Mapping and monitoring Louisiana's mangroves in the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil spill
S. Giri, J. Long, L. Tieszen
2011, Journal of Coastal Research (27) 1059-1064
Information regarding the present condition, historical status, and dynamics of mangrove forests is needed to study the impacts of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and other stressors affecting mangrove ecosystems. Such information is unavailable for Louisiana at sufficient spatial and thematic detail. We prepared mangrove forest distribution maps of...
USGS "Did You Feel It?" internet-based macroseismic intensity maps
D.J. Wald, V. Quitoriano, B. Worden, M. Hopper, J. W. Dewey
2011, Annals of Geophysics (54) 688-707
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) system is an automated approach for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from Internet users' shaking and damage reports and generating intensity maps immediately following earthquakes; it has been operating for over a decade (1999-2011). DYFI-based intensity maps made rapidly available...
Integration of paleoseismic data from multiple sites to develop an objective earthquake chronology: Application to the Weber segment of the Wasatch fault zone, Utah
C. B. DuRoss, S. F. Personius, A. J. Crone, S.S. Olig, W.R. Lund
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 2765-2781
We present a method to evaluate and integrate paleoseismic data from multiple sites into a single, objective measure of earthquake timing and recurrence on discrete segments of active faults. We apply this method to the Weber segment (WS) of the Wasatch fault zone using data from four fault-trench studies completed...
Sexing young snowy owls
Mathew T. Seidensticker, Denver W. Holt, Jennifer Detienne, Sandra L. Talbot, Kathy Gray
2011, Journal of Raptor Research (45) 281-289
We predicted sex of 140 Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) nestlings out of 34 nests at our Barrow, Alaska, study area to develop a technique for sexing these owls in the field. We primarily sexed young, flightless owls (3844 d old) by quantifying plumage markings on the remiges and tail, predicting...
Detecting post-fire burn severity and vegetation recovery using multitemporal remote sensing spectral indices and field-collected composite burn index data in a ponderosa pine forest
Xuexia Chen, James E. Vogelmann, Matt Rollins, Donald Ohlen, Carl H. Key, Limin Yang, Chengquan Huang, Hua Shi
2011, International Journal of Remote Sensing (32) 7905-7927
It is challenging to detect burn severity and vegetation recovery because of the relatively long time period required to capture the ecosystem characteristics. Multitemporal remote sensing data can providemultitemporal observations before, during and after a wildfire, and can improve the change detection accuracy. The goal of this study is to...
Evidence for the contemporary magmatic system beneath Long Valley Caldera from local earthquake tomography and receiver function analysis
D. Seccia, C. Chiarabba, P. De Gori, I. Bianchi, D.P. Hill
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116)
We present a new P wave and S wave velocity model for the upper crust beneath Long Valley Caldera obtained using local earthquake tomography and receiver function analysis. We computed the tomographic model using both a graded inversion scheme and a traditional approach. We complement the tomographic I/P model with...
Social network models predict movement and connectivity in ecological landscapes
R. J. Fletcher Jr., M.A. Acevedo, Brian E. Reichert, Kyle E. Pias, W.M. Kitchens
2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (108) 19282-19287
Network analysis is on the rise across scientific disciplines because of its ability to reveal complex, and often emergent, patterns and dynamics. Nonetheless, a growing concern in network analysis is the use of limited data for constructing networks. This concern is strikingly relevant to ecology and conservation biology, where network...
Preening behavior of adult gyrfalcons tagged with backpack transmitters
T.L. Booms, P.F. Schempf, M.R. Fuller
2011, Journal of Raptor Research (45) 264-267
Radio transmitters provide data that enhance understanding of raptor biology (Walls and Kenward 2007) and are now used to answer a multitude of research questions (Meyburg and Fuller 2007). However, transmitters affect the birds that carry them (Barron et al. 2010), and it is important to document and evaluate such...
Residence time and movements of postbreeding shorebirds on the northern coast of Alaska
Audrey R. Taylor, Richard B. Lanctot, Abby N. Powell, Steven J. Kendall, Debora A. Nigro
2011, The Condor (113) 779-794
Relatively little is known about shorebird movements across the coast of northern Alaska, yet postbreeding shorebirds use this coastline extensively prior to fall migration. We deployed 346 radio transmitters on 153 breeding and 193 postbreeding shorebirds of five species from 2005 to 2007.We examined two hypotheses regarding postbreeding shorebirds' movements:...
