Using remote sensing products to predict recovery of vegetation across space and time following energy development
Adrian P. Monroe, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O’Donnell, Daniel Manier, Collin Homer, Patrick J. Anderson
2020, Ecological Indicators (110)
Using localized studies to understand how ecosystems recover can create uncertainty in recovery predictions across landscapes. Large archives of remote sensing data offer opportunities for quantifying the spatial and temporal factors influencing recovery at broad scales and predicting recovery. For example, energy production is a widespread and expanding land use...
Leave no trace communication: Effectiveness based on assessments of resource conditions
Nita Settina, Jeffrey L. Marion, Forrest Schwartz
2020, Journal of Interpretation Research (25) 5-25
The efficacy of different Leave No Trace (LNT) communication interventions designed to persuade forest visitors to practice low-impact camping behaviors were evaluated. Three depreciative campsite behaviors—littering, tree damage, and surface disposal of human waste—were evaluated by before-and-after resource condition assessments. Three LNT communication interventions were evaluated against...
Developing behavioral and evidence-based programs for wildfire risk mitigation
Hilary Byerly, James Meldrum, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Patricia A. Champ, Jamie Gomez, Lilia C. Falk, Christopher M. Barth
2020, Fire (3)
The actions of residents in the wildland–urban interface can influence the private and social costs of wildfire. Wildfire programs that encourage residents to take action are often delivered without evidence of effects on behavior. Research from the field of behavioral science shows that simple, often low-cost changes...
2018 Kaua'i forest bird population estimates and trends
Eben H. Paxton, Kevin W. Brinck, Lisa H. Crampton, Justin Hite, Maria Costantini
2020, Report
Kaua‘i's native forest birds have experienced steep declines since the beginning of systematic surveys in 1981, and declines have accelerated in recent decades. This report details the analysis of the most recent surveys conducted in 2018. Incorporating the new survey results, long-term trends continue to...
Quality assurance/quality control procedure for New Jersey’s water-use data for the New Jersey Water Transfer Data System (NJWaTr)
Jennifer L. Shourds
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1085
This report is an instructional reference document that describes methods developed and used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New Jersey Water Science Center (NJWSC) to assure the quality and completeness of water-use data as provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) Bureau of Water Allocation. These...
Trends in recent historical and projected climate data for the Colorado River Basin and potential effects on groundwater availability
Fred D. Tillman, Subhrendu Gangopadhyay, Tom Pruitt
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5107
Understanding recent historical and projected trends in precipitation and temperature in the Colorado River Basin, and estimating what the projected changes in these climate parameters may mean for groundwater resources in the region, is important for water managers and policymakers to sustainably manage water resources in the basin. Historical (1896–2019)...
Alkalic-type epithermal gold deposit model
Karen D. Kelley, Paul G. Spry, Virginia T. McLemore, David L. Fey, Eric D. Anderson
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-R
This report summarizes the primary characteristics of alkalic-type epithermal gold (Au) deposits and provides an updated descriptive model. These deposits, primarily of Mesozoic to Neogene age, are among the largest epithermal gold deposits in the world. Considered a subset of low-sulfidation epithermal deposits, they are spatially and genetically linked to...
History of U.S. Geological Survey scientific peer review and approval, 1879–2019
Keith Kirk, Carolyn Reid, Sandra Cooper
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3050
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a bureau within the U.S. Department of the Interior, has valued and used a scientific peer review and approval process since its creation in 1879. Bureau approval, formerly called Director’s approval, has been described in several USGS documents since 1900, and peer review has been...
Spatial variability in seasonal snowpack trends across the Rio Grande headwaters (1984 - 2017)
Graham A. Sexstone, Colin A. Penn, Glen Liston, Kelly Gleason, C. David Moeser, David W. Clow
2020, Journal of Hydrometeorology (21) 2713-2733
This study evaluated the spatial variability of trends in simulated snowpack properties across the Rio Grande headwaters of Colorado using the SnowModel snow evolution modeling system. SnowModel simulations were performed using a grid resolution of 100 m and 3-hourly time step over a 34-yr period (1984–2017). Atmospheric forcing was provided...
