Towards a better future for biodiversity and people: Modelling Nature Futures
H. Kim, G.D. Peterson, W.W. Cheung, S. Ferrier, R. Alkemade, A. Arneth, Jan J. Kuiper, S. Okayasu, L.M. Pereira, L.A. Acosta, R. Chaplin-Kramer, E. den Belder, T.D. Eddy, J. C. Johnson, S. Karlsson-Viinkhuyzen, M.T.J. Kok, P. Leadley, D. Leclère, C. Lundquist, C. Rondini, R.J. Scholes, M.A. Schoolenberg, Y. Shin, E. Stehfest, F. Stephenson, P. Visconti, D. van Vuuren, C.C.C. Wabnitz, J.J. Alava, I. Cuadros-Casanova, K.K. Davies, M.A. Gasalla, G. Halouani, M. Harfoot, S. Hashimoto, T. Hickler, T. Hirsch, G. Kolomytsev, Brian W. Miller, H. Ohashi, M.G. Palomo, A. Popp, R.P. Remme, O. Saito, U.R. Sumalia, S. Willcock, H.M. Pereira
2023, Global Environmental Change (82)
The Nature Futures Framework (NFF) is a heuristic tool for co-creating positive futures for nature and people. It seeks to open up a diversity of futures through mainly three value perspectives on nature – Nature for Nature, Nature for Society, and Nature as Culture. This paper...
Increased aridity is associated with stronger tradeoffs in ponderosa pine vital functions
Angela Gonzalez, Ian S. Pearse, Miranda D. Redmond
2023, Ecology (104)
Trees must allocate resources to core functions like growth, defense, and reproduction. These allocation patterns have profound effects on forest health, yet little is known about how core functions trade off over time, and even less is known about how a changing climate will impact...
Dynamic population models with temporal preferential sampling to infer phenology
Michael Schwob, Mevin B. Hooten, Travis Mcdevitt-Galles
2023, Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics (28) 774-791
To study population dynamics, ecologists and wildlife biologists typically use relative abundance data, which may be subject to temporal preferential sampling. Temporal preferential sampling occurs when the times at which observations are made and the latent process of interest are conditionally dependent. To account for preferential...
Attenuation of barium, strontium, cobalt, and nickel plumes formed during microbial iron-reduction in a crude-oil-contaminated aquifer
Katherine Jones, Brady Ziegler, Audrey Davis, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2023, ACS Earth and Space Chemistry (7) 1322-1336
We assessed the spatial distribution of 35 elements in aquifer sediments and groundwater of a crude-oil-contaminated aquifer and show evidence of the dissolution of barium (Ba), strontium (Sr), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni) during hydrocarbon oxidation coupled to historic microbial Fe(III)-reduction near the oil. Trace element plumes occur in the...
Snow surface roughness across spatio-temporal scales
Steven R. Fassnacht, Kazuyoshi Suzuki, Jessica E. Sanow, Graham A. Sexstone, Anna K.D. Pfohl, Molly E. Tedesche, Bradley M. Simms, Eric S. Thomas
2023, Water (15)
The snow surface is at the interface between the atmosphere and Earth. The surface of the snowpack changes due to its interaction with precipitation, wind, humidity, short- and long-wave radiation, underlying terrain characteristics, and land cover. These connections create a dynamic snow surface that impacts the energy and mass...
Captive breeding, husbandry, release, and translocation of sciurids
Sharon A Poessel
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5055
Captive breeding and release programs have been instrumental in preventing the extinction of some wildlife species, but these programs have been less successful for other species. Evaluating initial guidelines for procedures to start a captive breeding and release program for a particular species is an important first step in the...
The influence of large woody debris on post-wildfire debris flow sediment storage
Francis K. Rengers, Luke A. McGuire, Katherine R. Barnhart, Ann Youberg, Daniel Cadol, Alexander Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, Jason W. Kean
2023, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (23) 2075-2088
Debris flows transport large quantities of water and granular material, such as sediment and wood, and this mixture can have devastating impacts on life and infrastructure. The proportion of large woody debris (LWD) incorporated into debris flows can be enhanced in forested areas recently burned by wildfire, because wood recruitment...
Application of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to simulate the streamflows and water balance of the Red River Basin, 1980–2016
Victor L. Roland II
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5105
The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to develop and calibrate a streamflow and water balance model for the Red River Basin as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Census, a research effort focused on developing innovative water accounting...
