Insights for empirically modeling evapotranspiration influenced by riparian and upland vegetation in semiarid regions
Daniel P. Bunting, Shirley A. Kurc, Edward P. Glenn, Pamela L. Nagler, Russell L. Scott
2014, Journal of Arid Environments (111) 42-52
Water resource managers aim to ensure long-term water supplies for increasing human populations. Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key component of the water balance and accurate estimates are important to quantify safe allocations to humans while supporting environmental needs. Scaling up ET measurements from small spatial scales has been problematic due...
Indicators of the statuses of amphibian populations and their potential for exposure to atrazine in four midwestern U.S. conservation areas
Walter Sadinski, Mark Roth, Tyrone Hayes, Perry Jones, Alisa Gallant
2014, PLoS ONE (9)
Extensive corn production in the midwestern United States has physically eliminated or fragmented vast areas of historical amphibian habitat. Midwestern corn farmers also apply large quantities of fertilizers and herbicides, which can cause direct and indirect effects on amphibians. Limited field research regarding the statuses of midwestern amphibian populations near...
Integrated hydrologic model of Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, California
Randall T. Hanson, Wolfgang Schmid, Claudia C. Faunt, Jonathan Lear, Brian Lockwood
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5111
Increasing population, agricultural development (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are placing increasingly larger demands on available groundwater resources in the Pajaro Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This study provided a refined conceptual model, geohydrologic framework, and integrated hydrologic model of...
Interpreting the paleozoogeography and sea level history of thermally anomalous marine terrace faunas: A case study from the the last interglacial complex of San Clemente Island, California
Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, R. Randall Schumann
2014, Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist (7) 82-108
Marine invertebrate faunas with mixtures of extralimital southern and extralimital northern faunal elements, called thermally anomalous faunas, have been recognized for more than a century in the Quaternary marine terrace record of the Pacific Coast of North America. Although many mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, no single...
USGS ecosystem research for the next decade: advancing discovery and application in parks and protected areas through collaboration
Charles van Riper III, James D. Nichols, G. Lynn Wingard, Jeffrey L. Kershner, James E. Cloern, Robert B. Jacobson, Robin P. White, Anthony D. McGuire, Byron K. Williams, Guy Gelfenbaum, Carl D. Shapiro
2014, The George Wright Forum (31)
Ecosystems within parks and protected areas in the United States and throughout the world are being transformed at an unprecedented rate. Changes associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, food, land, energy and mineral resources are placing urgency on sound decision making that will help...
Toxicity of smelter slag-contaminated sediments from Upper Lake Roosevelt and associated metals to early life stage White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836)
E. E. Little, R.D. Calfee, G. Linder
2014, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (30) 1497-1507
The toxicity of five smelter slag-contaminated sediments from the upper Columbia River and metals associated with those slags (cadmium, copper, zinc) was evaluated in 96-h exposures of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus Richardson, 1836) at 8 and 30 days post-hatch. Leachates prepared from slag-contaminated sediments were evaluated for toxicity. Leachates yielded...
Two decision-support tools for assessing the potential effects of energy development on hydrologic resources as part of the Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area interactive energy atlas
Joshua I. Linard, Anne Marie Matherne, Kenneth J. Leib, Natasha B. Carr, James E. Diffendorfer, Sarah J. Hawkins, Natalie Latysh, Drew A. Ignizio, Nils C. Babel
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1158
The U.S. Geological Survey project—Energy and Environment in the Rocky Mountain Area (EERMA)—has developed a set of virtual tools in the form of an online interactive energy atlas for Colorado and New Mexico to facilitate access to geospatial data related to energy resources, energy infrastructure, and natural resources that may...
Structure and vulnerability of Pacific Northwest tidal wetlands – A summary of wetland climate change research by the Western Ecology Division, U.S. EPA
Christina L Folger, Henry Lee II, Christopher N. Janousek, Deborah A. Reusser
2014, Report
Climate change poses a serious threat to the tidal wetlands of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region of the U.S. In response to this threat, scientists at the Western Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA at and the Western Fisheries Research Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with other partners,...
