Turbid releases from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, following rainfall-runoff events of September 2013
Richard A. Wildman Jr., William Vernieu
2017, Lake and Reservoir Management (33) 211-216
Glen Canyon Dam is a large dam on the Colorado River in Arizona. In September 2013, it released turbid water following intense thunderstorms in the surrounding area. Turbidity was >15 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) for multiple days and >30 NTU at its peak. These unprecedented turbid releases impaired downstream fishing...
Response of currents and water quality to changes in dam operations in Hoover Reservoir, Columbus, Ohio, August 24–28, 2015
Branden L. VonIns, P. Ryan Jackson
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5027
Hoover Reservoir, an important drinking water supply for the City of Columbus, Ohio, has been the source of a series of taste and odor problems in treated drinking water during the past few years. These taste and odor problems were caused by the compounds geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol, which are thought...
Conversing with Pelehonuamea: A workshop combining 1,000+ years of traditional Hawaiian knowledge with 200 years of scientific thought on Kīlauea volcanism
James P. Kauahikaua, Janet L. Babb, editor(s)
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1043
The events surrounding volcanic eruptions and damaging earthquakes in Hawai‘i have often been described in journals, letters, and newspapers articles in the English language; however, the Hawaiian nation was among the most literate of countries in the 19th century, and many Hawaiian-language newspapers were in circulation through all but...
Frogs on the beach: Ecology of California Red-legged Frogs (Rana draytonii) in coastal dune drainages
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman
2017, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (12) 127-140
California Red-legged Frogs (Rana draytonii) are typically regarded as inhabitants of permanent ponds, marshes, and slow-moving streams, but their ecology in other habitats, such as drainages among coastal dunes, remains obscure. Because coastal dune ecosystems have been degraded by development, off-highway vehicle use, stabilization, and invasive species, these unique ecosystems...
An evaluation of silver-stage American Eel conspecific chemical cueing during outmigration
Andrew K. Schmucker, Nicholas S. Johnson, Heather S. Galbraith, Weiming Li
2017, Environmental Biology of Fishes (100) 851-864
American Eel Anguilla rostrata abundance has declined in recent decades, in part because sexually maturing, silver-stage adults, outmigrating from freshwater to oceanic spawning grounds, encounter migratory blockades or perish when passing through active hydroelectric turbines. To help improve downstream passage effectiveness and increase survival rates, the role of...
Mechanisms of nitrogen deposition effects on temperate forest lichens and trees
Therese S. Carter, Christopher L. Clark, Mark E. Fenn, Sarah E. Jovan, Steven Perakis, Jennifer Riddell, Paul G. Schaberg, Tara Greaver, Meredith Hastings
2017, Ecosphere (8)
We review the mechanisms of deleterious nitrogen (N) deposition impacts on temperate forests, with a particular focus on trees and lichens. Elevated anthropogenic N deposition to forests has varied effects on individual organisms depending on characteristics both of the N inputs (form, timing, amount) and of the organisms (ecology, physiology)...
Carbon dioxide as an under-ice lethal control for invasive fishes
Aaron R. Cupp, Zebadiah Woiak, Richard A. Erickson, Jon Amberg, Mark P. Gaikowski
2017, Biological Invasions (19) 2543-2552
Resource managers need effective tools to control invasive fish populations. In this study, we tested under-ice carbon dioxide (CO2) injection as a novel piscicide method for non-native Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), Bighead Carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), Common Carp (<i...
Variation in species-level plant functional traits over wetland indicator status categories
Miles E. McCoy-Sulentic, Thomas E. Kolb, David M. Merritt, Emily C. Palmquist, Barbara E. Ralston, Daniel A. Sarr
2017, Ecology and Evolution (7) 3732-3744
Wetland indicator status (WIS) describes the habitat affinity of plant species and is used in wetland delineations and resource inventories. Understanding how species-level functional traits vary across WIS categories may improve designations, elucidate mechanisms of adaptation, and explain habitat optima and niche. We investigated differences in species-level traits of riparian...
