Assessing locations susceptible to shallow landslide initiation during prolonged intense rainfall in the Lares, Utuado, and Naranjito municipalities of Puerto Rico
Rex L. Baum, Dianne L. Brien, Mark E. Reid, William H. Schulz, Matthew J. Tello
2024, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (24) 1579-1605
Hurricane Maria induced about 70 000 landslides throughout Puerto Rico, USA, including thousands each in three municipalities situated in Puerto Rico's rugged Cordillera Central range. By combining a nonlinear soil-depth model, presumed wettest-case pore pressures, and quasi-three-dimensional (3D) slope-stability analysis, we developed a landslide susceptibility...
Streamflow depletion caused by groundwater pumping: Fundamental research priorities for management-relevant science
Samuel Zipper, Andrea E. Brookfield, Hoori Ajami, Jessica R. Ayers, Chris Beightel, Michael N. Fienen, Tom Gleeson, John C. Hammond, Mary C Hill, Anthony D Kendall, Benjamin Kerr, Dana A. Lapides, Misty Porter, S. Parimalarenganayaki, Melissa Rohde, Chloe Wardropper
2024, Water Resource Research (60)
Reductions in streamflow caused by groundwater pumping, known as “streamflow depletion,” link the hydrologic process of stream-aquifer interactions to human modifications of the water cycle. Isolating the impacts of groundwater pumping on streamflow is challenging because other climate and human activities concurrently impact streamflow, making it difficult...
A great tsunami earthquake component of the 1957 Aleutian Islands earthquake
Yoshiki Yamazaki, Thorne Lay, Kwok Fai Cheung, Robert C. Witter, SeanPaul La Selle, Bruce E. Jaffe
2024, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (637)
The great 1957 Aleutian Islands earthquake ruptured ∼1200 km of the plate boundary along the Aleutian subduction zone and produced a destructive tsunami across Hawaiʻi. Early seismic and tsunami analyses indicated that large megathrust fault slip was concentrated in the western Aleutian Islands, but tsunami...
Lessons learned from using wild-caught and captive-reared lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) in captive experiments
C.R Beach, C.N Jacques, J.D. Lancaster, D.C. Osborne, A.P. Yetter, Rebecca A. Cole, H.M. Hagy, A.M.V. Fournier
2024, Translational Animal Science (8)
Waterfowl are housed in captivity for research studies that are infeasible in the wild. Accommodating the unique requirements of semi-aquatic species in captivity while meeting experimental design criteria for research questions can be challenging and may have unknown effects on animal health. Thus, testing and standardizing best husbandry and...
Unscrambling the Proterozoic supercontinent record of northeastern Washington State, USA
Daniel Brennan, Stephen E. Box, Athena Eyster
2024, Book chapter, Proterozoic Nuna to Pleistocene megafloods: Sharing geology of the inland northwest
The time interval from Supercontinent Nuna assembly in the late Paleoproterozoic to Supercontinent Rodinia breakup in the Neoproterozoic is considered by some geologists to comprise the “Boring Billion,” an interval possibly marked by a slowdown in plate tectonic processes. In northeastern Washington State, USA, similar to much of western Laurentia,...
Combining terrestrial lidar with single line transects to investigate geomorphic change: A case study on the Upper Verde River, Arizona
Lauren Lynn Tango, Temuulen Ts. Sankey, Jackson Leonard, Joel B. Sankey, Alan Kasprak
2024, Geomorphology (457)
The Upper Verde River in northern Arizona, USA is a vital resource for the wildlife and humans that rely on its waters. We characterize the riparian corridor topography using terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) data from 2021 to 2022. We also...
Linking dissolved organic matter composition to landscape properties in wetlands across the United States of America
Martin R. Kurek, Kimberly Wickland, Natalie A. Nichols, Amy M. McKenna, Steven M. Anderson, Mark M. Dornblaser, Nikaan Koupaie-Abyazani, Brett A. Poulin, Sheel Bansal, Jason B. Fellman, Gregory K. Druschel, Emily S. Bernhardt, Robert G.M. Spencer
2024, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (38)
Wetlands are integral to the global carbon cycle, serving as both a source and a sink for organic carbon. Their potential for carbon storage will likely change in the coming decades in response to higher temperatures and variable precipitation patterns. We characterized the dissolved organic carbon (DOC)...
