Assimilating ecological theory with empiricism: Using constrained generalized additive models to enhance survival analyses
Alison Ketz, Daniel J. Storm, Rachel Barker, Anthony D. Apa, Cristian Oliva-Aviles, Daniel P. Walsh
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 952-967
1. Integrating ecological theory with empirical methods is ubiquitous in ecology using hierarchical Bayesian models. However, there has been little development focused on integration of ecological theory into models for survival analysis. Survival is a fundamental process, linking individual fitness with population dynamics, but incorporating life history strategies to inform...
The first documented interaction between a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and a plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) carcass
K.M. White, Joshua D. Stafford, Robert Charles Lonsinger
2023, Ecology and Evolution (13)
A novel interaction between a long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata) and a plains spotted skunk (Spilogale interrupta) carcass is detailed. In November 2020, a farmer in Edmunds County in north-central South Dakota sent in a video recording of a long-tailed weasel with a spotted skunk carcass. Location of the event, carcass...
Lessons learned in knowledge co-production for climate-smart decision-making
Alyssa Rosemartin, Theresa Crimmins, Katherine L. Gerst, Erin E. Posthumus, Aaron R. Ramirez, Cynthia S. Wallace, Toni Lyn Morelli
2023, Environmental Science and Policy (141) 178-187
Knowledge co-production, a process that involves both creators and users of information in knowledge generation, is growing in popularity in the conservation and ecology fields. While examples of successful co-production are becoming more common, many barriers and challenges remain in this...
Estimating parasite infrapopulation size given imperfect detection: Proof-of-concept with ectoparasitic fleas on prairie dogs
David A. Eads, Kathryn P. Huyvaert, Dean E. Biggins
2023, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (20) 117-121
Parasite infrapopulation size - the population of parasites affecting a single host - is a central metric in parasitology. However, parasites are small and elusive such that imperfect detection is expected. Repeated sampling of parasites during primary sampling occasions (e.g., each host capture) informs the detection process. Here, we estimate...
Viability of side-scan sonar to enumerate Paddlefish, a large pelagic freshwater fish, in rivers and reservoirs
Wyatt Wolfenkoehler, James M. Long, Ryan Gary, Richard A. Snow, Jason D. Schooley, Lindsey Ann Bruckerhoff, Robert Charles Lonsinger
2023, Fisheries Research (261)
Recreational-grade side-scan sonar (SSS) has become an invaluable tool for inland fisheries, particularly when characterizing underwater habitat, but it is being increasingly used for enumerating large-bodied (> 1 m total length [TL]) aquatic fauna. We used SSS in river and reservoir environments to evaluate methods for identifying and counting Paddlefish Polyodon spathula, a large...
Decompression and degassing, repressurization, and regassing during cyclic eruptions at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, 1999–2001
Heather M. Wright, Raffaello Cioni, Katharine V. Cashman, Patricia Mothes, Mauro Rosi
2023, Bulletin of Volcanology (85)
In 1999–2001, Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador, produced a series of cyclic explosive and effusive eruptions. Rock samples, including dense blocks and pumiceous clasts collected during the eruption sequence, and ballistic bombs later collected from the crater floor, provide information about magma storage, ascent, decompression, degassing, repressurization, and regassing prior to...
Landscape and connectivity metrics as a spatial tool to support invasive annual grass management decisions
Erin K. Buchholtz, Julie A. Heinrichs, Michele R. Crist
2023, Biological Invasions (25) 637-644
The spatial patterns and context of invasions are increasingly recognized as important for successful and efficient management actions. Beyond mapping occurrence or percent cover in pixels, spatial summary information that describes the size and arrangement of patches in the context of a larger landscape (e.g.,...
New maps of conductive heat flow in the Great Basin, USA: Separating conductive and convective influences
Jacob DeAngelo, Erick R. Burns, Emilie Gentry, Joseph F. Batir, Cary Ruth Lindsey, Stanley Paul Mordensky
2023, Conference Paper, Proceedings, 48th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
Geothermal well data from Southern Methodist University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) were used to create maps of estimated background conductive heat flow across the Great Basin region of the western United States. These heat flow maps were generated as part of the USGS hydrothermal and Enhanced Geothermal Systems...
