Lateral edifice collapse and volcanic debris avalanches: A post-1980 Mount St. Helens perspective
Lee Siebert, Mark E. Reid
2023, Bulletin of Volcanology (85)
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was instrumental in advancing understanding of how volcanoes work. Lateral edifice collapses and the generation of volcanic debris avalanches were not widely recognized prior to that eruption, making assessment of their hazards and risks challenging. The proliferation of studies...
Interactions among rainfall, fire, forbs and non-native grasses predict occupancy dynamics for the endangered Pacific pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus) in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem
Cheryl S. Brehme, Sarah Kay Thomsen, Devin T. Adsit-Morris, Robert N. Fisher
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (47)
It is important to understand species-habitat relationships to implement effective adaptive management for rare species. However, it can be challenging to assess habitat associations and their relationships to abiotic stressors in dynamic habitats without the insights that can be gained from long-term monitoring. We...
Back-azimuth estimation of air-to-ground coupled infrasound from transverse coherence minimization
Jordan Bishop, Matthew M. Haney, David Fee, Robin Matoza, Kathleen McKee, John J. Lyons
2023, The Seismic Record (3) 249-258
We present the transverse coherence minimization method (TCM)—an approach to estimate the back-azimuth of infrasound signals that are recorded on an infrasound microphone and a colocated three-component seismometer. Accurate back-azimuth information is important for a variety of monitoring efforts, but it is currently only available for infrasound arrays and for...
Differing field methods and site conditions lead to varying bias in suspended sediment concentrations in the Lower Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers
Jennifer C. Murphy, Lindsey Ayn Schafer, Scott Mize
2023, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
At sites that have been sampled for decades, changes in field and laboratory methods happen over time as instrumentation and protocols improve. Here, we compare the influence of depth- and point-integrated sampling on total, fine (< 0.0625 mm), and coarse (≥ 0.0625 mm) suspended sediment (SS) concentrations in the Lower...
Wherever I may roam—Human activity alters movements of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) across two continents
Steffen Mumme, Arthur D. Middleton, Paolo Ciucci, Johannes De Groeve, Andrea Corradini, Federico Ossi, Paul Atwood, Niko Balkenhol, Eric K. Cole, Lucie Debeffe, Sarah R. Dewey, Claude Fischer, Justin Gude, Marco Heurich, Mark A. Hurley, Anders Jarnemo, Matthew J. Kauffman, Alain Licoppe, Emiel van Loon, Doug McWhirter, Tony Mong, Luca Pedrotti, Nicolas Morellet, Atle Mysterud, Wibke Peters, Kelly Proffitt, Sonia Saïd, Johannes Signer, Peter Sunde, Martin Stary, Francesca Cagnacci
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 5788-5801
Human activity and associated landscape modifications alter the movements of animals with consequences for populations and ecosystems worldwide. Species performing long-distance movements are thought to be particularly sensitive to human impact. Despite the increasing anthropogenic pressure, it remains challenging to understand and predict animals' responses to human activity. Here we...
Mangrove habitat persistence and carbon vulnerability associated with increased nutrient loading and sea-level rise at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge (Sanibel Island, Florida, USA)
Ken Krauss, Jeremy R. Conrad, Jamie A. Duberstein, Eric Ward, Judith Z. Drexler, Kevin J. Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Brian W. Benscoter, Haley Miller, Natalie T. Faron, Sergio Merino, Andrew From, Elitsa I. Peneva-Reed, Zhiliang Zhu
2023, Report
J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge (DDNWR) is located on Sanibel Island along the southwestern coast of Florida, USA. Sanibel Island is heavily developed, but DDNWR provides protection for a large mangrove area that supports biodiversity and recreational opportunity. However, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) eutrophication attributed to agriculture discharge...
Lake Ontario April prey fish survey results and Alewife assessment, 2023
Brian Weidel, Jessica Goretzke, Jeremy Holden, Olivia Margaret Mitchinson, Scott P. Minihkeim
2023, Report
The April bottom trawl survey and Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus population assessment provides science to inform Lake Ontario fisheries management. The 2023 survey included 215 trawls in the main lake and embayments, and sampled depths from 6.5 to 252 m (21-833 ft). The survey captured 1,012,178 fish from 32 species with...
Spatially and temporally variable production pathways support the Lake Erie central basin food web
Joshua M. Tellier, Tomas O. Höök, Richard Kraus, Paris D. Collingsworth
2023, Journal of Great Lakes Research (49) 1137-1149
In large freshwater systems, the dominant production pathways supporting food webs are often spatiotemporally variable. We used stable isotope analysis and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models to investigate spatial and interannual variation in the dominant production pathways supporting fish consumers within the central basin of Lake Erie. We examined C and N stable isotope ratios...
