The importance of simulation assumptions when evaluating detectability in population models
Adrian P. Monroe, Gregory T. Wann, Cameron L. Aldridge, Peter S. Coates
2019, Ecosphere (10)
Population monitoring is important for investigating a variety of ecological questions, and N-mixture models are increasingly used to model population size (N) and trends (lambda) while estimating detectability (p) from repeated counts within primary periods (when populations are closed to changes). Extending these models to dynamic processes with serial dependence...
Giving ecological meaning to satellite-derived fire severity metrics across North American forests
Sean Parks, Lisa M. Holsinger, Michael J. Koontz, Luke S. Collins, Ellen Whitman, Marc-Andre Parisien, Rachel A. Loehman, Jennifer L. Barnes, Jean-Francois Bourdon, Jonathan Boucher, Yan Boucher, Anthony C. Caprio, Adam Collingwood, Ron Hall, Jane Park, Lisa Saperstein, Charlotte Smetanka, Rebecca J. Smith, Nick Soverel
2019, Remote Sensing (11)
Satellite-derived spectral indices such as the relativized burn ratio (RBR) allow fire severity maps to be produced in a relatively straightforward manner across multiple fires and broad spatial extents. These indices often have strong relationships with field-based measurements of fire severity, thereby justifying their widespread use in management and science....
Monitoring breeding and survival of ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) in the Sacramento Valley, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and Klamath Basin, northern California—Five-year summary, 2013–17
Ian A. Dwight, Peter S. Coates, Jessica H. Vogt, Joseph L. Atkinson, Joseph P. Fleskes, Daniel P. Connelly, Matt G. Meshriy, Scott C. Gardner, Simone T. Stoute, Maurice E. Pitesky
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1062
The U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center, Pheasants Forever, Mandeville Island Duck Club, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife collaborated in a reconnaissance study to monitor populations of ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) using radio-telemetry in the Sacramento Valley, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, and Klamath Basin of...
A Methodology to Assess the National and Regional Impacts of U.S. Wind Energy Development on Birds and Bats
James E. Diffendorfer, J.A. Beston, Matthew D. Merrill, Jessica C. Stanton, M.D. Corum, S.R. Loss, W.E. Thogmartin, D.H. Johnson, R.A. Erickson, K.W. Heist
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5157
This scientific investigations report describes an effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that used research, monitoring data, and modeling to develop a methodology to assess both the current and future population-level consequences of wind energy development on species of birds and bats that are present in the United States...
The use of continuous water-quality time-series data to compute nutrient loadings for selected Iowa streams, 2008–17
Jessica D. Garrett
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5054
In support of nutrient reduction efforts, nitrate (as nitrate plus nitrite) and phosphorus loads and yields were computed for selected streams in Iowa based on continuously monitored sensor data for 2008–17 and 2014–17, respectively. Sample data were used to assess nitrate sensor bias and to create phosphorus-turbidity surrogate models. Where...
Natural hazards and mineral commodity supply: Quantifying risk of earthquake disruption to South American copper supply
Emily K. Schnebele, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Nico Luco, Nedal T. Nassar
2019, Resources Policy (63)
Mineral resources, and their mining and enrichment operations, are not equally distributed across Earth. The concentration of mineral supply in certain regions, owing to the geology or geography of the mineral resource, raises the level of risk related to supply disruption. Where mineral production coincides with areas prone to natural...
Global observational needs and resources for marine biodiversity
Gabrielle Canonico, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Enrique Montes, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Carol Stepien, Dawn J. Wright, Abigail Benson, Brian Helmuth, Mark John Costello, Isabel Sousa-Pinto, Hanieh Saeedi, Jan Newton, Ward Appeltans, Nina Bednarsek, Levente Bodrossy, Benjamin D. Best, Angelika Brandt, Kelly D Goodwin, Katrin Iken, Antonio C Marquez, Patricia Miloslavich, Martin Ostrowski, Woody Turner, Eric P Achterberg, Tom Barry, Omar DeFeo, Gregorio Bigatti, Lea-Anne Henry, Berta Ramiro-Sanchez, Pablo Duran, Telmo Morato, J. Murray Roberts, Ana Garcia-Alegre, Mar Sacau Cuadrado, Bramley Murton
2019, Frontiers in Marine Science (6)
The diversity of life in the sea is critical to the health of ocean ecosystems that support living resources and therefore essential to the economic, nutritional, recreational, and health needs of billions of people. Yet there is evidence that the biodiversity of many marine habitats is being altered in response...
