Genetic variation reveals influence of landscape connectivity on population dynamics and resiliency of western trout in disturbance-prone habitats
Helen M. Neville, Robert E. Gresswell, Jason B. Dunham
2012, Technical Report RMRS-GTR-290
Salmonid fishes have evolved and persisted in dynamic ecosystems where disturbance events vary in frequency, magnitude, timing, and duration, as well as the specific nature of associated effects (e.g., changes in thermal or flow regimes, geomorphology, or water chemistry). In the western United States, one of the major drivers of...
Basin thickness variations at the Junction of the Eastern California Shear Zone and the San Bernardino Mountains, California: How thick could the Pliocene sections be?
Victoria E. Langenheim, Tammy L. Surko, Phillip A. Armstrong, Jonathan C. Matti
2012, Conference Paper, Searching for the Pliocene: southern exposures, Annual Desert Symposium Proceedings
We estimate the thickness of Neogene basin fill along the junction of the Eastern California Shear Zone and the North Frontal thrust system of the San Bernardino Mountains using gravity data with geologic and well log constraints. The geometry of the basin fill is of interest for groundwater assessment and location of potential...
Distributional changes of American martens and fishers in eastern North America, 1699-2001: Chapter 4
William B. Krohn
2012, Book chapter, Biology and Conservation of Martens, Sables, and Fishers: A New Synthesis
Contractions in the geographic distributions of the American marten ( Martes americana) and fi sher ( M. pennanti) in eastern North America south of the St. Lawrence River between Colonial times (ca. 1650–1800) and the fi sher’s recent range expansion (ca. 1930–present) are well documented, but causal factors in these...
Status and trends of prey fish populations in Lake Michigan, 2012
David B. Bunnell, Charles P. Madenjian, Timothy J. Desorcie, Melissa Jean Kostich, Kelley Smith, Jean V. Adams
2012, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Science Center has conducted lake-wide surveys of the fish community in Lake Michigan each fall since 1973 using standard 12-m bottom trawls towed along contour at depths of 9 to 110 m at each of seven index transects. The resulting data on relative abundance,...
A program for handling map projections of small-scale geospatial raster data
Michael P. Finn, Daniel R. Steinwand, Jason R. Trent, Robert A. Buehler, David M. Mattli, Kristina H. Yamamoto
2012, Cartographic Perspectives (71) 53-67
Scientists routinely accomplish small-scale geospatial modeling using raster datasets of global extent. Such use often requires the projection of global raster datasets onto a map or the reprojection from a given map projection associated with a dataset. The distortion characteristics of these projection transformations can have significant effects on modeling...
Status of pelagic prey fishes in Lake Michigan, 2012
David M. Warner, Timothy P. O’Brien, Steven A. Farha, Randall M. Claramunt, Dale Hanson
2012, Report
Acoustic surveys were conducted in late summer/early fall during the years 1992-1996 and 2001-2012 to estimate pelagic prey fish biomass in Lake Michigan. Midwater trawling during the surveys as well as target strength provided a measure of species and size composition of the fish community for use in scaling acoustic...
Using computational modeling of river flow with remotely sensed data to infer channel bathymetry
Jonathan M. Nelson, Richard R. McDonald, Paul J. Kinzel, Y. Shimizu
2012, Conference Paper, IAHR Riverflow 2012 Conference Proceedings
As part of an ongoing investigation into the use of computational river flow and morphodynamic models for the purpose of correcting and extending remotely sensed river datasets, a simple method for inferring channel bathymetry is developed and discussed. The method is based on an inversion of the equations expressing conservation...
A general theory of multimetric indices and their properties
Donald R. Schoolmaster Jr., James B. Grace, E. William Schweiger
2012, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (3) 773-781
1. Stewardship of biological and ecological resources requires the ability to make integrative assessments of ecological integrity. One of the emerging methods for making such integrative assessments is multimetric indices (MMIs). These indices synthesize data, often from multiple levels of biological organization, with the goal of deriving a single index...
