Tracking riverborne sediment and contaminants in Commencement Bay, Washington, using geochemical signatures
Renee K. Takesue, Kathleen E. Conn, Richard S. Dinicola
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1124
Large rivers carry terrestrial sediment, contaminants, and other materials to the coastal zone where they can affect marine biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems. This U.S. Geological Survey study combined river and marine sediment geochemistry and organic contaminant analyses to identify riverborne sediment and associated contaminants at shoreline sites in Commencement Bay,...
Alligator mississippiensis (American Alligator): Novel non-native prey
Ruth M. Elsey, Eric Ledet, Jacoby Carter
2017, Herpetological Review (48) 627-628
American Alligators are opportunistic predators and their food habits have been well studied (Elsey et al. 1992. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish Wildl. Agencies 46:57–66, and references therein and below). Composition of A. mississippiensis diet often varies due to regional limitation in prey availability (Neill 1971. The Last of the...
Importance of scale, land cover, and weather on the abundance of bird species in a managed forest
Alexis R. Grinde, Gerald J. Hiemi, Brian R. Sturtevant, Hannah Panci, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Peter Wolter
2017, Forest Ecology and Management (405) 295-308
Climate change and habitat loss are projected to be the two greatest drivers of biodiversity loss over the coming century. While public lands have the potential to increase regional resilience of bird populations to these threats, long-term data are necessary to document species responses to changes in climate and habitat...
Genetic composition and connectivity of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) in Panama
Edgardo Diaz-Ferguson, Margaret Hunter, Hector M. Guzman
2017, Aquatic Mammals (43) 378-386
Genetic diversity and haplotype composition of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) population from the San San Pond Sak wetland in Bocas del Toro, Panama was studied using a segment of mitochondrial DNA (D’loop). No genetic information has been published to date for Panamanian populations. Due to the secretive behavior...
California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) census results, Spring 2017
M. Tim Tinker, Brian B. Hatfield
2017, Data Series 1067
The 2017 census of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) was conducted between late April and early July along the mainland coast of central California and in April at San Nicolas Island in southern California. The 3-year average of combined counts from the mainland range and San Nicolas Island...
Skagit River coho salmon life history model—Users’ guide
Andrea Woodward, Grant Kirby, Scott Morris
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1125
Natural resource management is conducted in the context of multiple anthropogenic stressors and is further challenged owing to changing climate. Experiments to determine the effects of climate change on complex ecological systems are nearly impossible. However, using a simulation model to synthesize current understanding of key ecological processes through...
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) on the Middle San Luis Rey River, San Diego, southern California—2016 data summary
Lisa D. Allen, Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara E. Kus
2017, Data Series 1065
Executive SummaryWe surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (LBVI) (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (SWFL) (Empidonax traillii extimus) along the San Luis Rey River, between College Boulevard in Oceanside and Interstate 15 in Fallbrook, California (middle San Luis Rey River), in 2016. Surveys were done from March 30...
Flood-inundation maps for the Meramec River at Valley Park and at Fenton, Missouri, 2017
Benjamin J. Dietsch, Jacob N. Sappington
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5116
Two sets of digital flood-inundation map libraries that spanned a combined 16.7-mile reach of the Meramec River that extends upstream from Valley Park, Missouri, to downstream from Fenton, Mo., were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District, Missouri...
Hydrogeology and simulated groundwater flow and availability in the North Fork Red River aquifer, southwest Oklahoma, 1980–2013
S. Jerrod Smith, John H. Ellis, Derrick L. Wagner, Steven M. Peterson
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5098
On September 8, 1981, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board established regulatory limits on the maximum annual yield of groundwater (343,042 acre-feet per year) and equal-proportionate-share (EPS) pumping rate (1.0 acre-foot per acre per year) for the North Fork Red River aquifer. The maximum annual yield and EPS were based on...
An evaluation of the efficacy of using environmental DNA (eDNA) to detect giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas)
Brian J. Halstead, Dustin A. Wood, Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Amy G. Vandergast, Julia S. Ersan, Shannon M. Skalos, Michael L. Casazza
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1123
Detecting populations of rare or cryptic species is essential for their conservation. For species like giant gartersnakes (Thamnophis gigas), conventional survey methods can be expensive and inefficient. These sampling difficulties might be overcome by modern techniques that detect deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) shed by organisms into the environment (eDNA). We evaluated...
Phytoforensics—Using trees to find contamination
Jordan L. Wilson
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3076
The water we drink, air we breathe, and soil we come into contact with have the potential to adversely affect our health because of contaminants in the environment. Environmental samples can characterize the extent of potential contamination, but traditional methods for collecting water, air, and soil samples below the ground...
2015 Volcanic activity in Alaska—Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
James P. Dixon, Cheryl E. Cameron, Alexandra M. Iezzi, Kristi L. Wallace
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5104
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, and seismic events at 14 volcanic centers in Alaska during 2015. The most notable volcanic activity consisted of continuing intermittent ash eruptions from Cleveland and Shishaldin volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands. Two eruptive episodes, at Veniaminof and...
