Characterizing meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
Francis Ashland, Alex R. Fiore, Pamela A. Reilly
Jerome V. De Graff, Abdul Shakoor, editor(s)
2017, Conference Paper, Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice:Special Publication 27
Meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey remain undocumented despite a history of damaging slope movement extending back to at least 1903. This study applies an empirical approach to quantify the rainfall conditions leading to shallow landsliding based...
Post-glacial flooding of the Bering Land Bridge dated to 11 cal ka BP based on new geophysical and sediment records
Martin Jakobsson, Christof Pearce, Thomas M. Cronin, Jan Backman, Leif G. Anderson, Natalia Barrientos, Goran Bjork, Helen Coxhall, Agatha de Boer, Larry Mayer, Carl-Magnus Morth, Johan Nilsson, Jayne Rattray, Christian Sranne, Igor Semiletov, Matt O’Regan
2017, Climate of the Past (13) 991-1005
The Bering Strait connects the Arctic and Pacific oceans and separates the North American and Asian landmasses. The presently shallow ( ∼ 53 m) strait was exposed during the sea level lowstand of the last glacial period, which permitted human migration across a land bridge today referred to as the Bering Land Bridge....
Rapid prototyping for decision structuring: An efficient approach to conservation decision analysis
Georgia E. Garrard, Libby Rumpff, Michael C. Runge, Sarah J. Converse
Nils Bunnefeld, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Decision-making in conservation and natural resource management; Conservation Diology Series No. 22
No abstract available....
Piscivore diet response to a collapse in pelagic prey populations
Steven Zeug, Frederick V. Feyrer, Annie Brodsky, Jenny Melgo
2017, Environmental Biology of Fishes (100) 947-958
Pelagic fish populations in the upper San Francisco Estuary have experienced significant declines since the turn of the century; a pattern known as the pelagic organism decline (POD). This study investigated food habits of piscivorous fishes over two consecutive fall seasons following the decline of pelagic fish prey. Specifically, this...
Mercury correlates with altered corticosterone but not testosterone or estradiol concentrations in common loons
Melinda D. Franceshini, David C. Evers, Kevin P. Kenow, Michael W. Meyer, Mark Pokras, L. Michael Romero
2017, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (142) 348-354
We investigated the relation between environmental mercury exposure and corticosterone concentrations in free-living adult common loons (Gavia immer). We determined blood and feather mercury concentrations and compared them to testosterone, estradiol, and stress-induced plasma corticosterone concentrations. Although neither testosterone nor estradiol correlated with Hg levels, there was a robust positive...
Variation and plasticity and their interaction with urbanization in Guadalupe Bass populations on and off the Edwards Plateau
Jessica E. Pease, Timothy B. Grabowski, Allison A. Pease
2017, Report
The Colorado River Basin in Texas has experienced major alterations to its hydrologic regime due to changing land and water use patterns. These anthropogenic influences on hydrologic variability have had major implications for riparian and aquatic ecosystems and the species dependent upon them. However, impacts are often assessed at a...
Celebrating ten years of collaboration
W. Matthew Cushing
2017, GEOSUR Newsletter (4) 4-5
Since the GEOSUR Program launched in 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center has had the honor of collaborating with CAF, PAIGH, and others supporting the Latin America GEOSUR Program. The catalyst for starting the program was the convergence of regional geospatial activities USGS,...
Spatial heterogeneity of within-stream methane concentrations
John T. Crawford, Luke C. Loken, William E. West, Benjamin Crary, Seth A. Spawn, Nicholas Gubbins, Stuart E. Jones, Robert G. Striegl, Emily H. Stanley
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences (122) 1036-1048
Streams, rivers, and other freshwater features may be significant sources of CH4 to the atmosphere. However, high spatial and temporal variabilities hinder our ability to understand the underlying processes of CH4 production and delivery to streams and also challenge the use of scaling approaches across large areas. We studied a stream having...
Uncertainty, variability, and earthquake physics in ground‐motion prediction equations
Annemarie S. Baltay, Thomas C. Hanks, Norm A. Abrahamson
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1754-1772
Residuals between ground‐motion data and ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) can be decomposed into terms representing earthquake source, path, and site effects. These terms can be cast in terms of repeatable (epistemic) residuals and the random (aleatory) components. Identifying the repeatable residuals leads to a GMPE with reduced uncertainty for a...
