A record of change - Science and elder observations on the Navajo Nation
Margaret M. Hiza-Redsteer, Stephen M. Wessells
2017, General Information Product 181
A Record of Change - Science and Elder Observations on the Navajo Nation is a 25-minute documentary about combining observations from Navajo elders with conventional science to determine how tribal lands and culture are affected by climate change. On the Navajo Nation, there is a shortage of historical climate data,...
Food abundance, prey morphology, and diet specialization influence individual sea otter tool use
Jessica A. Fujii, Katherine Ralls, M. Tim Tinker
2017, Behavioral Ecology (28) 1206-1216
Sea otters are well-known tool users, employing objects such as rocks or shells to break open invertebrate prey. We used a series of generalized linear mixed effect models to examine observational data on prey capture and tool use from 211 tagged individuals from 5 geographically defined study areas throughout the...
Fatal attraction? Intraguild facilitation and suppression among predators
Kelly J. Sivy, Casey B. Pozzanghera, James B. Grace, Laura R. Prugh
2017, The American Naturalist (190) 663-679
Competition and suppression are recognized as dominant forces that structure predator communities. Facilitation via carrion provisioning, however, is a ubiquitous interaction among predators that could offset the strength of suppression. Understanding the relative importance of these positive and negative interactions is necessary to anticipate community-wide responses to apex predator declines...
The land-sea interface: A source of high-quality phytoplankton to support secondary production
Monika Winder, Jacob Carstensen, Aaron W.E. Galloway, Hans H. Jakobsen, James E. Cloern
2017, Limnology and Oceanography (62) S258-S271
Coastal-estuarine systems are among the most productive marine ecosystems and their special role in producing harvestable fish and shellfish has been attributed to high primary production fueled by nutrient runoff from land and efficient trophic transfer. Here we ask if phytoplankton species composition and their food quality based on the percentage of long-chain...
Morphologic evolution of the wilderness area breach at Fire Island, New York—2012–15
Cheryl J. Hapke, Timothy R. Nelson, Rachel E. Henderson, Owen T. Brenner, Jennifer L. Miselis
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1116
IntroductionHurricane Sandy, which made landfall on October 29, 2012, near Atlantic City, New Jersey, had a significant impact on the coastal system along the south shore of Long Island, New York. A record significant wave height of 9.6 meters (m) was measured at wave buoy 44025, approximately 48...
Evaluating the role of land cover and climate uncertainties in computing gross primary production in Hawaiian Island ecosystems
Heather L. Kimball, Paul Selmants, Alvaro Moreno, Running Steve W, Christian P. Giardina
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
Gross primary production (GPP) is the Earth’s largest carbon flux into the terrestrial biosphere and plays a critical role in regulating atmospheric chemistry and global climate. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS)-MOD17 data product is a widely used remote sensing-based model that provides global estimates of spatiotemporal trends in GPP....
Sediment unmixing using detrital geochronology
Glenn R. Sharman, Samuel Johnstone
2017, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (477) 183-194
Sediment mixing within sediment routing systems can exert a strong influence on the preservation of provenance signals that yield insight into the influence of environmental forcings (e.g., tectonism, climate) on the earth’s surface. Here we discuss two approaches to unmixing detrital geochronologic data in an effort to characterize complex changes...
Results of hydrologic monitoring of a landslide-prone hillslope in Portland’s West Hills, Oregon, 2006–2017
Joel B. Smith, Jonathan W. Godt, Rex L. Baum, Jeffrey A. Coe, William L. Ellis, Eric S. Jones, Scott F. Burns
2017, Data Series 1050
The West Hills of Portland, in the southern Tualatin Mountains, trend northwest along the west side of Portland, Oregon. These silt-mantled mountains receive significant wet-season precipitation and are prone to sliding during wet conditions, occasionally resulting in property damage or casualties. In an effort to develop a baseline for interpretive...
Estimated fecal coliform bacteria concentrations using near real-time continuous water-quality and streamflow data from five stream sites in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 2007–16
Lisa A. Senior
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5075
Several streams used for recreational activities, such as fishing, swimming, and boating, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, are known to have periodic elevated concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, a type of bacteria used to indicate the potential presence of fecally related pathogens that may pose health risks to humans exposed through...
