Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Animals”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources
USGS2017

Paleosol stable isotope evidence for early hominid occupation of East Asian temperate environments

Hominids left Africa and occupied mainland Asia by 1.8 myr ago. About 1.15 myr ago Homo erectus and an associated Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna migrated from subtropical China across the Qinling Mountains into the temperate Loess Plateau. This migration may be an evolutionary milestone in human adaptability because it may represent the first occupation of a nontropical environment. Loess-paleosol stable isotope ratios from the last interglacial-glacial cycle provide comparative data for reconstructing the hominid paleoenvironments. The climate during Gongwangling hominid occupation about 1.15 myr ago was influenced by both Siberian-Mongolian winter and Indian summer monsoon systems characterized as a cold/cool, dry winter and warm/mild, semihumid summer and fall. The Gongwangling hominids preyed mainly on warm-climate-adapted animals such as Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna, suggesting a warm season occupation. The stable isotope ratios also indicate that the Chenjiawo hominids occupied an environment similar to that of the Gongwangling about 650,000 yr ago. The associated fauna, with a mixture of forest and steppe, warm-and cold/cool-climate-adapted animal assemblage's, suggests a permanent occupation by this time. Thus, the reliable earliest and permanent occupation of temperate environments may have occurred 150,000 yr earlier in eastern Asia rather than in Europe. ?? 1997 University of Washington.

Quaternary Research↗
USGS2001

Quantitative analysis of herpes virus sequences from normal tissue and fibropapillomas of marine turtles with real-time PCR

Quantitative real-time PCR has been used to measure fibropapilloma-associated turtle herpesvirus (FPTHV) pol DNA loads in fibropapillomas, fibromas, and uninvolved tissues of green, loggerhead, and olive ridley turtles from Hawaii, Florida, Costa Rica, Australia, Mexico, and the West Indies. The viral DNA loads from tumors obtained from terminal animals were relatively homogenous (range 2a??20 copies/cell), whereas DNA copy numbers from biopsied tumors and skin of otherwise healthy turtles displayed a wide variation (range 0.001a??170 copies/cell) and may reflect the stage of tumor development. FPTHV DNA loads in tumors were 2.5a??4.5 logs higher than in uninvolved skin from the same animal regardless of geographic location, further implying a role for FPTHV in the etiology of fibropapillomatosis. Although FPTHV pol sequences amplified from tumors are highly related to each other, single signature amino acid substitutions distinguish the Australia/Hawaii, Mexico/Costa Rica, and Florida/Caribbean groups.

Florida, Hawai'i↗
USGS2020

Introduction: Ecological subsidies as a framework for understanding contaminant fate, exposure, and effects at the land-water interface

Ecologists have long recognized that ecological subsidies (the flow of organic matter, nutrients, and organisms between ecosystems) can strongly affect ecosystem processes and community structure in the recipient ecosystem. Animal movements, organic matter flows, and food web dynamics between linked aquatic and terrestrial systems can also influence contaminant fate, exposure, and effects at the land-water interface. Here and in this book, we develop a broad framework that highlights two important ways that ecological subsidies and contaminants interact. Ecological subsidies from the donor system can drive exposure to recipient systems, and contaminant exposures in the donor system can control subsidies and contaminant fluxes to the recipient systems. In the case of prey movement between ecosystems, subsidies drive exposure when contaminants present in aquatic environments bioaccumulate in the tissues of prey organisms at levels that are relatively non-toxic to the prey themselves. Conversely, exposure in the aquatic system can limit subsidies when pollutants are relatively toxic to prey organisms themselves and the magnitude of the subsidy (i.e., biomass of aquatic insects emerging to the terrestrial environment) is reduced. These effects of contaminants on subsidies are shaped by other global stressors that are ubiquitous in aquatic-riparian ecosystems (e.g., climate and land use change, species extinction and invasion, and eutrophication). As our understanding of these ecological and toxicological processes advances, there are increasing opportunities to make landscape-scale predictions of contaminant and animal fluxes and to integrate this knowledge of aquatic-riparian linkages into managing contaminant risks. Through these efforts to integrate the fields of ecology and ecotoxicology on this subject, we expect to gain greater insight on the ecological effects of contaminants on linked ecosystems as well as the ways in which food web dynamics and ecosystem processes can themselves govern the fate, transport, and exposure to contaminants in the environment.