Establishment of sentinel sampling sites to monitor changes in water and sediment quality and biota related to visitor use at Lake Powell, Arizona and Utah, 2004-2006
Robert J. Hart, Howard E. Taylor, G.M. Anderson
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1237
Twenty sentinel sampling sites were established and sampled during 2004–06 at Lake Powell, Arizona and Utah, by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service—Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The sentinel sampling sites provide sampling locations on Lake Powell, the Nation’s second largest reservoir that can be visited and...
Telemetry techniques: A user guide for fisheries research
Noah Adams, John W. Beeman, John H. Eiler, editor(s)
2012, Book
Telemetry provides a powerful and flexible tool for studying fish and other aquatic animals, and its use has become increasingly commonplace. However, telemetry is gear intensive and typically requires more specialized knowledge and training than many other field techniques. As with other scientific methods, collecting good data is dependent on...
Sexual selection and mating chronology of Lesser Prairie-Chickens
Adam C. Behney, Blake A. Grisham, Clint W. Boal, Heather A. Whitlaw, David A. Haukos
2012, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (124) 96-105
Little is known about mate selection and lek dynamics of Lesser Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). We collected data on male territory size and location on leks, behavior, and morphological characteristics and assessed the importance of these variables on male Lesser Prairie-Chicken mating success during spring 2008 and 2009 in the Texas...
Stochastic analyses to identify wellfield withdrawal effects on surface-water and groundwater in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Eric Swain
2012, Journal of Environmental Management (113) 15-21
Several stochastic analyses were conducted in Miami-Dade County, Florida, to evaluate the effects of wellfield withdrawal on aquifer water levels, canal stage, and canal flow. Multiyear data for withdrawals at four water-supply wellfields, water levels at the S-121 canal control structure and groundwater head at a nearby monitoring well were used to determine...
Floods of June 2012 in northeastern Minnesota
Christiana R. Czuba, James D. Fallon, Erich W. Kessler
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5283
During June 19–20, 2012, heavy rainfall, as much as 10 inches locally reported, caused severe flooding across northeastern Minnesota. The floods were exacerbated by wet antecedent conditions from a relatively rainy spring, with May 2012 as one of the wettest Mays on record in Duluth. The June 19–20, 2012, rainfall...
Stratigraphic cross section of measured sections and drill holes of the Neslen Formation and adjacent formations, Book Cliffs Area, Colorado and Utah
Mark A. Kirschbaum, Brianne D. Spear
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1260
This study updates a stratigraphic cross section published as plate 2 in Kirschbaum and Hettinger (2004) Digital Data Series 69-G (http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-g/). The datum is a marine/tidal ravinement surface within the Cozzette Sandstone Member of the Iles Formation and the Thompson Canyon Sandstone and Sulphur Canyon Sandstone Beds of...
Assessing potential effects of changes in water use with a numerical groundwater-flow model of Carson Valley, Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California
Richard M. Yager, Douglas K. Maurer, C.J. Mayers
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5262
Rapid growth and development within Carson Valley in Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California, has caused concern over the continued availability of groundwater, and whether the increased municipal demand could either impact the availability of water or result in decreased flow in the Carson River. Annual pumpage of groundwater...
Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper calibration update
Dennis L. Helder, Rimy Malla, Cory J. Mettler, Brian L. Markham, Esad Micijevic
2012, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (50) 2400-2408
The Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper (TM) collected imagery of the Earth's surface from 1982 to 1993. Although largely overshadowed by Landsat 5 which was launched in 1984, Landsat 4 TM imagery extends the TM-based record of the Earth back to 1982 and also substantially supplements the image archive collected by...
Borehole geophysical, fluid, and hydraulic properties within and surrounding the freshwater/saline-water transition zone, San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer, south-central Texas, 2010-11
Jonathan V. Thomas, Gregory P. Stanton, Rebecca B. Lambert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5285
The freshwater zone of the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer is used by residents of San Antonio and numerous other rapidly growing communities in south-central Texas as their primary water supply source. This freshwater zone is bounded to the south and southeast by a saline-water zone with an...
