The Everglades vulnerability analysis—Integrating ecological models and addressing uncertainty
Laura E. D’Acunto, Stephanie S. Romanach, Saira M. Haider, Caitlin E. Hackett, Jennifer H. Nestler, Dilip Shinde, Leonard G. Pearlstine
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3033
The Everglades vulnerability analysis (EVA) is a project led by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accomplish one of the science goals of Restoration Coordination & Verification (RECOVER), a multiagency group responsible for providing scientific and technical...
Quality of groundwater used for domestic supply in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California
Zeno F. Levy, Mariia Balkan, Jennifer L. Shelton
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3040
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and provides increased public...
Peak-flow variability, peak-flow informational needs, and consideration of regional regression analyses in managing the crest-stage gage network in Montana
Steven K. Sando
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2021-5063
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), has operated a crest-stage gage (CSG) network in Montana to collect peak-flow data since 1955. The CSG network is vital to collecting peak-flow data on small drainage basins that typically are not addressed by continuous streamflow...
The influence of subcolony-scale nesting habitat on the reproductive success of Adélie penguins
Annie E. Schmidt, Grant Ballard, Amélie Lescroël, Katie Dugger, Dennis Jongsomjit, Megan L. Elrod, David G. Ainley
2021, Scientific Reports (11)
Group-size variation is common in colonially breeding species, including seabirds, whose breeding colonies can vary in size by several orders of magnitude. Seabirds are some of the most threatened marine taxa and understanding the drivers of colony size variation is more important than ever. Reproductive success is an important demographic...
Energetic and health effects of protein overconsumption constrain dietary adaptation in an apex predator
Karyn D. Rode, Charles T. Robbins, Craig A. Stricker, Brian D. Taras, Troy N Tollefson
2021, Scientific Reports (11)
Studies of predator feeding ecology commonly focus on energy intake. However, captive predators have been documented to selectively feed to optimize macronutrient intake. As many apex predators experience environmental changes that affect prey availability, limitations on selective feeding can affect energetics and health. We estimated the...
Timing and hydrological conditions associated with bigheaded carp movement past navigation dams on the upper Mississippi river
Jonathan M. Vallazza, Kayle J. Mosel, David M. Reineke, Ann L. Runstrom, James H. Larson, Brent C. Knights
2021, Biological Invasions (23) 3409-3425
As the range of non-native bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys spp.) continues to expand throughout river systems of the United States, managers are tasked with preventing or slowing the spread of these invasive species. Main stem navigation dams on the upper Mississippi River, long considered a deterrent to fish...
Limited shifts in the distribution of migratory bird breeding habitat density in response to future changes in climate
Owen P. McKenna, David M. Mushet, Samuel R. Kucia, Elyssa Christina Mcculloch-Huseby
2021, Ecological Applications (31)
Grasslands, and the depressional wetlands that exist throughout them, are endangered ecosystems that face both climate and land-use change pressures. Tens of millions of dollars are invested annually to manage the existing fragments of these ecosystems to serve as critical breeding habitat for migratory birds. The North American Prairie Pothole...
Why do my squiggles look funny? A gallery of compromised seismic signals
Adam T. Ringler, David B. Mason, G. Laske, Tyler Storm, M. Templeton
2021, Seismological Research Letters (92) 3873-3886
Seismic instruments are highly sensitive and capable of recording a large range of different Earth signals. The high sensitivity of these instruments also makes them prone to various failures. Although many failures are very obvious, such as a dead channel, there are other more subtle...
Informing wetland management with waterfowl movement and sanctuary use responses to human-induced disturbance
Fiona McDuie, Austen Lorenz, Robert C. Klinger, Cory T. Overton, Cliff L. Feldheim, Josh T. Ackerman, Michael L. Casazza
2021, Journal of Environmental Management (297)
Long-term environmental management to prevent waterfowl population declines is informed by ecology, movement behavior and habitat use patterns. Extrinsic factors, such as human-induced disturbance, can cause behavioral changes which may influence movement and resource needs, driving variation that affects management efficacy. To better understand the relationship between human-based disturbance and animal movement...
Protecting restoration investments from the cheatgrass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe
David S. Pilliod, Michelle I. Jeffries, Justin L. Welty, Robert S. Arkle
2021, Conservation Science and Practice (3)
The US federal government has recently committed to the difficult task of slowing and managing the invasive grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe, where property, livelihoods, and entire ecosystems are at risk. To safely manage this crisis, the government recently proposed to construct about 17,700 km of fuel breaks and millions...