Revising supraglacial rock avalanche magnitudes and frequencies in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
William Smith, Stuart A. Dunning, Neil Ross, Jon Telling, Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Dan H. Shugar, Jeffrey A. Coe, M. Geertsema
2023, Geomorphology (425)
The frequency of large supraglacial landslides (rock avalanches) occurring in glacial environments is thought to be increasing due to feedbacks with climate warming and permafrost degradation. However, it is difficult to (i) test this; (ii) establish cause–effect relationships; and (iii) determine...
Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2021
Patrick J. Ryan
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1111
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, is deepening the St. Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida, by 7 feet along 13 miles of the river channel beginning at the mouth of the river at the Atlantic Ocean, in order to accommodate larger, fully loaded cargo vessels. The U.S....
Interaction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming
David L. Naftz, Christopher C. Fuller, Robert L. Runkel, John Solder, W. Payton Gardner, Neil Terry, Martin A. Briggs, Terry M. Short, Daniel J. Cain, William L Dam, Patrick A. Byrne, James R. Campbell
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5089
The Riverton Processing site was a uranium mill 4 kilometers southwest of Riverton, Wyoming, that prepared uranium ore for nuclear reactors and weapons from 1958 to 1963. The U.S. Department of Energy completed surface remediation of the uranium tailings in 1989; however, groundwater below and downgradient from the tailings site...
Assessment of habitat use by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Willamette River Basin, 2020–21
Gabriel S. Hansen, Russell W. Perry, Tobias J. Kock, James S. White, Philip V. Haner, John M. Plumb, J. Rose Wallick
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1001
We conducted a field study during 2020–21 to describe habitat use patterns of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the mainstem Willamette, McKenzie, and Santiam Rivers and to evaluate how habitat suitability criteria affected the predictive accuracy of a hydraulic habitat model. Two approaches were used to collect habitat use...
Simulation of regional groundwater flow and advective transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018
Alex R. Fiore, Susan J. Colarullo
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1112
A three-dimensional numerical model of groundwater flow was developed and calibrated for the unconsolidated New Jersey Coastal Plain aquifers underlying Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) and vicinity, New Jersey, to evaluate groundwater flow pathways of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination associated with use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) at...
Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection, 1985–2021
Matthew B. Rigge
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3004
The Rangeland Condition Monitoring Assessment and Projection (RCMAP) project quantifies the percentage cover of rangeland components across the western United States using Landsat imagery from 1985 to 2021. The RCMAP product suite consists of nine fractional components: annual herbaceous, bare ground, herbaceous, litter, nonsagebrush shrub, perennial herbaceous, sagebrush, shrub, and...
Fecal DNA metabarcoding shows credible short-term prey detections and explains variation in the gut microbiome of two polar bear subpopulations
Megan Franz, L Whyte, Todd C. Atwood, Damian M. Menning, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Sandra Talbot, Kristin L. Laidre, Emmanuel Gonzalez, Melissa McKinney
2023, Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS) (704) 131-147
This study developed and evaluated DNA metabarcoding to identify the presence of pinniped and cetacean prey DNA in fecal samples of East Greenland (EG) and Southern Beaufort Sea (SB) polar bears Ursus maritimus sampled in the spring of 2015-2019. Prey DNA was detected in half (49/92) of all samples, and when...
Using corrected and imputed polarity measurements to improve focal mechanisms in a regional earthquake catalog near the Mt. Lewis Fault Zone, California
Robert Skoumal, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, David R. Shelly
2023, Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth (128)
We utilized relative polarity measurements and machine learning techniques to better resolve focal mechanisms and stress orientations considering a catalog of ∼29,000 relocated earthquakes that occurred during 1984–2021 in the southeastern San Francisco Bay Area. Earthquake focal mechanisms are commonly produced using P wave first motion polarities, which traditionally...
National Civil Applications Center
Paul M. Young
2023, Fact Sheet 2022-3085
Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Civil Applications Center (NCAC) analyzes remote-sensing data from the Intelligence Community (IC) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support public safety missions and to study land-surface and environmental changes. The NCAC provides remotely sensed images to USGS scientists and other civilian Federal...
