The historic distribution of Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) was relatively continuous across the range, and the importance of tortoise habitat outside of designated tortoise conservation areas (TCAs) to recovery has long been recognized for its contributions to supporting gene flow between TCAs and to minimizing impacts and edge effects within TCAs. However, connectivity of Mojave desert tortoise populations has become a concern because of recent and proposed development of large tracts of desert tortoise habitat that cross, fragment, and surround designated conservation areas. This paper summarizes the underlying concepts and importance of connectivity for Mojave desert tortoise populations by reviewing current information on connectivity and providing information to managers for maintaining or enhancing desert tortoise population connectivity as they consider future proposals for development and management actions.
Maintaining an ecological network for the Mojave desert tortoise, with a system of core habitats (TCAs) connected by linkages, is necessary to support demographically viable populations and long-term gene flow within and between TCAs. There are four points for wildlife and land-management agencies to consider when making decisions that could affect connectivity of Mojave desert tortoise populations (for example, in updating actions in resource management plans or amendments that could help maintain or restore functional connectivity in light of the latest information):
Each TCA has unique strengths and weaknesses regarding its ability to support minimum sustainable populations based on areal extent and its ability to support population increases based on landscape connection with adjacent populations. Considering how proposed projects (inside or outside of TCAs) affect connectivity and the ability of TCAs to support at least 5,000 adult tortoises (the numerical goal for each TCA) could help managers to maintain the resilience of TCAs to population declines. The same project, in an alternative location, could have very different impacts on local and regional populations. For example, within the habitat matrix surrounding TCAs, narrowly delineated corridors may not allow for natural population dynamics if they do not accommodate overlapping home ranges along most of their widths so that tortoises reside, grow, find mates, and produce offspring that can replace older tortoises. In addition, most habitat outside TCAs may receive more surface disturbance than habitat within TCAs. Therefore, managing the entire remaining matrix of desert tortoise habitat for permeability may be better than delineating fixed corridors. These concepts apply, especially given uncertainty about long-term condition of habitat, within and outside of TCAs under a changing climate.
Ultimately, questions such as “What are the critical linkages that need to be protected?” could be better framed as “How can we manage the remaining habitat matrix in ways that sustain ecological processes and habitat suitability for special status species?” Land-management decisions made in the context of the latter question may be more conducive to maintenance of a functional ecological network.
In California, the Bureau of Land Management established 0.1–1.0 percent caps on new surface-disturbance for TCAs and mapped linkages that address the issues described in number 1 of this list.
Nevada, Utah, and Arizona currently do not have surface-disturbance limits. Limits comparable to those in the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) would be 0.5 percent within TCAs and 1 percent within the linkages modeled by Averill-Murray and others (2013). Limits in some areas of California within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, such as Ivanpah Valley, are more restrictive, at 0.1 percent. Continuity across the state line in Nevada could be achieved with comparable limits in the adjacent portion of Ivanpah Valley, as well as the Greater Trout Canyon Translocation Area and the Stump Springs Regional Augmentation Site. These more restrictive limits would help protect remaining habitat in the major interstate connectivity pathway through Ivanpah Valley and focal areas of population augmentation that provide additional population connectivity along the western flank of the Spring Mountains.
In a recent study that analyzed 13 years of desert tortoise monitoring data, nearly all desert tortoise observations were at sites in which 5 percent or less of the surrounding landscape within 1 kilometer was disturbed (Carter and others, 2020a). To help maintain tortoise habitability and permeability across all other non-conservation-designated tortoise habitat, all surface disturbance could be limited to less than 5-percent development per square kilometer because the 5-percent threshold for development is the point at which tortoise occupation drops precipitously (Carter and others, 2020a). However, although individual desert tortoises were observed at development levels up to 5 percent, we do not know the fitness or reproductive characteristics of these individuals. This level of development also may not allow for long-term persistence of healthy populations that are of adequate size needed for demographic or functional connectivity; therefore, a conservative interpretation suggests that, ideally, development could be lower. Lower development levels would be particularly useful in areas within the upper 5th percentile of connectivity values modeled by Gray and others (2019).
Reducing ancillary threats in places where connectivity is restricted to narrow strips of habitat, for example, narrow mountain passes or vegetated strips between solar development, could enhance the functionality of these vulnerable linkages. In such areas, maintaining multiple, redundant linkages could further enhance overall connectivity.
Minimization of mortality from roads and maximization of passage under roads. Roads pose a significant threat to the long-term persistence of local tortoise populations, and roads of high traffic volume lead to severe population declines, which ultimately fragments populations farther away from the roads. Three points (a.–c.) pertain to reducing direct mortality of tortoises on the many paved roads that cross desert tortoise habitat and to maintaining a minimal level of permeability across these roads:
Tortoise-exclusion fencing tied into culverts, underpasses, overpasses, or other passages below roads in desert tortoise habitat, would limit vehicular mortality of tortoises and provide opportunities for movement across the roads. Installation of shade structures on the habitat side of fences installed in areas with narrow population-depletion zones would limit overheating of tortoises that may pace the fence.
Passages below highways could be maintained or retrofitted to ensure safe tortoise access, for example, by filling eroded drop-offs or modifying erosion-control features such as rip-rap to make them safer and more passable for tortoises. Wildlife management agencies could work with transportation departments to develop construction standards that are consistent with hydrologic/erosion management goals, while also incorporating a design and materials consistent with tortoise survival and passage and make the standards widely available. The process would be most effective if the status of passages was regularly monitored and built into management plans.
Healthy tortoise populations along fenced highways could be supported by ensuring that land inside tortoise-exclusion fences is not so degraded that it leads to degradation of tortoise habitat outside the exclusion areas. For example, severe invasive plant infestations inside a highway exclusion could cause an increase of invasive plants outside the exclusion area and degrade habitat; therefore, invasive plants inside road rights of way could be mown or treated with herbicide to limit their spread into adjacent tortoise habitat and minimize the risk of these plants carrying wildfires into adjacent habitat.
Adaptation of management based on new information. Future research will continue to build upon and refine models related to desert tortoise population connectivity and develop new ones. New models could consider landscape levels of development and be constructed such that they share common foundations to support future synthesis efforts. If model development was undertaken in partnership with entities that are responsible for management of desert tortoise habitat, it would facilitate incorporation of current and future modeling results into their land management decisions. There are specific topics that may be clarified with further evaluation:
The effects of climate change on desert tortoise habitat, distribution, and population connectivity;
The effects of large-scale fires, especially within repeatedly burned habitat, on desert tortoise distribution and population connectivity;
The ability of solar energy facilities or similar developments to support tortoise movement and presence by leaving washes intact; leaving native vegetation intact whenever possible, or if not possible, mowing the site, allowing vegetation to re-sprout, and managing weeds; and allowing tortoises to occupy the sites; and
The design and frequency of underpasses necessary to maintain functional demographic and genetic connectivity across linear features, like highways.
Wildlife Program
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
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Red-throated loons (Gavia stellata) are a species of conservation concern in Alaska due to recent evidence of a population decline on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) in northern Alaska. In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a pilot study to evaluate diet and use of nearshore foraging areas as possible drivers of the population decline. We collected fat biopsies to examine diet of breeding red-throated loons using previously outlined methods. We also deployed GPS-Ultra High Frequency transmitters on red-throated loons for an initial understanding of detailed offshore marine habitat use during the breeding season. A broader research project on marine habitat use and fish diet of breeding red-throated loons will begin in 2021 on the Canning River Delta and in Foggy Island Bay, Alaska.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211029","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","usgsCitation":"Uher-Koch, B.D., Latty, C.J., and Schmutz, J.A., 2021, Red-throated loon (Gavia stellata) use of nearshore marine habitats—Results from a 2019 pilot study in Northern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1029, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211029.","productDescription":"iv, 4 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-125193","costCenters":[{"id":117,"text":"Alaska Science Center Biology WTEB","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":385133,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1029/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":385134,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1029/ofr20211029.pdf","text":"Report","size":"795 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2021-1029"}],"country":"United States","state":"Alaska","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -146.5081787109375,\n 70.0435668608635\n ],\n [\n -145.535888671875,\n 70.0435668608635\n ],\n [\n -145.535888671875,\n 70.29606309973389\n ],\n [\n -146.5081787109375,\n 70.29606309973389\n ],\n [\n -146.5081787109375,\n 70.0435668608635\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Alaska Science Center
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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected borehole geophysical and video logs in 17 open-hole wells in Northampton, Warminster, and Warwick Townships, Bucks County, Pennsylvania during 2017–19 to support detailed groundwater investigations at and near the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Warminster, where groundwater contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) had become a concern since 2014. The area is underlain by the Triassic Stockton Formation, which forms a fractured-sedimentary-rock aquifer used for private, industrial, and public drinking-water supply. The geophysical and video logs were used to characterize the boreholes and identify potential water-bearing fractures for subsequent detailed investigations. Of the 17 wells that were logged, subsequent investigations were conducted by USGS in 15 wells and included hydraulic tests of discrete water-bearing zones using a straddle-packer system in 13 wells and depth-discrete point sampling in 2 wells. These 15 wells ranged in depth from about 210 to 604 feet (ft) below land surface (bls) and included six new 6-inch diameter wells drilled to initial depths of 600 ft bls on the former NAWC Warminster base property in 2018 and nine 8- to 12-inch diameter existing former production or unused test wells. Partial geophysical or video logs also were collected by USGS during 2018 in two other wells that were not included in subsequent detailed investigations.
