A field test of R package GPSeqClus: For establishing animal location clusters
H. Dean Cluff, L. David Mech
2023, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (4)
The ability to track animals with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars opened an enormous potential for studying animal movements and behaviour in their natural environment. One such endeavour is to identify clusters of GPS locations as a way to estimate predator kill rate. Clapp et al. (2021) developed an R...
Incorporating temperature into seepage loss estimates for a large unlined irrigation canal
Ramon C. Naranjo, David Smith, Evan J. Lindenbach
2023, Journal of Hydrology (617)
Quantifying seepage losses from unlined irrigation canals is necessary to improve water use and conservation. The use of heat as a tracer is widely used in quantifying seepage rates across the sediment–water interface. In this study, field observations and two-dimensional numerical models...
Comparison of traditional and geometric morphometrics using Lake Huron ciscoes of the Coregonus artedi complex
Benjamin E Martin, Brian O’Malley, Randy E Eshenroder, Yu-Chun Kao, Chris Olds, Timothy P. O’Brien, Chris L. Davis
2023, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (152) 296-309
Here we determine how traditional morphometrics (TM) compares with geometric morphometrics (GM) in discriminating among morphologies of four forms of ciscoes of the Coregonus artedi complex collected from Lake Huron. One of the forms comprised two groups of the same deepwater cisco separated by capture depth, whereas the...
Structured decision making to prioritize regional bird monitoring needs
Auriel M. V. Fournier, R. Randy Wilson, Jeffrey S. Gleason, Evan M. Adams, Janell M. Brush, Robert J. Cooper, Stephen J. DeMaso, Melanie J. L. Driscoll, Peter C. Frederick, Patrick G.R. Jodice, Mary Ann Ottinger, David B. Reeves, Michael A. Seymour, Stephanie M. Sharuga, John M. Tirpak, William G. Vermillion, Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., James E. Lyons, Mark S. Woodrey
2023, INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (53) 207-217
Conservation planning for large ecosystems has multiple benefits but is often challenging to implement because of the multiple jurisdictions, species, and habitats involved. In addition, decision making at large spatial scales can be hampered because many approaches do not explicitly incorporate potentially competing values and concerns of stakeholders. After the Deepwater...
Beyond presence mapping: Predicting fractional cover of non-native vegetation in Sentinel-2 imagery using an ensemble of MaxEnt models
Todd M. Preston, Aaron N. Johnston, Kyle Gregory Ebenhoch, Robert H. Diehl
2023, Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation (9) 512-526
Non-native species maps are important tools for understanding and managing biological invasions. We demonstrate a novel approach to extend presence modeling to map fractional cover (FC) of non-native yellow sweet clover Melilotus officinalis in the Northern Great Plains, USA. We used ensembles of MaxEnt models to map FC across landscapes from satellite...
Moving Aircraft River Velocimetry (MARV): Framework and proof-of-concept on the Tanana River
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Mark Laker, Jeff Conaway
2023, Water Resources Research (59)
Information on velocity fields in rivers is critical for designing infrastructure, modeling contaminant transport, and assessing habitat. Although non-contact approaches to measuring flow velocity are well established, these methods assume a stationary imaging platform. This study eliminates this constraint by introducing a framework for moving aircraft river...
The San Francisco Estuary, USA as a reference section for an Anthropocene series
Stephen J Himson, Mark A. Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz, Colin N. Waters, Mary McGann, Richard England, Bruce E. Jaffe, Arnoud Boom, Rachael Holmes, Sue Sampson, Cerin Pye, Juan Carlos Berrio, Genevieve Tyrrell, Ian P. Wilkinson, Neil Rose, Pawel Gaca, Andrew Cundy
2023, The Anthropocene Review (10) 87-115
A San Francisco Estuary core was analysed at high resolution to assess its component stratigraphic signatures of the Anthropocene in the form of non-native species, Hg, spheroidal carbonaceous particles, δ13Corg, δ15N, radiogenic materials, and heavy metals. Time series analysis of the core using Ti data provides a...
