Active volcanism on the Arabian Shield—Geology, volcanology, and geophysics of northern Harrat Rahat and vicinity, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Thomas W. Sisson, Andrew T. Calvert, Walter D. Mooney, editor(s)
2023, Professional Paper 1862
Active volcanic systems pose serious hazards to people and property including inundation and incineration by lava, blanketing by tephra (volcanic ash), exposure to noxious volcanic gases, and damage from shallow earthquakes triggered by ascending molten material (magma). To improve understanding of volcanism and associated seismicity on the western Arabia Plate,...
Ancient infrastructure offers sustainable agricultural solutions to dryland farming
Matthew C. Pailes, Laura M. Norman, Christopher H. Baisan, David Meko, Nicolas E. Gauthier, Jose Villanueva-Diaz, Jeff Dean, Jupiter Martinez, Nicholas V Kessler, Ron Towner
Rattan Lal, editor(s)
2023, Book chapter, Soil and drought: Basic processes
For 1000 years, human populations in dryland regions of the North American Southwest (NAS) extensively constructed diverse forms of agricultural infrastructure, including canals, linear rock alignments, check dams, stock ponds, and other earthworks and rock structures. The long-term hydrological impacts of these and the demographic and socio-political drivers of construction...
The haunting raptor: Yellowstone’s golden eagles
David B. Haines, Douglas W. Smith, Todd E. Katzner, Victoria J. Dreitz
2023, Book chapter, Yellowstone's Birds- Diversity and Abundance in the World's First National Park
For many who live in North America, when picturing an eagle, the image of a large magnificent bird with a distinct white head and tail comes to mind. Rightfully, the bald eagle has garnered much attention as a national symbol of the United States (US), nearly brought to extinction from...
Evaluation of stream capture related to groundwater pumping, Lower Humboldt River Basin, Nevada
Cara A. Nadler, Susan C. Rybarski, Hai Pham
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5110
The Humboldt River Basin is the only river basin that is contained entirely within the State of Nevada. The effect of groundwater pumping on the Humboldt River is not well understood. Tools are needed to determine stream capture and manage groundwater pumping in the Humboldt River Basin. The objective of...
Groundwater discharge by evapotranspiration from the Amargosa Wild and Scenic River and contributing areas, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California
Michael T. Pavelko, Nancy A. Damar
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5106
The Amargosa Wild and Scenic River, located in the southwestern Mojave Desert in Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California, is a Federally protected waterway that supports the biodiversity of the region. Water in the river primarily comes from interbasin groundwater flow that originates as precipitation in the Spring Mountains. The...
Evaluating growth rates of captive, wild, and reintroduced populations of the imperiled Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi)
Houston C. Chandler, David Steen, Jack Blue, James E. Bogan, M. Rebecca Bolt, Tony Brady, David R. Breininger, Jorge Buening, Matt Elliott, James Godwin, Craig Guyer, Robert L. Hill, Michelle Hoffman, Natalie L. Hyslop, Christopher L. Jenkins, Chris Lechowicz, Matt Moore, Robert A. Moulis, Sara Piccolomini, Robert Redmond, Frankie H. Snow, Benjamin S. Stegenga, Dirk J. Stevenson, James Stiles, Sierra Stiles, Mark Wallace, Jimmy Waters, Michael Wines, Javan Mathias Bauder
2023, Herpetologica (79) 220-230
Reintroduction of species at sites where populations have been extirpated has become a common technique in wildlife conservation. To track progress towards reintroduction success, effective postrelease monitoring is needed to document vital rates of individuals and the corresponding impact on population trajectories. We assessed growth and body size in Eastern...
Atmospheric correction intercomparison of hyperspectral and multispectral imagery over agricultural study sites
Brian T. Lamb, W. Dean Hively, Jyoti Jennewein, Alison Thieme, Alexander M. Soroka
2023, Conference Paper, International Symposium on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (IGARSS): Conference Proceedings
In this research effort we assess the performance of atmospheric correction-based surface reflectance (SR) retrievals from two satellite image sources, one with very high spatial resolution (VHR) (<5-m) and the other high spectral resolution (~10-nm). The VHR images are from MAXARs WorldView-3 (WV3) satellite and the high spectral resolution images...
Connecting flood-related fluvial erosion and deposition with vulnerable downstream road-stream crossings
Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Kyle H. Magyera, Jason Laumann, Clement Larson, Stephanie Rockwood, Eric D. Dantoin, Tom Hollenhorst, Brandon Krumwiede, Brandon Ray Nelson, Julia G. Prokopec, Keegan Eland Johnson
2023, Conference Paper, Federal Interagency Sedimentation and Hydrologic Modeling Conference (SedHyd) 2023 Conference Proceedings
Fluvial erosion is increasingly responsible for infrastructure and building damages associated with floods as the intensity of extreme rainfalls hit rural and urban rivers in a variety of climate settings across the United States. Extreme floods in 2016 and 2018 caused widespread culvert blockages and road failures, including extensive damage along steep tributaries...
