The right trait in the right place at the right time: Matching traits to environment improves restoration outcomes
Kathleen R. Balazs, Andrea T. Kramer, Seth M. Munson, Nora Talkington, Shannon Still, Bradley J. Butterfield
2020, Ecological Applications (30)
(Munson) The challenges of restoration in dryland ecosystems are growing due to a rise in anthropogenic disturbance and increasing aridity. Plant functional traits are often used to predict plant performance and can offer a window into the potential outcomes of restoration efforts across environmental gradients. We tracked 15 years of...
Lessons learned implementing an operational continuous United States national land change monitoring capability: The Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) approach
Jesslyn F. Brown, Heather J. Tollerud, Christopher P. Barber, Qiang Zhou, John L. Dwyer, James Vogelmann, Thomas Loveland, Curtis Woodcock, Stephen V. Stehman, Zhe Zhu, Bruce Pengra, Kelcy Smith, Josephine Horton, George Z. Xian, Roger F. Auch, Terry L. Sohl, Kristi L. Sayler, Alisa L. Gallant, Daniel Zelenak, Ryan R. Reker, Jennifer R. Rover
2020, Remote Sensing of Environment (238)
Growing demands for temporally specific information on land surface change are fueling a new generation of maps and statistics that can contribute to understanding geographic and temporal patterns of change across large regions, provide input into a wide range of environmental modeling studies, clarify the drivers of change, and provide...
Preliminary report on applications of machine learning techniques to the Nevada geothermal play fairway analysis
James Faulds, Stephen C. Brown, Mark F. Coolbaugh, John H. Queen, Sven Treitel, Michael Fehler, Eli Mlawsky, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Cary Lindsey, Erick R. Burns, Connor M. Smith, Chen Gu, Bridget F. Ayling
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings: 45th workshop on geothermal reservoir engineering
We are applying machine learning (ML) techniques, including training set augmentation and artificial neural networks, to mitigate key challenges in the Nevada play fairway project. The study area includes ~85 active geothermal systems as potential training sites and >12 geologic, geophysical, and geochemical features. The main goal is to develop...
Play fairway analysis in geothermal exploration: The Snake River plain volcanic province
John W. Shervais, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Drew L. Siler, Lee Liberty, Dennis Nielson, Sabodh Garg, Patrick Dobson, Erika Gasperikova, Eric Sonnenthal, Dennis Newell, James E. Evans, Jacob DeAngelo, Jared R. Peacock, Tait E. Earney, William D. Schermerhorn, Ghanashyam Neupane
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings: 45th workshop on geothermal reservoir engineering
The Snake River volcanic province (SRP) has long been considered a target for geothermal development. It overlies a thermal anomaly that extends deep into the mantle and represents one of the highest heat flow provinces in North America, but systematic exploration been hindered by lack of a conceptual model. Play...
Acute and chronic toxicity of sodium nitrate and sodium sulfate to several freshwater organisms in water-only exposures
Ning Wang, Rebecca A. Dorman, Chris D. Ivey, David J. Soucek, Amy Dickinson, Bethany K. Kunz, Jeffery A. Steevens, Edward J. Hammer, Candice R. Bauer
2020, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (39) 1071-1085
Elevated nitrate (NO3) and sulfate (SO4) in surface water are of global concern, and studies are needed to generate toxicity data to develop environmental guideline values for NO3 and SO4. The present study was designed to fill existing gaps in toxicity databases by determining the acute and/or chronic toxicity of...
A need for speed in Bayesian population models: A practical guide to marginalizing and recovering discrete latent states
Charles B. Yackulic, Michael J. Dodrill, Maria C. Dzul, Jamie S. Sanderlin, Janice A. Reid
2020, Ecological Applications (30)
Bayesian population models can be exceedingly slow due, in part, to the choice to simulate discrete latent states. Here, we discuss an alternative approach to discrete latent states, marginalization, that forms the basis of maximum likelihood population models and is much faster. Our manuscript has two goals: 1) to introduce...
The 3D Elevation Program and energy for the Nation
Cindy A. Thatcher, Vicki Lukas, Jason M. Stoker
2020, Fact Sheet 2019-3051
High-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) data are used in energy infrastructure siting, design, permitting, construction, and monitoring to promote public safety through the reduction of risks. For example, lidar data are used to identify safe locations for energy infrastructure by analyzing terrain parameters and identifying and evaluating geologic hazards...
Development of a process-based littoral sediment transport model for Dauphin Island, Alabama
Robert L. Jenkins III, Joseph W. Long, P. Soupy Dalyander, David M. Thompson, Rangley C. Mickey
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1011
Dauphin Island, Alabama, located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico just outside of Mobile Bay, is Alabama’s only barrier island and provides an array of historical, natural, and economic resources. The dynamic island shoreline of Dauphin Island evolved across time scales while constantly acted upon by waves and currents during...
