Identifying overwintering habitat of silver and bighead carp in the lower Mississippi River: Implications for harvesting and population reduction
K. Jack Killgore, David Ruppel, Faucheux. Nick, W. Todd Slack, Amanda J.M. Oliver, Josey Lee Ridgway, Jesse Robert Fischer, Robin D. Calfee
2026, Technical Note ERDC/EL TN-26-1
A total of 41 sites along a 58 mi reach of the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) were surveyed during winter 2022 for invasive carp aggregation.* Sites consisting of scallops closest to the dike-vegetated bank interface with deeper, slow-moving water and consistent access back to the main channel were preferred. Carp...
Lake Ontario August gillnet survey and lake trout assessment, 2025
Brian O’Malley, Krystal Dixon, Olivia Margaret Mitchinson, Scott David Stahl, Brian Weidel, Michael J Connerton, Jessica A Goretzke
2026, Report
Lake Ontario Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) rehabilitation has been assessed with fishery dependent and independent surveys to evaluate program benchmarks and compare observations with management objectives since 1983. These surveys provide information on the abundance, strain composition, and performance of stocked Lake Trout, as well as information on levels of...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2025
Mark Richard Dufour, Francesco Guzzo, Corbin David Hilling, Branden Eric Kohler, Richard Kraus, Richard Cole Oldham, James J. Roberts, Joseph Schmitt
2026, Lake Erie Biological Station Annual Report 2025
Lake Erie has the most populated watershed of all the Great Lakes and has undergone dramatic anthropogenic changes. Since the 1800s, overexploitation of fish populations, habitat destruction, non-native species proliferation, industrial contamination, and changes in nutrient loading have impacted the fish community including declines in or extirpation of many native...
Exploring management options for moose at their southern range limits considering growing disease risk
Jennifer A. Grauer, Jacqueline L. Frair, Krysten L. Schuler, David W. Kramer, Angela K. Fuller
2026, Ecological Solutions and Evidence (7)
1. Populations of cold-adapted species are increasingly vulnerable along their low-latitude range limits due to shifting environmental conditions, biotic interactions, and anthropogenic pressures. Managing these populations is particularly challenging because of complex ecological dynamics, conflicting stakeholder interests, and decision-making under uncertainty. 2. We explored population growth (λ) of moose (Alces...
Ecovoltaic solar energy development creates novel microclimate, temperature, and soil moisture patterns under solar panels in a warm desert
Juan Pinos, Seth M. Munson, Claire C Karban, Matthew D. Petrie
2026, Ecological Processes (15)
Background:As solar energy development expands in desert regions, new installation practices and solar technologies seek to balance ecosystem conservation and energy generation (ecovoltaics). The Gemini Solar Project, a large ecovoltaic facility located in the northeastern Mojave Desert, employed low impact installation methods to reduce disturbance of the desert ecosystem within...
Extrinsic factors similarly affect nest survival of a threatened shorebird in natural and human-created habitats
Elsa M. Forsberg, Rose J. Swift, Larkin A. Powell, Joel G. Jorgensen, Mark P. Vrtiska
2026, Avian Conservation and Ecology (21)
Knowledge of factors that influence nest survival can inform effective conservation management for imperiled avian species. Habitat availability and quality are common priorities of conservation efforts, and climate and interspecific associations can also affect survival rates. In the lower Platte River system of eastern Nebraska, USA, Piping...
Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA) Research Programme—A transdisciplinary approach to address the challenge of distributed volcanism in an urban environment
Jan M. Lindsay, Elaine R. Smid, Natalie Balfour, Natalia I. Deligne, Angela Doherty, Annahlise Hall, Tracy Howe, Gill Jolly, Graham Leonard, Kate Lewis, Craig A. Miller, Ema Nersezova, Ross Roberts, Richard E. Smith, Thomas Stolberger, Kelvin Tapuke, Thomas M. Wilson
2026, Professional Paper 1890-B
The Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA) Research Programme was launched in 2008 to address the challenges associated with monogenetic volcanism in an urban setting and to enhance volcanic risk management in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a multi-agency, increasingly transdisciplinary (defined here as research that...
Bottom trawl assessment of Lake Ontario’s benthic prey fish community, 2025
Brian O’Malley, Olivia Margaret Mitchinson, Scott David Stahl, Brian Weidel, Jessica A Goretzke, Lucus Sunderland
2026, Report
Since 1978, bottom trawl surveys in Lake Ontario have provided information on the status and trends of the benthic prey fish community related to Fish Community Objectives that include understanding prey fish population dynamics and community diversity. Beginning in 2015, the benthic prey fish survey expanded from only U.S. sites...