Most wells had numerous water-bearing fractures or openings throughout the depth of the open boreholes. Most of these water-bearing features appeared to be openings parallel to bedding or high-angle fractures approximately orthogonal to bedding. Casing lengths ranged from about 19 to 93 ft bls. Depth to the ambient water level at the time of logging ranged from about 1.8 ft above land surface in a flowing well to about 55 ft bls. Measured borehole flow was predominantly downward in most of the deepest wells (greater than 400 ft), which were commonly located at the highest land-surface elevations, and contained inflow from fractures at relatively shallow depths and outflow through fractures near or below depths of 500 ft bls. Borehole flow was predominantly upward in most wells less than 400 ft in depth.
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U.S. Geological Survey
215 Limekiln Road
New Cumberland, PA 17070-2424
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), began a study in 2019 to complete the compilation and quality assurance of water-resource threats and needs data for the 117 National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the FWS Legacy Mountain-Prairie Region (LMPR) and to characterize the water-resource threats and needs of each refuge and of the LMPR itself. The LMPR encompasses the states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. This report includes the compilation and quality assurance of current (April 2020) water-resource threats and needs data for the refuges in the LMPR and a statistical, graphical, and spatial characterization, including the ranking and prioritization of threat types, threat causes, and needs by the number of occurrences in the LMPR as a whole and by refuges, states, and select U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Level III Ecoregions.
A total of 540 unique threat occurrences were identified for 109 refuges in the LMPR. No threats were identified for eight refuges. About 43 percent of the threat occurrences, for 59 refuges, had a high-severity threat rating. Of the 10 most common threat types, 8 were also among the most common high-severity threat types. Water-resource threats had 72 different causes. About 83 percent of the overall common causes for threats and for high-severity threats were the same. The most common threat types overall and the most common high-severity threat types were compromised water management capability, habitat shifting/alteration, and altered flow regimes. The 20 water-resource threat types for Long Lake NWR were the most for refuges in the LMPR. Other refuges with the greatest number of threat types included Marais des Cygnes NWR (18) and Arapaho and Lee Metcalf NWRs (16 each). About 54 percent of refuges with threats had high-severity threats. Arapaho and Quivira NWRs each had 10 high-severity threat types, the maximum number of high-severity threat types for LMPR refuges.
A total of 637 unique need occurrences were identified for 114 refuges. No needs were reported for three refuges. The most common need type, a Water Resource Inventory and Assessment, was reported for 78 refuges. Two of the most common need types, repair and replace water management infrastructure and water supply/quantity monitoring, were the most common high-priority need types. Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge had the most (39) unique water-resource need types for refuges in the LMPR. Other refuges with the greatest number of need types were Baca (38), Alamosa (36), and Monte Vista (36) NWRs. The most high-priority need types for a refuge was 23, at Monte Vista NWR. Alamosa (22), Baca (22), and Lake Andes (19) NWRs were also among the top 4 refuges with the greatest number of high-priority need types.
An overall ranking scheme was developed to identify refuges that have the highest-ranking priority for conservation efforts to fulfill refuges’ statutory purposes. The count of occurrences of high-severity threats and high-priority needs were summed to determine the overall ranking value for a refuge. The 10 refuges with the highest overall ranking values, in order of ranking from higher to lower, were Alamosa, Baca, and Monte Vista NWRs (tied for highest); Lake Andes NWR, Ouray and Quivira NWRs, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and Flint Hills NWR, Cokeville Meadows NWR, and Arapaho NWR.
About 33 percent of overall threat occurrences were reported as under the control of the FWS to mitigate, as were 37 percent of all threat occurrences with a high-severity rating. The most common overall threat types and high-severity threat types under FWS control were compromised water management capability; habitat shifting/alteration; altered flow regimes; loss/alteration of wetland habitat; and legal challenges or fines for non-compliance with water policy, law, or regulation. A total of 68 percent of overall need occurrences and 67 percent of all high-priority need occurrences were under the control of the FWS. The most common overall need types and high-priority needs types under control were repair or replace water management infrastructure, water supply/quantity monitoring, water quality baseline monitoring, and protect habitat from invasive species. A Water Resource Inventory and Assessment was also a common overall need under FWS control, as was the high-priority need of water level monitoring.
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U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, MS 415
Denver, CO 80225
This document was prepared in cooperation with Gwinnett County, Georgia, to supplement the journal article “Microbial and Viral Indicators of Pathogens and Human Health Risks from Recreational Exposure to Waters Impaired by Fecal Contamination” (published in Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment). The document includes an executive summary of the article, project ideas for Gwinnett County to enhance its bacterial monitoring program, and an annotated bibliography of selected references from the article. Although tailored to Gwinnett County, the project ideas are based on the state of the science of monitoring for fecal-associated pathogens and pathogen indicators in impaired surface waters and may be of interest to water resources divisions of other municipalities.
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South Atlantic Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
1770 Corporate Drive, Suite 500
Norcross, GA 30093
The Kansas River provides drinking water to about 800,000 people in northeastern Kansas. Water-treatment facilities that use the Kansas River as a water-supply source use chemical and physical processes during water treatment to remove contaminants before public distribution. Advanced notification of changing water-quality conditions near water-supply intakes allows water-treatment facilities to proactively adjust treatment. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Kansas Water Office (funded in part through the Kansas Water Plan), the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, The Nature Conservancy, the City of Lawrence, the City of Manhattan, the City of Olathe, the City of Topeka, and Johnson County WaterOne, collected water-quality data at the Kansas River at Wamego (USGS site 06887500; hereafter referred to as the “Wamego site”) and De Soto (USGS site 06892350; hereafter referred to as the “De Soto site”) monitoring sites to update previously published regression models relating continuous water-quality sensor measurements, streamflow, and seasonal components to discretely sampled water-quality constituent concentrations or densities. Linear regression analysis was used to update and develop models for total dissolved solids, major ions, hardness as calcium carbonate, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus species), chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, suspended sediment, and fecal indicator bacteria at the Wamego and De Soto monitoring sites using data collected during July 2012 through September 2019. The water-quality information documented in this report can be used as guidance for water-treatment processes and to characterize changes in water-quality conditions in the Kansas River over time that would not be otherwise possible.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211018","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Kansas Water Office, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, The Nature Conservancy, the City of Lawrence, the City of Manhattan, the City of Olathe, the City of Topeka, and Johnson County WaterOne","usgsCitation":"Williams, T.J., 2021, Linear regression model documentation and updates for computing water-quality constituent concentrations or densities using continuous real-time water-quality data for the Kansas River, Kansas, July 2012 through September 2019: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1018, 18 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211018.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 18 p.; Appendixes: 1–32; Dataset","numberOfPages":"30","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-120556","costCenters":[{"id":353,"text":"Kansas Water Science Center","active":false,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384812,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1018/downloads","text":"Appendixes 1–32","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2021–1018 Appendixes 1–32"},{"id":384811,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1018/ofr20211018.pdf","text":"Report","size":"1.16 MB","description":"OFR 2021–1018"},{"id":384810,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1018/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":384813,"rank":4,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN","text":"U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database","description":"USGS Dataset","linkHelpText":"— USGS water data for the Nation"}],"country":"United States","state":"Kansas","otherGeospatial":"Kansas River","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -97.66845703124999,\n 38.151837403006766\n ],\n [\n -94.5703125,\n 38.151837403006766\n ],\n [\n -94.5703125,\n 39.977120098439634\n ],\n [\n -97.66845703124999,\n 39.977120098439634\n ],\n [\n -97.66845703124999,\n 38.151837403006766\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Kansas Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
1217 Biltmore Drive
Lawrence, KS 66049
Emergent late Pliocene and Pleistocene shoreline deposits, morphologically identifiable Pleistocene shoreline units, and seaward-facing scarps characterize the easternmost Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) of the United States of America. In some areas of the ACP, these deposits, units, and scarps have been studied in detail. Within these areas, temporal and spatial data are sufficient for time-depositional frameworks for shoreline-evolution to have been developed and published. For other areas, such as the southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain (SEACP), available data are conflicting and (or) insufficient to develop such a framework, or to make shoreline correlations. Differential epeirogenic uplift and shoreline deformation, resulting from mantle-flow and climate-induced isostatic adjustments, complicate regional shoreline correlations. In the SEACP, the topographically prominent Orangeburg Scarp (hereafter, the Scarp) rises tens of meters in elevation from southeastern Georgia to southeastern North Carolina. The degree to which the Scarp and shoreline units seaward of the Scarp are deformed continues to be debated, but there is general agreement that the lower Savannah River area (LSRA) of Georgia and South Carolina is the least deformed area of the SEACP.
