Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Assessing Sandhill Crane Roosting Habitat Along The Platte River, Nebraska, P.J. Kinzel, J.M. Nelson, R.S. Parker

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Each spring approximately 500,000 sandhill cranes and some endangered whooping cranes use the Central Platte River Valley in Nebraska as a staging habitat during their migration north to breeding and nesting grounds in Canada, Alaska, and the Siberian Arctic. Over the last century changes in the flow of the river have altered the river channels and the distribution of roost sites. USGS researchers studied linkages between water flow, sediment supply, channel morphology, and preferred sites for crane roosting. These results are useful for estimating crane populations and for providing resource managers with techniques to understand crane habitats.

Amphibian Research And Monitoring Initiative: Concepts And Implementation, Paul Stephen Corn, Michael J. Adams, William A. Battaglin, Alisa L. Gallant, Daniel L. James, Melinda Knutson, Catherine A. Langtimm, John R. Sauer

United States Geological Survey: Publications

This report provides the basis for discussion and subsequent articulation of a national plan for the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI). The authors were members of a task force formed from within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that included scientists with expertise in biology, cartography, hydrology, and statistics. The assignment of the task force was to extend work begun by the National Amphibian Leadership Group. This group, composed of senior USGS scientists, managers, and external authorities, met in Gainesville, Florida, in February 20001. The product of this meeting was a document outlining the framework for a national program to …

Mercury Concentrations In Fishes From Select Water Bodies In Trinity County, California, 2000-2002, Jason T. May, Roger L. Hothem, Charles N. Alpers

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Sites of historical gold and mercury mining in the Trinity River watershed continue to release mercury to downstream water bodies. To evaluate the extent of mercury (Hg) contamination in the watershed, the U.S. Geological Survey collected samples of sediment, water, invertebrates, amphibians, and fishes from select water bodies and mine sites in Trinity County, California. This report presents total mercury data for 368 fishes collected during 2000–2002, from 4 locations within Trinity Lake, from 16 stream sites, and from 3 pond sites within the Trinity River watershed. The following species of fish were sampled (scientific name and number of samples …

Mercury Contamination From Historical Gold Mining In California, Charles N. Alpers, Michael P. Hunerlach, Jason T. May, Roger L. Hothem

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Mercury contamination from historical gold mines represents a potential risk to human health and the environment. This fact sheet provides background information on the use of mercury in historical gold mining and processing operations in California, with emphasis on historical hydraulic mining areas. It also describes results of recent USGS projects that address the potential risks associated with mercury contamination.

Miners used mercury (quicksilver) to recover gold throughout the western United States. Gold deposits were either hardrock (lode, gold-quartz veins) or placer (alluvial, unconsolidated gravels). Underground methods (adits and shafts) were used to mine hardrock gold deposits. Hydraulic, drift, or …

Questa Baseline And Pre-Mining Ground- Water Quality Investigation. 5. Well Installation, Water-Level Data, And Surface- And Ground-Water Geochemistry In The Straight Creek Drainage Basin, Red River Valley, New Mexico, 2001-03, Cheryl A. Naus, R. Blaine Mccleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Lisa C. Donohoe, Andrew G. Hunt, Frederick L. Paillet, Roger H. Morin, Phillip L. Verplanck

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department, is investigating the pre-mining ground-water chemistry at the Molycorp molybdenum mine in the Red River Valley, northern New Mexico. The primary approach is to determine the processes controlling groundwater chemistry at an unmined, off-site, proximal analog. The Straight Creek drainage basin, chosen for this purpose, consists of the same quartz-sericite-pyrite altered andesitic and rhyolitic volcanic rock of Tertiary age as the mine site. The weathered and rugged volcanic bedrock surface is overlain by heterogeneous debris-flow deposits that interfinger with alluvial deposits near the confluence of Straight Creek and …

Contaminant Concentrations And Biomarker Responses Of Fish From The Mobile, Apalachicola, Savannah, And Pee Dee River Basins, Jo Ellen Hinck, V. S. Blazer, N. D. Denslow, T. S. Gross, T. W. May, C. E. Orazio, J. J. Coyle, P. J. Anderson, D. E. Tillitt

United States Geological Survey: Publications

No abstract provided.

