Using the Distinct Population Segment concept to protect fishes with low levels of genomic differentiation: conservation of an endemic minnow (Hitch, Lavinia exilicauda)
Jason Baumsteiger, Matthew J. Young, Peter B. Moyle
2019, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (148) 406-416
In the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was enacted to conserve species which are endangered or threatened throughout all or a portion of their range. The definition of ‘species’ includes subspecies and distinct population segments (DPSs). In freshwater fishes, use of DPS designations has largely been...
Sediment trapping and carbon sequestration in floodplains of the lower Atchafalaya Basin, LA: Allochthonous vs. autochthonous carbon sources
Cliff R. Hupp, Daniel E. Kroes, Gregory E. Noe, Edward R. Schenk, Richard H. Day
2019, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (124) 663-677
Recent studies suggest that about 2 Pg of organic C is stored on floodplains worldwide. The present study indicates the Atchafalaya River, fifth largest river in the United States in terms of discharge, traps 30 mm/y of sediment on average within its floodplain, which is the highest average non‐episodic rate...
Stochastic model for simulating Souris River Basin regulated streamflow upstream from Minot, North Dakota
Kelsey A. Kolars, Aldo V. Vecchia, Joel M. Galloway
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5155
The Souris River Basin is a 24,000 square-mile basin in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada, and the State of North Dakota in the United States. Above-average snowpack during the winter of 2010–11, along with record-setting rains in May and June of 2011, led to record flooding that...
Assessing causes of mortality for endangered juvenile Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in mesocosms in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, 2016
Danielle M. Hereford, Carla M. Conway, Summer M. Burdick, Diane G. Elliott, Todd M. Perry, Amari Dolan-Caret, Alta C. Harris
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1006
Executive SummaryThe recovery of endangered Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) in Upper Klamath Lake, south-central Oregon, has been impeded because juveniles are not recruiting into adult spawning populations. Adult sucker populations spawn each spring but mortality of age-0 suckers during their first summer is excessively high, and recruitment of...
Hydraulic and water-quality indicators of aquifer zones contributing groundwater flow to wells in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system near southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2013–16
R.E. Travis, Nathan C. Myers
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5138
An ethylene dibromide (EDB) plume extends approximately 5,880 feet northeast from the Bulk Fuels Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base. The leading edge of the EDB plume is about 3,700 feet upgradient from several water-supply wells. The water-supply wells are screened in the upper Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Within...
Hydrodynamic controls on sediment retention in an emerging diversion-fed delta
Molly E. Keogh, Alexander S. Kolker, G.A. Snedden, Alisha A. Renfro
2019, Geomorphology (332) 100-111
The morphodynamics of river-dominated deltas are largely controlled by the supply and retention of sediment within deltaic wetlands and the rate of relative sea-level rise. Yet, sediment budgets for deltas are often poorly constrained. In the Mississippi River Delta, a system rapidly losing land due to natural and anthropogenic causes, restoration efforts seek to build new land...
Dynamic N-mixture models with temporal variability in detection probability
Qing Zhao, J. Andrew Royle
2019, Ecological Modelling (393) 20-24
In theory parameters of dynamic N-mixture models can be estimated with multiple years of data without the robust design under the assumption of constant detection probability. However, such an assumption can rarely be met in long-term studies, and the consequences of violating this assumption in the inferences of dynamic N-mixture...
Socioecological determinants of drought impacts and coping strategies for ranching operations in the Great Plains
T.R. Haigh, W. Schact, C.L. Knutson, A. Smart, J. Volesky, Craig R. Allen, M.P. Hayes, M. Burbach
2019, Rangeland Ecology and Management (72) 561-571
In Great Plains rangelands, drought is a recurring disturbance. Ranchers in this region expect to encounter drought but may not be adequately prepared for it. Efforts to encourage drought preparedness would benefit from a better understanding of the conditions under which managers make decisions...
Resource selection and wintering phenology of White-winged Scoters in southern New England: Implications for offshore wind energy development
Dustin E. Meattey, Scott R. McWilliams, Peter W.C. Paton, Christine Lepage, Scott G. Gilliland, Lucas Savoy, Glenn H. Olsen, Jason E. Osenkowski
2019, Condor (121)
Southern New England provides key wintering habitat for White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca). This area has also pioneered the development of offshore wind energy in North America and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has established nine Wind Energy Area (WEA) lease blocks along the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf...
