The U.S. Geological Survey Monthly Water Balance Model Futures Portal
Andrew R. Bock, Lauren E. Hay, Steven L. Markstrom, Christopher Emmerich, Marian Talbert
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1212
The U.S. Geological Survey Monthly Water Balance Model Futures Portal (https://my.usgs.gov/mows/) is a user-friendly interface that summarizes monthly historical and simulated future conditions for seven hydrologic and meteorological variables (actual evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, precipitation, runoff, snow water equivalent, atmospheric temperature, and streamflow) at locations across the conterminous United...
Large crater clustering tool
Jason Laura, James A. Skinner Jr., Marc A. Hunter
2017, Computers & Geosciences (105) 81-90
In this paper we present the Large Crater Clustering (LCC) tool set, an ArcGIS plugin that supports the quantitative approximation of a primary impact location from user-identified locations of possible secondary impact craters or the long-axes of clustered secondary craters. The identification of primary impact craters directly supports planetary geologic...
Arsenic and uranium in private wells in Connecticut, 2013-15
Sarah M. Flanagan, Craig J. Brown
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1046
The occurrence of arsenic and uranium in groundwater at concentrations that exceed drinking-water standards is a concern because of the potential adverse effects on human health. Some early studies of arsenic occurrence in groundwater considered anthropogenic causes, but more recent studies have focused on sources of naturally occurring arsenic to...
Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants
Helen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich
2017, Global Ecology and Biogeography (26) 669-678
AimThe distributions of exotic species reflect patterns of human-mediated dispersal, species climatic tolerances and a suite of other biotic and abiotic factors. The relative importance of each of these factors will shape how the spread of exotic species is affected by ongoing economic globalization and climate change. However, patterns of...
Designing ecological climate change impact assessments to reflect key climatic drivers
Helen Sofaer, Joseph J. Barsugli, Catherine S. Jarnevich, John T. Abatzoglou, Marian Talbert, Brian W. Miller, Jeffrey T. Morisette
2017, Global Change Biology (23) 2537-2553
Identifying the climatic drivers of an ecological system is a key step in assessing its vulnerability to climate change. The climatic dimensions to which a species or system is most sensitive – such as means or extremes – can guide methodological decisions for projections of ecological impacts and...
How do en route events around the Gulf of Mexico influence landbird populations
Emily B. Cohen, Wylie C. Barrow Jr., Jeffrey J. Buler, Jill L. Deppe, Andrew Farnsworth, Peter P. Marra, Scott R. McWilliams, David W Mehlman, R. Randy Wilson, Mark S Woodrey, Frank R. Moore
2017, The Condor (119) 327-343
Habitats around the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) provide critical resources for Nearctic–Neotropical migratory landbirds, the majority of which travel across or around the GOM every spring and fall as they migrate between temperate breeding grounds in North America and tropical wintering grounds in the Caribbean and Central and South America....
A rapid diagnostic test and mobile "lab in a suitcase" platform for detecting Ceratocystis spp. responsible for Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death
Carter T. Atkinson, William Watcher-Weatherwax, Kylle Roy, Wade P Heller, Lisa Keith
2017, Technical Report HCSU-TR082
We describe a field compatible molecular diagnostic test for two new species of Ceratocystis that infect `ōhi`a (Metrosideros polymorpha) and cause the disease commonly known as Rapid `Ōhi`a Death. The diagnostic is based on amplification of a DNA locus within the internal transcribed spacer region that separates fungal 5.8S ribosomal...
Land change monitoring, assessment, and projection (LCMAP) revolutionizes land cover and land change research
Steven Young
2017, General Information Product 172
When nature and humanity change Earth’s landscapes - through flood or fire, public policy, natural resources management, or economic development - the results are often dramatic and lasting.Wildfires can reshape ecosystems. Hurricanes with names like Sandy or Katrina will howl for days while altering the landscape for years. One growing...
Developing an effective Agassiz's Desert Tortoise monitoring program: Final report to the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Shellie R. Puffer
2017, Report
Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a conservation-reliant species with populations north and west of the Colorado River protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (Averill-Murray et al. 2012). Since it was listed under this category in 1990, a great deal has been learned about the natural history of...
Annual review 2016: Exploration review
Nick A Karl, David R. Wilburn
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 28-49
This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2016 draws upon information from industry sources, published literature, SNL Metals & Mining (SNL), an offering of S&P Global Market Intelligence (New York, NY), and specialists in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Minerals Information Center. Three types of information...
