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Geology topics

J. P. Bennett

Publications and source records attributed to J. P. Bennett.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS2002

Algal layer ratios as indicators of air pollutant effects in Permelia sulcata

Parmelia sulcata Taylor is generally believed to be fairly pollution tolerant, and consequently it is sometimes collected in urban and/or polluted localities. The condition of these specimens, however, is not always luxuriant and healthy. This study tested the hypothesis that total thallus and algal layer thickness, and the algal layer ratio would be thinner in polluted areas, thus allowing these characters to be used a indicators of air pollutant effects. Herbarium specimens were studied from 16 different localities varying in pollution level. The thallus and algal layers and ratio were not affected by year or locality of sampling, but decreased 11, 31 and 21% respectively between low and high pollution level localities. These results agreed with earlier studies using other species, but further work is needed to clarify the effects of geography and substrate on these phenomena.

Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, ↗
USGS2001

Searching for biological specimens from midwestern parks: Pitfalls and solutions

This paper describes the results of searches of herbarium and museum collections and databases for records of vertebrate and vascular plant specimens that had been collected in 15 midwestern National Park System units. The records of these specimens were previously unknown to the National Park Service (NPS). In the course of our searches, numerous obstacles were encountered that prevented us from fully completing our task. These ranged from difficulties with the way databases are structured, to poor record-keeping, to incomplete or incorrect information on the actual location of specimens within collections. Despite these problems, we are convinced that the information to be gained from such searches in invaluable, and we believe that our experience, and the recommendations we offer, may well prove instructive to others undertaking this kind of work.

Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missou↗
USGS2001

Type characters of non-native plant species in Great Lakes national parks (USA)

Non-native plant species are increasing in frequency and abundance in many natural areas in the United States. In Midwestern National Parks, as much as one third of the flora may be non-native. It was hypothesized that botanical characters of these species could be used to typify them and improve the methods of predicting invasions. Data on 19 characters of 341 non-native species from the four Great Lakes national lakeshores (Apostle Islands, Indiana Dunes, Pictured Rocks, and Sleeping Bear Dunes) and invasive non-native species for the State of Wisconsin were collected and studied. For many of the species, little data could be found, but for 139 of them, data were collected for at least 80% of the characters. The frequencies of classes of the characters were tabulated and ranked to typify the most common non-native species. This led to a description of a 'type species' just for these four National Parks. Three species of Cirsium, including Canada (C. arvense), marsh (C. palustre) and bull thistle (C. vulgare), matched the type species better than other species. C. vulgare occurs in more National Parks than the other thistles.

Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin↗
USGS2000

16-year trends in elements of lichens at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

An epiphytic lichen and a soil lichen in two very closely related genera (Parmelia sulcata and Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa, respectively) were sampled 16 years apart at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and measured for their elemental content. Mercury and cadmium decreased approximately 30% over the time period in both species. Sulfur decreased 8% in the epiphytic species, but increased 20% in the soil lichen. Factor analysis revealed that soil elements were higher in the soil lichen, indicating there was some soil contamination in that species. A relationship between iron and titanium was found only in the soil lichen. Sulfur and mercury were highly enriched in both species relative to the soil, which suggests that the atmosphere is a contributing source of these elements. New baseline values were calculated, 22 elements for both species, although it is not recommended that the soil lichen be sampled in the future.

