Flood of July 2023 in Vermont
Travis L. Smith, Scott A. Olson, James M. LeNoir, Rena D. Kalmon, Elizabeth A. Ahearn
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5016
A major storm caused catastrophic flooding in many parts of Vermont on July 9–12, 2023, resulting in millions of dollars in damages. The high amount of rainfall caused several rivers to peak at record levels, in some cases exceeding records set during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. The U.S. Geological...
Peak streamflow trends in Montana and northern Wyoming and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020
Steven K. Sando, Nancy A. Barth, Roy Sando, Katherine J. Chase
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-G
Frequency analysis on annual peak streamflow (hereinafter, peak flow) is essential to water-resources management applications, including critical structure design (for example, bridges and culverts) and floodplain mapping. Nonstationarity is a statistical property of a peak-flow series such that the distributional properties (the mean, variance, or skew) change either gradually (monotonic...
Effects of riparian forest thinning on resident salmonid fishes in coastal northern California catchments
David A. Roon, Jason Dunham, Joseph R. Benjamin, Bret C. Harvey, James R Bellmore
2025, Freshwater Biology (70)
Resource managers are interested in whether thinning second-growth forests may be a viable restoration strategy for stream and riparian habitats, but may be concerned about the potential impacts that increases in stream temperature associated with riparian thinning treatments may have on cold-water salmonid fishes.We evaluated the effects of riparian...
Infrasonic directivity of monopole, dipole, and bipole ground-surface reflected sources
Alexandra M. Iezzi, Robin S. Matoza, Emma V. Opper, Keehoon Kim
2025, Geophysical Journal International (242)
Infrasound (acoustic waves below 20 Hz) can be used to detect, locate and quantify activity in the atmosphere such as volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic explosions. Attempts to quantify volcanic eruption parameters such as exit velocity, plume height and mass flow rate using infrasound data depend strongly on assumptions of the acoustic...
Serological assessment of pathogen exposure among desert bighorn sheep in southwestern Arizona
Colton J. Padilla, James W. Cain III, Matthew E. Gompper, Paul R. Krausman, JIM Devos
2025, The Southwestern Naturalist (68) 294-300
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are influenced by infectious diseases. Although Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae has been the main focus of bighorn sheep managers since early 2010, other pathogens may also influence bighorn sheep populations. We sampled desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) captured for a study on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in...
Are wildfire risk mitigators more prepared to evacuate? Insights from communities in the western United States
Grant Webster, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Patricia A. Champ, James R. Meldrum, Kelly Wallace, Colleen Donovan, Carolyn Wagner, Christopher M. Barth, Josh Kuehn, Suzanne Wittenbrink, Christine Taniguchi
2025, Ecological Economics (236)
As the realized experiences of wildfires threatening communities increase, the importance of proactive evacuation preparation and wildfire risk mitigation on private property to reduce the loss of lives and property is shaping wildfire policy and programs. To date, research has focused on pre-wildfire evacuation preparation and risk mitigation independently. This...
A joint Gaussian process model of geochemistry, geophysics, and temperature for groundwater TDS in the San Ardo Oil Field, California, USA
Michael J. Stephens, Will Chang, David H. Shimabukuro, Amanda Howery, Theron A. Sowers, Janice M. Gillespie
2025, Journal of Hydrology (661)
Decline in availability of fresh groundwater has expanded interest in brackish groundwater resources; however, the distribution of brackish groundwater is poorly understood. Water resources in sedimentary basins across the United States often overlie oil and gas development. Mapping of groundwater total dissolved solids (TDS) using data from oil...
Reconstructing late Pleistocene relative sea levels on transgressed shelves: An example from central California
Elisa Medri, Alexander Simms, Jared W. Kluesner, Samuel Y. Johnson, Stuart Nishenko, H. Gary Greene, James E. Conrad, Devin Rand
2025, Quaternary Science Reviews (361)
Although prevalent for the late Holocene, relative sea level (RSL) constraints during and immediately after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are sparse. This scarcity of data is particularly pronounced along mid-latitude shelves such as central California, which lack post LGM RSL constraints older than 12 ka. In this study we...
