Legacy K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar geochronologic data from the Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith of south-central Alaska
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1033
Sample descriptions and analytical data for more than 200 K/Ar and 40Ar/39Ar analyses from rocks of the Alaska-Aleutian Range batholith of south-central Alaska are reported here. Samples were collected over a period of 20 years by Bruce R. Reed and Marvin A. Lanphere (both U.S. Geological Survey)...
Documentation of particle-size analyzer time series, and discrete suspended-sediment and bed-sediment sample data collection, Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt
2018, Data Series 1079
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitored a sediment release by Nebraska Public Power District from Spencer Dam located on the Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, during the fall of 2014. The accumulated sediment behind Spencer Dam ordinarily is released semiannually; however,...
Digital representation of exposures of Precambrian bedrock in parts of Dickinson and Iron Counties, Michigan, and Florence and Marinette Counties, Wisconsin
William F. Cannon, Ruth Schulte, Damon Bickerstaff
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1042
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a program of bedrock geologic mapping in much of the central and western Upper Peninsula of Michigan from the 1940s until the late 1990s. Geologic studies in this region are hampered by a scarcity of bedrock exposures because of a nearly continuous blanket of...
Relating river discharge and water temperature to the recruitment of age‐0 White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) in the Columbia River using over‐dispersed catch data
Timothy D. Counihan, Colin G. Chapman
2018, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (34) 279-289
The goals were to (i) determine if river discharge and water temperature during various early life history stages were predictors of age‐0 White Sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, recruitment, and (ii) provide an example of how over‐dispersed catch data, including data with many zero observations, can be used to better understand the effects...
N-mix for fish: estimating riverine salmonid habitat selection via N-mixture models
Nicholas A. Som, Russell W. Perry, Edward C. Jones, Kyle De Juilio, Paul Petros, William D. Pinnix, Derek L. Rupert
2018, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (75) 1048-1058
Models that formulate mathematical linkages between fish use and habitat characteristics are applied for many purposes. For riverine fish, these linkages are often cast as resource selection functions with variables including depth and velocity of water and distance to nearest cover. Ecologists are now recognizing the role that detection plays...
Barrier-island and estuarine-wetland physical-change assessment after Hurricane Sandy
Nathaniel G. Plant, Kathryn E.L. Smith, Davina Passeri, Christopher G. Smith, Julie Bernier
2018, Open-File Report 2017-1157
IntroductionThe Nation’s eastern coast is fringed by beaches, dunes, barrier islands, wetlands, and bluffs. These natural coastal barriers provide critical benefits and services, and can mitigate the impact of storms, erosion, and sea-level rise on our coastal communities. Waves and storm surge resulting from Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall along...
An epidemiological model of virus transmission in salmonid fishes of the Columbia River Basin
Paige F. B. Ferguson, Rachel Breyta, Ilana L. Brito, Gael Kurath, Shannon L. LaDeau
2018, Ecological Modelling (377) 1-15
We have developed a dynamic epidemiological model informed by records of viral presence and genotypes to evaluate potential transmission routes maintaining a viral pathogen in economically and culturally important anadromous fish populations. In the Columbia River Basin, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) causes severe disease, predominantly in juvenile steelhead trout...
Hydrologic assessment and numerical simulation of groundwater flow, San Juan Mine, San Juan County, New Mexico, 2010–13
Anne M. Stewart
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5155
Coal combustion byproducts (CCBs), which are composed of fly ash, bottom ash, and flue gas desulfurization material, produced at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station (SJGS), located in San Juan County, New Mexico, have been buried in former surface-mine pits at the San Juan Mine, also referred to as the...
Occupancy in community-level studies
Darryl I. MacKenzie, James D. Nichols, J. Andrew Royle, Kenneth H. Pollock, Larissa L. Bailey, James E. Hines
2018, Book chapter, Occupancy estimation and modeling (Second edition)
Another type of multi-species studies, are those focused on community-level metrics such as species richness. In this chapter we detail how some of the single-species occupancy models described in earlier chapters have been applied, or extended, for use in such studies, while accounting for imperfect detection. We highlight how Bayesian...
