Updating movement estimates for American black ducks (Anas rubripes)
Orin J. Robinson, Conor P. McGowan, Patrick K. Devers
2016, PeerJ (4) 1-11
Understanding migratory connectivity for species of concern is of great importance if we are to implement management aimed at conserving them. New methods are improving our understanding of migration; however, banding (ringing) data is by far the most widely available and accessible movement data for researchers. Here, we use band...
A functional model for characterizing long-distance movement behaviour
Frances E. Buderman, Mevin Hooten, Jacob S. Ivan, Tanya M. Shenk
2016, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (7) 264-273
Advancements in wildlife telemetry techniques have made it possible to collect large data sets of highly accurate animal locations at a fine temporal resolution. These data sets have prompted the development of a number of statistical methodologies for modelling animal movement.Telemetry data sets are often collected for...
Dragonfly Mercury Project—A citizen science driven approach to linking surface-water chemistry and landscape characteristics to biosentinels on a national scale
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Sarah J. Nelson, Willacker Jr., Colleen M. Flanagan Pritz, David P. Krabbenhoft
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3005
Mercury is a globally distributed pollutant that threatens human and ecosystem health. Even protected areas, such as national parks, are subjected to mercury contamination because it is delivered through atmospheric deposition, often after long-range transport. In aquatic ecosystems, certain environmental conditions can promote microbial processes that convert inorganic mercury to...
LANDFIRE 2010—Updates to the national dataset to support improved fire and natural resource management
Kurtis J. Nelson, Donald G. Long, Joel A. Connot
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1010
The Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) 2010 data release provides updated and enhanced vegetation, fuel, and fire regime layers consistently across the United States. The data represent landscape conditions from approximately 2010 and are the latest release in a series of planned updates to maintain currency of...
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of selected headwater streams along the Allegheny Front, Blair County, Pennsylvania, July 2011–September 2013
Dennis J. Low, Robin A. Brightbill, Heather L. Eggleston, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1173
The Altoona Water Authority (AWA) obtains all of its water supply from headwater streams that drain western Blair County, an area underlain in part by black shale of the Marcellus Formation. Development of the shale-gas reservoirs will require new access roads, stream crossing, drill-pad construction, and pipeline installation, activities that...
Surface-air mercury fluxes across Western North America: A synthesis of spatial trends and controlling variables
Chris S. Eckley, Michael Tate, Che-Jen Lin, Mae S. Gustin, Stephen Dent, Collin Eagles-Smith, Michelle A. Lutz, Kimberly Wickland, Bronwen Wang, John E. Gray, Grant Edwards, David P. Krabbenhoft, David B. Smith
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 651-665
Mercury (Hg) emission and deposition can occur to and from soils, and are an important component of the global atmospheric Hg budget. This paper focuses on synthesizing existing surface-air Hg flux data collected throughout the Western North American region and is part of a series of geographically focused Hg synthesis...
Influence of vertical and lateral heat transfer on permafrost thaw, peatland landscape transition, and groundwater flow
Barret L. Kurylyk, Masaki Hayashi, William L. Quinton, Jeffrey M. McKenzie, Clifford I. Voss
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 1286-1305
Recent climate change has reduced the spatial extent and thickness of permafrost in many discontinuous permafrost regions. Rapid permafrost thaw is producing distinct landscape changes in the Taiga Plains of the Northwest Territories, Canada. As permafrost bodies underlying forested peat plateaus shrink, the landscape slowly transitions into unforested wetlands. The...
Tolerance to multiple climate stressors: A case study of Douglas-fir drought and cold hardiness
Sheel Bansal, Constance A Harrington, John Bradley St. Clair
2016, Ecology and Evolution (6) 2074-2083
Drought and freeze events are two of the most common forms of climate extremes which result in tree damage or death, and the frequency and intensity of both stressors may increase with climate change. Few studies have examined natural covariation in stress tolerance traits to cope with multiple stressors...
