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At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

USGS2021

Growth inhibition of the harmful alga Prymnesium parvum by plant-derived products and identification of ellipticine as highly potent allelochemical

Prymnesium parvum is a toxin-producing harmful alga that has caused ecological and economic damage worldwide. Effective methods to control blooms of this species in the field, however, are unavailable. This study examined five natural compounds present in the invasive plant Arundo donax and one synthetic derivative (5,6-dichlorogramine) for their effect on P. parvum growth. All compounds except one inhibited growth in the following order of potency: ellipticine > > 5,6-dichlorogramine > 1 H-indole = 2,4,6-trimethyl-benzonitrile > gramine. Ellipticine was by far the most potent inhibitor, with full algicidal activity at concentrations as low as 0.04 mg L −1 and 3- and 9-day IC 50 values of 0.012 and 0.007 mg L −1 , respectively. A reduction in chlorophyll content and swimming activity and an increase in length and volume (swelling) were documented in algal cells exposed to 0.01–0.02 mg ellipticine L −1 . These results show that ellipticine is among the most potent natural algicides identified to date. The sixth compound tested, oleamide, unexpectedly stimulated algal growth above control levels. Overall, these observations confirm the existence of highly potent anti- P. parvum allelochemicals in giant reed and demonstrate potential for using products derived from this plant in the development of natural, environmentally friendly methods to control harmful algal blooms.

Journal of Applied Phycology↗

USGS2013

Trait contributions to ﬁsh community assembly emerge from trophicinteractions in an individual-based model

Community ecology seeks to understand and predict the characteristics of communities that can develop under different environmental conditions, but most theory has been built on analytical models that are limited in the diversity of species traits that can be considered simultaneously. We address that limitation with an individual-based model to simulate assembly of ﬁsh communities characterized by life history and trophic interactions with multiple physiological tradeoffs as constraints on species performance. Simulation experiments were carried out to evaluate the distribution of 6 life history and 4 feeding traits along gradients of resource productivity and prey accessibility. These experiments revealed that traits differ greatly in importance for species sorting along the gradients. Body growth rate emerged as a key factor distinguishing community types and deﬁning patterns of community stability and coexistence, followed by egg size and maximum body size. Dominance by fast-growing, relatively large, and fecund species occurred more frequently in cases where functional responses were saturated (i.e. high productivity and/or prey accessibility). Such dominance was associated with large biomass ﬂuctuations and priority effects, which prevented richness from increasing with productivity and may have limited selection on secondary traits, such as spawning strategies and relative size at maturation. Our results illustrate that the distribution of species traits and the consequences for community dynamics are intimately linked and strictly dependent on how the beneﬁts and costs of these traits are balanced across different conditions.

Ecological Modelling↗

USGS2021

Online-coupling of widely-ranged timescales to model coral reef development

The increasing pressure on Earth's ecosystems due to climate change is becoming more and more evident and the impacts of climate change are especially visible on coral reefs. Understanding how climate change interacts with the physical environment of reefs to impact coral growth and reef development is critically important to predicting the persistence of reefs into the future. In this study, a biophysical model was developed including four environmental factors in a feedback loop with the coral's biology: (1) light; (2) hydrodynamics; (3) temperature; and (4) pH. The submodels are online coupled, i.e. regularly exchanging information and feedbacks while the model runs. This ensures computational efficiency despite the widely-ranged timescales. The composed biophysical model provides a significant step forward in understanding the processes that modulate the evolution of coral reefs, as it is the first construction of a model in which the hydrodynamics are included in the feedback loop.

Environmental Modeling and Software↗

USGS2015

Towards a global terrestrial species monitoring program

Introduction: The Convention for Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 envisions that “By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.” Although 193 parties have adopted these goals, there is little infrastructure in place to monitor global biodiversity trends. Recent international conservation policy requires such data to be up-to-date, reliable, comparable among sites, relevant, and understandable; as is becoming obvious from the work plan adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES: www.ipbes.net/; http://tinyurl.com/ohdnknq). In order to meet the five strategic goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its 20 accompanying Aichi Targets for 2020 (www.cbd.int/sp/targets/), advances need to be made in coordinating large-scale biodiversity monitoring and linking these with environmental data to develop a comprehensive Global Observation Network, as is the main idea behind GEOSS the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (Christian 2005)...Here we identify ten requirements important for the successful implementation of a global biodiversity monitoring network under the flag of GEO BON and especially a global terrestrial species monitoring program.

