Linking hydrodynamic complexity to delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) distribution in the San Francisco Estuary, USA
Aaron J. Bever, Michael L. MacWilliams, Bruce Herbold, Larry R. Brown, Frederick V. Feyrer
2016, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (14) 1-27
Long-term fish sampling data from the San Francisco Estuary were combined with detailed three dimensional hydrodynamic modeling to investigate the relationship between historical fish catch and hydrodynamic complexity. Delta Smelt catch data at 45 stations from the Fall Midwater Trawl (FMWT) survey in the vicinity of Suisun Bay were used...
Spatial and temporal patterns of cloud cover and fog inundation in coastal California: Ecological implications
Bharat Rastogi, A. Park Williams, Douglas T. Fischer, Sam F. Iacobellis, Kathryn McEachern, Leila Carvalho, Charles Leslie Jones, Sara A. Baguskas, Christopher J. Still
2016, Earth Interactions (20)
The presence of low-lying stratocumulus clouds and fog has been known to modify biophysical and ecological properties in coastal California where forests are frequently shaded by low-lying clouds or immersed in fog during otherwise warm and dry summer months. Summer fog and stratus can ameliorate summer drought stress and enhance...
Potential effects of alterations to the hydrologic system on the distribution of salinity in the Biscayne aquifer in Broward County, Florida
Joseph D. Hughes, Dorothy F. Sifuentes, Jeremy T. White
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5022
To address concerns about the effects of water-resource management practices and rising sea level on saltwater intrusion, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Broward County Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division, initiated a study to examine causes of saltwater intrusion and predict the effects of future alterations to...
Hydrologic data and groundwater-flow simulations in the Brown Ditch Watershed, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, near Beverly Shores and Town of Pines, Indiana
David C. Lampe
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5141
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected data and simulated groundwater flow to increase understanding of the hydrology and the effects of drainage alterations on the water table in the vicinity of Great Marsh, near Beverly Shores and Town of Pines, Indiana. Prior land-management practices have modified drainage and caused changes...
Variability of surface-water quantity and quality and shallow groundwater levels and quality within the Rio Grande Project Area, New Mexico and Texas, 2009–13
Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren R. Sherson
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5006
Drought conditions during the study period of January 1, 2009, to September 30, 2013, caused a reduction in surface-water releases from water-supply storage infrastructure of the Rio Grande Project, which led to changes in surface-water and groundwater (conjunctive) use in downstream agricultural alluvial valleys. Surface water and groundwater in the...
Methods to estimate historical daily streamflow for ungaged stream locations in Minnesota
David L. Lorenz, Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5181
Effective and responsible management of water resources relies on a thorough understanding of the quantity and quality of available water; however, streamgages cannot be installed at every location where streamflow information is needed. Therefore, methods for estimating streamflow at ungaged stream locations need to be developed. This report presents a...
Coherent late-Holocene climate-driven shifts in the structure of three Rocky Mountain lakes
Jeffery R. Stone, Jasmine E. Saros, Gregory T. Pederson
2016, The Holocene (26) 1103-1111
Large-scale atmospheric pressure centers, such as the Aleutian and Icelandic Low, have a demonstrated relationship with physical lake characteristics in contemporary monitoring studies, but the responses to these phenomena are rarely observed in lake records. We observe coherent changes in the stratification patterns of three deep (>30 m) lakes inferred from...
Hydrologic controls on nitrogen cycling processes and functional gene abundance in sediments of a groundwater flow-through lake
Deborah L. Stoliker, Deborah A. Repert, Richard L. Smith, Bongkeun Song, Denis R. LeBlanc, Timothy D. McCobb, Christopher H. Conaway, Sung Pil Hyun, Dong-Chan Koh, Hee Sun Moon, Douglas B. Kent
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 3649-3657
The fate and transport of inorganic nitrogen (N) is a critically important issue for human and aquatic ecosystem health because discharging N-contaminated groundwater can foul drinking water and cause algal blooms. Factors controlling N-processing were examined in sediments at three sites with contrasting hydrologic regimes at a lake on Cape...
