Science to support aquatic animal health
Maureen K. Purcell, M. Camille Harris
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3091
Healthy aquatic ecosystems are home to a diversity of plants, invertebrates, fish and wildlife. Aquatic animal populations face unprecedented threats to their health and survival from climate change, water shortages, habitat alteration, invasive species and environmental contaminants. These environmental stressors can directly impact the prevalence and severity of disease...
Biomarkers reveal sea turtles remained in oiled areas following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Alan B. Bolten, Anton D. Tucker, Kristen M. Hart, Margaret M. Lamont, Ikuko Fujisaki, Kimberly J. Reich, David S. Addison, Katherine L. Mansfield, Katrina F. Phillips, Mariela Pajuelo, Karen A. Bjorndal
2016, Ecological Applications (26) 2145-2155
Assessments of large-scale disasters, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, are problematic because while measurements of post-disturbance conditions are common, measurements of pre-disturbance baselines are only rarely available. Without adequate observations of pre-disaster organismal and environmental conditions, it is impossible to assess the impact of such catastrophes on animal...
Book review: Mapping gendered routes and spaces in the early modern world
Dalia E. Varanka
2016, Renaissance Quarterly (69) 1092
This book encapsulates and extends many seminal ideas presented at the eighth “Attending to Early Modern Women” conference held at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in June 2012. Merry Wiesner-Hanks has done a masterful job editing these papers within a central theme of the interaction of spatial domains with gender-based phenomena....
Daniel Goodman’s empirical approach to Bayesian statistics
Tim Gerrodette, Eric Ward, Rebecca L. Taylor, Lisa K. Schwarz, Tomoharu Eguchi, Paul Wade, Gina Himes Boor
2016, PeerJ
Bayesian statistics, in contrast to classical statistics, uses probability to represent uncertainty about the state of knowledge. Bayesian statistics has often been associated with the idea that knowledge is subjective and that a probability distribution represents a personal degree of belief. Dr. Daniel Goodman considered this viewpoint problematic for issues...
Estimating spatially and temporally varying recharge and runoff from precipitation and urban irrigation in the Los Angeles Basin, California
Joseph A. Hevesi, Tyler D. Johnson
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5068
A daily precipitation-runoff model, referred to as the Los Angeles Basin watershed model (LABWM), was used to estimate recharge and runoff for a 5,047 square kilometer study area that included the greater Los Angeles area and all surface-water drainages potentially contributing recharge to a 1,450 square kilometer groundwater-study area...
Effects of energy development on wetland plants and macroinvertebrate communities in Prairie Pothole Region wetlands
Todd M. Preston, Andrew M. Ray
2016, Journal of Freshwater Ecology
Energy production in the Williston Basin, USA, results in the coproduction of highly saline, sodium chloride-dominated water (brine). The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) overlies the northeastern portion of the Williston Basin. Although PPR wetlands span a range of salinity, the dominant salt is sodium sulfate, and salinities are much lower...
Interaction between climate, volcanism, and isostatic rebound in Southeast Alaska during the last deglaciation
Summer Praetorius, Alan Mix, Britta Jensen, Duane Froese, Glenn A. Milne, Matthew Wolhowe, Jason A. Addison, Fred Prahl
2016, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (452) 79-89
Observations of enhanced volcanic frequency during the last deglaciation have led to the hypothesis that ice unloading in glaciated volcanic terrains can promote volcanism through decompression melting in the shallow mantle or a reduction in crustal magma storage time. However, a direct link between regional climate change, isostatic adjustment, and...
Comparison of mercury mass loading in streams to atmospheric deposition in watersheds of Western North America: Evidence for non-atmospheric mercury sources
Joseph L. Domagalski, Michael S. Majewski, Charles N. Alpers, Chris S. Eckley, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Liam N. Schenk, Susan Wherry
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 638-650
Annual stream loads of mercury (Hg) and inputs of wet and dry atmospheric Hg deposition to the landscape were investigated in watersheds of the Western United States and the Canadian-Alaskan Arctic. Mercury concentration and discharge data from flow gauging stations were used to compute annual mass loads with regression models....
