Decreased runoff response to precipitation, Little Missouri River Basin, northern Great Plains, USA
Eleanor R. Griffin, Jonathan M. Friedman
2017, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (53) 576-592
High variability in precipitation and streamflow in the semiarid northern Great Plains causes large uncertainty in water availability. This uncertainty is compounded by potential effects of future climate change. We examined historical variability in annual and growing season precipitation, temperature, and streamflow within the Little Missouri River Basin and identified...
Channel mapping river miles 29–62 of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, May 2009
Matt Kaplinski, Joseph E. Hazel Jr., Paul E. Grams, Keith Kohl, Daniel D. Buscombe, Robert B. Tusso
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1030
Bathymetric, topographic, and grain-size data were collected in May 2009 along a 33-mi reach of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. The study reach is located from river miles 29 to 62 at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers. Channel bathymetry was mapped...
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) telemetry and associated habitat data collected in a geodatabase from the upper Boise River, southwestern Idaho
Dorene E. MacCoy, Zachary M. Shephard, Joseph R. Benjamin, Dmitri T. Vidergar, Anthony F. Prisciandaro
2017, Data Series 1042
Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, are among the more thermally sensitive of coldwater species in North America. The Boise River upstream of Arrowrock Dam in southwestern Idaho (including Arrowrock Reservoir) provides habitat for one of the southernmost populations of bull trout. The...
Estimating current and future streamflow characteristics at ungaged sites, central and eastern Montana, with application to evaluating effects of climate change on fish populations
Roy Sando, Katherine J. Chase
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5002
A common statistical procedure for estimating streamflow statistics at ungaged locations is to develop a relational model between streamflow and drainage basin characteristics at gaged locations using least squares regression analysis; however, least squares regression methods are parametric and make constraining assumptions about the data distribution. The random forest regression...
Effects of experimentally reduced snowpack and passive warming on montane meadow plant phenology and floral resources
J.A. Sherwood, D.M. Debinski, P.C. Caragea, Matthew J. Germino
2017, Ecosphere (8)
Climate change can have a broad range of effects on ecosystems and organisms, and early responses may include shifts in vegetation phenology and productivity that may not coincide with the energetics and forage timing of higher trophic levels. We evaluated phenology, annual height growth, and foliar frost responses of forbs...
Estimated dissolved-solids loads and trends at selected streams in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah, Water Years 1989–2013
Susan A. Thiros
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5004
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum, studied trends in dissolved-solids loads at selected sites in and near the Uinta Basin, Utah. The Uinta Basin study area includes the Duchesne River Basin and the Middle Green River Basin in Utah from below...
The Upper Mississippi River System—Topobathy
Jayme M. Stone, Jenny L. Hanson, Stephanie R. Sattler
2017, Fact Sheet 2016-3097
The Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), the navigable part of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, is a diverse ecosystem that contains river channels, tributaries, shallow-water wetlands, backwater lakes, and flood-plain forests. Approximately 10,000 years of geologic and hydrographic history exist within the UMRS. Because it maintains crucial wildlife and...
Methods used to characterize the chemical composition and biological activity of environmental waters throughout the United States, 2012-14
Kristin M. Romanok, Timothy J. Reilly, Larry B. Barber, J. Scott Boone, Herbert T. Buxton, William T. Foreman, Edward T. Furlong, Michelle Hladik, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Celeste A. Journey, Dana W. Kolpin, Kathryn Kuivila, Keith A. Loftin, Marc A. Mills, Michael T. Meyer, James L. Orlando, Kelly L. Smalling, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Paul M. Bradley
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1011
A vast array of chemical compounds are in wide commercial use in the United States, and the potential ecological and human-health effect of exposure to chemical mixtures has been identified as a high priority in environment health science. Awareness of the potential effects of low-level chemical exposures is rising. The...
Accelerating slip rates on the puente hills blind thrust fault system beneath metropolitan Los Angeles, California, USA
Kristian J. Bergen, John H. Shaw, Lorraine A. Leon, James F. Dolan, Thomas L. Pratt, Daniel J. Ponti, Eric Morrow, Wendy Barrera, Edward J. Rhodes, Madhav K. Murari, Lewis A. Owen
2017, Geology (45) 227-230
Slip rates represent the average displacement across a fault over time and are essential to estimating earthquake recurrence for proba-bilistic seismic hazard assessments. We demonstrate that the slip rate on the western segment of the Puente Hills blind thrust fault system, which is beneath downtown Los Angeles, California (USA), has...
