Application of molluscan analyses to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in estuaries
G. Lynn Wingard, Donna Surge
2017, Book chapter, Applications of Paleoenvironmental Techniques in Estuarine Studies
Molluscs possess a number of attributes that make them an excellent source of past environmental conditions in estuaries: they are common in estuarine environments; they typically have hard shells and are usually well preserved in sediments; they are relatively easy to detect in the environment; they have limited mobility as...
Modelling moose–forest interactions under different predation scenarios at Isle Royale National Park, USA
Nathan R. De Jager, Jason J. Rohweder, Brian R. Miranda, Brian R. Sturtevant, Timothy J. Fox, Mark C. Romanski
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 1317-1337
Loss of top predators may contribute to high ungulate population densities and chronic over-browsing of forest ecosystems. However, spatial and temporal variability in the strength of interactions between predators and ungulates occurs over scales that are much shorter than the scales over which forest communities change, making it difficult to...
The spatial distribution of earthquake stress rotations following large subduction zone earthquakes
Jeanne L. Hardebeck
2017, Earth, Planets and Space (69)
Rotations of the principal stress axes due to great subduction zone earthquakes have been used to infer low differential stress and near-complete stress drop. The spatial distribution of coseismic and postseismic stress rotation as a function of depth and along-strike distance is explored for three recent M ≥ 8.8 subduction megathrust...
Soils as relative-age dating tools
Helaine W. Markewich, Milan J. Pavich, Douglas A. Wysocki
2017, Book chapter, The International Encyclopedia of Geography
Soils develop at the earth's surface via multiple processes that act through time. Precluding burial or disturbance, soil genetic horizons form progressively and reflect the balance among formation processes, surface age, and original substrate composition. Soil morphology provides a key link between process and time (soil age), enabling soils to...
Pulsed strain release on the Altyn Tagh fault, northwest China
Ryan D. Gold, Eric Cowgill, J. Ramon Arrowsmith, Anke M. Friedrich
2017, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (459) 291-300
Earthquake recurrence models assume that major surface-rupturing earthquakes are followed by periods of reduced rupture probability as stress rebuilds. Although purely periodic, time- or slip-predictable rupture models are known to be oversimplifications, a paucity of long records of fault slip clouds understanding of fault behavior and earthquake recurrence over multiple...
Expanding the North American Breeding Bird Survey analysis to include additional species and regions
John R. Sauer, Daniel Niven, Keith L. Pardieck, David Ziolkowski Jr., William A. Link
2017, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (8) 154-172
The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) contains data for >700 bird species, but analyses often focus on a core group of ∼420 species. We analyzed data for 122 species of North American birds for which data exist in the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) database but are not...
Assessment of imperfect detection of blister rust in whitebark pine within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Wilson J. Wright, Kathryn M. Irvine
2017, Natural Resource Report 2017/1457
We examined data on white pine blister rust (blister rust) collected during the monitoring of whitebark pine trees in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (from 2004-2015). Summaries of repeat observations performed by multiple independent observers are reviewed and discussed. These summaries show variability among observers and the potential for errors being...
Transient electromagnetic soundings in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, near the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge (field seasons 2007, 2009, and 2011)
David V. Fitterman
2017, Data Series 1043
Transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings were made in the San Luis Valley, Colorado, to map the location of a blue clay unit as well as to investigate the presence of suspected faults. A total of 147 soundings were made near and in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and an...
Model-based approaches to deal with detectability: a comment on Hutto (2016)
Tiago A. Marques, Len Thomas, Marc Kery, Steve T. Buckland, David L. Borchers, Eric Rexstad, Rachel M. Fewster, Darryl I. MacKenzie, J. Andrew Royle, Gurutzeta Guillera-Arroita, Colleen M. Handel, David C. Pavlacky Jr, Richard J. Camp
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 1694-1698
In a recent paper, Hutto (2016a) challenges the need to account for detectability when interpreting data from point counts. A number of issues with model-based approaches to deal with detectability are presented, and an alternative suggested: surveying an area around each point over which detectability is assumed certain. The article...
