Biological and ecological science for Florida—The Sunshine State
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3066
Florida is rich in sunshine and other natural resources essential to the State's economy. More than 100 million tourists visit Florida's beaches, wetlands, forests, oceans, lakes, and streams where they generate billions of dollars and sustain more than a million jobs. Florida also provides habitat for several thousand freshwater and...
Prediction of forest canopy and surface fuels from Lidar and satellite time series data in a bark beetle-affected forest
Benjamin C. Bright, Andrew T. Hudak, Arjan J.H. Meddens, Todd Hawbaker, Jenny S. Briggs, Robert E. Kennedy
2017, Forests (9) 1-22
Wildfire behavior depends on the type, quantity, and condition of fuels, and the effect that bark beetle outbreaks have on fuels is a topic of current research and debate. Remote sensing can provide estimates of fuels across landscapes, although few studies have estimated surface fuels from remote sensing data. Here...
Logistic quantile regression provides improved estimates for bounded avian counts: A case study of California Spotted Owl fledgling production
Brian S. Cade, Barry R. Noon, Rick D. Scherer, John J. Keane
2017, The Auk (134) 783-801
Counts of avian fledglings, nestlings, or clutch size that are bounded below by zero and above by some small integer form a discrete random variable distribution that is not approximated well by conventional parametric count distributions such as the Poisson or negative binomial. We developed a logistic quantile regression model...
Simultaneous estimation of diet composition and calibration coefficients with fatty acid signature data
Jeffrey F. Bromaghin, Suzanne M. Budge, Gregory W. Thiemann, Karyn D. Rode
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 6103-6113
Knowledge of animal diets provides essential insights into their life history and ecology, although diet estimation is challenging and remains an active area of research. Quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) has become a popular method of estimating diet composition, especially for marine species. A primary assumption of QFASA is...
Trophic structure of mesopelagic fishes in the Gulf of Mexico revealed by gut content and stable isotope analyses
Jennifer P. McClain-Counts, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Steve W. Ross
2017, Marine Ecology (38)
Mesopelagic fishes represent an important component of the marine food web due to their global distributions, high abundances and ability to transport organic material throughout a large part of the water column. This study combined stable isotope (SIAs) and gut content analyses (GCAs) to characterize the trophic structure of mesopelagic...
Monitoring the southwestern Wyoming landscape—A foundation for management and science
Daniel J. Manier, Patrick J. Anderson, Timothy J. Assal, Geneva W. Chong, Cynthia P. Melcher
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3030
Natural resource monitoring involves repeated collections of resource condition data and analyses to detect possible changes and identify underlying causes of changes. For natural resource agencies, monitoring provides the foundation for management and science. Specifically, analyses of monitoring data allow managers to better understand effects of land-use and other changes...
Water resources of Parowan Valley, Iron County, Utah
Thomas M. Marston
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5033
Parowan Valley, in Iron County, Utah, covers about 160 square miles west of the Red Cliffs and includes the towns of Parowan, Paragonah, and Summit. The valley is a structural depression formed by northwest-trending faults and is, essentially, a closed surface-water basin although a small part of the valley at...
Salish Kootenai College and U.S. Geological Survey partnership—Enhancing student opportunities and professional development
Roy Sando, Monique Fordham
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3065
Salish Kootenai College (SKC), in the Flathead Reservation in the northwestern corner of Montana, is the largest of the seven Tribal colleges in the State. In 2011, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Tribal Liaison Monique Fordham from the Office of Tribal Relations/Office of Science Quality and Integrity began discussions with...
Effects of environmental covariates and density on the catchability of fish populations and interpretation of catch per unit effort trends
Josh Korman, Michael D. Yard
2017, Fisheries Research (189) 18-34
Article for outlet: Fisheries Research. Abstract: Quantifying temporal and spatial trends in abundance or relative abundance is required to evaluate effects of harvest and changes in habitat for exploited and endangered fish populations. In many cases, the proportion of the population or stock that is captured (catchability or capture probability)...
