Using models to manage systems subject to sustainability indicators
M. C. Hill
2006, Conference Paper, IAHS-AISH Publication
Mathematical and numerical models can provide insight into sustainability indicators using relevant simulated quantities, which are referred to here as predictions. To be useful, many concerns need to be considered. Four are discussed here: (a) mathematical and numerical accuracy of the model; (b) the accuracy of the data used in...
Modelling and understanding volcanic processes using high-quality seismological data
Bernard A. Chouet
2006, Géosciences (2006) 56-63
At an active volcano, Very-Long-Period (VLP) seismicity (with typical periods in the range 2-100 s) reflects pressure fluctuations resulting from unsteady mass transport in the sub-surface plumbing system, and hence provides a glimpse of the internal dynamics of the volcanic edifice. Understanding the fundamental fluid-flow mechanisms involved in the...
Seeing the elephant: Importance of spatial and temporal coverage in a large-scale volunteer-based program to monitor horseshoe crabs
D. R. Smith, S.F. Michels
2006, Fisheries (31) 485-491
As in John Godfrey Saxe's poem about six blind men and an elephant, conclusions drawn from a monitoring program depend critically on where and when observations are made. We examined results from the Delaware Bay horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) spawning survey to evaluate the effect of spatial and temporal coverage...
Incised valley fill interpretation for Mississippian Black Hand Sandstone, Appalachian Basin, USA: Implications for glacial eustasy at Kinderhookian-Osagean (Tn2-Tn3) boundary
D.L. Matchen, T. W. Kammer
2006, Sedimentary Geology (191) 89-113
Lower Mississippian strata of east-central Ohio are predominantly fine-grained marine deposits of the Cuyahoga and Logan formations. Within these sediments is the Black Hand Sandstone of the Cuyahoga Formation. The Black Hand Sandstone is a multistory, crossbedded, coarse-grained conglomeratic sandstone. The contact between the Black Hand Sandstone and the subjacent...
Seasonal dynamics of microbial community composition and function in oak canopy and open grassland soils
M. P. Waldrop, M.K. Firestone
2006, Microbial Ecology (52) 470-479
Soil microbial communities are closely associated with aboveground plant communities, with multiple potential drivers of this relationship. Plants can affect available soil carbon, temperature, and water content, which each have the potential to affect microbial community composition and function. These same variables change seasonally, and thus plant control on microbial...
Nest survival of clay-colored and vesper sparrows in relation to woodland edge in mixed-grass prairies
T.A. Grant, E.M. Madden, T.L. Shaffer, P.J. Pietz, G.B. Berkey, N.J. Kadrmas
2006, Journal of Wildlife Management (70) 691-701
The quantity and quality of northern mixed-grass prairie continues to decline because of conversion to agriculture, invasion of woody and exotic plants, and disruption of important ecological processes that shape grasslands. Declines in grassland bird populations in North Dakota, USA, have coincided with these largely anthropogenic alterations to prairie habitat....
Monitoring planktivorous seabird populations: Validating surface counts of crevice-nesting auklets using mark-resight techniques
L.M. Sheffield, Adrian E. Gall, D.D. Roby, D.B. Irons, K.M. Dugger
2006, Canadian Journal of Zoology (84) 846-854
Least Auklets (Aethia pusilla (Pallas, 1811)) are the most abundant species of seabird in the Bering Sea and offer a relatively efficient means of monitoring secondary productivity in the marine environment. Counting auklets on surface plots is the primary method used to track changes in numbers of these crevice-nesters, but...
Evidence for wing molt and breeding site fidelity in King Eiders
Laura M. Phillips, A.N. Powell
2006, Waterbirds (29) 148-153
Fidelity of King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) to breeding and wing molt sites was examined using satellite telemetry data obtained opportunistically when battery life of transmitters provided locations in a second year. Consecutive breeding locations were obtained for eleven female and 23 male King Eiders. All females exhibited breeding site fidelity...
