A new species of Helianthus (Asteracae) from Clark County, Nevada
Trent M Draper, Todd Esque
2021, Madroño (68) 52-56
Helianthus devernii T.M.Draper is described as a new endemic species from two small desert spring populations found within Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Clark County, NV. Morphological data and nuclear ribosomal ITS marker data place it in section Ciliares series Pumili. Furthermore, the molecular data allies it most closely to H....
Estimating invertebrate response to changes in total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and specific conductance at sites where invertebrate data are unavailable
Robert E. Zuellig, Daren M. Carlisle
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5070
The purpose of this report is to describe a possible approach to estimate changes in invertebrate taxa richness at sites with known water-quality trends but no invertebrate data. In this study, data from 1,322 sites were used to describe invertebrate response to changes in total nitrogen, total phosphorus, or specific...
Waterborne gradient Self-Potential (WaSP) logging in the Rio Grande to map localized and regional surface and groundwater exchanges across the Mesilla Valley
Scott Ikard, Andrew Teeple
2021, FastTIMES (26)
The Rio Grande is the primary source of recharge to the Mesilla Basin/Conejos-Médanos aquifer system (“Mesilla Basin aquifer system”) in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico and Texas. The Mesilla Basin aquifer system is the primary source of water supply to several large cities along the United States–Mexico border. Identifying...
Does earthquake stress drop increase with depth in the crust?
Rachel E. Abercrombie, Daniel T. Trugman, Peter M. Shearer, Xiaowei Chen, Jiewen Zhang, Colin Nathanael Pennington, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Thomas H W Goebel, Christine J Ruhl
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research (126)
We combine earthquake spectra from multiple studies to investigate whether the increase in stress drop with depth often observed in the crust is real, or an artifact of decreasing attenuation (increasing Q) with depth. In many studies, empirical path and attenuation corrections are assumed to be independent of...
Monthly river temperature trends across the US confound annual changes
Christa Kelleher, Heather E. Golden, Stacey A. Archfield
2021, Environmental Research Letters (16)
Climate variations and human modifications of the water cycle continue to alter the Earth's surface water and energy exchanges. It is therefore critical to ascertain how these changes impact water quality and aquatic ecosystem habitat metrics such as river temperatures. Though river temperature trend analyses exist in...
Kelp forest monitoring at Naval Base Ventura County, San Nicolas Island, California—Fall 2019, sixth annual repor
Michael C. Kenner, Joseph A. Tomoleoni
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1081
The U.S. Geological Survey conducts ecological monitoring of rocky subtidal communities at four permanent sites around San Nicolas Island. The sites—Nav Fac 100, West End, Dutch Harbor, and Daytona 100—were based on ones that had been monitored since 1980 by the U.S. Geological Survey and, in cooperation with the U.S....
Evaluation of hydrologic simulation models for fields with subsurface drainage to mitigated wetlands in Barnes, Dickey, and Sargent Counties, North Dakota
Joel M. Galloway, Wyatt S. Tatge, Spencer L. Wheeling
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5091
Proper identification of wetlands, along with a better understanding of the hydrology of mitigated wetlands, is needed to assist with conservation efforts aimed at maintaining the productivity and ecological function (wetland mitigation) of agricultural lands. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation...
Forest resistance to extended drought enhanced by prescribed fire in low elevation forests of the Sierra Nevada
Phillip J. van Mantgem, Anthony C. Caprio, Nathan L. Stephenson, Adrian Das
2021, Forests (12)
Prescribed fire reduces fire hazards by removing dead and live fuels (small trees and shrubs). Reductions in forest density following prescribed fire treatments (often in concert with mechanical treatments) may also lessen competition so that residual trees might be more likely to survive when confronted with additional stressors, such as...
Fish response to successive clearcuts in a second-growth forest from the central Coast range of Oregon
D. S. Bateman, Nathan Chelgren, Robert E. Gresswell, Jason B. Dunham, David Hockman-Wert, D. W. Leer, K. D. Bladon
2021, Forest Ecology and Management (496)
Research dating back to the 1950 s has documented negative effects from harvesting of primeval forests on stream ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. By the early 1990 s, state and federal forest practice rules governing timber harvest were modified throughout North America to better protect aquatic habitats and biotic resources, principally salmonids. These rules...
