Nitrogen and phosphorus loads from groundwater to Lake Spokane, Spokane, Washington, October 2016–October 2019
Richard W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5023
Shallow nearshore groundwater and estimates of groundwater seepage were collected at 21 locations along the north and south shores of Lake Spokane beginning in October 2016 and ending in October 2019. Nitrate plus nitrite concentrations in nearshore groundwater ranged from <0.04 to 7.60 milligrams of nitrogen per liter. Nearshore...
Geometric calibration updates to Landsat 7 ETM+ instrument for Landsat Collection 2 products
Mike Choate, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, James C. Storey, Mark Lubke
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
The Landsat 7 (L7) spacecraft and its instrument, the enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+), have been consistently characterized and calibrated since its launch in April of 1999. These performance metrics and calibration updates are determined through the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landsat image assessment system (IAS), which has been...
Priority species lists to restore desert tortoise and pollinator habitats in Mojave Desert shrublands
Todd Esque, Lesley A. DeFalco, Gayle Loren Tyree, K. Kristina Drake, Kenneth E. Nussear, Joseph S Wilson
2021, Natural Areas Journal (41) 145-158
Mojave Desert shrublands are home to unique plants and wildlife and are experiencing rapid habitat change due to unprecedented large-scale disturbances; yet, established practices to effectively restore disturbed landscapes are not well developed. A priority species list of native plant taxa was developed to guide...
Geometry of the Bushveld Complex from 3D potential field modelling
Janine Cole, Carol A. Finn, Susan J. Webb
2021, Precambrian Research (359)
A full three-dimensional (3D) potential field model of the central and southern Bushveld Complex reveals information about the Complex in areas obscured by younger geological cover. Previously, two-dimensional gravity models and a few magnetic models limited to certain sections of the...
USGS National Water Quality Monitoring Network
Melissa L. Riskin, Casey J. Lee
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3019
What is the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Monitoring Network?Understanding the water quality of U.S. streams and rivers requires consistent data collection and analysis over decades. The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Quality Network (NWQN) was established to facilitate national-scale understanding of surface-water quality conditions through the collection...
Economic effects assessment approaches: US National Parks approach
Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Lynne Koontz
2021, Book chapter
This chapter discusses the data and methods used by the US National Park Service to estimate the economic effects of National Park visitor spending to local and regional economies. Topics covered include a summary of economic effects analyses, required data for analysis (visitor count data, trip characteristics and spending patterns,...
Geophysical insights into Paleoproterozoic tectonics along the southern margin of the Superior Province, central Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA
Benjamin J. Drenth, William F. Cannon, Klaus J. Schulz, Robert A. Ayuso
2021, Precambrian Research (359)
The southern margin of the Archean Superior Province in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan was a nexus for key Paleoproterozoic tectonic events involved in the ~2.1 Ga rifting of proposed Archean supercraton Superia and subsequent assembly of Laurentia. Interpretations of the region’s tectonic history have historically been hampered by extensive...
The paleogeography of Laurentia in its early years: New constraints from the Paleoproterozoic East-Central Minnesota batholith
Nicholas L. Swanson-Hysell, Margaret Susan Avery, Yiming Zhang, Eben B. Hodgin, Robert J. Sherwood, Francisco E. Apen, Terrence J. Boerboom, C. Brenhin Keller, John M. Cottle
2021, Tectonics (40)
The ca. 1.83 Ga Trans-Hudson orogeny resulted from collision of an upper plate consisting of the Hearne, Rae, and Slave provinces with a lower plate consisting of the Superior province. While the geologic record of ca. 1.83 Ga peak metamorphism within the orogen suggests that these provinces were a single amalgamated craton from this...
Shear-wave velocity site characterization in Oklahoma from joint inversion of multi-method surface seismic measurements: Implications for central U.S. Ground Motion Prediction
William J. Stephenson, Jackson K. Odum, Stephen H. Hartzell, Alena L. Leeds, Robert Williams
2021, Bulletin Seismological Society America (111) 1693-1712
We analyze multimethod shear (SH)‐wave velocity (VS">VS) site characterization data acquired at three permanent and 25 temporary seismograph stations in Oklahoma that recorded M 4+ earthquakes within a 50 km hypocentral distance of at least one...
