Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

The Benthic Community Of The Eastern Us Continental Shelf: A Literature Synopsis Of Benthic Faunal Resources, R. Allen Brooks, Carla N. Purdy, Susan S. Bell, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The existing scientific literature on offshore benthic assemblages (OBA) residing along the US East and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf was reviewed. Identification was made of any associations between the dominant OBA and particular sediment types and/or bathymetry. Of special interest was the evaluation of reported effects of sand dredge/mining activities on the dominant OBA and recognition of data deficiencies. One hundred and twenty-two references were selected and classified as to type of study with pertinent results extracted. Polychaetes were predominantly cited as the principal infaunal taxa present in studies from both the Gulf of Mexico and US Atlantic coast. …

Prevailing Weather Conditions During Summer Seasons Around Gangotri Glacier, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, K. S. Ramasastri, Naresh Kumar

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Meteorological data collected near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier suggest that the study area receives less rainfall. The average seasonal rainfall is observed to be about 260 mm. The rainfall distribution does not show any monsoon impact. Amount of seasonal rainfall is highly variable (131.4-368.8 mm) from year to year, but, in general, August had the maximum rainfall. A verage daily maximum and minimum temperatures were 14.7 and 4.1°C respectively, whereas average mean temperature was 9.4°C. July was recorded as the warmest month. During daytime, wind speed was four times higher than that at night-time. The average daytime and …

Auditory Brainstem Responses In The Eastern Screech Owl: An Estimate Of Auditory Thresholds, Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell, Bernard Lohr, Dana L. Hahn, Robert J. Dooling

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The auditory brainstem response (ABR), a measure of neural synchrony, was used to estimate auditory sensitivity in the eastern screech owl (Megascops asio). The typical screech owl ABR waveform showed two to three prominent peaks occurring within 5 ms of stimulus onset. As sound pressure levels increased, the ABR peak amplitude increased and latency decreased. With an increasing stimulus presentation rate, ABR peak amplitude decreased and latency increased. Generally, changes in the ABR waveform to stimulus intensity and repetition rate are consistent with the pattern found in several avian families. The ABR audiogram shows that screech owls hear best between …

Taxonomic Relationships Among Phenacomys Voles As Inferred By Cytochrome B, M. Renee Bellinger, Susan M. Haig, Eric D. Forsman, Thomas D. Mullins

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Taxonomic relationships among red tree voles (Phenacomys longicaudus longicaudus, P. l. silvicola), the Sonoma tree vole (P. pomo), the white-footed vole (P. albipes), and the heather vole (P. intermedius) were examined using 664 base pairs of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Results indicate specific differences among red tree voles, Sonoma tree voles, white-footed voles, and heather voles, but no clear difference between the 2 Oregon subspecies of red tree voles (P. l. longicaudus and P. l. silvicola). Our data further indicated a close relationship between tree voles and albipes, …

Comparison Of Individual And Pooled Sampling Methods For Detecting Bacterial Pathogens Of Fish, Sonia Mumford, Chris Patterson, Joy Evered, Ray Brunson, Jay Levine, Jim Winton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Examination of finfish populations for viral and bacterial pathogens is an important component of fish disease control programs worldwide. Two methods are commonly used for collecting tissue samples for bacteriological culture, the currently accepted standards for detection of bacterial fish pathogens. The method specified in the Office International des Epizooties Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals permits combining renal and splenic tissues from as many as 5 fish into pooled samples. The American Fisheries Society (AFS) Blue Book/US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Inspection Manual specifies the use of a bacteriological loop for collecting samples from the kidney of …

Auditory Brainstem Responses In The Eastern Screech Owl: An Estimate Of Auditory Thresholds, Elizabeth F. Brittan-Powell, Bernard Lohr, D. Caldwell Hahn, Robert J. Dooling

