Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Estimating Relative Sea-Level Rise And Submergence Potential At A Coastal Wetland, Donald R. Cahoon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A tide gauge records a combined signal of the vertical change (positive or negative) in the level of both the sea and the land to which the gauge is affixed; or relative sealevel change, which is typically referred to as relative sea-level rise (RSLR). Complicating this situation, coastal wetlands exhibit dynamic surface elevation change (both positive and negative), as revealed by surface elevation table (SET) measurements, that is not recorded at tide gauges. Because the usefulness of RSLR is in the ability to tie the change in sea level to the local topography, it is important that RSLR be calculated …

Drougthscape, Winter 2015, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Contents

Director’s report

Central U.S. 2012 report

October-December drought summary

2014 drought summary

Caribbean capacity building

Drought impacts in 2014

California timeline 2014

UC Davis ranching workshop

NASA SMAP data

Global drought info system

Community Capitals

Evaluation and assessment

Indicator-impact research

NDMC on YouTube

Global Change And Conservation Triage On National Wildlife Refuges, Fred Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, Gerard Mcmahon, Raye Nilius, Michael R. Bryant, Dave Case, Julien Martin, Nathan J. Wood, Laura Taylor

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while at the same time facing tighter budgets and reduced staff. We engaged in workshops with NWR managers along the U.S. Atlantic coast to understand the problems they face from global-change processes and began a multidisciplinary collaboration to use decision science to help address them. We are applying a values-focused approach to …

The Prairie Post Quarterly Newsletter Of The High Plains Regional Climate Center- January 2015, Martha Shulski, Natalie Umphlett, Bill Sorensen, Crystal J. Stiles

Prairie Post: Quarterly Newsletter of the High Plains Regional Climate Center

Inside this issue:

Message from the director........................................1

Stakeholder engagement activities......................................2

AWDN news...............................3

Marketing efforts.....................3

Climate services and information................................4

Product highlight....................5

Outreach events and research highlights.................5

Recent and upcoming travel and activities.............................6

Sea Level And Turbidity Controls On Mangrove Soil Surface Elevation Change, Catherine E. Lovelock, Maria Fernanda Adame, Vicki Bennion, Matthew Hayes, Ruth Reef, Nadia Santini, Donald R. Cahoon

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Increases in sea level are a threat to seaward fringing mangrove forests if levels of inundation exceed the physiological tolerance of the trees; however, tidal wetlands can keep pace with sea level rise if soil surface elevations can increase at the same pace as sea level rise. Sediment accretion on the soil surface and belowground production of roots are proposed to increase with increasing sea level, enabling intertidal habitats to maintain their position relative to mean sea level, but there are few tests of these predictions in mangrove forests. Here we used variation in sea level and the availability of …

Training Conservation Practitioners To Be Better Decision Makers, Fred Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, James H. Williams, Gitte H. Jensen, Jesper Madsen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Traditional conservation curricula and training typically emphasizes only one part of systematic decision making (i.e., the science), at the expense of preparing conservation practitioners with critical skills in values-setting, working with decision makers and stakeholders, and effective problem framing. In this article we describe how the application of decision science is relevant to conservation problems and suggest how current and future conservation practitioners can be trained to be better decision makers. Though decision-analytic approaches vary considerably, they all involve: (1) properly formulating the decision problem; (2) specifying feasible alternative actions; and (3) selecting criteria for evaluating potential outcomes. Two approaches …

Regional Scale Cropland Carbon Budgets: Evaluating A Geospatial Agricultural Modeling System Using Inventory Data, Xuesong Zhang, Roberto C. Izaurralde, David H. Manowitz, Ritvik Sahajpal, Tristram O. West, Allison M. Thomson, Min Xu, Kaiguang Zhao, Stephen D. Leduc, Jimmy R. Williams

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Accurate quantification and clear understanding of regional scale cropland carbon (C) cycling is critical for designing effective policies and management practices that can contribute toward stabilizing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. However, extrapolating site-scale observations to regional scales represents a major challenge confronting the agricultural modeling community. This study introduces a novel geospatial agricultural modeling system (GAMS) exploring the integration of the mechanistic Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model, spatially-resolved data, surveyed management data, and supercomputing functions for cropland C budgets estimates. This modeling system creates spatiallyexplicit modeling units at a spatial resolution consistent with remotely-sensed crop identification and assigns cropping systems …

At-Grade Stabilization Structure Impact On Surface Water Quality Of An Agricultural Watershed, Kyle R. Minks, Matthew D. Ruark, Birl Lowery, Fred W. Madison, Dennis Frame, Todd D. Stuntebeck, Matthew J. Komiskey, George J. Kraft

