Sharing FAIR monitoring program data improves discoverability and reuse
Jennifer M. Bayer, Rebecca A Scully, Erin K. Dlabola, Jennifer L Courtwright, Christine L Hirsch, David P Hockman-Wert, Scott W. Miller, Brett B. Roper, W. Carl Saunders, Marcia N Snyder
2023, Enviornmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
Data resulting from environmental monitoring programs are valuable assets for natural resource managers, decision-makers, and researchers. These data are often collected to inform specific reporting needs or decisions with a specific timeframe. While program-oriented data and related publications are effective for meeting program goals, sharing well-documented...
Supplying ecosystem services on US rangelands
David D. Briske, Steven R. Archer, Emily Burchfield, William Burnidge, Justin D. Derner, Hannah Gosnell, Jerry Hatfield, Clare E. Kazanski, Mona Khalil, Tyler J. Lark, Pamela L. Nagler, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathan F. Sayre, Kimberly R. Stackhouse-Lawson
2023, Nature Sustainability (6) 1524-1532
Rangelands comprise 40% of the conterminous United States and they supply essential ecosystem services to society. A scenario assessment was conducted to determine how accelerating biophysical and societal drivers may modify their future availability. Four scenarios emerged: two may maintain rural communities by sustaining the prevailing...
Phragmites management in high water: Cutting plants under water limits biomass production, carbohydrate storage, and rhizome viability
Spenser L. Widin, Wesley A. Bickford, Kurt P. Kowalski
2023, Wetlands Ecology and Management (31) 745-746
Invasion of Phragmites australis (common reed) in wetlands throughout North America, and particularly the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, poses significant ecological problems. The extended period of low Great Lakes water levels from 2000 to 2013 created conditions for large expansions of Phragmites in the Great Lakes coastal zone. The following...
On the origin and current distribution of the Oceania Snake-Eyed Skink (Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus) in the Hawaiian archipelago
Valentina Alvarez, Samuel R Fisher, Anthony J. Barley, Kevin Donmoyer, Mozes P. K. Blom, Robert C. Thomson, Robert N. Fisher
2023, Pacific Science (77) 87-101
Because of its extreme isolation and lack of historical connection to a mainland, the Hawaiian Archipelago is thought to have no native nonvolant terrestrial reptiles. Several squamate species have been introduced to the archipelago, likely starting with early Polynesian contact, and increasing as human traffic...
Positioning aquatic animals with acoustic transmitters
Robert J. Lennox, Kim Aarestrup, Josep Alos, Robert Arlinghaus, Eneko Aspillaga, Michael G. Bertram, Kim Birnie-Gauvin, Tomas Brodin, Steven J. Cooke, Lotte S. Dahlmo, Felicie Dhellemmes, Karl O. Gjelland, Gustav Hellstrom, Henry Hershey, Christopher Holbrook, Thomas Klefoth, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Christopher T. Monk, Cecilie Iden Nilsen, Ina Pauwels, Renanel Pickholtz, Marie Prchalova, Jan Reubens, Milan Říha, David Villegas-Rios, Knut Wiik Vollset, Samuel Westrelin, Henrik Baktoft
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 2514-2530
Geolocating aquatic animals with acoustic tags has been ongoing for decades, relying on the detection of acoustic signals at multiple receivers with known positions to calculate a 2D or 3D position, and ultimately recreate the path of an aquatic animal from detections at fixed stations.This method of underwater geolocation is...
Food web changes reflected in age-0 piscivore diets and growth
T. Yang, Christine M Mayer, Robin L. DeBruyne, Edward F. Roseman, Mark Richard Dufour, Eric J. Weimer
2023, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (32) 765-782
Lake Erie walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) recruitment fluctuates annually and depends partially on their diet and growth during their first year of life. In recent decades, age-0 walleye diet and growth may be responding to food web changes in western Lake Erie. To determine how age-0 walleye have responded to changes...
Mesocarnivores of western rangelands
Julie K. Young, Andrew R. Butler, Joseph D. Holbrook, Hila Shamon, Clint W. Boal
Lance B. McNew, David K. Dahlgren, Jeffrey L. Beck, editor(s)
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
There are 22 species of mesocarnivores (carnivores weighing < 15 kg) belonging to five families that live in rangelands of the western United States. Mesocarnivores are understudied relative to large carnivores but can have significant impacts on ecosystems and human dimensions. In this chapter, we review the current state of...
