Estimates of tidal-marsh bird densities using Bayesian networks
Whitney A. Wiest, Maureen D. Correll, Bruce G. Marcot, Brian J. Olsen, Chris Elphick, Thomas P. Hodgman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, W. Gregory Shriver
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (83) 109-120
Conserving tidal-marsh bird communities requires strategies to address continuing pressures from human development to the effects of increasing rates of sea-level rise. Knowing tidal-marsh bird distributions and population sizes are important for developing these strategies. In the Northeast United States, where estimates of sea-level rise are 3 times higher than...
New insights into surface-water/groundwater exchanges in the Guadalupe River, Texas, from floating geophysical methods
Scott J. Ikard, J. Ryan Banta, Gregory P. Stanton
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3057
In south-central Texas, the amount of streamflow in the Guadalupe River is a primary concern for local and downstream communities because of municipal, agricultural, wildlife, and recreational uses. Understanding the flow paths and rates of exchange between the surface water in the river and the groundwater in the underlying Carrizo-Wilcox...
Wastewater indicators, hormones, sterols, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals in soil at an agricultural field irrigated with domestic septage, central Minnesota, September 2014
Sarah M. Elliott, Melinda L. Erickson, Aliesha L. Krall, Byron A. Adams
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5100
Treated domestic septage can be used to irrigate agricultural fields as a disposal method or as a means to reuse water. Because traditional on-site treatment systems are not designed to remove wastewater indicators, hormones, sterols, antibiotics, and pharmaceuticals, land application of septage potentially results in soil contamination. Soils were collected...
Suppression of vitrinite reflectance by bitumen generated from liptinite during hydrous pyrolysis of artificial source rock
Kenneth E. Peters, Paul C. Hackley, J. J. Thomas, A. E. Pomerantz
2018, Organic Geochemistry (125) 220-228
Mean random vitrinite reflectance (Ro) is the most widely accepted method to determine thermal maturity of coal and other sedimentary rocks. However, oil-immersion Ro of polished rock or kerogen samples is commonly lower than Ro values measured in samples from adjacent vitrinite-rich coals that have undergone the same level of thermal stress....
Patch age since disturbance drives patch dynamics for flycatchers breeding in both reservoir and riverine habitat
Tad C Theimer, Mark K. Sogge, Eben H. Paxton
2018, Ecosphere (9)
Species dependent upon early-successional landscapes often occupy patches at different stages of recovery after disturbance. The demographic processes that drive patch dynamics in these systems have rarely been described but are important for developing effective conservation and management plans, especially when humans have modified the timing and intensity of disturbances...
A snapshot of women of the U.S. Geological Survey in STEM and related careers
Susan C. Aragon-Long, Virginia R. Burkett, Holly S. Weyers, Susan M. Haig, Marjorie S. Davenport, Kelly L. Warner
2018, Circular 1443
IntroductionThe term “STEM” has been used to group together the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to describe education and professions related to these fields. The professional fields connected to STEM education are thought of as engineering, medicine, and computer technology. Yet these professional fields are merely the...
What goes up must come down: Integrating air and water quality monitoring for nutrients
Helen M Amos, Chelcy Miniat, Jason A. Lynch, Jana Compton, Pamela H. Templer, Lori A. Sprague, Denice M Shaw, Douglas A. Burns, Anne Rea, Dave Whitall, LaToya Myles, David A. Gay, Mark A. Nilles, John W. Walker, Anita K Rose, Jerad Bales, Jeffrey R. Deacon, Rich Pouyet
2018, Environmental Science and Technology (52) 11441-11448
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus (“nutrients”) loadings continue to affect ecosystem function and human health across the U.S. Our ability to connect atmospheric inputs of nutrients to aquatic end points remains limited due to uncoupled air and water quality monitoring. Where connections...
Submarine deposition of a subaerial landslide in Taan Fiord, Alaska
Peter J. Haeussler, S. P. S Gulick, N. McCall, Maureen A. L. Walton, R. Reece, C. Larson, D. H. Shugar, M. Geertsema, J. G. Venditti, Keith A. Labay
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research (123) 2443-2463
A large subaerial landslide entered Taan Fiord, Alaska, on 17 October 2015 producing a tsunami with runup to 193 m. We use LiDAR data to show the slide volume to be 76 + 3/−4 million cubic meters and that 51,000,000 m3 entered Taan Fiord. In 2016, we mapped the fjord with multibeam bathymetry and high‐resolution...