Statistical analysis and mapping of water levels in the Biscayne aquifer, water conservation areas, and Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 2000–2009
Scott T. Prinos, Joann F. Dixon
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5005
Statistical analyses and maps representing mean, high, and low water-level conditions in the surface water and groundwater of Miami-Dade County were made by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, to help inform decisions necessary for urban planning and development. Sixteen...
Water use in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, 2010, and water-use trends, 1985-2010
Stephen J. Lawrence
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5007
The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin encompasses about 20,230 square miles in parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Increasing population growth and agricultural production from the 1970s to 2010 has prompted increases in water-resources development and substantially increased water demand in the basin. Since the 1980s, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and the...
A full annual cycle modeling framework for American black ducks
Orin J. Robinson, Conor P. McGowan, Patrick K. Devers, Rodney W. Brook, Min Huang, Malcom Jones, Daniel G. McAuley, Guthrie S. Zimmerman
2016, Natural Resource Modeling (29) 159-174
American black ducks (Anas rubripes) are a harvested, international migratory waterfowl species in eastern North America. Despite an extended period of restrictive harvest regulations, the black duck population is still below the population goal identified in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP). It has been hypothesized that density-dependent factors...
Stochastic model for simulating Souris River Basin precipitation, evapotranspiration, and natural streamflow
Kelsey A. Kolars, Aldo V. Vecchia, Karen R. Ryberg
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5185
The Souris River Basin is a 61,000-square-kilometer basin in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the State of North Dakota. In May and June of 2011, record-setting rains were seen in the headwater areas of the basin. Emergency spillways of major reservoirs were discharging at full or nearly full...
Evaluation of downscaled, gridded climate data for the conterminous United States
Robert J. Behnke, Stephen J. Vavrus, Andrew Allstadt, Thomas P. Albright, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Volker C. Radeloff
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 1338-1351
Weather and climate affect many ecological processes, making spatially continuous yet fine-resolution weather data desirable for ecological research and predictions. Numerous downscaled weather data sets exist, but little attempt has been made to evaluate them systematically. Here we address this shortcoming by focusing on four major questions: (1) How accurate...
Are brown trout replacing or displacing bull trout populations in a changing climate?
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, David A. Schmetterling, Chris Clancy, Pat Saffel, Ryan Kovach, Leslie Nyce, Brad Liermann, Wade A. Fredenberg, Ron Pierce
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 1395-1404
Understanding how climate change may facilitate species turnover is an important step in identifying potential conservation strategies. We used data from 33 sites in western Montana to quantify climate associations with native bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta) abundance and population growth rates (λ). We estimated...
Groundwater ages from the freshwater zone of the Edwards aquifer, Uvalde County, Texas—Insights into groundwater flow and recharge
Andrew G. Hunt, Gary P. Landis, Jason R. Faith
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5163
Tritium–helium-3 groundwater ages of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas were determined as part of a long-term study of groundwater flow and recharge in the Edwards and Trinity aquifers. These ages help to define groundwater residence times and to provide constraints for calibration of groundwater flow models. A suite of...
The effectiveness of water-treatment systems for arsenic used in 11 homes in Southwestern and Central Ohio, 2013
Mary Ann Thomas, Mike Ekberg
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5156
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Miami Conservancy District investigated the effectiveness of methods used to remove arsenic from drinking water at 11 homes in southwestern and central Ohio. The untreated (raw) ground-water had arsenic concentrations of 7.7–382 micrograms per liter (µg/L), and the median concentration was 30...
Geology and assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources of Armenia, 2013
T. R. Klett
2016, Data Series 69-PP
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources of Armenia in 2013. A Paleozoic and a Cenozoic total petroleum system (TPS) were identified within the country of Armenia. The postulated petroleum system elements are uncertain, resulting in low geologic probabilities for significant oil an...
