Notes on the birds of Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands
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Atoll Research Bulletin↗
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Results for “Research Note”
Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.
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Internships, employment opportunities, and research grants
As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that threaten us. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty to participate in USGS science are available in the selected programs described below. Please note: U.S. citizenship is required for all government positions. This publication has been superseded by USGS General Information Product 165 Grant Opportunities for Academic Research and Training and USGS General Information Product 166 Student and Recent Graduate Employment Opportunities . This publication is proceeded by USGS General Information Product 80 Internships, Employment Opportunities, and Research Grants published in 2008.
General Information Product↗
Understanding and mitigating bee drownings in open feeders
Whereas open feeders are relatively inexpensive and are easily set up and maintained, they do present a drowning hazard to bees. We observed that bees feeding off the walls of the open container fell into the sugar water because of their incarnation, interactions with other bees and when shooed off the feeder walls while removing the feeder for cleaning. Twigs, angled laths and utility screen perches permitted bees to exploit more of the sugar water surface area and provided drowning bees a platform for self-rescue. Because angled laths and utility screen perches extended over the entire feeder, they offered greater feeding surface area and increased the chances that a drowning bee would quickly encounter the perches for self-rescue than twig perches. Additionally, bees were less likely to fall into the sugar water when removing the angled lath and utility screen perches from the feeders than when removing twigs. Our anecdotal observations identified three characteristics of perches that can mitigate for the drowning hazard. Perches need to: 1. Allow bees to use a greater surface area of the sugar water to reduce crowding while feeding from the container walls. 2. Encompass most of the feeder to improve the chances that drowning bees will encounter the perch and be able to rescue themselves. 3. Allow bees to quickly extricate themselves from the sugar water to minimize sugar crystallization on the bees. The information presented herein provides a practical window into the factors that lead to bee drownings and the type of mitigation that is required. It is of note that we used the three perch types to develop perch characteristics for mitigating drowning hazards. Novice researchers can apply these principles to customize perches based on their specific needs.
Bee World↗
Factors affecting nest survival of Henslow's Sparrows ( Ammodramus henslowii ) in southern Indiana
Populations of Henslow’s Sparrows have declined dramatically in recent decades, coinciding with widespread loss of native grassland habitat. Prescribed burning is a primary tool for maintaining grassland patches, but its effects on nest survival of Henslow’s Sparrows remains largely unknown, especially in conjunction with other factors. We monitored 135 nests of Henslow’s Sparrows at Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana from 1998–2001 in an effort to understand factors influencing nest survival, including prescribed burning of habitat. We used a mixed-effects implementation of the logistic exposure model to predict daily nest survival in an information theoretic framework. We found that daily survival declined near the onset of hatching and increased with the height of standing dead vegetation, although this relationship was weak. We found only nominal support to suggest that time since burn influenced nest survival. Overall, nest age was the most important factor in estimating daily nest survival rates. Our daily survival estimate from our marginal model (0.937) was similar to that derived from the Mayfield method (0.944) suggesting that our results are comparable to previous studies using the Mayfield approach. Our results indicate that frequent burning to limit woody encroachment into grassland habitats might benefit Henslow’s Sparrow, but that a variety of factors ultimately influence daily nest survival. However, we note that burning too frequently can also limit occupancy by Henslow’s Sparrows. We suggest that additional research is needed to determine the population-level consequences of habitat alteration and if other extrinsic factors influence demographics of Henslow’s Sparrows.
Indiana↗
Chironomidae of the southeastern United States: a checklist of species and notes on biology, distribution, and habitat
We provide a current listing of the species of midges (Diptera:Chironomidae) in the southeastern United States (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). This checklist should aid research on this group of insects, which have often proved useful in the assessment of water quality. We document each species' distribution and general habitat and provide the best taxonomic reference to facilitate the identification or description of species in that genus. Changes in nomenclature, unique ecological traits, bibliographic sources, or other items of information are summarized in a paragraph on each genus. Of the 10 sub-families currently recognized in the Chironomidae, 7 occur in the Southeast. The chironomid fauna of the six southeastern States now consist of 164 described genera and 479 described species. In addition we have listed 14 genera and 245 species that are tenatively noted as undescribed.
