Risk-based decision-support groundwater modeling for the lower San Antonio River Basin, Texas, USA
Linzy K. Foster, Jeremy T. White, Andrew T. Leaf, Natalie A. Houston, Aarin Teague
2021, Groundwater (59) 581-596
A numerical surface-water/groundwater model was developed for the lower San Antonio River Basin to evaluate the responses of low base flows and groundwater levels within the basin under conditions of reduced recharge and increased groundwater withdrawals. Batch data assimilation through history matching used a simulation of...
Insight into the May 2015 summit inflation event at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
M. Bemelmans, Elske de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen, Michael Poland, Ingrid A. Johanson
2021, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (415)
We use ground and space geodetic data to study surface deformation at Kīlauea Volcano from January to September 2015. This period includes an episode of heightened activity in April and May 2015 that culminated in a magmatic intrusion beneath the volcano's...
Predicted climate-induced reductions in scavenging in eastern North America
Courtney J. Marneweck, Todd E. Katzner, David S. Jachowski
2021, Global Change Biology (27) 3383-3394
Scavenging is an important function within ecosystems where scavengers remove organic matter, reduce disease, stabilize food webs, and generally make ecosystems more resilient to environmental changes. Global change (i.e., changing climate and increasing human impact) is currently influencing scavenger communities. Thus, understanding what promotes species richness in scavenger communities can...
Mercury and water level management in lakes of northern Minnesota
James H. Larson, Ryan P. Maki, Victoria Christensen, Enrika Hlavacek, Mark B. Sandheinrich, Jaime F. LeDuc, Claire Kissane, Brent C. Knights
2021, Ecosphere (12)
Water level (WL) fluctuations substantially alter the fauna, flora, and microbial community of nearshore aquatic ecosystems. Water level management therefore has the potential to strongly influence a wide variety of ecosystem processes. Many northern temperate lake food webs experience substantial methylmercury contamination, which is partially mediated by the action of...
West-wide drought analysis
Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Gregory J. McCabe, Tom Pruitt, Brandon House
2021, Report, West-Wide Climate and Hydrology Assessment, Technical Memorandum No. ENV-2021-001
This chapter describes analyses of the variability and characteristics of drought for historical and future projected climate conditions across the Western United States. The analyses are performed using the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI; Palmer, 1965) to define drought events. The advantage of using PDSI to define droughts is that...
Sagebrush recovery patterns after fuel treatments mediated by disturbance type and plant functional group interactions
Jeanne C. Chambers, Alexandra K. Urza, David I. Board, Richard F. Miller, David A. Pyke, Bruce A. Roundy, Eugene W. Schupp, Robin J. Tausch
2021, Ecosphere (12)
Fire and fuel management is a high priority in North American sagebrush ecosystems where the expansion of piñon and juniper trees and the invasion of nonnative annual grasses are altering fire regimes and resulting in loss of sagebrush species and habitat. We evaluated 10-yr effects of woody fuel treatments on...
Hydrologic effects on growth and hatching success of age-0 Channel Catfish in the Tallapoosa River basin: Implications for management in regulated systems
Keith A. Erickson, Peter C. Sakaris, Hannah Conner, Elise R. Irwin
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) S118-S132
We assessed the effects of hydrology on growth and hatching success of age‐0 Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus in regulated and unregulated reaches of the Tallapoosa River basin, Alabama. Age‐0 Channel Catfish (N = 91) were collected from sites in both the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions in fall 2003 and fall 2005. Lapillus...
Quantifying diagenesis, contributing factors, and resulting isotopic bias in benthic foraminifera using the Foraminiferal Preservation Index: Implications for geochemical proxy records
Robert Poirier, Madison Q. Gaetano, Kimberly Acevedo, Morgan F. Morgan F. Schaller, Maureen E. Raymo, Reinhard Kozdon
2021, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology (36)
Geochemical records generated from the calcite tests of benthic foraminifera, especially those of the genera Cibicidoides and Uvigerina, provide the basis for proxy reconstructions of past climate. However, the extent to which benthic foraminifera are affected by postdepositional alteration is poorly constrained. Furthermore, how diagenesis may alter the geochemical composition of benthic foraminiferal...
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...
Annual winter water-level drawdowns influence physical habitat structure and macrophytes in Massachusetts, USA, lakes
Jason R. Carmignani, Allison H. Roy
2021, Ecosphere (12)
Annual wintertime water-level drawdowns are a common management strategy in recreational lakes; however, few studies have estimated their relative impact on lake littoral habitat among a set of typically co-occurring anthropogenic stressors including lakeshore development and herbicide application. Within 21 Massachusetts, USA lakes that represented a drawdown magnitude gradient (0.07–2.26 m),...
Groundwater residence time estimates obscured by anthropogenic carbonate
Alan Seltzer, David Bekaert, Peter H. Barry, Kathryn Durkin, Emily Mace, Craig E. Aaselth, Jake Zappala, Peter Mueller, Bryant C. Jurgens, Justin T. Kulongoski
2021, Science Advances (7)
Groundwater is an important source of drinking and irrigation water. Dating groundwater informs its vulnerability to contamination and aids in calibrating flow models. Here, we report measurements of multiple age tracers (14C, 3H, 39Ar, and 85Kr) and parameters relevant to dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from 17 wells in California’s San Joaquin Valley (SJV),...
