Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted mineral systems
Christopher J.M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, Michael G. Gadd, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua A. Coyan, Carma A. San Juan
2021, Conference Paper
Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and clastic-dominated (CD) deposits are important sources for Zn, Pb, Ag, and Cd as well as the critical elements Ga, Ge, In, and Sb. However, mapping the drivers, sources, pathways, and traps of MVT and CD deposits within the much larger and mostly unmineralized sedimentary basins remain...
Exploring basin-scale relations and unsupervised classification to quantify and automate the definition of assessment units in USGS continuous oil and gas resource assessments
Chilisa Marie Shorten, Scott A. Kinney, Katherine J. Whidden
2021, Conference Paper
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assesses potential for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in priority geologic provinces and quantifies resource volume estimates within subdivisions called assessment units (AUs). AU boundaries are defined by USGS geologists using quantitative and qualitative geologic information. Variables contained in IHS Markit’s well and...
Effects of sample gear on estuarine nekton assemblage assessments and food web model simulations
Megan K. La Peyre, S. Sable, C. M. Taylor, Katherine S. Watkins, E. Kiskaddon, M. Baustian
2021, Ecological Indicators (133)
Long-term fisheries-independent sampling data inform population status and trends of species-specific biomass and are often used to drive biomass-based food web models such as the Comprehensive Aquatic Systems Model (CASM). Indicators such as total biomass and mean trophic level derived from these data and from CASM outputs inform management and facilitate...
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
Amy Symstad, Timm Richardson, Dan Swanson
2021, Report
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data...
Genomics reveals identity, phenology and population demographics of larval ciscoes (Coregonus artedi, C. hoyi, and C. kiyi) in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior
Hannah Lachance, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Wesley Larson, Mark R. Vinson, Jason D. Stockwell
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 1849-1857
We demonstrate, for the first time, the ability to reliably assign an assemblage of larval coregonines [Salmonidae Coregoninae] to shallow and multiple deepwater species. Larval coregonines from the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, were genotyped using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) and were assigned to species using reference genotypes from adult...
Inter- and intra-annual effects of lethal removal on common raven abundance in Nevada and California, USA
Shawn T. O’Neil, Peter S. Coates, Julia C. Brockman, Pat J. Jackson, Jack O. Spencer Jr., Perry J. Williams
2021, Human–Wildlife Interactions (15)
Populations of common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) have increased rapidly within sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems between 1960 and 2020. Although ravens are native to North America, their population densities have expanded to levels that negatively influence the population dynamics of other wildlife species of conservation concern, such as greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus...
Spatial modeling of common raven density and occurrence helps guide landscape management within Great Basin sagebrush ecosystems
Sarah C. Webster, Shawn T. O’Neil, Brianne E. Brussee, Peter S. Coates, Pat J. Jackson, John C. Tull, David J. Delehanty
2021, Human–Wildlife Interactions (15)
Common ravens (Corvus corax; ravens) are a behaviorally flexible nest predator of several avian species, including species of conservation concern. Movement patterns based on life history phases, particularly territoriality of breeding birds and transiency of nonbreeding birds, are thought to influence the frequency and efficacy of nest predation. As such,...
Clustering supported classification of ChemCam data from Gale crater, Mars
Kristin Rammelkamp, Olivier Gasnault, Olivier Forni, Candice C. Bedford, Erwin Dehouck, Agnes Cousin, Jeremie Lasue, Gael David, Travis S.J. Gabriel, Sylvestre Maurice, Roger C. Wiens
2021, Earth and Space Science (8)
The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on board the MSL rover Curiosity has collected a very large and unique dataset of in-situ spectra and images of Mars since landing in August 2012. More than 800,000 single shot LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) spectra measured on more than 2,500 individual targets were...
Alaska natural gas hydrate production testing: Test site selection, characterization and testing operations
Timothy Collett
2021, Report
This Interagency Agreement supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its research partners in understanding, predicting, and testing the recoverability and potential production characteristics of onshore natural gas hydrate in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area on the Alaska North Slope (ANS: Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and Milne...
