Hydrogeologic framework and hydrologic budget components of the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
S. C. Kahle, D. S. Morgan, W.B. Welch, D.M. Ely, S.R. Hinkle, J. J. Vaccaro, L.L. Orzol
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5124
The Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System (CPRAS) covers an area of about 44,000 square miles in a structural and topographic basin within the drainage of the Columbia River in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The primary aquifers are basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) and overlying sediment. Eighty percent...
Delivering climate science for the nation's fish, wildlife, and ecosystems: The U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center
T. Douglas Beard Jr.
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3057
Changes to the Earth's climate-temperature, precipitation, and other important aspects of climate-pose significant challenges to our Nation's natural resources now and will continue to do so. Managers of land, water, and living resources need to understand the impacts of climate change-which will exacerbate ongoing stresses such as habitat fragmentation and...
Environmental factors that influence the location of crop agriculture in the conterminous United States
Nancy T. Baker, Paul D. Capel
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5108
This report presents and describes high-resolution geospatial data identifying the range of environmental conditions that influence the location of cropped agricultural lands in the conterminous United States. Also presented are estimates of the extent of land where environmental constraints limit agricultural production (marginal land) and the extents of land where...
A common scaling rule for abundance, energetics, and production of parasitic and free-living species
Ryan F. Hechinger, Kevin D. Lafferty, Andy P. Dobson, James H. Brown, Armand M. Kuris
2011, Science (333) 445-448
The metabolic theory of ecology uses the scaling of metabolism with body size and temperature to explain the causes and consequences of species abundance. However, the theory and its empirical tests have never simultaneously examined parasites alongside free-living species. This is unfortunate because parasites represent at least half of species...
Detection probability in aerial surveys of feral horses
Jason I. Ransom
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 299-307
Observation bias pervades data collected during aerial surveys of large animals, and although some sources can be mitigated with informed planning, others must be addressed using valid sampling techniques that carefully model detection probability. Nonetheless, aerial surveys are frequently employed to count large mammals without applying such methods to account...
Estimation of daily age and timing of hatching of exotic Asian swamp eels Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793) in a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA
James M. Long, C. Lafleur
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 1019-1022
Otoliths were used to estimate daily age, growth, and hatching date of the exotic Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) captured from a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA. The eels were sampled using leaf litter traps (N = 140) from 17 July to 28 August 2008. The captured...
Implications of discontinuous elevation gradients on fragmentation and restoration in patterned wetlands
Christa L. Zweig, Brian E. Reichert, Wiley M. Kitchens
2011, Ecosphere (2) 1-14
Large wetlands around the world face the possibility of degradation, not only from complete conversion, but also from subtle changes in their structure and function. While fragmentation and isolation of wetlands within heterogeneous landscapes has received much attention, the disruption of spatial patterns/processes within large wetland systems and the resulting...
Assessing the feasibility of native fish reintroductions: A framework applied to threatened bull trout
Jason B. Dunham, Kirsten Gallo, Dan Shively, Chris Allen, Brad Goehring
2011, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (31) 106-115
Translocations to recover native fishes have resulted in mixed success. One reason for the failure of these actions is inadequate assessments of their feasibility prior to implementation. Here, we provide a framework developed to assess the feasibility of one type of translocation—reintroduction. The framework was founded on two simple components...
Adapting to climate change at Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park
Jessica E. Halofsky, David L. Peterson, Kathy A. O’Halloran, Catherine H. Hoffman
2011, Report
Climate change presents a major challenge to natural resource managers both because of the magnitude of potential effects of climate change on ecosystem structure, processes, and function, and because of the uncertainty associated with those potential ecological effects. Concrete ways to adapt to climate change are needed to help natural...
Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater movement, and water budget in the Chimacum Creek basin and vicinity, Jefferson County, Washington
Joseph L. Jones, Wendy B. Welch, Lonna M. Frans, Theresa D. Olsen
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5129
This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater flow system in the Chimacum Creek basin. It includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal fluctuations in groundwater level; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a groundwater budget....
GLORIA sidescan-sonar imagery for parts of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and adjacent areas
Valerie F. Paskevich, Florence L. Wong, John J. O'Malley, Andrew J. Stevenson, Christina E. Gutmacher
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1332
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a Proclamation establishing the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States extending its territory 200 nautical miles from the coasts of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. territories and possessions. The charter of the U.S. Geological Survey...
Assessing open-system behavior of 14C in terrestrial gastropod shells
Jason A. Rech, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Sophie B. Lehmann, Chelsea N. McGimpsey, David A. Grimley, Jeffrey C. Nekola
2011, Radiocarbon (53) 325-335
In order to assess open-system behavior of radiocarbon in fossil gastropod shells, we measured the 14C activity on 10 aliquots of shell material recovered from Illinoian (~190–130 ka) and pre-Illinoian (~800 ka) loess and lacustrine deposits in the Midwestern USA. Eight of the 10 aliquots yielded measurable 14C activities that...
Assessing power of large river fish monitoring programs to detect population changes: the Missouri River sturgeon example
M. L. Wildhaber, S. H. Holan, J.L. Bryan, D. W. Gladish, M. Ellersieck
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 282-290
In 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers initiated the Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program (PSPAP) to monitor pallid sturgeon and the fish community of the Missouri River. The power analysis of PSPAP presented here was conducted to guide sampling design and effort decisions. The PSPAP sampling design has a...