Automated quantification of surface water inundation in wetlands using optical satellite imagery
Ben DeVries, Chengquan Huang, Megan W. Lang, John W. Jones, Wenli Huang, Irena F. Creed, Mark L. Carroll
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
We present a fully automated and scalable algorithm for quantifying surface water inundation in wetlands. Requiring no external training data, our algorithm estimates sub-pixel water fraction (SWF) over large areas and long time periods using Landsat data. We tested our SWF algorithm over three wetland sites across North America, including...
A multi-species synthesis of physiological mechanisms in drought-induced tree mortality
Henry D. Adams, Melanie Zeppel, William R.L. Anderegg, Henrik Hartmann, Simon M. Landhausser, David T. Tissue, Travis E. Huxman, Patrick J. Hudson, Trenton E. Franz, Craig D. Allen, Leander D. L. Anderegg, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, David Beerling, David D. Breshears, Timothy J. Brodribb, Harald Bugmann, Richard C. Cobb, Adam D. Collins, L. Turin Dickman, Honglang Duan, Brent E. Ewers, Lucia Galiano, David A. Galvez, Nuria Garcia-Forner, Monica L. Gaylord, Matthew J. Germino, Arthur Gessler, Uwe G. Hacke, Rodrigo Hakamada, Andy Hector, Michael W. Jenkins, Jeffrey M. Kane, Thomas E. Kolb, Darin J. Law, James D. Lewis, Jean-Marc Limousin, David Love, Alison K. Macalady, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Maurizio Mencuccini, Patrick J. Mitchell, Jordan D. Muss, Michael J. O’Brien, Anthony P. O’Grady, Robert E. Pangle, Elizabeth A. Pinkard, Frida I. Piper, Jennifer Plaut, William T. Pockman, Joe Quirk, Keith Reinhardt, Francesco Ripullone, Michael G. Ryan, Anna Sala, Sanna Sevanto, John S. Sperry, Rodrigo Vargas, Michel Vennetier, Danielle A. Way, Chonggang Wu, Enrico A. Yepez, Nate G. McDowell
2017, Nature Ecology & Evolution (1) 1285-1291
Widespread tree mortality associated with drought has been observed on all forested continents and global change is expected to exacerbate vegetation vulnerability. Forest mortality has implications for future biosphere–atmosphere interactions of carbon, water and energy balance, and is poorly represented in dynamic vegetation models. Reducing uncertainty requires improved mortality projections...
Debris flow initiation by runoff in a recently burned basin: Is grain-by-grain sediment bulking or en masse failure to blame?
Luke McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley
2017, Geophysical Research Letters (44) 7310-7319
Postwildfire debris flows are frequently triggered by runoff following high-intensity rainfall, but the physical mechanisms by which water-dominated flows transition to debris flows are poorly understood relative to debris flow initiation from shallow landslides. In this study, we combined a numerical model with high-resolution hydrologic and geomorphic data sets to...
Response to comment on “Primary sources and toxicity of PAHs in Milwaukee-area streambed sediments”—The authors' reply
Austin K. Baldwin, Steven R. Corsi, Michelle A. Lutz, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Rebecca A. Dorman, Christopher Magruder, Matthew Magruder
2017, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (36) 1981-1983
No abstract available....
Effects of deep basins on structural collapse during large subduction earthquakes
Nasser A. Marafi, Marc O. Eberhard, Jeffrey W. Berman, Erin A. Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel
2017, Earthquake Spectra (33) 963-997
Deep sedimentary basins are known to increase the intensity of ground motions, but this effect is implicitly considered in seismic hazard maps used in U.S. building codes. The basin amplification of ground motions from subduction earthquakes is particularly important in the Pacific Northwest, where the hazard at long periods is...
Temporal changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations with comparisons to conservation practices and agricultural activities in the Lower Grand River, Missouri and Iowa, and selected watersheds, 1969–2015
Heather M. Krempa, Allison K. Flickinger
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5067
This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Department of Natural Resources to estimate total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations at monitoring sites within and near the Lower Grand River hydrological unit. The primary objectives of the study were to...
Parental care mitigates carry-over effects of poor early conditions on offspring growth
Sonya K. Auer, Thomas E. Martin
2017, Behavioral Ecology (28) 1176-1182
Poor developmental conditions can have long-lasting negative effects on offspring phenotypes, but impacts often differ among species. Contrasting responses may reflect disparities in experimental protocols among single-species studies or inherent differences among species in their sensitivity to early conditions and/or ability to mitigate negative impacts. We used a common experimental...
