Mapping abandoned uranium mine features using Worldview-3 imagery in portions of Karnes, Atascosa and Live Oak Counties, Texas
Bernard E. Hubbard, Tanya J. Gallegos, Victoria G. Stengel
2023, MDPI-Minerals (13)
Worldview-3 (WV3) 16-band multispectral data were used to map exposed bedrock and mine waste piles associated with legacy open-pit mining of sandstone-hosted roll-front uranium deposits along the South Texas Coastal Plain. We used the “spectral hourglass” approach to extract spectral endmembers representative of these features from the image. This...
Land development and road salt usage drive long-term changes in major-ion chemistry of streamwater in six exurban and suburban watersheds, southeastern Pennsylvania, 1999-2019
Marissa Lee Rossi, Peleg Kremer, Charles A. Cravotta III, Krista E. Seng, Steven T. Goldsmith
2023, Frontiers in Environmental Science (11)
In urbanized areas, the “freshwater salinization syndrome” (FSS), which pertains to long-term increases in concentrations of major ions and metals in fresh surface waters, has been attributed to road salt application. In addition to FSS, the water composition changes as an influx of sodium (Na+) in recharge may displace calcium...
The unmarked R package: Twelve years of advances in occurrence and abundance modelling in ecology
Kenneth F. Kellner, Adam D. Smith, J. Andrew Royle, Marc Kéry, Jerrold L. Belant, Richard B. Chandler
2023, Methods in Ecology & Evolution (14) 1408-1415
Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely applied to understand the processes governing spatial and temporal variation in species abundance and distribution but often do not account for measurement errors such as false negatives and false positives.We describe unmarked, a package for the freely available and open-source R software that provides...
Fall migration, oceanic movement, and site residency patterns of eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis) on the mid-Atlantic Coast
Michael C. True, Katherine M. Gorman, Hila Taylor, Richard J. Reynolds, W. Mark Ford
2023, Movement Ecology (11)
Along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States, eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis) are present during fall mating and migration, though little is currently known about most aspects of bat migration. To reveal migration patterns, and understand drivers of over-water flight, we captured and radio-tagged 115 eastern red bats using...
Long-term effects of timber harvest on ephemeral pool and occupancy of Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus)
Amber NM Wiewel, Adrianne Brand, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2023, Journal of Herpetology (57) 142-150
The effects of timber harvest on amphibians can be complex and persist for years postharvest, but overall they are poorly understood. We examined how timber harvest has impacted two pool-breeding species, Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) and Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus), across the Canaan Valley National...
Evaluation of threatened, endangered, and rare fish species and communities of the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries in the United States
James E. McKenna Jr., Anthony David
2023, The Northeastern Naturalist (30) 1-71
Biodiversity is responsible for important ecological processes like productivity and ecosystem stability, and rare species are a major component of biodiversity. Rarity increases a species' vulnerability to disturbances and also makes them difficult to study. Globally, species of freshwater systems are some of the most...
Hydrogeology of sand and gravel aquifers in the Owasco Inlet watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York
Paul M. Heisig
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5031
This study is a continuation of a series of hydrogeologic appraisals that have been conducted since 1980, as part of a cooperative, long-term, detailed aquifer mapping program by the U.S. Geological Survey and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. These appraisals provide a foundation for wellhead protection programs,...
The bee lab
Sam Droege, Elise R. Irwin, Jenn Malpass, Jonathan R. Mawdsley
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3023
Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Bee Lab is a collaborative interagency joint venture and international leader for bee (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) identification, survey design, quantification of bee and plant interrelations, and development and maintenance of occurrence databases. Each of these objectives supports native bee conservation by providing critical data and tools...
Distribution of chlorinated volatile organic compounds and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in groundwater and surface water at the former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey, 2018
Alex R. Fiore, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Timothy P. Wilson
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1022
Groundwater wells and surface-water storm sewers contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) site in West Trenton, New Jersey were sampled in 2018 as part of the Navy’s long-term monitoring program. Trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cisDCE), and vinyl...
Geographic isolation reduces genetic diversity of a wide-ranging terrestrial vertebrate, Canis lupus
S.A. Frevol, D. R. MacNulty, M. C. Anderson, H. D. Cluff, L. David Mech, M. Musiani
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Genetic diversity is theorized to decrease in populations closer to a species' range edge, where habitat may be suboptimal. Generalist species capable of long-range dispersal may maintain sufficient gene flow to counteract this, though the presence of significant barriers to dispersal (e.g., large water...
