The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting New Mexico’s Economy
Carol Lydic
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3014
Introduction Federal, State, Tribal, and local entities managing lands in New Mexico have concerns about wildfire risk, wildlife habitat, and flood risk. Land managers in urban areas along the Rio Grande corridor and in the State’s rural northwest and southeast also have concerns about existing and developing roads, buildings, and other...
Managing water for birds—A tool for the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, southeastern Oregon
Cassandra D. Smith
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5024
The “Water for Birds Tool” is a spreadsheet-based tool (using Microsoft Excel) designed to help resource managers assess the spatial extent and types of bird habitats in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, southeastern Oregon. The tool quantifies the areas of open water, partial water, and water depths on a monthly...
Pre-restoration woody species crown and vegetation community mapping using high-resolution uncrewed aerial system imagery, Palmyra Atoll
Matthew Struckhoff
2025, Pacific Science (78) 279-293
The terrestrial management plan for Palmyra Atoll includes large-scale removal of coconut (Cocos nucifera) as part of native forest restoration and contaminant remediation that will leave soils and vegetation communities profoundly altered. To inform those efforts and provide baseline data for restoration monitoring, woody stem crowns and vegetation communities at...
If you build it, will they come? Assessing the response of tiger populations to elevated conservation efforts in lowland Nepal
Saneer Lamichhane, Abhinaya Pathak, Ajay Karki, Ambika P. Khatiwada, Chiranjibi Prasad Pokheral, James E. Hines, Dave P. Onorato, Taylor V. Stein, Madan K. Oli
2025, Global Ecology and Conservation (60)
Thirteen countries within the distributional range of tigers adopted the St. Petersburg Declaration in 2010, committing to double their tiger populations by 2022. As a signatory to this document, Nepal elevated its tiger conservation efforts soon after the declaration was adopted. Using capture-mark-recapture (CMR) analyses of tiger survey data (2013–2022),...
Remote sensing of river discharge based on critical flow theory
Carl J. Legleiter, Gordon E. Grant, Inhyeok Bae, Becky Fasth, Elowyn Yager, Daniel C. White, Laura A. Hempel, Merritt Elizabeth Harlan, Christina Leonard, Robert W. Dudley
2025, Geophysical Research Letters (52)
Critical flow theory provides a physical foundation for inferring discharge from measurements of wavelength and channel width made from images. In rivers with hydraulically steep local slopes greater than∼0.01, flow velocities are high and the Froude number F r (ratio of inertial to gravitational forces) can approach 1.0 (critical flow)...
Wild Burmese python nest site selection, thermogenesis, and brooding behaviors in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem
Andrea Faye Currylow, Lisa Marie McBride, Gretchen Erika Anderson, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Matthew F. McCollister, Christina M. Romagosa, Kristen Hart, Amy A. Yackel Adams
2025, Ecosphere (16)
Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) are extremely cryptic animals. Although their conservation status in their native range is Vulnerable, in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem (Florida, USA) they have become a dominant destructive force and usually are immediately removed whenever found. This poses a paradox where removals are occurring, yet the...
Mapping eelgrass (Zostera marina) cover and biomass at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, using in-situ field data and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery
David C. Douglas, Michael D. Fleming, Vijay P. Patil, David H. Ward
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1007
The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have developed a three-tiered strategy for monitoring eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds at Izembek Lagoon, Alaska, that targets different spatial and temporal scales. The broadest-scale monitoring (tier-1) uses satellite imagery about every 5 years to delineate the spatial extent of...
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus exposure and infection in free-ranging bobcats (Lynx rufus) in New York, USA
Haley M. Turner, Angela K. Fuller, Joshua P. Twining, Gavin R. Hitchener, Melissa A. Fadden, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, Deborah L. Carter, Mandy B. Watson, Krysten L. Schuler, Jennifer C. Bloodgood
2025, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (61) 515-521
Highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza A virus (HP H5N1) cases in wild mammals have been increasing globally. Carnivora has been the most affected mammal order; however, the extent of morbidity and mortality in carnivores exposed to HP H5N1 remains undefined. We assessed the presence of antibodies to H5 and N1 in...
Observation of unusual neonate-clustering behavior on maternal Cambarus chasmodactylus (New River Crayfish) after molting
Anna Marie Welsh, Zachary J. Loughman, Zackary A. Graham, Paula F. P. Henry
2025, Northeastern Naturalist (32) N12-N17
Cambarus chasmodactylus (New River Crayfish) is one of the largest crayfish species occurring in the Appalachian Mountains and occupies a niche similar to several highly imperiled crayfishes within the same region. While conducting a controlled mesocosm study assessing the impacts of contaminants on crayfish growth, development, and reproductive status, we recorded...