Characteristics And Potential Causes Of Declining Diporeia Spp. Populations In Southern Lake Michigan And Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, Thomas F. Nalepa, David L. Fanslow, Gretchen Messick

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Populations of the amphipods Diporeia spp. are declining in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. We examine characteristics and potential causes of declines in southern Lake Michigan and outer Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Amphipod populations began to decline within 3-4 years after zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) colonized both areas. In Lake Michigan, which was better studied, the decline occurred first in shallow waters (<30 m) and then progressed deeper (51-90 m). Between 1980- 1981 (pre-Dreissena) and 1998-1999 (post-Dreissena), densities at sites in these two depth intervals declined 92% and 58%, respectively. At a 45-m site in southeastern Lake Michigan, densities of Diporeia spp. …

Ecology Of The Lake Huron Fish Community, 1970–1999, Norine E. Dobiesz, David A. Mcleish, Randy L. Eshenroder, James R. Bence, Lloyd C. Mohr, Mark P. Ebener, Thomas F. Nalepa, Aaron P. Woldt, James E. Johnson, Ray L. Argyle, Joseph C. Makarewicz

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

We review the status of the Lake Huron fish community between 1970 and 1999 and explore the effects of key stressors. Offshore waters changed little in terms of nutrient enrichment, while phosphorus levels declined in inner Saginaw Bay. Introduced mussels (Dreissena spp.) proliferated and may have caused a decline in Diporeia spp. This introduction could have caused a decline in lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) growth and condition, with serious repercussions for commercial fisheries. Bythotrephes, an exotic predatory cladoceran, and other new exotics may be influencing the fish community. Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) remained prevalent, but …

Evaluation Of Argon Ages And Integrity Of Fluid-Inclusion Compositions: Stepwise Noble Gas Heating Experiments On 1.87 Ga Alunite From Tapajo´ S Province, Brazil, G.P. Landis, L.W. Snee, C. Juliani

Geochemistry of Sulfate Minerals: A Tribute to Robert O. Rye

Quantitative analyses are reported for active (N₂, CH₄, CO, CO₂, H₂, O₂, HF, HCl, H₂S, SO₂) and noble (He, Ar, Ne) gases released by crushing and step heating of magmatic-hydrothermal alunite from the Tapajo´ s gold province in Brazil. This is the oldest known alunite (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 1.87 Ga), and because it has undergone minimal postdepositional thermal or tectonic strain, it is excellent material to test the retention of gas species in fluid inclusions and within the crystal structure over geological …

Origin Of Secondary Sulfate Minerals On Active Andesitic Stratovolcanoes, D.R. Zimbelman, Robert O. Rye, G.N. Breit

Geochemistry of Sulfate Minerals: A Tribute to Robert O. Rye

Sulfate minerals in altered rocks on the upper flanks and summits of active andesitic stratovolcanoes result from multiple processes. The origin of these sulfates at five active volcanoes, Citlalte´petl (Mexico), and Mount Adams, Hood, Rainier, and Shasta (Cascade Range, USA), was investigated using field observations, petrography, mineralogy, chemical modeling, and stable-isotope data. The four general groups of sulfate minerals identified are: (1) alunite group, (2) jarosite group, (3) readily soluble Fe- and Al-hydroxysulfates, and (4) simple alkaline-earth sulfates such as anhydrite, gypsum, and barite. Generalized assemblages of spatially associated secondary minerals were recognized: (1) alunite+silica±pyrite±kaolinite±gypsum±sulfur, (2) jarosite+alunite+silica; (3) jarosite+smectite+silica±pyrite, (4) …

Sulfur And Oxygen Isotopic Record In Sulfate And Sulfide Minerals Of Early, Deep, Pre-Main Stage Porphyry Cu–Mo And Late Main Stage Base-Metal Mineral Deposits, Butte District, Montana, C.W. Field, L. Zhang, J.H. Dilles, Robert O. Rye, M.H. Reed

Geochemistry of Sulfate Minerals: A Tribute to Robert O. Rye

Typical porphyry-type Cu–Mo mineralization occupies two connected domal centers, the eastern Pittsmont and western Anaconda domes, that predate and largely underlie the well-known, throughgoing, Main Stage polymetallic veins of Butte. Among the sulfur-bearing minerals recovered from deep drill core of this early pre-Main Stage hydrothermal assemblage are anhydrite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and molybdenite in veinlets bordered by K-silicate alteration, and pyrite from slightly younger quartz–pyrite veinlets with dgray-sericiticT alteration selvages. The ranges of δ³⁴S values for minerals of the K-silicate assemblage are 9.8–18.2%◦ for anhydrite (n=23 samples), 3.0%◦ to 4.7%◦ for molybdenite (n=6), 0.4%◦ to 3.4%◦ for pyrite (n=19), …