This paper synthesizes published and previously unpublished numerical age and stratigraphic data for emergent Pliocene and younger shoreline deposits in the LSRA in Georgia. Age data are applied to these shoreline deposits as they are delineated (map units) on the 1976 geologic map of Georgia by Lawton and others. Age assignments are based on stratigraphic position, fossil content, soil and weathering diagnostic properties, and numerical ages as determined by meteoric Beryllium‑10 paleosol residence time (10BePRT), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), uranium disequilibrium series (U-series), amino acid racemization (AAR), and radiocarbon (14C) analyses. These data provide a preliminary Pliocene-Pleistocene geochronology for the Orangeburg Scarp and shoreline deposits seaward of the Scarp in the LSRA of Georgia. Minimum ages and age ranges indicate the following:
Director, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 21092
The National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) is publishing a strategic plan titled Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s Authoritative Source for Modern Geologic Knowledge (Brock and others, in press). The plan provides a vision, mission, and goals for the program during the years 2020–2030, which are:
In order to achieve the goals outlined in the strategic plan, the NCGMP has developed an implementation plan. This plan will guide the annual review of projects carried out by USGS staff (FEDMAP) described in the plan and the development of the annual FEDMAP prospectus that will ensure the effective application of the NCGMP strategy.
This publication describes the implementation plan of the NCGMP strategy for the southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces, as defined by Fenneman (1917, 1928, and 1946). This implementation plan focuses on the geology of California and a sliver of Nevada surrounding Lake Tahoe. The southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces encompass the varied landscapes of the high Sierra Nevada, the Central Valley, and Coast Ranges in northern and central California and the Peninsular Ranges, Continental Borderland, Los Angeles Basin-San Gabriel-San Bernardino valleys, western and central Transverse Ranges, and northernmost Salton Trough in southern California. Societal demands create a need for earth-science data in each of these landscapes. The broader San Francisco Bay area, Central Valley, Los Angeles-San Gabriel-San Bernardino lowlands, and the coastal lowlands that border the Peninsular Ranges are densely populated (about 30 million people) areas at high risk of natural hazards. The mountains of the Sierra Nevada, Peninsular Ranges, and Transverse Ranges, and the coast all provide numerous recreational opportunities that attract visitors from around the world, whereas previously these ranges attracted people to mine their resources. The agricultural capacity of the Central Valley is a critical resource for the Nation that is increasingly water limited.
The southern. Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces, at the edge of the North American continent, were profoundly influenced by subduction zone tectonics during the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic (ongoing in northernmost California) and subsequently by the inception, development, and present activity of the San Andreas transform margin system. Although the geology of this region is the poster child of fundamental conceptual models of subduction zone complexes, forearc basins, ophiolite obductions, magmatic arcs, and suspect terranes, as well as hosting one of Earth’s most notorious continental transform faults—the San Andreas Fault—important questions that have important societal consequences remain to be answered. Most of California’s population reside in these provinces and live within 30 miles of an active fault (according to www.earthquakeauthority.com) yet new faults continue to be discovered, highlighting the importance of deformation off the main San Andreas Fault. Bedrock, surficial, and three-dimensional (3D) geologic maps depicting stratigraphic structure and depth to crystalline basement rocks provide critical context and information for understanding fault rupture, distributed deformation, fault connectivity, and history in addition to providing crucial data that enable forecasting of shaking amplitude and length from hypothetical earthquake scenarios.
The tectonic evolution of California produced not only stunning mountains, with associated hazards from landslides and active volcanoes, but also fertile valleys that make California the top agricultural producer in the country in terms of cash receipts (according to www.ers.usda.gov/faqs). These valleys lie atop large basins that not only store groundwater but, in many cases, host oil and gas fields, contributing to the fourth highest hydrocarbon production by State in the country in 2016 (according to https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/animated-chart-of-us-oil-production-by-state-1981-2017). Water is a key resource increasingly stressed by growing agricultural, industrial, and residential needs. Warmer and drier conditions have led to an increased reliance on extracting groundwater resources, whose availability and quality are dictated at the first order by the 3D spatial distribution of bedrock and Quaternary surficial deposits. Thus, assessment of this critical resource is inextricably tied to knowledge of the surficial and subsurface geologic structure and material types.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211012","usgsCitation":"Langenheim, V.E., Graymer, R.W., Powell, R.E., Schmidt, K.M., and Sweetkind, D.S., 2021, Implementation plan for the southern Pacific Border and Sierra-Cascade Mountains provinces: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1012, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211012.","productDescription":"iv, 11 p.","numberOfPages":"11","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-121693","costCenters":[{"id":312,"text":"Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":318,"text":"Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384840,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1012/ofr20211012.pdf","text":"Report","size":"3 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":384839,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1012/covrthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California, Nevada","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -115.26855468749999,\n 32.69486597787505\n ],\n [\n -117.20214843749999,\n 34.415973384481866\n ],\n [\n -116.806640625,\n 36.491973470593685\n ],\n [\n -119.35546875000001,\n 38.34165619279595\n ],\n [\n -119.3115234375,\n 39.30029918615029\n ],\n [\n -120.10253906249999,\n 40.212440718286466\n ],\n [\n -121.86035156249999,\n 42.06560675405716\n ],\n [\n -124.3212890625,\n 42.06560675405716\n ],\n [\n -124.541015625,\n 40.51379915504413\n ],\n [\n -123.70605468750001,\n 38.71980474264237\n ],\n [\n -122.607421875,\n 37.19533058280065\n ],\n [\n -121.59667968749999,\n 35.817813158696616\n ],\n [\n -120.58593749999999,\n 34.45221847282654\n ],\n [\n -117.94921874999999,\n 33.54139466898275\n ],\n [\n -117.2900390625,\n 32.54681317351514\n ],\n [\n -115.26855468749999,\n 32.69486597787505\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Geology, Minerals, Energy, & Geophysics Science Center
Menlo Park, California
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3591
Incorporating spatial and temporal scales into greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population monitoring strategies is challenging and rarely implemented. Sage-grouse populations experience fluctuations in abundance that lead to temporal oscillations, making trend estimation difficult. Accounting for stochasticity is critical to reliably estimate population trends and investigate variation related to deterministic factors on the landscape, which are amenable to management action. Here, we describe a novel, range-wide hierarchical monitoring framework for sage-grouse centered on four objectives: (1) create a standardized database of lek counts, (2) develop spatial population structures by clustering leks, (3) estimate spatial trends at different temporal extents based on abundance nadirs (troughs), and (4) develop a targeted annual warning system to help inform management decisions. Using automated and repeatable methods (software), we compiled a lek database (as of 2019) that contained 262,744 counts and 8,421 unique lek locations from disparate state data. The hierarchical population units (clusters) included 13 nested levels, identifying biologically relevant units and population structure that minimized inter-cluster sage-grouse movements. With these products, we identified spatiotemporal variation in trends in population abundance using Bayesian state-space models. We estimated 37.0, 65.2, and 80.7-percent declines in abundance range-wide during short (17 years), medium (33 years), and long (53 years) temporal scales, respectively. However, some areas exhibited evidence of increasing trends in abundance in recent decades. Models predicted 12.3, 19.2, and 29.6 percent of populations (defined as clusters of neighboring leks) consisted of over 50-percent probability of extirpation at 19, 38, and 56-year projections from 2019, respectively, based on averaged annual rate of change in apparent abundance across two, four, and six oscillations (average period of oscillation is 9.4 years). At the lek level, models predicted 45.7, 60.1, and 78.0 percent of leks with over 50-percent extirpation probabilities over the same time periods, respectively, mostly located on the periphery of the species’ range. The targeted annual warning system automates annual identification of local populations exhibiting asynchronous decline relative to regional population patterns using simulated management actions and an optimization algorithm for evaluating range-wide stabilization of population abundance. In 2019, approximately 3.2 percent of leks and 2.0 percent of populations were identified by the targeted annual warning system for management intervention range-wide.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201154","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Bureau of Land Management","usgsCitation":"Coates, P.S., Prochazka, B.G., O’Donnell, M.S., Aldridge, C.L., Edmunds, D.R., Monroe, A.P., Ricca, M.A., Wann, G.T., Hanser, S.E., Wiechman, L.A., and Chenaille, M.P., 2021, Range-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework—Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1154, 243 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201154.","productDescription":"Report: vi, 243 p.; 1 Table","numberOfPages":"243","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-123421","costCenters":[{"id":291,"text":"Fort Collins Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384766,"rank":4,"type":{"id":27,"text":"Table"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1154/ofr20201154_table8.csv","text":"Table 8","size":"80 KB","linkFileType":{"id":7,"text":"csv"}},{"id":384765,"rank":3,"type":{"id":27,"text":"Table"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1154/ofr20201154_table8.xlsx","text":"Table 8","size":"60 KB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"}},{"id":384760,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1154/ofr20201154.pdf","text":"Report","size":"310 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":384759,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1154/covrthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -120.32226562500001,\n 35.67514743608467\n ],\n [\n -103.447265625,\n 35.67514743608467\n ],\n [\n -103.447265625,\n 48.69096039092549\n ],\n [\n -120.32226562500001,\n 48.69096039092549\n ],\n [\n -120.32226562500001,\n 35.67514743608467\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Western Ecological Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
Sacramento, California 95819
This document presents the renewed vision, mission, and goals for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). The NCGMP, as authorized by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-285, 106 Stat. 166 and its reauthorizations), is tasked with expediting the production of a geologic database for the Nation based on modern geologic maps and their supporting data. In addition to highlighting the benefits of geologic maps for economic prosperity, national security, and environmental quality, the report describes the NCGMP structure and components. A renewed vision and mission for the NCGMP are stated, and three goals for guiding the program toward that vision for the next ten years are established. The vision of creating an integrated, three-dimensional, digital geologic map of the United States and its territories to address the changing needs of the Nation by 2030 is thereby defined to drive the activities of all NCGMP components for the next ten years. The strategic actions required to realize the NCGMP vision are identified for each of its components.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211013","usgsCitation":"Brock, J., Berry, K., Faulds, J., Berg, R., House, K., Marketti, M., McPhee, D., Schmidt, K., Schmitt, J., Soller, D., Spears, D., Thompson, R., Thorleifson, H., and Walsh, G., 2021, Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s authoritative source for modern geologic knowledge: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1013, 10 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211013.","productDescription":"vi, 10 p.","numberOfPages":"10","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-115733","costCenters":[{"id":412,"text":"National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program","active":false,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384680,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1013/ofr20211013.pdf","text":"Report","size":"0.97 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2021-1013"},{"id":384679,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1013/coverthb.jpg"}],"contact":"National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
Water-quality activities and water-level measurements conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project Office coincide with the USGS mission of appraising the quantity and quality of the Nation’s water resources. The activities are conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Idaho Operations Office. Results of water-quality and hydraulic head investigations are presented in various USGS publications or in refereed scientific journals, and the data are stored in the National Water Information System (NWIS) database. The results of the studies are used by researchers, regulatory and managerial agencies, and civic groups.
