Evaluating water management scenarios to support habitat management for the Cape Sable seaside sparrow
James M. Beerens, Stephanie S. Romañach, Mark McKelvy
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1107
The endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis) is endemic to south Florida and a key indicator species of marl prairie, a highly diverse freshwater community in the Florida Everglades. Maintenance and creation of suitable habitat is seen as the most important pathway to the persistence of the six...
Effects of salt pond restoration on benthic flux: Sediment as a source of nutrients to the water column
Brent R. Topping, James S. Kuwabara, James L. Carter, Krista K. Garrettt, Eric Mruz, Sarah Piotter, John Y. Takekawa
2016, Journal of Environmental Protection (7) 1064-1071
Understanding nutrient flux between the benthos and the overlying water (benthic flux) is critical to restoration of water quality and biological resources because it can represent a major source of nutrients to the water column. Extensive water management commenced in the San Francisco Bay, Beginning around 1850, San Francisco Bay...
Simulated impacts of climate change on phosphorus loading to Lake Michigan
Dale M. Robertson, David A. Saad, Daniel E. Christiansen, David J Lorenz
2016, Journal of Great Lakes Research (42) 536-548
Phosphorus (P) loading to the Great Lakes has caused various types of eutrophication problems. Future climatic changes may modify this loading because climatic models project changes in future meteorological conditions, especially for the key hydrologic driver — precipitation. Therefore, the goal of this study is to project how P loading...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri River near Kansas City, Missouri, June 2–4, 2015
Richard J. Huizinga
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5061
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near 8 bridges at 7 highway crossings of the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 2 to 4, 2015. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used to obtain channel-bed...
Waterfowl populations are resilient to immediate and lagged impacts of wildfires in the boreal forest
Tyler Lewis, Joel A. Schmutz, Courtney L. Amundson, Mark S. Lindberg
2016, Journal of Applied Ecology (53)
Summary 1. Wildfires are the principal disturbance in the boreal forest, and their size and frequency are increasing as the climate warms. Impacts of fires on boreal wildlife are largely unknown, especially for the tens of millions of waterfowl that breed in the region. This knowledge gap creates significant barriers...
Surface water connectivity drives richness and composition of Arctic lake fish assemblages
Sarah M. Laske, Trevor B. Haynes, Amanda E. Rosenberger, Joshua C. Koch, Mark S. Wipfli, Matthew Whitman, Christian E. Zimmerman
2016, Freshwater Biology (61) 1090-1104
Surface water connectivity can influence the richness and composition of fish assemblages, particularly in harsh environments where colonisation factors and access to seasonal refugia are required for species persistence. Studies regarding influence of connectivity on Arctic fish distributions are limited and are rarely applied to whole assemblage patterns....
Source, variability, and transformation of nitrate in a regional karst aquifer: Edwards aquifer, central Texas.
MaryLynn Musgrove, Stephen P. Opsahl, Barbara Mahler, Chris Herrington, Thomas Sample, John Banta
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 457-469
Many karst regions are undergoing rapid population growth and expansion of urban land accompanied by increases in wastewater generation and changing patterns of nitrate (NO3−) loading to surface and groundwater. We investigate variability and sources of NO3− in a regional karst aquifer system, the Edwards aquifer of central Texas. Samples from...
Elements in whole blood of Northwestern Crows (Corvus caurinus) in Alaska: No evidence for an association with beak deformities
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Colleen M. Handel
2016, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (52) 713-718
A recent outbreak of beak deformities among resident birds in Alaska has raised concern about environmental contamination as a possible underlying factor. We measured whole blood concentrations of 30 essential and nonessential elements to determine whether any were associated with beak deformities in Northwestern Crows (Corvus caurinus). We tested for...
QRev—Software for computation and quality assurance of acoustic doppler current profiler moving-boat streamflow measurements—Technical manual for version 2.8
David S. Mueller
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1068
The software program, QRev applies common and consistent computational algorithms combined with automated filtering and quality assessment of the data to improve the quality and efficiency of streamflow measurements and helps ensure that U.S. Geological Survey streamflow measurements are consistent, accurate, and independent of the manufacturer of the instrument used...
