Pacific island landbird monitoring report, Kalaupapa National Historical Park, 2021
Seth Judge, Lauren K. Smith, Richard J. Camp
2025, Science Report NPS/SR-2025/322
In 2021, landbird surveys were conducted at Kalaupapa National Historical Park on the island of Molokaʻi to assess changes in species composition, distribution, and population densities since 2005. Point-transect distance sampling surveys were conducted on six transects at 50 landbird monitoring stations within an 1,834-hectare area. A total of nine...
Marsh sediment in translation: A review of sediment transport across a natural tidal salt marsh in northern San Francisco Bay
Madeline R. Foster-Martinez, Matthew C. Ferner, John C. Callaway, Brenda Goeden, Jessica R. Lacy
2025, San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science (23)
Deposition of inorganic sediment is essential for the sustainability of tidal salt marshes. Understanding variability in sediment sources and the processes of sediment delivery to salt marshes are high priorities for decision-makers responsible for managing sediment and conserving and restoring marshes....
Abundance of ohiʻa-associated ambrosia beetles in two sites with rapid ohiʻa death outbreaks
Helen Sofaer, Sophia Smith, Robert W. Peck, Ellen Dunkle, Jorden Zarders, Naiʻa Odachi, Ryan L. Perroy
2025, Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society (57) 7-24
ʻŌhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich.) is the dominant tree in native Hawaiian forests but is threatened by two pathogenic fungi (Ceratocystis spp.) which cause Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD). Understanding the spread of ROD is vital to informing prevention and management strategies. Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera:...
Mount Spurr unrest highlights health risks of volcanic ashfall
David Damby, Kristi L. Wallace
2025, Newsletter
No abstract available....
Great Lakes lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) thiamine monitoring program annual report
Jacques Rinchard, Brian F. Lantry, Brian O’Malley
2025, Report
Thiamine deficiency in lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) eggs has been linked to early life-stage mortality in the Great Lakes from the 1960s through the 1990s, potentially affecting lake trout recruitment. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC), Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC), and Columbia Environmental Research...
Effects of climate change on midwestern ecosystems: Eastern North American temperate freshwater marsh, wet meadow and shrubland
Hugh Ratcliffe, Katherine Charton, Taylor Siddons, Marta P. Lyons, Olivia E. LeDee
2025, Report
The Eastern North American Temperate Freshwater Marsh, Wet Meadow and Shrubland is a hydrologically dynamic ecosystem highly sensitive to shifts in water availability. Across the Midwest, climate change is expected to intensify two primary stressors, flooding and drought, resulting in increased hydrologic variability that may threaten the persistence of these...
Beginner’s guide to understanding, accessing, and retrieving Coastwide Reference Monitoring System data
Lauren Angelle Leonpacher, Rachel Katherine Villani, Kari Cretini, Christina B. Hunnicutt, Susan Testroet-Bergeron, Dona Weifenbach, Cole B Ruckstuhl, Sarai Piazza
2025, Report
No abstract available....
Effects of climate change on midwestern ecosystems: North American bog and fen
Hugh Ratcliffe, Katherine Charton, Taylor Siddons, Marta P. Lyons, Olivia E. LeDee
2025, Report
The North American Bog and Fen ecosystem may be increasingly vulnerable to climate stressors, particularly water deficits and warming temperatures. These peat-forming wetlands, found at the southern extent of their range in the Midwest, depend on relatively stable hydrological and thermal conditions. Climate change may disrupt these conditions through projected...
U.S. national park units as breeding bird habitat: A comparison of species prevalence and land cover across the midwestern and central United States
Ryan C. Burner, Alan A Kirschbaum, Ted Gostomski, David G Peitz
2025, Science Report NPS/SR—2025/317
The value of national parks as bird habitat depends not only on local conditions within the parks, but also on the landscape habitat matrices in which they are located. However, the influences of local and landscape habitat matrices on birds vary by species and have not been quantified. Similarly, the...
Appendix B: Patterns of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus demography, life history, abundance, and trends in the Lewis River
Robert Al-Chokhachy, Jeremiah Doyle, Jason Shappart
2025, Report, 2024 Bull trout annual operations report
Declines in the distribution and abundance of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) across much of the historical range in the Pacific Northwest region of Canada and the United States have been well documented (Post and Johnston 2002; Rieman et al. 1997). Recent estimates of population trends appear to vary considerably across...
