Ceanothus: Taxonomic patterns in life history responses to fire
Jon Keeley, V. Thomas Parker, Paul H. Zedler, R. Brandon Pratt
2024, American Journal of Botany (111)
Premise: Ceanothus (Rhamnaceae) is a large genus of shrubs that dominate California chaparral and are resilient to fires. Persistence is ensured by resprouting and/or seedling recruitment from dormant seed banks. Some species do both and others, the obligate seeders, are entirely dependent on seedling recruitment. The distribution of these two modes...
Geologic map of the southern Stillwater Range, Nevada
David A. John, Joseph P. Colgan, Margaret E. Berry, Christopher D. Henry, Norman J. Silberling
2024, Scientific Investigations Map 3521
The southern Stillwater Range in west-central Nevada contains the western part of the Oligocene Stillwater-Clan Alpine caldera complex, which extends about 55 kilometers (km) east from the west side of the Stillwater Range to the northwestern Desatoya Mountains. The complex consists of at least seven nested ignimbrite calderas and subjacent...
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the eastern Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills, California
George L. V Bennett V
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1061
SummaryMore than 2 million Californians rely on groundwater from privately owned domestic wells for drinking-water supply. This report summarizes a water-quality survey of domestic and small-system drinking-water supply wells in the eastern Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills where more than 25,000 residents are estimated to use privately owned domestic wells....
Climate-smart agriculture for Ukraine: Winter wheat breeding for food security and climate adaptation
Veronica Romero, August Raleigh Schultz, Kathryn Powlen, Sachin D. Shah
2024, Report
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, people have experienced food insecurity challenges because of increased prices of staple food commodities and loss of income or livelihood. Globally, countries with limited capacity to adapt have struggled to recover from pandemic-related disruptions and are further challenged to address...
Detecting trajectories of regime shifts and loss of resilience in coastal wetlands using remote sensing
Melinda Martinez, Marcelo L Ardon, Joshua Gray
2024, Ecosystems (27) 1060-1075
Many freshwater forested wetlands along the southeastern United States coastline are rapidly transitioning from forest to marsh or open water, due to climate change-related disturbances. Recent studies have found early warning signals (EWS) of regime shifts in other ecosystems, but it is unclear if these can be detected for coastal...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the Norphlet Formation, U.S. Gulf Coast region, 2023
John W. Counts, William H. Craddock, Jared T. Gooley, Marc L. Buursink, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Christopher J. Schenk
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3034
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 16 million barrels of oil and 348 billion cubic feet of gas in conventional reservoirs of the Norphlet Formation in the U.S. Gulf Coast region....
Population structure of Desmophyllum pertusum found along the United States eastern continental margin
Alexis Marie Weinnig, Aaron W. Aunins, Veronica J. Salamone, Andrea M. Quattrini, Martha S. Nizinski, Cheryl Morrison
2024, BMC Research Notes (17)
ObjectiveThe connectivity and genetic structuring of populations throughout a region influence a species’ resilience and probability of recovery from anthropogenic impacts. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of population connectivity, more effective management can be prioritized. To assess the connectivity and population genetic structure of a common cold-water coral...
Tissue distribution and temporal and spatial assessment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the mid-Atlantic United States
Vicki S. Blazer, Heather L. Walsh, Cheyenne R. Smith, Stephanie E. Gordon, Brandon J. Keplinger, Timothy Wertz
2024, Environmental Science and Pollution Research (p.) 59302-59319
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become an environmental issue worldwide. A first step to assessing potential adverse effects on fish populations is to determine if concentrations of concern are present in a region and if so, in which watersheds. Hence, plasma from adult smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu collected at 10 sites...
Self-potential tomography preconditioned by particle swarm optimization— Application to monitoring hyporheic exchange in a bedrock river
Scott Ikard, Kenneth C. Carroll, Scott C. Brooks, Dale F. Rucker, Gladisol Smith-Vega, Aubrey Elwes
2024, Water Resources Research (60)
A self-potential (SP) data-inversion algorithm was developed and tested on an analytical model of electrical-potential profile data attributed to single and multiple polarized electrical sources. The developed algorithm was then validated by an application to SP-monitoring field data measured on the floodplain of East Fork Poplar Creek, Oak Ridge, Tennessee,...
