The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI): Mapping the Nation’s critical mineral resources
Warren C. Day
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3007
The Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI; formerly known as 3DEEP) is planned as a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Association of American State Geologists (AASG), and other Federal, State, and private-sector organizations. The goal of the effort is to improve our knowledge of the geologic framework...
California’s exposure to volcanic hazards
Margaret Mangan, Jessica Ball, Nathan Wood, Jamie L. Jones, Jeff Peters, Nina Abdollahian, Laura Dinitz, Sharon Blankenheim, Johanna Fenton, Cynthia Pridmore
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5159
The potential for damaging earthquakes, landslides, floods, tsunamis, and wildfires is widely recognized in California. The same cannot be said for volcanic eruptions, despite the fact that they occur in the state about as frequently as the largest earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault. At least ten eruptions have taken...
Can’t see the random forest for the decision trees: Selecting predictive models for restoration ecology
David Barnard, Matthew Germino, David S. Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Cara Applestein, Bill Davidson, Matthew Fisk
2019, Restoration Ecology (27) 1053-1063
Improving predictions of restoration outcomes is increasingly important to resource managers for accountability and adaptive management, yet there is limited guidance for selecting a predictive model from the multitude available. The goal of this paper was to identify an optimal predictive framework for restoration ecology using eleven modeling frameworks (including,...
Estimation of base flow on ungaged, periodically measured streams in small watersheds in western Pennsylvania
Elizabeth A. Hittle, Dennis W. Risser
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5150
A 2.5-year data collection program was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), to quantify and estimate base flow in small watersheds in western Pennsylvania where only periodic streamflow measurements had been obtained. Twelve streamgages with watershed areas of less than...
Reimagining the potential of Earth observations for ecosystem service assessments
Carlos Ramirez-Reyes, Kate A. Brauman, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Gillian L. Galford, Susana B. Adamo, Christopher B. Anderson, Clarissa Anderson, Ginger R. H. Allington, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Michael T. Coe, Anna F. Cord, Laura E. Dee, Rachelle K. Gould, Meha Jain, Virginia A. Kowal, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Jessica Norriss, Peter V. Potapov, Jiangxiao Qui, Jesse T. Rieb, Brian E. Robinson, Leah H. Samberg, Nagendra Singh, Sabrina H. Szeto, Brian Voigt, Keri Watson, T. Maxwell Wright
2019, Science of the Total Environment (665) 1053-1063
The benefits nature provides to people, called ecosystem services, are increasingly recognized and accounted for in assessments of infrastructure development, agricultural management, conservation prioritization, and sustainable sourcing. These assessments are often limited by data, however, a gap with tremendous potential to be filled through Earth observations (EO), which produce a variety...
Factors affecting species richness and distribution spatially and temporally within a protected area using multi-season occupancy models
Jennifer F. Moore, James E. Hines, Michel K. Masozera
2019, Animal Conservation (22) 503-514
Exploring trends in species richness and the distribution of individual species over time as well as the factors affecting these trends informs conservation priorities in protecting species and ecosystems as a whole. We used data from 41 park-wide line transect surveys in 2009 and 2014 and multi-season occupancy models with...
Assessing vulnerability and threat from housing development to Conservation Opportunity Areas in State Wildlife Action Plans across the United States
Sarah K. Carter, Shelley S. Maxted, Tara L. E. Bergeson, David P. Helmers, Lori Scott, Volker C. Radeloff
2019, Landscape and Urban Planning (185) 237-245
Targeting conservation actions efficiently requires information on vulnerability of and threats to conservation targets, but such information is rarely included in conservation plans. In the U.S., recently updated State Wildlife Action Plans identify Conservation Opportunity Areas (COAs) selected by each state as priority areas for future action to conserve wildlife...
Morphodynamics of a field of crescent-shaped rippled scour depressions: Northern Monterey Bay, CA
Kurt J. Rosenberger, Curt D. Storlazzi, Peter Dartnell
2019, Marine Geology (407) 44-59
Despite the prevalence of rippled scour depression (RSD) on the world's continental shelves and their importance as nursery habitats for many commercially-important species, the processes responsible for their formation and geomorphic evolution are still not well understood. Most studies that focused on RSD evolution have been based on data acquired over multiple...
