Host contact and shedding patterns clarify variation in pathogen exposure and transmission in threatened tortoise Gopherus agassizii: implications for disease modelling and management
Christina M. Aiello, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Patrick G. Emblidge, Pratha Sah, Shweta Bansal, Peter J. Hudson
2016, Journal of Animal Ecology (85) 829-842
Summary Most directly transmitted infections require some form of close contact between infectious and susceptible hosts to spread. Often disease models assume contacts are equal and use mean field estimates of transmission probability for all interactions with infectious hosts. Such methods may inaccurately describe transmission when interactions differ...
Using climate, energy, and spatial-based hypotheses to interpret macroecological patterns of North America chelonians
Joshua R. Ennen, Mickey Agha, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Sarah C. Hazzard, Jeffrey E. Lovich
2016, Canadian Journal of Zoology (94) 453-461
Our study investigates how factors, such as latitude, productivity, and several environmental variables, influence contemporary patterns of the species richness in North American turtles. In particular, we test several hypotheses explaining broad-scale species richness patterns on several species richness data sets: (i) total turtles, (ii) freshwater turtles only, (iii) aquatic...
Natural inactivation of Escherichia coli in anoxic and reduced groundwater
John T. Lisle
2016, Journal of Applied Microbiology (120) 1739-1750
Aims Inactivation rates of E. coli in groundwater have most often been determined in aerobic and oxidized systems. This study examined E. coli inactivation rates in anaerobic and extremely reduced groundwater systems that have been identified as recharge zones. Methods and Results Groundwater from six artesian wells was diverted to above ground, flow through mesocosms that contained...
Flood-inundation maps for a 9.1-mile reach of the Coast Fork Willamette River near Creswell and Goshen, Lane County, Oregon
Glen W. Hess, Tana Haluska
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5029
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9.1-mile reach of the Coast Fork Willamette River near Creswell and Goshen, Oregon, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science...
The Chahnaly low sulfidation epithermal gold deposit, western Makran volcanic arc, southeastern Iran
Ali Sholeh, Ebrahim Rastad, David L. Huston, J. Bruce Gemmell, Ryan D. Taylor
2016, Economic Geology (111) 619-639
The Chahnaly low-sulfidation epithermal Au deposit and nearby Au prospects are located northwest of the intermittently active Bazman stratovolcano on the western end of the Makran volcanic arc, which formed as the result of subduction of the remnant Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust beneath the Lut block. The arc hosts the...
Ecosystem level methane fluxes from tidal freshwater and brackish marshes of the Mississippi River Delta: Implications for coastal wetland carbon projects
Guerry O. Holm, Brian C. Perez, David E. McWhorter, Ken W. Krauss, Darren J. Johnson, Richard C. Raynie, Charles J. Killebrew
2016, Wetlands (36) 401-413
Sulfate from seawater inhibits methane production in tidal wetlands, and by extension, salinity has been used as a general predictor of methane emissions. With the need to reduce methane flux uncertainties from tidal wetlands, eddy covariance (EC) techniques provide an integrated methane budget. The goals of this study were to:...
Estimating evapotranspiration and groundwater flow from water-table fluctuations for a general wetland scenario
Lisa C. Weber, Michael J. Wiley, Douglas Wilcox
2016, Ecohydrology (7) 378-390
The use of diurnal water-table fluctuation methods to calculate evapotranspiration (ET) and groundwater flow is of increasing interest in ecohydrological studies. Most studies of this type, however, have been located in riparian wetlands of semi-arid regions where groundwater levels are consistently below topographic surface elevations and precipitation events are infrequent....
Quaternary alluvial fans of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, northern México: OSL ages and implications for climatic history of the region
David Zuniga de Leon, Stephen Kershaw, Shannon A. Mahan
2016, Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana (68) 111-128
Alluvial fans formed from sediments derived from erosion of the Juárez Mountains in northernmost México have a significant flood impact on the Ciudad Juárez, which is built on the fan system. The northern part of Ciudad Juárez is the most active; further south, older parts of the fan, upon which...
