Automated quantification of surface water inundation in wetlands using optical satellite imagery
Ben DeVries, Chengquan Huang, Megan W. Lang, John W. Jones, Wenli Huang, Irena F. Creed, Mark L. Carroll
2017, Remote Sensing (9)
We present a fully automated and scalable algorithm for quantifying surface water inundation in wetlands. Requiring no external training data, our algorithm estimates sub-pixel water fraction (SWF) over large areas and long time periods using Landsat data. We tested our SWF algorithm over three wetland sites across North America, including...
Uncertainty, variability, and earthquake physics in ground‐motion prediction equations
Annemarie S. Baltay, Thomas C. Hanks, Norm A. Abrahamson
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1754-1772
Residuals between ground‐motion data and ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) can be decomposed into terms representing earthquake source, path, and site effects. These terms can be cast in terms of repeatable (epistemic) residuals and the random (aleatory) components. Identifying the repeatable residuals leads to a GMPE with reduced uncertainty for a...
Lichens and microfungi in biocrusts: Structure and function now and in the future
Jayne Belnap, Otto L. Lange
J. Dighton, James F. White, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, The fungal community
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are formed by soil-surface communities of biota that live within, or immediately on top of, the uppermost millimeters of soil. They consist of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, microfungi, and lichenized fungi (hereafter, lichens). Cyanobacterial and microfungal filaments, rhizinae and rhizomorphs of lichens, and rhizinae and protonemata of...
Effects of deep basins on structural collapse during large subduction earthquakes
Nasser A. Marafi, Marc O. Eberhard, Jeffrey W. Berman, Erin A. Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel
2017, Earthquake Spectra (33) 963-997
Deep sedimentary basins are known to increase the intensity of ground motions, but this effect is implicitly considered in seismic hazard maps used in U.S. building codes. The basin amplification of ground motions from subduction earthquakes is particularly important in the Pacific Northwest, where the hazard at long periods is...
Distribution and migration chronology of Eastern population sandhill cranes
David L. Fronczak, David E. Andersen, Everett E. Hanna, Thomas R. Cooper
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1021-1032
The Eastern Population (EP) of greater sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis tabida; cranes) is expanding in size and geographic range. Little information exists regarding the geographic extent of breeding, migration, and wintering ranges, migration chronology, or use of staging areas for cranes in the EP. To obtain these data, we attached...
Characterizing meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey
Francis Ashland, Alex R. Fiore, Pamela A. Reilly
Jerome V. De Graff, Abdul Shakoor, editor(s)
2017, Conference Paper, Landslides: Putting Experience, Knowledge and Emerging Technologies into Practice:Special Publication 27
Meteorological and hydrologic conditions associated with shallow landslide initiation in the coastal bluffs of the Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey remain undocumented despite a history of damaging slope movement extending back to at least 1903. This study applies an empirical approach to quantify the rainfall conditions leading to shallow landsliding based...
Compilation of geospatial data for the mineral industries and related infrastructure of Latin America and the Caribbean
Michael S. Baker, Spencer D. Buteyn, Philip A. Freeman, Michael H. Trippi, Loyd M. Trimmer III
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1079
This report describes the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) ongoing commitment to its mission of understanding the nature and distribution of global mineral commodity supply chains by updating and publishing the georeferenced locations of mineral commodity production and processing facilities, mineral exploration and development sites, and mineral commodity exporting ports in...
Simulated groundwater flow paths, travel time, and advective transport of nitrogen in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor Watershed, New Jersey
Lois M. Voronin, Stephen J. Cauller
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5169
Elevated concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater that discharges to surface-water bodies can degrade surface-water quality and habitats in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. An analysis of groundwater flow in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system and deeper confined aquifers that underlie the Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) watershed and estuary was conducted...
