Spatial distribution and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in coastal surface sediments in the Hebei Province offshore area, Bohai Sea, China
Xigui Ding, Siyuan Ye, Hongming Yuan, Ken W. Krauss
2018, Marine Pollution Bulletin (131) 655-661
Seven hundred and nine surface sediment samples, along with deeper sediment samples, were collected from Hebei Province along the coastal section of the Bohai Sea, China, and analyzed for grain size, concentrations of organic carbon (Corg) and heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, and Hg). Results indicated that...
A framework for modeling scenario-based barrier island storm impacts
Rangley C. Mickey, Joseph W. Long, P. Soupy Dalyander, Nathaniel G. Plant, David M. Thompson
2018, Coastal Engineering (138) 98-112
Methods for investigating the vulnerability of existing or proposed coastal features to storm impacts often rely on simplified parametric models or one-dimensional process-based modeling studies that focus on changes to a profile across a dune or barrier island. These simple studies tend to neglect the impacts to curvilinear or alongshore...
Streamflow, water quality, and constituent loads and yields, Scituate Reservoir Drainage Area, Rhode Island, water year 2015
Kirk Smith
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1065
Streamflow and concentrations of sodium and chloride estimated from records of specific conductance were used to calculate loads of sodium and chloride during water year (WY) 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015) for tributaries to the Scituate Reservoir, Rhode Island. Streamflow and water-quality data used in the study...
An updated stress map of the continental U.S. reveals heterogeneous intraplate stress
Will Levandowski, Robert B Hermann, Richard W. Briggs, Oliver S. Boyd, Ryan D. Gold
2018, Nature Geoscience (11) 433-437
Knowledge of the state of stress in the Earth’s crust is key to understanding the forces and processes responsible for earthquakes. Historically, low rates of natural seismicity in the central and eastern United States have complicated efforts to understand intraplate stress, but recent improvements in seismic networks and the spread...
Comparison of NEXRAD multisensor precipitation estimates to rain gage observations in and near DuPage County, Illinois, 2002–12
Ryan R. Spies, Thomas M. Over, Terry Ortel
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1061
In this report, precipitation data from 2002 to 2012 from the hourly gridded Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD)-based Multisensor Precipitation Estimate (MPE) precipitation product are compared to precipitation data from two rain gage networks—an automated tipping bucket network of 25 rain gages operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and 51 rain...
Assessment of skin and liver neoplasms in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) collected at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern and associated reference site, Ohio, in 2016
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Ryan P. Braham
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1072
Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) is a commonly used indicator species for tumor surveys at Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The “fish tumors or other deformities” is one of the beneficial use impairments at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern. In May 2016, 150 brown bullhead were collected in the lower...
Effect of river confinement on depth and spatial extent of bed disturbance affecting salmon redds
Christiana R. Czuba, Jonathan A. Czuba, Christopher S. Magirl, Andrew S. Gendaszek, Christopher P. Konrad
2018, Journal of Ecohydraulics (2) 1-14
Human impacts on rivers threaten the natural function of riverine ecosystems. This paper assesses how channel confinement affects the scour depth and spatial extent of bed disturbance and discusses the implications of these results for salmon-redd disturbance in gravel-bedded rivers. Two-dimensional hydrodynamic models of relatively confined and unconfined reaches of...
Effects of surface-water and groundwater inflows and outflows on the hydrology of the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin in Citrus County, Florida
Nicasio Sepulveda, Mark Fulkerson, Ron Basso, Patrick J. Ryan
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5055
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, initiated a study to quantify the inflows and outflows in the Floral City, Inverness, and Hernando pools of the Tsala Apopka Lake Basin in Citrus County, Florida. This study assesses hydrologic changes in pool stages, groundwater levels,...
MonitoringResources.org—Supporting coordinated and cost-effective natural resource monitoring across organizations
Jennifer M. Bayer, Rebecca A. Scully, Jake Weltzin
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3015
Natural resource managers who oversee the Nation’s resources require data to support informed decision-making at a variety of spatial and temporal scales that often cross typical jurisdictional boundaries such as states, agency regions, and watersheds. These data come from multiple agencies, programs, and sources, often with their own methods and...