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The auditory brainstem response (ABR), a measure of neural synchrony, was used to estimate auditory sensitivity in the eastern screech owl (Megascops asio). The typical screech owl ABR waveform showed two to three prominent peaks occurring within 5 ms of stimulus onset. As sound pressure levels increased, the ABR peak amplitude increased and latency decreased. With an increasing stimulus presentation rate, ABR peak amplitude decreased and latency increased. Generally, changes in the ABR waveform to stimulus intensity and repetition rate are consistent with the pattern found in several avian families. The ABR audiogram shows that screech owls hear best between …

High Dispersal In A Frog Species Suggest That It Is Vulnerable To Habitat Fragmentation, W. Chris Funk, Allison E. Greene, Paul Stephen Corn, Fred W. Allendorf

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Global losses of amphibian populations are a major conservation concern and have generated substantial debate over their causes. Habitat fragmentation is considered one important cause of amphibian decline. However, if fragmentation is to be invoked as a mechanism of amphibian decline, it must first be established that dispersal is prevalent among contiguous amphibian populations using formal movement estimators. In contrast, if dispersal is naturally low in amphibians, fragmentation can be disregarded as a cause of amphibian declines and conservation efforts can be focused elsewhere. We examined dispersal rates in Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) using capture– recapture analysis …

Population Structure Of Columbia Spotted Frogs (Rana Luteiventris) Is Strongly Affected By The Landscape, W. Chris Funk, Michael S. Blouin, Paul Stephen Corn, Bryce A. Maxell, David S. Pilliod, Stephen Amish, Fred W. Allendorf

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Landscape features such as mountains, rivers, and ecological gradients may strongly affect patterns of dispersal and gene flow among populations and thereby shape population dynamics and evolutionary trajectories. The landscape may have a particularly strong effect on patterns of dispersal and gene flow in amphibians because amphibians are thought to have poor dispersal abilities. We examined genetic variation at six microsatellite loci in Columbia spotted frogs (Rana luteiventris) from 28 breeding ponds in western Montana and Idaho, USA, in order to investigate the effects of landscape structure on patterns of gene flow. We were particularly interested in addressing …

Late-Holocene Flooding And Drought In The Northern Great Plains, Usa, Reconstructed From Tree Rings, Lake Sediments And Ancient Shorelines, M. D. Shapley, W. C. Johnson, D. R. Engstrom, W. R. Osterkamp

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

During the AD 1990s the Waubay Lakes complex in eastern South Dakota experienced historically unprecedented high water levels. Property damage from this flooding led to an examination of the occurrence of past pluvial episodes and their relation to climate. A lOOO-year hydroclimate reconstruction was developed from local bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) tree-ring records and lake-sediment cores. Analysis of lake shoreline and drainage features provides late-Quaternary geomorphic context for this high-resolution record. Tree-ring width and shell geochemistry of the ostracode Candona rawsoni show marked coherence, indicating synchronous responses to moisture balance in vegetation and lake salinity; geomorphic evidence …

Mesopredator Movement, Abundance, And Habitat Selection In The Rainwater Basins Of Nebraska, Christina J. Kocer

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Offshore Breakwater Structures In A Eutrophic Midwestern Reservoir, Larry D. Pape

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

National Water Quality Inventory: Report To Congress 2004 Reporting Cycle

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Table of Contents

Section Page

List of Figures.............................................................................................................................iv List of Tables...............................................................................................................................iv List of Acronyms..........................................................................................................................v Executive Summary..........................................................................................................................1

I. Background...................................................................................................................5

About the Water Quality Assessment and TMDL Information Database (ATTAINS)..........................................................................................................................5

Assessing Water Quality................................................................................................................................7

II. Findings.......................................................................................................................13 Rivers and Streams...........................................................................................................................13 Lakes, Ponds, and Reservoirs.......................................................................................................................16

Bays and Estuaries.........................................................................................................................20 Other Waters..............................................................................................................................23 Coastal Resources.......................................................................................................................23

Great Lakes.....................................................................................................................24 Wetlands..........................................................................................................................24

III. Probability Surveys of Water Quality.......................................................................26

National Coastal Assessment....................................................................................26

