Discontinuous hindcast simulations of estuarine bathymetric change: A case study from Suisun Bay, California
Neil K. Ganju, Bruce E. Jaffe, David H. Schoellhamer
2011, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (93) 142-150
Simulations of estuarine bathymetric change over decadal timescales require methods for idealization and reduction of forcing data and boundary conditions. Continuous simulations are hampered by computational and data limitations and results are rarely evaluated with observed bathymetric change data. Bathymetric change data for Suisun Bay, California span the 1867–1990 period...
Biomarker chemistry and flux quantification methods for natural petroleum seeps and produced oils, offshore southern California
T.D. Lorenson, Ira Leifer, Florence L. Wong, Robert J. Rosenbauer, Pamela L. Campbell, Angela Lam, Frances D. Hostettler, Jens Greinert, David P. Finlayson, Eliza S. Bradley, Bruce P. Luyendyk
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5210
Sustained, natural oil seepage from the seafloor is common off southern California, and is of great interest to resource managers, who are tasked with distinguishing natural from anthropogenic oil sources. The major purpose of this study was to build upon the work previously funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy...
Daily MODIS data trends of hurricane-induced forest impact and early recovery
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Joseph Spruce, Amina Rangoonwala, Yukihiro Suzuoki, James Smoot, Jerry Gasser, Terri Bannister
2011, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (77) 1133-1143
We studied the use of daily satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors to assess wetland forest damage and recovery from Hurricane Katrina (29 August 2005 landfall). Processed MODIS daily vegetation index (VI) trends were consistent with previously determined impact and recovery patterns provided by the "snapshot"...
Calcite growth-rate inhibition by fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada, USA, the Suwannee River, Georgia, USA and by polycarboxylic acids
Michael M. Reddy, Jerry Leenheer
2011, Annals of Environmental Science (5) 41-53
Calcite crystallization rates are characterized using a constant solution composition at 25°C, pH=8.5, and calcite supersaturation (Ω) of 4.5 in the absence and presence of fulvic acids isolated from Big Soda Lake, Nevada (BSLFA), and a fulvic acid from the Suwannee River, Georgia (SRFA). Rates are also measured in the...
Assessing possible visitor-use impacts on water quality in Yosemite National Park, California
David W. Clow, Rachael S. Peavler, Jim Roche, Anna K. Panorska, James M. Thomas, Steve Smith
2011, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (183) 197-215
There is concern that visitor-use associated activities, such as bathing, dish washing, wastewater production, and stock animal use near lakes and streams, could cause degradation of water quality in Yosemite National Park. A study was conducted during 2004–2007 to assess patterns in nutrient and Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations in...
Subsurface transport of orthophosphate in five agricultural watersheds, USA
Joseph L. Domagalski, Henry M. Johnson
2011, Journal of Hydrology (409) 157-171
Concentrations of dissolved orthophosphate (ortho P) in the unsaturated zone, groundwater, tile drains, and groundwater/stream water interfaces were assessed in five agricultural watersheds to determine the potential for subsurface transport. Concentrations of iron oxides were measured in the aquifer material and adsorption of ortho P on oxide surfaces was assessed...
Taking the pulse of snowmelt: in situ sensors reveal seasonal, event and diurnal patterns of nitrate and dissolved organic matter variability in an upland forest stream
Brian A. Pellerin, John Franco Saraceno, James B. Shanley, Stephen D. Sebestyen, George R. Aiken, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2011, Biogeochemistry (108) 183-198
Highly resolved time series data are useful to accurately identify the timing, rate, and magnitude of solute transport in streams during hydrologically dynamic periods such as snowmelt. We used in situ optical sensors for nitrate (NO3-) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter fluorescence (FDOM) to measure surface water concentrations at 30...
Nutrient loadings to streams of the continental United States from municipal and industrial effluent?
Molly A. Maupin, Tamara Ivahnenko
2011, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (47)
Data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency Permit Compliance System national database were used to calculate annual total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads to surface waters from municipal and industrial facilities in six major regions of the United States for 1992, 1997, and 2002. Concentration and effluent...
