Late Pleistocene and Holocene tephrostratigraphy of interior Alaska and Yukon: Key beds and chronologies over the past 30,000 years
Lauren J. Davies, Britta J.L. Jensen, Duane G. Froese, Kristi L. Wallace
2016, Quaternary Science Reviews (146) 28-53
The Aleutian Arc-Alaska Peninsula and Wrangell volcanic field are the main source areas for tephra deposits found across Alaska and northern Canada, and increasingly, <a class="topic-link" title="Learn more about tephra...
Gravity and magnetic studies of the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada
Kevin M. Denton, David A. Ponce
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1070
IntroductionFrom May 2011 to August 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected gravity data at more than 2,300 stations and physical property measurements on more than 640 rock samples from outcrops in the eastern Mojave Desert, California and Nevada. Gravity, magnetic, and physical-property data are used to study and locate...
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...
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...
Impacts of Northern Pike on stocked Rainbow Trout in Pactola Reservoir, South Dakota
Natalie C. Scheibel, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Jacob L. Davis, Steven R. Chipps
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 230-240
Establishment of nonnative Northern Pike Esox lucius in Pactola Reservoir, South Dakota, has prompted concern among biologists about the influence of this species on the lake’s intensively managed salmonid fisheries. Ancedotal information suggests that catch rates of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss have declined while mean size and abundance of Northern Pike has increased, although...
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...
Historical baselines and the future of shell calcification for a foundation species in a changing ocean
Catherine A. Pfister, Kaustuv Roy, Timothy J. Wootton, Sophie J. McCoy, Robert T. Paine, Tom Suchanek, Eric Sanford
2016, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (283) 1-8
Seawater pH and the availability of carbonate ions are decreasing due to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, posing challenges for calcifying marine species. Marine mussels are of particular concern given their role as foundation species worldwide. Here, we document shell growth and calcification patterns in Mytilus californianus, the California mussel, over millennial...
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...
Demonstration of the Cascadia G‐FAST geodetic earthquake early warning system for the Nisqually, Washington, earthquake
Brendan Crowell, David Schmidt, Paul Bodin, John Vidale, Joan S. Gomberg, J. Renate Hartog, Victor Kress, Tim Melbourne, Marcelo Santillian, Sarah E. Minson, Dylan Jamison
2016, Seismological Research Letters (87) 930-943
A prototype earthquake early warning (EEW) system is currently in development in the Pacific Northwest. We have taken a two‐stage approach to EEW: (1) detection and initial characterization using strong‐motion data with the Earthquake Alarm Systems (ElarmS) seismic early warning package and (2) the triggering of geodetic modeling modules using Global Navigation...
Identification of landscape features influencing gene flow: How useful are habitat selection models?
Gretchen H. Roffler, Michael K. Schwartz, Kristy L. Pilgrim, Sandra L. Talbot, George K. Sage, Layne G. Adams, Gordon Luikart
2016, Evolutionary Applications (9) 805-817
Understanding how dispersal patterns are influenced by landscape heterogeneity is critical for modeling species connectivity. Resource selection function (RSF) models are increasingly used in landscape genetics approaches. However, because the ecological factors that drive habitat selection may be different from those influencing dispersal and gene flow, it is important to...
And the first one now will later be last: Time-reversal in cormack-jolly-seber models
James D. Nichols
2016, Statistical Science (31) 175-190
The models of Cormack, Jolly and Seber (CJS) are remarkable in providing a rich set of inferences about population survival, recruitment, abundance and even sampling probabilities from a seemingly limited data source: a matrix of 1's and 0's reflecting animal captures and recaptures at multiple sampling occasions. Survival and sampling...
Surface slip during large Owens Valley earthquakes
E.K. Haddon, C.B. Amos, O. Zielke, Angela S. Jayko, R. Burgmann
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 2239-2269
The 1872 Owens Valley earthquake is the third largest known historical earthquake in California. Relatively sparse field data and a complex rupture trace, however, inhibited attempts to fully resolve the slip distribution and reconcile the total moment release. We present a new, comprehensive record of surface slip based on lidar...
Influences of summer water temperatures on the movement, distribution, and resources use of fluvial Westslope Cutthroat Trout in the South Fork Clearwater River basin
Marika E. Dobos, Matthew P. Corsi, Daniel J. Schill, Joseph M. DuPont, Michael C. Quist
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 549-567
Although many Westslope Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi populations in Idaho are robust and stable, population densities in some systems remain below management objectives. In many of those systems, such as in the South Fork Clearwater River (SFCR) system, environmental conditions (e.g., summer temperatures) are hypothesized to limit populations of Westslope Cutthroat...
