Survival of greater Sage-Grouse broods: Survey method affects disturbance and age-specific detection probability
Ian P. Riley, Courtney J. Conway, B. S. Stevens, S. Roberts
2021, Journal of Field Ornithology (92) 88-102
Investigators rely on brood surveys to estimate annual fecundity of game birds. However, investigators often do not account for factors that influence brood detection probability nor rarely document how much females and their broods are disturbed (flush rates) during surveys, which could lead to biased survival...
Six decades of seismology at South Pole, Antarctica: Current limitations and future opportunities to facilitate new geophysical observations
Robert Anthony, Adam T. Ringler, M. DuVernois, K. Anderson, David C. Wilson
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 2718-2735
Seismograms from the South Pole have been important for seismological observations for over six decades by providing (until 2007) the only continuous seismic records from the interior of the Antarctic continent. The South Pole, Antarctica station has undergone many updates over the years, including conversion...
Long-term salinity change and growth of the harmful alga, Prymnesium parvum
Emily T. Richardson, Reynaldo Patino
2021, Journal of Phycology (57) 1335-1344
Prymnesium parvum is a euryhaline, toxin-producing microalga. Although its abundance in inland waters and growth potential in the laboratory is reduced at high salinity (>20), the ability of inland strains to adjust their growth after long-term residence in high salinity is uncertain. An inland strain of P. parvum maintained at salinity of 5 in...
Vegetation community monitoring: Species composition and biophysical gradients in Klamath Network parks
Sean B. Smith, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Dennis Odion
2021, Natural Resource Report NPS/KLMN/NRR—2021/2236
The Klamath Network of the National Park Service consists of six park units located in northern California and southern Oregon. The Network began implementing a vegetation monitoring protocol in 2011 to identify ecologically significant vegetation trends in the parks. The premise of the protocol is that multivariate analyses of species...
Habitat suitability index model improvement recommendations
Shaye E. Sable, David C. Lindquist, Laura D’Acunto, Ann Hijuelos, Megan K. LaPeyre, Ann M. O'Connell, Elizabeth M. Robinson
2021, Report, 2023 Coastal Master Plan
As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how the model relationships could be improved, and to determine what species should be included in the master plan analyses. This process...
Habitat suitability index model improvements
David C. Lindquist, Shaye E. Sable, Laura D’Acunto, Ann Hijuelos, Erik I. Johnson, Summer R.M Langlois, Nicole L. Michel, Lindsay Nakashima, Ann M. O’Connell, Katie L. Percy, Elizabeth M. Robinson
2021, Report, 2023 Coastal Master Plan
Habitat suitability index (HSI) models were developed for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan to evaluate the potential effects of coastal restoration and protection projects on habitat for key coastal fish, shellfish, and wildlife species. These species included: eastern oyster, brown shrimp, white shrimp, blue crab, crayfish, gulf menhaden, spotted seatrout,...
Shift of potential natural vegetation against global climate change under historical, current and future scenarios
Zhengchao Ren, Huazhong Zhu, Hua Shi, Xiaoni Liu
2021, Rangeland Journal (43) 309-319
Potential natural vegetation (PNV), the final successional stage of vegetation, plays a key role in ecological restoration, the design of nature reserves, and development of agriculture and livestock production. Meteorological data from historical and current periods including the last inter-glacial (LIG), last glacial maximum (LGM), mid Holocene (MH)...
Relative energy production determines effect of repowering on wildlife mortality at wind energy facilities
Manuela Huso, Tara Conkling, Daniel Dalthorp, Melanie J Davis, Heath Smith, Amy Fesnock-Parker, Todd E. Katzner
2021, Journal of Appllied Ecology (58) 1284-1290
Reduction in wildlife mortality is often cited as a potential advantage to repowering wind facilities, that is, replacing smaller, lower capacity, closely spaced turbines, with larger, higher capacity ones, more widely spaced. Wildlife mortality rates, however, are affected by more than just size and spacing of turbines, varying with...
Regional ensemble modeling reduces uncertainty for digital soil mapping
Colby C. Brungard, Travis W. Nauman, Michael C. Duniway, Kari E. Veblen, Kyle C. Nehring, David S. White, Shawn W. Salley, Julius Anchang
2021, Geoderma (397)
Recent country and continental-scale digital soil mapping efforts have used a single model to predict soil properties across large regions. However, different ecophysiographic regions within large-extent areas are likely to have different soil-landscape relationships so models built specifically for these regions may more accurately capture these relationships relative to...
