Defining ecological and economical hydropoweroperations: a framework for managing dam releasesto meet multiple conflicting objectives
Elise R. Irwin
2014, Journal of Energy Challenges and Mechanics (1) 139-146
Hydroelectric dams are a flexible source of power, provide flood control, and contribute to the economic growth of local communities through real-estate and recreation. Yet the impoundment of rivers can alter and fragment miles of critical riverine habitat needed for other competing needs such as downstream consumptive water use, fish...
Carcass analog provides marine subsidies for macroinvertebrates and juvenile Atlantic 8 salmon in temperate oligotrophic streams
Margaret Q. Guyette, Cynthia S. Loftin, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Richard Cunjak
2014, Freshwater Biology (59) 392-406
Anadromous fish populations entering freshwater ecosystems provide organic matter and marine-derived nutrients during spawning and subsequent mortalities of adults. Dams and other impediments to connectivity in rivers and streams have affected anadromous fish populations in many regions and prevented or reduced this influx of organic materials and...
Molecular signature of organic nitrogen in septic-impacted groundwater
William A. Arnold, Krista Longnecker, Kevin D. Kroeger, Elizabeth B. Kujawinski
2014, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (16) 2400-2407
Dissolved inorganic and organic nitrogen levels are elevated in aquatic systems due to anthropogenic activities. Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) arises from various sources, and its impact could be more clearly constrained if specific sources were identified and if the molecular-level composition of DON were better understood. In this work, the...
Studying seafloor bedforms using autonomous stationary imaging and profiling sonars
Ellyn T. Montgomery, Christopher R. Sherwood
2014, Conference Paper, OCEANS 2013: Proceedings of a meeting held 23-27 September 2013, San Diego, California, USA
The Sediment Transport Group at the U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center uses downward looking sonars deployed on seafloor tripods to assess and measure the formation and migration of bedforms. The sonars have been used in three resolution-testing experiments, and deployed autonomously to observe changes in...
The impact of climate and reservoirs on longitudinal riverine carbon fluxes from two major watersheds in the Central and Intermontane West
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Edward G. Stets, Robert G. Striegl
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (119) 848-863
A nested sampling network on the Colorado (CR) and Missouri Rivers (MR) provided data to assess impacts of large-scale reservoir systems and climate on carbon export. The Load Estimator (LOADEST) model was used to estimate both dissolved inorganic and organic carbon (DIC and DOC) fluxes for a total of 22...
USGS reservoir and lake gage network: Elevation and volumetric contents data, and their uses
Anita C. Kroska
2014, Lakeline (Spring 2014) 8-12
In December of 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) marked the 125th anniversary of the installation of its first official water level and streamflow gage, on the Rio Grande at Embudo, New Mexico. The gage was installed because it was recognized that water data were important to expanding irrigation needs....
Adult survival, apparent lamb survival, and body condition of desert bighorn sheep in relation to habitat and precipitation on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona
Matthew Overstreet, Colleen A. Caldwell, James W. Cain III
2014, Cooperator Science Series 109-2014
The decline of desert bighorn sheep on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) beginning in 2003 stimulated efforts to determine the factors limiting survival and recruitment. We 1) determined pregnancy rates, body fat, and estimated survival rates of adults and lambs; 2) investigated the relationship between precipitation, forage conditions, previous...
Statistical assessment on a combined analysis of GRYN-ROMN-UCBN upland vegetation vital signs
Kathryn M. Irvine, Thomas J. Rodhouse
2014, Natural Resource Report NPS/UCBN/NRR—2014/855
As of 2013, Rocky Mountain and Upper Columbia Basin Inventory and Monitoring Networks have multiple years of vegetation data and Greater Yellowstone Network has three years of vegetation data and monitoring is ongoing in all three networks. Our primary objective is to assess whether a combined analysis of these data...
Potentiometric surface and water-level difference maps of selected confined aquifers in Southern Maryland and Maryland’s Eastern Shore, 1975-2013
Andrew W. Staley, David C. Andreasen, Stephen E. Curtin
2014, Open-File Report 14-02-02
Groundwater is the principal source of freshwater supply in most of Southern Maryland and Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It is also the source of freshwater supply used in the operation of the Calvert Cliffs, Chalk Point, and Morgantown power plants. Increased groundwater withdrawals over the last several decades have caused groundwater...
