Stochastic watershed model ensembles for long-range planning: Verification and validation
Ghazal Shabestanipour, Zachary P Brodeur, William H. Farmer, Scott Steinschneider, Richard M Vogel, Jonathan Lamontagne
2023, Water Resource Research (59)
Deterministic watershed models (DWMs) are used in nearly all hydrologic planning, design, and management activities, yet they cannot generate streamflow ensembles needed for hydrologic risk management (HRM). The stochastic component of DWMs is often ignored in practice, leading to a systematic bias in extreme events. Since traditional...
Investigations of ambient noise velocity variations in a region of induced seismicity near Greeley, Colorado
Thomas Clifford, Anne Sheehan, Morgan P. Moschetti
2023, The Seismic Record (3) 12-20
Wastewater injection has induced earthquakes in Northeastern Colorado since 2014. We apply ambient noise correlation techniques to determine temporal changes in seismic velocities in the region. We find no clear correlation between seismic velocity fluctuations and either injection volumes or seismicity patterns. We...
Maps of elevation of top of Pierre Shale and surficial deposit thickness with hydraulic properties from borehole geophysics and aquifers tests within and near Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, 2020–21
Colton J. Medler, William G. Eldridge, Todd M. Anderson, Stephanie N. Phillips
2023, Scientific Investigations Map 3502
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center, collected borehole geophysical data and completed simple aquifer tests to estimate the thickness and hydraulic properties of surficial deposits. The purpose of data collection was to create generalized contour maps of Pierre Shale elevation and surficial...
The EDMAP Program: Training the next generation of geologic mappers
Jenna L. Shelton, Christopher S. Swezey, Michael Marketti
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3002
Introduction Detailed geologic maps are the basis of most earth science investigations and can be used for natural hazard mitigation, resource identification and exploration, infrastructure planning, and more. As a part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) congressionally mandated National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), the EDMAP program (referred to as...
Estimating geomagnetically induced currents in southern Brazil using 3-D Earth resistivity model
Karen V. Espinosa Sarmiento, Antonio L. Padilha, Livia R. Alves, Adam Schultz, Anna Kelbert
2023, Space Weather (21)
Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) result from the interaction of the time variation of ground magnetic field during a geomagnetic disturbance with the Earth's deep electrical resistivity structure. In this study, we simulate induced GICs in a hypothetical representation of a low-latitude power transmission network located mainly over...
Masting is shaped by tree-level attributes and stand structure, more than climate, in a Rocky Mountain conifer species
Andreas Wion, Ian Pearse, Kyle C. Rodman, Thomas T. Veblen, Miranda Redmond
2023, Forest Ecology and Management (531)
Masting describes the spatiotemporal variability in seed production by a population of plants. Both abiotic and biotic factors drive masting, but the importance of these factors can vary among individuals and populations. To better understand how a changing climate, altered disturbance regimes, or novel management strategies might affect future seed...
Recent and future declines of a historically widespread pollinator linked to climate, land cover, and pesticides
William Michael Janousek, Margaret R. Douglas, Syd Cannings, Marion Clement, Casey Delphia, Jeffrey Everett, Richard G. Hatfield, Douglas A. Keinath, Jonathan B Koch, Lindsie M. McCabe, John Michael Mola, Jane Ogilvie, Imtiaz Rangwala, Leif L Richardson, Ashley T. Rohde, James P. Strange, Lusha M. Tronstad, Tabitha Graves
2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (120)
The acute decline in global biodiversity includes not only the loss of rare species, but also the rapid collapse of common species across many different taxa. The loss of pollinating insects is of particular concern because of the ecological and economic values these species provide. The western bumble bee (Bombus...
Effectiveness of a decade of treatments to reduce invasive buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)
Yue M. Li, Seth M. Munson, Ya-Ching Lin, Perry Grissom
2023, Invasive Plant Science and Management (16) 27-37
The invasion of nonnative grasses threatens biodiversity and ecosystem function globally through competition with native plant species and increases to wildfire frequency and intensity. Management actions to reduce buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link], an invasive warm-season perennial bunchgrass, are widely implemented, with chemical and mechanical treatments extending...
