Application of a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated mitogenesis assay in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) to augment wild fish health studies
Cheyenne R. Smith, Christopher A. Ottinger, Heather L. Walsh, Patricia M. Mazik, Vicki S. Blazer
2023, Fishes (8)
The utility of a functional immune assay for smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) lymphocyte mitogenesis was evaluated. Wild populations in the Potomac River have faced disease and mortality with immunosuppression from exposure to chemical contaminants a suspected component. However, a validated set of immune parameters to screen for immunosuppression in...
Algal amendment enhances biogenic methane production from coals of different thermal maturity
George A. Platt, Katherine J. Davis, Hannah D. Schweitzer, Heidi J. Smith, Matthew W. Fields, Elliott Barnhart, Robin Gerlach
2023, Frontiers in Microbiology (14)
The addition of small amounts of algal biomass to stimulate methane production in coal seams is a promising low carbon renewable coalbed methane enhancement technique. However, little is known about how the addition of algal biomass amendment affects methane production from coals of different thermal maturity. Here, we show...
Nest traits and major flooding events influence nest survival of Emperor Geese while regional environmental variation linked to climate does not
Jordan M. Thompson, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Bryan L. Daniels, Joel A. Schmutz, Benjamin S. Sedinger
2023, Ornithological Applications (125)
The reproductive ecology of geese that breed in the Arctic and subarctic is likely susceptible to the effects of climate change, which is projected to alter the environmental conditions of northern latitudes. Nest survival is an important component of productivity in geese; however, the effects of regional environmental conditions...
Wastewater reuse and predicted ecological risk posed by contaminant mixtures in Potomac River watershed streams
Kaycee E. Faunce, Larry B. Barber, Steffanie H. Keefe, Jeramy Roland Jasmann, Jennifer L. Krstolic
2023, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (59) 779-802
A wastewater model was applied to the Potomac River watershed to provide (i) a means to identify streams with a high likelihood of carrying elevated effluent-derived contaminants and (ii) risk assessments to aquatic life and drinking water. The model linked effluent discharges along stream networks, accumulated...
Assessing impaired benthic communities using sediment toxicity and contaminant concentrations from reference sites inside the Niagara River Area of Concern
Barry P. Baldigo, Scott D. George, Andrew Lenox, Mark Filipski, Brian T. Duffy
2023, Journal of Great Lakes Research (49) 463-478
Anthropogenically degraded benthic-macroinvertebrate communities (benthos) are one of seven beneficial use impairments (BUIs) in the Niagara River Area of Concern (AOC). Over the last 50 years, upgrades to waste-water treatment, industry closures, and sediment remediations reduced contaminant levels throughout the system. Improvements...
Evaluating brook trout egg and alevin survival at different temperatures in simulated karst environments with marl sedimentation
John. Davidson, Clayton D Raines, Curtis Crouse, CHristopher Goodchild, Brandon J. Keplinger
2023, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (10) 27-35
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) have been extirpated from many karst-geology streams in West Virginia; however, the causes are not fully understood. Specifically, the impact of calcareous precipitate (marl), which is common in hard-water environments, has not been evaluated as an im- pediment to juvenile survival. Accordingly, two...
Three-dimensional geologic map the southeastern Gabbs Valley geothermal area, Nevada
Drew L. Siler, Jeffrey B. Witter, Jason W Craig, Tait E. Earney, William D. Schermerhorn, Dominique Fournier, James E. Faulds, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Jared R. Peacock
2023, Scientific Investigations Map 3498
This three-dimensional (3D) geologic map displays the subsurface geology in the upper ~4 kilometers of the Earth’s crust in the southeastern Gabbs Valley geothermal area of west-central Nevada. The 3D map was constructed by integrating the results from detailed geologic mapping, 3D gravity inversion modeling, and potential-field-geophysical studies. This effort...
Terrestrial invertebrate diversity and occurrence in restored hardwood forest floodplains, Indiana, United States, June–August 2016
Janice L. Albers, Mark L. Wildhaber, Matthew A. Struckhoff, Daniel J. Westrich, Nicholas S. Green, Barry C. Poulton, Michael J. Hooper
2023, Data Report 1168
This report provides a summary of terrestrial invertebrates collected at old field, mature, and restored hardwood forest floodplain sites in northeast Indiana. Invertebrate populations were sampled at selected sites using walking butterfly transects, pitfall-enhanced Malaise invertebrate traps (PEMITs), and sweep nets. We identified a total of 19 taxonomic groups of...