The Long Island Sound and Watershed Metadata map application
Timothy J. Stagnitta, Gina N. Groseclose, Harper N. Wavra, Shawn C. Fisher
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3019
The Long Island Sound and its watershed encompass an area of about 17,000 square miles and include the Connecticut, Housatonic, and Thames Rivers, which all drain to the sound. Dozens of organizations from government agencies, nonprofits, and Tribal Nations have developed projects and monitoring programs to analyze and protect the...
The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting New Mexico’s Economy
Carol Lydic
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3014
Introduction Federal, State, Tribal, and local entities managing lands in New Mexico have concerns about wildfire risk, wildlife habitat, and flood risk. Land managers in urban areas along the Rio Grande corridor and in the State’s rural northwest and southeast also have concerns about existing and developing roads, buildings, and other...
Managing water for birds—A tool for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, southeastern Oregon
Cassandra D. Smith
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5024
The “Water for Birds Tool” is a spreadsheet-based tool (using Microsoft Excel) designed to help resource managers assess the spatial extent and types of bird habitats in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, southeastern Oregon. The tool quantifies the areas of open water, partial water, and water depths on a monthly...
Pre-restoration woody species crown and vegetation community mapping using high-resolution uncrewed aerial system imagery, Palmyra Atoll
Matthew Struckhoff
2025, Pacific Science (78) 279-293
The terrestrial management plan for Palmyra Atoll includes large-scale removal of coconut (Cocos nucifera) as part of native forest restoration and contaminant remediation that will leave soils and vegetation communities profoundly altered. To inform those efforts and provide baseline data for restoration monitoring, woody stem crowns and vegetation communities at...
If you build it, will they come? Assessing the response of tiger populations to elevated conservation efforts in lowland Nepal
Saneer Lamichhane, Abhinaya Pathak, Ajay Karki, Ambika P. Khatiwada, Chiranjibi Prasad Pokheral, James E. Hines, Dave P. Onorato, Taylor V. Stein, Madan K. Oli
2025, Global Ecology and Conservation (60)
Thirteen countries within the distributional range of tigers adopted the St. Petersburg Declaration in 2010, committing to double their tiger populations by 2022. As a signatory to this document, Nepal elevated its tiger conservation efforts soon after the declaration was adopted. Using capture-mark-recapture (CMR) analyses of tiger survey data (2013–2022),...
Mapping eelgrass (Zostera marina) cover and biomass at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, using in-situ field data and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery
David C. Douglas, Michael D. Fleming, Vijay P. Patil, David H. Ward
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1007
The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have developed a three-tiered strategy for monitoring eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, that targets different spatial and temporal scales. The broadest-scale monitoring (tier-1) uses satellite imagery about every 5 years to delineate the spatial extent of...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus exposure and infection in free-ranging bobcats (Lynx rufus) in New York, USA
Haley M. Turner, Angela K. Fuller, Joshua P. Twining, Gavin R. Hitchener, Melissa A. Fadden, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, Deborah L. Carter, Mandy B. Watson, Krysten L. Schuler, Jennifer C. Bloodgood
2025, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (61) 515-521
Highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza A virus (HP H5N1) cases in wild mammals have been increasing globally. Carnivora has been the most affected mammal order; however, the extent of morbidity and mortality in carnivores exposed to HP H5N1 remains undefined. We assessed the presence of antibodies to H5 and N1 in...
Characterization of the long-distance dispersal kernel of white-tailed deer and evaluating its impact on chronic wasting disease spread in Wisconsin
Gouda V. Mennatallah, Jim Powell, Jen McClure, Daniel P. Walsh, Daniel J. Storm
2025, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (87)
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease infecting cervids. It is highly contagious and caused by misfolded prions that propagate via templated conformational conversion of the cervid’s normal prion protein. Prevalence of CWD in free-ranging deer in North America is mostly low, but in some regions local prevalence...
Calibration of the Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) model to estimate annual survival, movement, and food consumption by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the restoration reach of the Trinity River, California, 2006–18
John M. Plumb, Russell W. Perry, Kyle De Juilio
2025, Open-File Report 2024-1070
Executive SummaryThe Trinity River is managed in two sections: (1) from the upper 64-kilometer “restoration reach” downstream from Lewiston Dam to the confluence with the North Fork Trinity River, and (2) the 120-kilometer lower Trinity River downstream from the restoration reach. The Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) has been previously applied...
