Effects of experimental removal of Barred Owls on population Demography of Northern Spotted Owls in Washington and Oregon—2018 Progress Report
J. David Wiens, Katie M. Dugger, Damon B. Lesmeister, Krista E. Dilione, David C. Simon
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1074
Populations of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina; herineafter referred to as Spotted Owl) have declined throughout the subspecies’ geographic range. Evidence indicates that competition with invading Barred Owls (S. varia) has contributed significantly to those declines. A pilot study in California showed that removal of Barred Owls coupled with...
Petrologic and mineral physics database for use with the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model
Theron A. Sowers, Oliver S. Boyd
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1035
We present a petrologic and mineral physics database as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model (NCM). Each of 209 geologic units, 134 of which are currently part of the geologic framework within the NCM, was assigned a mineralogical composition according to generalized classifications with some refinement for...
Hydraulic, geochemical, and thermal monitoring of an aquifer system in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, Mono County, California, 2015–17
James F. Howle, William C. Evans, Devin L. Galloway, Paul A. Hsieh, Shaul Hurwitz, Gregory A. Smith, Joseph Nawikas
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1063
Since 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey has been working in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, Mono County, Ormat Technologies, Inc., and the Mammoth Community Water District to design and implement a groundwater-monitoring program for the proposed Casa Diablo IV Geothermal Power Project in Long Valley Caldera, California, to...
The major coral reefs of Maui Nui, Hawai‘i—distribution, physical characteristics, oceanographic controls, and environmental threats
Michael E. Field, Curt D. Storlazzi, Ann E. Gibbs, Nicole L. D'Antonio, Susan A. Cochran
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1019
Coral reefs are widely recognized as critical to Hawaiʻi’s economy, food resources, and protection from damaging storm waves. Yet overfishing, land-based pollution, and climate change are threatening the health and sustainability of those reefs, and accordingly, both the Federal and State governments have called for protection and effective management. In...
Landscape change associated with the upper Scenic Drive landslide, La Honda, California, January 10–June 28, 2017
Alexandra J. Pickering, Carol S. Prentice, Stephen B. DeLong
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1024
La Honda, California, is a small town in unincorporated San Mateo County, located on the west edge of the San Francisco Peninsula in the Santa Cruz Mountains, between San Francisco and San Jose. The Scenic Drive area of La Honda has experienced several past episodes of landslide motion, which were...
Supply chain infrastructure restoration calculator software tool—Developer guide and user manual
Akhilesh Ojha, Bhanu Kanwar, Suzanna K. Long, Thomas G. Shoberg, Steven Corns
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1061
This report describes a software tool that calculates costs associated with the reconstruction of supply chain interdependent critical infrastructure in the advent of a catastrophic failure by either outside forces (extreme events) or internal forces (fatigue). This tool fills a gap between search and recover strategies of the Federal Emergency...
Monitoring protocol development and assessment for narrowly endemic toads in Nevada, 2018
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Adam Duarte, Jonathan P. Rose, Kris Urquhart, Chad Mellison, Kevin Guadalupe, Melanie Cota, Rachel Van Horne, Alexa Killion, Kelsey Ruehling
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1067
Several species and subspecies of toads are endemic to small spring systems in the Great Basin, and their restricted ranges and habitat extent make them vulnerable to environmental perturbations. Very little is known about several of these toad populations, so a group of stakeholders including the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S....
Monitoring storm tide from Hurricane Michael along the northwest coast of Florida, October 2018
Michael J. Byrne Sr.
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1059
Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, with maximum sustained winds over 160 miles per hour, on October 10, 2018. The maximum recorded storm tide was 15.55 feet above the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). The elevation of...
Methods for installation, removal, and downloading data from the temperature profiling probe (TROD)
Ramon C. Naranjo
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1066
This document provides a brief method overview on the deployment and removal of the temperature profiling probe developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2015 and referred to as SensorRod or temperature rod (TROD). The TROD is suitable for short- to long-term deployments (days to years) for evaluating...
Hydrogeologic characterization of part of the Lower Floridan aquifer at the South District Wastewater Treatment Plant, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Kevin L. DeFosset, Kevin J. Cunningham
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1034
The South District Wastewater Treatment Plant in southeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, includes a Class I treated wastewater injection well system. The detection of ammonia in monitoring zones above the injection zone in the Lower Floridan aquifer has elicited a need to understand the nature of confinement within the Lower Floridan...
Distribution of adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in relation to water temperatures, Lake Scanewa, Cowlitz River, Washington, 2012
Tobias J. Kock, Brian K. Ekstrom, Theresa L. Liedtke
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1055
A trap-and-haul program is operated to move anadromous Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) around dams and reservoirs in the Cowlitz River basin, Washington. The primary release site for adult fish is in Lake Scanewa, a small reservoir created by Cowlitz Falls Dam, the uppermost dam in the basin. Releases in...
Climate adaptation Science Centers—Annual report for 2018
Elda Varela Minder
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1041
2018 marked the 10-year anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center! With the passage of the fiscal year 2018 budget on March 23, 2018, our program name was changed from the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center to the...
Groundwater quality in the Delaware, Genesee, and St. Lawrence River Basins, New York, 2015
Tia-Marie Scott, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, James E. Reddy
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1005
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, collected groundwater samples from 5 production wells and 5 domestic wells in the Delaware River Basin, 8 production wells and 7 domestic wells in the Genesee River Basin, and 1 municipal well, 7 production wells,...
