Land-use and land-cover scenarios and spatial modeling at the regional scale
Terry L. Sohl, Benjamin M. Sleeter
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3091
Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change has altered a large part of the earth's surface. Scenarios of potential future LULC change are required in order to better manage potential impacts on biodiversity, carbon fluxes, climate change, hydrology, and many other ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey is analyzing potential future LULC...
Simulation of climate change in San Francisco Bay Basins, California: Case studies in the Russian River Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains
Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5132
As a result of ongoing changes in climate, hydrologic and ecologic effects are being seen across the western United States. A regional study of how climate change affects water resources and habitats in the San Francisco Bay area relied on historical climate data and future projections of climate, which were...
An at-grade stabilization structure impact on runoff and suspended sediment
Kyle R. Minks, Birl Lowery, Fred W. Madison, Matthew Ruark, Dennis R. Frame, Todd D. Stuntebeck, Matthew J. Komiskey
2012, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (67) 237-248
In recent years, agricultural runoff has received more attention as a major contributor to surface water pollution. This is especially true for the unglaciated area of Wisconsin, given this area's steep topography, which makes it highly susceptible to runoff and soil loss. We evaluated the ability of an at-grade stabilization...
Updating the debate on model complexity
Craig T. Simmons, Randall J. Hunt
2012, GSA Today (22) 28-29
As scientists who are trying to understand a complex natural world that cannot be fully characterized in the field, how can we best inform the society in which we live? This founding context was addressed in a special session, “Complexity in Modeling: How Much is Too Much?” convened at the...
Identifying the decision to be supported: a review of papers from environmental modelling and software
Richard S. Sojda, Serena H. Chen, Sondoss Elsawah, Joseph H.A. Guillaume, A.J. Jakeman, Sven Lautenbach, Brian S. McIntosh, A.E. Rizzoli, Ralf Seppelt, Peter Struss, Alexey Voinov, Martin Volk
2012, Conference Paper, International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs) 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Managing resources of a limited planet: pathways and visions under uncertainty, sixth biennial meeting, Leipzig, Germany
Two of the basic tenets of decision support system efforts are to help identify and structure the decisions to be supported, and to then provide analysis in how those decisions might be best made. One example from wetland management would be that wildlife biologists must decide when to draw down...
Carbon sequestration via reaction with basaltic rocks: geochemical modeling and experimental results
Robert J. Rosenbauer, Burt Thomas, James L. Bischoff, James Palandri
2012, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (89) 116-133
Basaltic rocks are potential repositories for sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) because of their capacity for trapping CO2 in carbonate minerals. We carried out a series of thermodynamic equilibrium models and high pressure experiments, reacting basalt with CO2-charged fluids over a range of conditions from 50 to 200 °C at 300...
Toxicity of elevated partial pressures of carbon dioxide to invasive New Zealand mudsnails
R. Jordan Nielson, Christine M. Moffitt, Barnaby J. Watten
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 1838-1842
The authors tested the efficacy of elevated partial pressures of CO2 to kill invasive New Zealand mudsnails. The New Zealand mudsnails were exposed to 100 kPa at three water temperatures, and the survival was modeled versus dose as cumulative °C-h. We estimated an LD50 of 59.4°C-h for adult and juvenile...
Perils of categorical thinking: "Oxic/anoxic" conceptual model in environmental remediation
Paul M. Bradley
2012, Remediation Journal (22) 9-18
Given ambient atmospheric oxygen concentrations of about 21 percent (by volume), the lower limit for reliable quantitation of dissolved oxygen concentrations in groundwater samples is in the range of 0.1–0.5 mg/L. Frameworks for assessing in situ redox condition are often applied using a simple two-category (oxic/anoxic) model of oxygen condition....
Benthic foraminiferal census data from Mobile Bay, Alabama--counts of surface samples and box cores
Kathryn A. Richwine, Lisa E. Osterman
2012, Data Series 704
A study was undertaken in order to understand recent environmental change in Mobile Bay, Alabama. For this study a series of surface sediment and box core samples was collected. The surface benthic foraminiferal data provide the modern baseline conditions of the bay and can be used as a reference for...
