Deepwater Program: Lophelia II, continuing ecological research on deep-sea corals and deep-reef habitats in the Gulf of Mexico
Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Steve W. Ross, Christina A. Kellogg, Cheryl L. Morrison, Martha S. Nizinski, Nancy G. Prouty, Jill R. Bourque, Julie P. Galkiewicz, Michael A. Gray, Marcus J. Springmann, D. Katharine Coykendall, Andrew Miller, Mike Rhode, Andrea Quattrini, Cheryl L. Ames, Sandra D. Brooke, Jennifer P. McClain-Counts, E. Brendan Roark, Noreen A. Buster, Ryan M. Phillips, Janessy Frometa
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1139
The deep sea is a rich environment composed of diverse habitat types. While deep-sea coral habitats have been discovered within each ocean basin, knowledge about the ecology of these habitats and associated inhabitants continues to grow. This report presents information and results from the Lophelia II project that examined deep-sea...
U.S. Geological Survey shrub/grass products provide new approach to shrubland monitoring
Steven M. Young
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3084
In the Western United States, shrubland ecosystems provide vital ecological, hydrological, biological, agricultural, and recreational services. However, disturbances such as livestock grazing, exotic species invasion, conversion to agriculture, climate change, urban expansion, and energy development are altering these ecosystems.Improving our understanding of how shrublands are distributed, where they are changing,...
Simulating the effects of management practices on cropland soil organic carbon changes in the Temperate Prairies Ecoregion of the United States from 1980 to 2012
Zhen Li, Shuguang Liu, Zhengxi Tan, Terry L. Sohl, Yiping Wu
2017, Ecological Modelling (365) 68-79
Understanding the effects of management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) is important for designing effective policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. In the Midwest United States, management practices in the croplands have been improved to increase crop production and reduce SOC loss since the 1980s. Many studies...
Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012
Tamara I. Ivahnenko
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5115
Changes in municipal and industrial point-source discharges over time have been an important factor affecting nutrient trends in many of the Nation’s streams and rivers. This report documents how three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national datasets—the Permit Compliance System, the Integrated Compliance Information System, and the Clean Watersheds Needs...
The ACER pollen and charcoal database: A global resource to document vegetation and fire response to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period
M.F. Sanchez-Goni, S. Desprat, A.-L. Daniau, F. Bassinot, J.M. Polanco-Martinez, S.P. Harrison, J.R.M. Allen, R. S. Anderson, H. Behling, R. Bonnefille, F. Burjachs, J.S. Carrion, R. Cheddadi, J.S. Clark, N. Combourieu-Nebout, C.J. Courtney Mustaphi, G.H. Debusk, L. Dupont, J. Finch, W.J. Fletcher, M. Giardini, C. González, W.D. Gosling, L.D. Grigg, E.C. Grimm, R. Hayashi, K. Helmens, Heusser. L.E., T. Hill, G. Hope, B. Huntley, Y. Igarashi, T. Irino, B. F. Jacobs, G. Jiménez-Moreno, S. Kawai, P. Kershaw, F. Kumon, I. Lawson, M.-P. Ledru, A.-M. Lézine, P.-M. Liew, D. Magri, R. Marchant, V. Margari, F. Mayle, M. McKenzie, P. Moss, U.C. Muller, F. Naughton, R.M. Newnham, T. Oba, R. Perez-Obiol, R. Pini, C. Ravazzi, K.H. Roucoux, S. Rucina, L. Scott, H. Takahara, P.C. Tzedakis, D.H. Urrego, Debra A. Willard, B. Van Geel, B.G. Valencia, M.J. Vandergoes, A. Vincens, C.L. Whitlock, Debra A. Willard, M. Yamamoto
2017, Earth System Science Data (9) 679-695
Quaternary records provide an opportunity to examine the nature of the vegetation and fire responses to rapid past climate changes comparable in velocity and magnitude to those expected in the 21st century. The best documented examples of rapid climate change in the past are the warming events associated with the...
Regional water table (2016) in the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California
Meghan C. Dick, Adam Kjos
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3391
From January to April 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Mojave Water Agency, and other local water districts made approximately 1,200 water-level measurements in about 645 wells located within 15 separate groundwater basins, collectively referred to as the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins. These data document recent conditions and, when...
