Rising wildfire risk to houses in the United States, especially in grasslands and shrublands
V.C. Radeloff, M.H. Mockrin, D. Helmers, A. Ron Carlson, Todd Hawbaker, S. Martinuzzi, F. Schug, P.M. Alexandre, A.H. Kramer, A.M. Pidgeon
2023, Science (382) 702-707
Wildfire risks to homes are increasing, especially in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where wildland vegetation and houses are in close proximity. Notably, we found that more houses are exposed to and destroyed by grassland and shrubland fires than by forest fires in the United States. Destruction was more likely in...
Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory
The Herbivory Variability Network, Moria Robinson, Karen C Abbott, Warwick J. Allen, Janete Andrade, Diego Angulo, Diego Anjos, Daniel Anstett, Robert Bagchi, Sumanta Bagchi, Milton Barbosa, Sarah Barrett, Carina Baskett, Eyal Ben-Simchon, Kathryn Bloodworth, Judith L. Bronstein, Emilio Bruna, Yvonne Buckley, Karin Burghardt, Carlos Bustos-Segura, N. Ivalú Cacho, Eduardo Soares Calixto, Raquel Carvalho, Bastien Castagneyrol, Mariana Chiuffo, Damla Cinoğlu, Elizeth Cinto Mejia, Marina Cock, Rodrigo Cogni, Olivia Cope, Tatiana Cornelissen, Dezirea Cortez, David Crowder, Caroline Dallstream, Wesley Dáttilo, Julien Davis, Romina Dimarco, Haley Dole, Lee Dyer, Ikponmwosa Egbon, Afure Ejomah, Bret D Elderd, María-José Endara, Micky D. Eubanks, Susan Everingham, Keiko Farah, Rafael de Paiva Farias, Geraldo Fernandes, Marco Ferrante, Alain Finn, Grace Florjancic, Matthew L. Forister, Quinn Fox, Enric Frago, Filipe M. França, Abigail Getman-Pickering, Zoe Getman-Pickering, Ben Gooden, Martin M. Gossner, Keri Greig, Sofia Gripenberg, Ronny Groenteman, Patrick Grof-Tisza, Nora Haack, Lisa Hahn, Philip Hahn, Shiekh Marifatul Haq, Justus Hennecke, Sara Hermann, Liza M. Holeski, Matthew Hutchinson, Brian Inouye, Eleanor Jackson, Shinnosuke Kagiya, Michael Kalwajtys, Richard Karban, Rupesh Kariyat, Tamar Keasar, Monica Kersch-Becker, Heather Kharouba, Tania Kim, Duncan Kimuyu, Jennifer Kluse, Sally E. Koerner, Kimberly Komatsu, Sushmita Krishnan, Miika Laihonen, Lucas Lamelas-López, Michael LaScaleia, Nicolas Lecomte, Carlos Lehn, Xiaofei Li, Richard L Lindroth, Eric LoPresti, María Losada, Allison M Louthan, Victoria Luizzi, Joshua Lynn, Nicholas Lyon, Laís Maia, Renata Maia, Tosca Mannall, Bruce Martin, Tara Massad, Andrew McCall, Kelsey McGurrin, Andrew Merwin, Zarluis Mijango-Ramos, Charlotte Mills, Angela Moles, Christopher Moore, Colin Morrison, Moleseng Moshobane, Anne Muola, Ryosuke Nakadai, Kazuhide Nakajima, Samuel Novais, Charlee Ogbebor, Haruna Ohsaki, Vincent Pan, Nicholas Pardikes, Narayanaswamy Parthasarathy, Rohit Pawar, Quentin Paynter, Ian Pearse, Rachel Penczykowski, Adam Pepi, Cássio Pereira, Shyam Phartyal, Frida I. Piper, Katja Poveda, Elizabeth Pringle, Javier Puy, Teresa Quijano, Carolina Quintero, Sergio Rasmann, Christoph Rosche, Leah Rosenheim, Justin B. Runyon, Asaf Sadeh, Yuzu Sakata, Danielle Salcido, Cristian Salgado-Luarte, Bráulio Santos, Yuval Sapir, Yamila Sasal, Yasuhiro Sato, Manasi Sawant, Hayley Schroeder, Isabell Schumann, Michal Segoli, Hila Segre, Oren Shelef, Naoto Shinohara, Rachit Pratap Singh, David Smith, Mar Sobral, Gisela Stotz, Ayco Tack, Mandeep Tayal, John Tooker, Daniel Torrico-Bazoberry, Kévin Tougeron, Nora Underwood, Shunsuke Utsumi, Osariyekemwen Uyi, Jessica Vaca-Uribe, Anu Valtonen, Laura van Dijk, Vigdis Vandvik, Jesus Villellas, Lauren Waller, Marjorie G. Weber, William C. Wetzel, Susan Whitehead, Akira Yamawo, Samantha Yim, Luke Zehr, Zhiwei Zhong
2023, Science (382) 679-683
Interactions between plants and herbivores are central in most ecosystems, but their strength is highly variable. The amount of variability within a system is thought to influence most aspects of plant-herbivore biology, from ecological stability to plant defense evolution. Our understanding of what influences variability, however, is limited by sparse...
