The resilience and functional role of moss in boreal and arctic ecosystems
M. Turetsky, B. Bond-Lamberty, E.S. Euskirchen, J. J. Talbot, S. Frolking, A. D. McGuire, E.S. Tuittila
2012, New Phytologist (196) 49-67
Mosses in northern ecosystems are ubiquitous components of plant communities, and strongly influence nutrient, carbon and water cycling. We use literature review, synthesis and model simulations to explore the role of mosses in ecological stability and resilience. Moss community responses to disturbance showed all possible responses (increases, decreases, no change)...
Developing spatially explicit footprints of plausible land-use scenarios in the Santa Cruz Watershed, Arizona and Sonora
Laura M. Norman, Mark Feller, Miguel L. Villarreal
2012, Landscape and Urban Planning (107) 225-235
The SLEUTH urban growth model is applied to a binational dryland watershed to envision and evaluate plausible future scenarios of land use change into the year 2050. Our objective was to create a suite of geospatial footprints portraying potential land use change that can be used to aid binational decision-makers...
Thresholds of flow-induced bed disturbances and their effects on stream metabolism in an agricultural river
Ben L. O’Connor, Judson W. Harvey, Lauren E. McPhillips
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Storm-driven flow pulses in rivers destroy and restructure sediment habitats that affect stream metabolism. This study examined thresholds of bed disturbances that affected patch- and reach-scale sediment conditions and metabolism rates. A 4 year record of discharge and diel changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations (ΔDO) was analyzed for disturbances and...
Effects of climate change and population growth on the transboundary Santa Cruz aquifer
Christopher A. Scott, Sharon Megdal, Lucas Antonio Oroz, James Callegary, Prescott Vandervoet
2012, Climate Research (51) 159-170
The USA and Mexico have initiated comprehensive assessment of 4 of the 18 aquifers underlying their 3000 km border. Binational management of groundwater is not currently proposed. University and agency researchers plus USA and Mexican federal, state, and local agency staff have collaboratively identified key challenges facing the Santa Cruz...
Relationship between mid-water trawling effort and catch composition uncertainty in two large lakes (Huron and Michigan) dominated by alosines, osmerids, and coregonines
David M. Warner, Randall M. Claramunt, Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Daniel L. Yule, Tom R. Hrabik, Bernie Peintka, Lars G. Rudstam, Jeffrey D. Holuszko, Timothy P. O’Brien
2012, Fisheries Research (123-124) 62-69
Because it is not possible to identify species with echosounders alone, trawling is widely used as a method for collecting species and size composition data for allocating acoustic fish density estimates to species or size groups. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, data from midwater trawls are commonly used for such...
Deep Arctic Ocean warming during the last glacial cycle
T. M. Cronin, G. S. Dwyer, J. Farmer, H.A. Bauch, R.F. Spielhagen, M. Jakobsson, J. Nilsson, W. M. Briggs Jr., A. Stepanova
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 631-634
In the Arctic Ocean, the cold and relatively fresh water beneath the sea ice is separated from the underlying warmer and saltier Atlantic Layer by a halocline. Ongoing sea ice loss and warming in the Arctic Ocean have demonstrated the instability of the halocline, with implications for further sea ice...
Estimating occupancy in large landscapes: evaluation of amphibian monitoring in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem
William R. Gould, Debra A. Patla, Rob Daley, Paul Stephen Corn, Blake R. Hossack, Robert E. Bennetts, Charles R. Peterson
2012, Wetlands (32) 379-389
Monitoring of natural resources is crucial to ecosystem conservation, and yet it can pose many challenges. Annual surveys for amphibian breeding occupancy were conducted in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks over a 4-year period (2006–2009) at two scales: catchments (portions of watersheds) and individual wetland sites. Catchments were selected...
