Coastal processes influencing water quality at Great Lakes beaches
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3070
In a series of studies along the Great Lakes, U.S. Geological Survey scientists are examining the physical processes that influence concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria and related pathogens at recreational beaches. These studies aim to estimate human health risk, improve management strategies, and understand the fate and transport of microbes...
Real-time assessments of water quality: expanding nowcasting throughout the Great Lakes
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3069
Nowcasts are systems that inform the public of current bacterial water-quality conditions at beaches on the basis of predictive models. During 2010–12, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) worked with 23 local and State agencies to improve existing operational beach nowcast systems at 4 beaches and expand the use of predictive...
Tools for beach health data management, data processing, and predictive model implementation
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3068
This fact sheet describes utilities created for management of recreational waters to provide efficient data management, data aggregation, and predictive modeling as well as a prototype geographic information system (GIS)-based tool for data visualization and summary. All of these utilities were developed to assist beach managers in making decisions to...
Adjustment of the San Francisco estuary and watershed to decreasing sediment supply in the 20th century
David H. Schoellhamer, Scott Wright, Judith Z. Drexler
2013, Marine Geology (345) 63-71
The general progression of human land use is an initial disturbance (e.g., deforestation, mining, agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and urbanization) that creates a sediment pulse to an estuary followed by dams that reduce sediment supply. We present a conceptual model of the effects of increasing followed by decreasing sediment supply that...
The use of modeling and suspended sediment concentration measurements for quantifying net suspended sediment transport through a large tidally dominated inlet
Li H. Erikson, Scott Wright, Edwin Elias, Daniel M. Hanes, David H. Schoellhamer, John Largier
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 96-112
Sediment exchange at large energetic inlets is often difficult to quantify due complex flows, massive amounts of water and sediment exchange, and environmental conditions limiting long-term data collection. In an effort to better quantify such exchange this study investigated the use of suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) measured at an offsite...
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese: assessment for the 2013-2015 hunting seasons
Fred A. Johnson, Jesper Madsen
2013, Technical Report from DCE - Danish Centre for Environment and Energy 28
This report describes progress on the development of an adaptive harvestmanagement strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese near their agreed target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an optimal harvest quota for the 2013-2015 hunting seasons and describes...
A step decrease in sediment concentration in a highly modified tidal river delta following the 1983 El Niño floods
Erin L. Hestir, David H. Schoellhamer, Tara Morgan-King, Susan L. Ustin
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 304-313
Anthropogenic activities in watersheds can have profound effects on sediment transport through river systems to estuaries. Disturbance in a watershed combined with alterations to the hydro-climatologic regime may result in changes to the sediment flux, and exacerbate the impacts of extreme events (such as large-magnitude floods) on sediment transport. In...
Heavy mineral analysis for assessing the provenance of sandy sediment in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System
Florence L. Wong, Donald L. Woodrow, Mary McGann
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 170-180
Heavy or high-specific gravity minerals make up a small but diagnostic component of sediment that is well suited for determining the provenance and distribution of sediment transported through estuarine and coastal systems worldwide. By this means, we see that surficial sand-sized sediment in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System comes...
Sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System: An overview
Patrick L. Barnard, David H. Schoellhamer, Bruce E. Jaffe, Lester J. McKee
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 3-17
The papers in this special issue feature state-of-the-art approaches to understanding the physical processes related to sediment transport and geomorphology of complex coastal-estuarine systems. Here we focus on the San Francisco Bay Coastal System, extending from the lower San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, through the Bay, and along the adjacent outer Pacific...
Characteristics and interpretation of fracture-filled gas hydrate: an example from the Ulleung Basin, East Sea of Korea
Myung Woong Lee, Timothy S. Collett
2013, Marine and Petroleum Geology (47) 168-181
Through the use of 2-D and 3-D seismic data, a total of thirteen sites were selected and drilled in the East Sea of Korea in 2010. A suite of logging-while-drilling (LWD) logs was acquired at each site. LWD logs from the UBGH2-3A well indicate significant gas hydrate in clay-bearing sediments...
