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At least 577 records · Page 32Linked to original sources

USGS1998

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and other volatile organic compounds in lakes in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, summer 1998

Water samples were collected from four lakes in Byram Township, Sussex County, N.J., in the summer of 1998 as part of an investigation of the occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in domestic wells of lakeside communities. Cranberry Lake and Lake Lackawanna are surrounded by densely populated communities where the use of gasoline-powered watercraft is prevalent, and water is supplied by lakeside wells. Forest Lake is surrounded by a densely populated community where the use of gasoline-powered watercraft is prohibited. Stag Pond is privately owned, is situated in a sparsely populated area, and is not navigated by gasoline-powered watercraft. Samples were collected from Cranberry Lake in early summer and again in late summer 1998. Concentrations of the gasoline oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) ranged from 1.6 to 15.0 µg/L (micrograms per liter) on June 24 and decreased with depth. The depth-related concentration gradient is attributed to density stratification caused by the temperature gradient that is present in the lake during the early summer. MTBE concentrations ranged from 7.4 to 29.0 µg/L on September 8 and were uniform with depth, as was water temperature, indicating that the lake was vertically mixed. On the basis of these concentration profiles, the mass of MTBE in Cranberry Lake was estimated to be 15 kilograms on June 24 and 27 kilograms on September 8. These mass estimates are equal to the amount of MTBE in 52 and 95 gallons, respectively, of gasoline that contains 10 percent MTBE by volume. Concentrations of another gasoline oxygenate, tert-amyl-methyl ether (TAME), ranged from 0.07 to 0.43 µg/L on June 24 and from 0.2 to 0.69 µg/L on September 8. The highest concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) were 0.18, 1.2, 0.18, and 0.97 µg/L, respectively, on June 24. All BTEX concentrations in Cranberry Lake on September 8 were less than 0.2 µg/L. Samples were collected from Lake Lackawanna on September 9. Concentrations of MTBE and TAME ranged from 3.7 to 14.0 µg/L and from 0.17 to 0.38 µg/L, respectively. Like those in Cranberry Lake the previous day, BTEX concentrations were less than 0.2 µg/L, and VOC concentrations and water temperatures were nearly uniform with depth. The mass of MTBE in Lake Lackawanna on September 9 was estimated to be 6 kilograms, which is equal to the amount of MTBE in 21 gallons of gasoline that contains10 percent MTBE by volume. All VOC concentrations were less than 0.2 µg/L in samples collected from Forest Lake on September 8, 1998, and from Stag Pond on the following day. Oxygenated gasoline is used in watercraft on lakes across northern New Jersey. Many of these lakes are surrounded by communities similar to those at Cranberry Lake and at Lake Lackawanna, which depend largely on wells for water supply. Therefore, a regional assessment of the occurrence of these compounds in lakes and ground water is needed to determine the effect of the use of oxygenated gasoline on water quality in lakeside environments throughout northern New Jersey.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

An evaluation of the relations between flow regime components, stream characteristics, species traits and meta-demographic rates of warmwater stream fishes: Implications for aquatic resource management

Fishery biologists are increasingly recognizing the importance of considering the dynamic nature of streams when developing streamflow policies. Such approaches require information on how flow regimes influence the physical environment and how those factors, in turn, affect species-specific demographic rates. A more cost-effective alternative could be the use of dynamic occupancy models to predict how species are likely to respond to changes in flow. To appraise the efficacy of this approach, we evaluated relative support for hypothesized effects of seasonal streamflow components, stream channel characteristics, and fish species traits on local extinction, colonization, and recruitment (meta-demographic rates) of stream fishes. We used 4 years of seasonal fish collection data from 23 streams to fit multistate, multiseason occupancy models for 42 fish species in the lower Flint River Basin, Georgia. Modelling results suggested that meta-demographic rates were influenced by streamflows, particularly short-term (10-day) flows. Flow effects on meta-demographic rates also varied with stream size, channel morphology, and fish species traits. Small-bodied species with generalized life-history characteristics were more resilient to flow variability than large-bodied species with specialized life-history characteristics. Using this approach, we simplified the modelling framework, thereby facilitating the development of dynamic, spatially explicit evaluations of the ecological consequences of water resource development activities over broad geographic areas. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Georgia↗