Evidence, models, conservation programs and limits to management
J.D. Nichols
2012, Animal Conservation (15) 331-333
Walsh et al. (2012) emphasized the importance of obtaining evidence to assess the effects of management actions on state variables relevant to objectives of conservation programs. They focused on malleefowl Leipoa ocellata, ground-dwelling Australian megapodes listed as vulnerable. They noted that although fox Vulpes vulpes baiting is the main management...
Archive eggs: a research and management tool for avian conservation breeding
Des Smith, Axel Moehrenschlager, Nancy Christensen, Dwight Knapik, Keith Gibson, Sarah J. Converse
2012, Wildlife Society Bulletin (36) 342-349
Worldwide, approximately 168 bird species are captive-bred for reintroduction into the wild. Programs tend to be initiated for species with a high level of endangerment. Depressed hatching success can be a problem for such programs and has been linked to artificial incubation. The need for artificial incubation is driven by...
Population dynamics of Hawaiian seabird colonies vulnerable to sea-level rise
Jeff S. Hatfield, Michelle H. Reynolds, Nathaniel E. Seavy, Crystal M. Krause
2012, Conservation Biology (26) 667-678
Globally, seabirds are vulnerable to anthropogenic threats both at sea and on land. Seabirds typically nest colonially and show strong fidelity to natal colonies, and such colonies on low-lying islands may be threatened by sea-level rise. We used French Frigate Shoals, the largest atoll in the Hawaiian Archipelago, as a...
Adult tree swallow survival on the polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated Hudson River, New York, USA, between 2006 and 2010
Christine M. Custer, Thomas W. Custer, James E. Hines
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 1788-1792
The upper Hudson River basin in east central New York, USA, is highly contaminated, primarily with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Reduced adult survival has been documented in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) at a similarly PCB-contaminated river system in western Massachusetts. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether adult...
Assessment of environments for Mars Science Laboratory entry, descent, and surface operations
Ashwin R. Vasavada, Allen Chen, Jeffrey R. Barnes, P. Daniel Burkhart, Bruce A. Cantor, Alicia M. Dwyer-Cianciolo, Robini L. Fergason, David P. Hinson, Hilary L. Justh, David M. Kass, Stephen R. Lewis, Michael A. Mischna, James R. Murphy, Scot C.R. Rafkin, Daniel Tyler, Paul G. Withers
2012, Space Science Reviews (170) 793-835
The Mars Science Laboratory mission aims to land a car-sized rover on Mars' surface and operate it for at least one Mars year in order to assess whether its field area was ever capable of supporting microbial life. Here we describe the approach used to identify, characterize, and assess environmental...
Relative value of managed wetlands and tidal marshlands for wintering northern pintails
Peter S. Coates, Michael L. Casazza, Brian J. Halstead, Joseph P. Fleskes
2012, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (3) 98-109
Northern pintail Anas acuta (hereafter, pintail) populations have declined substantially throughout the western US since the 1970s, largely as a result of converting wetlands to cropland. Managed wetlands have been developed throughout the San Francisco Bay estuaries to provide wildlife habitat, particularly for waterfowl. Many of these areas were historically...
Deterministic estimation of hydrological thresholds for shallow landslide initiation and slope stability models: case study from the Somma-Vesuvius area of southern Italy
Rex L. Baum, Jonathan W. Godt, P. De Vita, E. Napolitano
2012, Landslides
Rainfall-induced debris flows involving ash-fall pyroclastic deposits that cover steep mountain slopes surrounding the Somma-Vesuvius volcano are natural events and a source of risk for urban settlements located at footslopes in the area. This paper describes experimental methods and modelling results of shallow landslides that occurred on 5–6 May 1998...
Dam removal increases American eel abundance in distant headwater streams
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Sheila Eyler, John E. B. Wofford
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 1171-1179
American eel Anguilla rostrata abundances have undergone significant declines over the last 50 years, and migration barriers have been recognized as a contributing cause. We evaluated eel abundances in headwater streams of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, to compare sites before and after the removal of a large downstream dam in...
