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Measurement of river discharge during flooding events has especially been a challenging and dangerous task in the southwestern US, where flows can be flashy, laden with sediment, and at high velocity. Small unoccupied aircraft systems (sUAS) can be deployed to access unsafe field sites and capture imagery for measuring surface...

Understanding the accuracy and appropriate application scale of satellite-derived maps of vegetation cover is essential for effective management of the vast, remote rangelands of the world. However, the underlying models are updated frequently and may combine with rapidly changing vegetation conditions to cause variations in accuracy and precision over time. We sought...

Stocking is one of the foremost tools in the inland fisheries management toolbox, but it comes with both opportunities and risks. Stocking is often used as compensation for depleted wild populations, particularly where recruitment processes have been disrupted, but it can introduce disease, disrupt community...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed undiscovered potash resources in the Elk Point Basin in Canada and the United States as part of a global mineral resource assessment. The Elk Point Basin is a large, Middle Devonian (Givetian) intracratonic evaporite basin covering approximately 1,200,000 square kilometers (km2) and filled mainly...

The position of mangrove forests in the dynamic intertidal zone means that they are expected to be heavily impacted by climate change. Much focus is put on mangroves and their response to sea-level rise, but this ecosystem is exposed to a much broader range of climate change stressors, including increased...

Feral horse (Equus caballus) population management is a challenging problem around the world because populations often exhibit density-independent growth, can exert negative ecological effects on ecosystems, and require great cost to be managed. However, strong value-based connections between people and horses cause contention around management decisions. To help make informed...

Blue carbon, a convenient term to encompass the climate mitigation value of coastal carbon dynamics, has received global policy attention and growing datasets to support management actions. Carbon stock assessments in mangroves, seagrass, and tidal marshes document significant carbon storage in soils. Models illustrate significant downward fluxes of carbon dioxide...

Accurate taxonomic and distributional information are arguably the most critical components of conservation status assessments but can be greatly affected by misidentifications. The Louisiana pigtoe Pleurobema riddellii is a freshwater mussel proposed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. The species belongs to the tribe Pleurobemini, which includes multiple taxa...

An understanding of the long-term trends of ground height and sedimentation in a landscape context can provide a framework to better understand the impacts of agricultural development on floodplain processes. This study examined long-term changes in ground height using surface elevation tables (SETs) and sediment...

Understanding land surface change in and sediment export out of proglacial landscapes is critical for understanding geohazard and flood risks over engineering timescales and characterizing landscape evolution over geomorphic timescales. We used automated Structure from Motion software to process historical aerial photographs and, with modern lidar data, generated a high-resolution DEM time series with coverage over...

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing public health concern for humans, animals, and the environment. However, the contributions of spatially distributed sources of AMR in the environment are not well defined.Methods: To identify the sources of environmental AMR, the novel microbial Find, Inform, and Test (FIT) model was applied...

Acoustic seabed classification (ASC) is an important method for understanding landscape-level physical and biological patterns in the aquatic environment. Bottom habitats in the Laurentian Great Lakes are poorly mapped to date, and will require a variety of contributors and data sources to complete. We repurposed a long-term split-beam echosounder dataset...

ObjectiveThe distinct population segment (DPS) of Yelloweye Rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus inhabiting the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2010, and a formal recovery plan for the DPS was published by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries in 2017. In this recovery plan, the...

The Puerto Rican Nightjar Antrostomus noctitherus is an endemic Caprimulgid found in dry coastal and lower montane forests of south-western Puerto Rico. Information on the species (e.g. abundance, nesting biology) has been mostly restricted to forest reserves (i.e. Guánica Forest and Susúa Forest) with limited information available from private lands. We...

The transfer of aquatic contaminants, including mercury (Hg), to terrestrial food webs is an often-overlooked exposure pathway to terrestrial animals. While research has implemented the use of shoreline spiders to assess aquatic to terrestrial Hg transfer, it is unclear whether Hg sources, estimated from isotope ratios, can be successfully resolved...

Recent declines of grassland bird populations in North America are linked to habitat loss and fragmentation associated with agricultural practices. One tool used to conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat on agricultural fields is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest...

BackgroundBiodiversity is generally reduced when non-native species invade an ecosystem. Invasive crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, populate California freshwater streams, and in the Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles, USA), their introduction has led to trophic cascades due to omnivorous feeding behavior and a rapid rate of population growth. The native California...

The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) was designed to help quantify the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the potential effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks. SELDM is calibrated using representative hydrological and water-quality input...

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing decision-support tools (DSTs) by documenting successes and barriers across all levels of USGS scientific tool creation and outreach. These findings will help streamline future tool design and development processes. We provide a...

Using manufactured baits to attract fish to passive gear is common practice in fisheries management. The most common method is using hoop nets baited with soybean cakes or waste cheese to increase captures of multiple catfish species; however, these techniques are limited to how often bait is added, the type...

Executive SummaryOur nation’s fish and wildlife species face increasingly complex threats and challenges. Ensuring a healthy future for these species benefits all Americans, contributing to the abundance of our food supply, the well-being of diverse cultures and communities, and the future of biodiverse ecosystems. The U.S. Geological Survey Species Management...

The population of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) at San Nicolas Island, California, has been monitored annually since the translocation of 140 southern sea otters to the island was completed in 1990. Monitoring efforts have varied in frequency and type across years. In 2017, the U.S. Navy and the...

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is being updated with higher-quality feature representations through efforts that derive hydrography from 3DEP HR elevation datasets. Deriving hydrography from elevation through traditional flow routing and interactive methods is a complex, time-consuming process that must be tailored for...

Large geospatial datasets must often be generalized for analysis and display at reduced scales. Automated methods including artificial intelligence and deep learning are being applied to this problem, but the results are often analyzed on the basis of limited and subjective measures. To better support automation, a project is underway...

Landscape-scale conservation planning is urgent given the extent of anthropogenic land-use change and its pervasive impacts on Earth’s biodiversity. However, such efforts are hindered by disagreements over the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity that have persisted since the mid-1970s. We contend that nearly 50 years later, these disagreements have...