A multiscale approach to balance trade-offs among dam infrastructure, river restoration, and cost
Samuel G. Roy, Emi Uchida, Simone P. de Souza, Ben Blachly, Emma Fox, Kevin Gardner, Arthur J. Gold, Jessica Jansujwicz, Sharon Klein, Bridie McGreavy, Weiwei Mo, Sean Smith, Emily Vogler, Karen Wilson, Joseph D. Zydlewski, David Hart
2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (115) 12069-12074
Aging infrastructure and growing interests in river restoration have led to a substantial rise in dam removals in the U.S. However, the decision to remove a dam involves many complex trade-offs. The benefits of dam removal for hazard reduction and ecological restoration are potentially offset by the loss of hydroelectricity...
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Long Strait Basin Province, 2008
Kenneth Bird, David W. Houseknecht, Janet K. Pitman
Thomas E. Moore, Donald L. Gautier, editor(s)
2018, Professional Paper 1824-AA
The Long Strait Basin is both a stand alone petroleum province and an assessment unit (AU) that lies offshore in the East Siberian Sea north of Chukotka and south of Wrangel Island. This basin is known only on the basis of gravity data and a single proprietary seismic line. In...
Water temperature in tributaries, off-channel features, and main channel of the lower Willamette River, northwestern Oregon, summers 2016 and 2017
Joseph F. Mangano, David R. Piatt, Krista L. Jones, Stewart A. Rounds
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1184
The U.S. Geological Survey collected continuous water-temperature data in select tributaries of the lowermost 80 kilometers (50 miles) of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, during summers 2016 and 2017. Point measurements of water temperature and water quality (dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and pH) also were collected at multiple...
Status of tidal marsh mapping for blue carbon inventories
Kristin B. Byrd, Chris Mcowen, Lauren Weatherdon, James Holmquist, Stephen Crooks
2018, Book chapter, A blue carbon primer: The state of coastal wetland carbon science, practice and policy
Remote-sensing-based maps of tidal marshes, both of their extents and carbon stocks, will play a key role in conducting greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories.The U.N. Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre has produced a new Global Distribution of Salt Marsh dataset that estimates global salt marsh area at 5.5 Mha.A Tier...
The Pothole Hydrology-Linked Systems Simulator (PHyLiSS)—Development and application of a systems model for prairie-pothole wetlands
Owen P. McKenna, David M. Mushet, Eric J. Scherff, Kyle McLean, Christopher T. Mills
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1165
The North American Prairie Pothole Region covers about 770,000 square kilometers of the United States and Canada (including parts of 5 States and 3 provinces: North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta). The Laurentide Ice Sheet shaped the landscape of the region about 12,000 to 14,000...
Quantitative acoustic differentiation of cryptic species illustrated with King and Clapper rails
Lydia L. Stiffler, Katie M. Schroeder, James T. Anderson, Susan B. McRae, Todd E. Katzner
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 12821-12831
Reliable species identification is vital for survey and monitoring programs. Recently, the development of digital technology for recording and analyzing vocalizations has assisted in acoustic surveying for cryptic, rare, or elusive species. However, the quantitative tools that exist for species differentiation are still being refined. Using vocalizations recorded in the...
Insect communities in big sagebrush habitat are altered by wildfire and post‐fire restoration seeding
Ashley T. Rohde, David S. Pilliod, Stephen J. Novak
2018, Insect Conservation and Diversity (12) 216-230
Natural resource managers sow grass, forb, and shrub seeds across millions of hectares of public lands in the western United States to restore sagebrush‐steppe ecosystems burned by wildfire. The effects of post‐fire vegetation treatments on insect communities in these ecosystems have not been investigated.We conducted the first investigation of...
The effects of tropical cyclone-generated deposition on the sustainability of the Pearl River marsh, Louisiana: The importance of the geologic framework
Terrence A. McCloskey, Christopher G. Smith, Kam-Biu Liu, Paul R. Nelson
2018, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (6)
Shoreline retreat is a tremendously important issue along the coast of the northern Gulf of Mexico, especially in Louisiana. Although this marine transgression results from a variety of causes, the crucial factor is the difference between marsh surface elevation and rising sea levels. In most cases, the primary cause of...
