Large-scale range collapse of Hawaiian forest birds under climate change and the need 21st century conservation options
Lucas B. Fortini, Adam E. Vorsino, Fred A. Amidon, Eben H. Paxton, James D. Jacobi
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Hawaiian forest birds serve as an ideal group to explore the extent of climate change impacts on at-risk species. Avian malaria constrains many remaining Hawaiian forest bird species to high elevations where temperatures are too cool for malaria's life cycle and its principal mosquito vector. The impact of climate change...
Simulating maize yield and bomass with spatial variability of soil field capacity
Liwang Ma, Lajpat Ahuja, Thomas Trout, Bernard T. Nolan, Robert W. Malone
2015, Agronomy Journal (108) 171-184
Spatial variability in field soil properties is a challenge for system modelers who use single representative values, such as means, for model inputs, rather than their distributions. In this study, the root zone water quality model (RZWQM2) was first calibrated for 4 yr of maize (Zea mays L.) data at six...
Public-supply water use in Kansas, 2013
Jennifer L. Lanning-Rush, Patrick J. Eslick
2015, Data Series 964
This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources, presents derivative statistics of water used by Kansas public-supply systems in 2013. The published statistics from the previous 4 years (2009–12) are also shown with the 2013 statistics and are...
Genetic structure, diversity, and interisland dispersal in the endangered Mariana Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus guami)
Mark P. Miller, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig, Leilani L. Takano, Karla Garcia
2015, The Condor (117) 660-669
The Mariana Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus guami) is a highly endangered taxon, with fewer than 300 individuals estimated to occur in the wild. The subspecies is believed to have undergone population declines attributable to loss of wetland habitats on its native islands in the Mariana Islands. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)...
Flood-Inundation Maps for the North River in Colrain, Charlemont, and Shelburne, Massachusetts, From the Confluence of the East and West Branch North Rivers to the Deerfield River
Gardner C. Bent, Pamela J. Lombard, Robert W. Dudley
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5108
A series of 10 digital flood-inundation maps were developed for a 3.3-mile reach of the North River in Colrain, Charlemont, and Shelburne, Massachusetts, by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The coverage of the maps extends from the confluence of the East and West...
Using hydrophones as a surrogate monitoring technique to detect temporal and spatial variability in bedload transport
Mathieu D. Marineau, J. Toby Minear, Scott Wright
2015, Conference Paper
Collecting physical bedload measurements is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor that rarely captures the spatial and temporal variability of sediment transport. Technological advances can improve monitoring of sediment transport by filling in temporal gaps between physical sampling periods. We have developed a low-cost hydrophone recording system designed to record the...
Groundwater chemistry in the vicinity of the Puna Geothermal Venture Power Plant, Hawai‘i, after two decades of production
W.C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, A.J. Sutton, R.C. Lee, T.D. Lorenson
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5139
We report chemical data for selected shallow wells and coastal springs that were sampled in 2014 to determine whether geothermal power production in the Puna area over the past two decades has affected the characteristics of regional groundwater. The samples were analyzed for major and minor chemical species, trace...
Sea-floor texture and physiographic zones of the inner continental shelf from Salisbury to Nahant, Massachusetts, including the Merrimack Embayment and Western Massachusetts Bay
Elizabeth E. Pendleton, Walter A. Barnhardt, Wayne E. Baldwin, David S. Foster, William C. Schwab, Brian D. Andrews, Seth D. Ackerman
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1153
A series of maps that describe the distribution and texture of sea-floor sediments and physiographic zones of Massachusetts State waters from Nahant to Salisbury, Massachusetts, including western Massachusetts Bay, have been produced by using high-resolution geophysical data (interferometric and multibeam swath bathymetry, lidar bathymetry, backscatter intensity, and seismic reflection profiles),...
Bathymetry and capacity of Chambers Lake, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Matthew C. Gyves
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3346
Introduction Chambers Lake is a manmade reservoir on Birch Run, a tributary to West Branch Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The lake was created in 1994 after the completion of Multi-Purpose Dam PA-436F (Hibernia Dam), which was built under the Watershed Protection & Flood Control Prevention Act (U.S. Soil Conservation...
Using maximum topology matching to explore differences in species distribution models
Jorge Poco, Harish Doraiswamy, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey Morisette, Claudio Silva
2015, Conference Paper
Species distribution models (SDM) are used to help understand what drives the distribution of various plant and animal species. These models are typically high dimensional scalar functions, where the dimensions of the domain correspond to predictor variables of the model algorithm. Understanding and exploring the differences between models help ecologists...
Validation of meter-scale surface faulting offset measurements from high-resolution topographic data
Barrett Salisbury, D.E. Haddad, T. K. Rockwell, R. Arrowsmith, C. Madugo, O. Zielke, Katherine M. Scharer
2015, Geosphere (6) 1884-1901
Studies of active fault zones have flourished with the availability of high-resolution topographic data, particularly where airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) and structure from motion (SfM) data sets provide a means to remotely analyze submeter-scale fault geomorphology. To determine surface offset at a point along a strike-slip earthquake rupture,...
