Optimization of salt marsh management at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut, through use of structured decision making
Laurel E. Low, Hilary A. Neckles, James E. Lyons, Jessica L. Nagel, Susan C. Adamowicz, Toni Mikula, Kristina Vagos, Richard Potvin
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1139
Structured decision making is a systematic, transparent process for improving the quality of complex decisions by identifying measurable management objectives and feasible management actions; predicting the potential consequences of management actions relative to the stated objectives; and selecting a course of action that maximizes the total benefit achieved and balances...
Managing for a changing climate: A bended interdisciplinary climate course
Elinor Martin, Renee McPherson, Emma Kuster, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson
2020, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (101)
We developed a blended (or hybrid) interactive course—Managing for a Changing Climate—that provides a holistic view of climate change. The course results from communication with university students and natural and cultural resource managers as well...
Influence of sediment and stream transport on detecting a source of environmental DNA
Meredith B. Nevers, Katarzyna Przybyla-Kelly, Dawn A. Shively, Charles C. Morris, Joshua Dickey, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used for early detection, population estimations, and assessment of potential spread of invasive species, but questions remain about factors that influence eDNA detection results. Efforts are being made to understand how physical, chemical, and biological factors—settling, resuspension, dispersion, eDNA stability/decay—influence eDNA estimations and potentially population...
Effects of fish populations on Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) and Yellow-billed Loon (G. adamsii) lake occupancy and chick production in northern Alaska
Brian D. Uher-Koch, Kenneth G. Wright, Hannah R. Uher-Koch, Joel A. Schmutz
2020, Arctic (73) 405-550
Predator populations are vulnerable to changes in prey distribution or availability. With warming temperatures, lake ecosystems in the Arctic are predicted to change in terms of hydrologic flow, water levels, and connectivity with other lakes. We surveyed lakes in northern Alaska to understand how shifts in the...
Procedures and best practices for trigonometric leveling in the U.S. Geological Survey
Michael L. Noll, Paul H. Rydlund Jr.
2020, Techniques and Methods 11-D3
With the advent of highly precise total stations and modern surveying instrumentation, trigonometric leveling has become a compelling alternative to conventional leveling methods for establishing vertical-control networks and for perpetuating a datum to field sites. Previous studies of trigonometric-leveling measurement uncertainty proclaim that first-, second-, and third-order accuracies may be...
Forest management under megadrought: Urgent actions needed at finer-scale and higher intensity
Jason P. Field, David D. Breshears, John B. Bradford, Darin J. Law, Xiaohui Feng, Craig D. Allen
2020, Frontiers in Forests and Global Change (3)
Drought and warming increasingly are causing widespread tree die-offs and extreme wildfires. Forest managers are struggling to improve anticipatory forest management practices given more frequent, extensive, and severe wildfire and tree die-off events triggered by “hotter drought”—drought under warmer than historical conditions. Of even greater concern is the increasing...
Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) home range, movement and forays revealed by GPS-tracking
R.V. Blakley, R.B. Siegel, Elisabeth B. Webb, C.P. Dillingham, M. Tracy Johnson, D.C. Kesler
2020, Journal of Raptor Research (54) 388-401
The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is an apex predator occurring across North America and Eurasia. The species has received considerable conservation focus in late-seral conifer forests of western North America, where its habitat has been substantially reduced and altered by timber harvest and is increasingly...
Breeding birds of the upper Mississippi River floodplain forest: One community in a changing forest, 1994 to 1997
Eileen M. Kirsch
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5114
Floodplain forest on the upper Mississippi River (UMR), a unique habitat in the Midwest that is important for many bird species, has been reduced and is undergoing continued reduction and changes in structure and species diversity because of river engineering and invasive species. Hydrological changes are causing tree diversity to...
Bedrock geologic map of the Springfield 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Windsor County, Vermont, and Sullivan County, New Hampshire
Gregory J. Walsh, Peter M. Valley, Thomas R. Armstrong, Nicholas M. Ratcliffe, Arthur J. Merschat, Beau J. Gentry
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3462
The bedrock geology of the 7.5- by 15-minute Springfield quadrangle consists of highly deformed and metamorphosed Mesoproterozoic through Devonian metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks. In the west, Mesoproterozoic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex are the oldest rocks and form the eastern side of the Chester dome. The Moretown slice structurally...
Hydrogeology and groundwater geochemistry of till confining units and confined aquifers in glacial deposits near Litchfield, Cromwell, Akeley, and Olivia, Minnesota, 2014–18
Jared J. Trost, Anna-Turi Maher, William W. Simpkins, Alyssa N. Witt, James R. Stark, Justin Blum, Andrew M. Berg
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5127
Confined (or buried) aquifers of glacial origin overlain by till confining units provide drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents. The sustainability of these groundwater resources is not well understood because hydraulic properties of till that control vertical groundwater fluxes (leakage) to underlying aquifers are largely unknown. The...
Approaches to highly parameterized inversion: PEST++ Version 5, a software suite for parameter estimation, uncertainty analysis, management optimization and sensitivity analysis
Jeremy T. White, Randall J. Hunt, Michael N. Fienen, John E. Doherty
2020, Techniques and Methods 7-C26
PEST++ Version 5 extends and enhances the functionality of the PEST++ Version 3 software suite, providing environmental modeling practitioners access to updated Version 3 tools as well as new tools to support decision making with environmental models. Version 5 of PEST++ includes tools for global sensitivity analysis (PESTPP-SEN); least-squares parameter...
Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Yenisey-Khatanga Basin Province
Timothy R. Klett, Janet K. Pitman
2020, Professional Paper 1824-R
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the potential for undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Yenisey-Khatanga Basin Province as part of the USGS Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal. The province is situated between the Taimyr-Kara high (Kara block, Central Taimyr fold belt, and South Taimyr fold belt) and the Siberian craton....
A probabilistic assessment of tephra-fall hazards at Hanford, Washington, from a future eruption of Mount St. Helens
Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Hans F. Schwaiger
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1133
Hanford, Washington (USA) is the construction site of a multi-billion-dollar high-level nuclear waste treatment facility. This site lies 200 kilometers (km) east of Mount St. Helens (MSH), the most active volcano in the contiguous United States. Tephra from a future MSH eruption could pose a hazard to the air intake...
Living with wildfire in Ashland, Oregon: 2020 data report
Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Chris Chambers, Katie Gibble, Christopher M. Barth, Colleen Donovan, Carolyn Wagner, Alison Lerch, James Meldrum, Patricia A. Champ
2020, Report
Wildfire affects many types of communities. Improved understandings of urban conflagrations are leading some fire-prone communities, such as Ashland, Oregon, to expand their attention from focusing solely on the intermix fringe to managing wildfire threats across more urbanized wildland urban interface (WUI) communities. The core intent of this project was...
Alaska and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3068
Alaska’s landscapes are changing at a more rapid rate than those of the lower 48. Its large size makes the collection of aerial surveys—a biannual occurrence for the conterminous United States—cost-prohibitive. That means the Landsat series of land imaging satellites offer the only publicly available, up-to-date imagery of land conditions...
Maine and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3066
Maine is a place of rocky coastlines, of rich maritime history symbolized by lighthouses dotting the ocean bluffs, and of wondrous nature areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. But Maine is a place of changes, too. Climate variability has brought the state heavier and more...
Ohio and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3065
In Ohio, remote-sensing systems such as Landsat play an important role in monitoring natural resources and informing management decisions on everything from dangerous freshwater algal blooms to gypsy moth defoliation and more. Landsat imagery underpins public and private sector decisions in Ohio and across the Nation for effective adaptation to...
New Mexico and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3060
New Mexico relies on observations from the Landsat series of satellites operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. Data from Landsat also assist New Mexico in managing its precious water resources for agriculture, recreation, and industrial and community consumption. Landsat supports a variety of public and private sector decisions across New...
Minnesota and Landsat
U.S. Geological Survey
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3059
Landsat land-imaging satellites underpin public and private sector decisions in the Minnesota and across the Nation for effective adaptation to changing landscapes. Those decisions often lead to enhanced agricultural productivity, smart urban development, and sustainable forest management. Landsat also enables more accurate inland lake water-quality monitoring, increased disaster resilience and...
Water resources of Red River Parish, Louisiana
Angela L. Robinson, Vincent E. White
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3053
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Red River Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, about...
Water resources of Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Angela L. Robinson, Vincent E. White
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3052
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. In 2014, about 13.03...
Optimization assessment of a groundwater-level observation network in the Middle Rio Grande Basin, New Mexico
Andre B. Ritchie, Jeff D. Pepin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5007
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), measures groundwater levels continuously (hourly) and discretely (semiannually and annually) at a network of wells and piezometers (hereafter called the observation network) within the Middle Rio Grande Basin in central New Mexico. Groundwater levels that...
The Long-term effect of bleeding for Limulus amebocyte lysate on annual survival and recapture of tagged horseshoe crabs
David R. Smith, Joshua Newhard, Conor P. McGowan, C. Alyssa Butler
2020, Frontiers in Marine Science (7)
In the U.S., 525,000 horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) per year have been captured during 2013–2017, brought to biomedical facilities, and bled to produce Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), then mostly released to the area of capture. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission estimates short-term bleeding-induced mortality to be 15% (4% to...
Bathymetric map, surface area, and capacity of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, northeastern Oklahoma, 2019
Shelby L. Hunter, A.R. Trevisan, Jennifer Villa, Kevin A. Smith
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3467
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Grand River Dam Authority, completed a high-resolution multibeam bathymetric survey to compute a new area and capacity table for Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma. Area and capacity tables identify the relation between the elevation of the water surface...
Subsea permafrost carbon stocks and climate change sensitivity estimated by expert assessment
Sara Sayedi, B.F. Thornton, Benjamin Abbott, Jennifer M. Frederick, Jorien E. Vonk, Paul Overduin, Christina Schadel, E.A.G. Schuur, A. Bourbonnais, N. Demidova, Anatoly Gavrilov, Shengping He, Gustaf Gustaf Hugelius, Martin Jakobsson, Miriam C. Jones, DoongJoo Joung, Gleb Kraev, Robie W. Macdonald, A. David McGuire, Cuicui Mu, M. O’Regan, Kathryn M. Schreiner, Christian Stranne, Elena Pizhankova, A. Vasiliev, S. Westermann, Jay P. Zarnetske, Tingjun Zhang, M Ghandehari, Sarah Baeumler, Brian C. Brown, Rebecca J. Frei
2020, Environmental Research Letters (15)
The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas contain large stocks of organic matter (OM) and methane (CH4), representing a potential ecosystem feedback to climate change not included in international climate agreements. We performed a structured expert assessment with 25 permafrost researchers to combine quantitative...
