High-resolution soil-moisture maps over landslide regions in northern California grassland derived From SAR backscattering coefficients
Tien-Hao Liao, Seung-bum Kim, Alexander L. Handwerger, Eric J. Fielding, Michael H. Cosh, William H. Schulz
2021, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (14) 4547-4560
Slow-moving landslides are destabilized by accumulated precipitation and consequent soil moisture. Yet, the continuous high-resolution soil-moisture measurements needed to aid the understanding of landslide processes are generally absent in steep terrain. Here, we produce soil-moisture time-series maps for a seasonally active grassland landslide in the northern California coast ranges, USA,...
Fipronil pellets reduce flea abundance on black-tailed prairie dogs: Potential tool for plague management and black-footed ferret conservation
David A. Eads, Travis M. Livieri, Phillip Dobesh, Eddie Childers, Lauren Noble, Michele Vasquez, Dean E. Biggins
2021, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (57) 434-438
In western North America, sylvatic plague (a flea-borne disease) poses a significant risk to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) and their primary prey, prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.). Pulicides (flea-killing agents) can be used to suppress fleas and thereby manage plague. In South Dakota, US, we tested edible “FipBit” pellets,...
Coastal wetland resilience, accelerated sea-level rise, and the importance of timescale
Torbjorn Tornquist, Donald Cahoon, James T. Morris, John W. Day
2021, AGU Advances (2)
Recent studies have produced conflicting results as to whether coastal wetlands can keep up with present-day and future sea-level rise. The stratigraphic record shows that threshold rates for coastal wetland submergence or retreat are lower than what instrumental records suggest, with wetland extent that shrinks considerably under high rates of...
Physics‐based evaluation of the maximum magnitude of potential earthquakes induced by the Hutubi (China) underground gas storage
Guoyan Jiang, Lin Liu, Andrew J. Barbour, Renqi Lu, Hongfeng Yang
2021, JGR Solid Earth (126)
The world’s largest underground gas storage facility in Hutubi (HUGS), China, is a unique case where cyclic gas injection‐extraction induced both seismicity and ground deformation. To assess the potential for future induced seismicity, we develop a framework physically based on a well‐constrained hydro‐geomechanical model and on fully...
Reconnaissance of cumulative risk of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in Great Smoky Mountains National Park streams
Paul M. Bradley, Matt A. Kulp, Bradley J. Huffman, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling, Sara E. Breitmeyer, Jimmy Clark, Celeste A. Journey
2021, Science of the Total Environment (781)
The United States (US) National Park Service (NPS) manages protected public lands to preserve biodiversity. Exposure to and effects of bioactive organic contaminants in NPS streams are challenges for resource managers. Recent assessment of pesticides and pharmaceuticals in protected-streams within the urbanized NPS Southeast Region (SER) indicated the importance of...
Embryo deformities and nesting trends in Kemp’s ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys kempii before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Donna J. Shaver, Christian Gredzens, J. Shelby Walker, Céline A. J. Godard-Codding, Janet E. Yacabucci, Amy Frey, Peter H. Dutton, Christopher J. Schmitt
2021, Endangered Species Research (44) 277-289
Kemp’s ridley sea turtles Lepidochelys kempii were disproportionately affected by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, which began on 20 April 2010. Embryo deformities were documented in inviable L. kempii eggs before (2008-2010) and after (2011-2013) the DWH spill in 2 Texas (USA) nesting areas (Upper Texas Coast and Padre Island National Seashore). Additional nesting trends,...
Hydroacoustic survey standardization: Inter-vessel differences in fish densities and potential effects of vessel avoidance
Mark D. DuFour, Patrick Kocovsky, J Deller, Paul W. Simonin, Lars G. Rudstam
2021, Fisheries Research (239)
Hydroacoustics is used broadly to assess fish populations in marine and freshwater systems. Large-scale surveys often employ multiple vessels to complete a survey. Vessels can be a source of variation in multi-vessel surveys, and accounting for this variation is critical to precise...
