The 3D Elevation Program: summary for South Dakota
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3084
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 South Dakota, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, water supply and quality, infrastructure and construction management,...
Histological assessment of organs in sexually mature and post-spawning steelhead trout and insights into iteroparity
Zachary L. Penney, Christine M. Moffitt
2014, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (24) 781-801
Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are anadromous and iteroparous, but repeat-spawning rates are generally low. Like other anadromous salmonids, steelhead trout fast during freshwater spawning migrations, but little is known about the changes that occur in vital organs and tissues. We hypothesized that fish capable of repeat-spawning would not undergo the...
A GIS-based vulnerability assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources from oil and gas development in eastern Sheridan County, Montana
Todd M. Preston, Tara L. Chesley-Preston, Joanna N. Thamke
2014, Science of the Total Environment (472) 1152-1162
Water (brine) co-produced with oil in the Williston Basin is some of the most saline in the nation. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), characterized by glacial sediments and numerous wetlands, covers the northern and eastern portion of the Williston Basin. Sheridan County, Montana, lies within the PPR and has a...
What do data used to develop ground-motion prediction equations tell us about motions near faults?
David M. Boore
2014, Pure and Applied Geophysics (171) 3023-3043
A large database of ground motions from shallow earthquakes occurring in active tectonic regions around the world, recently developed in the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Center’s NGA-West2 project, has been used to investigate what such a database can say about the properties and processes of crustal fault zones. There are a...
Comparative recruitment dynamics of Alewife and Bloater in Lakes Michigan and Huron
Paris D. Collingsworth, David B. Bunnell, Charles P. Madenjian, Stephen C. Riley
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 294-309
The predictive power of recruitment models often relies on the identification and quantification of external variables, in addition to stock size. In theory, the identification of climatic, biotic, or demographic influences on reproductive success assists fisheries management by identifying factors that have a direct and reproducible influence on the population...
Thresholds for conservation and management: structured decision making as a conceptual framework
James D. Nichols, Mitchell J. Eaton, Julien Martin
Glenn R. Guntenspergen, editor(s)
2014, Book, Application of threshold concepts in natural resource decision making
A conceptual framework is provided for considering the threshold concept in natural resource management and conservation. We define three kinds of thresholds relevant to management and conservation. Ecological thresholds are values of system state variables at which small changes bring about substantial or specified changes in system dynamics. They are frequently incorporated...
11.12 - Volatile hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2014, Book chapter, Treatise on Geochemistry
Petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates are among the most commonly occurring and widely distributed contaminants in the environment. This chapter presents a summary of the sources, transport, fate, and remediation of volatile fuel hydrocarbons and fuel additives in the environment. Much research has focused on the transport and transformation processes...
Tick control: Trapping, bio-control, host management and other alternative strategies
Howard S. Ginsberg
Daniel E. Sonenshine, R. Michael Roe, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Biology of ticks
Biology of Ticks is the most comprehensive work on tick biology and tick-borne diseases. This second edition is a multi-authored work, featuring the research and analyses of renowned experts across the globe. Spanning two volumes, the book examines the systematics, biology, structure, ecological adaptations, evolution, genomics and the molecular processes...
Sustainability of water-supply at military installations, Kabul Basin, Afghanistan
Thomas J. Mack, Michael P. Chornack, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Igor Linkov, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Sustainable cities and military installations
The Kabul Basin, including the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, is host to several military installations of Afghanistan, the United States, and other nations that depend on groundwater resources for water supply. These installations are within or close to the city of Kabul. Groundwater also is the potable supply for the...
Debris flows: Behavior and hazard assessment
Richard M. Iverson
2014, Geology Today (30) 15-20
Debris flows are water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock that rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form lobate deposits when they spill onto valley floors. Because they have volumetric sediment concentrations that exceed 40 percent, maximum speeds that surpass 10 m/s, and...
2012 National Park visitor spending effects: economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Christopher C. Huber, Lynne Koontz
2014, Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR-2014/765
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the nation's most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. This economic effects analysis measures how NPS visitor...
