Vegetation management on private forestland can increase avian species richness and abundance
J.M. Wood, A.K. Tegeler, Beth Ross
2020, Ornithological Applications (122)
Conservation efforts on private lands are important for biodiversity conservation. On private lands in South Carolina, in the southeastern United States, forestry management practices (prescribed burning, thinning, herbicide application) are used to improve upland pine habitat for wildlife and timber harvest and are incentivized through U.S. Department of Agriculture...
Southern (California) sea otter population status and trends at San Nicolas Island, 2017–2020
Julie L. Yee, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Michael C. Kenner, Jessica Fujii, Gena B. Bentall, M. Tim Tinker, Brian B. Hatfield
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1115
The southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) population at San Nicolas Island, California, has been monitored annually since the translocation of 140 sea otters to the island was completed in 1990. Monitoring efforts have varied in frequency and type across years. In 2017, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Fish...
High-frequency data reveal deicing salts drive elevated specific conductance and chloride along with pervasive and frequent exceedances of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aquatic life criteria for chloride in urban streams
Joel Moore, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Andrew J. Sekellick
2020, Environmental Science and Technology (54) 778-789
Increasing specific conductance (SC) and chloride concentrations [Cl] negatively affect many stream ecosystems. We characterized spatial variability in SC, [Cl], and exceedances of Environmental Protection Agency [Cl] criteria using nearly 30 million high-frequency observations (2–15 min intervals) for SC and modeled...
Ratios of methylmercury to total mercury in predator and primary consumer insects from Adirondack streams in New York State
Karen Riva-Murray
2020, Summary Report 20-32
Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant that affects aquatic biota in otherwise pristine settings such as the Adirondack region of New York State. Bioaccumulation of Hg is especially problematic in sensitive landscapes, where inorganic mercury from atmospheric deposition is readily converted, via natural processes, to methylmercury (MeHg), the toxic form...
Council monitoring and assessment program (CMAP): A framework for using the monitoring program inventory to conduct gap assessments for the Gulf of Mexico Region
Julie Bosch, Heidi B Burkart, Bogdan Chivoiu, Randy Clark, Chris Clement, Nicholas Enwright, Steve Giordano, Chris Jeffrey, Ed Johnson, Rheannon Hart, Sarah D Hile, Jacob S Howell, Claudia Laurenzano, Michael Lee, Terrance McCloskey, Terry McTigue, Michelle B Meyers, Katie E Miller, Scott Mize, Mark E. Monaco, Kevin Owen, Richard Rebich, Samuel H. Rendon, Ali Robertson, Thomas Sample, Kelly Marie Sanks, Gregory Steyer, Kevin Suir, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Hana Rose Thurman
2020, NOAA Technical Memorandum 284
Executive Summary Under the Resources and Ecosystem Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act), the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council or Council) is required to report on the progress of funded projects and programs. Systematic monitoring of restoration at...
Upper Mississippi River system weighted wind fetch analysis (1989, 2000, 2010/2011)
Jason J. Rohweder, James T. Rogala
2020, Report
Wind fetch is defined as the unobstructed distance that wind can travel over water in a constant direction. Fetches are limited by landforms surrounding the body of water. Fetch is an important characteristic of open water because longer fetches can result in larger wind-generated waves. The larger waves, in turn,...
On the robustness of annual daily precipitation maxima estimates over Monsoon Asia
Phuong-Loan Nguyen, Margot Bador, Lisa Alexander, Todd P. Lane, Chris Funk
2020, Frontiers in Climate Services (2)
Understanding precipitation extremes over Monsoon Asia is vital for water resource management and hazard mitigation, but there are many gaps and uncertainties in observations in this region. To better understand observational uncertainties, this study uses a high-resolution validation dataset to assess the consistency of the representation of annual daily precipitation...