On the eruption age and provenance of the Old Crow tephra
Seth D. Burgess, Matthew Coble, Jorge A. Vazquez, Michelle L. Coombs, Kristi L. Wallace
2019, Quaternary Science Reviews (207) 64-79
Tephrochronology is used to correlate and reconstruct geographically disparate sedimentary records of changing environment, climate, and landscape throughout geologic time. Single tephra layers represent isochronous markers across broad regions, thus accurate and precise radiometric constraints on the timing of eruption are critical to their...
Pace and process of active folding and fluvial incision across the Kantishna Hills anticline, central Alaska
Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease, Peter J. Haeussler, Tammy M. Rittenour, Lee B. Corbett, Paul R. Bierman, Marc W. Caffee
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (46) 3235-3244
Rates of northern Alaska Range thrust system deformation are poorly constrained. Shortening at the system's west end is focused on the Kantishna Hills anticline. Where the McKinley River cuts across the anticline, the landscape records both Late Pleistocene deformation and climatic change. New optically stimulated luminescence and cosmogenic 10Be depth profile...
Oxygen isotopic investigation of silicic magmatism in the Stillwater caldera complex, Nevada: Generation of large-volume, low-δ18O rhyolitic tuffs and assessment of their regional context in the Great Basin of the western United States
Kathryn E. Watts, David A. John, Joseph P. Colgan, Christopher D. Henry, Ilya N. Bindeman, John W. Valley
2019, GSA Bulletin (131) 1133-1156
Successive caldera-forming eruptions from ca. 30 to 25 Ma generated a large nested caldera complex in western Nevada that was subsequently dissected by Basin and Range extension, providing extraordinary cross-sectional views through diverse volcanic and plutonic rocks. A high-resolution oxygen isotopic study was conducted on units that represent all major...
Complex immune responses and molecular reactions to pathogens and disease in a desert reptile (Gopherus agassizii)
K. Kristina Drake, Christina M. Aiello, Lizabeth Bowen, Rebecca L. Lewison, Todd Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Peter J. Hudson
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 2516-2534
Immune function plays an important role in an animal's defense against infectious disease. In reptiles, immune responses may be complex and counterintuitive, and diagnostic tools used to identify infection, such as induced antibody responses are limited. Recent studies using gene transcription profiling in tortoises have proven useful in identifying immune...
Phylogeography and evolution of infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in China
Liming Xu, Jingzhuang Zhao, Miao Liu, Gael Kurath, Rachel B. Breyta, Guangming Ren, Jiasheng Yin, Hongbai Liu, Tongyan Lu
2019, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (131) 19-28
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a well-known rhabdoviral pathogen of salmonid fish. In this study, a comprehensive analysis of 40 IHNV viruses isolated from thirteen fish farms in nine geographically dispersed Chinese provinces during 2012 to 2017 is presented. Identity of nucleotide and amino acid sequences among all the...
User’s guide for Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI)—A graphical user interface for the AggtEx.fn R script
Jason L. Shapiro, Robinson Jr.
2019, Techniques and Methods 7-C21
The U.S. Geological Survey three-part method for mineral resource assessments estimates numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits as probability distributions in geologically defined regions termed “permissive tracts.” This report describes a graphical user interface (GUI) script developed in open-source statistical software (R) that aggregates estimated undiscovered deposits of a given type...
Occupancy models for citizen-science data
Res Altwegg, James D. Nichols
2019, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (10) 8-21
Large‐scale citizen‐science projects, such as atlases of species distribution, are an important source of data for macroecological research, for understanding the effects of climate change and other drivers on biodiversity, and for more applied conservation tasks, such as early‐warning systems for biodiversity loss.However, citizen‐science data are challenging to analyse...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in plasma of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus)
Kady Palmer, Jacqueline T. Bangma, Jessica L. Reiner, Robert K. Bonde, Jeffrey E. Korte, Ashley S. P. Boggs, John A. Bowden
2019, Marine Pollution Bulletin (140) 610-615
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous, synthetic anthropogenic chemicals known to infiltrate and persist in biological systems as a result of their stability and bioaccumulation potential. This study investigated 15 PFAS, including short-chain carboxylic and sulfonic acids, and their presence in a threatened herbivore, the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus). Seven of the...