Geographic variability in elevation and topographic constraints on the distribution of native and nonnative trout in the Great Basin
Dana R. Warren, Jason B. Dunham, David Hockman-Wert
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 205-218
Understanding local and geographic factors influencing species distributions is a prerequisite for conservation planning. Our objective in this study was to model local and geographic variability in elevations occupied by native and nonnative trout in the northwestern Great Basin, USA. To this end, we analyzed a large existing data set...
Effects of climate change and urban development on the distribution and conservation of vegetation in a Mediterranean type ecosystem
Bray Beltran, Janet Franklin, Alexandra D. Syphard, Helen M. Regan, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2014, International Journal of Geographical Information Science (28) 1561-1589
Climate and land-use changes are projected to threaten biodiversity over this century. However, few studies have considered the spatial and temporal overlap of these threats to evaluate how ongoing land-use change could affect species ranges projected to shift outside conservation areas. We evaluated climate change and urban development effects on...
An ontology design pattern for surface water features
Gaurav Sinha, David Mark, Dave Kolas, Dalia Varanka, Boleslo E. Romero, Chen-Chieh Feng, E. Lynn Usery, Joshua Liebermann, Alexandre Sorokine
2014, Conference Paper, Geographic Information Science: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference, GIScience
Surface water is a primary concept of human experience but concepts are captured in cultures and languages in many different ways. Still, many commonalities exist due to the physical basis of many of the properties and categories. An abstract ontology of surface water features based only on those physical properties...
Uncertainty and extreme events in future climate and hydrologic projections for the Pacific Northwest: providing a basis for vulnerability and core/corridor assessments
Jeremy S. Littell, Guillaume S. Mauger, Eric P. Salathe, Alan F. Hamlet, Se-Yeun Lee, Matt R. Stumbaugh, Marketa Elsner, Robert Norheim, Eric R. Lutz, Nathan J. Mantua
2014, Report
The purpose of this project was to (1) provide an internally-consistent set of downscaled projections across the Western U.S., (2) include information about projection uncertainty, and (3) assess projected changes of hydrologic extremes. These objectives were designed to address decision support needs for climate adaptation and resource management actions. Specifically,...
Elk monitoring in Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: 2008-2012 synthesis report
Paul C. Griffin, Kurt J. Jenkins, Carla Cole, Chris Clatterbuck, John Boetsch, Katherine Beirne
2014, Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCCN/NRTR--2014/837
Maintaining elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) herds that frequent Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (NHP) is central to the park’s purpose of preserving the historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources associated with the winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Elk were critically important to the Lewis and Clark...
Resource selection and space use by sea ducks during the non-breeding season: Implications for habitat conservation planning in urbanized estuaries
Susan E. W. De La Cruz, John M. Eadie, A. Keith Miles, Julie Yee, Kyle A. Spragens, Eric C. Palm, John Y. Takekawa
2014, Biological Conservation (169) 68-78
Wide-ranging marine birds rely on multiple habitats for wintering, breeding, and migrating, and their conservation may be dependent on protecting networks of key areas. Urbanized estuaries are critical wintering and stopover areas for many declining sea ducks in North America; however, conservation measures within estuaries are difficult to establish given...
Source and progression of a submarine landslide and tsunami: The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake at Valdez
Thomas E. Parsons, Eric L. Geist, Holly F. Ryan, Homa J. Lee, Peter J. Haeussler, Patrick Lynett, Patrick E. Hart, Ray W. Sliter, Emily C. Roland
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research - Solid Earth (119) 8502-8516
Like many subduction zone earthquakes, the deadliest aspects of the 1964 M = 9.2 Alaska earthquake were the tsunamis it caused. The worst of these were generated by local submarine landslides induced by the earthquake. These caused high runups, engulfing several coastal towns in Prince William Sound. In this paper, we study one...
