Targeted surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza in migratory waterfowl across the conterminous United States: chapter 12
Matthew L. Farnsworth, William L. Kendall, Paul F. Doherty Jr., Ryan S. Miller, Gary C. White, James D. Nichols, Kenneth P. Burnham, Alan B. Franklin
S. Majumdar, F.J. Brenner, J.E. Huffman, R. G. McLean, A.I. Panah, P.J. Pietrobon, S.P. Keeler, S. Shive, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Pandemic influenza viruses: Science, surveillance and public health
Introduction of Asian strain H5N1 Highly Pathogenic avian influenca via waterfowl migration is one potential route of entry into the United States. In conjunction with state, tribe, and laboratory partners, the United States Department of Agriculture collected and tested 124,603 wild bird samples in 2006 as part of a national...
Swallows as a sentinel species for contaminant exposure and effect studies
Christine M. Custer
John G. Elliott, Christine Annette Bishop, Christy A. Morrissey, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Wildlife ecotoxicology: Forensic approaches
Tree swallows are an important model species to study the effects of contaminants in wild bird populations and have been used extensively in studies across North America. The advantages of swallows compared to other avian species are detailed. Three case histories are provided where swallows have been successfully used in...
The relative importance of physicochemical factors to stream biological condition in urbanizing basins: Evidence from multimodel inference
Daren M. Carlisle, Wade L. Bryant Jr.
2011, Freshwater Science (31) 154-166
Many physicochemical factors potentially impair stream ecosystems in urbanizing basins, but few studies have evaluated their relative importance simultaneously, especially in different environmental settings. We used data collected in 25 to 30 streams along a gradient of urbanization in each of 6 metropolitan areas (MAs) to evaluate the relative importance...
Estimation of demographic parameters in a tiger population from long-term camera trap data
K. Ullas Karanth, James D. Nichols
Allan F. O’Connell, James D. Nichols, K. Ullas Karanth, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Camera traps in animal ecology
Chapter 7 (Karanth et al.) illustrated the use of camera trapping in combination with closed population capture–recapture (CR) models to estimate densities of tigers Panthera tigris. Such estimates can be very useful for investigating variation across space for a particular species (e.g., Karanth et al. 2004) or variation among species...
Effects of model layer simplification using composite hydraulic properties
Eve L. Kuniansky, Nicasio Sepulveda
Lakshmanan Elango, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Hydraulic conductivity: Issues, determination and applications
Groundwater provides much of the fresh drinking water to more than 1.5 billion people in the world (Clarke et al., 1996) and in the United States more that 50 percent of citizens rely on groundwater for drinking water (Solley et al., 1998). As aquifer systems are developed for water supply,...
Understanding interaction effects of climate change and fire management on bird distributions through combined process and habitat models
Joseph D. White, Kevin J. Gutzwiller, Wylie C. Barrow, Lori Johnson-Randall, Lisa Zygo, Pamela Swint
2011, Conservation Biology (25) 536-546
Avian conservation efforts must account for changes in vegetation composition and structure associated with climate change. We modeled vegetation change and the probability of occurrence of birds to project changes in winter bird distributions associated with climate change and fire management in the northern Chihuahuan Desert (southwestern U.S.A.). We simulated...
Geochemical heterogeneity in a small, stratigraphically complex moraine aquifer system (Ontario, Canada): Interpretation of flow and recharge using multiple geochemical parameters
R.L. Stotler, S.K. Frape, H.T. El Mugammar, C. Johnston, I. Judd-Henrey, F.E. Harvey, R. Drimmie, J.P. Jones
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 101-115
The Waterloo Moraine is a stratigraphically complex system and is the major water supply to the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Despite over 30 years of investigation, no attempt has been made to unify existing geochemical data into a single database. A composite view of the moraine geochemistry...
Estimation of mussel population response to hydrologic alteration in a southeastern U.S. stream
James T. Peterson, J.M. Wisniewski, C.P. Shea, Jackson C. Rhett
2011, Environmental Management (48) 109-122
The southeastern United States has experienced severe, recurrent drought, rapid human population growth, and increasing agricultural irrigation during recent decades, resulting in greater demand for the water resources. During the same time period, freshwater mussels (Unioniformes) in the region have experienced substantial population declines. Consequently, there is growing interest in...