USGS2010

Organic petrology of subbituminous carbonaceous shale samples from Chalāw, Kabul Province, Afghanistan: Considerations for paleoenvironment and energy resource potential

Neogene (?) subbituminous carbonaceous shale deposits from Chalāw, Afghanistan, were investigated through organic petrology techniques and standard coal analyses to determine paleoenvironment and potential for resource utilization. The Chalāw deposit, approximately 30 km southeast of Kabul, currently is exploited for brick making and domestic heating and cooking. Three multiple-bench channel samples of the mined bed at Chalāw were collected and evaluated. The presence of significant huminite (ranging from 0.2 to 59.0 vol.%, mineral-inclusive basis) is suggestive of a terrestrial lignin-rich precursor plant material. Measured reflectance values of 0.38–0.55% indicate subbituminous rank. This rank suggests burial depths of approximately 1500 m and maximum temperatures of approximately 50 °C. Structured liptinite macerals generally are absent except for some fluorescing morphologies interpreted to be poorly-preserved root cork suberinite. Sponge spicule bioliths including gemmoscleres and megascleres are common. These petrographic observations, in addition to high mineral matter content (33 to > 95 vol.%), medium to high sulfur content (2.1–11.5 wt.%, dry basis; db), and the presence of common gastropod? shell fragments and an aragonite-needle chalk bed are consistent with, but not directly indicative of, a marginal marine or estuarine mangrove depositional environment. However, additional data are necessary to confirm this hypothesis and deposition in a freshwater environment cannot be ruled out at this time. Commercial-scale development and utilization of the Chalāw deposit as a thermal fuel resource may be possible using a fluidized bed combustion system which could accept the low-quality mine product currently produced. Samples examined herein contain high-ash yield (45–90 wt.%, db), high total moisture content (17–39 wt.%), low calorific value (980–6860 Btu/lb, m,mmf), and have poor agglomerating properties (FSI = 0), consistent with fuels utilized in fluidized bed combustors. However, delineation of the extent of the deposit through field investigation will be necessary to make a quantified resource estimate for mine planning.

Kabul Province↗

USGS1972

Lake Erie: Effects of exploitation, environmental changes and new species on the fishery resources

In no other lake as large as Lake Erie (surface area, 25,690 km 2 ) have such extensive changes taken place in the drainage basin, the lake environment, and the fish populations over the last 100 years. Deforestation and prairie burning led to erosion and siltation of valuable spawning grounds. Marsh spawning areas were drained. Lake-to-river spawning migrations were blocked by mill dams. Accelerated cultural nutrient loading increased total dissolved solids by nearly 50% (1920-70). Average summer water temperatures increased 1.1 C. Phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance increased severalfold. Severe oxygen depletion developed in the bottom waters of all three basins of the lake. Lake sturgeon were fished out as nuisance fish in the late 1800s. The commercial fisheries for lake trout, lake whitefish, and lake herring collapsed by 1940 and those for blue pike and walleye by 1960. Yellow perch production became unstable in the 1960s. The effects of exploitation, environmental changes, and new species on these fish populations are discussed.