Distributional changes and range predictions of downy brome (Bromus tectorum) in Rocky Mountain National Park
J.E. Bromberg, S. Kumar, C. S. Brown, T.J. Stohlgren
2011, Invasive Plant Science and Management (4) 173-182
Downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.), an invasive winter annual grass, may be increasing in extent and abundance at high elevations in the western United States. This would pose a great threat to high-elevation plant communities and resources. However, data to track this species in high-elevation environments are limited. To address...
Water storage at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia, USA
N.E. Peters, Brent T. Aulenbach
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 3878-3889
Storage is a major component of a catchment water balance particularly when the water balance components are evaluated on short time scales, that is, less than annual. We propose a method of determining the storage-discharge relation using an exponential function and daily precipitation, potential evapotranspiration (PET) and baseflow during the...
Constraints on Lake Agassiz discharge through the late-glacial Champlain Sea (St. Lawrence Lowlands, Canada) using salinity proxies and an estuarine circulation model
Brian Katz, R.G. Najjar, T. Cronin, J. Rayburn, M. E. Mann
2011, Quaternary Science Reviews (30) 3248-3257
During the last deglaciation, abrupt freshwater discharge events from proglacial lakes in North America, such as glacial Lake Agassiz, are believed to have drained into the North Atlantic Ocean, causing large shifts in climate by weakening the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water and decreasing ocean heat transport to high...
Assessing the detail needed to capture rainfall-runoff dynamics with physics-based hydrologic response simulation
B.B. Mirus, B.A. Ebel, C.S. Heppner, K. Loague
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Concept development simulation with distributed, physics-based models provides a quantitative approach for investigating runoff generation processes across environmental conditions. Disparities within data sets employed to design and parameterize boundary value problems used in heuristic simulation inevitably introduce various levels of bias. The objective was to evaluate the impact of boundary...
Data logging of body temperatures provides precise information on phenology of reproductive events in a free-living arctic hibernator
C. T. Williams, M.J. Sheriff, Joel A. Schmutz, F. Kohl, O. Toien, C.L. Buck, B.M. Barnes
2011, Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology (181) 1101-1109
Precise measures of phenology are critical to understanding how animals organize their annual cycles and how individuals and populations respond to climate-induced changes in physical and ecological stressors. We show that patterns of core body temperature (T b) can be used to precisely determine the timing of...
Use of cranial characters in taxonomy of the Minnesota wolf (Canis sp.)
L.D. Mech, R. M. Nowak, S. Weisberg
2011, Canadian Journal of Zoology (89) 1188-1194
Minnesota wolves (Canis sp.) sometimes are reported to have affinity to a small, narrow-skulled eastern form (Canis lupus lycaon Schreber, 1775) and sometimes to a larger, broader western form (Canis lupus nubilus Say, 1823). We found that pre-1950 Minnesota wolf skulls were similar in size to those of wolves from...
Inversion of ground-motion data from a seismometer array for rotation using a modification of Jaeger's method
Wu-Cheng Chi, W.H.K. Lee, J.A.D. Aston, C.J. Lin, C.-C. Liu
2011, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (101) 3105-3109
We develop a new way to invert 2D translational waveforms using Jaeger's (1969) formula to derive rotational ground motions about one axis and estimate the errors in them using techniques from statistical multivariate analysis. This procedure can be used to derive rotational ground motions and strains using arrayed translational data,...
Episodic soil succession on basaltic lava fields in a cool, dry environment
K.L. Vaughan, P.A. McDaniel, W.M. Phillips
2011, Soil Science Society of America Journal (75) 1462-1470
Holocene- to late Pleistocene-aged lava flows at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve provide an ideal setting to examine the early stages of soil formation under cool, dry conditions. Transects were used to characterize the amount and nature of soil cover on across basaltic lava flows ranging in...
