Assessment of salinity intrusion in the James and Chickahominy Rivers as a result of simulated sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay, East Coast, USA
Karen C. Rice, Bo Hong, Jian Shen
2012, Journal of Environmental Management (111) 61-69
Global sea level is rising, and the relative rate in the Chesapeake Bay region of the East Coast of the United States is greater than the worldwide rate. Sea-level rise can cause saline water to migrate upstream in estuaries and rivers, threatening freshwater habitat and drinking-water supplies. The effects of...
Evaluation of Bayesian estimation of a hidden continuous-time Markov chain model with application to threshold violation in water-quality indicators
Frank A. Deviney, Karen C. Rice, Donald E. Brown
2012, Journal of Environmental Informatics (19) 70-78
Natural resource managers require information concerning the frequency, duration, and long-term probability of occurrence of water-quality indicator (WQI) violations of defined thresholds. The timing of these threshold crossings often is hidden from the observer, who is restricted to relatively infrequent observations. Here, a model for the hidden process is linked with...
Groundwater conditions in Utah, spring of 2012
Carole B. Burden, David V. Allen, Christopher M. Holt, Martel J. Fisher, Paul Downhour, Lincoln Smith, Robert J. Eacret, Travis L. Gibson, Bradley A. Slaugh, Nickolas R. Whittier, James H. Howells, Howard K. Christiansen
2012, Cooperative Investigations Report 53
This is the forty-ninth in a series of annual reports that describe groundwater conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, published cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality, provide...
Water-quality and lake-stage data for Wisconsin lakes, water years 2008−2011
S. Bridgett Manteufel, Daniel Olson, Dale M. Robertson, Gerald L. Goddard
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1238
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with local and other agencies, collects data at selected lakes throughout Wisconsin. These data, accumulated over many years, provide a data base for developing an improved understanding of the water quality of lakes. To make these data available to interested parties outside the...
Distribution and abundance of anadromous Sea Lamprey Spawners in a fragmented stream: Current status and potential range expansion following barrier removal
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Cory Gardner, Stephen M. Coghlan Jr.
2012, Northeastern Naturalist (19) 99-110
Dams fragment watersheds and prevent anadromous fishes from reaching historic spawning habitat. Sedgeunkedunk Stream, a small tributary to the Penobscot River (Maine), has been the focus of efforts to reestablish marine-freshwater connectivity and restore anadromous fishes via the removal of two barriers to fish migration. Currently, Petromyzon marinus (Sea Lamprey)...
Effects of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomeiu) on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) habitat use and diel movements in an artificial stream.
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Stephen M. Coghlan Jr., Joan G. Trial, Gus Wathen
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 174-184
Invasive smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu have been introduced to some of the last remaining watersheds that contain wild anadromous Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, yet little is known about the interactions between these species. We used an artificial stream equipped with passive integrated transponder tag antenna arrays to monitor habitat use...
Use of olfactory cues by newly metamorphosed wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) during emigration
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Viorel D. Popescu, Bekka S. Brodie, Malcom L. Hunter
2012, Copeia (2012) 424-431
Juvenile amphibians are capable of long-distance upland movements, yet cues used for orientation during upland movements are poorly understood. We used newly metamorphosed Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) to investigate: (1) the existence of innate (i.e., inherited) directionality, and (2) the use of olfactory cues, specifically forested wetland and natal pond...
Using persuasive messages to encourage hunters to support regulation of lead shot
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton, William Penning, Kathy Doncarlos
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1528-1539
Lead shot from hunting adds the toxic metal to environments worldwide. The United States banned lead shot for hunting waterfowl in 1991 and 26 states have lead shot restrictions beyond those mandated for waterfowl hunting. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) was interested in studying hunter attitudes about expanded...
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park Elk Monitoring Program Annual Report 2010
Carla Cole, Paul Griffin, Kurt Jenkins
2012, Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCR/NCRO/NRTR 2012/531
Fiscal year 2010 was the second full year of elk monitoring protocol implementation at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI), part of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) Inventory and Monitoring program. Elk monitoring at Lewis and Clark NHP includes two components. Fecal pellet surveys at a systematic...