Preliminary report on engineering and geological effects of the July 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence
Scott J Brandenberg, Pengfei Wang, Chukwuebuka C Nweke, Kenneth Hudson, Silvia Mazzoni, Yousef Bozorgnia, Kenneth W. Hudnut, Craig A. Davis, Sean K Ahdi, Farzin Zareian, Jawad Fayaz, Richard D Koehler, Colin Chupik, Ian Pierce, Alana Williams, Sinan Akciz, Martin B Hudson, Tadahiro Kishida, Benjamin A. Brooks, Ryan D. Gold, Daniel J. Ponti, Katherine M. Scharer, Devin McPhillips, Christopher B. DuRoss, Todd Ericksen, Janis Hernandez, Jay Patton, Brian Olson, Timothy E. Dawson, Jerome Treiman, Kelly Blake, Jeffrey Buchhuber, Chris L M Madugo, Joseph Sun, Andrea Donnellan, Greg Lyzenga, Erik Conway
Jonathan P. Stewart, editor(s)
2019, Report
The Ridgecrest Earthquake sequence included a foreshock event on July 4 2019 (M6.4) and a M7.1 mainshock event on July 5 2019. These events occurred in the Eastern California Shear Zone, near Indian Wells Valley, south of China Lake and west of Searles Valley. GEER has partnered with several organizations...
Science needs for continued development of total nitrogen deposition budgets in the United States
Gregory A. Wetherbee, Pamela H. Templar, Richard V. Pouyat, Stephen M. Decina, Brian M. Kerschner, Thomas H. Whitlow, Pamela E. Padgett, Donna B. Schwede, Jill Baron, David Clow, M. Alisa Mast, Graham A. Sexstone, Kristi H. Morris
2019, Report
The objectives of this white paper are to describe the state of the science with respect to total Nr deposition budgets in North America and the research needed to improve these budgets from both a measurement and modeling standpoint. The document is intended to serve as a plan for...
Water-budget analysis of the Upper Big Sandy Designated Ground-water Basin alluvial aquifer, Elbert, El Paso, and Lincoln Counties, Colorado, 2016
Michael S. Kohn, Jeannette H. Oden, L. R. Arnold
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5049
The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Upper Big Sandy Groundwater Management District carried out a study in 2016 to evaluate potential groundwater storage changes within the Upper Big Sandy Designated Groundwater Basin (UBSDGB) alluvial aquifer, including groundwater flow between the UBSDGB alluvial...
Distribution of contaminants in the environment and wildlife habitat use: A case study with lead and waterfowl on the Upper Texas Coast
Brian Kearns, Stephen K. McDowell, Jena A. Moon, Elizabeth A. Rigby, Warren C. Conway, David A. Haukos
2019, Ecotoxicology (28) 809-824
The magnitude and distribution of lead contamination remain unknown in wetland systems. Anthropogenic deposition of lead may be contributing to negative population-level effects in waterfowl and other organisms that depend on dynamic wetland habitats, particularly if they are unable to detect and differentiate levels of environmental...
Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in southern Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona and Utah, 2016–17
Alissa L. Coes, Nicholas V. Paretti, David A. Alvarez, Jamie P. Macy
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5065
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination related to boat use is one of the most important water-quality issues affecting Lake Powell. High concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water are common around marinas and other areas with extensive motorboat activity because of releases of uncombusted or partially combusted oil and gasoline from...
Seismic loss and damage in light-frame wood buildings from sequences of induced earthquakes
Robert E Chase, Abbie B. Liel, Nico Luco, Bridger W Baird
2019, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics (48) 1365-1383
Activities related to oil and gas production, especially deep disposal of wastewater, have led to sequences of induced earthquakes in the central U.S. This study aims to quantify damage to and seismic losses for light-frame wood buildings when subjected to sequences of induced, small to moderate magnitude, events. To conduct...
Twenty-first century California, USA, wildfires: Fuel-dominated vs. wind-dominated fires
Jon Keeley, Alexandra D. Syphard
2019, Fire Ecology (15)
Since the beginning of the twenty-first century California, USA, has experienced a substantial increase in the frequency of large wildfires, often with extreme impacts on people and property. Due to the size of the state, it is not surprising that the factors driving these changes differ across this region. Although...
Linking demographic and food-web models to understand management trade-offs
Martina Kadin, Morten Frederiksen, Susa Niiranen, Sarah J. Converse
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 8587-8600
Alternatives in ecosystem-based management often differ with respect to trade-offs between ecosystem values. Ecosystem or food-web models and demographic models are typically employed to evaluate alternatives, but the approaches are rarely integrated to uncover conflicts between values. We applied multi-state models to a capture-recapture dataset on common guillemots Uria aalge...
Developing and testing physically based triggering thresholds for runoff‐generated debris flows
Hui Tang, Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Joel B. Smith
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (46) 8830-8839
Runoff in steep channels is capable of transitioning into debris flows with hazardous implications for downstream communities and infrastructure, particularly in alpine landscapes with minimal vegetation and areas recently disturbed by wildfire. Here, we derive thresholds for the initiation of runoff‐generated debris flows based on critical...