Contaminants of emerging concern in tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes: I. Patterns of occurrence
Sarah M. Elliott, Mark E. Brigham, Kathy Lee, Jo A. Banda, Steven J. Choy, Daniel J. Gefell, Thomas A. Minarik, Jeremy N. Moore, Zachary G. Jorgenson
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-21
Human activities introduce a variety of chemicals to the Laurentian Great Lakes including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, plasticizers, and solvents (collectively referred to as contaminants of emerging concern or CECs) potentially threatening the vitality of these valuable ecosystems. We conducted a basin-wide study to identify the presence of CECs and...
Response: The geographic distribution of Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) revisited: The importance of assumptions about error balance
Micah Hahn, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Andrew J. Monaghan, Rebecca J. Eisen
2017, Journal of Medical Entomology (54) 1104-1106
No abstract available....
Long-term trends of surface-water mercury and methylmercury concentrations downstream of historic mining within the Carson River watershed
Eric D. Morway, Carl E. Thodal, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale
2017, Environmental Pollution (229) 1006-1018
The Carson River is a vital water resource for local municipalities and migratory birds travelling the Pacific Flyway. Historic mining practices that used mercury (Hg) to extract gold from Comstock Lode ore has left much of the river system heavily contaminated with Hg, a practice that continues in many parts...
Burrow dusting or oral vaccination prevents plague-associated prairie dog colony collapse
Daniel W. Tripp, Tonie E. Rocke, Jonathan P. Runge, Rachel C. Abbott, Michael W. Miller
2017, EcoHealth (14) 451-462
Plague impacts prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), the endangered black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) and other sensitive wildlife species. We compared efficacy of prophylactic treatments (burrow dusting with deltamethrin or oral vaccination with recombinant “sylvatic plague vaccine” [RCN-F1/V307]) to placebo treatment in black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus)...
Riparian plant composition along hydrologic gradients in a dryland river basin and implications for a warming climate
Lindsay Reynolds, Patrick B. Shafroth
2017, Ecohydrology (10) 1-13
Droughts in dryland regions on all continents are expected to increase in severity and duration under future climate projections. In dryland regions, it is likely that minimum streamflow will decrease with some perennial streams shifting to intermittent flow under climate-driven changes in precipitation and runoff and increases in temperature. Decreasing...
Minimizing effects of methodological decisions on interpretation and prediction in species distribution studies: An example with background selection
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Cameron L. Aldridge, Cynthia Brown, Sunil Kumar, Daniel J. Manier, Colin Talbert, Tracy R. Holcombe
2017, Ecological Modelling (363) 48-56
Evaluating the conditions where a species can persist is an important question in ecology both to understand tolerances of organisms and to predict distributions across landscapes. Presence data combined with background or pseudo-absence locations are commonly used with species distribution modeling to develop these relationships. However, there is not a...
Assessing U.S. coal resources and reserves
Brian N. Shaffer
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3067
The U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project, as part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Energy Resources Program, conducts systematic, geology-based, regional assessments of significant coal beds in major coal basins in the United States. These assessments detail the quantity, quality, location, and economic potential of the Nation’s remaining...
Geologic assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the Lower Paleogene Midway and Wilcox Groups, and the Carrizo Sand of the Claiborne Group, of the Northern Gulf coast region
Peter D. Warwick
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1111
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently conducted an assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas potential of Tertiary strata underlying the onshore areas and State waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal region. The assessment was based on a number of geologic elements including an evaluation of...
Contaminants of emerging concern in tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes: II. Biological consequences of exposure
Linnea M. Thomas, Zachary G. Jorgenson, Mark E. Brigham, Steven J. Choy, Jeremy N. Moore, Jo A. Banda, D.J. Gefell, Thomas A. Minarik, Heiko L. Schoenfuss
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
The Laurentian Great Lakes contain one fifth of the world’s surface freshwater and have been impacted by human activity since the Industrial Revolution. In addition to legacy contaminants, nitrification and invasive species, this aquatic ecosystem is also the recipient of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) with poorly understood biological consequences....
Refining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends
David S. Pilliod, Justin L. Welty, Robert Arkle
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 8126-8151
Larger, more frequent wildfires in arid and semi-arid ecosystems have been associated with invasion by non-native annual grasses, yet a complete understanding of fine fuel development and subsequent wildfire trends is lacking. We investigated the complex relationships among weather, fine fuels, and fire in the Great Basin, USA. We first...
A review of surface energy balance models for estimating actual evapotranspiration with remote sensing at high spatiotemporal resolution over large extents
Ryan R. McShane, Katelyn P. Driscoll, Roy Sando
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5087
Many approaches have been developed for measuring or estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa), and research over many years has led to the development of remote sensing methods that are reliably reproducible and effective in estimating ETa. Several remote sensing methods can be used to estimate ETa at the high spatial resolution...
Groundwater quality in the Yuba River and Bear River Watersheds, Sierra Nevada, California
Miranda S. Fram, Monica Jasper, Kimberly A. Taylor
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1115
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GAMA Program’s Priority Basin Project assesses the quality of groundwater resources used for drinking water supply and increases public access to...
USGS microbiome research
Christina A. Kellogg, M. Camille Hopkins
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3074
Microbiomes are the communities of microorganisms (for example, bacteria, viruses, and fungi) that live on, in, and around people, plants, animals, soil, water, and the atmosphere. Microbiomes are active in the functioning of diverse ecosystems, for instance, by influencing water quality, nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance in plants, and stability...
