Variability of intertidal foraminferal assemblages in a salt marsh, Oregon, USA
Yvonne Milker, Benjamin P. Horton, Alan R. Nelson, Simon E. Engelhart, Robert C. Witter
2015, Marine Micropaleontology (118) 1-16
We studied 18 sampling stations along a transect to investigate the similarity between live (rose Bengal stained) foraminiferal populations and dead assemblages, their small-scale spatial variations and the distribution of infaunal foraminifera in a salt marsh (Toms Creek marsh) at the upper end of the South Slough arm of the...
Groundwater quality in the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau, California
Miranda S. Fram, Jennifer L. Shelton
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3123
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access to...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau study unit, 2010: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Miranda S. Fram, Jennifer L. Shelton
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5238
Groundwater quality in the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau study unit was investigated as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide a statistically unbiased assessment of untreated groundwater quality in the primary...
An evaluation of the efficiency of minnow traps for estimating the abundance of minnows in desert spring systems
James T. Peterson, Paul D. Scheerer, Shaun Clements
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 491-502
Desert springs are sensitive aquatic ecosystems that pose unique challenges to natural resource managers and researchers. Among the most important of these is the need to accurately quantify population parameters for resident fish, particularly when the species are of special conservation concern. We evaluated the efficiency of baited minnow traps...
The effects of geomorphic changes during Hurricane Sandy on water levels in Great South Bay
Maarten van Ormondt, Cheryl Hapke, Dano Roelvink, Timothy R. Nelson
2015, Conference Paper, The proceedings of the coastal sediments 2015
Hurricane Sandy caused record coastal flooding along the south shore of Long Island, NY, and led to significant geomorphic changes. These included severe dune erosion along the length of Fire Island and the formation of the Wilderness Breach. This study attempts to use numerical models to quantify how these changes...
Enhancing evaluation of post-storm morphologic response using aerial orthoimagery from Hurricane Sandy
Jacquelyn Rose Smith, Joseph W. Long, Hilary F. Stockdon, Justin J. Birchler
2015, Conference Paper, The Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2015
Improved identification of morphological responses to storms is necessary for developing and maintaining predictive models of coastal change. Morphological responses to Hurricane Sandy were measured using lidar and orthophotos taken before and after the storm. Changes to dune features measured from lidar were compared to the occurrence of overwash deposits...
Quantifying the geomorphic resiliency of barrier island beaches
Cheryl J. Hapke, Owen T. Brenner, Rachel E. Henderson
2015, Conference Paper, The proceedings of the coastal sediments 2015
Hurricane Sandy had an extensive impact on the beaches along the Atlantic coast. To quantify beach recovery, and examine alongshore variations in coastal resiliency, we develop a morphometric within the upper portion of the beach that is based on observed historical storm response at Fire Island, NY. The beach change...
Projection of wave conditions in response to climate change: A community approach to global and regional wave downscaling
Li H. Erikson, M. Hemer, Piero Lionello, Fernando J. Mendez, Nobuhito Mori, Alvaro Semedo, Xiaolan Wang, Judith Wolf
2015, Conference Paper
Future changes in wind-wave climate have broad implications for coastal geomorphology and management. General circulation models (GCM) are now routinely used for assessing climatological parameters, but generally do not provide parameterizations of ocean wind-waves. To fill this information gap, a growing number of studies use GCM outputs to independently downscale...
Behavior of the Hawaiian Hawaiian Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) at wind turbines and its distribution across the North Ko'olau Mountains, O'ahu
P. M. Gorresen, Paul M. Cryan, Manuela M.P. Huso, Cris D. Hein, Michael Schirmacher, Jessica H. Johnson, Kristina Montoya-Aiona, Kevin W. Brinck, Frank Bonaccorso
2015, Technical Report HCSU-064
We studied the landscape distribution of endemic Hawaiian hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) on the north Ko‘olau Mountains of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, from May 2013 to May 2014, while simultaneously studying their behavior at wind turbines within the broader landscape. This research aimed to assess the risk that wind turbines pose...
Effects of proposed sediment borrow pits on nearshore wave climate and longshore sediment transport rate along Breton Island, Louisiana
Patricia (Soupy) Dalyander, Rangley C. Mickey, Joseph W. Long, James G. Flocks
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1055
As part of a plan to preserve bird habitat on Breton Island, the southernmost extent of the Chandeleur Islands and part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to increase island elevation with sand supplied from offshore resources. Proposed sand extraction sites include...
Forecasting and evaluating patterns of energy development in southwestern Wyoming
Steven L. Garman
2015, WLCI Fact Sheet 7
The effects of future oil and natural gas development in southwestern Wyoming on wildlife populations are topical to conservation of the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. To aid in understanding these potential effects, the U.S. Geological Survey developed an Energy Footprint simulation model that forecasts the amount and pattern of energy development...
Reducing cross-sectional data using a genetic algorithm method and effects on cross-section geometry and steady-flow profiles
Charles E. Berenbrock
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5034
Reduction of cross-sectional data using a genetic algorithm method, and the effects of data reduction on channel geometry and steady-flow profiles, were analyzed. Two reduction methods─standard and genetic algorithms─were used to reduce cross-sectional data from the Kootenai River in northern Idaho. Cross sections that are representative of meander, straight, braided,...