Isotopic niche partitioning in a multi-species assemblage
Carson L. Arends, Hannah B. Vander Zanden, Margaret Lamont
2023, Marine Biology (171)
Multi-species assemblages can help identify key resources in their habitat by evaluating how they are partitioning their resources. Here we used the isotopic niche of loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, and green sea turtles to assess their ecological niche within a Gulf of Mexico bay. Additionally, we assessed...
Steady-state forms of channel profiles shaped by debris flow and fluvial processes
Luke A. McGuire, Scott W. McCoy, Odin Marc, William Struble, Katherine R. Barnhart
2023, Earth Surface Dynamics (11) 1117-1143
Debris flows regularly traverse bedrock channels that dissect steep landscapes, but our understanding of bedrock erosion by debris flows and their impact on steepland morphology is still rudimentary. Quantitative models of steep bedrock channel networks are based on geomorphic transport laws designed to represent...
Expanding our view of the cold-water coral niche and accounting of the ecosystem services of the reef habitat
Erick E. Cordes, Amanda Demopoulos, Andrew Davies, Ryan Gasbarro, Alexandria Rhoads, Elizabeth Lobecker, Dereck Sowers, Jason Chaytor, Cheryl Morrison, Alexis Marie Weinnig, Sandra Brooke, Jay J. Lunden, Furu Mienis, Samantha B. Joye, Andrea M. Quattrini, Tracey Sutton, Catherine McFadden, Jill Bourque, Jennifer McClain Counts, Brian D. Andrews, Melissa Betters, Peter Etnoyer, Gary Wolff, Bernie Bernard, James Brooks, Michael Rasser, Caitlin Adams
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Coral reefs are iconic ecosystems that support diverse, productive communities in both shallow and deep waters. However, our incomplete knowledge of cold-water coral (CWC) niche space limits our understanding of their distribution and precludes a complete accounting of the ecosystem services they provide. Here, we present...
Considerations for colorblind individuals on selecting colorimetric or fluorescent dye assay outcomes
Kirstyn Loyva, Erik K. Hofmeister, Fiona Georgousi, Constance Roderick, Rebecca A. Cole
2023, BioTechniques (75) 240-244
A disadvantage of colorimetric detection in nucleic acid amplification assays is the possibility that a colorblind individual may interpret colors differently than observers with full-color vision. Using an isothermal amplification assay, the ability of colorblind individuals to distinguish between positive and negative results for four dyes was tested. Five...
Predicting daily river chlorophyll concentrations at a continental scale
Philip Savoy, Judson Harvey
2023, Water Resources Research (59)
Eutrophication is one of the largest threats to aquatic ecosystems and chlorophyll a measurements are relevant indicators of trophic state and algal abundance. Many studies have modeled chlorophyll a in rivers but model development and testing has largely occurred at individual sites which hampers creating generalized models capable of making broad-scale...
Snag dynamics and surface fuel loads in the Sierra Nevada: Predicting the impact of the 2012–2016 drought
Hudson Northrop, Jodi N. Axelson, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, Emilio Vilanova, Scott L. Stephens, John J. Battles
2023, Forest Ecology and Management (551)
Forest die-backs linked to extreme droughts are expected to increase as the climate dries and warms. An example is the 2012-2016 hotter drought in California that induced widespread tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada, California. The sudden increase in snags (i.e., standing dead trees) raised immediate concerns about their impact...
Marginal value analysis reveals shifting importance of migration habitat for waterfowl under a changing climate
Ryan C. Burner, Benjamin Donald Golas, Kevin J. Aagaard, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Wayne E. Thogmartin
2023, Ecology and Evolution (13)
Migratory waterfowl are an important resource for consumptive and non-consumptive users alike and provide tremendous economic value in North America. These birds rely on a complex matrix of public and private land for forage and roosting during migration and wintering periods, and substantial conservation...
