Fungal and bacterial contributions to nitrogen cycling in cheatgrass-invaded and uninvaded native sagebrush soils of the western USA
Nicole DeCrappeo, Elizabeth J. DeLorenze, Andrew T Giguere, David A. Pyke, Peter J. Bottomley
2017, Plant and Soil (416) 271-281
AimThere is interest in determining how cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) modifies N cycling in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) soils of the western USA.MethodsTo gain insight into the roles of fungi and bacteria in N cycling of...
Ecosystem services in the Great Lakes
Alan D. Steinman, Bradley J. Cardinale, Wayne R. Munns Jr., Mary E. Ogdahl, David J. Allan, Ted Angadi, Sarah Bartlett, Kate A. Brauman, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Matt Doss, Diane Dupont, Annie Johns, Donna Kashian, Frank Lupi, Peter B. McIntyre, Todd Miller, Michael P. Moore, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Rajendra Poudel, James Price, Bill Provencher, Anne Rea, Jennifer Read, Steven Renzetti, Brent Sohngen, Erica Washburn
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 161-168
A comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services across the entire Great Lakes basin is currently lacking and is needed to make informed management decisions. A greater appreciation and understanding of ecosystem services, including both use and non-use services, may have avoided misguided resource management decisions in the past that resulted in...
North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature Report 12 – Revision of article 37, lithodemic units, of the North American Stratigraphic Code
Robert M. Easton, Lucy E. Edwards, Randall C. Orndorff, Manuel Duguet, Ismael Ferrusquia-Villafranca
2017, Stratigraphy (13) 220-222
At the 71st Annual Meeting of the North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 26 September, 2016, in Denver, Colorado, the Commission voted unanimously to accept the revision of Article 37 of the North American Stratigraphic Code (North American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature, 2005), printed below. It replaces all older versions...
Baseline coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Breton Island, Louisiana, June 9, 2011
Karen L. M. Morgan
2017, Data Series 1044
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On June 9, 2011, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial...
Post-Hurricane Katrina coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Panama City, Florida, to Lakeshore, Mississippi, and the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, August 31, 2005
Karen L. M. Morgan, Nancy T. DeWitt
2017, Data Series 1033
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the National Assessment of Storm-Induced Coastal Change Hazards project, conducts baseline and storm-response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On August 31, 2005, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial...
Nearshore sediment thickness, Fire Island, New York
Stanley D. Locker, Jennifer L. Miselis, Noreen A. Buster, Cheryl J. Hapke, Heidi M. Wadman, Jesse E. McNinch, Arnell S. Forde, Chelsea A. Stalk
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1024
Investigations of coastal change at Fire Island, New York (N.Y.), sought to characterize sediment budgets and determine geologic framework controls on coastal processes. Nearshore sediment thickness is critical for assessing coastal system sediment availability, but it is largely unquantified due to the difficulty of conducting geological or geophysical surveys across...
Global nonfuel mineral exploration trends 2001-2015
Nick Karl, David R. Wilburn
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 30-30
The mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) is to collect, analyze and disseminate information on the domestic and international supply of and demand for minerals and mineral materials essential to the U.S. economy and national security. Understanding mineral exploration activities and trends assists government...
Terrestrial–aquatic linkages in spring-fed and snowmelt-dominated streams
Adam J. Sepulveda
2017, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (32) 288-299
The importance of trophic linkages between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is predicted to vary as a function of subsidy quantity and quality relative to in situ resources. To test this prediction, I used multi-year diet data from Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki Utah in spring-fed and snowmelt-driven streams in the...
Geographic and temporal patterns of variation in total mercury concentrations in blood of harlequin ducks and blue mussels from Alaska
Lucas Savoy, Paul L. Flint, Denny Zwiefelhofer, Heather Brant, Christopher R. Perkins, Robert J. Taylor, Oksana P. Lane, Jefferson S. Hall, David C. Evers, Jason Schamber
2017, Marine Pollution Bulletin (117) 178-183
We compared total mercury (Hg) concentrations in whole blood of harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) sampled within and among two geographically distinct locations and across three years in southwest Alaska. Blue mussels were collected to assess correlation between Hg concentrations in locally available forage and birds. Mercury concentrations in harlequin duck...
