Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2015 - November 30, 2016
Kendra L. Russell, William J. Andrews, Vincent J. DiFrenna, J. Michael Norris, Mason Jr.
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1012
Executive SummaryA Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered June 7, 1954 (New Jersey v. New York, 347 U.S. 995), established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes the diversion of water from the Delaware River Basin and...
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Mississippi's economy
George Heleine
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3027
IntroductionMississippi has a dispersed population of nearly three million residents in an area of approximately 48,400 square miles and has a favorable climate for agriculture, with abundant precipitation and minimal extreme temperatures. The topography consists mostly of low hills and lowland plains, with the highest elevation about 800 feet above...
Using integrated step selection to determine effects of predation risk on bison habitat selection and movement
Skye Salganek, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Miranda L.N. Terwilliger
2024, Ecosphere (15)
Animal movement is a fundamental mechanism that shapes communities and ecosystems. Ungulates alter the ecosystems they inhabit and understanding their movements and distribution is critical for linking habitat with population dynamics. Predation risk has been shown to strongly influence ungulate movement patterns, such that ungulates may select habitat where predation...
Modeling the potential habitat gained by planting sagebrush in burned landscapes
Julie A. Heinrichs, Michael S. O’Donnell, Elizabeth Kari Orning, David A. Pyke, Mark A. Ricca, Peter S. Coates, Cameron L. Aldridge
2024, Conservation (4) 364-377
Many revegetation projects are intended to benefit wildlife species. Yet, there are few a priori evaluations that assess the potential efficiency of restoration actions in recovering wildlife habitats. We developed a spatial vegetation–habitat recovery model to gauge the degree to which field planting strategies could be expected to recover multi-factor...
Probabilistic assessment of postfire debris-flow inundation in response to forecast rainfall
A. B. Prescott, L. A. McGuire, K.-S. Jun, Katherine R. Barnhart, N. S. Oakley
2024, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (24) 2359-2374
Communities downstream of burned steep lands face increases in debris-flow hazards due to fire effects on soil and vegetation. Rapid postfire hazard assessments have traditionally focused on quantifying spatial variations in debris-flow likelihood and volume in response to design rainstorms. However, a methodology that...
Remote sensing of volcano deformation and surface change
Michael Poland
2024, Book chapter, Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources
Volcanic unrest and eruptions are associated with surface deformation and landscape change that can be detected, characterized, and tracked via remote sensing measurements. Subsurface processes, including magma accumulation, withdrawal, and transport, can cause displacements at the surface that are best tracked at subaerial volcanoes with interferometric...
Exploring spatial and temporal symptoms of the freshwater salinization syndrome in a rural to urban watershed
Nicole K. Marks, Charles A. Cravotta III, Marissa Lee Rossi, Camila Silva, Peleg Kremer, Steven T. Goldsmith
2024, Science of the Total Environment (947)
The freshwater salinization syndrome (FSS), a concomitant watershed-scale increase in salinity, alkalinity, and major-cation and trace-metal concentrations, over recent decades, has been described for major rivers draining extensive urban areas, yet few studies have evaluated temporal and spatial FSS variations, or causal factors, at the subwatershed scale in mixed-use landscapes. This study examines the potential...
Palaeontological signatures of the Anthropocene are distinct from those of previous epochs
Mark A. Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz, Anthony D. Barnosky, Reinhold Leinfelder, Martin J. Head, Colin N. Waters, Francine M.G. McCarthy, Alejandro Cearreta, David C. Aldridge, Mary McGann, Bruce Hamilton, Colin P. Summerhayes, Jaia Syvitski, Jens Zinke, Andrew B. Cundy, Barbara Fialkiewicz-Koziel, J.R. McNeill, Michinobu Kuwae, Neil L. Rose, Simon D. Turner, Yoshiki Saito, Michael Wagreich, M. Allison Stegner, Moriaki Yasuhara, Yongming Han, Amy Wrisdale, Rachael Holmes, Juan Carlos Berrio
2024, Earth Science Reviews (255)
The “Great Acceleration” beginning in the mid-20th century provides the causal mechanism of the Anthropocene, which has been proposed as a new epoch of geological time beginning in 1952 CE. Here we identify key parameters and their diagnostic palaeontological signals of the...
Groundwater flow model for the Des Moines River alluvial aquifer near Des Moines, Iowa
Emilia L. Bristow, Kyle W. Davis
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5059
Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is a regional municipal water utility that provides residential and commercial water resources to about 600,000 customers in Des Moines, Iowa, and surrounding municipalities in central Iowa. DMWW has identified a need for increased water supply and is exploring the potential for expanding groundwater production...