Disentangling the effects of low pH and metal mixture toxicity on macroinvertebrate diversity
Riccardo Fornaroli, Alessio Ippolito, Mari J. Tolkkinen, Heikki Mykra, Timo Muotka, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Travis S. Schmidt
2018, Environmental Pollution (235) 889-898
One of the primary goals of biological assessment of streams is to identify which of a suite of chemical stressors is limiting their ecological potential. Elevated metal concentrations in streams are often associated with low pH, yet the effects of these two potentially limiting factors of freshwater biodiversity are rarely...
Data analysis considerations for pesticides determined by National Water Quality Laboratory schedule 2437
Megan E. Shoda, Lisa H. Nowell, Wesley W. Stone, Mark W. Sandstrom, Laura M. Bexfield
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5007
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) made a new method available for the analysis of pesticides in filtered water samples: laboratory schedule 2437. Schedule 2437 is an improvement on previous analytical methods because it determines the concentrations of 225 fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, and associated degradates...
High frequency data exposes nonlinear seasonal controls on dissolved organic matter in a large watershed
Matthew Shultz, Brian A. Pellerin, George Aiken, Joseph W. Martin, Peter Raymond
2018, Environmental Science and Technology (52) 5644-5652
We analyzed a five year, high frequency time series generated by an in situ fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) sensor installed near the Connecticut River’s mouth, investigating high temporal resolution DOM dynamics in a larger watershed and longer time series than previously addressed. We identified a...
Trends and habitat associations of waterbirds using the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, San Francisco Bay, California
Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Lacy M. Smith, Stacy M. Moskal, Cheryl Strong, John Krause, Yiwei Wang, John Y. Takekawa
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1040
Executive SummaryThe aim of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (hereinafter “Project”) is to restore 50–90 percent of former salt evaporation ponds to tidal marsh in San Francisco Bay (SFB). However, hundreds of thousands of waterbirds use these ponds over winter and during fall and spring migration. To...
Sperm quality biomarkers complement reproductive and endocrine parameters in investigating environmental contaminants in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from the Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Jill A. Jenkins, Michael R. Rosen, Rassa O. Dale, Kathy R. Echols, Leticia Torres, Carla M. Wieser, Constance A. Kersten, S. Goodbred
2018, Environmental Research (163) 149-164
Lake Mead National Recreational Area (LMNRA) serves as critical habitat for several federally listed species and supplies water for municipal, domestic, and agricultural use in the Southwestern U.S. Contaminant sources and concentrations vary among the sub-basins within LMNRA. To investigate whether exposure to environmental contaminants is associated with alterations in...
Validation of stable isotope ratio analysis to document the biodegradation and natural attenuation of RDX, ESTCP Project ER-201208
Paul B. Hatzinger, Mark E. Fuller, Neil C. Sturchio, J.K. Bohlke
2018, Report
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) is a common soil contaminant at current and former military facilities, including many training and testing ranges. Because RDX is readily transported through soils to the subsurface, this nitramine explosive now also impacts groundwater and drinking water at numerous locations across the country. A significant issue with RDX...
Assessing the risk of dreissenid mussel invasion in Texas based on lake physical characteristics and potential for downstream dispersal
Matthew A Barnes, Reynaldo Patino
2018, Report
ebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) were likely introduced from Ponto-Caspian Eurasia to the Laurentian Great Lakes inadvertently via ballast water release in the 1980s and have since spread across the US, including Texas. Their spread into the state, including reservoirs in both Brazos River and Colorado...
Associating sex-biased and seasonal behaviour with contact patterns and transmission risk in Gopherus agassizii
Christina M. Aiello, Todd Esque, K. E. Nussear, P. G. Emblidge, Peter J. Hudson
2018, Behaviour (155) 585-619
Interactions between wildlife hosts act as transmission routes for directly transmitted pathogens and vary in ways that affect transmission efficiency. Identifying drivers of contact variation can allow both contact inference and estimation of transmission dynamics despite limited data. In desert tortoises, mating strategy, burrow use and seasonal change influence numerous...