A geochemical examination of humidity cell tests
Ann Maest, D. Kirk Nordstrom
2017, Applied Geochemistry (81) 109-131
Humidity cell tests (HCTs) are long-term (20 to >300 weeks) leach tests that are considered by some to be the among the most reliable geochemical characterization methods for estimating the leachate quality of mined materials. A number of modifications have been added to the original HCT method, but the interpretation...
Influence of trap modifications and environmental predictors on capture success of southern flying squirrels
Christopher N. Jacques, James S. Zweep, Mary E. Scheihing, Will T. Rechkemmer, Sean E. Jenkins, Robert W. Klaver, Shelli A. Dubay
2017, Wildlife Society Bulletin (41) 313-321
Sherman traps are the most commonly used live traps in studies of small mammals and have been successfully used in the capture of arboreal species such as the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). However, southern flying squirrels spend proportionately less time foraging on the ground, which necessitates above-ground trapping methods...
Synoptic sampling and principal components analysis to identify sources of water and metals to an acid mine drainage stream
Patrick Byrne, Robert L. Runkel, Katherine Walton-Day
2017, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (24) 17220-17240
Combining the synoptic mass balance approach with principal components analysis (PCA) can be an effective method for discretising the chemistry of inflows and source areas in watersheds where contamination is diffuse in nature and/or complicated by groundwater interactions. This paper presents a field-scale study in which synoptic sampling and PCA...
Groundwater quality in the Western San Joaquin Valley study unit, 2010: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Miranda S. Fram
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5032
Water quality in groundwater resources used for public drinking-water supply in the Western San Joaquin Valley (WSJV) was investigated by the USGS in cooperation with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) as part of its Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project. The WSJV includes...
Species distributions models in wildlife planning: agricultural policy and wildlife management in the great plains
Joseph J. Fontaine, Christopher Jorgensen, Erica F. Stuber, Lutz F. Gruber, Andrew A. Bishop, Jeffrey J. Lusk, Eric S. Zach, Karie L. Decker
2017, Wildlife Society Bulletin (41) 194-204
We know economic and social policy has implications for ecosystems at large, but the consequences for a given geographic area or specific wildlife population are more difficult to conceptualize and communicate. Species distribution models, which extrapolate species-habitat relationships across ecological scales, are capable of predicting population changes in distribution and...
The added value of time-variable microgravimetry to the understanding of how volcanoes work
Daniele Carbone, Michael P. Poland, Filippo Greco, Michel Diament
2017, Earth-Science Reviews (169) 146-179
During the past few decades, time-variable volcano gravimetry has shown great potential for imaging subsurface processes at active volcanoes (including some processes that might otherwise remain “hidden”), especially when combined with other methods (e.g., ground deformation, seismicity, and gas emissions). By supplying information on changes in the distribution of bulk...
The spectrum of persistent volcanic flank instability: A review and proposed framework based on Kīlauea, Piton de la Fournaise, and Etna
Michael P. Poland, Aline Peltier, Alessandro Bonaforte, Giuseppe Puglisi
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (339) 63-80
Persistent motion of the south flank of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, has been known for several decades, but has only recently been identified at other large basaltic volcanoes—namely Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion) and Etna (Sicily)—thanks to the advent of space geodetic techniques. Nevertheless, understanding of long-term flank instability is...
Performance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp
Ken W. Krauss, Gary P. Shaffer, Richard F. Keim, Jim L. Chambers, William B. Wood, Stephen B. Hartley
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5036
The use of freshwater diversions (river reintroductions) from the Mississippi River as a restoration tool to rehabilitate Louisiana coastal wetlands has been promoted widely since the first such diversion at Caernarvon became operational in the early 1990s. To date, aside from the Bonnet Carré Spillway (which is designed and operated...