Characterizing spatiotemporal patterns of crop phenology across North America during 2000–2016 using satellite imagery and agricultural survey data
Yanjun Yang, Wei Ren, Bo Tao, Lei Ji, Liang Liang, Alex C. Ruran, J. B. Fisher, Jiangui Liu, Michael Sama, Zhe Li, Qingjiu Tian
2020, ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (170) 156-173
Crop phenology represents an integrative indicator of climate change and plays a vital role in terrestrial carbon dynamics and sustainable agricultural development. However, spatiotemporal variations of crop phenology remain unclear at large scales. This knowledge gap has hindered our ability to...
Quarterly wildlife mortality report October 2020
Bryan J. Richards, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel A. Grear
2020, 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...
Geochemical assessment of groundwater in the Big Chino subbasin, Arizona, 2011–18
Kimberly R. Beisner, Casey J. R. Jones
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5094
A geochemical characterization of groundwater in the Big Chino subbasin of Arizona was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Prescott, the Town of Prescott Valley, and the Salt River Project, to understand groundwater evolution through the study area and the source of water to...
Fish assemblages in eelgrass beds of Bellingham Bay, Washington, Northern Puget Sound, 2019
Morgan I. Andrews, Theresa L. Liedtke
2020, Data Series 1131
Puget Sound is a critical part of the Pacific Northwest, both culturally and economically. Eelgrass beds are an important feature of Puget Sound and are known to influence fish assemblages. As part of a larger site-characterization effort, and to gain a better understanding of the fish assemblages in Bellingham Bay,...
Estimating the effects of forest structure changes from wildfire on snow water resources under varying meteorological conditions
C. David Moeser, Patrick Borxton, Adrian Harpold, Andrew J. Robertson
2020, Water Resources Research (56)
Modeling forest change effects on snow is critical to resource management. However, many models either do not appropriately model canopy structure or cannot represent fine‐scale changes in structure following a disturbance. We applied a 1 m2 resolution energy budget snowpack model at a forested site in New Mexico,...
Keeping up with the times: Mapping range-wide habitat suitability for endangered species in a changing environment
Eamon J. Harrity, Bryan S. Stevens, Courtney J. Conway
2020, Biological Conservation (250)
Biologists and policy-makers have the difficult task of allocating limited resources to habitat conservation and management for endangered species in the face of changing environmental conditions. Satellite remote sensing can inform conservation because it is an efficient means to obtain environmental data over broad spatial and temporal extents. Yet, the...
Modest residual effects of short-term warming, altered hydration, and biocrust successional state on dryland soil heterotrophic carbon and nitrogen cycling
Colin Tucker, Scott Ferrenberg, Sasha C. Reed
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Section Biogeography and Macroecology (8)
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) on the Colorado Plateau may fuel carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling of soil heterotrophic organisms throughout the region. Late successional moss and lichen biocrusts, in particular, can increase soil C and N availability, but some data suggest these biocrust types will be replaced by early...
Mussel community assessment tool for the Upper Mississippi River system
Heidi L. Dunn, Steven J. Zigler, Teresa Newton
2020, Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation (23) 109-123
Upper Mississippi River (UMR) resource managers need a quantitative means of evaluating the health of mussel assemblages to measure effects of management and regulatory actions, assess restoration techniques, and inform regulatory tasks. Our objective was to create a mussel community assessment tool (MCAT), consisting of a suite of metrics and...
Detecting cover crop end-of-season using VENµS and sentinel-2 satellite imagery
Feng Gao, Martha Anderson, W. Dean Hively
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Cover crops are planted during the off-season to protect the soil and improve watershed management. The ability to map cover crop termination dates over agricultural landscapes is essential for quantifying conservation practice implementation, and enabling estimation of biomass accumulation during the active cover period. Remote sensing detection of end-of-season (termination)...
Statistical methods in water resources
Dennis R. Helsel, Robert M. Hirsch, Karen R. Ryberg, Stacey A. Archfield, Edward J. Gilroy
2020, Techniques and Methods 4-A3
This text began as a collection of class notes for a course on applied statistical methods for hydrologists taught at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Training Center. Course material was formalized and organized into a textbook, first published in 1992 by Elsevier as part of their Studies in Environmental...
