Defining the need for genetic stock assignment when describing stock demographics and dynamics: An example using Lake Whitefish in Lake Michigan
Daniel A. Isermann, Matthew J. Belnap, Keith N. Turnquist, Brian L. Sloss, Justin A. VanDeHey, Scott P. Hansen, David C. Caroffino
2020, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (149) 398-413
Genetic stock assignment is not routinely used when describing the dynamics and demographics of individual stocks supporting mixed-stock fisheries, and capture location and timing are often used as alternative assignment methods. However, variation in stock demographics and dynamics may not be accounted for if stock assignments based on capture location...
A new data set of granitic rock strength values from Yosemite Valley, California: Applications to rock fall assessment
Brian D. Collins, Federica Sandrone, Laurent Gastaldo, Greg M. Stock, Michel Jaboyedoff
2020, Conference Paper, 54th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium
To explore connections between rock strength and rock falls, we undertook a comprehensive rock mechanics testing program for six granitic rock types in Yosemite Valley (California, USA) where rock falls are a common geomorphic and sometimes hazardous process. We collected samples from boulders located at the base of cliffs, with...
Mortality and cholinesterase inhibition in butterflies following aerial naled applications for mosquito control on the National Key Deer Refuge
Timothy Bargar, Chad Anderson, Anthony Sowers
2020, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (79) 233-245
Natural resource managers are concerned about the impacts of aerial ultra-low volume spray (ULV) of insecticides for mosquito control (i.e., mosquito adulticides) and seek science-driven management recommendations that reduce risk but allow vector control for nearby human populations. Managers at the National Key Deer Refuge (Florida Keys, FL) are concerned...
EERI earthquake reconnaissance report: 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
EERI Learning from Earthquakes Program, Katherine M. Scharer
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Benjamin A. Brooks, Susan E. Hough, Alexandra Pickering, James Luke Blair, Daniel J. Ponti, editor(s)
2020, Report
The Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence began the morning of 4 July 2019 with an M6.4 earthquake at 10:33 a.m., closely following several small foreshocks. The epicenter of this event was roughly 11 miles (18 km) east-northeast of Ridgecrest (Figure 1) within the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS-CL). Seismic and...
A multifaceted reconstruction of the population structure and life history expressions of a remnant metapopulation of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout: Implications for maintaining intermittent connectivity
Phaedra E. Budy, Paul D. Thompson, Matt D. McKell, Gary P. Thiede, Timothy E. Walsworth, Mary M. Conner
2020, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (149) 443-461
Fishes that evolutionarily demonstrated a fluvial life history expression and migrated to spawning and rearing habitat by using lotic corridors are increasingly impacted by fragmentation. The overall goal of this study was to identify the contemporary importance of main-stem connectivity and tributaries for maintaining life history expression, population structure, and...
Leachable phosphorus from senesced green ash and Norway mapleleaves in urban watersheds
Yi Wang, Anita Thompson, William R. Selbig
2020, Science of the Total Environment (743)
In urban watersheds, street tree leaf litter is a critical biogenic source of phosphorus (P) in stormwater runoff. Stormwater extracts P from leaf litter and transports it, through the storm sewer network, to a receiving waterbody potentially causing downstream eutrophication. The goal of this study is to understand P leaching dynamics of...
Genetic structure of Smallmouth Bass in the Lake Michigan and Upper Mississippi River drainages relates to habitat, distance, and drainage boundaries: Smallmouth bass population genetic structure
Peter T. Euclide, Jenna Ruzich, Scott P. Hansen, David Rowe, Troy G. Zorn, Wesley Larson
2020, Transaction of the American Fisheries Society (149) 383-397
Analysis of genetic connectivity helps to define stock boundaries and provides information on interpopulation dynamics, such as migration and spawning site fidelity. We used 16 microsatellite loci to describe the genetic population structure of 1,215 Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu from 32 sites throughout the upper Mississippi River and Lake Michigan watersheds. We...
The Cenozoic evolution of crustal shortening and left‐lateral shear in the central East Kunlun Shan: Implications for the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau
Lydia M. Staisch, Nathan A Niemi, Marin K. Clark, Hong Chang
2020, Tectonics (39)
The timing of crustal shortening and strike‐slip faulting along the East Kunlun Shan provides insight into the history of surface uplift and may constrain the time at which the Tibetan Plateau reached high elevations. We investigate a series of extensional basins and restraining bends along the...
Gambel’s quail survey variability and implications for survey design in the Mohave Desert
Cory T. Overton, Michael L. Casazza, Daniel Connelley, Scott C. Gardner
2020, Wildlife Society Bulletin (44) 493-501
Careful design of a wildlife population monitoring strategy is necessary to obtain accurate and precise results whether the purpose of the survey is development of habitat suitability models, to estimate abundance, or assess site occupancy. Important characteristics to consider in survey design are sources of elevated variability, particularly within‐subject variability,...
Substantially greater carbon emissions estimated based on annual land-use transition data
Jiaojiao Diao, Jinxun Liu, Zhiliang Zhu, Mingshi Li, Benjamin M. Sleeter
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Quantifying land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) effects on carbon sources and sinks has been very challenging because of the availability and quality of LULCC data. As the largest estuary in the United States, Chesapeake Bay is a rapidly changing region and is affected by human activities. A new annual land-use...