Tell me a story! A plea for more compelling conference presentations
Kathryn Langin
2017, The Condor: Ornithological Applications (119) 321-326
Effective communication with other scientists is an essential component of the scientific process, underlying success in publishing papers, building collaborations, securing grants and jobs, and stimulating further research. Oral presentations at professional meetings provide an opportunity to share research findings with a relatively broad scientific audience. However, many scientists...
Diagenetic silica enrichment and late-stage groundwater activity in Gale crater, Mars
Jens Frydenvang, Patrick J. Gasda, Joel A. Hurowitz, John P. Grotzinger, Roger C. Wiens, Horton E. Newsom, Ken S. Edgett, Jessica Watkins, John C. Bridges, Sylvestre Maurice, Martin R. Fisk, Jeffrey R. Johnson, William Rapin, Nathan Stein, Sam M. Clegg, S. P. Schwenzer, C. Bedford, P. Edwards, Nicolas Mangold, Agnes Cousin, Ryan B. Anderson, Valerie Payre, David Vaniman, David Blake, Nina L. Lanza, Sanjeev Gupta, Jason K. Van Beek, Violaine Sautter, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Melissa Rice, Ralf Milliken, Ralf Gellert, Lucy Thompson, Ben C. Clark, Dawn Y. Sumner, Abigail A. Fraeman, Kjartan M Kinch, Morten B. Madsen, Igor Mitofranov, Insoo Jun, Fred J. Calef, Ashwin R. Vasavada
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 4716-4724
Diagenetic silica enrichment in fracture-associated halos that crosscut lacustrine and unconformably overlying aeolian sedimentary bedrock is observed on the lower north slope of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater, Mars. The diagenetic silica enrichment is colocated with detrital silica enrichment observed in the lacustrine bedrock yet extends into a considerably younger,...
White-cheeked Pintail duckling and brood survival across wetland types at Humacao Nature Reserve, Puerto Rico
J. Brian Davis, Francisco Vilella, Joseph D. Lancaster, Marisel Lopez-Flores, Richard M. Kaminski, Jose A. Cruz-Burgos
2017, Condor (119) 308-320
Duckling survival is an important influence on recruitment in several North American Anas species. White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis) breeding in Puerto Rico encounter a variety of wetland types that may influence duckling survival. We monitored fates of 92 radio-tagged ducklings in 31 broods in 5 wetland habitat types at Humacao...
A probabilistic approach to remote compositional analysis of planetary surfaces
Mathieu G.A. Lapotre, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Sarah E. Minson
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (122) 983-1009
Reflected light from planetary surfaces provides information, including mineral/ice compositions and grain sizes, by study of albedo and absorption features as a function of wavelength. However, deconvolving the compositional signal in spectra is complicated by the nonuniqueness of the inverse problem. Trade-offs between mineral abundances and grain sizes in setting...
Magmatic degassing, lava dome extrusion, and explosions from Mount Cleveland volcano, Alaska, 2011–2015: Insight into the continuous nature of volcanic activity over multi-year timescales
Cynthia Werner, Christoph Kern, Diego Coppola, John J. Lyons, Peter J. Kelly, Kristi L. Wallace, David J. Schneider, Rick Wessels
2017, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (337) 98-110
Mount Cleveland volcano (1730 m) is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, Alaska, but heightened activity is rarely accompanied by geophysical signals, which makes interpretation of the activity difficult. In this study, we combine volcanic gas emissions measured for the first time in August 2015 with longer-term...
Managing the livestock– Wildlife interface on rangelands
Johan T. du Toit, Paul C. Cross, Marion Valeix
2017, Book chapter, Rangeland Systems
On rangelands the livestock–wildlife interface is mostly characterized by management actions aimed at controlling problems associated with competition, disease, and depredation. Wildlife communities (especially the large vertebrate species) are typically incompatible with agricultural development because the opportunity costs of wildlife conservation are unaffordable except in arid and semi-arid regions. Ecological...
Cosmogenic nuclide age estimate for Laurentide Ice Sheet recession from the terminal moraine, New Jersey, USA, and constraints on latest Pleistocene ice sheet history
Lee B. Corbett, Paul R. Bierman, Byron D. Stone, Marc W. Caffee, Patrick L. Larsen
2017, Quaternary Research (87) 482-498
The time at which the Laurentide Ice Sheet reached its maximum extent and subsequently retreated from its terminal moraine in New Jersey has been constrained by bracketing radiocarbon ages on preglacial and postglacial sediments. Here, we present measurements of in situ produced 10Be and 26Al in 16 quartz-bearing...