Decision analysis of mitigation and remediation of sedimentation within large wetland systems: a case study using Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
Max Post van der Burg, Karen E. Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Josh D. Eash, Gregory A. Knutsen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1180
Sedimentation has been identified as an important stressor across a range of wetland systems. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the responsibility of maintaining wetlands within its National Wildlife Refuge System for use by migratory waterbirds and other wildlife. Many of these wetlands could be negatively affected by accelerated...
A synopsis of short-term response to alternative restoration treatments in sagebrush-steppe: the SageSTEP project
James McIver, Mark Brunson, Steve Bunting, Jeanne Chambers, Paul Doescher, James Grace, April Hulet, Dale Johnson, Steven T. Knick, Richard Miller, Mike Pellant, Fred Pierson, David Pyke, Benjamin Rau, Kim Rollins, Bruce Roundy, Eugene Schupp, Robin Tausch, Jason Williams
2014, Rangeland Ecology and Management (67) 584-598
The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) is an integrated long-term study that evaluates ecological effects of alternative treatments designed to reduce woody fuels and to stimulate the herbaceous understory of sagebrush steppe communities of the Intermountain West. This synopsis summarizes results through 3 yr posttreatment. Woody vegetation reduction by...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Illinois
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3086
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 Illinois, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, water supply and quality, infrastructure and construction management, agriculture and precision farming, and...
Pesticides in U.S. streams and rivers: occurrence and trends during 1992-2011
Wesley W. Stone, Robert J. Gilliom, Karen R. Ryberg
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 11025-11030
During the 20 years from 1992 to 2011, pesticides were found at concentrations that exceeded aquatic-life benchmarks in many rivers and streams that drain agricultural, urban, and mixed-land use watersheds. Overall, the proportions of assessed streams with one or more pesticides that exceeded an aquatic-life benchmark were very similar between...
Bird migration and avian influenza: a comparison of hydrogen stable isotopes and satellite tracking methods
Eli S. Bridge, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Xiangming Xiao, John Y. Takekawa, Nichola J. Hill, Mat Yamage, Enam Ul Haque, Mohammad Anwarul Islam, Taej Mundkur, Kiraz Erciyas Yavuz, Paul Leader, Connie Y.H. Leung, Bena Smith, Kyle A. Spragens, Kurt J. Vandegrift, Parviez R. Hosseini, Samia Saif, Samiul Mohsanin, Andrea Mikolon, Ausrafal Islam, Acty George, Balachandran Sivananinthaperumal, Peter Daszak, Scott H. Newman
2014, Ecological Indicators (45) 266-273
Satellite-based tracking of migratory waterfowl is an important tool for understanding the potential role of wild birds in the long-distance transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza. However, employing this technique on a continental scale is prohibitively expensive. This study explores the utility of stable isotope ratios in feathers in examining...
Archive of single-beam bathymetry data collected from select areas in Weeks Bay and Weeks Bayou, southwest Louisiana, January 2013
Nancy T. DeWitt, Christopher D. Reich, Christopher G. Smith, Billy J. Reynolds
2014, Data Series 835
A team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, collected 92 line-kilometers of dual-frequency single-beam bathymetry data in the tidal creeks, bayous, and coastal areas near Weeks Bay, southwest Louisiana. Limited bathymetry data exist for these tidally and meteorologically influenced shallow-water estuarine environments....
Annual variation of spawning Cutthroat Trout in a small Western USA stream: A case study with implications for the conservation of potamodromous trout life history diversity
Stephen Bennett, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Brett B. Roper, Phaedra E. Budy
2014, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (34) 1033-1046
Little is known about the variability in the spatial and temporal distribution of spawning potamodromous trout despite decades of research directed at salmonid spawning ecology and the increased awareness that conserving life history diversity should be a focus of management. We monitored a population of fluvial–resident Bonneville Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii...
Model documentation for relations between continuous real-time and discrete water-quality constituents in Indian Creek, Johnson County, Kansas, June 2004 through May 2013
Mandy L. Stone, Jennifer L. Graham
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1170
Johnson County is the fastest growing county in Kansas, with a population of about 560,000 people in 2012. Urban growth and development can have substantial effects on water quality, and streams in Johnson County are affected by nonpoint-source pollutants from stormwater runoff and point-source discharges such as municipal wastewater effluent....
