Evaluation of the expected moments algorithm and a multiple low-outlier test for flood frequency analysis at streamgaging stations in Arizona
Nicholas V. Paretti, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Timothy A. Cohn
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5026
Flooding is among the costliest natural disasters in terms of loss of life and property in Arizona, which is why the accurate estimation of flood frequency and magnitude is crucial for proper structural design and accurate floodplain mapping. Current guidelines for flood frequency analysis in the United States are described...
Wetland Reserve Program enhances site occupancy and species richness in assemblages of anuran amphibians in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA
Susan C. Walls, J. Hardin Waddle, Stephen P. Faulkner
2014, Wetlands (34) 197-207
We measured amphibian habitat use to quantify the effectiveness of conservation practices implemented under the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), an initiative of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. From February to June 2007, we quantified calling male anurans in cultivated cropland, former cultivated cropland restored through the...
Atrazine reduces reproduction in fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas): raw data report
Donald E. Tillitt, Diana M. Papoulias, Jeffrey J. Whyte, Cathy A. Richter
2014, Data Series 805
The herbicide, atrazine, routinely is observed in surface and groundwaters, particularly in the “corn belt” region, a high-use area of the United States. Atrazine has demonstrated effects on reproduction in mammals and amphibians, but the characterization of endocrine-related effects in fish has received only limited attention. Peak concentrations of atrazine...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2012
Miya N. Barr
2014, Data Series 818
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2012 water year (October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012), data were collected at...
Simulation of groundwater flow pathlines and freshwater/saltwater transition zone movement, Manhasset Neck, Nassau County, New York
Paul Misut, Omkar Aphale
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5201
A density-dependent groundwater flow and solute transport model of Manhasset Neck, Long Island, New York, was used to analyze (1) the effects of seasonal stress on the position of the freshwater/saltwater transition zone and (2) groundwater flowpaths. The following were used in the simulation: 182 transient stress periods, representing the...
Digital surfaces and thicknesses of selected hydrogeologic units within the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system, northwestern Arkansas
John B. Czarnecki, Susan E. Bolyard, Rheannon M. Hart, Jimmy M. Clark
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5208
Digital surfaces and thicknesses of nine hydrogeologic units of the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system from land surface to the top of the Gunter Sandstone in northwestern Arkansas were created using geophysical logs, drillers’ logs, geologist-interpreted formation tops, and previously published maps. The 6,040 square mile study area in the Ozark...
Geophysical logging of bedrock wells for geothermal gradient characterization in New Hampshire, 2013
James R. Degnan, Gregory Barker, Neil Olson, Leland Wilder
2014, Data Series 823
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Hampshire Geological Survey, measured the fluid temperature of groundwater and other geophysical properties in 10 bedrock wells in the State of New Hampshire in order to characterize geothermal gradients in bedrock. The wells selected for the study were deep (five ranging...
The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: A modern perspective and enduring legacies
Thomas M. Brocher, John R. Filson, Gary S. Fuis, Peter J. Haeussler, Thomas L. Holzer, George Plafker, J. Luke Blair
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3018
The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake that struck south-central Alaska at 5:36 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 1964, is the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history and the second-largest earthquake recorded with modern instruments. The earthquake was felt throughout most of mainland Alaska, as far west as Dutch Harbor in...
Passage and survival probabilities of juvenile Chinook salmon at Cougar Dam, Oregon, 2012
John W. Beeman, Scott D. Evans, Philip V. Haner, Hal C. Hansel, Amy C. Hansen, Collin D. Smith, Jamie M. Sprando
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1038
This report describes studies of juvenile-salmon dam passage and apparent survival at Cougar Dam, Oregon, during two operating conditions in 2012. Cougar Dam is a 158-meter tall rock-fill dam used primarily for flood control, and passes water through a temperature control tower to either a powerhouse penstock or to a...
Contaminants of emerging concern in the lower Stillaguamish River Basin, Washington, 2008-11
Richard J. Wagner, Patrick W. Moran, Steven D. Zaugg, Jennifer M. Sevigny, Judy M. Pope
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1028
A series of discrete water-quality samples were collected in the lower Stillaguamish River Basin near the city of Arlington, Washington, through a partnership with the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians. These samples included surface waters of the Stillaguamish River, adjacent tributary streams, and paired inflow and outflow sampling at three wastewater...
Sex in the Suwannee, the secretive love life of Gulf Sturgeons
Kenneth J. Sulak
2014, American Currents (39) 22-24
Mid-February in the Gulf of Mexico and a timeless ritual is about to repeat itself for perhaps the millionth time. Some mysterious signal, possibly increasing day length, flips an internal switch, feeding stops, and the homeward migration begins for the Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi). From far flung places along...
Estimating movement and survival rates of a small saltwater fish using autonomous antenna receiver arrays and passive integrated transponder tags
Paul J. Rudershausen, Jeffery A. Buckel, Todd Dubreuil, Matthew J. O’Donnell, Joseph E. Hightower, Steven J. Poland, Benjamin H. Letcher
2014, Marine Ecology Progress Series (499) 177-192
We evaluated the performance of small (12.5 mm long) passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and custom detection antennas for obtaining fine-scale movement and demographic data of mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus in a salt marsh creek. Apparent survival and detection probability were estimated using a Cormack Jolly Seber (CJS) model fitted to...
Significance of carbon dioxide density estimates for basin-scale storage resource assessments
Marc L. Buursink
2014, Energy Procedia (63) 5130-5140
The geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage resource size is a function of the density of CO2 in the subsurface. The pressure and temperature of the storage reservoir at depth affect the CO2 density. Therefore, knowing these subsurface conditions allows for improved resource estimates of potential geologic CO2 storage capacity. In 2012, the U.S....