The Southeastern U.S. as a complex of use sites for nonbreeding rufa Red Knots: Fifteen years of band-encounter data
M.E. Tuma, Abby Powell
2021, Wader Study 265-273
Shorebirds have been banded for decades and monitoring programs have helped to accumulate large band-encounter datasets from across the globe; however, many of these datasets are left largely unused, particularly those collected by citizen scientists. These datasets can provide valuable insight into the...
Maps of the Arctic Alaska boundary area as defined by the U.S. Arctic Research and Policy Act—Including geospatial characteristics of select marine and terrestrial features
Dee M. Williams, Christopher L. Richmond
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3484
This pamphlet presents a series of general reference maps showing relevant geospatial features of the U.S. Arctic boundary as defined by the U.S. Congress since 1984. The first generation of the U.S. Arctic Research and Policy Act (ARPA) boundary maps was originally formatted and published in 2009 by a private...
Simulation of groundwater budgets and travel times for watersheds on the north shore of Long Island Sound, with implications for nitrogen-transport studies
Janet R. Barclay, John R. Mullaney
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5116
Aquatic systems in and around the Long Island Sound (LIS) provide a variety of ecological and economic benefits, but in some areas of the LIS, aquatic ecosystems have become degraded by excess nitrogen. A substantial fraction of the nitrogen inputs to the LIS are transported through the groundwater-flow system. Because...
Quarterly wildlife mortality report October 2021
Bryan J. Richards, Daniel A. Grear, Shelby Jo Weidenkopf
2021, Newsletter
The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) Quarterly Mortality Report provides brief summaries of epizootic mortality and morbidity events by quarter. The write-ups, highlighting epizootic events and other wildlife disease topics of interest, are published in the Wildlife Disease Association quarterly newsletter. A link is provided in this WDA newsletter...
Capacity assessment for Earth Monitoring, Analysis, and Prediction (EarthMAP) and future integrated monitoring and predictive science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Jennifer L. Keisman, Sky Bristol, David S. Brown, Allison K. Flickinger, Gregory L. Gunther, Peter S. Murdoch, MaryLynn Musgrove, John C. Nelson, Gregory D. Steyer, Kathryn A. Thomas, Ian R. Waite
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1102
Executive SummaryManagers of our Nation’s resources face unprecedented challenges driven by the convergence of increasing, competing societal demands and a changing climate that affects the stability, vulnerability, and predictability of those resources. To help meet these challenges, the scientific community must take advantage of all available technologies, data, and integrative...
Permafrost characterization and feature identification using public domain airborne electromagnetic data, interior Alaska
Abraham M. Emond, Ronald Daanen, Burke J. Minsley
2021, FastTIMES (26)
The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data are an excellent resource for permafrost characterization. AEM data can be used for pingo identification, estimating permafrost thickness, estimating surface talik thickness, evaluating permafrost health (temperature), talik identification and more. Data examples are shown from discontinuous...
Random forest
Emil D. Attanasi, Timothy Coburn
2021, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of mathematical geosciences
This entry defines and discusses the random forest machine learning algorithm. The algorithm is used to predict class or quantities for target variables using values of a set of predictor variables. It uses decision trees that are generated from bootstrap sampling of the training data set to create a "forest"....
Can identifying discrete behavioral groups with individual-based acoustic telemetry advance the understanding of fish distribution patterns?
Ryland B. Taylor, Martha E. Mather, Joseph M. Smith, Kayla M. Boles
2021, Frontiers in Marine Science (8)
Identifying patterns of organismal distribution can provide valuable insights for basic and applied marine and coastal ecology because understanding where animals are located is foundational to both research and science-based conservation. Understanding variation in distributional patterns can lead to a better assessment of ecological drivers and an improved ability to...