Creating oriented and precisely sectioned mineral mounts for in situ chemical analyses—An example using olivine for diffusion chronometry studies
Kendra J. Lynn, Liliana G. Desmither
2023, Techniques and Methods 5-D5
Diffusion chronometry is now a widely applied methodology for determining the rates and timescales of geologic processes from the chemical zoning observed in minerals. Despite the popularity of the method, several challenges still remain during its application, including: (1) the random sectioning of minerals either in thin sections or grain...
Shifted sediment-transport regimes by climate change and amplified hydrological variability in cryosphere-fed rivers
Tinghu Zhang, Dongfeng Li, Amy E. East, Albert J. Kettner, James L. Best, Jinren Ni, Xixi Lu
2023, Science Advances (9)
Climate change affects cryosphere-fed rivers and alters seasonal sediment dynamics, affecting cyclical fluvial material supply and year-round water-food-energy provisions to downstream communities. Here, we demonstrate seasonal sediment-transport regime shifts from the 1960s to 2000s in four cryosphere-fed rivers characterized by glacial, nival, pluvial, and mixed regimes, respectively. Spring sees a...
Alternative lifestyles: A plague persistence hypothesis
Jeffrey Wimsatt, David A. Eads, Marc R. Matchett, Dean E. Biggins
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Several explanations have been posited for how the plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) reemerges during sylvatic cycles within the same foci over many years, and often without direct evidence of host die-offs. One prevalent view is that transmission-optimized Y. pestis bacteria, exhibiting epizootic/enzootic behavior, almost continually replicate and survive through repeated, linked, host-centered...
Response of lake metabolism to catchment inputs inferred using high-frequency lake and stream data from across the northern hemisphere
Jessica R. Corman, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jennifer Klug, Denise A Bruesewitz, Elvira de Eyto, Marcus Klaus, Lesley B. Knoll, James A. Rusak, Michael J. Vanni, María Belén Alfonso, Rocio Luz Fernandez, Huaxia Yao, Kari Austnes, Raoul-Marie Couture, Heleen A. de Wit, Jan Karlsson, Alo Laas
2023, Limnology & Oceanography (68) 2617-2631
In lakes, the rates of gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R), and net ecosystem production (NEP) are often controlled by resource availability. Herein, we explore how catchment vs. within lake predictors of metabolism compare using data from 16 lakes spanning 39°N to 64°N,...
Horizon scanning for potentially invasive non-native marine species to inform trans-boundary conservation management – Example of the northern Gulf of Mexico
Kathryn A. O'Shaughnessy, Lorenzo Vilizzi, Wesley M. Daniel, Monica E. McGarrity, Hanna Bauer, Leslie Hartman, Stephen Geiger, Paul Sammarco, Steve Kolian, Scott Porter, Jessica Dutton, Matthew R. McClure, Michael Norberg, Alex Fogg, Timothy J. Lyons, Justin Procopio, Lauren Bantista, Wayne A Bennett, Mary Wicksten, David B. Reeves, Julie Lively, Elizabeth M. Robinson, Jorge Brenner, Joseph Goy, Ashley Morgan-Olvera, Anna L.E. Yunnie, Gordon H. Copp
2023, Aquatic Invasions (18) 415-453
Prevention of non-native species introductions and establishment is essential to avoid adverse impacts of invasive species in marine environments. To identify potential new invasive species and inform non-native species management options for the northern Gulf of Mexico (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas), 138 marine species were risk screened...
Georectified polygon database of ground-mounted large-scale solar photovoltaic sites in the United States
Sydny K. Fujita, Zachary H. Ancona, Louisa Kramer, Mary Straka, Tandie E. Gautreau, Dana Robson, Christopher P. Garrity, Ben Hoen, James E. Diffendorfer
2023, Scientific Data (10)
Over 4,400 large-scale solar photovoltaic (LSPV) facilities operate in the United States as of December 2021, representing more than 60 gigawatts of electric energy capacity. Of these, over 3,900 are ground-mounted LSPV facilities with capacities of 1 MWdc or more. Ground mounted LSPV installations continue increasing, with more than 400...
Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) 6-year summary, Naval Outlying Landing Field, Imperial Beach, southwestern San Diego County, California, 2014–20
Suellen Lynn, Shannon Mendia, Barbara E. Kus
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1055
Executive SummaryFrom 2014 to 2020, a Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) banding station (station) was operated at the Naval Outlying Landing Field (NOLF), Imperial Beach, in southwestern San Diego County, California. The station was established as part of a long-term monitoring program of Neotropical migratory bird populations on NOLF...