Cruise Report for NOAA Ship Nancy Foster Cruise NF-22-06
Randy Clark, Amanda Demopoulos
2023, DWH MDBC Cruise Report CR-23-03
Between 9 August and 1 September, 2022, the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic (MDBC) Habitat Assessment and Evaluation (HAE) and Mapping, Ground-truthing, and Predictive Habitat Modeling (MGM) projects implemented remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives, multibeam surveys, and conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) operations at deep-sea sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico....
Petrology and geochronology of Cretaceous–Eocene plutonic rocks in northeastern Washington, USA: Crustal thickening, slab rollback, and origin of the Challis episode
Jeffery H. Tepper, Matthew W. Loewen, Liam M. Caulfield, Peter C. Davidson, Kaitlin L. Ruthenberg, Samuel WF Blakely, Duncan FJF Knudsen, Devin Black, Bruce K Nelson, Yemane Asmerom
2023, GSA Bulletin (136) 725-740
Cretaceous through Eocene plutonic rocks in northeastern Washington, USA, document a 60 m.y. history of crustal thickening and subsequent collapse and extension in response to two terrane-accretion events. Rocks emplaced 113–53 Ma have increasing La/Yb ratios reflecting orogenic plateau development after arrival of...
Characterizing changes in the 1-percent annual exceedance probability streamflows for climate-change scenarios in the Housatonic River watershed of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York
Scott A. Olson
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5090
Current methods for determining the 1-percent annual exceedance probability (AEP) for a streamflow assume stationarity (the assumption that the statistical distribution of data from past observations does not contain trends and will continue unchanged in the future). This assumption allows the 1-percent AEP to be determined based on historical streamflow...
Testing the hierarchy of predictability in grassland restoration across a gradient of environmental severity
Diana Bertuol-Garcia, Emma Ladouceur, Lars A. Brudvig, Daniel C. Laughlin, Seth M. Munson, Michael F. Curran, Kirk W. Davies, Lauren N. Svejcar, Nancy Shackelford
2023, Ecological Applications (33)
Ecological restoration is critical for recovering degraded ecosystems but is challenged by variable success and low predictability. Understanding which outcomes are more predictable and less variable following restoration can improve restoration effectiveness. Recent theory asserts that the predictability of outcomes would follow an order from most to least predictable from...
Assessing the effects of chloride deicer applications on groundwater near the Siskiyou Pass, southwestern Oregon, July 2018–February 2021
Stephen B. Gingerich, Daniel R. Wise, Adam J. Stonewall
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5107
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), evaluated the effects of cold-weather chloride deicers (road deicing chemicals) on groundwater quality, with a focus on chloride, near the Siskiyou Pass in southwestern Oregon. The study covered the period during July 2018 through February 2021. Between...
Coastal vegetation responses to large dam removal on the Elwha River
Laura G. Perry, Patrick B. Shafroth, Samuel J. Alfieri, Ian M. Miller
2023, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (11)
Introduction: Large dam removals provide a restoration opportunity for shrinking coastal wetland habitats. Dam removal can increase sediment delivery to sediment-starved river deltas and estuaries by restoring natural sediment transport and mobilizing reservoir-impounded sediment. However, rapid mobilization of massive quantities of sediment stored behind large dams also constitutes a major ecological...
Biocrusts indicators of livestock grazing effects on soil stability in sagebrush steppe: A case study from a long-term experiment in the northern Great Basin
Stella M. Copeland, Lea A. Condon, Roger Rosentreter, Jesse Miller, Maya Kahn-Abrams
2023, Rangeland Ecology & Management (91) 82-86
Biocrusts are sensitive to changes in livestock grazing intensity in arid rangelands and may be useful indicators of ecosystem functions, particularly soil properties like soil stability, which may suggest the potential for soil erosion. We compared biocrust community composition and surface soil stability in a big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) steppe...
Identifying the relative importance of water-budget information needed to quantify how land-cover change affects recharge, Hawaiian Islands
Adam G. Johnson, Alan Mair, Delwyn S. Oki
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5022
This report describes a sensitivity analysis of a water-budget model that was completed to identify the most important types of hydrologic information needed to reduce the uncertainty of model recharge estimates. The sensitivity of model recharge estimates for the Hawaiian Islands of Oʻahu and Maui was analyzed for seven model...