Evidence for the exchange of blood parasites between North America and the Neotropics in blue-winged teal (Anas discors)
Andrew M. Ramey, John A. Reed, Patrick Walther, Paul Link, Joel A. Schmutz, David C. Douglas, David E. Stallknecht, Catherine Soos
2016, Parasitology Research (115) 3923-3939
Blue-winged teal (Anas discors) are abundant, small-bodied dabbling ducks that breed throughout the prairies of the northcentral USA and central Canada and that winter in the southern USA and northern Neotropics. Given the migratory tendencies of this species, it is plausible that blue-winged teal may disperse avian pathogens,...
Biological soil crusts as an organizing principle in drylands
Jayne Belnap, Bettina Weber, Burkhard Budel
Bettina Weber, Burkhard Buedel, Jayne Belnap, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Biological soil crusts: An organizing principle in drylands
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have been present on Earth’s terrestrial surfaces for billions of years. They are a critical part of ecosystem processes in dryland regions, as they cover most of the soil surface and thus mediate almost all inputs and outputs from soils in these areas. There are many...
Biological soil crusts as soil stabilizers
Jayne Belnap, Burkhard Buedel
Bettina Weber, Burkhard Buedel, Jayne Belnap, editor(s)
2016, Book chapter, Biological soil crusts: An organizing principle in drylands
Soil erosion is of particular concern in dryland regions, as the sparse cover of vascular plants results in large interspaces unprotected from the erosive forces of wind and water. Thus, most of these soil surfaces are stabilized by physical or biological soil crusts. However, as drylands are extensively used by...
Hydrologic impacts of thawing permafrost—A review
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Barret L. Kurylyk
2016, Vadose Zone Journal (15)
Where present, permafrost exerts a primary control on water fluxes, flowpaths, and distribution. Climate warming and related drivers of soil thermal change are expected to modify the distribution of permafrost, leading to changing hydrologic conditions, including alterations in soil moisture, connectivity of inland waters, streamflow seasonality, and the partitioning of...
Mercury in western North America: A synthesis of environmental contamination, fluxes, bioaccumulation, and risk to fish and wildlife
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, James G. Wiener, Chris S. Eckley, James J. Willacker, David C. Evers, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Daniel Obrist, Jacob Fleck, George R. Aiken, Jesse M. Lepak, Allyson K. Jackson, Jackson Webster, A. Robin Stewart, Jay Davis, Charles N. Alpers, Joshua T. Ackerman
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 1213-1226
Western North America is a region defined by extreme gradients in geomorphology and climate, which support a diverse array of ecological communities and natural resources. The region also has extreme gradients in mercury (Hg) contamination due to a broad distribution of inorganic Hg sources. These diverse Hg sources and a...
Changes between early development (1930–60) and recent (2005–15) groundwater-level altitudes and dissolved-solids and nitrate concentrations In and near Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas
Jonathan V. Thomas, Andrew Teeple, Jason Payne, Scott Ikard
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3355
Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District, Sandy Land Underground Water Conservation District, and South Plains Underground Water Conservation District manage groundwater resources in a part of west Texas near the Texas-New Mexico State line. Declining groundwater levels have raised concerns about the amount of available groundwater in the study area...
Land cover changes associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin; Northern Great Plains, USA
Todd M. Preston, Kevin Kim
2016, Science of the Total Environment (566-567) 1511-1518
The Williston Basin in the Northern Great Plains has experienced rapid energy development since 2000. To evaluate the land cover changes resulting from recent (2000 – 2015) development, the area and previous land cover of all well pads (pads) constructed during this time was determined, the amount of disturbed and...
Groundwater quality data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, May 2012 through December 2013
Terri Arnold, Leslie A. DeSimone, Laura M. Bexfield, Bruce D. Lindsey, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Justin T. Kulongoski, MaryLynn Musgrove, James A. Kingsbury, Kenneth Belitz
2016, Data Series 997
Groundwater-quality data were collected from 748 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Program from May 2012 through December 2013. The data were collected from four types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which assess the quality of groundwater used...