Fish and Wildlife Research↗
Interim Progress Report on the Application of an Independent Components Analysis-based Spectral Unmixing Algorithm to Beowulf Computers
This report describes work done to implement an independent-components-analysis (ICA) -based blind unmixing algorithm on the Eastern Region Geography (ERG) Beowulf computer cluster. It gives a brief description of blind spectral unmixing using ICA-based techniques and a preliminary example of unmixing results for Landsat-7 Thematic Mapper multispectral imagery using a recently reported1,2,3 unmixing algorithm. Also included are computer performance data. The final phase of this work, the actual implementation of the unmixing algorithm on the Beowulf cluster, was not completed this fiscal year and is addressed elsewhere. It is noted that study of this algorithm and its application to land-cover mapping will continue under another research project in the Land Remote Sensing theme into fiscal year 2004.
Open-File Report↗
Geographical Overview of the Three Gorges Dam and Reservoir, China - Geologic Hazards and Environmental Impacts
The Three Gorges Dam and Reservoir on the Yangtze River, China, has been an ambitious and controversial project. The dam, the largest in the world as of 2008, will provide hydropower, help to manage flood conditions, and increase the navigability of the Yangtze River. However, this massive project has displaced human and animal populations and altered the stability of the banks of the Yangtze, and it may intensify the seismic hazard of the area. It has also hindered archeological investigations in the reservoir and dam area. This report, originally in the form of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, gives a short history and overview of the dam construction and subsequent consequences, especially geologic hazards already noted or possible in the future. The report provides photographs, diagrams, and references for the reader's further research - a necessity, because this great undertaking is dynamic, and both its problems and successes continue to evolve. The challenges and consequences of Three Gorges Dam will be closely watched and documented as lessons learned and applied to future projects in China and elsewhere.
Open-File Report↗
Sora rail studies on the Patuxent River, Maryland
The freshwater marshes of the tidal Patuxent River are well known for their annual fall concentration of migrant soras ( Porzana carolina ) and were formerly the most famous rail hunting grounds in the Chesapeake Bay region. Because of concern over the apparent long-term decline in number of soras and the decline in the quality of the Patuxent marshes, especially the loss of wild rice ( Zizania aquatica ), the Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC), co-steward of the Jug Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, sponsored rail-related research beginning in 1987. Past efforts focused on developing efficient trapping techniques, age and sex criteria, and monitoring body mass dynamics. Noted progress was made in developing digital playback systems and trap improvements to enhance sora captures. These improvements increased capture success by over an order of magnitude and resulted in capture of 2,315 soras and 276 Virginia rails ( Rallus limicola ) in the 5 year period, 1993-97. Although these methods demonstrate the efficacy of banding large numbers of soras on migration and possibly winter concentration areas, captures at the Patuxent River site have been 70-90% hatching-year birds and recoveries and recaptures have been virtually nonexistent. With the present effort, this outcome precludes population parameter estimation using traditional capture-recapture or recovery model methodologies. In 1996, studies were initiated to employ radio telemetry methods to investigate length of stay, habitat use, survival, and migration characteristics of fall migrant soras. These studies are ongoing and will be continued through 1998 with a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Webless Migratory Game Bird Research Program and support from the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Supplemental funding has also been provided by MNCPPC, FWS Region 5, the Maryland Ornithological Society, Quail Unlimited, and Prince Georges Community College. During 1996-97 we developed a successful radio transmitter attachment technique to secure 1.8g radio transmitters over the synsacrum of migrant soras. We modified Rappole and Tipton's (1991) leg-loop attachment method by addition of a waist loop to prevent soras from slipping transmitters over their short tails. Thin gauge (0.6 mm) elastic thread proved ideal for attachment and allowed for girth expansion associated with fattening during stopover. Sixty instrumented soras have been monitored in two years of study from early September until early November. Only a single mortality was recorded and 41 (68%) were confIrmed and another 13 (total 90%) were believed to have migrated from the study area. Only a single bird slipped a radio transmitter. Most birds demonstrated a sedentary nature in the marsh throughout stopover. Average length of stay was 44 days in 1997 (n=29) with peak departure occurring 20-24 October. Departing migrants were detected using a receiver/data-logger monitoring system placed 4 miles down river from the study site. Thirty-six of 37 (97%) soras departed in a 2-hour window of time, beginning 1 hour after sunset. Departure was synchronized with cold fronts on clear, starlit nights. Twenty-five soras were monitored on migration from 8 km to as far away as 770 km. Findings indicate migration flight speeds of 40 to 50 mph and a direct southward orientation from the study site at least until contact with the Atlantic Ocean west of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. We also attempted to monitor passage of migrant soras radio tagged at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in western New York by biologist Soch Lor. None were recorded passing a monitoring unit at Haldeman Island in the middle of the Susquehanna River 10 miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This further corroborates our findings that when migrating overland, soras move in a direct southward orientation and are not following land features such as major rivers
