Earth Sciences Commons^™

Retrospective: Adjusting Contaminant Concentrations In Bird Eggs To Account For Moisture And Lipid Loss During Their Incubation, Barnett A. Rattner, Stanley N. Wiemeyer, Lawrence J. Blus

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

By the 1960s, research and monitoring efforts on chlorinated

pesticide residues in tissues of wildlife were well

underway in North America and Europe. Conservationists

and natural resource managers were attempting to resolve

whether pesticide exposure and accumulated residues were

related to population declines in several species of predatory

and scavenging birds (e.g., bald eagle Haliaeetus

leucocephalus, peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus, brown

pelican Pelecanus occidentalis and osprey Pandion haliaetus).

The avian egg was a favored sampling matrix even

before the realization that eggshell thinning was linked to

population declines (Ratcliffe 1967; Hickey and Anderson

1968) and that the …

Bioaccessibility Tests Accurately Estimate Bioavailability Of Lead To Quail, W. Nelson Beyer, Nicholas T. Basta, Rufus L. Chaney, Paula F.P. Henry, David E. Mosby, Barnett A. Rattner, Kirk G. Scheckel, Daniel T. Sprague, John S. Weber

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hazards of soil-borne lead (Pb) to wild birds may be more accurately quantified if the bioavailability of that Pb is known. To better understand the bioavailability of Pb to birds, the authors measured blood Pb concentrations in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) fed diets containing Pb-contaminated soils. Relative bioavailabilities were expressed by comparison with blood Pb concentrations in quail fed a Pb acetate reference diet. Diets containing soil from 5 Pb-contaminated Superfund sites had relative bioavailabilities from 33% to 63%, with a mean of approximately 50%. Treatment of 2 of the soils with phosphorus (P) significantly reduced the bioavailability …

Component Greenhouse Gas Fluxes And Radiative Balance From Two Deltaic Marshes In Louisiana: Pairing Chamber Techniques And Eddy Covariance, Ken W. Krauss, Guerry O. Holm Jr., Brian C. Perez, David E. Mcwhorter, Nicole Cormier, Rebecca F. Moss, Darren J. Johnson, Scott C. Neubauer, Richard C. Raynie

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Coastal marshes take up atmospheric CO₂ while emitting CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O. This ability to sequester carbon (C) is much greater for wetlands on a per area basis than from most ecosystems, facilitating scientific, political, and economic interest in their value as greenhouse gas sinks. However, the greenhouse gas balance of Gulf of Mexico wetlands is particularly understudied. We describe the net ecosystem exchange (NEE_c) of CO₂ and CH₄ using eddy covariance (EC) in comparison with fluxes of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O using …

Mapping Marginal Croplands Suitable For Cellulosic Feedstock Crops In The Great Plains, United States, Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) for biofuel is more environmentally sustainable than cornbased 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 of this study was to identify high-risk marginal croplands that are potentially suitable for growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) in the US Great Plains (GP). Satellitederived growing season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, a switchgrass biomass productivity map obtained from a previous study, US Geological Survey (USGS) irrigation and crop …

Elevation Dynamics In A Restored Versus A Submerging Salt Marsh In Long Island Sound, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Troy D. Hill, Daonald R. Cahoon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) poses the threat of salt marsh submergence, especially in marshes that are relatively low-lying. At the same time, restoration efforts are producing new low-lying marshes, many of which are thriving and avoiding submergence. To understand the causes of these different fates, we studied two Long Island Sound marshes: one that is experiencing submergence and mudflat expansion, and one that is undergoing successful restoration. We examined sedimentation using a variety of methods, each of which captures different time periods and different aspects of marsh elevation change: surface-elevation tables, marker horizons, sediment cores, and sediment traps. We also …

Processes Contributing To Resilience Of Coastal Wetlands To Sea-Level Rise, Camille L. Stagg, Ken W. Krauss, Donald R. Cahoon, Nicole Cormier, William H. Conner, Christopher M. Swarzenski

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The objectives of this study were to identify processes that contribute to resilience of coastal wetlands subject to rising sea levels and to determine whether the relative contribution of these processes varies across different wetland community types. We assessed the resilience of wetlands to sea-level rise along a transitional gradient from tidal freshwater forested wetland (TFFW) to marsh by measuring processes controlling wetland elevation. We found that, over 5 years of measurement, TFFWs were resilient, although some marginally, and oligohaline marshes exhibited robust resilience to sea-level rise. We identified fundamental differences in how resilience is maintained across wetland community types, …

A Personal Perspective On Searching For The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: A 41-Year Quest, Paul W. Sykes Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

I first learned about the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) in Laurel, MD, while attending high school in the mid-1950s. Patuxent wildlife biologists Brooke Meanley, Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins, and Robert (Bob) E. Stewart, Sr., visited me at my parents’ home in Norfolk, VA. I was the compiler of the Norfolk County Christmas Bird Count (which included the eastern portion of the Virginia sector of the Dismal Swamp). As part of that count, we had for several years been estimating populations of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) in the millions. Patuxent was …

