Using the beta distribution to analyze plant cover data
Christian Damgaard, Kathryn M. Irvine
2019, Journal of Ecology (107) 2747-2759
Most plant species are spatially aggregated. Local demographic and ecological processes (e.g. vegetative growth and limited seed dispersal) result in a clustered spatial pattern within an environmentally homogenous area. Spatial aggregation should be considered when modelling plant abundance data.Commonly, plant abundance is quantified by measuring cover within multiple areal plots...
The use of national datasets to produce an average annual water budget for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, 2000–13
Meredith Reitz, Wade Kress
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3001
OverviewWater is a critically important resource for the Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) region, supporting a multibillion-dollar agricultural industry. There are concerns that continued withdrawals of groundwater for irrigation may decrease future water supplies. The U.S. Geological Survey has a history of conducting research in the MAP region and recently began...
Preliminary stage and streamflow data at selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in New England for the floods of April 2019
Richard G. Kiah, Brianna A. Smith, Nicholas W. Stasulis
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1052
The combination of rainfall and snowmelt in northern New England and rainfall in southern New England resulted in minor to major flooding from April 15 to 24, 2019, according to stage and streamflow data collected at 63 selected U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) streamgages. A typical USGS streamgage measures and records...
Soil physical, hydraulic, and thermal properties in interior Alaska, USA: Implications for hydrologic response to thawing permafrost conditions
Brian A. Ebel, Joshua C. Koch, Michelle A. Walvoord
2019, Water Resources Research (55) 4427-4447
Boreal forest regions are a focal point for investigations of coupled water and biogeochemical fluxes in response to wildfire disturbances, climate warming, and permafrost thaw. Soil hydraulic, physical, and thermal property measurements for mineral soils in permafrost regions are limited, despite substantial influences on cryohydrogeologic model results. This work expands...
Spatial and temporal variability of fish assemblages in acidified streams: Implications for long-term monitoring
Scott D. George, Barry P. Baldigo, Gregory B. Lawrence
2019, Report
Numerous studies have established strong linkages between acid deposition, soil and surface-water acidification, and toxicity to aquatic biota. Little is known however, about the effects of acidification on fish assemblages in headwater streams because they are highly variable, and pre-acidification data are often lacking. The primary purpose of this study...
Spatially-structured statistical network models for landscape genetics
Mevin Hooten
2019, Ecological Monographs (89)
A basic understanding of how the landscape impedes, or creates resistance to, the dispersal of organisms and hence gene flow is paramount for successful conservation science and management. Spatially structured ecological networks are often used to represent spatial landscape‐genetic relationships, where nodes represent individuals or populations...
The USGS National crustal model for seismic hazard studies: 2019 update
Oliver S. Boyd
2019, Conference Paper, Geologic Mapping Forum 2019 Abstracts
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Crustal Model (NCM) is being developed to assist in the modeling of seismic hazards across the conterminous United States, specifically by improving estimates of site response. The NCM is composed of geophysical profiles, extending from the Earth’s surface into the upper mantle, constructed...
A synthesis of ecosystem management strategies for forests in the face of chronic N deposition
Christopher M. Clark, J. Richkus, Philip W Jones, Jennifer Phelan, Douglas A. Burns, Wim deVries, Enzai Du, Mark E. Fenn, Laurence Jones, Shaun A. Watmough
2019, Environmental Pollution (248) 1046-1058
The relative importance of nitrogen (N) deposition as a stressor to global forests is likely to increase in the future, as N deposition increases in Asia and Africa, and as sulfur declines more than nitrogen in Europe, the US, and Canada. Even so, it appears that decreased N deposition may...
Population characteristics of Ozark Bass (Ambloplites constellatus) in the upper White River basin of northern Arkansas
A. W. Rodman, K. R. Brye, Daniel D. Magoulick, S. Todd
2019, Natural Resources (10) 121-138
Ozark Bass (Ambloplites constellatus) is an understudied, endemic fish species in the Upper White River Basin of northern Arkansas. This study was part of an effort by fisheries managers to gather baseline data about the Ozark Bass to aid in understanding population dynamics and contribute to the limited data available...
A federal-state partnership for mapping Florida's coast and seafloor
Cheryl J. Hapke, Ryan Druyor, Rene D. Baumstark, Philip Kramer, Ekaterina Fitos, Xan Fredericks, Elizabeth H. Fetherston-Resch
2019, Coastal Sediments 2150-2158
The Florida Coastal Mapping Program, a partnership of state and federal agencies, has a goal of having modern, consistent, high- resolution sea-floor data for all of Florida’s coastal zone in the next decade to support a myriad of coastal zone science and management applications. One of the early steps in...
Distributed fault slip in the eastern California shear zone: Adding pieces to the puzzle near Barstow, California
Elizabeth K. Haddon, David M. Miller, Victoria Langenheim, Shannon A. Mahan
2019, Conference Paper, Exploring the ends of eras in the eastern Mojave Desert: 2019 Desert symposium field guide and proceedings
We investigate the dextral Lockhart and Mt. General faults, which are among four active structures in the northwestern portion of the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). Early mapping depicts the Lockhart and Mt. General faults as discontinuous fault traces that continue northwest of the Lenwood Fault. Recent work indicates that...
Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction
Curt D. Storlazzi, Borja G. Reguero, Aaron Cole, Erik Lowe, James B. Shope, Ann E. Gibbs, Barry A. Nickel, Robert T. McCall, Ap R. van Dongeren, Michael W. Beck
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1027
The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by increasing the exposure of coastal communities to flooding hazards. The protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous economic terms as artificial defenses, such as seawalls, and therefore often are not considered in decision...