Active tectonics within the NW and SE extensions of the Pambak-Sevan-Syunik fault: Implications for the present geodynamics of Armenia
Jeff Ritz, A. Avagyan, M. Mkrtchyan, H. Nazari, P. H. Blard, A. Karakhanian, H. Philip, Sanda Balescu, Shannon A. Mahan, Sebastien Huot, P. Munch, M. Lamothe
2016, Quaternary International (395) 61-78
This study analyzes the active tectonics within the northwestern and southeastern extensions of the Pambak-Sevan-Syunik fault (PSSF), a major right-lateral strike-slip fault cutting through Armenia. Quantifying the deformations in terms of geometry, kinematics, slip rates and earthquake activity, using cosmogenic 3He, OSL/IRSL and radiocarbon dating techniques, reveal different behaviors between...
Flood-Inundation Maps of Selected Areas Affected by the Flood of October 2015 in Central and Coastal South Carolina
Jonathan W. Musser, Kara M. Watson, Jaime A. Painter, Anthony J. Gotvald
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1019
Heavy rainfall occurred across South Carolina during October 1–5, 2015, as a result of an upper atmospheric low-pressure system that funneled tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin into the State. The storm caused major flooding in the central and coastal parts of South Carolina. Almost 27 inches of rain fell near...
Are the Columbia River Basalts, Columbia Plateau, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, USA, a viable geothermal target? A preliminary analysis
Erick R. Burns, Colin F. Williams, Terry Tolan, Joern Ole Kaven
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings, 41st Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
The successful development of a geothermal electric power generation facility relies on (1) the identification of sufficiently high temperatures at an economically viable depth and (2) the existence of or potential to create and maintain a permeable zone (permeability >10-14 m2) of sufficient size to allow efficient long-term extraction of...
Toward a quantitative and empirical dissolved organic carbon budget for the Gulf of Maine, a semienclosed shelf sea
William Balch, Thomas G. Huntington, George R. Aiken, David Drapeau, Bruce Bowler, Laura Lubelczyk, Kenna D. Butler
2016, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (30) 268-292
A time series of organic carbon export from Gulf of Maine (GoM) watersheds was compared to a time series of biological, chemical, bio-optical, and hydrographic properties, measured across the GoM between Yarmouth, NS, Canada, and Portland, ME, U.S. Optical proxies were used to quantify the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and...
Terrestrial-based lidar beach topography of Fire Island, New York, June 2014
Owen T. Brenner, Cheryl J. Hapke, Kathryn G. Lee, Dustin R. Kimbrow
2016, Data Series 980
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) in Florida and the USGS Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center (LMG WSC) in Montgomery, Alabama, collaborated to gather alongshore terrestrial-based lidar beach elevation data at Fire Island, New York. This high-resolution elevation dataset was collected on June...
Regression equations to estimate seasonal flow duration, n-day high-flow frequency, and n-day low-flow frequency at sites in North Dakota using data through water year 2009
Tara Williams-Sether, Tara A. Gross
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5184
Seasonal mean daily flow data from 119 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations in North Dakota; the surrounding states of Montana, Minnesota, and South Dakota; and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan with 10 or more years of unregulated flow record were used to develop regression equations for flow duration,...
Spatial capture-recapture: a promising method for analyzing data collected using artificial cover objects
Chris Sutherland, David Munoz, David A.W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2016, Herpetologica (72) 6-12
Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) is a relatively recent development in ecological statistics that provides a spatial context for estimating abundance and space use patterns, and improves inference about absolute population density. SCR has been applied to individual encounter data collected noninvasively using methods such as camera traps, hair snares, and scat...
Testing the suitability of geologic frameworks for extrapolating hydraulic properties across regional scales
Benjamin B. Mirus, Keith J. Halford, Donald S. Sweetkind, Joseph M. Fenelon
2016, Hydrogeology Journal (24) 1133-1146
The suitability of geologic frameworks for extrapolating hydraulic conductivity (K) to length scales commensurate with hydraulic data is difficult to assess. A novel method is presented for evaluating assumed relations between K and geologic interpretations for regional-scale groundwater modeling. The approach relies on simultaneous interpretation of...
