Addressing stakeholder science needs for integrated drought science in the Colorado River Basin
Anne C. Tillery, Sally House, Rebecca J. Frus, Sharon L. Qi, Daniel K. Jones, William J. Andrews
2022, Fact Sheet 2022-3010
Stakeholders need scientific data, analysis, and predictions of how drought the will impact the Colorado River Basin in a format that is continuously updated, intuitive, and easily accessible. The Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology Pilot Project was formed to demonstrate the effectiveness of addressing complex...
Decadal-scale phenology and seasonal climate drivers of migratory baleen whales in a rapidly warming marine ecosystem
Dan Pendleton, Morgan Tingley, Laura Ganley, Kevin Friedland, Charlie Mayo, Moria Brown, Brigid McKenna, Adrian Jordaan, Michelle Staudinger
2022, Global Change Biology (28) 4989-5005
Species' response to rapid climate change can be measured through shifts in timing of recurring biological events, known as phenology. The Gulf of Maine is one of the most rapidly warming regions of the ocean, and thus an ideal system to study phenological and biological responses to climate change. A...
Rub tree use and selection by American black bears and grizzly bears in northern Yellowstone National Park
Nathaniel R. Bowersock, H. Okada, Andrea R. Litt, Kerry A. Gunther, Frank T. van Manen
2022, Ursus (2022) 1-12
Several of the world's bear species exhibit tree-rubbing behavior, which is thought to be a form of scent-marking communication. Many aspects of this behavior remain unexplored, including differences in rub tree selection between sympatric bear species. We compiled rub tree data collected on Yellowstone National...
Ephemeral stream network extraction from lidar-derived elevation and topographic attributes in urban and forested landscapes
Marina J. Metes, Daniel K. Jones, Matthew E. Baker, Andrew J. Miller, Dianna M. Hogan, J.V. Loperfido, Kristina G. Hopkins
2022, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (58) 547-565
Under-representations of headwater channels in digital stream networks can result in uncertainty in the magnitude of headwater habitat loss, stream burial, and watershed function. Increased availability of high-resolution (<2 m) elevation data makes the delineation of headwater channels more attainable. In this study, elevation data derived from...
Assessment of habitat availability for juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (O. mykiss) in the Willamette River, Oregon
James S. White, James T. Peterson, Laurel E. Stratton Garvin, Tobias J. Kock, J. Rose Wallick
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5034
The Willamette River, Oregon, is home to two salmonid species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Upper WIllamette River spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Upper Willamette River winter steelhead (O. mykiss). Streamflow in the Willamette River is regulated by upstream dams, 13 of which are operated...
Updates to models of streamflow and water temperature for 2011, 2015, and 2016 in rivers of the Willamette River Basin, Oregon
Laurel E. Stratton Garvin, Stewart A. Rounds, Norman L. Buccola
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1017
Mechanistic river models capable of simulating hydrodynamics and stream temperature are valuable tools for investigating thermal conditions and their relation to streamflow in river basins where upstream water storage and management decisions have an important influence on river reaches with threatened fish populations. In the Willamette River Basin in...
Geologic map of the Stibnite mining area, Valley County, Idaho
Niki E. Wintzer
2022, Technical Report T-22-03
The Stibnite mining area, as used herein, is bounded by the map extent that includes the Yellow Pine, West End, and Hangar Flats ore bodies. Other ore bodies are nearby, but the purpose of this map is to offer a detailed (1:8,000 scale) geologic map with new cross sections in...
Subspecies differentiation and range-wide genetic structure are driven by climate in the California gnatcatcher, a flagship species for coastal sage scrub conservation
Amy G. Vandergast, Barbara E. Kus, Dustin A. Wood, Elizabeth R. Milano, Kristine L. Preston
2022, Evolutionary Applications (15) 1201-1217
Understanding genetic structure and diversity within species can uncover associations with environmental and geographic attributes that highlight adaptive potential and inform conservation and management. The California gnatcatcher, Polioptila californica, is a small songbird found in desert and coastal scrub habitats from the southern end of Baja California...
