Using science to inform management and improve biological conservation in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan
Todd Esque, Amy Fesnock-Parker, Brian Croft, Felicia Chen, Amy G. Vandergast
2017, Conference Paper, Transactions of the 82nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference
The Mojave and Colorado deserts of southern California have been viewed as vast wilderness since early exploration and, until recently, were considered the most untrammeled among western landscapes in the contiguous lower 48 states (United States Department of Agriculture 1893; Leu et al. 2008). However, the factors that define desert...
A report on genetic affinities and relatedness of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at opposite ends of the Coachella Valley in California
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Taylor Edwards, Brian Kreiser, Shellie R. Puffer, Mickey Agha
2017, Report, Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan—2017 Annual Report
This report summarizes the results for mtDNA and STR genotyping of 41 desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) DNA samples from opposite sides of the Coachella Valley: one sample from the west side at the Mesa wind energy facility in the Whitewater Hills and the other from the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon...
Ecology of the Eastern Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula) at Rainey Slough, Florida: A vanished Eden
J. Steve Godley, Brian J. Halstead, Roy W. McDiarmid
2017, Herpetological Monographs (31) 47-68
Eastern Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula) are an important component and predator in herpetofaunal communities, but many Eastern Kingsnake populations have declined precipitously in the last few decades, particularly in the southeastern United States. Here, we describe an intensive capture–mark–recapture study of L. getula conducted during 1974–1978 in a canal bank–Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia...
Impacts of mastication fuel treatments on California, USA, chaparral vegetation structure and composition
Teresa J. Brennan, Jon E. Keeley
2017, Fire Ecology (13) 120-138
Mechanical fuel treatments are a primary pre-fire strategy for potentially mitigating the threat of wildland fire, yet there is limited information on how they impact shrubland ecosystems. Our goal was to assess the impact of mechanical mastication fuel treatments on chaparral vegetation and to determine the extent to which they...
Climate change and collapsing thermal niches of Mexican endemic reptiles
Barry Sinervo, Donald B. Miles, Rafael A. Lara Resendiz, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Joshua R. Ennen, Johannes Muller, Robert D. Cooper, Philip C. Rosen, Joseph A. E. Stewart, Juan Carlos Santos, Jack W. Sites Jr., Paul Gibbons, Eric Goode, L. Scott Hillard, Luke Welton, Mickey Agha, Gabriel Caetano, Mercy Vaughn, Cristina Melendez Torres, Hector Gadsden, Gamaliel Castenada Gaytan, Patricia Galina-Tessaro, Fernando I. Valle Jimenez, Jorge H. Valdez-Villavicencio, Norberto Martinez Mendez, Guillermo Woolrich Pina, Victor Luja Molina, Anibal Diaz de la Vega Perez, Diego M. Arenas Moreno, Saul Dominguez Guerrero, Natalia Fierro, Scott Butterfield, Michael Westpha, Raymond B. Huey, William Mautz, Víctor Sánchez-Cordero, Fausto R. Mendez de la Cruz
2017, Report
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins, and contraction at southern and low elevation margins due to extinction. Climate models predict dramatic extinctions and distributional shifts in the next century, but there are few ground-truths of these dire forecasts leading to...
Strontium isotopic systematics of mineralized and background water samples, Montezuma Mining District, Colorado
Philip L. Verplanck, Robert L. Runkel
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on Applied Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-12)
Surface and groundwater samples within the Montezuma mining district were sampled to evaluate the use of strontium isotopic compositions as signatures of different water types. Waters draining Precambrian metamorphic units had distinctly higher 87Sr/ 86Sr values (0.72893 to 0.73833) than waters draining Tertiaryage plutonic rocks (0.71064 and 0.71114). Waters draining...
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus)
2017, EGMP Technical Report 5
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest-management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information...
For what it's worth : appreciating the economic value of wildlife
P. Howensee, Michael D. Samuel, D. Drake
2017, The Wildlife Professional (11) 43
No abstract available....
Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2016
Frank T. van Manen, Mark A. Haroldson, Bryn Karabensh, editor(s)
2017, Report
This Annual Report summarizes results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) monitoring and research conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2016. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations. ...
Scientific records appraisal process: U.S. Geological Survey case study
John Faundeen
Lisa R. Johnston, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Curating research data, volume two: A handbook of current practice
No abstract available....
USGS revision of global iron ore production data—Clarification of the reporting of iron ore production in China and application of a uniform comparison methodology (2000-2015)
Candice C. Tuck, Sean Xun, Sheryl A. Singerling
2017, Mining Engineering (69) 20-23
Iron ore is the source of primary iron for the world’s iron and steel industries. Its production can be reported as crude ore, usable ore or iron content of ore. Historically, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used reported crude ore production from China in tabulations of world iron ore production...
Geology and vertebrate paleontology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, USA
Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Pigati, Eric Scott
2017, Book chapter, Field excursions in Southern California: Field guides to the 2016 Geological Society of American cordilleran section meeting
Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) preserves 22,650 acres of the upper Las Vegas Wash in the northern Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, USA. TUSK is home to extensive and stratigraphically complex groundwater discharge (GWD) deposits, called the Las Vegas Formation, which represent springs and desert wetlands that covered much...
Mapping marginal croplands suitable for cellulosic feedstock crops in the Great Plains, United States
Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie
2017, GCB Bioenergy (9) 836-844
Growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) for biofuel is more environmentally sustainable than corn-based ethanol. Specifically, this practice can reduce soil erosion and water quality impairment from pesticides and fertilizer, improve ecosystem services and sustainability (e.g., serve as carbon sinks), and minimize impacts on global food supplies. The main goal...
Riparian soil development linked to forest succession above and below dams along the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Laura G Perry, Patrick B. Shafroth, Steven S. Perakis
2017, Ecosystems (20) 104-129
Riparian forest soils can be highly dynamic, due to frequent fluvial disturbance, erosion, and sediment deposition, but effects of dams on riparian soils are poorly understood. We examined soils along toposequences within three river segments located upstream, between, and downstream of two dams on the Elwha River to evaluate relationships...
Effect of N fertilization and tillage on nitrous oxide (N2O) loss from soil under wheat production
Sheel Bansal, Ezra Aberle, Jasper Teboh, Szilvia Yuja, Mark Liebig, Jacob Meier, Alec Boyd
2017, Report, Carrington Research Extension Center Annual Report, A report of agricultural research and extension in central North Dakota, Vol 58
Nitrous oxide (N2O-N) is one of the most important gases in the atmosphere because it is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat, and is a key chemical agent of ozone depletion. The amount of N2O-N emitted from agricultural fields can be quite high,...
A global analysis of traits predicting species sensitivity to habitat fragmentation
Douglas Keinath, Daniel F. Doak, Karen E. Hodges, Laura R. Prugh, William F. Fagan, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Stuart H. M. Buchart, Matthew J. Kauffman
2017, Global Ecology and Biogeography (26) 115-127
AimElucidating patterns in species responses to habitat fragmentation is an important focus of ecology and conservation, but studies are often geographically restricted, taxonomically narrow or use indirect measures of species vulnerability. We investigated predictors of species presence after fragmentation using data from studies around the world that included all four...
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus virological and genetic surveillance 2000–2012
Rachel Breyta, Ilana L. Brito, Gael Kurath, Shannon L. LaDeau
2017, Ecology (98) 283-283
Surveillance records of the acute RNA pathogen of Pacific salmonid fish infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus are combined for the first time to enable landscape-level ecological analyses and modeling. The study area is the freshwater ecosystems of the large Columbia River watershed in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho,...
