Extent and duration of cold-water areas associated with side channels and tributaries of the lower Yakima River, Washington, September 2018–20
Richard W. Sheibley, Marcella Appel, Rachel Little, James R. Foreman
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5140
Previous work on the lower Yakima River, Washington (downstream from Union Gap), has identified several cold-water areas that could be thermal refuges for migrating salmonids. These cold-water areas are characterized by small tributaries that are typically cooler than the main-stem river during summer months (June–August). Twenty-seven temperature sensors were deployed...
A comprehensive assessment of submarine landslides and mass wasting processes offshore southern California
M. Walton, James E. Conrad, Antoinette Gabrielle Papesh, Daniel S. Brothers, Jared W. Kluesner, Mary McGann, Peter Dartnell
2024, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (25)
It is critical to characterize submarine landslide hazards near dense coastal populations, especially in areas with active faults, which can trigger slope failure, subsequent tsunamis, and damage seabed infrastructure during earthquake shaking. Offshore southern California, numerous marine geophysical surveys have been conducted over the past decade, and high-resolution bathymetric and...
Streamflow, base flow, and precipitation trends and simulated effects of Rush Springs aquifer groundwater withdrawals on base flows upgradient from Fort Cobb Reservoir, western Oklahoma
A.R. Trevisan, L.G. Labriola, J.H. Ellis
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5002
To better understand the relation between groundwater use in the Rush Springs aquifer and inflows to the Fort Cobb Reservoir, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, used a previously published numerical groundwater-flow model and historical streamflow records to evaluate four scenarios to investigate how changing...
Molecular sexing of birds using quantitative PCR (qPCR) of sex-linked genes and logistic regression models
Eleni Leto Petrou, Laura Celeste Scott, Cherie Marie Mckeeman, Andrew M. Ramey
2024, Molecular Ecology Resources (24)
The ability to sex individuals is an important component of many behavioural and ecological investigations and provides information for demographic models used in conservation and species management. However, many birds are difficult to sex using morphological characters or traditional molecular sexing methods. In this...
Low flows from drought and water use reduced total dissolved solids fluxes in the Lower Colorado River Basin between 1976 to 2008
Annie L. Putman, Hannah Erin Mcilwain, Christine Rumsey, Thomas M. Marston
2024, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (52)
Study area:We evaluated the Virgin, Verde, Salt, and Gila Rivers in the Lower Colorado River Basin. The watersheds have extents in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, US and Sonora, MX.Study focus:We calculated trends in total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations...
Matching decision support modeling frameworks to disease emergence stages and associated management objectives
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Brittany A. Mosher, Riley Bernard, Alexander Wright, Robin Russell
2024, Conservation Science and Practice (6)
Wildlife disease management decisions often require rapid responses to situations that are fraught with uncertainty. By recognizing that management is implemented to achieve specific objectives, resource managers and science partners can identify an analysis technique and develop a monitoring plan to evaluate management effectiveness. For...
Seasonal and decadal subsurface thaw dynamics of an Aufeis feature investigated through numerical simulations
Alexi Lainis, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Joshua C. Koch, Michael Gooseff
2024, Hydrological Processes (38)
Aufeis (also known as icings) are large sheet-like masses of layered ice that form in river channels in arctic environments in the winter as groundwater discharges to the land surface and subsequently freezes. Aufeis are important sources of water for Arctic river ecosystems, bolstering late...
Insight into sources of benzene, TCE, and PFOA/PFAS in groundwater at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida, through numerical particle-tracking simulations
Eric Swain, James E. Landmeyer, Michael A. Singletary , Shannon E. Provenzano
2024, Hydrology (11)
Past waste-disposal activities at Naval Air Station Whiting Field (NASWF) have led to elevated concentrations of contaminants in the underlying sand and gravel aquifer. Contaminants include two of the most commonly detected chemicals in groundwater in many countries (benzene and trichloroethylene (TCE)) and the “forever chemicals” per- and poly-fluoroalkyl...
