The role of genome duplication in big sagebrush growth and fecundity
Bryce Richardson, Matthew Germino, Marcus V Warwell, Sven Buerki
2021, American Journal of Botany (108) 1405-1416
PremiseAdaptive traits can be dramatically altered by genome duplication. The study of interactions among traits, ploidy, and the environment are necessary to develop an understanding of how polyploidy affects niche differentiation and to develop restoration strategies for resilient native ecosystems.MethodsGrowth...
Surface energy balance of sub-Arctic roads with varying snow regimes and properties in permafrost regions
Lin Chen, Clifford I. Voss, Daniel Fortier, Jeffrey M. McKenzie
2021, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (32) 681-701
Surface energy balance (SEB) strongly influences the thermal state of permafrost, cryohydrological processes, and infrastructure stability. Road construction and snow accumulation affect the energy balance of underlying permafrost. Herein, we use an experimental road section of the Alaska Highway to develop a SEB model to quantify the surface energy components...
Resilience of terrestrial and aquatic fauna to historical and future wildfire regimes in western North America
Henriette I. Jager, Jonathan W. Long, Rachel L Malison, Brendan P. Murphy, Ashley J. Rust, Luiz Silva, Rahel Sollmann, Zachary L Steel, Mark D Bowen, Jason B. Dunham, Joseph L. Ebersole, Rebecca L. Flitcroft
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 12259-12284
Wildfires in many western North American forests are becoming more frequent, larger, and severe, with changed seasonal patterns. In response, coniferous forest ecosystems will transition toward dominance by fire-adapted hardwoods, shrubs, meadows, and grasslands, which may benefit some faunal communities, but not others. We...
GeoAI in the US Geological Survey for topographic mapping
E. Lynn Usery, Samantha Arundel, Ethan J. Shavers, Larry Stanislawski, Philip T. Thiem, Dalia E. Varanka
2021, Transactions in GIS (26) 25-40
Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) can be defined broadly as the application of artificial intelligence methods and techniques to geospatial data, processes, models, and applications. The application of these methods to topographic data and phenomena is a focus of research in the US Geological Survey (USGS)....
Visitors count! Guidance for protected areas on the economic analysis of visitation
Anna Spenceley, Jan Philipp Schagner, Barbara Engels, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Mauel Engelbauer, Joel Erkkonen, Hubert Job, Liisa Kajala, Lisa Majewski, Daniel Metzler, Marius Mayer, Andrew Rylance, Manuel Woltering, Niklas Scheder, Cecile Smith-Christensen, Thiago Beraldo Souza
2021, Book
The value of protected areas is often hidden from direct view. Once managers understand the number and behaviour of visitors they host, and the revenues and costs they generate, informed decisions on management plans and tourism strategies can be made. Demonstrating the positive impact of protected areas on the local economy can...
American eel personality and body length influence passage success in an experimental fishway
Matthew A. Mensinger, Allison M. Brehm, Alessio Mortelliti, Erik J. Blomberg, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2021, Journal of Applied Ecology (58) 2760-2769
Millions of dams impair watershed connectivity across the globe and have severely affected migratory fish populations. Fishways offer upstream passage opportunities, but artificial selection may be imposed by these structures. Using juvenile American eel Anguilla rostrata as a model species, we consider whether individual differences in behaviour (i.e. personality) and fish...
Groundwater, biodiversity, and the role of flow system scale
Allison R Aldous, Marshall W. Gannett
2021, Ecohydrology (14)
Groundwater-dependent ecosystems and species (GDEs) are found throughout watersheds at locations of groundwater discharge, yet not all GDEs are the same, nor are the groundwater systems supporting them. Groundwater moves along a variety of flow paths of different lengths and with different contributing areas, ranging from...
Taxonomic and functional differences between winter and summer crustacean zooplankton communities in lakes across a trophic gradient
Kirill Shchapov, P. Wilburn, A. Bramburger, G. Silsbe, L. Olmanson, Christopher J. Crawford, E. Litchmann, T. Ozersky
2021, Journal of Plankton Research (43) 732-750
Despite increasing interest in winter limnology, few studies have examined under-ice zooplankton communities and the factors shaping them in different types of temperate lakes. To better understand drivers of zooplankton community structure in winter and summer, we sampled 13 lakes across a large trophic status gradient for crustacean zooplankton...