A synthesis of patterns of environmental mercury inputs, exposure and effects in New York State
David C. Evers, Amy K. Sauer, Douglas A. Burns, Nicholas S Fisher, Diane Bertok, Evan M. Adams, Mark E H Burton, Charles T. Driscoll
2020, Ecotoxicology (29) 1565-1589
Mercury (Hg) pollution is an environmental problem that adversely affects human and ecosystem health at local, regional, and global scales—including within New York State. More than two-thirds of the Hg currently released to the environment originates, either directly or indirectly, from human activities. Since the early...
Global challenges for nitrogen science-policy interactions: Towards the International Nitrogen Management System (INMS) and improved coordination between multi-lateral environmental agreements
Mark A. Sutton, Clare M. Howard, Will J. Brownlie, David Kanter, Wim de Vries, Tapan Adhiya, Jean Ometto, Jill S. Baron, Wilfried Winiwarter, Xiaotang Ju, Cargele Masso, Oene Oenema, N. Raghuram, Hans J.M. van Grinsven, Isabelle Van der Beck, Christopher J. Cox, Steffen Hansen, Ramesh Ramachandran, W. Kevin Hicks
2020, Book chapter, Just enough nitrogen
Human interference with the nitrogen cycle has doubled reactive nitrogen inputs to the global biosphere over the past century, leading to changes across multiple environmental issues that require urgent action. Nitrogen fertilizers and biological nitrogen fixation have allowed benefits of increased crop harvest and livestock production, while in...
Trihalomethane precursors: Land use hot spots, persistence during transport, and management options
Robert S. Eckard, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Brian A. Pellerin, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Peter J. Hernes
2020, Science of the Total Environment (742)
To meet drinking water regulations, rather than investing in costly treatment plant operations, managers can look for ways to improve source water quality; this requires understanding watershed sources and fates of constituents of concern. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are one of the major classes of regulated disinfection byproducts, formed when a specific fraction of the organic...
The INI North American Regional Nitrogen Center: 2011–2015 nitrogen activities in North America
Jill S. Baron, Eric A. Davidson
2020, Book chapter, Just enough nitrogen
The North American Nitrogen Center (NANC) carries out three main charges: (1) conducting assessments on nitrogen (N) flows within North America and the consequences for human health, water resources, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions; (2) facilitating efforts to develop solutions to the problem of excess nitrogen in agricultural,...
Exploring overlap of feather molting and migration in Tundra Swans using δ2H analysis
Nathan Wolf, T. Scott Smeltz, Jeffrey Welker, Matthew Rogers, Craig R. Ely
2020, Animal Migration (7) 58-66
Determining the processes that shape the relative timing of energetically-costly events in the annual cycle of migrating birds is important to our understanding of avian phenology and ecology. We paired satellite tracking and hydrogen stable isotope analysis (δ2H) to examine the relative timing of two such events – migration and...
Diets of double-crested cormorants in the Winnebago System, Wisconsin
Ryan P. Koenigs, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Charles D. Lovell, Daniel A. Isermann, Adam Nickel
2020, Fisheries Management and Ecology (28) 183-193
Double-crested cormorant Phalacrocorox auritus Lesson (cormorant) populations have increased throughout the Great Lakes region of North America causing concern related to the impact of cormorant predation on fish communities. A recent decline in yellow perch Perca flavescens (Mitchill) abundance within the Lake Winnebago System, Wisconsin, USA, prompted an assessment of cormorant diets to evaluate...
Shorebird reproductive response to exceptionally early and late springs varies across sites in Arctic Alaska
Rebecca L McGuire, Richard B. Lanctot, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Joe Liebezeit
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (8)
While increases in overall temperatures are widely reported in the Arctic, large inter-annual variation in spring weather, with extreme early and late conditions, is also occurring. Using data collected from three sites in Arctic Alaska, we explored how shorebird breeding density, nest initiation, nest synchrony, nest survival, and...
Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic
Sarah C Davidson, Gil Bohrer, Eliezer Gurarie, Scott LaPoint, Peter J Mahoney, Natalie Boelman, Jan UH Eitel, Laura R. Prugh, Lee A. Vierling, Jyoti Jennewein, Emma Grier, Ophelie Couriot, Allicia P Kelly, Arjan JH Meddens, Ruth Y Oliver, Roland Kays, Martin Wikelski, Tomas Aarvak, Josh T. Ackerman, Monica Almeida e Silva, José A. Alves, Erin Bayne, Bryan Bedrosian, Jerrold L. Belant, Andrew M Berdahl, Alicia Berlin, Dominique Berteaux, Joel Bety, Dmitrij Boiko, Travis L. Booms, Bridget L Borg, Stan Boutin, W. Sean Boyd, Kane Brides, Stephen C. Brown, Victor N. Bulyuk, Kurt K Burnham, David Cabot, Michael L. Casazza, Katherine S. Christie, Erica H. Craig, Shanti E. Davis, Tracy Davison, Dominic Demma, Christopher R. DeSorbo, Andrew E. Dixon, Robert Domenech, Gotz Eichhorn, Kyle Elliott, Joseph R. Evenson, Klaus-Michael Exo, Steven Ferguson, Wolfgang Fiedler, Aaron T. Fisk, J. Fort, Alastair Franke, Mark R. Fuller, Stefan Garthe, Gilles Gauthier, Grant Gilchrist, Petr Glazov, Carrie E. Gray, David Gremillet, Larry Griffin, Mike Hallworth, Autumn-Lynn Harrison, Holly Hennin, J Mark Hipfner, James Hodson, James A. Johnson, Kyle Joly, Kimberly Jones, Todd E. Katzner, Jeff W Kidd, Elly Knight, Michael N. Kochert, Andrea Kolzsch, Helmut Kruckenberg, Benjamin J Lagassé, Sandra Lai, Jean-François Lamarre, Richard B. Lanctot, Nicholas C Larter, A David Latham, Christopher J. Latty, James P. Lawler, Don-Jean Leandri-Breton, Hansoo Lee, Stephen B. Lewis, Oliver P. Love, Jesper Madsen, Mark Maftei, Mark L. Mallory, Buck Mangipane, Mikhail Y. Markovets, Peter P. Marra, Rebecca L McGuire, Carol McIntyre, Emily A McKinnon, Tricia A. Miller, Sander Moonen, Tong Mu, Gerhard JDM Muskens, Janet Ng, Kerry L Nicholson, Ingar Jostein Oien, Cory T. Overton, Patricia A Owen, Allison G. L. Patterson, Aevar Petersen, Ivan Pokrovsky, Luke L. Powell, Rui Prieto, Petra Quillfeldt, Jennie Rausch, Kelsey Russell, Sarah T. Saalfeld, Hans Schekkerman, Joel A. Schmutz, Philipp Schwemmer, Dale R. Seip, Adam Shreading, Mónica A. Silva, Brian W. Smith, Fletcher Smith, Jeff P. Smith, Katherine RS Snell, Aleksandr Sokolov, Vasiliy Sokolov, Diana V Solovyeva, Mathew S Sorum, Grigori Tertitski, J. F. Therrien, Kasper Thorup, T. Lee Tibbitts, Ingrid Tulp, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Rob van Bemmelen, Steve Van Wilgenburg, Andrew L. Von Duyke, Jesse Watson, Bryan D Watts, Judy A Williams, Matthew Wilson, Jay Wright, Michael A Yates, David Yurkowski, Ramūnas Žydelis, Mark Hebblewhite
2020, Science (370) 712-715
The Arctic is entering a new ecological state, with alarming consequences for humanity. Animal-borne sensors offer a window into these changes. Although substantial animal tracking data from the Arctic and subarctic exist, most are difficult to discover and access. Here, we present the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), a...
Bedrock geologic map of the 15' Sleetmute A-2 quadrangle, southwestern Alaska
Robert Blodgett, Frederic H. Wilson, Nora B. Shew, James G. Clough
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3450
Twelve unnamed, bedrock stratigraphic units are recognized within the Sleetmute A-2 1:63,360-scale quadrangle of southwestern Alaska. These units range in age from late(?) Proterozoic through Devonian and can be divided into two distinct facies belts: (1) a southern facies of dominantly shallow-water platform carbonate and minor siliciclastic rocks (including Early...
