Comparing modern and presettlement forest dynamics of a subboreal wilderness: Does spruce budworm enhance fire risk?
Brian R. Sturtevant, Brian R. Miranda, Douglas J. Shinneman, Eric J. Gustafson, Peter T. Wolter
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1278-1296
Insect disturbance is often thought to increase fire risk through enhanced fuel loadings, particularly in coniferous forest ecosystems. Yet insect disturbances also affect successional pathways and landscape structure that interact with fire disturbances (and vice-versa) over longer time scales. We applied a landscape succession and disturbance model (LANDIS-II) to evaluate...
Characterization of the hydrologic resources of San Miguel County, New Mexico, and identification of hydrologic data gaps, 2011
Anne Marie Matherne, Anne M. Stewart
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5238
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with San Miguel County, New Mexico, conducted a study to assess publicly available information regarding the hydrologic resources of San Miguel County and to identify data gaps in that information and hydrologic information that could aid in the management of available water resources....
Water-level altitudes and continuous and discrete water quality at and near an aquifer storage and recovery site, Bexar, Atascosa, and Wilson Counties, Texas, June 2004-September 2011
Cassi L. Crow
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5260
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), collected data during 2004–11 to characterize the quality of native groundwater from the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer (hereinafter, Edwards aquifer) and preinjection and postinjection water from the Carrizo aquifer (informal name commonly applied...
Insights from fumarole gas geochemistry on the origin of hydrothermal fluids on the Yellowstone Plateau
Giovanni Chiodini, Stefano Caliro, Jacob B. Lowenstern, William C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, Franco Tassi, Dario Tedesco
2012, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (89) 265-278
The chemistry of Yellowstone fumarole gases shows the existence of two component waters, type MC, influenced by the addition of deep mantle fluid, and type CC, influenced by crustal interactions (CC). MC is high in 3He/4He (22 Ra) and low in 4He/40Ar (∼1), reflecting input of deep mantle components. The other water is...
Linking the historic 2011 Mississippi River flood to coastal wetland sedimentation
Federico Falcini, Nicole S. Khan, Leonardo Macelloni, Benjamin P. Horton, Carol B. Lutken, Karen L. McKee, Rosalia Santoleri, Simone Colella, Chunyan Li, Gianluca Volpe, Marco D’Emidio, Alessandro Salusti, Douglas J. Jerolmack
2012, Nature Geoscience (5) 803-807
Wetlands in the Mississippi River deltaic plain are deteriorating in part because levees and control structures starve them of sediment. In Spring of 2011 a record-breaking flood brought discharge on the lower Mississippi River to dangerous levels, forcing managers to divert up to 3500 m3/s-1 of water to the Atchafalaya...
Yield of bedrock wells in the Nashoba terrane, central and eastern Massachusetts
Leslie A. DeSimone, Jeffrey R. Barbaro
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5155
The yield of bedrock wells in the fractured-bedrock aquifers of the Nashoba terrane and surrounding area, central and eastern Massachusetts, was investigated with analyses of existing data. Reported well yield was compiled for 7,287 wells from Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Geological Survey databases. Yield of these wells...
Consequences of declining snow accumulation for water balance of mid-latitude dry regions
Daniel R. Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, John B. Bradford
2012, Global Change Biology (18) 1988-1997
Widespread documentation of positive winter temperature anomalies, declining snowpack and earlier snow melt in the Northern Hemisphere have raised concerns about the consequences for regional water resources as well as wildfire. A topic that has not been addressed with respect to declining snowpack is effects on ecosystem water balance. Changes...
Century-scale perspective on water quality in selected river basins of the conterminous United States
Edward G. Stets, Valerie J. Kelly, Whitney P. Broussard III, Thor E. Smith, Charles G. Crawford
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5225
Nutrient pollution in the form of excess nitrogen and phosphorus inputs is a well-known cause of water-quality degradation that has affected water bodies across the Nation throughout the 20th century. The recognition of excess nutrients as pollution developed later than the recognition of other water-quality problems, such as waterborne illness,...