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2025
Nicole M. Watson, Isabel I. Field, Jared Thomas Myers, Daniel L. Yule
2026, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey has conducted annual trawl surveys across Lake Superior since 1978 that describe trends in fish species occurrence and relative abundance to support fisheries science and management. In 2025, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 72 nearshore stations in...
Creating usable science: A Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center study
Kinzie Cherrel Bailey, Jia Hu, Alison M. Meadow, Stephanie Anne McAfee, Alexandder Gershunov, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, Daniel Cayan, Beth Rose MIddleton Manning, Elizabeth Fard, Geln MacDonald, Gregg M. Garfin, Michelle Baker, Nancy Huntly, Richard F. Ambroase
2026, Earth Stewardship (3)
The southwestern United States consists of diverse ecosystems that are experiencing increasing pressures from rising temperatures, increasing aridity, and sea level rise. To prepare this region for future uncertainty, there is a need for strong partnerships among researchers and societal partners. The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center...
Multiscale resource selection for a reintroduced elk population
Braiden A. Quinlan, Brett R. Jesmer, Jacalyn P. Rosenberger, W. Mark Ford, Michael J. Cherry
2026, Animals (16)
Patterns of resource selection are driven by the decision-making processes of animals occurring at multiple scales from where to establish a home range (i.e., second order selection) to which resource patches to use within the home range (i.e., third order selection). Elk (Cervus canadensis) were reintroduced to southwestern Virginia,...
Investigating the influence of climate and volcanic surface aging on fluvial erosion: A case study of Réunion Island, Indian Ocean
Daniel James O'hara, Loraine Gourbet, Laurent Michon, Vincent Famin
2026, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (51)
Precipitation is one of the dominant drivers of landscape erosion and evolution; however, the effects of typical rainfall compared with less frequent, high-magnitude precipitation events on erosion remain unclear. Volcanic islands are ideal locations to study such phenomena due to their simple geometries, nontectonic construction, and strong spatiotemporal rainfall gradients....
Challenges and opportunities for national-scale projections of future coastal landscape change
Erika E. Lentz, Davina L. Passeri, Sara L. Zeigler, Kate White, Thomas Wahl, Amanda D. Stoltz, Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Shubhra Misra, Trevor D. Meckley, Ben Hamlington, Neil K. Ganju, Amanda E. Cravens, Joel Carr, Christine A. Buckel
2026, Earth's Future (14)
Local to global scale projections of future coastal landscape change are essential to improve land and resource management decisions that aim to prepare for and reduce risk exposure to impending coastal hazards. However, the availability of actionable knowledge is often limited due to the complexity of drivers...
Organic matter integration, overprinting, and the relative fraction of optically active organic carbon in a human-impacted watershed
Robert S. Eckard, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Brian A. Pellerin, Robert G. Spencer, Rachel Y. Dyda, Peter J. Hernes
2026, Frontiers in Earth Science (8)
Rivers continually integrate terrestrial organic matter (OM) into their waters, in a process that transfers 1.9 Pg C yr–1 as the primary linkage between oceanic and terrestrial carbon cycles. Yet rivers are not simple, conservative OM integrators. Patchy local land uses (wetlands, bogs, agriculture) release OM that can disproportionately alter river...
Impact of fog on California waterfowl flight activity: Historical and modern insights into effects post-Clean Air Act
Fiona McDuie, Cory T. Overton, Austen A. Lorenz, J. Patrick Donnelly, Desmond A. Mackell, Elliott Matchett, Mark J. Petrie, Michael L. Casazza
2026, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (33) 6095-6104
Since establishment of the Clean Air Act in the early 1970s, occurrence of the dense ‘Tule Fog’, historically prevalent throughout winter across California’s Central Valley, has substantially reduced. At the same time, waterfowl body masses have generally increased. Flight is metabolically expensive, and fog visually and navigationally impairs birds in...
Evaluating ichthyoplankton sampling as an effective method for early detection of novel aquatic invasive species in large bays of western Lake Erie
Jessica L. Bowser, Haley N VanScoyoc, Robin L. DeBruyne, Andrew S. Briggs
2026, Management of Biological Invasions (17) 307-323
Early detection and monitoring are critically important for effective management of invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Specifically, Lake Erie is at high-risk for aquatic invasive species introductions due to many factors such as shoreline development, warm water temperatures, and transoceanic shipping traffic. Rare species captured are often used...
Widespread occurrence of Magnéli phases in wildland-urban interface fire ashes
Mohammed Baalousha, Morgane Desmau, Roberto A. Colina-Ruiz, Antonio Lanzirotti, Sheryl A. Singerling, Michelle A. Stern, Charles N. Alpers
2026, Environmental Science and Technology. (60) 10982-10990
The increasing activity of wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires has raised concerns regarding the potential environmental and human health impacts of residual ash remaining after burning. In this study, we investigated the concentration and speciation of titanium in WUI fire ash. Total titanium concentrations in WUI fire ash ranged from 0.53...