Integrating active restoration with environmental flows to improve native riparian tree establishment in the Colorado River Delta
Karen Schlatter, Matthew R. Grabau, Patrick B. Shafroth, Francisco Zamora-Arroyo
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 661-674
Drastic alterations to river hydrology, land use change, and the spread of the nonnative shrub, tamarisk (Tamarix spp.), have led to the degradation of riparian habitat in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Delivery of environmental flows to promote native cottonwood (Populus spp.) and willow (Salix spp.) recruitment in human-impacted...
Simulated effects of YY-male stocking and manual suppression for eradicating nonnative Brook Trout populations
Daniel J. Schill, Kevin A. Meyer, Michael J. Hansen
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 1054-1066
Eradication of nonnative Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis populations is difficult to achieve with standard techniques, such as electrofishing removal or piscicides; new approaches are needed. A novel concept is to stock “supermale” hatchery fish with wild conspecifics. Supermales (MYY) have two Y-chromosomes, resulting in offspring that are all males; over time, successful...
Integrated geophysical characteristics of the 2015 Illapel, Chile, earthquake
Matthew W. Herman, Jennifer Nealy, William L. Yeck, William D. Barnhart, Gavin P. Hayes, Kevin P. Furlong, Harley M. Benz
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (122) 4691-4711
On 16 September 2015, a Mw 8.3 earthquake ruptured the subduction zone offshore of Illapel, Chile, generating an aftershock sequence with 14 Mw 6.0–7.0 events. A double source W phase moment tensor inversion consists of a Mw 7.2 subevent and the main Mw 8.2 phase. We determine two slip models...
Habitat use by juvenile salmonids in Lake Ontario tributaries-species, age, diel and seasonal effects
James H. Johnson, James E. McKenna Jr.
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 963-969
Understanding the habitat needs of fish and how these requirements may change seasonally over a 24-h period is important, especially for highly managed sport species. Consequently, we examined the diel and seasonal habitat use of four juvenile salmonid species in streams in the Lake Ontario watershed. For juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo...
A large-scale environmental flow experiment for riparian restoration in the Colorado River delta
Patrick B. Shafroth, Karen Schlatter, Martha Gomez-Sapiens, Erick Lundgren, Matthew R. Grabau, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, J. Eliana Rodriguez-Burgeueno, Karl W. Flessa
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 645-660
Managing streamflow is a widely-advocated approach to provide conditions necessary for seed germination and seedling establishment of trees in the willow family (Salicaceae). Experimental flow releases to the Colorado River delta in 2014 had a primary objective of promoting seedling establishment of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Goodding's willow (Salix...
Predicting redox-sensitive contaminant concentrations in groundwater using random forest classification
Anthony J. Tesoriero, Jo Ann M. Gronberg, Paul F. Juckem, Matthew P. Miller, Brian P. Austin
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 7316-7331
Machine learning techniques were applied to a large (n > 10,000) compliance monitoring database to predict the occurrence of several redox-active constituents in groundwater across a large watershed. Specifically, random forest classification was used to determine the probabilities of detecting elevated concentrations of nitrate, iron, and arsenic in the Fox, Wolf, Peshtigo,...
Predictive framework for estimating exposure of birds to pharmaceuticals
Thomas G. Bean, Kathryn E. Arnold, Julie M. Lane, Ed Bergstrom, Jane Thomas-Oates, Barnett A. Rattner, Allistair B.A. Boxall
2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (36) 2335-2344
We present and evaluate a framework for estimating concentrations of pharmaceuticals over time in wildlife feeding at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The framework is composed of a series of predictive steps involving the estimation of pharmaceutical concentration in wastewater, accumulation into wildlife food items, and uptake by wildlife with subsequent...
Modern landscape processes affecting archaeological sites along the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
Amy E. East, Joel B. Sankey, Helen C. Fairley, Joshua J. Caster, Alan Kasprak
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5082
The landscape of the Colorado River through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area formed over many thousands of years and was modified substantially after the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1963. Changes to river flow, sediment supply, channel base level, lateral extent of sedimentary terraces, and vegetation in the post-dam...