Analysis of the variability in ground-motion synthesis and inversion
Paul A. Spudich, Antonella Cirella, Laura Scognamiglio, Elisa Tinti
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1151
In almost all past inversions of large-earthquake ground motions for rupture behavior, the goal of the inversion is to find the “best fitting” rupture model that predicts ground motions which optimize some function of the difference between predicted and observed ground motions. This type of inversion was pioneered in the...
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2013–2015
Jamie P. Macy, Jon P. Mason
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1127
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of...
Assessing diet compositions of Lake Ontario predators using fatty acid profiles of prey fishes
Austin Happell, Robert Pattridge, Jacques Rinchard, Maureen Walsh
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 838-845
Fatty acid profiles are used in food web studies to assess trophic interactions between predator and prey. The present study provides the first comprehensive fatty acid dataset for important prey and predator species in Lake Ontario. Three major prey fish (alewife, rainbow smelt, and round goby) were collected at three...
Contaminant gradients in trees: Directional tree coring reveals boundaries of soil and soil-gas contamination with potential applications in vapor intrusion assessment
Jordan L. Wilson, V.A. Samaranayake, Matthew A. Limmer, John G. Schumacher, Joel G. Burken
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 14055-14064
Contaminated sites pose ecological and human-health risks through exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater. Whereas we can readily locate, monitor, and track contaminants in groundwater, it is harder to perform these tasks in the vadose zone. In this study, tree-core samples were collected at a Superfund site to determine if...
Considerations in comparing the U.S. Geological Survey one‐year induced‐seismicity hazard models with “Did You Feel It?” and instrumental data
Isabel White, Taojun Liu, Nico Luco, Abbie Liel
2017, Seismological Research Letters (89) 127-137
The recent steep increase in seismicity rates in Oklahoma, southern Kansas, and other parts of the central United States led the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to develop, for the first time, a probabilistic seismic hazard forecast for one year (2016) that incorporates induced seismicity. In this study, we explore a...
Detection of microcystin and other cyanotoxins in lakes at Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, northern Michigan, 2012–13
Lori M. Fuller, Angela K. Brennan, Lisa R. Fogarty, Keith A. Loftin, Heather E. Johnson, David D. VanderMeulen, Brenda Moraska Lafrancois
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5122
Although cyanotoxins released during algal blooms have become an increasing concern in surface waters across the United States, the presence of cyanotoxins in northern Michigan lakes had not been evaluated in detail. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service (NPS) led a 2-year study (2012 and 2013) to determine...
Modeling fine-scale coral larval dispersal and interisland connectivity to help designate mutually-supporting coral reef marine protected areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii
Curt D. Storlazzi, Maarten van Ormondt, Yi-Leng Chen, Edwin P. L. Elias
2017, Frontiers in Marine Science (4)
Connectivity among individual marine protected areas (MPAs) is one of the most important considerations in the design of integrated MPA networks. To provide such information for managers in Hawaii, USA, a numerical circulation model was developed to determine the role of ocean currents in transporting coral larvae from natal reefs...
Assessing the global distribution of river fisheries harvest: A systematic map protocol
Chelsie Romulo, Zeenatul Basher, Abigail Lynch, Yu-Chun Kao, William W. Taylor
2017, Environmental Evidence (6)
BackgroundAlthough surface freshwater comprises < 0.01% of the total water volume of earth, freshwater inland capture fisheries and aquaculture represent 40% of the global reported finfish harvest. While the social, economic, and ecological importance of inland fish and fisheries is difficult to overstate, they are often undervalued and underappreciated....
New method to integrate remotely sensed hydrothermal alteration mapping into quantitative mineral resource assessments
John C. Mars, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., Stephen Ludington, Lukas Zurcher, Helen W. Folger, Mark E. Gettings, Federico Solano, Thomas Kress
2017, Conference Paper
Hydrothermal alteration data mapped using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) were compiled into hydrothermal alteration polygons for use in an assessment of porphyry copper mineral resource potential in the southwestern United States. Hydrothermal alteration polygons along with geochemistry, gravity and magnetic, lithologic,...
A pesticide paradox: Fungicides indirectly increase fungal infections
Jason R. Rohr, Jenise Brown, William A. Battaglin, Teagan A. McMahon, Rick A. Reylea
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 2290-2302
There are many examples where the use of chemicals have had profound unintended consequences, such as fertilizers reducing crop yields (paradox of enrichment) and insecticides increasing insect pests (by reducing natural biocontrol). Recently, the application of agrochemicals, such as agricultural disinfectants and fungicides, has been explored as an approach to...