Integrating acoustic telemetry research into management: successes and challenges in the Laurentian Great Lakes
Natalie V. Klinard, Christopher S. Vandergoot, Andrew S. Briggs, Connor W. Elliott, Matthew D. Faust, David G. Fielder, Dimitry Gorsky, Travis Hartman, Christopher Holbrook, Daniel A. Isermann, Jonathan D. Midwood, Michael J. Siefkes, Justin VanDeHey, Dan Wilfond, Todd C. Wills, Troy Zorn, Ana P. Barbosa Martins, Arun Oakley-Cogan, Aaron T. Fisk, Jordan K. Matley
2025, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (80) 1-20
In the Laurentian Great Lakes, the application of acoustic telemetry to track fish movements has evolved into an important part of multijurisdictional management. Nevertheless, barriers remain in translating telemetry research into management or conservation actions. Here, we synthesize acoustic telemetry literature within the Great Lakes basin to explore factors that...
Characterization of the long-distance dispersal kernel of white-tailed deer and evaluating its impact on chronic wasting disease spread in Wisconsin
Gouda V. Mennatallah, Jim Powell, Jen McClure, Daniel P. Walsh, Daniel J. Storm
2025, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (87)
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease infecting cervids. It is highly contagious and caused by misfolded prions that propagate via templated conformational conversion of the cervid’s normal prion protein. Prevalence of CWD in free-ranging deer in North America is mostly low, but in some regions local prevalence...
Genetic analysis of Missouri’s Topeka Shiners with implications for the propagation of understudied small-bodied freshwater fishes
Jessica Brooks, Leah K. Berkman, Meghan Zimmerschied, Douglas Novinger, Jerry Wiechman, Jacob Thomas Westhoff, Nathan L. Eckert, David D. Duvernell
2025, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (154) 372-384
ObjectiveBest practices for conservation hatcheries to conserve genetic diversity and minimize adaptation to captivity have been established for decades, but how to apply them is not clear in every circumstance. As a growing number of aquatic species are propagated in captive settings, addressing the fit of these practices to each...
Using peak geometry and shifts in the x-ray spectrum of carbon from electron probe microanalysis to determine thermal maturity of organic matter
Haolin Zhou, Gelu Costin, Justin E. Birdwell, Paul C. Hackley, Daniel Minisini, Tanguy Terlier, Mark A. Torres
2025, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (49) 591-605
During the burial of mudstones, the associated organic matter undergoes gradual thermal maturation, a key process that can influence the reactivity of organic matter during catagenesis, the formation of hydrocarbon deposits and the chemical weathering of mudstones. Conventional methods for assessing the thermal maturity of organic matter often fail to...
Rapid recovery of an arctic lake ecosystem from a pulse disturbance caused by thermokarst failure
Phaedra E. Budy, Casey A. Pennock, Sarah Messenger, Hunter Pehrson, Emily Adler, Gary P. Thiede, Natasha R. Christman, Byron C. Crump, Anne E. Giblin, George W. Kling
2025, Oecologia (207)
Due to rapid climate change, arctic ecosystems are experiencing an increase in disturbances including localized land-surface failures caused by melting ground ice (thermokarst failures). These failures result in the mass transport of sediment and organic materials into surface waters, with the potential to dramatically alter aquatic ecosystem function and biotic...
Using complementary biomarkers to unravel fish lifetime exposure to hypoxia and mercury
Hadis Miraly, N. Roxanna Razavi, Richard Kraus, Ann Marie Gorman, Elizabeth Duskey, Matthew Altenritter, Karin E. Limburg
2025, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (82) 1-12
Aquatic ecosystems are losing oxygen due to climate change. This deoxygenation can favor microbial methylation of mercury (Hg). To understand the dynamics of Hg under increasing deoxygenation, we simultaneously quantified both Hg and hypoxia (< 2 mg O2/L) lifetime chronologies in fishes. We used a novel combination of chemical biomarkers...
Biocrust mosses and cyanobacteria exhibit distinct carbon uptake responses to variations in precipitation amount and frequency
Kristina E. Young, Osvaldo E. Sala, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Colin L Tucker, Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, Megan Elyse Starbuck, Sasha C. Reed
2025, Ecology Letters (28)
Dryland organisms exhibit varied responses to changes in precipitation, including event size, frequency, and soil moisture duration, influencing carbon uptake and reserve management strategies. This principle, central to the pulse-reserve paradigm, has not been thoroughly evaluated in biological soil crusts (biocrusts), essential primary producers on dryland surfaces. We conducted two...
