Climate change impacts on ecosystems and ecosystem services in the United States: Process and prospects for sustained assessment
Nancy B. Grimm, Peter M Groffman, Michelle D. Staudinger, Heather Tallis
2016, Climatic Change (135) 97-109
The third United States National Climate Assessment emphasized an evaluation of not just the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems, but also the impacts of climate change on the benefits that people derive from nature, known as ecosystem services. The ecosystems, biodiversity, and ecosystem services component of the...
Sea level driven marsh expansion in a coupled model of marsh erosion and migration
Matthew L. Kirwan, David C. Walters, William G. Reay, Joel A. Carr
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 4366-4373
Coastal wetlands are among the most valuable ecosystems on Earth, where ecosystem services such as flood protection depend nonlinearly on wetland size and are threatened by sea level rise and coastal development. Here we propose a simple model of marsh migration into adjacent uplands and couple it with existing models...
St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
Chris H. Cramer, Robert A. Bauer, Jae-won Chung, David Rogers, Larry Pierce, Vicki Voigt, Brad Mitchell, David Gaunt, Robert Williams, David Hoffman, Gregory L. Hempen, Phyllis Steckel, Oliver S. Boyd, Connor M. Watkins, Kathleen Tucker, Natasha McCallister
2016, Seismological Research Letters (88) 206-223
We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher...
Integrating remote sensing with species distribution models; Mapping tamarisk invasions using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM)
Amanda M. West, Paul H. Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Colin Talbert, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey Morisette, Ryan Anderson
2016, Journal of Visualized Experiments (116)
Early detection of invasive plant species is vital for the management of natural resources and protection of ecosystem processes. The use of satellite remote sensing for mapping the distribution of invasive plants is becoming more common, however conventional imaging software and classification methods have been shown to be unreliable. In...
Estimated use of water in the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 2010
Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, Russell A. Ludlow, Betzaida Reyes, Jennifer L. Shourds
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5142
The Delaware River Basin (DRB) was selected as a Focus Area Study in 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the USGS National Water Census. The National Water Census is a USGS research program that focuses on national water availability and use and then develops new water...
The 3D Elevation Program and America's infrastructure
Vicki Lukas, Carswell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3093
Infrastructure—the physical framework of transportation, energy, communications, water supply, and other systems—and construction management—the overall planning, coordination, and control of a project from beginning to end—are critical to the Nation’s prosperity. The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned that, despite the importance of the Nation’s infrastructure, it is in...
Clawpack: Building an open source ecosystem for solving hyperbolic PDEs
Richard M. Iverson, K.T. Mandli, Aron J. Ahmadia, M.J. Berger, Donna Calhoun, David L. George, Y. Hadjimichael, David I. Ketcheson, Grady L. Lemoine, Randall J. LeVeque
2016, PeerJ (2)
Clawpack is a software package designed to solve nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations using high-resolution finite volume methods based on Riemann solvers and limiters. The package includes a number of variants aimed at different applications and user communities. Clawpack has been actively developed as an open source project for over...
Widespread kelp-derived carbon in pelagic and benthic nearshore fishes
Vanessa R. von Biela, Seth D. Newsome, James L. Bodkin, Gordon H. Kruse, Christian E. Zimmerman
2016, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (181) 364-374
Kelp forests provide habitat for diverse and abundant fish assemblages, but the extent to which kelp provides a source of energy to fish and other predators is unclear. To examine the use of kelp-derived energy by fishes we estimated the contribution of kelp- and phytoplankton-derived carbon using carbon (δ13C) and...
Impacts of shore expansion and catchment characteristics on lacustrine thermokarst records in permafrost lowlands, Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain
Josefine Lenz, Benjamin M. Jones, Sebastian Wetterich, Rik Tjallingii, Michael Fritz, Christopher D. Arp, Natalia Rudaya, Guido Grosse
2016, arktos (2)
Arctic lowland landscapes have been modified by thermokarst lake processes throughout the Holocene. Thermokarst lakes form as a result of ice-rich permafrost degradation, and they may expand over time through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion. We studied proximal and distal sedimentary records from a thermokarst lake located on the Arctic...
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the U.S. Beaufort Margin: 1. Minimum seaward extent defined from multichannel seismic reflection data
Laura L. Brothers, Bruce M. Herman, Patrick E. Hart, Carolyn D. Ruppel
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 4354-4365
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost (IBPF) and associated gas hydrate in the Arctic have been subject to a warming climate and saline intrusion since the last transgression at the end of the Pleistocene. The consequent degradation of IBPF is potentially associated with significant degassing of dissociating gas hydrate deposits. Previous studies interpreted...