Fine-grained temporal population monitoring of a declining, critically endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper
Richard J. Camp, Chauncey K. Asing, Noah J. Hunt, Alexander Wang, Chris Farmer, Lindsey Neitmann, Paul C. Banko
2025, Frontiers in Conservation Science (6)
Annual point counts are commonly used to monitor birds to track population densities across space and time. Palila (Loxioides bailleui) are surveyed annually in the first quarter, but we recently instituted quarterly sampling that offers a unique opportunity to improve estimator precision. We conducted point-transect distance sampling point counts during...
Resolution sensitivities for subgrid modeling of coastal flooding
Johnathan Lucas Woodruff, Joel C. Dietrich, Damrongsak Wirasaet, Andrew B. Kennedy, Diogo Bolster, Richard A. Luettich
2025, Coastal Engineering (201)
Flooding due to storm surge can propagate through coastal regions to threaten the built and natural environments. This propagation is controlled by geographic features of varying scales, from the largest oceans to the smallest marsh channels and sandy dunes. Numerical models to predict coastal flooding have been improved via the...
Critical minerals in orogenic (gold) and Coeur d’Alene-type mineral systems of the United States
Ryan D. Taylor, Albert H. Hofstra
2025, Data Report 1198
Orogenic and Coeur d’Alene-type mineral systems are produced by metamorphic devolatilization of thick volcanic or siliciclastic sedimentary rock sequences and the focused flow of hydrothermal fluids upwards along crustal-scale faults. Most orogenic systems are found along the Cordilleran orogen, stretching from California northwards into Alaska, whereas most Coeur d’Alene-type systems...
Evaluating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) prevalence and potential for biological effects in Lake Superior tributaries
Matthew A. Pronschinske, Steven R. Corsi, Sarah M. Elliott, Martin M. Shafer, Kristen Hannon, Kaitlyn Gruber, Christina K. Remucal
2025, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (44) 1723-1741
Several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are Great Lakes binational chemicals of mutual concern. Although known to be persistent, data gaps regarding PFAS prevalence and biological effects exist, especially within Lake Superior’s watershed. In this 2022 study of 27 United States tributaries to Lake Superior, water samples were collected during...
Integrated distribution modeling resolves asynchrony between bat population impacts and occupancy trends through latent abundance
Bradley James Udell, Christian Stratton, Kathryn Irvine, Bethany Straw, Jonathan D. Reichard, Sarah M. Gaulke, Jeremy. T.H. Coleman, Frank C Tousley, Andrea Nichole Schuhmann, Rich D. Inman, Melinda Turner, Sarah Nystrom, Brian Reichert
2025, Communications Biology (8)
Monitoring populations is challenging for cryptic species with seasonal life cycles, where data from multiple field techniques are commonly collected and analyzed as multiple lines of evidence. Data integration can provide comprehensive inferences while improving accuracy, precision, and scope but faces challenges in modeling misaligned resolutions and observational uncertainties. We...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in surface water and sediment in Great Lakes tributaries and relations with watershed attributes
Luke C. Loken, Steven R. Corsi, David A. Alvarez, Matthew A. Pronschinske, Peter L. Lenaker, Michelle A. Nott, Chen Zhang, Erin Mani, Gerald T. Ankley
2025, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (44) 1503-1524
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals of emerging concern that potentially pose risks to human and environmental health. In May–Oct 2018, sediment and passively collected surface water samples were collected from 62 tributary sites of the Laurentian Great Lakes with site catchments spanning various land cover types. Discrete samples...
Foundational uncertainties in terminal Ediacaran chronostratigraphy revealed by high-precision zircon U-Pb geochronology of the Nama Group, Namibia
Fred T. Bowyer, Fabio Messori, Rachel Wood, Ulf Linnemann, Esther Rojo-Perez, Mandy Zieger-Hofmann, Johannes Zieger, Junias Ndeunyema, Martin Shipanga, Bontle Mataboge, Dan Condon, Catherine V. Rose, Collen-Issia Uahengo, Sean Patrick Gaynor, Inigo A. Müller, Gerd Geyer, Torsten W. Vennemann, Joshua H.F.L. Davies, Maria Ovtcharova
2025, Earth-Science Reviews (268)
The Nama Group of southern Namibia and northwestern South Africa hosts the best-dated mixed carbonate-siliciclastic foreland basin succession of the terminal Ediacaran [ca. 551 million years (Ma) ago to <538 Ma] and is key for resolving the chronology of early metazoan evolution. Numerous silicified volcanic tuff interbeds are present,...
