Assessing and communicating the impacts of climate change on the Southern California coast
Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Andrea C. O'Neill, Patrick Limber, Sean Vitousek, Juliette Finzi Hart, Maya Hayden, Jeanne M. Jones, Nathan J. Wood, Michael Fitzgibbon, Amy C. Foxgrover, Jessica Lovering
2018, Report
Over the course of this and the next century, the combination of rising sea levels, severe storms, and coastal erosion will threaten the sustainability of coastal communities, development, and ecosystems as we currently know them. To clearly identify coastal vulnerabilities and develop appropriate adaptation strategies for projected increased levels of...
Gas emissions, tars, and secondary minerals at the Ruth Mullins and Tiptop coal mine fires
Jennifer M. K. O’Keefe, Erika R. Neace, Maxwell L. Hammond III, James C. Hower, Mark A. Engle, Joseph A. East, Nicholas J. Geboy, Ricardo A. Olea, Kevin R. Henke, Gregory C. Copley, Edward W. Lemley, Rachel S. Hatch Nally, Antonia E. Hansen, Allison R. Richardson, Anne B. Satterwhite, Glenn B. Stracher, Larry F. Radke, Charles Smeltzer, Christopher Romanek, Donald R. Blake, Paul A. Schroeder, Stephen D. Emsbo-Mattingly, Scott A. Stout
2018, International Journal of Coal Geology (195) 304-316
Both the Tiptop and Ruth Mullins coal fires, Kentucky, were reinvestigated in 2009 and 2010. The Tiptop fire was not as active in 2009 and may have been on the path to burning out at the time of the 2009 visit. The Ruth Mullins coal mine fire, Perry County, Kentucky, has been the subject of several...
Selective occupancy of a persistent yet variable coastal river plume by two seabird species
Elizabeth M. Phillips, John K. Horne, Josh Adams, Jeannette E. Zamon
2018, Marine Ecology Progress Series (594) 245-261
Advances in telemetry and modeling of physical processes expand opportunities to assess relationships between marine predators and their dynamic habitat. The Columbia River plume (CRP) attracts sooty shearwaters Ardenna grisea and common murres Uria aalge, but how seabirds respond to variability in plume waters is unknown. We characterized seabird distributions in relation to...
Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure
Janet M. Ruth, Susan K. Skagen
2018, The Condor (120) 596-616
Avian species endemic to desert grasslands of North America contend with significant ecological challenges, including monsoonal rains, droughts, and variable temperatures. These birds have evolved physiological and behavioral means of coping with such extremes, but ongoing changes to temperature and precipitation patterns are affecting their breeding phenology, reproductive success, and...
Broad‐scale occurrence of a subsidized avian predator: reducing impacts of ravens on sage‐grouse and other sensitive prey
Shawn T. O’Neil, Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Pat J. Jackson, Kristy B. Howe, Ann M. Moser, Lee J. Foster, David J. Delehanty
2018, Journal of Applied Ecology (55) 2641-2652
Expanding human enterprise across remote environments impacts numerous wildlife species. Anthropogenic resources provide subsidies for generalist predators that can lead to cascading effects on prey species at lower trophic levels. A fundamental challenge for applied ecologists is to disentangle natural and anthropogenic influences on species occurrence, and subsequently develop spatially...
Seasonal streamflow extremes are key drivers of Brook Trout young‐of‐the‐year abundance
Annalise G. Blum, Yoichiro Kanno, Benjamin H. Letcher
2018, Ecosphere (9) 1-16
To manage ecosystems in the context of climate change, we need to understand the relationship between extreme events and population dynamics. Floods and droughts are projected to occur more frequently, but how aquatic species will respond to these extreme events remains uncertain. Based on counts of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)...
Quartz solubility in the H2O-NaCl system: A framework for understanding vein formation in porphyry copper deposits
Thomas Monecke, Jochen Monecke, T James Reynolds, Subaru Tsuruoka, Mitchell M. Bennett, Wiley B Skewes, Richard M. Palin
2018, Economic Geology (113) 1007-1046
Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The present contribution proposes an interpretive framework for the formation of porphyry veins that is based on quartz solubility calculations in the H2O-NaCl system at temperatures...
