Evaluating lower computational burden approaches for calibration of large environmental models
Randall J. Hunt, Jeremy T. White, Leslie L. Duncan, Connor J. Haugh, John E. Doherty
2021, Groundwater (59) 788-798
Realistic environmental models used for decision making typically require a highly parameterized approach. Calibration of such models is computationally intensive because widely used parameter estimation approaches require individual forward runs for each parameter adjusted. These runs construct a parameter-to-observation sensitivity, or Jacobian, matrix used to develop candidate parameter upgrades. Parameter...
The seismo-acoustics of submarine volcanic eruptions
Gabrielle Tepp, Robert P. Dziak
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research (126)
Many of the world’s volcanoes are hidden beneath the ocean’s surface where eruptions are difficult to observe. However, seismo‐acoustic signals produced by these eruptions provide a useful means of identifying active submarine volcanism. A literature survey revealed reports of 119 seismo‐acoustically recorded submarine eruptions since 1939. Submarine eruptions have been...
Long‐term surveys support declines in early‐season forest plants used by bumblebees
John Michael Mola, Leif L Richardson, Greg Spyreas, David N. Zaya, Ian Pearse
2021, Journal of Applied Ecology (58) 1431-1441
Populations of bumble bees and other pollinators have declined over the past several decades due to numerous threats, including habitat loss and degradation. However, we can rarely investigate the role of resource loss due to a lack of detailed long‐term records of forage plants and habitats.We use 22‐year repeated...
Evaluation of remote site incubators to incubate wild- and hatchery-origin Westslope Cutthroat Trout embryos
Bradley B. Shepard, Patrick Clancey, Lee M. Nelson, Carter Kruse, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Daniel Drinan, Alexander V. Zale
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 844-855
Fish managers must weigh trade-offs among cost, speed, efficiency, and ecological adaptation when deciding how to translocate native salmonids to either establish or genetically augment populations. Remote site incubators (RSIs) appear to be a reasonable strategy, but large-scale evaluations of this method have been limited. We...
Integrating tracking and resight data enables unbiased inferences about migratory connectivity and winter range survival from archival tags
Clark S Rushing, Aimee M Van Tatenhove, Andrew Sharp, Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, Mary Freeman, Paul W. Sykes, Aaron M. Given, T. Scott Sillett
2021, Ornithological Applications (123)
Archival geolocators have transformed the study of small, migratory organisms but analysis of data from these devices requires bias correction because tags are only recovered from individuals that survive and are re-captured at their tagging location. We show that integrating geolocator recovery data and mark–resight data enables unbiased estimates of...
Landscape characterization of floral resources for pollinators in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States
Autumn H. Smart, Clint Otto, Alisa L. Gallant, Michael P. Simanonok
2021, Biodiversity and Conservation (30) 1991-2015
Across agricultural areas of the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), floral resources are primarily found on public grasslands, roadsides, and private grasslands used as pasture or enrolled in federal conservation programs. Little research has characterized the availability of flowers across the region or identified the primary stakeholders managing lands supporting pollinators....
Pesticides in US Rivers: Regional differences in use, occurrence, and environmental toxicity, 2013 to 2017
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Megan E. Shoda, Laura Medalie, Wesley W. Stone
2021, Science of the Total Environment (787)
Pesticides pose a threat to the environment, but because of the substantial number of compounds, a comprehensive assessment of pesticides and an evaluation of the risk that they pose to human and aquatic life is challenging. In this study, improved analytical methods were used to quantify 221 pesticide concentrations in...
Range expansion and factors affecting abundance of invasive Flathead Catfish in the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers, Pennsylvania, USA
Geoffrey D. Smith, Danielle L. Massie, Joseph Perillo, Tyler Wagner, Daryl Pierce
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) S205-S220
Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris have been either intentionally or accidentally introduced into Atlantic Slope drainages extending from Florida to Pennsylvania and have quickly become established. In Pennsylvania, Flathead Catfish were first detected in the Schuylkill River at the Fairmont Dam in 1999 and in the Susquehanna River at Safe Harbor Dam in...
Connectivity of Mojave Desert tortoise populations—Management implications for maintaining a viable recovery network
Roy C. Averill-Murray, Todd Esque, Linda J. Allison, Scott Bassett, Sarah K. Carter, Kirsten E. Dutcher, Steven J. Hromada, Kevin T. Shoemaker, Kenneth E. Nussear
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1033
Executive SummaryThe historic distribution of Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) was relatively continuous across the range, and the importance of tortoise habitat outside of designated tortoise conservation areas (TCAs) to recovery has long been recognized for its contributions to supporting gene flow between TCAs and to minimizing impacts and edge...