Preparing for future changes: Louisiana's Coast
Timothy Carruthers, Camille Stagg, Melissa Millman Baustian
2023, Report
Cooperator publication summarizing USGS publications in collaboration with Water Institute that are being used to inform Louisiana coastal policy....
Bedform distributions and dynamics in a large, channelized river: Implications for benthic ecological processes
Caroline M. Elliott, R. B. Jacobson, Bruce Call, Maura O Roberts
2023, Conference Paper
Sand bedforms are fundamental habitat elements for benthic fish in large, sand-bedded rivers and are hypothesized to provide flow refugia, food transport, and ecological disturbance. We explored bedform distributions and dynamics in the Lower Missouri River, Missouri, with the objective of understanding the implications of these features for benthic fish...
Sea-ice conditions predict polar bear land use around military installations in Alaska
Eric V. Regehr, Kristin L. Laidre, Todd C. Atwood, Harry Stern, Benjamin R. Cohen
2023, Human-Wildlife Interactions (17)
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are threatened by sea-ice loss due to climate change, which is concurrently opening the Arctic to natural resource extraction and a broader scope of national security responsibilities. Mitigating the risk of human–bear conflicts is an emerging challenge as many polar bears spend longer ice-free...
Climate impacts to inland fishes: Shifting research topics over time
Abigail Lynch, Andrew DiSanto, Julian D. Olden, Cindy Chu, Craig Paukert, Daria Gundermann, Mitchel Lang, Ray Zhang, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
2023, PLOS Climate (2)
Climate change remains a primary threat to inland fishes and fisheries. Using topic modeling to examine trends and relationships across 36 years of scientific literature on documented and projected climate impacts to inland fish, we identify ten representative topics within this body of literature: assemblages, climate...
Dive characteristics of Common Loons wintering in the Gulf of Mexico and off the southern U.S. Atlantic coast
Kevin P. Kenow, Luke J. Fara, Steven C. Houdek, Brian R. Gray, Darryl J. Heard, Michael W. Meyer, Timothy J. Fox, Robert J. Kratt, Carrol L. Henderson
2023, Journal of Field Ornithology (94)
Common Loons (Gavia immer) winter primarily in marine coastal areas and utilize a forage base that is poorly defined, especially for offshore areas. Information on dive activity is needed for describing foraging strategies and for inferring prey distribution. Archival geolocator tags were used to determine the wintering locations and dive...
Gap analysis: A proposed methodology to describe and map historical and contemporary populations and habitats
Cory Brant, Karen M Alofs, Chris Castiglione, Susan E. Doka, Alexander T. Duncan, Dave Fielder, Matthew Herbert, Arunas Liskauskus, Edward S. Rutherford, Jason Smith, Ralph W. Tingley III, Ted Treska, Ted Turschak, Cindy Chu, Peter C. Esselman
2023, Report
This is a methodology paper that describes an approach for modeling and mapping historical and contemporary spawning areas for coregonine fishes in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Coregonines are a family of native whitefishes and ciscoes that are now greatly reduced or extirpated, but once served important roles for both the...
Mid-contract management alters conservation reserve program vegetation in the central and western United States
Kenneth Elgersma, Mark W. Vandever, Ai Wen
2023, Ecological Restoration (41) 169-179
Disturbances such as grazing, fire, and burrowing are historically important in North American grasslands, and plans for restoring disturbance regimes are often required for successful restoration. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has become the dominant grassland restoration mechanism in many areas, and...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b infections in wild terrestrial mammals, United States, 2022
E. J. Elsmo, A. Wunschmann, Kimberlee B. Beckmen, L. B. Broughton-Neiswanger, E. L. Buckles, J. Hugh Ellis, S. D. Fitzgerald, Robert Gerlach, S. Hawkins, Hon S. Ip, Julia S. Lankton, E. M. Lemley, J. B. Lenoch, M. L. Killian, K. Lantz, L. Long, R. Maes, M. Mainenti, J. Melotti, M. E. Moriarty, S. Nakagun, R. M. Ruden, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, D.A. Thompson, M. K. Torchetti, A. J. Van Wettere, A. G. Wise, A. L. Lim
2023, Emerging Infectious Diseases (29) 2451-2460
We describe the pathology of natural infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus of Eurasian lineage Goose/Guangdong clade 2.3.4.4b in 67 wild terrestrial mammals throughout the United States during April 1‒July 21, 2022. Affected mammals include 50 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), 6 striped skunks (Mephitis...
