Thresholds of lake and reservoir connectivity in river networks control nitrogen removal
Noah M. Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Richard Alexander, Gregory E. Schwarz, Richard Moore, Ken Eng, Jesus D. Gomez-Velez, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Durelle Scott
2018, Nature Communications (9)
Lakes, reservoirs, and other ponded waters are ubiquitous features of the aquatic landscape, yet their cumulative role in nitrogen removal in large river basins is often unclear. Here we use predictive modeling, together with comprehensive river water quality, land use, and hydrography datasets, to examine and explain the influences of...
Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency — Bulletin 17C
John F. England Jr., Timothy A. Cohn, Beth A. Faber, Jery R. Stedinger, Wilbert O. Thomas Jr., Andrea G. Veilleux, Julie E. Kiang, Robert R. Mason, Jr.
2018, Techniques and Methods 4-B5
Accurate estimates of flood frequency and magnitude are a key component of any effective nationwide flood risk management and flood damage abatement program. In addition to accuracy, methods for estimating flood risk must be uniformly and consistently applied because management of the Nation’s water and related land resources is a...
Water use in Louisiana, 2015
Angela L. Robinson, B. Pierre Sargent
2018, Water Resources Special Report 18
In 2015, approximately 8,720 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water was withdrawn from groundwater and surface-water sources in Louisiana, a 2.6 percent increase from 2010. Total groundwater withdrawals were about 1,750 Mgal/d, an increase of 12 percent from 2010, and total surface-water withdrawals were about 6,970 Mgal/d, an increase...
Surficial materials of Massachusetts—A 1:24,000-scale geologic map database
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3402
The surficial materials geologic map database defines the distribution of nonlithified earth materials at the land surface in the 189 7.5-minute, 1:24,000-scale quadrangles that cover the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (index map). Across the State, these materials range in thickness from a few feet to more than 500 feet (ft). In...
Correlation of the Tuscaloosa marine shale in Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas, U.S.A.
William A. Rouse, Catherine B. Enomoto, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos
2018, GCAGS Transactions (68) 461-476
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable unconventional petroleum resources in the Upper Cretaceous marine shale of the Tuscaloosa Group (Tuscaloosa marine shale; TMS) in 2018. As part of the geologic characterization in preparation for the assessment, a series of wireline log cross sections...
Landsat benefiting society for fifty years
Laura E. P. Rocchio, Peggy Connot, Steve Young, Kate Ramsayer, Linda Owen, Michelle Bouchard, Christopher Barnes
2018, Report
Since 1972, data acquired by the Landsat series of satellites have become integral to land management for both government and the private sector, providing scientists and decision makers with key information about agricultural productivity, ice sheet dynamics, urban growth, forest monitoring, natural resource management, water quality, and supporting disaster response....
Preliminary assessment of stable nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of USGS51 and USGS52 nitrous oxide reference gases and perspectives on calibration needs
Nathaniel E. Ostrom, Hasand Gandhi, Tyler B. Coplen, Sakae Toyoda, J.K. Bohlke, Willi A. Brand, Karen L. Casciotti, Jens Dyckmans, Anette Giesemann, Joachim Mohn, Reinhard Well, Longfei Yu, Naohiro Yoshida
2018, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (32) 1207-1214
RationaleDespite a long history and growing interest in isotopic analyses of N2O, there is a lack of isotopically characterized N2O isotopic reference materials (standards) to enable normalization and reporting of isotope‐delta values. Here we report the isotopic characterization of two pure N2O gas reference materials, USGS51...
How do upwelling and El Niño impact coral reef growth? A guided, inquiry-based lesson
Philip M. Gravinese, Lauren T. Toth, Carly J. Randall, Richard B. Aronson
2018, Oceanography (31) 184-188
This lesson uses real-world data to guide students toward understanding how climate and ocean variables impact coral reef growth. To begin this activity, students hypothesize how changes in environmental conditions could affect coral reef growth. They then compare metrics for reef growth (linear growth and percent coral cover) between two...
