Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey and Spartanburg Water are working cooperatively on an ongoing study of Lake Bowen and Reservoir #1 to identify environmental factors that enhance or influence the production of geosmin in the source-water reservoirs. Spartanburg Water is using information from this study to develop management strategies to reduce (short-term solution) and prevent (long-term...

No abstract available.

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of Lidar-derived first surface (FS) topography were produced collaboratively by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Florida Integrated Science Center (FISC), St. Petersburg, FL, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wallops Flight Facility, VA. This project provides highly detailed and accurate...

Sexing wild marine mammals that show little to no sexual dimorphism is challenging. For sirenians that are difficult to catch or approach closely, molecular sexing from tissue biopsies offers an alternative method to visual discrimination. This paper reports the results of a field study to validate the use of two sexing methods: (1) visual discrimination of sex vs (2) molecular sexing...

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey has monitored water levels in the Sparta Sand of Claiborne Group and Memphis Sand of Claiborne Group (herein referred to as the Sparta Sand and the Memphis Sand, respectively), since the 1920s. Groundwater withdrawals have increased while water levels have declined...

Water resources data are published annually for use by engineers, scientists, managers, educators, and the general public. These archival products supplement direct access to current and historical water data provided by NWISWeb. Beginning with Water Year 2006, annual water data reports are available as individual electronic Site Data Sheets for the entire Nation for retrieval, download...

In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program began a series of studies in the contiguous United States to examine the effects of urbanization on the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of streams. Small streams in the Texas Blackland Prairie level III ecoregion in and near the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area were the focus of one of the...

Soil elevation affects tidal inundation period, inundation frequency, and overall hydroperiod, all of which are important ecological factors affecting species recruitment, composition, and survival in wetlands. Hurricanes can dramatically affect a site's soil elevation. We assessed the impact of Hurricane Wilma (2005) on soil elevation at a mangrove forest location along the Shark River...

Communities of plants, biological soil crusts (BSCs), and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are known to influence soil stability individually, but their relative contributions, interactions, and combined effects are not well understood, particularly in arid and semiarid ecosystems. In a landscape-scale field study we quantified plant, BSC, and AM fungal communities at 216 locations...

Large warmwater rivers are complex ecosystems and often contain numerous species and habitats. We loosely define a large river as having a drainage area greater than 50,000 km2 and a stream order great than six. Further, these rivers typically have mean discharges greater than 1,500 m3/s. Channel patterns are highly variable among and within large rivers, generally forming a meandering...

Coral reefs represent one of the most irregular substrates in the marine environment. This roughness or topographic complexity is an important structural characteristic of reef habitats that affects a number of ecological and environmental attributes, including species diversity and water circulation. Little is known about the range of topographic complexity exhibited within a reef or...

Rising atmospheric pCO2 levels are changing ocean chemistry more dramatically now than in the last 20 million years. In fact, pHvalues of the open ocean have decreased by 0.1 since the 1800s and are predicted to decrease 0.1-0.4 globally in the next 90 years. Ocean acidification will affect fundamental geochemical and biological processes including calcification and carbonate sediment...