The Wetland and Aquatic Research Center strategic science plan
U.S. Geological Survey
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1193
IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Wetland and Aquatic Research Center (WARC) has two primary locations (Gainesville, Florida, and Lafayette, Louisiana) and field stations throughout the southeastern United States and Caribbean. WARC’s roots are in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Park Service research units that were brought into...
Resampling of spatially correlated data with preferential sampling for the estimation of frequency distributions and semivariograms
Ricardo A. Olea
2017, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (31) 481-491
Spatial data are commonly minimal and may have been collected in the process of confirming the profitability of a mining venture or investigating a contaminated site. In such situations, it is common to have measurements preferentially taken in the most critical areas (sweet spots, allegedly contaminated areas), thus conditionally biasing...
In situ assessment of lampricide toxicity to age-0 lake sturgeon
Lisa M. O’Connor, Thomas C. Pratt, Todd B. Steeves, Brian Stephens, Michael A. Boogaard, Cheryl Kaye
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 189-198
The lampricides 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2′, 5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide (niclosamide) are used to control sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), an invasive species in the Great Lakes. Age-0 lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), a species of conservationconcern, share similar stream habitats with larval sea lampreys and these streams can be...
Assessment of transfer patterns and origins of in-channel wood in large rivers using repeated field surveys and wood characterisation (the Isère River upstream of Pontcharra, France)
Herve Piegay, Bertrand Moulin, Cliff R. Hupp
2017, Geomorphology (279) 27-43
When and whence does wood enter large mountain alluvial rivers? How stable through time are characteristics and quantities of wood deposited in a reach? These simple questions related to the complex practice of wood budgeting are explored on the Isère...
Variability of runoff-based drought conditions in the conterminous United States
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Samuel H. Austin
2017, International Journal of Climatology (37) 1014-1021
In this study, a monthly water-balance model is used to simulate monthly runoff for 2109 hydrologic units (HUs) in the conterminous United States (CONUS) for water-years 1901 through 2014. The monthly runoff time series for each HU were smoothed with a 3-month moving average, and then the 3-month moving-average runoff...
Nationwide reconnaissance of contaminants of emerging concern in source and treated drinking waters of the United States: Pharmaceuticals
Edward T. Furlong, Angela L. Batt, Susan T. Glassmeyer, Mary C. Noriega, Dana W. Kolpin, Heath Mash, Kathleen M. Schenck
2017, Science of the Total Environment (579) 1629-1642
Mobile and persistent chemicals that are present in urban wastewater, such as pharmaceuticals, may survive on-site ormunicipal wastewater treatment and post-discharge environmental processes. These pharmaceuticals have the potential to reach surface and groundwaters, essential drinking-water sources. A joint, two-phase U.S. Geological Survey-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study examined source and treated waters from 25 drinking-water...
Using silver and bighead carp cell lines for the identification of a unique metabolite fingerprint from thiram-specific chemical exposure
Joel G. Putnam, Justine Nelson, Eric M. Leis, Richard A. Erickson, Terrance D. Hubert, Jon J. Amberg
2017, Chemosphere (168) 1477-1485
Conservation biology often requires the control of invasive species. One method is the development and use of biocides. Identifying new chemicals as part of the biocide registration approval process can require screening millions of compounds. Traditionally, screening new chemicals has been done in vivo using test organisms. Using in vitro (e.g.,...
Nonbreeding isolation and population-specific migration patterns among three populations of Golden-winged Warblers
Gunnar R. Kramer, Henry M. Streby, Sean M. Peterson, Justin A. Lehman, David A. Buehler, Petra B. Wood, Darin J. McNeil Jr., Jeffrey L. Larkin, David E. Andersen
2017, Condor (119) 108-121
Golden-winged Warblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) are Nearctic–Neotropical migrants experiencing varied regional population trends not fully explained by breeding-grounds factors such as nest success. A lack of detailed information on the nonbreeding distributions, migration routes, or timing of migration among populations hampers our ability to identify population processes outside the breeding period....
Collar temperature sensor data reveal long-term patterns in southern Beaufort Sea polar bear den distribution on pack ice and land
Jay W Olson, Karyn D. Rode, Dennis L. Eggett, T. S. Smith, R. R. Wilson, George M. Durner, Anthony S. Fischbach, Todd C. Atwood, David C. Douglas
2017, Marine Ecology Progress Series (564) 211-224
In response to a changing climate, many species alter habitat use. Polar bears Ursus maritimus in the southern Beaufort Sea have increasingly used land for maternal denning. To aid in detecting denning behavior, we developed an objective method to identify polar bear denning events using temperature sensor data collected by satellite-linked transmitters...