Informed breeding dispersal following stochastic changes to patch quality in a pond-breeding amphibian
Gabriel M. Barrile, Annika W. Walters, Matthew Webster, Anna D. Chalfoun
2021, Journal of Animal Ecology (90) 1878-1890
The unidirectional movement of animals between breeding patches (i.e. breeding dispersal) has profound implications for the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of spatially structured populations. In spatiotemporally variable environments, individuals are expected to adjust their dispersal decisions according to information gathered on the environmental and/or social cues that reflect the...
An integrated geochemical, spectroscopic, and petrographic approach to examining the producibility of hydrocarbons from liquids-rich unconventional formations
Thomas Gentzis, Humberto Carvajal-Ortiz, Z. Harry Xie, Paul C. Hackley, Hallie Fowler
2021, Fuel (298)
The geochemical and petrophysical complexity of source-rock reservoirs in liquids-rich unconventional (LRU) plays necessitates the implementation of a more expansive analytical protocol for initial play assessment. In this study, original samples from selected source-rock reservoirs in the USA and the UK were analyzed by 22 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance (HF-NMR) T1-T2...
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...
EverForecast—A near-term forecasting application for ecological decision support
Saira M. Haider, Stephanie S. Romañach, Mark McKelvy, Kevin J. Suir, Leonard Pearlstine
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3005
The Everglades Forecasting application (EverForecast) provides decision makers with a support tool to examine optimal allocations of water across the managed landscape while explicitly quantifying the conflicting needs of multiple species. Covering the Greater Everglades (a vast, subtropical wetland ecosystem in South Florida), EverForecast provides 6-month forecasts of daily projected...
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...
Estimating and applying fish and invertebrate density and production enhancement from seagrass, salt marsh edge, and oyster reef nursery habitats in the Gulf of Mexico
Philine zu Ermgassen, Bryan M. DeAngelis, Jonathan R. Gair, Sophus zu Ermgassen, Ronald J. Baker, Andre Daniels, Timothy C. MacDonald, Kara Meckley, Sean P. Powers, Marta Ribera, Lawrence P. Rozas, Jonathan H. Grabowski
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 1588-1603
Seagrasses, oyster reefs, and salt marshes are critical coastal habitats that support high densities of juvenile fish and invertebrates. Yet which species are enhanced through these nursery habitats, and to what degree, remains largely unquantified. Densities of young-of-year fish and invertebrates in seagrasses, oyster reefs, and...
Hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, groundwater-flow system, and aquifer hydraulic properties used in the development of a conceptual model of the Ogallala, Edwards-Trinity (High Plains), and Dockum aquifers in and near Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas
Andrew P. Teeple, Patricia B. Ging, Jonathan V. Thomas, David S. Wallace, Jason D. Payne
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5009
In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Llano Estacado Underground Water Conservation District, Sandy Land Underground Water Conservation District, and South Plains Underground Water Conservation District (hereinafter referred to collectively as the “UWCDs”), began a multiphase study in and near Gaines, Terry, and Yoakum Counties, Texas, to develop...
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...
Spatiotemporal clustering of great earthquakes on a transform fault controlled by geometry
Jamie D. Howarth, Nicolas C. Barth, Sean J. Fitzsimons, Keith B. Richards-Dinger, Kate Clark, Glenn Biasi, Ursula A. Cochran, Robert M. Langridge, Kelvin R. Berryman, Rupert Sutherland
2021, Nature Geoscience (14) 314-320
Minor changes in geometry along the length of mature strike-slip faults may act as conditional barriers to earthquake rupture, terminating some and allowing others to pass. This hypothesis remains largely untested because palaeoearthquake data that constrain spatial and temporal patterns of fault rupture are generally imprecise. Here we develop palaeoearthquake...
Organo-facies and mineral effects on sorption capacity of low-maturity Permian Barakar shales from the Auranga Basin, Jharkhand, India
Divya Kumari Mishra, Atul Kumar Varma, Vinod Atmaram Mendhe, Shailesh Agrawal, Bhagwan Das Singh, Paul C. Hackley
2021, Energy & Fuels (35) 7717-7737
Shales associated with the Lower Permian (Barakar Formation) sediments of the Auranga Coalfield, India, occur in the immature–early mature stage. The sorption capacity of Barakar shale samples has been studied through high-pressure methane (CH4) adsorption and low-pressure N2 gas adsorption (LPN2GA) methods,...
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...
Evaluating lower computational burden approaches for calibration of large environmental models
Randall J. Hunt, Jeremy T. White, Leslie L. Duncan, Connor J. Haugh, John E. Doherty
2021, Groundwater (59) 788-798
Realistic environmental models used for decision making typically require a highly parameterized approach. Calibration of such models is computationally intensive because widely used parameter estimation approaches require individual forward runs for each parameter adjusted. These runs construct a parameter-to-observation sensitivity, or Jacobian, matrix used to develop candidate parameter upgrades. Parameter...
