Test of a non-physical barrier consisting of light, sound, and bubble screen to block upstream movement of sea lamprey in an experimental raceway
Scott M. Miehls, Nicholas S. Johnson, Pete J. Hrodey
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 660-666
Control of the invasive Sea Lamprey Petromyzon marinus is critical for management of commercial and recreational fisheries in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Use of physical barriers to block Sea Lampreys from spawning habitat is a major component of the control program. However, the resulting interruption of natural streamflow and blockage of nontarget...
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code
Robert M. Easton, Lucy E. Edwards, Randall C. Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
2017, Stratigraphy (13) 220-222
At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions...
Baseline coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Breton Island, Louisiana, June 9, 2011
Karen L. M. Morgan
2017, Data Series 1044
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On June 9, 2011, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial...
Post-Hurricane Katrina coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Panama City, Florida, to Lakeshore, Mississippi, and the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, August 31, 2005
Karen L. M. Morgan, Nancy T. DeWitt
2017, Data Series 1033
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On August 31, 2005, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial...
Nearshore sediment thickness, Fire Island, New York
Stanley D. Locker, Jennifer L. Miselis, Noreen A. Buster, Cheryl J. Hapke, Heidi M. Wadman, Jesse E. McNinch, Arnell S. Forde, Chelsea A. Stalk
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1024
Investigations of coastal change at Fire Island, New York (N.Y.), sought to characterize sediment budgets and determine geologic framework controls on coastal processes. Nearshore sediment thickness is critical for assessing coastal system sediment availability, but it is largely unquantified due to the difficulty of conducting geological or geophysical surveys across...
Global nonfuel mineral exploration trends 2001-2015
Nick Karl, David R. Wilburn
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 30-30
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) is to collect, analyze and disseminate information on the domestic and international supply of and demand for minerals and mineral materials essential to the U.S. economy and national security. Understanding mineral exploration activities and trends assists government...
Implementation of the first adaptive management plan for a European migratory waterbird population: The case of the Svalbard pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
Jesper Madsen, James Henty Williams, Fred A. Johnson, Ingunn M. Tombre, Sergey Dereliev, Eckhart Kuijken
2017, Ambio (46) 275-289
An International Species Management Plan for the Svalbard population of the pink-footed goose was adopted under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds in 2012, the first case of adaptive management of a migratory waterbird population in Europe. An international working group (including statutory agencies, NGO representatives and...
Geographic and temporal patterns of variation in total mercury concentrations in blood of harlequin ducks and blue mussels from Alaska
Lucas Savoy, Paul L. Flint, Denny Zwiefelhofer, Heather Brant, Christopher R. Perkins, Robert J. Taylor, Oksana P. Lane, Jefferson S. Hall, David C. Evers, Jason Schamber
2017, Marine Pollution Bulletin (117) 178-183
We compared total mercury (Hg) concentrations in whole blood of harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) sampled within and among two geographically distinct locations and across three years in southwest Alaska. Blue mussels were collected to assess correlation between Hg concentrations in locally available forage and birds. Mercury concentrations in harlequin duck...
Terrestrial–aquatic linkages in spring-fed and snowmelt-dominated streams
Adam J. Sepulveda
2017, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (32) 288-299
The importance of trophic linkages between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is predicted to vary as a function of subsidy quantity and quality relative to in situ resources. To test this prediction, I used multi-year diet data from Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki Utah in spring-fed and snowmelt-driven streams in the...
Erosion of refugia in the Sierra Nevada meadows network with climate change
Sean P. Maher, Toni Lyn Morelli, Michelle Hershey, Alan L. Flint, Lorraine E. Flint, Craig Moritz, Steven R. Beissinger
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-17
Climate refugia management has been proposed as a climate adaptation strategy in the face of global change. Key to this strategy is identification of these areas as well as an understanding of how they are connected on the landscape. Focusing on meadows of the Sierra Nevada in California, we examined...
An integrated population model for bird monitoring in North America
Farshid S. Ahrestani, James F. Saracco, John R. Sauer, Keith L. Pardieck, J. Andrew Royle
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 916-924
Integrated population models (IPMs) provide a unified framework for simultaneously analyzing data sets of different types to estimate vital rates, population size, and dynamics; assess contributions of demographic parameters to population changes; and assess population viability. Strengths of an IPM include the ability to estimate latent parameters and improve the...
Trends in snowmelt-related streamflow timing in the conterminous United States
Robert W. Dudley, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Michael McHale, Michael J. Kolian, Benjamin Renard
2017, Journal of Hydrology (547) 208-221
Changes in snowmelt-related streamflow timing have implications for water availability and use as well as ecologically relevant shifts in streamflow. Historical trends in snowmelt-related streamflow timing (winter-spring center volume date, WSCVD) were computed for minimally disturbed river basins in the conterminous United States. WSCVD was computed by summing daily streamflow...
Geometry, mass balance and thinning at Eklutna Glacier, Alaska: an altitude-mass-balance feedback with implications for water resources
Louis C. Sass, Michael G. Loso, Jason Geck, Evan Thoms, Daniel Mcgrath
2017, Journal of Glaciology (63) 343-354
We analyzed glacier surface elevations (1957, 2010 and 2015) and surface mass-balance measurements (2008–2015) on the 30 km2 Eklutna Glacier, in the Chugach Mountains of southcentral Alaska. The geodetic mass balances from 1957 to 2010 and 2010 to 2015 are −0.52 ± 0.46 and −0.74 ± 0.10 m w.e. a<span...
Global nonfuel mineral exploration trends 2001-2015
Nick A Karl, David R. Wilburn
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 30-37
This review summarizes significant exploration trends related to active sites and budgets, mineral commodities and regional factors for the years 2001-2015. Data were compiled by specialists in the USGS-NMIC, and reported annually in the USGS-NMIC Minerals Yearbook series and in the May issue of Mining Engineering magazine. External data for...
