Drivers and environmental responses to the changing annual snow cycle of northern Alaska
Christopher J. Cox, Robert S. Stone, David C. Douglas, Diane Stanitski, George J. Divoky, Geoff S. Dutton, Colm Sweeney, J. Craig George, David U. Longenecker
2017, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (98) 2559-2577
On the North Slope of Alaska, earlier spring snowmelt and later onset of autumn snow accumulation are tied to atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions, and result in environmental responses.Linkages between atmospheric, ecological and biogeochemical variables in the changing Arctic are analyzed using long-term measurements near...
Updated polychlorinated biphenyl mass budget for Lake Michigan
Jiehong Guo, Kevin Romanak, Stephen M. Westenbroek, An Li, Russell Kreis, Ronald A. Hites, Marta Venier
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 12455-12465
This study revisits and updates the Lake Michigan Mass Balance Project (LMMBP) for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that was conducted in 1994–1995. This work uses recent concentrations of PCBs in tributary and open lake water, air, and sediment to calculate an updated mass budget. Five of the 11 LMMBP tributaries were...
Predicting outcomes of restored Everglades high flow: A model system for scientifically managed floodplains
Jay Choi, Judson Harvey
2017, Restoration Ecology (25) S39-S47
Restoration of higher flows through the Everglades is intended to reestablish sheetflow to rebuild a well-functioning ridge and slough landscape that supports a productive and diverse ecosystem. Our objective of the study was to use hydrologic simulations and biophysical analysis to predict restoration outcomes for five major subbasins of the...
The response of soil and stream chemistry to decreases in acid deposition in the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA
Michael McHale, Douglas A. Burns, Jason Siemion, Michael R. Antidormi
2017, Environmental Pollution (229) 607-620
The Catskill Mountains have been adversely impacted by decades of acid deposition, however, since the early 1990s, levels have decreased sharply as a result of decreases in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. This study examines trends in acid deposition, stream-water chemistry, and soil chemistry in the southeastern Catskill...
Skin and fur bacterial diversity and community structure on American southwestern bats: effects of habitat, geography and bat traits
Ara S. Winter, Jennifer J. M. Hathaway, Jason C. Kimble, Debbie C. Buecher, Ernest W. Valdez, Andrea Porras-Alfaro, Jesse M. Young, Kaitlyn J. H. Read, Diana E. Northup
2017, PeerJ (5)
Microorganisms that reside on and in mammals, such as bats, have the potential to influence their host’s health and to provide defenses against invading pathogens. However, we have little understanding of the skin and fur bacterial microbiota on bats, or factors that influence the structure of these communities. The southwestern...
Differences in human versus lightning fires between urban and rural areas of the boreal forest in interior Alaska
Monika Calef, Anna Varvak, A. David McGuire
2017, Forests (8)
In western North America, the carbon-rich boreal forest is experiencing warmer temperatures, drier conditions and larger and more frequent wildfires. However, the fire regime is also affected by direct human activities through suppression, ignition, and land use changes. Models are important predictive tools for understanding future conditions but they are...
Use of swabs for sampling epithelial cells for molecular genetics analyses in Enteroctopus
Nathan Hollenback, David Scheel, Megan C. Gravley, George K. Sage, Rebecca K. Toussaint, Sandra L. Talbot
2017, American Malacological Bulletin (35) 145-157
We evaluated the efficacy of using swabs to collect cells from the epidermis of octopus as a non-invasive DNA source for classical genetic studies, and demonstrated value of the technique by incorporating it into an effort to determine, within a day, the lineage of captured, live Enteroctopus (E. dofleini or a cryptic lineage)....
Tree sampling as a method to assess vapor intrusion potential at a site characterized by VOC-contaminated groundwater and soil
Jordan L. Wilson, Matthew A. Limmer, V.A. Samaranayake, John G. Schumacher, Joel G. Burken
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 10369-10378
Vapor intrusion (VI) by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the built environment presents a threat to human health. Traditional VI assessments are often time-, cost-, and labor-intensive; whereas traditional subsurface methods sample a relatively small volume in the subsurface and are difficult to collect within and near structures. Trees could...