An updated geospatial liquefaction model for global application
Jing Zhu, Laurie G. Baise, Eric M. Thompson
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1365-1385
We present an updated geospatial approach to estimation of earthquake-induced liquefaction from globally available geospatial proxies. Our previous iteration of the geospatial liquefaction model was based on mapped liquefaction surface effects from four earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Kobe, Japan, paired with geospatial explanatory variables including slope-derived VS30, compound...
Collecting a better water-quality sample: Reducing vertical stratification bias in open and closed channels
William R. Selbig
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 5th Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference and the 10th Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference
Collection of water-quality samples that accurately characterize average particle concentrations and distributions in channels can be complicated by large sources of variability. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed a fully automated Depth-Integrated Sample Arm (DISA) as a way to reduce bias and improve accuracy in water-quality concentration data. The DISA...
Frictional strength of wet and dry montmorillonite
Carolyn A. Morrow, Diane E. Moore, David A. Lockner
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research (122) 3392-3409
Montmorillonite is a common mineral in fault zones, and its low strength relative to other common gouge minerals is important in many models of fault rheology. However, the coefficient of friction, μ, varies with degree of saturation and is not well constrained in the literature due to the difficulty of...
Hydrogeologic framework and hydrologic conditions of the Piney Point aquifer in Virginia
E. Randolph McFarland
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5041
The Piney Point aquifer in Virginia is newly described and delineated as being composed of six geologic units, in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ). The eastward-dipping geologic units include, in stratigraphically ascending order, thesand of the...
Nest-site selection and nest success of an Arctic-breeding passerine, Smith's Longspur, in a changing climate
Heather R. McFarland, Steve J. Kendall, Abby Powell
2017, The Condor (119) 85-97
Despite changes in shrub cover and weather patterns associated with climate change in the Arctic, little is known about the breeding requirements of most passerines tied to northern regions. We investigated the nesting biology and nest habitat characteristics of Smith's Longspurs (Calcarius pictus) in 2 study areas in the Brooks...
Synthesis centers as critical research infrastructure
Jill Baron, Alison Specht, Eric Garnier, Pamela Bishop, C. Andrew Campbell, Frank W. Davis, Bruno Fady, Dawn Field, Louis J. Gross, Siddeswara M. Guru, Benjamin S Halpern, Stephanie E. Hampton, Peter R. Leavitt, Thomas R. Meagher, Jean Ometto, John N. Parker, Richard Price, Casey H. Rawson, Allen Rodrigo, Laura A. Sheble, Marten Winter
2017, BioScience (67) 750-759
Demand for the opportunity to participate in a synthesis-center activity has increased in the years since the US National Science Foundation (NSF)–funded National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) opened its doors in 1995 and as more scientists across a diversity of scientific disciplines have become aware of what synthesis...
Perturbational and nonperturbational inversion of Rayleigh-wave velocities
Matthew M. Haney, Victor C. Tsai
2017, Geophysics (82) F15-F28
The inversion of Rayleigh-wave dispersion curves is a classic geophysical inverse problem. We have developed a set of MATLAB codes that performs forward modeling and inversion of Rayleigh-wave phase or group velocity measurements. We describe two different methods of inversion: a perturbational method based on finite elements and a nonperturbational...
Climate change-induced vegetation shifts lead to more ecological droughts despite projected rainfall increases in many global temperate drylands
Britta Tietjen, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, John B. Bradford, William K. Laurenroth, Sonia A. Hall, Michael C. Duniway, Tamara Hochstrasser, Gensuo Jia, Seth M. Munson, David A. Pyke, Scott D. Wilson
2017, Global Change Biology (23) 2743-2754
Drylands occur world-wide and are particularly vulnerable to climate change since dryland ecosystems depend directly on soil water availability that may become increasingly limited as temperatures rise. Climate change will both directly impact soil water availability, and also change plant biomass, with resulting indirect feedbacks on soil moisture. Thus, the...
