Quantitative acoustic differentiation of cryptic species illustrated with King and Clapper rails
Lydia L. Stiffler, Katie M. Schroeder, James T. Anderson, Susan B. McRae, Todd E. Katzner
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 12821-12831
Reliable species identification is vital for survey and monitoring programs. Recently, the development of digital technology for recording and analyzing vocalizations has assisted in acoustic surveying for cryptic, rare, or elusive species. However, the quantitative tools that exist for species differentiation are still being refined. Using vocalizations recorded in the...
Population genomic surveys for six rare plant species in San Diego County, California
Elizabeth R. Milano, Amy G. Vandergast
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1175
San Diego County is a hotspot of biodiversity, situated at the intersection of the Baja peninsula, the California floristic province, and the desert southwest. This hotspot is characterized by a high number of rare and endemic species, which persist alongside a major urban epicenter. San Diego County has implemented a...
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...
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...
Hidden cost of disease in a free‐ranging ungulate: brucellosis reduces mid‐winter pregnancy in elk
Gavin G. Cotterill, Paul C. Cross, Arthur D. Middleton, Jared D. Rogerson, Brandon Scurlock, Johan T. Du Toit
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 10733-10742
Demonstrating disease impacts on the vital rates of free‐ranging mammalian hosts typically requires intensive, long‐term study. Evidence for chronic pathogens affecting reproduction but not survival is rare, but has the potential for wide‐ranging effects. Accurately quantifying disease‐associated reductions in fecundity is important for advancing theory, generating accurate predictive models, and...
Effects of an extreme flood event on federally endangered Diamond Darter abundances
Stuart A. Welsh
2018, The American Midland Naturalist (180) 108-118
Extreme flood events can substantially affect riverine systems, modifying instream habitat and influencing fish assemblages and densities. Rare species are especially vulnerable to these disturbance events because of their small population size and often reduced phenotypic heterogeneity. In June 2016 the lower Elk River in West Virginia experienced severe...
Preliminary investigation of groundwater quality near a Michigan cemetery, 2016–17
Angela K. Brennan, Carrie E. Givens, Julia G. Prokopec, Christopher J. Hoard
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5120
The potential effect of cemetery leachate on groundwater quality in the United States has rarely been studied. Nutrients and other constituents associated with decomposition and burial processes (such as embalming) have the potential to reach shallow groundwater and could affect nearby drinking-water sources. The objective of this preliminary investigation was...
Metabolic capability and phylogenetic diversity of Mono Lake during a bloom of the eukaryotic phototroph Picocystis sp. strain ML
Blake W. Stamps, Heather S Nunn, Victoria Petryshyn, Ronald S. Oremland, Laurence G. Miller, Michael R. Rosen, Kohen Bauer, Katherine J. Thompson, Elise M. Tookmanian, Anna R. Waldeck, Sean J Lloyd, Hope A Johnson, Bradley S. Stevenson, William M Berelson, Frank A Corsetti, John R. Spear
2018, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (84)
Algal blooms in lakes are often associated with anthropogenic eutrophication; however, they can occur without the human introduction of nutrients to a lake. A rare bloom of the alga Picocystis sp. strain ML occurred in the spring of 2016 at Mono Lake, a hyperalkaline lake in California, which was also...
Aeromagnetic map of Mountain Pass and vicinity, California and Nevada
David A. Ponce, Kevin M. Denton
David A. Ponce, editor(s)
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3412-B
Magnetic investigations of Mountain Pass and vicinity were begun as part of an effort to study regional crustal structures as an aid to understanding the geologic framework and mineral resources of the eastern Mojave Desert. The study area, which straddles the state boundary between southeastern California and southern Nevada, encompasses...
Isostatic gravity map of Mountain Pass and vicinity, California and Nevada
David A. Ponce, Kevin M. Denton
David A. Ponce, editor(s)
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3412-A
Gravity investigations of Mountain Pass and vicinity were begun as part of an effort to study regional crustal structures as an aid to understanding the geologic framework and mineral resources of the eastern Mojave Desert. The study area, which straddles the state boundary between southeastern California and southern Nevada, encompasses...