Climate change as a long-term stressor for the fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America
Paris D. Collingsworth, David B. Bunnell, Michael W. Murray, Yu-Chun Kao, Zachary S. Feiner, Randall M. Claramunt, Brent M. Lofgren, Tomas O. Hook, Stuart A. Ludsin
2017, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (27) 363-391
The Laurentian Great Lakes of North America provide valuable ecosystem services, including fisheries, to the surrounding population. Given the prevalence of other anthropogenic stressors that have historically affected the fisheries of the Great Lakes (e.g., eutrophication, invasive species, overfishing), climate change is often viewed as a long-term stressor and, subsequently,...
Estimating inbreeding rates in natural populations: Addressing the problem of incomplete pedigrees
Mark P. Miller, Susan M. Haig, Jonathan D. Ballou, E. Ashley Steel
2017, Journal of Heredity
Understanding and estimating inbreeding is essential for managing threatened and endangered wildlife populations. However, determination of inbreeding rates in natural populations is confounded by incomplete parentage information. We present an approach for quantifying inbreeding rates for populations with incomplete parentage information. The approach exploits knowledge of pedigree configurations that lead...
Bacteria versus selenium: A view from the inside out
Lucian Staicu, Ronald S. Oremland, Ryuta Tobe, Hisaaki Mihara
2017, Book chapter, Selenium in plants
Bacteria and selenium (Se) are closely interlinked as the element serves both essential nutrient requirements and energy generation functions. However, Se can also behave as a powerful toxicant for bacterial homeostasis. Conversely, bacteria play a tremendous role in the cycling of Se between different environmental compartments, and bacterial metabolism has...
A population on the rise: The origin of deepwater sculpin in Lake Ontario
Amy B. Welsh, Kim T. Scribner, Wendylee Stott, Maureen Walsh
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 863-870
Deepwater sculpin, Myoxocephalus thompsonii, were thought to have been extirpated from Lake Ontario. However, in recent years, abundance has increased and recruitment has been documented. There are two hypotheses concerning the origin of the current Lake Ontario deepwater sculpin population. First, individuals from the upper Great Lakes may have recolonized...
Bayesian methods to estimate urban growth potential
Jordan W. Smith, Lindsey S. Smart, Monica Dorning, Lauren Nicole Dupey, Andreanne Meley, Ross K. Meentemeyer
2017, Landscape and Urban Planning (163) 1-16
Urban growth often influences the production of ecosystem services. The impacts of urbanization on landscapes can subsequently affect landowners’ perceptions, values and decisions regarding their land. Within land-use and land-change research, very few models of dynamic landscape-scale processes like urbanization incorporate empirically-grounded landowner decision-making processes. Very little attention has focused...
Bridge scour countermeasure assessments at select bridges in the United States, 2014–16
Taylor J. Dudunake, Richard J. Huizinga, Ryan L. Fosness
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1048
In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration published Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 23 (HEC-23) to provide specific design and implementation guidelines for bridge scour and stream instability countermeasures. However, the effectiveness of countermeasures implemented over the past decade following those guidelines has not been evaluated. Therefore, in 2013, the U.S....
Oregon OCS seafloor mapping: Selected lease blocks relevant to renewable energy
Guy R. Cochrane, Lenaig G. Hemery, Sarah K. Henkel
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1045
In 2014 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) entered into Intra-agency agreement M13PG00037 to map an area of the Oregon Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off of Coos Bay, Oregon, under consideration for development of a floating wind energy farm. The BOEM requires seafloor...
Evaluating land-use change scenarios for the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, within the ecosystem recovery target model-based framework
Miguel L. Villarreal, Danielle Aiello, Bill Labiosa
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1057
The Puget Sound Basin, Washington, has experienced rapid urban growth in recent decades, with varying impacts to local ecosystems and natural resources. To plan for future growth, land managers often use scenarios to assess how the pattern and volume of growth may affect natural resources. Using three different land-management scenarios...
3.5 square meters: Constructive responses to natural disasters
Maya Vinitsky, editor(s)
2017, Book
Natural disasters and their consequences dominate the news almost on a daily basis. Quick-impact preventive and aid measures are essential for the victims to survive. This volume presents a selection of projects which demonstrate impressively how both cutting-edge technology and locally available materials and resources can be used for this...