Pesticide concentrations in multiple physical and biological stream matrices are impacted by a bioenergy production facility receiving pesticide coated corn seeds
Michelle L. Hladik, Dana W. Kolpin, Matthew D. De Parsia, Daniel D. Snow, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Brenda Densmore, Laura E. Hubbard, David L. Rus, Jonathan J. Spurgeon, Brittany G. Perrotta, Karen A. Kidd, Johanna M. Kraus, Carrie E. Givens, Christopher James Kotalik, David Walters
2025, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (44) 2143-2153
Insecticide and fungicide seed coatings have become prevalent in conventional agriculture in recent decades. From 2015 to 2021, the AltEn bioenergy plant (Mead, Nebraska, USA) generated ethanol from almost 100% unused/expired treated corn seeds. This use of these seeds for ethanol production resulted in the accumulation of large amounts of...
Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) demographics and metal(loid) concentrations in egg contents from the Kootenai River basin, Montana nest box colonies
Brian C. Balmer, Joseph P. Skorupa, Katherine B. Adams, Bridger M. Creel, Gregory C. Hoffman, Megan A. Fylling, Stephanie Le, Jacob M. Martin, W. Scott McBride, Jacob T. Williams, Travis S. Schmidt
2025, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (197)
Selenium (Se) levels in water have been increasing in Lake Koocanusa and the Kootenai River below Libby Dam in Montana due to coal mining in the drainage basin of the Elk River, British Columbia. Aquatic monitoring of Se is ongoing to assess potential effects; however, exposure to terrestrial, aquatic-dependent wildlife...
Wildfire risk information sources and the acceptability of fuels treatments near select WUI communities in the Western United States
Kelly Wallace, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Patricia A. Champ, James Meldrum, Grant Webster, Christine Taniguchi, Julia B. Goolsby, Colleen Donovan, Carolyn Wagner, Christopher M. Barth, Josh Kuehn, Suzanne Wittenbrink
2025, Journal of Forest Policy and Economics (176)
Fuels treatments intended to reduce fuel loads and improve forest health on public lands offer one way to reduce wildfire hazards in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where the natural and built environments meet. However, for fuels treatment implementation to be successful, it must comply with regulatory and scientific standards and...
Critical minerals in mine waste
Nadine M. Piatak, Sarah Jane White, Sarah M. Hayes, Robert R. Seal, II
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3026
Introduction Critical minerals are commodities with vulnerable supply chains that play a vital role in supporting the United States’ economy, national defense and security, emerging technologies, and energy independence. The prosperity of our Nation depends on generating a resilient supply of domestic critical minerals; mine waste may be an untapped source...
Spatial patterns and temporal trends in water quality in Idaho’s lower Boise River and its tributaries, 1994–2023
Austin K. Baldwin, Tyler V. King
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5033
The lower Boise River in southwestern Idaho is a vital cultural, economic, and ecological resource, but some of its beneficial uses are impaired by excess algae, sediment, nutrients, and bacteria. In response, a variety of water quality improvement projects and regulations have been implemented in recent decades. A recent study...
Restoration of Gavia immer (common loon) in Minnesota—2024 annual report
William S. Beatty, Kelly Amoth, Luke J. Fara, Brian R. Gray, Kristin Hall, Steven C. Houdek, Jayden Jech, Kevin P. Kenow, Mike J. Wellik, Steven Yang
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1029
In cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored 98 common loon (Gavia immer) focal territories and an additional 37 nonfocal territories in 2024 across 53 study lakes in Minnesota. Focal territories were those territories from which study inferences will be made, whereas nonfocal territories...
Photographic guide to the leaf litter arthropod community of the lowland wet forest ecosystem of the Island of Hawaiʻi
Trebor Hall, Robert W. Peck, Anuhea Robins, Maya Munstermann, Rebecca Ostertag, Esther Sebastian Gonzalez, Nicole DiManno, Susan Cordell, Paul C. Banko
2025, Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report HCSU-116
Leaf litter arthropods are important components of the food web in forests, and their presence and diversity can provide information on forest health. There has been very little documentation of the leaf litter arthropods in Hawaiian forest ecosystems. This technical report is a photographic guide to some common arthropods collected...
Meet the people where they are: Assessing user needs for aftershock forecast products in El Salvador, Mexico and the United States
Max Schneider, Anne Wein, Sara K. McBride, Nicholas van der Elst, Julia Becker, Raul Castro, Manuel Diaz, Hector Gonzalez-Huizar, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Andrew J. Michael, Luis E. Mixco, Morgan T. Page
2025, International Journal for Disaster Risk Reduction (125)
Aftershock forecasts can help communities reduce their seismic risk by conveying how many aftershocks can be expected following a large earthquake, and how the expected number of aftershocks and their corresponding ground shaking evolves over time and space. Prior work finds that graphical forecast products may communicate such information better...