Investigation of algal toxins in a multispecies seabird die-off in the Bering and Chukchi seas
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Robert J. Dusek, Matthew M. Smith, Robert Kaler, Gay Sheffield, Lauren M. Divine, Kathy J. Kuletz, Susan Knowles, Julia S. Lankton, D. Ransom Hardison, R. Wayne Litaker, Timothy Jones, Hillary K. Burgess, Julia K. Parrish
2021, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (57) 399-407
Between 2014 and 2017, widespread seabird mortality events were documented annually in the Bering and Chukchi seas, concurrent with dramatic reductions of sea ice, warmer than average ocean temperatures, and rapid shifts in marine ecosystems. Among other changes in the marine environment, harmful algal blooms (HABs) that produce the neurotoxins...
Suitability of an upper Mississippi River tributary for invasive carp reproduction
Carlos A. Camacho, Christopher J. Sullivan, Michael J. Weber, Clay Pierce
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (43) 12-24
Invasive carp are expanding throughout the upper Mississippi River basin and are of great concern due to their potential economic and ecological impacts. Identification of spawning locations provides critical information on recruitment sources to evaluate potential management strategies. Our objective was to create and validate a spawning habitat suitability model...
Assessment of continuous gas resources in the Horn River Basin, Cordova Embayment, and Liard Basin, Canada, 2019
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Kristen R. Marra, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman
2021, Fact Sheet 2020-3015
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 135.4 trillion cubic feet of continuous gas in Devonian–Mississippian shales in the Horn River Basin, Cordova Embayment, and Liard Basin of Canada....
Assessment of water quality and discharge in the Herring River, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, November 2015 to September 2017
Thomas G. Huntington, Alana B. Spaetzel, John A. Colman, Kevin D. Kroeger, Robert T. Bradley
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5120
The U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod National Seashore of the National Park Service, and Friends of Herring River cooperated from 2015 to 2017 to assess nutrient concentrations and fluxes across the ocean-estuary boundary at a dike on the Herring River in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. The purpose of this assessment was to...
Groundwater conditions and trends, 2009–19, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Jackson N. Mitchell, Todd K. Presley, Robert L. Carruth
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5129
Groundwater is the primary source of municipal water for Saipan. Nearly all groundwater for the municipal water supply is withdrawn from a freshwater-lens system with a limited amount of freshwater that is susceptible to saltwater intrusion. The status of Saipan’s groundwater resources has not been thoroughly assessed since 2003. The...
Exploration of the 2016 Yellowstone River fish kill and proliferative kidney disease in wild fish populations
Patrick Ross Hutchins, Adam Sepulveda, Hanna Hartikainen, Ken D. Staigmiller, Scott T. Opitz, Renee M. Yamamoto, Amberly Huttinger, Rick J. Cordes, Tammy Weiss, Lacey R. Hopper, Maureen K. Purcell, Beth Okamura
2021, Ecosphere (3)
Proliferative kidney disease (PKD) is an emerging disease that recently resulted in a large mortality event of salmonids in the Yellowstone River (Montana, USA). Total PKD fish mortalities in the Yellowstone River were estimated in the tens of thousands, which resulted in a multi‐week river closure and an estimated economic...
Assessment of contaminant trends in plumes and wells and monitoring network optimization at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, Sauk County, Wisconsin
Matthew Pajerowski, Phillip J. Goodling, Marina J. Metes
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5106
Soil and groundwater at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP), Sauk County, Wisconsin, were affected by several contaminants as a result of production and waste disposal practices common during its operation from 1942 to 1975. Three distinct plumes of contaminated groundwater originate on BAAP property and extend off-site, as identified...
A revised position for the primary strand of the Pleistocene-Holocene San Andreas fault in southern California
Kim Blisniuk, Katherine M. Scharer, Warren Sharp, Roland Burgmann, Colin Amos, Michael Rymer
2021, Science Advances (7)
The San Andreas fault has the highest calculated time-dependent probability for large-magnitude earthquakes in southern California. However, where the fault is multistranded east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, it has been uncertain which strand has the fastest slip rate and, therefore, which has the highest probability of a destructive...
Across borders: External factors and prior behaviour influence North Pacific albatross associations with fishing vessels
Rachael A Orben, Josh Adams, Michelle M. Hester, Scott A. Shaffer, Robert M. Suryan, Tomo Deguchi, Kiyoaki Ozaki, Fumio Sato, Lindsay C. Young, Corey A. Clatterbuck, Melinda G. Conners, David A Kroodsma, Leigh G Torres
2021, Journal of Applied Ecology (58) 1272-1283
Understanding encounters between marine predators and fisheries across national borders and outside national jurisdictions offers new perspectives on unwanted interactions to inform ocean management and predator conservation. Although seabird–fisheries overlap has been documented at many scales, remote identification of vessel encounters has lagged because vessel movement data often are...