Long-term multidecadal data from a prairie-pothole wetland complex reveal controls on aquatic-macroinvertebrate communities
Kyle McLean, David M. Mushet, Wesley E. Newton, Jon N. Sweetman
2021, Ecological Indicators (126)
Interactions between climate and hydrogeologic settings contribute to the hydrologic and chemical variability among depressional wetlands, which influences their aquatic communities. These interactions and resulting variability have led to inconsistent results in terms of identifying reliable predictors of aquatic-macroinvertebrate community composition for depressional wetlands. This is especially true in the...
Stock composition of Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) encountered in marine and estuarine environments on the U.S. Atlantic Coast
David C. Kazyak, Shannon L. White, Barbara A. Lubinski, Robin L. Johnson, Michael S. Eackles
2021, Conservation Genetics (22) 767-781
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) is a large, anadromous fish native to the Atlantic Coast of North America. Although this species once supported important fisheries, centuries of exploitation and habitat degradation have resulted in dramatic declines, presumed extirpation in some rivers, and ultimately listing under the...
Exploring the contemporary relationship between predator and prey in a significant, reintroduced Lahontan Cutthroat Trout population
Phaedra E. Budy, Nicholas A. Heredia, Gary P. Thiede, Erik Horgen
2021, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (150) 291-306
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT) Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawi have experienced some of the most marked reductions in abundance and distribution among Cutthroat Trout subspecies. The population of LCT in Pyramid Lake, Nevada has returned from the brink of extirpation, and although it is highly managed via stocking, the population is thriving and has...
On the human appropriation of wetland primary production
James E. Cloern, Samuel M. Safran, Lydia Smith Vaughn, April Robinson, Alison Whipple, Katharyn E. Boyer, Judith Z. Drexler, Robert J. Naiman, James L. Pinckney, Emily R. Howe, Elizabeth A. Canuel, J. Letitia Grenier
2021, Science of the Total Environment (785)
Humans are changing the Earth's surface at an accelerating pace, with significant consequences for ecosystems and their biodiversity. Landscape transformation has far-reaching implications including reduced net primary production (NPP) available to support ecosystems, reduced energy supplies to consumers, and disruption of ecosystem services such...
Changes in seabed mining
James R. Hein, Pedro Madureira, Maria Joao Bebianno, Ana Colaço, Luis M. Pinheiro, Richard Roth, Pradeep K. Singh, Anastasia Strati, Joshua T. Tuhumwire
2021, Book chapter, United Nations World Ocean Assessment II
Chapter 23 of the First World Ocean Assessment (WOA I) focused on marine mining, and particularly on established extractive industries, which are predominantly confined to near-shore areas, where shallow-water, near-shore aggregate and placer deposits, and somewhat deeper water phosphate deposits are found (United Nations, 2017a). At the time of publication,...
Surface material and snout-vent length predict vertical scaling ability in brown treesnakes:an evaluation of multispecies barriers for invasive species control on Guam
Eric T. Hileman, Bradke, Melia G. Nafus, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Robert Reed
2021, Management of Biological Invasions. (12) 476-494
The combination of snake-proof barriers and an aerial toxicant delivery system for snake suppression may allow large-scale control of invasive brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) on Guam. However, suppression or local eradication of several other species (e.g., introduced ungulates, cats, rodents) may be required for successful restoration and recovery of forest...
Emerging investigator series: Municipal wastewater as a year-round point source of neonicotinoid insecticides that persist in an effluent-dominated stream
Danielle T. Webb, Hui Zhi, Dana W. Kolpin, Rebecca D. Klaper, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Gregory H. LeFevre
2021, Environmental Sciences: Processes & Impacts (23) 678-688
Neonicotinoids in aquatic systems have been predominantly associated with agriculture, but some are increasingly being linked to municipal wastewater. Thus, the aim of this work was to understand the municipal wastewater contribution to neonicotinoids in a representative, characterized effluent-dominated temperate-region stream. Our approach was to quantify the spatiotemporal concentrations...
A review of spatially resolved techniques and applications of organic petrography in shale petroleum systems
Paul C. Hackley, Aaron M. Jubb, Ryan J. McAleer, Brett J. Valentine, Justin E. Birdwell
2021, International Journal of Coal Geology (241)
This review examines new techniques and applications of organic petrography in source-rock reservoir petroleum systems that have occurred along with development of the global ‘shale revolution’ in energy resources. The review is limited to techniques and instrumentation that provide spatially resolved information, typically at or...
