Marginal value analysis reveals shifting importance of migration habitat for waterfowl under a changing climate
Ryan C. Burner, Benjamin Donald Golas, Kevin J. Aagaard, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2023, Ecology and Evolution (13)
Migratory waterfowl are an important resource for consumptive and non-consumptive users alike and provide tremendous economic value in North America. These birds rely on a complex matrix of public and private land for forage and roosting during migration and wintering periods, and substantial conservation...
Creating oriented and precisely sectioned mineral mounts for in situ chemical analyses—An example using olivine for diffusion chronometry studies
Kendra J. Lynn, Liliana G. Desmither
2023, Techniques and Methods 5-D5
Diffusion chronometry is now a widely applied methodology for determining the rates and timescales of geologic processes from the chemical zoning observed in minerals. Despite the popularity of the method, several challenges still remain during its application, including: (1) the random sectioning of minerals either in thin sections or grain...
Effects of landcover on mesocarnivore density and detection rate along an urban to rural gradient
Leah McTigue, Brett Alexander DeGregorio
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (48)
Human development has major implications for wildlife populations. Urban-exploiter species can benefit from human subsidized resources, whereas urban-avoider species can vanish from wildlife communities in highly developed areas. Therefore, understanding how the density of different species varies in response to landcover changes associated with human development can provide important insight...
Alternative lifestyles: A plague persistence hypothesis
Jeffrey Wimsatt, David A. Eads, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Several explanations have been posited for how the plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) reemerges during sylvatic cycles within the same foci over many years, and often without direct evidence of host die-offs. One prevalent view is that transmission-optimized Y. pestis bacteria, exhibiting epizootic/enzootic behavior, almost continually replicate and survive through repeated, linked, host-centered...
Response of lake metabolism to catchment inputs inferred using high-frequency lake and stream data from across the northern hemisphere
Jessica R. Corman, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jennifer Klug, Denise A Bruesewitz, Elvira de Eyto, Marcus Klaus, Lesley B. Knoll, James A. Rusak, Michael J. Vanni, Maria Belen Alfonso, Rocio Luz Fernandez, Huaxia Yao, Kari Austnes, Raoul-Marie Couture, Heleen A. de Wit, Jan Karlsson, Alo Laas
2023, Limnology & Oceanography (68) 2617-2631
In lakes, the rates of gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R), and net ecosystem production (NEP) are often controlled by resource availability. Herein, we explore how catchment vs. within lake predictors of metabolism compare using data from 16 lakes spanning 39°N to 64°N,...
Horizon scanning for potentially invasive non-native marine species to inform trans-boundary conservation management – Example of the northern Gulf of Mexico
Kathryn A. O’Shaughnessy, Lorenzo Vilizzi, Wesley M. Daniel, Monica E. McGarrity, Hanna Bauer, Leslie Hartman, Stephen Geiger, Paul Sammarco, Steve Kolian, Scott Porter, Jessica Dutton, Matthew R. McClure, Michael Norberg, Alex Fogg, Timothy J. Lyons, Justin Procopio, Lauren Bantista, Wayne A Bennett, Mary Wicksten, David B. Reeves, Julie Lively, Elizabeth M. Robinson, Jorge Brenner, Joseph Goy, Ashley Morgan-Olvera, Anna L.E. Yunnie, Gordon H. Copp
2023, Aquatic Invasions (18) 415-453
Prevention of non-native species introductions and establishment is essential to avoid adverse impacts of invasive species in marine environments. To identify potential new invasive species and inform non-native species management options for the northern Gulf of Mexico (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas), 138 marine species were risk screened...
Georectified polygon database of ground-mounted large-scale solar photovoltaic sites in the United States
K. Sydny Fujita, Zachary H. Ancona, Louisa Kramer, Mary Straka, Tandie E. Gautreau, Dana Robson, Christopher P. Garrity, Ben Hoen, James E. Diffendorfer
2023, Scientific Data (10)
Over 4,400 large-scale solar photovoltaic (LSPV) facilities operate in the United States as of December 2021, representing more than 60 gigawatts of electric energy capacity. Of these, over 3,900 are ground-mounted LSPV facilities with capacities of 1 MWdc or more. Ground mounted LSPV installations continue increasing, with more than 400...
Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) 6-year summary, Naval Outlying Landing Field, Imperial Beach, southwestern San Diego County, California, 2014–20
Suellen Lynn, Shannon M. Mendia, Barbara E. Kus
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1055
Executive SummaryFrom 2014 to 2020, a Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) banding station (station) was operated at the Naval Outlying Landing Field (NOLF), Imperial Beach, in southwestern San Diego County, California. The station was established as part of a long-term monitoring program of Neotropical migratory bird populations on NOLF...
Development and application of a risk assessment tool for aquatic invasive species in the international Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin, United States and Canada
Amanda H. Bell, Leon R. Katona, Nicole M. Vellequette
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1070
The Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin covers 70,000 square kilometers in mid-central North America and is contained within the Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba in Canada and the State of Minnesota in the United States. This basin contains natural wilderness areas, national parks, and thousands of lakes that bring outdoor...
Extinction risk modeling predicts range-wide differences of climate change impact on Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis)
Yudi Li, David Wilson, Ralph Grundel, Steven Campbell, Joe Knight, Jim Perry, Jessica J. Hellmann
2023, PLoS ONE (18)
The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis, or Kbb), a federally endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in decline due to habitat loss, can be further threatened by climate change. Evaluating how climate shapes the population trend of the Kbb can help in the...
Empirical estimation of habitat suitability for rare plant restoration in an era of ongoing climatic shifts
Paul Krushelnycky, Lucas Fortini, Jeffrey Mallinson, Jesse Felts
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Accurate estimates of current and future habitat suitability are needed for species that may require assistance in tracking a shifting climate. Standard species distribution models (SDMs) based on occurrence data are the most common approach for evaluating climatic suitability, but these may suffer from inaccuracies stemming...
Movement dynamics influence population monitoring and adaptive harvest management strategies in migratory birds
Jay Alan VonBank, Daniel P. Collins, Kristen S. Ellis, J. Patrick Donnelly, Jeffrey M. Knetter
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (48)
Informed population monitoring efforts are essential for sound management of harvested species, and adaptive strategies that provide detailed information to monitoring efforts often require data inputs from complimentary sources. Movement ecology information is seldom directly incorporated into population monitoring or adaptive...
Development of the North Carolina stormwater-treatment decision-support system by using the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Gregory E. Granato, Charles C. Stillwell, J. Curtis Weaver, Andrew H. McDaniel, Brian S. Lipscomb, Susan C. Jones, Ryan M. Mullins
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5113
The Federal Highway Administration and State departments of transportation nationwide need an efficient method to assess potential adverse effects of highway stormwater runoff on receiving waters to optimize stormwater-treatment decisions. To this end, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the North Carolina Department of...
Sea ice concentration decline in an important Adélie penguin molt area
Annie E. Schmidt, Amélie Lescroël, Simeon Lisovski, Megan Elrod, Dennis Jongsomjit, Katie Dugger, Grant Ballard
2023, PNAS (120)
Unlike in many polar regions, the spatial extent and duration of the sea ice season have increased in the Ross Sea sector of the Southern Ocean during the satellite era. Simultaneously, populations of Adélie penguins, a sea ice obligate, have been stable or increasing in the region. Relationships between...
Geologic carbon management options for the North Atlantic-Appalachian Region
Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Steven M. Cahan, C. Ozgen Karacan, Kevin D. Kroeger, Matthew D. Merrill
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3038
IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) North Atlantic-Appalachian Region is developing the regionwide capacity to provide timely science support for decision-makers attempting to enhance carbon removal, sequestration, and emissions mitigation to meet national atmospheric carbon reduction goals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that in 2021, the fourteen States and...
Thirty years of regional groundwater-quality trend studies in the United States: Major findings and lessons learned
Bruce D. Lindsey, Brandon J. Fleming, Phillip J. Goodling, Amanda Nicole May
2023, Journal of Hydrology (627)
Changes in groundwater quality have been evaluated for more than 2,200 wells in 25 Principal Aquifers in the United States based on repeated decadal sampling (once every 10 years) from 1988 to 2021. The purpose of this study is to identify contaminants with changing concentrations, the...
Two centuries of southwest Iceland annually-resolved marine temperature reconstructed from Arctica islandica shells
Madelyn Jean Mette, Carin Andersson, Bernd Schöne, Fabian Bonitz, Vilde Melvik, Tamara Trofimova, Martin Miles
2023, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (294)
Iceland's exposure to major ocean current pathways of the central North Atlantic makes it a useful location for developing long-term proxy records of past marine climate. Such records provide more detailed understanding of the full range of past variability which is necessary to improve...