Geomorphic analysis of the river response to sedimentation downstream of Mount Rainier, Washington
Jonathan A. Czuba, Christopher S. Magirl, Christiana R. Czuba, Christopher A. Curran, Kenneth H. Johnson, Theresa D. Olsen, Halley K. Kimball, Casey C. Gish
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1242
A study of the geomorphology of rivers draining Mount Rainier, Washington, was completed to identify sources of sediment to the river network; to identify important processes in the sediment delivery system; to assess current sediment loads in rivers draining Mount Rainier; to evaluate if there were trends in streamflow or...
Female Agassiz’s desert tortoise activity at a wind energy facility in southern California: The influence of an El Niño event
Josh R. Ennen, Kathie Meyer-Wilkins, Jeffrey Lovich
2012, Natural Science (4) 30-37
We compared spring-summer activity of adult female Agassiz’s Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) among three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999) that differed dramatically in winter rainfall and annual plant production at a wind energy facility in the Sonoran Desert of southern California. Winter rainfall was approximately 71%, 190%, and 17%...
Status and trends of land change in the United States--1973 to 2000
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2012, Professional Paper 1794
Summary U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794 is a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, C, and...
Body condition of Morelet’s Crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii) from northern Belize
Frank J. Mazzotti, Michael S. Cherkiss, Laura A. Brandt, Ikuko Fujisaki, Kristen Hart, Brian Jeffery, Scott T. McMurry, Steven G. Platt, Thomas R. Rainwater, Joy Vinci
2012, Journal of Herpetology (46) 356-362
Body condition factors have been used as an indicator of health and well-being of crocodilians. We evaluated body condition of Morelet's Crocodiles (Crocodylus moreletii) in northern Belize in relation to biotic (size, sex, and habitat) and abiotic (location, water level, and air temperature) factors. We also tested the hypothesis that...
Ballistic blocks around Kīlauea Caldera: Their vent locations and number of eruptions in the late 18th century
Donald A. Swanson, Scott P. Zolkos, Ben Haravitch
2012, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (231-232) 1-11
Thousands of ballistic blocks occur around Kīlauea Caldera and record part of the latest major period of explosive activity on the volcano, in late 1790 or within a few years thereafter. The sizes of the blocks – the largest of which is more than 2 m in nominal diameter –...
Characterization of Atlantic cod spawning habitat and behavior in Icelandic coastal waters
Timothy B. Grabowski, Kevin M. Boswell, Bruce J. McAdam, R. J. David Wells, Gudrun Marteinsdottir
2012, PLoS ONE (7)
The physical habitat used during spawning may potentially be an important factor affecting reproductive output of broadcast spawning marine fishes, particularly for species with complex, substrate-oriented mating systems and behaviors, such as Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. We characterized the habitat use and behavior of spawning Atlantic cod at two locations...
Simulation of groundwater flow in the shallow aquifer system of the Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware
Ward E. Sanford, Jason P. Pope, David L. Selnick, Ryan F. Stumvoll
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1140
Estimating future loadings of nitrogen to the Chesapeake Bay requires knowledge about the groundwater flow system and the traveltime of water and chemicals between recharge at the water table and the discharge to streams and directly to the bay. The Delmarva Peninsula has a relatively large proportion of its land...
Flood-inundation maps for a nine-mile reach of the Des Plaines River from Riverwoods to Mettawa, Illinois
Elizabeth A. Murphy, David T. Soong, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5227
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9-mile reach of the Des Plaines River from Riverwoods to Mettawa, Illinois, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and the Villages of Lincolnshire and Riverwoods. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the...
Phase II modification of the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) for Kentucky: The sinkhole-drainage process, point-and-click basin delineation, and results of karst test-basin simulations
Charles J. Taylor, Tanja N. Williamson, Jeremy K. Newson, Randy L. Ulery, Hugh L. Nelson, Peter J. Cinotto
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5071
This report describes Phase II modifications made to the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER), which applies the process-based TOPMODEL approach to simulate or predict stream discharge in surface basins in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The previous (Phase I) version of WATER did not provide a means of identifying...