The post-emergence period for denning polar bears: Phenology and influence on cub survival
Erik Andersen, Ryan R. Wilson, Karyn D. Rode, George M. Durner, Todd C. Atwood, David Gustine
2024, Journal of Mammalogy
Among polar bears (Ursus maritimus), only parturient females den for extended periods, emerging from maternal dens in spring after having substantially depleted their energy reserves during a fast that can exceed 8 months. Although den emergence coincides with a period of increasing prey availability, polar bears typically do not...
Characterization of change in tree cover state and condition over the conterminous United States
Francis K Dwomoh, Roger F. Auch
2024, Forests (15)
Variability in the effects of disturbances and extreme climate events can lead to changes in tree cover over time, including partial or complete loss, with diverse ecological consequences. It is therefore critical to identify in space and time the change processes that lead to tree cover change. Studies of...
First Occurrence of the nonindigenous Asian foraminifera Ammonia confertitesta in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean: Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
Mary McGann, Maria Holzmann
2024, Micropaleontology (70) 115-127
Observations in 2022 of intertidal and subtidal foraminiferal faunas at four localities along the central-eastern side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, and molecular analyses have documented the first occurrence of the nonindigenous Asian species Ammonia confertitesta Zheng in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The species was present at three of...
Implementation of the CREED approach for environmental assessments
Carolina Di Paolo, Irene Bramke, Jenny Stauber, Caroline Whalley, Ryan R. Otter, Yves Verhaegen, Lisa H. Nowell, Adam C. Ryan
2024, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (20) 1019-1034
Environmental exposure data are a key component of chemical and ecological assessments, supporting and guiding environmental management decisions and regulations. Measures taken to protect the environment based on exposure data can have social and economic implications. Flawed information may lead to measures being taken...
Analysis adapted from text mining quantitively reveals abrupt and gradual plant-community transitions after fire in sagebrush steppe
Cara Applestein, Christopher R. Anthony, Matthew Germino
2024, Landscape Ecology (39)
ContextPlant communities vary both abruptly and gradually over time but differentiating between types of change can be difficult with existing classification and ordination methods. Structural topic modeling (STRUTMO), a text mining analysis, offers a flexible methodology for analyzing both types of temporal trends.ObjectivesOur objectives were to...
River control points for algal productivity revealed by transport analysis
Noah Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Jay Choi, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Jennifer L. Graham, Jennifer C. Murphy
2024, Geophysical Research Letters (51)
Measurement of planktonic chlorophyll-a—a proxy for algal biomass—in rivers may represent local production or algae transported from upstream, confounding understanding of algal bloom development in flowing waters. We modeled 3 years of chlorophyll-a transport through a 394-km portion of the Illinois River and found that although algal biomass is...
Accurately characterizing climate change scenario planning in the U.S. National Park Service: Comment on Murphy et al. 2023
Joel H. Reynolds, Brian W. Miller, Gregor W. Schuurman, Wylie A. Carr, Amy Symstad, John E. Gross, Amber N. Runyon
2024, Society and Natural Resources
We more accurately locate the boundary between current practice and research priorities regarding climate change scenario planning in U.S. federal land management agencies by supplementing the characterization in a recent article (“Understanding perceptions of climate change scenario planning in United States public land management agencies”) of its use...
Nerodia clarkii (Saltmarsh Watersnake). Predation
Bryna L. Daykin, Sidney T. Godfrey, Michael Cherkiss, Gareth Blakemore, Frank J. Mazzotti
2024, Herpetological Review (54) 492-493
Predators of Nerodia clarkii are suspected to include larger species of crabs, fish, wading birds, snakes, alligators, and crocodiles. To our knowledge, there have only been two published observations of predation on N. clarkii, including a predation attempt from a Callinectes sapidus (Blue Crab) in Mississippi, USA and a successful...
Characterizing vegetation and return periods in avalanche paths using lidar and aerial imagery
Erich Peitzsch, Chelsea Martin-Mikle, Jordy Hendrikx, Karl W. Birkeland, Daniel B. Fagre
2024, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research (56)
Snow avalanches are a hazard and ecological disturbance across mountain landscapes worldwide. Understanding how avalanche frequency affects forests and vegetation improves infrastructure planning, risk management, and avalanche forecasting. We implemented a novel approach using lidar, aerial imagery, and a random forest model to classify imagery-observed vegetation within avalanche...