Geomorphological evidence for ground ice on dwarf planet Ceres
Britney E. Schmidt, Kynan H.G. Hughson, Heather T. Chilton, Jennifer E. C. Scully, Thomas Platz, Andreas Nathues, Hanna Sizemore, Michael T. Bland, Shane Byrne, Simone Marchi, David O'Brien, Norbert Schorghofer, Harald Hiesinger, Ralf Jaumann, Jan Hendrick Pasckert, Justin D. Lawrence, Debra Buzckowski, Julie C. Castillo-Rogez, Mark V. Sykes, Paul M. Schenk, Maria-Cristina DeSanctis, Giuseppe Mitri, Michelangelo Formisano, Jian-Yang Li, Vishnu Reddy, Lucille Le Corre, Christopher T. Russell, Carol A. Raymond
2017, Nature Geoscience (10) 338-343
Five decades of observations of Ceres suggest that the dwarf planet has a composition similar to carbonaceous meteorites and may have an ice-rich outer shell protected by a silicate layer. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has detected ubiquitous clays, carbonates and other products of aqueous alteration across the surface of Ceres, but...
Flood-frequency characteristics of Wisconsin streams
John F. Walker, Marie C. Peppler, Mari E. Danz, Laura E. Hubbard
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5140
Flood-frequency characteristics for 360 gaged sites on unregulated rural streams in Wisconsin are presented for percent annual exceedance probabilities ranging from 0.2 to 50 using a statewide skewness map developed for this report. Equations of the relations between flood-frequency and drainage-basin characteristics were developed by multiple-regression analyses. Flood-frequency characteristics for...
Potential implications of acoustic stimuli as a non-physical barrier to silver carp and bighead carp
Kelsie Murchy, Aaron R. Cupp, Jon Amberg, Brooke J. Vetter, Kim T. Fredricks, Mark P. Gaikowski, Allen F. Mensinger
2017, Fisheries Management and Ecology (24) 208-216
The effectiveness of an acoustic barrier to deter the movement of silver carp, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Valenciennes) and bighead carp, H. nobilis (Richardson) was evaluated. A pond (10 m × 5 m × 1.2 m) was divided in half by a concrete-block barrier with a channel (1 m across) allowing fish access to each side. Underwater speakers were placed on...
Antifungal bacteria on woodland salamander skin exhibit high taxonomic diversity and geographic variability
Carly R. Muletz-Wolz, Graziella V. DiRenzo, Stephanie A. Yarwood, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Robert C. Fleischer, Karen R. Lips
2017, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (83)
Diverse bacteria inhabit amphibian skin; some of those bacteria inhibit growth of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Yet there has been no systematic survey of anti-B. dendrobatidis bacteria across localities, species, and elevations. This is important given geographic and taxonomic variations in amphibian susceptibility...
The role of density-dependent and –independent processes in spawning habitat selection by salmon in an Arctic riverscape
Brock M. Huntsman, Jeffrey A. Falke, James W. Savereide, Katrina E. Bennett
2017, PLoS ONE (12) 1-21
Density-dependent (DD) and density-independent (DI) habitat selection is strongly linked to a species’ evolutionary history. Determining the relative importance of each is necessary because declining populations are not always the result of altered DI mechanisms but can often be the result of DD via a reduced carrying capacity. We developed...
Assessing the status of sediment toxicity and macroinvertebrate communities in the Eighteenmile Creek Area of Concern, New York
Scott D. George, Brian T. Duffy, Barry P. Baldigo
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 55-63
In 1972, the governments of Canada and the United States committed to restoring the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the Laurentian Great Lakes under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Through this framework, the downstream-most section of Eighteenmile Creek, a tributary to the south shore of Lake Ontario in...
Distance and environmental difference in alpine plant communities
George P. Malanson, Dale L. Zimmerman, Daniel B. Fagre
2017, Physical Geography (38) 489-505
Differences in plant communities are a response to the abiotic environment, species interactions, and dispersal. The role of geographic distance relative to the abiotic environment is explored for alpine tundra vegetation from 319 plots of four regions along the Rocky Mountain cordillera in the USA. The site by species data...
Host density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail-trematode system
Julia C Buck, R.F. Hechinger, A.C. Wood, T.E. Stewart, A.M. Kuris, Kevin D. Lafferty
2017, Ecology (98) 2029-2038
Most species aggregate in local patches. High host density in patches increases contact rate between hosts and parasites, increasing parasite transmission success. At the same time, for environmentally-transmitted parasites, high host density can decrease infection risk to individual hosts, because infective stages are divided among all hosts in a patch,...