Rising seas could cross thresholds for initiating coastal wetland drowning within decades across much of the United States
Michael Osland, Bogdan Chivoiu, James Grace, Nicholas Enwright, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Kevin Buffington, Karen M. Thorne, Joel A. Carr, William V. Sweet, Brady Couvillion
2024, Communications Earth & Environment (5)
Accelerated sea-level rise is an existential threat to coastal wetlands, but the timing and extent of wetland drowning are debated. Recent data syntheses have clarified future relative sea-level rise exposure and sensitivity thresholds for drowning. Here, we integrate these advances to estimate when and where rising...
Epidemiological modeling of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) reveals conditions for introduction and widespread transmission
Elias Rosenblatt, Jonathan D. Cook, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Fernando Arce, Kimberly M Pepin, F. Javiera Rudolph, Michael C. Runge, Susan A. Shriner, Daniel P. Walsh, Brittany A. Mosher
2024, PLOS Computational Biology (20)
Emerging infectious diseases with zoonotic potential often have complex socioecological dynamics and limited ecological data, requiring integration of epidemiological modeling with surveillance. Although our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 has advanced considerably since its detection in late 2019, the factors influencing its introduction and transmission in wildlife hosts,...
Comparative toxicity of emulsifiable concentrate and suspension concentrate formulations of 2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide ethanolamine salt
James A. Luoma, Justin R. Schueller, Nicholas Schloesser, Courtney Kirkeeng, Samantha L. Wolfe
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1037
The 2-aminoethanol salt of niclosamide (2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide) is a pesticide known as Bayluscide that is used in conjunction with TFM (4-nitro-3-[trifluoromethyl]phenol), also known as 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) to treat tributaries to the Great Lakes infested with invasive parasitic Petromyzon marinus (sea lamprey). Adding 0.5 to 2 percent Bayluscide with TFM can substantially reduce...
Pliocene–Pleistocene warm-water incursions and water mass changes on the Ross Sea continental shelf (Antarctica) based on foraminifera from IODP Expedition 374
Julia Lynn Seidenstein, R. Mark Leckie, Robert McKay, L. De Santis, David Harwood, IODP Expedition 374 Scientists
2024, Journal of Micropalaeontology (43) 211-238
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 374 sailed to the Ross Sea in 2018 to reconstruct paleoenvironments, track the history of key water masses, and assess model simulations that show warm-water incursions from the Southern Ocean led to the loss of marine-based Antarctic ice sheets during past interglacials. IODP Site...
Silver Chub spawning confirmed in the Maumee River, a tributary of Lake Erie
Ryan E. Brown, Christine M. Mayer, Nathan Thompson, Corbin David Hilling, James Roberts, Catherine A. Richter
2024, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (44) 849-856
ObjectiveBiodiversity is declining due to invasive species and other factors that can affect individual species differently. Silver Chub Macrhybopsis storeriana are declining in their native range, and their conservation status in the Great Lakes ranges from secure to possibly extirpated. Lake Erie once supported a large Silver Chub population...
Sero-epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza viruses among wild birds in subarctic intercontinental transition zones
Jonathon D. Gass, Robert J. Dusek, Nichola J. Hill, Laura Borkenhagen, Jeffrey S. Hall, Gunnar Thor Hallgrimsson, Mary Anne Bishop, Andrew M. Ramey, Timothy J. Spivey, Solvi Runar Vignisson, Sunna Bjork Ragnarsdottir, Halldor Palmar Halldorsson, Jon Einar Jonsson, Alexa D. Simulynas, Felicia B. Nutter, Wendy B. Puryear, Jonathan A. Runstadler
2024, Preprint
Background: The geographic expansion and evolution of A/Goose/Guangdong/1/1996(H5N1) (Gs/GD) lineage H5Nx highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses since 1996 have raised awareness of enzootic circulation among migratory birds and the potential for intercontinental transport and spread. Recent Pacific- and Atlantic-route introductions of HPAI to North America were facilitated by avian migration...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Black Sea area, 2023
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Phuong A. Le, Andrea D. Cicero, Ronald M. Drake II, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Thomas M. Finn, Michael H. Gardner, Sarah E. Gelman, Jane S. Hearon, Benjamin G. Johnson, Jenny H. Lagesse, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Kristen R. Marra, Kira K. Timm, Scott S. Young
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3018
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 105.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Black Sea area....
Drought as an emergent driver of ecological transformation in the twenty-first century
Wynne Emily Moss, Shelley Crausbay, Imtiaz Rangwala, Jay Wason, Clay Trauernicht, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Anna Sala, Caitlin M. Rottler, Gregory T. Pederson, Brian W. Miller, Dawn Magness, Jeremy Littell, Lee Frelich, Abby G. Frazier, Kimberly R. Davis, Jonathan Coop, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Robert K Booth
2024, BioScience (74) 524-538
Under climate change, ecosystems are experiencing novel drought regimes, often in combination with stressors that reduce resilience and amplify drought’s impacts. Consequently, drought appears increasingly likely to push systems beyond important physiological and ecological thresholds, resulting in substantial changes in ecosystem characteristics persisting long after drought ends (i.e., ecological transformation)....