Optimization and application of non-native Phragmites australis transcriptome assemblies
Feng Tao, Chuanzhu Fan, Yimin Liu, Subashini Sivakumar, Kurt P. Kowalski, Edward M Golenberg
2023, PLoS ONE (18)
Phragmites australis (common reed) has a cosmopolitan distribution and has been suggested as a model organism for the study of invasive plant species. In North America, the non-native subspecies (ssp. australis) is widely distributed across the contiguous 48 states in the United States and large parts of Canada....
Could biological soil crusts act as natural fire fuel breaks in the sagebrush steppe?
Lea A. Condon, Douglas J. Shinneman, Roger Rosentreter, Peter S. Coates
2023, Ecology (104)
No abstract available....
A global perspective on bacterial diversity in the terrestrial deep subsurface
A. Soares, A. L. Edwards, A. Bagnoud, J. Bradley, Elliott Barnhart, M. Bomberger Brown, K. Budwill, S. M. Caffrey, M. Fields, J. Gralnick., V. Kadnikov, L. Momper, M. Osburn, A. Mu, J.W. Moreau, D. Moser, L. Purkamo, S. M. Rassner, C. S. Sheik, B. Sherwood Lollar, B. M. Toner, G. Voordouw, K. Wouters, A. C. Mitchell
2023, Microbiology (169)
While recent efforts to catalogue Earth’s microbial diversity have focused upon surface and marine habitats, 12–20 % of Earth’s biomass is suggested to exist in the terrestrial deep subsurface, compared to ~1.8 % in the deep subseafloor. Metagenomic studies of the terrestrial deep subsurface have yielded a trove of divergent and functionally...
Nitrogen-15 NMR study on the incorporation of nitrogen into aquatic NOM upon chloramination
Kevin A. Thorn
2023, Aquatic Sciences (85)
Chloramination is being used increasingly in water treatment to lower the formation of regulated disinfection byproducts (DBPs). How monochloramine nitrogen becomes incorporated into aquatic natural organic matter (NOM) and potentially affects the formation of nitrogenous DBPs is an unresolved question in the chemistry of humic...
The effects of substrate and sediment burial on survival of developing pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) and shovelnose sturgeon (S. platorynchus) embryos
Kimberly Chojnacki, Amy E. George, Aaron J. Delonay
2023, Environmental Biology of Fishes (106) 527-539
The shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) and endangered pallid sturgeon (S. albus) deposit demersal and adhesive eggs in swift currents, near or over coarse substrate. Hydrographic surveys have demonstrated the dynamic nature of spawning habitats and that coarse substrates may episodically be buried (partially or completely)...
Damage amplification during repetitive seismic waves in mechanically loaded rocks
Anthony Lamur, Jackie E. Kendrick, Lauren N. Schaefer, Yan Lavallée, Ben M. Kennedy
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Cycles of stress build-up and release are inherent to tectonically active planets. Such stress oscillations impart strain and damage, prompting mechanically loaded rocks and materials to fail. Here, we investigate, under uniaxial conditions, damage accumulation and weakening caused by time-dependent creep (at 60, 65, and...
Water Science School [Bookmark]
Tara A. Gross
2023, General Information Product 219
Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey’s online Water Science School is a one-stop shop for water education resources. In addition to sharing images, data, and diagrams, the Water Science School provides lesson plans for teachers as well as multiple interactive activities for students, such as questionnaires, calculators, and quizzes. This bookmark introduces...
Bioenergetics model for the nonnative Redside Shiner
Rachelle Carina Johnson, David Beauchamp, Julian D. Olden
2023, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (152) 94-113
ObjectiveRedside Shiner Richardsonius balteatus has expanded from its native range in the Pacific Northwest region of North America to establish populations in six other western states. This expansion has fueled concerns regarding competition between Redside Shiner and native species, including salmonids. We developed a bioenergetic model for Redside Shiner,...
Product specification document for dynamic surface water extent from Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2
John Jones, G. Shiroma
2023, Report
The primary purpose of this document is to convey product specifications of the OPERA (Observational Products for End-users from Remote-sensing Analysis) Level-3 Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWx) product that uses Harmonized Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2A/B (HLS) as the primary image-based inputs. This product, referred to by the short name DSWx-HLS, will...
