Geostatistical borehole image-based mapping of karst-carbonate aquifer pores
Michael Sukop, Kevin J. Cunningham
2016, Groundwater (54) 202-213
Quantification of the character and spatial distribution of porosity in carbonate aquifers is important as input into computer models used in the calculation of intrinsic permeability and for next-generation, high-resolution groundwater flow simulations. Digital, optical, borehole-wall image data from three closely spaced boreholes in the karst-carbonate Biscayne aquifer in southeastern...
Marine geophysical data collected in a shallow back-barrier estuary, Barnegat Bay, New Jersey
Brian D. Andrews, Jennifer L. Miselis, William W. Danforth, Barry J. Irwin, Charles R. Worley, Emile M. Bergeron, Dann S. Blackwood
2016, Data Series 937
In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, began a multidisciplinary research project to better understand the water quality in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. This back-barrier estuary is experiencing degraded water quality, algal blooms, loss of seagrass, and increases in oxygen stress,...
Modeling habitat connectivity to inform reintroductions: a case study with the Chiricahua Leopard Frog
Christopher J. Jarchow, Blake R. Hossack, Brent H. Sigafus, Cecil R. Schwalbe, Erin L. Muths
2016, Journal of Herpetology (50) 63-69
Managing species with intensive tools such as reintroduction may focus on single sites or entire landscapes. For vagile species, long-term persistence will require colonization and establishment in neighboring habitats. Therefore, both suitable colonization sites and suitable dispersal corridors between sites are required. Assessment of landscapes for both requirements can contribute...
Defining the next generation modeling of coastal ecotone dynamics in response to global change
Jiang Jiang, Donald L. DeAngelis, Su-Y Teh, Ken W. Krauss, Hongqing Wang, Li Haidong, Thomas J. Smith, Hock L. Koh
2016, Ecological Modelling (326) 168-176
Coastal ecosystems are especially vulnerable to global change; e.g., sea level rise (SLR) and extreme events. Over the past century, global change has resulted in salt-tolerant (halophytic) plant species migrating into upland salt-intolerant (glycophytic) dominated habitats along major rivers and large wetland expanses along the coast. While habitat transitions can...
Habitat suitability criteria via parametric distributions: estimation, model selection and uncertainty
Nicholas A. Som, Damon H. Goodman, Russell W. Perry, Thomas B. Hardy
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 1128-1137
Previous methods for constructing univariate habitat suitability criteria (HSC) curves have ranged from professional judgement to kernel-smoothed density functions or combinations thereof. We present a new method of generating HSC curves that applies probability density functions as the mathematical representation of the curves. Compared with previous approaches, benefits of our...
Hydrologic response of streams restored with check dams in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona
Laura M. Norman, Fletcher C. Brinkerhoff, Evan Gwilliam, D. Phillip Guertin, James B. Callegary, David C. Goodrich, Pamela L. Nagler, Floyd Gray
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 519-527
In this study, hydrological processes are evaluated to determine impacts of stream restoration in the West Turkey Creek, Chiricahua Mountains, southeast Arizona, during a summer-monsoon season (June–October of 2013). A paired-watershed approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of check dams to mitigate high flows and impact long-term maintenance of...
Sediment budgets, transport, and depositional trends in a large tidal delta
Tara Morgan, Scott Wright
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Joint Federal Interagency Conference
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the largest delta on the west coast of the United States. It is formed where the confluence of California’s two largest rivers (the Sacramento and San Joaquin) meet the ocean tides and has a significant physical gradient from fluvial to tidal. It is a semidiurnal...
Synergistic and singular effects of river discharge and lunar illumination on dam passage of upstream migrant yellow-phase American eels
Stuart A. Welsh, Joni L. Aldinger, Melissa A. Braham, Jennifer L. Zimmerman
2016, ICES Journal of Marine Science (73) 33-42
Monitoring of dam passage can be useful for management and conservation assessments of American eel, particularly if passage counts can be examined over multiple years. During a 7-year study (2007–2013) of upstream migration of American eels within the lower Shenandoah River (Potomac River drainage), we counted and measured...