Sample size estimation for savanna monitoring protocol development
Deborah A. Buhl
2022, Open-File Report 2022-1053
When designing data collection protocols for a new research project, it is important to have a large enough sample size to detect a desired effect, but not so large to be wasting time collecting more data than needed. Power analysis methods can be used to estimate this sample size. In...
Regional walrus abundance estimate in the United States Chukchi Sea in autumn
Anthony S. Fischbach, Rebecca L. Taylor, Chadwick V. Jay
2022, Journal of Wildlife Management (86)
Human activities (e.g., shipping, tourism, oil, gas development) have increased in the Chukchi Sea because of declining sea ice. The declining sea ice itself and these activities may affect Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) abundance; however, previous walrus abundance estimates have been notably imprecise. When sea...
Damage assessment for the 2018 lower East Rift Zone lava flows of Kīlauea volcano, Hawaiʻi
Elinor S. Meredith, Susanna F. Jenkins, Josh L. Hayes, Natalia I. Deligne, David Lallemant, Matthew R. Patrick, Christina A. Neal
2022, Bulletin of Volcanology (84)
Cataloguing damage and its correlation with hazard intensity is one of the key components needed to robustly assess future risk and plan for mitigation as it provides important empirical data. Damage assessments following volcanic eruptions have been conducted for buildings and other structures following hazards such...
Maize yield forecasts for Sub-Saharan Africa using Earth Observation data and machine learning
Donghoon Lee, Frank Davenport, Shraddhanand Shukla, Gregory Husak, W. Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Amy McNally, Michael Budde, James Rowland, James Verdin
2022, Global Food Security (33)
Food insecurity continues to grow in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In 2019, chronically malnourished people numbered nearly 240 million, or 20% of the population in SSA. Globally, numerous efforts have been made to anticipate potential droughts, crop conditions, and food shortages in order to improve...
Movement of Canada geese in urban and rural areas of Iowa, USA
Benjamin Z. Luukkonen, Robert W. Klaver, Orrin E. Jones III
2022, Avian Conservation and Ecology (17)
Temperate-breeding Canada Goose (Branta canadensis maxima) abundance has increased to previously unrecorded levels, providing social, ecological, and economic value. However, there are also costs associated with abundant Canada Geese. Although hunter harvest is a valued, sustainable use of Canada Geese, the adaptability of geese to urban areas may result in...
Evidence of alternative trophic pathways for fish consumers in a large river system in the face of invasion
John V. Gatto, Brian Ickes, John H. Chick
2022, River Research and Applications (38) 1321-1332
Large rivers are susceptible to anthropogenic alteration, which can result in drastic changes to their functional ecology. We evaluated spatial–temporal changes in the functional fish communities of the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS) using data from six study reaches. Species were classified into one of 14...
A three-dimensional Lagrangian particle tracking model for predicting transport of eggs of rheophilic-spawning carps in turbulent rivers
Geng Li, Bin Wang, Caroline M. Elliott, Bruce Call, Duane Chapman, R. B. Jacobson
2022, Ecological Modelling (470) 110035
Grass carp, bighead carp, and silver carp spawn in flowing water. Their eggs, and then larvae, develop while drifting. Hydraulic conditions and water temperature control spawning locations, egg survival, and the downstream distance traveled before the hatched larvae can swim for low velocity...
Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA
Philip Verplanck, G. Lang Farmer, Richard M. Kettler, Heather A. Lowers, Craig A. Johnson, Alan E. Koenig, Michael J. Blessington
2022, Ore Geology Reviews (146)
Although carbonatites are the primary source of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs), the processes responsible for ore-grade REE enrichment in carbonatites are still poorly understood. In this study, we present a petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evaluation of the Elk Creek carbonatite in southeast Nebraska...
Breeding dynamics of gopher frog metapopulations over 10 years
Brian A. Crawford, Anna L. Farmer, Kevin M Enge, Aubrey Heupel Greene, Lauren Diaz, John C. Maerz, Clinton T. Moore
2022, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (13) 422-436
Populations of amphibians that breed in isolated, ephemeral wetlands may be particularly sensitive to breeding and recruitment rates, which can be influenced by dynamic and difficult-to-predict extrinsic factors. The gopher frog Rana capito is a declining species currently proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as well as one of...