Conserving California Condors In The 1980s, Noel F.R. Snyder

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

By the late 1970s, the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) was in serious trouble, with probably no more than about 30 birds left in existence, all in a mountainous region just north of Los Angeles that is vegetated mainly in chaparral and grasslands. All estimates of population size and trends offered since the early condor studies by Carl Koford in the 1930s and 1940s indicated a continuing decline toward extinction, and it appeared that few years were left before the species would be gone (see Koford, 1953; Wilbur, 1978). Evidently, the conservation steps that had been taken, including the …

Patuxent’S Role In The Development Of The North American Breeding Bird Survey, John R. Sauer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a roadside survey of the breeding birds of North America. The BBS provides data from the contiguous United States, Alaska, southern and central Canada, and northern Mexico. Begun in 1966 by Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent), and now jointly managed by Patuxent, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Mexican Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, the survey is conducted primarily in June along more than 5,000 roadside survey routes that are surveyed once each year. Volunteer observers drive the 39.4-kilometer …

Patuxent’S Long-Term Research On Wolves, David L. Mech

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was one of the first species placed on the Endangered Species List in 1967. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 legally protected the wolf along with other listed species. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) in Laurel, MD, began its Endangered Wildlife Program in 1966, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologist Ray Erickson was assigned to lead it. In 1973, I was transferred to the program from Region 3 of the USFWS, having been employed there since 1969 to study wolves in Minnesota. Endangered Species Act protection of the wolf fostered its …

The Migratory Bird And Habitat Research Laboratory And The Accelerated Research Program, Richard A. Coon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (Patuxent) housed two important programs that were not supervised through the office of the Director of Patuxent during the 1960s and 1970s. Although they received administrative support from Patuxent, they were supervised from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. One, the Migratory Bird Populations Station (MBPS), was established in 1961; the other, the Migratory Bird and Habitat Research Laboratory (MBHRL), was established in 1972 (Perry, 2004). This chapter briefly discusses MBPS and how some of its functions were transferred to MBHRL when this new laboratory was created.

A Spatio-Temporal Comparison Of Avian Migration Phenology Using Citizen Science Data, Ali Arab, Jason R. Courter, Jessica Zelt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The effects of climate change have wide-ranging impacts on wildlife species and recent studies indicate that birds’ spring arrival dates are advancing in response to changes in global climates. In this paper, we propose a spatio-temporal approach for comparing avian first arrival data for multiple species. As an example, we analyze spring arrival data for two long-distance migrants (Rubythroated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris; and Purple Martin Progne subis) in eastern North America from 2001–2010 using Citizen Science data. The proposed approach provides researchers with a tool to compare mean arrival dates while accounting for spatial and temporal variability. Our results show …

In-Air Hearing Of A Diving Duck: A Comparison Of Psychoacoustic And Auditory Brainstem Response Thresholds, Sara E. Crowell, Alicia M. Wells-Berlin, Ronald E. Therrien, Sally E. Yannuzzi, Catherine E. Carr

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Auditory sensitivity was measured in a species of diving duck that is not often kept in captivity, the lesser scaup. Behavioral (psychoacoustics) and electrophysiological [the auditory brainstem response (ABR)] methods were used to measure in-air auditory sensitivity, and the resulting audiograms were compared. Both approaches yielded audiograms with similar U-shapes and regions of greatest sensitivity (2000-3000 Hz). However, ABR thresholds were higher than psychoacoustic thresholds at all frequencies. This difference was least at the highest frequency tested using both methods (5700 Hz) and greatest at 1000 Hz, where the ABR threshold was 26.8 dB higher than the behavioral measure of …

Amino Acid Specific Stable Nitrogen Isotope Values In Avian Tissues: Insights From Captive American Kestrels And Wild Herring Gulls, C.E. Hebert, B.N. Popp, K.J. Fernie, C. Ka’Apu-Lyons, B.A. Rattner, N. Wallsgrove

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Through laboratory and field studies, the utility of amino acid compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis (AA-CSIA) in avian studies is investigated. Captive American kestrels (Falco sparverius) were fed an isotopically characterized diet and patterns in δ15N values of amino acids (AAs) were compared to those in their tissues (muscle and red blood cells) and food. Based upon nitrogen isotope discrimination between diet and kestrel tissues, AAs could mostly be categorized as source AAs (retaining baseline δ15N values) and trophic AAs (showing 15N enrichment). Trophic discrimination factors based upon the source (phenylalanine, Phe) and trophic (glutamic acid, Glu) AAs were 4.1 (muscle) …

Phosphorus Retention In A Lowland Neotropical Stream Following An Eight-Year Enrichment Experiment, Gaston E. Small, Marcelo Ardón, John H. Duff, Alan P. Jackman, Alonso Ramírez, Frank J. Triska, Catherine M. Pringle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Human alteration of the global P cycle has led to widespread P loading in freshwater ecosystems. Much research has been devoted to the capacity of wetlands and lakes to serve as long-term sinks for P inputs from the watershed, but we know much less about the potential of headwater streams to serve in this role. We assessed storage and retention of P in biotic and abiotic compartments after an 8-y experimental P addition to a 1st-order stream in a Neotropical wet forest. Sediment P extractions indicated that nearly all P storage was in the form of Fe- and Al-bound P …