North Dakota↗
USGS2000

Heavy metals in wild rice from northern Wisconsin

Wild rice grain samples from various parts of the world have been found to have elevated concentrations of heavy metals, raising concern for potential effects on human health. It was hypothesized that wild rice from north-central Wisconsin could potentially have elevated concentrations of some heavy metals because of possible exposure to these elements from the atmosphere or from water and sediments. In addition, no studies of heavy metals in wild rice from Wisconsin had been performed, and a baseline study was needed for future comparisons. Wild rice plants were collected from four areas in Bayfield, Forest, Langlade, Oneida, Sawyer and Wood Counties in September, 1997 and 1998 and divided into four plant parts for elemental analyses: roots, stems, leaves and seeds. A total of 194 samples from 51 plants were analyzed across the localities, with an average of 49 samples per part depending on the element. Samples were cleaned of soil, wet digested, and analyzed by ICP for Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mg, Pb, Se and Zn. Roots contained the highest concentrations of Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Se. Copper was highest in both roots and seeds, while Zn was highest just in seeds. Magnesium was highest in leaves. Seed baseline ranges for the 10 elements were established using the 95% confidence intervals of the medians. Wild rice plants from northern Wisconsin had normal levels of the nutritional elements Cu, Mg and Zn in the seeds. Silver, Cd, Hg, Cr, and Se were very low in concentration or within normal limits for food plants. Arsenic and Pb, however, were elevated and could pose a problem for human health. The pathway for As, Hg and Pb to the plants could be atmospheric.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1999

Covariance of lichen and vascular plant floras

The geographic relationships among taxonomic groups are important to study to determine patterns of biodiversity and whether or not associations occur between large groups, e.g., birds and vascular plants. This study was undertaken to determine relationships between higher plants and lower plants, specifically vascular plant and lichen floras in nine national parks of the Great Lakes region. No significant relationship was found between vascular plant floras and lichen floras in this area, which spans 1200 km longitudinally, or between an additional 19 areas from North America that were less than 1000 km(2) in area. For areas larger than 1000 km(2), however, a significant positive relationship existed for 33 areas that span one to approximately 150 million km(2). The ratio of numbers of vascular plants to lichens appeared to average just over 6 across the 33 areas. In the Great Lakes parks, between 28-30% of either the vascular plant or lichen species were singletons (occurring in only one park), but the parks that contained the most singletons were not congruent: Isle Royale had the most singleton lichens, while Indiana Dunes had the most vascular plant singletons. Fewer lichen species (2%) than vascular plants (4%) occurred in all nine parks. Latitude appeared to explain some of the variation between the two groups: vascular plants decreased with increasing latitude, while lichens increased.

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisc↗
USGS1998

Mercury accumulation in transplanted Hypogymnia physodes lichens downwind of Wisconsin chlor-alkali plant

Emissions of mercury from a chlor-alkali plant in central Wisconsin have raised concern about possible effects on biota in the area. Samples of the lichen Hypogymnia physodes, which no longer grows in the area, were transplanted from a site in northeastern Wisconsin and positioned on plastic stands at varying distances up to 1250 m from the plant and sampled for Hg quarterly for one year to test the hypothesis that Hg would be taken up by the lichens and would decline with distance. Average tissue concentrations were elevated when first sampled at three months and continued to increase at the nearest sites until the study ended after one year. Average concentrations after a year of exposure ranged from 4418 ppb at 250 m from the plant to 403 ppb at 1250 m from the plant. The decrease over distance followed a negative exponential pattern. Background concentrations at a control site in northern Wisconsin averaged 155 ppb.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1997

Nested taxa-area curves for eastern United States floras

The slopes of log-log species-area curves have been studied extensively and found to be influenced by the range of areas under study. Two such studies of eastern United States floras have yielded species-area curve slopes which differ by more than 100%: 0.251 and 0.113. The first slope may be too steep because the flora of the world was included, and both may be too steep because noncontiguous areas were used. These two hypotheses were tested using a set of nested floras centered in Ohio and continuing up to the flora of the world. The results suggest that this set of eastern United States floras produces a log-log species-area curve with a slope of approximately 0.20 with the flora of the world excluded, and regardless of whether or not the floras are from nested areas. Genera- and family-area curves are less steep than species-area curves and show similar patterns. Taxa ratio curves also increase with area, with the species/family ratio showing the steepest slope.

Ohio↗
USGS1996

Florisitic summary of 'Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada', second edition

The second edition of the Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada by Gleason and Cronquist (1991) is the most recent and up-to-date taxonomic treatment of the flora of that region. Since no floristic summary of the Manual was included in the publication, a computer analysis of the taxonomic data of the Manual was performed in order to generate a floristic summary. Totals of 4285 species, 1091 genera, and 191 families were tabulated. The largest genus was Carex, with 230 species; the largest family was the Asteraceae, with 528 species. Comparisons made with earlier floras of the same region indicated small declines on the order of 10% for these taxonomic groups.

