Influence of sediment and stream transport on detecting a source of environmental DNA
Meredith B. Nevers, Katarzyna Przybyla-Kelly, Dawn A. Shively, Charles C. Morris, Joshua Dickey, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used for early detection, population estimations, and assessment of potential spread of invasive species, but questions remain about factors that influence eDNA detection results. Efforts are being made to understand how physical, chemical, and biological factors—settling, resuspension, dispersion, eDNA stability/decay—influence eDNA estimations and potentially population...
Effects of fish populations on Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) and Yellow-billed Loon (G. adamsii) lake occupancy and chick production in northern Alaska
Brian D. Uher-Koch, Kenneth G. Wright, Hannah R. Uher-Koch, Joel A. Schmutz
2020, Arctic (73) 405-550
Predator populations are vulnerable to changes in prey distribution or availability. With warming temperatures, lake ecosystems in the Arctic are predicted to change in terms of hydrologic flow, water levels, and connectivity with other lakes. We surveyed lakes in northern Alaska to understand how shifts in the...
Procedures and best practices for trigonometric leveling in the U.S. Geological Survey
Michael L. Noll, Paul H. Rydlund Jr.
2020, Techniques and Methods 11-D3
With the advent of highly precise total stations and modern surveying instrumentation, trigonometric leveling has become a compelling alternative to conventional leveling methods for establishing vertical-control networks and for perpetuating a datum to field sites. Previous studies of trigonometric-leveling measurement uncertainty proclaim that first-, second-, and third-order accuracies may be...
Forest management under megadrought: Urgent actions needed at finer-scale and higher intensity
Jason P. Field, David D. Breshears, John B. Bradford, Darin J. Law, Xiaohui Feng, Craig D. Allen
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Drought and warming increasingly are causing widespread tree die-offs and extreme wildfires. Forest managers are struggling to improve anticipatory forest management practices given more frequent, extensive, and severe wildfire and tree die-off events triggered by “hotter drought”—drought under warmer than historical conditions. Of even greater concern is the increasing...
Hydrogeology and groundwater geochemistry of till confining units and confined aquifers in glacial deposits near Litchfield, Cromwell, Akeley, and Olivia, Minnesota, 2014–18
Jared J. Trost, Anna-Turi Maher, William W. Simpkins, Alyssa N. Witt, James R. Stark, Justin Blum, Andrew M. Berg
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5127
Confined (or buried) aquifers of glacial origin overlain by till confining units provide drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents. The sustainability of these groundwater resources is not well understood because hydraulic properties of till that control vertical groundwater fluxes (leakage) to underlying aquifers are largely unknown. The...
Maine and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3066
Maine is a place of rocky coastlines, of rich maritime history symbolized by lighthouses dotting the ocean bluffs, and of wondrous nature areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. But Maine is a place of changes, too. Climate variability has brought the state heavier and more...
Ohio and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3065
In Ohio, remote-sensing systems such as Landsat play an important role in monitoring natural resources and informing management decisions on everything from dangerous freshwater algal blooms to gypsy moth defoliation and more. Landsat imagery underpins public and private sector decisions in Ohio and across the Nation for effective adaptation to...
New Mexico and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3060
New Mexico relies on observations from the Landsat series of satellites operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. Data from Landsat also assist New Mexico in managing its precious water resources for agriculture, recreation, and industrial and community consumption. Landsat supports a variety of public and private sector decisions across New...
Minnesota and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3059
Landsat land-imaging satellites underpin public and private sector decisions in the Minnesota and across the Nation for effective adaptation to changing landscapes. Those decisions often lead to enhanced agricultural productivity, smart urban development, and sustainable forest management. Landsat also enables more accurate inland lake water-quality monitoring, increased disaster resilience and...
Water resources of Red River Parish, Louisiana
Angela L. Robinson, Vincent E. White
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3053
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Red River Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, about...
