Adaptive Resource Management And The Value Of Information,
2011
U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Research Units
Adaptive Resource Management And The Value Of Information, Byron K. Williams, Mitchell J. Eaton, David R. Breininger
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The value of information is a general and broadly applicable concept that has been used for several decades to aid in making decisions in the face of uncertainty. Yet there are relatively few examples of its use in ecology and natural resources management, and almost none that are framed in terms of the future impacts of management decisions. In this paper we discuss the value of information in a context of adaptive management, in which actions are taken sequentially over a time frame and both future resource conditions and residual uncertainties about resource responses are taken into account. Our objective …
Estimating Age From Recapture Data: Integrating Incremental Growth Measures With Ancillary Data To Infer Age-At-Length,
2011
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Estimating Age From Recapture Data: Integrating Incremental Growth Measures With Ancillary Data To Infer Age-At-Length, Mitchell J. Eaton, William A. Link
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Estimating the age of individuals in wild populations can be of fundamental importance for answering ecological questions, modeling population demographics, and managing exploited or threatened species. Significant effort has been devoted to determining age through the use of growth annuli, secondary physical characteristics related to age, and growth models. Many species, however, either do not exhibit physical characteristics useful for independent age validation or are too rare to justify sacrificing a large number of individuals to establish the relationship between size and age. Length-at-age models are well represented in the fisheries and other wildlife management literature. Many of these models …
Spatial Patch Occupancy Patterns Of The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit,
2011
Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, US Geological Survey & Southeast Climate Science Center, US Geological Survey
Spatial Patch Occupancy Patterns Of The Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit, Mitchell J. Eaton, Phillip T. Hughes, James D. Nichols, Anne Morkill, Chad Anderson
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
Reliable estimates of presence or absence of a species can provide substantial information on management questions related to distribution and habitat use but should incorporate the probability of detection to reduce bias. We surveyed for the endangered Lower Keys marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri) in habitat patches on 5 Florida Key islands, USA, to estimate occupancy and detection probabilities. We derived detection probabilities using spatial replication of plots and evaluated hypotheses that patch location (coastal or interior) and patch size influence occupancy and detection. Results demonstrate that detection probability, given rabbits were present, was <0.5 and suggest that naı¨ve estimates (i.e., estimates without consideration of imperfect detection) of patch occupancy are negatively biased. We found that patch size and location influenced probability of occupancy but not detection. Our findings will be used by Refuge managers to evaluate population trends of Lower Keys marsh rabbits from historical data and to guide management decisions for species recovery. The sampling and analytical methods we used may be useful for researchers and managers of other endangered lagomorphs and cryptic or fossorial animals occupying diverse habitats.
Adaptive Resource Management And The Value Of Information,
2011
U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Research Units, Reston
Adaptive Resource Management And The Value Of Information, Byron K. Williams, Mitchell J. Eaton, David R. Breininger
United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications
The value of information is a general and broadly applicable concept that has been used for several decades to aid in making decisions in the face of uncertainty. Yet there are relatively few examples of its use in ecology and natural resources management, and almost none that are framed in terms of the future impacts of management decisions. In this paper we discuss the value of information in a context of adaptive management, in which actions are taken sequentially over a timeframe and both future resource conditions and residual uncertainties about resource responses are taken into account. Our objective is …
Distribution And Properties Of Vesicular Horizons In The Western United States,
2011
University of California, Riverside
Distribution And Properties Of Vesicular Horizons In The Western United States, Judith K. Turk, Robert C. Graham
Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications
Vesicular horizons are thin (usuallycm) surface or near-surface horizons characterized by the predominance of vesicular porosity. Th ey are widespread in arid and semiarid lands, occurring on every continent and covering 156,000 km2 of the western United States. Vesicular horizons have critical implications for management due to their role in controlling surface hydrology and dust mobilization. Th is study evaluates the distribution and varia-tion in expression of vesicular horizons across the western United States using the soil databases available from the USDA. A vesicular horizon index (VHI) that incorporates vesicular horizon thickness and the size and quantity of vesicular pores …
Annual Outflow Of Water From Nebraska, 1950 - 2010,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Annual Outflow Of Water From Nebraska, 1950 - 2010, S. Olafsen-Lackey
Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications
No abstract provided.