Updated three-dimensional temperature maps for the Great Basin, USA
Erick Burns, Jacob DeAngelo, Colin F. Williams
2024, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 49th workshop on geothermal reservoir engineering
As part of the periodic update of the geothermal energy assessments for the USA (e.g., last update by Williams and others, 2008), a new three-dimensional temperature map has been constructed for the Great Basin, USA. Williams and DeAngelo (2011) identified uncertainty in estimates of conductive heat flow near land surface...
Sea turtle density surface models along the United States Atlantic coast
Andrew DiMatteo, Jason J. Roberts, D. Todd Jones-Farrand, Lance Garrison, Kristen Hart, Robert D. Kenney, William A. McLellan, Kate Lomac-MacNair, Debra Palka, Meghan E. Rickard, Kelsey E. Roberts, Ann M. Zoidis, L. Sparks
2024, Endangered Species Research (53) 227-245
Spatially explicit estimates of marine species distribution and abundance are required to quantify potential impacts from human activities such as military training and testing, fisheries interactions, and offshore energy development. There are 4 protected species of sea turtle (loggerhead, green, Kemp’s ridley, and leatherback) commonly found along the east coast...
MTAB 107, February 2024
Kyra Harvey
2024, Newsletter
This Memo to All Banders (MTAB 107) was released in February 2024. Subjects in this this memo are 1. The Chief’s Chirp; 2. Alerts – Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and reminder that banders cannot submit data through Bandit, only manage data; 3. Staff updates – meeting reports; 4. News –...
Water resources inventory of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, southeastern Arizona
Jon P. Mason
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5131
The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area was established by the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area Establishment Act of 1999 (Public Law 106–538) and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Located in southeastern Arizona, the conservation area contains more than 45,000 acres of rolling grassland, wetlands, and woodlands surrounded...
Allochthonous marsh subsidies enhances food web productivity in an estuary and its surrounding ecosystem mosaic
Melanie J. Davis, Isa Woo, Susan E. W. De La Cruz, Christopher S. Ellings, Sayre Hodgson, Glynnis Nakai
2024, PLoS ONE (19)
Terrestrial organic matter is believed to play an important role in promoting resilient estuarine food webs, but the inherent interconnectivity of estuarine systems often obscures the origins and importance of these terrestrial inputs. To determine the relative contributions of terrestrial (allochthonous) and aquatic (autochthonous) organic matter...
Simulation of groundwater and surface-water interaction and lake resiliency at Crystal Lake, City of Crystal Lake, Illinois
Amy M. Gahala, Emilia L. Bristow, Jennifer B. Sharpe, Benjamin G Metcalf, Lisa A. Matson
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5007
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Crystal Lake, Illinois, started a study to increase understanding of groundwater and surface-water interaction between the glacial aquifer and the city’s namesake lake, Crystal Lake, and the effect of higher and lower precipitation conditions on groundwater and lake levels. The...
Physics-based satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) using Landsat OLI images
Minsu Kim, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Curt Storlazzi, Seonkyung Park
2024, Remote Sensing (16)
The estimation of depth in optically shallow waters using satellite imagery can be efficient and cost-effective. Active sensors measure the distance traveled by an emitted laser pulse propagating through the water with high precision and accuracy if the bottom peak intensity of the waveform is greater than the noise...
Wildfire probability estimated from recent climate and fine fuels across the big sagebrush region
Martin C. Holdrege, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Kyle A. Palmquist, Michele R. Crist, Kevin E. Doherty, William K. Lauenroth, Thomas E. Remington, Karin L. Riley, Karen C. Short, John C. Tull, Lief A. Wiechman, John B. Bradford
2024, Fire Ecology (20)
BackgroundWildfire is a major proximate cause of historical and ongoing losses of intact big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) plant communities and declines in sagebrush obligate wildlife species. In recent decades, fire return intervals have shortened and area burned has increased in some areas, and habitat degradation is occurring where...
