St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center's Core Archive Portal
Chris Reich, Matt Streubert, Brendan Dwyer, Meg Godbout, Adis Muslic, Dan Umberger
2012, Data Series 626
This Web site contains information on rock cores archived at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC). Archived cores consist of 3- to 4-inch-diameter coral cores, 1- to 2-inch-diameter rock cores, and a few unlabeled loose coral and rock samples. This document - and...
Spatial patterns and temporal trends in mercury concentrations, precipitation depths, and mercury wet deposition in the North American Great Lakes region, 2002-2008
Martin R. Risch, David A. Gay, Kathleen K. Fowler, Gerard J. Keeler, Sean M. Backus, Pierrette Blanchard, James A. Barres, J. Timothy Dvonch
2012, Environmental Pollution (161) 261-271
Annual and weekly mercury (Hg) concentrations, precipitation depths, and Hg wet deposition in the Great Lakes region were analyzed by using data from 5 monitoring networks in the USA and Canada for a 2002-2008 study period. High-resolution maps of calculated annual data, 7-year mean data, and net interannual change for...
Evidence from 12-year study links ecosystem changes in the Gulf of Maine with climate change
George R. Aiken, Thomas G. Huntington, William Balch, David Drapeau, Bruce Bowler
2012, EcoSystem Indicator Partnership Journal
Investigators at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (East Boothbay, Maine) and the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated to study ecosystem changes in the Gulf of Maine. As part of the Gulf of Maine North Atlantic Time Series (GNATS), a comprehensive long-term study of hydrographic, biological, optical and chemical properties,...
EarthExplorer
Treva Houska
2012, General Information Product 136
The EarthExplorer trifold provides basic information for on-line access to remotely-sensed data from the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center archive. The EarthExplorer (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) client/server interface allows users to search and download aerial photography, satellite data, elevation data, land-cover products, and digitized maps. Minimum computer system...
Watershed modeling applications in south Texas
Diana E. Pedraza, Darwin J. Ockerman
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3005
Watershed models can be used to simulate natural and human-altered processes including the flow of water and associated transport of sediment, chemicals, nutrients, and microbial organisms within a watershed. Simulation of these processes is useful for addressing a wide range of water-resource challenges, such as quantifying changes in water availability...
Mapping argillic and advanced argillic alteration in volcanic rocks, quartzites, and quartz arenites in the western Richfield 1° x 2 ° quadrangle, southwestern Utah, using ASTER satellite data
Barnaby W. Rockwell, Albert H. Hofstra
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1105
The Richfield quadrangle in southwestern Utah is known to contain a variety of porphyry Mo, skarn, polymetallic replacement and vein, alunite, and kaolin resources associated with 27-32 Ma calc-alkaline or 12-23 Ma bimodal volcano-plutonic centers in Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. Four scenes of visible to shortwave-infrared image...
Preliminary evaluation of the shale gas prospectivity of the Lower Cretaceous Pearsall Formation in the onshore Gulf Coast region, United States
Catherine B. Enomoto, Kristina Scott, Brett J. Valentine, Paul C. Hackley, Kristin Dennen, Celeste D. Lohr
2012, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions (62) 93-115
Recent work by the U.S. Geological Survey indicated that the Lower Cretaceous Pearsall Formation contains an estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable unconventional gas resource of 8.8 trillion cubic ft in the Maverick Basin, South Texas. Cumulative gas production from horizontal wells in the core area of the emerging play has...
Relationship between fish size and upper thermal tolerance
Matthew S. Recsetar, Matthew P. Zeigler, David L. Ward, Scott A. Bonar, Colleen A. Caldwell
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 1433-1438
Using critical thermal maximum (CTMax) tests, we examined the relationship between upper temperature tolerances and fish size (fry-adult or subadult lengths) of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (41-200-mm TL), Apache trout O. gilae apache (40-220-mm TL), largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (72-266-mm TL), Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (35-206-mm TL), channel catfish Ictalurus...
Divergence in morphology, but not habitat use, despite low genetic differentiation among insular populations of the lizard Anolis lemurinus in Honduras
M. L. Logan, Chad E. Montgomery, Scott M. Boback, Robert Reed, J. A. Campbell
2012, Journal of Tropical Ecology (28) 215-222
Studies of recently isolated populations are useful because observed differences can often be attributed to current environmental variation. Two populations of the lizard Anolis lemurinus have been isolated on the islands of Cayo Menor and Cayo Mayor in the Cayos Cochinos Archipelago of Honduras for less than 15 000 y. We...