How hunter perceptions of wildlife regulations, agency trust, and satisfaction affect attitudes about duck bag limits
Susan A. Schroeder, David C. Fulton, Jeffrey S. Lawrence, Steven D. Cordts
2017, Human Dimensions of Wildlife (22) 454-475
This study explored how factors, including the function of bag limits, agency trust, satisfaction, hunting participation, and demographics, related to opinions about duck bag limits. The results are from a survey of 2014 Minnesota resident waterfowl hunters. Analyses identified four dimensions of attitudes about functions of bag limits, including that...
Can personality predict individual differences in brook trout spatial learning ability?
S.L. White, Tyler Wagner, C. Gowan, V.A. Braithwaite
2017, Behavioural Processes (141) 220-228
While differences in individual personality are common in animal populations, understanding the ecological significance of variation has not yet been resolved. Evidence suggests that personality may influence learning and memory; a finding that could improve our understanding of the evolutionary processes that produce and maintain intraspecific behavioural heterogeneity. Here, we...
Study of responses of 64-story Rincon Building to Napa, Fremont, Piedmont, San Ramon earthquakes and ambient motions
Mehmet Çelebi, John Hooper, Ron Klemencic
2017, Earthquake Spectra (33) 1125-1148
We analyze the recorded responses of a 64-story, instrumented, concrete core shear wall building in San Francisco, California, equipped with tuned sloshing liquid dampers (TSDs) and buckling restraining braces (BRBs). Previously, only ambient data from the 72-channel array in the building were studied (Çelebi et al. 2013). Recently,...
How well do route survey areas represent landscapes at larger spatial extents? An analysis of land cover composition along Breeding Bird Survey routes
Joseph A. Veech, Keith L. Pardieck, David Ziolkowski
2017, Condor (119) 607-615
The occurrence of birds in a survey unit is partly determined by the habitat present. Moreover, some bird species preferentially avoid some land cover types and are attracted to others. As such, land cover composition within the 400 m survey areas along a Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) route clearly influences...
Porosity and pore size distribution in a sedimentary rock: Implications for the distribution of chlorinated solvents
Allen M. Shapiro, Chrsitopher E. Evans, Erin C. Hayes
2017, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (203) 70-84
Characterizing properties of the rock matrix that control retention and release of chlorinated solvents is essential in evaluating the extent of contamination and the application of remediation technologies in fractured rock. Core samples from seven closely spaced boreholes in a mudstone subject to trichloroethene (TCE) contamination were analyzed using Mercury...
Use of navigation channels by Lake Sturgeon: Does channelization increase vulnerability of fish to ship strikes?
Darryl W. Hondorp, David Bennion, Edward F. Roseman, Christopher M. Holbrook, James C. Boase, Justin A. Chiotti, Michael V. Thomas, Todd C. Wills, Richard Drouin, Steven T. Kessel, Charles C. Krueger
2017, PLoS ONE (12)
Channelization for navigation and flood control has altered the hydrology and bathymetry of many large rivers with unknown consequences for fish species that undergo riverine migrations. In this study, we investigated whether altered flow distributions and bathymetry associated with channelization attracted migrating Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) into commercial navigation channels,...
Climate change and tree-line ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada: Habitat suitability modelling to inform high-elevation forest dynamics monitoring
Peggy E. Moore, Otto Alvarez, Shawn T. McKinney, Wenkai Li, Matthew L. Brooks, Qinghua Guo
2017, Natural Resource Report NPS/SIEN/NRR—2017/1476
Whitebark pine and foxtail pine serve foundational roles in the subalpine zone of the Sierra Nevada. They provide the dominant structure in tree-line forests and regulate key ecosystem processes and community dynamics. Climate change models suggest that there will be changes in temperature regimes and in the timing and magnitude...
Spatial and temporal variability in benthic invertebrate assemblages in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon
Natalie J. Stauffer-Olsen, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend
2017, Northwest Science (91) 257-271
Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) in southern Oregon has experienced declines in water quality due to excessive nutrient loading. This has led to annual cyanobacterial blooms, primarily of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA). Benthic invertebrates are important food resources for benthic feeding fishes; however, they can increase autochthonous nutrient cycling in lakes and as a...
Relative sampling efficiency and movements of subadult Lake Sturgeon in the Lower Wolf River, Wisconsin
Zachary R. Snobl, Daniel A. Isermann, Ryan P. Koenigs, Joshua K. Raabe
2017, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 1070-1080
Understanding sampling efficiency and movements of subadult Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens is necessary to facilitate population rehabilitation and recruitment monitoring in large systems with extensive riverine and lacustrine habitats. We used a variety of sampling methods to capture subadult Lake Sturgeon (i.e., fish between 75 and 130 cm TL that had not...
