Automated extraction of areal extents for GNIS Summit features using the eminence core method
Gaurav Sinha, Samantha Arundel
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings of geomorphometry 2020
An important objective of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is to enhance the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) by automatically associating boundaries with terrain features that are currently spatially represented as two-dimensional points. In this paper, the discussion focuses on experiments for mapping GNIS Summit features using the eminence core...
Rethinking groundwater flow on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, USA: Characterizing recharge sources and flow paths with environmental tracers
John E. Solder, Kimberly R. Beisner, Jessica R. Anderson, Donald J. Bills
2020, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 1593-1613
In the arid landscape south of the Grand Canyon, natural springs and seeps are a critical resource for endemic species and Native American tribes. Groundwater is potentially threatened by expanding populations, visitations, and mineral extraction activities. Environmental tracers including noble gases, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water, tritium,...
Diet of a rare herbivore based on DNA metabarcoding of feces: Selection, seasonality, and survival
Amanda R. Goldberg, Courtney J. Conway, David C. Tank, Kimberly R. Andrews, Digpal S. Gour, Lisette P. Waits
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 7627-7643
In herbivores, survival and reproduction are influenced by quality and quantity of forage, and hence, diet and foraging behavior are the foundation of an herbivore's life history strategy. Given the importance of diet to most herbivores, it is imperative that we know the species of plants they prefer, especially for...
Estimation of vital population rates to assess the relative health of mussel assemblages in the Upper Mississippi River
Teresa Newton, Steven J. Zigler, Patricia R. Ries, Mike Davis, David R. Smith
2020, Freshwater Biology (65) 1726-1739
Native freshwater mussels are a guild of benthic, filter feeding invertebrates that perform important ecological functions in rivers. Because of their long lifespans (30–50 years or longer), mussels are slow to respond to human‐induced alterations. Thus, development of sensitive indicators of mussel population responses to river conditions and management would...
Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, William H. Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Muir Einbund
2020, Landslides (17) 2795-2809
Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar...
Machine-learning models to map pH and redox conditions in groundwater in a layered aquifer system, Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain, eastern USA
Leslie A. DeSimone, Jason P. Pope, Katherine Marie Ransom
2020, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (30)
Study regionThe study was conducted in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system, in the eastern USA.Study focusGroundwater pH and redox conditions are fundamental chemical characteristics controlling the distribution of many contaminants of concern for drinking water or...
Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, David C. Wilson, Abram E. Claycomb, John Spritzer
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 2530-2540
Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors used...
Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana
Michael Osland, Richard Day, Thomas C. Michot
2020, Diversity and Distributions (26) 1366-1382
AimClimate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of...
After-hatch and hatch year Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Calidris subruficollis) can be sexed accurately using morphometric measures
Juliana Bose de Almeida, Iara F. Lopes, Lewis Oring, T. Lee Tibbitts, Lisa M. Pajot, Richard B. Lanctot
2020, Wader Study (127) 37-42
Determining the sex of birds quickly in the field can help in studies of behavior and distribution, and when selecting particular sexes for deploying tracking devices or collecting samples. However, discerning males from females is difficult in species that are plumage monomorphic and have overlapping sexual-size dimorphism, as in Buff-breasted...
Refining genetic boundaries for Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in the western Sonoran Desert: The influence of the Coachella Valley on gene flow among populations in southern California
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Taylor Edwards, Kristin H. Berry, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings, Ennen Joshua R., Mickey Agha, Rachel Wood, Kathleen D. Brundige, Robert W. Murphy
2020, Frontiers of Biogeography (12)
Understanding the influence of geographic features on the evolutionary history and population structure of a species can assist wildlife managers in delimiting genetic units (GUs) for conservation and management. Landscape features including mountains, low elevation depressions, and even roads can influence connectivity and gene flow among Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus...
Evidence for a concealed Midcontinent Rift-related northeast Iowa intrusive complex
Benjamin J. Drenth, A. Kate Souders, Klaus J. Schulz, Joshua M. Feinberg, Raymond R. Anderson, Val W. Chandler, William F. Cannon, Ryan Clark
2020, Precambrian Research (347)
Large amplitude aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies over a ~9500 km2 area of northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota have been interpreted to reflect the northeast Iowa intrusive complex (NEIIC), a buried intrusive igneous complex composed of mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Yavapai Province (1.8–1.7 Ga). Hundreds of meters of Paleozoic sedimentary cover and...
Structural controls on slope failure within the western Santa Barbara Channel based on 2D and 3D seismic imaging
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers, Alexis L Wright, Samuel Y. Johnson
2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Geosystems (21)
The Santa Barbara Channel, offshore California, contains several submarine landslides and ample evidence for incipient failure. This region hosts active thrust and reverse faults that accommodate several mm/yr of convergence, yet the relationships between tectonic deformation and slope failure remain unclear. We present 3‐D and 2‐D...
Geomorphological evidence for a dry dust avalanche origin of slope streaks on Mars
Colin M. Dundas
2020, Nature Geoscience (13) 473-476
Mars has several different types of slope feature that resemble aqueous flows. However, the current cold, dry conditions are inimical to liquid water, resulting in uncertainty about its role in modern surface processes. Dark slope streaks were among the first distinctive young slope features to be identified on Mars and...
Changes in capture rates and body size among vertebrate species occupying an insular urban habitat reserve
Thomas Stanley, Rulon W. Clark, Robert N. Fisher, Carlton J. Rochester, Stephanie A Root, Keith J Lombardo, Stacey D Ostermann-Kelm
2020, Conservation Science and Practice (2)
Long‐term ecological monitoring provides valuable and objective scientific information to inform management and decision‐making. In this article, we analyze 22 years of herpetofauna monitoring data from the Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area (PLECA), an insular urban reserve near San Diego, CA. Our analysis showed that counts of...