A multimodal data fusion and deep learning framework for large-scale wildfire surface fuel mapping
Mohamad Alipour, Inga P. La Puma, Joshua J. Picotte, Kasra Shamsei, Eric Rowell, Adam Watts, Branko Kosovic, Hamed Ebrahimian, Erugrul Taciroglu
2023, Fire (6)
Accurate estimation of fuels is essential for wildland fire simulations as well as decision-making related to land management. Numerous research efforts have leveraged remote sensing and machine learning for classifying land cover and mapping forest vegetation species. In most cases that focused on surface fuel mapping, the spatial scale...
High resolution SnowModel simulations reveal future elevation-dependent snow loss and earlier, flashier surface water input for the Upper Colorado River Basin
John C. Hammond, Graham A. Sexstone, Annie L. Putman, Theodore B. Barnhart, David M. Rey, Jessica M. Driscoll, Glen Liston, Kristen L. Rasmussen, Daniel McGrath, Steven R. Fassnacht, Stephanie K. Kampf
2023, Earth's Future (11)
Continued climate warming is reducing seasonal snowpacks in the western United States, where >50% of historical water supplies were snowmelt-derived. In the Upper Colorado River Basin, declining snow water equivalent (SWE) and altered surface water input (SWI, rainfall and snowmelt available to enter the soil) timing and...
Green turtle movements in the Gulf of Mexico: Tracking reveals new migration corridor and habitat use suggestive of MPA expansion
Margaret Lamont, Allison Benscoter, Kristen Hart
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (42)
Globally, Marine Protected Areas are an important tool in the conservation of large marine vertebrates. Recent studies have highlighted the use of protected areas by imperiled green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the southern Gulf of Mexico. To identify and characterize inter-nesting, migratory, and foraging areas...
Juxtaposition of intensive agriculture, vulnerable aquifers, and mixed chemical/microbial exposures in private-well tapwater in northeast Iowa
Paul M. Bradley, Dana W. Kolpin, Darrin A. Thompson, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Mary C. Cardon, David M. Cwiertny, Nicola Evans, R. William Field, Michael J. Focazio, Laura E. Beane Freeman, Carrie E. Givens, James L. Gray, Gordon L. Hager, Michelle L. Hladik, Jonathan N. Hoffman, Rena R. Jones, Leslie K. Kanagy, Rachael F. Lane, R. Blaine McCleskey, Danielle Medgyesi, Elizabeth Medlock-Kakaley, Shannon M. Meppelink, Michael T. Meyer, Diana A. Stavreva, Mary H. Ward
2023, Environmental Science and Technology: Water (868)
In the United States and globally, contaminant exposure in unregulated private-well point-of-use tapwater (TW) is a recognized public-health data gap and an obstacle to both risk-management and homeowner decision making. To help address the lack of data on broad contaminant exposures in private-well TW...
Physicochemical coastal groundwater dynamics between Kauhakō Crater lake and Kalaupapa settlement, Moloka‘i, Hawai‘i
Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Olivia M. Cheriton, Peter W Swarzenski, Eric K. Brown, Curt D. Storlazzi
2023, Marine Pollution Bulletin (187)
Land-based sources of groundwater pollution can be a critical threat to coral reefs, and a better understanding of “ridge-to-reef” water movement is required to advance management and coral survival in the Anthropocene. In this study a more complete understanding of the geological, atmospheric, and oceanic drivers behind coastal groundwater exchange...
Subaqueous clinoforms created by sandy wave-supported gravity flows: Lessons from the central California shelf
Elisa Medri, Alexander R. Simms, Jared W. Kluesner, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stuart P. Nishenko, H. Gary Greene, James E. Conrad
2023, Marine Geology (456)
Subaqueous clinoforms are an important yet underappreciated shelf feature. Their origins are typically associated with subaerial deltas but recent work has identified similar features in settings without a significant fluvial source. These other studies have shown that such subaqueous clinoforms, also known as infralittoral prograding wedges (IPWs), are created largely...
