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Fatty acid analysis of periphyton is an emerging tool for assessing the condition of a stream ecosystem on the basis of its water quality. The study presented in this report was designed to test the hypothesis that periphyton communities have a fatty acid profile that can detect excessive turbidity and...

The Sutron 8310-N-S (8310) data collection platform (DCP) manufactured by Sutron Corporation was evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) for conformance to the manufacturer’s specifications for recording and transmitting data. The 8310-N-S is a National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)-enclosed DCP with a built-in Geostationary Operational...

An urban pollutant loading model was used to demonstrate how incorrect assumptions on the particle size distribution (PSD) in urban runoff can alter the design characteristics of stormwater control measures (SCMs) used to remove solids in stormwater. Field-measured PSD, although highly variable, is generally coarser than the widely-accepted PSD characterized...

Nutrient biolifting is an important pedogenic process in which plant roots obtain inorganic nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) from minerals at depth and concentrate those nutrients at the surface. Here we use soil chemistry and stable isotopes of the alkaline earth elements Ca, strontium (Sr) and barium...

The field of urban stream ecology has evolved rapidly in the last 3 decades, and it now includes natural scientists from numerous disciplines working with social scientists, landscape planners and designers, and land and water managers to address complex, socioecological problems that have manifested in urban landscapes. Over the last...

Critical water-resources issues ranging from flood response to water scarcity make access to integrated water information, services, tools, and models essential. Since 1995 when the first water data web pages went online, the U.S. Geological Survey has been at the forefront of water data distribution and integration. Today, real-time and...

Previous pedestrian evacuation modeling for tsunamis has not considered variable wave arrival times or critical junctures (e.g., bridges), nor does it effectively communicate multiple evacuee travel speeds. We summarize an approach that identifies evacuation corridors, recognizes variable wave arrival times, and produces a map of minimum pedestrian travel speeds to...

Epidemiological studies indicate that fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in beach water are associated with illnesses among people having contact with the water. In order to mitigate public health impacts, many beaches are posted with an advisory when the concentration of FIB exceeds a beach action value. The most commonly used...

Waterborne pathogens were measured at three beaches in Lake Michigan, environmental factors for predicting pathogen concentrations were identified, and the risk of swimmer infection and illness was estimated. Waterborne pathogens were detected in 96% of samples collected at three Lake Michigan beaches in summer, 2010. Samples were quantified for 22...

Seasonal and daily vertical activity of lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis was studied in Clear Lake, Maine (253 ha), using acoustic telemetry from November 2004 to June 2009. Twenty adult lake whitefish were tagged with acoustic tags that had either a depth sensor or both depth and temperature sensors to assess...

To address how various environmental parameters control or constrain planktonic respiration (PR), we used geometric scaling relationships and established biological scaling laws to derive quantitative predictions for the relationships among key drivers of PR. We then used empirical measurements of PR and environmental (soluble reactive phosphate [SRP], carbon [DOC], chlorophyll...

Topography can create substantial environmental variation at fine spatial scales. Shaped by slope, aspect, hill-position and elevation, topoclimate heterogeneity may increase ecological diversity, and act as a spatial buffer for vegetation responding to climate change. Strong links have been observed between climate heterogeneity and species diversity at broader scales, but...

Recent studies have shown that the total nitrogen to total phosphorus (TN:TP) ratio and nitrogen oxidation state may have substantial effects on secondary metabolite (e.g., microcystins) production in cyanobacteria. We investigated the relationship between the water column TN:TP ratio and the cyanobacterial secondary metabolites geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol (MIB), and microcystin using...

Environmental DNA sampling (eDNA) has emerged as a powerful tool for detecting aquatic animals. Previous research suggests that eDNA methods are substantially more sensitive than traditional sampling. However, the factors influencing eDNA detection and the resulting sampling costs are still not well understood. Here we use multiple experiments to derive...

The Synthesis of Everglades Restoration andEcosystem Services (SERES) Project was funded in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) through the Critical Ecosystem Studies Initiative (CESI) and established to synthesize the ever-growing body of Everglades scientific information with the goal of addressing topics that have hampered restoration since the...

This indicator describes trends in the amount of water carried by streams across the United States, as well as the timing of runoff associated with snowmelt....

Executive Summary In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the release of a biological control agent, the tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda spp.), to naturally control tamarisk populations and provide a less costly, and potentially more effective, means of removal compared with mechanical and chemical methods. The invasive plant tamarisk (Tamarix spp.;...

In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Lake Erie Biological Station (LEBS) successfully completed large vessel surveys in all three of Lake Erie’s basins. Lake Erie Biological Station’s primary vessel surveys included the Western Basin Forage Fish Assessment and East Harbor Fish Community Assessment as well as contributing to the...

Numerous methods have been proposed to estimate the pre-nuclear-detonation 14C content of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) recharged to groundwater that has been corrected/adjusted for geochemical processes in the absence of radioactive decay (14C0) - a quantity that is essential for estimation of radiocarbon age of DIC in groundwater. The models/approaches most...

A lahar is a flowing slurry of rock debris and water originating on the slopes of a volcano. The term may also mean the deposit of such a flow....

We designed and evaluated a “tube seepage meter” for point measurements of vertical seepage rates (q), collecting groundwater samples, and estimating vertical hydraulic conductivity (K) in streambeds. Laboratory testing in artificial streambeds show that seepage rates from the tube seepage meter agreed well with expected values. Results of field testing...

Key Results This report presents potentiometric-surface maps of the Aquia and Magothy aquifers and the Upper Patapsco, Lower Patapsco, and Patuxent aquifer systems using water levels measured during September 2015. Water-level difference maps are also presented for these aquifers. The water-level differences in the Aquia aquifer are shown using groundwater-level data...

In February 2016, the Great Lakes Executive Committee, which oversees the implementation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between the U.S. and Canada, approved phosphorus loading targets for Lake Erie to reduce the size of harmful algal blooms (HABs), reduce the presence of the low oxygen zone in...

The San Luis Basin encompasses the largest structural and hydrologic basin of the Rio Grande rift. On this field trip, we will examine the timing of transition of the San Luis Basin from hydrologically closed, aggrading subbasins to a continuous fluvial system that eroded the basin, formed the Rio Grande...

The shifting course of the Bear River has influenced the hydrologic balance of the Bonneville basin through time, including the magnitude of Lake Bonneville. This was first recognized by G.K. Gilbert and addressed in the early work of Robert Bright, who focused on the southeastern Idaho region of Gem...