The perpetual state of emergency that sacrifices protected areas in a changing climate
Dirac Twidwell, Carissa L. Wonkka, Christine H. Bielski, Craig R. Allen, David G. Angeler, Jacob Drozda, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Julia Johnson, Larkin A. Powell, Caleb P. Roberts
2018, Conservation Biology (32) 905-915
A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g. historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to...
Complex bedding geometry in the upper portion of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars
Ryan B. Anderson, Lauren A. Edgar, David M. Rubin, Kevin W. Lewis, Claire Newman
2018, Icarus (314) 246-264
The Upper formation of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater exhibits curvilinear bedding patterns on the surfaces of several erosional benches that have been interpreted as cross-bedding. We use High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) stereo topography to test this hypothesis by measuring the bedding geometry within these benches. The bedding...
Paleoclimate Records: Providing context and understanding of current Arctic change
Emily Osborne, Thomas M. Cronin, Jesse Farmer
2018, Bulletin American Meteorological Society (99) s150-s152
At present, the Arctic Ocean is experiencing changes in ocean surface temperature and sea ice extent that are unprecedented in the era of satellite observations, which extend from the 1980s to the present (see sections 5c,d). To provide context for current changes, scientists turn to paleoclimate records to document and...
Dynamic modeling of barrier island response to hurricane storm surge under future sea level rise
Davina Passeri, Matthew V. Bilskie, Nathaniel G. Plant, Joseph W. Long, Scott C. Hagen
2018, Climatic Change (149) 413-425
Sea level rise (SLR) has the potential to exacerbate the impacts of extreme storm events on the coastal landscape. This study examines the coupled interactions of SLR on storm-driven hydrodynamics and barrier island morphology. A numerical model is used to simulate the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic impacts of two Gulf of...
A case study and a meta-analysis of seasonal variation in fish mercury concentrations
Nathan Mills, Darcy Cashatt, Michael Weber, Clay Pierce
2018, Ecotoxicology (27) 641-649
Mercury contamination in aquatic ecosystems is a concern due to health risks of consuming fish. Fish mercury concentrations are highly variable and influenced by a range of environmental factors. However, seasonal variation in mercury levels are typically overlooked when monitoring fish mercury concentrations, establishing consumption advisories, or creating accumulation models....
Evaluating and managing environmental water regimes in a water-scarce and uncertain future
Jonathan Kennen, Eric D. Stein, J. Angus Webb
2018, Freshwater Biology (63) 733-737
While the number of environmental flows and water science programmes continues to grow across the globe, there remains a critical need to better balance water availability in support of human and ecological needs and to recognise the environment as a legitimate user of water. In water‐stressed areas, this recognition...
Quantifying population-level effects of water temperature, flow velocity and chemical-induced reproduction depression: A simulation study with smallmouth bass
Tyler Wagner, Vicki S. Blazer, Yan Li
2018, Ecological Modelling (384) 63-74
Evaluating stochastic abiotic factors and their combined effects on fish and wildlife populations have been challenging in environmental sciences. Contributing to this challenge is the paucity of data describing how observations made on individuals related to exposure to chemical compounds ultimately effect population vital rates, and how this exposure interacts...
Patterns and magnitude of flow alteration in California, USA
Julie Zimmerman, Daren M. Carlisle, Jason May, Kirk Klausmeyer, Theodore E. Grantham, Larry R. Brown, Jeanette K. Howard
2018, Freshwater Biology (63) 859-873
Quantifying the natural flow regime is essential for management of water resources and conservation of aquatic ecosystems. Understanding the degree to which anthropogenic activities have altered flows is critical for developing effective conservation strategies. Assessing flow alteration requires estimates of flows expected in the absence of human influence and...
Quantification of the indirect use value of functional group diversity based on the ecological role of species in the ecosystem
Silvie Daniels, J Ryan Bellmore, Joseph R. Benjamin, Nele Witters, Jaco Vangronsveld, Steven Van Passel
2018, Ecological Economics (153) 181-194
An important issue in biodiversity valuation is gaining a better understanding of how biodiversity conservation affects economic activities and human welfare. Quantifying the economic benefits of biodiversity for human well-being is not straightforward. Here, we expand the ecosystem service cascade by (i) attributing a methodology to the different steps of...
