The patchwork governance of ecologically available water: A case study in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States
Amanda E. Cravens, Julia B. Goolsby, Theresa Jedd, Deborah J. Bathke, Shelley Crausbay, Ashley E Cooper, Jason B. Dunham, Tonya Haigh, Kimberly R. Hall, Michael J. Hayes, Jamie McEvoy, Rebecca L Nelson, Marketa Podebradska, Aaron R. Ramirez, Elliot Wickham, Dionne Zoanni
2024, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (60) 406-426
Institutional authority and responsibility for allocating water to ecosystems (“ecologically available water” [EAW]) is spread across local, state, and federal agencies, which operate under a range of statutes, mandates, and planning processes. We use a case study of the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin in southwestern Montana, United States, to illustrate...
Beyond overlap: Considering habitat preference and fitness outcomes in the umbrella species concept
J. D. Carlisle, K. T. Smith, J. L. Beck, M. A. Murphy, Anna D. Chalfoun
2024, Animal Conservation (27) 212-225
Umbrella species and other surrogate species approaches to conservation provide an appealing framework to extend the reach of conservation efforts beyond single species. For the umbrella species concept to be effective, populations of multiple species of concern must persist in areas protected on behalf...
Relationships among rare plant communities and abiotic conditions in managed spring-fed arid wetlands
Antonio Cantu de Leija, Sammy L. King
2024, Restoration Ecology (32)
Spring-fed wetlands within arid and semiarid systems are hotspots for endemism and distribution of rare plants. Interactions among groundwater and the geomorphic and climatic features of the setting control the abiotic conditions, particularly soil salinity and moisture, that support these plants. However, water uncertainty and land use change challenge the...
Structured decision making remains underused in ecological restoration despite opportunities
Morgan L. Piczak, Jessica A. Robichaud, Peter Morrison, Andrew M. Rous, Ingeborg M. Mulder, Cassandra J. Hill, Tanya S. Prystay, Hanna Rosner-Katz, Kelly Filer Robinson, Joseph R. Bennett, Steven J. Cooke
2024, Environment Systems and Decisions (44) 1-15
Ecological restoration is considered an essential activity as we attempt to repair anthropogenic degradation. Yet, resources are limited and it is important that efforts focus on activities that are effective and yield successful restoration. Structured decision making (SDM) is an organized framework that is designed to...
Evaluation of fall-seeded cover crops for grassland nesting waterfowl in eastern South Dakota
Charles W. Gallman, Todd W. Arnold, Eric S. Michel, Joshua D. Stafford
2024, Wildlife Society Bulletin
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is the primary breeding ground for many species of North American waterfowl. The PPR was historically dominated by mixed and tallgrass prairies interspersed with wetlands, but >70% of the native grassland area has been lost due to widespread conversion to croplands. Cover cropping is a reemerging...
Nonlinear patterns of surface elevation change in coastal wetlands: The value of generalized additive models for quantifying rates of change
Laura Feher, Michael Osland, Darren Johnson, James Grace, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, David R. Stewart, Carlos A. Coronado-Molina, Fred H. Sklar
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 1893-1902
In the face of accelerating climate change and rising sea levels, quantifying surface elevation change dynamics in coastal wetlands can help to develop a more complete understanding of the implications of sea-level rise on coastal wetland stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach has been...
Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM): A tiered approach for habitat treatment assessment across private lands incentive programs
Anna M. Matthews, Rebekah J. Rylander, Daniel Bunting, Michael C. Duniway, James J. Giocomo, Anna C. Knight, Adriana Leiva, Robert M. Perez, Kourtney Stonehouse, Derek Wiley, Don Wilhelm
2024, Conference Paper, America's Grasslands Conference: Reconnecting America's Grasslands
Introduction The decline of North American grasslands is a topic of increasing interest as agencies and organizations work to address subsequent declines in wildlife species, including grassland birds (Rosenberg et al. 2019), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) (Gedir et al. 2015), and other grassland-dependent taxa. In response to grassland habitat loss, conservation...
Mapping stream and floodplain geomorphometry with the Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool
Kristina G. Hopkins, Labeeb Ahmed, Peter R. Claggett, Samuel Lamont, Marina J. Metes, Gregory E. Noe
2024, Journal of the American Water Resources Assocation (60) 480-498
Broad-scale mapping of stream channel and floodplain geomorphic metrics is critical to improve the understanding of geomorphic change, biogeochemical processes, riverine habitat quality, and opportunities for management intervention. The Floodplain and Channel Evaluation Tool (FACET) was developed to provide an open-source tool for automated processing of digital elevation models (DEMs)...
