Using remote sensing to identify habitat for wintering Henslow's Sparrows (Centronyx henslowii)
Sierra A. Moore, Abigail W. Dwire, Thomas J. Prebyl, Todd M. Schneider, Elizabeth Ann Hunter
2024, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (136) 436-447
The Henslow's Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii) is a grassland bird species that overwinters in the southeastern United States and is a species of conservation concern due to population declines primarily caused by habitat loss. Henslow's Sparrows often overwinter in marginal habitats, such as powerline rights-of-way (ROWs), clear cuts, and field edges...
Structured decision-making workshop: Chronic wasting disease management in free-ranging cervids in Massachusetts
Martin J. R Feehan, Jonathan D. Cook, Margaret McEachran, Susan M. McCarthy, David Wattles, Meghan Crawford, Michael Huguenin, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo
2024, Cooperator Science Series FWS/CSS-161-2024
This document describes the results of a 2.5-day rapid decision prototype workshop that evaluated management activities for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Massachusetts (MA) that were either proactive (i.e., actions taken prior to CWD arrival/detection) or reactive (i.e., actions taken after CWD arrival/detection). The workshop was led by members of...
A meta-analysis highlights the idiosyncratic nature of tradeoffs in laboratory models of virus evolution
Ketty Kabengele, Wendy Christine Turner, Paul E. Turner, C. Brandon Ogbunugafor
2024, Virus Evolution (10)
Different theoretical frameworks have been invoked to guide the study of virus evolution. Three of the more prominent ones are (i) the evolution of virulence, (ii) life history theory, and (iii) the generalism–specialism dichotomy. All involve purported tradeoffs between traits that define the evolvability and constraint of virus-associated phenotypes. However,...
Rock sample photogrammetry
Lucas Leonidus Evart
2024, Preprint
This step-by-step protocol describes the photogrammetry process used by the U.S. Geological Survey Spokane Imaging Lab (SPIMG) lab to create 3D models of geologic samples. Steps related to photographing small objects are applicable to photogrammetry in general, however, SPIMG-specific steps involving lab hardware and software may not be....
Abundance-mediated species interactions
Joshua P. Twining, Ben Augustine, J. Andrew Royle, Angela K. Fuller
2024, Ecology (106)
Species interactions shape biodiversity patterns, community assemblage, and the dynamics of wildlife populations. Ecological theory posits that the strength of interspecific interactions is fundamentally underpinned by the population sizes of the involved species. Nonetheless, prevalent approaches for modeling species interactions predominantly center around occupancy states. Here, we use simulations to...
The Europa Imaging System (EIS) investigation
E.P. Turtle, A.S. McEwen, G.W. Patterson, C. M. Ernst, C.M. Elder, K.A. Slack, S.E. Hawkins, J. McDermott, H. M. Meyer, R. DeMajistre, R. Espiritu, H. Seifert, J. Niewola, Michael T. Bland, M.K. Becker, J. Centurelli, G.C. Collins, P. Corlies, H. Darlington, I. J. Daubar, C. Derr, C. Detelich, E. Donald, W. Edens, L. Fletcher, C. Gardner, F. Graham, C.J. Hansen, C. Haslebacher, A.G. Hayes, D. Humm, T.A. Hurford, Randolph L. Kirk, N. W. Kutsop, W.J. Lees, D. T. Lewis, S. London, A. Magner, M.A. Mills, A.C. Barr Mlinar, F. Morgan, F. Nimmo, A. Ocasio Milanes, S. Osterman, C.B. Phillips, A. Pommerol, L. Prockter, L.C. Quick, G. Robbins, J.M. Soderblom, B.A. Stewart, A. Stickle, S.S. Sutton, N. Thomas, I. Torres, O.J. Tucker, R.B. Van Auken, K.A. Wilk
2024, Space Science Reviews (220)
The Europa Imaging System (EIS) consists of a Narrow-Angle Camera (NAC) and a Wide-Angle Camera (WAC) that are designed to work together to address high-priority science objectives regarding Europa’s geology, composition, and the nature of its ice shell. EIS accommodates variable geometry and illumination during rapid, low-altitude flybys with both...
Salt marsh habitats and diamondback terrapins in a rapidly changing climate: A review
Margaret M. Lamont, Michael J. Osland, Melissa M. Baustian
2024, Estuaries and Coasts (48)
The impacts associated with global climate change (e.g., sea-level rise, tropical storms, and warming temperatures) are expected to alter predator–prey interactions, foundation species, and plant community structure in coastal ecosystems. While the complex dynamics of these habitats have been examined under future climate predictions, few ecosystem models incorporate influences from...