A rasterized building footprint dataset for the United States
Mehdi Pourpeikari Heris, Nathan Leon Foks, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Austin Troy, Zachary H. Ancona
2020, Scientific Data (7)
Microsoft released a U.S.-wide vector building dataset in 2018. Although the vector building layers provide relatively accurate geometries, their use in large-extent geospatial analysis comes at a high computational cost. We used High-Performance Computing (HPC) to develop an algorithm that calculates six summary values for each...
Mate fidelity improves survival and breeding propensity of a long‐lived bird
Alan G. Leach, Thomas V. Riecke, James S. Sedinger, David H. Ward, Sean Boyd
2020, Journal of Animal Ecology (89) 2290-2299
Evolutionary and behavioural ecologists have long been interested in factors shaping the variation in mating behaviour observed in nature. Although much of the research on this topic has focused on the consequences of mate choice and mate change on annual reproductive success, studies of a potential positive link between...
Energy development and production in the Great Plains: Implications and restoration opportunities
Jacqueline P. Ott, Brice B. Hanberry, Mona Khalil, Mark W. Paschke, Max Post van der Burg, Anthony J. Prenni
2020, Rangeland Ecology and Management (78) 257-272
Energy is an integral part of society. The major US energy sources of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas); biofuels (ethanol); and wind are concentrated in grassland ecosystems of the Great Plains. As energy demand continues to increase, mounting pressures will be placed on North American grassland systems. In this...
Using saline or brackish aquifers as reservoirs for thermal energy storage, with example calculations for direct-use heating in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Erick R. Burns, John Bershaw, Colin F. Williams, Ray E Wells, Matt W Uddenberg, Darby P Scanlon, Trenton T Cladouhos, Boz Van Houten
Boz Van Houten, editor(s)
2020, Geothermics (88)
Tools to evaluate reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES; heat storage in slow-moving or stagnant geochemically evolved permeable zones in strata that underlie well-connected regional aquifers) are developed and applied to the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) beneath the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA....
Near-term spatial hydrologic forecasting in Everglades, USA for landscape planning and ecological forecasting
Leonard G. Pearlstine, James M. Beerens, Gregg Reynolds, Saira Haider, Mark McKelvy, Kevin Suir, Stephanie Romanach, Jennifer H. Nestler
2020, Environmental Modelling and Software (132)
Operational ecological forecasting is an emerging field that leverages ecological models in a new, cross-disciplinary way – using a real-time or nearly real-time climate forecast to project near-term ecosystem states. These applications give decision-makers lead time to anticipate and manage state changes that degrade ecosystem functions or directly impact humans....
Behavioural responses of female lake trout Salvelinus namaycush to male chemical stimuli and prostaglandin F2α
Tyler John Buchinger, Weiming Li, Nicholas S. Johnson
2020, Journal of Fish Biology (97) 1224-1227
Male olfactory cues may guide aggregation on spawning reefs, mate evaluation, and synchronized gamete release in lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, but a lack of information on the source and identity of the cues precludes direct tests of their function. Using a two-channel flume assay, we found female lake trout increased...
Quantitative paleoflood hydrology
Gerardo Benito, Jim E. O'Connor
2020, Book chapter, Reference module in earth systems and environmental sciences
This chapter reviews the paleohydrologic techniques and approaches used to reconstruct the magnitude and frequency of past floods using geological evidence. Quantitative paleoflood hydrology typically leads to two phases of analysis: (1) documentation and assessment of flood physical evidence (paleostage indicators), and (2) relating identified flood evidence to flood discharge,...
Design and operations of the Hydrate 01 Stratigraphic test well, Alaska North Slope
Timothy S. Collett, Margarita V. Zyrianova, Norihiro Okinaka, Motoi Wakatsuki, Ray Boswell, Scott Marsteller, David Minge, Stephen Crumley, David Itter, Robert D. Hunter
2020, Conference Paper
The National Energy Technology Laboratory, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and the U.S. Geological Survey are leading an effort to conduct an extended gas hydrate production test in northern Alaska. The proposed production test required the drilling of an initial stratigraphic test well (STW) to confirm the...
Procedure for calculating estimated ultimate recoveries of wells in the Wolfcamp shale of the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas
Heidi M. Leathers-Miller
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5042
In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey published an assessment of technically recoverable continuous oil and gas resources of the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin, Permian Basin Province, Texas. Estimated ultimate recoveries (EURs) were calculated with production data from IHS MarkitTM using DeclinePlus software in the Harmony interface. These EURs...
Western bumble bee: Declines in United States and range-wide information gaps
Tabitha A. Graves, William Michael Janousek, Sarah M. Gaulke, Amy Nicholas, Douglas Keinath, Christine M. Bell, Syd Cannings, Richard G. Hatfield, Jennifer M Heron, Jonathan B Koch, Helen L Loffland, Leif L Richardson, Ashley T. Rohde, Jessica Rykken, James P. Strange, Lusha Tronstead, Cory Sheffield
2020, Ecosphere (11)
In recent decades, many bumble bee species have declined due to changes in habitat, climate, and pressures from pathogens, pesticides, and introduced species. The western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis ), once common throughout western North America, is a species of concern and will be considered for listing by the U.S. Fish...
Wind, sun, and wildlife: Do wind and solar energy development “short-circuit” conservation in the western United States?
Mickey Agha, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Ennen Joshua R., Brian D Todd
2020, Environmental Research Letters (15)
Despite the trade-offs between renewable energy development, land use, humans, and wildlife, wind and solar development continues to transform the southwestern US into a green energy landscape. While renewable energy reduces carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, many studies have emerged on the associated ecological and social impacts of...