The Wadeable Streams Assessment.......................................................................27

Survey of the Nation’s Lakes.......................................................................................29

National Rivers and Streams Assessment.............................................................30

National Wetland Condition Assessment...............................................................30

State-Scale Statistical Surveys..................................................................................31

South Carolina..............................................................................................................32 Indiana............................................................................................................................33 Florida.............................................................................................................................34 IV. Future Reporting......................................................................................................36

V. References………………………………………………………………………….37

An Association Of Benthic Foraminifera And Gypsum In Holocene Sediments Of Estuarine Chesapeake Bay, Usa, John Cann, Thomas Cronin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Two cores of Holocene sediments recovered from the Cape Charles Channel of Chesapeake Bay yielded radiocarbon ages of about 6.8 to 5.8 ka for the lower intervals. Fossil foraminifera preserved in these lower sediments are dominated by species of Elphidium, which make up about 90% of the assemblage throughout, and probably signify deposition in hypersaline waters. Buccella frigida and Ammonia beccarii are the only other species commonly present. Hypersalinity of bottom waters seems to have been maintained by water-density stratification in a basin-like section of the channel. In core PTXT -4-P-I transition to modem Chesapeake conditions, in which numbers …

Grassland Vegetation And Bird Communities In The Southern Great Plains Of North America, Robert N. Chapman, David M. Engle, Ronald E. Masters, David M. Leslie Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Structure and composition of vegetation and abundance of breeding birds in grasslands seeded to Old World bluestem (Bothriochloa ischmaeum) were compared to native mixed prairie in the southern Great Plains of North America. Abundance of birds was determined using fixed-radius point counts. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to compare plant community composition and canonical correspondence analysis was used to examine the relationships between plant species composition and vegetation structure with the bird community. Plant species composition differed distinctly between seeded grassland and native mixed prairie, but the differences were not reflected in habitat structure, bird community composition, or …

Radiocarbon Date List X: Baffin Bay, Baffin Island, Iceland, Labrador Sea, And The Northern North Atlantic, J.T. Andrews, J.P. Briner, D.C. Barber, I.S. Castaneda, T.A. Cooper, G. Dunhill, S. Hagen, M. Hald, F.R. Hall, E. James, A.E. Jennings, N. Koc, G.B Kristjansdottir, Sarah M. Principato, L.M. Smith, T. Vorren, N. Weiner, K. Williams

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Date List X contains an annotated listing of 213 radiocarbon dates determined on samples from marine and terrestrial environments. The marine samples were collected from the East Greenland, Iceland, Spitzbergen, and Norwegian margins, Baffin Bay, and Labrador Sea. The terrestrial samples were collected from Vestfirdir, Iceland and Baffin Island. The samples were submitted by INSTAAR and researchers affiliated with INSTAAR's Micropaleontology Laboratory under the direction of Dr.’s John T. Andrews and Anne E. Jennings. All of the dates from marine sediment cores were determined from either shells or foraminifera (both benthic and planktic). All dates were obtained by the Accelerator …

Mudfish On The Menu? Rise Of The Much-Maligned Bowfin, Ken Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Cajuns call it “choupique” (say “shoe-pick”), from its Choctaw name. Elsewhere, it’s the dogfish, blackfish, grindle, cottonfish, or cypress trout. Its official common name is “Bowfin” (Amia calva)1. But to most anglers, this is the “mudfish,” a strange, unusual, and much-maligned fish, most everywhere considered a useless trash fish. One look and the words relict, prehistoric, primitive, and living fossil come to mind. Indeed, the bowfin is the last of its line, the sole-surviving species of a very ancient group of fishes. Its predecessors flourished in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods during the Mesozoic (= Middle-Animal) Era, a …

