A review of plague persistence with special emphasis on fleas
Jeffrey Wimsatt, Dean E. Biggins
2009, Journal of Vector Borne Diseases (46) 85-99
Sylvatic plague is highly prevalent during infrequent epizootics that ravage the landscape of western North America. During these periods, plague dissemination is very efficient. Epizootics end when rodent and flea populations are decimated and vectored transmission declines. A second phase (enzootic plague) ensues when plague is difficult to detect from...
Interactions between soil thermal and hydrological dynamics in the response of Alaska ecosystems to fire disturbance
Shuhua Yi, A. David McGuire, Jennifer Harden, Eric Kasischke, Kristen L. Manies, Larry Hinzman, Anna K. Liljedahl, J. Randerson, Heping Liu, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Sergey S. Marchenko, Yongwon Kim
2009, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (114)
Soil temperature and moisture are important factors that control many ecosystem processes. However, interactions between soil thermal and hydrological processes are not adequately understood in cold regions, where the frozen soil, fire disturbance, and soil drainage play important roles in controlling interactions among these processes. These interactions were investigated with...
An ecosystem services framework for multidisciplinary research in the Colorado River headwaters
D.J. Semmens, J.S. Briggs, D.A. Martin
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
A rapidly spreading Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic is killing lodgepole pine forest in the Rocky Mountains, causing landscape change on a massive scale. Approximately 1.5 million acres of lodgepoledominated forest is already dead or dying in Colorado, the infestation is still spreading rapidly, and it is expected that in excess...
Using high-frequency sampling to detect effects of atmospheric pollutants on stream chemistry
Stephen D. Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, Elizabeth W. Boyer
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
We combined information from long-term (weekly over many years) and short-term (high-frequency during rainfall and snowmelt events) stream water sampling efforts to understand how atmospheric deposition affects stream chemistry. Water samples were collected at the Sleepers River Research Watershed, VT, a temperate upland forest site that receives elevated atmospheric deposition...
Fuel age and fire spread: Natural conditions versus opportunities for fire suppression
Richard W. Halsey, Jon E. Keeley, Kit Wilson
2009, Fire Management Today (69) 22-28
Wildfires are driven and restrained by an interplay of variables that can lead to many potential outcomes. As every wildland firefighter learns in basic training, the ability of a fire to spread is determined by three basic variables: fuel type and condition, weather, and topography. Fire suppression obviously plays a...
Integrating terrestrial LiDAR and stereo photogrammetry to map the Tolay lakebed in northern San Francisco Bay
Isa Woo, Rune Storesund Rune, John Y. Takekawa, Rachel J. Gardiner, Steve Ehret Steve
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation
The Tolay Creek Watershed drains approximately 3,520 ha along the northern edge of San Francisco Bay. Surrounded by a mosaic of open space conservation easements and public wildlife areas, it is one of the only watersheds in this urbanized estuary that is protected from its headwaters to the bay. Tolay...
Acceptance of the 2009 Henry Baldwin Ward Medal: The accidental parasitologist
Kevin D. Lafferty
2009, Journal of Parasitology (95) 1267-1271
Members of the Society, President Conn, colleagues, friends, and particularly students, the Ward Medal recipient, from Clarke Read onward, traditionally recounts how their career was shaped. A decade ago, in a crumbling Kona hotel, the ASP's own tattooed lady, Janine Caira, opened her Ward Medal address with: “To all future...
Modeling fuel succession
Brett Davis, Jan W. Van Wagtendonk, Jen Beck, Kent A. van Wagtendonk
2009, Fire Management Today (69) 18-21
Surface fuels data are of critical importance for supporting fire incident management, risk assessment, and fuel management planning, but the development of surface fuels data can be expensive and time consuming. The data development process is extensive, generally beginning with acquisition of remotely sensed spatial data such as aerial photography...
Adaptive management of watersheds and related resources
Byron K. Williams
2009, Conference Paper, Planning for an uncertain future - Monitoring, integration, and adaptation (SIR 2009-5049)
The concept of learning about natural resources through the practice of management has been around for several decades and by now is associated with the term adaptive management. The objectives of this paper are to offer a framework for adaptive management that includes an operational definition, a description of conditions...
