Biological and land use controls on the isotopic composition of aquatic carbon in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Britta Voss, Kimberly P. Wickland, George R. Aiken, Robert G. Striegl
2017, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (31) 1271-1288
Riverine ecosystems receive organic matter (OM) from terrestrial sources, internally produce new OM, and biogeochemically cycle and modify organic and inorganic carbon. Major gaps remain in the understanding of the relationships between carbon sources and processing in river systems. Here we synthesize isotopic, elemental, and molecular properties of dissolved organic...
Effects of extreme floods on macroinvertebrate assemblages in tributaries to the Mohawk River, New York, USA
Mirian R. Calderon, Barry P. Baldigo, Alexander J. Smith, Theodore A. Endreny
2017, River Research and Applications (33) 1060-1070
Climate change is forecast to bring more frequent and intense precipitation to New York which has motivated research into the effects of floods on stream ecosystems. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were sampled at 13 sites in the Mohawk River basin during August 2011, and again in October 2011, following historic floods caused...
Barrier island habitat map and vegetation survey—Dauphin Island, Alabama, 2015
Nicholas M. Enwright, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard H. Day, Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland, Lei Wang, Hongqing Wang
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1083
Barrier islands are dynamic environments due to their position at the land-sea interface. Storms, waves, tides, currents, and relative sea-level rise are powerful forces that shape barrier island geomorphology and habitats (for example, beach, dune, marsh, and forest). Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in...
Precipitation, streamflow, suspended-sediment, and water-quality data for the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, 1966–2015
L. R. Arnold
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1072
The U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson (AGFC) and the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) are facilities operated by the U.S. Department of the Army in southern Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army, established a hydrologic and water-quality data-collection network at the AGFC...
Stable C, O and clumped isotope systematics and 14C geochronology of carbonates from the Quaternary Chewaucan closed-basin lake system, Great Basin, USA: Implications for paleoenvironmental reconstructions using carbonates
Adam M. Hudson, Jay Quade, Guleed Ali, Douglas P. Boyle, Scott Bassett, Katharine W. Huntington, Marie G. De los Santos, Andrew S. Cohen, Ke Lin, Xiangfeng Wang
2017, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (212) 274-302
Isotopic compositions of lacustrine carbonates are commonly used for dating and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here we use carbonate δ13C and δ18O, clumped (Δ47), and 14C compositions to better understand the carbonate isotope system in closed-basin lakes and trace the paleohydrologic and temperature evolution in the Chewaucan closed-basin lake system, northern Great...
Suspended-sediment loads in the lower Stillaguamish River, Snohomish County, Washington, 2014–15
Scott A. Anderson, Christopher A. Curran, Eric E. Grossman
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1066
Continuous records of discharge and turbidity at a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage in the lower Stillaguamish River were paired with discrete measurements of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) in order to estimate suspended-sediment loads over the water years 2014 and 2015. First, relations between turbidity and SSC were developed and used...
New Jersey StreamStats: A web application for streamflow statistics and basin characteristics
Kara M. Watson, Jon A. Janowicz
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3057
StreamStats is an interactive, map-based web application from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that allows users to easily obtain streamflow statistics and watershed characteristics for both gaged and ungaged sites on streams throughout New Jersey. Users can determine flood magnitude and frequency, monthly flow-duration, monthly low-flow frequency statistics, and watershed...
Estimation of low-flow statistics at ungaged sites on streams in the Lower Hudson River Basin, New York, from data in geographic information systems
Allan D. Randall, Douglas A. Freehafer
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5019
A variety of watershed properties available in 2015 from geographic information systems were tested in regression equations to estimate two commonly used statistical indices of the low flow of streams, namely the lowest flows averaged over 7 consecutive days that have a 1 in 10 and a 1 in 2...
Geomorphic response of the North Fork Stillaguamish River to the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
Scott W. Anderson, Mackenzie K. Keith, Christopher S. Magirl, J. Rose Wallick, Mark C. Mastin, James R. Foreman
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5055
On March 22, 2014, the State Route 530 Landslide near Oso, Washington mobilized 8 million cubic meters of unconsolidated Pleistocene material, creating a valley‑spanning deposit that fully impounded the North Fork Stillaguamish River. The river overtopped the 8-meter high debris impoundment within 25 hours and began steadily incising a new...
