Customizing a rangefinder for community-based wildlife conservation initiatives
Jason I. Ransom
2011, Biodiversity and Conservation (20) 1603-1609
Population size of many threatened and endangered species is relatively unknown because estimating animal abundance in remote parts of the world, without access to aircraft for surveying vast areas, is a scientific challenge with few proposed solutions. One option is to enlist local community members and train them in data...
Availability of groundwater data for California, water year 2010
Mary Ray, Patricia Orlando
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3060
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, obtains a large amount of data pertaining to the groundwater resources of California each water year (October 1-September 30). These data constitute a valuable database for developing an improved understanding of the water resources of the State. This...
Archive of digital Chirp subbottom profile data collected during USGS cruises 09CCT03 and 09CCT04, Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Islands, June and July 2009
Arnell S. Forde, Shawn V. Dadisman, James G. Flocks, Dana S. Wiese
2011, Data Series 590
In June and July of 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the geologic controls on island framework from Cat Island, Mississippi, to Dauphin Island, Alabama, as part of a broader USGS study on Coastal Change and Transport (CCT). The surveys were funded through the Northern...
Estimated 2008 groundwater potentiometric surface and predevelopment to 2008 water-level change in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system in the Albuquerque area, central New Mexico
Sarah E. Falk, Laura M. Bexfield, Scott K. Anderholm
2011, Scientific Investigations Map 3162
The water-supply requirements of the Albuquerque metropolitan area of central New Mexico have historically been met almost exclusively by groundwater withdrawal from the Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Previous studies have indicated that the large quantity of groundwater withdrawal relative to recharge has resulted in water-level declines in the aquifer...
Analytical results for municipal biosolids samples from a monitoring program near Deer Trail, Colorado (U.S.A.), 2010
J.G. Crock, D. B. Smith, T. J. B. Yager, C. J. Berry, M. G. Adams
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1146
Since late 1993, Metro Wastewater Reclamation District of Denver (Metro District), a large wastewater treatment plant in Denver, Colo., has applied Grade I, Class B biosolids to about 52,000 acres of nonirrigated farmland and rangeland near Deer Trail, Colo., U.S.A. In cooperation with the Metro District in 1993, the U.S....
Acute toxicity, histopathology, and coagulopathy in American kestrels (Falco sparverius) following administration of the rodenticie diphacinone
Barnett A. Rattner, Katherine E. Horak, Sarah E. Warner, Daniel D. Day, Carol U. Meteyer, Steven F. Voler, John D. Eisemann, John J. Johnston
2011, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (30) 1213-1222
The acute oral toxicity of the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone was found to be over 20 times greater in American kestrels (Falco sparverius; median lethal dose 96.8 mg/kg body weight) compared with Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Modest evidence of internal bleeding was observed at necropsy, although histological...
The aquatic real-time monitoring network; in-situ optical sensors for monitoring the nation's water quality
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Peter S. Murdoch, Bryan D. Downing, John Franco Saraceno, George R. Aiken, Robert G. Striegl
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3061
Floods, hurricanes, and longer-term changes in climate and land use can have profound effects on water quality due to shifts in hydrologic flow paths, water residence time, precipitation patterns, connectivity between rivers and uplands, and many other factors. In order to understand and respond to changes in hydrology and water...
The John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Jill Baron, Martin Goldhaber
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3066
The Powell Center provides an environment for cross-disciplinary scientific collaboration. The Center expands U.S. Geological Survey earth system science synthesis research activities by fostering the innovation that results from accumulated knowledge, constructive errors, and the "information spillover" that emerges from collaborative settings. Working Groups at the Powell Center use existing...
Movement of bull trout in the upper Jarbidge River watershed, Idaho and Nevada, 2008-09--A supplement to Open-File Report 2010-1033
Carrie S. Munz, M. Brady Allen, Patrick J. Connolly
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1090
We monitored bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in 2008 and 2009 as a continuation of our work in 2006 and 2007, which involved the tagging of 1,536 bull trout with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in the East Fork Jarbidge River and West Fork Jarbidge River and their tributaries in northeastern...
USGS Emergency Response Resources
Robert D. Bewley
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3079
Every day, emergency responders are confronted with worldwide natural and manmade disasters, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunami, volcanoes, wildfires, terrorist attacks, and accidental oil spills.The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is ready to coordinate the provisioning and deployment of USGS staff, equipment, geospatial data, products, and services in support of...
Connecting pattern and process in greater sage-grouse populations and sagebrush landscapes
Steven T. Knick, Steven E. Hanser
Steven T. Knick, John W. Connelly, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Greater Sage-Grouse: Ecology and Conservation of a Landscape Species and Its Habitats
Abstract. Spatial patterns influence the processes that maintain Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations and sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) landscapes on which they depend. We used connectivity analyses to: (1) delineate the dominant pattern of sagebrush landscapes; (2) identify regions of the current range-wide distribution of Greater Sage-Grouse important for conservation; (3)...
Complementary models of tree species-soil relationships in old-growth temperate forests
Alison Cross, Steven S. Perakis
2011, Ecosystems (14) 248-260
Ecosystem-level studies identify plant–soil feedbacks as important controls on soil nutrient availability, particularly for nitrogen and phosphorus. Although site- and species-specific studies of tree species–soil relationships are relatively common, comparatively fewer studies consider multiple co-existing species in old-growth forests across a range of sites that vary in underlying soil fertility....