Least Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus) and Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) surveys in the Hansen Dam Basin, Los Angeles County, California—2018 data summary
Ryan E. Pottinger, Barbara E. Kus
2019, Data Series 1103
Executive SummaryWe surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo) and Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along Big Tujunga Creek in the Hansen Dam Basin in Los Angeles County, California, in 2018. Four vireo surveys were conducted between...
Assessing lek attendance of male greater sage‐grouse using fine‐resolution GPS data: Implications for population monitoring of lek mating grouse
Gregory T. Wann, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, John P. Severson, Adrian P. Monroe, Cameron L. Aldridge
2019, Population Ecology (61) 183-197
Counts of males displaying on breeding grounds are the primary management tool used to assess population trends in lekking grouse species. Despite the importance of male lek attendance (i.e., proportion of males on leks available for detection) influencing lek counts, patterns of within season and between season variability in attendance...
Evaluation of recommended revisions to Bulletin 17B
Timothy A. Cohn, Nancy A. Barth, John F. England Jr., Beth A. Faber, Robert R. Mason, Jr., Jery R. Stedinger
2019, Open-File Report 2017-1064
For the past 36 years, Bulletin 17B, published by the Interagency Committee on Water Data in 1982, has guided flood-frequency analyses in the United States. During this period, much has been learned about both hydrology and statistical methods. In keeping with the tradition of periodically updating the Bulletin 17B guidelines...
Spatial ecology of closely-related taxa: The case of the little shearwater complex in the North Atlantic Ocean
R. Ramos, V.H. Paiva, Z. Zajikova, C. Precheur, William Mackin, A.I. Fagundes, Patrick G.R. Jodice, F. Zino, J. Gonzalez-Solis, V. Bretagnolle
2019, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (191) 482-502
Seabirds inhabiting vast water masses provide numerous examples where opposing phenomena, such as natal and breeding philopatry vs. vagility have dug cryptic taxonomic boundaries among closely related taxa. The taxonomy of little shearwaters of the North Atlantic Ocean (Little–Audubon’s shearwater complex, Puffinus assimilis–lherminieri) still remains unclear, and complementary information on non-breeding...
Estimating sand concentrations using ADCP‐based acoustic inversion in a large fluvial system characterized by bi‐modal suspended‐sediment distributions
Ricardo N. Szupiany, Cecilia Lopez Weibel, Massimo Guerrero, Francisco Latosinski, Molly S. Wood, Lucas Dominguez Ruben, Kevin Oberg
2019, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (44) 1295-1308
Quantifying sediment flux within rivers is a challenge for many disciplines due, mainly, to difficulties inherent to traditional sediment sampling methods. These methods are operationally complex, high cost, and high risk. Additionally, the resulting data provide a low spatial and temporal resolution estimate of the total sediment flux, which has...
Evaluation of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) fry survival at Lookout Point Reservoir, western Oregon, 2017
Tobias J. Kock, Russell W. Perry, Gabriel S. Hansen, Philip V. Haner, Adam C. Pope, John M. Plumb, Karen M. Cogliati, Amy C. Hansen
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1011
A field study was conducted to estimate survival of fry-sized juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Lookout Point Reservoir, western Oregon, during 2017. The field study consisted of releasing three groups of genetically marked fish in the reservoir and monthly fish sampling. Fish were released during April 18–19 (43,950...
Using the Distinct Population Segment concept to protect fishes with low levels of genomic differentiation: conservation of an endemic minnow (Hitch, Lavinia exilicauda)
Jason Baumsteiger, Matthew J. Young, Peter B. Moyle
2019, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (148) 406-416
In the United States, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was enacted to conserve species which are endangered or threatened throughout all or a portion of their range. The definition of ‘species’ includes subspecies and distinct population segments (DPSs). In freshwater fishes, use of DPS designations has largely been...
Stochastic model for simulating Souris River Basin regulated streamflow upstream from Minot, North Dakota
Kelsey A. Kolars, Aldo V. Vecchia, Joel M. Galloway
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5155
The Souris River Basin is a 24,000 square-mile basin in the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada, and the State of North Dakota in the United States. Above-average snowpack during the winter of 2010–11, along with record-setting rains in May and June of 2011, led to record flooding that...