Range-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework—Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system
Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Michael S. O’Donnell, Cameron L. Aldridge, David R. Edmunds, Adrian P. Monroe, Mark A. Ricca, Gregory T. Wann, Steve E. Hanser, Lief A. Wiechman, Michael P. Chenaille
2021, Open-File Report 2020-1154
Incorporating spatial and temporal scales into greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population monitoring strategies is challenging and rarely implemented. Sage-grouse populations experience fluctuations in abundance that lead to temporal oscillations, making trend estimation difficult. Accounting for stochasticity is critical to reliably estimate population trends and investigate variation related to deterministic factors...
Renewing the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program as the Nation’s authoritative source for modern geologic knowledge
John Brock, Karen Berry, James Faulds, Richard Berg, Kyle House, Michael Marketti, Darcy McPhee, Kevin M. Schmidt, James Schmitt, David R. Soller, David Spears, Ren A. Thompson, Harvey Thorleifson, Gregory J. Walsh
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1013
This document presents the renewed vision, mission, and goals for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). The NCGMP, as authorized by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-285, 106 Stat. 166 and its reauthorizations), is tasked with expediting the production of a geologic database for...
Rayleigh wave amplitude uncertainty across the Global Seismographic Network and potential implications for global tomography
Adam T. Ringler, Robert Anthony, C. A. Dalton, David C. Wilson
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 1273-1292
The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a multiuse, globally distributed seismic network used by seismologists, to both characterize earthquakes and study the Earth’s interior. Most stations in the network have two collocated broadband seismometers, which enable network operators to identify potential metadata and sensor issues. In this study, we investigate...
Assessing the effectiveness of nourishment in decadal barrier island morphological resilience
Davina Passeri, Matthew V. Bilskie, Scott C. Hagen, Rangley C. Mickey, P Soupy Dalyander, Victor Gonzalez
2021, Water (13)
Nourishment has shown to be an effective method for short-term storm protection along barrier islands and sandy beaches by reducing flooding, wave attack and erosion. However, the ability of nourishment to mitigate the effects of storms and sea level rise (SLR) and improve coastal resilience over decadal...
Risks posed by SARS‐CoV‐2 to North American bats during winter fieldwork
Jonathan D Cook, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Michael C. Runge
2021, Conservation Science and Practice (3)
The virus that causes COVID‐19 likely evolved in a mammalian host, possibly Old‐World bats, before adapting to humans, raising the question of whether reverse zoonotic transmission to bats is possible. Wildlife management agencies in North America are concerned that the activities they authorize could lead to transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 to...
Groundwater-quality and select quality-control data from the National Water-Quality Assessment Project, January 2017 through December 2019
James A. Kingsbury, Laura M. Bexfield, Terri Arnold, MaryLynn Musgrove, Melinda L. Erickson, James R. Degnan, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz
2021, Data Series 1136
Groundwater-quality environmental data were collected from 983 wells as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Project of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Program and are included in this report. The data were collected from six types of well networks: principal aquifer study networks, which are used to assess...
Landscape evolution in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California
Amy E. East, Harrison J. Gray, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, Matthew Ballmer
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5017
This study investigates sedimentary and geomorphic processes in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California, a region of arid, basin-and-range terrain where extensive solar-energy development is planned. The objectives of this study were to (1) measure local weather parameters and use them to model aeolian sediment-transport potential; (2) identify surface sedimentary...
Exploiting common senses: Sensory ecology meets wildlife conservation and management
Laura K Elmer, Christine L Madliger, Daniel T. Blumstein, Chris K Elvidge, Esteban Fernandex-Juricic, Andrij Z Horodysky, Nicholas S. Johnson, Liam P McGuire, Ronald R. Swaisgood, Steven J. Cooke
2021, Conservation Physiology (9)
Multidisciplinary approaches to conservation and wildlife management are often effective in addressing complex, multi-factor problems. Emerging fields such as conservation physiology and conservation behaviour can provide innovative solutions and management strategies for target species and systems. Sensory ecology combines the study of ‘how animals acquire’ and process sensory stimuli...