In its broadest sense, “quality assurance” refers to doing the job right the first time. It includes the functions of planning for products, review and acceptance of the products, and an audit designed to evaluate the system that produces the products. Quality control and quality assurance differ in that quality control ensures that things are done correctly given the “state-of-the-art” technology, and quality assurance ensures that quality control is maintained within specified limits.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211004","collaboration":"DOE/ID-22253Director, Idaho Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
230 Collins Rd
Boise, Idaho 83702-4520
Sand dune ecosystems are highly dynamic landforms found along coastlines and riverine deltas where a supply of sand-sized material is available to be delivered by aquatic and wind environments. These unique ecosystems provide habitat for a variety of endemic and rare plant and animal species. Sand dunes have been affected by human development, sand mining, and shoreline stabilization from invasive weeds. This report provides a summary of a comprehensive literature review, field survey, and genomic analysis for the Antioch Dunes evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii, hereafter howellii), an endemic species to the San Francisco Bay-Delta, California, which was listed as a federally endangered subspecies in 1978. Howellii is found on a historic dune sheet (the Antioch sand sheet) near the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The Antioch sand sheet has been greatly altered by sand mining and land conversion into agriculture and urban development. In chapter A, we describe results of the literature review and field survey. We found howellii at eight locations with over 90 percent of the adult population and nearly 99 percent of juveniles observed on the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. We measured a negative relationship between howellii numbers and invasive weed cover, illustrating the importance of mobilized open sand for this species. In chapter B, we describe the genomic study results. We surveyed genomic diversity by using double-digest restriction-site associated sequencing to estimate population genetic structure and levels of diversity across all surveyed occurrences. The genomic analyses included outgroup samples of the closely related Oenothera deltoides subsp. cognata and three occurrences of an unknown taxon with intermediate morphology to cognata and howellii, which also occurs on the Antioch sand sheet, east of the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. These three morphologically distinctive groups formed genetically distinctive clusters and well-supported monophyletic clades in clustering and phylogenetic analyses, respectively. There was no indication of recent hybridization among any of the groups. Among howellii occurrences, the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge contained the greatest genetic diversity. Our approach, which combined field surveys, habitat assessments, and genetic analyses, can provide useful information for the conservation and management of rare and at-risk plant species and highlights the uniqueness of the Antioch sand sheet floral diversity through the discovery of a putative new taxon within the bird-cage evening primrose species complex.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211017","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Friends of San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge","usgsCitation":"Thorne, K.M., and Vandergast, A.G., 2021, Distribution, abundance, and genomic diversity of the endangered Antioch Dunes evening-primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii) surveyed in 2019: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1017, 40 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211017.","productDescription":"vi, 40 p.","numberOfPages":"40","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-124754","costCenters":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":436447,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P93VYTF5","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Oenothera deltoides Genotype Data from Contra Costa County, California in 2019"},{"id":384604,"rank":5,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1017/ofr20211017_chB_app2.csv","text":"Chapter B Appendix 2","size":"4 KB","linkFileType":{"id":7,"text":"csv"}},{"id":384550,"rank":4,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1017/ofr20211017.xml"},{"id":384549,"rank":3,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1017/images"},{"id":384548,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1017/ofr20211017.pdf","text":"Report","size":"35 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":384547,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1017/covrthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -121.89605712890624,\n 37.97018468810549\n ],\n [\n -121.6241455078125,\n 37.97018468810549\n ],\n [\n -121.6241455078125,\n 38.11727165830543\n ],\n [\n -121.89605712890624,\n 38.11727165830543\n ],\n [\n -121.89605712890624,\n 37.97018468810549\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Western Ecological Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
Sacramento, California 95819
The Navajo (N) aquifer is the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in the Black Mesa area because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of its arid climate. Precipitation in the area typically ranges from less than 6 to more than 16 inches per year depending on location.
The U.S. Geological Survey water-monitoring program in the Black Mesa area began in 1971 and provides information about the long-term effects of groundwater withdrawals from the N aquifer for industrial and municipal uses. This report presents results of data collected as part of the monitoring program in the Black Mesa area from November 2016 to December 2018. The monitoring program includes measurements of (1) groundwater withdrawals (pumping), (2) groundwater levels, (3) spring discharge, (4) surface-water discharge, and (5) groundwater and surface-water chemistry.
In calendar year 2017, total groundwater withdrawals were 3,710 acre-feet (acre-ft), industrial withdrawals were 1,110 acre-ft, and municipal withdrawals were 2,600 acre-ft. In calendar year 2018, total groundwater withdrawals were 3,670 acre-ft, industrial withdrawals were 1,170 acre-ft, and municipal withdrawals were 2,500 acre-ft. Total withdrawals during 2017 and 2018 were about 49 percent less than total withdrawals in 2005 because of Peabody Western Coal Company’s discontinued use of water to transport coal in a coal slurry pipeline.
From the prestress period (prior to 1965) to 2018, measured water levels available for comparison in wells completed in the unconfined areas of the N aquifer within the Black Mesa area declined in 8 of 14 wells, the changes ranged from +12.1 feet to −39.4 feet, and the median change was -0.6 feet. Water levels also declined in 15 of 18 wells measured in the confined area of the aquifer. The median change for the confined area of the aquifer was −40.2 feet (ft), with changes ranging from +14.2 ft to −189.0 ft. From the prestress period to 2018, the median water-level change for all 32 wells in both the confined and unconfined areas was −9.4 ft.
Spring flow was measured at four springs in 2017 and 2018. Flow fluctuated during the period of record for Burro Spring and Pasture Canyon Spring, but a decreasing trend was statistically significant (p<0.05) at Moenkopi School Spring and Unnamed Spring near Dennehotso. Discharge at Burro Spring has remained relatively constant since it was first measured in the 1980s and discharge at Pasture Canyon Spring has fluctuated for the period of record.
Continuous records of surface-water discharge in the Black Mesa area were collected from streamflow-gaging stations at the following sites: Moenkopi Wash at Moenkopi 09401260 (1976 to 2018), Dinnebito Wash near Sand Springs 09401110 (1993 to 2018), Polacca Wash near Second Mesa 09400568 (1994 to 2018), and Pasture Canyon Springs 09401265 (2004 to 2018). Median winter flows (November through February) of each water year were used as an index of the amount of groundwater discharge at the above-named sites. For the period of record, the median winter flows have generally remained constant at Dinnebito Wash and Polacca Wash, whereas a decreasing trend was indicated at Moenkopi Wash and Pasture Canyon Springs.
In 2017 and 2018, water samples collected from two wells, four springs, and three streams in the Black Mesa area were analyzed for selected chemical constituents. The results from wells and springs were compared with previous analyses from the same wells and springs. At the Peabody 2 well, a significant (p<0.05) decreasing trend in dissolved solids over time was found, while concentrations of dissolved solids have not varied significantly (p>0.05) at the Kykotsmovi PM2 well. Dissolved solids, chloride, and sulfate concentrations increased at Moenkopi School Spring during the more than 30 years of record at that site. Concentrations of dissolved solids, chloride, and sulfate at Pasture Canyon Spring have not varied significantly (p>0.05) since the early 1980s, and there is no increasing or decreasing trend in those data. Concentrations of dissolved solids, chloride, and sulfate at Burro Spring and Unnamed Spring near Dennehotso have varied for the period of record, but there is no statistical trend in the data. Baseflow water chemistry samples were collected from Moenkopi, Dinnebito, and Polacca washes in 2017. Samples from all three washes had total-dissolved solids concentrations higher than is typically found in the N aquifer water.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211124","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Navajo Nation and Peabody Western Coal Company","usgsCitation":"Mason, J.P., 2021, Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2016–2018: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1124, 50 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211124.","productDescription":"vii, 50 p.","numberOfPages":"50","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-110021","costCenters":[{"id":128,"text":"Arizona Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384543,"rank":3,"type":{"id":22,"text":"Related Work"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20181193","text":"Open-File Report 2018-1193","linkHelpText":"- Groundwater, Surface-Water, and Water-Chemistry Data, Black Mesa Area, Northeastern Arizona—2015–2016"},{"id":384455,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1124/ofr20211124.pdf","text":"Report","size":"8 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":384454,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1124/covrthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Arizona","otherGeospatial":"Black Mesa area","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -111.76391601562499,\n 35.32633026307483\n ],\n [\n -109.171142578125,\n 35.32633026307483\n ],\n [\n -109.171142578125,\n 36.99377838872517\n ],\n [\n -111.76391601562499,\n 36.99377838872517\n ],\n [\n -111.76391601562499,\n 35.32633026307483\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Arizona Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
520 N. Park Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85719
The U.S. Geological Survey monitors a suite of intertidal black abalone sites at San Nicolas Island, California, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, which owns the island. The nine rocky intertidal sites were established in 1980 to study the potential impact of translocated sea otters on the intertidal black abalone population at the island. The sites were monitored from 1981 to 1997, usually annually or biennially. Monitoring resumed in 2001 and has been completed annually since then. At the time of this report, the work is conducted by the Western Ecological Research Center’s Santa Cruz Field Station, Santa Cruz, California. The study sites became particularly important, from a management perspective, after a virulent disease decimated black abalone populations throughout southern California beginning in the mid-1980s. The disease, withering syndrome, was first observed on San Nicolas Island in 1992 and during the next few years, it reduced the population there by more than 99 percent. The species was subsequently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2009.