Verifying a computational method for predicting extreme ground motion
R.A. Harris, M. Barall, D.J. Andrews, B. Duan, S. Ma, E.M. Dunham, A.-A. Gabriel, Y. Kaneko, Y. Kase, Brad T. Aagaard, D. D. Oglesby, J.-P. Ampuero, Thomas C. Hanks, N. Abrahamson
2011, Seismological Research Letters (82) 638-644
In situations where seismological data is rare or nonexistent, computer simulations may be used to predict ground motions caused by future earthquakes. This is particularly practical in the case of extreme ground motions, where engineers of special buildings may need to design for an event that has not been historically...
Estimating basin scale evapotranspiration (ET) by water balance and remote sensing methods
G.B. Senay, S. Leake, P.L. Nagler, G. Artan, J. Dickinson, J.T. Cordova, E. P. Glenn
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 4037-4049
Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important hydrological process that can be studied and estimated at multiple spatial scales ranging from a leaf to a river basin. We present a review of methods in estimating basin scale ET and its applications in understanding basin water balance dynamics. The review focuses on two...
Eocene bituminous coal deposits of the Claiborne group, Webb County, Texas
Robert W. Hook, Peter D. Warwick
Peter D. Warwick, Alexander K. Karlsen, Matthew D. Merrill, Brett J. Valentine, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Geologic assessment of coal in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain
Two bituminous coal zones, the San Pedro and the Santo Tomas, in the middle Eocene Claiborne Group of Webb County, south Texas (Figure 1), are among the coal resources that are not evaluated quantitatively as part of the current Gulf Coastal Plain coal resource assessment. Coal beds within these zones...
Characterization of winter foraging locations of Adélie penguins along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, 2001–2002
Eric S. Erdmann, Christine Ribic, Donna L. Patterson-Fraser, William R. Fraser
2011, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (58) 1710-1718
In accord with the hypotheses driving the Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (SO GLOBEC) program, we tested the hypothesis that the winter foraging ecology of a major top predator in waters off the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), is constrained by oceanographic features related to...
Chapter 8: Occurrence of large and medium-sized mammals: Occurrence but not count models predict pronghorn distribution
Matthias Leu, Steve E. Hanser, Cameron L. Aldridge, Scott E. Nielsen, Lowell H. Suring, Steven T. Knick
2011, Book chapter, Sagebrush ecosystem conservation and management: Ecoregional assessment tools and models for the Wyoming Basins
Management of medium to large-sized terrestrial mammals (Antilocapridae, Canidae, Cervidae, Leporidae, Mustelidae, Ochotonidae) in the western United States is multifaceted and complex. Species in this group generally are charismatic and provide economic opportunities, although others are considered a nuisance at one extreme or are listed as species of conservation concern...
Inference for occupancy and occupancy dynamics
Allan F. O’Connell, Larissa L. Bailey
Allan F. O’Connell, James D. Nichols, K. Ullas Karanth, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Camera traps in animal ecology
This chapter deals with the estimation of occupancy as a state variable to assess the status of, and track changes in, species distributions when sampling with camera traps. Much of the recent interest in occupancy estimation and modeling originated from the models developed by MacKenzie et al. (2002, 2003), although...
Chapter 6: Detectability adjusted count models of songbird abundance
Cameron L. Aldridge, Steve E. Hanser, Scott E. Nielsen, Matthias Leu, Brian S. Cade, D. Joanne Saher, Steven T. Knick
2011, Book chapter, Sagebrush ecosystem conservation and management: Ecoregional assessment tools and models for the Wyoming Basins
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe ecosystems have experienced recent changes resulting not only in the loss of habitat but also fragmentation and degradation of remaining habitats. As a result, sagebrush-obligate and sagebrush associated songbird populations have experienced population declines over the past several decades. We examined landscape-scale responses in occupancy and...
Inland surface water: Chapter 18
Jill Baron, C. T. Driscoll, J.L. Stoddard
2011, General Technical Report NRS-80
Freshwater aquatic ecosystems include rivers and streams, large and small lakes, reservoirs, and ephemeral ponds. Wetlands are defi ned and discussed in Chapter 17 of this report. It is estimated that there are 123,400 lakes with a surface area greater than 4 ha in the United States. Most lakes, however,...