MetaIPM: Placing integral projection models into a metapopulation framework
Richard A. Erickson, James P Peirce, Greg J. Sandland, Hannah Mann Thompson, Alison A. Coulter, David C. Glover
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 2243-2249
Metapopulation models include spatial population dynamics such as dispersion and migration between subpopulations. Integral projection models (IPMs) can include demographic rates as a function of size. Traditionally, metapopulation models do not included detailed populaiton models such as IPMs. In some situations, both local population dynamics (e.g. size-based survival) and...
Modeled predictions of human-associated and fecal-indicator bacteria concentrations and loadings in the Menomonee River, Wisconsin using in-situ optical sensors
Peter L. Lenaker, Steven R. Corsi, Laura A. DeCicco, Hayley T. Olds, Debra K. Dila, Mari Danz, Sandra L. McLellan, Troy D. Rutter
2023, PLoS ONE (18)
Human sewage contamination of waterways is a major issue in the United States and throughout the world. Models were developed for estimation of two human-associated fecal-indicator and three general fecal-indicator bacteria (HIB and FIB) using in situ optical field-sensor data for estimating concentrations and loads of...
Behavioral responses of terrestrial mammals to COVID-19 lockdowns
Marlee A. Tucker, Aafke M. Schipper, Tempe S. F. Adams, Nina Attias, Tal Avgar, Natarsha Lauren Babic, Kristin J. Barker, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Dominik M. Behr, Jerrold L. Belant, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Niels Blaum, J. David Blount, Dirk Bockmühl, Ricardo Luiz Pires Boulhosa, Michael B. Brown, Buuveibaatar Bayarbaatar, Francesca Cagnacci, Justin M. Calabrese, Rok Černe, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes, Aung Nyein Chan, Michael J. Chase, Yannick Chaval, Yvette Chenaux-Ibrahim, Seth Cherry, Duško Ćirović, Emrah Çoban, Eric K. Cole, Laura Conlee, Courtemanch, Gabriele Cozzi, Sarah C Davidson, Darren DeBloois, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Vickie DeNicola, Arnaud L.J. Desbiez, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, David Drake, Michael Egan, William F. Fagan, Morgan J. Farmer, Julian Fennessy, Shannon P. Finnegan, Christen H. Fleming, Bonnie Fournier, N. L. Fowler, Mariela G. Gantchoff, Alexandre Garnier, Benedikt Gehr, Chris Geremia, Jacob R. Goheen, Morgan L. Hauptfleisch, Mark Hebblewhite, Morten Heim, Anne G. Hertel, Marco Heurich, A.J. Mark Hewison, James Hodson, Nicholas Hoffman, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, Djuro Huber, Edmund J. Isaac, Karolina Janik, Miloš Ježek, Örjan Johansson, Neil R. Jordan, Petra Kaczensky, Douglas N. Kamaru, Matthew J. Kauffman, Todd M. Kautz, Roland Kays, Allicia P Kelly, Jonas Kindberg, Miha Krofel, Josip Kusak, Clayton T. Lamb, Tayler N LaSharr, Peter Leimgruber, Horst Leitner, Michael Lierz, John Linnell, Purevjav Lkhagvaja, Ryan A. Long, José Vicente López-Bao, Matthias-Claudio Loretto, Pascal Marchand, Hans Martin, Lindsay A. Martinez, Roy T. McBride Jr., Ashley A.D. McLaren, Erling Meisingset, Joerg Melzheimer, Evelyn Merrill, Arthur D. Middleton, Kevin Monteith, Seth A. Moore, Bram Van Moorter, Nicolas Morellet, Thomas Morrison, Rebekka Müller, Atle Mysterud, Michael T. Noonan, David O’Connor, Daniel Olson, Kirk A. Olson, Anna C. Ortega, Federico Ossi, Manuela Panzacchi, Robert Patchett, Brent R. Patterson, Rogerio Cunha de Paula, John Payne, Wibke Peters, Tyler R. Petroelje, Benjamin J. Pitcher, Boštjan Pokorny, Kim Poole, Hubert Potočnik, Marie-Pier Poulin, Robert M. Pringle, Herbert H.T. Prins, Nathan Ranc, Slaven Reljić, Benjamin S. Robb, Ralf Röder, Christer Moe Rolandsen, Christian Rutz, Albert Salemgareyev, G. Samelius, Heather Sayine-Crawford, S. Schooler, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Nuria Selva, Paola Semenzato, Agnieszka Sergiel, Koustubh Sharma, Avery L. Shawler, Johannes Signer, Vaclav Silovsky, João Paulo Silva, Richard Simon, Rachel A. Smiley, Douglas W. Smith, Erling J. Solberg, Diego Ellis-Soto, Orr Spiegel, Jared A. Stabach, Jenna Stacy-Dawes, Daniel R. Stahler, John A. Stephenson, Cheyenne Stewart, Olav Strand, Peter Sunde, Nathan Svoboda, Johnathan Swart, Jeffrey J. Thompson, Katrina L. Toal, Kenneth Uiseb, Meredith C. VanAcker, Marianela Velilla, Tana L Verzuh, Bettina Wachter, Brittany L. Wagler, Jesse Whittington, Martin Wikelski, Christopher C. Wilmers, George Wittemyer, Julie K. Young, Filip Zieba, Tomasz Zwijacz-Kozica, Mark A.J. Huijbregts, Thomas Mueller