Biological soil crust and disturbance controls on surface hydrology in a semi-arid ecosystem
Akasha M. Faist, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Jayne Belnap, Justin W. Van Zee, Nichole N. Barger
2017, Ecological Applications (8) 1-13
Biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) play an important role in surface hydrologic processes in dryland ecosystems, and these processes may then be dramatically altered with soil surface disturbance. In this study, we examined biocrust hydrologic responses to disturbance at different developmental stages on sandy soils on the Colorado Plateau. Our...
Age of the youngest volcanism at Eagle Lake, northeastern California—40Ar/39Ar and paleomagnetic results
Michael A. Clynne, Andrew T. Calvert, Duane E. Champion, L.J.P. Muffler, Michael G. Sawlan, Drew T. Downs
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1027
The age of the youngest volcanism at Eagle Lake, California, was investigated using stratigraphic, paleomagnetic, and 40Ar/39Ar techniques. The three youngest volcanic lava flows at Eagle Lake yielded ages of 130.0±5.1, 127.5±3.2 and 123.6±18.7 ka, and are statistically indistinguishable. Paleomagnetic results demonstrate that two of the lava flows are very...
Asynchrony in craniomandibular development and growth in Enhydra lutris nereis (Carnivora: Mustelidae): Are southern sea otters born to bite?
Chris J Law, Vikram B. Baliga, M. Tim Tinker, Rita S. Mehta
2017, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (121) 420-438
Weaning represents a major ontogenetic dietary shift in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis), as juveniles must transition from depending on mother’s milk to independently processing hard-shelled invertebrates. When the skulls of juveniles have reached sufficient maturity to transition to a durophagous diet remains to be investigated. Here, we conducted...
The role of salinity tolerance and competition in the distribution of an endangered desert salt marsh endemic
Lesley A. DeFalco, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Emily R. Beamguard
2017, Plant Ecology (218) 475-486
Rare plants are often associated with distinctive soil types, and understanding why endemic species occur in unique environments is fundamental for their management. At Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in southern Nevada, USA, we evaluated whether the limited distribution of endangered Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis) is explained by this species’...
Expert elicitation, uncertainty, and the value of information in controlling invasive species
Fred A. Johnson, Brian J. Smith, Mathieu Bonneau, Julien Martin, Christina Romagosa, Frank J. Mazzotti, J. Hardin Waddle, Robert Reed, Jennifer Kettevrlin Eckles, Laurie J. Vitt
2017, Ecological Economics (137) 83-90
We illustrate the utility of expert elicitation, explicit recognition of uncertainty, and the value of information for directing management and research efforts for invasive species, using tegu lizards (Salvator merianae) in southern Florida as a case study. We posited a post-birth pulse, matrix model in which four age classes of...
Distribution, nesting activities, and age-class of territorial pairs of golden eagles at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, California, 2014–16
Patrick S. Kolar, J. David Wiens
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1035
The substantial numbers of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) killed by collisions with oldgeneration wind turbines each year at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in California has been well documented from previous studies. Few eagle nests have been documented in the APWRA, however, and adults and subadults 3+ years...
Geologic map of the Providence Mountains in parts of the Fountain Peak and adjacent 7.5' quadrangles, San Bernardino County, California
Paul Stone, David M. Miller, Calvin H. Stevens, Jose J. Rosario, Jorge A. Vazquez, Elmira Wan, Susan S. Priest, Zenon C. Valin
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3376
IntroductionThe Providence Mountains are in the eastern Mojave Desert about 60 km southeast of Baker, San Bernardino County, California. This range, which is noted for its prominent cliffs of Paleozoic limestone, is part of a northeast-trending belt of mountainous terrain more than 100 km long that also includes the Granite...
Relationships between salinity and short-term soil carbon accumulation rates form marsh types across a landscape in the Mississippi River Delta
Melissa M. Baustian, Camille L. Stagg, Carey L. Perry, Leland C Moss, Tim J. B. Carruthers, Mead Allison
2017, Wetlands (37) 313-324
Salinity alterations will likely change the plant and environmental characteristics in coastal marshes thereby influencing soil carbon accumulation rates. Coastal Louisiana marshes have been historically classified as fresh, intermediate, brackish, or saline based on resident plant community and position along a salinity gradient. Short-term total carbon accumulation rates were assessed...