Book chapter↗
USGS2020

Synthesis: A framework for predicting the dark side of ecological subsidies

In this chapter, we synthesize the state of the science regarding ecological subsidies and contaminants at the land-water interface and suggest research and management approaches for linked freshwater-terrestrial ecosystems. Specifically, we focus on movements of animals with complex life histories and the detrital inputs associated with animal and plant matter delivered to freshwaters. We present a framework based on the physicochemical parameters of contaminants and how they shape the relationship between contaminant persistence within resource subsidies (“dark side” of subsidies) and movement of resource subsidies (“bright side” of subsidies) across ecosystem boundaries. This relationship between the “dark side” and “bright side” of subsidies defines an important parameter space that allows researchers and practitioners to predict the potential impacts of aquatic contaminants on resource subsidies and their interaction with other stressors on consumers. Ecological factors such as ecosystem productivity, community composition, and consumer prey preference shape the ecotoxicological outcomes of aquatic contamination on subsidies. Landscape factors such as lithology, hydrogeomorphology, hydroperiod, and land use underlie chemical, toxicological, and ecological patterns and provide the context within which effects of contaminants play out. Finally, effects of contaminants combine with effects of other global stressors on timing, quality, and quantity of subsidies that drive responses to contaminants at the land-water interface. Understanding the “dark side” of ecological subsidies requires expertise from multiple disciplines. We attempt to synthesize current knowledge from those disciplines and generate conceptual models that ecologists can use to guide future research in understanding cross-ecosystem subsidies and contaminant fate and effects.

Book chapter↗
USGS2023

Management of vampire bats and rabies: Past, present, and future

Rabies virus transmitted via the bite of common vampire bats ( Desmodus rotundus ) has surpassed canine-associated cases as the predominant cause of human rabies in Latin America. Cattle, the preferred prey of D. rotundus , suffer extensive mortality from vampire bat associated rabies, with annual financial losses estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Organized attempts to manage or curtail vampire bat populations and rabies virus transmission have been conducted since the early 1900s, when vampire bat-associated rabies cases in humans and livestock were first recognized. However, these attempts largely failed, as the distribution of vampire bat populations expanded geographically with the intensification of livestock production, and the incidence of vampire bat rabies (VBR) increased. Current methods of control rely primarily on culling vampire bat populations using poisons (vampiricides) that are transferred from bat to bat after topical application. Despite widespread use of vampiricides for the last 50 years, little evidence exists to demonstrate their effectiveness in reducing the incidence of VBR. Culling may further result in dispersion of bats, which could have an unintended consequence of spreading VBR. New methods to manage VBR are being developed or considered, including topical rabies vaccine that transfer among bats, much like vampiricides or a transmissible vaccine that would spread naturally among bats. Vaccination of vampire bats against rabies could lower the incidence of VBR and prevent viral transmission to cattle and humans without the animal welfare concerns and potential negative effects of culling. However, this approach would not deter vampire bat bites, and some form of population reduction (e.g., fertility control) would likely also be needed. An integrated strategy to reduce both the incidence of VBR and the abundance of vampire bats would be ideal for protecting both human and animal health.

Book chapter↗
USGS2026

Cumulative effects of multiple stressors on marine mammals: Elephant seals as a model system

Noise exposure is a potential stressor for free-ranging marine mammals and is often studied in the absence of other environmental factors. Here, a multi-investigator, interdisciplinary effort was undertaken to examine the response of elephant seals to multiple stressors. An integrated physiological and ecological approach was taken, including immunology, stress physiology, toxicology, animal behavior, population biology, and life history theory, to examine the cumulative effects of exposure to multiple stressors in elephant seals. While we measured the response of individual animals, a population response can be predicted by incorporating these results into the long-term data on elephant seal demographics.

Book chapter↗
USGS2017

Human interactions with sirenians (manatees and dugongs)

There are three extant sirenian species of the Trichechidae family and one living Dugongidae family member. Given their close ties to coastal and often urbanized habitats, sirenians are exposed to many types of anthropogenic activities that result in challenges to their well-being, poor health, and even death. In the wild, they are exposed to direct and indirect local pressures as well as subject to large-scale stressors such as global climate change acting on regions or entire genetic stocks. In captivity, they are subject to husbandry and management practices based on our collective knowledge, or in some cases lack thereof, of their needs and welfare. It is therefore reasonable to consider that their current imperiled status is very closely linked to our actions. In this chapter, we identify and define human interactions that may impact dugongs and manatees, including hunting, fisheries, boat interactions, negative interactions with man-made structures, disease and contaminants, and global climate change. We examine techniques used to investigate these impacts and the influence of sirenian biology and of changing human behaviors on potential outcomes. We examine how this differs for dugongs and manatees in the wild and for those held in captivity. Finally, we provide possible mitigation strategies and ways to assess the efforts we are making to improve the welfare of individuals and to conserve these species. This chapter identifies how the welfare of these species is intrinsically linked to the human interactions these animals experience, and how the nature of these interactions has changed with societal shifts. We proffer suggested ways to minimize negative impacts. Current knowledge should be used to minimize negative human interactions and impacts, to promote positive impacts, and to protect these animals for the future.