Journal for Nature Conservation↗

USGS2014

A systematic approach towards the identification and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems

The United Nations General Assembly in 2006 and 2009 adopted resolutions that call for the identification and protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) from significant adverse impacts of bottom fishing. While general criteria have been produced, there are no guidelines or protocols that elaborate on the process from initial identification through to the protection of VMEs. Here, based upon an expert review of existing practices, a 10-step framework is proposed: (1) Comparatively assess potential VME indicator taxa and habitats in a region; (2) determine VME thresholds; (3) consider areas already known for their ecological importance; (4) compile information on the distributions of likely VME taxa and habitats, as well as related environmental data; (5) develop predictive distribution models for VME indicator taxa and habitats; (6) compile known or likely fishing impacts; (7) produce a predicted VME naturalness distribution (areas of low cumulative impacts); (8) identify areas of higher value to user groups; (9) conduct management strategy evaluations to produce trade-off scenarios; (10) review and re-iterate, until spatial management scenarios are developed that fulfil international obligations and regional conservation and management objectives. To date, regional progress has been piecemeal and incremental. The proposed 10-step framework combines these various experiences into a systematic approach.

Marine Science↗

USGS2018

Weather-centric rangeland revegetation planning

Invasive annual weeds negatively impact ecosystem services and pose a major conservation threat on semiarid rangelands throughout the western United States. Rehabilitation of these rangelands is challenging due to interannual climate and subseasonal weather variability that impacts seed germination, seedling survival and establishment, annual weed dynamics, wildfire frequency, and soil stability. Rehabilitation and restoration outcomes could be improved by adopting a weather-centric approach that uses the full spectrum of available site-specific weather information from historical observations, seasonal climate forecasts, and climate-change projections. Climate data can be used retrospectively to interpret success or failure of past seedings by describing seasonal and longer-term patterns of environmental variability subsequent to planting. A more detailed evaluation of weather impacts on site conditions may yield more flexible adaptive-management strategies for rangeland restoration and rehabilitation, as well as provide estimates of transition probabilities between desirable and undesirable vegetation states. Skillful seasonal climate forecasts could greatly improve the cost efficiency of management treatments by limiting revegetation activities to time periods where forecasts suggest higher probabilities of successful seedling establishment. Climate-change projections are key to the application of current environmental models for development of mitigation and adaptation strategies and for management practices that require a multidecadal planning horizon. Adoption of new weather technology will require collaboration between land managers and revegetation specialists and modifications to the way we currently plan and conduct rangeland rehabilitation and restoration in the Intermountain West.

Rangeland Ecology and Management↗

USGS2004

Estimating the time of melt onset and freeze onset over Arctic sea-ice area using active and passive microwave data

Accurate calculation of the time of melt onset, freeze onset, and melt duration over Arctic sea-ice area is crucial for climate and global change studies because it affects accuracy of surface energy balance estimates. This comparative study evaluates several methods used to estimate sea-ice melt and freeze onset dates: (1) the melt onset database derived from SSM/I passive microwave brightness temperatures ( T b s) using Drobot and Anderson's [J. Geophys. Res. 106 (2001) 24033] Advanced Horizontal Range Algorithm (AHRA) and distributed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC); (2) the International Arctic Buoy Program/Polar Exchange at the Sea (IABP/POLES) surface air temperatures (SATs); (3) an elaborated version of the AHRA that uses IABP/POLES to avoid anomalous results (Passive Microwave and Surface Temperature Analysis [PMSTA]); (4) another elaborated version of the AHRA that uses T b variance to avoid anomalous results (Mean Differences and Standard Deviation Analysis [MDSDA]); (5) Smith's [J. Geophys. Res. 103 (1998) 27753] vertically polarized T b algorithm for estimating melt onset in multiyear (MY) ice (SSM/I 19V–37V); and (6) analyses of concurrent backscattering cross section ( σ °) and brightness temperature ( T b ) from OKEAN-01 satellite series. Melt onset and freeze onset maps were created and compared to understand how the estimates vary between different satellite instruments and methods over different Arctic sea-ice regions. Comparisons were made to evaluate relative sensitivities among the methods to slight adjustments of the T b calibration coefficients and algorithm threshold values. Compared to the PMSTA method, the AHRA method tended to estimate significantly earlier melt dates, likely caused by the AHRA's susceptibility to prematurely identify melt onset conditions. In contrast, the IABP/POLES surface air temperature data tended to estimate later melt and earlier freeze in all but perennial ice. The MDSDA method was least sensitive to small adjustments of the SMMR–SSM/I inter-satellite calibration coefficients. Differences among methods varied by latitude. Freeze onset dates among methods were most disparate in southern latitudes, and tended to converge northward. Surface air temperatures (IABP/POLES) indicated freeze onset well before the MDSDA method, especially in southern peripheral seas, while PMSTA freeze estimates were generally intermediate. Surface air temperature data estimated latest melt onset dates in southern latitudes, but earliest melt onset in northern latitudes. The PMSTA estimated earliest melt onset dates in southern regions, and converged with the MDSDA northward. Because sea-ice melt and freeze are dynamical transitional processes, differences among these methods are associated with differing sensitivities to changing stages of environmental and physical development. These studies contribute to the growing body of documentation about the levels of disparity obtained when Arctic seasonal transition parameters are estimated using various types of microwave data and algorithms.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗

