Modelling development of riparian ranchlands using ecosystem services at the Aravaipa Watershed, SE Arizona
Laura Norman, Miguel L. Villarreal, Rewati Niraula, Mark Haberstich, Natalie R. Wilson
2019, Land (8)
This paper describes how subdivision and development of rangelands within a remote and celebrated semiarid watershed near the US-Mexico border might affect multiple ecohydrological services provided, such as recharge of the aquifer, water and sediment yield, water quality, flow rates and downstream cultural and natural resources. Specifically, we apply an...
Morphology and molecular data reveal invasion of cryptic golden tegus Tupinambis cryptus Murphy et al., 2016) in Florida
R. Alexander Pyron, Robert Reed, Timothy J. Colston, Michael R. Rochford
2019, BioInvasions Records (8) 465-470
Golden Tegus (Tupinambis teguixin sensu lato) are native to South America and have established a reproducing population in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Recent work divided the Golden Tegu into four separate species, leaving the specific identity of Golden Tegus in Florida unknown. We used morphometric and mitochondrial data to determine the...
Three-dimensional partitioning of resources by congeneric forest predators with recent sympatry
Julianna M Jenkins, Damon B. Lesmeister, David Wiens, Jonathan T Kane, Van R. Kane, Jake V Verschuyl
2019, Scientific Reports (9) 1-10
Coexistence of ecologically similar species can be maintained by partitioning along one or more niche axes. Three-dimensional structural complexity is central to facilitating resource partitioning between many forest species, but is underrepresented in field-based studies. We examined resource selection by sympatric northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina), a threatened species...
Integrating fish assemblage data, modeled stream temperatures, and thermal tolerance metrics to develop thermal guilds for water temperature regulation: Wyoming case study
Caitlin P. Mandeville, Frank J. Rahel, Lindsay S. Patterson, Annika W. Walters
2019, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (148) 739-754
Many streams are experiencing increased average temperatures due to anthropogenic activity and climate change. As a result, surface water temperature regulation is critical for preserving a diverse stream fish species assemblage. The development of temperature regulations has generally been based on laboratory measurements of individual species' thermal tolerances rather than...
Quantifying ecological integrity of terrestrial systems to inform management of multiple-use public lands in the United States
Sarah K. Carter, Erica Fleishman, Ian I.F. Leinwand, Curtis H. Flather, Natasha B. Carr, Frank A. Fogarty, Matthias Leu, Barry R. Noon, M.E. Wohlfeil, David J. A. Wood
2019, Environmental Management (64) 1-19
The concept of ecological integrity has been applied widely to management of aquatic systems, but still is considered by many to be too vague and difficult to quantify to be useful for managing terrestrial systems, particularly across broad areas. Extensive public lands in the western United States are managed for...
Stratigraphic and structural relations in trench exposures and geomorphology at the Big Burn, Lily Lake, and Lester Ranch sites, Bear River Fault Zone, Utah and Wyoming
Suzanne Hecker, Christopher DuRoss, David P. Schwartz, Francesca R. Cinti, Riccardo Civico, William R. Lund, Adam I. Hiscock, Michael W. West, Tarka Wilcox, Alivia R. Stoller
2019, Scientific Investigations Map 3430
This report provides trench photomosaics, logs and related site information, age data, and earthquake event evidence from three paleoseismic trench sites on the Bear River Fault Zone. Our motivation for studying the Bear River Fault Zone—a nascent normal fault in the Rocky Mountains east of the Basin and Range physiographic...
Advancing barrier island habitat mapping using landscape position information
Nicholas Enwright, Lei Wang, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard Day, Laura Feher, Michael Osland
2019, Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment (43) 425-450
Barrier islands are dynamic ecosystems that change gradually from coastal processes, including currents and tides, and rapidly from episodic events, such as storms. These islands provide many important ecosystem services, including storm protection and erosion control to the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, and tourism. Habitat maps, developed by...
The rise of an apex predator following deglaciation
Mevin Hooten, George G. Esslinger
2019, Diversity and Distributions (25) 895-908
AimSea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an apex predator of the nearshore marine community and nearly went extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Reintroductions and legal protection allowed sea otters to re‐colonize much of their former range. Our objective was to chronicle the colonization of...