Water resources of Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Angela L. Robinson, Vincent E. White
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3052
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, about 13.03...
Optimization assessment of a groundwater-level observation network in the Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico
Andre B. Ritchie, Jeff D. Pepin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5007
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), measures groundwater levels continuously (hourly) and discretely (semiannually and annually) at a network of wells and piezometers (hereafter called the observation network) within the Middle Rio Grande Basin in central New Mexico. Groundwater levels that...
Bathymetric map, surface area, and capacity of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, northeastern Oklahoma, 2019
Shelby L. Hunter, A.R. Trevisan, Jennifer Villa, Kevin A. Smith
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3467
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Grand River Dam Authority, completed a high-resolution multibeam bathymetric survey to compute a new area and capacity table for Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma. Area and capacity tables identify the relation between the elevation of the water surface...
Subsea permafrost carbon stocks and climate change sensitivity estimated by expert assessment
Sara Sayedi, B.F. Thornton, Benjamin Abbott, Jennifer M. Frederick, Jorien E. Vonk, Paul Overduin, Christina Schadel, E.A.G. Schuur, A. Bourbonnais, N. Demidova, Anatoly Gavrilov, Shengping He, Gustaf Gustaf Hugelius, Martin Jakobsson, Miriam C. Jones, DoongJoo Joung, Gleb Kraev, Robie W. Macdonald, A. David McGuire, Cuicui Mu, M. O’Regan, Kathryn M. Schreiner, Christian Stranne, Elena Pizhankova, A. Vasiliev, S. Westermann, Jay P. Zarnetske, Tingjun Zhang, M Ghandehari, Sarah Baeumler, Brian C. Brown, Rebecca J. Frei
2020, Environmental Research Letters (15)
The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas contain large stocks of organic matter (OM) and methane (CH4), representing a potential ecosystem feedback to climate change not included in international climate agreements. We performed a structured expert assessment with 25 permafrost researchers to combine quantitative...
Potomac tributary report: A summary of trends in tidal water quality and associated factors
Jennifer L. Keisman, Rebecca Murphy, Olivia H. Devereux, J. Harcum, R. Karrh, M. Lane, E. Perry, James S. Webber, Zhaoying Wei, Qian Zhang, Meghan Nicole Petenbrink
2020, Report
The Potomac Tributary Report summarizes change over time in a suite of monitored tidal water quality parameters and associated potential drivers of those trends for the time period 1985 – 2018, and provides a brief description of the current state of knowledge explaining these observed changes. Water quality parameters described...
Fish out of water: Insights from a case study of a highly social animal that failed the mirror self-recognition test
Shannon Barber-Meyer, Lori J. Schmidt
2020, International Journal of Comparative Psychology (33)
Mirror self-recognition (MSR) tests have been conducted with a variety of species with the aim of examining whether subject animals have the capacity for self-awareness. To date, the majority of animals that have convincingly passed are highly social mammals whose wild...
Geologic map and borehole stratigraphy of Hinkley Valley and vicinity, San Bernardino County, California
David M. Miller, Victoria E. Langenheim, Elizabeth K. Haddon
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3458
Hinkley Valley, in the central to western Mojave Desert of southeastern California, has a long historical record owing to its position as a crossroads for rail and road traffic and its position adjacent to the Mojave River. Subflow in the Mojave River provided groundwater recharge that maintained water consumption and...
Permafrost mapping with electrical resistivity tomography in two wetland systems north of the Tanana River, Interior Alaska
Christopher H. Conaway, Cordell Johnson, Thomas Lorenson, Merritt R. Turetsky, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Mark Waldrop, Peter W. Swarzenski
2020, Journal of Environmental & Engineering Geophysics (2) 199-209
Surface-based 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were used to characterize permafrost distribution at wetland sites on the alluvial plain north of the Tanana River, 20 km southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska, in June and September 2014. The sites were part of an ecologically-sensitive research area characterizing biogeochemical response of this...
