Geospatial association between adverse birth outcomes and arsenic in groundwater in New Hampshire, USA
Xun Shi, Joseph D. Ayotte, Akikazu Onda, Stephanie Miller, Judy Rees, Diane Gilbert-Diamond, Tracy L Onega, Jiang Gui, Margaret R. Karagas, John B Moeschler
2015, Environmental Geochemistry and Health (37) 333-351
There is increasing evidence of the role of arsenic in the etiology of adverse human reproductive outcomes. Because drinking water can be a major source of arsenic to pregnant women, the effect of arsenic exposure through drinking water on human birth may be revealed by a geospatial association between arsenic...
Icefield-to-ocean linkages across the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest ecosystem
Shad O’Neel, Eran Hood, Allison L. Bidlack, Sean W. Fleming, Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Anthony Arendt, Evan W. Burgess, Christopher J. Sergeant, Anne E. Beaudreau, Kristin Timm, Gregory D. Hayward, Joel H. Reynolds, Sanjay Pyare
2015, BioScience (65) 499-512
Rates of glacier mass loss in the northern Pacific coastal temperate rainforest (PCTR) are among the highest on Earth, and changes in glacier volume and extent will affect the flow regime and chemistry of coastal rivers, as well as the nearshore marine ecosystem of the Gulf of Alaska. Here we...
Genes indicative of zoonotic and swine pathogens are persistent in stream water and sediment following a swine manure spill
Sheridan K. Haack, Joseph W. Duris, Dana W. Kolpin, Lisa R. Fogarty, Heather E. Johnson, Kristen E. Gibson, Michael J. Focazio, Kellogg J. Schwab, Laura E. Hubbard, William T. Foreman
2015, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (81) 3430-3441
Manure spills to streams are relatively frequent, but no studies have characterized stream contamination with zoonotic and veterinary pathogens, or fecal chemicals, following a spill. We tested stream water and sediment over 25 days and downstream for 7.6 km for: fecal indicator bacteria (FIB); the fecal indicator chemicals cholesterol and...
U.S. Geological Survey quality-assurance plan for surface-water activities in Kansas, 2015
Colin C. Painter, Brian L. Loving
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1074
This Surface Water Quality-Assurance Plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the Kansas Water Science Center (KSWSC) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of surface-water data....
Simulating hydrologic response to climate change scenarios in four selected watersheds of New Hampshire
David M. Bjerklie, Joseph D. Ayotte, Matthew J. Cahillane
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5047
The State of New Hampshire has initiated a coordinated effort to proactively prepare for the effects of climate change on the natural and human resources of New Hampshire. An important aspect of this effort is to develop a vulnerability assessment of hydrologic response to climate change. The U.S. Geological Survey,...
Home range, habitat use, and movement patterns of non-native Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park, Florida, USA
Kristen M. Hart, Michael S. Cherkiss, Brian J. Smith, Frank J. Mazzotti, Ikuko Fujisaki, Ray W. Snow, Michael E. Dorcas
2015, Animal Biotelemetry (3)
Background Studies on the spatial ecology of invasive species provide critical information for conservation managers such as habitat preferences and identification of native species at risk of predation. To understand the spatial ecology of non-native Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus), now well-established in Everglades National Park and much of South Florida...
Species richness and distributions of boreal waterbirds in relation to nesting and brood-rearing habitats
Tyler L. Lewis, Mark S. Lindberg, Joel A. Schmutz, Mark R. Bertram, Adam J. Dubour
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 296-310
Identification of ecological factors that drive animal distributions allows us to understand why distributions vary temporally and spatially, and to develop models to predict future changes to populations–vital tools for effective wildlife management and conservation. For waterbird broods in the boreal forest, distributions are likely driven by factors affecting quality...
Hexavalent and total chromium at low reporting concentrations in source-water aquifers and surface waters used for public supply in Illinois, 2013
P.C. Mills, Richard P. Cobb
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5020
On the basis of their recent review of the human health effects of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in public drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering the need for Federal regulation of Cr(VI). Presently, only total chromium is regulated, at a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 100 micrograms per...