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Decades of farming and fertilization of farm land in the unglaciated/Driftless Area (DA) of southwestern Wisconsin have resulted in the build-up of P and to some extent, N, in soils. This build-up, combined with steep topography and upper and lower elevation farming (tiered farming), exacerbates problems associated with runoff and nutrient transport in these landscapes. Use of an at-grade stabilization structure (AGSS) as an additional conservation practice to contour strip cropping and no-tillage, proved to be successful in reducing organic and sediment bound N and P within an agricultural watershed located in the DA. The research site was designed as …

Interactive Effects Of Climate Change With Nutrients, Mercury, And Freshwater Acidification On Key Taxa In The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative Region, Alfred E. Pinkney, Charles T. Driscoll, David C. Evers, Michael J. Hooper, Jeffrey Horan, Jess W. Jones, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Harold G. Marshall, Andrew Milliken, Barnett A. Rattner, John Schmerfeld, Donald W. Sparling

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative LCC (NA LCC) is a public–private partnership that provides information to support conservation decisions that may be affected by global climate change (GCC) and other threats. The NA LCC region extends from southeast Virginia to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Within this region, the US National Climate Assessment documented increases in air temperature, total precipitation, frequency of heavy precipitation events, and rising sea level, and predicted more drastic changes. Here, we synthesize literature on the effects of GCC interacting with selected contaminant, nutrient, and environmental processes to adversely affect natural resources within this region. Using …

Global Change And Conservation Triage On National Wildlife Refuges, Fred Johnson, Mitchell J. Eaton, Gerard Mcmahon, Raye Nilius, Michael R. Bryant, Dave Case, Julien Martin, Nathan Wood, Laura Taylor

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the United States play an important role in the adaptation of social-ecological systems to climate change, land-use change, and other global-change processes. Coastal refuges are already experiencing threats from sea-level rise and other change processes that are largely beyond their ability to influence, while at the same time facing tighter budgets and reduced staff. We engaged in workshops with NWR managers along the U.S. Atlantic coast to understand the problems they face from global-change processes and began a multidisciplinary collaboration to use decision science to help address them. We are applying a values-focused approach to …

A Bird’S- Eye View Of The Usa National Phenology Network: An Off-The-Shelf Monitoring Program, Jherime Kellerman, Caroline A. F. Enquist, Diana L. Humple, Nathaniel E. Seavy, Alyssa Rosemartin, Renée L. Cormier, Lorianne Barnett

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Phenology is central to the biology and ecology of organisms and highly sensitive to climate. Differential responses to climate change are impacting phenological synchrony of inter- acting species, which has been implicated in the decline of migratory birds that rely on seasonal resources. However, few studies explicitly measure phenology of seasonal habitat resources on the breeding and wintering grounds and at stopover sites. While avian monitoring methods are widely standardized, methods of monitoring resource phenology can be highly variable and difficult to integrate. The USA National Phenology Network (USA- NPN) has developed standardized plant and animal phenology protocols and a …

Geologic Map Of The Welcome Quadrangle And An Adjacent Part Of The Wells Quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada, Allen J. Mcgrew, Arthur W. Snoke

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Located in central Elko County, the Welcome and adjacent part of the Wells quadrangles expose a remarkable array of critical relationships for understanding the geologic history of the State of Nevada and the interior of the southwestern U.S. Cordillera. Covering the northern end of the East Humboldt Range and adjacent Clover Valley and Clover Hill, this map includes the northern terminus of the Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt Range metamorphic core complex. The oldest rocks in the State of Nevada (the gneiss complex of Angel Lake), and Nevada’s only exposures of Archean rock, form the core of a multikilometer scale, southward-closing recumbent …

Heavy Metal Uptake By Four Plant Species: Radish, Indian Mustard, Corn, And Soybean., Oluwasogo Bolaji Alonge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Metal contaminated soils are a problem throughout the world. Because metals accumulate in the food chain they have been linked to adverse human and ecosystem health. One promising approach to remediating metal contaminated soils is phytoremediation but success has been limited by an incomplete understanding of the factors that control metal uptake by plants, including the effects when more than one contaminant metal is present in the system. Metal contaminated soil for this study was collected from near Spelter in Harrison County WV, the site of a former zinc smelting site that has contaminated residential soils and stream sediments with …

Fine-Scale Plant Species Identification In A Poor Fen And Integration Of Techniques And Instrumentation In A Classroom Setting, Dylan Schiff

Honors Theses and Capstones

Refining carbon flux measurements in the carbon cycle is an ongoing challenge. This study attempted to identify plant species in Sallie’s Fen, a nutrient-poor fen in Barrington, New Hampshire, at a fine scale in order to better model and understand carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere in this type of ecosystem. A protocol for estimating percent cover of species in plots via ground measurements was developed. The next stage of this project was to compare these measurements with measurements derived from spectral images using ImageJ computer software. Statistical tests of the ground measurement data revealed that patterns of seasonal …