Reference List For Describing Cuttings And Cores Of Sediments And Sedimentary Rocks In Nebraska,
2011
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Reference List For Describing Cuttings And Cores Of Sediments And Sedimentary Rocks In Nebraska, J. T. Korus, Robert Matthew Joeckel, P. R. Hanson, J. W. Goeke, S. O. Lackey, M. B. Burbach
Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications
No abstract provided.
A 1-D Mechanistic Model For The Evolution Of Earthflow-Prone Hillslopes,
2011
Portland State University
A 1-D Mechanistic Model For The Evolution Of Earthflow-Prone Hillslopes, Adam M. Booth, Joshua J. Roering
Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations
In mountainous terrain, deep‐seated landslides transport large volumes of material on hillslopes, exerting a dominant control on erosion rates and landscape form. Here, we develop a mathematical landscape evolution model to explore interactions between deep‐seated earthflows, soil creep, and gully processes at the drainage basin scale over geomorphically relevant (>103 year) timescales. In the model, sediment flux or incision laws for these three geomorphic processes combine to determine the morphology of actively uplifting and eroding steady state topographic profiles. We apply the model to three sites, one in the Gabilan Mesa, California, with no earthflow activity, and two …
Petrologic, Geochemical, And Geochronologic Constraints On The Tectonic Evolution Of The Southern Appalachian Orogen, Blue Ridge Province Of Western North Carolina,
2011
University of Kentucky
Petrologic, Geochemical, And Geochronologic Constraints On The Tectonic Evolution Of The Southern Appalachian Orogen, Blue Ridge Province Of Western North Carolina, Eric Douglas Anderson
University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations
The Blue Ridge Province of western North Carolina contains a wide variety of metamorphosed igneous and sedimentary rocks that record the tectonic effects of Precambrian and Paleozoic orogenic cycles. Tectonic interpretations of the events that led to the present configuration are varied and often conflicting. This investigation examines metamorphosed mafic rocks that are widely interpreted to have formed during the closure of ocean basins. Metabasites, and specifically eclogites, have a tendency to mark tectonic sutures and frequently preserve pressure (P), temperature (T), and age data (t) that can be gleaned from mineral equilibria and U-Pb isotopic compositions. As such, the …
Depositional And Stratigraphic Significance Of Marine, Green-Clay, Mineral Facies In The Lower-Middle Mississippian Borden And Fort Payne Formations, Western Appalachian And Eastern Illinois Basins, Kentucky,
2011
University of Kentucky
Depositional And Stratigraphic Significance Of Marine, Green-Clay, Mineral Facies In The Lower-Middle Mississippian Borden And Fort Payne Formations, Western Appalachian And Eastern Illinois Basins, Kentucky, Devi Bhagabati Prasad Udgata
University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations
Detailed study of strata associated with the glauconite-rich Floyds Knob Bed in the western Appalachian and eastern Illinois basins have corroborated previous interpretations that the unit is a widespread, largely synchronous marker horizon. However, in some areas there are multiple glauconite beds; in others a distinct bed is lacking, but the glauconite is dispersed throughout many beds, forming an interval rather than a distinct bed. In Kentucky and adjacent states, the Floyds Knob interval, in upper parts of the Lower-Middle Mississippian Borden-Grainger delta sequence and in lower parts of the Fort Payne carbonate sequence, was deposited at the end of …
The First Cave Occurrence Of Orpiment (As₂S₃) From The Sulfuric Acid Caves Of Aghia Paraskevi (Kassandra Peninsula, N. Greece),
2011
Department of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, GR-54124, Greece
The First Cave Occurrence Of Orpiment (As₂S₃) From The Sulfuric Acid Caves Of Aghia Paraskevi (Kassandra Peninsula, N. Greece), Georgios Lazaridis, Vasilios Melfos, Lambrini Papadopoulou
International Journal of Speleology
Orpiment, tamarugite and pickeringite occur in close association above the surface of thermal water cave pools in the active sulfuric acid caves of Aghia Paraskevi on the Kassandra peninsula, northern Greece. Gypsum also occurs as small interstitial crystals or encrustations. Orpiment is of high significance since it has not previously been reported as a cave mineral. In addition, tamarugite and pickeringite rarely occur in karst caves. Water from a borehole and a spring is of Na-Cl type and contains traces of CO2 and H2S. The B/Cl ratios indicate seawater participation with a possible mixing with geothermal water …
Structural Evolution Of An Intracratonic Rift System; Mississippi Valley Graben, Rough Creek Graben, And Rome Trough Of Kentucky, Usa,
2011
University of Kentucky
Structural Evolution Of An Intracratonic Rift System; Mississippi Valley Graben, Rough Creek Graben, And Rome Trough Of Kentucky, Usa, John Bibb Hickman Jr.