Geospatial data for developing nutrient SPARROW models for the Midcontinental region of Canada and the United States
Ivana Vouk, Richard S. Burcher, Craig M. Johnston, R. Wayne Jenkinson, David A. Saad, John S. Gaiot, Glenn A. Benoy, Dale M. Robertson, Michael Laitta
2018, Technical Report OCRE-TR-2018-014
Through the International Watersheds Initiative of the International Joint Commission (IJC), the SpatiallyReferenced Regressions on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is being applied to the Great Lakes, Rainy River – Lake of the Woods and Red-Assiniboine basins. The objective of this binational application of...
Informing our successors: What botanical information for Santa Cruz Island will researchers and conservation managers in the century ahead need the most?
John M. Randall, Kathryn McEachern, John Knapp, Paula Power, Steve Junak, Kristina Gill, Denise Knapp, Matt Guilliams
2018, Western North American Naturalist (78) 888-901
Climate changes are predicted to drive changes in plant species composition and vegetation cover around the world. Preserved specimens and other botanical information that we gather today—a period future practitioners may look back on as an early stage of modern anthropogenic climate change—will be of value to conservation managers and...
The tectonically controlled San Gabriel Channel–Lobe Transition Zone, Catalina Basin, Southern California Borderland
Katherine L. Maier, Emily C. Roland, Maureen A. L. Walton, James E. Conrad, Daniel S. Brothers, Peter Dartnell, Jared W. Kluesner
2018, Journal of Sedimentary Research (88) 942-959
High-resolution geophysical data across the Catalina Basin, offshore southern California, USA, reveal a complex channel–lobe transition zone (CLTZ) and provide an opportunity to characterize an entire seafloor CLTZ in a tectonically active and confined-basin setting. The seafloor morphology, distribution of depositional and erosional features, and location of depocenters in the...
Fault displacement hazard for strike-slip faults
Mark D. Petersen, Rui Chen
2018, Conference Paper, Earthquake Engineering. National Conference. 11TH 2018. (11NCEE) (12 Vols) Integrating Science, Engineering, and Policy
In this paper we summarize data, methods, and models developed for a probabilistic assessment of fault displacement hazards across the U.S. We compare earthquake displacement data and empirical fault displacement models that have been developed for normal faults, strike-slip faults, and reverse faults. In general, the data and models are...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2017
Kevin R. Keretz, Patrick Kocovsky, Richard T. Kraus, Christopher Vandergoot
2018, Report, Compiled reports to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission of the annual bottom trawl and acoustics surveys, 2017
This report presents biomass-based summaries of fish communities in western Lake Erie derived from USGS bottom trawl surveys from 2013 to 2017 during June and September. The survey design provided temporal and spatial coverage that does not exist in the interagency trawl database, and thus complemented the August Ohio-Ontario effort...
Efficacy of injectable tulathromycin for reduction of vertical transmission of Renibacterium salmoninarum in Spring Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Diane Elliott
2018, Report
Bacterial kidney disease (BKD) caused by Renibacterium salmoninarum (Rs) occurs nearly worldwide where wild or cultured salmonid fishes are present. Control of BKD is confounded by its two modes of transmission, horizontal (fish-to-fish) and vertical (from female parent to progeny via the eggs). A highly successful BKD control strategy employed...
Revisiting the Apollo photogrammetric mapping system
Kenneth Edmundson, Oleg Alexandrov, Brent A. Archinal, Kris J. Becker, Tammy L Becker, Jesse Mapel, Zachary M. Moratto, Ara V. Nefian, Janet Richie, Mark S. Robinson, Makayla Shepherd, John Shinaman, Ethan Smith
2018, Conference Paper, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
The integrated photogrammetric mapping system flown on the last three Apollo lunar missions (15, 16, and 17) in 1971 and 1972 incorporated a Metric (mapping) Camera, a high-resolution Panoramic Camera, and a star camera and laser altimeter to provide support data. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Astrogeology Science Center, the Intelligent...
Streams do work: Measuring the work of low-order streams on the landscape using point clouds
Ethan J. Shavers, Larry V. Stanislawski
2018, Conference Paper, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives
The mutable nature of low-order streams makes regular updating of surface water maps necessary for accurate representation. Low-order streams make up roughly half the streams in the conterminous United States by length, and small inaccuracies in stream head location can result in significant error in stream reach, order, and density....