Hydrodynamics and habitat interact to structure fish communities within terminal channels of a tidal freshwater delta
Brock Huntsman, Matthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer, Paul Stumpner, Larry R. Brown, Jon R. Burau
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Terminal channels were historically a common feature of tidal delta ecosystems but have become increasingly rare as landscapes have been modified. Tidal hydrodynamics are a defining feature in tidal terminal channel ecosystems from which native aquatic communities have evolved. However, few studies have explored the relationship between fish community structure...
Enhancements to population monitoring of Yellowstone grizzly bears
Frank T. van Manen, Michael Ebinger, Cecily M. Costello, Daniel D. Bjornlie, Justin Clapp, Daniel Thompson, Mark A. Haroldson, Kevin L. Frey, Curtis Hendricks, Jeremy M. Nicholson, Kerry A. Gunther, Katharine R. Wilmot, Hilary Cooley, Jennifer Fortin-Noreus, Pat Hnilicka, Daniel B. Tyers
2023, Ursus (33)
In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, counts of female grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) with cubs-of-the-year (females with cubs) from systematic aerial surveys and opportunistic ground sightings are combined with demographic data to derive annual population estimates. We addressed 2 limitations to the monitoring approach. As part of a rule set, a...
Genetic diversity goals and targets have improved, but remain insufficient for clear implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework
Sean M. Hoban, Michael W. Bruford, Jessica M. da Silva, W. Chris Funk, Richard Frankham, Michael J. Gill, Catherine E. Grueber, Myriam Heuertz, Margaret Hunter, Francine Kershaw, Robert C. Lacy, Caroline Lees, Margarida Lopes-Fernandes, Anna J. MacDonald, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Philip J. K. McGowan, Mariah H. Meek, Joachim Mergeay, Katie L. Millette, Cinnamon S. Mittan-Moreau, Laetitia M. Navarro, David O'Brien, Rob Ogden, Gernot Segelbacher, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Cristiano Vernesi, Linda Laikre
2023, Conservation Genetics (24) 181-191
Genetic diversity among and within populations of all species is necessary for people and nature to survive and thrive in a changing world. Over the past three years, commitments for conserving genetic diversity have become more ambitious and specific under the Convention on Biological Diversity’s...
Watershed- and reach-scale drivers of phosphorus retention and release by streambed sediment in a western Lake Erie watershed during summer
Rebecca M. Kreiling, Patrik Mathis Perner, Kenna Jean Breckner, Tanja N. Williamson, Lynn A. Bartsch, James M. Hood, Nathan F. Manning, Laura T. Johnson
2023, Science of the Total Environment (863)
Reducing phosphorus (P) concentrations in aquatic ecosystems, is necessary to improve water quality and reduce the occurrence of harmful cyanobacterial algal blooms. Managing P reduction requires information on the role rivers play in P transport from land to downstream water bodies, but we have...
Influence of fine-scale habitat characteristics on sage-grouse nest site selection and nest survival varies by mesic and xeric site conditions
Brianne E. Brussee, Peter S. Coates, Shawn T. O’Neil, Mark A. Ricca, Jonathan E. Dudko, Shawn P. Espinosa, Scott C. Gardner, Michael L. Casazza, David J. Delehanty
2023, Ornithological Applications (125)
Resource managers and scientists across western U.S. agencies seek methodologies for identifying environmental attributes important to both wildlife conservation and broad-scale land stewardship. The Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) exemplifies a species in need of this broad-scale approach given widespread population declines that have resulted from loss and...
Dissolved carbon export by large river systems is influenced by source area heterogeneity
Edward G. Stets, Robert G. Striegl, Kimberly Wickland, Mark Dornblaser, Sydney Foks
2023, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (37)
Rivers and streams export inorganic and organic carbon derived from contributing landscapes and so downstream carbon fluxes are important quantitative indicators of change in ecosystem function and for the full accounting of terrestrial carbon budgets. Carbon concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships in rivers provide important information about carbon source...