Towards a U.S. national program for monitoring native bees
Hollis Woodward, Sarah Federman, Rosalind R. James, Bryan Danforth, Terry Griswold, David W. Inouye, Quinn McFrederick, Lora Morandin, Deborah Paul, Elizabeth Sellers, James P. Strange, Mace Vaughan, Neal M. Williams, Michael Branstetter, Casey T. Burns, James Cane, Alison B Cariveau, Daniel Cariveau, Anna Childers, Christopher Childers, Diana L. Cox-Foster, Elaine Evan, Kelsey K. Graham, Kevin Hackett, Kimberly Huntzinger, Rebecca Irwin, Shalene Jha, Sarah Lawson, Christina Liang, Margarita M. Lopez-Uribe, Andony Melathopoulos, Heather Moylett, Clint Otto, Lauren Ponisio, Leif L Richardson, Robyn Rose, Rajwinder Singh, Wayne Wehling
2020, Biological Conservation (252)
North America has more than 4000 bee species, yet we have little information on the health, distribution, and population trends of most of these species. In the United States, what information is available is distributed across multiple institutions, and efforts to...
Literature reviewed estimates of riparian consumptive water use in the drylands of Northeast Arizona, USA
Pamela L. Nagler
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1129
This report provides the best estimates of riparian area evapotranspiration (ET) on the rivers and streams of the Navajo Nation by (1) quantifying the natural riparian vegetation water use within the Little Colorado River watershed using a literature search for comparable riparian ET estimates, and (2) in conjunction with the...
Shorebird research at the U.S. Geological Survey Alaska Science Center
Dan Ruthrauff, T. Lee Tibbitts, John Pearce
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3056
Shorebirds—which include sandpipers, plovers, and oystercatchers—are perhaps best known by their presence on sandy beaches, running along the water’s edge while they probe for food. But they are probably less recognized for their impressive long-distance migrations. Millions of individuals travel from across the globe to breed throughout Alaska each spring,...
The cascading origin of the 2018 Kīlauea eruption and implications for future forecasting
Matthew R. Patrick, Bruce F. Houghton, Kyle R. Anderson, Michael P. Poland, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Ingrid A. Johanson, Weston Thelen, Tamar Elias
2020, Nature Communications (11)
The 2018 summit and flank eruption of Kīlauea Volcano was one of the largest volcanic events in Hawaiʻi in 200 years. Data suggest that a backup in the magma plumbing system at the long-lived Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption site caused widespread pressurization in the volcano, driving magma into the lower flank....
The firn meltwater Retention Model Intercomparison Project (RetMIP): Evaluation of nine firn models at four weather station sites on the Greenland ice sheet
Baptiste Vandecrux, Ruth Mottram, Peter Langen, Robert Fausto, Martin Olesen, C. Max Stevens, Vincent Verjans, Amber Lee, Stefan Ligtenberg, Peter Kuipers Munneke, Sergey S. Marchenko, Ward van Pelt, Colin R. Meyer, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Achim Heilig, Samira Samimi, Shawn J. Marshall, Horst Machguth, Michael J. MacFerrin, Masashi Niwano, Olivia L. Miller, Clifford I. Voss, Jason E. Box
2020, The Cryosphere (14) 3785-3810
Perennial snow, or firn, covers 80 % of the Greenland ice sheet and has the capacity to retain surface meltwater, influencing the ice sheet mass balance and contribution to sea-level rise. Multilayer firn models are traditionally used to simulate firn processes and estimate meltwater retention. We present, intercompare and evaluate outputs...
High prevalence of biliary neoplasia in white perch Morone americana: Potential roles of bile duct parasites and environmental contaminants
Mark A Matsche, Vicki S. Blazer, Erin Pulster, Patricia M. Mazik
2020, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms (141) 195-224
Recent surveys of white perch Morone americana from Chesapeake Bay, USA, revealed a high prevalence of hepatic and biliary lesions, including neoplasia, and bile duct parasites. Here, we describe lesions in the liver and gallbladder and evaluate for statistical associations among lesions, parasites, and biomarkers of chemical exposure in fish from 2...
Short-term impact of sediment addition on plants and invertebrates in a southern California salt marsh
Kaelin J McAtee, Karen M. Thorne, Christine R Whitcraft
2020, PLoS ONE (15)
The implementation and monitoring of management strategies is integral to protect coastal marshes from increased inundation and submergence under sea-level rise. Sediment addition is one such strategy in which sediment is added to marshes to raise relative elevations, decrease tidal inundation, and enhance ecosystem processes. This...
