O Romeo! Environmental DNA could prevent a tragedy for the elusive Chucky Madtom (Noturus crypticus)
Robert T. Paine, Hannah Swain-Menzel, Amanda E. Rosenberger, Auburn Velasquez
2025, Cooperator Science Series CSS-169-2025
Using environmental DNA (eDNA) surveillance methods, we report the first evidence of the persistence of the Chucky Madtom (Noturus crypticus) in Little Chucky Creek, Tennessee, which has been absent from conventional surveys since 2004, and in Dunn Creek, Tennessee, where it was last collected in 1940. This highlights the utility...
Relationships between larval fish drift, time of day and discharge in an Ozark stream
Daniel D. Magoulick, Christy L. Graham
2025, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (40)
We examined the relationship between larval fish numbers and discharge during a high flow event in Bear Creek, Arkansas, a small Ozark stream. Additionally, we examined the relationship between fish numbers and time of day, and the spatial distribution of families and size classes. A total of 3,083 fish from...
Hydrogeology and groundwater quality in the Snake River alluvial aquifer at Jackson Hole Airport, Wyoming, 2011–20
Peter R. Wright, Timothy T. Bartos
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5006
The Snake River alluvial aquifer underlying the Jackson Hole Airport (JHA) in northwest Wyoming is an important source of water used for domestic, commercial, and irrigation purposes by the airport and nearby residents. The U.S. Geological Survey, in response to previously identified water-quality concerns in the area, monitored and evaluated...
Component identification of solid biomass fuels using reflected light microscopy: Interlaboratory study 2
Agnieszka Drobniak, Maria Mastalerz, Zbigniew Jelonek, Iwona Jelonek, Menandro Acda, Tushar Adsul, Neža Malenšek Andolšek, Lorenzo Animali, Omid Ardakani, Telma Ataide, Demberelsuren Batbold, Mohd Younus Bhat, Tara Congo, Bryon S. Donohoe, Olugbenga Ehinola, Deolinda Flores, Carolina Fonseca, Santanu Ghosh, Paula Gonçalves, Paul C. Hackley, James Hower, Luvsanchultem Jargal, Michelle Nicole Johnston, Stavros Kalaitzidis, Sławomir Kędzior, Wayne Knowles, Susheel Kumar, Jolanta Kus, Grzegorz Lis, Kacper Lis, Bei Liu, Bangjun Liu, Qingyong Luo, Meili Du, Alessio Mencarelli, Divya Mishra, Magdalena Misz-Kennan, Nicola Mitillo, Roksana Muzyka, Jennifer Nedzweckas, Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe, Silvia Omodeo-Salé, Luvsannyam Oyunjargal, Jackie Park, Aulia Agus Patria, Richard Pearson, Henrik I. Petersen, Georgeta Predeanu, Ganzorig Ranjin, Julito Reyes, Joana Ribeiro, Genaro de la Rosa Rodríguez, Arka Rudra, Marcin Sajdak, Margaret M. Sanders, George Siavalas, Piotr Sosnowski, Atul K. Varma, Małgorzata Wojtaszek-Kalaitzidi, Mateusz Wolszczak, Zhanjie Xu, Alexander Zdravkov, Lei Zhao, Magdalena Zielińska, Konrad Ziemianin
2025, International Journal of Coal Geology (307)
As nations transition toward sustainable energy systems, biomass has become a vital component of global energy portfolios. Derived from organic materials such as wood, agricultural residues, forestry byproducts, and organic waste, biomass is a renewable energy source with significant environmental and economic benefits. Responsible biomass energy production can improve waste management, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,...
Trends in richness and occupancy of Ugandan birds and relation to local tree cover
Ryan C. Burner, Evan M. Adams, Derek Pomeroy, Herbert Tushabe, Micheal Kibuule, Lars Jørgen Rostad, Zander S. Venter, Douglas Sheil
2025, African Journal of Ecology (63)
Changes in vegetation cover are occurring across sub-Saharan Africa and can have substantial effects on ecological communities, but limited data make understanding status and trends difficult for many taxa. We surveyed birds for several decades across Uganda using point counts. Using time-to-detection analysis in a trait-informed Bayesian multi-species occupancy framework,...
Fomites could determine severity of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in low-density white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations
Elias Rosenblatt, Jonathan D. Cook, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Michael C. Runge, Brittany Mosher
2025, Transboundary and Emerging Diseases (2025)
The establishment of a reservoir species for zoonotic diseases is concerning for both animal and human health. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has been detected in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the United States. Since its initial detection, various studies have documented...
Observing northern high-latitude river systems to understand changes in a warming Arctic
Joshua C. Koch, J. A. O’Donnell
2025, Current Climate Change Reports (11)
Purpose of ReviewStreams and rivers are undergoing rapid change as the Arctic warms and thaws. We review recent observations in Arctic stream systems to identify ubiquitous changes and the most useful tools for observing change and exploring the underlying processes.Recent FindingsRecent literature indicates increasingly significant trends...
Doe diligence: A regional analysis of antlerless deer harvest regulations in the Midwestern United States of America.
