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 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...
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...
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 P. 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...
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)...
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...
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...
Building groundwater modeling capacity in Mongolia
Joshua F. Valder, Janet M. Carter, Mark T. Anderson, Kyle W. Davis, Michelle A. Haynes, Dorjsuren Dechinlhundev
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1096
Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia (fig. 1), is dependent on groundwater for its municipal and industrial water supply. The population of Mongolia is about 3 million people, with about one-half the population residing in or near Ulaanbaatar (World Population Review, 2016). Groundwater is drawn from a network of shallow...
Principles for urban stormwater management to protect stream ecosystems
Christopher J. Walsh, Derek B. Booth, Matthew J. Burns, Tim D. Fletcher, Rebecca Hale, Lan N. Hoang, Grant Livingston, Megan A. Rippy, Allison H. Roy, Mateo Scoggins, Angela Wallace
2016, Freshwater Science (35) 398-411
Urban stormwater runoff is a critical source of degradation to stream ecosystems globally. Despite broad appreciation by stream ecologists of negative effects of stormwater runoff, stormwater management objectives still typically center on flood and pollution mitigation without an explicit focus on altered hydrology. Resulting management approaches are unlikely to protect...
Preliminary peak stage and streamflow data at selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages for flooding in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016
Robert R. Holmes Jr., Kara M. Watson, Thomas E. Harris
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1092
Flooding occurred in the central and southeastern United States during December 2015 and January 2016. The flooding was the result of more than 20 inches of rain falling in a 19 day period from December 12 to December 31, 2015. U.S. Geological Survey streamgages recorded 23 peaks of record during...
Benthos and plankton community data for selected rivers and harbors along the western Lake Michigan shoreline, 2014
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Daniel J. Burns, Hayley T. Olds, Amanda H. Bell, Kassidy T. Mapel
2016, Data Series 1000
Benthos (benthic invertebrates) and plankton (zooplankton and phytoplankton) communities were sampled in 2014 at 10 Wisconsin rivers and harbors, including 4 sites in Great Lakes Areas of Concern and 6 less degraded comparison sites with similar physical and chemical characteristics, including climate, latitude, geology, and land use. Previous U.S. Geological...
Movement patterns of Brook Trout in a restored coastal stream system in southern Massachusetts
Erin L. Snook, Benjamin H. Letcher, Todd L. Dubreuil, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Matthew J. O'Donnell, Andrew R. Whiteley, Stephen T. Hurley, Andy J. Danylchuk
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 360-375
Coastal Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations are found from northern Canada to New England. The extent of anadromy generally decreases with latitude, but the ecology and movements of more southern populations are poorly understood. We conducted a 33-month acoustic telemetry study of Brook Trout in Red Brook, MA, and adjacent...
Head-started Kemp’s ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) nest recorded in Florida: Possible implications
Donna J. Shaver, Margaret M. Lamont, Sharon Maxwell, Jennifer Shelby Walker, Ted Dillingham
2016, Chelonian Conservation and Biology (15) 138-143
A head-started Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) was documented nesting on South Walton Beach, Florida on 25 May 2015. This record supports the possibility that exposure to Florida waters after being held in captivity through 1–3 yrs of age during the head-starting process may have influenced future nest site...
Habitat use and growth of the western painted crayfish Orconectes palmeri longimanus
Joseph J. Dyer, Joshua Mouser, Shannon K. Brewer
2016, Journal of Crustacean Biology (36) 172-179
Identifying ontogenetic shifts in habitat use by aquatic organisms is necessary for improving conservation strategies; however, our ability to designate life stages based on surrogate metrics (i.e., length) is questionable without validation. This study identified growth patterns of age-0 western painted crayfish Orconectes palmeri longimanus (Faxon, 1898) reared in the laboratory, provided...
Physiology of the invasive apple snail Pomacea maculata: tolerance to low temperatures
Lewis E. Deaton, William Schmidt, Brody Leblanc, Jacoby Carter, Kristy Mueck, Sergio Merino
2016, Journal of Shellfish Research (35) 207-210
Apple snails of the genus Pomacea native to South America have invaded and become established in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Both the channeled apple snail Pomacea canaliculata and the island apple snail Pomacea maculata have been reported in the United States. The two species are difficult to distinguish...