Assessing the migratory histories, trophic positions, and conditions of lake sturgeon in the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers using fin ray microchemistry, stable isotopes, and fatty acid profiles
Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, Michelle Bartsch, Lynn A. Bartsch, Steven J. Zigler, Robert J Kennedy, Seth A. Love
2021, Ecological Processes (10)
BackgroundReproducing populations of invasive carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) could alter aquatic food webs and negatively affect native fishes in the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS) and the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN). However, proposed invasive carp barriers may also threaten populations of native migratory fishes by preventing...
Long-term Pseudogymnoascus destructans surveillance data reveal factors contributing to pathogen presence
John Grider, Robin E. Russell, Anne Ballmann, Trevor J. Hefley
2021, Ecosphere (12)
The disease white-nose syndrome (WNS) was first recognized in upstate New York in 2006 and has since spread across much of the United States (U.S.), causing severe mortality in several North American bat species. To aid in the identification and monitoring of at-risk bat populations, we...
The Yorktown Formation: Improved stratigraphy, chronology and paleoclimate interpretations from the U.S. mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Kevin M. Foley, Timothy D. Herbert
2021, Geosciences (11)
The Yorktown Formation records paleoclimate conditions along the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain during the mid-Piacenzian Warm Period (3.264 to 3.025 Ma), a climate interval of the Pliocene in some ways analogous to near future climate projections. To gain insight into potential near future changes, we investigated Yorktown Formation...
Hierarchical models improve the use of alligator abundance as an indicator
Seth C. Farris, J. Hardin Waddle, Caitlin E. Hackett, Laura A. Brandt, Frank J. Mazzotti
2021, Ecological Indicators (133)
Indicator species are species which can be monitored as an index to measure the overall health of an ecosystem. Crocodylians have been shown to be good indicators of wetland condition as they respond to changes in hydrology, can be efficiently monitored, and are...
Impacts of extreme environmental disturbances on piping plover survival are partially moderated by migratory connectivity
Kristen S. Ellis, Michael J. Anteau, Francesca J. Cuthbert, Cheri L Gratto-Trevor, Joel G. Jorgensen, David J Newstead, Larkin A. Powell, Megan M. Ring, Mark H. Sherfy, Rose J. Swift, Dustin L. Toy, David N. Koons
2021, Biological Conservation (264)
Effective conservation for listed migratory species requires an understanding of how drivers of population decline vary spatially and temporally, as well as knowledge of range-wide connectivity between breeding and nonbreeding areas. Environmental conditions distant from breeding areas can have lasting effects...
Using isotopic data to evaluate Esox lucius (Linnaeus, 1758) natal origins in a hydrologically complex river basin
Ryan M. Fitzpatrick, Dana L. Winkelman, Brett M. Johnson
2021, Fishes (6)
Otolith microchemistry has emerged as a powerful technique with which to identify the natal origins of fishes, but it relies on differences in underlying geology that may occur over large spatial scales. An examination of how small a spatial scale on which this technique can be implemented, especially in...
Co-occurring lotic crayfishes exhibit variable long-term responses to extreme-flow events and temperature
Corey Garland Dunn, Michael J. Moore, Nicholas A. Sievert, Craig P. Paukert, Robert J. DiStefano
2021, Freshwater Science (40) 626-643
Crayfish serve critical roles in aquatic ecosystems as engineers, omnivores, and prey. It is unclear how increasingly frequent extreme-flow events and warming air temperatures will affect crayfish populations, partly because there are few long-term crayfish monitoring datasets. Using a unique 10-y dataset, we asked 1) whether recruitment of crayfishes in...
Classifying crop types using two generations of hyperspectral sensors (Hyperion and DESIS) with machine learning on the cloud
Itiya P. Aneece, Prasad Thenkabail
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Advances in spaceborne hyperspectral (HS) remote sensing, cloud-computing, and machine learning can help measure, model, map and monitor agricultural crops to address global food and water security issues, such as by providing accurate estimates of crop area and yield to model agricultural productivity. Leveraging these advances, we...