Physical controls and predictability of stream hyporheic flow evaluated with a multiscale model
Susa H. Stonedahl, Judson W. Harvey, Joel Detty, Antoine Aubeneau, Aaron I. Packman
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Improved predictions of hyporheic exchange based on easily measured physical variables are needed to improve assessment of solute transport and reaction processes in watersheds. Here we compare physically based model predictions for an Indiana stream with stream tracer results interpreted using the Transient Storage Model (TSM). We parameterized the physically...
Minimum distribution of subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the US Beaufort Sea continental shelf
Laura L. Brothers, Patrick E. Hart, Carolyn D. Ruppel
2012, Geophysical Research Letters (39)
Starting in Late Pleistocene time (~19 ka), sea level rise inundated coastal zones worldwide. On some parts of the present-day circum-Arctic continental shelf, this led to flooding and thawing of formerly subaerial permafrost and probable dissociation of associated gas hydrates. Relict permafrost has never been systematically mapped along the 700-km-long...
Resolving hyporheic and groundwater components of streambed water flux
Aditi S. Bhaskar, Judson W. Harvey, Eric J. Henry
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
Hyporheic and groundwater fluxes typically occur together in permeable sediments beneath flowing stream water. However, streambed water fluxes quantified using the thermal method are usually interpreted as representing either groundwater or hyporheic fluxes. Our purpose was to improve understanding of co-occurring groundwater and hyporheic fluxes using streambed temperature measurements and...
Earthworm bioassays and seedling emergence for monitoring toxicity, aging and bioaccumulation of anthropogenic waste indicator compounds in biosolids-amended soil
Chad A. Kinney, Bryan R. Campbell, Regina Thompson, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Mark R. Burkhardt, Steven D. Zaugg, Stephen L. Werner, Anthony G. Hay
2012, Science of the Total Environment (433) 507-515
Land application of biosolids (treated sewage sludge) can be an important route for introducing xenobiotic compounds into terrestrial environments. There is a paucity of available information on the effects of biosolids amendment on terrestrial organisms. In this study, the influence of biosolids and biosolids aging on earthworm (Eisenia fetida) reproduction...
Food security in a changing climate
Roger Pulwarty, Gary Eilerts, James Verdin
2012, Solutions Journal (3) 31-34
By 2080 the effects of climate change—on heat waves, floods, sea level rise, and drought—could push an additional 600 million people into malnutrition and increase the number of people facing water scarcity by 1.8 billion. The precise impacts will, however, strongly depend on socioeconomic conditions such as local markets and...
Anisotropic path modeling to assess pedestrian-evacuation potential from Cascadia-related tsunamis in the US Pacific Northwest
Nathan J. Wood, Mathew C. Schmidtlein
2012, Natural Hazards (62) 275-300
Recent disasters highlight the threat that tsunamis pose to coastal communities. When developing tsunami-education efforts and vertical-evacuation strategies, emergency managers need to understand how much time it could take for a coastal population to reach higher ground before tsunami waves arrive. To improve efforts to model pedestrian evacuations from tsunamis,...
Shale Gas Development and Brook Trout: Scaling Best Management Practices to Anticipate Cumulative Effects
David Smith, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, John A. Young, Stephen P. Faulkner
2012, Environmental Practice (14) 366-381
Shale gas development may involve trade-offs between energy development and benefits provided by natural ecosystems. However, current best management practices (BMPs) focus on mitigating localized ecological degradation. We review evidence for cumulative effects of natural gas development on brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and conclude that BMPs should account for potential...
Water-resources data for the United States: water year 2012
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2012, Water Data Report 2012
Water resources data are published annually for use by engineers, scientists, managers, educators, and the general public. These archival products supplement direct access to current and historical water data provided by NWISWeb. Beginning with Water Year 2006, annual water data reports are available as individual electronic Site Data Sheets for...
Effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Louisiana black bear habitat
Joseph D. Clark, Jennifer L. Murrow
2012, Ursus (23) 192-205
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is comprised of 3 subpopulations, each being small, geographically isolated, and vulnerable to extinction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in 2005, potentially altering habitat occupied by this federally threatened subspecies. We used data collected on radio-telemetered bears from...
