Comparison of passive and pumped sampling methods for analysis of groundwater quality, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2019
Rebecca E. Travis, Kate Wilkins
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5074
A plume of ethylene dibromide (EDB) dissolved in groundwater extends northeast from the Bulk Fuels Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The leading edge of the EDB plume is upgradient from several water-supply wells. In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County...
A river of change—The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region
David J. Dean
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3036
The Big Bend region is located within the heart of the Chihuahan Desert of North America. Within this region, the Rio Grande, referred to as the Rio Bravo in Mexico, is the international border between the United States and Mexico. The area known as the Big Bend is named after...
Semi-centennial of Landsat observations and pending Landsat 9 launch
Samuel N. Goward, Jeffery G. Masek, Thomas Loveland, John L. Dwyer, Darrel L. Williams, Terry Arvidson, Laura E.P. Rocchio, James R. Irons
2021, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS) (87) 533-538
The first Landsat was placed in orbit on 23 July 1972, followed by a series of missions that have provided nearly continuous, two-satellite 8-day repeat image coverage of the Earth’s land areas for the last half-century. These observations have substantially enhanced our understanding of the Earth’s terrestrial dynamics, both as...
Hydrologic and geomorphic effects on riparian plant species occurrence and encroachment: Remote sensing of 360 km of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
Laura E. Durning, Joel B. Sankey, Charles B. Yackulic, Paul E. Grams, Bradley J. Butterfield, Temuulen T. Sankey
2021, Ecohydrology (14)
A common impact on riparian ecosystem function following river regulation is the expansion and encroachment of riparian plant species in the active river channels and floodplain, which reduces flow of water and suspended sediment between the river, riparian area, and upland ecosystems. We characterized riparian plant species occurrence and quantified...
Demography of the Appalachian Spotted Skunk (Spilogale putorius putorius)
Andrew R. Butler, Andrew J. Edelman, Robin Y. Y. Eng, Stephen N. Harris, Colleen Olfenbuttel, Emily D. Thorne, W. Mark Ford, David S. Jachowski
Erin Hewett Ragheb, editor(s)
2021, Southeastern Naturalist (20) 95-109
Spilogale putorius (Eastern Spotted Skunk) is a small, secretive carnivore that has substantially declined throughout the eastern United States since the mid-1900s. To better understand the current status of Eastern Spotted Skunks, we studied survival and reproduction of the S. p. putorius (Appalachian Spotted Skunk) subspecies across 4 states in the central and...
An updated assessment of status and trend in the distribution of the Cascades frog (Rana cascadae) in Oregon, USA
Adam Duarte, Christopher Pearl, Brome McCreary, Jennifer Rowe, Michael J. Adams
2021, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (16) 361-373
Conservation efforts need reliable information concerning the status of a species and their trends to help identify which species are in most need of assistance. We completed a comparative evaluation of the occurrence of breeding for Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae), an amphibian that is being considered for federal protection under...
Monitoring native, resident nonsalmonids for the incidence of gas bubble trauma downstream of Snake and Columbia River Dams, 2021
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Collin D. Smith, Nicole Joy Eller, Joe J. Warren
2021, Report
In 2020, a new spill program was implemented to aid the downstream passage of juvenile salmonids at mainstem dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Under this program, the total dissolved gas (TDG) cap was increased to 125% and monitoring of native, resident nonsalmonid (NRN) fishes for gas bubble trauma...
Probabilistic fault displacement hazard assessment (PFDHA) for nuclear installations according to IAEA safety standards
Alessandro Valentini, Yoshimitsu Fukushima, Paolo Contri, Masato Ono, Toshiaki Sakai, Stephen Thompson, Emmanuel Viallet, Tadashi Annaka, Rui Chen, Robb E. S. Moss, Mark D. Petersen, Francesco Visini, Robert Youngs
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 2661-2672
In the last 10 yr, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) revised its safety standards for site evaluations of nuclear installations in response to emerging fault displacement hazard evaluation practices developed in Member States. New amendments in the revised safety guidance (DS507) explicitly recommend fault displacement hazard assessment, including separate...