A report on upgraded seismic monitoring stations in Myanmar: Station performance and site response
Hrin Nei Thiam, Yin Myo Min Htwe, Tun Lin Kyaw, Pa Pa Tun, Zaw Min, Sun Hninn Htwe, Tin Myo Aung, Kyaw Kyaw Lin, Myat Min Aung, Jason De Cristofaro, Mathias Franke, Stefan Radman, Elouie Lepiten, Emily Wolin, Susan E. Hough
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 926-934
Myanmar is in a tectonically complex region between the eastern edge of the Himalayan collision zone and the northern end of the Sunda megathrust. Until recently, earthquake monitoring and research efforts have been hampered by a lack of modern instrumentation and communication infrastructure. In January 2016, a major upgrade of...
Spatial variation in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure in Barrow's goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) in coastal British Columbia
Megan Willie, Daniel Esler, W. Sean Boyd, Philip Molloy, Ronald C. Ydenberg
2017, Marine Pollution Bulletin (118) 167-179
Barrow's goldeneyes are sea ducks that winter throughout coastal British Columbia (BC). Their diet consists primarily of intertidal blue mussels, which can accumulate PAHs; accordingly, goldeneyes may be susceptible to exposure through contaminated prey. In 2014/15, we...
Climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S.
Erin Bunting, Seth M. Munson, Miguel L. Villarreal
2017, Ecological Indicators (74) 216-229
Climate change effects on vegetation will likely be strong in the southwestern U.S., which is projected to experience large increases in temperature and changes in precipitation. Plant communities in the southwestern U.S. may be particularly vulnerable to climate change as the productivity of many plant species is strongly water-limited. This...
Historical biogeography sets the foundation for contemporary conservation of martens (genus Martes) in northwestern North America
Natalie G. Dawson, Jocelyn P. Colella, Maurine P. Small, Karen D. Stone, Sandra L. Talbot, Joseph A. Cook
2017, Journal of Mammalogy (98) 715-730
Effective conservation of insular populations requires careful consideration of biogeography, including colonization histories and patterns of endemism. Across the Pacific Northwest of North America, Pacific martens (Martes caurina) and American pine martens (Martes americana) are parapatric sister species with distinctive postglacial histories. Using mitochondrial DNA and 12 nuclear microsatellite loci,...
The Partners in Flight handbook on species assessment Version 2017
Arvind O. Panjabi, Peter J. Blancher, Wendy E. Easton, Jessica C. Stanton, Dean W. Demarest, Randy Dettmers, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Partners in Flight Science Committee
2017, Report
Partners in Flight (PIF) is a cooperative venture of federal, state, provincial, and territorial agencies, industry, non-governmental organizations, researchers, and many others whose common goal is the conservation of North American birds (www.partnersinflight.org). While PIF has focused primarily on landbirds, it works in conjunction with other bird partners to promote...
Spatiotemporal variability of snow depletion curves derived from SNODAS for the conterminous United States, 2004-2013
Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren E. Hay, Andrew R. Bock
2017, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (53) 655-666
Assessment of water resources at a national scale is critical for understanding their vulnerability to future change in policy and climate. Representation of the spatiotemporal variability in snowmelt processes in continental-scale hydrologic models is critical for assessment of water resource response to continued climate change. Continental-extent hydrologic models such as...
Cessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome P4501A biomarker evidence
Daniel Esler, Brenda E. Ballachey, Lizabeth Bowen, A. Keith Miles, Rian D. Dickson, John D. Henderson
2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (36) 1294-1300
The authors quantified hepatic hydrocarbon-inducible cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) expression, as ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, in wintering harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) captured in Prince William Sound, Alaska (USA), during 2011, 2013, and 2014 (22–25 yr following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill). Average EROD activity was compared between birds from areas oiled...
Microbial formation of labile organic carbon in Antarctic glacial environments
H.J. Smith, R. Foster, D.M. McKnight, John T. Lisle, S. Littmann, M.M.M. Kuypers, C.M. Foreman
2017, Nature Geoscience (10) 356-359
Roughly six petagrams of organic carbon are stored within ice worldwide. This organic carbon is thought to be of old age and highly bioavailable. Along with storage of ancient and new atmospherically deposited organic carbon, microorganisms may contribute substantially to the glacial organic carbon pool. Models of glacial microbial carbon...