Structural evolution of a gold-bearing transtensional zone within the Archean Porcupine-Destor deformation zone, southern Abitibi greenstone belt, eastern Ontario, Canada
Miguel T. Nassif, Yvette D. Kuiper, Richard J. Goldfarb, Thomas Monecke, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma
2018, Journal of Structural Geology (117) 203-218
The Garrison camp comprises four structurally distinct orogenic gold deposits that formed in different host lithologies during progressive deformation. Detailed field mapping, drill core logging, and geochronological constraints suggest that the 2678 ± 2 Ma Garrison granitic stock played a fundamental rheological role in the location of the four deposits. Initial local shear movement occurred along...
Energy-rich mesopelagic fishes revealed as a critical prey resource for a deep-diving predator using quantitative fatty acid signature analysis
Chandra Goetsch, Melinda G. Conners, Suzanne M. Budge, Yoko Mitani, William A Walker, Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Samantha E. Simmons, Colleen Reichmuth, Daniel P. Costa
2018, Frontiers in Marine Science (5) 1-19
Understanding the diet of deep-diving predators can provide essential insight to the trophic structure of the mesopelagic ecosystem. Comprehensive population-level diet estimates are exceptionally difficult to obtain for elusive marine predators due to the logistical challenges involved in observing their feeding behavior and collecting samples for traditional stomach content or...
Population genomic surveys for six rare plant species in San Diego County, California
Elizabeth R. Milano, Amy G. Vandergast
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1175
San Diego County is a hotspot of biodiversity, situated at the intersection of the Baja peninsula, the California floristic province, and the desert southwest. This hotspot is characterized by a high number of rare and endemic species, which persist alongside a major urban epicenter. San Diego County has implemented a...
Provenance of invaders has scale-dependent impacts in a changing wetland ecosystem
Kathryn L. Amatangelo, Lee Stevens, Douglas A. Wilcox, Stephen Jackson, Dov F. Sax
2018, NeoBiota (40) 51-72
Exotic species are associated with a variety of impacts on biodiversity, but it is unclear whether impacts of exotic species differ from those of native species with similar growth forms or native species invading disturbed sites. We compared presence and abundance of native and exotic invaders with changes...
Revisiting earthquakes in the Los Angeles, California, basin during the early instrumental period: Evidence for an association with oil production
Susan E. Hough, Roger Bilham
2018, JGR Solid Earth (123) 10684-10705
A total of seven independent ML ≥ 4.0 earthquakes occurred in the Los Angeles, California, basin, during the early instrumental period between 1932 and 1952, the largest of which was the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Revising available macroseismic and instrumental data for a total of 6 4.0 ≤ ML ≤ 5.1 events between 1938 and 1944, we...
Landscape topoedaphic features create refugia from drought and insect disturbance in a lodgepole and whitebark pine forest
Jennifer M. Cartwright
2018, Forests (9) 1-35
Droughts and insect outbreaks are primary disturbance processes linking climate change to tree mortality in western North America. Refugia from these disturbances—locations where impacts are less severe relative to the surrounding landscape—may be priorities for conservation, restoration, and monitoring. In this study, hypotheses concerning physical and biological processes supporting refugia...
Factors affecting disaster preparedness, response, and recovery using the community capitals framework
Amber Himes-Cornell, Carlos Ormond, Kristin R Hoelting, Natalie C. Ban, J. Zachary Koehn, Edward H. Allison, Eric R. Larson, Daniel Monson, Henry P. Huntington, Tom Okey
2018, Coastal Management (46) 335-358
Disaster research often focuses on how and why communities are affected by a discrete extreme event. We used the community capitals framework to understand how community characteristics influence their preparedness, response to, and recovery from successive or multiple disasters using the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and the...
Commercial fisheries of the Upper Mississippi River: A model of sustainability
Zachary B. Klein, Michael Quist, Leandro E. Miranda, Michelle M. Marron, Michael J. Steuck, Kirk A. Hansen
2018, Fisheries (43) 563-574
Commercial harvest is often considered as a primary cause of fish population declines in marine and inland systems throughout the world. However, much of the data supporting the negative attributes of commercial harvest are derived from marine fisheries and may not be directly applicable to inland fisheries. In this study,...