Growth and smolting in lower-mode Atlantic Salmon stocked into the Penobscot River, Maine
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Andrew O’Malley, Oliver Cox, Peter Ruksznis, Joan G. Trial
2014, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (34) 147-158
Restoration of Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar in Maine has relied on hatchery-produced fry and smolts for critical stocking strategies. Stocking fry minimizes domestication selection, but these fish have poor survival. Conversely, stocked smolts have little freshwater experience but provide higher adult returns. Lower-mode (LM) fish, those not growing fast enough to ensure...
A method and example of seismically imaging near‐surface fault zones in geologically complex areas using Vp, Vs, and their ratios
Rufus D. Catchings, Michael J. Rymer, Mark R. Goldman, Robert R. Sickler, Coyn J. Criley
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 1989-2006
The determination of near‐surface (vadose zone and slightly below) fault locations and geometries is important because assessment of ground rupture, strong shaking, geologic slip rates, and rupture histories occurs at shallow depths. However, seismic imaging of fault zones at shallow depths can be difficult due to near‐surface complexities, such as...
Plenary: Progress in Regional Landslide Hazard Assessment—Examples from the USA
Rex L. Baum, William H. Schulz, Dianne L. Brien, William J. Burns, Mark E. Reid, Jonathan W. Godt
2014, Conference Paper, Landslide science for a safer geoenvironment
Landslide hazard assessment at local and regional scales contributes to mitigation of landslides in developing and densely populated areas by providing information for (1) land development and redevelopment plans and regulations, (2) emergency preparedness plans, and (3) economic analysis to (a) set priorities for engineered mitigation projects and (b) define...
Using lead isotopes and trace element records from two contrasting Lake Tanganyika sediment cores to assess watershed – Lake exchange
Kingsley Odigie, A.D. Cohen, Peter W. Swarzenski, R Flegal
2014, Applied Geochemistry (51) 184-190
Lead isotopic and trace element records of two contrasting sediment cores were examined to reconstruct historic, industrial contaminant inputs to Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Observed fluxes of Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in age-dated sediments collected from the lake varied both spatially and temporally over the past two to...
Integrating recent land cover mapping efforts to update the National Gap Analysis Program's species habitat map
Alexa McKerrow, A. Davidson, Todd Earnhardt, Abigail L. Benson
Charles Toth, Thomas Holm, Boris Jutz, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings: ISPRS Technical Commission I Symposium (Volume XL-1)
Over the past decade, great progress has been made to develop national extent land cover mapping products to address natural resource issues. One of the core products of the GAP Program is range-wide species distribution models for nearly 2000 terrestrial vertebrate species in the U.S. We rely on deductive modeling...
Estimating structural collapse fragility of generic building typologies using expert judgment
Kishor S. Jaiswal, D.J. Wald, D. Perkins, W. P. Aspinall, Anne S. Kiremidjian
George Deodatis, Bruce R. Ellingwood, Dan M. Frangopol, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Safety, reliability, risk, and life-cycle performance of structures and infrastructures
The structured expert elicitation process proposed by Cooke (1991), hereafter referred to as Cooke’s approach, is applied for the first time in the realm of structural collapse-fragility assessment for selected generic construction types. Cooke’s approach works on the principle of objective calibration scoring of judgments coupled with hypothesis testing used...
Well log and 2D seismic data character of the Wilcox Group in south-central Louisiana
Catherine B. Enomoto
2014, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions (64) 105-118
Well logs and 2D seismic data were used to interpret the depth and morphology of potential Paleocene and lower Eocene Wilcox Group slope and basin-floor reservoirs in south-central Louisiana. These may occur in a poorly explored area previously estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to contain a mean undiscovered conventional...
Stable occupancy by breeding hawks (Buteo spp.) over 25 years on a privately managed bunchgrass prairie in northeastern Oregon, USA
Patricia L. Kennedy, Anne M. Bartuszevige, Marcy Houle, Ann B. Humphrey, Katie M. Dugger, John Williams
2014, The Condor (116) 435-445
Potential for large prairie remnants to provide habitat for grassland-obligate wildlife may be compromised by nonsustainable range-management practices. In 1979–1980, high nesting densities of 3 species of hawks in the genus Buteo—Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis), Red-tailed Hawk (B. jamaicensis), and Swainson's Hawk (B. swainsoni)—were documented on the Zumwalt Prairie and surrounding...