Estimation of a Trophic State Index for selected inland lakes in Michigan, 1999–2013
Lori M. Fuller, Richard S. Jodoin
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5023
A 15-year estimated Trophic State Index (eTSI) for Michigan inland lakes is available, and it spans seven datasets, each representing 1 to 3 years of data from 1999 to 2013. On average, 3,000 inland lake eTSI values are represented in each of the datasets by a process that relates field-measured...
Electronic archival tags provide first glimpse of bathythermal habitat use by free-ranging adult lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens
Andrew S. Briggs, Darryl W. Hondorp, Henry R. Quinlan, James C. Boase, Lloyd C. Mohr
2016, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (31) 477-483
Information on lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) depth and thermal habitat use during non-spawning periods is unavailable due to the difficulty of observing lake sturgeon away from shallow water spawning sites. In 2002 and 2003, lake sturgeon captured in commercial trap nets near Sarnia, Ontario were implanted with archival tags and...
Illuminating wildfire erosion and deposition patterns with repeat terrestrial lidar
Francis K. Rengers, G.E. Tucker, J. A. Moody, Brian Ebel
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (121) 588-608
Erosion following a wildfire is much greater than background erosion in forests because of wildfire-induced changes to soil erodibility and water infiltration. While many previous studies have documented post-wildfire erosion with point and small plot-scale measurements, the spatial distribution of post-fire erosion patterns at the watershed scale remains largely unexplored....
Application of effective discharge analysis to environmental flow decision-making
S. Kyle McKay, Mary Freeman, A.P. Covich
2016, Environmental Management (575) 1153-1165
Well-informed river management decisions rely on an explicit statement of objectives, repeatable analyses, and a transparent system for assessing trade-offs. These components may then be applied to compare alternative operational regimes for water resource infrastructure (e.g., diversions, locks, and dams). Intra- and inter-annual hydrologic variability further complicates these already complex...
Ecology, distribution, and predictive occurrence modeling of Palmers chipmunk (Tamias palmeri): a high-elevation small mammal endemic to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, USA
Chris E. Lowrey, Kathleen M. Longshore, Brett R. Riddle, Stacy Mantooth
2016, Journal of Mammalogy (97) 1033-1043
Although montane sky islands surrounded by desert scrub and shrub steppe comprise a large part of the biological diversity of the Basin and Range Province of southwestern North America, comprehensive ecological and population demographic studies for high-elevation small mammals within these areas are rare. Here, we examine the ecology and...
Stress in mangrove forests: early detection and preemptive rehabilitation are essential for future successful worldwide mangrove forest management
Roy R Lewis, Eric C Milbrandt, Benjamin Brown, Ken W. Krauss, Andre S. Rovai, James W. Beever, Laura L Flynn
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (109) 764-771
Mangrove forest rehabilitation should begin much sooner than at the point of catastrophic loss. We describe the need for “mangrove forest heart attack prevention”, and how that might be accomplished in a general sense by embedding plot and remote sensing monitoring within coastal management plans. The major cause of mangrove...
Online induction heating for determination of isotope composition of woody stem water with laser spectrometry: A methods assessment
Brynne E. Lazarus, Matthew J. Germino, Jessica L. Vander Veen
2016, Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies (52) 309-325
Application of stable isotopes of water to studies of plant–soil interactions often requires a substantial preparatory step of extracting water from samples without fractionating isotopes. Online heating is an emerging approach for this need, but is relatively untested and major questions of how to best deliver standards and assess interference...
Does water chemistry limit the distribution of New Zealand mud snails in Redwood National Park?
Ryan Vazquez, Darren M. Ward, Adam J. Sepulveda
2016, Biological Invasions (18) 1523-1531
New Zealand mud snails (NZMS) are exotic mollusks present in many waterways of the western United States. In 2009, NZMS were detected in Redwood Creek in Redwood National Park, CA. Although NZMS are noted for their ability to rapidly increase in abundance and colonize new areas, after more than 5 years...
The differing biogeochemical and microbial signatures of glaciers and rock glaciers
Timothy S. Fegel, Jill Baron, Andrew G. Fountain, Gunnar F. Johnson, Edward K. Hall
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (121) 919-932
Glaciers and rock glaciers supply water and bioavailable nutrients to headwater mountain lakes and streams across all regions of the American West. Here we present a comparative study of the metal, nutrient, and microbial characteristics of glacial and rock glacial influence on headwater ecosystems in three mountain ranges of the...