Hydrology, phosphorus, and suspended solids in five agricultural streams in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Watersheds, Wisconsin, Water Years 2004-06
David J. Graczyk, Dale M. Robertson, Paul D. Baumgart, Kevin Fermanich
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5111
A 3-year study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to characterize water quality in agricultural streams in the Fox/Wolf watershed in northeastern Wisconsin and provide information to assist in the calibration of a watershed model for the area. Streamflow, phosphorus, and suspended solids...
Unmarked: An R package for fitting hierarchical models of wildlife occurrence and abundance
Ian J. Fiske, Richard B. Chandler
2011, Journal of Statistical Software (43)
Ecological research uses data collection techniques that are prone to substantial and unique types of measurement error to address scientific questions about species abundance and distribution. These data collection schemes include a number of survey methods in which unmarked individuals are counted, or determined to be present, at spatially- referenced...
Winter distribution of willow flycatcher subspecies
Eben H. Paxton, Philip Unitt, Mark K. Sogge, Mary Whitfield, Paul Keim
2011, The Condor (113) 608-618
Documenting how different regions across a species' breeding and nonbreeding range are linked via migratory movements is the first step in understanding how events in one region can influence events in others and is critical to identifying conservation threats throughout a migratory animal's annual cycle. We combined two studies that...
Wildlife conservation and solar energy development in the Desert Southwest, United States
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Josua R. Ennen
2011, BioScience (61) 982-992
Large areas of public land are currently being permitted or evaluated for utility-scale solar energy development (USSED) in the southwestern United States, including areas with high biodiversity and protected species. However, peer-reviewed studies of the effects of USSED on wildlife are lacking. The potential effects of the construction and the...
Investigating and managing the rapid emergence of white-nose syndrome, a novel, fatal, infectious disease of hibernating bats
Janet Foley, Deana Clifford, Kevin Castle, Paul M. Cryan, Richard S. Ostfeld
2011, Conservation Biology (25) 223-231
White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fatal disease of bats that hibernate. The etiologic agent of WNS is the fungus Geomyces destructans, which infects the skin and wing membranes. Over 1 million bats in six species in eastern North America have died from WNS since 2006, and as a result several...
What makes a natural clay antibacterial?
Lynda B. Williams, David W. Metge, Dennis D. Eberl, Ronald W. Harvey, Amanda G. Turner, Panjai Prapaipong, Amisha T. Port-Peterson
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 3768-3773
Natural clays have been used in ancient and modern medicine, but the mechanism(s) that make certain clays lethal against bacterial pathogens has not been identified. We have compared the depositional environments, mineralogies, and chemistries of clays that exhibit antibacterial effects on a broad spectrum of human pathogens including antibiotic resistant...
Mountain goat abundance and population trends in the Olympic Mountains, Washington, 2011
Kurt Jenkins, Patricia Happe, Paul C. Griffin, Katherine Beirne, Roger Hoffman, William Baccus
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1313
We conducted an aerial helicopter survey between July 18 and July 25, 2011, to estimate abundance and trends of introduced mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) in the Olympic Mountains. The survey was the first since we developed a sightability correction model in 2008, which provided the means to estimate the number...
Gas hydrate prospecting using well cuttings and mud-gas geochemistry from 35 wells, North Slope, Alaska
T.D. Lorenson, Timothy S. Collett
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5195
Gas hydrate deposits are common on the North Slope of Alaska around Prudhoe Bay; however, the extent of these deposits is unknown outside of this area. As part of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Bureau of Land Management gas hydrate research collaboration, well-cutting and mud-gas samples have been collected...