Lake Erie↗

USGS2014

Hydraulic modeling development and application in water resources engineering

The use of modeling has become widespread in water resources engineering and science to study rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal regions. For example, computer models are commonly used to forecast anthropogenic effects on the environment, and to help provide advanced mitigation measures against catastrophic events such as natural and dam-break floods. Linking hydraulic models to vegetation and habitat models has expanded their use in multidisciplinary applications to the riparian corridor. Implementation of these models in software packages on personal desktop computers has made them accessible to the general engineering community, and their use has been popularized by the need of minimal training due to intuitive graphical user interface front ends. Models are, however, complex and nontrivial, to the extent that even common terminology is sometimes ambiguous and often applied incorrectly. In fact, many efforts are currently under way in order to standardize terminology and offer guidelines for good practice, but none has yet reached unanimous acceptance. This chapter provides a view of the elements involved in modeling surface flows for the application in environmental water resources engineering. It presents the concepts and steps necessary for rational model development and use by starting with the exploration of the ideas involved in defining a model. Tangible form of those ideas is provided by the development of a mathematical and corresponding numerical hydraulic model, which is given with a substantial amount of detail. The issues of model deployment in a practical and productive work environment are also addressed. The chapter ends by presenting a few model applications highlighting the need for good quality control in model validation.

Book chapter↗

USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey climate and land use change science strategy—A framework for understanding and responding to global change

Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a nonregulatory Federal science agency with national scope and responsibilities, is uniquely positioned to serve the Nation’s needs in understanding and responding to global change, including changes in climate, water availability, sea level, land use and land cover, ecosystems, and global biogeochemical cycles. Global change is among the most challenging and formidable issues confronting our Nation and society. Scientists agree that global environmental changes during this century will have far-reaching societal implications (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007; U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2009). In the face of these challenges, the Nation can benefit greatly by using natural science information in decisionmaking. Since the passage of the U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990, the USGS has made substantial scientific contributions to understanding the interactive living and nonliving components of the Earth system. USGS natural science activities have led to fundamental advances in observing and understanding climate and land-cover change and the effects these changes have on ecosystems, natural-resource availability, and societal sustainability. Most of these major advances were pursued in partnership with other organizations within and outside the Department of the Interior. The inherent value of partnerships with other U.S. Global Change Research Program agencies and natural-resource managers is emphasized in all aspects of the planning and implementation of this Science Strategy for the coming decade. Over the next 10 years, the USGS will make substantial contributions to understanding how Earth systems interact, respond to, and cause global change. The USGS will work with science partners, decisionmakers, and resource managers at local to international levels (including Native American tribes) to improve understanding of past and present change; develop relevant forecasts; and identify those lands, resources, and communities most vulnerable to global change processes. Science will play an essential role in helping communities and land and resource managers understand local to global implications, anticipate effects, prepare for changes, and reduce the risks associated with decisionmaking in a changing environment. USGS partners and stakeholders will benefit from the data, predictive models, and decision-support products and services resulting from the implementation of this strategy. This Science Strategy recognizes core USGS strengths that are applied to key societal problems. It establishes seven goals for USGS global change science and strategic actions that may be implemented in the short term (1–5 years) and the longer term (5–10 years) to improve our understanding of the following areas of inquiry: Rates, causes, and impacts of past global changes; The global carbon cycle; Biogeochemical cycles and their coupled interactions; Land-use and land-cover change rates, causes, and consequences; Droughts, floods, and water availability under changing land-use and climatic conditions; Coastal response to sea-level rise, climatic change, and human development; and Biological responses to global change. In addition to the seven thematic goals, we address the central role of monitoring in accordance with the USGS Science Strategy recommendation that global change research should rely on existing “…decades of observational data and long-term records to interpret consequences of climate variability and change to the Nation’s biological populations, ecosystems, and land and water resources” (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007, p. 19). We also briefly describe specific needs and opportunities for coordinating USGS global change science among USGS Mission Areas and address the need for a comprehensive and sustained communications strategy.