USGS2003

Benefits and costs of increased levels of corticosterone in seabird chicks

Seabird chicks respond to food shortages by increasing corticosterone (cort) secretion, which is probably associated with fitness benefits and costs. To examine this, we experimentally increased levels of circulating cort in captive black-legged kittiwake chicks fed ad libitum. We found that cort-implanted chicks begged more frequently and were more aggressive compared to controls. These behavioral modifications must be beneficial to chicks as they facilitate acquisition of food from the parents and might trigger brood reduction and reduced competition for food. Cort-implanted chicks also increased food intake; however, their growth rates were similar to controls. To examine the costs of chronically increased circulating levels of cort, we removed cort implants and, after a 10-day recovery period, tested cognitive abilities of young kittiwakes. We found that the ability of kittiwakes to associate a visual cue with the presence of food in a choice situation was compromised by the experimental elevation of cort during development. To examine the long-term costs of increased levels of cort, 8 months later we tested the performance of the same individuals in a spatial task requiring them to make a detour around a barrier in order to escape from an enclosure. Individuals treated with cort during development took significantly more time to solve this task compared to controls. The results of this study suggest that the adrenocortical response of a developing bird to environmental stressors is associated with both benefits (increased food intake, foraging behavior, and aggression) and costs (low growth efficiency and compromised cognitive abilities later in life). This provides an evolutionary framework for relating juvenile physiological traits to fitness of birds in subsequent life-history stages. ?? 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Hormones and Behavior↗

USGS2022

Watershed-scale risk to aquatic organisms from complex chemical mixtures in the Shenandoah River

River waters contain complex chemical mixtures derived from natural and anthropogenic sources. Aquatic organisms are exposed to the entire chemical composition of the water, resulting in potential effects at the organismal through ecosystem level. This study applied a holistic approach to assess landscape, hydrological, chemical, and biological variables. On-site mobile laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate biological effects of exposure to chemical mixtures in the Shenandoah River Watershed. A suite of 534 inorganic and organic constituents were analyzed, of which 273 were detected. A watershed-scale accumulated wastewater model was developed to predict environmental concentrations of chemicals derived from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to assess potential aquatic organism exposure for all stream reaches in the watershed. Measured and modeled concentrations generally were within a factor of 2. Ecotoxicological effects from exposure to individual components of the chemical mixture were evaluated using risk quotients (RQs) based on measured or predicted environmental concentrations and no effect concentrations or chronic toxicity threshold values. Seventy-two percent of the compounds had RQ values <0.1, indicating limited risk from individual chemicals. However, when individual RQs were aggregated into a risk index, most stream reaches receiving WWTP effluent posed potential risk to aquatic organisms from exposure to complex chemical mixtures.