Quaternary displacement rates on the Meeman‐Shelby fault and Joiner ridge horst, eastern Arkansas: Results from coring Mississippi River alluvium
Alex Ward, Ronald C. Counts, Roy Van Arsdale, Daniel Larsen, Shannon A. Mahan
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 442-455
This research used coring and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of displaced, deeply buried Quaternary alluvium to determine vertical displacement rates for the Meeman‐Shelby fault and the Joiner ridge horst, two structures in northeastern Arkansas that have no modern seismicity associated with them. We drilled continuous cores of the entire...
Paleoseismic potential of sublacustrine landslide records in a high-seismicity setting (south-central Alaska)
Nore Praet, Jasper Moernaut, Maarten Van Daele, Evelien Boes, Peter J. Haeussler, Michael Strupler, Sabine Schmidt, Michael G. Loso, Marc De Batist
2017, Marine Geology (384) 103-119
Sublacustrine landslide stratigraphy is considered useful for quantitative paleoseismology in low-seismicity settings. However, as the recharging of underwater slopes with sediments is one of the factors that governs the recurrence of slope failures, it is not clear if landslide deposits can provide continuous paleoseismic records in settings of frequent strong shaking. To...
A discrete stage-structured model of California newt population dynamics during a period of drought
Marjorie T. Jones, William R. Milligan, Lee B. Kats, Thomas L. Vandergon, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Robert N. Fisher, Courtney L. Davis, Timothy A. Lucas
2017, Journal of Theoretical Biology (414) 245-253
We introduce a mathematical model for studying the population dynamics under drought of the California newt (Taricha torosa), a species of special concern in the state of California. Since 2012, California has experienced a record-setting drought, and multiple studies predict drought conditions currently underway will persist and even increase in...
The role of initial coherence and path materials in the dynamics of three rock avalanche case histories
Jordan Aaron, Scott McDougall, Jeffrey R. Moore, Jeffrey A. Coe, Oldrich Hungr
2017, Geoenvironmental Disasters (4)
BackgroundRock avalanches are flow-like landslides that can travel at extremely rapid velocities and impact surprisingly large areas. The mechanisms that lead to the unexpected mobility of these flows are unknown and debated. Mechanisms proposed in the literature can be broadly classified into those that rely...
Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins
Kathleen Dudzinski, Christine Ribic
2017, Animal Behavior and Cognition (4) 30-48
Bottlenose dolphins are large-brained social mammals residing in a fission-fusion society with relationships that are established and maintained over decades. We examined a decade-long data set of inter-individual pectoral fin contact exchanges to better understand how dolphins share information via tactile contact. Sex and age are significant factors in pectoral...
Simulation of earthquake ground motions in the eastern United States using deterministic physics‐based and site‐based stochastic approaches
Sanaz Rezaeian, Stephen H. Hartzell, Xiaodan Sun, Carlos Mendoza
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 149-168
Earthquake ground‐motion recordings are scarce in the central and eastern United States (CEUS) for large‐magnitude events and at close distances. We use two different simulation approaches, a deterministic physics‐based method and a site‐based stochastic method, to simulate ground motions over a wide range of magnitudes. Drawing...
Relations between some horizontal‐component ground‐motion intensity measures used in practice
David Boore, Tadahiro Kishida
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 334-343
Various measures using the two horizontal components of recorded ground motions have been used in a number of studies that derive ground‐motion prediction equations and construct maps of shaking intensity. We update relations between a number of these measures, including those in Boore et al. (2006) and Boore (2010), using the large...
Suppression of invasive lake trout in an isolated backcountry lake in Glacier National Park
C. R. Fredenberg, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Christopher S. Guy, Vincent S. D'Angelo, Christopher C. Downs, John M. Syslo
2017, Fisheries Management and Ecology (24) 33-48
Fisheries managers have implemented suppression programmes to control non-native lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum), in several lakes throughout the western United States. This study determined the feasibility of experimentally suppressing lake trout using gillnets in an isolated backcountry lake in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, for the conservation of threatened...