A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plants under changing ambient CO2: evidence from carbon isotope discrimination in paleo and CO2 enrichment studies
Steven L. Voelker, J. Renee Brooks, Frederick C. Meinzer, Rebecca Anderson, Martin K.-F. Bader, Giovanna Battipaglia, Katie M. Becklin, David Beerling, Didier Bert, Julio L. Betancourt, Todd E. Dawson, Jean-Christophe Domec, Richard P. Guyette, Christian Korner, Steven W. Leavitt, Sune Linder, John D. Marshall, Manuel Mildner, Jerome Ogee, Irina P. Panyushkina, Heather J. Plumpton, Kurt S. Pregitzer, Matthias Saurer, Andrew R. Smith, Rolf T.W. Siegwolf, Michael C. Stambaugh, Alan F. Talhelm, Jacques C. Tardif, Peter K. Van De Water, Joy K. Ward, Lisa Wingate
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 889-902
Rising atmospheric [CO2], ca, is expected to affect stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange of woody plants, thus influencing energy fluxes as well as carbon (C), water, and nutrient cycling of forests. Researchers have proposed various strategies for stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange that include maintaining a constant leaf internal [CO2],...
Fault segmentation: New concepts from the Wasatch Fault Zone, Utah, USA
Christopher DuRoss, Stephen F. Personius, Anthony J. Crone, Susan S. Olig, Michael D. Hylland, William R. Lund, David P. Schwartz
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 1131-1157
The question of whether structural segment boundaries along multisegment normal faults such as the Wasatch fault zone (WFZ) act as persistent barriers to rupture is critical to seismic hazard analyses. We synthesized late Holocene paleoseismic data from 20 trench sites along the central WFZ to evaluate earthquake rupture length and...
Population dynamics of mallards breeding in eastern Washington
Bruce D. Dugger, John M. Coluccy, Katie M. Dugger, Trevor T. Fox, Donald K. Kraege, Mark J. Petrie
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 500-509
Variation in regional population trends for mallards breeding in the western United States indicates that additional research into factors that influence demographics could contribute to management and understanding the population demographics of mallards across North America. We estimated breeding incidence and adult female, nest, and brood survival in eastern Washington...
Roost site selection by ring-billed and herring gulls
Daniel E. Clark, Stephen DeStefano, Kenneth G. MacKenzie, Kiana K. G. Koenen, Jillian J. Whitney
2016, Journal of Wildlife Management (80) 708-719
Gulls (Larus spp.) commonly roost in large numbers on inland and coastal waters, yet there is little information on how or where gulls choose sites for roosting. Roost site selection can lead to water quality degradation or aviation hazards when roosts are formed on water supply reservoirs or are close...
Cretaceous–Cenozoic burial and exhumation history of the Chukchi shelf, offshore Arctic Alaska
William H. Craddock, David W. Houseknecht
2016, AAPG Bulletin (100) 63-100
Apatite fission track (AFT) and vitrinite reflectance data from five exploration wells and three seafloor cores illuminate the thermal history of the underexplored United States Chukchi shelf. On the northeastern shelf, Triassic strata in the Chevron 1 Diamond well record apatite annealing followed by cooling, possibly during the Triassic to...
Responses of a tall building with U.S. code-type instrumentation in Tokyo, Japan, to events before, during and after the Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011
Mehmet Çelebi, Toshihide Kashima, S. Farid Ghahari, Fariba Abazarsa, Ertugrul Taciroglu
2016, Earthquake Spectra (32) 497-522
The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated long-duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected tall buildings in urban areas several hundred kilometers from the epicenter of the main shock. Recorded responses show that tall buildings were affected by long-period motions. This study presents...
Deposition, accumulation, and alteration of Cl−, NO3−, ClO4− and ClO3− salts in a hyper-arid polar environment: Mass balance and isotopic constraints
Andrew Jackson, Alfonso F. Davila, John Karl Böhlke, Neil C. Sturchio, Ritesh Sevanthi, Nubia Estrada, Maeghan Brundrett, Denis Lacelle, Christopher P. McKay, Armen Poghosyan, Wayne Pollard, Kris Zacny
2016, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (182) 197-215
The salt fraction in permafrost soils/sediments of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica can be used as a proxy for cold desert geochemical processes and paleoclimate reconstruction. Previous analyses of the salt fraction in MDV permafrost soils have largely been conducted in coastal regions where permafrost soils are variably...
