Coffee plantations, hurricanes and avian resiliency: Insights from occupancy, and local colonization and extinction rates in Puerto Rico
Amarilys D. Irizarry, Jaime A. Collazo, J. Vandermeer, I. Perfecto
2021, Global Ecology and Conservation (27)
Insights on impacts and resiliency of avian species with respect to hurricanes in the Caribbean have largely focused on responses measured in protected habitats. We assessed avian responses in non-protected habitat, specifically shade-restored coffee plantations, because their structural complexity retains many attributes of secondary forests, and may contribute to...
A multi-tracer and well-bore flow profile approach to determine occurrence, movement, and sources of perchlorate in groundwater
Michael Wright, John A. Izbicki, Bryant C. Jurgens
Z. Zimeng Wang, editor(s)
2021, Applied Geochemistry (129) 1-18
The purpose of this study is to determine the occurrence, movement and sources of perchlorate in groundwater using a comprehensive set of environmental tracers coupled with discreet borehole data. Potential sources of perchlorate to groundwater at the study site have been attributed to waste disposal and industrial activities as well...
Watersheds and drainage networks
Larry Stanislawski, Ethan J. Shavers
2021, Book chapter, The geographic information science & technology body of knowledge
This topic is an overview of basic concepts about how the distribution of water on the Earth, with specific regard to watersheds, stream and river networks, and waterbodies are represented by geographic data. The flowing and non-flowing bodies of water on the earth’s surface...
Quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2021
Bryan J. Richards, Robin E. Russell, Anne Ballmann
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...
3-D Modeling of the Duluth Complex from geophysical data
Dana E. Peterson, Paul A. Bedrosian, Carol A. Finn
2021, Conference Paper, 67th Institute on Lake Superior Geology Proceedings
The Mesoproterozoic Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota is one of the major plutonic components of the Midcontinent Rift System and hosts a variety of copper-nickel sulfide and platinum-group element deposits. The Duluth Complex is composed of a series of individual mafic and felsic intrusions emplaced 1110-1098 Ma within Paleoproterozoic sedimentary...
Alaska landbird montoring survey: Alaska regional protocol framework for monitoring landbirds using point counts
Colleen M. Handel, Steven M. Matsuoka, Melissa N. Cady, Diane A. Granfors
2021, Report
Alaska provides habitat for 143 species of landbirds that occur regularly in the state, about half of which breed predominantly north of the border between the contiguous United States and Canada. The road-based North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) provides some data on population trends in Alaska, but most northern...
Improving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide
Reed Noss, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Dwayne Estes, Theo Witsell, Gregg Elliott, Daniel S. Adams, Matthew A. Albrecht, Ryan Boyles, Patrick Comer, Chris Doffitt, JoVonn G. Hill, William C. Hunter, Wesley M. Knapp, Mike Marshall, Jason R. Singhurst, Christopher Tracey, Jeffrey L. Walck, Alan Weakley
2021, Conservation Biology (35) 1715-1724
Despite its successes, the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) has proven challenging to implement due to funding limitations, workload backlog, and other problems. As threats to species survival intensify and as more species come under threat, the need for the ESA and similar conservation laws and policies in other countries...
Surface flow velocities from space: Particle image velocimetry of satellite video of a large, sediment-laden river
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2021, Frontiers in Water (3)
Conventional, field-based streamflow monitoring in remote, inaccessible locations such as Alaska poses logistical challenges. Safety concerns, financial considerations, and a desire to expand water-observing networks make remote sensing an appealing alternative means of collecting hydrologic data. In an ongoing effort to develop non-contact methods for measuring river discharge, we evaluated...
Characterization of historical and stochastically generated climate and streamflow conditions in the Souris River Basin, United States and Canada
Angela Gregory, Joel M. Galloway
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5044
The Souris River Basin is a 61,000-square-kilometer basin in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada and the State of North Dakota in the United States. Greater than average snowpack during the winter of 2010–11, along with record-setting rains in May and June 2011, resulted in historically unprecedented flooding...
Floral resource selection by wild bees and honey bees in the Midwest United States: Implications for designing pollinator habitat
Stacy C. Simanonok, Clint Otto, Deborah A. Buhl
2021, Restoration Ecology (29)
Many seed mix recommendations for creating pollinator habitat are in part based on anecdotal evidence or field observations of bees visiting forbs (i.e. use). However, there is limited information on what forbs are preferred by bees, particularly in working landscapes where bee forage may be limited....
Use of the smeltCam as an efficient fish sampling alternative within the San Francisco Estuary
Brock Huntsman, Frederick V. Feyrer, Matthew J. Young
2021, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (19)
Resource managers often rely on long-term monitoring surveys to detect trends in biological data. However, no survey gear is 100% efficient, and many sources of bias can be responsible for detecting or not detecting biological trends. The SmeltCam is an imaging apparatus developed as a potential sampling alternative to long-term...
Ten years of volcanic activity at Mt Etna: High-resolution mapping and accurate quantification of the morphological changes by Pleiades and Lidar data
Marina Bisson, Claudia Spinetti, Daniele Andronico, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Maria Fabrizia Buongiorno, Oleg Alexandrov, Thomas Cecere
2021, International Journal of Applied Earth Observations and Geoinformation (102)
The topography of Mt. Etna, Italy, is subjected to continuous modifications depending on intensity and magnitude of eruptions that frequently occur at the volcano summit and flanks. In order to make high-resolution maps of morphological changes and accurately calculate the overall volume of the erupted products (e.g., lava flows, tephra...