Investigating aquatic ecosystems of small lakes in Khorezm, Uzbekistan
L. Saito, J. Scott, M. Rosen, Bakhriddin Nishonov, S. Chandra, John P.A. Lamers, Dilorom Fayzieva, M. Shanafield
2009, Conference Paper, Proceedings of World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009 - World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2009: Great Rivers
The Khorezm province of Uzbekistan, located in the Aral Sea Basin, suffers from severe environmental and human health problems due to decades of unsustainable land and water management. Agriculture is the dominant land use in Khorezm, and agricultural runoff water has impacted many small lakes. In this water-scarce region, these...
Relationship of stream ecological conditions to simulated hydraulic metrics across a gradient of basin urbanization
J. J. Steuer, J. D. Bales, E.M.P. Giddings
2009, Journal of the North American Benthological Society (28) 955-976
The relationships among urbanization, stream hydraulics, and aquatic biology were investigated across a gradient of urbanization in 30 small basins in eastern Wisconsin, USA. Simulation of hydraulic metrics with 1-dimensional unsteady flow models was an effective means for mechanistically coupling the effects of urbanization with stream ecological conditions (i.e., algae,...
Bank erosion along the dam-regulated lower Roanoke River, North Carolina
C.R. Hupp, E.R. Schenk, J.M. Richter, Robert K. Peet, Phil A. Townsend
2009, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 97-108
Dam construction and its impact on downstream fluvial processes may substantially alter ambient bank stability and erosion. Three high dams (completed between 1953 and 1963) were built along the Piedmont portion of the Roanoke River, North Carolina; just downstream the lower part of the river flows across largely unconsolidated Coastal...
Satellite optical and radar data used to track wetland forest impact and short-term recovery from Hurricane Katrina
Elijah W. Ramsey III, A. Rangoonwala, B. Middleton, Z. Lu
2009, Wetlands (29) 66-79
Satellite Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and RADARSAT-1 (radar) satellite image data collected before and after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area on the Louisiana-Mississippi border, USA, were applied to the study of forested wetland impact and recovery. We documented the overall similarity in the...
Egg fatty acid composition from lake trout fed two Lake Michigan prey fish species.
D. C. Honeyfield, J.D. Fitzsimons, D. E. Tillitt, S.B. Brown
2009, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (21) 272-278
We previously demonstrated that there were significant differences in the egg thiamine content in lake trout Salvelinus namaycush fed two Lake Michigan prey fish (alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and bloater Coregonus hoyi). Lake trout fed alewives produced eggs low in thiamine, but it was unknown whether the consumption of alewives affected...
Comparison of clast frequency and size in the resurge deposits at the Chesapeake Bay impact structure (Eyreville A and Langley cores): Clues to the resurge process
Jens Ormo, Erik Sturkell, J. Wright Horton, Jr., David S. Powars, Lucy E. Edwards
2009, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 617-632
Collapse and inward slumping of unconsolidated sedimentary strata expanded the Chesapeake Bay impact structure far beyond its central basement crater. During crater collapse, sediment-loaded water surged back to fill the crater. Here, we analyze clast frequency and granulometry of these resurge deposits in one core hole from the outermost part...
Dietary response of sympatric deer to fire using stable isotope analysis of liver tissue
W. David Walter, T.J. Zimmerman, David M. Leslie Jr., J.A. Jenks
2009, Wildlife Biology in Practice (5) 128-135
Carbon (??13C) and nitrogen (??15N) isotopes in biological samples from large herbivores identify photosynthetic pathways (C3 vs. C4) of plants they consumed and can elucidate potential nutritional characteristics of dietary selection. Because large herbivores consume a diversity of forage types, ??13C and ??15N in their tissue can index ingested and...
Integrating geodetic and geologic data in maps of seismic hazard
R. Briggs, W. Hammond
2009, Conference Paper, Eos
[No abstract available]...