Erosion and transport of sediments in watersheds of southwest Puerto Rico determined from strontium isotopes and mixing models
Aaron O. Reyes, Renee K. Takesue, Curt D. Storlazzi
2026, Applied Geochemistry (203)
Sediment outflow from streams to coastal regions can adversely affect water quality and the health of ecosystems including Puerto Rico's southwestern carbonate platform with shallow marine communities. Knowledge of sediment provenance and erosional areas would aid effective restoration to reduce excessive sedimentation. Strontium (Sr) isotopic ratios (87Sr/86Sr)...
Data-collection methods for total dissolved gases monitoring, Youghiogheny River at Dam Outlet Tunnel near Confluence, Pennsylvania
Allan J. Ruddy, Emily E. Woodward, Gerolamo C. Casile
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1068
Supersaturation of total dissolved gases (TDG) can potentially occur in the tailrace water at the Youghiogheny River at dam outlet tunnel near Confluence, Pennsylvania (U.S. Geological Survey [USGS] streamgaging and monitoring station 03077100). The USGS, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, established methods to collect and report...
The state of the giant sequoias: Losses, risks, and opportunities
Kristen L. Shive, Brianna Baker, David Nicolas Bertil Soderberg, Linnea J. Hardlund, Marc D. Meyer, P. Bryant Nagelson, Sarah M. Bisbing, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson
2026, Fire Ecology (22)
BackgroundGiant sequoias, an iconic tree found only in a narrow band along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada of California, are facing unprecedented threats. Despite being adapted to fire and resistant to both drought and insect attack, the species has exhibited signs of vulnerability to these stressors...
DNA retention in sea lamprey digestive tracts: Insights from controlled feeding experiments
Conor O'Kane, Nicholas S. Johnson, Kim T. Scribner, Jeannette Kanefsky, Weiming Li, Tyler Bruning, John D. Robinson
2026, Environmental DNA (8)
The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a non-native species in the Laurentian Great Lakes, has significantly impacted native fish communities and commercial fisheries, requiring population suppression efforts. While traditional control methods such as lampricides and barriers have reduced sea lamprey population abundance, questions remain regarding sea lamprey dietary composition given the...
Seasonal environmental conditions and river morphology shape summer phytoplankton communities
Kathi Jo Jankowski, James H. Larson, John T. Manier
2026, Freshwater Biology (71)
1. Phytoplankton form the base of large river food webs but there are limited studies on the nature and drivers of communities over longer time scales. Further, climate change is projected to favor taxa associated with harmful algal blooms, but our knowledge of the timing, locations, and drivers of cyanobacteria...
Relative activity of three bat species Impacted by white-nose syndrome on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park
Megan L. Moran, Amber S. Litterer, Jesse L. De La Cruz, Sabrina M. Deeley, W. Mark Ford
2026, Northeastern Naturalist (33) 104-127
White-nose syndrome, a disease caused by the fungal-pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has caused drastic reductions in populations of several North American hibernating species of bats including Myotis lucifugus (Little Brown Bat), Myotis septentrionalis (Northern Long-eared Bat), and Perimyotis subflavus (Tricolored Bat). Recent data indicate that populations of Little Brown Bats may be stabilizing and/or increasing...
Advances in volcano monitoring driven by the first decade of Sentinel-1 observations
Juliet Biggs, Nantheera Anantrasirichai, Kyle R. Anderson, Valerie Cayol, Edna W. Dualeh, Quentin Dumont, Susanna K. Ebmeier, Jean Luc Froger, Matthew Gaddes, Federico Galleto, Pablo J. Gonzales, Ian Hamling, Andrew Hooper, Milan Lazecky, Camila Novoa Lizama, Matthew E. Pritchard
2026, Remote Sensing of Environment (339)
Sentinel-1 has transformed how satellite radar data (SAR and InSAR) are used in volcanology. The systematic, long-term archive and open-access policy means that volcano observatories and research organisations have invested in integrating Sentinel-1 datasets into their monitoring systems. We identify 233 high priority volcanoes and estimate that Sentinel-1 data has...
Seasonal and annual survival of acoustically tagged juvenile Gulf sturgeon in the Apalachicola River, Florida, USA
Russell T. Wilson, Adam J. Kaeser, Stephen W. Parker, Brian J. Irwin, Martin J. Hamel, Adam G. Fox
2026, Endangered Species Research (59)
Gulf sturgeon Acipenser desotoi are anadromous fish that have undergone major population declines throughout their range. Habitat alteration and previous overharvest in commercial fisheries led to the species being listed as ‘threatened’ under the US Endangered Species Act in 1991. An accurate understanding of population dynamics, including survival, is...