Waterfowl and wetland birds
Josh L. Vest, David A. Haukos, Neal D. Niemuth, Casey M. Setash, James H. Gammonley, James H. Devries, David K. Dahlgren
Lance B. McNew, David K. Dahlgren, Jeffrey L. Beck, editor(s)
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
The future of wetland bird habitat and populations is intrinsically connected with the conservation of rangelands in North America. Many rangeland watersheds are source drainage for some of the highest functioning extant wetlands. The Central and Pacific Flyways have significant overlap with available rangelands in western North America. Within these...
Sage-grouse
Jeffrey L. Beck, Thomas J Christiansen, Kirk W. Davies, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Adrian P. Monroe, David E. Naugle, Michael A Schroeder
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
In this chapter, we summarize the ecology and conservation issues affecting greater (Centrocercus urophasianus) and Gunnison (C. minimus) sage-grouse, iconic and obligate species of rangelands in the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome in western North America. Greater sage-grouse are noted for their ability to migrate, whereas Gunnison sage-grouse localize near leks year-round. Seasonal...
Manipulation of rangeland wildlife habitat
David A. Pyke, Chad S. Boyd
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation.
Rangeland manipulations have occurred for centuries. Those manipulations may have positive or negative effects on multiple wildlife species and their habitats. Some of these manipulations may result in landscape changes that fragment wildlife habitat and isolate populations. Habitat degradation and subsequent restoration may range from simple problems that are easy...
Amphibians and reptiles
David S. Pilliod, Todd Esque
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
Amphibians and reptiles are a diverse group of ectothermic vertebrates that occupy a variety of habitats in rangelands of North America, from wetlands to the driest deserts. These two classes of vertebrates are often referred to as herpetofauna and are studied under the field of herpetology. In U.S. rangelands, there...
North American wintering mallards infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza show few signs of altered local or migratory movements
Claire S. Teitelbaum, Nicholas Masto, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Allison Keever, Rebecca L. Poulson, Deborah Carter, Abigail Blake-Bradshaw, Corey Highway, Jamie Feddersen, Heath M. Hagy, Richard W. Gerhold, Bradley S. Cohen, Diann Prosser
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Avian influenza viruses pose a threat to wildlife and livestock health. The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds and poultry in North America in late 2021 was the first such outbreak since 2015 and the largest outbreak in North America to date. Despite its prominence and...
Giardia and Cryptosporidium in resident wildlife species in Arctic Alaska
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Lora Ballweber, David R. Sinnett, Todd C. Atwood, Anthony S. Fischbach, David Gustine, Kristy Pabilonia
2023, Food and Waterborne Parasitology (32)
Giardia and Cryptosporidium are zoonotic protozoan parasites that can infect humans and other taxa, including wildlife, often causing gastrointestinal illness. Both have been identified as One Health priorities in the Arctic, where climate change is expected to influence the distribution of many wildlife...
Finding a GEM: The Grassland Effectiveness Monitoring (GEM) protocol provides a tiered approach for habitat treatment assessment across private lands incentive programs
Rebekah J. Rylander, Anna M. Matthews, Daniel Bunting, Michael C. Duniway, James J. Giocomo, Anna C. Knight, Adriana Leiva, Robert M. Perez, Kourtney Stonehouse, Derek Wiley, Don Wilhelm
2023, Conference Paper, America's Grasslands Conference: Reconnecting America's Grasslands
The soil store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through different processes, depending on the use and management of the land. For the Maderas del Carmen and Ocampo natural protected areas, one of the main conservation goals is to preserve natural habitats, ensuring an ecological balance and making a sustainable. The...
2019 Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop: Satellite data to support natural resource management: A framework for aligning NASA products with land management agency needs
Matthew C. Reeves, E. Natasha Stavros, Nancy F. Glenn, Andy Hudak, Birgit Peterson, Amanda Armstrong, Everett Hinkley, Elizabeth Hoy, Jeff W. Atkins
2023, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-436
In 2019, about 103 participants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (Forest Service), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other federal, private, and academic entities attended the Forest Service–NASA Joint Applications Workshop. The objective of this workshop was to increase awareness and understanding of the capabilities...
Potential effects of climate change on Acipenser fulvescens (lake sturgeon)
Holly S. Embke, Catherine A. Nikiel, Marta P. Lyons
2023, Open-File Report 2021-1104-E
Acipenser fulvescens (Rafinesque, 1817; lake sturgeon) are the only sturgeon species native to the Great Lakes region and are threatened across most of their range. They are historically vulnerable because of overfishing and habitat fragmentation with the potential for climate change acting as an increasing stressor in the future. Lake...
