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...
Contribution of arsenic and uranium in private wells and community water systems to urinary biomarkers in US adults: The Strong Heart Study and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Maya Spaur, Ronald A. Glabonjat, Kathrin Schilling, Melissa A. Lombard, Galvez-Fernandez, Wil Lieberman-Cribbin, Carolyn Hayek, Vesna Ilievski, Olgica Balac, Chiugo Izuchukwu, Kevin Patterson, Anirban Basu, Benjamin Bostick, Qixuan Chen, Tiffany Sanchez, Ana Navas-Acien, Anne E Nigra
2024, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (34) 77-89
BackgroundChronic exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) and uranium (U) in the United States (US) occurs from unregulated private wells and federally regulated community water systems (CWSs). The contribution of water to total exposure is assumed to be low when water As and U concentrations are low.ObjectiveWe...
Variation in flight characteristics associated with entry by eagles into rotor-swept zones of wind turbines
Brian W. Rolek, Melissa A. Braham, Tricia A. Miller, Adam E. Duerr, Todd E. Katzner, Christopher J W McClure
2024, Ibis (166) 308-314
Automated curtailment of wind turbines can reduce fatality rates of wildlife, but the resulting increased number of curtailments can reduce power generation. Tailoring curtailment criteria for each individual turbine could reduce unnecessary curtailment, yet it is unknown whether the risk to wildlife varies among turbines....
Global status of non-native Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides, Centrachidae) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu, Centrarchidae): Disparate views as beloved sportfish and feared invader
James M. Long, L. Seguy
2024, Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture (32) 81-98
Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides, LMB) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu, SMB) are among the most highly invasive species across the globe, but are simultaneously among the most highly sought-after game fish. To explain these disparate views, data on invasive status and angling participation of these two species were compiled at...
Low-complexity floodplain inundation model performs well for ecological and management applications in a large river ecosystem
Molly Van Appledorn, Nathan R. De Jager, Jason J. Rohweder
2024, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (60) 9-26
Flooding is a dominant physical process that drives the form and function of river-floodplain ecosystems. Efficiently characterizing flooding dynamics can be challenging, especially over geographically broad areas or at spatial and temporal scales relevant for ecosystem management activities. Here, we empirically evaluated a low-complexity geospatial...
The usability gap in water resources open data and actionable science initiatives
Melissa A. Kenney, Michael D. Gerst, Emily Read
2024, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (60) 1-8
The open data movement represents a major advancement for informed water management. Data that are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable—or FAIR—are now prerequisite to responsible data stewardship. In contrast to FAIR, accessibility and usability case studies and guidelines designed around human access and understanding are lacking...
Twenty-year record of salt marsh elevation dynamics in response to sea-level rise and storm-driven barrier island geomorphic processes: Fire Island, New York, USA
Charles T. Roman, James C. Lynch, Donald Cahoon
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 1903-1917
Twenty years of surface elevation table and marker horizon monitoring at three sites along the Fire Island (New York, USA) barrier island indicates that rates of marsh surface elevation change (Watch Hill, 4.4 mm year−1; Hospital Point, 3.5 mm year−1; Great Gun, − 0.3 mm year−1) were lower than the rate of monthly mean...
Genetic erosion in an endangered desert fish during a multidecadal megadrought despite long-term supportive breeding
Megan J. Osborne, Thomas P. Archdeacon, Charles Yackulic, Robert K. Dudley, Guilherme Caeiro-Dias, Thomas F. Turner
2024, Conservation Biology (38)
Human water use combined with a recent megadrought have reduced river and stream flow through the Southwestern United States and led to periodic drying of formerly perennial river segments. Reductions in snowmelt runoff and increased extent of drying collectively threaten short-lived, obligate aquatic species, including the endangered Rio Grande silvery...
High-resolution thermal imagery reveals how interactions between crown structure and genetics shape plant temperature
Peter J. Olsoy, Andrii Zaiats, Donna M. Delparte, Matthew J. Germino, Bryce Richardson, Spencer Roop, Anna V. Roser, Jennifer S. Forbey, Megan E Cattau, Sven Buerki, Keith Reinhardt, Trevor Caughlin
2024, Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation (10) 106-120
Understanding interactions between environmental stress and genetic variation is crucial to predict the adaptive capacity of species to climate change. Leaf temperature is both a driver and a responsive indicator of plant physiological response to thermal stress, and methods to monitor it are needed. Foliar temperatures vary across leaf to...
Sensitivity of North American grassland birds to weather and climate variability
Scott Maresh Nelson, Christine Ribic, Neal D. Niemuth, Jacy Bernath-Plaisted, Benjamin Zuckerberg
2024, Conservation Biology (38)
Grassland birds in North America have experienced sharp declines over the last 60 years driven by the widespread loss and degradation of grassland habitats. In recent decades, modern climate change has amplified these pressures. Climate change is occurring more rapidly in grasslands relative to some other ecosystems, and exposure to...
Considering pollinators' ecosystem services in the remediation and restoration of contaminated lands: Overview of research and its gaps
James Meldrum, Diane L. Larson, Timothy B. Hoelzle, Jo Ellen Hinck
2024, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (20) 322-336
The concept of ecosystem services provides a useful framework for understanding how people are affected by changes to the natural environment, such as when a contaminant is introduced (e.g., oil spills, hazardous substance releases) or, conversely, when contaminated lands are remediated and restored. Pollination...