Water resources in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal jurisdictional area, west-central Oklahoma, with an analysis of data gaps through 2015
Carol Becker, Matthew S. Varonka
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5105
This report provides an overview of existing hydrologic information describing the quality, quantity, and extent of the major surface-water and groundwater resources in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal jurisdictional area, west-central Oklahoma. Hydrologic information is provided for five major river systems (Cimarron River, North Canadian River, Canadian River, Washita River,...
Meeting the challenge: U.S. Geological Survey North Atlantic and Appalachian Region fiscal year 2020 in review
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, General Information Product 207
The utilization, preservation, and conservation of the Nation’s resources requires well-informed management decisions. The North Atlantic and Appalachian Region (NAAR) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) supports science-based decision making for Federal, State, and local policymakers to meet the challenges of today and into the future. The science centers in...
Integrated geophysical analysis provides an alternate interpretation of the northern margin of the North American Midcontinent Rift System, Central Lake Superior
V. J. Grauch, Eric D. Anderson, Samuel J. Heller, Esther K. Stewart, Laurel G. Woodruff
2020, Interpretation (8) SS63-SS85
The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a 1.1 Ga sequence of voluminous basaltic eruptions and multiple intrusions followed by widespread sedimentation that extends across the Midcontinent and northern Great Lakes region of North America. Previous workers have commonly used seismic-reflection data (Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary...
Lava–water interaction and hydrothermal activity within the 2014–2015 Holuhraun Lava Flow Field, Iceland
Colin M. Dundas, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Einat Lev, M. Elise Rumpf, Christopher W. Hamilton, Armann Hoskuldsson, Thorvaldur Thordarson
2020, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (408)
Lava that erupted during the 2014–2015 Holuhraun eruption in Iceland flowed into a proglacial river system, resulting in aqueous cooling of the lava and an ephemeral hydrothermal system. We carried out a monitoring study of this system from 2015 to 2018...
Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci in merlins (Falco columbarius) and cross-species amplification in gyrfalcons (F. rusticolus) and peregrine falcons (F. peregrinus)
Joshua M. Hull, George K. Sage, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Megan C. Gravley, Breanna L. Martinico, Travis L. Booms, Ted Swem, Sandra L. Talbot
2020, Molecular Biology Reports (47) 8377-8383
I. Background: Merlins, Falco columbarius, breed throughout temperate and high latitude habitats in Asia, Europe, and North America. Like peregrine falcons, F. peregrinus, merlins underwent population declines during the mid-to-late 20th century, due to organochlorine-based contamination, and have subsequently recovered, at least in North American populations. II....
Characterization of acoustic detection efficiency using a gliding robotic fish as a mobile receiver platform
Osama Ennasr, Christopher M. Holbrook, Darryl W. Hondorp, Charles C. Krueger, Demetris Coleman, Pratap Solanki, John Thon, Xiaobo Tan
2020, Animal Biotelemetry (8)
BackgroundAutonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and animal telemetry have become important tools for understanding the relationships between aquatic organisms and their environment, but more information is needed to guide the development and use of AUVs as effective animal tracking platforms. A forward-facing acoustic telemetry receiver (VR2Tx 69 kHz; VEMCO, Bedford,...
Evaluation of the U.S. Geological Survey streamgage network in South Carolina, 2017
Toby D. Feaster, Katharine Kolb
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1104
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring streamflow in South Carolina since the late 1800s. From the beginning, the USGS streamgage network in South Carolina has been dynamic, with streamgages being added or removed depending on their purpose and the availability of funding from Federal, State, and local partners....
Chapter A6.2. Dissolved oxygen
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Techniques and Methods 9-A6.2
The “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) provides guidelines and procedures for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel who collect data used to assess the quality of the Nation’s surface water and groundwater resources. This chapter, NFM A6.2, provides guidance and protocols for the measurement of dissolved...
