Species richness and distribution of Sphaeriidae surveyed with Environmental DNA metabarcoding
Nathaniel T. Marshall, Katy E. Klymus, Carol A. Stepien
2024, Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation (27) 16-26
Freshwater bivalves of the family Sphaeriidae (fingernail, pea, and pill clams) are difficult to survey and identify due to their small size and overlapping morphological traits. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding offers a cost-effective method for assessing species richness and distributional patterns at large scales. We...
U.S. Geological Survey—Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center 2021–23 research activity report
Mark H. Sherfy, editor(s)
2024, Circular 1512
The mission of Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center is to provide scientific information needed to conserve and manage the Nation’s natural capital for current and future generations, with an emphasis on migratory birds, Department of the Interior trust resources, and ecosystems of the Nation’s interior. This report provides an overview...
Post-Typhoon Mawar population counts of the endangered yǻyaguak (Mariana swiftlet) on Guam
Eben H. Paxton, P. Marcos Gorresen, Paul M. Cryan, Megan Parker
2024, Report
The yǻyaguak (Mariana swiftlet, Aerodramus bartschi) is an endangered cave-roosting species native to Guam and southern Mariana Islands, Micronesia. The population on Guam has declined substantially over the last half century, likely due to the introduction of the brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis), but other factors...
Grand challenges in anticipating and responding to critical materials supply risks
Anthony Ku, Elisa Alonso, Rod Eggert, Thomas Graedel, Komal Habib, Alessa Hool, Toru Muta, Dieuwertje Schrijvers, Luic Tercero, Tatiana Vakhitova, Constanze Veeh
2024, Joule (8) 1208-1233
Critical materials are resources that are vulnerable to supply disruptions, where those disruptions can have significant adverse impacts on society. In the coming years, materials supply risks associated with the energy transition and geopolitics are likely to intensify and new risks are expected to emerge. This perspective identifies three “Grand...
Changes in microbial community and network structure precede shrub degradation in a desert ecosystem
Guohua Wang, Seth M. Munson, Elly Morrien, Fei Mo, Mengting Maggie Yuan, Bin Wang, Ning Chen, Jian-Sheng Ye, Kailiang Yu
2024, Catena (242)
Large-scale restoration is intended to promote ecological recovery. Improvements in plant and microbial conditions, however, may slow or even reverse in late succession. To better understand long-term restoration outcomes and underlying drivers of successional pathways, we tracked plant, bacterial and...
Evaporation from the interior of Lake Okeechobee—A large freshwater lake in Florida, 2013–16
W. Barclay Shoemaker, Qinglong Wu
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5040
In 2012, a platform at the approximate center of Lake Okeechobee in central Florida was instrumented to continuously measure evaporation with the Bowen-ratio energy-budget method as part of a long-term partnership between the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Geological Survey. The primary goal for the study was...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit, 2018—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Krishangi D. Groover, Miranda S. Fram, Zeno F. Levy
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5019
Groundwater quality in the western part of the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, was investigated in 2018 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project. The Mojave Basin Domestic-Supply Aquifer study unit (MOBS) region was divided into...
An experimental study of benthic habitat selection in yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata)
Melissa Braham, S.A. Welsh, Dustin M. Smith
2024, Environmental Biology of Fishes (107) 513-522
In a laboratory experiment, we quantified microhabitat use of small yellow-phase American eels (Anguilla rostrata, n = 130, 224–338 mm TL) conditional on five benthic substrate types common to rivers within their geographic range. During nine, 4-day trials replicated with three aquaria, American eels were given a choice to burrow into five equally...
Site response in the Walnut Creek–Concord region of the San Francisco Bay, California: Ground motion amplification in a fault-bounded basin
Stephen H. Hartzell, Alena L. Leeds, Leonardo Ramirez-Guzman, Victoria Langenheim, Robert G. Schmitt
2024, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (114) 2668-2686
Thirty‐seven portable accelerometers were deployed in the eastern San Francisco Bay communities of Walnut Creek and Concord to study site response in a fault‐bounded, urban, sedimentary basin. Local earthquakes were recorded for a period of two years from 2017 to 2019 resulting in 101 well‐recorded events. Site response is estimated...
