Glucocorticoid and glycemic responses to immune challenge in a viviparous snake afflicted with an emerging mycosis
Craig M. Lind, Joseph Agugliaro, Jason Ortega, Jenna N. Palmisano, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Tran Truong, Terence M. Farrell
2024, Journal of Experimental Biology (227)
Disease may be both a cause and consequence of stress, and physiological responses to infectious disease may involve stress coping mechanisms that have important fitness consequences. For example, glucocorticoid and glycemic responses may affect host fitness by altering resource allocation and use in...
Temporal, spatial, and chemical evolution of Quaternary high-silica rhyolites in the Mineral Mountains, Utah
Tiffany A. Rivera, Brian R. Jicha, Stefan Kirby, Hannah B. Peacock
2024, Professional Paper 1890-K
The Mineral Mountains in southwestern Utah are a structurally controlled core complex at the confluence of the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range physiographic provinces. Aside from hosting Utah’s largest batholith, the Mineral Mountains host some of the State’s youngest high-silica rhyolites, which have been linked to a magma...
Seasonally varying contributions of contemporaneous and lagged sources of instream total nitrogen and phosphorus load across the Illinois River basin
Noah Schmadel, Olivia L. Miller, Scott Ator, Matthew P. Miller, Gregory E. Schwarz, Dale M. Robertson, Andrew J. Sekellick, Kenneth D. Skinner, David A. Saad
2024, Science of the Total Envionrment (955)
Quantifying nutrient sources in streams, their temporal and spatial variability, and drivers of that variability can support effective water resources management. Yet a lack of data and modeling capabilities has previously prevented comprehensive quantification across both space and time. Here a dynamic SPARROW...
The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the validation of alternative methods (ICCVAM)
Barnett A. Rattner, Timothy Bargar, Paula F. P. Henry
2024, Report, ICCVAM Biennial Report 2022-2023
Many ICCVAM member agencies are developing new technologies and resources to replace the use of animals for chemical safety testing. These include new platforms such as microphysiological systems (MPS), data resources to support the development of predictive models and quantitative structure–activity relationships (QSARs), and web tools to facilitate data access and visualization....
The role of geography, diet, and host phylogeny on the gut microbiome in the Hawaiian honeycreeper radiation
Maria Constantini, Elin Videvall, Jeffrey T. Foster, Matthew Medeiros, John Gillece, Eben H. Paxton, Lisa H. Crampton, Hannah Mounce, Alexander Wang, Robert C. Fleischer, Michael G. Campana, Floyd Reed
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
The animal gut microbiome can have a strong influence on the health, fitness, and behavior of its hosts. The composition of the gut microbial community can be influenced by factors such as diet, environment, and evolutionary history (phylosymbiosis). However, the relative influence of these factors is unknown in most bird...
Geospatial PDF map of the compilation of GIS data for the mineral industries of select countries in the Indo-Pacific region
Elizabeth R. Neustaedter, Erica R. Wolfe
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1066
Introduction In 2024, the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) completed the project titled "Compilation of geospatial data for the mineral industries of select countries in the Indo-Pacific." This project aimed to leverage the expertise and capabilities of the NMIC to collect, synthesize, and interpret geospatial data to...
An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie
James H. Larson, David M. Costello, Jordyn T. Stoll, Andrea S. Fitzgibbon, Sean Bailey, Mary Anne Evans
2024, Freshwater Ecology (39)
In large lakes, metal availability sometimes limits the acquisition of nutrients (nitrogen, N and phosphorus, P) in offshore waters that are relatively isolated from tributaries and sediments. We hypothesize that metals may also be important within harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs occur where nutrient loads are elevated, but...
Propagating observation errors to enable scalable and rigorous enumeration of plant population abundance with aerial imagery
Andrii Zaiats, Trevor Caughlin, Jennyffer Cruz, David S. Pilliod, Megan E Cattau, Rongsong Liu, Richard Rachman, Maisha Maliha, Donna M. Delparte, John DF Clare
2024, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (15) 2074-2086
Estimating and monitoring plant population size is fundamental for ecological research, as well as conservation and restoration programs. High-resolution imagery has potential to facilitate such estimation and monitoring. However, remotely sensed estimates typically have higher uncertainty than field measurements, risking biased inference on...