A preliminary regional geomorphologic map in Utopia Planitia of the Tianwen-1 Zhurong Landing Region
Mackenzie M Mills, Alfred S. McEwen, Chris Okubo
2021, Geophysical Research Letters (48)
A geomorphologic map is an important step to understanding the geologic context and history of a site; here, we present an initial geomorphologic map for an area spanning 22°–26°N, 108°–112°E in the Utopia Planitia (UP) region on Mars. This site is of special interest because it contains...
Effect of the emergency drought barrier on the distribution, biomass, and grazing rate of the bivalves Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis, False River, California
Francis Parchaso, Emily L. Zierdt Smith, Janet K. Thompson
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1088
Executive SummaryBenthic samples were collected from the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of northern California to examine the effect of the changing hydrologic flow on the bivalves Potamocorbula and Corbicula before, during, and after the False River Barrier (hereafter, barrier) was in operation (May–November 2015). Potamocorbula moved upstream in the Sacramento...
A novel automatic phenology learning (APL) method of training sample selection using multiple datasets for time-series land cover mapping
Congcong Li, George Z. Xian, Qiang Zhou, Bruce Pengra
2021, Remote Sensing of Environment (266)
The long record of Landsat imagery, which is the cornerstone of Earth observation, provides an opportunity to monitor land use and land cover (LULC) change and understand the interactions between the climate and earth system through time. A few change detection algorithms such...
Could climate change benefit invasive snakes? Modelling the potential distribution of the California Kingsnake in the Canary Islands
Julien C Piquet, Dan L Warren, Jorge Fernando Saavedra Bolanos, Jose Miguel Sanchez Rivero, Ramon Gallo-Barneto, Miguel Angel Cabrera-Perez, Robert N. Fisher, Sam R Fisher, Carlton J. Rochester, Brian Hinds, Manuel Nogales, Marta Lopez-Darias
2021, Journal of Environmental Management (294)
The interaction between climate change and biological invasions is a global conservation challenge with major consequences for invasive species management. However, our understanding of this interaction has substantial knowledge gaps; this is particularly relevant for invasive snakes on islands because they...
Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center—2020 annual report
Sara Ernst
2021, Circular 1487
The 2020 annual report of the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center highlights accomplishments of 2020, includes a list of 2020 publications, and summarizes the work of the center, as well as the work of each of its science groups. This product allows readers to gain...
Continuous water-quality and suspended-sediment transport monitoring in the San Francisco Bay, California, water years 2018–19
Darin C. Einhell, Selina M. Davila Olivera, Danielle L. Palm
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3043
Water-Quality in San Francisco BayThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitors water quality and suspended-sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay (Bay) as part of a multi-agency effort to address estuary management, water supply, and ecological concerns. The San Francisco Bay area is home to millions of people, and the Bay...
Modeling moose habitat use by age, sex, and season in Vermont, USA using high-resolution lidar and national land cover data
Joshua Blouin, Jacob Debow, Elias Rosenblatt, Cedric Alexander, Katherina Gieder, Nicholas Fortin, James Murdoch, Therese M. Donovan
2021, Alces (57) 71-98
Moose (Alces alces) populations have experienced unprecedented declines along the southern periphery of their range, including Vermont, USA. Habitat management may be used to improve the status of the population and health of individuals. To date, however, Vermont wildlife managers have been challenged to effectively use this important tool due...
Early growth and ecophysiological responses of Koa (Acacia koa A. Gray) seedlings to reduced water and phosphorus
Kaitlin Gerber, Amy Ross-Davis, Steven Perakis, Anthony S. Davis
2021, New Forests (2021)
Sites in need of restoration typically have one or more environmental factors that limit seedling establishment. Identifying ecophysiological responses to environmental stressors can provide important insights into mitigating measures that would allow seedlings to overcome such constraints to survival. Koa (Acacia koa A. Gray) is a nitrogen-fixing tree species endemic to...