Predicting Impacts of tropical cyclones and sea-Level rise on beach mouse habitat
Q. Chen, Hongqing Wang, Lixia Wang, Robert Tawes, Drew Rollman
2014, Journal of Coastal Research (68) 12-19
Alabama beach mouse (ABM) (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) is an important component of the coastal dune ecosystem along the Gulf of Mexico. Due to habitat loss and degradation, ABM is federally listed as an endangered species. In this study, we examined the impacts of storm surge and wind waves, which are...
Modeling the hydrogeophysical response of lake talik evolution
Burke J. Minsley, Tristan Wellman, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Andre Revil
2014, Conference Paper, SEG Technical Program Expanded Abstracts 2014
Geophysical methods provide valuable information about subsurface permafrost and its relation to dynamic hydrologic systems. Airborne electromagnetic data from interior Alaska are used to map the distribution of permafrost, geological features, surface water, and groundwater. To validate and gain further insight into these field datasets, we also explore the geophysical...
Predicting the spatial extent of liquefaction from geospatial and earthquake specific parameters
Jing Zhu, Laurie G. Baise, Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald, Keith L. Knudsen
George Deodatis, Bruce R. Ellingwood, Dan M. Frangopol, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Safety, reliability, risk and life-cycle performance of structures and infrastructures: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on structural safety and reliability
The spatially extensive damage from the 2010-2011 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake events are a reminder of the need for liquefaction hazard maps for anticipating damage from future earthquakes. Liquefaction hazard mapping as traditionally relied on detailed geologic mapping and expensive site studies. These traditional techniques are difficult to apply globally...
Applying threshold concepts to conservation management of dryland ecosystems: Case studies on the Colorado Plateau
Matthew A. Bowker, Mark E. Miller, Steven L. Garman, Travis Belote
Glenn R. Guntenspergen, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Application of threshold concepts in natural resource decision making
Ecosystems may occupy functionally distinct alternative states, some of which are more or less desirable from a management standpoint. Transitions from state to state are usually associated with a particular trigger or sequence of triggers, such as the addition or subtraction of a disturbance. Transitions are often not linear, rather...
Thermodynamic properties for arsenic minerals and aqueous species
D. Kirk Nordstrom, Juraj Majzlan, Erich Konigsberger
Robert J. Bowell, Charles N. Alpers, Heather E. Jamieson, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Juraj Majzlan, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Arsenic: Environmental geochemistry, mineralogy, and microbiology (Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry no. 79)
Quantitative geochemical calculations are not possible without thermodynamic databases and considerable advances in the quantity and quality of these databases have been made since the early days of Lewis and Randall (1923), Latimer (1952), and Rossini et al. (1952). Oelkers et al. (2009) wrote, “The creation...
Width and dip of the southern San Andreas Fault at Salt Creek from modeling of geophysical data
Victoria E. Langenheim, Noah D. Athens, Daniel S. Scheirer, Gary S. Fuis, Michael J. Rymer, Mark R. Goldman
Robert E. Reynolds, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Not a drop left to drink
We investigate the geometry and width of the southernmost stretch of the San Andreas Fault zone using new gravity and magnetic data along line 7 of the Salton Seismic Imaging Project. In the Salt Creek area of Durmid Hill, the San Andreas Fault coincides with a complex magnetic signature, with...
Normative standards for land use in Vermont: Implications for biodiversity
Charles A. Bettigole, Therese M. Donovan, Robert Manning, John Austin
2014, Biological Conservation (169) 392-400
The conversion of natural lands to developed uses poses a great threat to global terrestrial biodiversity. Natural resource managers, tasked with managing wildlife as a public trust, require techniques for predicting how much and where wildlife habitat is likely to be converted in the future. Here, we develop a methodology to estimate the “social carrying...
Identifying non-point sources of endocrine active compounds and their biological impacts in freshwater lakes
Beth H. Baker, Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Mark L. Ferrey, Larry B. Barber, Jeffrey H. Writer, Donald O. Rosenberry, Richard L. Kiesling, James R. Lundy, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
2014, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (67) 374-388
Contaminants of emerging concern, particularly endocrine active compounds (EACs), have been identified as a threat to aquatic wildlife. However, little is known about the impact of EACs on lakes through groundwater from onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). This study aims to identify specific contributions of OWTS to Sullivan Lake, Minnesota,...