Vegetation-generated turbulence does not impact the erosion of natural cohesive sediment
Autumn R. Deitrick, David K. Ralston, Christopher R. Esposito, Melissa Millman Baustian, Maricel Beltran Burgos, Andrew J. Courtois, Heidi M. Nepf
2024, Geophysical Research Letters (51)
Previous studies have demonstrated that vegetation-generated turbulence can enhance erosion rate and reduce the velocity threshold for erosion of non-cohesive sediment. This study considered whether vegetation-generated turbulence had a similar influence on natural cohesive sediment. Cores were collected from a black mangrove forest with aboveground biomass and exposed to stepwise...
A conceptual framework to assess post-wildfire water quality: State of the science and knowledge gaps
Sarah M. Elliott, Michelle I. Hornberger, Donald O. Rosenberry, Rebecca J. Frus, Richard M. Webb
2024, Water Resources Research (60)
Wildfire substantially alters aquatic ecosystems by inducing moderate to catastrophic physical and chemical changes. However, the relations of environmental and watershed variables that drive those effects are complex. We present a Driver-Factor-Stressor-Effect (DFSE) conceptual framework to assess the current state of the science related to post-wildfire water-quality. We reviewed 64...
Same streams in a different forest? Investigations of forest harvest legacies and future trajectories across 30 years of stream habitat monitoring on the Tongass National Forest, Alaska
Michael J. Moore, R. Flitcroft, E. Tucker, K. K. Prussian, S. M. Claeson
2024, PLoS ONE (19)
The effects of timber harvest practices and climate change have altered forest ecosystems in southeast Alaska. However, quantification of patterns and trends in stream habitats associated with these forests is limited owing to a paucity of data available in remote watersheds. Here, we analyzed a 30-year dataset from southeast Alaska's...
Diet of Myotis ciliolabrum from six sites in the southwestern United States
Ashley E Loehn, Dale W. Sparks, Ernest W. Valdez
2024, Western North American Naturalist (84) 210-218
With bat populations declining in many parts of the world, detailed life history information will be critical for assessing vulnerabilities of bat populations and associated trophic effects. Myotis ciliolabrum (western small-footed bat) is a species of insectivorous bat distributed from the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast and from British Columbia to...
Decoding paleomire conditions of Paleogene superhigh-organic-sulfur coals
Tushar Adsul, Molly D. O’Beirne, David Fike, Santanu Ghosh, Josef P. Werne, William P. Gilhooly III, Paul C. Hackley, Javin J. Hatcherian, Bright Philip, Bodhisastwa Hazra, Sudip Bhattachryya, Ritam Konar, Atul Kumar Varma
2024, International Journal of Coal Geology (290)
Superhigh-organic‑sulfur (SHOS) coals (coals with organic sulfur content >4 wt%) are unique coal deposits found at a few notable locations in the world. Specific peat accumulation and preservation conditions must be met to form SHOS coals. Organic sulfur is a major constituent of such coals, and it may have various sources...
Insufficient and biased representation of species geographic responses to climate change
Evan Parker, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Ruth Y Oliver, Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Walter Jetz
2024, Global Change Biology (30)
The geographic redistributions of species due to a rapidly changing climate are poised to perturb ecological communities and significantly impact ecosystems and human livelihoods. Effectively managing these biological impacts requires a thorough understanding of the patterns and processes of species geographic range shifts. While...
Seasonality of retreat rate of a wave-exposed marsh edge
Lukas T. WinklerPrins, Jessica R. Lacy, Mark T. Stacey, Joshua B. Logan, Andrew W. Stevens
2024, JGR Earth Surface (129)
Wave-driven erosion of marsh boundaries is a major cause of marsh loss, but little research has captured the effect of seasonal differences on marsh-edge retreat rates to illuminate temporal patterns of when the majority of this erosion is occurring. Using five surface models captured over a study...
On connecting hydro-social parameters to vegetation greenness differences in an evolving groundwater-dependent ecosystem
Matthew R. Lurtz, Ryan R. Morrison, Pamela L. Nagler
2024, Remote Sensing (16)
Understanding groundwater-dependent ecosystems (i.e., areas with a relatively shallow water table that plays a major role in supporting vegetation health) is key to sustaining water resources in the western United States. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in Colorado have non-pristine temporal and spatial patterns, compared to agro-ecosystems, which make it difficult...
