Status and threats analysis for the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), 2016
Michael C. Runge, Carol A. Sanders-Reed, Catherine A. Langtimm, Jeffrey A. Hostetler, Julien Martin, Charles J. Deutsch, Leslie I. Ward-Geiger, Gary L. Mahon
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5030
Trichechus manatus (West Indian manatee), especially T. m. latirostris, the Florida subspecies, has been the focus of conservation efforts and extensive research since its listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. To determine the status of, and severity of threats to, the Florida manatee, a comprehensive revision and update...
Partitioning of pyroclasts between ballistic transport and a convective plume: Kīlauea volcano, 19 March 2008
Bruce F. Houghton, Donald A. Swanson, Sebastien Biass, Sarah A. Fagents, Tim R. Orr
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (122) 3379-3391
We describe the discrete ballistic and wind-advected products of a small, but exceptionally well-characterized, explosive eruption of wall-rock-derived pyroclasts from Kīlauea volcano on 19 March 2008 and, for the first time, integrate the size distribution of the two subpopulations to reconstruct the true size distribution of a population of pyroclasts...
Polygamy slows down population divergence in shorebirds
Josephine D’Urban Jackson, Natalie dos Remedios, Kathryn Maher, Sama Zefania, Susan M. Haig, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Donald Blomqvist, Terry Burke, Michael W. Bruford, Tamas Szekely, Clemens Kupper
2017, Evolution (71) 1313-1326
Sexual selection may act as a promotor of speciation since divergent mate choice and competition for mates can rapidly lead to reproductive isolation. Alternatively, sexual selection may also retard speciation since polygamous individuals can access additional mates by increased breeding dispersal. High breeding dispersal should hence increase gene flow and...
Contrasting nest survival patterns for ducks and songbirds in northern mixed-grass prairie
Todd Grant, Terry L. Shaffer, Elizabeth M. Madden, Melvin P. Nenneman
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 641-651
Management actions intended to protect or improve habitat for ducks may benefit grassland-nesting passerines, but scant information is available to explore this assumption. During 1998–2003, we examined nest survival of ducks and songbirds to determine whether effects of prescribed fire and other habitat features (e.g., shrub cover and distance to...
Reversible reduction of estrone to 17β-estradiol by Rhizobium, Sphingopyxis, and Pseudomonas isolates from the Las Vegas Wash
Susanna M. Blunt, Mark J. Benotti, Michael R. Rosen, Brian Hedlund, Duane Moser
2017, Journal of Environmental Quality (46) 281-287
Environmental endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) are a growing concern as studies reveal their persistence and detrimental effects on wildlife. Microorganisms are known to affect the transformation of steroid EDCs; however, the diversity of estrogen-degrading microorganisms and the range of transformations they mediate remain relatively little studied. In mesocosms, low concentrations of...
Groundwater flow model for the Little Plover River basin in Wisconsin’s Central Sands
Ken Bradbury, Michael N. Fienen, Maribeth Kniffin, Jacob Krause, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Andrew T. Leaf, Paul M. Barlow
2017, Bulletin 111
The Little Plover River is a groundwater-fed stream in the sand plains region of central Wisconsin. In this region, sandy sediment deposited during or soon after the last glaciation forms an important unconfined sand and gravel aquifer. This aquifer supplies water for numerous high-capacity irrigation, municipal, and industrial wells that...
Temperature
Leslie A. Jones, Clint C. Muhlfeld, F. Richard Hauer
F. Richard Hauer, G. A. Lamberti, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Methods in stream ecology
Stream temperature has direct and indirect effects on stream ecology and is critical in determining both abiotic and biotic system responses across a hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales. Temperature variation is primarily driven by solar radiation, while landscape topography, geology, and stream reach scale ecosystem processes contribute to local...
Characterizing the early life history of an imperiled freshwater mussel (Ptychobranchus jonesi) with host-fish determination and fecundity estimation
John Mcleod, Howard L. Jelks, Sandra Pursifull, Nathan A. Johnson
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 338-350
Conservation of imperiled species is frequently challenged by insufficient knowledge of life history and environmental factors that affect various life stages. The larvae (glochidia) of most freshwater mussels in the family Unionidae are obligate ectoparasites of fishes. We described the early life history of the federally endangered Southern Kidneyshell Ptychobranchus...