Book chapter↗
Notes on the biology of the tiger shark (Galeocerdo arcticus) from Philippine waters
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Research Report↗
Great Lakes spatial priorities study
Spatial data about the bathymetry, habitat characteristics, underlying geology, and other features of the ocean and inland seas are essential for decision-making. Marine research and management organizations use these data to help ensure safe navigation, promote sustainable fisheries, extract energy, and protect marine habitats in the coastal and ocean waters of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Laurentian Great Lakes. Many of these organizations may have overlapping or shared mapping interests without knowing it. In a multi-jurisdictional planning environment, it can be challenging and cumbersome to determine where other entities have shared or overlapping mapping interests, especially across a transnational region such as the Great Lakes. State and provincial governments, federal governments, academia, tribes and First Nations, and other stakeholders from both the U.S. and Canada all have mapping interests across Great Lakes waters. Identifying and communicating target geographies for new data collection that are shared among multiple organizations can both help to avoid redundancy of new mapping efforts, and create opportunities for greater efficiency through collaboration. To address this issue, a spatial priorities study was conducted using a geospatial tool developed by the National Ocean Services National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science (NCCOS). The tool provided an easy-to-use online interface in which programs can identify their priorities in a simple and straightforward way. This study asked representatives of Great Lakes management and science organizations to identify the areas for which they needed maps of lakebed features on a near-term, mid-term, and long-term timeframe, and why. Then, the responses were analyzed and overlaid to determine areas of shared mapping need and opportunity and to determine the types of map products needed. The analysis revealed high interest among multiple organizations in discrete geographies including the Minnesota and Wisconsin shoreline from Duluth to the eastern extent of the Bayfield Peninsula, Green Bay in Lake Michigan, and the southern coastlines of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, the St. Marys River, and the northern Lake Superior coastal waters near Grand Portage, MN. Lower priority mapping interest were distributed widely across all lakes, but tended to be concentrated in nearshore areas (<30 m depth). The analysis also indicated that the top mapping justifications were Habitat/biota/natural area, Benthic exploration, Commercial and recreational fishing, and Scientific research. The top desired map product types were Elevation, Substrate/sub-bottom geologic characterization, and Habitat map/characterization, although participants on some lakes noted other less prevalent product types. Following from previously conducted NOAA and non-NOAA Federal spatial prioritization exercises, the results of this regional focus can help mapping organizations better understand how their priorities align with the needs of regional organizations, allow for more efficient coordination and funding, and enable partners to leverage assets and resources to fill their most pressing data and information gaps across Great Lakes waters. The U.S. Mapping Coordination Site hosts the results of this study and other spatial prioritization studies. Through this website, one can interact with the study results along with recent and planned mapping efforts. NOAA intends to update their spatial priorities on a three- to five-year basis. Future studies should strive to expand participation of federal agencies, state and local governments, federally-recognized tribes, academia, and private industry (among other stakeholders) to seek out ocean mapping partnerships in conjunction with the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration and Characterization (NOMEC) goals map once, use many times.”
Great Lakes↗
Geologic database for digital geology of California, Nevada, and Utah— An application of the North American Data Model
The USGS is creating an integrated national database for digital state geologic maps that includes stratigraphic, age, and lithologic information. The majority of the conterminous 48 states have digital geologic base maps available, often at scales of 1:500,000. This product is a prototype, and is intended to demonstrate the types of derivative maps that will be possible with the national integrated database. This database permits the creation of a number of types of maps via simple or sophisticated queries, maps that may be useful in a number of areas, including mineral-resource assessment, environmental assessment, and regional tectonic evolution. This database is distributed with three main parts: a Microsoft Access 2000 database containing geologic map attribute data, an Arc/Info (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California) Export format file containing points representing designation of stratigraphic regions for the Geologic Map of Utah, and an ArcView 3.2 (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California) project containing scripts and dialogs for performing a series of generalization and mineral resource queries. IMPORTANT NOTE: Spatial data for the respective stage geologic maps is not distributed with this report. The digital state geologic maps for the states involved in this report are separate products, and two of them are produced by individual state agencies, which may be legally and/or financially responsible for this data. However, the spatial datasets for maps discussed in this report are available to the public. Questions regarding the distribution, sale, and use of individual state geologic maps should be sent to the respective state agency. We do provide suggestions for obtaining and formatting the spatial data to make it compatible with data in this report. See section ‘Obtaining and Formatting Spatial Data’ in the PDF version of the report.
