Estimating factors influencing the detection probability of semiaquatic freshwater snails using quadrat survey methods
Elizabeth L. Roesler, Timothy B. Grabowski
2018, Hydrobiologia (808) 153-161
Developing effective monitoring methods for elusive, rare, or patchily distributed species requires extra considerations, such as imperfect detection. Although detection is frequently modeled, the opportunity to assess it empirically is rare, particularly for imperiled species. We used Pecos assiminea (Assiminea pecos), an endangered semiaquatic snail, as a case...
Morphological indicators of a mascon beneath Ceres' largest crater, Kerwan
Michael T. Bland, Anton Ermakov, Carol A. Raymond, David A. Williams, Tim J. Bowling, F. Preusker, Ryan S. Park, Simone Marchi, Julie C. Castillo-Rogez, R.R. Fu, Christopher T. Russell
2018, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 1297-1304
Gravity data of Ceres returned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dawn spacecraft is consistent with a lower density crust of variable thickness overlying a higher density mantle. Crustal thickness variations can affect the long‐term, postimpact modification of impact craters on Ceres. Here we show...
Planetary dune workshop expands to include subaqueous processes
Timothy N. Titus, Gerald Bryant, David M. Rubin
2018, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (99)
Dune-like structures appear in the depths of Earth’s oceans, across its landscapes, and in the extremities of the solar system beyond. Dunes rise up under the thick dense atmosphere of Venus, and they have been found under the almost unimaginably ephemeral atmosphere of a comet....
Sirenian life history
Robert K. Bonde
2018, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of marine mammals
Sirenians, including the manatees and dugongs, are large herbivorous mammals that have evolved to an aquatic form since the Eocene epoch. Sirenians have unique adaptations, including dense bone for ballast and a longitudinal hemidiaphragm separating paired lungs (which aid in maintaining a horizontal posture in the water column), species-specific rostral...
An open source high-performance solution to extract surface water drainage networks from diverse terrain conditions
Larry V. Stanislawski, Kornelijus Survila, Jeffrey Wendel, Yan Liu, Barbara P. Buttenfield
2018, Cartography and Geographic Information Science (45) 319-328
This paper describes a workflow for automating the extraction of elevation-derived stream lines using open source tools with parallel computing support and testing the effectiveness of procedures in various terrain conditions within the conterminous United States. Drainage networks are extracted from the US Geological Survey 1/3 arc-second 3D Elevation Program...
The migratory bird treaty and a century of waterfowl conservation
Michael G. Anderson, Ray T. Alisauskas, Bruce D. J. Batt, Robert J. Blohm, Kenneth F. Higgins, Matthew Perry, James K. Ringelman, James S. Sedinger, Jerome R. Serie, David E. Sharp, David L. Trauger, Christopher K. Williams
2018, Journal of Wildlife Management (82) 247-259
In the final decades of the nineteenth century, concern was building about the status of migratory bird populations in North America. In this literature review, we describe how that concern led to a landmark conservation agreement in 1916, between the United States and Great Britain (on behalf of Canada) to...
The suitability of using dissolved gases to determine groundwater discharge to high gradient streams
Tom Gleeson, Andrew H. Manning, Andrea Popp, Mathew Zane, Jordan F. Clark
2018, Journal of Hydrology (557) 561-572
Determining groundwater discharge to streams using dissolved gases is known to be useful over a wide range of streamflow rates but the suitability of dissolved gas methods to determine discharge rates in high gradient mountain streams has not been sufficiently tested, even though headwater streams are critical as ecological habitats...
Biomarker responses of Peromyscus leucopus exposed to lead and cadmium in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District
W. Nelson Beyer, Stan W. Casteel, Kristen R. Friedrichs, Eric Gramlich, Ruth A. Houseright, John W. Nichols, Natalie Karouna-Renier, Dae Young Kim, Kathleen Rangen, Barnett A. Rattner, Sandra L. Schultz
2018, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (190) 1-16
Biomarker responses and histopathological lesions have been documented in laboratory mammals exposed to elevated concentrations of lead and cadmium. The exposure of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) to these metals and the potential associated toxic effects were examined at three contaminated sites in the Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District...