Calibration of the Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) model to estimate annual survival, movement, and food consumption by juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the restoration reach of the Trinity River, California, 2006–18
John M. Plumb, Russell W. Perry, Kyle De Juilio
2025, Open-File Report 2024-1070
Executive SummaryThe Trinity River is managed in two sections: (1) from the upper 64-kilometer “restoration reach” downstream from Lewiston Dam to the confluence with the North Fork Trinity River, and (2) the 120-kilometer lower Trinity River downstream from the restoration reach. The Stream Salmonid Simulator (S3) has been previously applied...
New technology for an ancient fish: A lamprey life cycle modeling tool with an R Shiny application
Dylan Gerald-Everett Gomes, Joseph R. Benjamin, Benjamin J. Clemens, Ralph Lampman, Jason B. Dunham
2025, PLoS ONE (20)
Lampreys (Petromyzontiformes) are an ancient group of fishes with complex life histories. We created a life cycle model that includes an R Shiny interactive web application interface to simulate abundance by life stage. This will allow scientists and managers to connect available demographic information in a framework that can be...
Regional analysis of the dependence of peak-flow quantiles on climate with application to adjustment to climate trends
Thomas M. Over, Mackenzie K. Marti, Hannah Lee Podzorski
2025, Hydrology (12)
Standard flood-frequency analysis methods rely on an assumption of stationarity, but because of growing understanding of climatic persistence and concern regarding the effects of climate change, the need for methods to detect and model nonstationary flood frequency has become widely recognized. In this study, a regional statistical method for estimating...
The Hardscrabble Creek complex: A newly discovered, mostly buried, Mesoproterozoic mafic-ultramafic pluton in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA
Benjamin Patrick Magnin, Sandra S. Brake, Yvette Kuiper, Michael T. Mohr, Richard E. Hanson
2025, GSA Bulletin (137) 4558-4574
The origin of prolific ca. 1.4 Ga ferroan magmatism between the southwestern USA and eastern Canada is enigmatic and has been explained by various models, including extensional, mantle plume, and convergent plate-margin models. Rare mafic plutons are associated with the ferroan plutons, which may help constrain their mantle source and...
Crustal to mantle melt storage during the evolution of Hawaiian volcanoes
Esteban Gazel, Kyle Dayton, Wenwei Liang, Junlin Hua, Kendra J. Lynn, Julia E. Hammer
2025, ScienceAdvances (11)
As the Pacific Plate migrates over the mantle plume below Hawaiʻi, magma flux decreases, resulting in changes in eruptive volume, style, and composition. It is thought that melt storage becomes deeper and ephemeral with the transition from highly voluminous tholeiitic (shield stage) to the less voluminous alkaline (post-shield and rejuvenation...
Genetic connectivity in a cooperatively breeding carnivore between two protected areas
Ariana L. Cerreta, Jennifer R. Adams, Bridget L. Borg, Mathew S. Sorum, Lisette P. Waits, David Edward Ausband
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Wildlife populations are increasingly threatened by human activities. Most studies, however, are often short in duration or do not encompass the large spatial extent necessary to measure the potential effects of human activities on population vital rates. Furthermore, the life history features of species with high fecundity and excellent dispersal...
Controls on water quality below a reclaimed surface coal mine, southeastern Montana
Skye Keeshin, Stephanie A. Ewing, Elizabeth B Meredith, Robert A. Payne, W. Payton Gardner, Andrew Hunt
2025, Hydrogeology Journal (33) 715-737
Coal mining and reclamation can have a profound influence on hydrogeologic systems, with clear consequences for groundwater quality, yet their long-term influence on downgradient water quality over time following reclamation is less well documented. Geochemical trends were evaluated in water quality downgradient of a fully reclaimed landscape at the former...
Variations in road exposure and traffic volumes in the United States in areas susceptible to landslides
Nathan J. Wood, Jeanne M. Jones
2025, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (124)
There have been many efforts in the United States (U.S.) to identify landslide threats for specific roads, but we are unaware of any effort to examine the entire national road system. We use geospatial tools to estimate the lengths and percentages of total length of roads in landslide-susceptible areas and...
Flexible phenology of a C4 grass linked to resiliency to seasonal and multiyear drought events in the American southwest
Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, David L. Hoover, Anna C. Knight, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Michael C. Duniway
2025, Ecology and Evolution (15)
Rising temperatures are predicted to further limit dryland water availability as droughts become more intense and frequent and seasonal precipitation patterns shift. Vegetation drought stress may increase mortality and cause declines and delays in phenological events, thereby impacting species' capacity to persist and recover from extreme drought conditions. We compare...