Groundwater-flow model of the Treasure Valley, southwestern Idaho, 1986–2015
Stephen A. Hundt, James R. Bartolino
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5096
Most of the population of the Treasure Valley and the surrounding area of southwestern Idaho and easternmost Oregon depends on groundwater for domestic supply, either from domestic or municipal-supply wells. Current and projected rapid population growth in the area has caused concern about the long-term sustainability of the groundwater resource....
Potentiometric surfaces (2013, 2015), groundwater quality (2010–15), and water-level changes (2011–13, 2013–15) in the Sparta-Memphis aquifer in Arkansas
Anna M. Nottmeier, Katherine J. Knierim, Phillip D. Hays
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5103
The Sparta-Memphis aquifer, present across much of eastern Arkansas, is the second most used groundwater resource in the State, with the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer being the primary groundwater resource. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Arkansas Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Division, Arkansas Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation...
A multifault earthquake threat for the Seattle metropolitan region revealed by mass tree mortality
Bryan Black, Jessie K. Pearl, Charlotte Pearson, Patrick T. Pringle, David C. Frank, Morgan T. Page, Brendan M. Buckley, Edward R. Cook, Grant L. Harley, Karen J. King, Jonathan F. Hughes, David J. Reynolds, Brian L. Sherrod
2023, Science Advances (9)
Compound earthquakes involving simultaneous ruptures along multiple faults often define a region’s upper threshold of maximum magnitude. Yet, the potential for linked faulting remains poorly understood given the infrequency of these events in the historic era. Geological records provide longer perspectives, although temporal uncertainties are too broad to clearly pinpoint...
Flood-inundation maps created using a synthetic rating curve for a 10-mile reach of the Sabinal River and a 7-mile reach of the West Sabinal River near Utopia, Texas, 2021
Namjeong Choi
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5001
In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District and the Texas Water Development Board, studied floods to produce a library of flood-inundation maps for the Sabinal River near Utopia, Texas. Digital flood-inundation maps were created for a 10-mile reach of...
Long-term water-quality constituent trends in the Little Arkansas River, south-central Kansas, 1995–2021
Mandy L. Stone, Brian J. Klager
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5102
The Equus Beds aquifer and Cheney Reservoir are primary sources for the city of Wichita’s current (2023) water supply. The Equus Beds aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) project was developed by the city of Wichita in the early 1990s to meet future water demands using the Little Arkansas River as...
Multiphysics modelling in PyLith: Poroelasticity
Robert L. Walker, Matthew G. Knepley, Brad T. Aagaard, Charles A. Williams
2023, Geophysical Journal International (235) 2442-2475
PyLith, a community, open-source code for modelling quasi-static and dynamic crustal deformation with an emphasis on earthquake faulting, has recently been updated with a flexible multiphysics implementation. We demonstrate the versatility of the multiphysics implementation by extending the code to model fully coupled continuum poromechanics. We verify the newly incorporated...
Vegetation change over 140 years in a sagebrush landscape of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, New Mexico, USA
Kara Fox, Ellis Q. Margolis, Manuel K. Lopez, Ella Kasten, J.T. Stevens
2023, Journal of Vegetation Science (34)
QuestionsBig sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystems across the western United States have experienced many changes in ecosystem dynamics and vegetation composition over the last century due to livestock grazing, non-native species, and changing climate and fire regimes. We conducted the first systematic investigation of historical vegetation composition and...
Lessons learned in applying decision analysis to natural resource management for high stakes issues surrounded by uncertainty
Kelly Filer Robinson, Mark Richard Dufour, Jason L. Fischer, Seth J. Herbst, Michael L. Jones, Lucas R. Nathan, Tammy J. Newcomb
2023, Decision Analysis (20) 326-342
Management agencies are tasked with difficult decisions for conservation and management of natural resources. These decisions are difficult because of ecological and social uncertainties, the potential for multiple decision makers from multiple jurisdictions, and the need to account for the diverse values of stakeholders. Decision analysis provides a framework for...
Crop water use dynamics over arid and semi-arid croplands in the lower Colorado River Basin
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Pamela L. Nagler, Kamel Didan, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Christian Opp, Stefan Siebert
2023, European Journal of Remote Sensing (56)
Numerous studies have evaluated the application of Remote Sensing (RS) techniques for mapping actual evapotranspiration (ETa) using Vegetation-Index-based (VI-based) and surface energy balance methods (SEB). SEB models computationally require a large effort for application. VI-based methods are fast and easy to apply and could therefore potentially be applied...
