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...
Potential effects of roadside dry wells on groundwater quality on the Island of Hawai'i — Assessment using numerical groundwater models
Scot K. Izuka
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5072
Widespread use of dry wells to dispose of roadside runoff has raised concern about the potential effects on the quality of groundwater on the Island of Hawai‘i. This study used semi-generic numerical models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport to assess the potential effect of dry wells on groundwater quality...
Discrete choice modeling of shovelnose sturgeon habitat selection in the Lower Missouri River
T.W. Bonnot, Mark L. Wildhaber, J.J. Millspaugh, Aaron J. Delonay, Robert B. Jacobson, J.L. Bryan
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 291-300
Substantive changes to physical habitat in the Lower Missouri River, resulting from intensive management, have been implicated in the decline of pallid (Scaphirhynchus albus) and shovelnose (S. platorynchus) sturgeon. To aid in habitat rehabilitation efforts, we evaluated habitat selection of gravid, female shovelnose sturgeon during the spawning season in two sections...
Scaling of peak flows with constant flow velocity in random self-similar networks
Brent M. Troutman, Ricardo Mantilla, Vijay K. Gupta
2011, Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics (18) 489-502
A methodology is presented to understand the role of the statistical self-similar topology of real river networks on scaling, or power law, in peak flows for rainfall-runoff events. We created Monte Carlo generated sets of ensembles of 1000 random self-similar networks (RSNs) with geometrically distributed interior and exterior generators having...
The rising sea
William C. Schwab
2011, Journal of Coastal Research (27) 202-203
No abstract available....
Estimating site occupancy rates for aquatic plants using spatial sub-sampling designs when detection probabilities are less than one
R. M. Nielson, B. R. Gray, L.L. McDonald, P.J. Heglund
2011, Aquatic Botany (95) 221-225
Estimation of site occupancy rates when detection probabilities are <1 is well established in wildlife science. Data from multiple visits to a sample of sites are used to estimate detection probabilities and the proportion of sites occupied by focal species. In this article we describe how site occupancy methods can...
Projected status of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) in the twenty-first century
Chadwick V. Jay, Bruce G. Marcot, David C. Douglas
2011, Polar Biology (34) 1065-1084
Extensive and rapid losses of sea ice in the Arctic have raised conservation concerns for the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), a large pinniped inhabiting arctic and subarctic continental shelf waters of the Chukchi and Bering seas. We developed a Bayesian network model to integrate potential effects of...
An individual and a sex odor signature in kittiwakes? Study of the semiochemical composition of preen secretion and preen down feathers
Sarah Leclaire, Thomas Merkling, C. Raynaud, Geraldine Giacinti, J.-M. Bessiere, Scott A. Hatch, Etienne Danchin
2011, Naturwissenschaften (98) 615-624
The importance of olfaction in birds' social behavior has long been denied. Avian chemical signaling has thus been relatively unexplored. The black-legged kittiwake provides a particularly appropriate model for investigating this topic. Kittiwakes preferentially mate with genetically dissimilar individuals, but the cues used to assess genetic characteristics remain unknown. As...
National Wildlife Health Center's quarterly wildlife mortality report January 2011 to March 2011
Anne Ballmann, C. LeAnn White, Jennifer Bradsby
2011, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 7-8
No abstract available....
Avian influenza shedding patterns in waterfowl: implications for surveillance, environmental transmission, and disease spread
Viviane Henaux, Michael D. Samuel
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 566-578
Despite the recognized importance of fecal/oral transmission of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) via contaminated wetlands, little is known about the length, quantity, or route of AI virus shed by wild waterfowl. We used published laboratory challenge studies to evaluate the length and quantity of low pathogenic (LP) and highly...
Isotopic tracing of perchlorate in the environment
Neil C. Sturchio, J.K. Bohlke, Baohua Gu, Paul B. Hatzinger, W. Andrew Jackson
Mark Baskaran, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry
Isotopic measurements can be used for tracing the sources and behavior of environmental contaminants. Perchlorate (ClO 4 − ) has been detected widely in groundwater, soils, fertilizers, plants, milk, and human urine since 1997, when improved analytical methods for analyzing ClO 4 −concentration became available for routine use....
Newer views of the Moon: Comparing spectra from Clementine and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper
Georgiana Y. Kramer, Sebastian Besse, Jeff Nettles, Jean-Philippe Combe, Roger N. Clark, Carle M. Pieters, Matthew Staid, Joseph Boardman, Robert Green, Thomas B. McCord, Erik Malaret, James W. Head III
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research (116) 1-11
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) provided the first global hyperspectral data of the lunar surface in 85 bands from 460 to 2980 nm. The Clementine mission provided the first global multispectral maps the lunar surface in 11 spectral bands across the ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) and near-infrared (NIR). In an effort to...
Loading of the San Andreas fault by flood-induced rupture of faults beneath the Salton Sea
Daniel S. Brothers, Debi Kilb, Karen Luttrell, Neal W. Driscoll, Graham Kent
2011, Nature Geoscience (4) 486-492
The southern San Andreas fault has not experienced a large earthquake for approximately 300 years, yet the previous five earthquakes occurred at ~180-year intervals. Large strike-slip faults are often segmented by lateral stepover zones. Movement on smaller faults within a stepover zone could perturb the main fault segments and potentially trigger...