Hydraulic and water-quality indicators of aquifer zones contributing groundwater flow to wells in the Santa Fe Group aquifer system near southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2013–16
R. E. Travis, Nathan C. Myers
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5138
An ethylene dibromide (EDB) plume extends approximately 5,880 feet northeast from the Bulk Fuels Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base. The leading edge of the EDB plume is about 3,700 feet upgradient from several water-supply wells. The water-supply wells are screened in the upper Santa Fe Group aquifer system. Within...
Dynamic N-mixture models with temporal variability in detection probability
Qing Zhao, J. Andrew Royle
2019, Ecological Modelling (393) 20-24
In theory parameters of dynamic N-mixture models can be estimated with multiple years of data without the robust design under the assumption of constant detection probability. However, such an assumption can rarely be met in long-term studies, and the consequences of violating this assumption in the inferences of dynamic N-mixture...
On the eruption age and provenance of the Old Crow tephra
Seth D. Burgess, Matthew Coble, Jorge A. Vazquez, Michelle L. Coombs, Kristi L. Wallace
2019, Quaternary Science Reviews (207) 64-79
Tephrochronology is used to correlate and reconstruct geographically disparate sedimentary records of changing environment, climate, and landscape throughout geologic time. Single tephra layers represent isochronous markers across broad regions, thus accurate and precise radiometric constraints on the timing of eruption are critical to their...
User’s guide for Assessment Tract Aggregation GUI (ATA GUI)—A graphical user interface for the AggtEx.fn R script
Jason L. Shapiro, Robinson Jr.
2019, Techniques and Methods 7-C21
The U.S. Geological Survey three-part method for mineral resource assessments estimates numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits as probability distributions in geologically defined regions termed “permissive tracts.” This report describes a graphical user interface (GUI) script developed in open-source statistical software (R) that aggregates estimated undiscovered deposits of a given type...
Occupancy models for citizen-science data
Res Altwegg, James D. Nichols
2019, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (10) 8-21
Large‐scale citizen‐science projects, such as atlases of species distribution, are an important source of data for macroecological research, for understanding the effects of climate change and other drivers on biodiversity, and for more applied conservation tasks, such as early‐warning systems for biodiversity loss.However, citizen‐science data are challenging to analyse...
Improved automated detection of subpixel-scale inundation – Revised Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWE) partial surface water tests
John W. Jones
2019, Remote Sensing (11) 1-26
In order to produce useful hydrologic and aquatic habitat data from the Landsat system, the U.S. Geological Survey has developed the “Dynamic Surface Water Extent” (DSWE) Landsat Science Product. DSWE will provide long-term, high-temporal resolution data on variations in inundation extent. The model used to generate DSWE is composed of...
Estimating uncertainty of North American landbird population sizes
Jessica C. Stanton, Peter J. Blancher, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, Arvind O. Panjabi, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2019, Avian Conservation and Ecology (14)
An important metric for many aspects of species conservation planning and risk assessment is an estimate of total population size. For landbirds breeding in North America, Partners in Flight (PIF) generates global, continental, and regional population size estimates. These estimates are an important component of the PIF species assessment process,...
Potential for increased inundation in flood-prone regions of southeast Florida in response to climate and sea-level changes in Broward County, Florida, 2060–69
Jeremy D. Decker, Joseph D. Hughes, Eric D. Swain
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5125
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Broward County Environmental Planning and Resilience Division, has developed county-scale and local-scale groundwater/surface-water models to study the potential for increased inundation and flooding in eastern Broward County that are due to changes in future climate and sea-level rise. These models were constructed by...
The effects of topographic surveying technique and data resolution on the detection and interpretation of geomorphic change
Alan Kasprak, Nathaniel D. Bransky, Joel B. Sankey, Joshua Caster, Temulen T. Sankey
2019, Geomorphology (333) 1-15
Change detection of high resolution topographic data is commonly used in river valleys to quantify reach- and site-scale sediment budgets by estimating the erosion/deposition volume, and to interpret the geomorphic processes driving erosion and deposition. Field survey data are typically collected as point clouds that are often converted to gridded raster datasets and the ultimate choice of grid...