A metasystem approach to designing environmental flows
Mathis L. Messager, Julian D. Olden, Jonathan Tonkin, Rachel Stubbington, Jane S. Rogosch, Michelle H. Busch, Chelsea J. Little, Annika W. Walters, Carla L. Atkinson, Margaret Shanafield, Songyan Yu, Kate Boersma, Dave Lytle, Richard H. Walker, Ryan M. Burrows, Thibault Datry
2023, BioScience (73) 643-662
Accelerating the design and implementation of environmental flows (e-flows) is essential to curb the rapid, ongoing loss of freshwater biodiversity and the benefits it provides to people. However, the effectiveness of e-flow programs may be limited by a singular focus on ensuring adequate flow conditions at local sites, which overlooks...
Predicting exotic annual grass abundance in rangelands of the western United States using various precipitation scenarios
Devendra Dahal, Stephen P. Boyte, Michael Oimoen
2023, Rangeland Ecology and Management (90) 221-230
Expansion of exotic annual grass (EAG), such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski), could cause irreversible changes to arid and semiarid rangeland ecosystems in the western United States. The distribution and abundance of EAG species are highly affected by weather variables such as temperature and precipitation. The study's goal is to...
Fluorine-rich mafic lower crust in the southern Rocky Mountains: The role of pre-enrichment in generating fluorine-rich silicic magmas and porphyry Mo deposits
Joshua Mark Rosera, Ryan Edward Frazer, Ryan D. Mills, Kristin Jacob, Sean P. Gaynor, Drew S. Coleman, G. Lang Farmer
2023, American Mineralogist (108) 1573-1596
Fluorine-rich granites and rhyolites occur throughout the southern Rocky Mountains, but the origin of F-enrichment has remained unclear. We test if F-enrichment could be inherited from ancient mafic lower crust by: (1) measuring amphibole compositions, including F and Cl contents, of lower crustal mafic granulite xenoliths from northern Colorado to...
Changes in chemical occurrence, concentration, and bioactivity in the Colorado River before and after replacement of the Moab, Utah wastewater treatment plant
William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley, Rebbecca Weissinger, Brett R. Blackwell, Jenna E. Cavallin, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Laura A. DeCicco, Julie Kinsey
2023, Science of the Total Environment (904)
Long-term (2010–19) water-quality monitoring on the Colorado River downstream from Moab Utah indicated the persistent presence of Bioactive Chemicals (BC), such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. This stream reach near Canyonlands National Park provides critical habitat for federally endangered species. The Moab wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfall discharges to the Colorado River and...
USGS installs 2022 high-water markers to provide flood information
Daniel W. Armstrong
2023, Newsletter
Historic flooding on June 12-13, 2022 occurred in the Gallatin, Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains of Montana and Wyoming, near Yellowstone National Park. The flooding was initiated by rainstorms that produced between 1-5 inches of rain on top of an above-average snowpack, causing the snow to melt faster and rush...
Constraints on the genesis of Au veins in interior Alaska: Evidence from geochronology and vein textures
Douglas C. Kreiner, William Thompson, Jonathan Saul Caine, Ashleigh Ball, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Paul O’Sullivan, Holly J. Stein
2023, Conference Paper, Proceedings of SGA 2023: Mineral resources in a changing world
The origin of Au-bearing, low sulfide quartz veins in the Pogo and Tibbs Creek regions of interior Alaska remain enigmatic. Intrusion-related Au and mesozonal orogenic vein models have both been proposed (Thompson and Newberry, 2000; Rhys et al., 2003; Goldfarb et al., 2022; Dilworth et al., 2007). To date, studies...
Induced seismicity and its impact on existing seismic hazard analysis
Charles Mueller, Allison Shumway
2023, Report
We develop a scheme for mapping changes in earthquake rates within a region in near-real-time. A specific goal of the work is to track recent changes in the rates of induced earthquakes in the central and eastern United States. We map rates in a time window of interest, map rates...
Estimating peak-flow quantiles for selected annual exceedance probabilities in Illinois
Thomas M. Over, Mackenzie K. Marti, Padraic S. O’Shea, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2023, Research Report FHWA-ICT-23-014
This report presents the methods, results, and applications of an updated flood-frequency study for the State of Illinois. This study, which uses data through September 2017, updates two previous studies that used data through 1999 and 2009, respectively. Flood-frequency estimates are used for a variety of land-use planning and infrastructure...
Interstate 15 wildlife crossing design considerations for focal wildlife species - Santa Ana-Palomar Mountains Linkage southern California
Trish Smith, Cheryl S. Brehme, Jill Carpenter, Nancy A. Frost, Megan Jennings, Barbara E. Kus, Scott Quinnell, Spring Straham, T. Winston Vickers
2023, Report
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), along with landowners including San Diego State University, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Western Riverside Regional Conservation Authority and Riverside County Flood Control District are developing wildlife crossing infrastructure projects along a 3-mile stretch of Interstate 15 (I-15)...