To forage or flee: Lessons from an elk migration near a protected area
Nathaniel Mikle, Tabitha A. Graves, Edward M. Olexa
2019, Ecosphere (10) 1-15
Alteration of wide-ranging wildlife migrations can drastically impact the structure and function of ecosystems, yet the causes and consequences of shifting migration patterns remain largely unknown. Management decisions made in one portion of a landscape may induce spatial and temporal shifts of wildlife use in another, creating tension among private,...
Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Best Management Practice Implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, 1985–2014
Andrew J. Sekellick, Olivia H. Devereux, Jennifer L. D. Keisman, Jeffrey S. Sweeney, Joel D. Blomquist
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5171
Efforts to restore water quality in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries often include extensive Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation on agricultural and developed lands. These BMPs include a variety of methods to reduce nutrient and sediment loads, such as cover crops, conservation tillage, urban filtering systems, and other practices.Estimates of...
Groundwater quality and nutrient trends near Marsing, southwestern Idaho, 2018
Kenneth D. Skinner
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1032
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, sampled groundwater from 15 wells during spring 2018 near the city of Marsing in rural northwestern Owyhee County, southwestern Idaho. Samples were analyzed for field parameters, nutrients, trace elements, major inorganics, and dissolved gas, including methane....
A landscape model of variable social-ecological fire regimes
Robert M Scheller, Alec Kretchun, Todd Hawbaker, Paul D. Henne
2019, Ecological Modelling (401) 85-93
Fire regimes are now recognized as the product of social processes whereby fire on any landscape is the product of human-generated drivers: climate change, historical patterns of vegetation manipulation, invasive species, active fire suppression, ongoing fuel management efforts, prescribed burning, and accidental ignitions. We developed a new fire...
Establishing an Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise monitoring program within the Coachella Valley multiple species habitat conservation plan area: Final report to the Coachella Valley conservation commission on work performed near the Orocopia Mountains
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings
2019, Book chapter, 2019 Annual Report: Coachella Valley multiple species conservation plan/natural community conservation plan
In support of the goals of the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan (CVMSHCP/NCCP), a population of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) was marked and studied to establish a desert tortoise monitoring program near the Orocopia Mountains beginning in early 2017 and ending in...
Hurricane Sandy impacts on coastal wetland resilience
Donald R. Cahoon, Jennifer H. Olker, Alice G. Yeates, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, James B. Grace, Susan C. Adamowicz, Shimon C. Anisfeld, Andrew H. Baldwin, Nels Barrett, Leah Beckett, Alice Benzecry, Linda K. Blum, David M. Burdick, William Crouch, Marci Cole Ekberg, Sarah Fernald, Kristin Wilson Grimes, Joseph Grzyb, Ellen Kracauer Hartig, Danielle A. Kreeger, Marit Larson, Scott Lerberg, James C. Lynch, Nicole Maher, Martha Maxwell-Doyle, Laura R. Mitchell, Jordan Mora, Victoria O’Neill, Angela Padeletti, Diann J. Prosser, Tracy Quirk, Kenneth B. Raposa, William G. Reay, Drexel Siok, Christopher Snow, Adam Starke, J. Court Stevenson, Lorie Staver, Vincent Turner
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1142
The goal of this research was to evaluate the impacts of Hurricane Sandy on surface elevation trends in estuarine marshes located across the northeast region of the United States from Virginia to Maine using data from an opportunistic (in other words, not strategic) and collaborative network (from here on, an...
Optimizing historical preservation under climate change—An overview of the optimal preservation model and pilot testing at Cape Lookout National Seashore
Erin Seekamp, Max Post van der Burg, Sandra Fatoric, Mitchell J. Eaton, Xiao Xiao, Allie McCreary
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1180
Adapting cultural resources to climate-change effects challenges traditional cultural resource decision making because some adaptation strategies can negatively affect the integrity of cultural resources. Yet, the inevitability of climate-change effects—even given the uncertain timing of those effects—necessitates that managers begin prioritizing resources for climate-change adaptation. Prioritization imposes an additional management...
Revisiting the avian Eco-SSL for lead: Recommendations for revision
Bradley Sample, W. Nelson Beyer, Randall Wentsel
2019, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (15) 739-749
The avian ecological soil screening level (Eco-SSL) for lead (11 mg/kg) is within soil background concentrations for >90% of the US. Consequently, its utility as a soil screening level is limited. Site-specific ecological risk-based remedial goals for lead are frequently many times greater. Toxicity reference values (TRVs) play a major...
