Estimating visitor use and economic contributions of National Park visitor spending
Lynne Koontz, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
2020, Book chapter, Valuing U.S. National Parks and Programs
This chapter provides an overview of the National Park Service (NPS) methods for estimating visitor spending and calculating economic contributions of visitor spending in terms of jobs supported, wage and labor income, and total economic activity. The Visitor Spending Effects model combines visitor spending patterns and trip characteristic data with...
Hydraulic tomography: 3D hydraulic conductivity, fracture network, and connectivity in mudstone
Claire R. Tiedeman, Warren Barrash
2020, Groundwater (58) 238-257
We present the first demonstration of hydraulic tomography (HT) to estimate the three-dimensional (3D) hydraulic conductivity (K) distribution of a fractured aquifer at high-resolution field scale (HRFS), including the fracture network and connectivity through it. We invert drawdown data collected from packer-isolated borehole intervals during 42...
Trends in biodiversity and habitat quantification tools used for market‐based conservation in the United States
Scott J. Chiavacci, Emily Pindilli
2020, Conservation Biology (34) 125-136
Market-based conservation mechanisms are designed to facilitate conservation and mitigation actions for habitat and biodiversity. Their potential is partly hindered, however, by issues surrounding the quantification tools used to assess habitat quality and functionality. Specifically, a lack of transparency and standardization in tool development and gaps in tool...
Revisiting “An Exercise in Groundwater Model Calibration and Prediction” after 30 years: Insights and New Directions
Randall J. Hunt, Michael N. Fienen, Jeremy T. White
2020, Groundwater (58) 168-182
In 1988, an important publication moved model calibration and forecasting beyond case studies and theoretical analysis. It reported on a somewhat idyllic graduate student modeling exercise where many of the system properties were known; the primary forecasts of interest were heads in pumping wells after a...
Ecosystem processes, landcover, climate, and human settlement shape dynamic distributions for golden eagle across the western US
J. D. Tack, B.R. Noon, Zachary H. Bowen, B.C. Fedy
2020, Animal Conservation (23) 72-82
Species–environment relationships for highly mobile species outside of the breeding season are often highly dynamic in response to the collective effects of ever‐changing climatic conditions, food resources, and anthropogenic disturbance. Capturing dynamic space‐use patterns in a model‐based framework is critical as model inference often drives place‐based conservation planning. We applied...
Assessment experimental semivariogram uncertainty in the presence of a polynomial drift
Erten Oktay, Eulogio Pardo-Iguzquiza, Ricardo A. Olea
2020, Natural Resources Research (29) 1087-1099
The semivariogram, which measures the spatial variability between experimental data, is generally used as a structural input in all two-point geostatistical procedures. However, in most geoscience applications, experimental semivariograms are usually computed from a limited number of sparsely spaced measurements, which results in uncertainty associated with the semivariance values estimated...
Statistical learning mitigation of false positives from template-detected data in automated acoustic wildlife monitoring
Cathleen M. Balantic, Therese M. Donovan
2020, Bioacoustics: The International Journal of Animal Sound and its Recording (29) 296-321
Audio sampling of the environment can provide long-term, landscape-scale presence-absence data to model populations of sound-producing wildlife. Automated detection systems allow researchers to avoid manually searching through large volumes of recordings, but often produce unacceptable false positive rates. We developed methods that allow researchers to improve template-based automated detection using...
Using environmental DNA (eDNA) to assess the presence of cavefish and cave crayfish populations in caves of the Ozark Highlands
Shannon K. Brewer, Joshua B. Mouser, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche
2020, Cooperator Science Series CSS-135-2020
Many cavefishes and cave crayfishes are considered of conservation concern; however, sampling these species is inherently difficult given their occupied environments. The goal of our project was to verify the presence of select karst organisms while developing the foundation for sampling approaches that might be useful to conservation and management...