Assessing juvenile native fish demographic responses to a steady flow experiment in a large regulated river
Colton G. Finch, William E. Pine III, Charles B. Yackulic, Michael J. Dodrill, Michael D. Yard, Brandon S. Gerig, Coggins Jr., Josh Korman
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 763-775
The Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, is part of an adaptive management programme which optimizes dam operations to improve various resources in the downstream ecosystem within Grand Canyon. Understanding how populations of federally endangered humpback chub Gila cypha respond to these dam operations is a high priority. Here,...
Diel activity patterns of juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon with implications for operation of a gated water diversion in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta
John M. Plumb, Noah S. Adams, Russell W. Perry, Christopher M. Holbrook, Jason G. Romine, Aaron R. Blake, Jon R. Burau
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 711-720
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, tidal forces that reverse river flows increase the proportion of water and juvenile late fall-run Chinook salmon diverted into a network of channels that were constructed to support agriculture and human consumption. This area is known as the interior delta, and it has...
Economic consequence analysis of the Arkstorm scenario
Ian Sue Wing, Adam Rose, Anne M. Wein
2016, National Hazards Review (17)
The business interruption (BI) impacts of ARkStorm, a severe winter storm scenario developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and partners, is estimated. BI stems from losses of building function, productivity of agricultural land, and lifeline services. A dynamic computable general equilibrium model of the California economy is developed to perform...
If Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus is “the most diverse vertebrate,” what is the lake charr Salvelinus namaycush?
Andrew M. Muir, Michael J. Hansen, Charles R. Bronte, Charles C. Krueger
2016, Fish and Fisheries (17) 1194-1207
Teleost fishes are prominent vertebrate models of evolution, illustrated among old-world radiations by the Cichlidae of East African Great Lakes and new-world radiations by the circumpolar Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus. Herein, we describe variation in lake charr S. namaycush morphology, life history, physiology, and ecology, as another example of radiation....
Linking biophysical models and public preferences for ecosystem service assessments: a case study for the Southern Rocky Mountains
Kenneth J. Bagstad, James Reed, Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse, Austin Troy
2016, Regional Environmental Change (16) 2005-2018
Through extensive research, ecosystem services have been mapped using both survey-based and biophysical approaches, but comparative mapping of public values and those quantified using models has been lacking. In this paper, we mapped hot and cold spots for perceived and modeled ecosystem services by synthesizing results from a social-values mapping...
Arsenic cycling in hydrocarbon plumes: secondary effects of natural attenuation
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Madeline E. Schreiber, Melinda L. Erickson, Brady A. Ziegler
2016, Groundwater Monitoring & Remediation (54) 35-45
Monitored natural attenuation is widely applied as a remediation strategy at hydrocarbon spill sites. Natural attenuation relies on biodegradation of hydrocarbons coupled with reduction of electron acceptors, including solid phase ferric iron (Fe(III)). Because arsenic (As) adsorbs to Fe-hydroxides, a potential secondary effect of natural attenuation of hydrocarbons coupled with...
Process, policy, and implementation of pool-wide drawdowns on the Upper Mississippi River: a promising approach for ecological restoration of large impounded rivers
Kevin P. Kenow, Gretchen Benjamin, Tim Schlagenhaft, Ruth Nissen, Mary Stefanski, Gary Wege, Scott A. Jutila, Teresa J. Newton
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 295-308
The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has been developed and subsequently managed for commercial navigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The navigation pools created by a series of lock and dams initially provided a complex of aquatic habitats that supported a variety of fish and wildlife. However, biological...
Survival, growth, and movement of subadult humpback chub, Gila cypha, in the Little Colorado River, Arizona
Maria C. Dzul, Charles B. Yackulic, Dennis M. Stone, David R. Van Haverbeke
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 373-382
Ecologists estimate vital rates, such as growth and survival, to better understand population dynamics and identify sensitive life history parameters for species or populations of concern. Here, we assess spatiotemporal variation in growth, movement, density, and survival of subadult humpback chub living in the Little Colorado River, Grand Canyon, AZ...