Automated cropland mapping of continental Africa using Google Earth Engine cloud computing
Jun Xiong, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Murali Krishna Gumma, Pardhasaradhi G. Teluguntla, Justin Poehnelt, Russell G. Congalton, Kamini Yadav, David Thau
2017, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (126) 225-244
The automation of agricultural mapping using satellite-derived remotely sensed data remains a challenge in Africa because of the heterogeneous and fragmental landscape, complex crop cycles, and limited access to local knowledge. Currently, consistent, continent-wide routine cropland mapping of Africa does not exist, with most studies focused either on certain portions...
Book review: Bovids of the World: Antelopes, gazelles, cattle, goats, sheep, and relatives
David Leslie
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 554-554
No abstract available.Book info: Bovids of the World: Antelopes, Gazelles, Cattle, Goats, Sheep, and Relatives. José R. Castelló. 2016. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 664 pp. ISBN 978-0-691-16717-6....
Coupling ecological and social network models to assess “transmission” and “contagion” of an aquatic invasive species
Danielle M. Haak, Brian D. Fath, Valery E. Forbes, Dustin R. Martin, Kevin L. Pope
2017, Journal of Environmental Management (190) 243-251
Network analysis is used to address diverse ecological, social, economic, and epidemiological questions, but few efforts have been made to combine these field-specific analyses into interdisciplinary approaches that effectively address how complex systems are interdependent and connected to one another. Identifying and understanding these cross-boundary connections improves natural resource management...
Coping with historic drought in California rangelands: Developing a more effective institutional response
Joel R. Brown, Pelayo Alvarez, Kristin B. Byrd, Helena Deswood, Emile Elias, Sheri Spiegal
2017, Rangelands (39) 73-78
Drought response is widely varied depending on both the characteristics of the drought and the ability of individual ranchers to respond.Assistance from institutions during drought has not typically considered preemptive, during, and post-drought response as a strategic approach, which recognizes biophysical, sociological, and economic complexities of drought.A USDA Southwest Climate...
The role of uplift and erosion in the persistence of saline groundwater in the shallow subsurface
Richard M. Yager, Kurt J. McCoy, Clifford I. Voss, Ward E. Sanford, Richard B. Winston
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 3672-3681
In many regions of the world, the shallow (<300 m) subsurface is replenished with meteoric recharge within a few centuries or millennia, but in some regions saline groundwater persists despite abundant rainfall. Analyses of the flushing rate of shallow groundwater usually consider the permeability and recharge rate and a static landscape....
Community stability within the St. Marys River fish community: Evidence from trawl surveys
Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Anjanette K. Bowen, David G. Fielder
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 399-404
A trawl survey was conducted in the Saint Marys River during 2010–2011 and we compared our results to a prior trawl survey conducted during 1979–1983 to look for long-term changes in the fish community, especially in terms of changes induced by invasive species. We found no substantive temporal differences in...
Spatiotemporal ecology of Apalone spinifera in a large, Great Plains river ecosystem
Brian J. Tornabene, Robert G. Bramblett, Alexander V. Zale, Stephen A. Leathe
2017, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (12) 252-271
Sparse information exists about the ecology of Spiny Softshell Turtles (Apalone spinifera) in large rivers, at the northwestern extent of their natural range, and in Montana, where they are disjunct from downstream populations and a State Species of Concern. We determined spatiotemporal ecology of 47 female and 12 male turtles...
Tree mortality across biomes is promoted by drought intensity, lower wood density and higher specific leaf area
Sarah Greenwood, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Francisco Lloret, Thomas Kitzberger, Craig D. Allen, Rod Fensham, Daniel C. Laughlin, Jens Kattge, Gerhard Bonisch, Nathan J. B. Kraft, Alistair S. Jump
2017, Ecology Letters (20) 539-553
Drought events are increasing globally, and reports of consequent forest mortality are widespread. However, due to a lack of a quantitative global synthesis, it is still not clear whether drought-induced mortality rates differ among global biomes and whether functional traits influence the risk of drought-induced mortality. To address these uncertainties,...
The future demographic niche of a declining grassland bird fails to shift poleward in response to climate change
Lisa A. McCauley, Christine Ribic, Lars Y. Pomara, Benjamin Zuckerberg
2017, Landscape Ecology (32) 807-821
ContextTemperate grasslands and their dependent species are exposed to high variability in weather and climate due to the lack of natural buffers such as forests. Grassland birds are particularly vulnerable to this variability, yet have failed to shift poleward in response to recent climate change...
A 130,000-year-old archaeological site in southern California, USA
Steven R. Holen, Thomas A. Deméré, Daniel C. Fisher, Richard Fullagar, James B. Paces, George T. Jefferson, Jared M. Beeton, Richard A. Cerutti, Adam N. Rountrey, Lawrence Vescera, Kathleen A. Holen
2017, Nature (544) 479-483
The earliest dispersal of humans into North America is a contentious subject, and proposed early sites are required to meet the following criteria for acceptance: (1) archaeological evidence is found in a clearly defined and undisturbed geologic context; (2) age is determined by reliable radiometric dating; (3) multiple lines of...
A comparison of age, size, and fecundity of harvested and reference White Sucker populations
Meg Begley, Stephen M. Coghlan Jr., Joseph D. Zydlewski
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 510-523
White Suckers Catostomus commersonii are an important source of fresh bait for the Maine lobster fishery. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began issuing commercial harvest permits in 1991, without reporting requirements or limits on the number of permits. There is recent concern that overfishing may be occurring. To infer...