Final Report fr critical thresholds and ecosystem services for coastal ecological and human climate adaptation
Michelle D. Staudinger, Emily J. Powell, Andrew Milliken, Megan C. Tyrrell
2017, Report
Understanding how climate change will impact natural and human communities is a crucial part of decision making and management related to the protection of our coasts. As the effects of climate change on ecological communities grow, the possibility of crossing tipping points or thresholds of viability increases the potential for...
Initial pulse of Siberian Traps sills as the trigger of the end-Permian mass extinction
Seth D. Burgess, James D. Muirhead, Samuel A. Bowring
2017, Nature Communications (8) 1-6
Mass extinction events are short-lived and characterized by catastrophic biosphere collapse and subsequent reorganization. Their abrupt nature necessitates a similarly short-lived trigger, and large igneous province magmatism is often implicated. However, large igneous provinces are long-lived compared to mass extinctions. Therefore, if large igneous provinces are an effective trigger, a...
CO2 time series patterns in contrasting headwater streams of North America
John T. Crawford, Emily H. Stanley, Mark M. Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl
2017, Aquatic Sciences (79) 473-486
We explored the underlying patterns of temporal stream CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) variability using highfrequency sensors in seven disparate headwater streams distributed across the northern hemisphere. We also compared this dataset of [40,000 pCO2 records with other published records from lotic systems. Individual stream sites exhibited relatively distinct pCO2 patterns...
Model selection for the North American Breeding Bird Survey: A comparison of methods
William A. Link, John R. Sauer, Daniel Niven
2017, Condor (119) 546-556
The North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) provides data for >420 bird species at multiple geographic scales over 5 decades. Modern computational methods have facilitated the fitting of complex hierarchical models to these data. It is easy to propose and fit new models, but little attention has been given to...
Utilization of integrated correlative light and electron microscopy (iCLEM) for imaging sedimentary organic matter
Paul C. Hackley, Brett J. Valentine, Leonard M. Voortman, Daan van Oosten Slingeland, Javin J. Hatcherian
2017, Journal of Microscopy (267) 371-383
We report here a new microscopic technique for imaging and identifying sedimentary organic matter in geologic materials that combines inverted fluorescence microscopy with scanning electron microscopy and allows for sequential imaging of the same region of interest without transferring the sample between instruments. This integrated correlative...
Mapping the change of Phragmites australis live biomass in the lower Mississippi River Delta marshes
Elijah W. Ramsey III, Amina Rangoonwala
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1098
Multiyear remote sensing mapping of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was carried out as an indicator of live biomass composition of the Phragmites australis (hereafter Phragmites) marsh in the lower Mississippi River Delta (hereafter delta) from 2014 to 2017. Maps of NDVI change showed that the Phragmites condition was...
Water quality in the surficial aquifer near agricultural areas in the Delaware Coastal Plain, 2014
Brandon J. Fleming, Laura L. Mensch, Judith M. Denver, Roberto M. Cruz, Mark R. Nardi
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5054
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Delaware Department of Agriculture, developed a network of wells to monitor groundwater quality in the surficial aquifer of the Delaware Coastal Plain. Well-drained soils, a flat landscape, and accessible water in the Delaware Coastal Plain make for a productive agricultural setting. As...
Determining the sources of fine-grained sediment using the Sediment Source Assessment Tool (Sed_SAT)
Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca, Allen C. Gellis, David L. Lorenz
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1062
A sound understanding of sources contributing to instream sediment flux in a watershed is important when developing total maximum daily load (TMDL) management strategies designed to reduce suspended sediment in streams. Sediment fingerprinting and sediment budget approaches are two techniques that, when used jointly, can qualify and quantify the major...
Streamflow investigations on a reach of Hobble Creek near Springville, Utah
Steven J. Gerner
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1084
The Central Utah Water Conservancy District (CUWCD) is proposing to deliver supplemental flow to Hobble Creek from Strawberry Reservoir through the Mapleton-Springville Lateral pipeline. A substantial portion of the supplemental water is intended to benefit June Sucker recovery and other fish and wildlife along Hobble Creek. The objective of this...