Development and application of a risk assessment tool for aquatic invasive species in the international Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin, United States and Canada
Amanda H. Bell, Leon R. Katona, Nicole M. Vellequette
2023, Open-File Report 2022-1070
The Rainy-Lake of the Woods Basin covers 70,000 square kilometers in mid-central North America and is contained within the Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba in Canada and the State of Minnesota in the United States. This basin contains natural wilderness areas, national parks, and thousands of lakes that bring outdoor...
Extinction risk modeling predicts range-wide differences of climate change impact on Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis)
Yudi Li, David Wilson, Ralph Grundel, Steven Campbell, Joe Knight, Jim Perry, Jessica J. Hellmann
2023, PLoS ONE (18)
The Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis, or Kbb), a federally endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in decline due to habitat loss, can be further threatened by climate change. Evaluating how climate shapes the population trend of the Kbb can help in the...
Empirical estimation of habitat suitability for rare plant restoration in an era of ongoing climatic shifts
Paul Krushelnycky, Lucas Fortini, Jeffrey Mallinson, Jesse Felts
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Accurate estimates of current and future habitat suitability are needed for species that may require assistance in tracking a shifting climate. Standard species distribution models (SDMs) based on occurrence data are the most common approach for evaluating climatic suitability, but these may suffer from inaccuracies stemming...
Movement dynamics influence population monitoring and adaptive harvest management strategies in migratory birds
Jay Alan VonBank, Daniel P. Collins, Kristen S. Ellis, J. Patrick Donnelly, Jeffrey M. Knetter
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (48)
Informed population monitoring efforts are essential for sound management of harvested species, and adaptive strategies that provide detailed information to monitoring efforts often require data inputs from complimentary sources. Movement ecology information is seldom directly incorporated into population monitoring or adaptive...
Development of the North Carolina stormwater-treatment decision-support system by using the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Gregory E. Granato, Charles C. Stillwell, J. Curtis Weaver, Andrew H. McDaniel, Brian S. Lipscomb, Susan C. Jones, Ryan M. Mullins
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5113
The Federal Highway Administration and State departments of transportation nationwide need an efficient method to assess potential adverse effects of highway stormwater runoff on receiving waters to optimize stormwater-treatment decisions. To this end, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and the North Carolina Department of...
Sea ice concentration decline in an important Adélie penguin molt area
Annie E. Schmidt, Amélie Lescroël, Simeon Lisovski, Megan Elrod, Dennis Jongsomjit, Katie Dugger, Grant Ballard
2023, PNAS (120)
Unlike in many polar regions, the spatial extent and duration of the sea ice season have increased in the Ross Sea sector of the Southern Ocean during the satellite era. Simultaneously, populations of Adélie penguins, a sea ice obligate, have been stable or increasing in the region. Relationships between...
Geologic carbon management options for the North Atlantic-Appalachian Region
Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, Sean T. Brennan, Steven M. Cahan, C. Özgen Karacan, Kevin D. Kroeger, Matthew D. Merrill
2023, Fact Sheet 2023-3038
IntroductionThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) North Atlantic-Appalachian Region is developing the regionwide capacity to provide timely science support for decision-makers attempting to enhance carbon removal, sequestration, and emissions mitigation to meet national atmospheric carbon reduction goals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that in 2021, the fourteen States and...
Thirty years of regional groundwater-quality trend studies in the United States: Major findings and lessons learned
Bruce D. Lindsey, Brandon J. Fleming, Phillip J. Goodling, Amanda Nicole May
2023, Journal of Hydrology (627)
Changes in groundwater quality have been evaluated for more than 2,200 wells in 25 Principal Aquifers in the United States based on repeated decadal sampling (once every 10 years) from 1988 to 2021. The purpose of this study is to identify contaminants with changing concentrations, the...
Two centuries of southwest Iceland annually-resolved marine temperature reconstructed from Arctica islandica shells
Madelyn Jean Mette, Carin Andersson, Bernd Schöne, Fabian Bonitz, Vilde Melvik, Tamara Trofimova, Martin Miles
2023, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (294)
Iceland's exposure to major ocean current pathways of the central North Atlantic makes it a useful location for developing long-term proxy records of past marine climate. Such records provide more detailed understanding of the full range of past variability which is necessary to improve...