Using spatially detailed water-quality data and solute-transport modeling to improve support total maximum daily load development
Katherine Walton-Day, Robert L. Runkel, Briant A. Kimball
2012, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (48) 949-969
Spatially detailed mass-loading studies and solute-transport modeling using OTIS (One-dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage) demonstrate how natural attenuation and loading from distinct and diffuse sources control stream water quality and affect load reductions predicted in total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). Mass-loading data collected during low-flow from Cement Creek (a...
Availability and distribution of low flow in Anahola Stream, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Chui Ling Cheng, Reuben H. Wolff
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5264
Anahola Stream is a perennial stream in northeast Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, that supports agricultural, domestic, and cultural uses within its drainage basin. Beginning in the late 19th century, Anahola streamflow was diverted by Makee Sugar Company at altitudes of 840 feet (upper intake) and 280 feet (lower intake) for irrigating sugarcane...
Timing of large earthquakes during the past 500 years along the Santa Cruz Mountains segment of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon, near Watsonville, California
Thomas E. Fumal
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 1099-1119
A paleoseismic investigation across the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon indicates that four surface‐rupturing earthquakes have occurred there during the past ~500 years. At this site, right‐lateral fault slip has moved a low shutter ridge across the mouth of the canyon, ponding latest Holocene...
A vectorial capacity product to monitor changing malaria transmission potential in epidemic regions of Africa
Pietro Ceccato, Christelle Vancutsem, Robert Klaver, James Rowland, Stephen J. Connor
2012, Journal of Tropical Medicine (2012) 1-6
Rainfall and temperature are two of the major factors triggering malaria epidemics in warm semi-arid (desert-fringe) and high altitude (highland-fringe) epidemic risk areas. The ability of the mosquitoes to transmit Plasmodium spp. is dependent upon a series of biological features generally referred to as vectorial capacity. In this study, the...
Characterizing invertebrate traits in wadeable streams of the contiguous US: differences among ecoregions and land uses
Robert E. Zuellig, Travis S. Schmidt
2012, Freshwater Science (31) 1042-1056
Much is known about invertebrate community traits in basins across Europe, but no comprehensive description of traits exists for the continental US. Little is known about the trait composition of invertebrates in reference or least-disturbed basins of the US, how trait composition varies among ecoregions, or how consistently traits respond...
Mercury dynamics in a San Francisco estuary tidal wetland: assessing dynamics using in situ measurements
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Jacob A. Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Emmanuel Boss, Brian A. Pellerin, Neil K. Ganju, David H. Schoellhamer, Amy A. Byington, Wesley A. Heim, Mark Stephenson, Roger Fujii
2012, Estuaries and Coasts (35) 1036-1048
We used high-resolution in situ measurements of turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) to quantitatively estimate the tidally driven exchange of mercury (Hg) between the waters of the San Francisco estuary and Browns Island, a tidal wetland. Turbidity and FDOM—representative of particle-associated and filter-passing Hg, respectively—together predicted 94 %...
Surface-water quality in the upper San Antonio River Basin, Bexar County, Texas, 1992-98
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery, Cassi L. Crow
2012, Data Series 738
The potential effects of chemicals in rivers and streams on human health or the ecology have long been a source of concern to water managers. Chemicals in rivers may result from natural or anthropogenic sources (such as industrial or residential practices) which are commonly associated with urbanized watersheds. The U.S....
Establishing water body areal extent trends in interior Alaska from multi-temporal Landsat data
Jennifer R. Rover, Lei Ji, Bruce K. Wylie, Larry L. Tieszen
2012, Remote Sensing Letters (3) 595-604
An accurate approach is needed for monitoring, quantifying and understanding surface water variability due to climate change. Separating inter- and intra-annual variances from longer-term shifts in surface water extents due to contemporary climate warming requires repeat measurements spanning a several-decade period. Here, we show that trends developed from multi-date measurements...