Changes in community-level riparian plant traits over inundation gradients, Colorado River, Grand Canyon
Miles McCoy-Sulentic, Thomas Kolb, David Merritt, Emily C. Palmquist, Barbara E. Ralston, Daniel Sarr, Patrick B. Shafroth
2017, Wetlands (37) 635-646
Comparisons of community-level functional traits across environmental gradients have potential for identifying links among plant characteristics, adaptations to stress and disturbance, and community assembly. We investigated community-level variation in specific leaf area (SLA), plant mature height, seed mass, stem specific gravity (SSG), relative cover of C4 species, and total plant...
A model to inform management actions as a response to chytridiomycosis-associated decline
Sarah J. Converse, Larissa L. Bailey, Brittany A. Mosher, W. Chris Funk, Brian D. Gerber, Erin L. Muths
2017, EcoHealth (14) 144-155
Decision-analytic models provide forecasts of how systems of interest will respond to management. These models can be parameterized using empirical data, but sometimes require information elicited from experts. When evaluating the effects of disease in species translocation programs, expert judgment is likely to play a role because complete empirical information...
Harmonization of forest disturbance datasets of the conterminous USA from 1986 to 2011
Christopher E. Soulard, William Acevedo, Warren B. Cohen, Zhiqiang Yang, Stephen V. Stehman, Janis L. Taylor
2017, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (189)
Several spatial forest disturbance datasets exist for the conterminous USA. The major problem with forest disturbance mapping is that variability between map products leads to uncertainty regarding the actual rate of disturbance. In this article, harmonized maps were produced from multiple data sources (i.e., Global Forest Change, LANDFIRE Vegetation Disturbance,...
Acoustic telemetry and fisheries management
Glenn T. Crossin, Michelle R. Heupel, Christopher Holbrook, Nigel E. Hussey, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Vivian M. Nguyen, Graham D. Raby, Steven J. Cooke
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 1031-1049
This paper reviews the use of acoustic telemetry as a tool for addressing issues in fisheries management, and serves as the lead to the special Feature Issue of Ecological Applications titled “Acoustic Telemetry and Fisheries Management”. Specifically, we provide an overview of the ways in which acoustic telemetry can be...
Spatial and temporal consumption dynamics of trout in catch-and-release areas in Arkansas tailwaters
John M. Flinders, Daniel D. Magoulick
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 432-449
Restrictive angling regulations in tailwater trout fisheries may be unsuccessful if food availability limits energy for fish to grow. We examined spatial and temporal variation in energy intake and growth in populations of Brown Trout Salmo trutta and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss within three catch-and-release (C-R) areas in Arkansas tailwaters to evaluate food availability...
Early postcaldera rhyolite and structural resurgence at Long Valley Caldera, California
Wes Hildreth, Judith E. Fierstein, Andrew T. Calvert
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (335) 1-34
After the 767-ka caldera-forming eruption of 650 km3 of rhyolite magma as the Bishop Tuff, 90–100 km3 of similar rhyolite erupted in the west-central part of Long Valley caldera in as many as 40 batches spread over the 110,000-year interval from ~ 750 ka to ~ 640 ka. Centrally, this Early Rhyolite (ER) is as thick as 622 m, but it spread...
Eruptive history of the Ubehebe Crater Cluster, Death Valley, California
Judith E. Fierstein, Wes Hildreth
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (335) 128-146
A sequence of late Holocene eruptions from the Ubehebe Crater cluster in Death Valley was short-lived, emplacing several phreatomagmatic and magmatic deposits. Seven craters form the main group, which erupted along a north-south alignment 1.5 km long. At least five more make a 500-m east-west alignment west of the main crater group. One...
Common Raven (Corvus corax) kleptoparasitism at a Golden Eagle (Aquila chyrsaetos) nest in southern Nevada
Matthew Simes, Diego R. Johnson, Justin Streit, Kathleen M. Longshore, Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque
2017, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (129) 195-198
The Common Raven (Corvus corax) is a ubiquitous species in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada and California. From 5 to 24 May 2014, using remote trail cameras, we observed ravens repeatedly kleptoparasitizing food resources from the nest of a pair of Golden Eagles (Aquila chyrsaetos) in the Spring Mountains...