Pranked By Audubon: Constantine S. Rafinesque’S Description Of John James Audubon’S Imaginary Kentucky Mammals, Neal Woodman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The North American naturalist Constantine S. Rafinesque spent much of the year 1818 engaged in a solo journey down the Ohio River Valley to explore parts of what was then the western United States. Along the way, he visited a number of fellow naturalists, and he spent more than a week at the Henderson, Kentucky, home of artist and ornithologist John James Audubon. During the succeeding two years, Rafinesque published descriptions of new species that resulted from his expedition, including eleven species of fishes that eventually proved to have been invented by Audubon as a prank on the credulous naturalist. …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 22, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for December 22, 2015 (12/22/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 15, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 15, 2015 (12/15/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 24, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for November 24, 2015 (11/24/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 17, 2015, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for November 17, 2015 (11/17/15) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during thepast 52 weeks (line graph) for corn, soybeans, hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 10, 2015, Richard Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 10, 2015 (11/10/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, November 3, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 3, 2015 (11/3/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

8000 Years Of Environmental Evolution Of Barrier–Lagoon Systems Emplaced In Coastal Embayments (Nw Iberia), Rita González-Villanueva, Marta Pérez-Arlucea, Susana Costas, Roberto Bao, Xose L. Otero, Ronald J. Goble

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The rocky and indented coast of NW Iberia is characterized by the presence of highly valuable and vulnerable, small and shallow barrier– lagoon systems structurally controlled. The case study was selected to analyse barrier–lagoon evolution based on detailed sedimentary architecture, chronology, geochemical and biological proxies. The main objective is to test the hypothesis of structural control and the significance at regional scale of any highenergy event recorded. This work is also aimed at identifying general patterns and conceptualizing the formation and evolution of this type of coastal systems. The results allowed us to establish a conceptual model of Holocene evolution …

Impact Of Natural Organic Matter On Particle Behavior And Phototoxicity Of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles, Shibin Li, Hongbo Ma, Lindsay K. Wallis, Matthew A. Etterson, Benjamin Riley, Dale J. Hoff, Stephen A. Diamond

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Due to their inherent phototoxicity and inevitable environmental release, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano- TiO₂) are increasingly studied in the field of aquatic toxicology. One of the particular interests is the interactions between nano-TiO₂ and natural organic matter (NOM). In this study, a series of experiments was conducted to study the impacts of Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM) on phototoxicity and particle behaviors of nano-TiO₂. For Daphnia magna, after the addition of 5 mg/L SRNOM, LC50 value decreased significantly from 1.03 (0.89–1.20) mg/L to 0.26 (0.22–0.31) mg/L. For zebrafish larvae, phototoxic LC50 values were …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 27, 2015, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 27, 2015 (10/27/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

The Vulnerability Of Indo-Pacific Mangrove Forests To Sea-Level Rise, Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Daniel A. Friess, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Ken W. Krauss, Ruth Reef, Kerrylee Rogers, Megan L. Saunders, Frida Sidik, Andrew Swales, Neil Saintilan, Le Xuan Thuyen, Tran Triet

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Sea-level rise can threaten the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and valuable ecosystems such as coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves^1,2. Mangrove forests have the capacity to keep pace with sea-level rise and to avoid inundation through vertical accretion of sediments, which allows them to maintain wetland soil elevations suitable for plant growth³. The Indo- Pacific region holds most of the world’s mangrove forests⁴, but sediment delivery in this region is declining, owing to anthropogenic activities such as damming of rivers⁵. This decline is of particular concern because the Indo-Pacific region is …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 20, 2015, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 20, 2015 (10/20/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Cars And Karst: Investigating The National Corvette Museum Sinkhole, Jason S. Polk, Leslie North, Ric Federico, Brian Ham, Dan Nedvidek, Kegan Mcclanahan, Pat Kambesis, Mike Marasa

Sinkhole Conference 2015

On February 12th, 2014, a sinkhole occurred at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The collapse happened inside part of the building known as the Skydome and eight Corvettes on display were lost into the void that opened in the concrete floor. In this region of Kentucky, known as the Pennyroyal sinkhole plain, subsidence and cover collapse sinkholes are commonly found throughout the landscape. This iconic karst region in the United States is also home to Mammoth Cave, the longest cave in the world, and thousands of other caves and karst features. Investigation of the sinkhole collapse began …

Finding Springs In The File Cabinet, Mason Johnson, Ashley Ignatius

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), in partnership with other agencies, is currently undertaking comprehensive sub-basin assessments statewide over a ten-year period. Southeast Minnesota has over 17,500 kilometers of perennial and intermittent streams, making the task of comprehensive sub-basin assessment challenging; the task is further complicated by karst geology. In the summer of 2014, a pilot project began between the MPCA and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to digitally preserve paper documents which capture qualitative and quantitative data about the hydrology, water chemistry, geomorphology, biology, land use and karst features of southeast Minnesota streams. The paper documents in file …

U.S. Drought Monitor, October 13, 2015, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for October 13, 2015 (10/13/15) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Corn, Soybeans, Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.