Roles of climatic and anthropogenic factors in shaping Holocene vegetation and fire regimes in Great Dismal Swamp, eastern USA
Debra A. Willard, Miriam C. Jones, Jay R. Alder, David Fastovich, Kristen Hoefke, Robert Poirier, Fred C. Wurster
2023, Quaternary Science Reviews (311)
The Great Dismal Swamp wetland, spanning >400 km2 along the Virginia and North Carolina border, was shaped by a complex combination of geomorphic, climatic, and anthropogenic forcings during the last 14,000 years. Pollen, macrofossils, charcoal, and physical properties from sediment cores at seven sites...
Precision of structures used to estimate age and growth of Apache Trout from Arizona
Michael C. Quist, Marta Ulaski, Kristy Manuell, Zachary Jackson, Tim Gatewood
2023, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (14) 188-194
Obtaining reliable information on the age structure of fish populations is important for making conservation and management decisions. We sought to evaluate precision and reader confidence in age estimates from scales (two body locations), sectioned fin rays (pectoral, pelvic, anal), and sectioned sagittal otoliths from Apache Trout Oncorhynchus apache (n = 78 fish)...
Volcanic and tectonic sources of seismicity near the Tanaga Volcanic Cluster, Alaska
Kevin Lally, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, John Power
2023, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (24)
Tanaga Island in the Central Aleutian Islands includes four stratovolcanoes: Sajaka, Tanaga, and East Tanaga in the northwest, and Takawangha in the central part of the island. Of these volcanoes, only Tanaga has a confirmed record of historical eruptive activity. We use double-difference methods to relocate Tanaga...
Impact of dams on stream fish diversity: A different result
Nicky M. Faucheux, Leandro E. Miranda, Jason M. Taylor, Jerry L. Farris
2023, Diversity (15)
Impoundments can drastically change the physical and biological characteristics of fluvial systems. Changes in the physical characteristics, such as reductions in flow, increased sediment deposition, and increased surface area, often influence the system’s biological components, including plant, macroinvertebrate, and fish assemblages. In addition to having direct effects on impounded waterbodies,...
Impacts and uncertainties of climate-induced changes in watershed inputs on estuarine hypoxia
Kyle E. Hinson, Marjorie A. M. Friedrichs, Raymond G. Najjar, Maria Herrmann, Zihao Bian, Gopal Bhatt, Pierre St-Laurent, Hanqin Tian, Gary W. Shenk
2023, Biogeosciences (20) 1937-1961
Multiple climate-driven stressors, including warming and increased nutrient delivery, are exacerbating hypoxia in coastal marine environments. Within coastal watersheds, environmental managers are particularly interested in climate impacts on terrestrial processes, which may undermine the efficacy of management actions designed to reduce eutrophication and consequent low-oxygen conditions in receiving coastal waters....
Abiotic and biotic factors reduce the viability of a high-elevation salamander in its native range
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, Adrianne Brand
2023, Journal of Applied Ecology (60) 1684-1697
Amphibian populations are undergoing worldwide declines, and high-elevation, range-restricted amphibian species may be particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. In particular, future climate change may have disproportional impacts to these ecosystems. Evaluating the combined effects of abiotic changes and biotic interactions simultaneously is important for forecasting the range of future...
Integration of remote sensing and field observations in evaluating DSSAT model for estimating maize and soybean growth and yield in Maryland, USA
Uvirkaa Akumaga, Feng Gao, Martha Anderson, Wayne Dulaney, Rasmus Houborg, Andy Russ, W. Dean Hively
2023, Agronomy Journal (13)
Crop models are useful for evaluating crop growth and yield at the field and regional scales, but their applications and accuracies are restricted by input data availability and quality. To overcome difficulties inherent to crop modeling, input data can be enhanced by the incorporation of remotely sensed and field...
Geochronology and mapping constraints on the time-space evolution of the igneous and hydrothermal systems in the Taurus Cu-Mo district, eastern Alaska
Douglas C. Kreiner, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Zachary Flood, David J. Stevenson, Garth E. Graham, Jorge A. Vazquez, Robert A Creaser
2023, Economic Geology (118) 745-778
The Taurus porphyry Cu-Mo district contains four mineralized porphyry centers in the eastern interior of Alaska. All four centers were emplaced during a magmatic episode that spanned from ca. 72 to 67 Ma, with seven distinct igneous suites. Each igneous suite resulted in hydrothermal alteration and mineralization, with younger pulses...