Lesser scaup breeding probability and female survival on the yukon flats, Alaska
K. H. Martin, M. S. Lindberg, Joel A. Schmutz, M.R. Bertram
2009, Journal of Wildlife Management (73) 914-923
Information on the ecology of waterfowl breeding in the boreal forest is lacking, despite the boreal region's importance to continental waterfowl populations and to duck species that are currently declining, such as lesser scaup (Aythya affinis). We estimated breeding probability and breeding season survival of female lesser scaup on the...
Numerical simulations and observations of surface wave fields under an extreme tropical cyclone
Y. Fan, I. Ginis, T. Hara, C. W. Wright, E.J. Walsh
2009, Journal of Physical Oceanography (39) 2097-2116
The performance of the wave model WAVEWATCH III under a very strong, category 5, tropical cyclone wind forcing is investigated with different drag coefficient parameterizations and ocean current inputs. The model results are compared with field observations of the surface wave spectra from an airborne scanning radar altimeter, National Data...
Feature pruning by upstream drainage area to support automated generalization of the United States National Hydrography Dataset
L.V. Stanislawski
2009, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems (33) 325-333
The United States Geological Survey has been researching generalization approaches to enable multiple-scale display and delivery of geographic data. This paper presents automated methods to prune network and polygon features of the United States high-resolution National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) to lower resolutions. Feature-pruning rules, data enrichment, and partitioning are derived...
Spatial and seasonal variations in mercury methylation and microbial community structure in a historic mercury mining area, Yolo County, California
J.M. Holloway, M. B. Goldhaber, K.M. Scow, R.E. Drenovsky
2009, Chemical Geology (267) 85-95
The relationships between soil parent lithology, nutrient concentrations, microbial biomass and community structure were evaluated in soils from a small watershed impacted by historic Hg mining. Upland and wetland soils, stream sediments and tailings were collected and analyzed for nutrients (DOC, SO4=, NO3-), Hg, MeHg, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA)....
Mineralogy of mine waste at the Vermont Asbestos Group mine, Belvidere Mountain, Vermont
D.M. Levitan, J. M. Hammarstrom, M. E. Gunter, R.R. Seal II, I.-M. Chou, N.M. Piatak
2009, American Mineralogist (94) 1063-1066
Samples from the surfaces of waste piles at the Vermont Asbestos Group mine in northern Vermont were studied to determine their mineralogy, particularly the presence and morphology of amphiboles. Analyses included powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and Raman spectroscopy. Minerals identified...
Oxygen, hydrogen, and helium isotopes for investigating groundwater systems of the Cape Verde Islands, West Africa
V.M. Heilweil, K.D. Solomon, S. B. Gingerich, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
2009, Hydrogeology Journal (17) 1157-1174
Stable isotopes (??18O, ??2H), tritium (3H), and helium isotopes (3He, 4He) were used for evaluating groundwater recharge sources, flow paths, and residence times of three watersheds in the Cape Verde Islands (West Africa). Stable isotopes indicate the predominance of high-elevation precipitation that undergoes little evaporation prior to groundwater recharge. In...
Effects of experimental water table and temperature manipulations on ecosystem CO2 fluxes in an Alaskan rich fen
M.R. Chivers, M.R. Turetsky, J. M. Waddington, J.W. Harden, A. D. McGuire
2009, Ecosystems (12) 1329-1342
Peatlands store 30% of the world's terrestrial soil carbon (C) and those located at northern latitudes are expected to experience rapid climate warming. We monitored growing season carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes across a factorial design of in situ water table (control, drought, and flooded plots) and soil warming (control vs....
Seasonal shifts in shelter and microhabitat use of drymarchon couperi (eastern indigo snake) in Georgia
N.L. Hyslop, R.J. Cooper, J.M. Meyers
2009, Copeia (2009) 458-464
Drymarchon couperi (Eastern Indigo Snake), a threatened species of the southeastern Coastal Plain of the United States, has experienced population declines because of extensive habitat loss and degradation across its range. In Georgia and northern Florida, the species is associated with longleaf pine habitats that support Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise)...