University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations
As indicated by drilling and geophysical data, the Mississippi Valley Graben, the Rough Creek Graben, together with the Rome Trough of eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, are fault-bounded graben structures filled with as much as 27,000 feet of Early to Middle Cambrian sediments. Detailed regional mapping of Cambrian and younger strata within and surrounding these structures indicates that they formed contemporaneously. The proximity of these structures suggests they developed within the same regional stress fields and tectonic environments. These three structures are mechanically and kinematically connected, and formed part of a single continent-scale rift system produced during the breakup of …
Volcanism And Astrobiology: Life On Earth And Beyond,
2011
University of Edinburgh
Volcanism And Astrobiology: Life On Earth And Beyond, Charles S. Cockell, Sherry L. Cady, Nicola Mcloughlin
Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Editorial Introduction to the 2011 Special Issue of Astrobiology.
'Sticky Spots' And Subglacial Lakes Under Ice Streams Of The Siple Coast, Antarctica,
2011
Princeton University
'Sticky Spots' And Subglacial Lakes Under Ice Streams Of The Siple Coast, Antarctica, Olga V. Sergienko, Christina L. Hulbe
Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations
Locations of subglacial lakes discovered under fast-moving West Antarctic ice streams tend to be associated with topographic features of the subglacial bed or with areas that have strong variations in basal conditions. Inversion of ice-stream surface velocity indicates that basal conditions under ice streams can be highly variable and that there can be widespread regions where basal traction is high. To seek an explanation for why lakes appear to be sited near areas with high basal traction, we use numerical models to simulate ice-stream dynamics, thermodynamics and subglacial water flow. We demonstrate that the ice flow over high basal traction …
Fate Of Stable Isotope Label During Predation Of 15N-Tagged Wild-Type Escherichia Coli By Protozoa,
2011
University of Kentucky
Fate Of Stable Isotope Label During Predation Of 15N-Tagged Wild-Type Escherichia Coli By Protozoa, Ashley M. Barton
University of Kentucky Master's Theses
Currently, bacterial movement in karst aquifers is not well understood. Use of stable isotopes to label non-pathogenic Escherichia coli as a particulate groundwater tracer in karst systems has been examined in previous studies. Loss of the stable isotope signal is anticipated in traces greater than 500 m in length. Potential loss of 15N due to predation by protozoa was examined. Filter-sterilized water from Royal Spring in Georgetown, Kentucky, was inoculated with a mixture of either Tetrahymena pyriformis or Colpoda steinii and 15N-enriched E. coli and stored in the dark at 14°C. Samples were analyzed for their nitrogen isotope …
Plurigaussian Simulation Of Rocktypes Using Data From A Gold Mine In Western Australia,
2011
Edith Cowan University
Plurigaussian Simulation Of Rocktypes Using Data From A Gold Mine In Western Australia, Robin Dunn
Theses: Doctorates and Masters
Stochastic simulation of rocktypes, or the geometry of the geology, is a major area of continuing research as earth scientists seek a better understanding of an orebody as a precursor to the assignment of continuous rock properties, allowing more economically appropriate decisions regarding mine planning. This thesis analyses the suitability of particular geostatistical rock type modelling algorithms when applied to the five rocktypes evident in drill hole data from the Big Bell gold mine near Cue, Western Australia. The background of the geostatistical theory is considered, in particular the concept of the random function model and the link between the …