Where eagles nest, the wind also blows: consolidating habitat and energy needs
J. Tack, Jim Wilson
2012, Report
Energy development is rapidly escalating in resource-rich Wyoming, and with it the risks posed to raptor populations. These risks are of increasing concern to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for protecting the persistence of protected species, including raptors. In support of a Federal mandate to protect...
Assessing long-term variations in sagebrush habitat: characterization of spatial extents and distribution patterns using multi-temporal satellite remote-sensing data
George Xian, Collin G. Homer, Cameron L. Aldridge
2012, International Journal of Remote Sensing (33) 2034-2058
An approach that can generate sagebrush habitat change estimates for monitoring large-area sagebrush ecosystems has been developed and tested in southwestern Wyoming, USA. This prototype method uses a satellite-based image change detection algorithm and regression models to estimate sub-pixel percentage cover for five sagebrush habitat components: bare ground, herbaceous, litter,...
Competition favors elk over beaver in a riparian willow ecosystem
B.W. Baker, H.R. Peinetti, M.C. Coughenour, T. L. Johnson
2012, Ecosphere (3) 1-15
Beaver (Castor spp.) conservation requires an understanding of their complex interactions with competing herbivores. Simulation modeling offers a controlled environment to examine long-term dynamics in ecosystems driven by uncontrollable variables. We used a new version of the SAVANNA ecosystem model to investigate beaver (C....
Translocation as a conservation tool for Agassiz's desert tortoises: survivorship, reproduction, and movements
K.E. Nussear, C.R. Tracy, P.A. Medica, D.S. Wilson, R.W. Marlow, P.S. Corn
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1341-1353
We translocated 120 Agassiz's desert tortoises to 5 sites in Nevada and Utah to evaluate the effects of translocation on tortoise survivorship, reproduction, and habitat use. Translocation sites included several elevations, and extended to sites with vegetation assemblages not typically associated with desert tortoises in order to explore the possibility...
User Manual for SAHM package for VisTrails
C.B. Talbert, M.K. Talbert
2012, Report
The Software for Assisted Habitat I\•1odeling (SAHM) has been created to both expedite habitat modeling and help maintain a record of the various input data, pre-and post-processing steps and modeling options incorporated in the construction of a species distribution model. The four main advantages to using the combined VisTrail: SAHM...
The effect of size and competition on tree growth rate in old-growth coniferous forests
Adrian Das
2012, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (42) 1983-1995
Tree growth and competition play central roles in forest dynamics. Yet models of competition often neglect important variation in species-specific responses. Furthermore, functions used to model changes in growth rate with size do not always allow for potential complexity. Using a large data set from old-growth forests in California, models...
Impact assessment of extreme storm events using a Bayesian network
C. den Heijer, Dirk T.J.A. Knipping, Nathaniel G. Plant, Jaap S. M. van Thiel de Vries, Fedor Baart, Pieter H. A. J. M. van Gelder
2012, Conference Paper, Coastal Engineering 2012: Proceedings of the 33rd International Conference on Coastal Engineering
This paper describes an investigation on the usefulness of Bayesian Networks in the safety assessment of dune coasts. A network has been created that predicts the erosion volume based on hydraulic boundary conditions and a number of cross-shore profile indicators. Field measurement data along a large part of the Dutch...
Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) investigation
Kenneth S. Edgett, R. Aileen Yingst, Michael A. Ravine, Michael A. Caplinger, Justin N. Maki, F. Tony Ghaemi, Jacob A. Schaffner, James F. Bell III, Laurence J. Edwards, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Ezat Heydari, Linda C. Kah, Mark T. Lemmon, Michelle E. Minitti, Timothy S. Olson, Timothy J. Parker, Scott K. Rowland, Juergen Schieber, Robert J. Sullivan, Dawn Y. Sumner, Peter C. Thomas, Elsa H. Jensen, John J. Simmonds, Aaron J. Sengstacken, Reg G. Wilson, Walter Goetz
2012, Space Science Reviews (170) 259-317
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) investigation will use a 2-megapixel color camera with a focusable macro lens aboard the rover, Curiosity, to investigate the stratigraphy and grain-scale texture, structure, mineralogy, and morphology of geologic materials in northwestern Gale crater. Of particular interest is the stratigraphic...