Water priorities for the Nation—USGS Integrated Water Science basins
Mark P. Miller, Sandra M. Eberts, Lori A. Sprague
2021, Fact Sheet 2021-3041
The United States faces growing challenges to its water supply, infrastructure, and aquatic ecosystems because of population growth, climate change, floods, and droughts. To help address these challenges, the U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Mission Area is integrating recent advances in monitoring, research, and modeling to improve assessments of water...
Extent of impact of deep-sea nodule mining midwater plumes is influenced by sediment loading, turbulence and thresholds
Carlos Munoz-Royo, Thomas Peacock, Matthew Alford, Jerome Smith, Arnaud Le Boyer, Chinmay Kulkarni, Pierre Lermusiaux, Patrick Haley, C Mirabito, Dayang Wang, Eric Adams, Raphael Ouillon, Alexander Breugem, Boudewijn Decrop, Thijs Lanckreit, Rohit Supekar, Andrew Rzeznik, Amy Gartman, Se-Jong Ju
2021, Communications Earth & Environment (2)
Deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining research activity has substantially increased in recent years, but the expected level of environmental impact is still being established. One environmental concern is the discharge of a sediment plume into the midwater column. We performed a dedicated field study using sediment from...
Comparison of aerial thermal infrared imagery and helicopter surveys of bison (Bison bison) in Grand Canyon National Park, USA
Jacob Daniel Hennig, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Miranda Terwilliger, Gregory W Holm, Jeffrey L. Laake
2021, Sensors (21)
Aerial thermal infrared (TIR) surveys are an attractive option for estimating abundances of large mammals inhabiting extensive and heterogenous terrain. Compared to standard helicopter or fixed-wing aerial surveys, TIR flights can be conducted at higher altitudes translating into greater spatial coverage and increased observer safety; however, monetary costs are much...
Climate change is creating a mismatch between protected areas and suitable habitats for frogs and birds in Puerto Rico
Marconi Campos-Cerqueira, Adam Terando, Brent Murray, Jaime A. Collazo, Mitchell Aide
2021, Biological Conservation (30) 3509-3528
Climate change is altering the spatial distribution of many species around the world. In response, we need to identify and protect suitable areas for a large proportion of the fauna so that they persist through time. This exercise must also evaluate the ability of existing protected areas to provide safe...
Evaluation of a modified rapid viability-polymerase chain reaction method for Bacillus atrophaeus spores in water matrices
Rebecca N. Bushon, Amie M.G. Brady, Christopher M. Kephart, Vicente Gallardo
2021, Journal of Microbiological Methods (188)
A rapid method that provides information on the viability of organisms is needed to protect public health and ensure that remediation efforts following a release of a biological agent are effective. The rapid viability-polymerase chain reaction (RV-PCR) method combines broth culture...
Repeating caldera collapse events constrain fault friction at the kilometer scale
Paul Segall, Kyle R. Anderson
2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (118)
Fault friction is central to understanding earthquakes, yet laboratory rock mechanics experiments are restricted to, at most, meter scale. Questions thus remain as to the applicability of measured frictional properties to faulting in situ. In particular, the slip-weakening distance dc"><span id="MathJax-Span-2"...
Spectral damping scaling factors for horizontal components of ground motions from subduction earthquakes using NGA-Subduction data
Sanaz Rezaeian, L. Al Atik, N. M. Kuehn, N. A. Abrahamson, Y. Bozorgnia, S. Mazzoni, Kyle Withers, K. Campbell
2021, Earthquake Spectra (37) 2453-2492
This article develops global models of damping scaling factors (DSFs) for subduction zone earthquakes that are functions of the damping ratio, spectral period, earthquake magnitude, and distance. The Next Generation Attenuation for subduction earthquakes (NGA-Sub) project has developed the largest uniformly processed database of recorded ground motions...
Chemical and structural degradation of CH3NH3PbI3 propagate from PEDOT:PSS interface in the presence of humidity
Sara A Thomas, J. Clay Hamill Jr., Sarah Jane O. White, Yueh-Lin Loo
2021, Advanced Materials Interfaces (8)
Understanding interfacial reactions that occur between the active layer and charge-transport layers can extend the stability of perovskite solar cells. In this study, the exposure of methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) thin films prepared on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-coated glass to 70% relative humidity (R.H.) leads to a perovskite...
U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative—2018 annual report
Patrick J. Anderson, Cameron L. Aldridge, Jason S. Alexander, Timothy J. Assal, Steven Aulenbach, Zachary H. Bowen, Anna D. Chalfoun, Geneva W. Chong, Holly Copeland, David R. Edmunds, Steve Germaine, Tabitha A. Graves, Julie A. Heinrichs, Collin G. Homer, Christopher Huber, Aaron N. Johnston, Matthew J. Kauffman, Daniel J. Manier, Ryan R. McShane, Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Kirk A. Miller, Adrian P. Monroe, Michael S. O’Donnell, Anna Ortega, Annika W. Walters, Daniel J. Wieferich, Teal B. Wyckoff, Linda Zeigenfuss
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1067
The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) was established in 2007 as a collaborative interagency partnership to develop and implement science-based conservation actions. During the past 11 years, partners from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), State and Federal land management agencies, universities, and the public have collaborated to implement a long-term (more...