Spatial patterns in occupancy and reproduction of Golden Eagles during drought: Prospects for conservation in changing environments
David Wiens, Patrick Kolar, W. Grainger Hunt, Teresa Hunt, Mark R. Fuller, Douglas A. Bell
2018, The Condor (120) 106-124
We used a broad-scale sampling design to investigate spatial patterns in occupancy and breeding success of territorial pairs of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Diablo Range, California, USA, during a period of exceptional drought (2014–2016). We surveyed 138 randomly selected sample sites over 4 occasions each year and identified...
Associations of stream geomorphic conditions and prevalence of alternative reproductive tactics among sockeye salmon populations
L. B. DeFilippo, D.E. Schindler, J.L. Carter, Timothy E. Walsworth, T. J. Cline, Wesley Larson, T. Buehrens
2018, Journal of Evolutionary Biology (31) 239-253
In many species, males may exhibit alternative life histories to circumvent the costs of intrasexual competition and female courtship. While the evolution and underlying genetic and physiological mechanisms behind alternative reproductive tactics are well studied, there has been less consideration of the ecological factors that regulate their prevalence. Here, we...
Response to Lisovski et al.
Henry M. Streby, Gunnar R. Kramer, Sean M. Peterson, Justin A. Lehman, David A. Buehler, David E. Andersen
2018, Current Biology (28) R101-R102
Lisovski et al. [1] describe the widely recognized limitations of light-level geolocator data for identifying short-distance latitudinal movements, recommend that caution be used when interpreting such data, intimated that we did not use such caution and argued that environmental shading likely explained the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) movements described in our 2015...
Deciphering the link between doubly uniparental inheritance of mtDNA and sex determination in bivalves: Clues from comparative transcriptomics
Charlotte Capt, Sébastien Renaut, Fabrizio Ghiselli, Liliana Milani, Nathan A. Johnson, Bernard E. Sietman, Donald Stewart, Sophie Breton
2018, Genome Biology and Evolution (10) 577-590
Bivalves exhibit an astonishing diversity of sexual systems and sex-determining mechanisms. They can be gonochoric, hermaphroditic or androgenetic, with both genetic and environmental factors known to determine or influence sex. One unique sex-determining system involving the mitochondrial genome has also been hypothesized to exist in bivalves with doubly uniparental inheritance...
Assessing the influence of multiple stressors on stream diatom metrics in the upper Midwest, USA
Mark D. Munn, Ian R. Waite, Christopher P. Konrad
2018, Ecological Indicators (85) 1239-1248
Water resource managers face increasing challenges in identifying what physical and chemical stressors are responsible for the alteration of biological conditions in streams. The objective of this study was to assess the comparative influence of multiple stressors on benthic diatoms at 98 sites that spanned a range of stressors in...
Mineral commodity summaries 2018
Joyce A. Ober
2018, Report
This report is the earliest Government publication to furnish estimates covering 2017 nonfuel mineral industry data. Data sheets contain information on the domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, and 5-year salient statistics for more than 90 individual minerals and materials....
Flood-inundation maps for the Withlacoochee River From Skipper Bridge Road to St. Augustine Road, within the City of Valdosta, Georgia, and Lowndes County, Georgia
Jonathan W. Musser
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5011
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 12.6-mile reach of the Withlacoochee River from Skipper Bridge Road to St. Augustine Road (Georgia State Route 133) were developed to depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgage at...
Water stress from high-volume hydraulic fracturing potentially threatens aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in Arkansas, United States
Sally Entrekin, Anne Trainor, James Saiers, Lauren Patterson, Kelly O. Maloney, Joseph Fargione, Joseph M. Kiesecker, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Katherine E. Konschnik, Hannah Wiseman, Jean-Philippe Nicot, Joseph N. Ryan
2018, Environmental Science & Technology (52) 2349-2358
Demand for high-volume, short duration water withdrawals could create water stress to aquatic organisms in Fayetteville Shale streams sourced for hydraulic fracturing fluids. We estimated potential water stress using permitted water withdrawal volumes and actual water withdrawals compared to monthly median, low, and high streamflows. Risk for biological stress was...
