Effect of diet quality on chronic toxicity of aqueous lead to the amphipod Hyalella azteca
John M. Besser, Chris D. Ivey, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher G. Ingersoll
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 1825-1834
The authors investigated the chronic toxicity of aqueous Pb to the amphipod Hyalella azteca (Hyalella) in 42-d tests using 2 different diets: 1) the yeastþcereal leafþtrout pellet (YCT) diet, fed at the uniform low ration used in standard methods for sediment toxicity tests; and 2) a new diet of diatomsþTetraMin...
Practical bias correction in aerial surveys of large mammals: Validation of hybrid double-observer with sightability method against known abundance of feral horse (Equus caballus) populations
Bruce C. Lubow, Jason I. Ransom
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, editor(s)
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Reliably estimating wildlife abundance is fundamental to effective management. Aerial surveys are one of the only spatially robust tools for estimating large mammal populations, but statistical sampling methods are required to address detection biases that affect accuracy and precision of the estimates. Although various methods for correcting aerial survey bias...
Improve wildlife species tracking—Implementing an enhanced global positioning system data management system for California condors
Robert G. Waltermire, Christopher U. Emmerich, Laura C. Mendenhall, Gil Bohrer, Rolf P. Weinzierl, Andrew J. McGann, Pat K. Lineback, Tim J. Kern, David C. Douglas
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1030
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff in the Pacific Southwest Region and at the Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex requested technical assistance to improve their global positioning system (GPS) data acquisition, management, and archive in support of the California Condor Recovery Program. The USFWS deployed and maintained GPS...
Flow management for hydropower extirpates aquatic insects, undermining river food webs
Theodore A. Kennedy, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, Charles B. Yackulic, D.A. Lytle, S.A. Miller, Kimberly L. Dibble, Eric W. Kortenhoeven, Anya N. Metcalfe, Colden V. Baxter
2016, BioScience (66) 561-575
Dams impound the majority of rivers and provide important societal benefits, especially daily water releases that enable on-peak hydroelectricity generation. Such “hydropeaking” is common worldwide, but its downstream impacts remain unclear. We evaluated the response of aquatic insects, a cornerstone of river food webs, to hydropeaking using a life history–hydrodynamic...
Timing and composition of continental volcanism at Harrat Hutaymah, western Saudi Arabia
Robert A. Duncan, Adam J R Kent, Carl Thornber, Tyler D Schliedler, Abdullah M Al-Amri
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (313) 1-14
Harrat Hutaymah is an alkali basalt volcanic field in north-central Saudi Arabia, at the eastern margin of a large Neogene continental, intraplate magmatic province. Lava flow, tephra and spatter cone compositions in the field include alkali olivine basalts and basanites. These compositions contrast with the predominantly tholeiitic, fissure-fed basalts found...
Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5008
The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks. The Green...
Developing population models with data from marked individuals
Hae Yeong Ryu, Kevin T. Shoemaker, Eva Kneip, Anna Pidgeon, Patricia Heglund, Brooke Bateman, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Resit Akcakaya
2016, Biological Conservation (197) 190-199
Population viability analysis (PVA) is a powerful tool for biodiversity assessments, but its use has been limited because of the requirements for fully specified population models such as demographic structure, density-dependence, environmental stochasticity, and specification of uncertainties. Developing a fully specified population model from commonly available data sources – notably,...
Economic impacts of a California tsunami
Adam Rose, Ian Sue Wing, Dan Wei, Anne Wein
2016, Natural Hazards Review (17) 1-12
The economic consequences of a tsunami scenario for Southern California are estimated using computable general equilibrium analysis. The economy is modeled as a set of interconnected supply chains interacting through markets but with explicit constraints stemming from property damage and business downtime. Economic impacts are measured by...
Reproductive success of Horned Lark and McCown's Longspur in relation to wind energy infrastructure
Anika Mahoney, Anna D. Chalfoun
2016, The Condor (118) 360-375
Wind energy is a rapidly expanding industry with potential indirect effects to wildlife populations that are largely unexplored. In 2011 and 2012, we monitored 211 nests of 2 grassland songbirds, Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) and McCown's Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii), at 3 wind farms and 2 undeveloped reference sites in Wyoming,...
