Limiting factors of four rare plant species in `Ōla`A Forest of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Joshua R. VanDeMark, Linda W. Pratt, Melody Euaparadorn
2010, Technical Report HCSU-018
Three endangered or candidate endangered plant species native to `Ōla`a Forest (Cyrtandra giffardii, ha`iwale; Phyllostegia floribunda, a mint with no common name; and Sicyos alba, `ānunu) were studied for more than 2 years to determine their stand structures, short-term mortality rates, patterns of reproductive phenology, success of fruit production, seed...
Environmental conditions affecting the efficiency and efficacy of piscicides for use in nonnative fish eradication
Peter James Brown
2010, Thesis
Conservation of native fish is a pressing issue for fisheries managers. Conservation efforts often require eliminating threats posed by nonnative fish by eradicating them with piscicides. The piscicides rotenone and antimycin are used for eradication but their application is often inefficient or ineffective. My goal was to increase the efficiency...
Hydrogeology and numerical simulation of the unconsolidated glacial aquifer in the Pootatuck River Basin, Newtown, Connecticut
Carl S. Carlson, Remo A. Mondazzi, David M. Bjerklie, Craig J. Brown
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5142
A study of the groundwater and stream-aquifer interaction in the Pootatuck River Basin, Newtown, Connecticut, was conducted to analyze the effect of production wells on the groundwater levels and streamflow in the Pootatuck River as part of a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey and Newtown, Connecticut. This study...
Development of a decision support system for monitoring, reporting and forecasting ecological conditions of the Appalachian Trail
Yeqiao Wang, Ramakrishna Nemani, Fred Dieffenbach, Kenneth Stolte, Glenn B. Holcomb, Matt Robinson, Casey C. Reese, Marcia McNiff, Roland Duhaime, Geri Tierney, Brian Mitchell, Peter August, Peter Paton, Charles LaBash
2010, Conference Paper, Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS), 2010 IEEE International
This paper introduces a collaborative multi-agency effort to develop an Appalachian Trail (A.T.) MEGA-Transect Decision Support System (DSS) for monitoring, reporting and forecasting ecological conditions of the A.T. and the surrounding lands. The project is to improve decisionmaking on management of the A.T. by providing a coherent framework for data...
Preliminary assessment of factors influencing riverine fish communities in Massachusetts
David S. Armstrong, Todd A. Richards, Sara L. Brandt
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1139
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MDCR), Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game (MDFG), conducted a preliminary investigation of fish communities in small- to medium-sized Massachusetts streams. The objective of this investigation was to...
Survival of feral cats, Felis catus (Carnivora: Felidae), on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, based on tooth cementum lines
Raymond M. Danner, Chris Farmer, Steven C. Hess, Robert M. Stephens, Paul C. Banko
2010, Pacific Science (64) 381-389
Feral cats (Felis catus) have spread throughout anthropogenic and insular environments of the world. They now threaten many species of native wildlife with chronic depredation. Knowledge of feral cat population dynamics is necessary to understand their ecological effects and to develop effective control strategies. However, there are few studies worldwide...
Divisions of geologic time-major chronostratigraphic and geochronologic units
U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Names Committee
2010, Fact Sheet 2010-3059
Effective communication in the geosciences requires consistent uses of stratigraphic nomenclature, especially divisions of geologic time. A geologic time scale is composed of standard stratigraphic divisions based on rock sequences and is calibrated in years. Over the years, the development of new dating methods and the refinement of previous methods...
Predicting S-wave velocities for unconsolidated sediments at low effective pressure
Myung W. Lee
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5138
Accurate S-wave velocities for shallow sediments are important in performing a reliable elastic inversion for gas hydrate-bearing sediments and in evaluating velocity models for predicting S-wave velocities, but few S-wave velocities are measured at low effective pressure. Predicting S-wave velocities by using conventional methods based on the Biot-Gassmann theory appears...
Distribution of Isotopic and Environmental Tracers in Groundwater, Northern Ada County, Southwestern Idaho
Candice B. Adkins, James R. Bartolino
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5144
Residents of northern Ada County, Idaho, depend on groundwater for domestic and agricultural uses. The population of this area is growing rapidly and groundwater resources must be understood for future water-resource management. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, used a suite of isotopic...
Sediment oxygen demand in the Saddle River and Salem River watersheds, New Jersey, July-August 2008
Heather A. Heckathorn, Jacob Gibs
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5093
Many factors, such as river depth and velocity, biochemical oxygen demand, and algal productivity, as well as sediment oxygen demand, can affect the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water column. Measurements of sediment oxygen demand, in conjunction with those of other water-column water-quality constituents, are useful for quantifying the...
Geologic map of the Lakshmi Planum quadrangle (V-7), Venus
Mikhail A. Ivanov, James W. Head III
2010, Scientific Investigations Map 3116
The Lakshmi Planum quadrangle is in the northern hemisphere of Venus and extends from lat 50 degrees to 75 degrees N., and from long 300 degrees to 360 degrees E. The elevated volcanic plateau of Lakshmi Planum, which represents a very specific and unique class of highlands on Venus, dominates...
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismic data, January to March 2009
Jennifer S. Nakata, Paul G. Okubo
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1079
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during January–March 2009. The seismic summary offers earthquake hypocenters without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M≥1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in...