Modern (1992–2011) and projected (2012–99) peak snowpack and May–July runoff for the Fort Peck Lake and Lake Sakakawea watersheds in the Upper Missouri River Basin
John F. Stamm, Dennis Todey, Barbara Mayes Bousted, Shawn Rossi, Parker A. Norton, Janet M. Carter
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5135
Mountain snowpack is an important contributor to runoff in the Upper Missouri River Basin; for example, high amounts of winter and spring precipitation in the mountains and plains in 2010–11 were associated with the peak runoff of record in 2011 in the Upper Missouri River Basin. To project trends in...
Fecal indicator organism modeling and microbial source tracking in environmental waters: Chapter 3.4.6
Meredith Nevers, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Mantha S. Phanikumar, Richard L. Whitman
2016, Book chapter, Manual of Environmental Microbiology
Mathematical models have been widely applied to surface waters to estimate rates of settling, resuspension, flow, dispersion, and advection in order to calculate movement of particles that influence water quality. Of particular interest are the movement, survival, and persistence of microbial pathogens or their surrogates, which may contaminate recreational water,...
Recreation, values and stewardship: Rethinking why people engage in environmental behaviors in parks and protected areas
Carena J. van Riper, Ryan Sharp, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Wade M. Vagias, Jane Kwenye, Gina Depper, Wayne Freimund
2016, Book chapter, Engagement, education, and expectations—The future of parks and protected areas: Proceedings of the 2015 George Wright Society Conference on parks, protected areas, and cultural sites
Successfully promoting and encouraging the adoption of environmental stewardship behavior is an important responsibility for public land management agencies. Although people increasingly report high levels of concern about environmental issues, widespread patterns of stewardship behavior have not followed suit (Moore 2002). One concept that can be applied in social science...
Water-quality data and Escherichia coli predictions for selected karst catchments of the upper Duck River watershed in central Tennessee, 2007–10
Jennifer C. Murphy, James Farmer, Alice Layton
2016, Data Series 1003
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tennessee Duck River Development Agency, monitored water quality at several locations in the upper Duck River watershed between October 2007 and September 2010. Discrete water samples collected at 24 sites in the watershed were analyzed for water quality, and Escherichia coli (E....
Impacts of climate change and renewable energy development on habitat of an endemic squirrel, Xerospermophilus mohavensis, in the Mojave Desert, USA
Richard D. Inman, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Philip Leitner, Marjorie D. Matocq, Peter J. Weisberg, Thomas E. Dilts
2016, Biological Conservation (200) 112-121
Predicting changes in species distributions under a changing climate is becoming widespread with the use of species distribution models (SDMs). The resulting predictions of future potential habitat can be cast in light of planned land use changes, such as urban expansion and energy development to identify areas with potential conflict....
Anthropogenic disturbance and environmental associations with fish assemblage structure in two nonwadeable rivers
T. P. Parks, Michael C. Quist, C.L. Pierce
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 66-84
Nonwadeable rivers are unique ecosystems that support high levels of aquatic biodiversity, yet they have been greatly altered by human activities. Although riverine fish assemblages have been studied in the past, we still have an incomplete understanding of how fish assemblages respond to both natural and anthropogenic influences in large...
Earthquake outlook for the San Francisco Bay region 2014–2043
Brad T. Aagaard, J. Luke Blair, John Boatwright, Susan H. Garcia, Ruth A. Harris, Andrew J. Michael, David P. Schwartz, Jeanne S. DiLeo
Kate Jacques, Carolyn Donlin, editor(s)
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3020
Using information from recent earthquakes, improved mapping of active faults, and a new model for estimating earthquake probabilities, the 2014 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities updated the 30-year earthquake forecast for California. They concluded that there is a 72 percent probability (or likelihood) of at least one earthquake of...
Concentration trends for lead and calcium-normalized lead in fish fillets from the Big River, a mining-contaminated stream in southeastern Missouri USA
Christopher J. Schmitt, Michael J. McKee
2016, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (97) 593-600
Lead (Pb) and calcium (Ca) concentrations were measured in fillet samples of longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) and redhorse suckers (Moxostoma spp.) collected in 2005–2012 from the Big River, which drains a historical mining area in southeastern Missouri and where a consumption advisory is in effect due to elevated Pb concentrations...
Bathymetric survey and digital elevation model of Little Holland Tract, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
Alexander G. Snyder, Jessica R. Lacy, Andrew W. Stevens, Emily M. Carlson
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1093
The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a bathymetric survey in Little Holland Tract, a flooded agricultural tract, in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the “Delta”) during the summer of 2015. The new bathymetric data were combined with existing data to generate a digital elevation model (DEM) at 1-meter resolution. Little Holland...
Retention of riveted aluminum leg bands by wild turkeys
Duane R. Diefenbach, Wendy C. Vreeland, Mary Jo Casalena, Michael V. Schiavone
2016, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (7) 162-164
In order for mark–recapture models to provide unbiased estimates of population parameters, it is critical that uniquely identifying tags or marks are not lost. We double-banded male and female wild turkeys with aluminum rivet bands and estimated the probability that a bird would be recovered with both bands <1–225 wk...
