Spatial variation in risk and consequence of Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans introduction in the USA
Katherine L. D. Richgels, Robin E. Russell, M. J. Adams, C. LeAnn White, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2016, Royal Society Open Science (3)
A newly identified fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), is responsible for mass mortality events and severe population declines in European salamanders. The eastern USA has the highest diversity of salamanders in the world and the introduction of this pathogen is likely to be devastating. Although data are inevitably limited for new pathogens,...
Post-Hurricane Irene coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, to Virginia Beach, Virginia, August 30-31, 2011
Karen L. M. Morgan, M. Dennis Krohn
2016, Data Series 979
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms (Morgan, 2009). On August 30-31, 2011, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial...
Developing integrated methods to address complex resource and environmental issues
Kathleen S. Smith, Jeffrey D. Phillips, Anne E. McCafferty, Roger N. Clark, editor(s)
2016, Circular 1413
IntroductionThis circular provides an overview of selected activities that were conducted within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Integrated Methods Development Project, an interdisciplinary project designed to develop new tools and conduct innovative research requiring integration of geologic, geophysical, geochemical, and remote-sensing expertise. The project was supported by the USGS Mineral...
Reconstruction of late Holocene climate based on tree growth and mechanistic hierarchical models
John Tipton, Mevin Hooten, Neil Pederson, Martin Tingley, Daniel Bishop
2016, Environmetrics (27) 42-54
Reconstruction of pre-instrumental, late Holocene climate is important for understanding how climate has changed in the past and how climate might change in the future. Statistical prediction of paleoclimate from tree ring widths is challenging because tree ring widths are a one-dimensional summary of annual growth that represents a multi-dimensional...
Wetting and drying of soil in response to precipitation: Data analysis, modeling, and forecasting
Aniruddha Basak, Chinmay Kulkarni, Kevin M. Schmidt, Ole Mengshoel
2016, Conference Paper
This paper investigates methods to analyze and forecast soil moisture time series. We extend an existing Antecedent Water Index (AWI) model, which expresses soil moisture as a function of time and rainfall. Unfortunately, the existing AWI model does not forecast effectively for time periods beyond a few hours. To overcome...
Demographic response of northern spotted owls to barred owl removal
V. Lowell Diller, Keith A. Hamm, Desiree A Early, David W Lamphear, Katie M. Dugger, Charles B. Yackulic, Carl J. Schwarz, Peter C. Carlson, Trent L. McDonald
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 691-707
Federally listed as threatened in 1990 primarily because of habitat loss, the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) has continued to decline despite conservation efforts resulting in forested habitat being reserved throughout its range. Recently, there is growing evidence the congeneric invasive barred owl (Strix varia) may be...
Optimizing available network resources to address questions in environmental biogeochemistry
Eve-Lyn Hinckley, Suzanne Andersen, Jill Baron, Peter Blanken, Gordon Bonan, William Bowman, Sarah Elmendorf, Noah Fierer, Andrew Fox, Keli Goodman, Katherine Jones, Danica Lombardozzi, Claire Lunch, Jason Neff, Michael SanClements, Katherine Suding, Will Wieder
2016, BioScience (66) 317-326
An increasing number of network observatories have been established globally to collect long-term biogeochemical data at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Although many outstanding questions in biogeochemistry would benefit from network science, the ability of the earth- and environmental-sciences community to conduct synthesis studies within and across networks...
Population connectivity and genetic structure of burbot (Lota lota) populations in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming
Zachary E. Underwood, Elizabeth G. Mandeville, Annika W. Walters
2016, Hydrobiologia (765) 329-342
Burbot (Lota lota) occur in the Wind River Basin in central Wyoming, USA, at the southwestern extreme of the species’ native range in North America. The most stable and successful of these populations occur in six glacially carved mountain lakes on three different tributary streams and one large...
Potential improvements in horizontal very broadband seismic data in the IRIS/USGS component of the Global Seismic Network
Adam T. Ringler, J.M. Steim, T Zandt, Charles R. Hutt, David C. Wilson, Tyler Storm
2016, Seismological Research Letters (87) 81-89
The Streckeisen STS‐1 has been the primary vault‐type seismometer used in the over‐150‐station Global Seismographic Network (GSN). This sensor has long been known for its outstanding vertical, very long‐period (e.g., >100 s period), and low‐noise performance, although the horizontal long‐period noise performance is less well known. The STS‐1 is a limited,...
Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade
R. Dean Grubbs, John K Carlson, Jason G. Romine, Tobey H Curtis, W. David McElroy, Camilla T McCandless, Charles F Cotton, John A. Musick
2016, Scientific Reports (6) 1-12
When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution, and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in...
Seismic attribute detection of faults and fluid pathways within an active strike-slip shear zone: New insights from high-resolution 3D P-Cable™ seismic data along the Hosgri Fault, offshore California
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers
2016, Interpretation (4) SB131-SB148
Poststack data conditioning and neural-network seismic attribute workflows are used to detect and visualize faulting and fluid migration pathways within a 13.7 km2 13.7 km2 3D P-Cable™ seismic volume located along the Hosgri Fault Zone offshore central California. The high-resolution 3D volume used in this study was collected in 2012 as part of...
The distribution and composition of REE-bearing minerals in placers of the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, USA
Carleton R. Bern, Anjana K. Shah, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers
2016, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (162) 50-61
Rare earth element (REE) resources are currently of great interest because of their importance as raw materials for high-technology manufacturing. The REE-phosphates monazite (light REE enriched) and xenotime (heavy REE enriched) resist weathering and can accumulate in placer deposits as part of the heavy mineral assemblage. The Atlantic and Gulf...
The Laramide Caborca orogenic gold belt of northwestern Sonora, Mexico; white mica 40Ar/39Ar geochronology from gold-rich quartz veins
Aldo Izaguirre, Michael J. Kunk, Alexander Iriondo, Ryan J. McAleer, Juan Antonio Caballero-Martinez, Enrique Espinosa-Aramburu
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1008
Introduction This report contains reduced 40Ar/39Ar geochronological data from 63 hydrothermal white mica samples separated from orogenic gold-rich quartz veins in the Laramide Caborca orogenic gold belt (COGB) of northwestern Sonora, Mexico. The main objective of this report is to present the sample locations, 40Ar/39Ar experimental methodology, and 40Ar/39Ar isotopic data....
Seasonal flows of international British Columbia-Alaska rivers: The nonlinear influence of ocean-atmosphere circulation patterns
Sean W. Fleming, Eran Hood, Helen Dalhke, Shad O’Neel
2016, Advances in Water Resources (87) 42-55
The northern portion of the Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) is one of the least anthropogenically modified regions on earth and remains in many respects a frontier area to science. Rivers crossing the northern PCTR, which is also an international boundary region between British Columbia, Canada and Alaska, USA, deliver...
Upper Cretaceous and Lower Jurassic strata in shallow cores on the Chukchi Shelf, Arctic Alaska
David W. Houseknecht, William H. Craddock, Richard O. Lease
Julie A. Dumoulin, editor(s)
2016, Professional Paper 1814-C
Shallow cores collected in the 1980s on the Chukchi Shelf of western Arctic Alaska sampled pre-Cenozoic strata whose presence, age, and character are poorly known across the region. Five cores from the Herald Arch foreland contain Cenomanian to Coniacian strata, as documented by biostratigraphy, geochronology, and thermochronology. Shallow seismic reflection...
Modified method for estimating petroleum source-rock potential using wireline logs, with application to the Kingak Shale, Alaska North Slope
William A. Rouse, David W. Houseknecht
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5001
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey completed an assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in three source rocks of the Alaska North Slope, including the lower part of the Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Kingak Shale. In order to identify organic shale potential in the absence of a...
Effects of permafrost aggradation on peat properties as determined from a pan-Arctic synthesis of plant macrofossils
Claire C. Treat, Miriam C. Jones, P. Camill, A. Gallego-Sala, M. Garneau, Jennifer W. Harden, G. Hugelius, E.S. Klein, Ulla Kokfelt, P. Kuhry, Julie Loisel, J.H. Mathijssen, J.A. O'Donnell, P.O. Oksanen, T.M. Ronkainen, A. B. K. Sannel, J. J. Talbot, C.M. Tarnocal, M. Valiranta
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (121) 78-94
Permafrost dynamics play an important role in high-latitude peatland carbon balance and are key to understanding the future response of soil carbon stocks. Permafrost aggradation can control the magnitude of the carbon feedback in peatlands through effects on peat properties. We compiled peatland plant macrofossil records for the northern permafrost...