Efficacy and residual toxicity of a sodium hydroxide based ballast water treatment system for freshwater bulk freighters
Adria Elskus, Carys L. Mitchelmore, David Wright, Jeffrey W. Henquinet, Nicholas Welschmeyer, Colin Flynn, Barnaby J. Watten
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 744-754
The efficacy and residual toxicity of a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) based ballast water treatment system (BWTS) were tested aboard the Great Lakes carrier M/V American Spiritin 1000 L mesocosms containing water from the ship's ballast tanks. NaOH was added to elevate the pH to 11.5 or 11.7 for 48 h, after which pH was reduced to < 9...
Identifying ecologically relevant scales of habitat selection: diel habitat selection in elk
Caleb P. Roberts, James W. Cain III, Robert D. Cox
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-16
Although organisms make resource selection decisions at multiple spatiotemporal scales, not all scales are ecologically relevant to any given organism. Ecological patterns and rhythms such as behavioral and climatic patterns may provide a consistent method for identifying ecologically relevant scales of habitat selection. Using elk (Cervus canadensis) as an example...
Rapid response for invasive waterweeds at the arctic invasion front: Assessment of collateral impacts from herbicide treatments
Suresh Sethi, Michael P. Carey, John M. Morton, Edgar Guerron-Orejuela, Robert Decino, Mark Willette, James Boersma, Jillian Jablonski, Cheryl Anderson
2017, Biological Conservation (212) 300-309
The remoteness of subarctic and arctic ecosystems no longer protects against invasive species introductions. Rather, the mix of urban hubs surrounded by undeveloped expanses creates a ratchet process whereby anthropogenic activity is sufficient to introduce and spread invaders, but for which the costs of monitoring and managing remote ecosystems is...
Spatial and temporal variability in benthic invertebrate assemblages in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Natalie J. Stauffer-Olsen, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend
2017, Northwest Science (91) 257-271
Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) in southern Oregon has experienced declines in water quality due to excessive nutrient loading. This has led to annual cyanobacterial blooms, primarily of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA). Benthic invertebrates are important food resources for benthic feeding fishes; however, they can increase autochthonous nutrient cycling in lakes and as a...
Integrating geographically isolated wetlands into land management decisions
Heather E. Golden, Irena F. Creed, Genevieve Ali, Nandita Basu, Brian Neff, Mark C. Rains, Daniel L. McLaughlin, Laurie C. Alexander, Ali A. Ameli, Jay R. Christensen, Grey R. Evenson, Charles N. Jones, Charles R. Lane, Megan Lang
2017, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (15) 319-327
Wetlands across the globe provide extensive ecosystem services. However, many wetlands – especially those surrounded by uplands, often referred to as geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) – remain poorly protected. Protection and restoration of wetlands frequently requires information on their hydrologic connectivity to other surface waters, and their cumulative watershed‐scale effects....
Debris flow initiation by runoff in a recently burned basin: Is grain-by-grain sediment bulking or en masse failure to blame?
Luke McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 7310-7319
Postwildfire debris flows are frequently triggered by runoff following high-intensity rainfall, but the physical mechanisms by which water-dominated flows transition to debris flows are poorly understood relative to debris flow initiation from shallow landslides. In this study, we combined a numerical model with high-resolution hydrologic and geomorphic data sets to...
Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015
Heather M. Krempa, Allison K. Flickinger
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5067
This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations at monitoring sites within and near the Lower Grand River hydrological unit. The primary objectives of the study were to...
How hunter perceptions of wildlife regulations, agency trust, and satisfaction affect attitudes about duck bag limits
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton, Jeffrey S. Lawrence, Steven D. Cordts
2017, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (22) 454-475
This study explored how factors, including the function of bag limits, agency trust, satisfaction, hunting participation, and demographics, related to opinions about duck bag limits. The results are from a survey of 2014 Minnesota resident waterfowl hunters. Analyses identified four dimensions of attitudes about functions of bag limits, including that...
Automated quantification of surface water inundation in wetlands using optical satellite imagery
Ben DeVries, Chengquan Huang, Megan W. Lang, John W. Jones, Wenli Huang, Irena F. Creed, Mark L. Carroll
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
We present a fully automated and scalable algorithm for quantifying surface water inundation in wetlands. Requiring no external training data, our algorithm estimates sub-pixel water fraction (SWF) over large areas and long time periods using Landsat data. We tested our SWF algorithm over three wetland sites across North America, including...