The subject of this report is the 2020 monitoring cycle of the sites and how the current status fits into the long-term data at San Nicolas Island. Since 2001, the monitored population has increased twelvefold to approximately 9.6 percent of the pre-disease level. This increase has resulted from generally higher levels of recruitment than seen in the first two decades of monitoring, punctuated by a few unexplained high recruitment events. Most of the population growth has been at two of the nine sites (sites 7 and 8). This pattern continued in 2020, but with increasing numbers at all sites and the highest number of abalone counted and measured island-wide since 1993. Recruitment rates have fallen since a peak in 2017, but 2020 continued to show moderate levels of additional recruitment. The distance between adjacent black abalone has decreased substantially since it was first consistently measured in 2005, potentially indicating that the abalone are close enough to one another to reproduce successfully. Sand burial can have devastating localized consequences to black abalone, but there is evidence suggesting that they may be able to escape periodic sand inundation if suitable refugia exist. These data suggest that monitoring can inform adaptive management of the resource by base resource managers.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211023","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Navy","usgsCitation":"Kenner, M.C., 2021, Black abalone surveys at Naval Base Ventura County, San Nicolas Island, California—2020, annual report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1023, 33 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211023.","productDescription":"vii, 33 p.","numberOfPages":"33","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-125069","costCenters":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384507,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1023/covrthb.jpg"},{"id":384508,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1023/ofr20211023.pdf","text":"Report","size":"5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":384509,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1023/ofr20211023.xml"},{"id":384510,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1023/images"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"San Nicolas Island","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -119.59442138671875,\n 33.20996748987798\n ],\n [\n -119.42928314208984,\n 33.20996748987798\n ],\n [\n -119.42928314208984,\n 33.28806392819752\n ],\n [\n -119.59442138671875,\n 33.28806392819752\n ],\n [\n -119.59442138671875,\n 33.20996748987798\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Western Ecological Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
Sacramento, California 95819
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mission: The USGS national mission is to monitor, analyze, and predict current and evolving dynamics of complex human and natural Earth-system interactions and to deliver actionable information at scales and timeframes relevant to decision-makers. Consistent with the national mission, the USGS in Alaska provides timely and objective scientific information to help address issues and inform management decisions across five inter-connected themes:
The USGS in Alaska consists of approximately 350 scientists and support staff working in three Alaska-based science centers, a Cooperative Research Unit, and USGS centers outside Alaska, with a combined annual science budget of about $60 million. In the last 5 years, USGS research in Alaska has produced many scientific benefits resulting from more than 1,100 publications. Publications relevant to Alaska can be conveniently searched by keyword through the USGS Publications Warehouse at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/search?q=Alaska.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211010","usgsCitation":"Powers, E.M., and Williams, D.M., eds., 2021, U.S. Geological Survey—Department of the Interior Region 11, Alaska —2020 annual science report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021-1010, 80 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211010.","productDescription":"viii, 80 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-124154","costCenters":[{"id":113,"text":"Alaska Regional Director's Office","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384439,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1010/ofr20211010.pdf","text":"Report","size":"7.5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2021-1010"},{"id":384438,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1010/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United 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Director, Alaska
U.S. Geological Survey
4210 University Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4560
","tableOfContents":"
The ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system has been live since October 2019 for the testing of public alerting to mobile devices in California and will soon begin testing this modality in Oregon and Washington. The Pacific Northwest presents new challenges and opportunities for ShakeAlert owing to the different types of earthquakes that occur in the Cascadia subduction zone. Many locations in the Pacific Northwest are expected to experience shaking from shallow crustal earthquakes (similar to those in California), earthquakes that occur deep within the subducted slab, and large megathrust earthquakes that occur primarily offshore. The different geometries and maximum magnitudes associated with these types of earthquakes lead to a range of warning times that are possible between when the initial ShakeAlert Message is issued and when a user experiences strong shaking. After an earthquake begins, the strategy of the ShakeAlert system for public alerting is to warn people who are located close enough to the fault that the system estimates they will experience at least weak to moderate shaking. By alerting the public at these low levels of expected shaking, it is possible to provide sufficient warning times for some users to take protective actions before strong shaking begins. In this study, we present an analysis of past ShakeAlert Messages as well as simulations of historical earthquakes and potential future Cascadia earthquakes to quantify the range of warning times that users who experience strong or worse shaking are likely to receive. Additional applications for ShakeAlert involve initiation of automatic protective actions prior to the onset of shaking, such as slowing trains, shutting water supplies, and opening firehouse doors, which are beyond the scope of this paper. Users in the Pacific Northwest should expect that the majority of alerts they receive will be from shallow crustal and intraslab earthquakes. In these cases, users will only have a few seconds of warning before strong shaking begins. This remains true even during infrequent, offshore great (magnitude ≥8) megathrust earthquakes, where warning times will generally range from seconds to tens of seconds, depending on the user’s location and the intensity of predicted shaking that a user chooses to be alerted for, with the longest warning times of 50–80 seconds possible only for users located at considerable distance from the epicenter. ShakeAlert thus requires short, readily understood alerts stating that earthquake shaking is imminent and suggesting protective actions users should take. Extensive education and outreach efforts that emphasize the need to take actions quickly will be required for ShakeAlert to successfully reduce injuries and losses.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211026","usgsCitation":"McGuire, J.J., Smith, D.E., Frankel, A.D., Wirth, E.A., McBride, S.K., and de Groot, R.M., 2021, Expected warning times from the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system for earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest (ver. 1.1, March 24, 2021): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1026, 37 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211026.","productDescription":"v, 37 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-125131","costCenters":[{"id":237,"text":"Earthquake Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384638,"rank":3,"type":{"id":25,"text":"Version History"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1026/versionHist.txt","size":"2 KB","linkFileType":{"id":2,"text":"txt"}},{"id":384281,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1026/ofr20211026_v1.1.pdf","text":"Report","size":"12 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\"}}]}","edition":"Version 1.0: Marhc 10, 2021; Version 1.1: March 24, 2021","contact":"Earthquake Science Center—Menlo Park, Calif. Office
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road, MS 977
Menlo Park, CA 94025
The sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome, its wildlife, and the services and benefits it provides people and local communities are at risk. Development in the sagebrush biome, for many purposes, has resulted in multiple and often cumulative negative impacts. These impacts, ranging from simple habitat loss to complex, interactive changes in ecosystem function, continue to accelerate even as the need grows for the resources provided by this biome. This “Sagebrush Conservation Strategy—Challenges to Sagebrush Conservation,” is an overview and assessment of the challenges facing land managers and landowners in conserving sagebrush ecosystems. This strategy is intended to provide guidance so that the unparalleled collaborative efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) by State and Federal agencies, Tribes, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and stakeholders can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on this ecosystem. This report is organized into 3 parts.
“Part I. Importance of the Sagebrush Biome to People and Wildlife” introduces the biome and a subset of the more than 350 species of plants and animals associated with sagebrush for which there is some level of conservation concern. These include several sagebrush obligates that have been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including greater sage-grouse, Gunnison sage-grouse (C. minimus; listed as threatened), and pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). Other sagebrush-dependent species, such as pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), have experienced significant population declines.
“Part II. Change Agents in the Sagebrush Biome—Extent, Impacts, and Effort to Address Them” is an overview of the variety of change agents that are causing the continued loss and degradation of sagebrush. Topics covered include altered fire regimes, invasive plant species, conifer expansion, overabundant free-roaming equids, and human land uses, including energy development, cropland conversion, infrastructure, and improper livestock grazing. Climate changes, including warmer temperatures and altered amounts and timing of precipitation, have and will likely increasingly compound negative effects to sagebrush ecosystems from all these threats.