Botanical Review↗
USGS1996

Floristic summary of plant species in the air pollution literature

A floristic summary and analysis was performed on a list of the plant species that have been studied for the effects of gaseous and chemical air pollutants on vegetation in order to compare the species with the flora of North America north of Mexico. The scientific names of 2081 vascular plant species were extracted from almost 4000 journal articles stored in two large literature databases on the effects of air pollutants on plants. Three quarters of the plant species studied occur in North America, but this was only 7% of the total North American flora. Sixteen percent and 56% of all North American genera and families have been studied. The most studied genus is Pinus with 70% of the North American species studied, and the most studied family is the grass family, with 12% of the species studied. Although Pinus is ranked 86th in the North American flora, the grass family is ranked third, indicating that representation at the family level is better than at the genus level. All of the top ten families in North America are represented in the top 20 families in the air pollution effects literature, but only one genus ( Lupinus ) in the top ten genera in North America is represented in the top thirteen genera in the air pollution literature.

Environmental Pollution↗
USGS1996

The vascular plant flora of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Ross County, Ohio

HopewellCulture National Historical Park, a unit of the United States National Park Service located in Ross County in south central Ohio, was created to restore, protect, and interpret the legacy of the mound building Hopewell prehistoric peoples. The vascular flora of the park had been estimated to be only 20% known prior to the undertaking of this project. During the spring, summer, and fall of 1995, almost 700 plant specimens were collected by three investigators from five units of the park. Totals of 438 species, 281 genera, and 93 families of vascular plants were discovered, representing 40% of the flora of Ross County, and 17% of the flora of Ohio. Introduced species constituted 32% of the flora. Sixty-five species are new records for Ross County. Two species of special concern, Spiranthes ovalis and Eleocharis ovata, are on the state's threatened and endangered species list. The Hopewell unit had the highest plant diversity of the five units.

Ohio↗
USGS1996

Floristic summary of 22 National Parks in the Midwestern United States

Biological diversity is studied at many geographical scales, but specimen collecting is invariably done at a local level. Collecting of animal and plant specimens leads to the compilation of checklists for multiple small areas, which are sometimes merged to produce larger, regional checklists. Such an approach was employed to study the regional vascular flora of 22 national parks of the midwestern United States. Total number of plant taxa (species level and below) ranged from 86 at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park to 1,399 at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and averaged 520 per park. Infraspecific taxa were 12% or less of all taxa at all parks and averaged 7%. Genera per parkranged from 70 to 562, and families ranged from 41 to 145. Non-native species averaged 95 per park, or about 27% on average of the total number of taxa per park. The aggregated regional flora contained just over 2,900 taxa, 828 genera and 160 families. Eleven percent of the taxa were below the species level. Almost 17% of the taxa were non-native, a relatively large percentage, but not out of the range of percentages reported in the literature. The observed and estimated numbers of taxa for this region were in good agreement with other estimates for these latitudes and for a standard regional size. However, the parks do not represent their respective state floras very well when they are aggregated at that scale. Indiana was the best represented state with 65% of the state flora found in the parks, while only 25% of each state's flora were represented by parks in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, and the average representation was only 42%.

Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missou↗
USGS1995

Algorithm for resistance to flow and transport in sand-bed channels

An algorithm is developed that relates depth to discharge and determines bed- and suspended-load transport for the entire range of bed forms found in sand-bed channels; equilibrium-state geometry of lower flow regime bedforms is also predicted. A Meyer-Peter-type formulation is used to compute sand transport in the bed-load layer and for computing suspended sand transport, McLean's procedure is adopted. A bed-form classifcation scheme is developed. The algorithm produces overall geometric averages of predicted to observed depth and predicted to observed transport of 1.00. For a verification data set of 855 observations, mostly from rivers and canals, the overall geometric averages of predicted to observed depth and transport are 0.87 and 1.14. -from Author

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