2023, Science (380) 1059-1064
COVID-19 lockdowns reduced human mobility, providing an opportunity to disentangle its effects on animals from those of landscape modifications. Using GPS data, we compared movements and road avoidance of 2300 terrestrial mammals (43 species) during the 2020 lockdowns to the same period in 2019. Individual responses were variable, with no...
Historical changes to channel planform and bed elevations downstream from dams along Fall Creek and Middle Fork Willamette River, Oregon, 1926–2016
Mackenzie K. Keith, J. Rose Wallick, Gabriel W. Gordon, Heather D. Bervid
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5048
Operation of large, multipurpose dams within the Middle Fork Willamette River Basin, Oregon, including the Fall Creek sub-basin, have disrupted natural streamflow and sediment transport regimes and fish passage along the river corridors. Documenting channel morphology, including channel planform, landforms, vegetation cover, and river channel elevations at multiple points in...
Tracing magmatic genesis and evolution through single zircon crystals from successive supereruptions from the Socorro Caldera Complex, USA
Sean P. Gaynor, Tyson Michael Smith, Urs Schaltegger
2023, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (616)
Large volume rhyolitic ignimbrite volcanism is a significant contributor to the evolving crust. The introduction of high-silica material into the upper crust, differentiation within the middle crust, and partial melting in the lower crust contributes to geochemical and isotopic evolution of the crust. Developing accurate models...
Integrated analysis shows how the effects of extreme flooding events propagate through fish communities to impact amphibians
James Grace
2023, Journal of Animal Ecology (92) 1106 –-1109
Research Highlight: Davis, C. L., Walls, S. C., Barichivich, W. J., Brown, M. E., & Miller, D. A. (2022). Disentangling direct and indirect effects of extreme events on coastal wetland communities. Journal of Animal Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13874. Catastrophic events such as floods, hurricanes, winter storms,...
System characterization report on the BlackSky Global multispectral sensor
James C. Vrabel, Cody Anderson, Paul C. Bresnahan, Jon B. Christopherson, Jeff Clauson, Minsu Kim, Robert E. Ryan, Aparajithan Sampath
2023, Open-File Report 2021-1030-O
Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of the BlackSky Global satellites and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present and detail the methodology and procedures for characterization; present...
Assessing global elevation models for mapping the low elevation coastal zone
Dean B. Gesch
2023, Conference Paper, Geomorphometry 2023 proceedings
Elevation data are critical for assessments of coastal hazards, including sea-level rise (SLR), flooding, storm surge, tsunami impacts, and wave run-up. Previous research has demonstrated that the quality of data used in elevation-based hazard assessments must be well documented and applied properly to assess potential impacts. Global digital elevation models...
Combining field observations and high-resolution numerical modeling to demonstrate the effect of coral reef roughness on turbulence and its implications for reef restoration design
Benjamin K Norris, Curt D. Storlazzi, Andrew W. M. Pomeroy, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Joshua B. Logan, Olivia M. Cheriton
2023, Coastal Engineering (184)
Coral reefs are effective natural barriers that protect adjacent coastal communities from hazards such as erosion and storm-induced flooding. However, the degradation of coral reefs compromises their ability to protect against these hazards, making degraded reefs a target for restoration. There have been limited field and numerical modeling studies conducted...