Food caching by a solitary large carnivore reveals importance of intermediate-sized prey
Maximilian L. Allen, L. Mark Elbroch, Javan Mathias Bauder, Heiko U. Wittmer
2023, Journal of Mammalogy (104) 457-165
Pumas (Puma concolor) are solitary large carnivores that exhibit high energetic investments while hunting prey that often take multiple days to consume. Therefore, pumas should behave in a way to maximize their energetic gains, including using caching, which is a behavior used by many mammal species to preserve and store...
Mercury accumulation potential of aquatic plant species in West Dongting Lake, China
Dong Peng, Mingzhu Chen, Xinyue Su, Chenchen Liu, Zhehao Zhang, Beth Middleton, Ting Lei
2023, Environmental Pollution (324)
West Dongting Lake is a protected wetland with the potential for high levels of mercury release via wastewater and deposition from industry and agriculture during the last decade. To find out the ability of various plant species to accumulate mercury pollutants from soil and water, nine sites were studied in...
Investigating hydrologic alteration in the Pearl and Pascagoula River basins using rule-based model trees
Victor L. Roland II, Elena Crowley-Ornelas, Kirk D. Rodgers
2023, Environmental Software and Modelling (163)
Anthropogenic hydrologic alteration threatens the health of riverine ecosystems. Machine learning algorithms that employ the use of model trees to predict hydrologic alteration are underrepresented in related literature. This study assesses hydrologic alteration in the Pearl and Pascagoula River basins using modeled...
DNA virome composition of two sympatric wild felids, bobcat (Lynx rufus) and puma (Puma concolor) in Sonora, Mexico
Natalie Payne, Leigh Combrink, Simona Kraberger, Rafaela S. Fontenele, Kara Schmidlin, Ivonne Cassaigne, Megan K. La Peyre, Arvind Varsani, Koenraad Van Doorslaer
2023, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (11)
With viruses often having devastating effects on wildlife population fitness and wild mammals serving as pathogen reservoirs for potentially zoonotic diseases, determining the viral diversity present in wild mammals is both a conservation and One Health priority. Additionally, transmission from more abundant hosts could increase the extinction risk of...
Increased salinity decreases annual gross primary productivity at a Northern California brackish tidal marsh
Sarah Russell, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Ellen J Goodrich-Stuart, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Frank Anderson, Patty Oikawa, Sara Knox
2023, Environmental Research Letters (18)
Tidal marshes sequester 11.4–87.0 Tg C yr−1 globally, but climate change impacts can threaten the carbon capture potential of these ecosystems. Tidal marshes occur across a wide range of salinity, with brackish marshes (0.5–18 ppt (parts per thousand)) dominating global tidal marsh extents. A diverse mix of freshwater-...
A meta-analysis of the stony coral tissue loss disease microbiome finds key bacteria in unaffected and lesion tissue in diseased colonies
Stephanie M. Rosales, Lindsay K. Huebner, James S. Evans, Amy Apprill, Andew C. Baker, Anthony J. Bellantuono, Marilyn E. Brandt, Abigail S. Clark, Javier del Campo, Caroline E. Dennison, Katherine R. Eaton, Naomi E. Huntley, Christina A. Kellogg, Monica Medina, Julie L. Meyer, Erinn M. Muller, Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty, Jennifer L. Salerno, W. Bane Schill, Erin N. Shilling, Julia Marie Stewart, Joshua D. Voss
2023, ISME Communications
Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) has been causing significant whole colony mortality on reefs in Florida and the Caribbean. The cause of SCTLD remains unknown, with the limited concurrence of SCTLD-associated bacteria among studies. We conducted a meta-analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene datasets generated...
2022 drought in New England
Dee-Ann E. McCarthy, James M. LeNoir, Pamela J. Lombard
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5016
Introduction During April through September 2022, much of New England experienced a short but extreme hydrologic drought that was similar to the drought of 2020. By August 2022, Providence, Rhode Island, was declared a Federal disaster area, and New London and Windham counties in Connecticut were declared natural disaster areas. Mandatory...
Movement ecology of diploid and triploid grass carp in a large reservoir and upstream tributaries
Tyler Michael Hessler, Duane Chapman, Craig Paukert, Jeff C. Jolley, Michael E. Byrne
2023, PLoS ONE (18)
Grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, is an herbivorous fish originally brought to North America from Asia in 1963 to control nuisance aquatic vegetation. Since their arrival, detrimental alterations to aquatic ecosystems have sometimes occurred in waterways where they were initially stocked and into which they have escaped. The...
Hydrologic effects of possible changes in water-supply withdrawals from, and effluent recharge to, the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Winslow Township, Camden County, New Jersey
Glen B. Carleton, Daryll A. Pope
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5002
Winslow Township and the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority (CCMUA) developed a plan to shut down the Winslow sewage-treatment facility and associated effluent infiltration facility and transfer the effluent to the CCMUA sewage-treatment facility on the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey. Winslow Township reduced groundwater withdrawals from the Kirkwood-Cohansey...
