Fine-resolution land cover mapping over large and mountainous areas for Lāna‘i, Hawaii using posterior probabilities, and expert knowledge
Lucas Fortini, Qiuming Cheng, Yoko Uyehara, Kari Bogner, Jonathan Sprague, Rachel Sprague
2024, International Journal of Remote Sensing (45) 1949-1971
The task of accurately mapping species-specific vegetation cover in remote and topographically complex regions like those found in Hawaiʻi presents unique challenges. This study leverages a machine learning approach to accurately classify vegetation into fine species-specific classes across the island of Lāna‘i, Hawaii, offering a novel methodology for...
Modeled coastal-ocean pathways of land-sourced contaminants in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence
Melissa Moulton, Joseph B. Zambon, Zuo Xue, John C. Warner, Daoyang Bao, Dongxiao Yin, Zafer Defne, Ruoying He, Christie Hegermiller
2024, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans (129)
Extreme precipitation during Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018, led to breaches of hog waste lagoons, coal ash pits, and wastewater facilities. In the weeks following the storm, freshwater discharge carried pollutants, sediment, organic matter, and debris to the coastal ocean, contributing...
Induced seismicity strategic vision
Elizabeth S. Cochran, Justin L. Rubinstein, Andrew J. Barbour, J. Ole Kaven
2024, Circular 1509
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey has a long history of contributions to the understanding and resolution of various scientific questions related to earthquakes associated with human activities, referred to as induced seismicity. Work started with the Rocky Mountain Arsenal studies in the 1960’s (Healy and others, 1968) when it was...
Making phase-picking neural networks more consistent and interpretable
Yongsoo Park, Brent G. Delbridge, David R. Shelly
2024, The Seismic Record (4) 72-80
Improving the interpretability of phase‐picking neural networks remains an important task to facilitate their deployment to routine, real‐time seismic monitoring. The popular phase‐picking neural networks published in the literature lack interpretability because their output prediction scores do not necessarily correspond with the reliability of phase picks and can even be...
Shellfish aquaculture farms as foraging habitat for nearshore fishes and crabs
Karl Veggerby, Mark David Scheuerell, Beth Sanderson, Peter Kiffney, Bridget Ferriss
2024, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (16)
ObjectiveOyster reefs across North America have declined precipitously over the past 140 years. In Washington State, Olympia oyster Ostrea lurida reefs historically provided water filtration and nearshore structural habitat for fishes and invertebrates, but this species is now functionally extinct across its historical range. In place of these naturally...
Preparing for a Bsal invasion into North America has improved multi-sector readiness
Deanna H. Olson, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Molly Bletz, Jonah Piovia-Scott, David Lesbarreres, Jacob L. Kerby, Michael J. Adams, Maria Florencia Breitman, Michelle R. Christman, María J. Forzán, Matthew J. Gray, Aubree J. Hill, Michelle S. Koo, Olga Milenkaya, Eria A. Rebollar, Louise A. Rollins-Smith, Megan Serr, Alex Shepak, Lenny Shirose, Laura Sprague, Jenifer Walke, Alexa Warwick, Brittany A. Mosher
2024, Frontiers in Amphibian and Reptile Science (2)
Western palearctic salamander susceptibility to the skin disease caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) was recognized in 2014, eliciting concerns for a potential novel wave of amphibian declines following the B. dendrobatidis (Bd) chytridiomycosis global pandemic. Although Bsal had not been detected in North America, initial experimental trials supported the heightened...
Subduction intraslab-interface fault interactions in the 2022 Mw 6.4 Ferndale, California earthquake sequence
David R. Shelly, Dara Elyse Goldberg, Kathryn Zerbe Materna, Robert John Skoumal, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Clara Yoon, William L. Yeck, Paul S. Earle
2024, Science Advances (10)
The Mendocino triple junction, the intersection of the Pacific, North American, and Gorda plates, activates a collection of disparate faults that reconcile Cascadia subduction with San Andreas transform motion. The December 20, 2022, Mw 6.4 Ferndale, California earthquake occurred within this complex zone as strike-slip faulting within the subducting...
When to target control efforts? Using novel GPS telemetry to quantify drivers of invasive Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae) movement
Brittany M. Mason, Sergio A. Balaguera-Reina, Adam Benjamin, Frank J. Mazzotti, Hartwig H. Hochmair, Hardin Waddle
2024, Biological Invasions (26) 1769-1785
In South Florida, the Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), a large, omnivorous lizard, has become a recent threat to the Everglades ecosystem. The increase in tegu observations, especially near ecologically sensitive areas such as Everglades National Park, makes informed management critical to contain the...
Modeling protective action decision-making in earthquakes by using explainable machine learning and video data
Xiaojian Zhang, Xilei Zhao, Dare Baldwin, Sara K. McBride, Josephine Bellizzi, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Nicolas Luco, Matthew Wood, Thomas J. Cova
2024, Scientific Reports (14)
Earthquakes pose substantial threats to communities worldwide. Understanding how people respond to the fast-changing environment during earthquakes is crucial for reducing risks and saving lives. This study aims to study people’s protective action decision-making in earthquakes by leveraging explainable machine learning and video data. Specifically, this study first collected real-world...