Forecasting ecological responses for wetland restoration planning in Florida's Everglades
Stephanie Romanach, Leonard G. Pearlstine
2021, Book chapter, Reference module in earth systems and environmental sciences
The Everglades wetland was once a river of grass, with water flowing slowly through the sawgrass, southward across the landscape. As developers took hold of south Florida, water was sent away from the heart of the Everglades through canals and levees...
Exploring VIIRS continuity with MODIS in an expedited capability for monitoring drought-related vegetation conditions
Trenton D Benedict, Jesslyn F. Brown, Stephen P. Boyte, Daniel Howard, Brian Fuchs, Brian D. Wardlow, Tsegaye Tadesse, Kirk Evenson
2021, Remote Sensing (13)
Vegetation has been effectively monitored using remote sensing time-series vegetation index (VI) data for several decades. Drought monitoring has been a common application with algorithms tuned to capturing anomalous temporal and spatial vegetation patterns. Drought stress models, such as the Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI), often use VIs like the...
Assessment of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) diet using DNA metabarcoding of feces
Nicholas S. Johnson, Sean A. Lewandoski, Christopher M. Merkes
2021, Ecological Indicators (125)
Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are invasive in the Laurentian Great Lakes, parasitize large-bodied fishes, and therefore are the focus of an international control program. However, damage caused by sea lamprey to modern day fish stocks remains uncertain because diet analysis of juvenile sea lamprey has been challenging; they feed on...
Geological constraints on the mechanisms of slow earthquakes
James D. Kirkpatrick, Ake Fagereng, David R. Shelly
2021, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment (2) 285-301
The recognition of slow earthquakes in geodetic and seismological data has transformed the understanding of how plate motions are accommodated at major plate boundaries. Slow earthquakes, which slip more slowly than regular earthquakes but faster than plate motion velocities, occur in a range of tectonic and metamorphic settings. They exhibit...
Genetic structure of Maryland Brook Trout populations: Management implications for a threatened species
Raymond P. Morgan II, David C. Kazyak, Tim L. King, Barbara A. Lubinski, Matthew T. Sell, Alan A Heft, Jess W Jones
2021, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (41) 1097-1119
Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis have declined across their native range due to multiple anthropogenic factors, including landscape alteration and climate change. Although coldwater streams in Maryland (eastern United States) historically supported significant Brook Trout populations, only fragmented remnant populations remain, with the exception of the upper Savage River...
The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)
Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Douglas H. Johnson, Marriah L. Sondreal, Christopher M. Goldade, Barry D. Parkin, Betty R. Euliss
2021, Professional Paper 1842-DD
Keys to Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) management include providing open grasslands with sparse-to-moderate herbaceous and litter cover and a woody component and allowing occasional burning or moderate grazing. Lark Sparrows have been reported to use habitats with 10–63 centimeters (cm) average vegetation height, 10–54 percent grass cover, 9–25 percent forb...
Evaluating low flow patterns, drivers and trends in the Delaware River Basin
John C. Hammond, Brandon J. Fleming
2021, Journal of Hydrology (598)
In the humid, temperate Delaware River Basin (DRB) where water availability is generally reliable, summer low flows can cause competition between various human and ecological water uses. As temperatures continue to rise, population increases and development expands, it is critical to...
Earthquake magnitudes from dynamic strain
Andrew J. Barbour, John O. Langbein, Noha Sameh Ahmed Farghal
2021, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (111) 1325-1346
Dynamic strains have never played a role in determining local earthquake magnitudes, which are routinely set by displacement waveforms from seismic instrumentation (e.g., ML). We present a magnitude scale for local earthquakes based on broadband dynamic strain waveforms. This scale is derived from the peak...
Natural and anthropogenic geochemical tracers to investigate residence times and groundwater–surface-water interactions in an urban alluvial aquifer
Connor P. Newman, Suzanne S. Paschke, Gabrielle L. Keith
2021, Water (13)
A multi-component geochemical dataset was collected from groundwater and surface-water bodies associated with the urban Fountain Creek alluvial aquifer, Colorado, USA, to facilitate analysis of recharge sources, geochemical interactions, and groundwater-residence times. Results indicate that groundwater can be separated into three distinct geochemical zones based on location within the flow...