Methodological considerations of terrestrial laser scanning for vegetation monitoring in the sagebrush steppe
Kyle E. Anderson, Nancy Glenn, Lucas Spaete, Douglas J. Shinneman, David S. Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Susan K. McIlroy, DeWayne R. Derryberry
2017, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (189) 1-12
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) provides fast collection of high-definition structural information, making it a valuable field instrument to many monitoring applications. A weakness of TLS collections, especially in vegetation, is the occurrence of unsampled regions in point clouds where the sensor’s line-of-sight is blocked by intervening material. This problem, referred...
Significance of northeast-trending features in Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean
Deborah Hutchinson, H.R. Jackson, David W. Houseknecht, Q. Li, J.W. Shimeld, D.C. Mosher, D. Chian, Richard Saltus, G.N. Oakey
2017, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (18) 4156-4178
Synthesis of seismic velocity, potential field, and geological data from Canada Basin and its surrounding continental margins suggests that a northeast-trending structural fabric has influenced the origin, evolution, and current tectonics of the basin. This structural fabric has a crustal origin, based on the persistence of these trends in upward...
Environment and science
John M. Pearce, Sandra L. Talbot
2017, Book chapter, North: Finding place in Alaska
Alaska is part of an international circumpolar North, which makes the United States an Arctic nation. Alaska is a place of Indigenous ingenuity and adaptation, a place where environmental extremes challenge the ways of living. In its more recent history, Alaska has been a place of resources and influx-a land...
Submersed aquatic vegetation in Chesapeake Bay: Sentinel species in a changing world
Robert J. Orth, William C. Dennison, Jonathon S. Lefcheck, Cassie Gurbisz, Michael P. Hannam, Jennifer L. Keisman, J. Brooke Landry, Kenneth A. Moore, Rebecca Murphy, Christopher J. Patrick, Jeremy Testa, Donald E. Weller, David J. Wilcox
2017, BioScience (67) 698-712
Chesapeake Bay has undergone profound changes since European settlement. Increases in human and livestock populations, associated changes in land use, increases in nutrient loadings, shoreline armoring, and depletion of fish stocks have altered the important habitats within the Bay. Submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) is a critical foundational habitat and provides...
Age structure
Craig P. Paukert, Jonathan J. Spurgeon
2017, Book chapter, Age and growth of fishes: Principles and techniques
No abstract available....
Refined conservation strategies for Golden-winged Warblers in the West Virginia highlands with implications for the broader avian community
Kyle R. Aldinger, Petra B. Wood, Catherine M. Johnson
2017, The Condor (119) 762-786
Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) populations in the Appalachian Mountains region of North America are imperiled, warranting species-specific conservation. However, management for Golden-winged Warblers can affect both early-successional and forest species, many of which are also declining in the region. We conducted point counts in sites representing a range of successional...
A comparison of two mobile electrode arrays for increasing mortality of Lake Trout embryos
Peter J. Brown, Christopher S. Guy, Michael H. Meeuwig
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 363-369
Conservation of sport fisheries and populations of several native fishes in the western United States is dependent on sustained success of removal programs targeting invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush. Gill-netting of spawning adults is one strategy used to decrease spawning success; however, additional complementary methods are needed to disrupt Lake Trout...
High altitude flights by ruddy shelduck Tadorna ferruginea during trans-Himalayan migrations
N. Parr, S. Bearhop, David C. Douglas, J.Y. Takekawa, Diann J. Prosser, S.H. Newman, W.M. Perry, S. Balachandran, M.J. Witt, Y. Hou, Z. Lu, L.A. Hawkes
2017, Journal of Avian Biology (48) 1310-1315
Birds that migrate across high altitude mountain ranges are faced with the challenge of maintaining vigorous exercise in environments with limited oxygen. Ruddy shelducks are known to use wintering grounds south of the Tibetan Plateau at sea level and breeding grounds north of Himalayan mountain range. Therefore, it is likely...
Environmental niche models for riverine desert fishes and their similarity according to phylogeny and functionality
James E. Whitney, Joanna B. Whittier, Craig P. Paukert
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-21
Environmental filtering and competitive exclusion are hypotheses frequently invoked in explaining species' environmental niches (i.e., geographic distributions). A key assumption in both hypotheses is that the functional niche (i.e., species traits) governs the environmental niche, but few studies have rigorously evaluated this assumption. Furthermore, phylogeny could be associated with these...