Optimal allocation of law enforcement patrol effort to mitigate poaching activities
Jennifer F. Moore, Bradley Udell, Julien Martin, Ezechiel Turikunkiko, Michel K. Masozera
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Poaching is a global problem causing the decline of species worldwide. Optimizing the efficiency of ranger patrols to deter poaching activity at the lowest possible cost is crucial for protecting species with limited resources. We applied decision analysis and spatial optimization algorithms to allocate efforts of...
Contrasting geographic patterns of ignition probability and burn severity in the Mojave Desert
Robert C. Klinger, Emma C Underwood, Randy McKinley, Matthew L. Brooks
2021, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (9)
The extent and frequency of fire has increased in many arid systems over the last century, with a large proportion of area in some regions undergoing transitions to novel conditions. Portions of the Mojave Desert in southwestern North America have undergone such transitions, most often from woody to...
Identifying dominant environmental predictors of freshwater wetland methane fluxes across diurnal to seasonal time scales
Sarah Knox, Sheel Bansal, Gavin McNicol, Karina Schafer, Cove Sturtevant, Masahito Ueyama, Alex Valach, Dennis Baldocchi, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Jinxun Liu, Annalea Lohila, Avni Malhotra, Lulie Melling, William Riley, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Jessica Turner, Rodrigo Vargas, Qing Zhu, Tuula Alto, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Mathias Goeckede, Joe Melton, Oliver Sonnentag, Timo Vesala, Eric Ward, Zhen Zhang, Sarah Feron, Zutao Ouyang, Angela C I Tang, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo Dalmagro, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Gerald Jurasinski, Minseok Kang, Franziska Koebsch, Ivan Mammarella, Mats B. Nilsson, Keisuke Ono, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Jed Sparks, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, George Vourlitis, Guan X Wong, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. Jackson
2021, Global Change Biology (27) 3582-3604
While wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, they represent a large source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget due to the complex biogeochemical controls on CH4 dynamics. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first multi-site synthesis of how predictors of CH4 fluxes (FCH4) in freshwater...
Aquatic ecosystem metabolism as a tool in environmental management
Kathi Jo Jankowski, Francine H. Mejia, Joanna Blaszczak, Gordon W. Holtgrieve
2021, WIREs Water (8)
Recent advances in high-frequency environmental sensing and statistical approaches have greatly expanded the breadth of knowledge regarding aquatic ecosystem metabolism - the measurement and interpretation of gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER). Aquatic scientists are poised to take advantage of widely available datasets and freely-available modeling tools to...
GIS object data properties
Dalia E. Varanka
2021, Book chapter, Geographic Information System & Technology Body of Knowledge
Data properties are characteristics of GIS attribute systems and values whose design and format impacts analytical and computational processing. Geospatial data are expressed at conceptual, logical, and physical levels of database abstraction intended to represent geographical information. The appropriate design of attribute systems...
Rapid phenotypic stock identification of Chinook Salmon in recreational fishery management
Alexander J. Jensen, Carl B. Schreck, James T. Peterson
2021, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (13) 99-112
Rapid phenotypic stock identification in mixed-stock fisheries can provide a useful alternative to more time-intensive methods (e.g., coded wire tags, genetics) in assessing harvest and informing management decisions. We leveraged local ecological knowledge, existing stock identification methods, and understanding of life history differences to develop rapid stock identification tools for...
Implications of model selection: A comparison of publicly available, conterminous US-extent hydrologic component estimates
Samuel Saxe, William H. Farmer, Jessica M. Driscoll, Terri S. Hogue
2021, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (25) 1529-1598
Spatiotemporally continuous estimates of the hydrologic cycle are often generated through hydrologic modeling, reanalysis, or remote sensing (RS) methods and are commonly applied as a supplement to, or a substitute for, in situ measurements when observational data are sparse or unavailable. This study compares estimates of precipitation (P), actual...
Mammal species composition and habitat associations in a commercial forest and mixed-plantation landscape
Wai Pak Ng, Frank T. van Manen, Stuart P. Sharp, Siew Te Wong, Shyamala Ratnayeke
2021, Forest Ecology and Management (491)
Commercial forest plantations of fast-growing species have been established globally to meet increasing demands for timber, pulpwood, and other wood products. Industrial plantations may contribute to tropical forest conservation by reducing exploitation of primary and secondary natural forests. Whether such plantations...