Urban sprawl as a risk factor in motor vehicle crashes
Reid Ewing, Shima Hamidi, James B. Grace
2016, Urban Studies (53) 247-266
A decade ago, compactness/sprawl indices were developed for metropolitan areas and counties which have been widely used in health and other research. In this study, we first update the original county index to 2010, then develop a refined index that accounts for more relevant factors, and finally seek to test...
Aptian ‘Shale Gas’ Prospectivity in the Downdip Mississippi Interior Salt Basin, Gulf Coast, USA
Paul C. Hackley, Brett J. Valentine, Catherine B. Enomoto, Celeste D. Lohr, Krystina R. Scott, Frank T. Dulong, Alana M. Bove
2016, Conference Paper, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference Proceedings
This study evaluates regional ‘shale gas’ prospectivity of the Aptian section (primarily Pine Island Shale) in the downdip Mississippi Salt Basin (MSB). Previous work by the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean undiscovered gas resource of 8.8 trillion cubic feet (TCF) in the chronostratigraphic-equivalent Pearsall Formation in the Maverick Basin...
Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. are broadly susceptible to isolates representing the North American genogroups of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus
Gael Kurath, James R. Winton, Ole B. Dale, Maureen K. Purcell, Knut Falk, Robert D. Busch
2016, Journal of Fish Diseases (39) 55-67
Beginning in 1992, three epidemic waves of infectious hematopoietic necrosis, often with high mortality, occurred in farmed Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. on the west coast of North America. We compared the virulence of eleven strains of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), representing the U, M and L genogroups, in experimental challenges...
Natural flow regimes of the Ozark-Ouachita Interior Highlands region
Douglas R. Leasure, Daniel D. Magoulick, S. D. Longing
2016, River Research and Applications (32) 18-35
Natural flow regimes represent the hydrologic conditions to which native aquatic organisms are best adapted. We completed a regional river classification and quantitative descriptions of each natural flow regime for the Ozark–Ouachita Interior Highlands region of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. On the basis of daily flow records from 64 reference...
Behavioural thermoregulation and bioenergetics of riverine smallmouth bass associated with ambient cold-period thermal refuge
Jacob T. Westhoff, Craig P. Paukert, Sarah Ettinger-Dietzel, H.R. Dodd, Michael Siepker
2016, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (25) 72-85
Smallmouth bass in thermally heterogeneous streams may behaviourally thermoregulate during the cold period (i.e., groundwater temperature greater than river water temperature) by inhabiting warm areas in the stream that result from high groundwater influence or springs. Our objectives were to determine movement of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) that use thermal...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Hawaii
William J. Carswell Jr.
2016, Fact Sheet 2014-3079
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Hawaii, elevation data are critical for infrastructure and construction management, flood risk management, geologic resource assessment and hazard mitigation, natural resources conservation,...
A hierarchical community occurrence model for North Carolina stream fish
S.R. Midway, Tyler Wagner, B.H. Tracy
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1348-1357
The southeastern USA is home to one of the richest—and most imperiled and threatened—freshwater fish assemblages in North America. For many of these rare and threatened species, conservation efforts are often limited by a lack of data. Drawing on a unique and extensive data set spanning over 20 years, we modeled...
Bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin for marine geological investigations
Brian D. Andrews, Jason D. Chaytor, Uri S. ten Brink, Daniel S. Brothers, James V. Gardner, Elizabeth A. Lobecker, Brian R. Calder
2016, Open-File Report 2012-1266
A bathymetric terrain model of the Atlantic margin covering almost 725,000 square kilometers of seafloor from the New England Seamounts in the north to the Blake Basin in the south is compiled from existing multibeam bathymetric data for marine geological investigations. Although other terrain models of the same area are...
Detecting temporal change in freshwater fisheries surveys: statistical power and the important linkages between management questions and monitoring objectives
Tyler Wagner, Brian J. Irwin, James R. Bence, Daniel B. Hayes
2016, Fisheries (38) 309-319
Monitoring to detect temporal trends in biological and habitat indices is a critical component of fisheries management. Thus, it is important that management objectives are linked to monitoring objectives. This linkage requires a definition of what constitutes a management-relevant “temporal trend.” It is also important to develop expectations for the...