“Part III. Current Conservation Paradigm and Other Conservation Needs for Sagebrush” begins with an overview of how sage-grouse conservation, and the associated efforts and collaborations, may be able to address threats to and restoring degraded sagebrush and habitat for other sagebrush-dependent and -associated species. Meeting conservation goals for sage-grouse, mule deer, pygmy rabbits, and other sagebrush-associated wildlife will require extensive restoration of sagebrush communities already converted or degraded by the change agents outlined in Part II of this report. Concepts, considerations, techniques for restoration, and adaptive management and monitoring are discussed to help set the stage for potential strategies to improve conditions throughout the sagebrush biome. Communication, outreach, and engagement can enhance grassroots conservation efforts and build the next generation of managers, practitioners, scientists, and communicators who will care for the sagebrush ecosystem and stimulate or sustain public participation in sagebrush conservation issues.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201125","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","usgsCitation":"Remington, T.E., Deibert, P.A., Hanser, S.E., Davis, D.M., Robb, L.A., and Welty, J.L., 2021, Sagebrush conservation strategy—Challenges to sagebrush conservation: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1125, 327 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201125.","productDescription":"xxxiv, 327 p.","onlineOnly":"N","ipdsId":"IP-112519","costCenters":[{"id":289,"text":"Forest and Rangeland Ecosys Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":291,"text":"Fort Collins Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":384279,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1125/ofr20201125.pdf","text":"Report","size":"35.1 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2020-1125"},{"id":384278,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1125/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Washington","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -117.0703125,\n 46.31658418182218\n ],\n [\n -119.00390625,\n 48.04870994288686\n ],\n [\n -120.84960937499999,\n 48.86471476180277\n ],\n [\n -121.640625,\n 46.6795944656402\n ],\n [\n -121.81640624999999,\n 44.15068115978094\n ],\n [\n -121.640625,\n 41.77131167976407\n ],\n [\n -121.201171875,\n 39.977120098439634\n ],\n [\n -119.88281249999999,\n 38.685509760012\n ],\n [\n -118.564453125,\n 36.66841891894786\n ],\n [\n -116.630859375,\n 34.52466147177172\n ],\n [\n -115.224609375,\n 35.60371874069731\n ],\n [\n -114.345703125,\n 36.73888412439431\n ],\n [\n -112.5,\n 36.1733569352216\n ],\n [\n -110.74218749999999,\n 34.88593094075317\n ],\n [\n -108.10546875,\n 33.50475906922609\n ],\n [\n -105.46875,\n 34.016241889667015\n ],\n [\n -103.798828125,\n 39.095962936305476\n ],\n [\n -104.67773437499999,\n 39.842286020743394\n ],\n [\n -104.501953125,\n 41.244772343082076\n ],\n [\n -103.53515625,\n 41.96765920367816\n ],\n [\n -103.18359375,\n 42.293564192170095\n ],\n [\n -103.71093749999999,\n 42.94033923363181\n ],\n [\n -104.4140625,\n 43.89789239125797\n ],\n [\n -104.4140625,\n 44.902577996288876\n ],\n [\n -101.865234375,\n 45.27488643704891\n ],\n [\n -101.77734374999999,\n 46.13417004624326\n ],\n [\n -101.953125,\n 47.45780853075031\n ],\n [\n -102.12890625,\n 48.3416461723746\n ],\n [\n -104.150390625,\n 47.69497434186282\n ],\n [\n -105.556640625,\n 47.635783590864854\n ],\n [\n -106.787109375,\n 47.69497434186282\n ],\n [\n -106.5234375,\n 48.516604348867475\n ],\n [\n -107.138671875,\n 48.86471476180277\n ],\n [\n -111.796875,\n 48.86471476180277\n ],\n [\n -112.06054687499999,\n 47.338822694822\n ],\n [\n -112.67578124999999,\n 47.21956811231547\n ],\n [\n -113.5546875,\n 48.10743118848039\n ],\n [\n -114.43359375,\n 47.989921667414194\n ],\n [\n -113.73046875,\n 46.31658418182218\n ],\n [\n -114.60937499999999,\n 46.255846818480315\n ],\n [\n -117.0703125,\n 46.31658418182218\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Fort Collins Science Center
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Monthly and annual total phosphorus loads were estimated for water years 2014 through 2018 for 23 streamgaged (gaged) sites on tributaries to the Great Lakes. Processing and regression methods described by Robertson and others (2018) were used with discrete and continuous data collected during water years 2011 and 2018 to update regression models for estimating instantaneous flux with the same form of equations as published by Robertson and others (2018). Monthly and water year average fluxes for all but two of the 23 gage sites were estimated using a weighted combination of results from surrogate models (which have streamflow, turbidity, and seasonal indicators as explanatory variables) and unit-value (UV)-flow models which have only UV streamflow and seasonal indicators as explanatory variables. Two of the gage sites had extensive periods of missing turbidity records, so average flux estimates for those stations were based solely on results from UV-flow models.
For most sites, estimated loads of total phosphorus were computed and summed for water years 2014–2018. The cumulative loads were used to compute yields and flow-weighted mean concentrations for water years 2014–2018. The estimated cumulative total phosphorus loads for water years 2014–2018 ranged from 112 to 11,500 metric tons. The Maumee River site (U.S. Geological Survey gage number 04193500) had the largest estimated cumulative load for water years 2014–2018 and the third largest estimated flow-weighted mean concentration. In fact, the estimated cumulative load at the Maumee River site was more than three times larger than the second largest estimated cumulative load.
Estimated average annual total phosphorus yields and flow-weighted mean concentrations for water years 2014–2018 ranged from 0.016 metric tons per square kilometer to 0.771 metric tons per square kilometer and 0.033 milligram per liter to 0.466 milligram per liter, respectively. The Cattaraugus Creek gage site (U.S. Geological Survey gage number 04213500) had the highest estimated average annual total phosphorus yield and flow-weighted mean concentration. The average annual total phosphorus yield at the Cattaraugus Creek gage site was almost twice as large as the second largest estimated yield.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201145","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative","usgsCitation":"Koltun, G.F., 2021, Estimated total phosphorus loads for selected sites on Great Lakes tributaries, water years 2014–2018: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1145, 13 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201145.","productDescription":"Report: v, 13 p.; 2 Appendixes; Data Release","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-122090","costCenters":[{"id":35860,"text":"Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383717,"rank":6,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1145//ofr20201145_appendix_2.csv","text":"Appendix 2","size":"64.8 kB","linkFileType":{"id":7,"text":"csv"},"description":"OFR 2020–1145 Appendix 2","linkHelpText":"— Estimated monthly total phosphorus loads at selected U.S. Geological Survey gage sites on Great Lakes tributaries"},{"id":383712,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1145/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":383713,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1145/ofr20201145.pdf","text":"Report","size":"1.69 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2020–1145"},{"id":383714,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1145/ofr20201145_appendix_1.xlsx","text":"Appendix 1","size":"16.4 kB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"OFR 2020–1145 Appendix 1","linkHelpText":"— Estimated annual total phosphorus loads and flow-weighted mean concentrations at selected U.S. Geological Survey gage sites on Great Lakes tributaries"},{"id":383715,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1145/ofr20201145_appendix_1.csv","text":"Appendix 1","size":"8.45 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U.S. Geological Survey
6460 Busch Boulevard Ste 100
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The U.S. Geological Survey assists the Federal Emergency Management Agency in its mission to identify flood hazards and zones for risk premiums for communities nationwide, by creating flood insurance rate maps through updating hydraulic models that use river geometry data. The data collected consist of elevations of river channels, banks, and structures, such as bridges, dams, and weirs that can affect flow. To account for the model complexity of river structure hydraulics and the fidelity between river channel and structure geometry, two distinct standards for collecting geometry data are presented, both using global navigation satellite system real-time network surveying. This method is adapted from U.S. Geological Survey manuals and is foundational in hydraulic surveying for flood insurance rate maps.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201146","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency","usgsCitation":"Taylor, N.J., and Simeone, C.E., 2021, Practical field survey operations for flood insurance rate maps: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1146, 8 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201146.","productDescription":"iv, 8 p.","numberOfPages":"8","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-114316","costCenters":[{"id":466,"text":"New England Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383741,"rank":3,"type":{"id":22,"text":"Related Work"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/tm11D1","text":"Techniques and Methods 11-D1","linkHelpText":"- Methods of practice and guidelines for using survey-grade global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to establish vertical datum in the United States Geological Survey"},{"id":383723,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1146/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":383724,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1146/ofr20201146.pdf","text":"Report","size":"662 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2020-1146"},{"id":383725,"rank":4,"type":{"id":22,"text":"Related Work"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.3133/tm11D3","text":"Techniques and Methods 11-D3","linkHelpText":"- Procedures and Best Practices for Trigonometric Leveling in the U.S. Geological Survey"}],"contact":"Director, New England Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
10 Bearfoot Road
Northborough, MA 01532