Is biotic resistance enhanced by natural variation in diversity?
James B. Grace, Susan P. Harrison, Howard Cornell
2017, Oikos (126) 1484-1492
Theories linking diversity to ecosystem function have been challenged by the widespread observation of more exotic species in more diverse native communities. Few studies have addressed the underlying processes by dissecting how biotic resistance to new invaders may be shaped by the same environmental influences that determine diversity and other...
Extent and persistence of secondary water quality impacts after enhanced reductive bioremediation
Robert C. Borden, Jason M. Tillotson, Gene-Hua Crystal Ng, Barbara A. Bekins, Douglas B. Kent, Gary P. Curtis
2017, Technical Report ER-2131
Electron donor (ED) addition can be very effective in stimulating enhanced reductive bioremediation (ERB) of a wide variety of groundwater contaminants. However, ERB can result in Secondary Water Quality Impacts (SWQIs) including decreased levels of dissolved oxygen (O2), nitrate (NO3- ), and sulfate (SO42- ), and elevated levels of dissolved...
USGS Spectral Library Version 7
Raymond F. Kokaly, Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, K. Eric Livo, Todd M. Hoefen, Neil C. Pearson, Richard A. Wise, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers, Rhonda L. Driscoll, Anna J. Klein
2017, Data Series 1035
We have assembled a library of spectra measured with laboratory, field, and airborne spectrometers. The instruments used cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared (0.2 to 200 microns [μm]). Laboratory samples of specific minerals, plants, chemical compounds, and manmade materials were measured. In many cases, samples were purified,...
Hydrokinetic tidal energy resource assessments using numerical models
Kevin Haas, Zafer Defne, Xiufeng Yang, Brittany Bruder
Zhaoqing Yang, Andrea Copping, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Marine renewable energy
Hyrdokinetic tidal energy is the conversion of tidal current kinetic energy to another more useful form, frequently electricity. As with any other form of renewable energy, resource assessments are essential for the tidal energy project planning and design process. While tidal currents have significant spatial and temporal variability, the predictability...
The growth of sport shooting participation: What does this trend mean for conservation revenue?
Mark D. Duda, Tom Beppler, John F. Organ
2017, The Wildlife Professional (11) 38-41
Enacted in 1937, the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act – more commonly known as the Pittman-Robertson Act – is one of the oldest and most reliable sources of funding for wildlife conservation in the United States. The result of organized support form sportsmen, fish and wildlife agencies, firearms manufacturers,...
Effects of climate change and anthropogenic modification on a disturbance-dependent species in a large riverine system
Sara L. Zeigler, Daniel H. Catlin, M. Bomberger Brown, J.D. Fraser, Lauren R. Dinan, Kelsi L. Hunt, Joel G. Jorgensen, Sarah M. Karpanty
2017, Ecosphere (8)
Humans have altered nearly every natural disturbance regime on the planet through climate and land-use change, and in many instances, these processes may have interacting effects. For example, projected shifts in temperature and precipitation will likely influence disturbance regimes already affected by anthropogenic fire suppression or river impoundments. Understanding how...
An update of hydrologic conditions and distribution of selected constituents in water, eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and perched groundwater zones, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, emphasis 2012-15
Roy C. Bartholomay, Neil V. Maimer, Gordon W. Rattray, Jason C. Fisher
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5021
Since 1952, wastewater discharged to in ltration ponds (also called percolation ponds) and disposal wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has affected water quality in the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer and perched groundwater zones underlying the INL. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),...
Movement patterns and spatial segregation of two populations of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Huron
Thomas Binder, J. Ellen Marsden, Stephen Riley, James E. Johnson, Nicholas S. Johnson, Ji He, Mark P. Ebener, Christopher Holbrook, Roger A. Bergstedt, Charles R. Bronte, Todd A. Hayden, Charles C. Krueger
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 108-118
Movement ecology is an important component of life history and population dynamics, and consequently its understanding can inform successful fishery management decision-making. While lake trout populations in Lake Huron have shown signs of recovery from near extinction in recent years, knowledge of their movement behavior remains incomplete. We used acoustic...