Critical considerations for communicating environmental DNA science
Eric D. Stein, Christopher L. Jerde, Elizabeth Allan, Adam Sepulveda, Cathryn Abbott, Melinda R. Baerwald, John Darling, Kelly D Goodwin, Rachel Meyer, Molly Timmers, Peter Thielen
2024, Environmental DNA (6)
The economic and methodological efficiencies of environmental DNA (eDNA) based survey approaches provide an unprecedented opportunity to assess and monitor aquatic environments. However, instances of inadequate communication from the scientific community about confidence levels, knowledge gaps, reliability, and appropriate parameters of eDNA-based methods have...
MODFLOW as a configurable multi-model hydrologic simulator
Christian D. Langevin, Joseph D. Hughes, Alden M. Provost, Martijn J. Russcher, Sorab Panday
2024, Groundwater (61) 111-123
MODFLOW 6 is the latest in a line of six “core” versions of MODFLOW released by the U.S. Geological Survey. The MODFLOW 6 architecture supports incorporation of additional hydrologic processes, in addition to groundwater flow, and allows interaction between processes. The architecture supports multiple model...
Effects of feeding and habitat on resting metabolic rates of the Pacific walrus
Karyn D. Rode, Joan Rocabert, Alicia Borque-Espinosa, Diana Ferrero-Fernandez, Andreas Fahlman
2024, Marine Mammal Science (40) 184-195
Arctic marine mammals live in a rapidly changing environment due to the amplified effects of global warming. Pacific walruses (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) have responded to declines in Arctic sea-ice extent by increasingly hauling out on land farther from their benthic foraging habitat. Energy models can be useful for better understanding...
Wind River Subbasin Restoration Annual Report of USGS Activities January 2021 through December 2022
Ian Jezorek
2024, Report
We sampled juvenile wild Steelhead Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in headwater streams of the Wind River, WA, to characterize population attributes and investigate life-history metrics, particularly migratory patterns, and early life-stage survival. We used passive integrated transponder (PIT) tagging and a series of instream PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTISs) to track juveniles...
Scenario planning and multispecies occupancy models reveal positive avian responses to restoration of afforested woodlands
Caleb Powell Roberts, Jeffrey W. Doser, Lauren L. Berry, Allison Fowler, Percival M. Marshall, Christopher Middaugh, Karen Rowe, Jessica M. Schmit, Michael Shaw, Kenneth Wilson
2024, Restoration Ecology (32)
Scenario planning is a powerful approach for assessing restoration outcomes under alternative futures. However, developing plausible scenarios remains daunting in complex systems like ecological communities. Here, we used Bayesian multispecies occupancy modeling to develop scenarios to assess woodland restoration outcomes in afforested communities in...
Benefits and cautions in data assimilation strategies: An example of modeling groundwater recharge
Allen M. Shapiro, Frederick Day-Lewis
2024, Groundwater (62) 405-416
Assimilating recent observations improves model outcomes for real-time assessments of groundwater processes. This is demonstrated in estimating time-varying recharge to a shallow fractured-rock aquifer in response to precipitation. Results from estimating the time-varying water-table altitude (h) and recharge, and their error covariances, are compared for forecasting, filtering, and fixed-lag smoothing...
Genetic analysis of federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow subpopulations in the Greater Everglades, USA
Caitlin Beaver, Thomas Virzi, Margaret Hunter
2024, Conservation Genetics (25) 101-116
The federally endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima mirabilis) is endemic to the Greater Everglades ecosystem in southern Florida, inhabiting fragmented marl prairies in six individual subpopulations. The subspecies is threatened by loss of breeding habitat from fire and water management. Genetic information is severely limited for the subspecies...
Comparing wetland elevation change using a surface elevation table, digital level, and total station
James C. Lynch, Neil Winn, Katya Kovalenko, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 2071-2079
The surface elevation table (SET) approach and two survey instruments, a digital level (DL) and a total station (TS), were used to evaluate elevation change at a 1-ha, micro-tidal, back-barrier salt marsh at Assateague Island National Seashore (Berlin, MD, USA) from 2016 to 2022. SET data...
Fluvial delivery and wave resuspension of sediment in a sheltered, urbanized Pacific Northwest estuary
Daniel J. Nowacki, Andrew W. Stevens, Renee K. Takesue, Eric E. Grossman
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 32-47
The sequence and timing of sediment delivery and redistribution in coastal systems is important for shoreline stability, ecosystem services, and remediation planning. In temperate estuaries, understanding the role of fluvial sediment delivery and dispersal relative to wind and wave remobilization processes is particularly important to address the fate of contaminants,...