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Maine’s economy
Dan Walters
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3036
IntroductionInland flooding, sea-level rise, and pollution pose challenges for Maine’s infrastructure and natural resources. A highly detailed, three-dimensional (3D) model of the Earth’s surface is allowing the State of Maine to address these challenges in an increasingly comprehensive and timely manner. In addition, highly accurate elevation data facilitate land development,...
Reach-scale associations between introduced Brook Trout and juvenile and stream-resident Bull Trout in Idaho
Nicholas S. Voss, Brett J. Bowersox, Michael Quist
2023, Transactions of American Fisheries Society (152) 835-848
ObjectiveNative Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus populations can be influenced by a variety of stressors operating at multiple spatial scales, making the relative importance of biotic versus abiotic controls difficult to discern at small scales where monitoring and management typically occur. Nonnative Brook Trout S. fontinalis were widely introduced throughout western North...
Multi-year tracing of spatial and temporal dynamics of post-fire aeolian sediment transport using rare earth elements provide insights into grassland management
William Burger, Robert Van Pelt, David E. Grandstaff, Guan Wang, Temuulen T. Sankey, Junran Li, Joel B. Sankey, Sujith Ravi
2023, JGR Earth Surface (128)
Aeolian sediment transport occurs as a function of, and with feedback to ecosystem changes and disturbances. Many desert grasslands are undergoing rapid changes in vegetation, including the encroachment of woody plants, which alters fire regimes and in turn can change the spatial and temporal patterns of aeolian sediment transport. We...
Probabilistic source classification of large tephra producing eruptions using supervised machine learning: An example from the Alaska-Aleutian arc
Jordan Edward Lubbers, Matthew W. Loewen, Kristi L. Wallace, Michelle L. Coombs, Jason A. Addison
2023, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (24)
Alaska contains over 130 volcanoes and volcanic fields that have been active within the last 2 million years. Of these, roughly 90 have erupted during the Holocene, with many characterized by at least one large explosive eruption. These large tephra-producing eruptions (LTPEs) generate orders of magnitude more...
CreelCat, a Catalog of United States Inland Creel and Angler Survey Data
Nicholas Allen Sievert, Abigail Lynch, Holly Susan Embke, Ashley Robertson, Mitchel Lang, Anna Kaz, Matthew Robertson, Steve R. Midway, Lyndsie S. Wszola, Craig P. Paukert
2023, Scientific Data (10)
The United States Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat) contains a national compilation of angler and creel survey data collected by natural resource management agencies across the United States (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico). These surveys are used to help inform the management of...
Growth of coal mining operations in the Elk River Valley (Canada) linked to increasing solute transport of Se, NO3-, and SO42- into the transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir (USA-Canada)
Meryl Biesiot Storb, Ashley Morgan Bussell, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Robert M. Hirsch, Travis S. Schmidt
2023, Environmental Science and Technology (57) 17465-17480
Koocanusa Reservoir (KOC) is a waterbody that spans the United States (U.S.) and Canadian border. Increasing concentrations of total selenium (Se), nitrate + nitrite (NO3–, nitrite is insignificant or not present), and sulfate (SO42–) in KOC and downstream in the Kootenai River (Kootenay River in Canada)...
High-resolution geophysical and geochronological analysis of a relict shoreface deposit offshore central California: Implications for slip rate along the Hosgri fault
Jared W. Kluesner, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stuart P. Nishenko, Elisa Medri, Alex Simms, Gary Greene, Harrison J. Gray, Shannon A. Mahan, Jason Scott Padgett, Emma Taylor Krolczyk, Daniel S. Brothers, James E. Conrad
2023, Geosphere (19) 1788-1811
The Cross-Hosgri slope is a bathymetric lineament that crosses the main strand of the Hosgri fault offshore Point Estero, central California. Recently collected chirp seismic reflection profiles and sediment cores provide the basis for a reassessment of Cross-Hosgri slope origin and the lateral...
Foundations of modeling resilience of tidal saline wetlands to sea-level rise along the U.S. Pacific Coast
Bruce G. Marcot, Karen M. Thorne, Joel A. Carr, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2023, Landscape Ecology (38) 3061-3080
Context Tidal saline wetlands (TSWs) are highly threatened from climate-change effects of sea-level rise. Studies of TSWs along the East Coast U.S. and elsewhere suggest significant likely losses over coming decades but needed are analytic tools gauged to Pacific Coast U.S. wetlands.Objectives We predict the impacts of sea-level rise (SLR)...