Drilling, construction, geophysical log data, and lithologic log for boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Mary K.V. Hodges, Kyle Schusler, Christopher Mudge
2017, Data Series 1058
Starting in 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 142 and USGS 142A for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS...
Historical and projected trends in landscape drivers affecting carbon dynamics in Alaska
Neal J. Pastick, Paul A. Duffy, Hélène Genet, T. Scott Rupp, Bruce K. Wylie, Kristofer Johnson, M. Torre Jorgenson, Norman B. Bliss, Anthony D. McGuire, Elchin Jafarov, Joseph F. Knight
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 1383-1402
Modern climate change in Alaska has resulted in widespread thawing of permafrost, increased fire activity, and extensive changes in vegetation characteristics that have significant consequences for socioecological systems. Despite observations of the heightened sensitivity of these systems to change, there has not been a comprehensive assessment of factors that drive...
Integrating Breeding Bird Survey and demographic data to estimate Wood Duck population size in the Atlantic Flyway
Guthrie S. Zimmerman, John R. Sauer, G. Scott Boomer, Patrick K. Devers, Pamela R. Garrettson
2017, The Condor (119) 616-628
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) uses data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to assist in monitoring and management of some migratory birds. However, BBS analyses provide indices of population change rather than estimates of population size, precluding their use in developing abundance-based objectives and limiting...
The first 50 years of the North American Breeding Bird Survey
John R. Sauer, David Ziolkowski Jr., Keith L. Pardieck, Adam C. Smith, Marie-Anne R. Hudson, Vicente Rodriguez, Humberto Berlanga, Daniel Niven, William A. Link
2017, The Condor (119) 576-593
The vision of Chandler (Chan) S. Robbins for a continental-scale omnibus survey of breeding birds led to the development of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). Chan was uniquely suited to develop the BBS. His position as a government scientist had given him experience with designing and implementing continental-scale...
Tackling an intractable problem: Can greater taxon sampling help resolve relationships within the Stenopelmatoidea (Orthoptera: Ensifera)?
Amy G. Vandergast, David B Weissman, Dustin Wood, David C F Rentz, Corinna S Bazelet, Norihiro Ueshima
2017, Zootaxa (4291) 1-33
The relationships among and within the families that comprise the orthopteran superfamily Stenopelmatoidea (suborder Ensifera) remain poorly understood. We developed a phylogenetic hypothesis based on Bayesian analysis of two nuclear ribosomal and one mitochondrial gene for 118 individuals (84 de novo and 34 from GenBank). These included Gryllacrididae from North,...
Use of North American Breeding Bird Survey data in avian conservation assessments
Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Peter J. Blancher, Jessica C. Stanton, Arvind O. Panjabi
2017, The Condor (119) 594-606
Conservation resources are limited, and prioritizing species based on their relative vulnerability and risk of extinction is a fundamental component of conservation planning. In North America, the conservation consortium Partners in Flight (PIF) has developed and implemented a data-driven species assessment process, at global and regional scales, based on quantitative...
Evapotranspiration by remote sensing: An analysis of the Colorado River Delta before and after the Minute 319 pulse flow to Mexico
Christopher J. Jarchow, Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Jorge Ramirez-Hernandez, Eliana Rodriguez-Burgueno
2017, Ecological Engineering (106) 725-732
The unique hydrologic conditions characterizing riparian ecosystems in dryland (arid and semi-arid) areas help maintain high biodiversity and support high levels of primary productivity compared to associated uplands. In western North America, many riparian ecosystems have been damaged by altered flow regimes (e.g., impoundments and diversions) and over utilization of...
At a global scale, do climate change threatened species also face a greater number of non-climatic threats?
Lucas B. Fortini, Kaipo Dye
2017, Global Ecology and Conservation (11) 207-212
For many species the threats of climate change occur in a context of multiple existing threats. Given the current focus of global change ecology in identifying and understanding species vulnerable to climate change, we performed a global analysis to characterize the multi-threat context for species threatened by climate change. Utilizing...