Implementation of the first adaptive management plan for a European migratory waterbird population: The case of the Svalbard pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
Jesper Madsen, James Henty Williams, Fred A. Johnson, Ingunn M. Tombre, Sergey Dereliev, Eckhart Kuijken
2017, Ambio (46) 275-289
An International Species Management Plan for the Svalbard population of the pink-footed goose was adopted under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds in 2012, the first case of adaptive management of a migratory waterbird population in Europe. An international working group (including statutory agencies, NGO representatives and...
Erosion of refugia in the Sierra Nevada meadows network with climate change
Sean P. Maher, Toni Lyn Morelli, Michelle Hershey, Alan L. Flint, Lorraine E. Flint, Craig Moritz, Steven R. Beissinger
2017, Ecosphere (8) 1-17
Climate refugia management has been proposed as a climate adaptation strategy in the face of global change. Key to this strategy is identification of these areas as well as an understanding of how they are connected on the landscape. Focusing on meadows of the Sierra Nevada in California, we examined...
An integrated population model for bird monitoring in North America
Farshid S. Ahrestani, James F. Saracco, John R. Sauer, Keith L. Pardieck, J. Andrew Royle
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 916-924
Integrated population models (IPMs) provide a unified framework for simultaneously analyzing data sets of different types to estimate vital rates, population size, and dynamics; assess contributions of demographic parameters to population changes; and assess population viability. Strengths of an IPM include the ability to estimate latent parameters and improve the...
Trends in snowmelt-related streamflow timing in the conterminous United States
Robert W. Dudley, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Michael McHale, Michael J. Kolian, Benjamin Renard
2017, Journal of Hydrology (547) 208-221
Changes in snowmelt-related streamflow timing have implications for water availability and use as well as ecologically relevant shifts in streamflow. Historical trends in snowmelt-related streamflow timing (winter-spring center volume date, WSCVD) were computed for minimally disturbed river basins in the conterminous United States. WSCVD was computed by summing daily streamflow...
Geometry, mass balance and thinning at Eklutna Glacier, Alaska: an altitude-mass-balance feedback with implications for water resources
Louis C. Sass, Michael G. Loso, Jason Geck, Evan Thoms, Daniel Mcgrath
2017, Journal of Glaciology (63) 343-354
We analyzed glacier surface elevations (1957, 2010 and 2015) and surface mass-balance measurements (2008–2015) on the 30 km2 Eklutna Glacier, in the Chugach Mountains of southcentral Alaska. The geodetic mass balances from 1957 to 2010 and 2010 to 2015 are −0.52 ± 0.46 and −0.74 ± 0.10 m w.e. a<span...
Global nonfuel mineral exploration trends 2001-2015
Nick A Karl, David R. Wilburn
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 30-37
This review summarizes significant exploration trends related to active sites and budgets, mineral commodities and regional factors for the years 2001-2015. Data were compiled by specialists in the USGS-NMIC, and reported annually in the USGS-NMIC Minerals Yearbook series and in the May issue of Mining Engineering magazine. External data for...
A micro-UAS to start prescribed fires
Evan Beachly, James Higgins, Christian Laney, Sebastian Elbaum, Carrick Detweiler, Craig R. Allen, Dirac Twidwell
2017, Conference Paper, ISER 2016: 2016 International Symposium on Experimental Robotics
Prescribed fires have many benefits, but existing ignition methods are dangerous, costly, or inefficient. This paper presents the design and evaluation of a micro-UAS that can start a prescribed fire from the air, while being operated from a safe distance and without the costs associated with aerial ignition from a...
The deadly fisheries safety issue no one discusses
Scott A. Bonar
2017, Fisheries (April 2017)
No abstract available....
Automated cropland mapping of continental Africa using Google Earth Engine cloud computing
Jun Xiong, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Murali Krishna Gumma, Pardhasaradhi G. Teluguntla, Justin Poehnelt, Russell G. Congalton, Kamini Yadav, David Thau
2017, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (126) 225-244
The automation of agricultural mapping using satellite-derived remotely sensed data remains a challenge in Africa because of the heterogeneous and fragmental landscape, complex crop cycles, and limited access to local knowledge. Currently, consistent, continent-wide routine cropland mapping of Africa does not exist, with most studies focused either on certain portions...