Translocation in a fragmented river provides demographic benefits for imperiled fishes
Casey A. Pennock, Brian D. Healy, Matthew R. Bogaard, Mark C. McKinstry, Keith B. Gido, C. Nathan Cathcart, Brian Hines
2024, Ecosphere (15)
Fragmentation isolates individuals and restricts access to valuable habitat with severe consequences for populations, such as reduced gene flow, disruption of recolonization dynamics, reduced resiliency to disturbance, and changes in aquatic community structure. Translocations to mitigate the effects of fragmentation and habitat loss are common, but few are rigorously evaluated,...
Estimating price elasticity of demand for mineral commodities used in lithium-ion batteries in the face of surging demand
Ensieh Shojaeddini, Elisa Alonso, Nedal T. Nassar
2024, Resources, Conservation and Recycling (207)
The accelerating adoption of clean energy technologies is driving demand for certain mineral commodities like lithium, essential for electric vehicle batteries. Understanding the influence of the energy transition on each market requires examining their supply and demand price elasticities. However, there have only been a limited number of studies that...
Infectivity of wild-bird origin Influenza A viruses in Minnesota wetlands across seasons
Rebecca L. Poulson, Andrew B. Reeves, Christina Ahlstrom, Laura Celeste Scott, Laura E. Hubbard, Alinde Fojtik, Deborah L. Carter, David E. Stallknecht, Andrew M. Ramey
2024, Pathogens (13)
The environmental tenacity of influenza A viruses (IAVs) in the environment likely plays a role in their transmission; IAVs are able to remain infectious in aquatic habitats and may have the capacity to seed outbreaks when susceptible wild bird hosts utilize these same environments months or even seasons later....
Modeling forest snow using relative canopy structure metrics
C. David Moeser, Graham A. Sexstone, Jake Kurzweil
2024, Water (16)
Snow and watershed models typically do not account for forest structure and shading; therefore, they display substantial uncertainty when attempting to account for forest change or when comparing hydrological response between forests with varying characteristics. This study collected snow water equivalent (SWE) measurements in a snow-dominated forest in Colorado,...
A two-dimensional, reach-scale implementation of space-time image velocimetry (STIV) and comparison to particle image velocimetry (PIV)
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel, Frank L. Engel, Lee R. Harrison, Gregory Hewitt
2024, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (10) 3093-3114
Image-based algorithms have become a powerful tool for estimating flow velocities in rivers. In this study, we generalize the space-time image velocimetry (STIV) framework for reach-scale application rather than along a cross section. The new algorithm provides information on both the magnitude and orientation...
A model for evaluation of sediment exposure and burial for freshwater mussels from heavy particle sedimentation
Bin Wang, Brandon James Sansom, Wenyu Zhu, James L. Kunz, M. Christopher Barnhart, Henry Brown, Stephen E. McMurray, Andrew D Roberts, Christopher Shulse, Caleb Knerr, Kathleen Trauth, Jeffery A. Steevens, Baolin Deng
2024, Ecological Modelling (493)
Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida) are an ecologically important faunal group. Excessive sediments, both in suspended and deposited formats, are believed to have negative effects on survival of freshwater mussels. However, there is a lack of quantitative tools for assessing the impact of abrupt and excessive sedimentation on freshwater mussel habitats....
Evidence on the ecological and physical effects of built structures in shallow, tropical coral reefs: A systematic map
Avery Paxton, Iris Foxfoot, Christina Cutshaw, D’amy Steward, Leanne Poussard, Trevor Riley, Todd Swannack, Candice Piercy, Safra Altman, Brandon Puckett, Curt D. Storlazzi, Shay Viehman
2024, Environmental Evidence (13)
Shallow, tropical coral reefs face compounding threats from climate change, habitat degradation due to coastal development and pollution, impacts from storms and sea-level rise, and pulse disturbances like blast fishing, mining, dredging, and ship groundings that reduce reef height and complexity. One approach toward restoring coral reef physical structure from...
Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) best practices for remote sensing system evaluation and reporting
Simon J. Cantrell, Jon B. Christopherson
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1023
Executive SummaryThe Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) partnership consists of six agencies representing the U.S. Government’s commitment to promoting the use of high-quality remotely sensed data to meet scientific and other Federal needs. These agencies are large consumers of remotely sensed data and bring extensive experience in the assessment...