Lactation performance in polar bears is associated with fasting time and energetic state
Louise C. Archer, Stephen N. Atkinson, Anthony M. Pagano, Stephanie R. Penk, Peter K. Molnar
2023, Marine Ecology Progress Series (720) 175-189
Females must continually make resource allocation decisions because of fitness trade-offs between self-maintenance and investment in current offspring, yet factors underpinning these decisions are unresolved. Polar bears Ursus maritimus face considerable allocation challenges when seasonal sea-ice melt precludes access to prey for several months, and females rely solely on energy stores...
Visitor use and activities detected using trail cameras at forest restoration sites
Janice L. Albers, Mark L. Wildhaber, Nicholas S. Green, Matthew Struckhoff, Michael J. Hooper
2023, Ecological Restoration (41) 199-212
We used trail cameras to monitor human visits and activities at two sites in northeast Indiana being restored to bottomland hardwood forests. These sites, managed as nature preserves, are close to cities, where trails and parking lots have been added for ease of access. In this...
Prediction of the probability of elevated nitrate concentrations at groundwater depths used for drinking-water supply in the Puget Sound basin, Washington, 2004–19
Robert W. Black, Elise E. Wright, Valerie A.L. Bright, Alex O. Headman
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5117
The Puget Sound basin encompasses the 13,700-square-mile area that drains to the Puget Sound and the adjacent marine waters of Washington State. Well more than 4 million people live within the basin, with numbers continuing to increase, who rely on the basin’s natural resources including groundwater. The Puget Sound Partnership...
Changes in phosphorus and suspended solids loading in the Fox River, northeastern Wisconsin, 1989–2021
Dale M. Robertson, Matthew W. Diebel, Sarah L. Bartlett, Kevin J. Fermanich
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5112
The entire Lower Fox River and inner bay of Green Bay, in northeastern Wisconsin, have been listed as impaired by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for low dissolved oxygen and degraded habitat, with total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations listed as the likely causes of...
Cold-water corals of the world: Gulf of Mexico
Sandra Brooke, Amanda Demopoulos, Harry Roberts, Jay J. Lunden, Tracey Sutton, Andrew Davies
2023, Book chapter, Cold-water coral reefs of the world
The Gulf of Mexico is a semi-enclosed sea that borders the USA and Mexico and covers approximately 1.5 million square kilometers. The northern Gulf is topographically complex and is a rich source of oil and gas deposits, which has led to a great deal of research on benthic ecosystems from...
Utilizing high-resolution genetic markers to track population-level exposure of migratory birds to renewable energy development
Ryan J. Harrigan, Jasmine Rajbhandary, Christen Bossu, Peter M. Sanzenbacher, Thomas Dietsch, Cristian Gruppi, Todd E. Katzner, Thomas J. Smith III, Kristen Ruegg
2023, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation (2)
With new motivation to increase the proportion of energy demands met by zero-carbon sources, there is a greater focus on efforts to assess and mitigate the impacts of renewable energy development on sensitive ecosystems and wildlife, of which birds are of particular interest. One challenge for...
Water, water everywhere, but every drop unique: Emerging challenges in the science to understand the role of contaminants in management of drinking water supplies
S.T. Glassmeyer, E.E. Burns, Michael J. Focazio, Edward Furlong, Matthew O. Gribble, M.A. Jahne, S.P. Keely, A.R. Kenicutt, Dana W. Kolpin, E.K. Medlock Kakaley, S.L. Pfaller
2023, GeoHealth (7)
The protection and management of water resources continues to be challenged by multiple and ongoing factors such as shifts in demographic, social, economic, and public health requirements. Physical limitations placed on access to potable supplies include natural and human-caused factors such as aquifer depletion, aging infrastructure, saltwater...
Creating an updated vegetation map for Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge: Final report
Erin E. Hoy
2023, Report
Although Big Oaks NWR encompasses much diversity in wildlife species, an up-to-date, detailed, and comprehensive map showing vegetation types was lacking. The creation of an updated vegetation map for Big Oaks NWR was approved in early 2019. Digital aerial imagery was collected on November 1, 2019 at a resolution of...
Ectoparasitism and energy infrastructure limit survival of preadult Golden Eagles in the Southern Great Plains
Robert K. Murphy, Brian A. Millsap, Dale W. Stahlecker, Clint W. Boal, Brian W. Smith, Shea D. Mullican, Corrie C. Borgman
2023, Journal of Raptor Research (57) 505-521
Much of the US Southern Great Plains (SGP) continues to undergo intensive energy development that could affect the region's Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), yet the species' population status there is unknown. During 2011–2020, we used satellite telemetry to assess annual survival rates and causes of mortality among 40 preadult (<3...