Estimation of monthly water yields and flows for 1951-2012 for the United States portion of the Great Lakes Basin with AFINCH
Carol L. Luukkonen, David J. Holtschlag, Howard W. Reeves, Christopher J. Hoard, Lori M. Fuller
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5192
Monthly water yields from 105,829 catchments and corresponding flows in 107,691 stream segments were estimated for water years 1951–2012 in the Great Lakes Basin in the United States. Both sets of estimates were computed by using the Analysis of Flows In Networks of CHannels (AFINCH) application within the NHDPlus geospatial...
Lithology, hydrologic characteristics, and water quality of the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer in the vicinity of Van Buren, Arkansas
Timothy M. Kresse, Drew A. Westerman, Rheannon M. Hart
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5044
A study to assess the potential of the Arkansas River Valley alluvial aquifer in the vicinity of Van Buren, Arkansas, as a viable source of public-supply water was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Little Rock, District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. An important study component...
Complex terrain alters temperature and moisture limitations of forest soil respiration across a semiarid to subalpine gradient
Erin Michele Berryman, H.R. Barnard, H.R. Adams, M.A. Burns, E. Gallo, P. D. Brooks
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (120) 707-723
Forest soil respiration is a major carbon (C) flux that is characterized by significant variability in space and time. We quantified growing season soil respiration during both a drought year and a nondrought year across a complex landscape to identify how landscape and climate interact to control soil respiration. We...
Avian botulism type E in waterbirds of Lake Michigan, 2010–2013
Jennifer G. Chipault, C. LeAnn White, David S. Blehert, Susan K. Jennings, Sean M. Strom
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 659-664
During 2010 to 2013, waterbird mortality surveillance programs used a shared protocol for shoreline walking surveys performed June to November at three areas in northern Lake Michigan. In 2010 and 2012, 1244 total carcasses (0.8 dead bird/km walked) and 2399 total carcasses (1.2 dead birds/km walked), respectively, were detected. Fewer...
Contaminants in sea ducks: metals, trace elements, petroleum, organic pollutants, and radiation: Chapter 6
J. Christian Franson
2015, Book chapter, Ecology and conservation of North American sea ducks; Studies in Avian Biology v. 46
Exposure to lead and petroleum has caused deaths of sea ducks, but relatively few contaminants have been shown to cause mortality or be associated with population level effects. This chapter focuses primarily on field reports of contaminant concentrations in tissues of sea ducks in North America and Europe and results...
Modeling tidal freshwater marsh sustainability in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta under a broad suite of potential future scenarios
Kathleen M. Swanson, Judith Z. Drexler, Christopher C. Fuller, David H. Schoellhamer
2015, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (13) 1-21
In this paper, we report on the adaptation and application of a one-dimensional marsh surface elevation model, the Wetland Accretion Rate Model of Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER), to explore the conditions that lead to sustainable tidal freshwater marshes in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta. We defined marsh accretion parameters to encapsulate the...
Infectious diseases, parasites, and biological toxins in sea ducks
Tuula E. Hollmén, J. Christian Franson
2015, Book chapter, Ecology and conservation of North American sea ducks: Studies in Avian Biology 46
This chapter addresses disease agents in the broad sense, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoan and helminth parasites, and biological toxins. Some of these agents are known to cause mortality in sea ducks, some are thought to be incidental findings, and the significance of others is yet poorly understood. Although the...
Estimates of natural streamflow at two streamgages on the Esopus Creek, New York, water years 1932 to 2012
Douglas A. Burns, Christopher L. Gazoorian
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5050
Streamflow in the Esopus Creek watershed is altered by two major watershed management activities carried out by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection as part of its responsibility to maintain a water supply for New York City: (1) diversion of water from the Schoharie Creek watershed to the...