Genetic diversity and connectivity of moose (Alces americanus americanus) in eastern North America
Elias Rosenblatt, Katherina Gieder, Therese M. Donovan, James Murdoch, Timothy P.L. Smith, Stephanie McKay, Michael P. Heaton, Theodore S. Kalbfleisch, Brenda M. Murdoch, Suraj Bhattarai, Emory Pacht, Emma Verbist, Veronica Basnayake, Stephanie McKay
2023, Conservation Genetics (24) 235-248
Genetic diversity is critical to a population’s ability to overcome gradual environment change. Large-bodied wildlife existing in regions with relatively high human population density are vulnerable to isolation-induced genetic drift, population bottlenecks, and loss of genetic diversity. Moose (Alces americanus americanus) in eastern North America have a complex history of...
Changes in habitat suitability for wintering dabbling ducks during dry conditions in the Central Valley of California
Erin E. Conlisk, Kristin B. Byrd, Elliott Matchett, Austen Lorenz, Michael L. Casazza, Gregory H. Golet, Mark D. Reynolds, Kristin A. Sesser, Matthew E. Reiter
2023, Ecosphere (14)
In arid and Mediterranean regions, landscape-scale wetland conservation requires understanding how wildlife responds to dynamic freshwater availability and conservation actions to enhance wetland habitat. Taking advantage of Landsat satellite data and structured and community science bird survey data, we built species distribution models to describe how three duck species, the...
Nest-site selection model for endangered Everglade snail kites to inform ecosystem restoration
Allison Benscoter, Laura D’Acunto, Saira Haider, Robert J. Fletcher Jr., Stephanie Romanach
2023, Ecosphere (14)
dictors of nesting for snail kites in south Florida. The results of our modeling indicate that hydrology, percent canopy cover, and proximity to recently burned areas were the most important factors associated with nest-site selection for snail kites. Water depths between 75 and 100 cm, water recession...
Elevation-based probabilistic mapping of irregularly flooded wetlands along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast
Nicholas Enwright, Wyatt C. Cheney, Kristine O. Evans, Hana R. Thurman, Mark S. Woodrey, Auriel Fournier, Dean B. Gesch, Jonathan L. Pitchford, Jason M. Stoker, Stephen C. Medeiros
2023, Remote Sensing of Environment (287)
Irregularly flooded wetlands are found above the mean high water tidal datum and are exposed to tides and saltwater less frequently than daily. These wetlands provide important ecosystem services, such as providing habitat for fish and wildlife, enhancing water quality, ameliorating...
Hydrogeology, land-surface subsidence, and documentation of the Gulf Coast Land Subsidence and Groundwater-Flow (GULF) model, southeast Texas, 1897–2018
J.H. Ellis, Jacob E. Knight, Jeremy T. White, Michelle Sneed, Joseph D. Hughes, Jason K. Ramage, Christopher L. Braun, Andrew Teeple, Linzy K. Foster, Samuel H. Rendon, Justin T. Brandt
2023, Professional Paper 1877
Executive SummaryAs a part of the Texas Water Development Board groundwater availability modeling program, the U.S. Geological Survey developed the Gulf Coast Land Subsidence and Groundwater-Flow model (hereinafter, the “GULF model”) and ensemble to simulate groundwater flow and land-surface subsidence in the northern part of the Gulf Coast aquifer...
Quality of groundwater used for domestic drinking-water supply in the Coachella Valley, 2020
Andrew L. Soldavini, Jennifer S. Harkness, Zeno F. Levy, Miranda S. Fram
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1122
Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water in the Coachella Valley in the desert region of southern California. Although most people in Coachella Valley are served by public drinking-water systems, about 20,000 people rely on private domestic or small-system wells (referred to herein as domestic wells). Recently, the U.S....