Evaluating airsoft electric guns for control of invasive brown treesnakes
Adam J Knox, Bjorn Lardner, Amy Yackel, Robert Reed
2018, Wildlife Society Bulletin (42) 534-539
Firearms are often used in lethal control of invasive vertebrates, but safety and regulatory aspects limit the circumstances under which they can be used. During August 2016 at the Brown Treesnake Project laboratory on Guam, we evaluated hobby‐grade Airsoft Electric Guns (AEGs)—a lower powered, less‐hazardous, and...
A digital elevation model for simulating the 1945 Makran tsunami in Karachi Harbour
Haider Hasan, Brian F. Atwater, Shoaib Ahmed
2018, Geoscience Letters (5)
The digital elevation model documented here provides a tool for calibrating tsunami models to effects of the 1945 Makran tsunami that were observed in Karachi Harbour. The DEM bathymetry is derived from soundings made mainly during the first 8 years post-tsunami. While deficient in its portrayal of...
Tradeoffs of a portable, field-based environmental DNA platform for detecting invasive northern pike (Esox lucius) in Alaska
Adam J. Sepulveda, Patrick R. Hutchins, Robert L. Massengill, Kristine J. Dunker
2018, Management of Biological Invasions (9) 253-258
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has improved detection probabilities of aquatic invasive species but lab-based analyticalplatforms for eDNA analyses slow opportunities for rapid response. Effective approaches that address this analyticalbottleneck and improve capacity for rapid response are urgently needed. We tested the sensitivity of a portable, field-basedeDNA platform relative to widely used...
A bioenergetics evaluation of temperature‐dependent selection for the spawning phenology by Snake River fall Chinook salmon
John M. Plumb
2018, Ecology and Evolution (62) 351-354
High water temperatures can increase the energetic cost for salmon to migrate and spawn, which can be important for Snake River fall‐run Chinook salmon because they migrate great distances (>500 km) at a time when river temperatures (18–24°C) can be above their optimum temperatures (16.5°C). Average river temperatures and random combinations...
Survey-based assessment of the frequency and potential impacts of recreation on polar bears
Karyn D. Rode, Jennifer K. Fortin, Dave Garshelis, Markus Dyck, Vicki Sahanatien, Todd C. Atwood, Stanislav Belikov, Kristin L. Laidre, Susanne Miller, Martyn E. Obbard, Dag Vongraven, Jasmine V. Ware, James Wilder
2018, Biological Conservation (227) 121-132
Conservation plans for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) typically cannot prescribe management actions to address their primary threat: sea ice loss associated with climate warming. However, there may be other stressors that compound the negative effects of sea ice loss which can be mitigated. For example, Arctic tourism has increased concurrent with polar bears increasingly...
Developing hydro-meteorological thresholds for shallow landslide initiation and early warning
Benjamin B. Mirus, Michael D. Morphew, Joel B. Smith
2018, Water (10) 1-19
Consistent relations between shallow landslide initiation and associated rainfall characteristics remain difficult to identify, due largely to the complex hydrological and geological processes causing slopes to be predisposed to failure and those processes that subsequently trigger failures. Considering the importance of hillslope hydrology for rainfall-induced landsliding, we develop and test...
Decadal topographic change in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica: Thermokarst subsidence, glacier thinning, and transfer of water storage from the cryosphere to the hydrosphere
J.S. Levy, A.G. Fountain, Maciej Obryk, J. Telling, C. Glennie, R. Pettersson, M. Gooseff, D.J. van Horn
2018, Geomorphology (323) 80-97
Recent local-scale observations of glaciers, streams, and soil surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (MDV) have documented evidence for rapid ice loss, glacial thinning, and ground surface subsidence associated with melting of ground ice. To evaluate the extent, magnitude, and location of decadal-scale landscape change in the MDV, we collected airborne lidar elevation data in...
Hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2017
Bradley S. Lukasz
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3060
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring stations in Kansas. These data and associated analyses provide a unique overview of the hydrologic conditions and help improve the understanding of Kansas’ water resources. Yearly assessments of hydrologic conditions are...