Developing fish trophic interaction indicators of climate change for the Great Lakes
Richard T. Kraus, Carey T. Knight, Ann Marie Gorman, Patrick M. Kocovsky, Brian Weidel, Mark W. Rogers
2016, Report
This project addressed regional climate change effects on aquatic food webs in the Great Lakes. We sought insights by examining Lake Erie as a representative system with a high level of anthropogenic impacts, strong nutrient gradients, seasonal hypoxia, and spatial overlap of cold- and cool-water fish guilds. In Lake Erie...
Demographic outcomes of diverse migration strategies assessed in a metapopulation of tundra swans
Craig R. Ely, Brandt W. Meixell
2016, Movement Ecology (4)
Background Migration is a prominent aspect of the life history of many avian species, but the demographic consequences of variable migration strategies have only infrequently been investigated, and rarely when using modern technological and analytical methods for assessing survival, movement patterns, and long-term productivity in the context of life history theory....
Estimating forest and woodland aboveground biomass using active and passive remote sensing
Zhuoting Wu, Dennis G. Dye, John M. Vogel, Barry R. Middleton
2016, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (82) 271-281
Aboveground biomass was estimated from active and passive remote sensing sources, including airborne lidar and Landsat-8 satellites, in an eastern Arizona (USA) study area comprised of forest and woodland ecosystems. Compared to field measurements, airborne lidar enabled direct estimation of individual tree height with a slope of 0.98 (R2 = 0.98)....
Do transmitters affect survival and body condition of American beavers Castor canadensis?
Joshua B. Smith, Steve K. Windels, Tiffany Wolf, Robert W. Klaver, Jerrold L. Belant
2016, Wildlife Biology (22) 117-123
One key assumption often inferred with using radio-equipped individuals is that the transmitter has no effect on the metric of interest. To evaluate this assumption, we used a known fate model to assess the effect of transmitter type (i.e. tail-mounted or peritoneal implant) on short-term (one year) survival and a...
Federal interagency nature‐like fishway passage design guidelines for Atlantic coast diadromous fishes
James Turek, Alexander J. Haro, Brett Towler
2016, Report
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have collaborated to develop passage design guidance for use by engineers and other restoration practitioners considering and designing nature‐like fishways (NLFs). The primary purpose of these guidelines is to provide a...
Parameterization of the InVEST Crop Pollination Model to spatially predict abundance of wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton) native bee pollinators in Maine, USA
Shannon C. Groff, Cynthia S. Loftin, Frank Drummond, Sara Bushmann, Brian J. McGill
2016, Environmental Modelling and Software (79) 1-9
Non-native honeybees historically have been managed for crop pollination, however, recent population declines draw attention to pollination services provided by native bees. We applied the InVEST Crop Pollination model, developed to predict native bee abundance from habitat resources, in Maine's wild blueberry crop landscape. We evaluated model performance with parameters...
Summary of the GK15 ground‐motion prediction equation for horizontal PGA and 5% damped PSA from shallow crustal continental earthquakes
Vladimir; Graizer, Erol Kalkan
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 687-707
We present a revised ground‐motion prediction equation (GMPE) for computing medians and standard deviations of peak ground acceleration (PGA) and 5% damped pseudospectral acceleration (PSA) response ordinates of the horizontal component of randomly oriented ground motions to be used for seismic‐hazard analyses and engineering applications. This GMPE is derived from...
Trends in pesticide use on soybean, corn and cotton since the introduction of major genetically modified crops in the United States
Richard H. Coupe, Paul D. Capel
2016, Pest Management Science (72) 1013-1022
BACKGROUNDGenetically modified (GM) varieties of soybean, corn and cotton have largely replaced conventional varieties in the United States. The most widely used applications of GM technology have been the development of crops that are resistant to a specific broad-spectrum herbicide (primarily glyphosate) or that produce insecticidal compounds within the plant...
To cross or not to cross: modeling wildlife road crossings as a binary response variable with contextual predictors
Shane R. Siers, Robert N. Reed, Julie A. Savidge
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Roads are significant barriers to landscape-scale movements of individuals or populations of many wildlife taxa. The decision by an animal near a road to either cross or not cross may be influenced by characteristics of the road, environmental conditions, traits of the individual animal, and other aspects of the context...