Book chapter↗
USGS2018

Native peoples’ relationship to the California chaparral

Ethnographic interviews and historical literature reviews provide evidence that for many tribes of California, chaparral plant communities were a rich source of food, medicines, and technologies and that they supplemented natural fires with deliberate burning of chaparral to maximize its ability to produce useful products. Many of the most important chaparral plant species used in the food and material culture have strong adaptations to fire. Particularly useful were many annual and perennial herbs, which proliferate after fire from seed and bulb banks, shrub resprouts that made superb cordage and basketry material, as well as animals that were more readily caught in postfire environments. The reasons for burning in chaparral are grouped into seven ecological categories, each relying on a known response to fire of the chaparral community. The authors posit that tribes employed intentional burning to maintain chaparral in different ages and size classes to meet diverse food and material needs, tracking the change in plant and animal abundance and diversity, and shifts in shrub architecture and habitat structure during the recovery of the chaparral community. Areas were burned in ways designed to create a mosaic of open grassland and recently burned, young and mature stands of chaparral with different combinations of species and densities. This management conferred on chaparral plant communities a degree of spatial, structural, successional, and biotic diversity that exceeded what would have been the case in the absence of human intervention. These impacts are still evident on contemporary landscapes.

California↗
USGS2018

Extending the habitat concept to the airspace

Habitat is one of the most familiar and fundamental concepts in the fields of ecology, animal behavior, and wildlife conservation and management. Humans interact with habitats through their senses and experiences and education to such a degree that their perceptions of habitat have become second nature. For this reason, it may be difficult at first to accept the airspace as habitat, an area that is invisible, untouchable, highly dynamic, and its occupants difficult to see. Nonetheless, the habitat concept, by definition and in practice, applies readily to the airspace. Some ecological and behavioral processes including habitat selection, foraging, and reproduction are operational in the airspace, while others, particularly those mediated by resource limitation such as territoriality, are likely uncommon if present at all. The behaviors of flying animals increasingly expose them to anthropogenic hazards as development of the airspace accelerates. This exacerbates the need to identify approaches for managing these human–wildlife conflicts in aerial habitats, especially where human safety or at-risk populations are concerned. The habitat concept has proven useful in shaping environmental law and policy to help mitigate these conflicts. It remains to be seen whether current law can bend to include a more expansive concept of habitat that includes the airspace.

Book chapter↗
USGS2016

Coral calcification and ocean acidification

Over 60 years ago, the discovery that light increased calcification in the coral plant-animal symbiosis triggered interest in explaining the phenomenon and understanding the mechanisms involved. Major findings along the way include the observation that carbon fixed by photosynthesis in the zooxanthellae is translocated to animal cells throughout the colony and that corals can therefore live as autotrophs in many situations. Recent research has focused on explaining the observed reduction in calcification rate with increasing ocean acidification (OA). Experiments have shown a direct correlation between declining ocean pH, declining aragonite saturation state (Ωarag), declining [CO32_] and coral calcification. Nearly all previous reports on OA identify Ωarag or its surrogate [CO32] as the factor driving coral calcification. However, the alternate “Proton Flux Hypothesis” stated that coral calcification is controlled by diffusion limitation of net H+ transport through the boundary layer in relation to availability of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). The “Two Compartment Proton Flux Model” expanded this explanation and synthesized diverse observations into a universal model that explains many paradoxes of coral metabolism, morphology and plasticity of growth form in addition to observed coral skeletal growth response to OA. It is now clear that irradiance is the main driver of net photosynthesis (Pnet), which in turn drives net calcification (Gnet), and alters pH in the bulk water surrounding the coral. Pnet controls [CO32] and thus Ωarag of the bulk water over the diel cycle. Changes in Ωarag and pH lag behind Gnet throughout the daily cycle by two or more hours. The flux rate Pnet, rather than concentration-based parameters (e.g., Ωarag, [CO3 2], pH and [DIC]:[H+] ratio) is the primary driver of Gnet. Daytime coral metabolism rapidly removes DIC from the bulk seawater. Photosynthesis increases the bulk seawater pH while providing the energy that drives calcification and increases in Gnet. These relationships result in a correlation between Gnet and Ωarag, with both parameters being variables dependent on Pnet. Consequently the correlation between Gnet and Ωarag varies widely between different locations and times depending on the relative metabolic contributions of various calcifying and photosynthesizing organisms and local rates of carbonate dissolution. High rates of H+ efflux continue for several hours following the mid-day Gnet peak suggesting that corals have difficulty in shedding waste protons as described by the Proton Flux Model. DIC flux (uptake) tracks Pnet and Gnet and drops off rapidly after the photosynthesis-calcification maxima, indicating that corals can cope more effectively with the problem of limited DIC supply compared to the problem of eliminating H+. Predictive models of future global changes in coral and coral reef growth based on oceanic Ωarag must include the influence of future changes in localized Pnet on Gnet as well as changes in rates of reef carbonate dissolution. The correlation between Ωarag and Gnet over the diel cycle is simply the result of increasing pH due to photosynthesis that shifts the CO2-carbonate system equilibria to increase [CO32] relative to the other DIC components of [HCO3] and [CO2]. Therefore Ωarag closely tracks pH as an effect of Pnet, which also drives changes in Gnet. Measurements of DIC flux and H+ flux are far more useful than concentrations in describing coral metabolism dynamics. Coral reefs are systems that exist in constant disequilibrium with the water column.