Virginia↗

USGS2009

Evaluation of a moderate resolution, satellite-based impervious surface map using an independent, high-resolution validation data set

Given the relatively high cost of mapping impervious surfaces at regional scales, substantial effort is being expended in the development of moderate-resolution, satellite-based methods for estimating impervious surface area (ISA). To rigorously assess the accuracy of these data products high quality, independently derived validation data are needed. High-resolution data were collected across a gradient of development within the Mid-Atlantic region to assess the accuracy of National Land Cover Data (NLCD) Landsat-based ISA estimates. Absolute error (satellite predicted area - "reference area") and relative error [satellite (predicted area - "reference area")/ "reference area"] were calculated for each of 240 sample regions that are each more than 15 Landsat pixels on a side. The ability to compile and examine ancillary data in a geographic information system environment provided for evaluation of both validation and NLCD data and afforded efficient exploration of observed errors. In a minority of cases, errors could be explained by temporal discontinuities between the date of satellite image capture and validation source data in rapidly changing places. In others, errors were created by vegetation cover over impervious surfaces and by other factors that bias the satellite processing algorithms. On average in the Mid-Atlantic region, the NLCD product underestimates ISA by approximately 5%. While the error range varies between 2 and 8%, this underestimation occurs regardless of development intensity. Through such analyses the errors, strengths, and weaknesses of particular satellite products can be explored to suggest appropriate uses for regional, satellite-based data in rapidly developing areas of environmental significance. ?? 2009 ASCE.

Journal of Hydrologic Engineering↗

USGS2024

Reframing conservation audiences from individuals to social beings

Environmental practitioners often develop communications and behavior change interventions that conceptualize individuals as consumers or as other limited, standalone personae. This view neglects the role of conservation audiences as social beings with complex social relationships and networks, potentially resulting in lost opportunities to increase the effectiveness of conservation interventions. We offer a reframing of individuals as members of social networks who can influence others through their many different societal roles. This framing may help individuals recognize their potential to affect large-scale societal structures and empower them to contribute to systemic changes. In practice, conservation organizations might increase the impact and reach of their behavioral interventions by targeting social referents (individuals or groups who people reference for accepted and desired behaviors) and leveraging interpersonal relationships. This includes encouraging individuals to make use of their networks to discuss issues such as biodiversity loss with a variety of acquaintances to normalize them as a topic of conversation. We argue that organizations can leverage the power of social networks to amplify change and promote the message that people change the world through their social ties, thereby inspiring audiences to further engage in conservation behaviors.

Conservation Letters↗

USGS2015

Tropical insular fish assemblages are resilient to flood disturbance

Periods of stable environmental conditions, favoring development of ecological communities regulated by density-dependent processes, are interrupted by random periods of disturbance that may restructure communities. Disturbance may affect populations via habitat alteration, mortality, or displacement. We quantified fish habitat conditions, density, and movement before and after a major flood disturbance in a Caribbean island tropical river using habitat surveys, fish sampling and population estimates, radio telemetry, and passively monitored PIT tags. Native stream fish populations showed evidence of acute mortality and downstream displacement of surviving fish. All fish species were reduced in number at most life stages after the disturbance, but populations responded with recruitment and migration into vacated upstream habitats. Changes in density were uneven among size classes for most species, indicating altered size structures. Rapid recovery processes at the population level appeared to dampen effects at the assemblage level, as fish assemblage parameters (species richness and diversity) were unchanged by the flooding. The native fish assemblage appeared resilient to flood disturbance, rapidly compensating for mortality and displacement with increased recruitment and recolonization of upstream habitats.

Ecosphere↗

USGS1981

Improved methods for national water assessment, water resources contract: WR15249270

The purpose of our research is to develop methods to make National Water Assessment more useful in estimating water availability for economic growth and more helpful in determining the effect of water resource development upon the environmental quality of related land resources. There are serious questions pertaining to the 1975 Water Assessment and these amplify the significance of decisions made as to the planning and scheduling of the next assessment.

Report↗

USGS2004

Economic analysis of alternative bison and elk management practices on the National Elk Refuge and Grand Teton National Park: A comparison of visitor and household responses