Developing A 30-M Grassland Productivity Estimation Map For Central Nebraska Using 250-M Modis And 30-M Landsat-8 Observations, Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Accurately estimating aboveground vegetation biomass productivity is essential for local ecosystem assessment and best land management practice. Satellite-derived growing season time-integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GSN) has been used as a proxy for vegetation biomass productivity. A 250-m grassland biomass productivity map for the Greater Platte River Basin had been developed based on the relationship between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) GSN and Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) annual grassland productivity. However, the 250-m MODIS grassland biomass productivity map does not capture detailed ecological features (or patterns) andmay result in only generalized estimation of the regional total productivity. Developing a high …

Radiocarbon Dating Of Late Quaternary Sediments Using Fossil Gastropod Shells, Jeffrey S. Pigati, John P. Mcgeehin, Daniel R. Muhs

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Terrestrial gastropods are one of the most successful groups of organisms on Earth. Their distribution includes all continents except Antarctica, and they occupy exceptionally diverse habitats, from marshes and wet meadows to alpine forests and Arctic tundra. Their shells are also commonly preserved in Quaternary deposits and potentially could be used for ¹⁴C dating. However, terrestrial gastropods are known to ingest limestone and incorporate the old carbon in their shells, resulting in apparent ages that are often too old. Recent studies have shown that many small (<1 cm diameter) terrestrial gastropods avoid this “limestone problem” even when living in areas in which carbonate rocks are readily available. However, the shells must also behave as closed systems with respect to carbon if their ages are to be considered reliable. Our latest work has been aimed at testing if small gastropod shells do, in fact, remain closed systems in late Quaternary deposits over a wide array of climate conditions across North America. Our results demonstrate that ages derived from Succineidae shells are identical to wood and charcoal ages in loess in Alaska, glacial deposits in the upper Midwest, loess in the Great Plains, and paleowetlands in the desert southwest. Moreover, Succineidae shell ages routinely fall within permitted limits set by stratigraphic boundaries, require less interpretation than humic acid ages that are commonly used in loess studies, can provide additional stratigraphic coverage to previous dating efforts, and maintain stratigraphic order more often than luminescence ages from the same stratigraphic intervals. Thus, we conclude that fossil Succineidae shells, and shells of a few other small gastropods, can be used for ¹⁴C dating regardless of the local lithology, past climate, or environmental …

Late Quaternary Sea-Level History And The Antiquity Of Mammoths (Mammuthus Exilis And Mammuthus Columbi), Channel Islands National Park, California, Usa, Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, Lindsey T. Groves, John Mcgeehin, R. Randall Schumann, Larry D. Agenbroad

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Fossils of Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) and pygmymammoths (Mammuthus exilis) have been reported from Channel Islands National Park, California. Most date to the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 2), but a tusk of M. exilis (or immature M. columbi) was found in the lowest marine terrace of Santa Rosa Island. Uranium-series dating of corals yielded ages from 83.8 ± 0.6 ka to 78.6 ± 0.5 ka, correlating the terrace withMIS 5.1, a time of relatively high sea level.Mammoths likely immigrated to the islands by swimming during the glacial periodsMIS 6 (~150 ka) orMIS 8 (~250 ka),when sea levelwas …

Sea Level, Paleogeography, And Archeology On California's Northern Channel Islands, Leslie Reeder- Myers, Jon Erlandson, Daniel R. Muhs, Torben Rick

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Sea-level rise during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene inundated nearshore areas in many parts of the world, producing drastic changes in local ecosystems and obscuring significant portions of the archeological record. Although global forces are at play, the effects of sea-level rise are highly localized due to variability in glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) effects. Interpretations of coastal paleoecology and archeology require reliable estimates of ancient shorelines that account for GIA effects. Here we build on previous models for California's Northern Channel Islands, producing more accurate late Pleistocene and Holocene paleogeographic reconstructions adjusted for regional GIA variability. This region has …

Corn Belt Soil Carbon And Macronutrient Budgets With Projected Sustainable Stover Harvest, Zhengxi Tan, Shuguang Liu

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover has been identified as a prime feedstock for biofuel production in the U.S. Corn Belt because of its perceived abundance and availability, but long-term stover harvest effects on regional nutrient budgets have not been evaluated. We defined the minimum stover requirement (MSR) to maintain current soil organic carbon levels and then estimated current and future soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) budgets for various stover harvest scenarios. Analyses for 2006 through 2010 across the entire Corn Belt indicated that currently, 28 Tg or 1.6 Mgha^-1 of stover could be sustainably …

The Distribution Of Selected Elements And Minerals In Soil Of The Conterminous United States, Laurel Woodruff, William F. Cannon, David B. Smith, Federico Solano