Downstream movement of fall Chinook salmon juveniles in the lower Snake River reservoirs during winter and early spring
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Tobias J. Kock, William P. Connor, Frank Mullins, R. Kirk Steinhorst
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 285-293
We conducted a 3-year radiotelemetry study in the lower Snake River to (1) determine whether juvenile fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha pass dams during winter, when bypass systems and structures designed to prevent mortality are not operated; (2) determine whether downstream movement rate varies annually, seasonally, and from reservoir to...
Relations among water levels, specific conductance, and depths of bedrock fractures in four road-salt-contaminated wells in Maine, 2007–9
Charles W. Schalk, Nicholas W. Stasulis
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5205
Data on groundwater-level, specific conductance (a surrogate for chloride), and temperature were collected continuously from 2007 through 2009 at four bedrock wells known to be affected by road salts in an effort to determine the effects of road salting and fractures in bedrock that intersect the well at a depth...
Streamflow statistics for selected streams in North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan
Tara Williams-Sether
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1147
Statistical summaries of streamflow data for the periods of record through water year 2009 for selected active and discontinued U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations in North Dakota, Minnesota, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan were compiled. The summaries for each streamflow-gaging station include a brief station description, a graph of the annual peak...
Residence time, chemical and isotopic analysis of nitrate in the groundwater and surface water of a small agricultural watershed in the Coastal Plain, Bucks Branch, Sussex County, Delaware
John W. Clune, Judith M. Denver
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5235
Nitrate is a common contaminant in groundwater and surface water throughout the Nation, and water-resource managers need more detailed small-scale watershed research to guide conservation efforts aimed at improving water quality. Concentrations of nitrate in Bucks Branch are among the highest in the state of Delaware and a scientific investigation...
Variability in expression of anadromy by female Oncorhynchus mykiss within a river network
Justin S. Mills, Jason B. Dunham, Gordon H. Reeves, John R. McMillan, Christian E. Zimmerman, Chris E. Jordan
2012, Environmental Biology of Fishes (93) 505-517
We described and predicted spatial variation in marine migration (anadromy) of female Oncorhynchus mykiss in the John Day River watershed, Oregon. We collected 149 juvenile O. mykiss across 72 sites and identified locations used by anadromous females by assigning maternal origin (anadromous versus non-anadromous) to each juvenile. These assignments used...
Effects of hydroperiod duration on survival, developmental rate, and size at metamorphosis in boreal chorus frog tadpoles (Pseudacris maculata)
Staci Amburgey, W. Chris Funk, Melanie Murphy, Erin Muths
2012, Herpetologica (68) 456-467
Understanding the relationship between climate-driven habitat conditions and survival is key to preserving biodiversity in the face of rapid climate change. Hydroperiod—the length of time water is in a wetland—is a critical limiting habitat variable for amphibians as larvae must metamorphose before ponds dry. Changes in precipitation and temperature patterns...
Ohio River backwater flood-inundation maps for the Saline and Wabash Rivers in southern Illinois
Elizabeth A. Murphy, Jennifer B. Sharpe, David T. Soong
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5212
Digital flood-inundation maps for the Saline and Wabash Rivers referenced to elevations on the Ohio River in southern Illinois were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The inundation maps, accessible through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding...
Net Ecosystem Production (NEP) of the Great Plains, United States
Daniel Howard, Tagir Gilmanov, Yingxin Gu, Bruce Wylie, Li Zhang
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3134
Gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) are the fundamental environmental characteristics that promote carbon exchanges with the atmosphere (Chapin and others, 2009), although other exchanges of carbon, such as direct oxidation (Lovett and others, 2006), can modify net ecosystem production (NEP). The accumulation of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems...