Channel response to sediment release: insights from a paired analysis of dam removal
Mathias J. Collins, Noah P. Snyder, Graham Boardman, William S. Banks, Mary Andrews, Matthew E. Baker, Maricate Conlon, Allen C. Gellis, Serena McClain, Andrew Miller, Peter Wilcock
2017, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (42) 1636-1651
Dam removals with unmanaged sediment releases are good opportunities to learn about channel response to abruptly increased bed material supply. Understanding these events is important because they affect aquatic habitats and human uses of floodplains. A longstanding paradigm in geomorphology holds that response rates to landscape disturbance exponentially decay through...
The state of the world’s mangroves in the 21st century under climate change
Ilka C. Feller, Daniel A. Friess, Ken W. Krauss, Roy R. Lewis III
2017, Hydrobiologia (803) 1-12
Concerted mangrove research and rehabilitation efforts over the last several decades have prompted a better understanding of the important ecosystem attributes worthy of protection and a better conservation ethic toward mangrove wetlands globally. While mangroves continue to be degraded and lost in specific regions, conservation initiatives, rehabilitation efforts, natural regeneration,...
Novel analyses of long-term data provide a scientific basis for chlorophyll-a thresholds in San Francisco Bay
Martha Sutula, Raphael Kudela, James Hagy, Lawrence W. Harding Jr., David Senn, James E. Cloern, Suzanne B. Bricker, Gry Mine Berg, Marcus W. Beck
2017, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (197) 107-118
San Francisco Bay (SFB), USA, is highly enriched in nitrogen and phosphorus, but has been resistant to the classic symptoms of eutrophication associated with over-production of phytoplankton. Observations in recent years suggest that this resistance may be weakening, shown by: significant increases of chlorophyll-a (chl-a) and...
Effects of surgically implanted transmitters on reproduction and survival in mallards
Jennifer Sheppard, Todd W. Arnold, Courtney L. Amundson, David Klee
2017, Wildlife Society Bulletin (41) 597-604
Abdominally implanted radiotransmitters have been widely used in studies of waterbird ecology; however, the longer handling times and invasiveness of surgical implantation raise important concerns about animal welfare and potential effects on data quality. Although it is difficult to assess effects of handling and marking wild animals by comparing them...
Holistic assessment of occurrence and fate of metolachlor within environmental compartments of agricultural watersheds
Claire E. Rose, Richard H. Coupe, Paul D. Capel, Richard M. Webb
2017, Science of the Total Environment (612) 708-719
Background: Metolachlor [(RS)-2-Chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methyl-phenyl)-N-(1-methoxypropan-2-yl)acetamide] and two degradates (metolachlor ethane-sulfonic acid and metolachlor oxanilic acid) are commonly observed in surface and groundwater. The behavior and fate of these compounds were examined over a 12-year period in seven agricultural watersheds in the United States. They were quantified in air, rain, streams, overland flow,...
Assessing coastal wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast: Gaps and opportunities for developing a coordinated regional sampling network
Michael J. Osland, Kereen T. Griffith, Jack C. Larriviere, Laura C. Feher, Donald R. Cahoon, Nicholas M. Enwright, David A. Oster, John M. Tirpak, Mark S. Woodrey, Renee C. Collini, Joseph J. Baustian, Joshua L. Breithaupt, Julia A Cherry, Jeremy R. Conrad, Nicole Cormier, Carlos A. Coronado-Molina, Joseph F. Donoghue, Sean A. Graham, Jennifer W. Harper, Mark W. Hester, Rebecca J. Howard, Ken W. Krauss, Daniel Kroes, Robert R. Lane, Karen L. McKee, Irving A. Mendelssohn, Beth A. Middleton, Jena A. Moon, Sarai Piazza, Nicole M. Rankin, Fred H. Sklar, Gregory D. Steyer, Kathleen M. Swanson, Christopher M. Swarzenski, William Vervaeke, Jonathan M Willis, K. Van Wilson
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
Coastal wetland responses to sea-level rise are greatly influenced by biogeomorphic processes that affect wetland surface elevation. Small changes in elevation relative to sea level can lead to comparatively large changes in ecosystem structure, function, and stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach is being used globally to quantify...
A reservoir morphology database for the conterminous United States
Kirk D. Rodgers
2017, Data Series 1062
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership, combined multiple national databases to create one comprehensive national reservoir database and to calculate new morphological metrics for 3,828 reservoirs. These new metrics include, but are not limited to, shoreline development index, index of basin permanence, development of...