Progress in reducing nutrient and sediment loads to Chesapeake Bay: Three decades of monitoring data and implications for restoring complex ecosystems
Qian Zhang, Joel D. Blomquist, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Jennifer L. Keisman, Douglas L. Moyer, Michael J. Langland
2023, WIREs Water (15)
For over three decades, Chesapeake Bay (USA) has been the focal point of a coordinated restoration strategy implemented through a partnership of governmental and nongovernmental entities, which has been a classical model for coastal restoration worldwide. This synthesis aims to provide resource managers and estuarine scientists with a clearer perspective...
Analysis of aquifer framework and properties, North Magee Street well field, Southampton, New York
Paul E. Misut
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1028
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Suffolk County Water Authority, evaluated the groundwater-flow characteristics and aquifer properties of the North Magee Street well field north of the village of Southampton, New York. Characteristics and properties included groundwater-flow direction, potential groundwater-contributing areas to the well field production wells, and...
Capturing patterns of evolutionary relatedness with reflectance spectra to model and monitor biodiversity
Daniel Mark Griffith, Kristin B. Byrd, Lee Anderegg, Elijah Allen, Demetrios Gatziolis, Dar A. Roberts, Rosie Yacoub, Ramakrishna Nemani
2023, Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences (120)
Biogeographic history can set initial conditions for vegetation community assemblages that determine their climate responses at broad extents that land surface models attempt to forecast. Numerous studies have indicated that evolutionarily conserved biochemical, structural, and other functional attributes of plant species are captured in visible-to-short wavelength infrared, 400 to 2,500...
Geographic isolation reduces genetic diversity of a wide-ranging terrestrial vertebrate, Canis lupus
S.A. Frevol, D. R. MacNulty, M. C. Anderson, H. D. Cluff, L. David Mech, M. Musiani
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Genetic diversity is theorized to decrease in populations closer to a species' range edge, where habitat may be suboptimal. Generalist species capable of long-range dispersal may maintain sufficient gene flow to counteract this, though the presence of significant barriers to dispersal (e.g., large water...
Evidence for the importance of invasive Dreissena veligers as a novel prey item for larval fish in Lake Huron
Ellary C Marano, David Bunnell, Patricia Dieter, Karen M. Alofs
2023, Hydrobiologia (850) 3497-3615
The establishment of invasive dreissenid mussels Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis in the Laurentian Great Lakes has affected multiple aspects of the ecosystem. However, the effects of their larvae (veligers) on lower trophic levels are relatively unknown. Previous research has documented that some larval fishes consume veligers, but it...
Roles of climatic and anthropogenic factors in shaping Holocene vegetation and fire regimes in Great Dismal Swamp, eastern USA
Debra A. Willard, Miriam C. Jones, Jay R. Alder, David Fastovich, Kristen Hoefke, Robert Poirier, Fred C. Wurster
2023, Quaternary Science Reviews (311)
The Great Dismal Swamp wetland, spanning >400 km2 along the Virginia and North Carolina border, was shaped by a complex combination of geomorphic, climatic, and anthropogenic forcings during the last 14,000 years. Pollen, macrofossils, charcoal, and physical properties from sediment cores at seven sites...
Flow development and entrainment in turbulent particle-laden jets
Laura K. Shannon, Bianca Viggiano, Raul Bayoan Cal, Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Stephen A. Solovitz
2023, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (128)
Explosive eruptions expel volcanic gases and particles at high pressures and velocities. Within this multiphase fluid, small ash particles affect the flow dynamics, impacting mixing, entrainment, turbulence, and aggregation. To examine the role of turbulent particle behavior, we conducted an analogue experiment using a particle-laden jet. We...
Groundwater availability, geochemistry, and flow pathways to public-supply wells in the Atlantic Coastal Plain and bedrock aquifers, Aiken County and part of Lexington County, South Carolina, 2015–2019
Bruce G. Campbell, James E. Landmeyer
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5036
Between 2015 and 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studied concerns related to projected increases in demand for groundwater, in collaboration with municipal water providers and county managers within the study area, Aiken County and part of Lexington County, South Carolina. A three-dimensional (3D), numerical groundwater-flow model of the Atlantic...