Evidence for a receiver bias underlying female preference for a male mating pheromone in sea lamprey
Tyler J. Buchinger, Huiyong Wang, Weiming Li, Nicholas S. Johnson
2013, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (280)
Receiver bias models suggest that a male sexual signal became exaggerated to match a pre-existing sensory, perceptual or cognitive disposition of the female. Accordingly, these models predict that females of related taxa possessing the ancestral state of signalling evolved preference for the male trait in a non-sexual context. We postulated...
Resilience to stress and disturbance, and resistance to Bromus tectorum L. invasion in cold desert shrublands of western North America
Jeanne C. Chambers, Bethany A. Bradley, Cynthia S. Brown, Carla D'Antonio, Matthew J. Germino, James B. Grace, Stuart P. Hardegree, Richard F. Miller, David A. Pyke
2013, Ecosystems (17) 360-375
Alien grass invasions in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are resulting in grass–fire cycles and ecosystem-level transformations that severely diminish ecosystem services. Our capacity to address the rapid and complex changes occurring in these ecosystems can be enhanced by developing an understanding of the environmental factors and ecosystem attributes that determine...
The North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966–2011: Summary analysis and species accounts
John R. Sauer, William A. Link, Jane E. Fallon, Keith L. Pardieck, David J. Ziolkowski
2013, North American Fauna (79) 1-32
The North American Breeding Bird Survey is a roadside, count-based survey conducted by volunteer observers. Begun in 1966, it now is a primary source of information on spatial and temporal patterns of population change for North American birds. We analyze population change for states, provinces, Bird Conservation Regions, and the...
A hierarchical nest survival model integrating incomplete temporally varying covariates
Sarah J. Converse, J. Andrew Royle, Peter H. Adler, Richard P. Urbanek, Jeb A. Barzan
2013, Ecology and Evolution (3) 4439-4447
Nest success is a critical determinant of the dynamics of avian populations, and nest survival modeling has played a key role in advancing avian ecology and management. Beginning with the development of daily nest survival models, and proceeding through subsequent extensions, the capacity for modeling the effects of hypothesized factors...
Selecting among competing models of electro-optic, infrared camera system range performance
Jonathan M. Nichols, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols
2013, Optical Engineering (52)
Range performance is often the key requirement around which electro-optical and infrared camera systems are designed. This work presents an objective framework for evaluating competing range performance models. Model selection based on the Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) is presented for the type of data collected during a typical human observer...
Simulated tsunami inundation for a range of Cascadia megathrust earthquake scenarios at Bandon, Oregon, USA
Robert C. Witter, Yinglong J. Zhang, Kelin Wang, George R. Priest, Chris Goldfinger, Laura Stimely, John T. English, Paul A. Ferro
2013, Geosphere (9) 1783-1803
Characterizations of tsunami hazards along the Cascadia subduction zone hinge on uncertainties in megathrust rupture models used for simulating tsunami inundation. To explore these uncertainties, we constructed 15 megathrust earthquake scenarios using rupture models that supply the initial conditions for tsunami simulations at Bandon, Oregon. Tsunami inundation varies with the...
Sediment transport patterns in the San Francisco Bay Coastal System from cross-validation of bedform asymmetry and modeled residual flux
Patrick L. Barnard, Li H. Erikson, Edwin P.L. Elias, Peter Dartnell
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 72-95
The morphology of ~ 45,000 bedforms from 13 multibeam bathymetry surveys was used as a proxy for identifying net bedload sediment transport directions and pathways throughout the San Francisco Bay estuary and adjacent outer coast. The spatially-averaged shape asymmetry of the bedforms reveals distinct pathways of ebb and flood transport....
Climate change and watershed mercury export: a multiple projection and model analysis
Heather E. Golden, Christopher D. Knightes, Paul Conrads, Toby D. Feaster, Gary M. Davis, Stephen T. Benedict, Paul M. Bradley
2013, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (32) 2165-2174
Future shifts in climatic conditions may impact watershed mercury (Hg) dynamics and transport. An ensemble of watershed models was applied in the present study to simulate and evaluate the responses of hydrological and total Hg (THg) fluxes from the landscape to the watershed outlet and in-stream THg concentrations to contrasting...