Status of water-level altitudes and long-term and short-term water-level changes in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2022
Jason K. Ramage, Christopher L. Braun
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5007
Since the early 1900s, groundwater withdrawn from the primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers—has been an important source of water in the greater Houston area, Texas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City...
Geologic energy storage
Marc L. Buursink, Steven T. Anderson, Sean T. Brennan, Erick R. Burns, Philip A. Freeman, Joao S. Gallotti, Celeste D. Lohr, Matthew D. Merrill, Eric A. Morrissey, Michelle R. Plampin, Peter D. Warwick
2023, Fact Sheet 2022-3082
Introduction As the United States transitions away from fossil fuels, its economy will rely on more renewable energy. Because current renewable energy sources sometimes produce variable power supplies, it is important to store energy for use when power supply drops below power demand. Battery storage is one method to store power....
South San Francisco Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project—A synthesis of Phase-1 mercury studies
Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Darell Slotton, Josh T. Ackerman, Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, Bruce E. Jaffe, Amy C. Foxgrover, Fernanda Achete, Mick van der Wegen
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5113
The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project (SBSPRP) encompasses over 6,000 hectares of former salt production ponds along the south edge of the San Francisco Bay and represents the largest wetland restoration effort on the west coast of North America. A series of studies associated with Phase 1 (2010–2018) restoration...
Aquifer storage change, 2018–2021, in the Big Chino Subbasin, Yavapai County, Arizona
Jeffrey R. Kennedy
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5117
This report updates groundwater-storage and groundwater-level trends presented in U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report 2019–5060, in the Big Chino Subbasin, Yavapai County, Arizona. This earlier geophysical investigation of groundwater-storage change in the Big Chino Subbasin was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of...
Preventing and controlling nonnative species invasions to bend the curve of global freshwater biodiversity loss
J. Robert Britton, Abigail Lynch, Helge Bardal, Stephanie J. Bradbeer, Julie A. Coetzee, Neil E. Coughlan, Tatenda Dalu, Elena Tricarico, Belinda Gallardo, Mark Lintermans, Frances Lucy, Chunlong Liu, Julian D. Olden, Rajeev Raghavan, Eleri Pritchard
2023, Environmental Reviews (31) 310-326
The Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity recognizes that addressing nonnative species is one of six principal actions needed to bend the curve in freshwater biodiversity loss. This is because introduction rates of nonnative species continue to accelerate globally and where these species develop invasive populations, they...
Linking seed size and number to trait syndromes in trees
Michal Bogdziewicz, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuña, Robert A. Andrus, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Daniel Brveiller, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, Sergio Donoso Calderon, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hao Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit Courbaud, Andrea Cutini, Thomas Curt, Adrian Das, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpiere, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Laurent Dormont, William Farfan-Rios, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzer, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Valentin Journé, Thomas Kitzberger, Johannes M.H. Knops, Georges Kunstler, Richard Kobe, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Marell, Eliot J.B. McIntire, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Kyotaro Noguchi, Michio Oguro, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podgórski, John Poulsen, Tong Qiu, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Pavel Šamonil, Jan Holik, C. Lane Scher, Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Mitsue Shibata, Shubhi Sharma, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Jacob N. Straub, I-Fang Sun, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Thomas T. Veblen, Boyd Wright, S. Joseph Wright, Thomas G. Whitham, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalna Zywiec, James S. Clark
2023, Global Ecology and Biogeography (32) 683-694
AimOur understanding of the mechanisms that maintain forest diversity under changing climate can benefit from knowledge about traits that are closely linked to fitness. We tested whether the link between traits and seed number and seed size is consistent with two hypotheses, termed the leaf economics spectrum...
ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 3, 2022
Md Obaidul Haque, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Md Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Fatima Tuz Zafrin Tuli, Jerad L. Shaw, Alex Denevan, Shannon Franks, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Kurt Thome, Ed Kaita, Julia Barsi, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1013
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val Team continually...
Hydrologic modeling and river corridor applications of HY_Features concepts
David L. Blodgett, J. Michael Johnson, Andrew R. Bock, Jessica Z. LeRoy, Martin R Wernimont
2023, Report
The WaterML2: Part 3 - Surface Hydrology Features (HY_Features) Conceptual Model was published by OGC in 2018. This report documents the use of HY_Features concepts in support of two key tasks: (1) local to continental hydrologic modeling; and (2) referencing river corridor data to hydrographic networks. The presented use...