Assessing predation risks for small fish in a large river ecosystem between contrasting habitats and turbidity conditions
Michael J. Dodrill, Michael D. Yard, William E. Pine III
2016, American Midland Naturalist (175) 206-221
This study examined predation risk for juvenile native fish between two riverine shoreline habitats, backwater and debris fan, across three discrete turbidity levels (low, intermediate, high) to understand environmental risks associated with habitat use in a section of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon, AZ. Inferences are particularly important to...
Challenges for mapping cyanotoxin patterns from remote sensing of cyanobacteria
Rick P Stumpf, Timothy W. Davis, Timothy T. Wynne, Jennifer L. Graham, Keith A. Loftin, T.H. Johengen, D. Gossiaux, D. Palladino, A. Burtner
2016, Harmful Algae (54) 160-173
Using satellite imagery to quantify the spatial patterns of cyanobacterial toxins has several challenges. These challenges include the need for surrogate pigments – since cyanotoxins cannot be directly detected by remote sensing, the variability in the relationship between the pigments and cyanotoxins – especially microcystins (MC), and the lack of...
A geological perspective on the degradation and conservation of western Atlantic coral reefs
Ilsa B. Kuffner, Lauren T. Toth
2016, Conservation Biology (30) 706-715
Continuing coral-reef degradation in the western Atlantic is resulting in loss of ecological and geologic functions of reefs. With the goal of assisting resource managers and stewards of reefs in setting and measuring progress toward realistic goals for coral-reef conservation and restoration, we examined reef degradation in this region from...
Urban hydrology—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
Joseph M. Bell, Amy E. Simonson, Irene J. Fisher
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3023
Urbanization affects streamflow characteristics, coastal flooding, and groundwater recharge. Increasing impervious areas, streamflow diversions, and groundwater pumpage are some of the ways that the natural water cycle is affected by urbanization. Assessment of the relations among these factors and changes in land use helps water-resource managers with issues such as...
Urban infrastructure and water management—Science capabilities of the U.S. Geological Survey
Shawn C. Fisher, Rosemary M. Fanelli, William R. Selbig
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3025
Managing the urban-water cycle has increasingly become a challenge for water-resources planners and regulators faced with the problem of providing clean drinking water to urban residents. Sanitary and combined sanitary and storm sewer networks convey wastewater to centralized treatment plants. Impervious surfaces, which include roads, parking lots, and buildings, increase...
The bee microbiome: Impact on bee health and model for evolution and ecology of host-microbe interactions
Philipp Engel, Waldan K. Kwong, Quinn McFrederick, Kirk E. Anderson, Seth Michael Barribeau, James Angus Chandler, Robert S. Cornman, Jacques Dainat, Joachim R. de Miranda, Vincent Doublet, Olivier Emery, Jay D. Evans, Laurent Farinelli, Michelle Flenniken, Fredrik Granberg, Juris A. Grasis, Laurent Gauthier, Juliette Hayer, Hauke Koch, Sarah Kocher, Vincent G. Martinson, Nancy Moran, Monica Munoz-Torres, Irene Newton, Robert J. Paxton, Eli Powell, Ben M. Sadd, Paul Schmid-Hempel, Regula Schmid-Hempel, Jin Song, Ryan S. Schwarz, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Benjamin Dainat
2016, mBio
As pollinators, bees are cornerstones for terrestrial ecosystem stability and key components in agricultural productivity. All animals, including bees, are associated with a diverse community of microbes, commonly referred to as the microbiome. The bee microbiome is likely to be a crucial factor affecting host health. However, with the exception...
Magnetotelluric investigation of the Vestfold Hills and Rauer Group, East Antarctica
Jared R. Peacock, Katherine Selway
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 2258-2273
The Vestfold Hills and Rauer Group in East Antarctica have contrasting Archean to Neoproterozoic geological histories and are believed to be juxtaposed along a suture zone that now lies beneath the Sørsdal Glacier. Exact location and age of this suture zone are unknown, as is its relationship to regional deformation...