Supergene Destruction Of A Hydrothermal Replacement Alunite Deposit At Big Rock Candy Mountain, Utah: Mineralogy, Spectroscopic Remote Sensing, Stable-Isotope, And Argon-Age Evidences, Charles G. Cunningham, Robert O. Rye, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Michael J. Kunk, Terry B. Councell

Geochemistry of Sulfate Minerals: A Tribute to Robert O. Rye

Big Rock Candy Mountain is a prominent center of variegated altered volcanic rocks in west-central Utah. It consists of the eroded remnants of a hypogene alunite deposit that, at ~21 Ma, replaced intermediate-composition lava flows. The alunite formed in steam-heated conditions above the upwelling limb of a convection cell that was one of at least six spaced at 3- to 4- km intervals around the margin of a monzonite stock. Big Rock Candy Mountain is horizontally zoned outward from an alunite core to respective kaolinite, dickite, and propylite envelopes. The altered rocks are also vertically zoned from a lower pyrite– …

The Use Of Culmen Length To Determine Sex Of The American White Pelican, Brian S. Dorr, D. Tommy King, Patrick Gerard, Marilyn G. Spalding

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Culmnen length has been suggested as being diagnostic for sex in the American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). However, the literature on the use of culmen length to determine sex is inconsistent, with reported overlap in culmen lengths for males and females ranging from 1 mm to >120 mm. Morphological measurements from 188 American White Pelicans collected in Mississippi and Louisiana whose sex was determined by dissection and gonadal inspection were measured. The use of culmen length alone was used to determine gender for this sample by establishing the minimum obsewed culmen length for males and the maximum observed …

Probabilistic Model For Estimating Field Mortality Of Target And Non-Target Bird Populations When Simultaneously Exposed To Avicide Bait, John J. Johnston, Melvin J. Holmes, Andy Hart, Dennis J. Kohler, Randal S. Stahl

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A probabilisticmodel was developed to estimate target and non-target avian mortality associated with the application of the avicide CPTH (3-chloro-p-toluidine hydrochloride) to minimize sprouting rice damage in the southern USA. CPTH exposures for individual birds were predicted by random sampling from species-specific non-parametric distributions of bait seed consumption and CPTH residues detected on individual bait seeds. Mortality was predicted from the species-specific exposure versus mortality relationship. Individual variations in this response were captured in the model by Monte Carlo sampling from species-specific distributions of slopes and median toxicity values (LD50) for each bird. The model was used to simultaneously predict …

Maternal Yolk Steroids: A Potential Compensatory Mechanism For Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoeniceus) In North Dakota, Rachel M. Bush, Mark E. Clark, Wendy L. Reed, George M. Linz

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many of the suggested management techniques directed at reducing blackbird breeding populations fail to incorporate the underlying mechanisms regulating populations. Theoretically, removal of individuals from the breeding population should lower the breeding densities and presumably reduce recruitment. However, compensatory responses might occur with decreased breeding densities, but no empirical data are available to test this hypothesis. Much of the underlying compensatory theory is based on differential allocation of resources to reproduction vs. self maintenance at different breeding densities, mainly in the form of depensatory effects of resource limitation on growth and survival. However, as the breeding density in an area …

Blackbird Use And Damage Of Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots, Jonathan M. Raetzman, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Annual blackbird damage to sunflower is valued at $5 to $10 million. Perhaps more importantly, the National Sunflower Association has identified blackbirds as the key reason for growers to abandon sunflower in areas of prime production. North Dakota and South Dakota together produce approximately 70% of sunflower grown in the United States. This crop adds $906 million to the regional economy. To date, cost effective and environmentally safe methods to reduce bird damage to sunflower remain elusive. In the 1980’s, scientists from the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) showed that “decoy” sunflower plots can greatly reduce bird damage to local …

Evaluation Of Lorsban®-4e Aerially Sprayed On Sunflower Plots For Bird Repellency, George M. Linz, Anthony A. Slowik, Linda B. Penry, Jeffrey Homan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Ripening sunflower fields in the northern Great Plains provide blackbirds with easily accessible sources of high-energy food. As many growers can attest, blackbirds can be nearly impossible to discourage from foraging in favored fields. To date, no single management method has been especially effective at consistently discouraging blackbirds.