Accounting for multiple uncertainties in a decision-support population viability assessment
Erica M. Christensen, Abigail Jean Lawson, E. Rivenbark, P.K. London, D. Castellanos, J.C. Culbertson, S.M. DeMay, C. Eakin, L.S. Pearson, K. Soileau, J. Hardin Waddle, Conor P. McGowan
2024, Biological Conservation (299)
Conservation and management decisions often must be made on strict timelines, based on the “best available information” regarding a species’ current and expected future status. Simulation models are valuable tools for predicting a species’ future status but must incorporate multiple types of uncertainty in order to provide a complete understanding...
Landsat geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization
Jerad Shaw, Cody Anderson, Mike Choate, Esad Micijevic
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3039
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val team...
Earth observation remote sensing tools—Assessing systems, trends, and characteristics
Simon J. Cantrell, Jeff Clauson, Cody Anderson
2024, Fact Sheet 2024-3040
With the ever-increasing number of civil and commercial remote-sensing satellite launches in recent years, the Earth Observation community needs to better understand the quality of new data products as they become available for scientific research purposes....
Peering into the eye of the sea lamprey: What can stable isotopes in lamprey eye lenses reveal about their life history?
Thomas M. Evans, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2024, Environmental Biology of Fishes (107) 1155-1169
The Atlantic sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is an anadromous species which is a detritivore for years in freshwater, before metamorphosing into a juvenile and feeding parasitically at sea. However, their migratory patterns and marine ecology are poorly characterized. In other fishes, chemical analysis of calcified structures has aided in understanding...
Northern Mexican gartersnake demographics and movement ecology
Javan Mathias Bauder, Anthony Pawlicki, Matt Goode
2024, Cooperator Science Series CSS-158-2024
The northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques; hereafter NMGS) is a federally threatened species occurring in riparian areas in central and southeast Arizona and west-central New Mexico. While previous studies have examined the ecology of this species in central Arizona, less is known about NMGS ecology in grassland landscapes of southeast...
Lake temperature and morphometry shape the thermal composition of recreational fishing catch
Lyndsie S. Wszola, Nicholas A. Sievert, Abigail J. Lynch, Holly Susan Embke, Anna L. Kaz, Matthew D. Robertson, Stephen R. Midway, Craig P. Paukert
2024, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (153) 746-762
ObjectiveManaging freshwater fisheries in warming lakes is challenging because climate change impacts anglers, fish, and their interactions.MethodsWe integrated recent models of current and future lake temperatures with recreational fisheries catch data from 587 lakes in three north-central U.S. states (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) to...
Reducing wastewater nitrogen loading by >90% with carbon-amended septic systems: A field demonstration in Barnstable (Cape Cod), Massachusetts
Laura Erban, Sara Wigginton, Brian Baumgaertel, Bryan Horsley, Timothy D. McCobb, Zee Crocker, Scott Horsley, Timothy Gleason
2024, Journal of Environmental Management (370)
Onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are a major source of excess nutrients and co-pollutants in watersheds across the United States. In Barnstable County (Cape Cod), Massachusetts, effluent from septic systems and cesspools contributes approximately 80% of the controllable reactive nitrogen...
Previous reproductive success and environmental variation influence nest-site fidelity of a subarctic-nesting goose
Jordan M. Thompson, Brian D. Uher-Koch, Bryan L. Daniels, Thomas V. Riecke, Joel A. Schmutz, Benjamin S. Sedinger
2024, Ecology and Evolution (14)
Nest-site fidelity is a common strategy in birds and is believed to be adaptive due to familiarity with local conditions. Returning to previously successful nest sites (i.e., the win-stay lose-switch strategy) may be beneficial when habitat quality is spatially variable and temporally predictable; however, changes in environmental conditions may constrain...
Controls on the stratigraphic architecture of the US Atlantic margin: Processes forming the accommodation space
Guy Lang, Uri S. ten Brink, Deborah Hutchinson, Gregory S. Mountain, Uri Schattner
2024, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (129)
Accommodation space governs the spatial and temporal distributions of sediments in continental margins. Mapping the sedimentation patterns, therefore, offers insights into the solid-Earth processes that shape accommodation space. We assembled an unprecedented amount of seismic and borehole data along the Eastern North American Margin and used it...