Sources Of Ancient Maize Found In Chacoan Great Houses, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Between the 9th and 12th centuries A.D., Chaco Canyon, located near the middle of the high-desert San Juan Basin of north-central New Mexico (fig. 1), was the focus of an unprecedented construction effort by pre-Columbian Native Americans. It has been estimated that from 2,000 to 6,000 people occupied Chaco Canyon during its heyday (Windes, 1984; Drager, 1976). One indication of Chaco’s regional importance is a network of roads that linked Chaco Canyon with other great houses and communities spread throughout a region covering at least 60,000 km2 (fig. 2). At the height of its cultural florescence in the 11th century, …

Genetic Identification Of Spotted Owls, Barred Owls, And Their Hybrids: Legal Implications Of Hybrid Identity, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins, Eric D. Forsman, Pepper W. Trail, Liv Wennerberg

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Recent population expansion of Barred Owls (Strix varia) into western North America has led to concern that they may compete with and further harm the Northern Spotted Owl (S. occidentalis caurina), which is already listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Because they hybridize, there is a legal need under the ESA for forensic identification of both species and their hybrids. We used mitochondrial control-region DNA and amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses to assess maternal and biparental gene flow in this hybridization process. Mitochondrial DNA sequences (524 base pairs) indicated large divergence between …

Subspecific Relationships And Genetic Structure In The Spotted Owl, Susan M. Haig, Thomas D. Mullins, Eric D. Forsman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Hierarchical genetic structure was examined in the three geographically-defined subspecies of spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) to define relationships among subspecies and quantify variation within and among regional and local populations. Sequences (522 bp) from domains I and II of the mitochondrial control region were analyzed for 213 individuals from 30 local breeding areas. Results confirmed significant differences between northern spotted owls and the other traditional geographically defined subspecies but did not provide support for subspecific level differences between California and Mexican spotted owls. Divergence times among subspecies estimated with a 936 bp portion of the cytochrome b gene …

A Holocene Pollen Record Of Persistent Droughts From Pyramid Lake, Nevada, Usa, Scott A. Mensing, Larry Benson, Michaele Kashgarian, Steve Lund

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Pollen and algae microfossils preserved in sediments from Pyramid Lake, Nevada, provide evidence for periods of persistent drought during the Holocene age. We analyzed one hundred nineteen 1-cm-thick samples for pollen and algae from a set of cores that span the past 7630 years. The early middle Holocene, 7600 to 6300 cal yr B.P., was found to be the driest period, although it included one short but intense wet phase. We suggest that Lake Tahoe was below its rim for most of this period, greatly reducing the volume and depth of Pyramid Lake. Middle Holocene aridity eased between 5000 and …

Quaternary Sea-Level History Of The United States, Daniel R. Muhs, John F. Wehmiller, Kathleen R. Simmons, Linda L. York

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In the past 30 years, there have been tremendous advances in our understanding of Quaternary sea-level history, due directly to developments in Quaternary dating methods, particularly uranium-series disequilibrium and amino acid racemization. Another reason for this progress is that coastline history can now be tied to the oxygen-isotope record of foraminifera in deep-sea cores. Furthermore, both records have been linked to climate change on the scale of glacial-interglacial cycles that are thought to be forced by changes in Earth-Sun geometry, or “orbital forcing” (Milankovitch, 1941).

Leaf And Wood Utilization In The Middle Missouri River, Kim Rager

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Sorption Of Phosphorus By Soils : How It Is Measured In Western Australia, Michael D A Bolland, D G. Allen, N J. Barrow

Bulletins 4000 -

Most soils used for agriculture in Western Australia had insufficient indigenous native phosphorus P for the introduced agricultural plant species used in the region so fertiliser P had to be applied. This bulletin covers how water-soluble P WSP fertilisers are made, and how the P in the fertilisers dissolves and reacts with soil in the year of application and in the years after application, how soils sorb P and procedures and soil tests used to estimate the capacity of soils to sorb P.