Book chapter↗
USGS1994

Acute toxicity and hazard assessment of Rodeo®, X-77 Spreader®, and Chem-Trol® to aquatic invertebrates

The herbicide Rodeo ® provides waterfowl managers with an effective chemical tool for creating open water habitats in wetlands if its use does not adversely affect native invertebrate communities. The survival of caged Chironomus spp. (midge), Hyalella azteca (amphipod), Stagnicola elodes (pond snail), and Nephelopsis obscura (leech) was assessed in prairie pothole wetlands treated by air with a tank mixture of Rodeo ® , the surfactant X-77 Spreader ® , and the drift retardant Chem-Trol ® at a rate recommended for controlling cattails. Laboratory studies were then conducted to determine the acute toxicities of Rodeo ® , X-77 Spreader ® , and Chem-Trol ® , individually and in simulated tank mixtures, to the same invertebrates and to Daphnia magna in reconstituted water representative of these wetlands. There was no difference in the survival of caged invertebrates between treated and reference wetlands after 21 days. Based on nominal concentrations of the formulations, X-77 Spreader ® (LC50s=2.0–14.1 mg/L) was about 83–136 times more toxic than Rodeo ® (LC50s=218–1216 mg/L) to aquatic invertebrates. Chem-Trol ® killed ≤10% of the animals at 10,000 mg/L and ≤50% of the animals at 28,000 mg/L. Daphnia magna were more sensitive than the other species to X-77 Spreader ® , Rodeo ® , and the simulated Rodeo ® tank mixture (RTM). The joint toxic action of the RTM was additive for amphipods and midges, greater than additive for leeches, and was less than additive for daphnids. X-77 Spreader ® was the major toxic component in the RTM. Binary mixtures of X-77 Spreader ® , Rodeo ® , and Chem-Trol ® at tank mixture and equitoxic ratios also showed additive toxicity to amphipods. The use of Rodeo ® (applied as a tank mixture with X-77 Spreader ® and Chem-Trol ® ) as a management tool in wetlands does not pose an acute hazard to native aquatic invertebrates because the concentrations of Rodeo ® , X-77 Spreader ® , and Chem-Trol ® found to be acutely toxic to these invertebrates were much higher than their expected or measured concentrations in water from wetlands treated with the RTM.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS1987

Selenium in aquatic organisms from subsurface agricultural drainage water, San Joaquin Valley, California

Concentrations of total selenium were high in 1983 in water, sediment, organic detritus, aquatic plants and invertebrates, and mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis ) from Kesterson Reservoir (San Joaquin Valley, California) and the San Luis Drain. Selenium concentrations in biota from the Reservoir and Drain (referred to here collectively as “Kesterson”) exceeded 300 (μg/g dry weight in some samples of algae, submerged rooted plants, chironomids, and mosquitofish, and were as high as 440 μg/g dry weight in decomposing detritus. Overall, selenium concentrations in samples from Kesterson averaged about 100-fold higher than those from the Volta Wildlife Area (here termed “Volta”), a nearby site that does not receive subsurface drainage water. Selenium concentrations generally increased from water to sediment to plants to animals. Spatial (geographic) patterns were observed for selenium concentrations in samples from Kesterson, but not in those from Volta. Higher concentrations were usually measured in samples from the San Luis Drain than from the evaporation ponds that comprise Kesterson Reservoir. At Kesterson, concentrations were usually higher in August than in May. The elevated levels of selenium measured in forage organisms from Kesterson are probably toxic to sensitive consumer animals, and may explain recent observations of dead and deformed embryos in eggs of aquatic birds that nest at the Reservoir. The effects of the selenium on fish living in subsurface agricultural drainage water are still poorly understood.

