Departures of rangeland fractional component cover and land cover from landsat-based ecological potential in Wyoming USA
Matthew B. Rigge, Collin G. Homer, Hua Shi, Bruce Wylie
2020, Rangeland Ecology and Management (73) 856-870
Monitoring rangelands by identifying the departure of contemporary conditions from long-term ecological potential allows for the disentanglement of natural biophysical gradients driving change from changes associated with land uses and other disturbance types. We developed maps of ecological potential (EP) for shrub, sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), perennial herbaceous, litter, and bare ground...
Minimal clustering of injection-induced earthquakes observed with a large-n seismic array
Elizabeth S. Cochran, A. Wickham-Piotrowski, K. Kemna, R. M Harrington, S. Dougherty, A. Pena Castro
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 2005-2017
The clustering behavior of injection‐induced earthquakes is examined using one month of data recorded by the LArge‐n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO) array. The 1829‐node seismic array was deployed in a 25 km×32 km area of active saltwater disposal in northern Oklahoma between...
Evaluation of the analytical methods used to determine the elemental concentrations found in the stream geochemical dataset compiled for Alaska
Bronwen Wang, Karl J. Ellefsen, Matthew Granitto, Karen D. Kelley, Susan M. Karl, George N.D. Case, Douglas C. Kreiner, Courtney L. Amundson
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1038
A recent U.S. Geological Survey data compilation of stream-sediment geochemistry for Alaska contains decades of analyses collected under numerous Federal and State programs. The compiled data were determined by various analytical methods. Some samples were reanalyzed by a different analytical method than the original, resulting in some elements having concentrations...
Valuing tourism to a historic World War II national memorial
Wilson Sinclair, Christopher Huber, Leslie Richardson
2020, Journal of Cultural Heritage (45) 334-338
This study contributes to the existing literature on valuing visitation to an important cultural heritage site. Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Hawaii remembers and honors those that served the United States in the Pacific battles of World War II. Although historic and cultural monuments and memorials comprise a substantial portion...
Estimation of metademographic rates and landscape connectivity for a conservation-reliant anuran
Adam Duarte, James T. Peterson, Christopher Pearl, Jennifer Christine Rowe, Brome McCreary, Stephanie Galvan, Michael J. Adams
2020, Landscape Ecology (35) 1459-1479
ContextAmphibian conservation efforts commonly assume populations are tied to waterbodies that collectively function as a metapopulation. This assumption is rarely evaluated, and there is a need to understand the degree of connectivity among patches to appropriately define, manage, and conserve biological populations.ObjectivesOur objectives were to quantify...
Peak ground velocity spatial variability revealed by dense seismic array in southern California
Christopher E Johnson, Debi Kilb, Annemarie S. Baltay Sundstrom, Frank Vernon
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (125)
Understanding and modeling variability of ground motion is essential for building accurate and precise ground motion prediction equations, which can net site‐specific characterization and reduced hazard levels. Here, we explore the spatial variability in peak ground velocity (PGV) at Sage Brush Flats along the San Jacinto Fault in southern California....
Linking subsurface to surface using gas emission and melt inclusion data at Mount Cleveland volcano, Alaska
Cynthia Werner, Daniel J. Rasmussen, Terry Plank, Peter J. Kelly, Christoph Kern, Taryn Lopez, Jonas Gliss, John Power, Diana Roman, Pavel Izbekov, John J. Lyons
2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (21)
Mount Cleveland is one of Alaska's most active volcanoes, yet little is known about the magmatic system driving persistent and dynamic volcanic activity. Volcanic gas and melt inclusion (MI) data from 2016 were combined to investigate shallow magmatic processes. SO2 emission rates were between 166 and 324 t/day and the H2O/SO2 was 600 ± 53,...
Sediments and the sea floor of the continental shelves and coastal waters of the United States—About the usSEABED integrated sea-floor-characterization database, built with the dbSEABED processing system
Brian J. Buczkowski, Jane A. Reid, Chris J. Jenkins
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1046
Since the second half of the 20th century, there has been an increase in scientific interest, research effort, and information gathered on the geologic sedimentary character of the continental margins of the United States. Data and information from thousands of sources have increased our scientific understanding of the character of...
Sand dunes, modern and ancient, on southern Colorado Plateau tribal lands, southwestern USA
Margaret Hiza
2020, Book chapter, Inland Dunes of North America
A mantle of both active and stable aeolian sand covers approximately 34,000 km2 of northern Arizona, western New Mexico and southern Utah on the southern Colorado Plateau. From west to east, these deposits can be subdivided into the Kaibab-Moenkopi dunes, Chinle Valley dunes, and Chaco dunes, all...