Valuing ecosystem and economic services across land-use scenarios in the Prairie Pothole Regions of the Dakotas, USA
William R. Gascoigne, Dana Hoag, Lynne Koontz, Brian A. Tangen, Terry L. Shaffer, Robert A. Gleason
2011, Ecological Economics (70) 1715-1725
This study uses biophysical values derived for the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota, in conjunction with value transfer methods, to assess environmental and economic tradeoffs under different policy-relevant land-use scenarios over a 20-year period. The ecosystem service valuation is carried out by comparing the biophysical and...
Velocity-based movement modeling for individual and population level inference
Ephraim M. Hanks, Mevin Hooten, Devin S. Johnson, Jeremy T. Sterling
2011, PLoS ONE (6) e22795
Understanding animal movement and resource selection provides important information about the ecology of the animal, but an animal's movement and behavior are not typically constant in time. We present a velocity-based approach for modeling animal movement in space and time that allows for temporal heterogeneity in an animal's response to...
Vegetation history along the eastern, desert escarpment of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico
Camille A. Holmgren, Julio L. Betancourt, Kate A. Rylander
2011, Quaternary Research (75) 647-657
Plant macrofossils from 38 packrat middens spanning the last ~ 33,000 cal yr BP record vegetation between ~ 650 and 900 m elevation along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra San Pedro Mártir, northern Baja California. The middens span most of the Holocene, with a gap between ~ 4600 and...
Variability of albedo and utility of the MODIS albedo product in forested wetlands
David M. Sumner, Qinglong Wu, Chandra S. Pathak
2011, Wetlands (31) 229-237
Albedo was monitored over a two-year period (beginning April 2008) at three forested wetland sites in Florida, USA using up- and down-ward facing pyranometers. Water level, above and below land surface, is the primary control on the temporal variability of daily albedo. Relatively low reflectivity of water accounts for the...
Quantile equivalence to evaluate compliance with habitat management objectives
Brian S. Cade, Pamela R. Johnson
2011, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (2) 169-182
Equivalence estimated with linear quantile regression was used to evaluate compliance with habitat management objectives at Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge based on monitoring data collected in upland (5,781 ha; n = 511 transects) and riparian and meadow (2,856 ha, n = 389 transects) habitats from 2005 to 2008. Quantiles were used because the management objectives specified...
Using data from an encounter sampler to model fish dispersal
A. Obaza, D.L. DeAngelis, J.C. Trexler
2011, Journal of Fish Biology (78) 495-513
A method to estimate speed of free-ranging fishes using a passive sampling device is described and illustrated with data from the Everglades, U.S.A. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) from minnow traps embedded in drift fences was treated as an encounter rate and used to estimate speed, when combined with an...
Using avian radar to examine relationships among avian activity, bird strikes, and meteorological factors
Peter S. Coates, Michael L. Casazza, Brian J. Halstead, Joseph P. Fleskes, James A. Laughlin
2011, Human-Wildlife Interactions (5) 249-268
Radar systems designed to detect avian activity at airfields are useful in understanding factors that influence the risk of bird and aircraft collisions (bird strikes). We used an avian radar system to measure avian activity at Beale Air Force Base, California, USA, during 2008 and 2009. We conducted a 2-part...
Use of spatial capture-recapture modeling and DNA data to estimate densities of elusive animals
Marc Kery, Beth Gardner, Tabea Stoeckle, Darius Weber, J. Andrew Royle
2011, Conservation Biology (25) 356-364
Assessment of abundance, survival, recruitment rates, and density (i.e., population assessment) is especially challenging for elusive species most in need of protection (e.g., rare carnivores). Individual identification methods, such as DNA sampling, provide ways of studying such species efficiently and noninvasively. Additionally, statistical methods that correct for undetected animals and...
Bathymetry and digital elevation models of Coyote Creek and Alviso Slough, South San Francisco Bay, California
Amy C. Foxgrover, David P. Finlayson, Bruce E. Jaffe, Theresa A. Fregoso
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1315
In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center completed three cruises to map the bathymetry of the main channel and shallow intertidal mudflats in the southernmost part of south San Francisco Bay. The three surveys were merged to generate comprehensive maps of Coyote Creek (from...
