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Microhexura montivaga (Spruce-fir Moss Spider) is a federally endangered arachnid endemic to high-elevation montane conifer forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The spider is cryptic and difficult to monitor because this species lives in the interface between the bryophyte mat and the rock surface. Since temporary...

The data summarized in this report provide a baseline characterization of the physical attributes of the riverine ecosystems in two landscapes managed by the National Park Service—Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri, and Buffalo National River, Arkansas—to inform understanding and management of aquatic habitat. The study utilized a basin-scale approach and...

History of prescription burning and wildfires in the three Sierra Nevada National Park Service (NPS) parks and adjacent US Forest Service (USFS) forests is presented. Annual prescription (Rx) burns began in 1968 in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, followed by Yosemite National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park. During...

Chemical-contaminant mixtures are widely reported in large stream reaches in urban/agriculture-developed watersheds, but mixture compositions and aggregate biological effects are less well understood in corresponding smaller headwaters, which comprise most of stream length, riparian connectivity, and spatial biodiversity. During 2014–2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured 389 unique organic analytes (pharmaceutical,...

Increasing urbanization and use of urban areas by synanthropic wildlife has increased human and domestic animal exposure to zoonotic diseases and exacerbated epizootics within wildlife populations. Consequently, there is a need to improve wildlife disease surveillance programs to rapidly detect outbreaks and refine inferences regarding spatiotemporal disease dynamics. Multistate occupancy...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for selected reaches of the Grand River, Red Cedar River, and Sycamore Creek near Lansing, Michigan, in cooperation with the city of Lansing. The study comprised a 3.1-mile reach of the Grand River, a 30.3-mile reach of the Red Cedar...

AimThe factors that set range limits for animal populations can inform management plans aimed at maintaining regional biodiversity. We examine abiotic and biotic drivers of the distribution of finescale dace (Chrosomus neogaeus) in two Great Plains basins to identify limiting factors for a threatened freshwater fish population...

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) monitors volcanic and hydrothermal activity associated with the Yellowstone magmatic system, conducts research into magmatic processes occurring beneath Yellowstone Caldera, and issues timely warnings and guidance related to potential future geologic hazards. This report summarizes the activities and findings of YVO during the year 2018,...

The ongoing spread of rapid ‘ōhi‘a death (ROD) in the Hawaiian Islands threatens the long-term sustainability of ‘ōhi‘a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) forests throughout the state. First identified in the Puna district of Hawai‘i Island in 2014, the disease caused by the novel fungi Ceratocystis lukuohia and Ceratocystis huliohia has now...

Inferences based on tagged individuals from a population are limited in part by the minimum size of fish that can be tagged. Smaller tags allow a greater proportion of a population to be represented by tagging and should...

Extensive global estuarine wetland losses have prompted intensive focus on restoration of these habitats. In California, substantial tracts of freshwater, brackish and tidal wetlands have been lost. Given the anthropogenic footprint of development and urbanization in this region, wetland restoration must rely on conversion of existing habitat types rather...

Due to increasing water demands globally, freshwater ecosystems are under constant pressure. Groundwater resources, as the main source of accessible freshwater, are crucially important for irrigation worldwide. Over‐abstraction of groundwater leads to declines in groundwater levels; consequently, the groundwater inflow to streams decreases. The reduction in base flow and alteration...

Extreme changes to key waterfowl habitats in the Klamath Basin (KB) on the Oregon–California border and the Sacramento Valley (SV) in California, USA, have occurred since 1980. The spatial distribution of Pacific greater white‐fronted geese (Anser albifrons sponsa; geese) has likewise changed among these areas and population size has grown...

Beginning in 2010, sections of Underwood Creek in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, have undergone reconstruction to allow for improved fish habitat and better management of storm flows. In addition, dam and drop structures were removed to help improve fish migration while reintroducing several native fish species. With the reconstruction of Underwood...

In aquifers, acetylene (C2H2) is a product of abiotic degradation of trichloroethene (TCE) catalyzed by in situ minerals. C2H2 can, in turn, inhibit multiple microbial processes including TCE dechlorination and metabolisms that commonly support dechlorination, in addition to supporting the growth of acetylenotrophic microorganisms. Previously, C2H2 was shown to support TCE reductive dechlorination in...

Boreal peatland forests have relatively low species diversity and thus impacts of climate change on one or more dominant species could shift ecosystem function. Despite abundant soil water availability, shallowly rooted vascular plants within peatlands may not be able to meet foliar demand for water under drought or heat events...

The bioavailability of dissolved Pt(IV) and polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) of five different nominal hydrodynamic diameters (20, 30, 50, 75, and 95 nm) was characterized in laboratory experiments using the model freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis. Dissolved Pt(IV) and all nanoparticle sizes were bioavailable to L. stagnalis. Platinum bioavailability, inferred from conditional uptake...

Historical estimates of the area occupied by overwintering Danaus plexippus (monarchs) in central Mexico (between winters of 1976 and 1991) were published in García-Serrano and others (2004) and more recently in Mawdsley and others (2020). Our primary objectives were to identify the specific data that informed those estimates and, importantly,...

Members of the freshwater catfishes (order Siluriformes) are capable of transintestinal expulsion of foreign bodies, including internally implanted tags, which can bias movement and survival estimates. We evaluated long-term (120-week) retention rates of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in a laboratory setting to assess potential tag loss in Stonecat Noturus...

A new methodology that uses recent advances in unsaturated soil mechanics and hydrology was developed and tested. The approach consists of using soil suction and moisture content field information in the prediction of the likelihood of landslide movement. The testing ground was an active landslide on I-70 west of the...

We evaluated the effectiveness of a distance sampling from roads program for estimating population sizes of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) from 2001 to 2015 in parks of the National Capital Region (NCR), National Parks Service. Distance sampling is a method for estimating the density of organisms using a distribution of...

The first marginal pectoral fin ray (fin spine) is the most common structure used for estimating the age of sturgeons, including Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens. However, conflicting results from studies on the effects of fin spine removal have made some managers hesitant about the practice. We investigated whether the second pectoral...

An increase in injection activity associated with energy production in southern Kansas starting in 2013 has been linked to the occurrence of more than 130,000 earthquakes (M −1.5 to 4.9) between 2014 and 2017. Studies suggest that the dramatic increase in seismicity rate is related to wastewater injection into the...

Animal populations face increased threats to mobility and access to critical habitat from a variety of human disturbances including roads, residential development, agriculture, and energy development. Disturbance from human hunting is known to alter habitat use in ungulates, but recent work suggests that hunting may also trigger the onset of...

The Keweenawan large igneous province (LIP) of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is perhaps the most prolifically and diversely mineralized LIP known on Earth (Nicholson et al., 1992). The MRS is an approximately 2,200 km curvilinear continental rift that stretches from Kansas northeast to the Lake Superior...