Neotectonics of interior Alaska and the late Quaternary slip rate along the Denali fault system
Peter J. Haeussler, Ari Matmon, David P. Schwartz, Gordon G. Seitz
2017, Geosphere (13) 1-19
The neotectonics of southern Alaska (USA) are characterized by a several hundred kilometers–wide zone of dextral transpressional that spans the Alaska Range. The Denali fault system is the largest active strike-slip fault system in interior Alaska, and it produced a Mw 7.9 earthquake in 2002. To evaluate the late Quaternary slip...
Deep-sea coral research and technology program: Alaska deep-sea coral and sponge initiative final report
Chris Rooper, Robert P. Stone, Peter Etnoyer, Christina Conrath, Jennifer Reynolds, H. Gary Greene, Branwen Williams, Enrique Salgado, Cheryl L. Morrison, Rhian G. Waller, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos
2017, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OHC-2
Deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems are widespread throughout most of Alaska’s marine waters. In some places, such as the central and western Aleutian Islands, deep-sea coral and sponge resources can be extremely diverse and may rank among the most abundant deep-sea coral and sponge communities in the world. Many different...
Fine-resolution repeat topographic surveying of dryland landscapes using UAS-based structure-from-motion photogrammetry: Assessing accuracy and precision against traditional ground-based erosion measurements
Jeffrey K. Gillian, Jason W. Karl, Ahmed Elaksher, Michael C. Duniway
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
Structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry from unmanned aerial system (UAS) imagery is an emerging tool for repeat topographic surveying of dryland erosion. These methods are particularly appealing due to the ability to cover large landscapes compared to field methods and at reduced costs and finer spatial resolution compared to airborne laser scanning....
Loads and yields of deicing compounds and total phosphorus in the Cambridge drinking-water source area, Massachusetts, water years 2009–15
Kirk P. Smith
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5047
The source water area for the drinking-water supply of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, encompasses major transportation corridors, as well as large areas of light industrial, commercial, and residential land use. Because of the large amount of roadway in the drinking-water source area, the Cambridge water supply is affected by...
USA National Phenology Network’s volunteer-contributed observations yield predictive models of phenological transitions
Theresa M. Crimmins, Michael A. Crimmins, Katherine L. Gerst, Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Jake Weltzin
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-17
In support of science and society, the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) maintains a rapidly growing, continental-scale, species-rich dataset of plant and animal phenology observations that with over 10 million records is the largest such database in the United States. Contributed voluntarily by professional and citizen scientists, these opportunistically collected...
Temporal variation in survival and recovery rates of lesser scaup: A response
Todd W. Arnold, Alan D. Afton, Michael J. Anteau, David N. Koons, Chris A. Nicolai
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1142-1148
We recently analyzed long-term (1951–2011) continental band-recovery data from lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) and demonstrated that harvest rates declined through time, but annual survival rates exhibited no such trends; moreover, annual harvest and survival rates were uncorrelated for all age-sex classes. We therefore concluded that declining fecundity was most likely...
Yolo Bypass Juvenile Salmon Utilization Study 2016—Summary of acoustically tagged juvenile salmon and study fish release, Sacramento River, California
Theresa L. Liedtke, William R. Hurst
2017, Data Series 1066
The Yolo Bypass is a flood control bypass in Sacramento Valley, California. Flood plain habitats may be used for juvenile salmon rearing, however, the potential value of such habitats can be difficult to evaluate because of the intermittent nature of inundation events. The Yolo Bypass Juvenile Salmon Utilization Study (YBUS)...
QFASAR: Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis with R
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin
2017, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (8) 1158-1162
Knowledge of predator diets provides essential insights into their ecology, yet diet estimation is challenging and remains an active area of research.Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) is a popular method of estimating diet composition that continues to be investigated and extended. However, software to implement QFASA...
Bathymetric survey of the Cayuga Inlet flood-control channel and selected tributaries in Ithaca, New York, 2016
John F. Wernly, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, William F. Coon
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1109
From July 14 to July 20, 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Ithaca, New York, and the New York State Department of State, surveyed the bathymetry of the Cayuga Inlet flood-control channel and the mouths of selected tributaries to Cayuga Inlet and Cayuga Lake in...