New perspectives on a 140-year legacy of mining and abandoned mine cleanup in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Douglas B. Yager, David L. Fey, Thomas Chapin, Raymond H. Johnson
2016, Field Guides (44) 377-419
The Gold King mine water release that occurred on 5 August 2015 near the historical mining community of Silverton, Colorado, highlights the environmental legacy that abandoned mines have on the environment. During reclamation efforts, a breach of collapsed workings at the Gold King mine sent 3 million gallons of acidic...
Geology and geologic history of the Moscow-Pullman basin, Idaho and Washington, from late Grande Ronde to late Saddle Mountains time
John H Bush, Dean L Garwood, Pamela Dunlap
2016, GSA Field Guides (41) 151-174
The Moscow-Pullman basin, located on the eastern margin of the Columbia River flood basalt province, consists of a subsurface mosaic of interlayered Miocene sediments and lava flows of the Imnaha, Grande Ronde, Wanapum, and Saddle Mountains Basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group. This sequence is ~1800 ft (550 m)...
May through July 2015 storm event effects on suspended-sediment loads, sediment trapping efficiency, and storage capacity of John Redmond Reservoir
Guy M. Foster, Lindsey R. King
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3035
The Neosho River and its primary tributary, the Cottonwood River, are the main sources of inflow to John Redmond Reservoir in east-central Kansas. Storm events during May through July 2015 caused large inflows of water and sediment into the reservoir. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kansas Water...
Effects of May through July 2015 storm events on suspended sediment loads, sediment trapping efficiency, and storage capacity of John Redmond Reservoir, east-central Kansas
Guy M. Foster
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5040
The Neosho River and its primary tributary, the Cottonwood River, are the main sources of inflow to John Redmond Reservoir in east-central Kansas. Storage loss in the reservoir resulting from sedimentation has been estimated to be 765 acre-feet per year for 1964–2014. The 1964–2014 sedimentation rate was almost 90 percent...
Estimating juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) abundance from beach seine data collected in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, California
Russell W. Perry, Joseph E. Kirsch, A. Noble Hendrix
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1099
Resource managers rely on abundance or density metrics derived from beach seine surveys to make vital decisions that affect fish population dynamics and assemblage structure. However, abundance and density metrics may be biased by imperfect capture and lack of geographic closure during sampling. Currently, there is considerable uncertainty about the...
Detection of hepatitis E virus and other livestock-related pathogens in Iowa streams
Carrie E. Givens, Dana W. Kolpin, Mark A. Borchardt, Joseph W. Duris, Thomas B. Moorman, Susan K. Spencer
2016, Science of the Total Environment (566-567) 1042-1051
Manure application is a source of pathogens to the environment. Through overland runoff and tile drainage, zoonotic pathogens can contaminate surface water and streambed sediment and could affect both wildlife and human health. This study examined the environmental occurrence of gene markers for livestock-related bacterial, protozoan, and viral pathogens and...
Quantification of human-associated fecal indicators reveal sewage from urban watersheds as a source of pollution to Lake Michigan
Hayley T. Olds, Deborah K. Dila, Melinda J. Bootsma, Steven R. Corsi, Sandra L. McLellan
2016, Water Research (100) 556-567
Sewage contamination of urban waterways from sewer overflows and failing infrastructure is a major environmental and public health concern. Fecal coliforms (FC) are commonly employed as fecal indicator bacteria, but do not distinguish between human and non-human sources of fecal contamination. Human Bacteroides and humanLachnospiraceae, two genetic markers for human-associated indicator bacteria,...
Geologic and geophysical models for Osage County, Oklahoma, with implications for groundwater resources
Mark R. Hudson, David V. Smith, Michael P. Pantea, Carol Becker
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5067
This report summarizes a three-dimensional (3-D) geologic model that was constructed to provide a framework to investigate groundwater resources of the Osage Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. This report also presents an analysis of an airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey that assessed the spatial variation of electrical resistivity to depths as great...