The LANDFIRE Total Fuel Change Tool (ToFuΔ) user’s guide
Tobin Smail, Charley Martin, Jim Napoli
2011, Report
LANDFIRE fuel data were originally developed from coarse-scale existing vegetation type, existing vegetation cover, existing vegetation height, and biophysical setting layers. Fire and fuel specialists from across the country provided input to the original LANDFIRE National (LF_1.0.0) fuel layers to help calibrate fuel characteristics on a more localized scale. The...
Wave-current interaction in Willapa Bay
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (116)
This paper describes the importance of wave-current interaction in an inlet-estuary system. The three-dimensional, fully coupled, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was applied in Willapa Bay (Washington State) from 22 to 29 October 1998 that included a large storm event. To represent the interaction between waves and currents, the...
Cold-water coral distributions in the Drake Passage area from towed camera observations - Initial interpretations
Rhian G. Waller, Kathryn Scanlon Catanach, Laura F. Robinson
2011, PLoS ONE (6)
Seamounts are unique deep-sea features that create habitats thought to have high levels of endemic fauna, productive fisheries and benthic communities vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts. Many seamounts are isolated features, occurring in the high seas, where access is limited and thus biological data scarce. There are numerous seamounts within the...
Genetic identity of Thamnophis sp. using microsatellite genetic markers
Brian L. Sloss
2011, Report
Butler’s gartersnake (Thamnophis butleri) was previously listed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a state threatened species. Several key questions associated with species identity, integrity, and hybridization with other gartersnake species needed to be addressed to further refi ne the management plan for this species. The objectives of...
Elevated gas hydrate saturation within silt and silty clay sediments in the Shenhu area, South China Sea
Xiujuan Wang, Deborah R. Hutchinson, Shiguo Wu, Shengxiong Yang, Yiqun Guo
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116)
Gas hydrate saturations were estimated using five different methods in silt and silty clay foraminiferous sediments from drill hole SH2 in the South China Sea. Gas hydrate saturations derived from observed pore water chloride values in core samples range from 10 to 45% of the pore space at 190–221 m...
Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from coal fires using airborne and ground-based methods
Mark A. Engle, Lawrence F. Radke, Edward L. Heffern, Jennifer M.K. O’Keefe, Charles Smeltzer, James C. Hower, Judith M. Hower, Anupma Prakash, Allan Kolker, Robert J. Eatwell, Arnout ter Schure, Gerald Queen, Kerry L. Aggen, Glenn B. Stracher, Kevin R. Henke, Ricardo A. Olea, Yomayara Roman-Colon
2011, International Journal of Coal Geology (88) 147-151
Coal fires occur in all coal-bearing regions of the world and number, conservatively, in the thousands. These fires emit a variety of compounds including greenhouse gases. However, the magnitude of the contribution of combustion gases from coal fires to the environment is highly uncertain, because adequate data and methods for...
Long-term observations of Boreal Toads at an ARMI apex site
Paul Stephen Corn, Erin L. Muths, David S. Pilliod
2011, Conference Paper, Questioning Greater Yellowstone’s future: Climate, land use, and invasive species. Proceedings of the 10th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) is a national project with goals to monitor the status and trends of amphibians, conduct research on causes of declines, and provide information and support to management agencies for conservation of amphibian populations. ARMI activities are organized around extensive inventories...
Multi-scale clustering of functional data with application to hydraulic gradients in wetlands
Mark C. Greenwood, Richard S. Sojda, Julia L. Sharp, Rory G. Peck, Donald O. Rosenberry
2011, Journal of Data Science (9) 399-426
A new set of methods are developed to perform cluster analysis of functions, motivated by a data set consisting of hydraulic gradients at several locations distributed across a wetland complex. The methods build on previous work on clustering of functions, such as Tarpey and Kinateder (2003) and Hitchcock et al....
Estimating aboveground forest biomass carbon and fire consumption in the U.S. Utah High Plateaus using data from the Forest Inventory and Analysis program, Landsat, and LANDFIRE
Xuexia Chen, Shuguang Liu, Zhiliang Zhu, James E. Vogelmann, Zhen Li, Donald O. Ohlen
2011, Ecological Indicators (11) 140-148
The concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been increasing and greatly affecting global climate and socio-economic systems. Actively growing forests are generally considered to be a major carbon sink, but forest wildfires lead to large releases of biomass carbon into the atmosphere. Aboveground forest biomass...