporal variation in male white-tailed deer harvest rates in Pennsylvania: Implications for estimating abundance
Andrew S. Norton, Duane R. Diefenbach, Bret D. Wallingford, Christopher S. Rosenberry
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 136-143
The performance of 2 popular methods that use age-at-harvest data to estimate abundance of white-tailed deer is contingent on assumptions about variation in estimates of subadult (1.5 yr old) and adult (≥2.5 yr old) male harvest rates. Auxiliary data (e.g., estimates of survival or harvest rates from radiocollared animals) can be used...
Freshwater to seawater transitions in migratory fishes
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Michael P. Wilkie
2012, Book chapter, Fish Physiology
The transition from freshwater to seawater is integral to the life history of many fishes. Diverse migratory fishes express anadromous, catadromous, and amphidromous life histories, while others make incomplete transits between freshwater and seawater. The physiological mechanisms of osmoregulation are widely conserved among phylogenetically diverse species. Diadromous fishes moving between...
Overwintering tadpoles and loss of fitness correlates in Polypedates braueri tadpoles that use artificial pools in a lowland agroecosystem
Juei-Ling Hsu, Yeong-Choy Kam, Gary M. Fellers
2012, Herpetologica (68) 184-194
We studied growth, development, and metamorphic traits of Polypedates braueri tadpoles in Taiwan to elucidate the cause of tadpole overwintering in man-made water containers in lowland orchards on the Bagua Terrace. Polypedates braueri bred from March to August, but tadpoles were present year round. Laboratory experiments demonstrated that tadpole overwintering...
Spatial analysis of geologic and hydrologic features relating to sinkhole occurrence in Jefferson County, West Virginia
Daniel H. Doctor, Katarina Z. Doctor
2012, Carbonates and Evaporites (27) 143-152
In this study the influence of geologic features related to sinkhole susceptibility was analyzed and the results were mapped for the region of Jefferson County, West Virginia. A model of sinkhole density was constructed using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) that estimated the relations among discrete geologic or hydrologic features and...
Community-level response of fishes and aquatic macroinvertebrates to stream restoration in a third-order tributary of the Potomac River, USA
Stephen M. Selego, Charnee L. Rose, George T. Merovich Jr., Stuart A. Welsh, James T. Anderson
2012, International Journal of Ecology
Natural stream channel design principles and riparian restoration practices were applied during spring 2010 to an agriculturally impaired reach of the Cacapon River, a tributary of the Potomac River which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. Aquatic macroinvertebrates and fishes were sampled from the restoration reach, two degraded control, and two...
Nekton density patterns and hurricane recovery in submerged aquatic vegetation, and along non-vegetated natural and created edge habitats
Megan La Peyre, J. Gordon
2012, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (98) 108-118
We compared nekton habitat value of submerged aquatic vegetation, flooded non-vegetated natural and man-made edge habitats in mesohaline interior marsh areas in southwest Louisiana using a 1-m2 throw trap and 3-mm bag seine. When present, SAV habitats supported close to 4 times greater densities and higher species richness of nekton as compared to either natural or man-made...
The impact of biotic/abiotic interfaces in mineral nutrient cycling: A study of soils of the Santa Cruz chronosequence, California
A. F. White, M. S. Schulz, D.V. Vivit, T.D. Bullen, J. Fitzpatrick
2012, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (77) 62-85
Biotic/abiotic interactions between soil mineral nutrients and annual grassland vegetation are characterized for five soils in a marine terrace chronosequence near Santa Cruz, California. A Mediterranean climate, with wet winters and dry summers, controls the annual cycle of plant growth and litter decomposition, resulting in net above-ground productivities of...
Intelligent estimation of spatially distributed soil physical properties
F. Iwashita, Michael J. Friedel, G.F. Ribeiro, Stephen J. Fraser
2012, Geoderma (170) 1-10
Spatial analysis of soil samples is often times not possible when measurements are limited in number or clustered. To obviate potential problems, we propose a new approach based on the self-organizing map (SOM) technique. This approach exploits underlying nonlinear relation of the steady-state geomorphic concave–convex nature of hillslopes (from hilltop...
Exploring similarities among many species distributions
Scott Simmerman, Jingyuan Wang, James Osborne, Kimberly Shook, Jian Huang, William Godsoe, Theodore R. Simons
2012, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 1st Conference of the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment: Bridging from the eXtreme to the campus and beyond
Collecting species presence data and then building models to predict species distribution has been long practiced in the field of ecology for the purpose of improving our understanding of species relationships with each other and with the environment. Due to limitations of computing power as well as limited means of...
Crop classification modelling using remote sensing and environmental data in the Greater Platte River Basin, USA
Daniel M. Howard, Bruce K. Wylie, Larry L. Tieszen
2012, International Journal of Remote Sensing (33) 6094-6108
With an ever expanding population, potential climate variability and an increasing demand for agriculture-based alternative fuels, accurate agricultural land-cover classification for specific crops and their spatial distributions are becoming critical to researchers, policymakers, land managers and farmers. It is important to ensure the sustainability of these and other land uses...