The geometry of fault reactivation and uplift along the central part of the Maacama fault zone, northern California Coast Ranges (USA)
Benjamin L. Melosh, Robert J. McLaughlin, Henry Ohlin
2024, Geosphere (20) 1511-1532
Fault reactivation of bedrock structures in active fault zones influences stress state and earthquake rupture phenomena through the introduction of weak slip surfaces that impact fault zone geometry and width. Yet, geometric relationships between modern faults and older reactivated faults are difficult to quantify in rocks that have experienced multiple...
Predicted occurrence of Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) across the northeastern United States
Lindsey Pekurny, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Brittany A. Mosher
2024, Herpetologica (80) 307-313
Effective conservation is becoming more difficult as threats to wildlife increase. Natural resource managers are pressured to make difficult decisions with limited resources, and in many instances, large uncertainty. Scientists and managers tasked with the conservation of a species need tools to help guide efficient decision-making. Often, information for management...
Evaluating hydrologic model performance for characterizing streamflow drought in the conterminous United States
Caelan Simeone, Sydney Foks, Erin Towler, Timothy O. Hodson, Thomas M. Over
2024, Water (16)
Hydrologic models are the primary tools that are used to simulate streamflow drought and assess impacts. However, there is little consensus about how to evaluate the performance of these models, especially as hydrologic modeling moves toward larger spatial domains. This paper presents a comprehensive multi-objective approach to systematically evaluating the...
Produced water geochemistry from hydraulically stimulated Niobrara Formation petroleum wells: Origin of salinity and temporal perspectives on treatment and reuse
Aaron M. Jubb, Jenna L. Shelton, Bonnie McDevitt, Kaela K. Amundson, Amanda Sha Herzberg, Jessica Chenault, Andrew Laurence Masterson, Matthew S. Varonka, Glenn D. Jolly, Christina A. DeVera, Elliott P. Barnhart, Michael J. Wilkins, Madalyn S. Blondes
2024, Science of the Total Environment (955)
Produced water (i.e., a mixture of returned injection fluids and geologic formation brines) represents the largest volumetric waste stream associated with petroleum production in the United States. As such, produced water has been the focus of intense study with emphasis on understanding the...
Temporal, spatial, and chemical evolution of Quaternary high-silica rhyolites in the Mineral Mountains, Utah
Tiffany A. Rivera, Brian R. Jicha, Stefan Kirby, Hannah B. Peacock
2024, Professional Paper 1890-K
The Mineral Mountains in southwestern Utah are a structurally controlled core complex at the confluence of the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range physiographic provinces. Aside from hosting Utah’s largest batholith, the Mineral Mountains host some of the State’s youngest high-silica rhyolites, which have been linked to a magma...
The solar cycle, geology, and geoelectric hazards for power grids
Jeffrey J. Love, Steven Sobieszczyk, E. Joshua Rigler, Anna Kelbert, Kristen A. Lewis
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3036
When sunspots are large and numerous, intense magnetic storms are likely to occur on the Earth. Magnetic storms can generate electric fields in the Earth, and these fields can, in turn, interfere with electric power transmission grids that are grounded at the Earth’s surface. Across the contiguous United States, geoelectric...
Bird community response to field-level integration of prairie strips
Jordan C. Giese, Lisa A. Schulte, Robert W. Klaver
2024, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (374)
Grassland birds are under threat worldwide due to loss of habitat to agriculture. Prairie strips are a new agricultural conservation practice composed of linear strips of reconstructed diverse, native, herbaceous, perennial vegetation designed to promote land sharing among agriculture and biodiversity, while also addressing soil and water conservation goals. We...
Migratory strategies across an ecological barrier: Is the answer blowing in the wind?
Rosalyn E. Bathrick, James A. Johnson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Rebekah Snyder, Maria Stager, Nathan R. Senner
2024, Movement Ecology (12)
Background: Ecological barriers can shape the movement strategies of migratory animals that navigate around or across them, creating migratory divides. Wind plays a large role in facilitating aerial migrations, and can temporally or spatially change the challenge posed by an ecological barrier, with beneficial winds potentially converting a barrier to...