Swimming behaviour and ascent paths of brook trout in a corrugated culvert
Elsa Goerig, Normand E. Bergeron, Theodore R. Castro-Santos
2017, River Research and Applications (33) 1463-1471
Culverts may restrict fish movements under some hydraulic conditions such as shallow flow depths or high velocities. Although swimming capacity imposes limits to passage performance, behaviour also plays an important role in the ability of fish to overcome velocity barriers. Corrugated metal culverts are characterized by unsteady flow and existence...
Organic chemical characterization and mass balance of a hydraulically fractured well: From fracturing fluid to produced water over 405 days
James Rosenblum, E. Michael Thurman, Imma Ferrer, George R. Aiken, Karl G. Linden
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 14006-14015
A long-term field study (405 days) of a hydraulically fractured well from the Niobrara Formation in the Denver-Julesburg Basin was completed. Characterization of organic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and their changes through time, from the preinjected fracturing fluid to the produced water, was conducted. The characterization consisted of a...
The fishery resources of the Mississippi River: A model for conservation and management
Harold L. Schramm Jr.
2017, Fisheries Magazine (42) 574-585
The Mississippi River is a multijurisdictional and multiuse resource that has been variously altered and is foremost managed for navigation and flood control throughout much of its 3,734‐km passage from its origin at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, to its outlet at the Gulf of Mexico. Despite alterations summarized herein, the native...
A model-based approach to wildland fire reconstruction using sediment charcoal records
Malcolm S. Itter, Andrew O. Finley, Mevin Hooten, Philip E. Higuera, Jennifer R. Marlon, Ryan Kelly, Jason S. McLachlan
2017, Environmetrics (28) 1-15
Lake sediment charcoal records are used in paleoecological analyses to reconstruct fire history, including the identification of past wildland fires. One challenge of applying sediment charcoal records to infer fire history is the separation of charcoal associated with local fire occurrence and charcoal originating from regional fire activity. Despite a...
Regional geology and tectonics
Warren J. Nokleberg
Thomas K. Bundtzen, Warren J. Nokleberg, Raymond A. Price, David W. Scholl, David B. Stone, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Dynamic geology of the Northern Cordillera (Alaska and western Canada) and adjacent marine areas: Tectonics, hazards, and resources
This chapter describes the regional geology and tectonic origins of the major geologic units for the Northern Cordillera. The goals of the chapter are to: (1) provide a summary and regional overview of this vast region that contains a complicated geologic history; and (2) describe the major geologic units and...
Simulation of groundwater flow and pumping scenarios for 1900–2050 near Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Jason M. Fine, Matthew D. Petkewich, Bruce G. Campbell
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5128
Groundwater withdrawals from the Upper Cretaceous-age Middendorf aquifer in South Carolina have created a large, regional cone of depression in the potentiometric surface of the Middendorf aquifer in Charleston and Berkeley Counties, South Carolina. Groundwater-level declines of as much as 249 feet have been observed in wells over the past...
Database for geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington
Andrew J. Furze, Joseph A. Bard, Joel Robinson, David W. Ramsey, Mel A. Kuntz, Peter D. Rowley, Norman S. MacLeod
2017, Data Series 1054
This publication releases digital versions of the geologic maps in U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map 1950 (USGS I-1950), “Geologic maps of pyroclastic-flow and related deposits of the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington” (Kuntz, Rowley, and MacLeod, 1990) (https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i1950). The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruptions...
Compositional variations in sands of the Bagnold Dunes, Gale Crater, Mars, from visible-shortwave infrared spectroscopy and comparison with ground truth from the Curiosity Rover
Mathieu G.A. Lapotre, B. L. Ehlmann, Sarah E. Minson, R. E. Arvidson, F. Ayoub, A. A. Fraeman, R. C. Ewing, N. T. Bridges
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (122) 2489-2509
During its ascent up Mount Sharp, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover traversed the Bagnold Dune Field. We model sand modal mineralogy and grain size at four locations near the rover traverse, using orbital shortwave infrared single scattering albedo spectra and a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo implementation of Hapke's radiative transfer...