Effects of experimental removal of Barred Owls on population demography of Northern Spotted Owls in Washington and Oregon—2017 progress report
J. David Wiens, Katie M. Dugger, Damon B. Lesmeister, Krista E. Dilione, David C. Simon
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1086
Populations of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina; hereinafter referred to as Spotted Owl) are declining throughout this subspecies’ geographic range. Evidence indicates that competition with invading populations of Barred Owls (S. varia) has contributed significantly to those declines. A pilot study in California showed that localized removal of Barred...
Analysis of groundwater response to tidal fluctuations, Operable Unit 2, Area 8, Naval Base Kitsap, Keyport, Washington
Chad C. Opatz, Richard S. Dinicola
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1082
Operable Unit 2, Area 8, at Naval Base Kitsap, Keyport is the site of a former chrome-plating facility that released metals (primarily chromium and cadmium), chlorinated volatile organic compounds, and petroleum compounds into the local environment. To ensure long-term protectiveness, as stipulated in the Fourth Five-Year Review for the...
Longevity and population age structure of the arroyo southwestern toad (Anaxyrus californicus) with drought implications
Robert N. Fisher, Cheryl S. Brehme, Stacie A. Hathaway, Tim E. Hovey, Manna L. Warburton, Drew C. Stokes
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 6124-6132
The arroyo southwestern toad is a specialized and federally endangered amphibian endemic to the coastal plains and mountains of central and southern California and northwestern Baja California. It is largely unknown how long these toads live in natural systems, how their population demographics vary across occupied drainages, and how hydrology...
Spatiotemporal analysis of Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 data to support monitoring of dryland ecosystems
Neal J. Pastick, Bruce K. Wylie, Zhuoting Wu
2018, Remote Sensing (10)
Drylands are the habitat and source of livelihood for about two fifths of the world’s population and are highly susceptible to climate and anthropogenic change. To understand the vulnerability of drylands to changing environmental conditions, land managers need to effectively monitor rates of past change and remote sensing offers a...
Geologic map of the Leadville North 7.5’ quadrangle, Eagle and Lake Counties, Colorado
Chester A. Ruleman, Theodore R. Brandt, Marc W. Caffee, Brent M. Goehring
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3400
The Leadville North 7.5’ quadrangle lies at the northern end of the Upper Arkansas Valley, where the Continental Divide at Tennessee Pass creates a low drainage divide between the Colorado and Arkansas River watersheds. In the eastern half of the quadrangle, the Paleozoic sedimentary section dips generally 20–30 degrees east....
Cohesive and mixed sediment in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS v3.6) implemented in the Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport Modeling System (COAWST r1234)
Christopher R. Sherwood, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Courtney K. Harris, J. Paul Rinehimer, Romaric Verney, Benedicte Ferre
2018, Geoscientific Model Development (11) 1849-1871
No abstract available....
The genetic network of greater sage-grouse: Range-wide identification of keystone hubs of connectivity
Todd B. Cross, Michael D. Schwartz, David Naugle, Brad C. Fedy, Jeff R Row, Sara J. Oyler-McCance
2018, Ecology and Evolution (8) 5394-5412
Genetic networks can characterize complex genetic relationships among groups of individuals, which can be used to rank nodes most important to the overall connectivity of the system. Ranking allows scarce resources to be guided toward nodes integral to connectivity. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species of conservation concern that breeds on...
Do downscaled general circulation models reliably simulate historical climatic conditions?
Andrew R. Bock, Lauren E. Hay, Gregory J. McCabe, Steven L. Markstrom, R. Dwight Atkinson
2018, Earth Interactions (22) 1-22
The accuracy of statistically downscaled (SD) general circulation model (GCM) simulations of monthly surface climate for historical conditions (1950–2005) was assessed for the conterminous United States (CONUS). The SD monthly precipitation (PPT) and temperature (TAVE) from 95 GCMs from phases 3 and 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3...