Occurrence and origin of Escherichia coli in water and sediments at two public swimming beaches at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Camden County, Missouri, 2011-13
Jordan L. Wilson, John G. Schumacher, Joel G. Burken
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5005
In the past several years, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has closed two popular public beaches, Grand Glaize Beach and Public Beach 1, at Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Osage Beach, Missouri when monitoring results exceeded the established Escherichia coli (E. coli) standard. As a result of...
Using cure models for analyzing the influence of pathogens on salmon survival
Adam R Ray, Russell W. Perry, Nicholas A. Som, Jerri L Bartholomew
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 387-398
Parasites and pathogens influence the size and stability of wildlife populations, yet many population models ignore the population-level effects of pathogens. Standard survival analysis methods (e.g., accelerated failure time models) are used to assess how survival rates are influenced by disease. However, they assume that each individual is equally susceptible...
A methodology for assessing the impact of sea level rise on representative military installations in the Southwestern United States (RC-1703)
Bart Chadwick, Pei F. Wang, Marissa Brand, Reinhard Flick, Adam Young, William O’Reilly, Peter Bromirski, Walter Crampton, Robert Gruza, John Helly
2014, Report
The objective of the project was to develop an analysis framework and methodologies for evaluation of coastal military installation vulnerabilities and test them under prescribed scenarios of increased local mean sea level over the next century. Methodologies were developed to assess the potential scope and magnitude of impacts from physical effects of...
A 200 year chronology of burrowing mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) in Saginaw Bay
Donald W. Schloesser, John A. Robbins, Gerald Matisoff, Thomas F. Nalepa, Nancy R. Morehead
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40) 80-91
After an absence of 50 years, burrowing mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) colonized western Lake Erie which led to interest in whether this fauna can be used to measure recovery in nearshore waters throughout the Great Lakes. However, in many areas we do not know if mayflies were native/endemic and thus, whether...
Analysis of the present and future winter Pacific-North American teleconnection in the ECHAM5 global and RegCM3 regional climate models
Andrea M. Allan, Steven W. Hostetler, Jay R. Alder
2014, Climate Dynamics (42) 1671-1682
We use the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NCEP) and the MPI/ECHAM5 general circulation model to drive the RegCM3 regional climate model to assess the ability of the models to reproduce the spatiotemporal aspects of the Pacific-North American teleconnection (PNA) pattern. Composite anomalies of the NCEP-driven RegCM3 simulations for 1982–2000 indicate that the...
Risks of avian influenza transmission in areas of intensive free-ranging duck production with wild waterfowl
Julien Cappelle, Delong Zhao, Marius Gilbert, Scott H. Newman, John Y. Takekawa, Nicolas Gaidet, Diann J. Prosser, Ying Liu, Peng Li, Yuelong Shu, Xiangming Xiao
2014, EcoHealth (11) 109-119
For decades, southern China has been considered to be an important source for emerging influenza viruses since key hosts live together in high densities in areas with intensive agriculture. However, the underlying conditions of emergence and spread of avian influenza viruses (AIV) have not been studied in detail, particularly the...
Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (PaCSEA): aerial seabird and marine mammal surveys off northern California, Oregon, and Washington, 2011-2012
Josh Adams, Jonathan J. Felis, John W. Mason, John Y. Takekawa
2014, BOEM 2014-003
Marine birds and mammals comprise an important community of meso- and upper-trophic-level predators within the northern California Current System (NCCS). The NCCS is located within one of the world’s four major eastern boundary currents and is characterized by an abundant and diverse marine ecosystem fuelled seasonally by wind-driven upwelling which...
Social-ecological resilience and law
Ahjond S. Garmestani, Craig R. Allen, editor(s)
2014, Book
Environmental law envisions ecological systems as existing in an equilibrium state, reinforcing a rigid legal framework unable to absorb rapid environmental changes and innovations in sustainability. For the past four decades, “resilience theory,” which embraces uncertainty and nonlinear dynamics in complex adaptive systems, has provided a robust, invaluable foundation for...
Habitat use by subyearling Chinook and coho salmon in Lake Ontario tributaries
James H. Johnson
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40) 149-154
The habitat use of subyearling Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) was examined in three tributaries of Lake Ontario. A total of 1781 habitat observations were made on Chinook salmon (698) and coho salmon (1083). During both spring and fall, subyearling coho salmon used pool habitat with...
Sampling trace organic compounds in water: a comparison of a continuous active sampler to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods
Alissa L. Coes, Nicholas V. Paretti, William T. Foreman, Jana L. Iverson, David A. Alvarez
2014, Science of the Total Environment (473-474) 731-741
A continuous active sampling method was compared to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods for the sampling of trace organic compounds (TOCs) in water. Results from each method are compared and contrasted in order to provide information for future investigators to use while selecting appropriate sampling methods for their research....
Monitoring Hawaiian waterbirds: evaluation of sampling methods to produce reliable estimates
Richard J. Camp, Kevin W. Brinck, Eben H. Paxton, Christina Leopold
2014, Report, Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report
We conducted field trials to assess several different methods of estimating the abundance of four endangered Hawaiian waterbirds: the Hawaiian duck (Anas wyvilliana), Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai), Hawaiian common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis) and Hawaiian stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni). At two sites on Oʽahu, James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge and...
Dynamic hyporheic exchange at intermediate timescales: testing the relative importance of evapotranspiration and flood pulses
Laurel G. Larsen, Judson W. Harvey, Morgan M. Maglio
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 318-335
Hyporheic fluxes influence ecological processes across a continuum of timescales. However, few studies have been able to characterize hyporheic fluxes and residence time distributions (RTDs) over timescales of days to years, during which evapotranspiration (ET) and seasonal flood pulses create unsteady forcing. Here we present a data-driven, particle-tracking piston model...