Metapopulation dynamics are determined not only by within-patch birth and death processes but also by between-patch movements of individuals (emigration and immigration). To conserve and manage a species that has a metapopulation structure, defined by local populations that are distributed among patches of suitable habitat, we need to understand each of these vital rates. For the federally listed northern Great Plains Charadrius melodus (Ord, 1824) (piping plover), managers assumed a metapopulation structure consisting of four breeding groups with low, balanced dispersal, which resulted in low extinction risk in a simulation-based viability study. The degree to which the northern Great Plains piping plover breeding population functions as a metapopulation depends on the rate of movement amongst breeding areas. Sources of variation in survival, dispersal probabilities, and dispersal distances were examined for hatch-year and adult piping plovers breeding in the northern Great Plains from 2014 to 2019 focusing on four management units (U.S. Alkali Wetlands, Lake Sakakawea, Garrison Reach of the Missouri River, and Lake Oahe). Additionally, renesting probabilities, renest reproductive success, and reproductive output were investigated from 2014 to 2016 in each of these areas to understand within-patch productivity. This report includes two major sections: (1) a presentation that includes the context, results, and implications of the study, followed by a detailed text methodology, and (2) an appendix that provides synthesized estimates of piping plover vital rates from throughout their range. River and alkali wetland habitats seem to be of higher quality than reservoir habitats, although alkali wetland habitats have lower annual survival, lower reproductive output, and lower fidelity probabilities than riverine habitats. Habitat availability drove dispersal probabilities and dispersal distances for hatch-year and adult piping plovers. Renesting propensity and renest reproductive success were generally low, suggesting that renesting is an uncommon and unproductive strategy to replace most lost reproductive attempts. Estimates indicated high connectivity between the U.S. Alkali Wetlands and the northern river units (Lake Sakakawea, Garrison Reach, Lake Oahe) of the Missouri River, suggesting that the assumed metapopulation structure and population viability may need to be reassessed.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201152","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","usgsCitation":"Swift, R.J., Anteau, M.J., Ellis, K.S., Ring, M.M., Sherfy, M.H., Toy, D.L., and Koons, D.N., 2021, Spatial variation in population dynamics of northern Great Plains piping plovers: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1152, 211 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201152.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 211 p.; 2 Data Releases","numberOfPages":"223","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-124226","costCenters":[{"id":480,"text":"Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383503,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P96PSOBQ","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Spatial variation in population dynamics of Northern Great Plains piping plovers, 2014–2019"},{"id":383502,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9VAS8P7","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Renesting propensity, intervals, and reproductive success data for the Northern Great Plains Piping Plover, a threatened shorebird species 2014–2016"},{"id":383501,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1152/ofr20201152.pdf","text":"Report","size":"39.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2020–1152"},{"id":383500,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1152/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota","otherGeospatial":"Northern Great Plains Piping Plovers","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -98.26171875,\n 43.197167282501276\n ],\n [\n -98.8330078125,\n 43.67581809328341\n ],\n [\n -99.31640625,\n 44.465151013519616\n ],\n [\n -99.7998046875,\n 44.77793589631623\n ],\n [\n -99.97558593749999,\n 46.042735653846506\n ],\n [\n -99.97558593749999,\n 46.92025531537451\n ],\n [\n -101.0302734375,\n 48.019324184801185\n ],\n [\n -102.6123046875,\n 48.3416461723746\n ],\n [\n -104.501953125,\n 48.8936153614802\n ],\n [\n -105.029296875,\n 48.63290858589535\n ],\n [\n -104.853515625,\n 47.989921667414194\n ],\n [\n -103.798828125,\n 47.517200697839414\n ],\n [\n -102.5244140625,\n 47.12995075666307\n ],\n [\n -101.90917968749999,\n 46.619261036171515\n ],\n [\n -101.25,\n 45.73685954736049\n ],\n [\n -101.25,\n 44.43377984606822\n ],\n [\n -101.0302734375,\n 43.51668853502906\n ],\n [\n -100.1513671875,\n 43.100982876188546\n ],\n [\n -99.2724609375,\n 42.8115217450979\n ],\n [\n -98.0419921875,\n 42.97250158602597\n ],\n [\n -98.26171875,\n 43.197167282501276\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
8711 37th Street Southeast
Jamestown, ND
Rock gnome lichen (Gymnoderma lineare [Evans] Yoshimura and Sharp) was listed as a federally endangered species in 1995. It is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains, with most known populations occurring in North Carolina, where it grows on vertical rock faces in the fog zone above an elevation of 1,525 meters or in humid, deep river gorges. Threats to the species include recreational use of habitat by hikers, climbers and sightseers; collectors; changes in microclimate due to loss of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) to the exotic pest balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae); air pollution; and climate change. Quantified estimates of population size are limited in number and only are available from 1983 to 2008. They show that known rock gnome populations increased in number during this period and increased in size from 1996 to 2008. The period of increase coincided with negative trends in nitrogen and sulfur deposition, stable precipitation and streamflow, and a positive trend in air temperature. Populations may have been afforded greater protection from recreational activities and collectors during this time. Specific incidents of population decline were associated with a high streamflow event and loss of shade owing to a fallen Fraser fir. Although the outlook for rock gnome lichen seems to have improved through 2008, threats from climate change and increasing human activity likely are increasing.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211011","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","usgsCitation":"Woodward, A., 2021, Rock gnome lichen (Gymnoderma lineare) monitoring assessment, southern Appalachian Mountains, 1983–2008: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1011, 12 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211011.","productDescription":"v, 12 p.","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-120136","costCenters":[{"id":290,"text":"Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center","active":false,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383693,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1011/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":383694,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1011/ofr20211011.pdf","text":"Report","size":"9.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2021-1011"}],"country":"United States","state":"North Carolina","otherGeospatial":"Southern Appalachian Mountains","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -83.7542724609375,\n 35.429344044107154\n ],\n [\n -82.63916015625,\n 35.429344044107154\n ],\n [\n -82.63916015625,\n 36.02244668175846\n ],\n [\n -83.7542724609375,\n 36.02244668175846\n ],\n [\n -83.7542724609375,\n 35.429344044107154\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
777 NW 9th St., Suite 400
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
High-resolution topographic and bathymetric mapping can assist in the analysis of river habitat. The National Park Service has been planning to relocate a boat ramp along the St. Croix River in Minnesota, across the river from the town of Osceola, Wisconsin, to improve visitor safety, improve operations for commercial use, enhance the overall visitor experience, and eliminate deferred maintenance at the landing. This landing grants access to the St. Croix River, which is a part of the National Park Service St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Hydrographic and topographic surveys were needed to determine where the new location should be. The objective for these surveys was to provide baseline information in order to assess the direct effects of the landing relocation on physical habitat in areas adjacent to Osceola, Wisconsin. The study area for these surveys was about 18.5 hectares and located directly off the existing landing. Although the existing boat launch is referred to as the Osceola landing, it is located on the Minnesota side of the river and is the busiest National Park Service landing on the St. Croix River (National Park Service St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, 2020). This report documents methods and results of aquatic benthic mapping in a small area of the St. Croix River.
The hydroacoustic and topographic surveys were collected from October 16–17, 2019. The hydrographic surveys consisted of multibeam and sidescan sound navigation and ranging (sonars). The topographic shoreline survey consisted of light detection and ranging (lidar) captured by boat adjacent to riverbanks. Additionally, an acoustic Doppler current profiler was used to measure flow velocities. The water level was higher than normal, and therefore had faster flow during the hydroacoustic surveys. Multibeam, lidar, and sidescan surveys occurred the first day, and the velocity mapping and ground truthing was conducted the second day. Multibeam and lidar provided derivative datasets that included bathymetry and a topobathy with a spatial resolution of 1 foot. From these data, additional data could be measured including slope and terrain ruggedness. Sidescan (acoustic reflectance measures) provided imagery that was used to help with interpretation of the river bottom.
Outcomes from these combined datasets were substrate and bedform maps. Much of the area was covered in sand ripples or small dunes. A small area running adjacent to the deeper valley or cut down the river consisted of harder substrates, such as cobble and gravel. Large woody debris piles were found throughout the study area. Multiple stationary moving-bed tests were completed, and no corrections were recommended for the conditions occurring during survey. Mussel presence was noted in some of the underwater videos. The physical parameters of depth, flow, bedforms, and substrate derived from the datasets provided baseline measures for a benthic habitat map. Further analysis of benthic habitat might be possible with additional biological and chemical data.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201149","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the National Park Service, the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, and the Denver Service Center","usgsCitation":"Hanson, J.L., and Strange, J.M., 2021, Hydrographic and benthic mapping—St. Croix National Scenic Riverway—Osceola landing: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1149, 26 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201149.","productDescription":"Report: vi, 26 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"36","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-118301","costCenters":[{"id":606,"text":"Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383330,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1149/coverthb3.jpg"},{"id":383331,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1149/ofr20201149.pdf","text":"Report","size":"37.7 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2020–1149"},{"id":383332,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9O0QH8B","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN)—Osceola boat landing 2019 benthic and bathymetry data"}],"country":"United States","state":"Wisconsin","county":"Osceola","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -92.72460937499999,\n 45.3111146177239\n ],\n [\n -92.69577026367185,\n 45.3111146177239\n ],\n [\n -92.69577026367185,\n 45.33187500352944\n ],\n [\n -92.72460937499999,\n 45.33187500352944\n ],\n [\n -92.72460937499999,\n 45.3111146177239\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
U.S. Geological Survey
2630 Fanta Reed Road
La Crosse, WI 54603
Mangrove forests are likely vulnerable to accelerating sea-level rise; however, we lack the tools necessary to understand their future resilience. On the Pacific island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, mangroves are habitat to endangered species and provide critical ecosystem services that support local communities. We developed a generalizable modeling framework for mangroves that accounts for species interactions and the belowground processes that dictate soil elevation. The modeling framework was calibrated with extensive field datasets, including accretion rates derived from thirty 1-meter-deep soil cores dated with lead-210, more than 300 forest inventory plots, water-level monitoring, and differential leveling elevation surveys. We applied the model using a community of five mangrove species and across seven regions around Pohnpei to identify which regions are most vulnerable to sea-level rise. The responses of mean elevation and the mangrove community composition were analyzed under four global sea-level rise scenarios: an increase of 37, 52, 67, or 117 centimeters by 2100. The model was validated against a 20-year surface elevation table record (1999–2019) and showed good agreement when driven by observed water levels.