The scope and severity of white-nose syndrome on hibernating bats in North America
Tina L. Cheng, Jonathan D. Reichard, Jeremy T.H. Coleman, Ted Weller, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Brian E. Reichert, Alyssa Bennett, Hugh G. Broders, Joshua Campbell, Katherine Etchison, Daniel J. Feller, Richard Geboy, Traci Hemberger, Carl Herzog, Alan C. Hicks, Sandra Houghton, Jessica Humber, Joseph A. Kath, Andrew L. King, Susan C. Loeb, Ariane Masse, Katrina M. Morris, Holly Niederriter, Gerd E. Nordquist, Roger W. Perry, Rick Reynolds, David Blake Sasse, Michael R. Scafini, Richard C. Stark, Craig W. Stihler, Steven C. Thomas, Gregory G. Turner, Shevenell Webb, Bradley Westrich, Winifred F. Frick
2021, Conservation Biology (35) 1586-1597
Assessing the scope and severity of threats is necessary for evaluating impacts on populations to inform conservation planning. Quantitative threat assessment often requires monitoring programs that provide reliable data over relevant spatial and temporal scales, yet such programs can be difficult to justify until there is...
Historical effective population size of North American hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus) and challenges to estimating trends in contemporary effective breeding population size from archived samples
Robert S. Cornman, Jennifer A. Fike, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Paul M. Cryan
2021, PeerJ (9)
BackgroundHoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) are among the bat species most commonly killed by wind turbine strikes in the midwestern United States. The impact of this mortality on species census size is not understood, due in part to the difficulty of estimating population size for this highly migratory and elusive...
Global resorption efficiencies of trace elements in leaves of terrestrial plants
Hao Chen, Sasha C. Reed, Xiaotao Lü, Kongcao Xiao, Kelin Wang, Dejun Li
2021, Functional Ecology (35) 1596-1602
Leaf nutrient resorption is a critical nutrient conservation strategy. Previous studies focus mainly on resorption patterns of macronutrients, but resorption patterns of trace elements remain poorly understood.A meta-analysis was conducted to explore the general patterns of the leaf resorption of eight trace elements [i.e. copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), zinc...
Coking coal of the United States—Modern and historical coking coal mining locations and chemical, rheological, petrographic, and other data from modern samples
Michael H. Trippi, Leslie F. Ruppert, Cortland F. Eble, James C. Hower
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1113
Coking coal, or metallurgical coal, has been produced in the United States for nearly 200 years. Coking coal is primarily used in the production of coke for use in the steel industry, and for other uses (for example, foundries, blacksmithing, heating buildings, and brewing). Currently, U.S. coking coal is produced...
Geochemical data for Illinois Basin coal samples, 2015–2018
Allan Kolker, Clint Scott, Liliana Lefticariu, Maria Mastalerz, Agnieszka Drobniak, Annie Scott
2021, Data Series 1135
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and their collaborators conducted a study of the geochemical properties of coals currently produced for electric power generation in the Illinois Basin in Illinois and Indiana. The study follows from recommendations by an expert panel for the USGS to investigate the distribution and...
Substantial declines in salinity observed across the Upper Colorado River Basin during the 20th century, 1929 to 2019
Christine Rumsey, Olivia L. Miller, Robert Hirsch, Thomas M. Marston, David Susong
2021, Water Resources Research (57)
Salinity in the Colorado River Basin causes an estimated $300 to $400 million per year in economic damages in the U.S. To inform and improve salinity‐control efforts, this study quantifies long‐term trends in salinity (dissolved solids) across the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), including time periods prior...
Integrating tracking and resight data enables unbiased inferences about migratory connectivity and winter range survival from archival tags
Clark S Rushing, Aimee M Van Tatenhove, Andrew Sharp, Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, Mary Freeman, Paul W. Sykes, Aaron M. Given, T. Scott Sillett
2021, Ornithological Applications (123)
Archival geolocators have transformed the study of small, migratory organisms but analysis of data from these devices requires bias correction because tags are only recovered from individuals that survive and are re-captured at their tagging location. We show that integrating geolocator recovery data and mark–resight data enables unbiased estimates of...
Landscape characterization of floral resources for pollinators in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
Autumn H. Smart, Clint Otto, Alisa L. Gallant, Michael P. Simanonok
2021, Biodiversity and Conservation (30) 1991-2015
Across agricultural areas of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), floral resources are primarily found on public grasslands, roadsides, and private grasslands used as pasture or enrolled in federal conservation programs. Little research has characterized the availability of flowers across the region or identified the primary stakeholders managing lands supporting pollinators....