John P. Draper, Ellen E. Brandell, Jason Isabelle, Chris Jacques, Clint McCoy, Eric Michel, Daniel J. Storm, Caitlin Ott-Conn, Beth Wojcik, Wendy Christine Turner, Daniel P. Walsh
2025, PLoS ONE (20)
Wildlife management in the United States of America (US) is primarily delegated to the individual states wherein state wildlife agencies manage wildlife populations to achieve multiple and sometimes conflicting objectives. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are an important species in the Midwestern US whose populations are primarily managed through recreational hunting....
U.S. Geological Survey monitoring milestones—Rio Grande at Embudo, NM (08279500)
Claire E. Bunch, Melissa L. Riskin
2025, General Information Product 253
Located at the site of the first U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) training camp for hydrographers, the Rio Grande at Embudo, NM (08279500), streamgage has been collecting water data since January 1889. The development and adaptation of equipment and techniques at this location became the foundation of USGS streamgaging methods....
Assessing causes and consequences of winter surface water dynamics in California’s Central Valley using satellite remote sensing
Christine M. Albano, Christopher E. Soulard, Blake A. Minor, Jessica J. Walker, Britt Windsor Smith, Eric K. Waller, Michael D. Bartles, Tom Corringham, Anthony T. O'Geen, Melissa M. Rohde, Anne Wein
2025, Journal of Flood Risk Management (18)
California's Central Valley is increasingly vulnerable to winter floods. A comprehensive spatial baseline of flood extents is critical for inundation analyses that can enhance future flood predictions, but cloud cover has prevented the regular observation of surface water extents with optical satellite imagery. In this study, we leveraged the daily...
Shotgun sequencing of airborne eDNA achieves rapid assessment of whole biomes, population genetics and genomic variation
Orestis Nousias, Mark Mccauley, Maximilian R. Stammnitz, Jessica A. Farrell, Samantha A. Koda, Victoria Summers, Catherine B. Eastman, Fiona G. Duffy, Isabelle J. Duffy, Jenny Whilde, David J. Duffy
2025, Nature Ecology & Evolution (9) 1043-1060
Biodiversity and its associated genetic diversity are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Simultaneously, the distributions of flora, fauna, fungi, microbes and pathogens are rapidly changing. Novel technology can help to capture and record genetic diversity before it is lost and to measure population shifts and pathogen distributions. Here we...
New insights reveal a temporally distinct two-stock genetic structure for Suwannee River Gulf sturgeon
Melissa E. Price, Brian Kreiser, Michael T. Randall
2025, Endangered Species Research (57) 289-298
Understanding population genetic structure and patterns of gene flow is important for effective decision making and the preservation of genetic diversity, especially when managing protected species. Historically, Gulf sturgeon have been managed by river system, with early evidence supporting spatially distinct genetic structure across 7 natal populations. However, an increasing...
Long-term surgery survival, body condition effects, and incision healing of Silver Carp and buffalo species comparing sedation methods across seasons
Matthew Ross Acre, Sophia Marie Bonjour, Jacob N. Griffin, Robert Bratcher, Tyler Hessler, Dustin Broaddus, Andrew T. Mueller, Jacob Faulkner, Josey Lee Ridgway, Michael G. Iacchetta, Suzanne Colyer, Robin D. Calfee
2025, Transactions of the American Fishery Society (154) 424-439
ObjectiveInternal tagging for telemetry studies requires invasive surgery procedures, necessitating sufficient sedation to support animal welfare. Challenges with existing chemical sedatives have resulted in technological alternatives, including electrosedation, with these newer methods less extensively studied. Our primary objective was to understand long-term survival, body-condition effects, and...
Assessment of active sand volumes at Rockaway Beach and Fire Island in New York and Seven Mile Island in New Jersey
Noreen A. Buster, Jennifer L. Miselis, Emily A. Wei, Arnell S. Forde
2025, Data Report 1211
Between 2018 and 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed shoreface sediment availability at three Atlantic Coast barrier island study sites in support of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation project entitled, “Monitoring Hurricane Sandy Beach and Marsh Resilience in New York and New Jersey.” The three study sites are Seven...
Legacies of a large flood and biological control on riparian vegetation successional trajectories along a dryland braided river
Eduardo González-Sargas, Steven R. Lee, Laura G. Perry, Patrick B. Shafroth
2025, River Research and Applications (41) 1169-1185
The interplay of disturbance and stability drives vegetation dynamics. Disturbance reduces vegetation biomass, and stability fosters its development. In riparian systems, natural disturbance is largely manifested through flood-driven fluvial processes, but other forms of disturbance, such as herbivory or fire, may influence vegetation dynamics. We studied the successional trajectories of...
Evaluation of passive samplers for cyanotoxin detection by immunoassay and chromatographic-mass spectrometry
Brett D. Johnston, Michael D.W. Stouder, Rebecca Michelle Gorney, Joshua J. Rosen, Kurt D. Carpenter, Bofan Wei, Gregory L. Boyer
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5046
Harmful algal blooms, particularly cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, threaten aquatic ecosystems, drinking water supplies, and recreational resources. In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, deployed solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers in Seneca Lake, Owasco Lake, and Skaneateles Lake...