Spatial variation in nutrient and water color effects on lake chlorophyll at macroscales
C. Emi Fergus, Andrew O. Finley, Patricia A. Soranno, Tyler Wagner
2016, PLoS ONE
The nutrient-water color paradigm is a framework to characterize lake trophic status by relating lake primary productivity to both nutrients and water color, the colored component of dissolved organic carbon. Total phosphorus (TP), a limiting nutrient, and water color, a strong light attenuator, influence lake chlorophyll a concentrations (CHL). But,...
FishVis, A regional decision support tool for identifying vulnerabilities of riverine habitat and fishes to climate change in the Great Lakes Region
Jana S. Stewart, S. Alex Covert, Nick J. Estes, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Damon Krueger, Daniel J. Wieferich, Michael T. Slattery, John D. Lyons, James E. McKenna Jr., Dana M. Infante, Jennifer L. Bruce
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5124
Climate change is expected to alter the distributions and community composition of stream fishes in the Great Lakes region in the 21st century, in part as a result of altered hydrological systems (stream temperature, streamflow, and habitat). Resource managers need information and tools to understand where fish species and stream...
Colonial waterbird predation on Lost River and Shortnose suckers in the Upper Klamath Basin
Allen F. Evans, David A. Hewitt, Quinn Payton, Bradley M. Cramer, Ken Collis, Daniel D. Roby
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 1254-1268
We evaluated predation on Lost River Suckers Deltistes luxatus and Shortnose Suckers Chasmistes brevirostris by American white pelicans Pelecanus erythrorhynchos and double-crested cormorants Phalacrocorax auritus nesting at mixed-species colonies in the Upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California during 2009–2014. Predation was evaluated by recovering (detecting) PIT tags from tagged fish...
Through a fish's eye: The status of fish habitats in the United States 2015
Steve Crawford, Gary Whelan, Dana M. Infante, Kristan Blackhart, Wesley M. Daniel, Pam Fuller, Timothy W. Birdsong, Daniel J. Wieferich, Ricardo McClees-Funinan, Susan Stedman, Kyle Herreman, Peter M. Ruhl
2016, Report
This report updates and revises the 2010 “ Status of Fish Habitats in the United States” that summarized initial results of a comprehensive national assessment of aquatic habitats at an unprecedented scale and level of detail. This 2015 report provides even greater detail and improves our knowledge of the condition...
Detecting and inferring cause of change in an Alaska nearshore marine ecosystem
H. A. Coletti, James L. Bodkin, Daniel Monson, Brenda E. Ballachey, T. A. Dean
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Community composition, species abundance, and species distribution are expected to change while monitoring ecosystems over time, and effective management of natural resources requires understanding mechanisms contributing to change. Marine ecosystems in particular can be difficult to monitor, in part due to large, multidimensional spatial scales and complex...
Occurrence and distribution of arsenic and radon in water from private wells in the Rancocas aquifer, southern New Castle and northern Kent Counties, Delaware, 2015
Judith M. Denver
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1143
Water samples were collected and analyzed for arsenic and radon from 36 private, mostly domestic wells that tap the Rancocas aquifer in southern New Castle and northern Kent Counties, Delaware, during the summer of 2015. Both arsenic and radon are from natural mineral sources, in particular glauconitic and other marine-derived...
Thermal regimes, nonnative trout, and their influences on native Bull Trout in the Upper Klamath River Basin, Oregon
Joseph R. Benjamin, Jeannie Heltzel, Jason B. Dunham, Michael Heck, Nolan P. Banish
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 1318-1330
The occurrence of fish species may be strongly influenced by a stream’s thermal regime (magnitude, frequency, variation, and timing). For instance, magnitude and frequency provide information about sublethal temperatures, variability in temperature can affect behavioral thermoregulation and bioenergetics, and timing of thermal events may cue life history events, such as...
Flood inundation maps for the Wabash River at New Harmony, Indiana
Kathleen K. Fowler
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5119
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 3.68-mile reach of the Wabash River extending 1.77 miles upstream and 1.91 miles downstream from streamgage 03378500 at New Harmony, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The flood-inundation maps, which can...