A process to estimate net infiltration using a site-scale water-budget approach, Rainier Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, 2002–05
David W. Smith, Michael T. Moreo, C. Amanda Garcia, Keith J. Halford, Joseph M. Fenelon
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5078
This report documents a process used to estimate net infiltration from precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), and soil data acquired at two sites on Rainier Mesa. Rainier Mesa is a groundwater recharge area within the Nevada National Security Site where recharged water flows through bedrock fractures to a deep (450 meters)...
Polar bears and sea ice habitat change
George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood
Andy Butterworth, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Marine mammal welfare
The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is an obligate apex predator of Arctic sea ice and as such can be affected by climate warming-induced changes in the extent and composition of pack ice and its impacts on their seal prey. Sea ice declines have negatively impacted some polar bear...
Biotic and abiotic factors influencing zooplankton vertical distribution in Lake Huron
Carly J. Nowicki, David B. Bunnell, Patricia M. Dieter, David M. Warner, Henry A. Vanderploeg, Joann F. Cavaletto, Christine M. Mayer, Jean V. Adams
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 1044-1054
The vertical distribution of zooplankton can have substantial influence on trophic structure in freshwater systems, particularly by determining spatial overlap for predator/prey dynamics and influencing energy transfer. The zooplankton community in some of the Laurentian Great Lakes has undergone changes in composition and declines in total biomass, especially after 2003....
Groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration, flow of water in unsaturated soil, and stable isotope water sourcing in areas of sparse vegetation, Amargosa Desert, Nye County, Nevada
Michael T. Moreo, Brian J. Andraski, C. Amanda Garcia
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5079
This report documents methodology and results of a study to evaluate groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration (GWET) in sparsely vegetated areas of Amargosa Desert and improve understanding of hydrologic-continuum processes controlling groundwater discharge. Evapotranspiration and GWET rates were computed and characterized at three sites over 2 years using a combination...
Aftershocks driven by afterslip and fluid pressure sweeping through a fault-fracture mesh
Zachary E. Ross, Christopher Rollins, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Egill Hauksson, Jean-Philippe Avouac, Yehuda Ben-Zion
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 8260-8267
A variety of physical mechanisms are thought to be responsible for the triggering and spatiotemporal evolution of aftershocks. Here we analyze a vigorous aftershock sequence and postseismic geodetic strain that occurred in the Yuha Desert following the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. About 155,000 detected aftershocks occurred in a network of...
Low-flow frequency and flow-duration characteristics of selected streams in Alabama through March 2014
Toby D. Feaster, Kathyrn G. Lee
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5083
Low-flow statistics are needed by water-resource engineers, planners, and managers to protect and manage the water resources of Alabama. The accuracy of these statistics is influenced by such factors as length of record and specific hydrologic conditions measured in those records. As such, it is generally recommended that flow statistics...
Enhancing wind erosion monitoring and assessment for U.S. rangelands
Nicholas P. Webb, Justin W. Van Zee, Jason W. Karl, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Ericha M. Courtright, Benjamin J. Billings, Robert C. Boyd, Adrian Chappell, Michael C. Duniway, Justin D. Derner, Jenny L. Hand, Emily Kachergis, Sarah E. McCord, Beth A. Newingham, Frederick B. Pierson, Jean L. Steiner, John Tatarko, Negussie H. Tedela, David Toledo, R. Scott Van Pelt
2017, Rangelands (39) 85-96
On the GroundWind erosion is a major resource concern for rangeland managers because it can impact soil health, ecosystem structure and function, hydrologic processes, agricultural production, and air quality.Despite its significance, little is known about which landscapes are eroding, by how much, and when.The National Wind Erosion Research Network was...
Spectrally monitoring the response of the biocrust moss Syntrichia caninervis to altered precipitation regimes
Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. Reed
2017, Scientific Reports (7)
Climate change is expected to impact drylands worldwide by increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. These effects have known feedbacks to the functional roles of dryland biological soil crust communities (biocrusts), which are expected to undergo significant climate-induced changes in community structure and function. Nevertheless, our ability to monitor the...