Large river bed sediment characterization with low-cost sidecan sonar: Case studies from two setting in the Colorado (Arizona) and Penobscot (Maine) Rivers
Daniel D. Buscombe, Paul E. Grams, Theodore S. Melis, Sean Smith
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 3rd joint federal interagency conference on sedimentation and hydrologic modeling
Mapping subaqueous riverbed sediment grain size across channels and in nearshore areas typically used by fish and benthic invertebrates is difficult where and when the water flow is too swift or deep to wade yet impractical to access with large boats and instruments. Fluvial characteristics can further constrain sampling options,...
Diel patterns and temporal trends in spawning activities of Robust Redhorse and River Redhorse in Georgia, assessed using passive acoustic monitoring
Carrie A. Straight, C. Rhett Jackson, Byron J. Freeman, Mary Freeman
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 563-576
The conservation of imperiled species depends upon understanding threats to the species at each stage of its life history. In the case of many imperiled migratory fishes, understanding how timing and environmental influences affect reproductive behavior could provide managers with information critical for species conservation. We used passive acoustic recorders...
Evaluation and application of regional turbidity-sediment regression models in Virginia
Kenneth Hyer, John D. Jastram, Douglas Moyer, James S. Webber, Jeffrey G. Chanat
2015, Conference Paper
Conventional thinking has long held that turbidity-sediment surrogate-regression equations are site specific and that regression equations developed at a single monitoring station should not be applied to another station; however, few studies have evaluated this issue in a rigorous manner. If robust regional turbidity-sediment models can be developed successfully, their...
Geomorphic change in the Limitrophe reach of the Colorado River in response to the 2014 delta pulse flow, United States and Mexico
Erich R. Mueller, John C. Schmidt, David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams
2015, Conference Paper
A pulse of water was released from Morelos Dam into the dry streambed of the Colorado River in its former delta on March 23, 2014. Although small in relation to delta floods of a century ago, this was the first flow to reach the sea in nearly two decades. The...
Suspended sediment transport trough a large fluvial-tidal channel network
Scott Wright, Tara L. Morgan-King
2015, Conference Paper
The confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, CA, forms a large network of interconnected channels, referred to as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta). The Delta comprises the transition zone from the fluvial influences of the upstream rivers and tidal influences of San Francisco Bay downstream. Formerly an...
Characterizing and simulating sediment loads and transport in the lower part of the San Antonio River Basin
J. Ryan Banta, Darwin J. Ockerman, Cassi Crow, Stephen P. Opsahl
2015, Conference Paper
This extended abstract is based on the U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Reports by Crow et al. (2013) and Banta and Ockerman (2014). Suspended sediment in rivers and streams can play an important role in ecological health of rivers and estuaries and consequently is an important issue for water-resource managers....
The upper bound of abutment scour defined by selected laboratory and field data
Stephen Benedict, Andral W. Caldwell
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 5th Federal Interagency Hydrologic Modeling Conference and the 10th Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, conducted a field investigation of abutment scour in South Carolina and used that data to develop envelope curves defining the upper bound of abutment scour. To expand upon this previous work, an additional cooperative investigation was initiated...
The upper bound of Pier Scour defined by selected laboratory and field data
Stephen Benedict, Andral W. Caldwell
2015, Conference Paper
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Transportation, conducted several field investigations of pier scour in South Carolina (Benedict and Caldwell, 2006; Benedict and Caldwell, 2009) and used that data to develop envelope curves defining the upper bound of pier scour. To expand upon this...
Estimating changes in riparian and channel features along the Trinity River downstream of Lewiston Dam, California, 1980 to 2011
Jennifer A. Curtis
2015, Conference Paper
Dam construction, flow diversion, and legacy landuse effects reduced the transport capacity, sediment supply, channel complexity and floodplain-connectivity along the Trinity River, CA below Lewiston Dam. This study documents the geomorphic evolution of the Trinity River Restoration Program’s intensively managed 65-km long restoration reach from 1980 to 2011. The nature...