Acid rain and its environmental effects: Recent scientific advances
Douglas A. Burns, Julian Aherne, David A. Gay, Christopher M.B. Lehmann
2016, Atmospheric Environment (146) 1-4
The term ‘acid rain’ refers to atmospheric deposition of acidic constituents that impact the earth as rain, snow, particulates, gases, and vapor. Acid rain was first recognized by Ducros (1845) and subsequently described by the English chemist Robert Angus Smith (Smith, 1852) whose pioneering studies linked the sources to industrial...
A-DROP: A predictive model for the formation of oil particle aggregates (OPAs)
Lin Zhao, Michel C. Boufadel, Xiaolong Geng, Kenneth Lee, Thomas King, Brian H. Robinson, Faith A. Fitzpatrick
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (106) 245-259
Oil–particle interactions play a major role in removal of free oil from the water column. We present a new conceptual–numerical model, A-DROP, to predict oil amount trapped in oil–particle aggregates. A new conceptual formulation of oil–particle coagulation efficiency is introduced to account for the effects of oil stabilization by particles,...
Bounded fractional diffusion in geological media: Definition and Lagrangian approximation
Yong Zhang, Christopher T. Green, Eric M. LaBolle, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Hong-Guang Sun
2016, Water Resources Research (52) 8561-8577
Spatiotemporal Fractional-Derivative Models (FDMs) have been increasingly used to simulate non-Fickian diffusion, but methods have not been available to define boundary conditions for FDMs in bounded domains. This study defines boundary conditions and then develops a Lagrangian solver to approximate bounded, one-dimensional fractional diffusion. Both the zero-value and non-zero-value Dirichlet,...
Exploiting differential vegetation phenology for satellite-based mapping of semiarid grass vegetation in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico
Dennis G. Dye, Barry R. Middleton, John M. Vogel, Zhuoting Wu, Miguel G. Velasco
2016, Remote Sensing (8) 1-33
We developed and evaluated a methodology for subpixel discrimination and large-area mapping of the perennial warm-season (C4) grass component of vegetation cover in mixed-composition landscapes of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. We describe the methodology within a general, conceptual framework that we identify as the differential vegetation phenology...
The automated reference toolset: A soil-geomorphic ecological potential matching algorithm
Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway
2016, Soil Science Society of America Journal (80) 1317-1328
Ecological inventory and monitoring data need referential context for interpretation. Identification of appropriate reference areas of similar ecological potential for site comparison is demonstrated using a newly developed automated reference toolset (ART). Foundational to identification of reference areas was a soil map of particle size in the control section (PSCS),...
Light Goose Conservation Order effects on nontarget waterfowl behavior and energy expenditure
Andrew J. Dinges, Elisabeth B. Webb, Mark P. Vrtiska
2016, Wildlife Society Bulletin (40) 694-704
When the Light Goose Conservation Order (LGCO) was established during 1999 in the Rainwater Basin of Nebraska, USA, LGCO activities were limited to 4 days/week and 16 public wetlands were closed to the LGCO to limit disturbance to nontarget waterfowl during this energetically important time period. However, the effects of...
Introduction to the special issue on the 25 April 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha(Nepal) earthquake
Gavin P. Hayes, Richard W. Briggs
2016, Tectonophysics (714-715) 1-3
On April 25, 2015, a moment magnitude (Mw) 7.8 earthquake struck central Nepal, breaking a section of the broader Himalayan Front that had been largely quiescent in moderate-to-large earthquakes for much of the modern seismological era. Ground shaking associated with the event resulted in a broad distribution of triggered...
Carbon dioxide fluxes reflect plant zonation and belowground biomass in a coastal marsh
Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Omar I. Abdul-Aziz, Jianwu Tang, Khandker S. Ishtiaq, Kate Morkeski, Jordan Mora, Ryan K. Quinn, Rose M. Martin, Katharine Egan, Elizabeth Q. Brannon, Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger
2016, Ecosphere (7) 1-21
Coastal wetlands are major global carbon sinks; however, they are heterogeneous and dynamic ecosystems. To characterize spatial and temporal variability in a New England salt marsh, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes were compared among major plant‐defined zones during growing seasons. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) fluxes were compared in two...