Circular↗

USGS2020

Wave-like patterns of plant phenology determine ungulate movement tactics

Animals exhibit a diversity of movement tactics [1]. Tracking resources that change across space and time is predicted to be a fundamental driver of animal movement [2]. For example, some migratory ungulates (i.e., hooved mammals) closely track the progression of highly nutritious plant green-up, a phenomenon called “green-wave surfing” [3-5]. Yet, general principles describing how the dynamic nature of resources determine movement tactics are lacking [6]. We tested emerging theory that predicts surfing and the existence of migratory behavior will be favored in environments where green-up is fleeting and moves sequentially across large landscapes (i.e., wave-like green-up) [7]. Landscapes exhibiting wave-like patterns of green-up facilitated surfing and explained the existence of migratory behavior across 61 populations of four ungulate species on two continents (n=1,696 individuals). At the species level, foraging benefits were equivalent between tactics, suggesting that each movement tactic is fine tuned to local patterns of plant phenology. For decades, ecologists have sought to understand how animals move to select habitat, commonly defining habitat as a set of static patches [8, 9]. Our findings indicate that animal movement tactics emerge as a function of the flux of resources across space and time, underscoring the need to redefine habitat to include its dynamic attributes. As global habitats continue to be modified by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change [10], our synthesis provides a generalizable framework to understand how animal movement will be influenced by altered patterns of resource phenology.

Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, Wyoming↗

USGS2002

U.S. Geological Survey Activities Related to American Indians and Alaska Natives Fiscal Year 2002

Information is a resource for Native American governments, communities, organizations, and people. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides technical expertise, reports, and other impartial information sources that benefit Native Americans interested in subsistence issues, water, land use, and the health of many parts of the environment. Native self-sufficiency, economic development, and conservation are cultivated through Native decisions informed with USGS data and analyses. The USGS works in cooperation with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, conducting research on water and mineral resources, animals and plants of environmental, economic, or subsistence importance, natural hazards, and geologic resources. Digital data on cartography, mineral resources, streamflow, biota, and other topics are available to American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and institutions. The USGS recognizes the need to learn from and share knowledge with Native peoples. This report describes most of the activities that the USGS conducted with American Indian and Alaska Native governments, educational institutions, and individuals during Federal Fiscal Year 2002. Some of these USGS activities were carried out in concert with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Others were conducted by Tribes, Tribal organizations, professional societies, and the USGS. A growing number of Tribal governments, educational institutions, and other Tribal organizations have begun using geographic information systems and other digital technologies in recent years. As Tribes become more interested in and more adept at managing digital information, they are seeking relevant data from the USGS more frequently. Using digital technologies provides Tribal governments with additional means of managing lands and resources for the benefit of current and future generations. The USGS recognizes the need to make its information available to Tribal governments, and to work with those governments and other institutions to advance data management capabilities. The USGS also recognizes that Tribal institutions have varying needs, interests, and capacities. The USGS strives to be sensitive to the unique circumstances of each of these institutions while supporting their self-driven evolution. The USGS is responding to these needs by increasing the transfer of scientific information to American Indian and Alaska Native governments and by training employees of those governments to conduct scientific studies and improve scientific data management. The USGS is also encouraging American Indians and Alaska Natives to pursue careers in science and seeking ways to hire Indian and Native students. By identifying, improving, and disseminating information about available hiring mechanisms, the USGS is working to make hiring such students easier, and, therefore, more likely, for USGS managers. The U.S. Geological Survey is the Federal science bureau within the Department of the Interior (DoI). The USGS is non-regulatory and is not a significant manager of Federal or Trust lands or assets. However, as described in this report, there are several types of USGS activities that involve American Indians, Alaska Natives, and their lands. One type of activity is the course of formal studies, conducted through existing USGS programs, that involves collection of specific types of data as well as investigative and research projects. These projects typically last 2 or 3 years, although a few are parts of longer-term activities. Some projects are funded through cooperative agreements, from monies provided to the USGS by individual Tribal governments, or by the BIA. The USGS provides matching funds for cooperative projects. These formal projects may also receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Indian Health Service (part of the Department of Health and Human Services), or other Federal agencies. The USGS routinely works with its sister bureaus in the Department of the Interior to provide the scientific information and expertise needed to meet the Department's science priorities. Within this context, the USGS and the BIA are cooperating to use USGS information resources to benefit American Indian and Alaska Native peoples and their lands. The second type of USGS activity is less formal, based on initiatives designed and conducted by USGS employees. Frequently involving educational activities, these endeavors are prompted by employee interests, often as collateral issues, that result from one or more USGS employees identifying and responding to an observed need. In these activities, USGS employees help fulfill a mission of the USGS--to prove scientific relevance--while helping their fellow citizens. Increasingly, some of the educational activities are becoming parts of formal USGS projects. USGS employees have also taken the initiative in assisting American Indians and Alaska Natives through participation in several organizations that were created to foster awareness of science among Native peoples and to help build support and communication networks. One such group is the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). This group sponsors an annual national meeting in which USGS employees participate. USGS employees join this organization on a voluntary basis, bringing the benefits of this expanded network to the USGS, as many employees do with other professional organizations. Each part of the USGS has identified an American Indian/Alaska Native liaison. The USGS has a regional organizational structure, with Western, Central, and Eastern Regions. The regions work in concert with specific scientific disciplines to conduct the scientific mission of the USGS. The regional structure is intended to bring us closer to our customers; we hope that Native Americans and Alaska Natives will use the contacts listed at the end of this report.