Diet and bathymetric distribution of juvenile Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Huron
Edward F. Roseman, Stephen Riley, Taaja Tucker, Steve A. Farha, Scott Jackson, Dustin Bowser
2020, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (23) 350-365
Rehabilitation efforts for Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush in Lake Huron have resulted in increased capture of young wild Lake Trout in annual bottom trawl surveys conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. To better understand the ecology of juvenile (<400mm) Lake Trout, we summarized the spatial distribution of their capture in...
Assessing contributions of cold-water refuges to reproductive migration corridor conditions for adult salmon and steelhead trout in the Columbia River, USA
Marcia N. Snyder, Nathan H. Schumaker, Jason B. Dunham, Matthew Keefer, P.T. Leinenbach, Allen Brookes, John Palmer, Jennifer Wu, Druscilla M Keenan, Joseph L. Ebersole
2020, Journal of Ecohydraulics
Diadromous fish populations face multiple challenges along their migratory routes. These challenges include suboptimal water quality, harvest, and barriers to longitudinal and lateral connectivity. Interactions among factors influencing migration success make it challenging to assess management options for improving migratory fish conditions along riverine migration corridors. We describe a spatially...
Stony coral tissue loss disease in Florida is associated with disruption of host–zooxanthellae physiology
Jan Landsberg, Yasu Kiryu, Esther Peters, Patrick Wilson, Yvonne Waters, Kerry Maxwell, Lindsay Huebner, Thierry M. Work
2020, Frontiers in Marine Science (7)
Samples from eight species of corals (Colpophyllia natans, Dendrogyra cylindrus, Diploria labyrinthiformis, Meandrina meandrites, Montastraea cavernosa, Orbicella faveolata, Pseudodiploria strigosa, and Siderastrea siderea) that exhibited gross clinical signs of acute, subacute, or chronic tissue loss attributed to stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) were collected from the Florida Reef Tract during 2016–2018 and examined histopathologically. The...
Simulation of groundwater flow in the regional aquifer system on Long Island, New York, for pumping and recharge conditions in 2005–15
Donald A. Walter, John P. Masterson, Jason S. Finkelstein, Monti, Paul E. Misut, Michael N. Fienen
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5091
A three-dimensional groundwater-flow model was developed for the aquifer system of Long Island, New York, to evaluate (1) responses of the hydrologic system to changes in natural and anthropogenic hydraulic stresses, (2) the subsurface distribution of groundwater age, and (3) the regional-scale distribution of groundwater travel times and the source...
Environmental contamination and unusual snake mortality in an urban national wildlife refuge
Kimberly A. Terrell, Anne Ballmann, Ashli Brown, Christina Childers, Susan Knowles, Ashley Meredith, Darrell Sparks
2020, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (15) 652-665
The National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System protects ~150 million acres of land and water in the United States and provides habitat for >2,000 native vertebrates species. Although legally protected, wildlife populations within these refuges can be threatened by anthropogenic activities. The lack of knowledge about such threats has the potential...
Ecological interfaces between land and flowing water: Themes and trends in riparian research and management
Stewart B. Rood, Michael L. Scott, Mark Dixon, Eduardo Gonzalez, Christian O Marks, Patrick B. Shafroth, Martin Volk
2020, Wetlands (40) 1801-1811
This paper provides an overview of past, present and future themes for research and management of riparian zones, often relating to papers within this Wetlands Special Feature. Riparian research expanded in the United States around 1980 with themes that recognized (1) damage from excessive livestock, or (2) damage...
Streamflow—Water year 2019
Xiaodong Jian, David M. Wolock, Harry F. Lins, Steven J. Brady
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3057
The maps and graphs in this summary describe national streamflow conditions for water year 2019 (October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019) in the context of streamflow ranks relative to the 90-year period of water years 1930–2019. Annual runoff in the Nation’s rivers and streams during water year 2019 (13.62...