Weak effects of geolocators on small birds: a meta‐analysis controlled for phylogeny and publication bias
Vojtech Brlik, Jaroslav Kolecek, Malcolm Burgess, Steffen Hahn, Diana Humple, Milos Krist, Janne Ouwehand, Emily L. Weiser, Peter Adamik, Jose A. Alves, Debora Arlt, Sanja Barisic, Detlef Becker, Eduardo J. Belda, Vaclav Beran, Christiaan Both, Susana P. Bravo, Martins Briedis, Chutny Bohumir, Davor Cikovic, Nathan W. Cooper, Joana S. Costa, Victor R. Cueto, Tamara Emmenegger, Kevin Fraser, Olivier Gilg, Marina Guerrero, Michael T. Hallworth, Chris Hewson, Frederic Jiguet, James Johnson, Tosha Kelly, Dmitry Kishkinev, Michel Leconte, Terje Lislevand, Simeon Lisovski, Cosme Lopez, Kent P. McFarland, Peter P. Marra, Steven M. Matsuoka, Matyjasiak. Piotr, Christoph M. Meier, Benjamin Metzger, Juan S. Monros, Roland Neumann, Amy Newman, Ryan Norris, Tomas Part, Vaclav Pavel, Noah Perlut, Markus Piha, Jeroen Reneerkens, Christopher C. Rimmer, Amelie Roberto-Charro, Chiara Scandolara, Natalia Sokolova, Makiko Takenaka, Dirk Tolkmitt, Herman van Oosten, Arndt H. J. Wellbrock, Hazel Wheeler, Jan van der Winden, Klaudia Witte, Brad Woodworth, Petr Prochazka
2020, Journal of Animal Ecology (89) 207-220
Currently, the deployment of tracking devices is one of the most frequently used approaches to study movement ecology of birds. Recent miniaturisation of light‐level geolocators enabled studying small bird species whose migratory patterns were widely unknown. However, geolocators may reduce vital rates in tagged birds and may bias obtained movement...
Using redundant primer sets to detect multiple native Alaskan fish species from environmental DNA
Damian M. Menning, Trey Simmons, Sandra L. Talbot
2020, Conservation Genetics Resources (12) 109-123
Accurate and timely data regarding freshwater fish communities is important for informed decision-making by local, state, tribal, and federal land and resource managers; however, conducting traditional gear-based fish surveys can be an expensive and time-consuming process, particularly in remote areas, like those that characterize much of Alaska. To help address...
Community tools for cartographic and photogrammetric processing of Mars Express HRSC images
Randolph L. Kirk, Elpitha Howington-Kraus, Kenneth Edmundson, Bonnie L. Redding, Donna M. Galuszka, Trent M. Hare, K. Gwinner
2020, Book chapter, Planetary remote sensing and mapping
In this chapter we describe the software we have developed for photogrammetric processing of images from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (MEX HRSC) to produce digital topographic models (DTMs) and orthoimages, as well as testing we have performed. HRSC has returned images, including stereo and color coverage of...
Observations and recommendations for coordinated calibration activities of government and commercial optical satellite systems
Dennis Helder, Cody Anderson, Keith Beckett, Rasmus Houborg, Ignacio Zuleta, Valentina Boccia, Sebastian Clerc, Michele Kuester, Brian Markham, M. Pagnutti
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
One of the biggest changes in the world of optical remote sensing over the last several years is the sheer increase in the number of sensors that are imaging the Earth in moderate to high spatial resolution. With respect to the calibration of these sensors, they are broadly classified into...
When portfolio theory can help environmental investment planning to reduce climate risk to future environmental outcomes - and when it cannot
Amy W. Ando, Jennifer M. Fraterrigo, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Aparna Howlader, Mindy L. Mallory, Jennifer H. Olker, Samuel Stickley
2020, Conservation Letters (11)
Variability among climate change scenarios produces great uncertainty in what is the best allocation of resources among investments to protect environmental goods in the future. Previous research shows Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) can help optimize environmental investment targeting to reduce outcome risk with minimal loss of expected level of environmental...
Focus areas for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals—Rare earth elements
Jane M. Hammarstrom, Connie L. Dicken
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1023-A
Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical mineral commodities for the United States. In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of REEs in mineral deposits, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified broad focus areas throughout the conterminous United States and Alaska as a guide for selecting new...
Reproductive biology of Grey-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys): A comparative study of tropical and temperate wrens
Necmiye Sahin Arslan, Thomas E. Martin
2019, Wilson Journal of Ornithology (131) 1-11
We provide a detailed breeding biology account for the Grey-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys) and a comparison of the reproductive life history of tropical and temperate wrens using literature data. We conducted this study at Yacambú National Park in Venezuela from 2002 to 2008. Clutch size was 1.99 (SE 0.01) and...
Bighorn sheep habitat and model extrapolation across remote landscapes
Chris Lowrey, Sara Schuster, Kathleen Longshore, Patrick Cummings, Amy Sprunger, Anna Johnson, Grete Elyse Wilson-Henjum
2019, Conference Paper, Desert Bighorn Council Transactions 2019: A compilation of papers presented at the 55th meeting
Determining a species’ habitat use is an essential first step in any wildlife conservation action. We described habitat use, animal movements and probable lambing areas in a remote, restricted-access region of the Mojave Desert. Differences in habitat use between sexes was apparent, supporting the often-reported concept of risk-aversion by females....