Biogeography of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida) in Texas and implications on conservation biology
Michael de Moulpied, Chase H. Smith, Clint R. Robertson, Nathan Johnson, Roel Lopez, Charles R. Randklev
2022, Diversity and Distributions (28) 1458-1474
AimBiogeography seeks to identify and explain the spatial distributions of species and has become an important tool used by conservationists to protect and manage aquatic organisms. Texas, located in the southwestern United States, is home to 52 species of freshwater mussels, 9 of which are endemic to Texas and 7...
Structured decision making to rank North American Wetland Conservation Act proposals within joint venture regions
Anastasia Krainyk, James E. Lyons, Gregory J. Soulliere, John M. Coluccy, Barry C. Wilson, Michael G. Brasher, Mohammed A Al-Saffar, Dale D. Humburg
2022, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (13) 375-395
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4401-4412) provided funding and administration for wetland management and conservation projects. The North American Wetland Conservation Fund, enabled in 1989 with the Act, provides financial resources. Resource allocation decisions are based, in part, on regional experts, particularly migratory bird Joint Ventures (JVs)...
Long-term groundwater availability in the Waihe‘e, ‘Īao, and Waikapū aquifer systems, Maui, Hawai‘i
Kolja Rotzoll, Delwyn S. Oki, Adam G. Johnson, William R. Souza
2022, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5113
Groundwater levels have declined since the 1940s in the Wailuku area of central Maui, Hawai‘i, on the eastern flank of West Maui volcano, mainly in response to increased groundwater withdrawals. Available data since the 1980s also indicate a thinning of the freshwater lens and an increase in chloride concentrations of...
Quantifying the effects of tides, river flow, and barriers on movements of Chinook Salmon smolts at junctions in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta using multistate models
Michael J. Dodrill, Russell Perry, Adam C. Pope, Xiaochun Wang
2022, Environmental Biology of Fishes (105) 2065-2082
Successful migration of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) smolts seaward in the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta (hereafter, Delta) requires navigating a network of numerous branching channels. Within the Delta, several key junctions route smolts either towards more direct paths to the ocean or towards the interior Delta, an area...
Chew-cards can accurately index invasive rat densities in Mariana Island forests
Emma B. Hanslowe, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Melia Gail Nafus, Douglas A Page, Danielle R. Bradke, Francesca T. Erickson, Larissa L. Bailey
2022, NeoBiota (74) 29-56
Rats (Rattus spp.) are likely established on 80–90% of the world’s islands and represent one of the most damaging and expensive biological invaders. Effective rat control tools exist but require accurate population density estimates or indices to inform treatment timing and effort and to assess...
Application of recursive estimation to heat tracing for groundwater/surface-water exchange
W. Anderson McAliley, Frederick Day-Lewis, David M. Rey, Martin A. Briggs, Allen M. Shapiro, Dale Werkema
2022, Water Resources Research (58)
We present and demonstrate a recursive-estimation framework to infer groundwater/surface-water exchange based on temperature time series collected at different vertical depths below the sediment/water interface. We formulate the heat-transport problem as a state-space model (SSM), in which the spatial derivatives in the convection/conduction equation are approximated using...
Spout Run temperature study revisited- Part II: New insights for trout habitat from TU & USGS collaboration 2022
Nathaniel P. Hitt
2022, Newsletter
The Winchester TU Chapter partnered with US Geological Survey scientists to forecast habitat conditions for brook trout in Virginia. The results can be viewed here: https://chesapeake.usgs.gov/fishforecast/ TU members deployed stream temperature gages within several streams across the region: Dry River, Passage Creek, Spout Run, Beaver Creek, Mossy Creek. The USGS...
New state and county records of introduced amphibians and reptiles of Georgia, USA.
Michael Brennan, Lance McBrayer, Joseph Carroll, Kenneth L. Krysko, Amy A. Yackel Adams
2022, Herpetological Review (53) 272-273
Recent efforts to eradicate the invasive Argentine Giant Tegu (Salvator merianae) has led to the discovery of several county records of this introduced lizard as well as several other potentially invasive amphibian and reptile species in the state of Georgia, USA. New records were determined using a database of county...