Geochemical characterization of groundwater discharging from springs north of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2009–2016
Kimberly R. Beisner, Fred D. Tillman, Jessica R. Anderson, Ronald C. Antweiler, Donald J. Bills
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5068
A geochemical study was conducted on 37 springs discharging from the Toroweap Formation, Coconino Sandstone, Hermit Formation, Supai Group, and Redwall Limestone north of the Grand Canyon near areas of breccia-pipe uranium mining. Baseline concentrations were established for the elements As, B, Li, Se, SiO2, Sr, Tl, U, and V....
Variation and plasticity and their interaction with urbanization in Guadalupe Bass populations on and off the Edwards Plateau
Jessica E. Pease, Timothy B. Grabowski, Allison A. Pease
2017, Report
The Colorado River Basin in Texas has experienced major alterations to its hydrologic regime due to changing land and water use patterns. These anthropogenic influences on hydrologic variability have had major implications for riparian and aquatic ecosystems and the species dependent upon them. However, impacts are often assessed at a...
Piscivore diet response to a collapse in pelagic prey populations
Steven Zeug, Frederick V. Feyrer, Annie Brodsky, Jenny Melgo
2017, Environmental Biology of Fishes (100) 947-958
Pelagic fish populations in the upper San Francisco Estuary have experienced significant declines since the turn of the century; a pattern known as the pelagic organism decline (POD). This study investigated food habits of piscivorous fishes over two consecutive fall seasons following the decline of pelagic fish prey. Specifically, this...
Managed aquifer recharge through off-season irrigation in agricultural regions
Richard G. Niswonger, Eric D. Morway, Enrique Triana, Justin L. Huntington
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 6970-6992
Options for increasing reservoir storage in developed regions are limited and prohibitively expensive. Projected increases in demand call for new long-term water storage to help sustain agriculture, municipalities, industry, and ecological services. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is becoming an integral component of water resources around the world. However, MAR faces...
Response to comment on “Primary sources and toxicity of PAHs in Milwaukee-area streambed sediments”—The authors' reply
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, Michelle A. Lutz, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Rebecca A. Dorman, Christopher Magruder, Matthew Magruder
2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (36) 1981-1983
No abstract available....
Balancing lake ecological condition and agriculture irrigation needs in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Leandro E. Miranda, A.R. Omer, K.J. Killgore
2017, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (246) 354-360
The Mississippi Alluvial Valley includes hundreds of floodplain lakes that support unique fish assemblages and high biodiversity. Irrigation practices in the valley have lowered the water table, increasing the cost of pumping water, and necessitating the use of floodplain lakes as a source of...
A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality
Henry D. Adams, Melanie Zeppel, William R.L. Anderegg, Henrik Hartmann, Simon M. Landhausser, David T. Tissue, Travis E. Huxman, Patrick J. Hudson, Trenton E. Franz, Craig D. Allen, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, David Beerling, David D. Breshears, Timothy J. Brodribb, Harald Bugmann, Richard C. Cobb, Adam D. Collins, L. Turin Dickman, Honglang Duan, Brent E. Ewers, Lucia Galiano, David A. Galvez, Nuria Garcia-Forner, Monica L. Gaylord, Matthew J. Germino, Arthur Gessler, Uwe G. Hacke, Rodrigo Hakamada, Andy Hector, Michael W. Jenkins, Jeffrey M. Kane, Thomas E. Kolb, Darin J. Law, James D. Lewis, Jean-Marc Limousin, David Love, Alison K. Macalady, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Maurizio Mencuccini, Patrick J. Mitchell, Jordan D. Muss, Michael J. O’Brien, Anthony P. O’Grady, Robert E. Pangle, Elizabeth A. Pinkard, Frida I. Piper, Jennifer Plaut, William T. Pockman, Joe Quirk, Keith Reinhardt, Francesco Ripullone, Michael G. Ryan, Anna Sala, Sanna Sevanto, John S. Sperry, Rodrigo Vargas, Michel Vennetier, Danielle A. Way, Chonggang Wu, Enrico A. Yepez, Nate G. McDowell
2017, Nature Ecology & Evolution (1) 1285-1291
Widespread tree mortality associated with drought has been observed on all forested continents and global change is expected to exacerbate vegetation vulnerability. Forest mortality has implications for future biosphere–atmosphere interactions of carbon, water and energy balance, and is poorly represented in dynamic vegetation models. Reducing uncertainty requires improved mortality projections...