Avian Use Of Commercial Sunflower And Grain Crops Compared To Usda Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots In North Dakota., Heath M. Hagy, George M. Linz, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

North Dakota and South Dakota produce about 70% of the sunflower grown in the United States. Blackbird depredation, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), can be a major problem that results in some producers abandoning sunflower. Reduced acreage of an otherwise profitable crop is important economically and might harm migratory bird populations relying on the shrub-like habitat in sunflower fields for food and cover. In 2004 in an effort to reduce blackbird damage, USDA Wildlife Services provided funds to growers to plant Wildlife Conservation Sunflower Plots (WCSP). Growers were instructed to plant 8-ha units of oilseed sunflower near shelterbelts …

Historic And Current Status Of The American White Pelican Breeding At Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge, North Dakota, Marsha A. Sovada, D. Tommy King, Michael Erickson, Cheryl Gray

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge currently supports the largest breeding colony of the American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ) in North America. The first written account of the colony’s status was in 1905, when approximately 500 pelicans nested on two islands in Chase Lake. The colony grew to nearly 34,000 breeding birds by 2002. Surveys of breeding pelicans in the colony were sporadic from 1905 until 1972. Because the availability of foraging areas affects recruitment, pond counts from south-central North Dakota were used as an index of the relative availability of foraging areas. Pond counts varied widely in the …

Recent Population Status Of The American White Pelican: A Continental Perspective, D. Tommy King, Daniel W. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Breeding bird surveys were conducted at most American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ) colonies in North America from 1979-81 and the number of American White Pelicans was estimated at >109,000 breeding individuals in 55 colonies. Although many pelican colonies have not been surveyed since the early 1980s, we present the most current survey numbers available for North American colonies. Using available data (1998-2001) and the North American Continental Divide to delineate eastern from western metapopulations, 27 colonies and 48,240 nests in the East and 15 colonies and 18,790 nests in the West were documented, giving a total of about …

Introduction: Biology And Conservation Of The American White Pelican, Daniel W. Anderson, D. Tommy King

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Two separate, large-scale management units for the American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ) in North America are proposed: the eastern and western metapopulations, separated by the North American Continental Divide. The populations on either side of this barrier are subject to contrasting ecological conditions, movement patterns suggest strong geographic separation and each is likely demographically distinct. Subdivisions within these demographic units need to be more precisely defined in the future. Yet, because of the highly colonial nesting habits of the American White Pelican, conservation can still be effective if directed toward separate breeding colonies. Our intent is to provide …

Preface [To Special Issue Of Wildlife Research: ‘Use Of Indices To Monitor Wildlife Population’], Richard M. Engeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Developing Relative Abundance Techniques (Rats) For Monitoring Rodent Populations, Desely A. Whisson, Richard M. Engeman, Kellie Collins

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Accurate density estimates of rodents are frequently difficult or cost-prohibitive to determine. Thus, a number of techniques (track plates, monitoring blocks, chew cards/sticks, apple slice index, trapping) are often used to index rodent populations. Theoretically, the sensitivity of these indexing techniques could be improved if they applied continuous measurements rather than simple binary measurements (presence/absence). Development of a relative abundance technique that is simple to apply and sensitive to changes in population density is critical for the operational management of rodent pests. In addition to providing a quantitative measure of abundance with statistical parameters, an indexing technique that does not …

Indexing Principles And A Widely Applicable Paradigm For Indexing Animal Populations, Richard M. Engeman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Monitoring animal populations is an essential component of wildlife research and management. Population indices can be efficient methods for monitoring populations when more labour-intensive densityestimation procedures are impractical or invalid to apply, and many monitoring objectives can be couched in an indexing framework. Indexing procedures obtain maximal utility if they exhibit key characteristics, including being practical to apply, being sensitive to changes or differences in the target species' population, having an inherent variance formula and allowing for precision in index values, and relying on as few assumptions as possible. Additional useful characteristics include being able simultaneously to monitor multiple animal …

The Impact Of Disease In The American White Pelican In North America, Tonie Rocke, Kathryn Converse, Carol Meteyer, Bob Mclean