Validation of the geometric accuracy of airborne light detection and ranging data for eastern Iowa, 2019
Aparajithan Sampath, Jeffrey Irwin, Travis Kropuenske
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1017
A geometric accuracy assessment of lidar data collected in eastern Iowa in 2019 as part of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) was conducted. The assessment involved evaluating interswath accuracy, same surface precision, point density, absolute accuracy, and consistency with adjacent 3DEP datasets. The results demonstrate that the data meet or...
Assessing gap-filled Landsat land surface temperature time-series data using different observational datasets
Hua Shi, George Z. Xian
2025, International Journal of Remote Sensing (46) 4559-4582
Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD)-based time-series present challenges in monitoring surface urban heat islands (SUHI) due to rapid changes in land surface temperature (LST) compared to cloud-free satellite observations. This research investigates the use of a spatiotemporal gap-filling model as a feasible and cost-effective solution to produce Landsat time-series LST...
Municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plant effluent contributions to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in the Potomac River: A basin-scale measuring and modeling approach
Larry B. Barber, Samuel Adam Miller, Lee Blaney, Paul M. Bradley, Kaycee E. Faunce, Jacob Fleck, Malinda Frick, Ke He, Ryan D. Hollins, Conor J. Lewellyn, Emily H. Majcher, Mitchell A. McAdoo, Kelly Smalling
2025, Environmental Science and Technology (59) 11720-11734
Managing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water resources requires a basin-scale approach. Predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) and stream-vulnerability scores for PFAS were determined for the Potomac River watershed in the eastern United States. Approximately 15% of stream reaches contained municipal and/or industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges that are...
Relations of groundwater quality to long-term surface disposal of produced water near the Midway-Sunset and Buena Vista Oil Fields, California, USA
Riley Gannon, Matthew K. Landon, Justin T. Kulongoski, Michael J. Stephens, Lyndsay B. Ball, John G. Warden, Tracy Davis, Janice M. Gillespie, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2025, Science of the Total Environment (987)
Contamination of groundwater by oil-field fluids in proximity to oil and gas development has been an issue of concern to water users and regulators given long histories of development and legacy disposal practices. A robust set of geochemical tracers including petroleum hydrocarbon compounds, thermogenic gases, inorganic ion concentrations, stable isotopes,...
Survival of captive-raised light-footed Ridgway’s rails is influenced by release date and time in wild
Kimberly A. Sawyer, Courtney J. Conway
2025, Avian Conservation and Ecology (20)
Captive breeding and translocation programs are an increasingly common conservation tool and management strategy used for some of the rarest and most endangered species in the world. These programs come at a high cost, and many translocation programs fail to monitor animals after release. Light-footed Ridgway’s rails (Rallus obsoletus levipes)...
Spatial and temporal variation in dissolved organic matter in urban streams in metropolitan Boston, Massachusetts (USA)
Annika M. Quick, Allison H. Roy, Rebecca L. Hale, Kristina G. Hopkins, Shuo Chen, Liz D. Ortiz Muñoz
2025, Freshwater Science (44) 527-545
Urban riverine systems are heterogeneous, and the substantial variability in impervious cover, riparian cover, wetlands, and wastewater and stormwater infrastructure affect sources and transport of dissolved organic matter (DOM), of which dissolved organic C (DOC) is a substantial component. An understanding of the quantity, bioavailability, and timing of DOM inputs...
Pacific island landbird monitoring report, Kalaupapa National Historical Park, 2021
Seth Judge, Lauren K. Smith, Richard J. Camp
2025, Science Report NPS/SR-2025/322
In 2021, landbird surveys were conducted at Kalaupapa National Historical Park on the island of Molokaʻi to assess changes in species composition, distribution, and population densities since 2005. Point-transect distance sampling surveys were conducted on six transects at 50 landbird monitoring stations within an 1,834-hectare area. A total of nine...
Marsh sediment in translation: A review of sediment transport across a natural tidal salt marsh in northern San Francisco Bay
Madeline R. Foster-Martinez, Matthew C. Ferner, John C. Callaway, Brenda Goeden, Jessica R. Lacy
2025, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (23)
Deposition of inorganic sediment is essential for the sustainability of tidal salt marshes. Understanding variability in sediment sources and the processes of sediment delivery to salt marshes are high priorities for decision-makers responsible for managing sediment and conserving and restoring marshes....
Abundance of ohiʻa-associated ambrosia beetles in two sites with rapid ohiʻa death outbreaks
Helen Sofaer, Sophia Smith, Robert W. Peck, Ellen Dunkle, Jorden Zarders, Naiʻa Odachi, Ryan L. Perroy
2025, Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society (57) 7-24
ʻŌhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich.) is the dominant tree in native Hawaiian forests but is threatened by two pathogenic fungi (Ceratocystis spp.) which cause Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD). Understanding the spread of ROD is vital to informing prevention and management strategies. Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera:...