The Hardscrabble Creek complex: A newly discovered, mostly buried, Mesoproterozoic mafic-ultramafic pluton in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA
Benjamin Patrick Magnin, Sandra S. Brake, Yvette Kuiper, Michael T. Mohr, Richard E. Hanson
2025, GSA Bulletin (137) 4558-4574
The origin of prolific ca. 1.4 Ga ferroan magmatism between the southwestern USA and eastern Canada is enigmatic and has been explained by various models, including extensional, mantle plume, and convergent plate-margin models. Rare mafic plutons are associated with the ferroan plutons, which may help constrain their mantle source and...
Genetic connectivity in a cooperatively breeding carnivore between two protected areas
Ariana L. Cerreta, Jennifer R. Adams, Bridget L. Borg, Mathew S. Sorum, Lisette P. Waits, David Edward Ausband
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Wildlife populations are increasingly threatened by human activities. Most studies, however, are often short in duration or do not encompass the large spatial extent necessary to measure the potential effects of human activities on population vital rates. Furthermore, the life history features of species with high fecundity and excellent dispersal...
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus) at the Mojave River Dam, San Bernardino County, California—2024 data summary
Scarlett L. Howell, Barbara E. Kus
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1025
We surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) at the Mojave River Dam study area near Hesperia, California, in 2024. Four vireo surveys were completed between April 17 and July 2, 2024, and three flycatcher surveys were completed between May...
Using distance sampling with camera traps to estimate densities of ungulates on tropical oceanic islands
Richard J. Camp, Trevor M. Bak, Matthew D Burt, Scott Vogt
2025, Journal of Tropical Ecology (41)
Reliable population estimates are one of the most elementary needs for the management of wildlife, particularly for introduced ungulates on oceanic islands. We aimed to produce accurate and precise density estimates of Philippine deer (Rusa marianna) and wild pigs (Sus scrofa) on Guam using motion-triggered cameras combined with...
Fine-resolution satellite remote sensing improves spatially distributed snow modeling to near real time
Graham A. Sexstone, Garrett Alexander Akie, David J. Selkowitz, Theodore B. Barnhart, David M. Rey, Claudia León-Salazar, Emily Carbone, Lindsay A. Bearup
2025, Remote Sensing (17)
Given the highly variable distribution of seasonal snowpacks in complex mountainous environments, the accurate snow modeling of basin-wide snow water equivalent (SWE) requires a spatially distributed approach at a sufficiently fine grid resolution (<500 m) to account for the important processes in the seasonal evolution of a snowpack (e.g., wind...
Using the D-Claw software package to model lahars in the Middle Fork Nooksack River drainage and beyond, Mount Baker, Washington
Cynthia A. Gardner, Mary Catherine Benage, Charles M. Cannon, David L. George
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5133
Lahars, or volcanic mudflows, are the most hazardous eruption-related phenomena that will affect communities living along rivers that originate on Mount Baker. In the past 15,000 years, the largest lahars from Mount Baker have affected the Middle Fork Nooksack River drainage and beyond. Here we use the physics-based D-Claw software...
A framework for guiding management decisions for amphibians in an uncertain future
Amanda Marie Kissel, Erin L. Muths, Mae Lacey, Viorel D. Popescu, Marissa Dyck, Caitlin Littlefield
2025, Report
Managing species in a rapidly changing climate requires knowledge of how species will respond to climate change and other threats while simultaneously developing management actions to reduce threats. Amphibians are one of the most threatened taxa on earth and often serve as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ for the health...
The feasibility of using lidar-derived digital elevation models for gravity data reduction
Jacob T. Murchek, Benjamin J. Drenth, James J. Reitman, Eric D. Anderson, Benjamin Patrick Magnin, James M. DeGraff
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1019
Gravity data require submeter elevation accuracy for data processing, and differential global navigation satellite system (dGNSS) equipment is commonly used to acquire three-dimensional positional data to achieve such accuracy. However, lidar (light detection and ranging) data are commonly used to develop digital elevation models (DEMs) of Earth’s surface. Therefore, using...