Extensive dispersal of Roanoke logperch (Percina rex) inferred from genetic marker data
James H. Roberts, Paul L. Angermeier, Eric M. Hallerman
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 1-16
The dispersal ecology of most stream fishes is poorly characterised, complicating conservation efforts for these species. We used microsatellite DNA marker data to characterise dispersal patterns and effective population size (Ne) for a population of Roanoke logperchPercina rex, an endangered darter (Percidae). Juveniles and candidate parents were sampled for 2 years...
American woodcock migratory connectivity as indicated by hydrogen isotopes
Daniel S. Sullins, Warren C. Conway, David A. Haukos, Keith A. Hobson, Leonard I Wassenaar, Christopher E. Comer, I-Kuai Hung
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 510-526
To identify factors contributing to the long-term decline of American woodcock, a holistic understanding of range-wide population connectivity throughout the annual cycle is needed. We used band recovery data and isotopic composition of primary (P1) and secondary (S13) feathers to estimate population sources and connectivity among natal, early fall, and...
The global Landsat archive: Status, consolidation, and direction
Michael A. Wulder, Joanne C. White, Thomas Loveland, Curtis Woodcock, Alan Belward, Warren B. Cohen, Eugene A. Fosnight, Jerad Shaw, Jeffery G. Masek, David P. Roy
2016, Remote Sensing of Environment (185) 271-283
New and previously unimaginable Landsat applications have been fostered by a policy change in 2008 that made analysis-ready Landsat data free and open access. Since 1972, Landsat has been collecting images of the Earth, with the early years of the program constrained by onboard satellite and ground systems, as well...
Techniques for monitoring Brachyramphus murrelets: A comparison of radar, autonomous acoustic recording and audio‐visual surveys
J.L. Cragg, Alan E. Burger, John F. Piatt
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin
Conditions in Alaska, USA, pose a challenge for monitoring populations of Brachyramphus murrelets using standard survey methods, because of strong winds, 2 sympatric species, short nights, and variable nesting habitat. We tested 3 methods for monitoring Brachyramphus murrelets breeding in the Kodiak Archipelago, Alaska, in 2010–2012. In addition to standard audio‐visual and radar methods,...
The first description of oarfish Regalecus glesne (Regalecus russellii Cuvier 1816) ageing structures
S.R. Midway, Tyler Wagner
2016, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (32) 113-116
Despite being a large, conspicuous teleost with a worldwide tropical and temperate distribution, the giant oarfish Regalecus spp. remain very rare fish species in terms of scientific sampling. Subsequently, very little biological information is known about Regalecus spp. and...
Antemortem detection of chronic wasting disease prions in nasal brush collections and rectal biopsies from white-tailed deer by real time quaking-induced conversion
Nicholas J. Haley, Chris Siepker, W. David Walter, Bruce V. Thomsen, Justin J. Greenlee, Aaron D. Lehmkuhl, Jurgen a. Richt
2016, Journal of Clinical Microbiology (54) 1108-1116
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids, was first documented nearly 50 years ago in Colorado and Wyoming and has since spread to cervids in 23 states, two Canadian provinces, and the Republic of Korea. The expansion of this disease makes the development of sensitive diagnostic assays...
Predicting the risk of toxic blooms of golden alga from cell abundance and environmental covariates
Reynaldo Patino, Matthew M. VanLandeghem, Shawn Denny
2016, Limnology and Oceanography: Methods (13) 568-586
Golden alga (Prymnesium parvum) is a toxic haptophyte that has caused considerable ecological damage to marine and inland aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Studies focused primarily on laboratory cultures have indicated that toxicity is poorly correlated with the abundance of golden alga cells. This relationship, however, has not been rigorously evaluated in...
Spatial and temporal variation in microcystins occurrence in wadeable streams in the southeastern USA
Keith A. Loftin, Jimmy M. Clark, Celeste A. Journey, Dana W. Kolpin, Peter C. Van Metre, Paul M. Bradley
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 2281-2287
Despite historical observations of potential microcystin-producing cyanobacteria (including Leptolyngbya,Phormidium, Pseudoanabaena, and Anabaena species) in 74% of headwater streams in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina (USA) from 1993 to 2011, fluvial cyanotoxin occurrence has not been systematically assessed in the southeastern United States. To begin to address this data...