A review of N-mixture models
Lisa Madsen, J. Andrew Royle
2023, WIREs Computational Statistics (15)
N-mixture models were born in 2004 of the necessity to model animal population size from point counts with imperfect detection of individuals, where capture-recapture methods are infeasible. Initially developed for applications where population size was assumed constant, N-mixture models were extended in 2011 to include population dynamics,...
Knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and opportunities regarding the response of the Chesapeake Bay estuary to restoration efforts
Jeremy M. Testa, William C. Dennison, William P. Ball, Kathleen Boomer, Deirdre M Gibson, Lewis C. Linker, Michael C. Runge, Lawrence Sanford
2023, Report, Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee Report
As part of the Chesapeake Bay Program's (CBP's) Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) initiative "Achieving Water Quality Goals in the Chesapeake Bay: An Evaluation of System Response", an Estuary Working Group was formed to generate an assessment of scientific knowledge gaps, uncertainties, and recent ecosystem changes to consider in...
When are environmental DNA early detections of invasive species actionable?
Adam Sepulveda, Christine E. Dumoulin, Denise L. Blanchette, John Mcphedran, Colin Holme, Nathan Whalen, Margaret Hunter, Christopher M. Merkes, Catherine A. Richter, Matthew Neilson, Wesley M. Daniel, Devin Nicole Jones-Slobodian, David R. Smith
2023, Journal of Environmental Management (343)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling provides sensitive early detection capabilities for recently introduced taxa. However, natural resource managers struggle with how to integrate eDNA results into an early detection rapid response program because positive eDNA detections are not always indicative of...
Tungsten resources of the northern Rocky Mountains, Montana and Idaho— A synthesis and quantitative assessment of skarn-hosted resources
Allen K. Andersen, Margaret A. Goldman, Mitchell M. Bennett, Connie L. Dicken, Philip J. Brown, Heather L. Parks
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5012
Mineral resource assessments performed by the U.S. Geological Survey provide a synthesis of available information about the location of known and suspected mineral deposits. This study focuses on skarn-hosted tungsten resources in the northern Rocky Mountain region of east-central Idaho and western Montana which have seen moderate tungsten trioxide production...
Is now the time? Review of genetic rescue as a conservation tool for brook trout
Shannon L. White, Jacob M Rash, David C. Kazyak
2023, Ecology and Evolution (13)
Brook trout populations have been declining throughout their native range in the east coast of the United States. Many populations are now distributed in small, isolated habitat patches where low genetic diversity and high rates of inbreeding reduce contemporary viability and long-term adaptive potential. Although...
Assessing individual movement, habitat use, and behavior of non-breeding marine birds in relation to prey availability in the US Atlantic
Julia Gulka, Alicia Berlin, Kevin Friedland, Andrew Gilbert, Chandra Goetsch, William Montevecchi, Matthew Perry, Iain Stenhouse, Kate A. Williams, Evan A. Adams
2023, Marine Ecology Progress Series (711) 77-99
Resource availability is a key factor driving marine bird movements and distributions, but direct information on prey availability is difficult to obtain at relevant scales. We present novel methods for describing multi-scale trophic associations, combining movement analyses of marine birds with estimates of forage fish surface aggregations from digital aerial...
Estimating northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) pair detection probabilities based on call-back surveys associated with long-term mark-recapture studies, 1993–2018
Katie M. Dugger, Alan B. Franklin, Damon B. Lesmeister, Raymond J. Davis, J. David Wiens, Gary C. White, James D. Nichols, James E. Hines, Charles B. Yackulic, Carl J. Schwarz, Steven H. Ackers, L. Steven Andrews, Larissa L. Bailey, Robin Bown, Jesse Burgher, Kenneth P. Burnham, Peter C. Carlson, Tara Chestnut, Mary M Conner, Krista E. Dilione, Eric D. Forsman, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, Julianna M Jenkins, William L. Kendall, David W Lamphear, Christopher McCafferty, Trent L. McDonald, Janice A Reid, Jeremy T. Rockweit, David C. Simon, Stan G Sovern, James K. Swingle, Heather Wise
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1012
The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina; hereinafter NSO) was listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act in 1990 and population declines have continued since that listing. Given the species’ protected status, any proposed activities on Federal lands that might impact NSO require consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