Geophysical and geologic maps of Mountain Pass and vicinity, California and Nevada
David A. Ponce, editor(s)
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3412
U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3412 is a series of products that consists of geophysical and geologic maps of Mountain Pass and vicinity, California. Maps A and B (red outline in above map image) are gravity and aeromagnetic maps, respectively. The map series was begun as part of an...
Critical minerals: A review of elemental trends in comprehensive criticality studies
Sarah M. Hayes, Erin A. McCullough
2018, Resources Policy (59) 192-199
Mineral criticality is a subjective concept that has evolved throughout history. An abundance of literature on this topic has been published over the last decade, encompassing a variety of criteria and methodologies. To our knowledge, this work is the first large-scale effort to organize and analyze recent comprehensive criticality studies...
The significance of dinoflagellates in the Miocene Choptank Formation beneath the Midlothian gravels in the southeastern Virginia Piedmont
Lucy E. Edwards, Robert E. Weems, Mark W. Carter, David Spears, David S. Powars
2018, Stratigraphy (15) 179-195
The Fall Line (formally "Tidewater Fall Line") separates the more resistant igneous, metamorphic, and consolidated sedimentary rocks of the Piedmont from the typically unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. Widespread but now discontinuous patches of a deeply weathered sand and gravel are found west of the Fall Line,...
Diet and condition of age‐0 Scaphirhynchus Sturgeon: Implications for shallow‐water habitat restoration
A. P. Civiello, N. J. C. Gosch, T. R. Gemeinhardt, M. L. Miller, J. L. Bonneau, Kimberly Chojnacki, Aaron J. Delonay, James M. Long
2018, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (38) 1324-1338
Insufficient food during early life could limit the population growth of endangered Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus in the lower Missouri River. Shallow‐water habitat restoration is intended to provide nursery benefits, including food, for young sturgeon, but the effect of shallow‐water habitat on their diet is unknown. Age‐0 Pallid Sturgeon are rare, providing...
Area-preserving simplification of polygon features
Barry J. Kronenfeld, Larry V. Stanislawski, Tyler Brockmeyer, Barbara P. Buttenfield
2018, Conference Paper, Conference Proceedings, AutoCarto/UCGIS 2018
Developing simplified representations of a two-dimensional polyline is an important problem in cartographic data analytics where datasets must be integrated across spatial resolutions. This problem is generally referred to as line simplification, and is increasingly driven by preservation of specific analytic properties such as positional accuracy and high-frequency detail. However,...
Hydrodynamics and sediment mobility processes over a degraded senile coral reef
Legna M. Torres-Garcia, P. Soupy Dalyander, Joseph W. Long, David G. Zawada, Kimberly K. Yates, Christopher Moore, Maitane Olabarrieta
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (123) 7053-7066
Coral reefs can influence hydrodynamics and morphodynamics by dissipating and refracting incident wave energy, modifying circulation patterns, and altering sediment transport pathways. In this study, the sediment and hydrodynamic response of a senile (dead) barrier reef (Crocker Reef, located in the upper portion of the Florida Reef Tract) to storms...
Methods to reduce conflicts between cranes and farmers
Jane E. Austin, K. S. Gopi Sundar
2018, Book chapter, Cranes and agriculture: A global guide for sharing the landscape
Alternative methods to reduce conflicts between cranes and farmers range from relatively simple, inexpensive disturbance methods to changes in land use at a landscape scale. Visual and acoustics disturbance methods can be useful for small fields or gardens but require frequent changes to prevent habituation by the cranes. Changes in...
Floristic and climatic reconstructions of two Lower Cretaceous successions from Peru
Paula J. Mejia-Velasquez, Steven R. Manchester, Carlos A. Jaramillo, Luiz Quiroz, Lucas B. Fortini
2018, Palynology (42) 420-433
Climate during the Early Cretaceous in tropical South America has often been reconstructed as arid. However, some areas seem to have been humid. We reconstructed the floristic composition of two tropical stratigraphic successions in Peru using quantitative palynology (rarefied species richness and abundance), and used the abundance of aridity vs....