Breeding by western Yellow-billed Cuckoos in xeroriparian habitat in southeastern Arizona
Nicholas D. Beauregard, Tad C. Theimer, Charles A. Drost, Susan J. Sferra
2024, Journal of Field Ornithology (95)
The identification of occupied habitat is an important component of recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species. The western population of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), federally listed as a threatened distinct population segment, has long been considered a riparian-obligate, yet recent survey efforts in southeastern Arizona have documented cuckoos...
A dataset of two-dimensional XBeach model set-up files for northern California
Andrea C. O'Neill, Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Jennifer Anne Thomas, Patrick L. Barnard
2024, Data (9)
Here, we describe a dataset of two-dimensional (2D) XBeach model files that were developed for the Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) in northern California as an update to an earlier CoSMoS implementation that relied on one-dimensional (1D) modeling methods. We provide details on the data and their application, such that...
Ten quick tips to get you started with Bayesian statistics
Olivier Gimenez, J. Andrew Royle, Marc Kery, Chloe Nater
2024, Preprint
Bayesian statistics is a framework in which our knowledge about unknown quantities of interest (especially parameters) is updated with the information in observed data, though it can also be viewed as simply another method to fit a statistical model. It has become popular in many branches of biology. For context,...
Phenology forecasting models for detection and management of invasive annual grasses
Janet S. Prevey, Ian S. Pearse, Dana M. Blumenthal, Armin J. Howell, Julie A. Kray, Sasha C. Reed, Mitchell B. Stephenson, Catherine S. Jarnevich
2024, Ecosphere (10)
Non-native annual grasses can dramatically alter fire frequency and reduce forage quality and biodiversity in the ecosystems they invade. Effective management techniques are needed to reduce these undesirable invasive species and maintain ecosystem services. Well-timed management strategies, such as grazing, that are applied when...
State of science, gap analysis, and prioritization for southeastern United States water-quality impacts from coastal storms—Fiscal year 2023 program report to the Water Resources Mission Area from the Water Availability Impacts of Extreme Events Program—Hurricanes
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Tara L. Root, Matthew D. Petkewich, MaryLynn Musgrove, Amy C. Gill, J. Curtis Weaver, Christopher H. Conaway, Bruce D. Lindsey, Francis Parchaso, Noah Knowles, Elizabeth J. Tomaszewski
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1048
Tropical cyclones (coastal storm events that include tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes) cause landscape-scale disturbances that can lead to impaired water quality and thus reduce water availability for use. Stakeholders and scientists at local and national scales have illustrated a need for understanding these risks to water quality. A...
Hyperspectral Image Transects during Transient Events in Rivers (HITTER): Framework development and application to a tracer experiment on the Missouri River, USA
Carl J. Legleiter, Victoria Mary Scholl, Brandon James Sansom, Matthew Alexander Burgess
2024, Remote Sensing (19)
Rivers convey a broad range of materials, such as sediment, nutrients, and contaminants. Much of this transport can occur during or immediately after an episodic, pulsed event like a flood or an oil spill. Understanding the flow processes that influence the motion of these substances is important for managing water...
Quantification of threats to bats at localized spatial scales for conservation and management
Brian M. Myers, Drew Stokes, Kristine L. Preston, Robert N. Fisher, Amy G. Vandergast
2024, PLoSOne (19)
In a rapidly changing world, where species conservation needs vary by local habitat, concentrated conservation efforts at small spatial scales can be critical. Bats provide an array of value to the ecosystems they inhabit; many bat species are also of conservation concern. San Diego County, California,...
Discerning sediment provenance in the Outer Banks (USA) through detrital zircon geochronology
John W. Counts, Jared T. Gooley, Joshua Long, William H. Craddock, Paul O’Sullivan
2024, Marine Geology (477)
Detrital zircon data from modern barrier island and estuarine environments in the Outer Banks (Atlantic Coast, USA) were statistically compared to sands from nearby rivers to assist in determining source-to-sink pathways. Fluvial samples, collected from near the Fall Line contact...
