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In a scientifically-transformative project, South Africa implemented a decade-long field experiment to understand how fisheries may be affecting its most iconic seabird, the African penguin Spheniscus demersus. This unique effort prohibits the take of anchovy and sardine within relatively small areas around four African penguin breeding colonies, two in the...

The U.S. Geological Survey measured cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin synthetase genes, and cyanotoxins at 11 river sites throughout the conterminous United States in a multiyear pilot study during 2017–19 through the National Water Quality Assessment Project to better understand the occurrence of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins in large inland and coastal rivers. This...

The U.S. Geological Survey produces research quality, applications ready, Level-2 Science Products derived from Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 data. These products are used to monitor, assess, and project changes in land use, land cover, and environmental conditions affecting the human condition, natural processes, and biological habitats. Landsat Collection 2 Level-2...

Occupancy models are often used to analyze long-term monitoring data to better understand how and why species redistribute across dynamic landscapes while accounting for incomplete capture. However, this approach requires replicate detection/non-detection data at a sample unit and many long-term monitoring programs lack temporal replicate surveys. In such cases, it...

According to the Federal Communications Commission, millions of Americans in rural parts of the country currently lack access to broadband (high-speed, always-on internet). Federal and State agencies have launched initiatives to enhance broadband access in rural America. High-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) data can play a role in improving...

A previously constructed numerical model simulating the regional groundwater flow system in the vicinity of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, was updated to incorporate current hydrologic stresses and conditions and improve the usefulness of the model for water-supply planning and protection. The original model, which simulated conditions...

In the Arctic, warming air and ocean temperatures have resulted in substantial changes to sea ice, which is primary habitat for polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Reductions in extent, duration, and thickness have altered sea ice dynamics, which influences the ability of polar bears...

Droughts are disproportionately impacting global dryland regions where ecosystem health and function are tightly coupled to moisture availability. Drought severity is commonly estimated using algorithms such as the standardized precipitation-evapotranspiration index (SPEI), which can estimate climatic water balance impacts at various...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water-Use Program is responsible for compiling and disseminating the Nation's water-use data. Working in cooperation with local, State, and Federal agencies, the USGS has collected and published national water-use estimates every 5 years, beginning in 1950. These water-use data may vary because of actual changes...

Medicine Lake Highlands/Fall River Springs Aquifer System, located in northeastern California, is home to some of the largest first-order springs in the United States. This work assesses the likely effects of projected climate change on spring flow. Four anticipated climate futures (GFDL A2, GFDL B1, CCSM4...

The Anthropocene has yet to be defined in a way that is functional both to the international geological community and to the broader fields of environmental and social sciences. Formally defining the Anthropocene as a chronostratigraphical series and geochronological epoch with a precise...

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused dramatic declines of several cave-hibernating bat species in North America since 2006, which has increased the activity of non-susceptible species in some geographic areas or during times of night formerly occupied by susceptible species—indicative of disease-mediated competitive release (DMCR). Yet, this...

The origin and parental magma for layered cumulates in the Lower Banded series (LBS) and the J-M Reef Pd-Pt deposit of the Stillwater Complex remains poorly constrained. We present whole-rock lithogeochemistry and mineral chemistry from LBS rocks collected from drill holes...

Climate change is leading to increased drought intensity and fire frequency, creating early-successional landscapes with novel disturbance–recovery dynamics. In the Klamath Mountains of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon, early-successional interactions between nitrogen (N)-fixing shrubs (Ceanothus spp.) and long-lived conifers (Douglas-fir) are especially important determinants of forest development. We sampled post-fire...

Remote sensing of flow conditions in stream channels could facilitate hydrologic data collection, particularly in large, inaccessible rivers. Previous research has demonstrated the potential to estimate flow velocities in sediment-laden rivers via particle image velocimetry (PIV). In this study, we introduce a new framework for also obtaining...

In support of nutrient reduction efforts, total phosphorus loads and yields were computed using turbidity-surrogate and LOAD ESTimator (LOADEST) models for the Cedar River at Palo, Iowa, for January 1, 2009, to December 15, 2020. Sample data were used to create a total phosphorus concentration turbidity-surrogate model. Total phosphorus loads...

The Mohave tui chub (Siphateles bicolor mohavensis) was nearly extirpated from the Mojave River drainage in California by the mid-twentieth century and was listed as endangered in 1970. A source population of Mohave tui chub exists at MC Spring in Zzyzx, California, and has been used for several re-establishment efforts...

In temperate regions of the world, food resources are seasonally limited, which causes some wildlife species to seek out nutrient-rich resources to better meet their caloric needs. Animals that utilize high-quality resources may reap fitness benefits as they prepare for mating, migration, or hibernation. American black...

Axis deer (Axis axis) are invasive species that threaten native ecosystems and agriculture on Maui Island. To mitigate negative effects, it is necessary to understand current abundance, population trajectory, and how to most effectively reduce the population. Our objectives were to examine the population history...

Tropical mangrove forests have been described as “coastal kidneys,” promoting sediment deposition and filtering contaminants, including excess nutrients. Coastal areas throughout the world are experiencing increased human activities, resulting in altered geomorphology, hydrology, and nutrient inputs. To effectively manage and sustain coastal mangroves, it is important to understand...

The endangered Hawaiian hoary bat (Lasiurus semotus, Vespertilionidae, also known as Aeorestes semotus and ‘ōpe‘ape‘a) occurs on all the principal volcanic islands in Hawai‘i. Advances in acoustic bat monitoring techniques have contributed to the body of knowledge of bat activity and behavior in many areas of the State of Hawai‘i;...

We evaluate the seismic performance of modern seismically designed wood light-frame (WLF) buildings, considering regional seismic hazard characteristics that influence ground motion duration and frequency content and, thus, seismic risk. Results show that WLF building response correlates strongly with ground motion spectral shape but weakly with duration. Due to the...

Larger oil pools tending to be discovered earlier in an exploration play suggests the same pattern might exist for mineral deposits and could be used in predicting sizes of undiscovered deposits in mineral assessments. The volume of individual...

The distribution of plankton in the ocean is patchy across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. One type of oceanographic feature that exemplifies this patchiness is a ‘thin layer’. Thin layers are subsurface aggregations of plankton that range in vertical thickness from centimeters to a few meters,...

The spread of flammable invasive grasses, woody plant encroachment, and enhanced aridity have interacted in many grasslands globally to increase wildfire activity and risk to valued assets. Annual variation in the abundance and distribution of fine-fuel present challenges to land managers implementing prescribed burns and mitigating wildfire, although methods to...