Characteristics of sediment transport at selected sites along the Missouri River, 2011–12
David L. Rus, Joel M. Galloway, Jason S. Alexander
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5127
Extreme flooding in the Missouri River in 2011, followed by a year of more typical streamflows in 2012, allowed the sediment-transport regime to be compared between the unprecedented conditions of 2011 and the year immediately following the flooding. As part of a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey and...
Mapping forest functional type in a forest-shrubland ecotone using SPOT imagery and predictive habitat distribution modelling
Timothy J. Assal, Patrick J. Anderson, Jason Sibold
2015, Remote Sensing Letters (6) 755-764
The availability of land cover data at local scales is an important component in forest management and monitoring efforts. Regional land cover data seldom provide detailed information needed to support local management needs. Here we present a transferable framework to model forest cover by major plant functional type using aerial...
Topographic and hydrographic survey data for the São Francisco River near Torrinha, Bahia, Brazil, 2014
Ryan L. Fosness, Benjamin J. Dietsch
2015, Data Series 965
Navigable inland waterways, including lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, are important transportation routes for people and goods in Brazil. Natural and anthropogenic effects coupled with recent severe droughts have led to decreased inland waterway navigation. The Company for Development of the São Francisco and Parnaíba River Valleys (CODEVASF) has recognized the...
Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2014
Joseph E. Beman
2015, Data Series 963
The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift. Drinking-water supplies throughout the basin were obtained solely...
1-Meter Digital Elevation Model specification
Samantha T. Arundel, Christy-Ann M. Archuleta, Lori A. Phillips, Brittany L. Roche, Eric W. Constance
2015, Techniques and Methods 11-B7
In January 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Technical Operations Center began producing the 1-Meter Digital Elevation Model data product. This new product was developed to provide high resolution bare-earth digital elevation models from light detection and ranging (lidar) elevation data and other elevation data collected over the conterminous...
Preliminary peak stage and streamflow data at selected USGS streamgaging stations for the South Carolina flood of October 2015
Toby D. Feaster, John M. Shelton, Jeanne C. Robbins
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1201
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 from the central to the coastal areas of South Carolina. Almost 27 inches of rain fell...
U.S. Geological Survey assessments of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas resources, 2000 to 2011
U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Continuous Resources Assessment Team
2015, Data Series 69-MM
From 2000 to 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted 139 quantitative assessments of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas accumulations within the United States. This report documents those assessments more fully than previously done by providing detailed documentation of both the assessment input and output. This report also compiles the data...
Uranium in the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative study area, southwestern Wyoming
Anna B. Wilson
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1123
Wyoming has led the nation as the producer of uranium ore since 1995 and contains the largest reserves of any state. Approximately one third of Wyoming’s total production came from deposits in, or immediately adjacent to, the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) study area in the southwestern corner of the...
Geologic and geophysical maps of the El Casco 7.5′ quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California, with accompanying geologic-map database
J. C. Matti, D. M. Morton, V. E. Langenheim
2015, Open-File Report 2010-1274
Introduction Earth materials and structures in the El Casco quadrangle provide considerable information about the late Cenozoic geologic evolution of southern California’s Inland Empire region (fig. 2). Important structural and stratigraphic elements include (1) modern traces of the right-lateral San Jacinto Fault zone, (2) older traces of the San Jacinto Fault...
Near-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California: 2014
Daniel J. Cain, Janet K. Thompson, Jeff Crauder, Francis Parcheso, A. Robin Stewart, Amy E. Kleckner, Jessica Dyke, Michelle I. Hornberger, Samuel N. Luoma
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1199
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer (km) south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in South San Francisco...
Temporal geochemical variations in above- and below-drainage coal mine discharge
Jill E. Burrows, Stephen C. Peters, Charles A. Cravotta III,
2015, Applied Geochemistry (62) 84-95
Water quality data collected in 2012 for 10 above- and 14 below-drainage coal mine discharges (CMDs), classified by mining or excavation method, in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, USA, are compared with data for 1975, 1991, and 1999 to evaluate long-term (37 year) changes in pH, SO42−, and Fe concentrations related...
Storage capacity of the Fena Valley Reservoir, Guam, Mariana Islands, 2014
Mathieu D. Marineau, Scott Wright
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5128
The Fena Valley Reservoir is in southern Guam and is the primary source of water for the U.S. Naval Base Guam and nearby village residents. Since the construction of the Fena Dam in 1951, sediment has accumulated in the reservoir and reduced its storage capacity. The reservoir was surveyed previously...
Connectivity among subpopulations of Louisiana black bears as estimated by a step selection function
Joseph D. Clark, Jared S. Laufenberg, Maria Davidson, Jennifer L. Murrow
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 1360
Habitat fragmentation is a fundamental cause of population decline and increased risk of extinction for many wildlife species; animals with large home ranges and small population sizes are particularly sensitive. The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) exists only in small, isolated subpopulations as a result of land clearing for...
myScience—Engaging the public in U.S. Geological Survey science
Sally Holl
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3070
myScience (http://txpub.usgs.gov/myscience/) is a Web application developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center through a partnership with the USGS Community for Data Integration to address the need for increasing public awareness and participation in existing USGS citizen science projects. The myScience application contains data...
