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We examined behavioral interactions of raptors, Chihuahuan Ravens (Corvus cryptoleucus), and Lesser Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) at leks in the Texas Southern High Plains. Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) and Swainson's Hawks (Buteo swainsoni) were the most common raptors observed at leks. Only 15 of 61 (25%) raptor encounters at leks (0.09/hr)...

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No abstract available....

In an earlier global climate-change study, air temperature and precipitation data for the entire twenty-first century simulated from five general circulation models were used as input to precalibrated watershed models for 14 selected basins across the United States. Simulated daily streamflow and energy output from the watershed models were used...

The area designated by the city of San Antonio as the Rancho Diana Natural Area is in northern Bexar County, near San Antonio, Texas. During 2008-10, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of San Antonio, documented the geologic framework and mapped the hydrogeologic characteristics for the southern...

Marine debris is a widespread and globally recognized problem. Sound information is necessary to understand the extent of the problem and to inform resource managers and policy makers about potential mitigation strategies. Although there are many short-term studies on marine debris, a longer-term perspective and the ability to compare among...

From March 21, 2010 to March 24, 2010, a winter marine bird and mammal skiff-based survey along the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) was completed. This was the second winter survey completed for KEFJ since 2008. The primary objectives of the SWAN winter surveys are to characterize the...

Soil gas and soil were assessed for organic and inorganic contaminants at the former military police range at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from May to September 2010. The assessment evaluated organic contaminants in soil-gas samplers and inorganic contaminants in soil samples. This assessment was conducted to provide environmental contamination data to...

The Gulf Coast aquifer system is the primary water supply for Montgomery County in southeastern Texas, including part of the Houston metropolitan area and the cities of Magnolia, Conroe, and The Woodlands Township, Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, collected environmental tracer...

A cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Discovery Farms program (Discovery Farms), and the UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm program (Pioneer Farm) was developed to identify typical ranges and magnitudes, temporal distributions, and principal factors affecting concentrations and yields of sediment, nutrients, and other selected constituents...

The implementation of freshwater diversions in large-scale coastal restoration schemes presents several scientific and management considerations. Large-scale environmental restructuring necessitates aquatic biomonitoring, and during such field studies, photographs that document animals and habitat may be captured. Among the biomonitoring studies performed in conjunction with the Davis Pond freshwater diversion structure...

No abstract available....

Streamflow and water-quality data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) or the Providence Water Supply Board (PWSB), Rhode Island's largest drinking-water supplier. Streamflow was measured or estimated by the USGS following standard methods at 23 streamgages; 14 of these stations were also equipped with instrumentation capable of continuously...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether water quality parameters commonly associated with primary productivity may be used to predict the susceptibility of a specific water body to exceed proposed fish consumption advisory limitation of 0.3 mg kg−1. South Dakota currently has nine lakes and impoundments that exceed fish tissue...

Environmental monitoring programs must efficiently describe state shifts. We propose using maximum entropy modeling to select dissimilar sampling sites to capture environmental variability at low cost, and demonstrate a specific application: sample site selection for the Central Plains domain (453,490 km2) of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). We relied...

Anadromous river herring (alewives Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring A. aestivalis ), which constitute a historically and ecologically important component of coastal rivers, have declined precipitously throughout the Atlantic seaboard. Suggested causes of river herring decline include commercial fishing and predation by striped bass Morone saxatilis . Although the causes of this recent trend are poorly...

Hormones are critical to the physiological alterations necessary for ion homeostasis when fish move between freshwater and seawater. Cortisol promotes seawater acclimation through differentiation of salt-secreting mitochondrion-rich cells and ion transport proteins in the gill. The growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I axis is also important in seawater acclimation and acts in synergy with cortisol. Prolactin (PRL) is important in freshwater acclimation through...

California's Central Valley has been one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world for more than 50 years. To better understand the groundwater availability in the valley, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the Central Valley hydrologic model (CVHM). Because of recent water-level declines and renewed subsidence, the...

During the past ∼50 years, the number and area of lakes have declined in several regions in boreal forests. However, there has been substantial finer-scale heterogeneity; some lakes decreased in area, some showed no trend, and others increased. The objective of this study was to identify the primary mechanisms underlying...

During the 20th century, the iron ore mining industries of Canada and the United States passed through periods of transformation. The beginning of the 21st century has seen another period of transformation, with the failure of a number of steel companies and with consolidation of control within the North American...

Effective monitoring programs are designed to track changes in the distribution, occurrence, and abundance of species. We developed an extension of Royle and Kéry's (2007) single species model to estimate simultaneously temporal changes in probabilities of detection, occupancy, colonization, extinction, and species turnover using data on calling anuran amphibians, collected...

The Meramec River Basin in east-central Missouri is an important stronghold for native freshwater mussels (Order: Unionoida) in the United States. Whereas the basin supports more than 40 mussel species, previous studies indicate that the abundance and distribution of most species are declining. Therefore, resource managers have identified the need...

Domestic ducks are considered to be an important reservoir of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), as shown by a number of geospatial studies in which they have been identified as a significant risk factor associated with disease presence. Despite their importance in HPAI epidemiology, their large-scale distribution in Monsoon Asia...

The surficial geologic map of the Noatak National Preserve (NNP) is a compilation that incorporates portions of four published USGS maps (Hamilton, 1980, 1981, 1984a,b), a USGS Open-File Report (Hamilton, 2003), and unpublished field mapping. It covers an area of about 28,700 km2, and includes parts of eight 1:250,000-scale quadrangles....

The Ganiki Planitia (V-14) quadrangle on Venus, which extends from 25° N. to 50° N. and from 180° E. to 210° E., derives its name from the extensive suite of plains that dominates the geology of the northern part of the region. With a surface area of nearly 6.5 x...