Woody debris volume depletion through decay: implications for biomass and carbon accounting
Shawn Fraver, Amy M. Milo, John B. Bradford, Anthony W. D’Amato, Laura Kenefic, Brian J. Palik, Christopher W. Woodall, John Brissette
2013, Ecosystems (16) 1262-1272
Woody debris decay rates have recently received much attention because of the need to quantify temporal changes in forest carbon stocks. Published decay rates, available for many species, are commonly used to characterize deadwood biomass and carbon depletion. However, decay rates are often derived from reductions in wood density through...
Seasonal variations in suspended-sediment dynamics in the tidal reach of an estuarine tributary
Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, David H. Schoellhamer
Patrick L. Barnard, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer, editor(s)
2013, Marine Geology (345) 314-326
Quantifying sediment supply from estuarine tributaries is an important component of developing a sediment budget, and common techniques for estimating supply are based on gages located above tidal influence. However, tidal interactions near tributary mouths can affect the magnitude and direction of sediment supply to the open waters of the...
Co-occurrence of invasive Cuban Treefrogs and native treefrogs in PVC pipe refugia
Laura M. Elston, J. Hardin Waddle, Kenneth G. Rice, H. Franklin Percival
2013, Herpetological Review (44) 406-409
The Cuban Treefrog (Osteopilus septentrionalis) was first introduced to Florida at Key West. Since this introduction, Cuban Treefrogs have spread to Miami and are now established throughout most of peninsular Florida. Cuban Treefrogs can become very abundant in areas they colonize. Several reasons contribute to their success, including a generalist...
Population-level thermal performance of a cold-water ectotherm is linked to ontogeny and local environmental heterogeneity
Blake R. Hossack, Windsor H. Lowe, Mariah J. Talbott, P. Stephen Corn, Kevin M. Kappenman, Molly A. H. Webb
2013, Freshwater Biology (58) 2215-2225
Negative effects of global warming are predicted to be most severe for species that occupy a narrow range of temperatures, have limited dispersal abilities or have long generation times. These are characteristics typical of many species that occupy small, cold streams.Habitat use, vulnerabilities and mechanisms for coping with local...
Chronology and provenance of last-glacial (Peoria) loess in western Iowa and paleoclimatic implications
Daniel R. Muhs, E. Arthur Bettis III, Helen M. Roberts, Stephen S. Harlan, James B. Paces, Richard L. Reynolds
2013, Quaternary Research (80) 468-481
Geologic archives show that the Earth was dustier during the last glacial period. One model suggests that increased gustiness (stronger, more frequent winds) enhanced dustiness. We tested this at Loveland, Iowa, one of the thickest deposits of last-glacial-age (Peoria) loess in the world. Based on K/Rb and Ba/Rb, loess was...
Estimating animal resource selection from telemetry data using point process models
Devin S. Johnson, Mevin Hooten, Carey E. Kuhn
2013, Journal of Animal Ecology (82) 1155-1164
Analyses of animal resource selection functions (RSF) using data collected from relocations of individuals via remote telemetry devices have become commonplace. Increasing technological advances, however, have produced statistical challenges in analysing such highly autocorrelated data. Weighted distribution methods have been proposed for analysing RSFs with telemetry data. However, they can...
Climate change's impact on key ecosystem services and the human well-being they support in the US
Erik J. Nelson, Peter Kareiva, Mary Ruckelshaus, Katie K. Arkema, Gary Geller, Evan Girvetz, Dave Goodrich, Virginia Matzek, Malin Pinsky, Walt Reid, Martin Saunders, Darius J. Semmens, Heather Tallis
2013, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (11) 483-493
Climate change alters the functions of ecological systems. As a result, the provision of ecosystem services and the well-being of people that rely on these services are being modified. Climate models portend continued warming and more frequent extreme weather events across the US. Such weather-related disturbances will place a premium...