Effects of climate and land-use changes on fish catches across lakes at a global scale
Y. Kao, Mark W. Rogers, David Bunnell, I. G. Cowx, S. S. Qian, O. Anneville, Beard Jr., A. Brinker, J. R. Britton, R. Chura-Crusz, N. J. Gownaris, J. R. Jackson, K. Kangur, J. Kolding, A.A. Lukin, Abigail Lynch, N. Mercado-Silva, R. Moncayo-Estrada, F. J. Njaya, I. Ostrovsky, L.G. Rudstam, A. L. E. Sandstrom, Y. Sato, Humberto Siguayro-Mamani, A. Thorpe, P. A. M. van Zwieten, P. Volta, Y. Q. Wang, A. Weiperth, O. L. F. Weyl, Joelle D. Young
2020, Nature Communications (11)
Globally, our knowledge on lake fisheries is still limited despite their importance to food security and livelihoods. Here we show that fish catches can respond either positively or negatively to climate and land-use changes, by analyzing time-series data (1970–2014) for 31 lakes across five continents. We find that effects of...
Evaluation of the impacts of radio-marking devices on feral horses and burros in a captive setting
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R. B. King, Gail C. Collins
2020, Human Wildlife Interactions (14) 73-86
Radio-collars and other radio-marking devices have been invaluable tools for wildlife managers for >40 years. These marking devices have improved our understanding of wildlife spatial ecology and demographic parameters and provided new data facilitating model development for species conservation and management. Although these tools have been used on virtually all...
Hydrothermal activity in the southwest Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field
Shaul Hurwitz, R. Blaine McCleskey, Deborah Bergfeld, Sara Peek, David Susong, David A. Roth, Jefferson Hungerford, Erin B White, Lauren Harrison, Behnaz Hosseini, R. Greg Vaughan, Andrew G. Hunt, James B. Paces
2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (21)
In the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service have studied hydrothermal activity across the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field (YPVF) to improve the understanding of the magmatic-hydrothermal system and to provide a baseline for detecting future anomalous activity. In 2017 and 2018 we sampled water...
Quantifying trends in arsenic, nitrate, and dissolved solids from selected wells in Utah
Olivia L. Miller
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5047
Groundwater makes up a primary portion of the water supply in many parts of Utah, with annual withdrawals estimated at more than 1,000,000 acre-feet per year. Increases to groundwater withdrawal and land use may negatively impact water availability. Ensuring availability of clean water requires understanding how water quality has changed...
Hydro-morphological characterization of coral reefs for wave runup prediction
Fred Scott, Jose A.A. Antolinez, Robert T. McCall, Curt D. Storlazzi, Ad Reiners, Stuart Pearson
2020, Frontiers in Marine Science (7)
Many coral reef-lined coasts are low-lying with elevations <4 m above mean sea level. Climate-change-driven sea-level rise, coral reef degradation, and changes in storm wave climate will lead to greater occurrence and impacts of wave-driven flooding. This poses a significant threat to their coastal communities. While greatly at risk, the...
Using remotely sensed data to map Joshua Tree distributions at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, 2018
Todd Esque, Patrick E. Baird, Felicia C. Chen, David C. Housman, Tom J. Holton
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5053
Species distribution models (SDMs) that are derived through inference have been used to provide important insights toward species distributions. Their inferences can be robust in relation to known presences, but SDMs have error rates that cannot be quantified with certainty. For large plant species with unique signatures and in sparsely...
Seismic velocity variations associated with the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, Hawaiʻi
Ashton F. Flinders, Corentin Caudron, Ingrid A. Johanson, Taka’aki Taira, Brian Shiro, Matthew M. Haney
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea (Hawai‘i) marked a dramatic change in the volcano’s 35-year-long rift zone eruption. The collapse of the middle East Rift Zone vent Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō was followed by one of the volcano’s most voluminous eruptions in 500 years. Over the course of this...
Submarine canyons, slope failures and mass transport processes in southern Cascadia
Jenna C. Hill, Janet Watt, Daniel S. Brothers, Jared W. Kluesner
2020, Geological Society, London, Special Publications (500) 453-475
The marine turbidite record along the southern Cascadia Subduction Zone has been used to interpret paleoseismicity and suggest a shorter recurrence interval for large (>M7) earthquakes along this portion of the margin; however, the sources and pathways of these turbidity flows are poorly constrained. We examine the spatial distribution of...