California, Nevada, Utah↗
USGS exploration geochemistry studies at the Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, Alaska— Pdf of presentation
From 2007 through 2010, scientists in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been conducting exploration-oriented geochemical and geophysical studies in the region surrounding the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit in southwestern Alaska. The Cretaceous Pebble deposit is concealed under tundra, glacial till, and Tertiary cover rocks, and is undisturbed except for numerous exploration drill holes. These USGS studies are part of a nation-wide research project on evaluating and detecting concealed mineral resources. This report focuses on exploration geochemistry and comprises illustrations and associated notes that were presented as a case study in a workshop on this topic. The workshop, organized by L.G. Closs and R. Glanzman, is called 'Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration and Development,' presented by the Society of Economic Geologists at a technical conference entitled 'The Challenge of Finding New Mineral Resources: Global Metallogeny, Integrative Exploration and New Discoveries,' held at Keystone, Colorado, October 2-5, 2010.
Alaska↗
Mercury bioaccumulation in fishes from subalpine lakes of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, northeastern Oregon and western Idaho
Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed pollutant that poses considerable risks to human and wildlife health. Over the past 150 years since the advent of the industrial revolution, approximately 80 percent of global emissions have come from anthropogenic sources, largely fossil fuel combustion. As a result, atmospheric deposition of Hg has increased by up to 4-fold above pre-industrial times. Because of their isolation, remote high-elevation lakes represent unique environments for evaluating the bioaccumulation of atmospherically deposited Hg through freshwater food webs, as well as for evaluating the relative importance of Hg loading versus landscape influences on Hg bioaccumulation. The increase in Hg deposition to these systems over the past century, coupled with their limited exposure to direct anthropogenic disturbance make them useful indicators for estimating how changes in Hg emissions may propagate to changes in Hg bioaccumulation and ecological risk. In this study, we evaluated Hg concentrations in fishes of high-elevation, sub-alpine lakes in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in northeastern Oregon and western Idaho. Our goals were to (1) assess the magnitude of Hg contamination in small-catchment lakes to evaluate the risk of atmospheric Hg to human and wildlife health, (2) quantify the spatial variability in fish Hg concentrations, and (3) determine the ecological, limnological, and landscape factors that are best correlated with fish total mercury (THg) concentrations in these systems. Across the 28 study lakes, mean THg concentrations of resident salmonid fishes varied as much as 18-fold among lakes. Importantly, our top statistical model explained 87 percent of the variability in fish THg concentrations among lakes with four key landscape and limnological variables— catchment conifer density (basal area of conifers within a lake’s catchment), lake surface area, aqueous dissolved sulfate, and dissolved organic carbon. The basal area of conifers within a lake’s catchment was by far the most important variable explaining fish THg concentrations, with an increase in THg concentrations of more than 400 percent across the forest density spectrum. Across all study lakes, fish THg concentrations ranged from 0.004 to 0.438 milligrams per kilogram wet weight (mg/kg ww). Only a single individual fish sample exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) human health tissue residue criteria of 0.3 mg/kg ww. However, 54 percent of fish (N=177) exceeded the more stringent tissue residue criteria (0.04 mg/kg ww) adopted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to better protect subsistence fishers. Additionally, 2 and 10 percent of fish exceeded levels associated with reduced common loon reproduction and behavior, respectively. Whereas 25 and 68 percent of fish sampled exceeded concentrations deemed protective of mink and kingfisher, respectively. These results suggest that THg concentrations may be present in these lakes at levels associated with ecological risk. It is important to note however, that accurate inference on potential impairment cannot be made within the context of this study design and further research is needed to better quantify these risks.