Regional protocol framework for the inventory and monitoring of breeding Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers
Erin King, Rachel A. Katz, Kate E. Iaquinto, Kevin J. Suir, M.J. Baldwin, A. Hecht
2019, Report
This regional protocol provides a framework for quantifying the number of breeding pairs and productivity of Atlantic Coast piping plover (Charadrius melodus) populations during the breeding season. A primary purpose of this protocol is to standardize piping plover monitoring during the breeding season. The survey techniques described herein involve repeated visual counts of adults,...
Sediment storage and transport in the Nooksack River basin, northwestern Washington, 2006–15
Scott W. Anderson, Christopher P. Konrad, Eric E. Grossman, Christopher A. Curran
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5008
The Nooksack River is a dynamic gravel-bedded river in northwestern Washington, draining off Mount Baker and the North Cascades into Puget Sound. Working in cooperation with the Whatcom County Flood Control Zone District, the U.S. Geological Survey studied topographic, hydrologic, and climatic data for the Nooksack River basin to...
Changes in genetic diversity and differentiation in Red‐cockaded woodpeckers (Dryobates borealis) over the past century
Mark P. Miller, Julia T. Vilstrup, Thomas D. Mullins, Will McDearmon, Jeffrey R. Walters, Susan M. Haig
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 5420-5432
Red‐cockaded woodpeckers (RCW; Dryobates borealis) declined after human activities reduced their fire‐maintained pine ecosystem to <3% of its historical range in the southeastern United States and degraded remaining habitat. An estimated 1.6 million RCW cooperative breeding groups declined to about 3,500 groups with no more than 10,000 birds by 1978....
The Value of Data – The Qatar Geologic Mapping Project
Joseph T. Krupansky, Michael A. Knight, Randall Orndorff, Khaled M. Al-Akhras, Ara G. Mouradian, Ali F. Saleh
2019, Conference Paper, Geotechnical Special Publication
The State of Qatar is in a period of rapid development, modernization, and population growth. One of the most important factors influencing the long-term success and sustainability of future development is a comprehensive understanding of the region’s geologic regime, geotechnical conditions, natural resources, and environmental constraints. To obtain this...
Quantifying hydrologic alteration in an area lacking current reference conditions—The Mississippi Alluvial Plain of the South-Central U.S.
Rheannon M. Hart, Brian Breaker
2019, River Research and Applications (35) 553-565
To better understand the effects of hydrologic alteration as they relate to human and biological needs within the Mississippi Alluvial Plain of the south-central United States, the quantification of hydrologic alteration is required. Quantifying hydrologic alteration in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain is particularly difficult because of the lack of current...
A multi-scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California: Design and validation
Jennifer Curtis, Lorraine E. Flint, Michelle A. Stern
2019, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (55) 740-758
A multi‐scale soil moisture monitoring strategy for California was designed to inform water resource management. The proposed workflow classifies soil moisture response units (SMRUs) using publicly available datasets that represent soil, vegetation, climate, and hydrology variables, which control soil water storage. The SMRUs were classified, using principal component analysis and...
Top-down effect of repatriating bald eagles hinder jointly recovering competitors
Jennyffer Cruz, Steve K. Windels, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Shawn M. Crimmins, Leland H. Grim, James H. Larson, Benjamin Zuckerberg
2019, Journal of Animal Ecology (88) 1054-1065
1. The recovery of piscivorous birds around the world is touted as one of the great conservation successes of the 21st century, but for some species, this success was short-lived. Bald eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons began repatriating Voyageurs National Park, USA, in the mid-20th century. However, after 1990,...
A stratigraphic approach to inferring depositional ages from detrital geochronology data
Samuel Johnstone, Theresa M. Schwartz, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma
2019, Frontiers in Earth Science (7)
With the increasing use of detrital geochronology data for provenance analyses, we have also developed new constraints on the age of otherwise undateable sedimentary deposits. Because a deposit can be no older than its youngest mineral constituent, the youngest defensible detrital mineral age defines the maximum depositional age of the...
Wetland-scale mapping of preferential fresh groundwater discharge to the Colorado River
Martin A. Briggs, Nora C. Nelson, Philip M. Gardner, D. Kip Solomon, Neil C. Terry, John W. Lane Jr.
2019, Groundwater (57) 737-748
Quantitative evaluation of groundwater/surface water exchange dynamics is universally challenging in large river systems, because existing methodology often does not yield spatially‐distributed data and is difficult to apply in deeper water. Here we apply a combined near‐surface geophysical and direct groundwater chemical toolkit to refine fresh groundwater discharge estimates to...