Hydrologic Influences on Water Levels at Three Oaks Recreation Area, Crystal Lake, Illinois, April 14 through September 27, 2016
Amy M. Gahala
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5105
Hydrologic influences on water levels were investigated at Three Oaks Recreation Area (TORA), a former sand-and-gravel quarry converted into recreational lakes in Crystal Lake, Illinois. From 2009 to 2015, average water levels in the lakes declined nearly 4 feet. It was not clear if these declines were related to variations...
Case studies in groundwater contaminant fate and transport
Barbara A. Bekins
2019, Environmental Science
A case study of groundwater contamination is a detailed study of a single site contaminated with a chemical or mixture that is known to be a problem at many sites. The goal of case studies is to provide insights into the physical, chemical, and biological processes controlling migration, natural...
Streamflow Gain and Loss, Hydrograph Separation, and Water Quality of Abandoned Mine Lands in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Eastern Kentucky, 2015–17
Mac A. Cherry
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5006
During 2015–17, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service), carried out a study to characterize the hydrology and water chemistry in two study areas within the Daniel Boone National Forest. One study area was within the Rock Creek drainage and the...
The dependence of hydroclimate projections in snow‐dominated regions of the western United States on the choice of statistically downscaled climate data
Jay R. Alder, Steven W. Hostetler
2019, Water Resources Research (55) 2279-2300
We assess monthly temperature and precipitation data produced by four statistically based techniques that were used to downscale general circulation models (GCMs) in the Climate Model Intercomparison Program Phase 5 (CMIP5) (Taylor et al., 2012). We drive a simple water-balance model with the downscaled data to demonstrate the effect of...
Improving estimates of coral reef construction and erosion with in-situ measurements
Ilsa B. Kuffner, Lauren T. Toth, J. Harold Hudson, William B. Goodwin, Anastasios Stathakopoulos, Lucy Bartlett, Elizabeth M. Whitcher
2019, Limnology and Oceanography (64) 2283-2294
The decline in living coral since the 1970s has conspicuously slowed reef construction on a global scale, but the related process of reef erosion is less visible and not often quantified. Here we present new data on the constructional and deconstructional side of the carbonate-budget equation in the Florida Keys,...
Factors affecting prey availability and habitat usage of nonbreeding piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) in coastal Louisiana
Jessica L. Schulz, Paul Leberg
2019, Journal of Coastal Research (35) 861-871
The Gulf of Mexico is home to a large proportion of the wintering population of the threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus), but little is known about the bird's ecology in this region. In Louisiana, the majority of nonbreeding piping plovers are found on the state's rapidly eroding barrier islands. Between...
Cloud cover and delayed herbivory relative to timing of spring onset interact to dampen climate change impacts on net ecosystem exchange in a coastal Alaskan wetland
Josh Leffler, Karen H. Beard, Katharine C. Kelsey, Ryan T. Choi, Joel A. Schmutz, Jeffrey Welker
2019, Environmental Research Letters (14)
Rapid warming in northern ecosystems over the past four decades has resulted in earlier spring, increased precipitation, and altered timing of plant–animal interactions, such as herbivory. Advanced spring phenology can lead to longer growing seasons and increased carbon (C) uptake. Greater precipitation coincides with greater cloud cover possibly suppressing photosynthesis....
S2HM of buildings in USA
Mehmet Celebi
Maria Limongelli, Mehmet Celebi, editor(s)
2019, Book chapter, Seismic structural health monitoring: From theory to successful applications
The evolution of seismic structural-health monitoring (S2HM) of buildings in the USA is described in this chapter, emphasizing real-time monitoring. Rapid and accurate assessment of post-earthquake building damage is of paramount importance to stakeholders (including owners, occupants, city officials, and rescue teams). Relying merely on rapid visual inspection could result...
Comment on “Particle fluxes in groundwater change subsurface rock chemistry over geologic time”
Carleton R. Bern, Tiffany Yesavage
2019, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (514) 166-168
Over the last decade, studies at the Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (Shale Hills) have greatly expanded knowledge of weathering in previously understudied, shale-mantled terrains, as well as Earth's Critical Zone as a whole. Among the many discoveries made was the importance of redistribution and losses of micron-sized particles during development of shale-derived...
Geomorphic change and biogeomorphic feedbacks in a dryland river: The Little Colorado River, Arizona, USA
David J. Dean, David J. Topping
2019, GSA Bulletin
The Little Colorado River in Arizona, U.S.A. has undergone substantial geomorphic change since the early 1900s. We analyzed hydrologic and geomorphic data at different spatial and temporal scales to determine the type, magnitude, and rate of geomorphic change that has occurred since the early 20th century. Since the 1920s, there...
Modeling barrier island habitats using landscape position information
Nicholas Enwright, Lei Wang, Hongqing Wang, Michael Osland, Laura Feher, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard Day
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
Barrier islands are dynamic environments because of their position along the marine–estuarine interface. Geomorphology influences habitat distribution on barrier islands by regulating exposure to harsh abiotic conditions. Researchers have identified linkages between habitat and landscape position, such as elevation and distance from shore, yet these linkages have not been fully...
Calibration of Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to simulate prefire and postfire hydrologic response in the upper Rio Hondo Basin, New Mexico
Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin, C. David Moeser
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5022
The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) is widely used to simulate the effects of climate, topography, land cover, and soils on landscape-level hydrologic responses and streamflow. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, developed procedures to apply the PRMS model...
Pleistocene and Holocene landscape development of the South Platte River Corridor, Northeastern Colorado
Margaret E. Berry, Janet L. Slate, Emily M. Taylor
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5020
This report provides a synthesis of geologic mapping and geochronologic research along the South Platte River between the town of Masters and the city of Fort Morgan, northeastern Colorado. This work was undertaken to better understand landscape development along this part of the river corridor. The focus is on times...