Type E botulism outbreaks: a manual for beach managers and the public
2012, Book
The Great Lakes basin has undergone a resurgence of Type E botulism (often referred to as avian botulism) in recent years, characterized by dead birds and fish along the shores of the Great Lakes. The number of deaths and areas affected appear to be increasing to levels that induce concern...
Bromine
Joyce A. Ober
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 40-41
The element bromine is found principally as a dissolved species in seawater, evaporitic (salt) lakes and underground brines associated with petroleum deposits. Seawater contains about 65 parts per million of bromine or an estimated 100 Tt (110 trillion st). In the Middle East, the highly saline waters of the Dead...
An exploration hydrogeochemical study at the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, Alaska, USA, using high-resolution ICP-MS
Robert G. Eppinger, David L. Fey, Stuart A. Giles, Karen D. Kelley, Steven M. Smith
2012, Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis (12) 211-226
A hydrogeochemical study using high resolution ICP-MS was undertaken at the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit and surrounding mineral occurrences. Surface water and groundwater samples from regional background and the deposit area were collected at 168 sites. Rigorous quality control reveals impressive results at low nanogram per litre (ng/l) levels....
Habitat use by fishes of Lake Superior. I. Diel patterns of habitat use in nearshore and offshore waters of the Apostle Islands region
O. T. Gorman, D.L. Yule, J.D. Stockwell
2012, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (15) 333-354
Diel patterns of distribution of fishes in nearshore (15–80 m depth) and offshore (>80 m) waters of the Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior were described using bottom trawls, mid-water trawls, and acoustic gear during day and night sampling. These data revealed three types of diel migration: diel vertical migration (DVM), diel...
Conflicts between sandhill cranes and farmers in the western United States: evolving issues and solutions
Jane E. Austin
2012, Conference Paper, Cranes, Agriculture and Climate Change, May 28 - June 3, 2010, Muraviovka Park for Sustainable Land Use, Amur Region, Russia
The main conflicts between Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) and farmers in western United States occur in the Rocky Mountain region during migration and wintering periods. Most crop damage by cranes occurs in mature wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), young shoots of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and cereal grains, chilies...
Avian botulism and avian chlamydiosis in wild water birds, Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Montana, USA
Douglas E. Docherty, J. Christian Franson, Roger E. Brannian, Renee R. Long, Craig A. Radi, David Krueger, Robert F. Johnson
2012, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (43) 885-888
In 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, conducted a diagnostic investigation into a water bird mortality event involving intoxication with avian botulism type C and infection with avian chlamydiosis at the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, USA. Of 24 carcasses necropsied, 11...
Evolution of the chemistry of Fe bearing waters during CO2 degassing
J.N. Geroni, C.A. Cravotta III, D.J. Sapsford
2012, Applied Geochemistry (27) 2335-2347
The rates of Fe(II) oxidation and precipitation from groundwater are highly pH dependent. Elevated levels of dissolved CO2 can depress pH and cause difficulty in removing dissolved Fe and associated metals during treatment of ferruginous water. This paper demonstrates interdependent changes in pH, dissolved inorganic C species, and Fe(II) oxidation...
Luna B. Leopold--pioneer setting the stage for modern hydrology
Randall J. Hunt, Curt Meine
2012, Ground Water (50) 966-970
In 1986, during the first year of graduate school, the lead author was sampling the water from a pitcher pump in front of “The Shack,” the setting of the opening essays in Aldo Leopold's renowned book A Sand County Almanac. The sampling was part of my Master's work that included...
Habitat use by fishes of Lake Superior. II. Consequences of diel habitat use for habitat linkages and habitat coupling in nearshore and offshore waters
Owen T. Gorman, Daniel L. Yule, Jason D. Stockwell
2012, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (15) 355-368
Diel migration patterns of fishes in nearshore (15–80 m depth) and offshore (>80 m) waters of Lake Superior were examined to assess the potential for diel migration to link benthic and pelagic, and nearshore and offshore habitats. In our companion article, we described three types of diel migration: diel vertical migration (DVM),...