Integration of P- and SH-wave high-resolution seismic reflection and micro-gravity techniques to improve interpretation of shallow subsurface structure: New Madrid seismic zone
C.E. Bexfield, J.H. McBride, Andre J. M. Pugin, D. Ravat, S. Biswas, W.J. Nelson, T.H. Larson, S.L. Sargent, M.A. Fillerup, B.E. Tingey, L. Wald, M.L. Northcott, J.V. South, M.S. Okure, M.R. Chandler
2006, Tectonophysics (420) 5-21
Shallow high-resolution seismic reflection surveys have traditionally been restricted to either compressional (P) or horizontally polarized shear (SH) waves in order to produce 2-D images of subsurface structure. The northernmost Mississippi embayment and coincident New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) provide an ideal laboratory to study the experimental use of integrating...
Local thickening of the Cascadia forearc crust and the origin of seismic reflectors in the uppermost mantle
A.J. Calvert, K. Ramachandran, H. Kao, M. A. Fisher
2006, Tectonophysics (420) 175-188
Seismic reflection profiles from three different surveys of the Cascadia forearc are interpreted using P wave velocities and relocated hypocentres, which were both derived from the first arrival travel time inversion of wide-angle seismic data and local earthquakes. The subduction decollement, which is characterized beneath the continental shelf by a...
Effects of permafrost melting on CO2 and CH4 exchange of a poorly drained black spruce lowland
K.P. Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, J. C. Neff, T. Sachs
2006, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (111)
[1] Permafrost melting is occurring in areas of the boreal forest region where large amounts of carbon (C) are stored in organic soils. We measured soil respiration, net CO2 flux, and net CH4 flux during May–September 2003 and March 2004 in a black spruce lowland in interior Alaska to...
Crustal structure of mainland China from deep seismic sounding data
S. Li, Walter D. Mooney, J. Fan
2006, Tectonophysics (420) 239-252
Since 1958, about ninety seismic refraction/wide angle reflection profiles, with a cumulative length of more than sixty thousand kilometers, have been completed in mainland China. We summarize the results in the form of (1) a new contour map of crustal thickness, (2) fourteen...
Fishes associated with North Carolina shelf-edge hardbottoms and initial assessment of a proposed marine protected area
A.M. Quattrini, Steve W. Ross
2006, Bulletin of Marine Science (79) 137-163
Fish community data are limited from deeper shelf-edge hardbottoms along the southeastern U.S. continental shelf. This lack of data Hampers the design of recently proposed marine protected areas (MPAs) on the outer shelf of the southeastern U.S. During 2001-2004, sampling was conducted (57-25 m) to describe habitats and fish communities...
A trait-based test for habitat filtering: Convex hull volume
W.K. Cornwell, D.W. Schwilk, D. D. Ackerly
2006, Ecology (87) 1465-1471
Community assembly theory suggests that two processes affect the distribution of trait values within communities: competition and habitat filtering. Within a local community, competition leads to ecological differentiation of coexisting species, while habitat filtering reduces the spread of trait values, reflecting shared ecological tolerances. Many statistical tests for the effects...
Proximate and landscape factors influence grassland bird distributions
M.A. Cunningham, Douglas H. Johnson
2006, Ecological Applications (16) 1062-1075
Ecologists increasingly recognize that birds can respond to features well beyond their normal areas of activity, but little is known about the relative importance of landscapes and proximate factors or about the scales of landscapes that influence bird distributions. We examined the influences of tree cover at both proximate and...
Use of radars to monitor stream discharge by noncontact methods
J. E. Costa, R. T. Cheng, F.P. Haeni, N. Melcher, K.R. Spicer, E. Hayes, W. Plant, K. Hayes, C. Teague, D. Barrick
2006, Water Resources Research (42)
Conventional measurements of river flows are costly, time‐consuming, and frequently dangerous. This report evaluates the use of a continuous wave microwave radar, a monostatic UHF Doppler radar, a pulsed Doppler microwave radar, and a ground‐penetrating radar to measure river flows continuously over long periods and without touching the water with...
Environmental contaminants and biomarker responses in fish from the Columbia River and its tributaries: spatial and temporal trends
J.E. Hinck, C. J. Schmitt, V. S. Blazer, N. D. Denslow, T.M. Bartish, P.J. Anderson, J.J. Coyle, G.M. Dethloff, D. E. Tillitt
2006, Science of the Total Environment (366) 549-578
Fish were collected from 16 sites on rivers in the Columbia River Basin (CRB) from September 1997 to April 1998 to document temporal and spatial trends in the concentrations of accumulative contaminants and to assess contaminant effects on the fish. Sites were located on the mainstem of the Columbia River...