Integration of microfacies analysis, inorganic geochemical data, and hyperspectral imaging to unravel mudstone depositional and diagenetic processes in two cores from the Triassic Shublik Formation, Northern Alaska
Katherine J. Whidden, Justin E. Birdwell, Julie A. Dumoulin, Lionel C. Fonteneau, Brigette Martini
2019, Conference Paper, SEG global meeting abstracts
The Middle – Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is an organic-rich heterogeneous carbonate-siliciclastic-phosphatic unit that generated much of the oil in the Prudhoe Bay field and other hydrocarbon accumulations in northern Alaska. A large dataset, including total organic carbon (TOC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma –...
Black Scoter habitat use along the southeastern coast of the United States
H. M. Plumpton, E. D. Silverman, Beth Ross
2019, Ecology and Evolution (11) 10813-10820
While the Atlantic Coast of the United States and Canada is a major wintering area for sea ducks, knowledge about their wintering habitat use is relatively limited. Black Scoters have a broad wintering distribution and are the only open water species of sea duck that is abundant along the southeastern...
Characterizing 12 years of wildland fire science at the U.S. Geological Survey: Wildland Fire Science Publications, 2006–17
Paul F. Steblein, Mark P. Miller
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1002
Wildland fire characteristics, such as area burned, number of large fires, burn intensity, and fire season duration, have increased steadily over the past 30 years, resulting in substantial increases in the costs of suppressing fires and managing damages from wildland fire events (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)....
Wildland fire science at the U.S. Geological Survey—Supporting wildland fire and land management across the United States postcard
Paul F. Steblein, Mark P. Miller, Suzanna C. Soileau
2019, General Information Product 190
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Wildland Fire Science Program produces information to identify the causes of wildfires, understand the impacts and benefits of both wildfires and prescribed fires, and help prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events. USGS fire scientists provide information and develop tools that are widely used by stakeholders to...
Regionalization of surface-water statistics using multiple linear regression
William H. Farmer, Julie E. Kiang, Toby D. Feaster, Ken Eng
2019, Techniques and Methods 4-A12
This report serves as a reference document in support of the regionalization of surface-water statistics using multiple linear regression. Streamflow statistics are quantitative characterizations of hydrology and are often derived from observed streamflow records. In the absence of observed streamflow records, as at unmonitored or ungaged locations, other techniques are...
Development of regression equations for the estimation of flood flows at ungaged streams in Pennsylvania
Mark A. Roland, Marla H. Stuckey
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5094
Regression equations, which may be used to estimate flood flows at select annual exceedance probabilities, were developed for ungaged streams in Pennsylvania. The equations were developed using annual peak flow data through water year 2015 and basin characteristics for 285 streamflow gaging stations across Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The streamgages...
Assessment of the potential for in-plume sulphur dioxide gas-ash interactions to influence the respiratory toxicity of volcanic ash
Ines Tomasek, David Damby, Claire J. Horwell, Paul M Ayris, Pierre Delmelle, Christopher J Ottley, Pablo Cubillas, Ana S Casas, Christoph Bisig, Alke Petri-Fink, Donald B. Dingwell, Martin J D Clift, Barbara Drasler, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser
2019, Environmental Research (179)
BackgroundVolcanic plumes are complex environments composed of gases and ash particles, where chemical and physical processes occur at different temperature and compositional regimes. Commonly, soluble sulphate- and chloride-bearing salts are formed on ash as gases interact with ash surfaces. Exposure to respirable volcanic ash...
Towards a predictive framework for biocrust mediation of plant performance: A meta‐analysis
Caroline A. Havrilla, Bala V. Chaudhary, Scott Ferrenberg, Anita J. Antoninka, Jayne Belnap, Matthew A. Bowker, David J. Eldridge, Akasha M. Faist, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Alexander D. Leslie, Emilio Rodriguez-Caballero, Yuanming Zhang, Nichole N. Barger
2019, Journal of Ecology (107) 2789-2807
Understanding the importance of biotic interactions in driving the distribution and abundance of species is a central goal of plant ecology. Early vascular plants likely colonized land occupied by biocrusts — photoautotrophic, surface‐dwelling soil communities comprised of cyanobacteria, bryophytes, lichens and fungi — suggesting biotic interactions between biocrusts and...
Evaluating environmental change and behavioral decision-making for sustainability policy using an agent-based model: A case study for the Smoky Hill River Watershed, Kansas
Gabriel Granco, Jessica L. Heier Stamm, Jason S. Bergtold, Melinda D. Daniels, Matthew R. Sanderson, Aleksey Y. Sheshukov, Martha E. Mather, Marcellus M. Caldas, Steven M. Ramsey, Richard Lehrter, David A. Haukos, Jungang Gao, Sarmistha Chatterjee, James C. Nifong, Joseph Aistrup
2019, Science of the Total Environment (695)
Sustainability has been at the forefront of the environmental research agenda of the integrated anthroposphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere since the last century and will continue to be critically important for future environmental science. However, linking humans and the environment through effective policy remains a...