Selection of the Mars Science Laboratory landing site
M. Golombek, J. Grant, D. Kipp, A. Vasavada, Randolph L. Kirk, Robin L. Fergason, P. Bellutta, F. Calef, K. Larsen, Y. Katayama, A. Huertas, R. Beyer, A. Chen, T. Parker, B. Pollard, S. Lee, R. Hoover, H. Sladek, J. Grotzinger, R. Welch, E. Noe Dobrea, J. Michalski, M. Watkins
2012, Space Science Reviews (170) 641-737
The selection of Gale crater as the Mars Science Laboratory landing site took over five years, involved broad participation of the science community via five open workshops, and narrowed an initial >50 sites (25 by 20 km) to four finalists (Eberswalde, Gale, Holden and Mawrth) based on science and safety....
Status of rainbow smelt in U.S. waters of Lake Ontario, 2011
Brian Weidel, Michael J. Connerton
2012, Report, Status of important prey fishes in the U.S. Waters of Lake Ontario, 2011
Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax are the second most abundant pelagic prey fish in Lake Ontario. The abundance and weight indices for Lake Ontario age-1 and older rainbow smelt declined in 2011 and represented a 64% and 54% decrease respectively from 2010 levels. Length frequency-based age analysis indicated that age-1 rainbow...
Analysis options for estimating status and trends in long-term monitoring
Jonathan Bart, Hawthorne L. Beyer
2012, Book chapter, Design and Analysis of Long-term Ecological Monitoring Studies
This chapter describes methods for estimating long-term trends in ecological parameters. Other chapters in this volume discuss more advanced methods for analyzing monitoring data, but these methods may be relatively inaccessible to some readers. Therefore, this chapter provides an introduction to trend analysis for managers and biologists while also discussing...
Relating management practices and nutrient export in agricultural watersheds of the United States
Lori A. Sprague, Jo Ann M. Gronberg
2012, Journal of Environmental Quality (41) 1939-1950
Relations between riverine export (load) of total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P) from 133 large agricultural watersheds in the United States and factors affecting nutrient transport were evaluated using empirical regression models. After controlling for anthropogenic inputs and other landscape factors affecting nutrient transport-such as runoff, precipitation, slope, number...
Future opportunities and challenges in remote sensing of drought
Brian D. Wardlow, Martha C. Anderson, Justin Sheffield, Brad Doorn, James Verdin, Xiwu Zhan, Matt Rodell
Brian D. Wardlow, Martha C. Anderson, James P. Verdin, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, Remote sensing of drought: innovative monitoring approaches
The value of satellite remote sensing for drought monitoring was first realized more than two decades ago with the application of Normalized Difference Index (NDVI) data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) for assessing the effect of drought on vegetation. Other indices such as the Vegetation Health Index...
Western pond turtle: Biology, sampling techniques, inventory and monitoring, conservation, and management: Northwest Fauna No. 7
R.B. Bury, Hartwell H. Welsh Jr., David J. Germano, Donald T. Ashton, editor(s)
2012, Book
One of only two native, freshwater turtle species in the western United States, western pond turtles are declining in portions of their original range. Declines are mostly due to habitat loss, introduction of non-native species, pollution, and lack of connectivity among populations. USGS zoologist R. Bruce Bury and colleagues from...
Tools for quantifying isotopic niche space and dietary variation at the individual and population level.
Seth D. Newsome, Justin D. Yeakel, Patrick V. Wheatley, M. Tim Tinker
2012, Journal of Mammalogy (93) 329-341
Ecologists are increasingly using stable isotope analysis to inform questions about variation in resource and habitat use from the individual to community level. In this study we investigate data sets from 2 California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) populations to illustrate the advantages and potential pitfalls of applying various statistical...
Advances in spectroscopic methods for quantifying soil carbon
James B. Reeves III, Gregory W. McCarty, Francisco Calderon, W. Dean Hively
2012, Book chapter, Managing agricultural greenhouse gases
The current gold standard for soil carbon (C) determination is elemental C analysis using dry combustion. However, this method requires expensive consumables, is limited by the number of samples that can be processed (~100/d), and is restricted to the determination of total carbon. With increased interest in soil C sequestration,...