Evaluation of the Radar Stage Sensor manufactured by Forest Technology Systems—Results of laboratory and field testing
Gerald A. Kunkle
2018, Open-File Report 2017-1085
Two identical Radar Stage Sensors from Forest Technology Systems were evaluated to determine if they are suitable for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic data collection. The sensors were evaluated in laboratory conditions to evaluate the distance accuracy of the sensor over the manufacturer’s specified operating temperatures and distance to water...
Development and release of phenological data products—A case study in compliance with federal open data policy
Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Madison L. Langseth, Theresa Crimmins, Jake F. Weltzin
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1007
In Autumn 2015, USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) staff implemented new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data-management policies intended to ensure that the results of Federally funded research are made available to the public. The effort aimed both to improve USA-NPN data releases and to provide a model for similar programs...
Earthquake potential in California-Nevada implied by correlation of strain rate and seismicity
Yuehua Zeng, Mark D. Petersen, Zheng-Kang Shen
2018, Geophysical Research Letters (45) 1778-1785
Rock mechanics studies and dynamic earthquake simulations show that patterns of seismicity evolve with time through (1) accumulation phase, (2) localization phase, and (3) rupture phase. We observe a similar pattern of changes in seismicity during the past century across California and Nevada. To quantify these changes, we correlate GPS...
Maps showing predicted probabilities for selected dissolved oxygen and dissolved manganese threshold events in depth zones used by the domestic and public drinking water supply wells, Central Valley, California
Celia Z. Rosecrans, Bernard T. Nolan, JoAnn M. Gronberg
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3397
The purpose of the prediction grids for selected redox constituents—dissolved oxygen and dissolved manganese—are intended to provide an understanding of groundwater-quality conditions at the domestic and public-supply drinking water depths. The chemical quality of groundwater and the fate of many contaminants is influenced by redox processes in all aquifers, and...
Missouri StreamStats—A water-resources web application
Jarrett T. Ellis
2018, Fact Sheet 2018-3003
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains and operates more than 8,200 continuous streamgages nationwide. Types of data that may be collected, computed, and stored for streamgages include streamgage height (water-surface elevation), streamflow, and water quality. The streamflow data allow scientists and engineers to calculate streamflow statistics, such as the 1-percent annual exceedance...
Sea surface temperature estimates for the mid-Piacenzian Indian Ocean—Ocean Drilling Program sites 709, 716, 722, 754, 757, 758, and 763
Marci M. Robinson, Harry J. Dowsett, Danielle K. Stoll
2018, Open-File Report 2017-1158
Despite the wealth of global paleoclimate data available for the warm period in the middle of the Piacenzian Stage of the Pliocene Epoch (about 3.3 to 3.0 million years ago [Ma]; Dowsett and others, 2013, and references therein), the Indian Ocean has remained a region of sparse geographic coverage in...
Effects of feral horse herds on plant communities across a precipitation gradient
Lauren E. Baur, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Melinda D. Smith
2018, Western North American Naturalist (77) 526-539
Feral horses are widespread in the western United States, with the majority of feral horse herds found in the Great Basin. There is a federal mandate to manage these herds in order to maintain “ecological balance”; however, understanding of the specific effects of feral horse grazing on rangeland plant communities...
Chirp subbottom profile data collected in 2015 from the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
Arnell S. Forde, Nancy T. DeWitt, Jake J. Fredericks, Jennifer L. Miselis
2018, Data Series 1077
As part of the Barrier Island Evolution Research project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a nearshore geophysical survey around the northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, in September 2015. The objective of the project is to improve the understanding of barrier island...
Holocene surface ruptures on the Salinas Fault and southeastern Great Southern Puerto Rico Fault Zone, South Coastal Plain of Puerto Rico
Lucille Piety, Joanna R. Redwine, Sarah Derouin, Carol S. Prentice, Keith I. Kelson, Ralph E. Klinger, Shannon A. Mahan
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 619-638
We analyzed light detection and ranging (lidar) data and aerial photography to locate active faults near the south coast of Puerto Rico and excavated paleoseismic trenches across the Salinas fault and the Great Southern Puerto Rico fault zone (GSPRFZ). We document evidence for two Holocene surface‐rupturing earthquakes along both faults....