LiDAR and paleoseismology solve earthquake mystery in the Pacific Northwest, USA
Brian Sherrod, Richard J. Blakely, Craig S. Weaver
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
One of the largest historical earthquakes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest occurred on December 15, 1872 near the south end of Lake Chelan. Lack of recognized surface deformation suggested that the earthquake occurred on a blind, perhaps deep, fault. New LiDAR data revealed a NW-side-up scarp along the north side...
Water quality, instream habitat, and the distribution of suckers in the upper Lost River watershed of Oregon and California, summer 2018
Barbara A. Martin, Summer M. Burdick, Stephen T. Staiger, Caylen M. Kelsey
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1077
Executive SummaryEndangered Lost River (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose (Chasmistes brevirostris) suckers primarily use lotic habitats during the spring spawning season in the Upper Klamath Lake watershed. However, summer-time surveys of the upper Lost River watershed in 1972, 1975 and 1989–90 indicated that adults of both endangered species use tributaries...
Evaluation of movement and survival of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in the Klickitat River, Washington, 2018–2019
Scott D. Evans, David S. Lindley, Tobias J. Kock, Amy C. Hansen, Russell W. Perry, Joseph S Zendt, Nicolas Romero
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1083
A 2-year telemetry study was conducted April–July in 2018 and 2019 to evaluate migration behavior and survival of juvenile steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and coho salmon (O. kisutch) in the Klickitat River, Washington. A total of 612 natural-origin steelhead, collected in a smolt trap on the Klickitat River, were tagged,...
Development of demographic models to analyze populations with multi-year data—Using Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) as a case study
Kristin H. Berry, Julie L. Yee
2021, Open-File Report 2018-1094
We developed a model for analyzing multi-year demographic data for long-lived animals and used data from a population of Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) at the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area in the western Mojave Desert of California as a case study. The study area was 7.77 square kilometers and...
An efficient Bayesian framework for updating PAGER loss estimates
Hae Young Noh, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Davis T. Engler, David J. Wald
2021, Earthquake Spectra Journal (36) 1719-1742
We introduce a Bayesian framework for incorporating time-varying noisy reported data on damage and loss information to update near real-time loss estimates/alerts for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system. Initial loss estimation by PAGER immediately following an earthquake includes several uncertainties. Historically, the...
Flooding duration and volume more important than peak discharge in explaining 18 years of gravel–cobble river change
Arielle Gervasi, Gregory Pasternack, Amy E. East
2021, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (46) 3194-3212
Floods play a critical role in geomorphic change, but whether peak magnitude, duration, volume, or frequency determines the resulting magnitude of erosion and deposition is a question often proposed in geomorphic effectiveness studies. This study investigated that question using digital elevation model differencing to compare and...
Michigan and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3047
Water means a lot to Michigan, often called the Great Lakes State. The name “Michigan” comes from an Ojibwe word meaning large, or great, water or lake. As the only State touching four of the five Great Lakes—Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie—it claims the longest freshwater coastline in the United...
Pollinator communities vary with vegetation structure and time since management within regenerating timber harvests of the Central Appalachian Mountains
Codey L. Mathis, Darin J. McNeil Jr., Monica R. Lee, Christina M. Grozinger, David I. King, Clint Otto, Jeffery A. Larkin
2021, Forest Ecology and Management (495)
Native pollinator populations across the United States are increasingly threatened by a multitude of ecological stressors. Although the drivers behind pollinator population declines are varied, habitat loss/degradation remains one of the most important threats. Forested landscapes, where the impacts of habitat loss/degradation are minimized, are known to support robust pollinator...
