Flood-inundation maps for the North Fork Kentucky River at Hazard, Kentucky
Justin A. Boldt, Jeremiah G. Lant, Nicholas E. Kolarik
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5122
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 7.1-mile reach of the North Fork Kentucky River at Hazard, Kentucky (Ky.), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Kentucky Silver Jackets and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the...
Modeling water quality in the Anthropocene: Directions for the next-generation aquatic ecosystem models
Wolf M. Mooij, Dianneke van Wijk, Arthur H.W. Beusen, Robert J. Brederveld, Manqi Chang, Marleen Cobben, Donald L. DeAngelis, Andrea S. Downing, Pamela Green, Alena S. Gsell, Inese Huttunen, Jan H. Janse, Annette B. G. Janssen, Geerten M. Hengeveld, Xiangzhen Kong, Lilith Kramer, Jan J. Kuiper, Simon J. Langan, Bart A. Nolet, Rascha J. M. Nuijten, Maryna Strokal, Tineke A. Troost, Anne A. van Dam, Sven Teurlincx
2018, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability (36) 85-95
“Everything changes and nothing stands still” (Heraclitus). Here we review three major improvements to freshwater aquatic ecosystem models — and ecological models in general — as water quality scenario analysis tools towards a sustainable future. To tackle the rapid and deeply connected dynamics characteristic of the Anthropocene, we argue for...
A multiscale approach to balance trade-offs among dam infrastructure, river restoration, and cost
Samuel G. Roy, Emi Uchida, Simone P. de Souza, Ben Blachly, Emma Fox, Kevin Gardner, Arthur J. Gold, Jessica Jansujwicz, Sharon Klein, Bridie McGreavy, Weiwei Mo, Sean Smith, Emily Vogler, Karen Wilson, Joseph D. Zydlewski, David Hart
2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (115) 12069-12074
Aging infrastructure and growing interests in river restoration have led to a substantial rise in dam removals in the U.S. However, the decision to remove a dam involves many complex trade-offs. The benefits of dam removal for hazard reduction and ecological restoration are potentially offset by the loss of hydroelectricity...
The Pothole Hydrology-Linked Systems Simulator (PHyLiSS)—Development and application of a systems model for prairie-pothole wetlands
Owen P. McKenna, David M. Mushet, Eric J. Scherff, Kyle McLean, Christopher T. Mills
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1165
The North American Prairie Pothole Region covers about 770,000 square kilometers of the United States and Canada (including parts of 5 States and 3 provinces: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta). The Laurentide Ice Sheet shaped the landscape of the region about 12,000 to 14,000...
Energy-rich mesopelagic fishes revealed as a critical prey resource for a deep-diving predator using quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Chandra Goetsch, Melinda G. Conners, Suzanne M. Budge, Yoko Mitani, William A Walker, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Samantha E. Simmons, Colleen Reichmuth, Daniel P. Costa
2018, Frontiers in Marine Science (5) 1-19
Understanding the diet of deep-diving predators can provide essential insight to the trophic structure of the mesopelagic ecosystem. Comprehensive population-level diet estimates are exceptionally difficult to obtain for elusive marine predators due to the logistical challenges involved in observing their feeding behavior and collecting samples for traditional stomach content or...
Revisiting earthquakes in the Los Angeles, California, basin during the early instrumental period: Evidence for an association with oil production
Susan E. Hough, Roger Bilham
2018, JGR Solid Earth (123) 10684-10705
A total of seven independent ML ≥ 4.0 earthquakes occurred in the Los Angeles, California, basin, during the early instrumental period between 1932 and 1952, the largest of which was the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Revising available macroseismic and instrumental data for a total of 6 4.0 ≤ ML ≤ 5.1 events between 1938 and 1944, we...
Landscape topoedaphic features create refugia from drought and insect disturbance in a lodgepole and whitebark pine forest
Jennifer M. Cartwright
2018, Forests (9) 1-35
Droughts and insect outbreaks are primary disturbance processes linking climate change to tree mortality in western North America. Refugia from these disturbances—locations where impacts are less severe relative to the surrounding landscape—may be priorities for conservation, restoration, and monitoring. In this study, hypotheses concerning physical and biological processes supporting refugia...
Commercial fisheries of the Upper Mississippi River: A model of sustainability
Zachary B. Klein, Michael C. Quist, Leandro E. Miranda, Michelle M. Marron, Michael J. Steuck, Kirk A. Hansen
2018, Fisheries (43) 563-574
Commercial harvest is often considered as a primary cause of fish population declines in marine and inland systems throughout the world. However, much of the data supporting the negative attributes of commercial harvest are derived from marine fisheries and may not be directly applicable to inland fisheries. In this study,...