Magnetostratigraphy of the Neogene Chaka basin and its implications for mountain building processes in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau
H.-P. Zhang, W.H. Craddock, Richard O. Lease, W.-T. Wang, D.-Y. Yuan, P.-Z. Zhang, P. Molnar, D.-W. Zheng, W.-J. Zheng
2012, Basin Research (24) 31-50
Magnetostratigraphy of sedimentary rock deposited in the Chaka basin (north‐eastern Tibetan Plateau) indicates a late Miocene onset of basin formation and subsequent development of the adjacent Qinghai Nan Shan. Sedimentation in the basin initiated at ∼11 Ma. In the lower part of the basin fill, a coarsening‐upward sequence starting at ∼9 Ma,...
Outlier reefs are found off the Florida Keys
Barbara H. Lidz
William L. Kruczynski, Pamela J. Fletcher, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Tropical connections: South Florida's marine environment
No abstract available....
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force---Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Science Assessment and Needs
Shelby Walker, Alyssa M. Dausman, Dawn L. Lavoie, editor(s)
2012, Report
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (GCERTF) was established by Executive Order 13554 as a result of recommendations from “America’s Gulf Coast: A Long-term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Mabus Report). The GCERTF consists of members from 11 Federal...
Sorta situ, the new reality of management conditions for wildlife populations in the absence of "wild" spaces
Evan S. Blumer, Barbara A. Wolfe, Roberto F. Aguilar, A. Alonso Aguirre, Glenn H. Olsen
Richard S. Ostfeld, Peter Daszak, A. Alonso Aguirre, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, New directions in conservation medicine: applied cases of ecological health
No abstract available....
The paleohydrology of unsaturated and saturated zones at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and vicinity
James B. Paces, Joseph F. Whelan
John S. Stuckless, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Hydrology and geochemistry of Yucca Mountain and vicinity, Southern Nevada and California
Surface, unsaturated-zone, and saturated-zone hydrologic conditions at Yucca Mountain responded to past climate variations and are at least partly preserved by sediment, fossil, and mineral records. Characterizing past hydrologic conditions in surface and subsurface environments helps to constrain hydrologic responses expected under future climate conditions and improve predictions of repository...
Wetlands of the Central Valley of California and Klamath Basin
Joseph P. Fleskes
Darold P. Batzer, Andrew H. Baldwin, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Wetland habitats of North America: ecology and conservation concerns
No abstract available. ...
The role of efflorescent sulfate salts in Indiana’s mine water quality
Jeane Pope, E.R. Bayless, G. Olyphant, T. Branam
John B. Comer, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Effects of abandoned mine land reclamation on ground and surface water quality: Research and case histories from Indiana
Efflorescent sulfate salts (ESS), which form from evaporating acid mine drainage and occur in a wide variety of environments, can significantly alter water quality and are, therefore, important considerations for remediation strategies at coal refuse sites. Many ESS, including melanterite, rozenite, siderotil, copiapite, halotrichite, coquimbite, epsomite, potash alum, and gypsum,...
Response of salt marsh and mangrove wetlands to changes in atmospheric CO2, climate, and sea-level
Karen L. McKee, Kerrylee Rogers, Neil Saintilan
Beth A. Middleton, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Global change and the function and distribution of wetlands
Coastal salt marsh and mangrove ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations and associated climate and climate-induced changes. We provide a review of the literature detailing theoretical predictions and observed responses of coastal wetlands to a range of climate change stressors, including CO2, temperature, rainfall, and sea-level...
Role of remote sensing for land-use and land-cover change modeling
Terry Sohl, Benjamin Sleeter
Chandra P. Giri, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Remote sensing of land use and land cover: Principles and applications
No abstract available....
Design and quantification of an extreme winter storm scenario for emergency preparedness and planning exercises in California
M. D. Dettinger, Ralph F. Martin, M. Hughes, Tapash Das, P. Neiman, Dale A. Cox, G. Estes, D. Reynolds, R. Hartman, Daniel Cayan, L. Jones
2012, Natural Hazards (60) 1085-1111
The USGS Multihazards Project is working with numerous agencies to evaluate and plan for hazards and damages that could be caused by extreme winter storms impacting California. Atmospheric and hydrological aspects of a hypothetical storm scenario have been quantified as a basis for estimation of human, infrastructure, economic, and environmental...
Roost networks of northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) in a managed landscape
J.B. Johnson, W. Mark Ford, J.W. Edwards
2012, Forest Ecology and Management (266) 223-231
Maternity groups of many bat species conform to fission–fusion models and movements among diurnal roost trees and individual bats belonging to these groups use networks of roost trees. Forest disturbances may alter roost networks and characteristics of roost trees. Therefore, at the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia, we examined...
Beach response dynamics of a littoral cell using a 17-year single-point time series of sand thickness
Patrick L. Barnard, D.M. Hubbard, J.E. Dugan
2012, Geomorphology (139-140) 588-598
A 17-year time series of near-daily sand thickness measurements at a single intertidal location was compared with 5 years of semi-annual 3-dimensional beach surveys at the same beach, and at two other beaches within the same littoral cell. The daily single point measurements correlated extremely well with the mean beach elevation...
Mapping ground surface deformation using temporarily coherent point SAR interferometry: Application to Los Angeles Basin
L. Zhang, Zhong Lu, X. Ding, H.-S. Jung, G. Feng, C.-W. Lee
2012, Remote Sensing of Environment (117) 429-439
Multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) is an effective tool to detect long-term seismotectonic motions by reducing the atmospheric artifacts, thereby providing more precise deformation signal. The commonly used approaches such as persistent scatterer InSAR (PSInSAR) and small baseline subset (SBAS) algorithms need to resolve the phase ambiguities in interferogram...