Negligible evidence for detrimental effects of Leucocytozoon infections among Emperor Geese (Anser canagicus) breeding on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska
Andrew M. Ramey, Raymond Bucheit, Brian D. Uher-Koch, John Reed, M. Andreina Pacheco, Ananias Escalante, Joel Schmutz
2021, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (16) 103-112
Emperor Geese (Anser canagicus) are iconic waterfowl endemic to Alaska and adjacent areas of northeastern Russia that are considered to be near threatened by the International Union for Conservation. This species has been identified as harboring diverse viruses and parasites which have, at times, been associated with disease in other avian taxa....
Insect pathogenic fungi for biocontrol of plague vector fleas: A review
David A. Eads, Stefan Jaronski, Dean E. Biggins, Jeffrey Wimsatt
2021, Journal of Integrated Pest Management (12) 1-10
Bubonic plague is a lethal bacterial disease of great historical importance. The plague organism, Yersinia pestis, is primarily transmitted by fleas (Siphonaptera). In natural settings, where its range expands, Y. pestis resides in association with wild rodents and their fleas (sylvatic plague). While chemical insecticides are used against plague vector fleas, biological...
Estimates of water use associated with continuous oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, Texas and New Mexico, 2010–19
Joshua F. Valder, Ryan R. McShane, Joanna N. Thamke, Jeremy S. McDowell, Grady P. Ball, Natalie A. Houston, Amy E. Galanter
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5090
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey started a topical study to quantify water use in areas of continuous oil and gas (COG) development. The first phase of the study was completed in 2019 and analyzed the Williston Basin. The second phase of the study analyzed the Permian Basin using the...
Hydrologic conditions in Kansas, water year 2020
Chantelle Davis
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3045
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring stations in Kansas. This network included 219 real-time streamgages, 12 real-time reservoir-level monitoring stations, and 20 groundwater monitoring stations in water year (WY) 2020. A WY is a 12-month period from...
Marine distribution and foraging habitat highlight potential threats at sea for Endangered Bermuda Petrel Pterodroma cahow
André F Raine, Carina Gjerdrum, Isabeau Pratte, Jeremy Madeiros, Jonathan J. Felis, Josh Adams
2021, Endangered Species Research (45) 337-356
Marine spatial planning relies on detailed spatial information of marine areas to ensure effective conservation of species. To enhance our understanding of marine habitat use by the highly pelagic Bermuda petrel Pterodroma cahow, we deployed GPS tags on 6 chick-rearing adults in April 2019 and constructed a habitat suitability model using...
Rebounds, regresses, and recovery: A 15-year study of the coral reef community at Pila‘a, Kaua‘i after decades of natural and anthropogenic stress events
Ku'ulei S. Rodgers, A. Richards Dona, Y. O. Stender, A. O. Tsang, J. H. J. Han, Rebecca Weible, Nancy G. Prouty, Curt D. Storlazzi, Andrew M. Graham
2021, Marine Pollution Bulletin (171)
Pila‘a reef on the north shore of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i was subjected to a major flood event in 2001 that deposited extensive sediment on the reef flat, resulting in high coral mortality. To document potential recovery, this study replicated benthic and sediment surveys conducted immediately following the event and 15 years later....
System characterization report on the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite-4A (CBERS–4A)
James C. Vrabel, Gregory L. Stensaas, Cody Anderson, Jon Christopherson, Minsu Kim, Seonkyung Park, Simon J. Cantrell
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1030-J
Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite-4A (CBERS–4A) multispectral remote sensing satellite and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence in 2021. These reports present and...
Changes in forest connectivity from beech bark disease in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Stephanie R. Sattler
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1069
Within the forests of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, biologists are trying to understand the effects beech bark disease has on wildlife species, especially species that need forest connectivity to thrive. This project used aerial imagery collected in 2005, shortly after beech bark disease infestation, and satellite imagery from 2018. The...
When Punjab cried wolf: How a rumor triggered an “earthquake” in India
S.S. Martin, Remy Bossu, R. Steed, Matthieu Landes, D. Srinagesh, D. Srinivas, Susan E. Hough
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 3887-3898
In recent years, earthquake felt reports contributed via online systems have provided increasingly valuable sources of data to characterize earthquakes and their effects. Contributed felt reports are accompanied by increases in website traffic, which are themselves potentially useful for the early detection of seismic events. In February 2017 the European‐Mediterranean...