Estimating abundance of mountain lions from unstructured spatial sampling
Robin E. Russell, J. Andrew Royle, Richard Desimone, Michael K. Schwartz, Victoria L. Edwards, Kristy P. Pilgrim, Kevin S. Mckelvey
2012, Journal of Wildlife Management (76) 1551-1561
Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are often difficult to monitor because of their low capture probabilities, extensive movements, and large territories. Methods for estimating the abundance of this species are needed to assess population status, determine harvest levels, evaluate the impacts of management actions on populations, and derive conservation and management...
Surface properties of the Mars Science Laboratory candidate landing sites: characterization from orbit and predictions
R.L. Fergason, P. R. Christensen, M.P. Golombek, T. J. Parker
2012, Space Science Reviews (170) 739-773
This work describes the interpretation of THEMIS-derived thermal inertia data at the Eberswalde, Gale, Holden, and Mawrth Vallis Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) candidate landing sites and determines how thermophysical variations correspond to morphology and, when apparent, mineralogical diversity. At Eberswalde, the proportion of likely unconsolidated material relative to exposed bedrock...
Predicting Impacts of Increased CO2 and Climate Change on the Water Cycle and Water Quality in the Semiarid James River Basin of the Midwestern USA
Yiping Wu, Shu-Guang Liu, Alisa L. Gallant
2012, Science of the Total Environment (430) 150-160
Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols from human activities continue to alter the climate and likely will have significant impacts on the terrestrial hydrological cycle and water quality, especially in arid and semiarid regions. We applied an improved Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to evaluate impacts of increased atmospheric...
The importance of local and landscape-scale processes to the occupancy of wetlands by pond-breeding amphibians
Rick D. Scherer, Erin Muths, Barry R. Noon
2012, Population Ecology (54) 487-498
Variation in the distribution and abundance of species across landscapes has traditionally been attributed to processes operating at fine spatial scales (i.e., environmental conditions at the scale of the sampling unit), but processes that operate across larger spatial scales such as seasonal migration or dispersal are also important. To determine...
The influence of external subsidies on diet, growth and Hg concentrations of freshwater sport fish: implications for management and fish consumption advisories
J.M. Lepak, M.B. Hooten, B. M. Johnson
2012, Ecotoxicology (21) 1878-1888
Mercury (Hg) contamination in sport fish is a global problem. In freshwater systems, food web structure, sport fish sex, size, diet and growth rates influence Hg bioaccumulation. Fish stocking is a common management practice worldwide that can introduce external energy and contaminants into freshwater systems. Thus, stocking can alter many...
Source rock contributions to the Lower Cretaceous heavy oil accumulations in Alberta: a basin modeling study
Luiyin Alejandro Berbesi, Rolando di Primio, Zahie Anka, Brian Horsfield, Debra K. Higley
2012, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (96) 1211-1234
The origin of the immense oil sand deposits in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs of the Western Canada sedimentary basin is still a matter of debate, specifically with respect to the original in-place volumes and contributing source rocks. In this study, the contributions from the main source rocks were addressed using a...
Sediment mobility and bed armoring in the St Clair River: insights from hydrodynamic modeling
Xiaofeng Liu, Gary Parker, Jonathan A. Czuba, Kevin Oberg, Jose M. Mier, James L. Best, Daniel R. Parsons, Peter Ashmore, Bommanna G. Krishnappan, Marcelo H. Garcia
2012, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (37) 957-970
The lake levels in Lake Michigan-Huron have recently fallen to near historical lows, as has the elevation difference between Lake Michigan-Huron compared to Lake Erie. This decline in lake levels has the potential to cause detrimental impacts on the lake ecosystems, together with social and economic impacts on communities in...
Topographic change detection at select archeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2007-2010
Brian D. Collins, Skye C. Corbett, Helen C. Fairley, Diane L. Minasian, Robert Kayen, Timothy P. Dealy, David R. Bedford
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5133
Human occupation in Grand Canyon, Arizona, dates from at least 11,000 years before present to the modern era. For most of this period, the only evidence of human occupation in this iconic landscape is provided by archeological sites. Because of the dynamic nature of this environment, many archeological sites are...