Sea-cliff bedstraw (Galium buxifolium) patterns and trends, 2005–14, on Santa Cruz and San Miguel Islands, Channel Islands National Park, California
Kathryn McEachern, Katherine A. Chess, Karen Flagg, Kenneth G. Niessen
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1054
Sea-cliff bedstraw (Galium buxifolium [Rubiaceae]) is a delicate dioecious subshrub endemic to Santa Cruz and San Miguel Islands, in the northern California Channel Islands. It was listed as endangered in 1997 under the Federal Endangered Species Act, threatened by soil loss, habitat alteration, and herbivory from more than a century...
Radiometric ages of volcanic rocks on the fort rock dome and in the aquarius mountains, Yavapai and Mohave Counties, Arizona
Gary S. Fuis, Andrew T. Calvert, Katie Sullivan
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1038
The Fort Rock dome, in Yavapai County, Ariz., is a roughly circular geologic structure in plan view, 2.5 km in diameter, that is similar in many ways to an impact crater; however, it is a structural dome caused by a potassic mafic intrusion at depth, and the crater-like depression in...
Movements of juvenile Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) in the Yakima and Columbia Rivers, Washington, 2018—A pilot study using acoustic telemetry
Theresa L. Liedtke, Ralph T. Lampman, Z. Daniel Deng, Tyler E. Beals, Michael S. Porter, Amy C. Hansen, Tobias J. Kock, Ryan G. Tomka, Patrick Monk
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1058
Telemetry has been an invaluable tool to improve our understanding of adult Pacific Lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) movements and to guide management approaches to protect and restore this species of concern. Juvenile and larval lamprey, however, are much smaller than adults, and have not been monitored with telemetry because available transmitters...
Data management plan for the U.S. Geological Survey Washington Water Science Center
Kathleen E. Conn, Mark C. Mastin, Andrew J. Long, Richard S. Dinicola, Cynthia Barton
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1049
The primary mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Mission Area is to collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information needed to understand the water resources of the Nation, including data on streamflow, groundwater, water quality, water use, and availability. Management of data throughout the entire data lifecycle...
It is raining plastic
Gregory A. Wetherbee, Austin K. Baldwin, James F. Ranville
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1048
Atmospheric deposition samples were collected using the National Atmospheric Deposition Program / National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) at 6 sites in the Denver-Boulder urban corridor and 2 adjacent sites in the Colorado Front Range. Weekly wet-only atmospheric deposition samples collected at these sites during winter-summer of 2017 were filtered (0.45...
Monitoring live vegetation in semiarid and arid rangeland environments with satellite remote sensing in northern Kenya
Amina Rangoonwala, Elijah W. Ramsey III
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1037
As part of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) commitment to provide technical assistance to the Kenyan Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the DOI International Technical Assistance Program and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s regional mission in East Africa, created a high...
Analysis for agreement of the Northern Gulf of Mexico topobathymetric digital elevation model with 3-Dimensional Elevation Program 1/3 arc-second digital elevation models
Cynthia Miller-Corbett
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1016
Topographical differencing and edge-matching analyses were used to evaluate agreement of the Coastal National Elevation Database Applications Project’s Northern Gulf of Mexico topobathymetric digital elevation model (TBDEM) with The National Map 3-Dimensional Elevation Program (3DEP) 1/3 arc-second digital elevation models (DEMs). In addition to topographic map products provided through the...
Spatial integration of biological and social objectives to identify priority landscapes for waterfowl habitat conservation
Anastasia Krainyk, James E. Lyons, Michael G. Brasher, Dale D. Humburg, Greg J. Souilliere, John M. Coluccy, Mark J. Petrie, David W. Howerter, Stuart M. Slattery, Mindy B. Rice, Joe C. Fuller
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1029
Waterfowl population management and habitat conservation compose one of the oldest and most successful adaptive management frameworks in the world. Since its inception, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) has emphasized strategically targeted conservation investments in regions that most affect waterfowl population dynamics. By 2012, regional conservation had progressively...
Adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) behavior and movement from Roza Dam to Cle Elum Dam, Washington, 2018
Tobias J. Kock, Scott D. Evans, Brian K. Ekstrom, Amy C. Hansen
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1053
An evaluation was conducted to describe adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) upstream movement patterns from Roza Dam to Cle Elum Dam in the Yakima Basin, Washington. Sockeye salmon adults that arrive at Roza Dam are currently trapped and transported upstream of Cle Elum Dam because upstream fish-passage facilities are...
Preliminary stage and streamflow data at selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in New England for the floods of April 2019
Richard G. Kiah, Brianna A. Smith, Nicholas W. Stasulis
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1052
The combination of rainfall and snowmelt in northern New England and rainfall in southern New England resulted in minor to major flooding from April 15 to 24, 2019, according to stage and streamflow data collected at 63 selected U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages. A typical USGS streamgage measures and records...
Groundwater quality in the Sacramento Metropolitan shallow aquifer, California
George L. Bennett V
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1047
The Sacramento metropolitan (SacMetro) study unit covers approximately 3,250 square kilometers of the Central Valley along the eastern edge of the northern and southern ends of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, respectively. Groundwater withdrawals supply a significant portion of the water-resource needs of the region. In the southern portion...
An experimental test of weed-suppressive bacteria effectiveness in rangelands in southwestern Idaho, 2016–18
Brynne E. Lazarus, Matthew J. Germino
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1050
Approaches and techniques for control of exotic annual grasses are a high priority in sagebrush-steppe and other rangelands. Strains of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf) have been proposed to be selectively pathogenic to multiple species of exotic annual grasses with effects evident by the second year, and with...