Ancient Maize From Chacoan Great Houses: Where Was It Grown?, Larry Benson, Linda Cordell, Kirk Vincent, Howard E. Taylor, John Stein, G. Lang Farmer, U.S. Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In this article, we compare chemical (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and elemental) analyses of archaeological maize from dated contexts within Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to potential agricultural sites on the periphery of the San Juan Basin. The oldest maize analyzed from Pueblo Bonito probably was grown in an area located 80 km to the west at the base of the Chuska Mountains. The youngest maize came from the San Juan or Animas river floodplains 90 km to the north. This article demonstrates that maize, a dietary staple of southwestern Native Americans, was transported over considerable distances in …

Applications Of Remote Sensing And Gis To The Studies Of Groundwater–Lake Interactions In The Nebraska Sandhills, Evgueni N. Tcherepanov

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Movements And Habitat Use By Shovelnose And Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Platte River, Nebraska, Benjamin D. Swigle

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

No abstract provided.

Mid-Holocene Climates Of The Americas: A Dynamical Response To Changed Seasonality, S. P. Harrison, J. E. Kutzbach, Z. Liu, P. J. Bartlein, B. Otto-Bliesner, Daniel R. Muhs, I. C. Prentice, R. S. Thompson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Abstract Simulations of the climatic response to mid- Holocene (6 ka BP) orbital forcing with two coupled ocean–atmosphere models (FOAM and CSM) show enhancement of monsoonal precipitation in parts of the American Southwest, Central America and northernmost South America during Northern Hemisphere summer. The enhanced onshore flow that brings precipitation into Central America is caused by a northward displacement of the inter-tropical convergence zone, driven by cooling of the equatorial and warming of the northern subtropical and mid-latitude ocean. Ocean feedbacks also enhance precipitation over the American Southwest, although the increase in monsoon precipitation there is largely driven by increases …

Late-Holocene Climate And Ecosystem History From Chesapeake Bay Sediment Cores, Usa, Debra A. Willard, Thomas M. Cronin, Stacey Verardo

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Palaeoclimate records from late-Holocene sediments in Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the USA, provide evidence that both decadal to centennial climate variability and European colonization had severe impacts on the watershed and estuary. Using pollen and dinoflagellate cysts as proxies for mid-Atlantic regional precipitation, estuarine salinity and dissolved oxygen (DO) during the last 2300 years, we identified four dry intervals, centred on ad 50 (P1/D1), ad 1000 (P2/D2), ad 1400 (P3) and ad 1600 (P4). Two centennial-scale events, P1/D1 and P2/D2, altered forest composition and led to increased salinity and DO levels in the estuary. Intervals P3 and P4 …

Democratizing Science, Management, And Public Policy In The Missouri River Ecosystem: A Pilot Study Of Agricultural Producers' Amenability To Adaptive And Collaborative Management, Meghan Sittler

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Agricultural stakeholder involvement is central to the National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) National Research Council (NRC)(2002) recommendation for development and implementation of adaptive, ecosystem management principles, as well as the definition of a new management regime for the Missouri River. This document represents a pilot study of fifteen agricultural producers in three counties, Atchison County, Missouri, Fremont County, Iowa, and Otoe County, Nebraska, who were contacted via telephone and completed structured interviews. The interview questions centered upon the producers' relationship to the river, perceptions of the current management of the river, and willingness to support and participate in a proposed …

Calibration Of Remotely Sensed, Coarse Resolution Ndvi To Co2 Fluxes In A Sagebrush–Steppe Ecosystem, Bruce K. Wylie, Douglas A. Johnson, Emilio Laca, Nicanor Z. Saliendra, Tagir G. Gilmanov, Bradley C. Reed, Larry L. Tieszen, Bruce B. Worstell

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon flux can be partitioned into gross primary productivity (GPP) and respiration (R). The contribution of remote sensing and modeling holds the potential to predict these components and map them spatially and temporally. This has obvious utility to quantify carbon sink and source relationships and to identify improved land management strategies for optimizing carbon sequestration. The objective of our study was to evaluate prediction of 14-day average daytime CO₂ fluxes ( F_day) and nighttime CO₂ fluxes (R_n) using remote sensing and other data. F_{day …}