Interspecific hybridization contributes to high genetic diversity and apparent effective population size in an endemic population of mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula maculosa)
Jeffrey L. Peters, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Philip Lavretsky, Michael Rezsutek, William P. Johnson, Kevin G. McCracken
2014, Conservation Genetics (15) 509-520
Under drift-mutation equilibrium, genetic diversity is expected to be correlated with effective population size (Ne). Changes in population size and gene flow are two important processes that can cause populations to deviate from this expected relationship. In this study, we used DNA sequences from six independent loci to examine the...
Trace element geochemistry (Li, Ba, Sr, and Rb) using Curiosity's ChemCam: early results for Gale crater from Bradbury Landing Site to Rocknest
Ann M. Ollila, Horton E. Newsom, Benton Clark III, Roger C. Wiens, Agnes Cousin, Jen G. Blank, Nicolas Mangold, Violaine Sautter, Sylvestre Maurice, Samuel M. Clegg, Olivier Gasnault, Olivier Forni, Robert Tokar, Eric Lewin, M. Darby Dyar, Jeremie Lasue, Ryan Anderson, Scott M. McLennan, John Bridges, Dave Vaniman, Nina Lanza, Cecile Fabre, Noureddine Melikechi, Glynis M. Perett, John L. Campbell, Penelope L. King, Bruce Barraclough, Dorothea Delapp, Stephen Johnstone, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Anya Rosen-Gooding, Josh Williams
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (119) 255-285
The ChemCam instrument package on the Mars rover, Curiosity, provides new capabilities to probe the abundances of certain trace elements in the rocks and soils on Mars using the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique. We focus on detecting and quantifying Li, Ba, Rb, and Sr in targets analyzed during the first...
Bioavailability and bioaccumulation of metal-based engineered nanomaterials in aquatic environments: Concepts and processes
Samuel N. Luoma, Farhan R. Khan, Marie-Noele Croteau
2014, Book chapter, Frontiers of nanoscience: Nanoscience and the environment
Bioavailability of Me-ENMs to aquatic organisms links their release into the environment to ecological implications. Close examination shows some important differences in the conceptual models that define bioavailability for metals and Me-ENMs. Metals are delivered to aquatic animals from Me-ENMs via water, ingestion, and incidental surface exposure. Both metal released...
Spatially explicit modeling to evaluate regional stream water quality
Stephen D. Preston, Richard B. Alexander, Gregory Schwarz, Richard A. Smith
2014, Book chapter, Comprehensive water quality and purification
Spatially referenced regressions on watershed attributes (SPARROW) models have been developed and applied over the past two decades to address the need for large-scale, spatially explicit information on stream water quality conditions. The strength of SPARROW models is that they describe the primary environmental processes that affect the supply and transport of...
Human infrastructure and invasive plant occurrence across rangelands of southwestern Wyoming, U.S.A.
Daniel J. Manier, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O’Donnell, Spencer Schell
2014, Rangeland Ecology and Management (67) 160-172
Although human influence across rural landscapes is often discussed, interactions between the native, natural systems and human activities are challenging to measure explicitly. We assessed the distribution of introduced, invasive species as related to anthropogenic infrastructure and environmental conditions across southwestern Wyoming. to discern...
Fractionation of fulvic acid by iron and aluminum oxides: influence on copper toxicity to Ceriodaphnia dubia
Kathleen S. Smith, James F. Ranville, Emily K. Lesher, Daniel J. Diedrich, Diane M. McKnight, Ruth M. Sofield
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 11934-11943
This study examines the effect on aquatic copper toxicity of the chemical fractionation of fulvic acid (FA) that results from its association with iron and aluminum oxyhydroxide precipitates. Fractionated and unfractionated FAs obtained from streamwater and suspended sediment were utilized in acute Cu toxicity tests on ,i>Ceriodaphnia dubia. Toxicity test...
Influence of riparian and watershed alterations on sandbars in a Great Plains river
Jeffrey M. Fischer, Craig P. Paukert, M.L. Daniels
2014, River Research and Applications (31) 1140-1150
Anthropogenic alterations have caused sandbar habitats in rivers and the biota dependent on them to decline. Restoring large river sandbars may be needed as these habitats are important components of river ecosystems and provide essential habitat to terrestrial and aquatic organisms. We quantified factors within the riparian zone of the...