Twentieth century warming of the tropical Atlantic captured by Sr-U paleothermometry
Alice E. Alpert, Anne L. Cohen, Delia W. Oppo, Thomas M. DeCarlo, Glenn A. Gaetani, Edwin A. Hernandez-Delgado, Amos Winter, Meagan Gonneea Eagle
2017, Paleoceanography (32) 146-160
Coral skeletons are valuable archives of past ocean conditions. However, interpretation of coral paleotemperature records is confounded by uncertainties associated with single-element ratio thermometers, including Sr/Ca. A new approach, Sr-U, uses U/Ca to constrain the influence of Rayleigh fractionation on Sr/Ca. Here we build on the initial Pacific Porites Sr-U...
Correction of elevation offsets in multiple co-located lidar datasets
David M. Thompson, P. Soupy Dalyander, Joseph W. Long, Nathaniel G. Plant
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1031
IntroductionTopographic elevation data collected with airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) can be used to analyze short- and long-term changes to beach and dune systems. Analysis of multiple lidar datasets at Dauphin Island, Alabama, revealed systematic, island-wide elevation differences on the order of 10s of centimeters (cm) that were not...
Observations and 3D hydrodynamics-based modeling of decadal-scale shoreline change along the Outer Banks, North Carolina
Ilgar Safak, Jeffrey H. List, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar
2017, Coastal Engineering (120) 78-92
Long-term decadal-scale shoreline change is an important parameter for quantifying the stability of coastal systems. The decadal-scale coastal change is controlled by processes that occur on short time scales (such as storms) and long-term processes (such as prevailing waves). The ability to predict decadal-scale shoreline change is not well established...
The interaction of climate change and methane hydrates
Carolyn D. Ruppel, John D. Kessler
2017, Reviews of Geophysics (55) 126-168
Gas hydrate, a frozen, naturally-occurring, and highly-concentrated form of methane, sequesters significant carbon in the global system and is stable only over a range of low-temperature and moderate-pressure conditions. Gas hydrate is widespread in the sediments of marine continental margins and permafrost areas, locations where ocean and atmospheric warming may...
Flowering phenology shifts in response to biodiversity loss
Amelia A. Wolf, Erika S Zavaleta, Paul C. Selmants
2017, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (114) 3463-3468
Observational studies and experimental evidence agree that rising global temperatures have altered plant phenology—the timing of life events, such as flowering, germination, and leaf-out. Other large-scale global environmental changes, such as nitrogen deposition and altered precipitation regimes, have also been linked to changes in flowering times. Despite our increased understanding...
Summary of hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2016
Justin M. Louen
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3020
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring sites in Kansas. Real-time data are collected at 216 streamgage sites and are verified throughout the year with regular measurements of streamflow made by USGS personnel. Annual assessments of hydrologic...
Counterintuitive roles of experience and weather on migratory performance
Adrian I. Rus, Adam E. Duerr, Tricia A. Miller, James R. Belthoff, Todd E. Katzner
2017, The Auk (134) 485-497
Migration allows animals to live in resource-rich but seasonally variable environments. Because of the costs of migration, there is selective pressure to capitalize on variation in weather to optimize migratory performance. To test the degree to which migratory performance (defined as speed of migration) of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) was...
Are coastal managers ready for climate change? A case study from estuaries along the Pacific coast of the United States
Karen M. Thorne, Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk, Chase M. Freeman, Thuy-Vy D. Bui, Katherine Powelson, Christopher Janousek, Kevin Buffington, John Y. Takekawa
2017, Ocean and Coastal Management (143) 38-50
A key challenge for coastal resource managers is to plan and implement climate change adaptation strategies inlight of uncertainties and competing management priorities. In 2014, we held six workshops across estuaries along the Pacific coast of North America with over 150 participants to evaluate resource managers' perceived level of understanding...
Terrestrial subaqueous seafloor dunes: Possible analogs for Venus
Lynn Neakrase, Martina Klose, Timothy N. Titus
2017, Aeolian Research (26) 47-56
Dunes on Venus, first discovered with Magellan Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in the early 1990s, have fueled discussions about the viability of Venusian dunes and aeolian grain transport. Confined to two locations on Venus, the existence of the interpreted dunes provides evidence that there could be transportable material being mobilized...