California↗
USGS1979

Parathion causes secondary poisoning in a laughing gull breeding colony

Use of organophosphate insecticides as replacements for the more persistent organochlorine compounds has increased dramatically in recent years. Organophosphates are desirable for field application because they break down rapidly in the environment and do not persist in animal tissues (Stickel 1974). Nevertheless, certain organophosphates are extremely toxic to wildlife for short periods after application and have caused widespread mortality among exposed animals (Mills 1973, Stickel 1974, 1975, Mendelssohn 1977, and Zinkl et al. 1978).

Texas↗
USGS1984

Volatile constituents of wolf (Canis lupus) urine as related to gender and season

The volatile constituents of wolf urine were examined via capillary gas chromatography and compared among male, female, and castrate male. Several compounds including methyl isopentyl sulfide, 3,5-dimethyl-2-octanone, and acetophenone were clearly associated with the gender of the animal and many displayed a seasonal dependence. In addition, 2 long-chain aldehydes isolated from urine samples by an HPLC procedure also correlated with the endocrine status of the animal.

Experientia↗
USGS1976

Capturing and marking howler monkeys for field behavioral studies

Methods for capturing and marking howler monkeys for ecological studies are discussed. Systems for capturing and handling animals are compared. A dart with liquid Sernylan for capture and Sernylan or Ketamine as a holding drug was preferred to darts using powdered succinylcholine chloride (SCC) and ether. The effectiveness of both Sernylan and SCC is compared and dosages are given for Sernylan in howler monkeys and SCC for howlers and capuchins. The advantages of Ketamine over ether as a holding drug are discussed. Animals can be marked with leg-bands, collars, and freeze-branding.

Primates↗
USGS2024

Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster)

Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals’ diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster ) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and near the Gulf of California. Specifically, we quantified green chroma for two skin traits (foot and gular color) and their relationship to foraging location and diet of males, as measured via global positioning system tracking and stable carbon isotope analysis of blood plasma. Our three focal colonies varied in which foraging attributes were linked to carotenoid-rich ornaments. For gular skin, our data showed a shift from a benthic prey-green skin association in the shallow waters in the north to a pelagic prey-green skin association in the deepest waters to the south. Mean foraging trip duration and distance of foraging site from coast also predicted skin coloration in some colonies. Finally, brown booby colonies varied in which trait (foot versus gular skin color) was associated with foraging metrics. Overall, our results indicate that male ornaments reflect quality of diet and foraging–information that may help females select mates who are adapted to local foraging conditions and therefore, are likely to provide better parental care. More broadly, our results stress that diet-dependent ornaments are closely linked to animals’ environments and that we cannot assume ornaments or ornament signal content are ubiquitous within species, even when ornaments appear similar among populations.

Marine Biology↗
USGS2015

Evaluating hair as a predictor of blood mercury: the influence of ontogenetic phase and life history in pinnipeds

Mercury (Hg) biomonitoring of pinnipeds increasingly utilizes nonlethally collected tissues such as hair and blood. The relationship between total Hg concentrations ([THg]) in these tissues is not well understood for marine mammals, but it can be important for interpretation of tissue concentrations with respect to ecotoxicology and biomonitoring. We examined [THg] in blood and hair in multiple age classes of four pinniped species. For each species, we used paired blood and hair samples to quantify the ability of [THg] in hair to predict [THg] in blood at the time of sampling and examined the influence of varying ontogenetic phases and life history of the sampled animals. Overall, we found that the relationship between [THg] in hair and blood was affected by factors including age class, weaning status, growth, and the time difference between hair growth and sample collection. Hair [THg] was moderately to strongly predictive of current blood [THg] for adult female Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), and adult harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), whereas hair [THg] was poorly predictive or not predictive (different times of year) of blood [THg] for adult northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). Within species, except for very young pups, hair [THg] was a weaker predictor of blood [THg] for prereproductive animals than for adults likely due to growth, variability in foraging behavior, and transitions between ontogenetic phases. Our results indicate that the relationship between hair [THg] and blood [THg] in pinnipeds is variable and that ontogenetic phase and life history should be considered when interpreting [THg] in these tissues.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