Estimated probabilities, volumes, and inundation area depths of potential postwildfire debris flows from Carbonate, Slate, Raspberry, and Milton Creeks, near Marble, Gunnison County, Colorado
Michael R. Stevens, Jennifer L. Flynn, Verlin C. Stephens, Kristine L. Verdin
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5047
During 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Gunnison County, initiated a study to estimate the potential for postwildfire debris flows to occur in the drainage basins occupied by Carbonate, Slate, Raspberry, and Milton Creeks near Marble, Colorado. Currently (2010), these drainage basins are unburned but could be burned...
Hydrologic assessment of three drainage basins in the Pinelands of southern New Jersey, 2004-06
Richard L. Walker, Robert S. Nicholson, Donald A. Storck
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5056
The New Jersey Pinelands is an ecologically diverse area in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain, most of which overlies the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system. The demand for groundwater from this aquifer system is increasing as local development increases. Because any increase in groundwater withdrawals has the potential to affect streamflows...
Agricultural herbicide transport in a first-order intermittent stream, Nebraska, USA
J. R. Vogel, J.I. Linard
2011, Applied Engineering in Agriculture (27) 63-74
The behavior of herbicides in surface waters is a function of many variables, including scale of the watershed, physical and chemical properties of the herbicide, physical and chemical properties of the soil, rainfall intensity, and time of year. In this study, the transport of 6 herbicides and 12 herbicide degradates...
Forecast Mekong: 2011 update
D. Phil Turnipseed
2011, General Information Product 130
In 2009, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton joined with the Foreign Ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam in launching the Lower Mekong Initiative to enhance U.S. engagement with the Lower Mekong countries in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure. Part of the Lower Mekong Initiative,...
Sea-Floor geology and character of Eastern Rhode Island Sound West of Gay Head, Massachusetts
L.J. Poppe, K.Y. McMullen, S.D. Ackerman, D.S. Blackwood, B.J. Irwin, J.D. Schaer, M.R. Forrest
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1004
Gridded multibeam bathymetry covers approximately 102 square kilometers of sea floor in eastern Rhode Island Sound west of Gay Head, Massachusetts. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H11922, these acoustic data and the sea-floor stations subsequently occupied to verify them (1) show...
Data compilation and assessment for water resources in Pennsylvania state forest and park lands
Daniel G. Galeone
2011, Data Series 327
As a result of a cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PaDCNR), available electronic data were compiled for Pennsylvania state lands (state forests and parks) to allow PaDCNR to initially determine if data exist to make an objective evaluation of...
Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Green River Formation, Greater Green River Basin in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah
R. C. Johnson, T.J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3063
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently (2011) completed an assessment of in-place oil shale resources, regardless of grade, in the Eocene Green River Formation of the Greater Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, northwestern Colorado, and northeastern Utah. Green River Formation oil shale also is present in the Piceance Basin...
Chemically-mediated interactions between macroalgae Dictyota spp. and multiple life-history stages of the coral Porites astreoides
Valerie J. Paul, Ilsa B. Kuffner, Linda J. Walters, Raphael Ritson-Williams, Kevin S. Beach, Mikel A. Becerro
2011, Marine Ecology Progress Series (426) 161-170
Competition between corals and macroalgae is often assumed to occur on reefs, especially those that have undergone shifts from coral to algal dominance; however, data examining these competitive interactions, especially during the early life-history stages of corals, are scarce. We conducted a series of field and outdoor seawater-table experiments to...
A beaded collar for dual micro GPS/VHF transmitter attachment to nutria
G. Michael Haramis, T. S. White
2011, Mammalia (75) 79-82
We report on the development of an approximately 85-g beaded collar for dual micro GPS/VHF transmitter attachment to semi-aquatic nutria (Myocastor coypus). Prototype collars were tested on captive nutria and refined during field trials. Central to the design was novel use of the VHF transmitter antenna as a collar. A...
USGS science for the Nation's changing coasts; shoreline change assessment
E. Robert Thieler, Cheryl J. Hapke
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3074
The coastline of the United States features some of the most popular tourist and recreational destinations in the world and is the site of intense residential, commercial, and industrial development. The coastal zone also has extensive and pristine natural areas, with diverse ecosystems providing essential habitat and resources that support...
OpenStreetMap Collaborative Prototype, Phase 1
Eric B. Wolf, Greg D. Matthews, Kevin McNinch, Barbara S. Poore
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1136
Phase One of the OpenStreetMap Collaborative Prototype (OSMCP) attempts to determine if the open source software developed for the OpenStreetMap (OSM, http://www.openstreetmap.org) can be used for data contributions and improvements that meet or exceed the requirements for integration into The National Map (http://www.nationalmap.gov). OpenStreetMap Collaborative Prototype Phase One focused on...
A program for the conversion of The National Map data from proprietary format to resource description framework (RDF)
Andrew Bulen, Jonathan J. Carter, Dalia E. Varanka
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1142
To expand data functionality and capabilities for users of The National Map of the U.S. Geological Survey, data sets for six watersheds and three urban areas were converted from the Best Practices vector data model formats to Semantic Web data formats. This report describes and documents the conver-sion process. The...
The constraints of connecting children with nature--A research literature review
Phadrea D. Ponds, Rudy M. Schuster
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1139
Reports or research investigations studying children in nature are rapidly expanding and increasingly diverse. This document reports a review of a particular part of this field-studies of constraints to recreation and participation in environmental and outdoor recreation programs. The findings result from a review of more than 125 journal articles,...