Water monitoring to support the State of Illinois Governor's Drought Response Task Force -August 7, 2012
U.S. Geological Survey
2012, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects streamflow, groundwater level, and water-quality data for the State of Illinois and the Nation. Much of these data are collected every 15 minutes (real-time) as a part of the national network, so that water-resource managers can make decisions in a timely and reliable manner....
Exploring relationships among land ownership, agricultural land use, and native fish species richness in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Nathan R. De Jager, Jason J. Rohweder
2012, Report
The general effects of agriculture on in-stream fish communities in the Upper Midwestern United States have been well studied for nearly three decades (Karr et al. 1985; Nerbonne and Vondracek 1991; Zimmerman et al. 2001; Goldstein and Meador 2005). Specific impacts include: lowered water levels, sediment loading and nutrient enrichment,...
Effects of groundwater pumping in the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin
L. Elliott Jones
2012, Conference Paper, GIS and water resources VII: Proceedings of the American Water Resources Association 2012 Spring Specialty Conference
USGS developed a groundwater-flow model of the Upper Floridan aquifer in lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin in southwest Georgia and adjacent parts of Alabama and Florida to determine the effect of agricultural groundwater pumping on aquifer/stream flow within the basin. Aquifer/stream flow is the sum of groundwater outflow to and inflow...
Long-distance swimming by polar bears (Ursus maritimus) of the southern Beaufort Sea during years of extensive open water
Anthony M. Pagano, George M. Durner, Kristin S. Simac, G.S. York, Steven C. Amstrup
2012, Canadian Journal of Zoology (90) 663-676
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus Phipps, 1774) depend on sea ice for catching marine mammal prey. Recent sea-ice declines have been linked to reductions in body condition, survival, and population size. Reduced foraging opportunity is hypothesized to be the primary cause of sea-ice-linked declines, but the costs of travel through a...
Near-bed turbulence and sediment flux measurements in tidal channels
S.A. Wright, D.R. Whealdon-Haught
2012, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Hydraulic Measurement and Experimental Methods Conference, Snowbird, Utah, August 12-15, 2012
Understanding the hydrodynamics and sediment transport dynamics in tidal channels is important for studies of estuary geomorphology, sediment supply to tidal wetlands, aquatic ecology and fish habitat, and dredging and navigation. Hydrodynamic and sediment transport data are essential for calibration and testing of numerical models that may be used to...
Testing the effect of water in crevasses on a physically based calving model
S. Cook, T. Zwinger, I.C. Rutt, Shad O’Neel, T. Murray
2012, Annals of Glaciology (53) 90-96
A new implementation of a calving model, using the finite-element code Elmer, is presented and used to investigate the effects of surface water within crevasses on calving rate. For this work, we use a two-dimensional flowline model of Columbia Glacier, Alaska. Using the glacier's 1993 geometry as a starting point,...
Spread dynamics of perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) in two seasonal wetland areas
Mark J. Renz, Scott J. Steinmaus, David S. Gilmer, Joseph M. DiTomaso
2012, Invasive Plant Science and Management (5) 57-68
Perennial pepperweed is an invasive plant that is expanding rapidly in several plant communities in the western United States. In California, perennial pepperweed has aggressively invaded seasonal wetlands, resulting in degradation of habitat quality. We evaluated the rate and dynamics of population spread, assessed the effect of disturbance on spread,...
Complexity of human and ecosystem interactions in an agricultural landscape
Richard H. Coupe, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Paul D. Capel
2012, Environmental Development (4) 88-104
The complexity of human interaction in the commercial agricultural landscape and the resulting impacts on the ecosystem services of water quality and quantity is largely ignored by the current agricultural paradigm that maximizes crop production over other ecosystem services. Three examples at different spatial scales (local, regional, and global) are...
Physical Climate Forces
S.J. Williams, D. Atkinson, A. R. Byrd, H. Eicken, T. M. Hall, Thomas G. Huntington, Y. Kim, T.R. Knutson, J.P. Kossin, M. Lilly, J. M. Marra, J Obeysekera, A. Parris, J. Ratcliff, T. Ravens, D. Resio, P. Ruggiero, E. Robert Thieler, James G. Titus, T.V. Wamsley
2012, Book chapter, Coastal Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: A Technical Input to the 2012 National Climate Assessment. Cooperative Report to the 2013 National Climate Assessment
Key FindingsThe coasts of the U.S. are home to many large urban centers and important infrastructure such seaports, airports, transportation routes, oil import and refining facilities, power plants, and military bases. All are vulnerable to varying degrees to impacts of global warming such as sea-level rise, storms, and flooding. High Confidence.Physical observations collected...