Relating cyanobacteria and physicochemical water-quality properties in Willow Creek Lake, Nebraska, 2012–14
David L. Rus, Brent M. Hall, Steven A. Thomas
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5121
Cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) are naturally present members of phytoplankton assemblages that may detract from beneficial uses of water because some strains produce cyanotoxins that pose health hazards to people and animals. Cyanobacteria populations observed in Willow Creek Lake during 2012 through 2014 were compared to external...
Chemical and isotopic characteristics of methane in groundwater of Ohio, 2016
Mary Ann Thomas
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5097
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Ohio Water Development Authority, investigated the hydrogeologic setting, chemical and isotopic characteristics, and origin of methane in groundwater of Ohio. Understanding the occurrence and distribution of methane in groundwater is important in terms of public safety because methane in water...
Blue Carbon Futures: moving forward on terra firma
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Stephen Crooks, Tiffany Troxler
2018, Book chapter, A blue carbon primer: The state of coastal wetland carbon science, practice and policy
Maintaining coastal carbon sequestration and storage services is economically valuable in providing a potentially long-term contribution toward climate resilience, both in terms of adaptation and mitigation.392The volumetric accumulation of coastal carbon stocks is unique from other terrestrial and aquatic processes, and inconsistent use of terminology is holding back understanding of...
Identification of storm events and contiguous coastal sections for deterministic modeling of extreme coastal flood events in response to climate change
Li H. Erikson, Antonio Espejo, Patrick L. Barnard, Katherine A. Serafin, Christie Hegermiller, Andrea C. O'Neill, Peter Ruggerio, Patrick W. Limber, Fernando J. Mendez
2018, Coastal Engineering (140) 316-330
Deterministic dynamical modeling of future climate conditions and associated hazards, such as flooding, can be computationally-expensive if century-long time-series of waves, sea level variations, and overland flow patterns are simulated. To alleviate some of the computational costs, local impacts of individual coastal storms can be explored by first identifying particular...
The influence of seep habitats on sediment macrofaunal biodiversity and functional traits
Amanda W. J. Demopoulos, Jill R. Bourque, Alanna Durkin, Erik E. Cordes
2018, Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers (142) 77-93
Chemosynthetic ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) support dense communities of seep megafaunal invertebrates that rely on endosymbiotic bacteria for nutrition. Distinct infaunal communities are associated with the biogenic habitats created by seep biota, where habitat heterogeneity and sediment geochemistry influence local macrofaunal community structure. Here we examine the community structure and function of seep...
Degradation of 100‐m‐scale rocky ejecta craters at the InSight Landing Site on Mars and implications for surface processes and erosion rates in the hesperian and amazonian
J. Sweeney, N. H Warner, V. Ganti, Matthew P. Golombek, M. P. Lamb, Robin L. Fergason, Randolph L. Kirk
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets (123) 2732-2759
Rocky ejecta craters (RECs) at the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) landing site on Elysium Planitia, Mars, provide constraints on crater modification and rates for the Hesperian and Amazonian. The RECs are between 10 m and 1.2 km in diameter and exhibit five classes...
Calibration of regional hydraulic and transport properties of an arid-region aquifer under modern and paleorecharge conditions using water levels and environmental tracers
Thomas Muller, Ward E. Sanford
2018, Hydrogeology Journal (27) 685-701
A two-dimensional numerical groundwater flow model was established and calibrated for the hyperarid Najd region in southern Oman. The results indicate that recent recharge rates are required to sustain the observed groundwater heads in the Najd. The model was also used to estimate possible ranges of...
Filtering of cyclic period infiltration in a layered vadose zone: 1. Approximation of damping and time lags
Jesse E. Dickinson, T. P. A Ferre
2018, Vadose Zone Journal (17) 1-16
Core IdeasWe describe an approximation for filtering of periodic infiltration in layered soil.Transitions in soil‐water properties between soil layers affect the filtering.Errors are smaller in soils where changes in soil‐water properties are small.Infiltration and downward percolation of water in the vadose zone are important processes...
New England and northern New York forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: A report from the New England Climate Change Response Framework project
M.K. Janowiak, A D’Amato, C.W. Swanston, Louis R. Iverson, Frank R. Thompson, William D. Dijak, Stephen Matthews, Matthew P. Peters, Anantha Prasad, Jacob S. Fraser, Leslie A. Brandt, Patricia R. Butler-Leopold, Stephen D. Handler, P. Danielle Shannon, Diane Burbank, John Campbell, Charles Cogbill, Matthew J. Duveneck, Marla R. Emery, Nicholas Fisichelli, Jane Foster, Jennifer Hushaw, Laura Kenefic, Amanda Mahaffey, Toni Lyn Morelli, Nicholas Reo, Paul G. Schaberg, K. Rogers Simmons, Aaron Weiskittel, Sandy Wilmot, David Hollinger, Erin Lane, Lindsey Rustad, Pamela H. Templar
2018, General Technical Report NRS-173
Forest ecosystems will face direct and indirect impacts from a changing climate over the 21st century. This assessment evaluates the vulnerability of forest ecosystems across the New England region (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, northern New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont) under a range of future climates. We synthesized and...