Population trends of birds wintering in the Central Valley of California
Edward R Pandolfino, Colleen M. Handel
2018, Book chapter, Trends and Traditions: Avifaunal Change in Western North America
Since the 1970s, the Central Valley of California has seen a large investment in preservation and restoration of wetlands and riparian areas. At the same time, grasslands have been lost to vineyards, orchards, and residential development at an accelerating rate. We analyzed data from 17 Christmas Bird Count circles that...
Multi-scale geophysical mapping of deep permafrost change after disturbance in interior Alaska, USA
Burke J. Minsley, Benjamin R. Bloss, Brian A. Ebel, David Matthew Rey, Michelle A. Walvoord, Dana R.N. Brown, Ronald Daanen, Abraham M. Emond, M. Andy Kass, Neal J. Pastick, Bruce Wylie
2018, Conference Paper, 5th European conference on permafrost, book of abstracts
Disturbance related to fire or hydrologic processes can cause degradation of deep (greater than 1 m) permafrost. These changes in deep permafrost have the potential to impact landscapes and infrastructure, alter the routing and distribution of surface water or groundwater, and may contribute to the flux of carbon to terrestrial...
Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2017
David M. Warner, Ben Turscah, Dale Hanson, Timothy J. Desorcie, Timothy P. O’Brien, Patricia M. Dieter, Jason Smith
2018, Book chapter, Complied reports to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission of the annual bottom trawl and acoustics surveys, 2017
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2017 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling...
Evaluation of internet surveys for conducting statewide angler surveys in South Dakota
Larry M. Gigliotti, Kjetil Henderson
2018, Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science (97) 35-50
Stakeholder information is critical for effective fisheries management. Agencies have traditionally used infrequent mail surveys to collect human dimensions data. Internet surveys provide cost savings, but are associated with caution due to data quality issues. To improve study validity, survey access can be controlled using email invitations, but because these...
A regional analysis of long-term gray and harbor seal stranding events
Katharine M. L. Jones, Michelle Staudinger
2018, Report
Strong indicators of species’ sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and overall vulnerability to climate change are provided by changes in phenology, the timing of recurring life events (Parmesan and Yohe, 2003). We possess poor information on climate induced shifts in phenology of marine organisms, especially top predators. The Gulf of Maine (GOM)...
A review of literature for gray and harbor seals
Gabrielle Calandrino, Daniel Pendleton, Michelle Staudinger
2018, Report
Climate change is impacting marine species, causing shifts in occurrence, distribution, and phenology, which can ultimately effect ecosystem structure and functioning (Parmesan & Yohe 2003; Burrows et al. 2011). The study of the timing of recurring biological events throughout an organism’s life is known as phenology (Parmesan & Yohe 2003)....
Remote sensing of river bathymetry: Evaluating a range of sensors, platforms, and algorithms on the upper Sacramento River, California, USA
Carl J. Legleiter, Lee R. Harrison
2018, Water Resources Research (55) 2142-2169
Remote sensing has become an increasingly viable tool for characterizing fluvial systems. In this study, we used field measurements from a 1.6 km reach of the upper Sacramento River, CA, to evaluate the potential of mapping water depths from a range of platforms, sensors, and depth retrieval methods. Field measurements...
Bat activity following repeated prescribed fire in the central Appalachians, USA
Lauren V. Austin, Alexander Silvis, Michael S. Muthersbaugh, Karen E. Powers, W. Mark Ford
2018, Fire Ecology (14)
BackgroundTo restore and manage fire-adapted forest communities in the central Appalachians, USA, land managers are now increasingly prioritizing use of prescribed fire. However, it is unclear how the reintroduction of fire following decades of suppression will affect bat communities, particularly where white-nose syndrome-related population declines of many cave-hibernating...
Initial dispersal (1986-1987) of the invasive foraminifera Trochammina hadai Uchio in San Francisco Bay, California, USA
Mary McGann
2018, Micropaleontology (64) 365-378
A time series of three closely-spaced data sets are used to track the early expansion of the invasive Japanese benthic foraminifera Trochammina hadai in the southern portion of San Francisco Bay known as South Bay. The species initially appeared in 1983, comprising only 1.5% of the assemblage in one of...