Report↗

USGS2019

Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA)

Sediment cores taken near extant springs along the western margin of Soda Lake playa, as well as from the playa center, reveal dramatic hydrologic changes that occurred in the central Mojave Desert during the late Quaternary. Results of stratigraphic, chronologic, physical, chemical, and microfossil analyses of seven cores, ranging in length from 5 to 23 m, help refine the timing and character of the final stages of pluvial Lake Mojave during the late Pleistocene and define distinct periods of wetland development in the early and late Holocene. Evidence shows that an incipient lake occupied the central Soda Lake basin by at least 25.0 ka (ka = thousands of calibrated 14 C years before present), and a fully developed Lake Mojave was present between 20.5 and 12.8 ka, before receding and ultimately yielding to playa conditions by 11.0 ka. Organic-rich “black mats” appear in several cores along the playa margin between 10.7 and 9.0 ka, suggesting that spring-fed wetlands persisted in this area long after the lake had regressed. The basin remained relatively dry throughout most of the Holocene until wetland ecosystems expanded along the margins between 0.73 and 0.18 ka, coincident with part of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age. Overall, our results demonstrate that buried sediments surrounding extant and extinct springs can be used to reconstruct past hydrologic conditions in desert environments on a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and provide important baseline information for effective management of limited desert resources.

California↗

USGS2015

Not putting all their eggs in one basket: bet-hedging despite extraordinary annual reproductive output of desert tortoises

Bet-hedging theory makes the counter-intuitive prediction that, if juvenile survival is low and unpredictable, organisms should consistently reduce short-term reproductive output to minimize the risk of reproductive failure in the long-term. We investigated the long-term reproductive output of an Agassiz's desert tortoise ( Gopherus agassizii ) population and conformance to a bet-hedging strategy of reproduction in an unpredictable but comparatively productive environment. Most females reproduced every year, even during periods of low precipitation and poor germination of food plants, and the mean percentage of reproducing females did not differ significantly on an annual basis. Although mean annual egg production (clutch size × clutch frequency) differed significantly among years, mean clutch size and mean clutch frequency remained relatively constant. During an El Niño year, mean annual egg production and mean annual clutch frequency were the highest ever reported for this species. Annual egg production was positively influenced by maternal body size but clutch size and clutch frequency were not. Our long-term results confirm earlier conclusions based on short-term research that desert tortoises have a bet-hedging strategy of producing small clutches almost every year. The risk of long-term reproductive failure is minimized in unpredictable environments, both through time by annually producing multiple small clutches over a long reproductive lifespan, even in years of low resource availability, and through space by depositing multiple annual clutches in different locations. The extraordinary annual reproductive output of this population appears to be the result of a typically high but unpredictable biomass of annual food plants at the site relative to tortoise habitat in dryer regions. Under the comparatively productive but unpredictable conditions, tortoises conform to predictions of a bet-hedging strategy of reproduction with relatively small but consistent clutch sizes.

