Other Environmental Sciences Commons^™

Copper Pellets Simulating Oral Exposure To Copper Ammunition: Absence Of Toxicity In American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius), J. Christian Franson, Lesanna L. Lahner, Carol U. Meteyer, Barnett A. Rattner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

To evaluate the potential toxicity of copper

(Cu) in raptors that may consume Cu bullets, shotgun

pellets containing Cu, or Cu fragments as they feed on

wildlife carcasses, we studied the effects of metallic Cu

exposure in a surrogate, the American kestrel (Falco

sparverius). Sixteen kestrels were orally administered

5 mg Cu/g body mass in the form of Cu pellets

(1.18–2.00 mm in diameter) nine times during 38 days and

10 controls were sham gavaged on the same schedule. With

one exception, all birds retained the pellets for at least 1 h,

but most (69%) regurgitated pellets during …

Development And Evaluation Of A Quantitative Pcr Assay Targeting Sandhill Crane (Grus Canadensis) Fecal Pollution, Hodon Ryu, Jingrang Lu, Jason Vogel, Michael Elk, Felipe Chávez-Ramírez, Nicholas Ashbolt, Jorge Santo Domingo

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

While the microbial water quality in the Platte River is seasonally impacted by excreta from migrating cranes, there are no methods available to study crane fecal contamination. Here we characterized microbial populations in crane feces using phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene fecal clone libraries. Using these sequences, a novel crane quantitative PCR (Crane1) assay was developed, and its applicability as a microbial source tracking (MST) assay was evaluated by determining its host specificity and detection ability in environmental waters. Bacteria from crane excreta were dominated by bacilli and proteobacteria, with a notable paucity of sequences homologous to Bacteroidetes and …

Fire Suppression And Burnt Sediments: Effects On The Water Chemistry Of Fire-Affected Wetlands, David Blake, Hoa Lu, Pierre Horwitz, Mary Boyce

Research outputs 2012

Preventing fire from entering wetland areas during seasonal or prolonged drought, or suppressing fire once it has entered a wetland, requires consideration of the consequences of the fire-management action on water quality. Two approaches can be taken to suppress such fires: chemical fire retardants or the flooding of sediments. We determine a lack of information relating to the effects of these approaches for water quality within fire-affected wetlands. The aim of this study was to gain a preliminary understanding of the effects of three treatments: two chemical treatments and saturation. Microcosms were established to test sediments from a wetland on …

Effectiveness Of Four Water-Bearing Zones Of The Glacierized Basin In Meltwater Runoff Modeling, Umesh K. Haritashya

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Meltwater runoff modeling from glacierized basins needs several input data, including total meltwater contributing area. This study utilizes optical remote sensing data to assess glacierized basins in the central Himalayas where snow and glaciers contribute substantially to the water resources. Result shows that there are four main water-bearing zones in the basin: (a) dry snow, (b) wet snow, (c) exposed glacial ice, and (d) debris-covered glacial ice, and it is possible to differentiate and map these zones and their spatio-temporal variations from satellite sensor data. These zones can then be incorporated in meltwater runoff modeling as separate entities because they …

Assessment Of Diver Impact During The Spiny Lobster Sport Season, Florida Keys, Usa, Mark Lewis Hartman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Florida is closed during the spawning season (March-July) except for a two-day recreational `miniseason' for sport divers in July, several days prior to the opening of the commercial fishing season. In Monroe County, recreational fishers, who possess a valid Saltwater Fishing License with crawfish stamp, are allowed to harvest six lobsters per day, each with a minimum carapace length of 76.2 mm (3.0 inches). During these two days, approximately 50,000 people attempt to catch lobster, and the number of boats visiting the reef has been estimated to be up to 900 times higher …

Sustainable Livelihood Analysis Of An Irrigation Project In Ta Haen, Cambodia., Irene Rehberger Bescos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines potential livelihood outcomes from a recently established irrigation project in Ta Haen, Cambodia, in a sustainable livelihoods framework. The aim of this SAUCE irrigation project is to provide water for drinking and irrigation purposes with the goal of enhancing food by producing an extra rice harvest, the staple, per year. Field research conducted in December 2011 provided qualitative data from questionnaires, key informant interviews, and participant and direct observation, in addition to quantitative data from water quality analysis focusing on arsenic (a potential risk), pH, EC and temperature. Most of the people in the village did not …

Do Bioclimate Variables Improve Performance Of Climate Envelope Models?, James I. Watling, Stephanie S. Romanach, David N. Bucklin, Carolina Speroterra, Laura A. Brandt, Leonard G. Pearlstine, Frank J. Mazzotti