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Records of reported die-offs of the American White Pelican ( Pelicanus erythrorhynchos ) held by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center from 1978 through 2003 indicate that type C botulism (caused by Clostridium botulinum ) was the major cause of mortality. In 1996, over 15,000 birds, including 8,500 American White Pelicans, were estimated to have died from type C botulism at the Salton Sea in California. This was the largest documented die-off of any pelican species and was estimated to represent 15-20% of the western metapopulation. This event was also notable in that it was the first time …

Husbandry Of Wild-Caught Greater Sage-Grouse, Paul Oesterle, Robert Mclean, Michael Dunbar, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This study reports the first successful husbandry and breeding in captivity of wild-caught greater sage-grouse (Ccntroccrcus urophasianus). In October 2003, 2 1 hatch-year greater sage-grouse were trapped in northwestern Nevada and transported to Fort Collins, Colorado. We held grouse in pens at the United States Department of Agriculture's National Wildlife Research Center for 8 months. We offered a varied diet, including native food items such as sagebrush (Arternisia tridentata and A. tripartita) and yarrow (Achilles millefolium). We housed grouse in a large flight pen and allowed to them freerange as one flock. Mortdlity rate was 16.7%. Several of the grouse …

Potential Consequences Of The Coqui Frog Invasion In Hawaii, Karen H. Beard, William C. Pitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The Puerto Rican frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui , has invaded Hawaii and has negatively impacted the state’s multimillion dollar floriculture, nursery and tourist industries; however, little is known about the ecological consequences of the invasion. Using data from Puerto Rico and Hawaii, the authors summarize the potential consequences of the invasion and describe future research needs. It could be predicted that the coqui would reduce the abundance of Hawaii’s endemic invertebrates. However, data suggest that coquis are mostly consuming non-native invertebrates, and not invertebrate pests, such as mosquitoes and termites. Endemic invertebrates are likely to represent a portion of the coqui …

Stability Of The Tranquilizer Drug Propionylpromazine Hydrochloride In Formulated Products, Thomas M. Primus, Bruce A. Kimball, Jerome Hurley, John J. Johnston, Sherm Blom, Peter J. Savarie

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

An analytical method to evaluate propionylpromazine hydrochloride (PPZHCl) in tranquilizer formulations was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). During analysis of aged quality-control samples, a previously unreported chromatographic response was observed at a shorter retention time than PPZHCl. Further investigation of formulations stored in trap tap devices at temperatures ranging from 5 to 40 ◦C during field trials at four different locations confirmed the degradation of the active ingredient. Further investigation using HPLC/tandem mass spectrometry revealed two to five degradates, with the major degradates being oxidation products of the active ingredient, PPZHCl. As PPZHCl formulations must be stable when stored …

Gnrh Irnmunocontraception Of Male Cats, Megan K. Ross, Julie K. Levy, Lowell A. Miller, Cynda Crawford, Jerry W. Ritchey, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The develop~llenot f nonsurgical co~ltraceptivesf or cats may facilitate population control of the species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of GI&H for iinillu~locontraceptioo~fl male cats. Male cats (11=12) were divided into groups of tlxee and were inunuilized once with 0 (sham), 50, 200, or 400 i g synthetic GI&H coupled to keyhole limpet hernocyanin and combined with a nlycobacterial adjuvant to e~lhance inullunogenicity. GI&H ailtibody titer, serunl testostero~lec oncentration, and scrota1 size were detenniiled monthly. At 6 1110, semen was collected by electroejaculation and testes were examined histologically. GnRH antibodies were detected in all cats …

From The Field: Field Searches Versus Vaginal Implant Translocating Elk Calves, Nathan W. Seward, David S. Maehr, Jonathan W. Gassett, John J. Cox, Jeffrey L. Larkin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We compared the utility of vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) and field searches for locating elk (Cervus elaphus) calves in southeastern Kentucky during the spring of 2001. Retention of VITs among 40 adult females ranged from 1–276 days (x - =61.6±8.4 [SE] days). Approximately half of the transmitters (n=19) were expelled prematurely or malfunctioned. Two of 37 (5%) transmitters in translocated females performed as designed and led to calf capture. We captured more calves (n=9 in 2001; n=16 in 2002) by searching areas where elk exhibited parturition behavior. We suggest that manufacturers refine the current VIT design to increase its application …