Hazus® estimated annualized earthquake losses for the United States
Kishor S. Jaiswal, Doug Bausch, Jesse Rozelle, John Holub, Sean McGowan
2017, Report
Large earthquakes can cause social and economic disruption that can be unprecedented to any given community, and the full recovery from these impacts may or may not always be achievable. In the United States (U.S.), the 1994 M6.7 Northridge earthquake in California remains the third costliest disaster in U.S. history;...
The Evergreen basin and the role of the Silver Creek fault in the San Andreas fault system, San Francisco Bay region, California
Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Russell W. Graymer, Robert Williams, David A. Ponce, Edward A. Mankinen, William J. Stephenson, Victoria E. Langenheim
2017, Geosphere (13) 269-286
The Evergreen basin is a 40-km-long, 8-km-wide Cenozoic sedimentary basin that lies mostly concealed beneath the northeastern margin of the Santa Clara Valley near the south end of San Francisco Bay (California, USA). The basin is bounded on the northeast by the strike-slip Hayward fault and an approximately parallel subsurface...
Bacterial, fungal, and plant communities exhibit no biomass or compositional response to two years of simulated nitrogen deposition in a semiarid grassland
Theresa A. McHugh, Ember M. Morrissey, Rebecca C. Mueller, La Verne Gallegos-Graves, Cheryl R. Kuske, Sasha C. Reed
2017, Environmental Microbiology (19) 1600-1611
Nitrogen (N) deposition affects myriad aspects of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function, and microbial communities may be particularly sensitive to anthropogenic N inputs. However, our understanding of N deposition effects on microbial communities is far from complete, especially for drylands where data are comparatively rare. To address the need for...
Inter-nesting movements and habitat-use of adult female Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Gulf of Mexico
Donna J. Shaver, Kristen M. Hart, Ikuko Fujisaki, David N. Bucklin, Autumn Iverson, Cynthia Rubio, Thomas F. Backof, Patrick M. Burchfield, Raul de Jesus Gonzales Diaz Miron, Peter H. Dutton, Amy Frey, Jaime Peña, Daniel Gomez Gamez, Hector J. Martinez, Jaime Ortiz
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
Species vulnerability is increased when individuals congregate in restricted areas for breeding; yet, breeding habitats are not well defined for many marine species. Identification and quantification of these breeding habitats are essential to effective conservation. Satellite telemetry and switching state-space modeling (SSM) were used to define inter-nesting habitat of endangered...
Community stability within the St. Marys River fish community: Evidence from trawl surveys
Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Anjanette K. Bowen, David G. Fielder
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 399-404
A trawl survey was conducted in the Saint Marys River during 2010–2011 and we compared our results to a prior trawl survey conducted during 1979–1983 to look for long-term changes in the fish community, especially in terms of changes induced by invasive species. We found no substantive temporal differences in...
Coping with historic drought in California rangelands: Developing a more effective institutional response
Joel R. Brown, Pelayo Alvarez, Kristin B. Byrd, Helena Deswood, Emile Elias, Sheri Spiegal
2017, Rangelands (39) 73-78
Drought response is widely varied depending on both the characteristics of the drought and the ability of individual ranchers to respond.Assistance from institutions during drought has not typically considered preemptive, during, and post-drought response as a strategic approach, which recognizes biophysical, sociological, and economic complexities of drought.A USDA Southwest Climate...
Proximate effects of temperature versus evolved intrinsic constraints for embryonic development times among temperate and tropical songbirds
Riccardo Ton, Thomas E. Martin
2017, Scientific Reports (7) 1-9
The relative importance of intrinsic constraints imposed by evolved physiological trade-offs versus the proximate effects of temperature for interspecific variation in embryonic development time remains unclear. Understanding this distinction is important because slow development due to evolved trade-offs can yield phenotypic benefits, whereas slow development from low temperature can yield...