Stony coral tissue loss disease indirectly alters reef communities
Sara D. Swaminathan, Kevin D. Lafferty, Nicole S. Knight, Andrew H. Altieri
2024, Science Advances (10)
Many Caribbean coral reefs are near collapse due to various threats. An emerging threat, stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), is spreading across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean. Data from the U.S. Virgin Islands reveal how SCTLD spread has reduced the abundance of susceptible coral and crustose coralline algae and...
Season of grazing interacts with soil texture, selecting for associations of biocrust morphogroups
Lea A. Condon, Roger Rosentreter, Kari E. Veblen, Peter S. Coates
2024, Geoderma (445)
Livestock grazing, a widespread land use in semi-arid systems, is often placed in opposition to the perpetuation of biological soil crusts (“biocrusts”: lichens, mosses, and algal crusts including cyanobacteria) that live on the soil surface and provide ecosystem functions. The composition...
Fluviomorphic trajectories for dryland ephemeral stream channels following extreme flash floods
Eliisa Lotsari, Kyle House, Petteri Alho, Victor R. Baker
2024, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (49) 2628-2650
Ephemeral alluvial streams pose globally significant flood hazards to human habitation in drylands, but sparse data for these regions limit understanding of the character and impacts of extreme flooding. In this study, we document decadal changes in dryland ephemeral channel patterns at two sites...
Deep-water first occurrences of Ediacara biota prior to the Shuram carbon isotope excursion in the Wernecke Mountains, Yukon, Canada
Thomas H. Boag, James F. Busch, Jared T. Gooley, Justin Strauss, Erik A Sperling
2024, Geobiology (22)
Ediacara-type macrofossils appear as early as ~575 Ma in deep-water facies of the Drook Formation of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, and the Nadaleen Formation of Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada. Our ability to assess whether a deep-water origination of the Ediacara biota is a...
Integrated science for the study of microplastics in the environment—A strategic science vision for the U.S. Geological Survey
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Austin K. Baldwin, Larry B. Barber, Vicki S. Blazer, Steven R. Corsi, Joseph W. Duris, Shawn C. Fisher, Michael Focazio, Sarah E. Janssen, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Dana W. Kolpin, Johanna M. Kraus, Rachael F. Lane, Mari E. Lee, Kristen B. McSwain, Timothy D. Oden, Timothy J. Reilly, Andrew R. Spanjer
2024, Circular 1521
Executive SummaryEvidence of the widespread occurrence of microplastics throughout our environment and exposure to humans and other organisms over the past decade has led to questions about the possibility of health hazards and mitigation of exposures. This document discusses nanoplastics as well as microplastics (referred to solely as microplastics); the...
The 2023 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model: Subduction ground motion models
Sanaz Rezaeian, Peter M. Powers, Jason M. Altekruse, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Mark D. Petersen, Allison Shumway, Arthur D. Frankel, Erin A. Wirth, James Andrew Smith, Morgan P. Moschetti, Kyle Withers, Julie A. Herrick
2024, Earthquake Spectra (41) 1739-1786
The US Geological Survey National Seismic Hazard Models (NSHMs) are used to calculate earthquake ground-shaking intensities for design and rehabilitation of structures in the United States. The most recent 2014 and 2018 versions of the NSHM for the conterminous United States included major updates to ground-motion models (GMMs) for active...
Prototyping structured decision making for water resource management in the San Francisco Bay-Delta
James Peterson, Erin McCreless, Adam Duarte, Patti Wohner, Scott Hamilton, Josue Medellin-Azuara, Alvar Escriva-Boue
2024, Environmental Science and Policy (103775)
A structured decision making (SDM) approach can help evaluate tradeoffs between conservation and human-benefit objectives by fostering communication and knowledge transfer among stakeholders, decision makers, and the public. However, the process is iterative and completing the full process may take...
A new era of genetic diversity conservation through novel tools and accessible data
Margaret Hunter, Jessica M. da Silva, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Sean M. Hoban
2024, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (22)
As the foundation of biodiversity, genetic diversity is necessary for species to adapt to ecological changes, such as impacts from disease, invasive species, and climate change. Genetic diversity also supports ecosystem resilience and societal innovations. Unfortunately, declines in genetic diversity have been frequently observed in populations of wild and domestic...