Oregon;Idaho↗
A volcano in North Carolina? A closer look at a tall tale
The legacy of the 1811-1812 New Madrid, Central United States, earthquakes is one of tremendous enigma. We are left with just enough contemporary information to provide a measure of constraint on the isoseismal contours and therefore magnitudes of the three principal events ( Nuttli, 1973 ; Street, 1982 ; Johnston, 1996 ; Hough et al., 2000 ), yet given the sparse population density and limited documentation of effects, our interpretations will always be plagued by a significant degree of uncertainty. Although the magnitudes of the three principal New Madrid main shocks will likely never be established with precision, all contemporary analyses (see above references) obtain magnitudes upward of 7 for all three events—large enough to produce perceptible ground motions as far away as the Atlantic seaboard. One enduring and interesting bit of folklore concerning the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 involves the tale of a volcanic eruption in North Carolina at the time of the first main shock on 16 December 1811. The site of this supposed volcano was approximately 750 km east of the main shock and 40 km northwest of Asheville, North Carolina, at an area known in the early 1800's as “the springs” or “the warm springs” ( Figure 1 ). I will henceforth refer to the location by the name of the town that exists there now: Hot Springs. The tale has merited a brief mention in some modern treatises on the New Madrid sequence. For example, Penick ( 1981 ) mentions the 1812 letter by Asheville, North Carolina resident John Clarke Edwards that described the supposed eruption. Penick ( 1981 ) goes on to note that the letter was quickly discredited as a hoax.
North Carolina↗
Soviet books and publications on hydrology (continental) and hydrogeology: titles and some notes on obtaining Soviet monographs
A common method of publication for Soviet scientists, which partly supplants periodicals, is the publication of a collection of articles on a general area of research, frequently by members of a given institution. An extensive sampling of world geologic literature for 1961 (Hawkes, 1966) showed that 33 percent of Soviet titles appeared in periodicals whereas 55 percent of North American and 70 percent of Western European literature appeared in this form. The Soviet predilection for symposia and collections of papers makes searching for information on a given subject more difficult for Westerners because the monographs in question are often not included in exchange agreements (except informal personal ones) with Western libraries and institutions, because they may be primed in small editions, and because such publications frequently escape the notice of Western abstract journals. Unless one is fortunate enough to have many personal contacts in the Soviet Union, there seems to be little alternative to at least a rudimentary knowledge of Russian in order to stay abreast of work published as monographs and in collections.
Union Of Soviet Socialist Republics↗
Notes on the vascular flora and terrestrial vertebrates of Caroline Atoll southern Line Islands
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Atoll Research Bulletin↗
A note on transients in the SRO and ASRO long-period data
Data users have occasionally observed pulse-like transients in the long-period waveforms recorded at the Seismic Research Observatories (SRO) and at the Modified High-Gain Long-Period (ASRO) stations. In a recent paper, Dziewonski et al (1981) reported transients associated with earthquake signals record at some SRO stations, and the authors ascribed these transients to an unpredictable nonlinear system response. While some transients in the SRO and ASRO data are indeed generated by a nonlinear response (clipping), others are the result of linear processes. All event-associated transients are predictable in the sense that they are produced by large impulsive body-wave signals.
Open-File Report↗
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center-Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Report
The Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) facility focused on providing science and imagery to better understand our Earth. As part of the USGS Geography Discipline, EROS contributes to the Land Remote Sensing (LRS) Program, the Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) Program, and the National Geospatial Program (NGP), as well as our Federal partners and cooperators. The work of the Center is shaped by the Earth sciences, the missions of our stakeholders, and implemented through strong program and project management and application of state-of-the-art information technologies. Fundamentally, EROS contributes to the understanding of a changing Earth through 'research to operations' activities that include developing, implementing, and operating remote sensing based terrestrial monitoring capabilities needed to address interdisciplinary science and applications objectives at all levels-both nationally and internationally. The Center's programs and projects continually strive to meet and/or exceed the changing needs of the USGS, the Department of the Interior, our Nation, and international constituents. The Center's multidisciplinary staff uses their unique expertise in remote sensing science and technologies to conduct basic and applied research, data acquisition, systems engineering, information access and management, and archive preservation to address the Nation's most critical needs. Of particular note is the role of EROS as the primary provider of Landsat data, the longest comprehensive global land Earth observation record ever collected. This report is intended to provide an overview of the scientific and engineering achievements and illustrate the range and scope of the activities and accomplishments at EROS throughout fiscal year (FY) 2009. Additional information concerning the scientific, engineering, and operational achievements can be obtained from the scientific papers and other documents published by EROS staff. We welcome comments and follow-up questions on any aspect of this Annual Report and invite any of our customers or partners to contact us at their convenience. To communicate with us, or for more information about EROS, contact: Communications and Outreach, USGS EROS Center, 47914 252nd Street, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57198, jsnelson@usgs.gov, http://eros.usgs.gov/.
Open-File Report↗