Using Global Fiducials Library high-resolution imagery, commercial satellite imagery, Landsat and Sentinel satellite imagery, and aerial photography to monitor change at East Timbalier Island, Louisiana, 1953–2021
Gary B. Fisher, E. Terrence Slonecker, Shawn J. Dilles, Bruce F. Molnia, Kim M. Angeli
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5107
This report documents morphological changes between 1953 and 2021 at East Timbalier Island, Louisiana, a Gulf of Mexico barrier island. East Timbalier Island, which was located west of the Mississippi River Delta at the front of Timbalier Bay, was one of the most rapidly changing barrier islands on Earth. Since...
A 1.2 billion pixel human-labeled dataset for data-driven classification of coastal environments
Daniel Buscombe, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Sharon Fitzpatrick, Jaycee Favela, Evan B. Goldstein, Nicholas Enwright
2023, Scientific Data (10)
The world’s coastlines are spatially highly variable, coupled-human-natural systems that comprise a nested hierarchy of component landforms, ecosystems, and human interventions, each interacting over a range of space and time scales. Understanding and predicting coastline dynamics necessitates frequent observation from imaging sensors on remote sensing...
Persistence and quality of vegetation cover in expired Conservation Reserve Program fields
Mark W. Vandever, Kenneth Elgersma, Sarah K. Carter, Ai Wen, Justin L. Welty, Robert Arkle, Timothy J. Assal, David Pilliod, David M. Mushet, Rich Iovanna
2023, Ecosphere (14)
For nearly 40 years, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators on highly erodible cropland in the United States. However, an approximately 40,470 ha (10 million acres) decline in enrolled CRP land over...
Adult spawners: A critical period for subarctic Chinook salmon in a changing climate
Kathrine G. Howard, Vanessa R. von Biela
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 1759-1773
Concurrent, distribution-wide abundance declines of some Pacific salmon species, including Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), highlights the need to understand how vulnerability at different life stages to climate stressors affects population dynamics and fisheries sustainability. Yukon River Chinook salmon stocks are among the largest subarctic populations, near...
Taxonomic reassessment of the Little pocket mouse, Perognathus longimembris (Rodentia, Heteromyidae) of southern California and northern Baja California
James L. Patton, Robert N. Fisher
2023, Therya (14) 131-160
The Little pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris) encompasses 15 to 16 currently recognized subspecies, six of which are restricted to southern California and adjacent northern Baja California. Using cranial geomorphometric shape parameters and dorsal color variables we delineate six regional groups of populations from this area that we recognize as valid,...
Local weather and endogenous factors affect the initiation of migration in short- and medium-distance songbird migrants
Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., Darren Johnson, Frank R. Moore, Zoltán Németh
2023, Journal of Avian Biology (2023)
Migratory birds employ a variety of mechanisms to ensure appropriate timing of migration based on integration of endogenous and exogenous information. The cues to fatten and depart from the non-breeding area are often linked to exogenous cues such as temperature or precipitation and the endogenous program....
Redd superimposition mediates the accuracy, precision, and significance of redd counts for cutthroat trout
Jeffrey R. Baldock, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Timothy E. Walsworth, Annika W. Walters
2023, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (80) 825-839
Redd counts are commonly applied to estimate spawning population size for salmonids and allow for broad spatial and temporal coverage in monitoring efforts. However, the utility of redd counts may be compromised by observation error, particularly with respect to superimposition, where later arriving spawners construct redds overlapping...
Simulating debris flow and levee formation in the 2D shallow flow model D-Claw: Channelized and unconfined flow
Ryan P. Jones, Francis K. Rengers, Katherine R. Barnhart, David L. George, Dennis M. Staley, Jason W. Kean
2023, Earth and Space Science (10)
Debris flow runout poses a hazard to life and infrastructure. The expansion of human population into mountainous areas and onto alluvial fans increases the need to predict and mitigate debris flow runout hazards. Debris flows on unconfined alluvial fans can exhibit spontaneous self-channelization through levee formation that...