System characterization report on Planet’s Dove Classic
Minsu Kim, Seonkyung Park, Cody Anderson, Gregory L. Stensaas
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1030-C
Executive SummaryThis report addresses system characterization of Planet’s Dove Classic satellites and is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present and detail the methodology and procedures for characterization; present...
Evaluation of factors affecting migration success of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Yakima River, Washington, 2020
Tobias J. Kock, Amy C. Hansen, Scott D. Evans, Richard Visser, Brian Saluskin, Andrew Matala, Paul Hoffarth
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1075
A study was conducted during June–October 2020 to evaluate factors affecting the migration success of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Yakima River, Washington. A total of 144 adult sockeye salmon were tagged and released during the study. Most fish (112 fish) were collected, tagged with passive integrated...
The spatial-temporal relationship of blue-winged teal to domestic poultry: Movement state modeling of a highly mobile avian influenza host
John M. Humphreys, David C. Douglas, Andrew M. Ramey, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Catherine Soos, Paul T. Link, Patrick Walther, Diann Prosser
2021, Journal of Applied Ecology (58) 2040-2052
1. Migratory waterfowl facilitate long distance dispersal of zoonotic pathogens and are increasingly recognized as contributing to the geographic spread of avian influenza viruses (AIV). AIV are globally distributed and have the potential to produce highly contagious poultry disease, economically impact both large-scale and backyard poultry producers, and raise the...
Water–rock interaction and the concentrations of major, trace, and rare earth elements in hydrocarbon-associated produced waters of the United States
Carleton R. Bern, Justin E. Birdwell, Aaron M. Jubb
2021, Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (23) 1198-1219
Studies of co-produced waters from hydrocarbon extraction across multiple energy-producing basins have generally focused on major ions or a few select tracers, and studies that examine trace elements and involve laboratory experiments have generally been basin specific. Here, new perspective is sought through a broad analysis of concentration data...
Body size and digestive system shape resource selection by ungulates: A cross-taxa test of the forage maturation hypothesis
Saeideh Esmaeili, Brett R. Jesmer, Shannon E. Albeke, Ellen O. Aikens, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Sarah R.B. King, Briana Abrahms, Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar, Jeffrey L. Beck, Randall Boone, Francesca Cagnacci, Simon Chamaillé-Jammes, Buyanaa Chimeddorj, Paul C. Cross, Nandintsetseg Dejid, Jagdag Enkhbyar, Ilya Fischhoff, Adam T. Ford, Kate Jenks, Mahmoud-Reza Hemami, Jacob D. Hennig, Takehiko Y. Ito, Petra Kaczensky, Matthew Kauffman, John D. C. Linnell, Badamjav Lkhagvasuren, John F. McEvoy, Joerg Melzheimer, Jerod A. Merkle, Thomas Mueller, Jeff Muntifering, Atle Mysterud, Kirk A. Olson, Manuela Panzacchi, John Payne, Luca Pedrotti, Geir R. Rauset, Daniel I. Rubenstein, Hall Sawyer, John D. Scasta, Johannes Signer, Melissa Songer, Jared A. Stabach, Seth Stapleton, Olav Strand, Siva R. Sundaresan, Dorj Usukhjargal, Ganbold Uuganbayar, John Fryxell, Jacob R. Goheen
2021, Ecology Letters (24) 2178-2191
The forage maturation hypothesis (FMH) states that energy intake for ungulates is maximised when forage biomass is at intermediate levels. Nevertheless, metabolic allometry and different digestive systems suggest that resource selection should vary across ungulate species. By combining GPS relocations with remotely sensed data on forage...
Modeling the bioavailability of nickel and zinc to Ceriodaphnia dubia and Neocloeon triangulifer in toxicity tests with Natural Waters
John M. Besser, Chris D. Ivey, Jeffery A. Steevens, Danielle M. Cleveland, David J. Soucek, Amy Dickinson, Eric J. Van Genderen, Adam C. Ryan, Chris E. Schlekat, Emily R. Garman, Elizabeth Middleton, Robert C. Santore
2021, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (40) 3049-3062
We studied biotic ligand model (BLM) predictions of toxicity of nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in natural waters from Illinois and Minnesota USA which had combinations of pH, hardness, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) more extreme than 99.7% of waters in a nationwide database. We conducted 7-d chronic tests with Ceriodaphnia...