Sampling and analysis plan for the Koocanusa Reservoir and upper Kootenai River, Montana, water-quality monitoring program, 2021
Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Melissa A. Schaar, Chad B. Reese, Ashley M. Bussell, Thomas Chapin
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1113
In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey will collect water-quality samples and environmental data from 3 sites in Koocanusa Reservoir and from 1 site in the Kootenai River. The transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir is in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northwestern Montana, United States, and was formed with the construction of Libby...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Melvin P. Nenneman, Betty R. Euliss
2023, Professional Paper 1842-Z
Keys to Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida) management include providing grasslands with a shrub or forb component or shrub-dominated edge habitat, which includes dense grass and moderately high litter cover, and avoiding disturbances that completely eliminate woody vegetation. Clay-colored Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 20–186 centimeters (cm) average...
Advancing best practices for the analysis of the vulnerability of military installations in the Pacific Basin to coastal flooding under a changing climate – RC-2644
John Marra, William Sweet, Eric Leuliette, Michael Kruk, Ayesha Genz, Curt D. Storlazzi, Peter Ruggiero, Meredith Leung, Dylan L. Anderson, Mark Merrifield, Janet Becker, Ian Robertson, Matthew J. Widlansky, Philip R. Thompson, Fernando Mendez, Ana Rueda, Jose A.A. Antolinez, Laura Cagigal, Melissa Menendez, Hector Lobeto, Jayantha Obeysekera, Chris Chiesa
2023, Report
Coastal flooding takes many forms, ranging from major flooding associated with storms to minor flooding associated with exceptionally high tides and other oceanic and atmospheric phenomena on storm-free days. A major societal challenge is to understand and predict how flood magnitude and frequency will manifest at particular places and times, now...
Landscape configuration influences Oma‘o (Myadestes obscurus) song diversity
Nicole Fernandez, Kristina L. Paxton, Eben H. Paxton, Adam A. Pack, Patrick J. Hart
2023, Pacific Science (76) 325-335
Acoustic communication in the form of songs is a learned behavior in oscine that can be passed down from one generation to the next through cultural transmission. Over time songs can change when populations become isolated from one another, creating dialects that are distinct to a population. Habitat fragmentation is...
Genetic diversity, structure, and effective population size of an endangered, endemic hoary bat, ʻōpeʻapeʻa, across the Hawaiian Islands
Corinna Pinzari, Mona Renee Bellinger, Donald K. Price, Frank J Bonaccorso
2023, Peer J (11)
Island bat species are disproportionately at risk of extinction, and Hawaiʻi’s only native terrestrial land mammal, the Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus semotus) locally known as ʻōpeʻapeʻa, is no exception. To effectively manage this bat species with an archipelago-wide distribution, it is important to determine the population size on each island...
Context-dependent representation of within- and between-model uncertainty: Aggregating probabilistic predictions in infectious disease epidemiology
Emily Howerton, Michael C. Runge, Tiffany L. Bogich, Rebecca K. Borchering, Hidetoshi Inamine, Justin Lessler, Luke C Mullany, William J.M. Probert, Claire P. Smith, Shaun Truelove, Cècile Viboud, Katriona Shea
2023, Journal of the Royal Society Interface (20)
Probabilistic predictions support public health planning and decision making, especially in infectious disease emergencies. Aggregating outputs from multiple models yields more robust predictions of outcomes and associated uncertainty. While the selection of an aggregation method can be guided by retrospective performance evaluations, this is not always possible....
Improvements to estimate ADCP uncertainty sources for discharge measurements
Jose M. Diaz Lozada, Carlos M. Garcia, Kevin Oberg, Thomas M. Over, Federico Flores Nieto
2023, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation (90)
The use of moving boat ADCPs (Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers) for discharge measurements requires identification of the sources and magnitude of uncertainty to ensure accurate measurements. Recently, a tool known as QUant was developed to estimate the contribution to the uncertainty estimates for each transect of moving-boat ADCP discharge...
Survey of fish communities in tributaries to the Mohawk River, New York, 2019
Scott D. George, Dylan R. Winterhalter, Barry P. Baldigo
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2022-5121
Fish communities of the Mohawk River and associated sections of the New York State Canal System have been well documented but little information is available regarding the status of fish communities in the extensive network of tributaries that feed the Mohawk River. This lack of information is problematic because changes...