Discerning sediment provenance in the Outer Banks (USA) through detrital zircon geochronology
John W. Counts, Jared T. Gooley, Joshua Long, William H. Craddock, Paul O’Sullivan
2024, Marine Geology (477)
Detrital zircon data from modern barrier island and estuarine environments in the Outer Banks (Atlantic Coast, USA) were statistically compared to sands from nearby rivers to assist in determining source-to-sink pathways. Fluvial samples, collected from near the Fall Line contact...
Projecting mangrove forest resilience to sea-level rise on a Pacific Island: Species dynamics and ecological thresholds
Kevin Buffington, Joel A. Carr, Richard Mackenzie, Maybeleen Apwong, Ken Krauss, Karen M. Thorne
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (47) 2174-2189
Mangroves can increase their elevation relative to tidal flooding through biogeomorphic feedbacks but can submerge if rates of sea-level rise are too great. There is an urgent need to understand the vulnerability of mangroves to sea-level rise so local communities and resource managers can implement and prioritize actions. The need...
Ground deformation and gravity for volcano monitoring
Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Kyle R. Anderson, Ingrid A. Johanson, Michael P. Poland, Ashton F. Flinders
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5062-D
IntroductionWhen magma accumulates or migrates, it can cause pressurization and related ground deformation. Characterization of surface deformation provides important constraints on the potential for future volcanic activity, especially in combination with seismic activity, gas emissions, and other indicators. A wide variety of techniques and instrument types have been applied to...
Declines in brook trout abundance linked to atmospheric warming in Maryland, USA
Nathaniel P. Hitt, Karli M. Rogers, Zachary A. Kelly
2024, Hydrobiology (3) 310-324
Salmonid fishes provide an important indicator of climate change given their reliance on cold water. We evaluated temporal changes in the density of stream-dwelling brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) from surveys conducted over a 36-year period (1988–2023) by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in Eastern North America. Nonparametric trend...
Scale-dependence in elk habitat selection for a reintroduced population in Wisconsin, USA
Jennifer L. Merems, Anna L. Brose, Jennifer Price Tack, Shawn M. Crimmins, Timothy R. Van Deelen
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
Habitat selection is a critical aspect of a species' ecology, requiring complex decision-making that is both hierarchical and scale-dependent, since factors that influence selection may be nested or unequal across scales. Elk (Cervus canadensis) ranged widely across diverse ecoregions in North America prior to European settlement and subsequent eastern extirpation....
Elemental composition and potential toxicity of the riverine macrophyte Podostemum ceratophyllum Michx. reflects land use in eastern North America
James Wood, Lee H. Dietterich, Douglas R. Leasure, Sarah Jantzi, Thomas Maddox, Seth J. Wenger, Jonathan Skaggs, Amy D. Rosemond, Mary Freeman
2024, Science of the Total Environment (954)
Land use influences surface water quality, often alleviating stoichiometric constraints on primary production and altering biogeochemical cycling. However, land use effects on nutrient content and potential trace metal accumulation in aquatic plants remain unclear, and high concentrations of metals and altered nutrient ratios could impact the health of herbivores and...
Beyond the wedge: Impact of tidal streams on salinization of groundwater in a coastal aquifer stressed by pumping and sea-level rise
Mary C. Hingst, R.M. Housego, C. He, Burke J. Minsley, Lyndsay B. Ball, Holly A. Michael
2024, Water Resources Research (60)
Saltwater intrusion (SWI) is a well-studied phenomenon that threatens the freshwater supplies of coastal communities around the world. The development and advancement of numerical models has led to improved assessment of the risk of salinization. However, these studies often fail to include the impact of surface waters...
Stream nitrate dynamics driven primarily by discharge and watershed physical and soil characteristics at intensively monitored sites: Insights from deep learning
Galen Gorski, Laurel Larsen, Jordan Wingenroth, Liang Zhang, Dino Bellugi, Alison P. Appling
2024, Water Resources Research (60)
We developed a suite of models using deep learning to make hindcast predictions of the 7‐day average backward‐looking nitrate concentration at 46 predominantly agricultural sites across the midwestern and eastern United States. The models used daily observations of discharge and meteorological variables and watershed attributes describing anthropogenic modification to hydrology, nitrogen...