Holocene fault reactivation in the eastern Cascades, Washington
Benjamin L. Carlson, Elizabeth R. Schermer, Colin B. Amos, William J. Stephenson, Brian Sherrod, Shannon A. Mahan
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 2614-2633
Significant uncertainty remains concerning how and where crustal shortening occurs throughout the eastern Cascade Range in Washington State. Using light detection and ranging (lidar) imagery, we identified an ∼5‐km‐long">∼5‐km‐long lineament in Swakane canyon near Wenatchee, roughly coincident...
Lessons from Mexico’s earthquake early warning system
Richard M. Allen, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Thomas J. Huggins, Scott Miles, Diego Otegui
2018, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (99)
The devastating 2017 Puebla quake provides an opportunity to assess how citizens perceive and use the Mexico City earthquake early warning system....
A database of natural monthly streamflow estimates from 1950 to 2015 for the conterminous United States
Matthew P. Miller, Daren M. Carlisle, David M. Wolock, Michael Wieczorek
2018, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (54) 1258-1269
Quantifying and understanding the natural streamflow regime, defined as expected streamflow that would occur in the absence of anthropogenic modification to the hydrologic system, is critically important for the development of management strategies aimed at protecting aquatic ecosystems. Water balance models have been applied frequently to estimate natural flows, but...
Identifying physics‐based thresholds for rainfall‐induced landsliding
Matthew A. Thomas, Benjamin B. Mirus, Brian D. Collins
2018, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 9651-9661
Most regional landslide warning systems utilize empirically derived rainfall thresholds that are difficult to improve without recalibration to additional landslide events. To address this limitation, we explored the use of synthetic rainfall to generate thousands of possible storm patterns and coupled them with a physics‐based hydrology and slope stability model...
Rhizophagy cycle: An oxidative process in plants for nutrient extraction from symbiotic microbes
James F. White, Kathryn L. Kingsley, Satish Kumar Verma, Kurt P. Kowalski
2018, Microorganisms (6) 1-20
In this paper, we describe a mechanism for the transfer of nutrients from symbiotic microbes (bacteria and fungi) to host plant roots that we term the ‘rhizophagy cycle.’ In the rhizophagy cycle, microbes alternate between a root intracellular endophytic phase and a free-living soil phase. Microbes acquire soil nutrients in...
Mapping the relationships between trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking
Brian A. Peterson, Matthew T.J. Brownlee, Jeffrey L. Marion
2018, Landscape and Urban Planning (180) 60-75
Trail users that experience acceptable social and ecological conditions are more likely to act as trail stewards, exhibit proper trail etiquette, and use low-impact practices. However, the relationships between specific trail conditions and experiential elements of long-distance hiking are not well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to...
Science for a risky world—A U.S. Geological Survey plan for risk research and applications
K. A. Ludwig, David W. Ramsey, Nathan J. Wood, A.B. Pennaz, Jonathan W. Godt, Nathaniel G. Plant, Nico Luco, Todd A. Koenig, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Donyelle K. Davis, Patricia R. Bright
2018, Circular 1444
Executive SummaryNatural hazards—including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, geomagnetic storms, and pandemics—can wreak havoc on human communities, the economy, and natural resources for years following an initial event. Hazards can claim lives and cause billions of dollars in damage to homes and infrastructure as well...
Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2016
Patrick J. Ryan
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1108
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, plans to deepen the St. Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida, from 40 to 47 feet along 13 miles of the river channel, beginning at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean, to accommodate larger, fully loaded cargo vessels. The...
Integrated diet analyses reveal contrasting trophic niches for wild and hatchery juvenile Chinook Salmon in a large river delta
Melanie J. Davis, Isa Woo, Christopher S. Ellings, Sayre Hodgson, David A. Beauchamp, Glynnis Nakai, Susan E.W. De La Cruz
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 818-841
Hatchery programs have been used as a conservation tool to bolster declining populations of Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha along much of the North American Pacific coast. In many watersheds, hatchery stocks are released concurrently with the wild population, thus raising the potential for density‐dependent effects. Competition for prey resources during the critical...