Evapotranspiration trends over the eastern United States during the 20th century
Ryan J. Kramer, Lahouari Bounoua, Ping Zhang, Robert E. Wolfe, Thomas G. Huntington, Marc L. Imhoff, Kurt Thome, Genevieve L. Noyce
2015, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2) 93-111
Most models evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate change estimate projected increases in temperature and precipitation with rising atmospheric CO2 levels. Researchers have suggested that increases in CO2 and associated increases in temperature and precipitation may stimulate vegetation growth and increase evapotranspiration (ET), which acts as a cooling mechanism, and on...
High-resolution digital elevation model of lower Cowlitz and Toutle Rivers, adjacent to Mount St. Helens, Washington, based on an airborne lidar survey of October 2007
Adam R. Mosbrucker
2015, Data Series 936
The lateral blast, debris avalanche, and lahars of the May 18th, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington, dramatically altered the surrounding landscape. Lava domes were extruded during the subsequent eruptive periods of 1980–1986 and 2004–2008. More than three decades after the emplacement of the 1980 debris avalanche, high sediment...
The Holocene history of the North American Monsoon: 'known knowns' and 'known unknowns' in understanding its spatial and temporal complexity
Sarah E. Metcalfe, John A. Barron, Sarah J. Davies
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (120) 1-27
Evidence for climatic change across the North American Monsoon (NAM) and adjacent areas is reviewed, drawing on continental and marine records and the application of climate models. Patterns of change at 12,000, 9000, 6000 and 4000 cal yr BP are presented to capture the nature of change from the Younger Dryas (YD) and...
Habitat selection and movements of Piping Plover broods suggest a tradeoff between breeding stages
Mark T. Wiltermuth, Michael J. Anteau, Mark H. Sherfy, Aaron T. Pearse
2015, Journal of Ornithology (156) 999-1013
In precocial birds, adults select breeding areas using cues associated with habitat characteristics that are favorable for nesting success and chick survival, but there may be tradeoffs in habitat selection between these breeding stages. Here we describe habitat selection and intra-territory movements of 53 Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) broods...
Identifying multiple timescale rainfall controls on Mojave Desert ecohydrology using an integrated data and modeling approach for Larrea tridentata
Gene-Hua Crystal Ng, David R. Bedford, David M. Miller
2015, Water Resources Research (51)-3884
The perennial shrub Larrea tridentata is widely successful in North American warm deserts but is also susceptible to climatic perturbations. Understanding its response to rainfall variability requires consideration of multiple timescales. We examine intra-annual to multi-year relationships using model simulations of soil moisture and vegetation growth over 50 years in...
Using biotic ligand models to predict metal toxicity in mineralized systems
Kathleen S. Smith, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Andrew S. Todd
2015, Applied Geochemistry (57) 55-72
The biotic ligand model (BLM) is a numerical approach that couples chemical speciation calculations with toxicological information to predict the toxicity of aquatic metals. This approach was proposed as an alternative to expensive toxicological testing, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency incorporated the BLM into the 2007 revised aquatic life...
Field observations of artificial sand and oil agglomerates
Patricia (Soupy) Dalyander, Joseph W. Long, Nathaniel G. Plant, Molly R. McLaughlin, Rangley C. Mickey
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1057
Oil that comes into the surf zone following spills, such as occurred during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) blowout, can mix with local sediment to form heavier-than-water sand and oil agglomerates (SOAs), at times in the form of mats a few centimeters thick and...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri, June 2014
Richard J. Huizinga
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5048
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, in the vicinity of 8 bridges at 7 highway crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri from June 3 to 11, 2014. A multibeam echosounder mapping...
Temperature impacts on the water year 2014 drought in California
Shraddhanand Shukla, Mohammad Safeeq, Amir AghaKouchak, Kaiyu Guan, Christopher C. Funk
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 4384-4393
California is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record. Here we use a hydrological model and risk assessment framework to understand the influence of temperature on the water year (WY) 2014 drought in California and examine the probability that this drought would have been less severe if temperatures resembled...
Analysis of regional rainfall-runoff parameters for the Lake Michigan Diversion hydrological modeling
David T. Soong, Thomas M. Over
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5053
The Lake Michigan Diversion Accounting (LMDA) system has been developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District (USACE-Chicago) and the State of Illinois as a part of the interstate Great Lakes water regulatory program. The diverted Lake Michigan watershed is a 673-square-mile watershed that is comprised of the...
Potential demographic and genetic effects of a sterilant applied to wild horse mares
James E. Roelle, Sara J. Oyler-McCance
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1045
Wild horse populations on western ranges can increase rapidly, resulting in the need for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to remove animals in order to protect the habitat that horses share with numerous other species. As an alternative to removals, BLM has sought to develop a long-term, perhaps even...
Results from laboratory and field testing of nitrate measuring spectrophotometers
Teri T. Snazelle
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1065
Five ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometer nitrate analyzers were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF) during a two-phase evaluation. In Phase I, the TriOS ProPs (10-millimeter (mm) path length), Hach NITRATAX plus sc (5-mm path length), Satlantic Submersible UV Nitrate Analyzer (SUNA, 10-mm path length), and S::CAN...
Evaluation of Xylem EXO water-quality sondes and sensors
Teri T. Snazelle
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1063
Two models of multiparameter sondes manufactured by Xylem, parent company of Yellow Springs Incorporated (YSI)—EXO1 and EXO2—equipped with EXO conductivity/temperature (C/T), pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and turbidity sensors, were evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility. The sondes and sensors were evaluated in two phases for compliance with...