Evaluating uncertainty in predicting spatially variable representative elementary scales in fractured aquifers, with application to Turkey Creek Basin, Colorado
Tristan P. Wellman, Eileen P. Poeter
2006, Water Resources Research (42)
Computational limitations and sparse field data often mandate use of continuum representation for modeling hydrologic processes in large‐scale fractured aquifers. Selecting appropriate element size is of primary importance because continuum approximation is not valid for all scales. The traditional approach is to select elements by identifying a single representative elementary...
Multiphase, multicomponent parameter estimation for liquid and vapor fluxes in deep arid systems using hydrologic data and natural environmental tracers
Edward M. Kwicklis, Andrew V. Wolfsberg, Philip H. Stauffer, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Michael J. Sully
2006, Vadose Zone Journal (5) 934-950
Multiphase, multicomponent numerical models of long-term unsaturated-zone liquid and vapor movement were created for a thick alluvial basin at the Nevada Test Site to predict present-day liquid and vapor fluxes. The numerical models are based on recently developed conceptual models of unsaturated-zone moisture movement in thick alluvium that explain present-day...
A holistic approach to taxonomic evaluation of two closely related endangered freshwater mussel species, the oyster mussel Epioblasma capsaeformis and tan riffleshell Epioblasma florentina walkeri (Bivalvia: Unionidae)
J. W. Jones, R. J. Neves, S.A. Ahlstedt, E.M. Hallerman
2006, Journal of Molluscan Studies (72) 267-283
Species in the genus Epioblasma have specialized life history requirements and represent the most endangered genus of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in the world. A genetic characterization of extant populations of the oyster mussel E. capsaeformis and tan riffleshell E. florentina walkeri sensu late was conducted to assess taxonomic validity and...
Flow-specific trends in river-water quality resulting from the effects of the clean air act in three mesoscale, forested river basins in the northeastern United States through 2002
Peter S. Murdoch, J. B. Shanley
2006, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (120) 1-25
Two new methods for assessing temporal trends in stream-solute concentrations at specific streamflow ranges were applied to long (40 to 50-year) but sparse (bi-weekly to quarterly sampling) stream-water quality data collected at three forested mesoscale basins along an atmospheric deposition gradient in the northeastern United States (one in north-central Pennsylvania,...
The importance of submarine groundwater discharge to the nearshore nutrient supply in the Gulf of Aqaba (Israel)
G.G. Shellenbarger, Stephen G. Monismith, A. Genin, A. Paytan
2006, Limnology and Oceanography (51) 1876-1886
We used two short-lived radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra) and a mass balance approach applied to the radium activities to determine the nutrient contribution of saline submarine groundwater discharge to the coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Israel). Radium isotope activities were measured along transects during two seasons at...
Seasonal migration and environmental conditions of Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis, elucidated from pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags
Timothy Loher, Andrew C. Seitz
2006, Marine Ecology Progress Series (317) 259-271
Pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags were used to study the fall migration of halibut in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). We tagged 6 Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis on summer feeding grounds in the eastern GOA and another 6 in the western GOA from June 13 to August 6, 2002. The...
Electrical resistance sensors record spring flow timing, Grand Canyon, Arizona
E.A. Adams, S. A. Monroe, Abraham E. Springer, K.W. Blasch, D. J. Bills
2006, Ground Water (44) 630-641
Springs along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, are important ecological and cultural resources in Grand Canyon National Park and are discharge points for regional and local aquifers of the Coconino Plateau. This study evaluated the applicability of electrical resistance (ER) sensors for measuring diffuse, low-stage (<1.0 cm)...
Developing a map of geologically defined site-condition categories for California
C.J. Wills, K.B. Clahan
2006, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (96) 1483-1501
Consideration of site conditions is a vital step in analyzing and predicting earthquake ground motion. The importance of amplification by soil conditions has long been recognized, but though many seismic-instrument sites have been characterized by their geologic conditions, there has been no consistent, simple classification applied to all sites. As...