Improving near‐real‐time coseismic landslide models: Lessons learned from the 2016 Kaikōura, New Zealand, earthquake
Kate E. Allstadt, Randall W. Jibson, Eric M. Thompson, Chris Massey, David J. Wald, Jonathan W. Godt, Francis K. Rengers
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 1649-1664
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing near‐real‐time global earthquake‐triggered‐landslide products to augment the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. The 14 November 2016 Mw">MwMw 7.8 Kaikōura, New Zealand,...
Efficacy of using data from angler-caught Burbot to estimate population rate functions
Tucker A. Brauer, Darren T. Rhea, John D. Walrath, Michael C. Quist
2018, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (38) 346-354
The effective management of a fish population depends on the collection of accurate demographic data from that population. Since demographic data are often expensive and difficult to obtain, developing cost‐effective and efficient collection methods is a high priority. This research evaluates the efficacy of using angler‐supplied data to monitor a...
Tundra landform and vegetation productivity trend maps for the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska
Mark J. Lara, Ingmar Nitze, Guido Grosse, A. David McGuire
2018, Scientific Data (5) 1-10
Arctic tundra landscapes are composed of a complex mosaic of patterned ground features, varying in soil moisture, vegetation composition, and surface hydrology over small spatial scales (10–100 m). The importance of microtopography and associated geomorphic landforms in influencing ecosystem structure and function is well founded, however, spatial data products describing local...
Springs as hydrologic refugia in a changing climate? A remote sensing approach
Jennifer M. Cartwright, Henry M. Johnson
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-22
Spring‐fed wetlands are ecologically important habitats in arid and semi‐arid regions. Springs have been suggested as possible hydrologic refugia from droughts and climate change; however, springs that depend on recent precipitation or snowmelt for recharge may be vulnerable to warming and drought intensification. Springs that are expected to maintain their...
Genome-wide SNP data and morphology support the distinction of two new species of Kovarikia Soleglad, Fet & Graham, 2014 endemic to California (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae)
Robert W. Bryson Jr., Dustin A. Wood, Matthew R. Graham, Michael E. Soleglad, John E. McCormack
2018, ZooKeys (739) 79-106
Morphologically conserved taxa such as scorpions represent a challenge to delimit. We recently discovered populations of scorpions in the genus Kovarikia Soleglad, Fet & Graham, 2014 on two isolated mountain ranges in southern California. We generated genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data and used Bayes factors species delimitation to compare...
Increased scientific rigor will improve reliability of research and effectiveness of management
Sarah N. Sells, Sarah B. Bassing, Kristin J. Barker, Shannon C. Forshee, Allison Keever, James W. Goerz, Michael S. Mitchell
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 485-494
Rigorous science that produces reliable knowledge is critical to wildlife management because it increases accurate understanding of the natural world and informs management decisions effectively. Application of a rigorous scientific method based on hypothesis testing minimizes unreliable knowledge produced by research. To evaluate the prevalence of scientific rigor in wildlife...
A multistate open robust design: population dynamics, reproductive effort, and phenology of sea turtles from tagging data
William L. Kendall, Seth Stapleton, Gary C. White, James I. Richardson, Kristen N. Pearson, Peri Mason
2018, Ecological Monographs (89)
Understanding population dynamics, and how it is influenced by exogenous and endogenous factors, is important to the study and conservation of species. Moreover, for migratory species, the phenology and duration of use of a given location can also influence population structure and dynamics. For many species, breeding abundance, survival, and...
Factors affecting long-term trends in surface-water quality in the Gwynns Falls watershed, Baltimore City and County, Maryland, 1998–2016
Emily H. Majcher, Ellen L. Woytowitz, Alexander J. Reisinger, Peter M. Groffman
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1038
Factors affecting water-quality trends in urban streams are not well understood, despite current regulatory requirements and considerable ongoing investments in gray and green infrastructure. To address this gap, long-term water-quality trends and factors affecting these trends were examined in the Gwynns Falls, Maryland, watershed during 1998–2016 in cooperation with Blue...