Connectivity of Mojave Desert tortoise populations—Management implications for maintaining a viable recovery network
Roy C. Averill-Murray, Todd Esque, Linda J. Allison, Scott Bassett, Sarah K. Carter, Kirsten E. Dutcher, Steven J. Hromada, Kevin T. Shoemaker, Kenneth E. Nussear
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1033
Executive SummaryThe historic distribution of Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) was relatively continuous across the range, and the importance of tortoise habitat outside of designated tortoise conservation areas (TCAs) to recovery has long been recognized for its contributions to supporting gene flow between TCAs and to minimizing impacts and edge...
Long-term multidecadal data from a prairie-pothole wetland complex reveal controls on aquatic-macroinvertebrate communities
Kyle McLean, David M. Mushet, Wesley E. Newton, Jon N. Sweetman
2021, Ecological Indicators (126)
Interactions between climate and hydrogeologic settings contribute to the hydrologic and chemical variability among depressional wetlands, which influences their aquatic communities. These interactions and resulting variability have led to inconsistent results in terms of identifying reliable predictors of aquatic-macroinvertebrate community composition for depressional wetlands. This is especially true in the...
Changes in seabed mining
James R. Hein, Pedro Madureira, Maria Joao Bebianno, Ana Colaço, Luis M. Pinheiro, Richard Roth, Pradeep K. Singh, Anastasia Strati, Joshua T. Tuhumwire
2021, Book chapter, United Nations World Ocean Assessment II
Chapter 23 of the First World Ocean Assessment (WOA I) focused on marine mining, and particularly on established extractive industries, which are predominantly confined to near-shore areas, where shallow-water, near-shore aggregate and placer deposits, and somewhat deeper water phosphate deposits are found (United Nations, 2017a). At the time of publication,...
Implications of tagging effects for interpreting the performance of sea lamprey traps in a large river
Jessica Nelson, Andrew M. Rous, Adrienne R. McLean, Jessica Barber, Gale A Bravener, Christopher M. Holbrook, Robert L. McLaughlin
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 1200-1208
Abundance estimates can be crucial for managing species of economic concern. The accuracy of these estimates can depend on the methods used to track animals and to estimate abundance from tracking data. We tested experimentally if disparate estimates of trapping efficiency calculated for sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the St....
Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses
Kurt Solander, Adam D. Collins, Erika Swanson, Ellis Q. Margolis, Brandon Crawford, Elizabeth Miller, Min Chen, Anita Lavadie-Bulnes, Max Ryan, Isaac Borrego, Sanna Sevanto, Emily Schultz-Fellenz
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (126)
Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve...
Substantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions
Kuang-Yu Chang, William J. Riley, Sara H. Knox, Robert B. Jackson, Gavin McNicol, Benjamin Poulter, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Alessandro Cescatti, Housen Chu, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Matthias Goeckede, Thomas Friborg, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Manuel Helbig, Trevor F. Keenan, Minseok Kang, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Bhaskar Mitra, Ivan Mammarella, Akira Miyata, Mats B. Nilsson, Walter C. Oechel, Akso Noormets, Matthias Peichl, Michele L. Reba, Janne Rinne, Dario Papale, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Karina VR Schafer, Hans Peter Schmid, Narasinha Shurpali, Oliver Sonnentag, Angela Tang, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Carlo Trotta, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Timo Vesala, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona
2021, Nature Communications (12)
Wetland methane (CH4) emissions (FCH4) are important in global carbon budgets and climate change assessments. Currently, FCH4 projections rely on prescribed static temperature sensitivity that varies among biogeochemical models. Meta-analyses have proposed a consistent FCH4 temperature...
Three-dimensional geologic map of the Brady geothermal area, Nevada
Drew L. Siler, James E. Faulds, Nicholas H. Hinz, John H. Queen
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3469
The three-dimensional (3D) geologic map characterizes the subsurface in the Brady geothermal area in the northern Hot Springs Mountains of northwestern Nevada. We built the 3D map by integrating the results from detailed geologic mapping, seismic-reflection, potential-field-geophysical, and lithologic well-logging investigations completed in the study area. This effort was undertaken...
Critical shallow and deep hydrologic conditions associated with widespread landslides during a series of storms between February and April 2018 in Pittsburgh and vicinity, western Pennsylvania, USA
Francis Ashland
2021, Landslides (18) 2159-2174
The potential for widespread landslides is generally increased when extraordinary wet periods occur during times of elevated subsurface hydrologic conditions. A series of storms in early 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, overlapped with a period of increased shallow soil moisture and rising bedrock groundwater levels resulting from seasonally diminished evapotranspiration and...