Selection and preference of benthic habitat by small and large Ammocoetes of the Least Brook Lamprey (Lampetra aepyptera)
Dustin M. Smith, Stuart A. Welsh, Philip J. Turk
2011, Environmental Biology of Fishes (91) 421-428
In this laboratory study, we quantified substrate selection by small (<50 mm) and large (100–150 mm) ammocoetes of the least brook lamprey (Lampetra aepyptera). In aquaria, ammocoetes were given a choice to burrow into six equally-available substrate types: small gravel (2.360–4.750 mm), coarse sand (0.500–1.400 mm), fine sand (0.125–0.500 mm), organic substrate (approximately...
Catfish spatial distribution in the free-flowing Mississippi River
Leandro E. Miranda, K. Jack Kilgore
2011, Conference Paper, Conservation, ecology, and management of catfish: the second international symposium
No abstract available....
Slip rate and slip magnitudes of past earthquakes along the Bogd left-lateral strike-slip fault (Mongolia)
M. Rizza, J.-F. Ritz, R. Braucher, R. Vassallo, C. Prentice, Shannon A. Mahan, S. McGill, A. Chauvet, S. Marco, M. Todbileg, S. Demberel, D. Bourles
2011, Geophysical Journal International (186) 897-927
We carried out morphotectonic studies along the left-lateral strike-slip Bogd Fault, the principal structure involved in the Gobi-Altay earthquake of 1957 December 4 (published magnitudes range from 7.8 to 8.3). The Bogd Fault is 260 km long and can be subdivided into five main geometric segments, based on variation...
Significance of zircon U-Pb ages from the Pescadero felsite, west-central California coast ranges
Robert J. McLaughlin, Diane E. Moore, W.G. Ernst, UWE C. Martens, J. C. Clark
2011, Geological Society of America Bulletin (123) 1497-1512
Weathered felsite is associated with the late Campanian–Maastrichtian Pigeon Point Formation near Pescadero, California. Poorly exposed, its age and correlation are uncertain. Is it part of the Pigeon Point section west of the San Gregorio–Hosgri fault? Does it rest on Nacimiento block basement? Is it dextrally offset from the Oligocene...
Comparison of fish assemblages in two disjoined segments of an oxbow lake in relation to connectivity
Daniel J. Dembkowski, Leandro E. Miranda
2011, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (140) 1060-1069
Disconnection between adjacent habitat patches is one of the most notable factors contributing to the decreased biotic integrity of global ecosystems. Connectivity is especially threatened in river–floodplain ecosystems in which channel modifications have disrupted the lateral links between the main river channel and floodplain lakes. In this study, we examined...
Assessing hypotheses about nesting site occupancy dynamics
Florent Bled, J. Andrew Royle, Emmanuelle Cam
2011, Ecology (92) 938-951
Hypotheses about habitat selection developed in the evolutionary ecology framework assume that individuals, under some conditions, select breeding habitat based on expected fitness in different habitat. The relationship between habitat quality and fitness may be reflected by breeding success of individuals, which may in turn be used to assess habitat...
Northern Hemisphere modes of variability and the timing of spring in western North America
T.R. Ault, A.K. Macalady, G.T. Pederson, J.L. Betancourt, M.D. Schwartz
2011, Journal of Climate (24) 4003-4014
Spatial and temporal patterns of variability in spring onset are identified across western North America using a spring index (SI) model based on weather station minimum and maximum temperatures (Tmin and Tmax, respectively). Principal component analysis shows that two significant and independent patterns explain roughly half of the total variance in the...
Application of MODFLOW for oil reservoir simulation during the Deepwater Horizon Crisis
Paul A. Hsieh
2011, Ground Water (49) 319-323
When the Macondo well was shut in on July 15, 2010, the shut-in pressure recovered to a level that indicated the possibility of oil leakage out of the well casing into the surrounding formation. Such a leak could initiate a hydraulic fracture that might eventually breach the seafloor, resulting in...
Surficial geologic map of the Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle, North Carolina
Robert E. Weems, William C. Lewis, E. Allen Crider
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1121
The Elizabethtown 30' x 60' quadrangle is located in southeastern North Carolina between Fayetteville and Wilmington. Most of the area is flat to gently rolling, although steep slopes occur locally along some of the larger streams. Total relief in the area is slightly over 210 feet (ft), with elevations ranging...
Near-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in South San Francisco Bay, California: 2010
Jessica Dyke, Francis Parcheso, Janet K. Thompson, Daniel J. Cain, Samuel N. Luoma, Michelle I. Hornberger
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1163
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in South San Francisco Bay, Calif. This report includes...
A water-budget model and assessment of groundwater recharge for the Island of Hawai'i
John A. Engott
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5078
Concern surrounding increasing demand for groundwater on the Island of Hawaiʻi, caused by a growing population and an increasing reliance on groundwater as a source for municipal and private water systems, has prompted a study of groundwater recharge on the island using the most current data and accepted methods. For...
Appropriate uses and considerations for online surveying in human dimensions research
Natalie R. Sexton, Holly M. Miller, Alia M. Dietsch
2011, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (16) 154-163
Online surveying has gained attention in recent years for its applicability to human dimensions research as an efficient and inexpensive data-collection method; however, online surveying is not a panacea. In this article, we provide some guidelines for alleviating or avoiding the criticisms and pitfalls suggested of online survey methods and...