Duckling survival increased with availability of flooded wetland habitat and decreased with salinity concentrations in a brackish marsh
Sarah H. Peterson, Josh T. Ackerman, C. Alex Hartman, Andrew C. Greenawalt, Michael L. Casazza, Mark P. Herzog
2024, Ornithological Applications (126)
Waterfowl population recruitment is sensitive to duckling survival. We quantified predator types and survival rates for Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard) and Mareca strepera (Gadwall) ducklings in one of the largest brackish water marshes in western North America (Suisun Marsh, California) using 556 radio-tagged ducklings from 284 broods tracked during the 2016 to 2019 breeding seasons....
Unexpected effect of geographic origin on post-translocation survival in a long-lived reptile, the gopher tortoise
Kevin J. Loope, Rebecca A. Cozad, Derek. B. Breakfield, Matthew J. Aresco, Elizabeth Ann Hunter
2024, Animal Conservation (27) 685-697
Mitigation translocations move wildlife from specific areas due to conflict with humans over land use at the site. A critical decision when carrying out mitigation translocation is the acceptable distance across which animals can be moved. This decision trades off logistical expediency of unrestricted translocation with the risk of reducing...
Monitoring and assessment of urban stormwater best management practices at selected Chicago public schools in Chicago, Illinois, from September 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017
Clinton R. Bailey, Carolyn M. Soderstrom, James J. Duncker
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5036
The Space to Grow program helps transform aging and neglected schoolyards of Chicago Public Schools into outdoor community spaces with the goal of promoting health and learning while addressing neighborhood flooding issues. Virgil I. Grissom Elementary School and Donald L. Morrill Math and Science School were selected in 2014 for...
Final report to the Gulf Coast Joint Venture: Black Skimmer and Gull-billed Tern
James P. Cronin, William Vermillion, Barry C Wilson
2024, Report
Many bird species are of conservation concern across the Northern Gulf of Mexico from stressors such as human disturbance, predation, and habitat loss due to directional environmental change (e.g., increased sea-level rise and storm frequency and intensity, human infrastructure, changes in land use). Consequently, managers need decision-support tools that can help...
Impacts of artificial rearing on cisco Coregonus artedi morphology, including pugheadedness
Andrew Edgar Honsey, Katie Victoria Anweiler, David Bunnell, Cory Brant, Georgia Wende Hoffman, Brian O’Malley, Kevin Keeler, Chris Olds, Jeremy Kraus, Yu-Chun Kao, Wendylee Stott
2024, Canadian Journal of Zoology (102) 586-599
Cisco (Coregonus artedi Lesueur, 1818) in the Laurentian Great Lakes declined throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Managers are attempting to restore Great Lakes cisco and other coregonines using multiple approaches, including stocking. A potential obstacle to these efforts is that artificially reared coregonines can display deformities and...
Early pandemic recreational fishing patterns across the urban-to-rural gradient in the U.S.
Anna L. Kaz, Michael D. Kaller, Abigail Lynch, Stephen R. Midway
2024, Fisheries Research (276)
In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted individual and social behaviors and norms, including outdoor activities. A recreational angling survey of 18,000 licensed anglers from 10 states (AR, CT, FL, IA, MO, NC, SC, TX, UT, WY) was conducted in...
Inland recreational fisheries contribute nutritional benefits and economic value but are vulnerable to climate change
Abigail Lynch, Holly Susan Embke, Elizabeth A. Nyboer, Louisa E. Wood, Andy Thorpe, Sui C. Phang, Daniel F. Viana, Christopher D. Golden, Marco Milardi, Robert Arlinghaus, Claudio Baigun, T. Douglas Beard Jr., Steve J. Cooke, Ian G. Cowx, John D. Koehn, Roman Lyach, Warren M. Potts, Ashley Robertson, Josef Schmidhuber, Olaf L. F. Weyl
2024, Nature Food (5) 433-443
Inland recreational fishing is primarily considered a leisure-driven activity in freshwaters, yet its harvest can contribute to food systems. Here we estimate that the harvest from inland recreational fishing equates to just over one-tenth of all reported inland fisheries catch globally. The estimated total consumptive use...
Common use herbicides increase wetland greenhouse gas emissions
Christine Cornish, Olivia Johnson, Sheel Bansal, Jacob Meier, Ted D. Harris, Jon Sweetman
2024, Science of the Total Environment (933)
Wetlands play a disproportionate role in the global climate as major sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. Herbicides are the most heavily used agrochemicals and are frequently detected in aquatic ecosystems, with glyphosate and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), representing the two most commonly used worldwide....