Fire and tree death: Understanding and improving modeling of fire-induced tree mortality
Sharon M. Hood, J. Morgan Varner, Phillip J. van Mantgem, C. Alina Cansler
2018, Environmental Research Letters (13)
Each year wildland fires kill and injure trees on millions of forested hectares globally, affecting plant and animal biodiversity, carbon storage, hydrologic processes, and ecosystem services. The underlying mechanisms of fire-caused tree mortality remain poorly understood, however, limiting the ability to accurately predict mortality and develop robust...
Overview and progress of the pallid sturgeon assessment framework redesign process
Michael E. Colvin, Sara Reynolds, Robert B. Jacobson, Landon L. Pierce, Kirk D. Steffensen, Timothy L. Welker
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1166
The Pallid Sturgeon Population Assessment Program (PSPAP) was initiated in 2003, and full implementation began in 2006, to monitor the trend of Scaphirhynchus albus (pallid sturgeon) and native fish communities in the Upper and Lower Missouri River Basins. The original PSPAP (v. 1.0) was a catch-effort based monitoring program where...
Two-event lode-ore deposition at Butte, USA: 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb documentation of Ag-Au-polymetallic lodes overprinted by younger stockwork Cu-Mo ores and penecontemporaneous Cu lodes
Karen Lund, Ryan J. McAleer, John N. Aleinikoff, Michael A. Cosca, Michael J. Kunk
2018, Ore Geology Reviews (102) 666-700
The ore-genesis model for world-class deposits of the Butte mining district, Montana, USA, is deep pre-Main Stage porphyry Cu-Mo and overlying Main Stage Ag-Zn-Cu zoned-lode deposits, both of which formed from hydrothermal fluids driven by minor volumes of rhyolitic magma. The lode-specific model is that hydrothermal processes diminished in...
Multi-scale effects of land cover and urbanization on the habitat suitability of an endangered toad
Michael L. Treglia, Adam C Landon, Robert N. Fisher, Gerard Kyle, Lee A. Fitzgerald
2018, Biological Conservation (228) 310-318
Habitat degradation, entwined with land cover change, is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Effects of land cover change on species can be direct (when habitat is converted to alternative land cover types) or indirect (when land outside of the species habitat is altered). Hydrologic and ecological connections between terrestrial and aquatic...
Hearing capabilities and behavioural response of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to low frequency sounds
Megan Mickle, Scott M. Miehls, Nicholas S. Johnson, Dennis M. Higgs
2018, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (76)
Hearing ability is well studied across teleost fishes in general, and vertebrates more broadly, but little is known about sound detection abilities of lampreys (Petromyzontiformes), a basal extant vertebrate group. The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a destructive invader of the Laurentian Great Lakes, while numerous lamprey species (including the...
Deep aquifer recharge in the Columbia River Basalt Group, upper Umatilla River Basin, northeastern Oregon
Esther M. Pischel, Henry M. Johnson, Stephen B. Gingerich
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5110
Groundwater is an important component of the water resources of the upper Umatilla River Basin of northeastern Oregon. As such, understanding the capacity of the resource is vital. Past studies have estimated recharge in the study area. One recent study of the upper Umatilla River Basin indicated that about...
Integrated population modeling provides the first empirical estimates of vital rates and abundance for polar bears in the Chukchi Sea
Eric V. Regehr, Nathan J. Hostetter, Ryan H. Wilson, Karyn D. Rode, Michelle St. Martin, Sarah J. Converse
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Large carnivores are imperiled globally, and characteristics making them vulnerable to extinction (e.g., low densities and expansive ranges) also make it difficult to estimate demographic parameters needed for management. Here we develop an integrated population model to analyze capture-recapture, radiotelemetry, and count data for the Chukchi Sea subpopulation of polar...
The role of a non-native tree in riparian vegetation expansion and channel narrowing along a dryland river
Michael L. Scott, Lindsay V. Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth, John R. Spencer
2018, Ecohydrology (11) e1988
Along rivers, native and invasive species may establish and persist on active channel bedforms as part of channel narrowing. Using historical aerial photography and dendrochronology, we quantified spatial and temporal patterns of narrowing and vegetation expansion, including native Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and non‐native Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), along the largely unregulated Escalante River in...