Data management and interactive visualizations for the evolving marine biodiversity observation network
Abigail Benson, Tylar Murray, Gabrielle Canonico, Enrique Montes, Frank Muller-Karger, Maria T. Kavanaugh, Joaquin Trinanes, Lynn M. deWitt
2021, Oceanography (34)
Assessing the current state of and predicting change in the ocean’s biological and ecosystem resources requires observations and research to safeguard these valuable public assets. The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) partnered with the Global Ocean Observing System Biology and Ecosystems Panel and the Ocean Biodiversity Information System to address...
An eddy-resolving numerical model to study turbulent flow, sediment and bed evolution using detached eddy simulation in a lateral separation zone at the field-scale
Laura V. Alvarez, Paul E. Grams
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface (126)
Turbulence-resolving simulations elucidate key elements of fluid dynamics and sediment transport in fluvial environments. This research presents a feasible strategy for applying state-of-the-art computational fluid mechanics to the study of sediment transport and morphodynamic processes in lateral separation zones, which are common features in canyon rivers where...
Analysis of Escherichia coli, total recoverable iron, and dissolved selenium concentrations, loading, and identifying data gaps for selected 303(d) listed streams, Grand Valley, western Colorado, 1980–2018
Lisa D. Miller, Rachel G. Gidley, Natalie K. Day, Judith C. Thomas
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5053
Tributaries to the Colorado River in the Grand Valley in western Colorado (segment COLCLC13b) have been placed on the State of Colorado 303(d) list as impaired for Escherichia coli (E. coli), total recoverable iron, and dissolved selenium. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Water Quality Control Division is...
Storage capacity and sedimentation characteristics of Loch Lomond Reservoir, California, 2019
Daniel R. Whealdon-Haught, Scott Wright, Mathieu D. Marineau
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5081
In May of 2019, Loch Lomond Reservoir was surveyed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the city of Santa Cruz to assess the current storage capacity and sedimentation rates in the reservoir. Survey methods combined sonar soundings to measure bathymetry and lidar scans with GPS data to...
Assessment of multiple ecosystem metabolism methods in an estuary
Luke C. Loken, Erwin E Van Nieuwenhuyse, Randy A Dahlgren, Leah Kammel, Paul Stumpner, Jon R. Burau, Steven Sadro
2021, Limnology & Oceanography: Methods (19) 741-757
Ecosystem metabolism is a key ecological attribute and easy to describe, but quantifying metabolism in estuaries is challenging. Properly scaling measurements through time and space requires consideration of hydrodynamics and mixing water from heterogeneous sources, making any estimation uncertain. Here, we compared three methods for modeling...
Altitude of the potentiometric surface in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, spring 2020
Virginia L. McGuire, Ronald C. Seanor, William H. Asquith, Kellan R. Strauch, Anna M. Nottmeier, Judith C. Thomas, Roland W. Tollett, Wade H. Kress
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3478
The purpose of this report is to present a potentiometric-surface map for the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA). The source data for the map were groundwater-altitude data from wells measured manually or continuously generally in spring 2020 and from the altitude of the top of the water surface measured...
Synchronous emplacement of the anorthosite xenolith-bearing Beaver River diabase and one of the largest lava flows on Earth
Yiming Zhang, Nicholas L. Swanson-Hysell, Mark D. Schmitz, James D. Miller, Margaret Susan Avery
2021, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (22)
New geochronologic and paleomagnetic data from the North American Midcontinent Rift (MCR) reveal the synchronous emplacement of the Beaver River diabase, the anorthosite xenoliths within it, and the Greenstone Flow—one of the largest lava flows on Earth. A U-Pb zircon date of 1091.83 0.21 Ma...
First record of Najas marina (Hydrocharitaceae) for Montana and an update on the North American distribution
Scott L. Freeman, Ian Pfingsten
2021, Phytoneuron (51) 1-7
Three recent collections of Najas marina (spiny water-nymph) from Missoula County, Montana are documented and illustrated. These collections are the first records for Montana and for the Pacific Northwest region. The occurrence of N. marina in Montana reflects a significant northward expansion of this species in the Mountain West. The...