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Climate envelope models are widely used to forecast potential effects of climate change on species distributions. A key issue in climate envelope modeling is the selection of predictor variables that most directly influence species. To determine whether model performance and spatial predictions were related to the selection of predictor variables, we compared models using bioclimate variables with models constructed from monthly climate data for twelve terrestrial vertebrate species in the southeastern USA using two different algorithms (random forests or generalized linear models), and two model selection techniques (using uncorrelated predictors or a subset of user-defined biologically relevant predictor variables). There …

History And Evaluation Of National-Scale Geochemical Data Sets For The United States, David B. Smith, Steven M. Smith, John D. Horton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Six national-scale, or near national-scale, geochemical data sets for soils or stream sediments exist for the United States. The earliest of these, here termed the ‘Shacklette’ data set, was generated by a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) project conducted from 1961 to 1975. This project used soil collected from a depth of about 20 cm as the sampling medium at 1323 sites throughout the conterminous U.S. The National Uranium Resource Evaluation Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (NUREHSSR) Program of the U.S. Department of Energy was conducted from 1975 to 1984 and collected either stream sediments, lake sediments, or soils at more …

Remote Sensing Of Evapotranspiration For Operational Drought Monitoring Using Principles Of Water And Energy Balance, Gabriel B. Senay, Stefanie Bohms, James P. Verdin

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important component of the hydrologic budget because it reflects the exchange of mass and energy between the soil–water–vegetation system and the atmosphere. Prevailing weather conditions influence potential or reference ET through variables such as radiation, temperature, wind, and relativity humidity. In addition to these weather variables, actual ET (ET_a) is also affected by land cover type and condition, as well as soil moisture. The dependence of ET_a on land cover and soil moisture, and its direct relationship with carbon dioxide assimilation in plants, makes it an important variable for monitoring drought, crop yield, …

On Thinning Of Chains In Mcmc, William A. Link, Mitchell J. Eaton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

1. Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is a simulation technique that has revolutionised the analysis of ecological data, allowing the fitting of complex models in a Bayesian framework. Since 2001, there have been nearly 200 papers using MCMC in publications of the Ecological Society of America and the British Ecological Society, including more than 75 in the journal Ecology and 35 in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

2. We have noted that many authors routinely ‘thin’ their simulations, discarding all but every kth sampled value; of the studies we surveyed with details on MCMC implementation, 40% reported thinning.

3. Thinning …

Sea-Level History During The Last Interglacial Complex On San Nicolas Island, California: Implications For Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Processes, Paleozoogeography And Tectonics, Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Lindsey T. Groves, Jerry X. Mitrovica, Deanna Laurel

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

San Nicolas Island, California has one of the best records of fossiliferous Quaternary marine terraces in North America, with at least fourteen terraces rising to an elevation of ~270 m above present-day sea level. In our studies of the lowest terraces, we identified platforms at 38–36 m (terrace 2a), 33–28 m (terrace 2b), and 13–8 m (terrace 1). Uranium-series dating of solitary corals from these terraces yields three clusters of ages: ~120 ka on terrace 2a (marine isotope stage [MIS] 5.5), ~120 and ~100 ka on terrace 2b (MIS 5.5 and 5.3), and ~80 ka (MIS 5.1) on terrace 1.We …

Tectonic Influences On The Preservation Of Marine Terraces: Old And New Evidence From Santa Catalina Island, California, R. Randall Schumann, Scott A. Minor, Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, John P. Mcgeehan

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The California Channel Islands contain some of the best geologic records of past climate and sea-level changes, recorded in uplifted, fossil-bearing marine terrace deposits. Among the eight California Channel Islands and the nearby Palos Verdes Hills, only Santa Catalina Island does not exhibit prominent emergent marine terraces, though the same terrace-forming processes that acted on the other Channel Islands must also have occurred on Santa Catalina. We re-evaluated previous researchers' field evidence and examined new topographic, bathymetric, and stream-profile data in order to find possible explanations for the lack of obvious marine terrace landforms or deposits on the island today. …

0795: Dr. Robert P. Alexander Collection, 1880-2000, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Dr. Robert P. Alexander graduated from Marshall University in 1959. After graduating, Dr. Alexander was hired by Marshall University and traveled to the eastern panhandle of West Virginia to recruit prospective students. It was here he became interested in the town of Cass, WV. In 1969, Dr. Alexander completed his doctorate and became a professor of management and marketing. Dr. Alexander was also the Dean of Marshall University’s College of Business and also served sixteen years on Huntington, WV’s city council. In 1975 Dr. Alexander returned to Cass and created a living history of both the town and timbering industry …