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km², 4857 sites) geochemical andmineralogical survey of soil of the conterminous United States as part of the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project. Three soil samples were collected, if possible, from each site; (1) a sample from a depth of 0 to 5 cm, (2) a composite of the soil A-horizon, and (3) a deeper sample from the soil C-horizon or, if the top of the C-horizon was at a depth greater than 100 cm, from a depth of approximately 80–100 cm. The <2 mm fraction of each sample was analysed for a suite of 45 major and trace elements following near-total multi-acid digestion. The major mineralogical components in samples from the soil A- and C-horizons were determined by a quantitative X-ray diffraction method using Rietveld refinement. Sampling ended in 2010 and chemical and mineralogical analyses were completed in May 2013.Maps of the conterminous United States showing predicted element and mineral concentrations were interpolated from actual soil data for each soil sample type by an inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique using ArcGIS software. Regional- and national-scale map patterns for selected elements and minerals apparent in interpolated maps are described here in the context of soil-forming factors and possible human inputs. These patterns can be related to (1) soil parent materials, for example, in the distribution of quartz, (2) climate impacts, for example, in the distribution of feldspar and kaolinite, (3) soil age, for example, in the distribution of carbonate in young glacial deposits, and (4) possible anthropogenic loading of phosphorus (P) and lead (Pb) to surface soil. This new geochemical and mineralogical data set for the conterminous United States represents a major step forward from prior national-scale soil geochemistry data and provides a robust soil data framework for the United States now and into the future.

Toxicity Reference Values For Chlorophacinone And Their Application For Assessing Anticoagulant Rodenticide Risk To Raptors, Barnett A. Rattner, Katherine E. Horak, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Sandra L. Schultz, Susan Knowles, Benjamin G. Abbo, Steven F. Volker

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Despite widespread use and benefit, there are

growing concerns regarding hazards of second-generation

anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target wildlife which

may result in expanded use of first-generation compounds,

including chlorophacinone (CPN). The toxicity of CPN

over a 7-day exposure period was investigated in American

kestrels (Falco sparverius) fed either rat tissue mechanically-

amended with CPN, tissue from rats fed Rozol bait

(biologically-incorporated CPN), or control diets (tissue

from untreated rats or commercial bird of prey diet)

ad libitum. Nominal CPN concentrations in the formulated

diets were 0.15, 0.75 and 1.5 µg/g food wet weight, and

measured concentrations averaged 94 …

Decadal Re-Evaluation Of Contaminant Exposure And Productivity Of Ospreys (Pandion Haliaetus) Nesting In Chesapeake Bay Regions Of Concern, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Barnett A. Rattner, Peter C. Mcgowan, Robert C. Hale, Sandra L. Schultz, Natalie K. Karouna-Renier, Mary Ann Ottinger

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The last large-scale ecotoxicological study of ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) in Chesapeake Bay was conducted in 2000-2001 and focused on U.S. EPA-designated Regions of Concern (ROCs; Baltimore Harbor/ Patapsco, Anacostia/middle Potomac, and Elizabeth Rivers). In 2011-2012, ROCs were re-evaluated to determine spatial and temporal trends in productivity and contaminants. Concentrations of p,p'-DDE were low in eggs and below the threshold associated with eggshell thinning. Eggs from the Anacostia/ middle Potomac Rivers had lower total PCB concentrations in 2011 than in 2000; however, concentrations remained unchanged in Baltimore Harbor. Polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants declined by 40%, and five alternative …

A Simple Web-Based Tool To Compare Freshwater Fish Data Collected Using Afs Standard Methods, Scott A. Bonar, Norman Mercado-Silva, Matt Rahr, Yuta T. Torrey, Averill Cate Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) recently published Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes. Enlisting the expertise of 284 scientists from 107 organizations throughout Canada, Mexico, and the United States, this text was developed to facilitate comparisons of fish data across regions or time. Here we describe a user-friendly web tool that automates among-sample comparisons in individual fish condition, population length-frequency distributions, and catch per unit effort (CPUE) data collected using AFS standard methods. Currently, the web tool (1) provides instantaneous summaries of almost 4,000 data sets of condition, length frequency, and CPUE of common freshwater fishes collected …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 30, 2014, Brad Rippey

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 30, 2014 (12/30/14) 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, December 16, 2014, David Miskus

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 16, 2014 (12/16/14) 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, December 9, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 9, 2014 (12/9/14) 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, December 2, 2014, Anthony Artusa

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 2, 2014 (12/2/14) 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 25, 2014, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 25, 2014 (11/25/14) 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 18, 2014, Eric Luebehusen

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 18, 2014 (11/18/14) 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 11, 2014, Matthew Rosencrans

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for November 11, 2014 (11/11/14) 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.