Apparent Weekly And Daily Earthquake Periodicities In The Western United States, And Evolution Of Wadi Kubbania In Egypt,
2011
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Apparent Weekly And Daily Earthquake Periodicities In The Western United States, And Evolution Of Wadi Kubbania In Egypt, Ali Hadi Atef
Doctoral Dissertations
"The dissertation consists of two separate sections. The first section is on apparent daily and weekly periodicities in earthquake occurrence in the western United State [sic]. Analysis of Apparent Seismicity Rate (ASR) in the western United States confirmed the existence of prominent spectral peaks with a period of 1 and 7 days. The number of recorded earthquakes on Sundays for the duration of 1963-2008 is about 5% higher than that on weekdays, and, more significantly, there is a 9% increase of ASR in the early morning compared with that in the middle of the days. Significant similarities between the spatial …
Crustal Structure And Evolution Beneath The Colorado Plateau And The Southern Basin And Range Province,
2011
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Crustal Structure And Evolution Beneath The Colorado Plateau And The Southern Basin And Range Province, Lamuail Bashir
Doctoral Dissertations
"Stacking of about 15,500 P-to-S receiver functions recorded at 72 USArray and other broadband seismic stations placed on the Colorado Plateau and the SBRP in Arizona revealed systematic spatial variations in crustal Vp/Vs, crustal thickness and amplitude of P-to-S converted phases. Our results reveal that the BRP is characterized by a thin crust (28.2 ± 0.5 km), a mean Vp/Vs of 1.761 ± 0.014 and a mean amplitude (R) of P - to - S converted wave (relative to that of the direct P wave) of 0.181 ± 0.014 that are similar to a typical continental crust, consistent with the …
Receiver Function Studies Of Crustal Structure, Composition, And Evolution Beneath The Afar Depression, Ethiopia,
2011
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Receiver Function Studies Of Crustal Structure, Composition, And Evolution Beneath The Afar Depression, Ethiopia, Sattam A. Almadani
Doctoral Dissertations
"The dissertation utilizes a set of sophisticated computer programs developed at the Geophysics group at Missouri S&T to characterize crustal properties beneath the Afar Depression in Ethiopia where extensional tectonics dominates. In this study, measurements of crustal thickness (H), crustal mean Vp/Vs [which is related to Poisson's ratio (Σ)], and the sharpness of the Moho (R) were determined using teleseismic data from 18 broadband seismic sensors that we deployed along a profile of 250 km long with a station spacing of ~ 10 km. The stations had been recording continuously for an entire year from December 2009 until December 2010. …
A Geological And Geophysical Study Of The Tendaho Graben In The Afar Depression, Ethiopia: Insights Into Transitional Continental Rifting,
2011
Missouri University of Science and Technology
A Geological And Geophysical Study Of The Tendaho Graben In The Afar Depression, Ethiopia: Insights Into Transitional Continental Rifting, David Lee Bridges
Doctoral Dissertations
"A detailed magnetic and gravity study across the Tendaho Graben (the Red Sea propagator within the Afar Depression, Ethiopia) revealed features that can best be interpreted as a continental rift undergoing oceanization. This NW-trending extensional structure is ~50 km wide and it is confined within well-developed NW-trending boarder faults that deform the 2 km thick and ~ 2 Ma basaltic flows of the Afar Stratoids. The age of the basaltic flows becomes progressively younger inward from the boarder faults until it reaches ~30,000 years close to the rift axis. The central part of the Tendaho Graben is characterized by a …