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society↗

USGS2008

Distribution of Xantus' Murrelet Synthliboramphus hypoleucus at sea in the Southern California Bight, 1995-97

We radiomarked 153 Xantus' Murrelets Synthliboramphus hypoleucus captured at sea near Santa Barbara Island (SBI), the largest murrelet colony in the California Channel Islands, USA. We tracked these radiomarked murrelets in the Southern California Bight (SCB) off coastal southern California during the 1995-97 breeding seasons. In 1995 during mild El Niño conditions, the murrelets were distributed in non-upwelling areas. In 1996-97, they were distributed in dense patches, aggregating in cool upwelled waters near the northern Channel Islands or south of San Nicolas Island. Murrelets flew longer distances from SBI to foraging areas in 1997 (x̄= 111 ± 44 km) than in 1996 (x̄= 62 ± 25 km), but the distances they travelled did not differ between months (Apr and May) within years. Mean foraging distances from SBI were similar for ‘incubating’ murrelets (determined on the basis of repeated visits to SBI) and ‘non-incubating’ murrelets during the colony attendance period. We attributed the low return rate of radiomarked murrelets to SBI to the capture and marking of a large proportion of birds that were not actively incubating rather than to any adverse effects of radio attachment. We believe changes in murrelet foraging patterns between the 1970s and 1990s are associated with changes in prey resources in the SCB. Flexibility in the foraging strategies of these murrelets may be related to the highly variable marine environment at the southern end of the California Current Up welling System.

California↗

USGS2002

Flow and storage in groundwater systems

The dynamic nature of groundwater is not readily apparent, except where discharge is focused at springs or where recharge enters sinkholes. Yet groundwater flow and storage are continually changing in response to human and climatic stresses. Wise development of groundwater resources requires a more complete understanding of these changes in flow and storage and of their effects on the terrestrial environment and on numerous surface-water features and their biota.

Science↗

USGS2019

Estimating sightability of greater sage-grouse at leks using an aerial infrared system and N-mixture models

Counts of grouse present at leks (breeding grounds) during spring are widely used to monitor population numbers and assess trends. However, only a proportion of birds available to count are detected resulting in a biased population index. We designed a study using an aerial integrated infrared imaging system (AIRIS) and experimental pseudo-leks to quantify sightability (proportion of birds detected) of conventional ground-based visual (GBV) surveys for greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus . Specifically, we calibrated AIRIS at pseudo-leks composed of known numbers of captively-raised birds, primarily ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus . We then carried out AIRIS and GBV surveys, simultaneously, on nearby sage-grouse leks, allowing us to model AIRIS and GBV sightability. AIRIS detected ∼93% of birds on pseudo-leks while GBV detected ∼86% of sage-grouse on leks. Thus, the ground count observation error was –14% from the ‘true' number of male sage-grouse attending the leks. We also found sagebrush cover decreased sightability for GBV counts but did not influence sightability by AIRIS. Because standard GBV protocols typically make repeated counts of sage-grouse in a single morning, we also modeled repeated GBV counts using N -mixture models and found an 88% sightability, which was nearly the same as GBV sightability from the AIRIS analysis. This suggests that the use of repeated morning counts can potentially account for imperfect detection in the standard GBV surveys currently implemented. We also provide generalized correction values that could be employed by resource managers using either GBV or AIRIS to better estimate ‘true’ numbers of sage-grouse attending leks within similar environments to this study. The findings and interpretation presented can help guide effective monitoring protocols that account for observation error and improve accuracy of data used for population trend and abundance estimation.