FLUXNET-CH4 synthesis activity: Objectives, observations, and future directions
Sara H. Knox, Robert B. Jackson, Benjamin Poulter, Gavin McNicol, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Zhen Zhang, Gustaf Hugelius, Philippe Bousquet, Josep G Canadell, Marielle Saunois, Dario Papale, Housen Chu, Trevor F. Keenan, Dennis Baldocchi, Margaret S. Torn, Ivan Mammarella, Carlo Trotta, Mika Aurela, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Alessandro Cescatti, Samuel D. Chamberlain, Jiquan Chen, Weinan Chen, Sigrid Dengel, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Thomas Friborg, Daniele Gasbarra, Ignacio Goded, Mathias Goeckede, Martin Heimann, Manuel Helbig, Takashi Hirano, David Y. Hollinger, Hiroki Iwata, Minseok Kang, Janina Klatt, Ken Krauss, Lars Kutzbach, Annalea Lohila, Bhaskar Mitra, Timothy H Morin, Mats B. Nilsson, Shuli Niu, Asko Noormets, Walter C. Oechel, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Michele L. Reba, Andrew D. Richardson, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Karina V R Schafer, Hans Peter Schmid, Narasinha Shurpali, Oliver Sonnentag, Angela C I Tang, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Timo Vesala, Eric Ward, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Georg Wohlfahrt, Donatella Zona
2019, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (100) 2607-2632
This paper describes the formation of, and initial results for, a new FLUXNET coordination network for ecosystem-scale methane (CH4) measurements at 60 sites globally, organized by the Global Carbon Project in partnership with other initiatives and regional flux tower networks. The objectives of the effort are presented along with an...
The Aleutian Low – Beaufort Sea Anticyclone: A climate index for predicting the timing of springtime melt in the Pacific Arctic cryosphere
Christopher J. Cox, Robert S. Stone, David C. Douglas, Diane Stanitski, Michael Gallagher
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (46) 7464-7473
Early and late extremes in the timing of snowmelt have recently been observed in the Pacific Arctic. Subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts of this timing are important for industry, environmental management and Arctic communities. In northern Alaska, the timing is influenced by the advection of marine air from the north Pacific by the...
Geographic context affects the landscape change and fragmentation caused by wind energy facilities
James E. Diffendorfer, Monica Dorning, Jolene Keen, Louisa Kramer, Robert Taylor
2019, PeerJ (7)
Wind energy generation causes transformation of landscapes as new roads, pads, and transmission lines are constructed. Limiting the landscape change and fragmentation caused by these facilities likely minimizes impacts to biodiversity and sensitive wildlife species. We examined the effects of wind energy facilities’ geographic context on changes in landscape patterns....
Influences of potential oil and gas development and future climate on Sage-grouse declines and redistribution
Julie A. Heinrichs, Michael S. O’Donnell, Cameron L. Aldridge, Steven L. Garman, Collin G. Homer
2019, Ecological Applications (29)
Multiple environmental stressors impact wildlife populations, but we often know little about their cumulative and combined influences on population outcomes. We generally know more about past effects than potential future impacts, and direct influences such as changes of habitat footprints than indirect, long-term responses...
Spatial capture-recapture reveals age- and sex-specific survival and movement in stream amphibians
R. Ken Honeycutt, Justin M Garwood, Winsor H. Lowe, Blake R. Hossack
2019, Oecologia (190) 821-833
Life history information sets the foundation for our understanding of ecology and conservation requirements. For many species, this information is lacking even for basic demographic rates such as survival and movement. When survival and movement estimates are available, they are often derived from mixed demographic groups and do not consider...
Assessment of continuous oil resources in the Eastern Great Basin Province of Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, 2018
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake II, Scott A. Kinney
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3002
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) quantitatively assessed the potential for undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous oil and gas resources in the Eastern Great Basin Province (Anna and others, 2007) of Nevada, Utah, and Idaho (fig. 1). The assessment focused on the area of the province between the Roberts Mountains and Sevier thrust systems (Peterson, 1994). The...
Estimating minimum streamflow from measurements at ungauged sites in regions with streamflow‐gauging networks
Christopher P. Konrad
2019, Hydrological Processes (33) 2057-2067
Estimation of low flows in rivers continues to be a vexing problem despite advances in statistical and process‐based hydrological models. We develop a method to estimate minimum streamflow at seasonal to annual timescales from measured streamflow based on regional similarity in the deviations of daily streamflow from minimum streamflow for a period of interest....
Offshore shallow structure and sediment distribution, Point Sur to Point Arguello, central California
Samuel Y. Johnson, Stephen R. Hartwell, Janet T. Watt, Jeffrey W. Beeson, Peter Dartnell
2019, Open-File Report 2018-1158
This publication consists of three map sheets that display shallow geologic structure, along with sediment distribution and thickness, for an about 225-km-long offshore section of the central California coast between Point Sur and Point Arguello. Each map sheet includes three maps, at scales of either 1:150,000 or 1:200,000, as well...
Cohesive framework for modeling plant cover class data
Kathryn Irvine, Wilson J. Wright, Erin K. Shanahan, Thomas J. Rodhouse
2019, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (10) 1749-1760
The study of plant distribution and abundance is a fundamental pursuit in ecology and conservation biology. Measuring plant abundance by visually assessing percent cover and recording a cover class is a common field method that yields ordinal data. Statistical models for ordinal data exist but entail cumbersome interpretations and...