Red-throated loon (Gavia stellata) use of nearshore marine habitats—Results from a 2019 pilot study in northern Alaska
Brian D. Uher-Koch, Christopher J. Latty, Joel A. Schmutz
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1029
Red-throated loons (Gavia stellata) are a species of conservation concern in Alaska due to recent evidence of a population decline on the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) in northern Alaska. In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a pilot study to evaluate diet...
Multi-decadal shifts in the distribution and timing of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) spawning in Prince William Sound, Alaska
David W. McGowan, Trevor A. Branch, Stormy Haught, Mark David Scheuerell
Trevor A. Branch, editor(s)
2021, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (78) 1611-1627
The location and timing of spawning play a critical role in pelagic fish survival during early life stages and can affect subsequent recruitment. Spawning patterns of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) were examined in Prince William Sound (1973–2019) where the population has failed to recover since its collapse in 1993. Abrupt...
The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction
Borja G. Reguero, Curt D. Storlazzi, Ann E. Gibbs, James B. Shope, Aaron Cole, Kristen A. Cumming, Mike Beck
2021, Nature Sustainability (4) 688-698
Habitats, such as coral reefs, can mitigate increasing flood damages through coastal protection services. We provide a fine-scale, national valuation of the flood risk reduction benefits of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure. Across 3,100 km of US coastline, the top-most 1 m of coral reefs prevents the 100-yr flood...
Epigean crayfish of the Potomac River Basin in West Virginia: Zoogeography, natural history and conservation
Zachary J. Loughman, Audrey M. Sykes, Matthew I. McKinney, Stuart A. Welsh
2021, Freshwater Crayfish (26) 37-49
Crayfish are an aquatic fauna of conservation concern, yet regional studies are lacking on zoogeography and life history. We compared recent and historical species distribution data and assessed conservation standings of native and nonindigenous crayfish of the Potomac River Basin in West Virginia. From 2007–2011, a total of 1764 crayfish...
Implications of tagging effects for interpreting the performance of sea lamprey traps in a large river
Jessica Nelson, Andrew M. Rous, Adrienne R. McLean, Jessica Barber, Gale A Bravener, Christopher Holbrook, Robert L. McLaughlin
2021, Journal of Great Lakes Research (47) 1200-1208
Abundance estimates can be crucial for managing species of economic concern. The accuracy of these estimates can depend on the methods used to track animals and to estimate abundance from tracking data. We tested experimentally if disparate estimates of trapping efficiency calculated for sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the St....
Investigating vegetation responses to underground nuclear explosions through integrated analyses
Kurt Solander, Adam D. Collins, Erika Swanson, Ellis Margolis, Brandon Crawford, Elizabeth Miller, Min Chen, Anita Lavadie-Bulnes, Max Ryan, Isaac Borrego, Sanna Sevanto, Emily Schultz-Fellenz
2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (126)
Vegetation has the potential to respond to underground nuclear explosions, yet these links have not been fully explored. Given the lack of previously described signatures, the changes in vegetation are possibly subtle. The integration of multiple different data streams is potentially a useful approach to improve...
Substantial hysteresis in emergent temperature sensitivity of global wetland CH4 emissions
Kuang-Yu Chang, William J. Riley, Sara H. Knox, Robert B. Jackson, Gavin McNicol, Benjamin Poulter, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, Gil Bohrer, David I. Campbell, Alessandro Cescatti, Housen Chu, Kyle B. Delwiche, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Matthias Goeckede, Thomas Friborg, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Manuel Helbig, Trevor F. Keenan, Minseok Kang, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Bhaskar Mitra, Ivan Mammarella, Akira Miyata, Mats B. Nilsson, Walter C. Oechel, Akso Noormets, Matthias Peichl, Michele L. Reba, Janne Rinne, Dario Papale, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Karina VR Schafer, Hans Peter Schmid, Narasinha Shurpali, Oliver Sonnentag, Angela Tang, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Carlo Trotta, Masahito Ueyama, Rodrigo Vargas, Timo Vesala, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona
2021, Nature Communications (12)
Wetland methane (CH4) emissions (FCH4) are important in global carbon budgets and climate change assessments. Currently, FCH4 projections rely on prescribed static temperature sensitivity that varies among biogeochemical models. Meta-analyses have proposed a consistent FCH4 temperature...
Three-dimensional geologic map of the Brady geothermal area, Nevada
Drew L. Siler, James E. Faulds, Nicholas H. Hinz, John H. Queen
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3469
The three-dimensional (3D) geologic map characterizes the subsurface in the Brady geothermal area in the northern Hot Springs Mountains of northwestern Nevada. We built the 3D map by integrating the results from detailed geologic mapping, seismic-reflection, potential-field-geophysical, and lithologic well-logging investigations completed in the study area. This effort was undertaken...