Application of airborne LiDAR and GIS in modeling trail erosion along the Appalachian Trail, New Hampshire, USA
Holly Eagleston, Jeffrey L. Marion
2020, Landscape and Urban Planning (198)
Recreational activities can negatively affect protected area landscapes and resources and soil erosion is frequently cited as the most significant long-term impact to recreational trails. Comprehensive modeling of soil loss on trails can identify influential factors that managers can manipulate to design and manage more sustainable trails. Field measurements...
Sediment and chemical contaminant loads in tributaries to the Anacostia River, Washington, District of Columbia, 2016–17
Timothy P. Wilson
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5092
A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Washington, D.C., Department of Energy & Environment to estimate the loads of suspended-sediment-bound chemical compounds in five gaged tributaries and four ungaged tributaries of the Anacostia River (known locally as “Lower Anacostia River”) in Washington, D.C....
Towards reproducible environmental modeling for decision support: A worked example
Jeremy T. White, Linzy K. Foster, Michael N. Fienen, Matthew J. Knowling, Brioch Hemmings, James R. Winterle
2020, Frontiers in Earth Science, Hydrosphere (28)
A fully worked example of decision-support-scale uncertainty quantification (UQ) and parameter estimation (PE) is presented. The analyses are implemented for an existing groundwater flow model of the Edwards aquifer, Texas, USA, and are completed in a script-based workflow that strives to be transparent and reproducible. High-dimensional PE is used to...
Spatial epidemiological patterns suggest mechanisms of land-sea transmission for Sarcocystis neurona in a coastal marine mammal
Tristan Burgess, M. Tim Tinker, Melissa A. Miller, Woutrina A. Smith, James L. Bodkin, Michael J. Murray, Linda M. Nichol, Justin A. Saarinen, Shawn E. Larson, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Patricia A. Conrad, Christine K. Johnson
2020, Scientific Reports (10)
Sarcocystis neurona was recognised as an important cause of mortality in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) after an outbreak in April 2004 and has since been detected in many marine mammal species in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Risk of S. neurona exposure in sea otters is associated with consumption...
Causal factors for pesticide trends in streams of the United States: Atrazine and deethylatrazine
Karen R. Ryberg, Wesley W. Stone, Nancy T. Baker
2020, Journal of Environmental Quality (49) 152-162
Pesticides are important for agriculture in the United States, and atrazine is one of the most widely used and widely detected pesticides in surface water. A better understanding of the mechanisms by which atrazine and its degradation product, deethylatrazine, increase and decrease in surface waters can help inform future decisions...
Borehole‐scale testing of matrix diffusion for contaminated‐rock aquifers
Philip Harte, William C. Brandon
2020, Remediation Journal (30) 37-53
A new method was developed to assess the effect of matrix diffusion on contaminant transport and remediation of groundwater in fractured rock. This method utilizes monitoring wells constructed of open boreholes in fractured rock to conduct backward diffusion experiments on chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater. The experiments are...
Co-producing knowledge: The Integrated Ecosystem Model for resource management in Arctic Alaska
Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Kristin Timm, Amy L. Breen, Stephen T. Gray, T. Scott Rupp, Philip Martin, Joel H. Reynolds, Amanda Sesser, Karen Murphy, Jeremy S. Littell, Alec Bennett, W. Robert Bolton, Tobey Carman, Helene Genet, Brad Griffith, Tom Kurkowski, Mark J. Lara, Sergei Marchenko, Dmitry Nicolsky, Panda Santosh, Vladimir Romanovsky, Ruth Rutter, Colin Tucker, A. David McGuire
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (18) 447-455
Assessments of climate-change effects on ecosystem processes and services in high-latitude regions are hindered by a lack of decision-support tools capable of forecasting possible future landscapes. We describe a collaborative effort to develop and apply the Integrated Ecosystem Model (IEM) for Alaska and northwestern Canada to explore how climate change...
Egg counts of Southern Leopard Frog, Lithobates sphenocephalus, egg masses from southern Louisiana, USA
Brad M. Glorioso, Lindy J. Muse, J. Hardin Waddle
2020, Herpetology Notes (13) 187-189
Southern Leopard Frogs, Lithobates sphenocephalus (Cope, 1889), lay eggs year-round in their southern range, including Louisiana, but their peak breeding season is the cooler months from late fall through early spring (Mount, 1975; Caldwell, 1986; Dundee and Rossman, 1989). Double-enveloped eggs in globular masses are typically deposited in shallow water,...