Interactions with other large herbivores: Chapter 9
Jonathan A. Jenks, David M. Leslie Jr.
2011, Book chapter, Biology and management of white-tailed deer
No abstract available....
Population genetic structure of clinical and environmental isolates of Blastomyces dermatitidis based on 27 polymorphic microsatellite markers
Jennifer K. Meece, Jennifer L. Anderson, Matthew C. Fisher, Daniel A. Henk, Brian L. Sloss, Kurt D. Reed
2011, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (77) 5123-5131
Blastomyces dermatitidis, a thermally dimorphic fungus, is the etiologic agent of North American blastomycosis. Clinical presentation is varied, ranging from silent infections to fulminant respiratory disease and dissemination to skin and other sites. Exploration of the population genetic structure of B. dermatitidis would improve our knowledge...
A loess–paleosol record of climate and glacial history over the past two glacial–interglacial cycles (~ 150 ka), southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Kenneth L. Pierce, Daniel R. Muhs, Maynard A. Fosberg, Shannon A. Mahan, Joseph G. Rosenbaum, Joseph M. Licciardi, Milan J. Pavich
2011, Quaternary Research (76) 119-141
Loess accumulated on a Bull Lake outwash terrace of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6) age in southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The 9 m section displays eight intervals of loess deposition (Loess 1 to Loess 8, oldest), each followed by soil development. Our age-depth model is constrained by thermoluminescence,...
Characterizing contaminant concentrations with depth by using the USGS well profiler in Oklahoma, 2003-9
S. Jerrod Smith, Carol Becker
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3054
Since 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Oklahoma Water Science Center has been using the USGS well profiler to characterize changes in water contribution and contaminant concentrations with depth in pumping public-supply wells in selected aquifers. The tools and methods associated with the well profiler, which were first developed by...
An evaluation of the science needs to inform decisions on Outer Continental Shelf energy development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska
Leslie Holland-Bartels, Brenda Pierce
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3048
On March 31, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a national strategy for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas development. In that announcement, the Administration outlined a three-pronged approach (U.S. Department of the Interior, 2010a): Development: "...expand development and production throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including resource-rich...
An evaluation of the science needs to inform decisions on Outer Continental Shelf energy development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, Alaska
Leslie Holland-Bartels, Brenda Pierce
2011, Circular 1370
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) was asked to conduct an initial, independent evaluation of the science needs that would inform the Administration's consideration of the right places and the right ways in which to develop oil and gas resources in the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), particularly focused on...
USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center--Research activities in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Matthew Cimitile
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3071
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center in Florida investigates earth-science processes related to coastal and marine environments as well as to societal implications of natural hazards, resource sustainability, and environmental change. The Center is conducting ongoing research in and around the U.S. Virgin Islands...
Comparative health assessment of western Pacific leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) foraging off the coast of California, 2005-2007
Heather S. Harris, Scott R. Benson, Kirsten V. Gilardi, Robert H. Poppenga, Thierry M. Work, Peter H. Dutton, Jonna A.K. Mazet
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 321-337
Leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are critically endangered, primarily threatened by the overharvesting of eggs, fisheries entanglement, and coastal development. The Pacific leatherback population has experienced a catastrophic decline over the past two decades. Leatherbacks foraging off the coast of California are part of a distinct Western Pacific breeding stock that...
Cold-induced mortality of invasive Burmese pythons in south Florida
Frank J. Mazzotti, Michael S. Cherkiss, Kristen M. Hart, Ray W. Snow, Michael R. Rochford, Michael E. Dorcas, Robert N. Reed
2011, Biological Invasions (13) 143-151
A recent record cold spell in southern Florida (2–11 January 2010) provided an opportunity to evaluate responses of an established population of Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) to a prolonged period of unusually cold weather. We observed behavior, characterized thermal biology, determined fate of radio-telemetered (n = 10)...
Structure and dynamics of an upland old- growth forest at Redwood National Park, California
Philip J. van Mantgem, John D. Stuart
2011, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Coast Redwood Forests in a Changing California: a symposium for scientists and managers
Many current redwood forest management targets are based on old-growth conditions, so it is critical that we understand the variability and range of conditions that constitute these forests. Here we present information on the structure and dynamics from six one-hectare forest monitoring plots in an upland old-growth forest at Redwood...
Common Grackle breeding on bottomland forest restoration sites
Daniel J. Twedt
2011, Southeastern Naturalist (10) 1-10
Two of 36 forest restoration sites in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley surveyed from 2000-2002 harbored Quiscalus quiscula (Common Grackle). Occupied sites were in less-forested landscapes and had sparser understory vegetation due to flooding. Probability of daily nest survival (0.9077) of 169 Common Grackle nests was influenced by nest-placement, temporal, and...
Improved earthquake monitoring in the central and eastern United States in support of seismic assessments for critical facilities
William S. Leith, Harley M. Benz, Robert B. Herrmann
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1101
Evaluation of seismic monitoring capabilities in the central and eastern United States for critical facilities - including nuclear powerplants - focused on specific improvements to understand better the seismic hazards in the region. The report is not an assessment of seismic safety at nuclear plants. To accomplish the evaluation and...