A catalog of Louisiana's nesting seabird colonies
William R. Fontenot, Steve W. Cardiff, Richard A. DeMay, Donna L. Dittmann, Stephen B. Hartley, Clinton W. Jeske, Nicole Lorenz, Thomas C. Michot, Robert Dan Purrington, Michael A. Seymour, William G. Vermillion
2012, Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program Report 34
Summarizing his colonial nesting waterbird survey experiences along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in a paper presented to the Colonial Waterbird Group of the Waterbird Society (Portnoy 1978), bird biologist John W. Portnoy stated, “This huge concentration of nesting waterbirds, restricted almost entirely to the wetlands and...
Developing a national stream morphology data exchange: needs, challenges, and opportunities
Mathias J. Collins, John R. Gray, Marie C. Peppler, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Joseph P. Schubauer-Berigan
2012, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (93) 195
Stream morphology data, primarily consisting of channel and foodplain geometry and bed material size measurements, historically have had a wide range of applications and uses including culvert/ bridge design, rainfall- runoff modeling, food inundation mapping (e.g., U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency food insurance studies), climate change studies, channel stability/sediment source...
Social.Water - A crowdsourcing tool for environmental data acquisition
Michael N. Fienen, Christopher Lowry
2012, Computers & Geosciences (49) 164-169
Remote telemetry has a long history of use for collection of environmental measurements. With the rise of mobile phones and SMS text-messaging capacity, many members of the general pubic carry communications equipment in their pockets at all times. Enabling the general public to provide environmental data through text messages has...
Varying sediment sources (Hudson Strait, Cumberland Sound, Baffin Bay) to the NW Labrador Sea slope between and during Heinrich events 0 to 4
John T. Andrews, D.C. Barber, A. E. Jennings, D. D. Eberl, B. Maclean, M.E. Kirby, J.S. Stoner
2012, Journal of Quaternary Science (27) 475-484
Core HU97048-007PC was recovered from the continental Labrador Sea slope at a water depth of 945 m, 250 km seaward from the mouth of Cumberland Sound, and 400 km north of Hudson Strait. Cumberland Sound is a structural trough partly floored by Cretaceous mudstones and Paleozoic carbonates. The record extends from ∼10 to...
Peralkaline- and calc-alkaline-hosted volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits of the Bonnifield District, East-Central Alaska
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Nora K. Foley, John E. Slack, Alan E. Koenig, Robert L. Oscarson
2012, Economic Geology (107) 1403-1432
Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au deposits of the Bonnifield mining district formed during Late Devonian-Early Mississippian magmatism along the western edge of Laurentia. The largest deposits, Dry Creek and WTF, have a combined resource of 5.7 million tonnes at 10% Zn, 4% Pb, 0.3% Cu, 300 grams per tonne (g/t)...
Holocene seasonal variability inferred from multiple proxy records from Crevice Lake, Yellowstone National Park, USA
Cathy Whitlock, Walter E. Dean, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Lora R. Stevens, Jeffery R. Stone, Mitchell J. Power, Joseph R. Rosenbaum, Kenneth L. Pierce, Brandi B. Bracht-Flyr
2012, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (331-332) 90-103
A 9400-yr-old record from Crevice Lake, a semi-closed alkaline lake in northern Yellowstone National Park, was analyzed for pollen, charcoal, geochemistry, mineralogy, diatoms, and stable isotopes to develop a nuanced understanding of Holocene environmental history in a region of northern Rocky Mountains that receives both summer and winter precipitation. The...
Potentially bioavailable natural organic carbon and hydrolyzable amino acids in aquifer sediments
Lashun K. Thomas, Mark A. Widdowson, John T. Novak, Francis H. Chapelle, Ronald Benner, Karl Kaiser
2012, Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (32) 92-95
This study evaluated the relationship between concentrations of operationally defined potentially bioavailable organic -carbon (PBOC) and hydrolyzable amino acids (HAAs) in sediments collected from a diverse range of chloroethene--contaminated sites. Concentrations of PBOC and HAA were measured using aquifer sediment samples collected at six selected study sites. Average concentrations of...