Flood-inundation maps for the Cuyahoga River at Jaite, Ohio, 2024
Matthew T. Whitehead, Chad J. Ostheimer
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5115
Digital flood-inundation maps for a nearly 6-mile reach of the Cuyahoga River at Jaite, Ohio, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Board of Trustees. The maps depict estimates of the extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water...
Increasing soil water drought in response to altered precipitation timing across the western United States
Fangyue Zhang, Joel A. Biederman, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, John B. Bradford, Sasha C. Reed, William K. Smith
2024, Ecohydrology (18)
Recent trends of rising temperatures and longer droughts between precipitation events are impacting water-limited dryland ecosystems in the western United States. Although ecosystem drought response depends directly on soil moisture, trends in soil moisture (e.g., edaphic drought) remain more poorly explored than precipitation (e.g., meteorological drought), representing an important knowledge...
Using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method to estimate thickness of the Barry Arm landslide, Prince William Sound, Alaska
Andrew L. Collins, Kate E. Allstadt, Dennis M. Staley
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1071
Conducting detailed investigations of large landslides is difficult, especially in the subsurface, largely due to environmental factors such as steep slopes, difficult access, and numerous objective hazards. These factors have made it challenging to accurately estimate the depth to the failure surface of the Barry Arm landslide, a large (roughly...
The dynamics of sea otter prey selection under population growth and expansion
Clint Leach, Ben Weitzman, Jim Bodkin, Daniel Esler, George G. Esslinger, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Daniel Monson, Jamie N. Womble, Mevin B. Hooten
2024, Ecosphere (15)
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) were extirpated from much of their range in the North Pacific by the early 1900s but have made a remarkable recovery in Southeast Alaska. Sea otter populations have been particularly successful in Glacier Bay, Alaska, a protected tidewater glacier fjord with a diverse and productive nearshore...
Monitoring animal populations with cameras using open, multistate, N-mixture models
Alexej P.K. Siren, Michael T. Hallworth, Jillian R. Kilborn, Chris A. Bernier, Nicholas L. Fortin, Katherina D. Geider, Riley K. Patry, Rachel M. Cliche, Leighlan S. Prout, Suzanne J. Gifford, Scott Wixsom, Toni Lyn Morelli, Tammy L. Wilson
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
Remote cameras have become a mainstream tool for studying wildlife populations. For species whose developmental stages or states are identifiable in photographs, there are opportunities for tracking population changes and estimating demographic rates. Recent developments in hierarchical models allow for the estimation of ecological states and rates over time for...
Assessment of the interconnection between Tampa Bay and the Floridan aquifer system: Historical groundwater data compilation and analysis, 1976–2022
Jeremy D. Decker
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5073
The U.S. Geological Survey used existing data collected after the last major navigational channel modification in the mid-1980s to investigate groundwater levels and chloride concentrations in wells in the Floridan aquifer system and other aquifers beneath and near Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay is located on the west-central coast of Florida...
A partially nonergodic ground-motion model for Fourier amplitude spectra for the San Francisco Bay area, California, USA
Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Ryan Peterson, James Andrew Smith, Brad T. Aagaard
2024, Conference Paper
We develop a partially nonergodic ground-motion model (GMM) for Fourier amplitude spectra for the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA, using the Bayless and Abrahamson (2019) GMM as a reference ergodic GMM and developing location-dependent adjustments to the predicted median and variance. We compile regional ground-motion data from moment magnitude (𝑀w)...
Natural resource management confronts the growing scale and severity of ecosystem responses to drought and wildfire
Seth M. Munson, Anna L. Vaughn, Brian Petersen, John B. Bradford, Michael C. Duniway
2024, Ecology and Society (29)
Intensification of drought and wildfire associated with climate change has triggered widespread ecosystem stress and transformation. Natural resource managers are on the frontline of these changes, yet their perspectives on whether management actions match the scale and align with the severity of ecosystem responses to improve outcomes are not well...
Geophysical modeling of a possible blind geothermal system near Battle Mountain, NV
Tait E. Earney, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Jared R. Peacock, James Faulds, William D. Schermerhorn, Grant Harold Rea-Downing, Jacob Elliott Anderson, Cary R. Lindsey, Maria Richards
2024, Conference Paper, Using the Earth to save the Earth
The northeastern portion of the Reese River basin in north-central Nevada is the focus of detailed geophysical and geological studies as part of the INGENIOUS project, which aims to identify new, commercially viable hidden geothermal systems in the Great Basin region of the western U.S. This location, herein referred to...