Migration delays caused by anthropogenic barriers: Modeling dams, temperature, and success of migrating salmon smolts
E.A. Marschall, M. E. Mather, D.L. Parrish, G.W. Allison, J.R. McMenemy
2011, Ecological Applications (21) 3014-3031
Disruption to migration is a growing problem for conservation and restoration of animal populations. Anthropogenic barriers along migration paths can delay or prolong migrations, which may result in a mismatch with migration-timing adaptations. To understand the interaction of dams (as barriers along a migration path), seasonally changing environmental conditions, timing...
Metagenomic analysis of a permafrost microbial community reveals a rapid response to thaw
R. MacKelprang, M. P. Waldrop, K.M. Deangelis, M.M. David, K.L. Chavarria, S.J. Blazewicz, E.M. Rubin, J.K. Jansson
2011, Nature (480) 368-371
Permafrost contains an estimated 1672 Pg carbon (C), an amount roughly equivalent to the total currently contained within land plants and the atmosphere1,2,3. This reservoir of C is vulnerable to decomposition as rising global temperatures cause the permafrost to thaw2. During thaw, trapped organic matter may become more accessible for microbial...
Predicting carnivore occurrence with noninvasive surveys and occupancy modeling
Robert A. Long, Therese M. Donovan, Paula MacKay, William J. Zielinski, Jeffrey S. Buzas
2011, Landscape Ecology (26) 327-340
Terrestrial carnivores typically have large home ranges and exist at low population densities, thus presenting challenges to wildlife researchers. We employed multiple, noninvasive survey methods—scat detection dogs, remote cameras, and hair snares—to collect detection–nondetection data for elusive American black bears (Ursus americanus), fishers (Martes pennanti), and bobcats (<i...
The secret to successful solute-transport modeling
Leonard F. Konikow
2011, Ground Water (49) 144-159
Modeling subsurface solute transport is difficult—more so than modeling heads and flows. The classical governing equation does not always adequately represent what we see at the field scale. In such cases, commonly used numerical models are solving the wrong equation. Also, the transport equation is hyperbolic where advection is dominant,...
Geochemical analysis of Atlantic rim water, Carbon County, Wyoming: New applications for characterizing coalbed natural gas reservoirs
J.F. McLaughlin, C.D. Frost, Shruti Sharma
2011, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (95) 191-217
Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production typically requires the extraction of large volumes of water from target formations, thereby influencing any associated reservoir systems. We describe isotopic tracers that provide immediate data on the presence or absence of biogenic natural gas and the identify methane-containing reservoirs are hydrologically confined. Isotopes of...
Successful integration efforts in water quality from the integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations and the National Water Quality Monitoring Network
R. Ragsdale, E. Vowinkel, D. Porter, P. Hamilton, R. Morrison, J. Kohut, B. Connell, H. Kelsey, P. Trowbridge
2011, Marine Technology Society Journal (45) 19-28
The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Regional Associations and Interagency Partners hosted a water quality workshop in January 2010 to discuss issues of nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion (hypoxia), harmful algal blooms (HABs), and beach water quality. In 2007, the National Water Quality Monitoring Council piloted demonstration projects as...
Monitoring carnivore populations at the landscape scale: occupancy modelling of tigers from sign surveys
Kota Ullas Karanth, Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Narayanarao Samba Kumar, Srinivas Vaidyanathan, James D. Nichols, Darryl I. MacKenzie
2011, Journal of Applied Ecology (48) 1048-1056
1. Assessing spatial distributions of threatened large carnivores at landscape scales poses formidable challenges because of their rarity and elusiveness. As a consequence of logistical constraints, investigators typically rely on sign surveys. Most survey methods, however, do not explicitly address the central problem of imperfect detections of animal signs in the...
Growth rate and age distribution of deep-sea black corals in the Gulf of Mexico
N.G. Prouty, E.B. Roark, N.A. Buster, Steve W. Ross
2011, Marine Ecology Progress Series (423) 101-115
Black corals (order Antipatharia) are important long-lived, habitat-forming, sessile, benthic suspension feeders that are found in all oceans and are usually found in water depths greater than 30 m. Deep-water black corals are some of the slowest-growing, longest-lived deep-sea corals known. Previous age dating of a limited number of black...