California community Earth Models for Seismic Hazard Assessments workshop report
Brad T. Aagaard, Scott Marshall, Sarah E. Minson, Dan Boyd, Marine A. Denolle, Eric J. Fielding, Alice-Agnes Gabriel, Christine A Goulet, Russell Graymer, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Evan Tyler Hirakawa, Tran Huynh, Lorraine Hwang, Karen Luttrell, Kathryn Materna, Laurent Montesi, Michael Oskin, Arthur Rodgers, Arben Pitarka, Judy Zachariasen
2024, Report
The California Community Earth Models for Seismic Hazard Assessments Workshop (https://www.scec.org/workshops/2024/california-community-models) was held online March 4–5, 2024, with more than 200 participants over the two days. In this report, we provide a summary of the key points from the presentations and discussions. We highlight three use cases that drive the...
Knowledge gaps and opportunities for understanding water-quality processes affecting water availability for beneficial uses
Anthony J. Tesoriero, Melinda L. Erickson, Christopher H. Conaway, Elizabeth J. Tomaszewski, Christopher T. Green, editor(s)
2024, Open-File Report 2023-1086
This report describes scientific gaps that limit our ability to predict water-quality effects on water availability for beneficial uses across the United States. Water-quality constituents considered in the report include salinity, geogenic constituents, contaminants of emerging concern, and nitrogen. For each constituent, there is a selection of scientific gaps, approaches,...
Knowledge gaps and opportunities in water-quality drivers of aquatic ecosystem health
Judson W. Harvey, Christopher H. Conaway, Mark M. Dornblaser, Allen C. Gellis, A. Robin Stewart, Christopher T. Green, editor(s)
2024, Open-File Report 2023-1085
This report identifies key scientific gaps that limit our ability to predict water quality effects on health of aquatic ecosystems and proposes approaches to address those gaps. Topics considered include (1) coupled nutrient-carbon cycle processes and related ecological-flow-regime drivers of ecosystem health, (2) anthropogenic and geogenic toxin bioexposure, (3) fine...
Small forested watershed weathers effects of climate change better than a nearby urban watershed in Northern Virginia, USA
Aaron J. Porter, Karen C Rice
2024, Hydrological Processes (38)
South Fork Quantico Creek (SFQ; 19.8 square kilometre (km2), forested) and Fourmile Run (4MR; 32.4-km2, urban) are small watersheds in northern Virginia, United States. Precipitation and streamflow data for both watersheds were examined from water year (WY) 1952 through 2022. Temporal changes in hydrologic...
Integrative phylogenetic, phylogeographic and morphological characterisation of the Unio crassus species complex reveals cryptic diversity with important conservation implications
Manuel Lopes-Lima, Juergen Geist, Sarah Egg, Lubos Beran, Ani Bikashvili, Bert Van Bocxlaer, Arthur E. Bogan, Ivan N. Bolotov, O. A. Chelpanovskaya, Karel Douda, Vasco Fernandes, André Gomes-dos-Santos, Duarte V. Goncalves, Mustafa E. Gurlek, Nathan Johnson, Ioannis Karaouzas, Umit Kebapci, Alexander V. Kondakov, Ralph Kuehn, Jasna Lajtner, Levan Mumladze, Karl-Otto Nagel, Eike Neubert, Martin Osterling, John M. Pfeiffer, Vincent Prie, Nicoletta Riccardi, Jerzy Sell, Lea D. Schneider, Spase Shumka, Ioan Sirbu, Grita Skujiene, Chase H. Smith, Ronaldo Sousa, Katharina Stockl, Jouni Taskinen, Amílcar Teixeira, Milcho Todorov, Teodora Trichkova, Maria Urbanska, Santtu Valila, Simone Varandas, Joana Verissimo, Ilya V. Vikhrev, G. Woschitz, Katarzyna Zajac, Tadeusz Zajac, David T. Zanatta, Alexandra Zieritz, Stamatis Zogaris, Elsa Froufe
2024, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (195)
The global decline of freshwater mussels and their crucial ecological services highlight the need to understand their phylogeny, phylogeography and patterns of genetic diversity to guide conservation efforts. Such knowledge is urgently needed for Unio crassus, a highly imperilled species originally widespread throughout Europe and southwest...
Rising water temperature in rivers: Ecological impacts and future resilience
Matthew F. Johnson, Lindsey K. Albertson, Adam C. Algar, Stephen J. Dugdale, Patrick Edwards, Judy England, Christopher Gibbins, So Kazama, Daisuke Komori, Andrew Maccoll, Eric Arthur Scholl, Robert Wilby, Fabio de Oliveira Roque, Paul F. Wood
2024, WIREs Water (11)
Rising water temperatures in rivers due to climate change are already having observable impacts on river ecosystems. Warming water has both direct and indirect impacts on aquatic life, and further aggravates pervasive issues such as eutrophication, pollution, and the spread of disease. Animals can survive higher temperatures through physiological and/or...