Three-dimensional geologic model of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, south-central Oklahoma
Jason R. Faith, Charles D. Blome, Michael P. Pantea, James O. Puckette, Todd Halihan, Noel Osborn, Scott Christenson, Skip Pack
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1123
The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer of south-central Oklahoma encompasses more than 850 square kilometers and is the principal water resource for south-central Oklahoma. Rock units comprising the aquifer are characterized by limestone, dolomite, and sandstones assigned to two lower Paleozoic units: the Arbuckle and Simpson Groups. Also considered to be part of...
Practical guidelines to select and scale earthquake records for nonlinear response history analysis of structures
Erol Kalkan, Anil K. Chopra
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1068
Earthquake engineering practice is increasingly using nonlinear response history analysis (RHA) to demonstrate performance of structures. This rigorous method of analysis requires selection and scaling of ground motions appropriate to design hazard levels. Presented herein is a modal-pushover-based scaling (MPS) method to scale ground motions for use in nonlinear...
Land-Use Portfolio Modeler, Version 1.0
Richard Taketa, Makiko Hong
2010, Techniques and Methods 11-C4
Natural hazards pose significant threats to the public safety and economic health of many communities throughout the world. Community leaders and decision-makers continually face the challenges of planning and allocating limited resources to invest in protecting their communities against catastrophic losses from natural-hazard events. Public efforts to assess community vulnerability...
Attributes for NHDPlus Catchments (Version 1.1) for the Conterminous United States: Level 3 Ecoregions
Michael Wieczorek, Andrew E. LaMotte
2010, Data Series 490-09
This data set represents the estimated area of level 3 ecological landscape regions (ecoregions), as defined by Omernik (1987), compiled for every catchment of NHDPlus for the conterminous United States. The source data set is Level III Ecoregions of the Continental United States (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2003). The NHDPlus...
A comparison of multi-spectral, multi-angular, and multi-temporal remote sensing datasets for fractional shrub canopy mapping in Arctic Alaska
David J. Selkowitz
2010, Remote Sensing of Environment (114) 1338-1352
Shrub cover appears to be increasing across many areas of the Arctic tundra biome, and increasing shrub cover in the Arctic has the potential to significantly impact global carbon budgets and the global climate system. For most of the Arctic, however, there is...
Testing statistical self-similarity in the topology of river networks
Brent M. Troutman, Ricardo Mantilla, Vijay K. Gupta
2010, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (115)
Recent work has demonstrated that the topological properties of real river networks deviate significantly from predictions of Shreve's random model. At the same time the property of mean self-similarity postulated by Tokunaga's model is well supported by data. Recently, a new class of network model called random self-similar networks (RSN)...
Carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in deep saline aquifers and formations: Chapter 3
Robert J. Rosenbauer, Burt Thomas
2010, Book chapter, Developments and Innovation in Carbon Dioxide (Co2) Capture and Storage Technology: Carbon Dioxide (Co2) Storage and Utilisation
Carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and sequestration in geologic media is one among many emerging strategies to reduce atmospheric emissions of anthropogenic CO2. This chapter looks at the potential of deep saline aquifers – based on their capacity and close proximity to large point sources of CO2 – as repositories for...
Impacts and predictions of coastal change during hurricanes
Hilary Stockdon, Abby Sallenger
2010, Fact Sheet 2010-3012
Beaches serve as a natural barrier between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and resources. These dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During a powerful hurricane, changes to beaches can be large, and the results are sometimes catastrophic. Lives are lost, communities are destroyed,...
Sediment transport and deposition on a river-dominated tidal flat: An idealized model study
Christopher R. Sherwood, Shih-Nan Chen, W. Rockwell Geyer, David K. Ralston
2010, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (115)
A 3-D hydrodynamic model is used to investigate how different size classes of river-derived sediment are transported, exported and trapped on an idealized, river-dominated tidal flat. The model is composed of a river channel flanked by sloping tidal flats, a configuration motivated by the intertidal region of the Skagit River...
Genetic diversity and variation of mitochondrial DNA in native and introduced bighead carp
Si-Fa Li, Qin-Ling Yang, Jia-Wei Xu, Cheng-Hui Wang, Duane Chapman, Guoping Lu
2010, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (139) 937-946
The bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis is native to China but has been introduced to over 70 countries and is established in many large river systems. Genetic diversity and variation in introduced bighead carp have not previously been evaluated, and a systematic comparison among fish from different river systems was unavailable. In this...
Temporal variations in Global Seismic Stations ambient noise power levels
A. T. Ringler, L.S. Gee, C. R. Hutt, D.E. McNamara
2010, Seismological Research Letters (81) 605-613
Recent concerns about time-dependent response changes in broadband seismometers have motivated the need for methods to monitor sensor health at Global Seismographic Network (GSN) stations. We present two new methods for monitoring temporal changes in data quality and instrument response transfer functions that are independent of...
Fisheries indicators, freshwater
Thomas J. Kwak
2010, Book chapter, Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability
Freshwater fisheries exist among diverse ecosystems and fauna, provide societal benefits, and are influenced by human activities. Fisheries scientists assess the status and sustainability of fisheries by multiple approaches, including abundance and condition indices, population parameters, community indices, modeling, and surveys of habitat and human dimensions. The future sustainability of...
Assessment and management of ecological integrity: Chapter 12
Thomas J. Kwak, Mary Freeman
2010, Book chapter, Inland fisheries management in North America
Assessing and understanding the impacts of human activities on aquatic ecosystems has long been a focus of ecologists, water resources managers, and fisheries scientists. While traditional fisheries management focused on single-species approaches to enhance fish stocks, there is a growing emphasis on management approaches at community and ecosystem levels. Of...