Revisions to the original extent of the Devonian Shale-Middle and Upper Paleozoic Total Petroleum System
Catherine B. Enomoto, William A. Rouse, Michael H. Trippi, Debra K. Higley
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1018
Technically recoverable undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in continuous accumulations are present in Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian strata in the Appalachian Basin Petroleum Province. The province includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian strata are part...
Tree-ring-based estimates of long-term seasonal precipitation in the Souris River Region of Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Manitoba
Karen R. Ryberg, Aldo V. Vecchia, F. Adnan Akyuz, Wei Lin
2016, Canadian Water Resources Journal (41) 412-428
Historically unprecedented flooding occurred in the Souris River Basin of Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Manitoba in 2011, during a longer term period of wet conditions in the basin. In order to develop a model of future flows, there is a need to evaluate effects of past multidecadal climate variability and/or...
Hg concentrations in fish from coastal waters of California and Western North America
Jay Davis, John Ross, Shira Bezalel, Lawrence Sim, Autumn Bonnema, Gary Ichikawa, Wes Heim, Kenneth C Schiff, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 1146-1156
The State of California conducted an extensive and systematic survey of mercury (Hg) in fish from the California coast in 2009 and 2010. The California survey sampled 3483 fish representing 46 species at 68 locations, and demonstrated that methylHg in fish presents a widespread exposure risk to fish consumers. Most...
Hydraulic model and flood-inundation maps developed for the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina
Douglas G. Smith, Chad R. Wagner
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5137
A one-dimensional step-backwater model was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge, North Carolina, to provide a means for predicting flood-plain inundation. The model was developed for selected reaches of the Pee Dee River, Brown Creek,...
An analysis of water data systems to inform the Open Water Data Initiative
David L. Blodgett, Emily K. Read, Jessica M. Lucido, Tad Slawecki, Dwane Young
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 845-858
Improving access to data and fostering open exchange of water information is foundational to solving water resources issues. In this vein, the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Water and Science put forward the charge to undertake an Open Water Data Initiative (OWDI) that would prioritize and accelerate work...
Tomographic Rayleigh-wave group velocities in the Central Valley, California centered on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta
Jon Peter B. Fletcher, Jemile Erdem, Kevin Seats, Jesse Lawrence
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (121) 2429-2446
If shaking from a local or regional earthquake in the San Francisco Bay region were to rupture levees in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta then brackish water from San Francisco Bay would contaminate the water in the Delta: the source of fresh water for about half of California. As a prelude...
Influence of manatees' diving on their risk of collision with watercraft
Holly H. Edwards, Julien Martin, Charles J. Deutsch, Robert G Muller, Stacie M. Koslovsky, Alexander J. Smith, Margie E. Barlas
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Watercraft pose a threat to endangered Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris). Mortality from watercraft collisions has adversely impacted the manatee population’s growth rate, therefore reducing this threat is an important management goal. To assess factors that contribute to the risk of watercraft strikes to manatees, we studied the diving behavior...
Integrated assessment of wastewater treatment plant effluent estrogenicity in the Upper Murray River, Australia, using the native Murray rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis)
Alan M. Vajda, Anupama Kumar, Marianne Woods, Mike Williams, Hai Doan, Peter Tolsher, Rai S. Kookana, Larry B. Barber
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1078-1087
The contamination of major continental river systems by endocrine-active chemicals (EACs) derived from the discharge of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents can affect human and ecosystem health. As part of a long-term effort to develop a native fish model organism for assessment of endocrine disruption in Australia's largest watershed, the...
Radar and optical mapping of surge persistence and marsh dieback along the New Jersey Mid-Atlantic coast after Hurricane Sandy
Amina Rangoonwala, Nicholas M. Enwright, Elijah W. Ramsey III, Joseph P. Spruce
2016, International Journal of Remote Sensing (37) 1692-1713
This study combined a radar-based time series of Hurricane Sandy surge and estimated persistence with optical sensor-based marsh condition change to assess potential causal linkages of surge persistence and marsh condition change along the New Jersey Atlantic Ocean coast. Results based on processed TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed synthetic aperture radar (SAR)...