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) are preparing a management plan for bison and elk inhabiting the National Elk Refuge (NER) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). These animals are part of the bison and elk herds in Jackson Hole, one of the largest concentrations of freeranging bison and elk in the world. A range of alternatives for managing the bison and elk herds in the project area will be developed in an Environmental Impact Statement. The EIS will likely include such issues as habitat management, disease management, winter-feeding and hunting programs related to the NER and GTNP. The purposes of this study are to determine how the current management and EIS alternatives for bison and elk inhabiting the NER and GTNP would change: Visitor use Total visitor expenditures in the local and regional economy Local area employment and income in the local and regional economy Visitor net economic benefits Acceptability of individual elk and bison management practices to visitors and household living in Teton County, rest of Wyoming, and rest of the United States. Assessing public attitudes and economic effects for different EIS alternatives can provide managers with valuable information regarding the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives. Economic issues such as local job and income effects are often raised by interest groups opposed to changes in current agency management actions. Having objective data on what the job and income impacts are can help to defuse that issue. Survey data on visitor and public preferences is also useful to supplement the traditional public involvement process conducted as part of the EIS process. This is because the survey reaches visitors and a broad geographic array of residents who may not typically participate in the traditional EIS public involvement process. That is, the survey reflects the effort of the EIS planning team reaching out to the public, rather than requiring the public to come to the EIS meeting locations. Attendance at public meetings is often inconvenient for occasional visitors to the NER and GTNP who frequently live long distances from the relevant FWS and NPS offices. It is also inconvenient for residents of states outside the state where the resource is located.

Wyoming↗

USGS2005

Economic importance of elk hunting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) are preparing a management plan for bison and elk inhabiting the National Elk Refuge (NER) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). These animals are part of the bison and elk herds in Jackson Hole, one of the largest concentrations of free-ranging bison and elk in the world. A range of alternatives for managing the bison and elk herds in the project area will be developed in an Environmental Impact Statement. The EIS will include an analysis of elk hunting programs related to the NER and GTNP. Management of the Jackson elk herd on the NER and GTNP can impact the number of hunters allowed and hunter harvest ratios on the NER, GTNP, and Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF). To assist the EIS planning effort, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) conducted a survey of elk hunters that hunted within the Jackson elk herd units during the 2001 hunting season. The objective of this survey and analysis was to quantify how much hunters spent in the local and regional economy and the associated economic impacts such as income and employment effects. Spending by elk hunters in the Jackson area generates considerable economic benefits for the local and regional economy. An elk hunter usually buys a wide range of goods and services during a hunting trip. Major expenditure categories include outfitter/guide fees, hunting licenses and supplies, game processing, lodging, food, and gasoline. As more hunters come to an area, local businesses will purchase extra labor and supplies to meet the increase in demand for additional services. The income and employment resulting from purchases by hunter at local businesses represent the direct effects of hunter spending within the economy. In order to increase supplies to local businesses, input suppliers must also increase their purchases of inputs from other industries. The income and employment resulting from these secondary purchases by input suppliers are the indirect effects of hunter spending within the local economy. The input supplier’s new employees use their incomes to purchase goods and services. The resulting increased economic activity from new employee income is the induced effect associated with hunter spending. The indirect and induced effects are known as the secondary effects. Multipliers capture the size of the secondary effects, usually as a ratio of total effects to direct effects (Stynes, 1998). The sums of the direct and secondary effects describe the total economic impact of hunter spending in the local economy.

Wyoming↗

USGS2016

Massachusetts reservoir simulation tool—User’s manual

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey developed the Massachusetts Reservoir Simulation Tool to examine the effects of reservoirs on natural streamflows in Massachusetts by simulating the daily water balance of reservoirs. The simulation tool was developed to assist environmental managers to better manage water withdrawals in reservoirs and to preserve downstream aquatic habitats.

Massachusetts↗

USGS1974

Geochemical survey of the western coal regions; first annual progress report, July 1974

National energy needs have precipitated an increased interest in the development of a large coal-based electric power industry in the western United States. This anticipated development has, in turn, spawned a great deal of interest in the environmental impact consequent upon the mining and utilization of these coal supplies. Numerous studies directed to assessing this impact are underway or are in the planning stages by agencies of government at all levels as well as by educational institutions and private firms. It is expected that such studies will continue to increase in number in the foreseeable future. Some idea of the diversity of this work is given by Boulding (1974), who surveyed a broad spectrum of people and organizations concerned about the environmental impact of coal development in the Northern Great Plains. This survey included over 50 governmental organizations and over 50 nongovernmental organizations.

Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dako↗

USGS1976

An oilspill risk analysis for the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf lease area

An oilspill risk analysis was conducted to determine relative environmental impacts of developing oil in different regions of the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf lease area. The study analyzed probability of spills, likely path of pollutants from spills, and locations in space and time of recreational and biological resources likely to be vulnerable. These results are combined to yield estimates of the overall oilspill risk associated with development of the lease area. (Woodard-USGS)

Open-File Report↗