California, Idaho, Nevada↗

USGS2007

Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program

The surface of the Earth is changing rapidly, at local, regional, national, and global scales, with significant repercussions for people, the economy, and the environment. Some changes have natural causes, such as wildland fires or hurricanes, while other changes on the land, such as resource extraction, agricultural practices, and urban growth, are human-induced processes. There are other types of changes that are a combination of natural and human-induced factors; landslides and floods, for example, are fundamentally natural processes that are often intensified or accelerated by human land use practices. Whatever their cause, land-surface changes can have profound environmental and economic impacts.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2009

The Ozark Highlands

The Ozark Highlands include diverse topographic, geologic, soil, and hydrologic conditions that support a broad range of habitat types. The landscape features rugged uplands - some peaks higher than 2,500 feet above sea level - with exposed rock and varying soil depths and includes extensive areas of karst terrain. The Highlands are characterized by extreme biological diversity and high endemism (uniqueness of species). Vegetation communities are dominated by open oak-hickory and shortleaf pine woodlands and forests. Included in this vegetation matrix is an assemblage of various types of fens, forests, wetlands, fluvial features, and carbonate and siliceous glades. An ever-growing human population in the Ozark Highlands has become very dependent on reservoirs constructed on major rivers in the region and, in some cases, groundwater for household and public water supply. Because of human population growth in the Highlands and increases in industrial and agricultural activities, not only is adequate water quantity an issue, but maintaining good water quality is also a challenge. Point and nonpoint sources of excessive nutrients are an issue. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) partnership programs to monitor water quality and develop simulation tools to help stakeholders better understand strategies to protect the quality of water and the environment are extremely important. The USGS collects relevant data, conducts interpretive studies, and develops simulation tools to help stakeholders understand resource availability and sustainability issues. Stakeholders dependent on these resources are interested in and benefit greatly from evolving these simulation tools (models) into decision support systems that can be used for adaptive management of water and ecological resources. The interaction of unique and high-quality biological and hydrologic resources and the effects of stresses from human activities can be evaluated best by using a multidisciplinary approach that the USGS can provide. Information varying from defining baseline resource conditions to developing simulation models will help resource managers and users understand the human impact on resource sustainability. Varied expertise and experience in biological and water-resources activities across the entire Highlands make the USGS a valued collaborator in studies of Ozark ecosystems, streams, reservoirs, and groundwater. A large part of future success will depend on the involvement and active participation of key partners.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS1998

Nickel Hazards to Fish, Wildlife and Invertebrates: A Synoptic Review

This account is a selective review and synthesis of the technical literature on nickel and nickel salts in the environment and their effects on terrestrial plants and invertebrates, aquatic plants and animals, avian and mammalian wildlife, and other natural resources, The subtopics include nickel sources and uses; physical, chemical, and metabolic properties of nickel; nickel concentrations in field collections of abiotic materials and living organisms; nickel deficiency effects; lethal and sublethal effects, including effects on survival, growth, reproduction, metabolism, mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity; currently proposed nickel criteria for the protection of human health and sensitive natural resources; and recommendations for additional research.

Contaminant Hazard Reviews↗

USGS2006

Monitoring for methane gas in Carbon and Emery Counties, Utah, 1995-2003

The release of methane gas from coal beds creates the potential for it to move into near-surface environments through natural and human-made pathways. To help ensure the safety of communities and determine the potential effects of development of coal-bed resources, methane gas concentrations in soils and ground water in Carbon and Emery Counties, Utah, were monitored from 1995 to 2003. A total of 420 samples were collected, which contained an average methane concentration of 2,740 parts per million by volume (ppmv) and a median concentration of less than 10 ppmv. On the basis of spatial and temporal methane concentration data collected during the monitoring period, there does not appear to be an obvious, widespread, or consistent migration of methane gas to the near-surface environment.

Utah↗

USGS2006

Methane gas concentration in soils and ground water, Carbon and Emery Counties, Utah, 1995-2003

Utah↗