Evaluation of soil zone processes and a novel radiocarbon correction approach for groundwater with mixed sources
John E. Solder, Bryant Jurgens
2020, Journal of Hydrology (588)
Estimates of groundwater age based on 14C is often limited by the uncertainty in geochemical processes that alter the 14C concentration measured in water and the composition (δ13C and 14C) of carbon sources needed to appropriately parametrize 14C adjustment models. Estimated ages for samples that contain a mixture of young...
Food and temperature stressors have opposing effects in determining flexible migration decisions in brown trout (Salmo trutta )
Louise C Archer, Stephen A. Hutton, Luke Harman, Stephen D. McCormick, Michael N O’Grady, Joseph P. Kerry, W Russel Poole, Patrick Gargan, Philip McGinnity, Thomas E Reed
2020, Global Change Biology (26) 2878-2896
With rapid global change, organisms in natural systems are exposed to a multitude of stressors that likely co‐occur, with uncertain impacts. We explored individual and cumulative effects of co‐occurring environmental stressors on the striking, yet poorly understood, phenomenon of facultative migration. We reared offspring of a brown trout population that...
Increased prespawning mortality threatens an integrated natural- and hatchery-origin sockeye salmon population in the Lake Washington Basin
Heidy K Barnett, Thomas P. Quinn, Mary Bhuthimethee, James Winton
2020, Fisheries Research (227)
The life cycle of diadromous fishes such as salmonids involves natural mortality in a series of distinct life history stages, occurring sequentially in different habitats. Decades of research have emphasized mortality at the embryo, juvenile, and sub-adult stages but it is increasingly clear that some adults that survive and return...
Evidence for a growing population of eastern migratory monarch butterflies is currently insufficient
Wayne E. Thogmartin, Jennifer A Szymanski, Emily L. Weiser
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (8)
The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies has experienced a multi-decadal decline, but a recent increase in abundance (to 6.05 ha in winter 2018) has led some observers to question whether the population has reversed its long-standing decline and embarked on a trajectory of increasing abundance. We examined this possibility...
Non-freezing cold event stresses can cause significant damage to mangrove seedlings: Assessing the role of warming and nitrogen enrichment in a mesocosm study
Weimin Song, Jianxiang Feng, Ken W. Krauss, Yan Zhao, Zhonglei Wang, Yiqi Luo, Guanghui Lin
2020, Environmental Research (2)
Mangroves are expanding poleward along coastlines globally as a response to rising temperatures and reduced incidence of freezing under climate change. Yet, knowledge of mangrove responses to infrequent cold events in the context of future global and regional environmental changes is limited. We initiated a mesocosm experiment in which the...
Geology of the Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) in Pendleton County, West Virginia (USA), and implications regarding the origin of maze caves
Christopher S. Swezey, Emily L Brent
2020, Book chapter, Geological Society of America Field Guide
The Trout Rock caves (Hamilton Cave, Trout Cave, New Trout Cave) are located in a hill named Cave Knob that overlooks the South Branch of the Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia (U.S.A). The geologic structure of this hill is a northeasttrending anticline, and the caves are located at...
Foreward: Geology Field Trips in and around the U.S. Capital
Christopher S. Swezey, Mark W. Carter
2020, Book chapter, Geological Society of America Field Guide
The first annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) was held in 1888 in Ithaca, New York (Fairchild, 1932), but official Sections of GSA formed much later. During the spring of 1949, a symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on mineral resources of the southeastern United States became the...
The role of Northeast Pacific meltwater events in deglacial climate change
Summer K. Praetorius, Alan Condron, Alan Mix, Maureen Walczak, Jennifer McKay, Jianghui Du
2020, Science Advances (6)
Columbia River megafloods occurred repeatedly during the last deglaciation, but the impacts of this fresh water on Pacific hydrography are largely unknown. To reconstruct changes in ocean circulation during this period, we used a numerical model to simulate the flow trajectory of Columbia River megafloods and compiled records of sea...
Near-field ground motions from the July, 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence
Susan E. Hough, Eric M. Thompson, Grace A. Parker, Robert Graves, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Jason Patton, Timothy E. Dawson, Tyler C. Ladinsky, Michael Oskin, Krittanon Sirorattanakul, Kelly Blake, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Elizabeth S. Cochran
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 1542-1555
The 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence, including an Mw 6.4 event on 4 July and an Mw 7.1 approximately 34 hr later, was recorded by 15 instruments within 55 km nearest‐fault distance. To characterize and explore near‐field ground motions from the Mw 6.4 foreshock and Mw 7.1 mainshock, we augment these records...