Simulation of zones of groundwater contribution to wells south of the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Bethpage, New York
Paul E. Misut
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5161
A steady-state three-dimensional groundwater-flow model that simulates present conditions was coupled with the particle-tracking program MODPATH to delineate zones of contribution to wells pumping from the Magothy aquifer near a chlorinated volatile organic compound (VOC) plume. This modeling was part of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation...
Mississippi Delta: Chapter G in Emergent wetlands status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010
Lawrence Handley, Kathryn A. Spear, Mirka Zapletal, Cindy A. Thatcher, William R. Jones, Scott A. Wilson
2018, Report, Emergent Wetlands Status and Trends in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010 report
The Mississippi River Delta, the tip of the longest river in North America, is located in the coastal plains of southeastern Louisiana. The study area included in the Mississippi River Delta vignette of southeastern Louisiana follows the Mississippi River southward from Port Sulphur within the modern Plaquemines-Balize Delta lobe (Figure 1). It extends eastward...
SWB Version 2.0—A soil-water-balance code for estimating net infiltration and other water-budget components
Stephen M. Westenbroek, John A. Engott, Victor A. Kelson, Randall J. Hunt
2018, Techniques and Methods 6-A59
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) code was developed as a tool to estimate distribution and timing of net infiltration out of the root zone by means of an approach that uses readily available data and minimizes user effort required to begin a SWB application. SWB calculates other components of...
Geomorphology and vegetation change at Colorado River campsites, Marble and Grand Canyons, Arizona
Daniel R. Hadley, Paul E. Grams, Matthew A. Kaplinski, Joseph E. Hazel Jr., Roderic A. Parnell
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5096
Sandbars along the Colorado River are used as campsites by river runners and hikers and are an important recreational resource within Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Regulation of the flow of river water through Glen Canyon Dam has reduced the amount of sediment available to be deposited as sandbars, has...
Evaluation of vegetation-fire dynamics in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, USA, with a Bayesian belief network
Cyndy Loftin, Margaret Q. Guyette, Paul R. Wetzel
2018, Wetlands (38) 819-834
Vegetation response to wildfire has been studied extensively in upland ecosystems, but fire effects on temperate wetlands are less understood. We evaluated vegetation response to extensive wildfire in wetlands of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), USA, with a spatially explicit Bayesian belief network model informed with data recorded during 1990–2012....
Host feeding ecology and trophic position significantly influence isotopic discrimination between a generalist ectoparasite and its hosts: Implications for parasite-host trophic studies
William G. Jenkins, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Paul C. Sikkel
2018, Food Webs (16)
Despite being one of the most prevalent forms of consumerism in ecological communities, parasitism has largely been excluded from food-web models. Stable isotope analysis of consumers and their diets has been widely used in the study of food webs for decades. However, the amount of information regarding parasite stable isotope...
Using reverse-time egg transport analysis for predicting Asian Carp spawning grounds in the Illinois River
Zhenduo Zhu, David Soong, Tatiana Garcia, Mina Shahed Behrouz, Steven E. Butler, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Matthew J. Diana, James J. Duncker, David H. Wahl
2018, Ecological Modelling (384) 53-62
Identifying spawning grounds of Asian carp is important for determining the reproductive front of invasive populations. Ichthyoplankton monitoring along the Illinois Waterway (IWW) has provided information on abundances of Asian carp eggs in the IWW's navigation pools. Post-fertilization times derived from egg development stages and water temperatures can be used...
Rating stability, and frequency and magnitude of shifts, for streamgages in Virginia through water year 2013
Terence Messinger, Robert W. Burgholzer
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5137
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, has quantified several measures of rating stability and the frequency and magnitude of changes to ratings through time for 174 real-time continuous streamgages active in Virginia as of September 30, 2013. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were fitted...
Carving Grand Canyon’s inner gorge: A test of steady incision versus rapid knickzone migration
Ryan S. Crow, Karl E. Karlstrom, Laura J. Crossey, Victor Polyak, Yemane Asmerom, William C. McIntosh
2018, Geosphere (14) 1-17
A recent study posits that much of the 240-m-deep inner gorge of Grand Canyon was carved between 500 and 400 ka via passage of a migrating knickzone with incision rates of ~1600 m/Ma during that time period; this was based on dating of a ca. 500 ka travertine deposit perched...