Spatially distributed denitrification in a karst springshed
Wesley R. Henson, Matthew J. Cohen, Wendy D. Graham
2019, Hydrologic Processes (33) 1191-1203
Karst spring measurements assess biogeochemical processes occurring within groundwater contributing areas to springs (springsheds) but can only provide aggregated information. To better understand spatially distributed processes that comprise these aggregated measures, we investigated aquifer denitrification evidence in groundwater wells (n = 16) distributed throughout a springshed in the...
Physical mechanisms influencing localized patterns of temperature variability and coral bleaching within a system of reef atolls
Rebecca H. Green, Ryan J. Lowe, Mark L. Buckley, Taryn M. Lopez, James Gilmour
2019, Coral Reefs (38) 759-771
Interactions between oceanic and atmospheric processes within coral reefs can significantly alter local-scale (< km) water temperatures, and consequently drive variations in heat stress and bleaching severity. The Scott Reef atoll system was one of many reefs affected by the 2015–2016 mass coral bleaching event across tropical Australia, and specifically experienced...
Carbon dioxide mineralization feasibility in the United States
Madalyn S. Blondes, Matthew D. Merrill, Steven T. Anderson, Christina A. DeVera
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5079
Geologic carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is one of many methods for stabilizing the increasing concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere. The injection of CO2 in deep subsurface sedimentary reservoirs is the most commonly discussed method; however, the potential for CO2 leakage can create long-term stability concerns. This report discusses...
Wasting disease and static environmental variables drive sea star assemblages in the northern Gulf of Alaska
Brenda Konar, Timothy J. Mitchell, K. Iken, Thomas Dean, Daniel Esler, Mandy Lindeberg, Benjamin Pister, Ben P. Weitzman
2019, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (520) 1-10
Sea stars are ecologically important in rocky intertidal habitats where they can play an apex predator role, completely restructuring communities. The recent sea star die-off throughout the eastern Pacific, known as Sea Star Wasting Disease, has prompted a need to understand spatial and temporal patterns of sea star assemblages and...
Improved automated detection of subpixel-scale inundation – Revised Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) partial surface water tests
John Jones
2019, Remote Sensing (11) 1-26
In order to produce useful hydrologic and aquatic habitat data from the Landsat system, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed the “Dynamic Surface Water Extent” (DSWE) Landsat Science Product. DSWE will provide long-term, high-temporal resolution data on variations in inundation extent. The model used to generate DSWE is composed of...
Micro-geographic population genetic structure within Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) in Beaufort Sea of Alaska
Robert E. Wilson, George K. Sage, Kate Wedemeyer, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Damian M. Menning, Megan C. Gravley, R. John Nelson, Sandra L. Talbot
2019, ICES Journal of Marine Science (76) 1713-1721
Many marine organisms show significant levels of genetic heterogeneity on local spatial scales despite exhibiting limited genetic structure at large geographic scales which can be produced through a variety of mechanisms. The Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is a circumpolar species and is a vital species in Arctic food webs. To...
Estimating uncertainty of North American landbird population sizes
Jessica C. Stanton, Peter J. Blancher, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Arvind O. Panjabi, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2019, Avian Conservation and Ecology (14)
An important metric for many aspects of species conservation planning and risk assessment is an estimate of total population size. For landbirds breeding in North America, Partners in Flight (PIF) generates global, continental, and regional population size estimates. These estimates are an important component of the PIF species assessment process,...
Potential for increased inundation in flood-prone regions of southeast Florida in response to climate and sea-level changes in Broward County, Florida, 2060–69
Jeremy D. Decker, Joseph D. Hughes, Eric D. Swain
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5125
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Broward County Environmental Planning and Resilience Division, has developed county-scale and local-scale groundwater/surface-water models to study the potential for increased inundation and flooding in eastern Broward County that are due to changes in future climate and sea-level rise. These models were constructed by...