Organic contaminants in Great Lakes tributaries: Prevalence and potential aquatic toxicity
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. De Cicco, Peter L. Lenaker, Michelle A. Lutz, Daniel J. Sullivan, Kevin D. Richards
2016, Science of the Total Environment (554-555) 42-52
Organic compounds used in agriculture, industry, and households make their way into surface waters through runoff, leaking septic-conveyance systems, regulated and unregulated discharges, and combined sewer overflows, among other sources. Concentrations of these organic waste compounds (OWCs) in some Great Lakes tributaries indicate a high potential for adverse impacts on...
Application of lime (CaCO3) to promote forest recovery from severe acidification increases potential for earthworm invasion
Caitlin Homan, Colin M Beirer, Timothy S McCay, Gregory B. Lawrence
2016, Forest Ecology and Management (368) 39-44
The application of lime (calcium carbonate) may be a cost-effective strategy to promote forest ecosystem recovery from acid impairment, under contemporary low levels of acidic deposition. However, liming acidified soils may create more suitable habitat for invasive earthworms that cause significant damage to forest floor communities and may disrupt ecosystem...
Assessment of undiscovered hydrocarbon resources of sub-Saharan Africa
Michael E. Brownfield
2016, Data Series 69-GG
Introduction The main objective of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National and Global Petroleum Assessment Project is to assess the potential for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources of the United States and the world (U.S. Geological Survey World Conventional Resources Assessment Team, 2012). The USGS updated assessments that...
Changing regional emissions of airborne pollutants reflected in the chemistry of snowpacks and wetfall in the Rocky Mountain region, USA, 1993–2012
George P. Ingersoll, Debra C. Miller, Kristi H. Morris, Jill A. McMurray, Garrett M. Port, Brian Caruso
2016, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (227) 1-18
Wintertime precipitation sample data from 55 Snowpack sites and 17 National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP)/National Trends Network Wetfall sites in the Rocky Mountain region were examined to identify long-term trends in chemical concentration, deposition, and precipitation using Regional and Seasonal Kendall tests. The Natural Resources Conservation Service snow-telemetry...
Interannual and long-term changes in the trophic state of a multibasin lake: Effects of morphology, climate, winter aeration, and beaver activity
Dale M. Robertson, William Rose, Paul C. Reneau
2016, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (73) 445-460
Little St. Germain Lake (LSG), a relatively pristine multibasin lake in Wisconsin, USA, was examined to determine how morphologic (internal), climatic (external), anthropogenic (winter aeration), and natural (beaver activity) factors affect the trophic state (phosphorus, P; chlorophyll, CHL; and Secchi depth, SD) of each of its basins. Basins intercepting the...
Effects of streamflows on stream-channel morphology in the eastern Niobrara National Scenic River, Nebraska, 1988–2010
Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Jason S. Alexander, Kiernan Folz-Donahue
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5004
The Niobrara River is an important and valuable economic and ecological resource in northern Nebraska that supports ecotourism, recreational boating, wildlife, fisheries, agriculture, and hydroelectric power. Because of its uniquely rich resources, a 122-kilometer reach of the Niobrara River was designated as a National Scenic River in 1991, which has...
The effect of suspended sediment and color on ultraviolet spectrophotometric nitrate sensors
Teri T. Snazelle
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1014
Four commercially available ultraviolet nitrate spectrophotometric sensors were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) to determine the effects of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) on sensor accuracy. The evaluated sensors were: the Hach NITRATAX plus sc (5-millimeters (mm) path length), Hach...
Spatially explicit rangeland erosion monitoring using high-resolution digital aerial imagery
Jeffrey K. Gillan, Jason W. Karl, Nichole N. Barger, Ahmed Elaksher, Michael C. Duniway
2016, Rangeland Ecology and Management (69) 95-107
Nearly all of the ecosystem services supported by rangelands, including production of livestock forage, carbon sequestration, and provisioning of clean water, are negatively impacted by soil erosion. Accordingly, monitoring the severity, spatial extent, and rate of soil erosion is essential for long-term sustainable management. Traditional field-based methods of monitoring erosion...