Viability of the Alaskan breeding population of Steller’s eiders
Kylee Dunham, J. Barry Grand
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1084
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is tasked with setting objective and measurable criteria for delisting species or populations listed under the Endangered Species Act. Determining the acceptable threshold for extinction risk for any species or population is a challenging task, particularly when facing marked uncertainty. The Alaskan breeding population...
Evaluating models of population process in a threatened population of Steller’s eiders: A retrospective approach
Kylee Dunham, J. Barry Grand
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1062
The Alaskan breeding population of Steller’s eiders (Polysticta stelleri) was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997 in response to perceived declines in abundance throughout their breeding and nesting range. Aerial surveys suggest the breeding population is small and highly variable in number, with zero birds counted...
Demographic characteristics of an adfluvial bull trout population in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho
Jonathan L McCubbins, Michael J. Hansen, Joseph M DosSantos, Andrew M. Dux
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 1269-1277
Introductions of nonnative species, habitat loss, and stream fragmentation have caused the Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus to decline throughout much of its native distribution. Consequently, in June 1998, the Bull Trout was listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as threatened. The Bull Trout has existed in Lake Pend Oreille and...
Triennial changes in groundwater quality in aquifers used for public supply in California: Utility as indicators of temporal trends
Robert H. Kent, Matthew K. Landon
2016, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (188)
From 2004 to 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey collected samples from 1686 wells across the State of California as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Priority Basin Project (PBP). From 2007 to 2013, 224 of these wells were resampled to assess...
Large-scale changes in bloater growth and condition in Lake Huron
Carson G. Prichard, Edward F. Roseman, Kevin M. Keeler, Timothy P. O’Brien, Stephen C. Riley
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 1241-1251
Native Bloaters Coregonus hoyi have exhibited multiple strong year-classes since 2005 and now are the most abundant benthopelagic offshore prey fish in Lake Huron, following the crash of nonnative AlewivesAlosa pseudoharengus and substantial declines in nonnative Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax. Despite recent recoveries in Bloater abundance, marketable-size (>229 mm) Bloaters...
Atmospheric inputs of organic matter to a forested watershed: Variations from storm to storm over the seasons
Lidiia Iavorivska, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Matthew P. Miller, Michael G. Brown, Terrie Vasilopoulos, Jose D. Fuentes, Christopher J. Duffy
2016, Atmospheric Environment (147) 284-295
The objectives of this study were to determine the quantity and chemical composition of precipitation inputs of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to a forested watershed; and to characterize the associated temporal variability. We sampled most precipitation that occurred from May 2012 through August 2013 at the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone...
High resolution mapping of development in the wildland-urban interface using object based image extraction
Michael D. Caggiano, Wade T. Tinkham, Chad Hoffman, Antony S. Cheng, Todd Hawbaker
2016, Heliyon (2)
The wildland-urban interface (WUI), the area where human development encroaches on undeveloped land, is expanding throughout the western United States resulting in increased wildfire risk to homes and communities. Although census based mapping efforts have provided insights into the pattern of development and expansion of the WUI at regional and...
Household evacuation characteristics in American Samoa during the 2009 Samoa Islands tsunami
Emma J. I. Apatu, Chris E. Gregg, Nathan J. Wood, Liang Wang
2016, Disasters (40) 779-798
Tsunamis represent significant threats to human life and development in coastal communities. This quantitative study examines the influence of household characteristics on evacuation actions taken by 211 respondents in American Samoa who were at their homes during the 29 September 2009 Mw 8.1 Samoa Islands earthquake and tsunami disaster. Multiple...
Mercury and methylmercury in aquatic sediment across western North America
Jacob Fleck, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, Michelle A. Lutz, Michael T. Tate, Charles N. Alpers, Britt D. Hall, David P. Krabbenhoft, Chris S. Eckley
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 727-738
Large-scale assessments are valuable in identifying primary factors controlling total mercury (THg) and monomethyl mercury (MeHg) concentrations, and distribution in aquatic ecosystems. Bed sediment THg and MeHg concentrations were compiled for > 16,000 samples collected from aquatic habitats throughout the West between 1965 and 2013. The influence of aquatic feature type...