The high cost of motherhood: End-lactation syndrome in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) on the central California, USA, coast
Sarah S Chinn, Melissa A. Miller, M. Tim Tinker, Michelle M. Staedler, Francesca I. Batac, Erin M. Dodd, Laird A. Henkel
2016, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (52) 307-318
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) have exceptionally high energetic requirements, which nearly double during lactation and pup care. Thus, females are extremely vulnerable to caloric insufficiency. Despite a number of compensatory strategies, the metabolic challenge of reproduction culminates in numerous maternal deaths annually. Massive depletion of energy reserves results in a...
Semi-arid vegetation response to antecedent climate and water balance windows
David P. Thoma, Seth M. Munson, Kathryn M. Irvine, Dana L. Witwicki, Erin Bunting
2016, Applied Vegetation Science (19) 413-429
Questions Can we improve understanding of vegetation response to water availability on monthly time scales in semi-arid environments using remote sensing methods? What climatic or water balance variables and antecedent windows of time associated with these variables best relate to the condition of vegetation? Can we develop credible...
Angler harvest, hatchery return, and tributary stray rates of recycled adult summer steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss in the Cowlitz River, Washington
Tobias J. Kock, Russell W. Perry, Chris Gleizes, Wolf Dammers, Theresa L. Liedtke
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1790-1799
Hatchery ‘recycling’ programs have been used to increase angling opportunities by re-releasing fish into a river after they returned to a hatchery or fish trap. Recycling is intended to increase opportunities for fishermen, but this strategy could affect wild fish populations if some recycled fish remain in the river and...
Logistic and linear regression model documentation for statistical relations between continuous real-time and discrete water-quality constituents in the Kansas River, Kansas, July 2012 through June 2015
Guy M. Foster, Jennifer L. Graham
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1040
The Kansas River is a primary source of drinking water for about 800,000 people in northeastern Kansas. Source-water supplies are treated by a combination of chemical and physical processes to remove contaminants before distribution. Advanced notification of changing water-quality conditions and cyanobacteria and associated toxin and taste-and-odor compounds provides drinking-water...
Effect of a levee setback on aquatic resources using two-dimensional flow and bioenergetics models
Robert W. Black, Christiana R. Czuba, Christopher S. Magirl, Sarah McCarthy, Hans Berge, Kyle Comanor
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5025
Watershed restoration is the focus of many resource managers and can include a multitude of restoration actions each with specific restoration objectives. For the White River flowing through the cities of Pacific and Sumner, Washington, a levee setback has been proposed to reconnect the river with its historical floodplain...
Simulation of hypothetical Asian carp egg and larvae development and transport in the Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island, and Marseilles Pools of the Illinois Waterway by use of the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) model
Elizabeth A. Murphy, Tatiana Garcia, P. Ryan Jackson, James J. Duncker
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1011
As part of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting an assessment of the vulnerability of the Chicago Area Waterway System and Des Plaines River to Asian carp (specifically, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp) and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp)) spawning and...
Streamflow characteristics based on data through water year 2009 for selected streamflow-gaging stations in or near Montana: Chapter E in Montana StreamStats
Peter McCarthy
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5019-E
Chapter E of this Scientific Investigations Report documents results from a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, to provide an update of statewide streamflow characteristics based on data through water year 2009...
Developing recreational harvest regulations for an unexploited lake trout population
Melissa A Lenker, Brian Weidel, Olaf P. Jensen, Christopher T. Solomon
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 385-397
Developing fishing regulations for previously unexploited populations presents numerous challenges, many of which stem from a scarcity of baseline information about abundance, population productivity, and expected angling pressure. We used simulation models to test the effect of six management strategies (catch and release; trophy, minimum, and maximum length limits; and...