Reconciling bias in moderate magnitude earthquake ground motions predicted by numerical simulations
K. C. Sajan, Chukwuebuka C. Nweke, Jonathon P. Stewart, Robert Graves
2024, Conference Paper
Recent studies found a significant underprediction in ground motion intensity measures for finite-fault simulations of moderate magnitude events in southern California relative to established ground motion models. This study aims to understand the source(s) of this bias by evaluating ground motion residuals. For this, simulations have been performed for a...
Amphibian and reptile conservation in the United States of America
Deanna H. Olson, David S. Pilliod
Susan C. Walls, Katherine O'Donnell, editor(s)
2024, Book chapter
Wildlife stewardship is of utmost importance in the United States, where management for sustainable natural resources is extended to native species including amphibians and reptiles. The U.S. wildlife conservation framework is a nested system of authorities regulating species and habitats, science-based management and policy decisions, and adaptive management as new...
Colorado Delta riparian plant health improvement
Pamela L. Nagler
2024, Conference Paper
The riparian corridor along Mexico’s arid Colorado River Delta is being affected by reduction in river flow and increases in heat, drought, human infrastructure, and disturbances. These disturbances can change riparian land cover by limiting water availability for riparian plant species, increasing fire intensity and frequency, and increasing soil and...
A journey to the center of the USGS National Strong-motion Project processing and beyond
Lisa Sue Schleicher, Jamison Haase Steidl, Eric M. Thompson, Alan K. Yong, Jeff Brody, James Luke Blair, Mike Hearne, Brad T. Aagaard, Susan E. Hough, Han Shao, Garet Huddleston, Keira Heilpern, Kristin Marano, Gabe Ferragut, B. Worden, David J. Wald, Jason De Cristofaro, Adria Ruth McClain, B. Dunham, D. Nget, J. Aragon, J. Gomez, V. Amador, V. Carrasco Rodriquez, E. E. Luna, D. Cembalski, D. Childs, J. Smith, D. Croker, L. Gee
2024, Conference Paper
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Strong Motion Project (NSMP) has the primary U.S. government responsibility to acquire, process, and disseminate significant strong-motion earthquake ground motion records measured at surficial free-field stations, structures (buildings, dams, and bridges, and geotechnical arrays to the earthquake engineering community. As a result of...
Models no not provide proof: An example of model ambiguity and application of isotopic data in a mine pit lake
Connor P. Newman
2024, Conference Paper
Geochemical and hydrologic models of pit lakes are commonly used in environmental regulatory decisions to predict future water quality and hydrologic conditions and to understand existing pit lakes. Models may be used to quantify sulfide oxidation, predict thermal/chemical stratification and mixing, and better understand connections between pit lakes and aquifers....
New approaches to wildlife health
Marcela Uhart, Jonathan M. Sleeman
2024, Scientific and Technical Review (Special Edition) 145-151
Recent environmental change and biodiversity loss have modified ecosystems, altering disease dynamics. For wildlife health, this trend has translated into increased potential for disease transmission and reduced capacity to overcome significant population-level impacts, which may place species at risk of extinction. Thus, current approaches to wildlife health focus not on...
Climate vulnerability assessment of Oregon hatchery programs
Hannah Barrett, Melanie J. Davis
2024, Report
The goal of this project was to assess the vulnerability to climate change impacts for a sample set of hatchery programs representing different geographic areas and primary anadromous species raised in state-managed Oregon hatcheries (Summary Figure 1). Freshwater and marine ecosystem processes can significantly influence salmon and steelhead survival, and...
Separating signals in elevation data improves supervised machine learning predictions for hydrothermal favorability
Pascal Domingo Caraccioli Salinas, Stanley Paul Mordensky, Jacob DeAngelo, Erick R. Burns, John Lipor
2024, Conference Paper, Using the Earth to save the Earth: Geothermal Resources Council transactions
A recent study identified topography (land surface elevation above sea level) as an important input dataset (feature) for predicting the location of hydrothermal systems in the Great Basin in Nevada. Yet, topography is generally a result of more than one geological process and may consequently contain multiple distinct signals. For...
Electrofishing Sandusky River grass carp spawning grounds may disrupt spawning
Ryan E. Brown, Christine M. Mayer, Corbin David Hilling, Song S. Qian, James Roberts
2024, Management of Biological Invasions (15) 519-534
Invasive grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella spawning was confirmed in Lake Erie with the collection of fertilized eggs in the Sandusky River, Ohio in 2015. Managers responded with initiation of adult grass carp removal in 2017. Hydrodynamic modeling revealed a potential spawning location in downtown Fremont, Ohio (41.3455; −83.1110), which was...