Evaluating elevation change thresholds between structure-from-motion DEMs derived from historical aerial photos and 3DEP LiDAR data
Peter G. Chirico, Jessica D. DeWitt, Sarah E. Bergstresser
2020, Remote Sensing (10)
This study created digital terrain models (DTMs) from historical aerial images using Structure from Motion (SfM) for a variety of image dates, resolutions, and photo scales. Accuracy assessments were performed on the SfM DTMs, and they were compared to the United States Geological Survey’s three-dimensional digital elevation program (3DEP) light...
Estimating the effect of winter cover crops on nitrogen leaching using cost-share enrollment data, satellite remote sensing, and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modeling
W. Dean Hively, Sangchul Lee, Ali M. Sadeghi, Gregory W. McCarty, Brian T. Lamb, Alexander M. Soroka, Jason Keppler, In-Young Yeo, Glenn E. Moglen
2020, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (75) 362-375
This study employed a novel combination of data (winter cover crop cost-share enrollment records, satellite remote sensing of wintertime vegetation, and results of Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) water quality simulations) to estimate the environmental performance of winter cover crops (WCC) at the watershed scale, from 2008 through 2017,...
Golden Eagle perch site use in the U.S. southern plains: Understanding electrocution risk
J.F. Dwyer, R.K. Murphy, D Stahlecker, Angela M. Dwyer, Clint W. Boal
2020, Journal of Raptor Research (54) 126-135
Electrocution on overhead electric systems is a primary cause of anthropogenic mortality for Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in North America. Distribution poles supporting energized equipment are most often involved in electrocutions, but the frequency with which Golden Eagles perch on pole supporting equipment is unknown....
Mild displacements of boulders during the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquakes
Norman Sleep, Susan E. Hough
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 1579-1588
Strong seismic waves from the July 2019 Ridgecrest, California, earthquakes displaced rocks in proximity to the M 7.1 mainshock fault trace at several locations. In this report, we document large boulders that were displaced at the Wagon Wheel Staging Area (WWSA), approximately 4.5 km southeast of the southern terminus of...
Specialized meltwater biodiversity persists despite widespread deglaciation
Clint C. Muhlfeld, Timothy Joseph Cline, J. Joseph Giersch, Erich H. Peitzsch, Caitlyn Florentine, Dean Jacobsen, Scott Hotaling
2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (117) 12208-12214
Glaciers are important drivers of environmental heterogeneity and biological diversity across mountain landscapes. Worldwide, glaciers are receding rapidly due to climate change, with important consequences for biodiversity in mountain ecosystems. However, the effects of glacier loss on biodiversity have never been quantified across a mountainous region, primarily due to a...
Aligning climate models with stakeholder needs: Advances in communicating future rainfall uncertainties for south Florida decision makers
Johnna Infanti, Ben P. Kirtman, Nicholas Aumen, John F. Stamm, Colin Polsky
2020, Earth and Space Science (7)
Changes in future precipitation are of great importance to climate data users in South Florida. A recent U.S. Geological Survey workshop, “Increasing Confidence in Precipitation Projections for Everglades Restoration,” highlighted a gap between standard climate model outputs and the climate information needs of some key Florida...
Local magnitude, coda magnitude, and radiated energy of volcanic tectonic earthquakes from October 2010 to December 2011 at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia
Afnimar Pagacancang, Wendy A. McCausland, Nimas Nurul Hamidah, Kristianto, Ahmad Basuki, Novianti Indrastuti
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (83)
In August 2010, Sinabung volcano began erupting after more than a thousand years of dormancy. Following several weeks of phreatic eruptions, the eruptions ceased and Sinabung entered what became an inter-eruptive period of dominantly seismic unrest. While standard equations for understanding the size of an earthquake (local magnitude (ML), coda...
Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring Program: Mapping habitats in beach, dune, and intertidal environments along the Louisiana Gulf of Mexico shoreline, 2008 and 2015–16
Nicholas M. Enwright, William M. SooHoo, Jason L. Dugas, Craig P. Conzelmann, Claudia Laurenzano, Darin M. Lee, Kelly Mouton, Spencer J. Stelly
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1030
Barrier islands, headlands, and coastal shorelines provide numerous valuable ecosystem goods and services, including storm protection and erosion control for the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, salinity regulation in estuaries, carbon sequestration in marshes, and areas for recreation and tourism. These coastal features are dynamic environments because of their...