Seasonal Variation In Heat Fluxes, Predicted Emissions Of Malodorants, And Wastewater Quality Of An Anaerobic Swine Waste Lagoon, Rezaul Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Air Temperature Variability Independent Of Sea-Surface Temperature Influences, Andrew C. Comrie, Gregory J. Mccabe

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Mean global surface air temperature (SAT) and sea surface temperature (SST) display substantial variability on timescales ranging from annual to multi-decadal. We review the key recent literature on connections between global SAT and SST variability. Although individual ocean influences on SAT have been recognized, the combined contributions of worldwide SST variability on the global SAT signal have not been clearly identified in observed data.Weanalyze these relations using principal components of detrended SST, and find that removing the underlying combined annual, decadal, and multi-decadal SST variability from the SAT time series reveals a nearly monotonic global warming trend in SAT since …

Gonadal Abnormalities In Frogs (Lithobates Spp.) Collected From Managed Wetlands In An Agricultural Region Of Nebraska, Usa, Diana M. Papoulias, Matt S. Schwarz, Lourdes Mena

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Nebraska’s Rainwater Basin (RWB) provides important wetland habitat for North American migratory birds. Concern exists that pesticide and nutrient runoff from surrounding row-crops enters wetlands degrading water quality and adversely affecting birds and wildlife. Frogs may be especially vulnerable. Plains leopard (Lithobates blairi) metamorphs from RWB wetlands with varying concentrations of pesticides were evaluated for a suite of biomarkers of exposure to endocrine active chemicals. Froglets had ovarian dysgenesis, high rates of testicular oocytes, and female-biased sex ratios however, there was no clear statistical association between pesticide concentrations and biomarkers. Data interpretation was hindered because timing and duration …

Strontium Isotope Systematics Of Mixing Groundwater And Oil-Field Brine At Goose Lake In Northeastern Montana, Usa, Zell E. Peterman, Joanna N. Thamke, Kiyoto Futa, Todd M. Preston

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Groundwater, surface water, and soil in the Goose Lake oil field in northeastern Montana have been affected by Cl^- rich oil-field brines during long-term petroleum production. Ongoing multidisciplinary geochemical and geophysical studies have identified the degree and local extent of interaction between brine and groundwater. Fourteen samples representing groundwater, surface water, and brine were collected for Sr isotope analyses to evaluate the usefulness of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in detecting small amounts of brine. Differences in Sr concentrations and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr are optimal at this site for the experiment. Strontium concentrations range from 0.13 to 36.9 mg/L, …

Wildlife Toxicology: Environmental Contaminants And Their National And International Regulation, K. Christiana Grim, Anne Fairbrother, Barnett A. Rattner

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Wildlife toxicology is the study of potentially harmful effects of toxic agents in wild animals, focusing on amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Fish and aquatic invertebrates are not usually included as part of wildlife toxicology since they fall within the field of aquatic toxicology, but collectively both disciplines often provide inSight into one another and both are integral parts of ecotoxicology (Hoffman et al. 2003). It entails monitoring, hypothesis testing, forensics, and risk assessment; encompasses molecular through ecosystem responses and various research venues (laboratory, mesocosm, field); and has been shaped by chemical use and misuse, ecological mishaps, and biomedical research. …

Mapping Recent Decadal Climate Variations In Precipitation And Temperature Across Eastern Africa And The Sahel, Christopher Funk, Joel Michaelsen, Michael T. Marshall

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

This chapter presents a novel interpolation approach that combines long-term mean satellite observations, station data, and topographic fields to produce grids of climate normals and trends. The approach was developed by the Climate Hazard Group (CHG) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), to support food security analyses for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). The resulting FEWS NET Climatology (FCLIM) combines moving window regressions (MWRs) with geostatistical interpolation (kriging). Satellite and topographic fields often exhibit strong local correlations with in situ measurements of air temperature and rainfall. The FCLIM method …

Development And Application Of Methods Used To Source Prehistoric Southwestern Maize: A Review, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Archaeological cobs free of mineral contaminants should be used to source the soils in which they were grown. Mineral contaminants often contain much higher concentrations of metals than vegetal materials and can alter a cob’s apparent metal and heavy-isotope content. Cleaning a cob via immersion in an acid solution for more than a few minutes will result in the incongruent and sometimes complete leaching of metals, including strontium (Sr), from the cob. When using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to determine the location of potential agriculture fields, it is best to either integrate several depth-integrated soil samples or to integrate several …