Managing American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) population qrowth by targeting nesting season vital rates
Shilo K. Felton, Nathan J. Hostetter, Kenneth H. Pollock, Theodore R. Simons
2017, Waterbirds (40) 44-54
In populations of long-lived species, adult survival typically has a relatively high influence on population growth. From a management perspective, however, adult survival can be difficult to increase in some instances, so other component rates must be considered to reverse population declines. In North Carolina, USA, management to conserve the...
The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) Working Group: 15 years of collaborative focal species research and management
Theodore R. Simons
2017, Waterbirds (40) 1-9
The American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) Working Group formed spontaneously in 2001 as coastal waterbird biologists recognized the potential for American Oystercatchers to serve as focal species for collaborative research and management. Accomplishments over the past 15 years include the establishment of rangewide surveys, color-banding protocols, mark-resight studies, a revision of...
Hard choices in assessing survival past dams — a comparison of single- and paired-release strategies
Joseph D. Zydlewski, Daniel S. Stich, Douglas B. Sigourney
2017, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (74) 178-190
Mark–recapture models are widely used to estimate survival of salmon smolts migrating past dams. Paired releases have been used to improve estimate accuracy by removing components of mortality not attributable to the dam. This method is accompanied by reduced precision because (i) sample size is reduced relative to a single,...
Prior knowledge-based approach for associating contaminants with biological effects: A case study in the St. Croix River basin, MN, WI, USA
Anthony L. Schroeder, Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Gerald T. Ankley, Kathy Lee, Natalia Garcia-Reyero, Edward J. Perkins, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Daniel L. Villeneuve
2017, Environmental Pollution (221) 427-436
Evaluating potential adverse effects of complex chemical mixtures in the environment is challenging. One way to address that challenge is through more integrated analysis of chemical monitoring and biological effects data. In the present study, water samples from five locations near two municipal wastewater treatment plants in the St. Croix...
Expanding the role of reactive transport models in critical zone processes
Li Li, Kate Maher, Alexis Navarre-Sitchler, Jennifer Druhan, Christof Meile, Corey Lawrence, Joel Moore, Julia Perdrial, Pamela Sullivan, Aaron Thompson, Lixin Jin, Edward W. Bolton, Susan L. Brantley, William E. Dietrich, K. Ulrich Mayer, Carl Steefel, Albert J. Valocchi, John M. Zachara, Benjamin D. Kocar, Jennifer McIntosh, Benjamin M. Tutolo, Mukesh Kumar, Eric Sonnenthal, Chen Bao, Joe Beisman
2017, Earth-Science Reviews (165) 280-301
Models test our understanding of processes and can reach beyond the spatial and temporal scales of measurements. Multi-component Reactive Transport Models (RTMs), initially developed more than three decades ago, have been used extensively to explore the interactions of geothermal, hydrologic, geochemical, and geobiological processes in subsurface systems. Driven by extensive...
Inhibition of an aquatic rhabdovirus demonstrates promise of a broad-spectrum antiviral for use in aquaculture
Bethany F. Balmer, Rachel L. Powers, Ting-Hu Zhang, Jihye Lee, Frederic Vigant, Benhur Lee, Michael E. Jung, Maureen K. Purcell, Kevin Snekvik, Hector C. Aguilar
2017, Journal of Virology (91)
Many enveloped viruses cause devastating disease in aquaculture, resulting in significant economic impact. LJ001 is a broad-spectrum antiviral compound that inhibits enveloped virus infections by specifically targeting phospholipids in the lipid bilayer via the production of singlet oxygen (1O2). This stabilizes positive curvature and decreases membrane fluidity, which inhibits virus-cell...
Evaluating simplistic methods to understand current distributions and forecast distribution changes under climate change scenarios: An example with coypu (Myocastor coypus)
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Trevor R. Sheffels, Jacoby Carter, Mark D. Systma, Colin Talbert
2017, NeoBiota (32) 107-125
Invasive species provide a unique opportunity to evaluate factors controlling biogeographic distributions; we can consider introduction success as an experiment testing suitability of environmental conditions. Predicting potential distributions of spreading species is not easy, and forecasting potential distributions with changing climate is even more difficult. Using the globally invasive coypu...
Changes in aquatic vegetation and floodplain land cover in the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers (1989–2000–2010)
Nathan R. De Jager, Jason J. Rohweder
2017, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (189) 1-14
Quantifying changes in the cover of river-floodplain systems can provide important insights into the processes that structure these landscapes as well as the potential consequences to the ecosystem services they provide. We examined net changes in 13 different aquatic and floodplain land cover classes using photo interpreted maps of the...