Acoustic interaction between a pair of owls and a wolf
Barbara Marti-Domken, Vicente Palacios, Shannon Barber-Meyer
2021, Western North American Naturalist (81) 457-461
During summer 2019, we recorded an apparent vocal interaction, lasting just under 4 min, between a pair of Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) and a gray wolf (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such an acoustic interaction in the scientific literature....
Phytoplankton and cyanobacteria abundances in mid-21st century lakes depend strongly on future land use and climate projections
Karan Kakouei, B.M. Kraemer, O. Anneville, L. Carvalho, H. Feuchtmayr, Jennifer L. Graham, S. Higgins, F. Pomati, L.G. Rudstam, J.D. Stockwell, S.J. Thackeray, M. Vanni, R. Adrian
2021, Global Change Biology (27) 6409-6422
Land use and climate change are anticipated to affect phytoplankton of lakes worldwide. The effects will depend on the magnitude of projected land use and climate changes and lake sensitivity to these factors. We used random forests fit with long-term (1971–2016) phytoplankton and cyanobacteria abundance time...
Watershed and estuarine controls both influence plant community and tree growth changes in tidal freshwater forested wetlands along two U.S. mid-Atlantic rivers
Gregory E. Noe, Norman A Bourg, Ken Krauss, Jamie A. Duberstein, Cliff R. Hupp
2021, Forests (9)
The tidal freshwater zone near the estuarine head-of-tide is potentially sensitive to both sea-level rise and associated salinity increases as well as changing watershed inputs of freshwater and nutrients. We evaluated the vegetation response of tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) to changes in nontidal river versus estuarine...
Predicting non-native insect impact: Focusing on the trees to see the forest
Ashley N. Schulz, Angela M. Mech, Matthew P. Ayres, Kamal J.K. Gandhi, Nathan P. Havill, Daniel A. Herms, Angela Marie Hoover, Ruth A. Hufbauer, Andrew M. Liebhold, Travis D. Marsico, Kenneth F. Raffa, Patrick C. Tobin, Daniel R. Uden, Kathryn A. Thomas
2021, Biological Invasions (23) 3921-3936
Non-native organisms have invaded novel ecosystems for centuries, yet we have only a limited understanding of why their impacts vary widely from minor to severe. Predicting the impact of non-established or newly detected species could help focus biosecurity measures on species with the highest potential to...
Interagency Ecological Program long-term monitoring element review: Pilot approach and methods development (2020)
Jereme W. Gaeta, Samuel M. Bashevkin, Frederick V. Feyrer, Brock Huntsman, Brian Mahardja, Steven D Culberson, Michael P Beakes, Stephanie Fong, Stephen Louie
2021, Report
This report describes the first-year, pilot-phase of what is intended to be a larger, multiple-year review of all IEP core long-term monitoring elements (LTMEs). Here we hope to provide evidence that the review team arrangement and communication schedule was effective at developing a framework to objectively evaluate a suite of...
Consequences of changing water clarity on the fish and fisheries of the Laurentian Great Lakes
David Bunnell, Stuart A. Ludsin, Roger L. Knight, Lars G. Rudstam, Craig E. Williamson, Tomas O. Hook, Paris D. Collingsworth, Barry M. Lesht, Richard P. Barbiero, Anne E. Scofield, Edward S. Rutherford, Layne Gaynor, Henry A. Vanderploeg, Marten A. Koops
2021, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (78) 1524-1542
Human-driven environmental change underlies recent changes in water clarity in many of the world’s great lakes, yet our understanding of the consequences of these changes on the fish and fisheries they support remains incomplete. Herein, we offer a framework to organize current knowledge, guide future research, and help fisheries managers...
Using ALOS-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and interferometric SAR to detect landslides on the mountainous island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1084
This study was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey to assess the detectability of landslides in the densely forested and mountainous island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The study used existing field-observed land-cover changes and landslides visible on Google Earth (GE) images. A limited number of ALOS-2...
Behavior and survival of hatchery rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, Washington, 2013 and 2017
Amy C. Hansen, Tobias J. Kock, Brian K. Ekstrom, Theresa L. Liedtke
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1085
A two-year study (2013 and 2017) was conducted to determine if annual releases of hatchery rainbow trout (resident Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the upper Cowlitz River Basin, Washington adversely affected anadromous fish in the basin. Rainbow trout tagged with radio transmitters were monitored after release to describe movement patterns, entrainment...