Changing Arctic ecosystems: sea ice decline, permafrost thaw, and benefits for geese
Paul L. Flint, Mary E. Whalen, John M. Pearce
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3088
Through the Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) initiative, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) strives to inform resource management decisions for Arctic Alaska by providing scientific information on current and future ecosystem response to a warming climate. A key area for the USGS CAE initiative has been the Arctic Coastal Plain of...
Effects of suspended sediment concentration and grain size on three optical turbidity sensors
Gustavo Henrique Merten, Paul D. Capel, Jean Minella
2014, Journal of Soils and Sediments (14) 1235-1241
Purpose: Optical turbidity sensors have been successfully used to determine suspended sediment flux in rivers, assuming the relation between the turbidity signal and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) has been appropriately calibrated. Sediment size, shape and colour affect turbidity and are important to incorporate into the calibration process. Materials and methods: This...
Lacustrine responses to decreasing wet mercury deposition rates: results from a case study in northern Minnesota
Mark E. Brigham, Mark B. Sandheinrich, David A. Gay, Ryan P. Maki, David P. Krabbenhoft, James G. Wiener
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 6115-6123
We present a case study comparing metrics of methylmercury (MeHg) contamination for four undeveloped lakes in Voyageurs National Park to wet atmospheric deposition of mercury (Hg), sulfate (SO4–2), and hydrogen ion (H+) in northern Minnesota. Annual wet Hg, SO4–2, and H+ deposition rates at two nearby precipitation monitoring sites indicate...
Waterbird egg mercury concentrations in response to wetland restoration in south San Francisco Bay, California
Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog, Christopher A. Hartman, Trevor C. Watts, Jarred R. Barr
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1189
The conversion of 50–90 percent of 15,100 acres of former salt evaporation ponds to tidal marsh habitat in the south San Francisco Bay, California, is planned as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. This large-scale habitat restoration may change the bioavailability of methylmercury. The South Bay already...
Identifying sources of aeolian mineral dust: Present and past
Daniel R Muhs, Joseph M Prospero, Matthew C Baddock, Thomas E Gill
2014, Book chapter, Mineral dust: A key player in the earth system
Aeolian mineral dust is an important component of the Earth’s environmental systems, playing roles in the planetary radiation balance, as a source of fertilizer for biota in both terrestrial and marine realms and as an archive for understanding atmospheric circulation and paleoclimate in the geologic past. Crucial to understanding all...
A portable freshwater closed-system fish egg incubation system
Jenny L. Sutherland, Bruce A. Manny, Gregory W. Kennedy, Edward F. Roseman, Jeffrey D. Allen, M. Glen Black
2014, North American Journal of Aquaculture (76) 391-398
To identify fish eggs collected in the field to species, a portable closed‐system fish egg incubation system was designed and used to incubate and hatch the eggs in the laboratory. The system is portable, small in scale (2.54 × 1.52 × 2.03 m), and affordable, with the approximate cost of the...
Water-chemistry data collected in and near Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Hawaii, 2012–2014
Fred D. Tillman, Delwyn S. Oki, Adam G. Johnson
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1173
Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (KAHO) on western Hawaiʻi was established in 1978 to preserve, interpret, and perpetuate traditional Native Hawaiian culture and activities, including the preservation of a variety of culturally and ecologically significant water resources that are vital to this mission. KAHO water bodies provide habitat for 1 threatened,...
An overview comparing results from two decades of monitoring for pesticides in the Nation’s streams and rivers, 1992-2001 and 2002-2011
Wesley W. Stone, Robert J. Gilliom, Jeffrey D. Martin
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5154
This report provides an overview of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment program and National Stream Quality Accounting Network findings for pesticide occurrence in U.S. streams and rivers during 2002–11 and compares them to findings for the previous decade (1992–2001). In addition, pesticide stream concentrations were compared to Human...
Pesticide trends in major rivers of the United States, 1992-2010
Karen R. Ryberg, Aldo V. Vecchia, Robert J. Gilliom, Jeffrey D. Martin
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5135
This report is part of a series of pesticide trend assessments led by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. This assessment focuses on major rivers of various sizes throughout the United States that have large watersheds with a range of land uses, changes in pesticide use,...