Overview and methodology for a study to identify fecal contamination sources using microbial source tracking in seven embayments on Long Island, New York
Tristen N. Tagliaferri, Shawn C. Fisher, Christopher M. Kephart, Natalie Cheung, Ariel P. Reed, Robert J. Welk
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5033
Between June 2018 and July 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to analyze water quality in seven embayments on Long Island, New York, for a study to examine fecal contamination using microbial source tracking. This report documents the approach, methodology, and...
Improving short-term recruitment forecasts for coho salmon using a spatiotemporal integrated population model
Lukas B. DeFilippo, Thomas W. Buehrens, Mark David Scheuerell, Neala W. Kendall, Daniel E. Schindler
2021, Fisheries Research (242)
Fishery managers often rely on forecasts of future population abundance to set allowable harvest quotas or exploitation rates. While there has been substantial research devoted to identifying environmental factors that can predict recruitment for individual populations, such correlations often degrade over time, thereby limiting their utility for management. Conversely, examining...
Appendix C: Central sands lakes study technical report: Modeling documentation
Michael N. Fienen, Megan J. Haserodt, Andrew T. Leaf, Stephen, M. Westenbroek
2021, Report
This report provides the necessary documentation of the numerical models developed for the Central Sands Lake study in central Wisconsin and will be included as a technical appendix in the report to the Wisconsin State Legislature by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) in response to 2017 Wisconsin Act...
Assessing the uncertainties in climatic estimates based on vegetation assemblages: Examples from modern vegetation assemblages in the American Southwest
Robert S. Thompson, Katherine H Anderson, Richard T. Pelltier, Laura E. Strickland, Sarah Shafer, Patrick J. Bartlein
2021, Quaternary Science Reviews (262)
Assemblages of fossil plant remains have been widely used to reconstruct past climatic conditions, usually through the application of methods that involve either finding vegetation analogues on the modern landscape (and using the modern associated climatic values as the basis for an estimate) or using the modern climatic ranges...
Impact of SST and surface waves on Hurricane Florence (2018): A coupled modeling investigation
Joseph Zambon, Ruoying He, John C. Warner, Christie Hegermiller
2021, Weather and Forecasting (36) 1713-1734
Hurricane Florence (2018) devastated the coastal communities of the Carolinas through heavy rainfall that resulted in massive flooding. Florence was characterized by an abrupt reduction in intensity (Saffir-Simpson Category 4 to Category 1) just prior...
N supply mediates the radiative balance of N2O emissions and CO2 sequestration driven by N-fixing vs. non-fixing trees
Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Jennifer L. Funk, Steven S. Perakis, Amelia A. Wolf, Duncan Menge
2021, Ecology (102)
Forests are a significant CO2 sink. However, CO2 sequestration in forests is radiatively offset by emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, from forest soils. Reforestation, an important strategy for mitigating climate change, has focused on maximizing CO2 sequestration in plant biomass without integrating N2O emissions from soils. Although nitrogen (N)-fixing...
Flow characteristics and salinity patterns in tidal rivers within the northern Ten Thousand Islands, southwest Florida, water years 2007–19
Amanda C. Booth, Travis M. Knight
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5028
Freshwater flow to the Ten Thousand Islands (TTI) estuary has been altered by the construction of the Tamiami Trail and construction of features in the now defunct Southern Golden Gate Estates development. This development included four associated canals that combine into the Faka Union Canal, which discharges into the TTI...
Satellite remote sensing to assess cyanobacterial bloom frequency across the United States at multiple spatial scales
Megan M. Coffer, Blake Schaeffer, Wilson B. Salls, Erin Urquhart, Keith A. Loftin, Richard P. Stumpf, P. Jeremy Werdell, John A. Darling
2021, Ecological Indicators (128)
Cyanobacterial blooms can have negative effects on human health and local ecosystems. Field monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms can be costly, but satellite remote sensing has shown utility for more efficient spatial and temporal monitoring across the United States....
Initial estimates of net infiltration and irrigation from a soil-water-balance model of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study Area
Stephen, M. Westenbroek, Martha G. Nielsen, David E. Ladd
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1008
The Mississippi embayment encompasses about 100,000 square miles and covers parts of eight States. In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey began updating previous work for a part of the embayment known as the Mississippi Alluvial Plain to support informed water use and agricultural policy in the region. Groundwater, water use,...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills domestic-supply aquifer study units, 2015–17—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Zeno F. Levy, Miranda S. Fram
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5019
Groundwater quality in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills region of California was investigated as part of California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Groundwater Ambient Monitoring Assessment Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP). The region was divided into two study units: the Yuba-Bear watersheds (YBW) study unit and the American-Cosumnes-Mokelumne watersheds (ACMW)...
Sampling for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) by the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Priority Basin Project
Robert H. Kent
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3028
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a family of human-made chemicals that can persist in the environment. In 2019, the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) added PFAS to the projects’ on-going assessments of the quality of groundwater used for drinking-water...
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of selected streams near the city of Rittman in Wayne and Medina Counties, Ohio
Chad J. Ostheimer
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5040
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District and the city of Rittman, Ohio, did a study to provide data to update and expand parts of two Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Studies. The study consisted of hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for selected reaches of...
Discharge data collection and analysis and implications for surface-water/groundwater interactions in the lower Las Vegas Wash, Clark County, Nevada, 2016–18
Jon W. Wilson
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5034
The lower Las Vegas Wash represents the terminal surface drainage for the Las Vegas Valley in southern Nevada. In 1997, high concentrations of perchlorate were found in seeps contributing to discharge in this area and traced to an industrial byproduct from manufacturing operations in the mid-1900s at the nearby Basic...