Banking on strong rural livelihoods and the sustainable use of natural capital in post-conflict Colombia
Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicoweiz, Ziga Malek, Peter H. Verburg, Renato Vargas, Sean Goodwin, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Josue Avila Murillo
2024, Environment, Development, and Sustainability (26) 26517-26538
In post-conflict Colombia, the government has prioritized resettlement of displaced people through development of strong rural livelihoods and the sustainable use of natural capital. In this paper, we considered government proposals for expanding payment for ecosystem services (PES) and sustainable silvopastoral systems, and private-sector investment in habitat banking. We coupled...
Paleomagnetism and geochronology of the Gwalior Sills, Bundelkhand craton, Northern India Block: New constraints on Greater India assembly
Joseph Meert, Scott W. Miller, Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Manoj K. Pandit, Paul A. Mueller, Anup K. Sinha, George Kamenov, Samuel Kwafo, Ananya Singha
2024, Gondwana Research (125) 29-48
We present an updated paleomagnetic pole from the Gwalior Sills in the Bundelkhand craton within the Northern India Block (NIB). Geochronological results from baddeleyite grains from one of the sills yielded an age of 1719 ± 7 Ma which together with a previously published age indicates the emplacement of sills between 1712 and...
Managing conflict between nesting common terns and herring gulls
Jeffery D. Sullivan, Amy O’Donnell, Lauren Marie-Therese Lescure, Andrew Rapp, Carl C. Callahan, Peter C. McGowan, Tim Carney, Diann Prosser
2024, Wildlife Research (51)
Context: Due to the frequent depredation of eggs and chicks by herring gulls (Larus argentatus), numerous approaches to reduce their impact on tern colonies have been tested by wildlife managers. Previous studies have shown that the use of overhead lines presents a promising method to prevent gull nesting in tern colonies,...
Integrating remote sensing with ground-based observations to quantify the effects of an extreme freeze event on black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) at the landscape scale
Melinda Martinez, Michael Osland, James B. Grace, Nicholas Enwright, Camille Stagg, Simen Kaalstad, Gordon Anderson, Anna R. Armitage, Just Cebrian, Karen L. Cummins, Richard Day, Donna J. Devlin, Kenneth H. Dunton, Laura Feher, Alejandro Fierro-Cabo, Elena A. Flores, Andrew From, A. Randall Hughes, David A. Kaplan, Amy K. Langston, Christopher J. Miller, Charles E. Proffitt, Nathan G.F. Reaver, Colt R. Sanspree, Caitlin M. Snyder, Andrew P. Stetter, Kathleen M. Swanson, Jamie E. Thompson, Carlos Zamora-Tovar
2024, Ecosystems (27)
Climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Quantifying ecosystem responses to extreme events at the landscape scale is critical for understanding and responding to climate-driven change but is constrained by limited data availability. Here, we integrated remote sensing with ground-based observations...
Native fish abundance and habitat selection changes in the presence of nonnative piscivores
Christopher J. Jenney, Javan Mathias Bauder, Scott A. Bonar
2024, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (33)
We compared abundance patterns and developed resource selection models for imperilled native southwestern (USA) fishes in the presence and absence of Black Bass (Micropterus spp.) to evaluate how fishes alter their selection for habitats when sympatric with a nonnative piscivore. We collected data using snorkel surveys and in-stream habitat sampling in...
A survey of non-USGS continuous streamflow gaging networks in the Pacific Northwest
Kendra E. Kaiser, Kyle W. Blasch, Mcallister Hall
2024, Journal of the American Water Resource Association (JAWRA) (59) 1211-1218
Extensive streamflow data sources exist beyond the largest streamflow data provider in the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey. We developed and distributed a survey to about 300 individuals and organizations that collect streamflow data across the Pacific Northwest (Idaho, Oregon, Washington). We received 100 responses with 56% of those...
Estimating lentic recreational fisheries catch and effort across the United States
Matthew Robertson, Stephen R. Midway, Holly Susan Embke, Anna Kaz, Mitchel Lang, Craig P. Paukert, Nicholas A. Sievert, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Abigail Lynch
2024, Fisheries Management and Ecology (31)
Recreational fisheries represent a socially, ecologically, and economically significant component of global fisheries. The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat) database includes inland recreational fisheries survey data across the United States to facilitate large-scale analyses. However, because survey methods differ, a statistical method...
Spatial distribution and variability of lobe facies in a large sand-rich submarine fan system: Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group, Namibia
Nora Maria Nieminski, Tim McHargue, Jared T. Gooley, Andrea Fildani, Donald R Lowe
2024, Sedimentology (71) 81-115
The deposits of the upper Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group of central-western Namibia represent a large siliciclastic deep-water depositional system that showcases the intricacies of facies and architectural relationships from bed-scale to fan-system-scale. The lack of vegetation in the Namib Desert and regular east–west repetition of folded stratigraphy (reflecting ca 50% tectonic shortening) provides...