Writing SMART objectives for natural resource and environmental management
Caleb A. Aldridge, Michael E. Colvin
2024, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (5)
In natural resource and environmental management, well-written objectives are critical for effective decision-making and the achievement of desired outcomes. This article aims to improve practitioners' ability to identify and write SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives for natural resource and environmental management.We differentiate between research and management objectives, define each SMART criterion,...
Potential use of poultry farms by wild waterfowl in California's Central Valley varies across space, times of day, and species: implications for influenza transmission risk
Claire S. Teitelbaum, Michael L. Casazza, Cory T. Overton, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Elliott Matchett, Fiona McDuie, Austen Lorenz, Josh T. Ackerman, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Diann Prosser
2024, Ecosphere (2024)
Interactions between wildlife and livestock can lead to cross-species disease transmission, which incurs economic costs and threatens wildlife conservation. Wild waterfowl are natural hosts of avian influenza viruses (AIVs), are often abundant near poultry farms, and have been linked to outbreaks of AIVs in...
Exploring landscape and geologic controls on spatial patterning of streambank groundwater discharge in a mixed land use watershed
Kevin E. Jackson, Eric M. Moore, Ashley M. Helton, Adam B. Haynes, Janet R. Barclay, Martin A. Briggs
2024, Hydrological Processes (38)
Preferential groundwater discharge features along stream corridors are ecologically important at local and stream network scales, yet we lack quantification of the multiscale controls on the spatial patterning of groundwater discharge. Here we identify physical attributes that best explain variation in the presence and...
Prokaryotic microbial ecology as an ecosurveillance tool for eukaryotic pathogen colonisation: Meiothermus and Naegleria fowleri
Natalia Malinowski, Matthew J. Morgan, Jason Wylie, Tom Walsh, Sergio Domingos, Suzanne Metcalfe, Anna H. Kaksonen, Elliott Barnhart, Rebecca C. Mueller, Brent M. Peyton, Geoffrey J. Puzon
2024, Water Research (254)
Naegleria fowleri has been detected in drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) in Australia, Pakistan and the United States and is the causative agent of the highly fatal disease primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. Previous small scale field studies have shown that Meiothermus may be a potential biomarker for N. fowleri. However,...
Extent and duration of cold-water areas associated with side channels and tributaries of the lower Yakima River, Washington, September 2018–20
Richard W. Sheibley, Marcella Appel, Rachel Little, James R. Foreman
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5140
Previous work on the lower Yakima River, Washington (downstream from Union Gap), has identified several cold-water areas that could be thermal refuges for migrating salmonids. These cold-water areas are characterized by small tributaries that are typically cooler than the main-stem river during summer months (June–August). Twenty-seven temperature sensors were deployed...
Evaluating the context dependency of large river nursery habitats for fishes in the lower Red River catchment
Paul Q. Ramsey, John Dattilo, Dennis DeVries, Shannon K. Brewer
2024, River Research and Applications (40) 761-779
Both fine- and coarse-scale physicochemical conditions affect the quantity and quality of nursery habitats within riverine ecosystems. Nursery habitats in large, braided, and sandbed streams such as the lower Red River of Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas are not well described and likely vary among species. Identification of nursery habitats is...
Prefabricated Zero Ascend Omnispecies (ZAO) modular fish passage modules using advanced manufacturing techniques
Katherine Leighton, Janine Bryan, Kevin Mulligan, Kevin G. Stewart, Paul Jacobson, David Duquette, Ravi Challa
2024, Report
The Zero Ascend Omnispecies (ZAO) fish passage attraction module “ZAO Attractor” is a novel system designed to facilitate upstream passage for a broad spectrum of fish species, with a particular focus on American shad and river herring (alewife and/or blueback herring). Combining the use of prefabricated, modular components with advanced...
A comprehensive assessment of submarine landslides and mass wasting processes offshore southern California
M. Walton, James E. Conrad, Antoinette Gabrielle Papesh, Daniel S. Brothers, Jared W. Kluesner, Mary McGann, Peter Dartnell
2024, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (25)
It is critical to characterize submarine landslide hazards near dense coastal populations, especially in areas with active faults, which can trigger slope failure, subsequent tsunamis, and damage seabed infrastructure during earthquake shaking. Offshore southern California, numerous marine geophysical surveys have been conducted over the past decade, and high-resolution bathymetric and...
Streamflow, base flow, and precipitation trends and simulated effects of Rush Springs aquifer groundwater withdrawals on base flows upgradient from Fort Cobb Reservoir, western Oklahoma
A.R. Trevisan, L.G. Labriola, J.H. Ellis
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5002
To better understand the relation between groundwater use in the Rush Springs aquifer and inflows to the Fort Cobb Reservoir, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, used a previously published numerical groundwater-flow model and historical streamflow records to evaluate four scenarios to investigate how changing...
Molecular sexing of birds using quantitative PCR (qPCR) of sex-linked genes and logistic regression models
Eleni Leto Petrou, Laura Celeste Scott, Cherie Marie Mckeeman, Andrew M. Ramey
2024, Molecular Ecology Resources (24)
The ability to sex individuals is an important component of many behavioural and ecological investigations and provides information for demographic models used in conservation and species management. However, many birds are difficult to sex using morphological characters or traditional molecular sexing methods. In this...