California Historical Intensity Mapping Project (CHIMP): A consistently reinterpreted dataset of seismic intensities for the past 162 years and implications for seismic hazard maps
Leah Salditch, Molly M. Gallahue, Madeleine C. Lucas, James S. Neely, Susan E. Hough, Seth Stein
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 2631-2650
Historical seismic intensity data are useful for myriad reasons, including assessment of the performance of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) models and corresponding hazard maps by comparing their predictions to a dataset of historically observed intensities in the region. To assess PSHA models for California, a long and consistently interpreted...
Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon ESU: January 2019 - December 2019
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Russell Perry, editor(s)
2020, Report
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha evolutionary significant unit (ESU) that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 19922019 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1)...
Body sizes in upper elevation populations of whiptail lizards: Aspidoscelis inornatus (Squamata: Teiidae) in central and northern Arizona, USA
James M. Walker, Trevor B. Persons, Brian K. Sullivan, Charles A. Drost, James E. Cordes
2020, Herpetological Review (51) 212-214
The binational distribution of the gonochoristic (i.e., diploid bisexual) Aspidoscelis inornatus (Little Striped Whiptail) complex extends from parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the USA (Taylor 1965; Stevens 1983; Wright and Lowe 1993; Sullivan 2009; Walker et al. 2012) southward into parts of the Mexican states Chihuahua, Coahuila,...
Community for data integration 2018 funded project report
Leslie Hsu, Caitlin M. Andrews, John B. Bradford, Daniel D. Buscombe, Katherine J. Chase, Wesley M. Daniel, Jeanne M. Jones, Pam Fuller, Benjamin B. Mirus, Matthew E. Neilson, Hans W. Vraga, Jessica J. Walker, Dennis H. Walworth, Jonathan A. Warrick, Jake Weltzin, Daniel J. Wieferich, Nathan J. Wood
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1062
The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually funds small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 10 projects funded in fiscal year 2018, outlining their goals, activities, and accomplishments....
A science business model for answering important questions
Kevin D. Lafferty
2020, Book chapter, Unsolved Problems in Ecology
Perhaps the biggest question in science is how to do better science. Many ecologists, including this book’s editors and authors, have succeeded under the current science “business model” and, from our perspective, the status quo works well enough. But science business models are under increased scrutiny. For instance, since 2012,...
U-Pb geochronology of igneous and detrital zircon samples from the Tok River area, eastern Alaska Range, and Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska
Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Karri R. Sicard, Evan Twelker
2020, Geological & Geophysical Surveys DGGS RDF 2020-3
This Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Raw Data File presents U-Pb zircon geochronology results from selected igneous, meta-igneous, and metasedimentary rocks collected during the Tok River and Wrangellia geologic mapping projects in the eastern Alaska Range and the northwestern Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. The purpose of these analyses...
The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus
Marco Vecchiato, Andrea Gambaro, Natalie Kehrwald, Patrick Ginot, Stanislav Kutuzov, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Carlo Barbante
2020, Scientific Reports (10)
The Great Acceleration of the anthropogenic impact on the Earth system is marked by the ubiquitous distribution of anthropogenic materials throughout the global environment, including technofossils, radionuclides and the exponential increases of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations. However, personal care products as direct tracers of human...
2023 Coastal master plan: Model improvement plan, ICM-wetlands, vegetation, and soil
Melissa M. Baustian, Denise Reed, Jenneke Visser, Scott M. Duke-Sylvester, Gregg Snedden, Hongqing Wang, Kristin DeMarco, Madeline R. Foster-Martinez, Leigh Anne Sharp, Tommy E. McGinnis, Elizabeth Jarrell
2020, Report
As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the wetland processes captured by the morphology and vegetation models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how Integrated Compartment Model (ICM) subroutines could be improved. This process considered technical reviews, comments, and suggested improvements...
Quality Assurance Project Plan: Status and trends monitoring of small streams in the Puget Lowlands ecoregion for Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM)
Keunyea Song, Rich W. Sheibley
2020, Report
This Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) details a long term status and trends monitoring study for small streams in the Puget Lowland as part of Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) program. SAM is the regional stormwater monitoring program funded by the Phase I Municipal Stormwater permit and the Western Washington Phase...
The abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse as a proxy for the abundance of sagebrush-associated songbirds in Wyoming, USA
Jason D. Carlisle, Anna D. Chalfoun
2020, Avian Conservation and Ecology (15)
Surrogate-species concepts are prevalent in animal conservation. Such strategies advocate for conservation by proxy, wherein one species is used to represent other taxa to obtain a conservation objective. The efficacy of such approaches has been rarely assessed empirically, but is predicated on concordance between the surrogate and sympatric taxa in...
Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well
Jun Yoneda, Yusuke Jin, Michihiro Muraoka, Motoi Oshima, Kiyofumi Suzuki, Mike Walker, Donald Westacott, Satoshi Otsuki, Kenichi Kumagai, Timothy Collett, Ray Boswell, Norihiro Okinaka
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 10th international conference on gas hydrates (ICGH10)
Knowledge of petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments are essential for predicting reservoir responses to gas production. The same information is also needed for the designing of production well completions such as specifications for artificial lift, test site water storage capacity, and mesh size for the sand control...
Automated extraction of areal extents for GNIS Summit features using the eminence core method
Gaurav Sinha, Samantha T. 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...