Quartz-pebble-conglomerate gold deposits
Ryan D. Taylor, Eric D. Anderson
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-P
Quartz-pebble-conglomerate gold deposits represent the largest repository of gold on Earth, largely due to the deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin, which account for nearly 40 percent of the total gold produced throughout Earth’s history. This deposit type has had a controversial history in regards to genetic models. However, most researchers...
Specific conductance as a tracer of preferential flow in a subsurface-drained field
Erik A. Smith, Paul D. Capel
2018, Vadose Zone Journal (17)
Specific conductance (SC), soil volumetric water content (VWC), and discharge were monitored on a subsurface agricultural drain for a 2-yr period (2007–2008) to differentiate preferential flow paths from matrix flow paths. A major observation from the 2-yr period was the fast SC decrease after relatively small rainfall events, often <5...
Succession in ecological education
Beth A. Middleton, David J. Gibson
2018, Book chapter, The wetland book: Structure and function, management, and methods
As complex and dynamic systems, wetlands offer the opportunity to investigate and incorporate the ecological concept of succession in educational settings. For example, the well-known, classic hydrosere concept is illustrated in numerous ecology and life-science textbooks. In this chapter, the drawbacks of using the hydrosere successional concept are assessed, and...
Surface-water quality in the Lycoming Creek watershed, north-central Pennsylvania, August 1–3, 2011
Dennis W. Risser, Matthew D. Conlon
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5154
This report presents the methodology and results for a study of surface-water quality of the Lycoming Creek watershed in north-central Pennsylvania during August 1–3, 2011. The study was done in cooperation with the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Samples of stream water were collected...
Exotic predators may threaten another island ecosystem: A comprehensive assessment of python and boa reports from the Florida Keys
Emma B. Hanslowe, James G. Duquesnel, Raymond W. Snow, Bryan G. Falk, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Edward Metzger, Michelle Collier, Robert Reed
2018, Management of Biological Invasions (9) 369-377
Summarizing historical records of potentially invasive species increases understanding of propagule pressure, spatiotemporal trends, and establishment risk of these species. We compiled records of non-native pythons and boas from the Florida Keys, cross-referenced them to eliminate duplicates, and categorized each record’s credibility. We report on 159 observations of six python...
Spatial variability of sediment transport processes over intratidal and subtidal timescales within a fringing coral reef system
Andrew Pomeroy, Ryan J. Lowe, Marco Ghisalberti, Gundula Winter, Curt D. Storlazzi, Michael V. W. Cuttler
2018, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (123) 1013-1034
Sediment produced on fringing coral reefs that is transported along the bed or in suspension affects ecological reef communities as well as the morphological development of the reef, lagoon, and adjacent shoreline. This study quantified the physical process contribution and relative importance of sea‐swell waves, infragravity waves, and mean currents...
Factors regulating year‐class strength of Silver Carp throughout the Mississippi River basin
Christopher J. Sullivan, Michael J. Weber, Clay Pierce, David H. Wahl, Quinton E. Phelps, Carlos A. Camacho, Robert E. Colombo
2018, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (147) 541-553
Recruitment of many fish populations is inherently highly variable inter‐annually. However, this variability can be synchronous at broad geographic scales due to fish dispersal and climatic conditions. Herein, we investigated recruitment synchrony of Silver Carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix across the Mississippi River basin. Year‐class strength (YCS) and synchrony of nine populations (max linear...
A mechanistic assessment of seasonal microhabitat selection by drift-feeding rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in a southwestern headwater stream
Bradley W. Kalb, Brock M. Huntsman, Colleen A. Caldwell, Michael A. Bozek
2018, Environmental Biology of Fishes (202) 257-273
The positioning of fishes within a riverscape is dependent on the proximity of complementary habitats. In this study, foraging and non-foraging habitat were quantified monthly over an entire year for a rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) population in an isolated, headwater stream in southcentral New Mexico. The stream follows...