Meteorological drivers of hypolimnetic anoxia in a eutrophic, north temperate lake
Craig A. Snortheim, Paul C. Hanson, Katherine D. McMahon, Jordan S. Read, Cayelan C. Carey, Hilary A. Dugan
2017, Ecological Modelling (343) 39-53
Oxygen concentration is both an indicator and driver of water quality in lakes. Decreases in oxygen concentration leads to altered ecosystem function as well as harmful consequences for aquatic biota, such as fishes. The responses of oxygen dynamics in lakes to climate-related drivers, such as temperature and wind speed, are...
Behavioral connectivity among bighorn sheep suggests potential for disease spread
Nathan Borg, Michael S. Mitchell, Paul M. Lukacs, Curt M. Mack, Lisette P. Waits, Paul R. Krausman
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 38-45
Connectivity is important for population persistence and can reduce the potential for inbreeding depression. Connectivity between populations can also facilitate disease transmission; respiratory diseases are one of the most important factors affecting populations of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis). The mechanisms of connectivity in populations of bighorn sheep likely have implications...
Thumbnail‐based questionnaires for the rapid and efficient collection of macroseismic data from global earthquakes
Remy Bossu, Matthieu Landes, Frederic Roussel, Robert Steed, Gilles Mazet-Roux, Stacey S. Martin, Susan E. Hough
2017, Seismological Research Letters (88) 72-81
The collection of earthquake testimonies (i.e., qualitative descriptions of felt shaking) is essential for macroseismic studies (i.e., studies gathering information on how strongly an earthquake was felt in different places), and when done rapidly and systematically, improves situational awareness and in turn can contribute to efficient emergency response. In this...
Spatio-temporal development of vegetation die-off in a submerging coastal marsh
Lennert Schepers, Matt L. Kirwan, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Stijn Temmerman
2017, Limnology and Oceanography (62) 137-150
In several places around the world, coastal marsh vegetation is converting to open water through the formation of pools. This is concerning, as vegetation die-off is expected to reduce the marshes' capacity to adapt to sea level rise by vegetation-induced sediment accretion. Quantitative analyses of the spatial and temporal development...
Modeling waterfowl habitat selection in the Central Valley of California to better understand the spatial relationship between commercial poultry and waterfowl
Elliott Matchett, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes, T. Kelman, M. Cadena, M. Pitesky
2017, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Sixty-Sixth Western Poultry Disease Conference
Wildlife researchers frequently study resource and habitat selection of wildlife to understand their potential habitat requirements and to conserve their populations. Understanding wildlife spatial-temporal distributions related to habitat have other applications such as to model interfaces between wildlife and domestic food animals in order to mitigate disease transmission to food...
Mapping tree canopy cover in support of proactive prairie grouse conservation in western North America
Michael J. Falkowski, Jeffrey S. Evans, David E. Naugle, Christian A. Hagen, Scott A. Carleton, Jeremy D. Maestas, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Aaron J. Poznanovic, Andrew J. Lawrence
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 15-24
Invasive woody plant expansion is a primary threat driving fragmentation and loss of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and prairie habitats across the central and western United States. Expansion of native woody plants, including conifer (primarily Juniperus spp.) and mesquite (Prosopis spp.), over the past century is primarily attributable to wildfire suppression, historic periods of intensive...
A primer to living shorelines
Donna Marie Bilkovic, Molly M. Mitchell, Jason D. Toft, Megan K. LaPeyre
2017, Book chapter, Living shorelines: The science and management of nature-based coastal protection
No abstract available....
Trends in methyl tert-butyl ether concentrations in private wells in southeast New Hampshire: 2005 to 2015
Sarah Flanagan, Joseph P. Levitt, Joseph D. Ayotte
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 1168-1175
In southeast New Hampshire, where reformulated gasoline was used from the 1990s to 2007, methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE) concentrations ≥0.2 μg/L were found in water from 26.7% of 195 domestic wells sampled in 2005. Ten years later in 2015, and eight years after MtBE was banned, 10.3% continue to have MtBE....