The model projected that mangroves around Pohnpei can build their elevations relative to moderate rates of sea-level rise to prevent submergence, with limited changes in mangrove community composition through 2060. By 2100, however, the model projected a decreasing abundance of high-elevation mangrove species and an increasing abundance of lower elevation species adapted to more persistent flooding. Under higher sea-level rise scenarios, forest elevation decreased substantially relative to mean sea level and there were more drastic changes in the tree community composition and loss of suitable mangrove habitat by 2100. Variation in accretion rates, water levels, and initial forest elevation led to differential vulnerability around the island, such that mangroves on the leeward side of the island generally were the most at-risk to higher rates of sea-level rise. Our findings indicate that the relatively undisturbed state of the mangrove forests and the surrounding landscape is an important factor in their ability to keep pace with sea-level rise.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211002","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service","usgsCitation":"Buffington, K.J., MacKenzie, R.A., Carr, J.A., Apwong, M., Krauss, K.W., and Thorne, K.M., 2021, Mangrove species’ response to sea-level rise across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1002, 44 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211002.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 44 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"44","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-121673","costCenters":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":436498,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P96R8MZQ","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Mangrove Elevation and Species' Responses to Sea-level Rise Across Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (ver. 1.1, December 2021)"},{"id":383370,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1002/covrthb.jpg"},{"id":383371,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1002/ofr20211002.pdf","text":"Report","size":"15 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":383372,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1002/ofr20211002.xml"},{"id":383373,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1002/images"},{"id":383374,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9DDZX32","linkHelpText":"Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia Mangrove Elevation Survey Data"}],"country":"Federated States of Micronesia","state":"Pohnpei","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n 158.06442260742188,\n 6.7723525317661215\n ],\n [\n 158.3740997314453,\n 6.7723525317661215\n ],\n [\n 158.3740997314453,\n 7.013667927566642\n ],\n [\n 158.06442260742188,\n 7.013667927566642\n ],\n [\n 158.06442260742188,\n 6.7723525317661215\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Western Ecological Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
Sacramento, California 95819
An aeromagnetic survey was conducted to improve understanding of the geology and structure in the area around Burney, northeastern California. The new data are a substantial improvement over existing data and reveal a prominent north northwest-trending magnetic grain that allows extension of mapped faults, delineation of plutons within the Mesozoic basement in the northern Sierra Nevada, and linear anomalies that limit the amount of strike-slip offset along various faults in the area.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20211006","usgsCitation":"Langenheim, V.E., 2021, Aeromagnetic map of Burney and the surrounding area, northeastern California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1006, 8 p., 1 sheet, scale 1:250:000, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211006.","productDescription":"Report: iv, 8 p.; 1 Sheet: 30.37 x 34.42 inches; Data Release","numberOfPages":"8","ipdsId":"IP-111186","costCenters":[{"id":312,"text":"Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383220,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PUFYDD","linkHelpText":"Aeromagnetic data, grid data, and magnetization boundaries of a survey flown in the Burney region, northeastern California"},{"id":383219,"rank":3,"type":{"id":26,"text":"Sheet"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1006/ofr20211006_sheet.pdf","text":"Sheet","size":"5.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":383217,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1006/covrthb.jpg"},{"id":383218,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2021/1006/ofr20211006_pamphlet.pdf","text":"Pamphlet","size":"5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.607421875,\n 39.57182223734374\n ],\n [\n -120.0146484375,\n 39.57182223734374\n ],\n [\n -120.0146484375,\n 41.541477666790286\n ],\n [\n -122.607421875,\n 41.541477666790286\n ],\n [\n -122.607421875,\n 39.57182223734374\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director,
Geology, Minerals, Energy, & Geophysics Science Center
Menlo Park, California
U.S. Geological Survey
345 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3591
Wetland managers in the Central Valley of California, a dynamic hydrological landscape, require information regarding the amount and location of existing wetland habitat to make decisions on how to best use water resources to support multiple wildlife objectives, particularly during drought. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center (WERC), Point Blue Conservation Science (Point Blue), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) partnered to learn how wetland and flooded agricultural habitats used by waterfowl and shorebirds change during the non-breeding season (July–April) particularly during drought. During extreme drought conditions, the ability to provide sufficient water for wildlife often depends on the timing of water deliveries to managed wetlands and winter-flooded crop fields and decisions on whether to fallow croplands. Waterfowl and shorebirds could be particularly affected by these decisions because they typically rest and feed in flooded habitats. Poor habitat conditions resulting from spatially or temporally suboptimal water deliveries (that is, mismatch between waterfowl habitat needs and timing and location of flooded habitats) could reduce waterfowl hunting opportunities and body condition. Point Blue scientists developed a system for near real-time tracking of habitats used by waterfowl, shorebirds, and some other wetland-dependent “waterbirds” (www.pointblue.org/watertracker) and to assess the impacts of drought on habitat availability and on waterfowl and shorebird bioenergetics. The WERC researchers linked these data with near real-time tracking (telemetry) data of duck locations throughout the Valley. The team used these two datasets to relate duck locations to open-water characteristics and to learn how waterfowl use habitats under spatially and temporally changing conditions during drought and non-drought periods. We found that recent extreme drought (2013–15) significantly changed the timing and magnitude of flooding and consequently reduced the availability of habitats used by waterfowl and shorebirds more than other recent historic droughts 2000–11. Drought reduced irrigations of moist soil seed plants and thus there was lower food energy available for waterfowl. Analyses using bioenergetics models indicated that, overall, extreme drought increased food energy deficits (total number of deficit days) for shorebirds and waterfowl. Our analysis indicated a strong direct relationship between duck locations and classified habitat derived from open-water data during the wintering period (October–March). This result helps confirm the application of dynamic water data to identify flooded areas that provide waterfowl habitat. Presence of open water at a 1-hectare resolution can be used effectively to identify flooded landscape areas available as habitat for ducks. Our discoveries from evaluating use of space by ducks also indicated that nighttime feeding locations of ducks were concentrated nearby primary roosts and that foraging distances could depend on hydrologic dynamics of location (Suisun Marsh versus California excluding Suisun Marsh) and time of season (early, middle, late). Other results indicated that some areas on the California landscape with extremely reliable water supplies could receive consistent use by ducks year after year (in essence, almost drought proof). The Water Tracker is set up to automatically track wetland habitat and food availability each year and is making these data available to water and wetland managers. Results from this research are a significant step toward understanding how waterfowl and shorebird habitats can be optimally managed on the landscape to support desired populations of these migratory birds during extreme drought.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20201102","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Regional Inventory and Monitoring Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","usgsCitation":"Matchett, E.L., Reiter, M., Overton, C.T., Jongsomjit, D., and Casazza, M.L., 2021, Using high resolution satellite and telemetry data to track flooded habitats, their use by waterfowl, and evaluate effects of drought on waterfowl and shorebird bioenergetics in California: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1102, 59 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20201102.","productDescription":"Report: xi, 59 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"59","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-102884","costCenters":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":383074,"rank":5,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1102/images"},{"id":383073,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P922KDU6","linkHelpText":"Classification of waterfowl habitat and quantification of interannual space use and movement distance from primary roosts to night feeding locations by waterfowl in California for October–March of 2015 through 2018"},{"id":383071,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1102/ofr20201102.pdf","text":"Report","size":"17 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":383070,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1102/covrthb.jpg"},{"id":383072,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2020/1102/ofr20201102.xml"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"Central Valley","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -120.234375,\n 36.06686213257888\n ],\n [\n -119.44335937499999,\n 35.137879119634185\n ],\n [\n -118.828125,\n 34.813803317113155\n ],\n [\n -118.30078125,\n 35.137879119634185\n ],\n [\n -118.49853515625,\n 35.71083783530009\n ],\n [\n -119.39941406249999,\n 37.33522435930639\n ],\n [\n -120.47607421874999,\n 38.16911413556086\n ],\n [\n -120.89355468749999,\n 38.58252615935333\n ],\n [\n -121.22314453124999,\n 39.11301365149975\n ],\n [\n -121.640625,\n 39.977120098439634\n ],\n [\n -121.97021484374999,\n 40.74725696280421\n ],\n [\n -122.3876953125,\n 41.0130657870063\n ],\n [\n -122.84912109375,\n 40.613952441166596\n ],\n [\n -122.87109375,\n 40.07807142745009\n ],\n [\n -122.6953125,\n 38.993572058209466\n ],\n [\n -122.08007812499999,\n 37.68382032669382\n ],\n [\n -121.37695312499999,\n 36.96744946416934\n ],\n [\n -120.234375,\n 35.99578538642032\n ],\n [\n -120.234375,\n 36.06686213257888\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Western Ecological Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3020 State University Drive East
Sacramento, California 95819