Relating cyanobacteria and physicochemical water-quality properties in Willow Creek Lake, Nebraska, 2012–14
David L. Rus, Brent M. Hall, Steven A. Thomas
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5121
Cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) are naturally present members of phytoplankton assemblages that may detract from beneficial uses of water because some strains produce cyanotoxins that pose health hazards to people and animals. Cyanobacteria populations observed in Willow Creek Lake during 2012 through 2014 were compared to external...
Landscape drivers and social dynamics shaping microbial contamination risk in three Maya communities in southern Belize, Central America
Peter C. Esselman, Shiguo Jiang, Henry A Peller, David N. Bucklin, Joel D Wainwright
2018, Water (10)
Land transformation can have cascading effects on hydrology, water quality, and human users of water resources, with serious implications for human health. An interdisciplinary analysis is presented, whereby remote-sensing data of changing land use and cover are related to surface hydrology and microbial contamination in domestic use...
Community for Data Integration fiscal year 2017 funded project report
Leslie Hsu, Kate E. Allstadt, Tara M. Bell, Erin E. Boydston, Richard A. Erickson, A. Lance Everette, Erika E. Lentz, Jeff Peters, Brian Reichert, Sarah Nagorsen, Jason T. Sherba, Richard P. Signell, Mark T. Wiltermuth, John A. Young
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1154
The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually funds small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 11 projects funded in fiscal year 2017, outlining their goals, activities, and outputs....
Geologic map of the north half of the Lake Walcott 30'×60' quadrangle, Idaho
Mel A. Kuntz, Duane E. Champion, Brent R. Turrin, Philip B. Gans, Harry R. Covington, D. Paco VanSistine
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3405
The geologic map of the northern half of the Lake Walcott 30ʹ×60ʹ quadrangle shows the volcanic geology of the southern part of the Craters of the Moon lava field, the complex geologic features of the Holocene Kings Bowl and Wapi lava fields, and the southern part of the Great Rift...
Currents, waves and sediment transport around the headland of Pt. Dume, California
Douglas A. George, John L. Largier, Curt D. Storlazzi, Matthew J. Robart, Brian Gaylord
2018, Continental Shelf Research (171) 63-76
Sediment transport past rocky headlands has received less attention compared to transport along beaches. Here we explore, in a field-based study, possible pathways for sediment movement adjacent to Point Dume, a headland in Santa Monica Bay, California. This prominent shoreline feature is a nearly symmetrical, triangular-shaped promontory interior to the Santa Monica Littoral Cell. We collected...
Chemical and isotopic characteristics of methane in groundwater of Ohio, 2016
Mary Ann Thomas
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5097
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Ohio Water Development Authority, investigated the hydrogeologic setting, chemical and isotopic characteristics, and origin of methane in groundwater of Ohio. Understanding the occurrence and distribution of methane in groundwater is important in terms of public safety because methane in water...
Construction of a compact low-cost radiation shield for air-temperature sensors in ecological field studies
Adam J. Terando, Sara G. Prado, Elsa Youngsteadt
2018, Journal of Visualized Experiments
With the advent of small, low-cost environmental sensors, it is now possible to deploy high-density networks of sensors to measure hyper localized temperature variation. Here, we provide a detailed methodology for constructing a compact version of a previously described custom-fabricated radiation shield for use with inexpensive thermochrons....
Defining blue carbon: The emergence of a climate context for coastal carbon dynamics
Stephen Crooks, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Tiffany Troxler
2018, Book chapter, A blue carbon primer: The state of coastal wetland carbon science, practice and policy
Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCEs) are defined as coastal wetland ecosystems with manageable and atmospherically significant carbon stocks and fluxes.Policy and management opportunities have promoted the emergence of blue carbon as a concept and spurred scientific interest to reduce uncertainties in coastal carbon budgets.The four...
Blue Carbon Futures: moving forward on terra firma
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Stephen Crooks, Tiffany Troxler
2018, Book chapter, A blue carbon primer: The state of coastal wetland carbon science, practice and policy
Maintaining coastal carbon sequestration and storage services is economically valuable in providing a potentially long-term contribution toward climate resilience, both in terms of adaptation and mitigation.392The volumetric accumulation of coastal carbon stocks is unique from other terrestrial and aquatic processes, and inconsistent use of terminology is holding back understanding of...