Historical hydrologic and geomorphic conditions on the Black River and selected tributaries, Arkansas and Missouri
Jessica Z. LeRoy, Richard J. Huizinga, David C. Heimann, Evan M. Lindroth, Henry F. Doyle
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5067
The Black River flows through southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas to its confluence with the White River in Arkansas. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates Clearwater Dam on the Black River and a series of dams in the White River Basin primarily for flood control. In this study, the...
Flow dynamics influence fish recruitment in hydrologically connected river-reservoir landscapes
J. Dattilo, Shannon K. Brewer, D. E. Shoup
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 1752-1763
Hydrologic processes are often important determinants of successful recruitment of native fishes. However, water management practices can result in abnormal changes in daily and seasonal hydrology patterns. Rarely has fish recruitment across river–reservoir landscapes been considered in relation to flow management, despite the direct relationship between reservoir water management and...
Geohydrology and water quality of the stratified-drift aquifers in West Branch Cayuga Inlet and Fish Kill Valleys, Newfield, Tompkins County, New York
Benjamin N. Fisher, Paul M. Heisig, William M. Kappel
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5064
From 2011 to 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Town of Newfield and the Tompkins County Planning Department, performed a study of the stratified-drift aquifers in the West Branch Cayuga Inlet and Fish Kill Valleys in Newfield, Tompkins County, New York. Both confined and unconfined aquifers were...
Swipe left on the “big one”: Better dates for Cascadia quakes
Jessie K. Pearl, Lydia M. Staisch
2021, Eos Science News
Improving our understanding of hazards posed by future large earthquakes on the Cascadia Subduction Zone requires advancements in the methods and sampling used to date and characterize past events....
Book review of "A most remarkable creature: The hidden life and epic journey of the world’s smartest birds of prey"
David E. Andersen
2021, Journal of Field Ornithology (92) 305-306
No abstract available....
Early Pleistocene climate-induced erosion of the Alaska Range formed the Nenana Gravel
Rachel Sortor, Brent Goehring, Sean Bemis, Chester A. Ruleman, Marc Caffee, Dylan Ward
2021, Geology (49) 1473-1477
The Pliocene-Pleistocene transition resulted in extensive global cooling and glaciation, but isolating this climate signal within erosion and exhumation responses in tectonically active regimes can be difficult. The Nenana Gravel is a foreland basin deposit in the northern foothills of the Alaska Range (USA) that...
The role of genome duplication in big sagebrush growth and fecundity
Bryce Richardson, Matthew Germino, Marcus V Warwell, Sven Buerki
2021, American Journal of Botany (108) 1405-1416
PremiseAdaptive traits can be dramatically altered by genome duplication. The study of interactions among traits, ploidy, and the environment are necessary to develop an understanding of how polyploidy affects niche differentiation and to develop restoration strategies for resilient native ecosystems.MethodsGrowth...
Surface energy balance of sub-Arctic roads with varying snow regimes and properties in permafrost regions
Lin Chen, Clifford I. Voss, Daniel Fortier, Jeffrey M. McKenzie
2021, Permafrost and Periglacial Processes (32) 681-701
Surface energy balance (SEB) strongly influences the thermal state of permafrost, cryohydrological processes, and infrastructure stability. Road construction and snow accumulation affect the energy balance of underlying permafrost. Herein, we use an experimental road section of the Alaska Highway to develop a SEB model to quantify the surface energy components...
Resilience of terrestrial and aquatic fauna to historical and future wildfire regimes in western North America
Henriette I. Jager, Jonathan W. Long, Rachel L Malison, Brendan P. Murphy, Ashley J. Rust, Luiz Silva, Rahel Sollmann, Zachary L Steel, Mark D Bowen, Jason Dunham, Joseph L. Ebersole, Rebecca L. Flitcroft
2021, Ecology and Evolution (11) 12259-12284
Wildfires in many western North American forests are becoming more frequent, larger, and severe, with changed seasonal patterns. In response, coniferous forest ecosystems will transition toward dominance by fire-adapted hardwoods, shrubs, meadows, and grasslands, which may benefit some faunal communities, but not others. We...