Lead poisoning of raptors: State of the science and cross-discipline mitigation options for a global problem
Todd E. Katzner, Deborah J. Pain, Michael McTee, Leland Brown, Sandra Cuadros, Mark Pokras, Vince Slabe., Rick Watson, Guillermo Wiemeyer, Bryan Bedrosian, Jordan O Hampton, Chris N. Parish, James M. Pay, Keisuke Saito, John Schulz
2024, Biological Reviews (99) 1672-1699
Lead poisoning is an important global conservation problem for many species of wildlife, especially raptors. Despite the increasing number of individual studies and regional reviews of lead poisoning of raptors, it has been over a decade since this information has been compiled into a...
Basin effects from 3D simulated ground motions in the Greater Los Angeles region for use in seismic-hazard analyses
Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Kyle Withers
2024, Earthquake Spectra (40) 1042-1065
We develop basin-depth-scaling models (i.e. “basin terms”) from the long-period (T≥2s) simulated ground motions of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) CyberShake project for use in seismic hazard analyses at sites within the sedimentary basins of southern California. Basin terms use the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA)-West-2 ground-motion models (GMMs)...
Living with wildfire in Stemilt Basin, Chelan County, Washington: 2022 Data report
Julia Goolsby, Patricia A. Champ, Suzanne Wittenbrink, Colleen Donovan, Hilary Heard, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, James Meldrum, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn Wagner, Chiara Forrester
2024, Research Note RMRS-RN-101
Homeowner wildfire risk mitigation and preparedness are important components of community wildfire readiness. This report presents data collected via rapid wildfire risk assessments to describe the parcel-level wildfire risk of properties within the Stemilt basin, Chelan County, Washington study area. The report also describes household survey data collected from homeowners...
A video monitoring and computational system for estimating migratory juvenile fish abundance in river systems
Meghna N. Marjadi, Sidney Batchelder, Ryan Govostes, Allison H. Roy, John J. Sheppard, Meghan-Grace Slocombe, Joel K. Llopiz
2024, Limnology and Oceanography Methods (22) 295-310
Diadromous fishes migrate between marine and fresh waters for reproduction. For anadromous species, which spawn in freshwater, improved access to freshwater spawning and nursery habitats and ability of juveniles to emigrate to the ocean may support population recovery. Despite the potentially enormous influence of early life stage survival on adult...
Assessing bridges, culverts, and tunnels for bat presence and use
Andrea Nichole Schuhmann, Bethany Straw, Frank Tousley, Haley Price, Katrina M. Morris, Laci Pattavina, Robin McWilliams, Brian Reichert
2024, Report
No abstract available....
Effects of insecticide spray drift on arthropod prey resources of birds in grasslands in Minnesota
Katelin M. Goebel, David E. Andersen, Pamela J. Rice, Nicole M. Davros
2024, Journal of Wildlife Management (88)
Soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) insecticides are used throughout the Upper Midwest and Great Plains regions of North America, including the farmland region of Minnesota, USA, to combat insect pests. These broad-spectrum, foliar spray insecticides have the potential to drift beyond target fields into nearby grassland cover where birds and other...
USGS annual mining review
Lori E Apodaca
2024, Mining Engineering (76) 43-56
No abstract available....
Annual review 2023: Critical minerals
Graham W. Lederer, James V. Jones III, Darcy McPhee, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Robert R. Seal, II, Kate M. Campbell, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Paul A. Bedrosian, Patricia Grace Macqueen, Garth E. Graham, Federico Solano, George N.D. Case, David George Pineault
2024, Mining Engineering (76) 29-42
No abstract available....
Land use and dog park associations with Escherichia coli in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area watershed
A.M. McKee, Ann M. Couch
2024, Science Report NPS/SR—2024/113
A recent study in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CHAT) indicated that dogs were a primary source of fecal contamination in the Chattahoochee River and that at least some of the contamination in the river was coming from locations outside of CHAT. The study herein sought to determine if...
Abundance of Long-billed Curlews on military lands in the Columbia Basin
Sharon A. Poessel, Elise Elliott-Smith, Sean M. Murphy, Susan M Haig, Adam E. Duerr, Todd E. Katzner
2024, Avian Conservation and Ecology (19)
Long-billed Curlews (Numenius americanus) are declining throughout North America, and the loss of grassland breeding habitat is one of the primary threats to the species. Intermountain West, in particular, has been identified as the most important region in North America for breeding curlews. Nevertheless, the density and abundance of Long-billed...