3D Pressure‐limited approach to model and estimate CO2 injection and storage capacity: saline Mount Simon Formation
Hossein Jahediesfanjani, Peter D. Warwick, Steven T. Anderson
2017, Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology (7) 1080-1096
To estimate the carbon dioxide (CO2) injection and storage capacity of saline formations, we used Tough2‐ECO2N simulation software to develop a pressure‐limited (dynamic) simulation approach based on applying three‐dimensional (3D) numerical simulation only on the effective injection area (Aeff) surrounding each injection well. A statistical analysis was performed to account...
Single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015 from Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi
Nancy T. DeWitt, Chelsea A. Stalk, Christopher G. Smith, Stanley D. Locker, Jake J. Fredericks, Terrence A. McCloskey, Cathryn J. Wheaton
2017, Data Series 1070
As part of the Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines (SSIEES) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a single-beam bathymetry survey within the estuarine, open-bay, and tidal creek environments of Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi, from May to June...
Population trends, extinction risk, and conservation guidelines for ferruginous pygmy-owls in the Sonoran Desert
Aaron Flesch, Pamela L. Nagler, Christopher Jarchow, Richard B. Alexander
2017, Report
Climatic flux together with anthropogenic changes in land use and land cover pose major threats to wildlife, but our understanding of their combined impacts is limited. In arid southwestern North America, ferruginous pygmy-owls (Glaucidium brasilianum) are of major conservation concern due to marked declines in abundance linked to changes in land use...
A diatom voucher flora from selected southeast rivers (USA)
Ian W. Bishop, Rhea R.M. Esposito, Meredith Tyree, Sarah A. Spaulding
2017, Phytotaxa (332) 101-140
This flora is intended to serve as an image voucher for samples analyzed for the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA). The SESQA study included measurement of watershed and water quality parameters to determine the factors that have the greatest potential to alter biotic condition. Algal samples were...
Geophysical characterization of seismic station sites in the United States – The importance of a flexible, multi-method approach
Antony Martin, Alan Yong, William J. Stephenson, J. Boatwright, John Diehl
2017, Conference Paper
Noninvasive geophysical site characterization methods were used in two recent projects to obtain shear-wave velocity (VS) profiles to a minimum depth of 30 m and the time-averaged VS of the upper 30 meters (VS30) at seismic station sites. These projects include the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded...
Preface: The lunar reconnaissance orbiter
John W Keller, Lisa R. Gaddis, Noah E. Petro, Oded Aharonson
2017, Icarus (298) 1-1
When the call for papers for a special issue of Icarus devoted to analysis of data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission was announced in March 2015 we envisioned a single issue with only a possibility of a second. We certainly were gratified by the response from within and outside...
Use of fish telemetry in rehabilitation planning, management, and monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes
J.L. Brooks, C. Boston, Susan E. Doka, Dimitry Gorsky, K. Gustavson, Darryl W. Hondorp, Daniel A. Isermann, Jonathan D. Midwood, T. C. Pratt, Andrew M. Rous, J. L. Withers, C.C. Krueger, S. J. Cooke
2017, Environmental Management (60) 1139-1154
Freshwater ecosystems provide many ecosystem services; however, they are often degraded as a result of human activity. To address ecosystem degradation in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Canada and the United States of America established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In 1987, 43 highly polluted and impacted areas were...
Radiometric characterization of Landsat Collection 1 products
Esad Micijevic, Obaidul Haque, Nischal Mishra
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings Volume 10402, Earth Observing Systems XXII
Landsat data in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) archive are being reprocessed to generate a tiered collection of consistently geolocated and radiometrically calibrated products that are suitable for time series analyses. With the implementation of the collection management, no major updates will be made to calibration of the Landsat sensors...
Thermal tolerances of fishes occupying groundwater and surface-water dominated streams
Nicole Farless, Shannon K. Brewer
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 866-876
A thermal tolerance study mimicking different stream environments could improve our ecological understanding of how increasing water temperatures affect stream ectotherms and improve our ability to predict organism responses based on river classification schemes. Our objective was to compare the thermal tolerances of stream fishes of different habitat guilds among...