Effects of leg flags on nest survival of four species of Arctic‐breeding shorebirds
Emily L. Weiser, Richard B. Lanctot, Stephen C. Brown, H. River Gates, Rebecca L. Bentzen, Megan L. Boldenow, Jenny A. Cunningham, Andrew C. Doll, Tyrone F. Donnelly, Willow B. English, Samantha E. Franks, Kristen Grond, Patrick Herzog, Brooke L. Hill, Steve J. Kendall, Eunbi Kwon, David B. Lank, Joseph R. Liebezeit, Jennie Rausch, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Audrey R. Taylor, David H. Ward, Paul F. Wood, Brett K. Sandercock
2018, Journal of Field Ornithology (89) 287-297
Marking wild birds is an integral part of many field studies. However, if marks affect the vital rates or behavior of marked individuals, any conclusions reached by a study might be biased relative to the general population. Leg bands have rarely been found to have negative effects on birds and...
Dynamic occupancy modeling of temperate marine fish in area-based closures
Jay Calvert, Chris McGonigle, Suresh Sethi, Bradley Harris, Rory Quinn, Jon Grabowski
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 10192-10205
Species distribution models (SDMs) are commonly used to model the spatial structure of species in the marine environment, however, most fail to account for detectability of the target species. This can result in underestimates of occupancy, where nondetection is conflated with absence. The site occupancy model (SOM) overcomes this failure...
Patch age since disturbance drives patch dynamics for flycatchers breeding in both reservoir and riverine habitat
Tad C Theimer, Mark K. Sogge, Eben H. Paxton
2018, Ecosphere (9)
Species dependent upon early-successional landscapes often occupy patches at different stages of recovery after disturbance. The demographic processes that drive patch dynamics in these systems have rarely been described but are important for developing effective conservation and management plans, especially when humans have modified the timing and intensity of disturbances...
Exploring the amphibian exposome in an agricultural landscape using telemetry and passive sampling
Jennifer E. Swanson, Erin L. Muths, Clay Pierce, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Mark W. Vandever, Michelle L. Hladik, Kelly L. Smalling
2018, Scientific Reports (8) 1-10
This is the first field study of its kind to combine radio telemetry, passive samplers, and pesticide accumulation in tissues to characterize the amphibian exposome as it relates to pesticides. Understanding how habitat drives exposure in individuals (i.e., their exposome), and how that relates to individual health is critical to...
Strike-slip 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 Gulf of Alaska rare intraplate earthquake: Complex rupture of a fracture zone system
Anne Krabbenhoeft, Roland von Huene, John J. Miller, Dietrich Lange, Felipe Vera
2018, Scientific Reports (8) 1-9
Large intraplate earthquakes in oceanic lithosphere are rare and usually related to regions of diffuse deformation within the oceanic plate. The 23 January 2018 MW 7.9 strike-slip Gulf of Alaska earthquake ruptured an oceanic fracture zone system offshore Kodiak Island. Bathymetric compilations show a muted topographic expression of the fracture zone...
Additional period and site class maps for the 2014 National Seismic Hazard Model for the conterminous United States
Allison Shumway, Mark D. Petersen, Peter M. Powers, Sanaz Rezaeian
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1111
The 2014 update of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the conterminous United States (2014 NSHM; Petersen and others, 2014, 2015) included probabilistic ground motion maps for 2 percent and 10 percent probabilities of exceedance in 50 years, derived from seismic hazard curves for peak ground acceleration...
Necropsy-based wild fish health assessment
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Ryan P. Braham, Cheyenne R. Smith
2018, Journal of Visualized Experiments (139)
Anthropogenic influences from increased nutrients and chemical contaminants, to habitat alterations and climate change, can have significant effects on fish populations. Adverse effects monitoring, utilizing biomarkers from the organismal to the molecular level, can be used to assess the cumulative effects on fishes and other organisms. Fish health has been...
