QCam: sUAS-based doppler radar for measuring river discharge
John W. Fulton, Isaac E. Anderson, C.-L. Chiu, Wolfram Sommer, Josip Adams, Tommaso Moramarco, David M. Bjerklie, Janice M. Fulford, Jeff L. Sloan, Heather Best, Jeffrey S. Conaway, Michelle J. Kang, Michael S. Kohn, Matthew J. Nicotra, Jeremy J. Pulli
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
The U.S. Geological Survey is actively investigating remote sensing of surface velocity and river discharge (discharge) from satellite-, high altitude-, small, unmanned aircraft systems- (sUAS or drone), and permanent (fixed) deployments. This initiative is important in ungaged basins and river reaches that lack the infrastructure to deploy...
Soil respiration response to rainfall modulated by plant phenology in a montane meadow, East River, Colorado, USA
Mathew Winnick, Corey R. Lawrence, Maeve McCormick, Jennifer Druhan, Kate Maher
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (125)
Soil respiration is a primary component of the terrestrial carbon cycle. However, predicting the response of soil respiration to climate change remains a challenge due to the complex interactions between environmental drivers, especially plant phenology, temperature, and soil moisture. In this study, we use a 1‐D diffusion‐reaction model to calculate...
Compounding effects of white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle, and fire threaten four white pine species
Joan C Dudney, Jonathan C B Nesmith, Matthew Cahill, Jennifer E Cribbs, Dan M Duriscoe, Adrian Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, John J. Battles
2020, Ecosphere (11)
Invasive pathogens and bark beetles have caused precipitous declines of various tree species around the globe. Here, we characterized long‐term patterns of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae; MPB) attacks and white pine blister rust, an infectious tree disease caused by the pathogen, Cronartium ribicola. We focused on four dominant white pine...
The role of pre-magmatic rifting in shaping a volcanic continental margin: An example from the Eastern North American Margin
G. Lang, Uri S. ten Brink, Deborah Hutchinson, G.S. Mountain, U. Schattner
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research-- Solid Earth (125)
Both magmatic and tectonic processes contribute to the formation of volcanic continental margins. Such margins are thought to undergo extension across a narrow zone of lithospheric thinning (~100 km). New observations based on existing and reprocessed data from the Eastern North American Margin contradict this hypothesis. With ~64,000 km of 2‐D seismic...
Phylogenetic escape from pests reduces pesticides on some crop plants
Ian S. Pearse, Jay Rosenheim
2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (117) 26849-26853
Pesticides are a ubiquitous component of conventional crop production but come with considerable economic and ecological costs. We tested the hypothesis that variation in pesticide use among crop species is a function of crop economics and the phylogenetic relationship of a crop to native plants because unrelated crops accrue fewer...
Four-dimensional thermal evolution of the East African Orogen: Accessory phase petrochronology of crustal profiles through the Tanzanian Craton and Mozambique Belt, northeastern Tanzania
Francisco E. Apen, Roberta L. Rudnick, John M. Cottle, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Madalyn S. Blondes, Phil Piccoli, Gareth Seward
2020, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (175)
U–Pb petrochronology of deep crustal xenoliths and outcrops across northeastern Tanzania track the thermal evolution of the Mozambique Belt and Tanzanian Craton following the Neoproterozoic East African Orogeny (EAO) and subsequent Neogene rifting. At the craton margin, the upper–middle crust record thermal quiescence since the Archean...
Evidence for primitive magma storage and eruption following prolonged equilibration in thickened crust
Heather Winslow, Philipp Ruprecht, Mark E. Stelten, Alvaro Amigo
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
In continental arcs, the exposure of primitive eruptive products at the surface is typically a result of rapid magmatic transfer through the crust. As a result, the initially primitive magma experiences minimal crustal residence and thus insignificant differentiation towards more evolved products. This rapid transfer of primitive magma through thickened...
Determining habitat limitations of Maumee River walleye production to western Lake Erie fish stocks: Documenting a spawning ground barrier
Brian Schmidt, Taaja Tucker, Jessica Collier, Christine Mayer, Edward F. Roseman, Wendylee Stott, Jeremy J. Pritt
2020, Journal of Great Lakes Research (46) 1661-1673
Tributaries provide spawning habitat for three of four major sub-stocks of Lake Erie walleye (Sander vitreus). Despite anthropogenic degradation and the extirpation of other potamodromous species, the Maumee River, Ohio, USA continues to support one of the largest fish migrations in the Laurentian Great Lakes. To determine if spawning habitat...
Estimating the net costs of brine production and disposal to expand pressure-limited dynamic capacity for basin-scale CO2 storage in a saline formation
Steven T. Anderson, Hossein Jahediesfanjani
2020, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (102)
If carbon capture and storage (CCS) needs to be deployed at basin- or larger-scale, it is likely that multiple sites will be injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) into the same geologic formation. This could lead to excessive pressure buildup, overlapping induced pressure fronts,...
Imaging the tectonic grain of the Northern Cordillera orogen using Transportable Array receiver functions
Vera Schulte-Pelkum, Jonathan Saul Caine, James V. Jones III, Thorsten W Becker
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 3086-3105
Azimuthal variations in receiver function conversions can image lithospheric structural contrasts and anisotropic fabrics that together compose tectonic grain. We apply this method to data from EarthScope Transportable Array in Alaska and additional stations across the northern Cordillera. The best‐resolved quantities are the strike and...
Micro-geographic variation in burrow use of Agassiz’s desert tortoises in the Sonoran Desert of California
Kristy L. Cummings, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Shellie R. Puffer, Terence R. Arundel, Kathleen D. Brundige
2020, The Herpetological Journal (30) 177-188
Little has been published regarding the burrowing habits of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) in the Sonoran Desert of California. We monitored the interactions of tortoises with their burrows, and other tortoises, via radio-telemetry at two nearby sites between the Cottonwood and Orocopia Mountains, from 2015-2018. We examined how annual...
Four decades of land-cover change on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Detecting disturbance-influenced vegetation shifts using landsat legacy data
Carson Baughman, Rachel A. Loehman, Dawn R. Magness, Lisa Saperstein, Rosemary L. Sherriff
2020, Land (9)
Across Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, disturbance events have removed large areas of forest over the last half century. Simultaneously, succession and landscape evolution have facilitated forest regrowth and expansion. Detecting forest loss within known pulse disturbance events is often straightforward given that reduction in tree cover is a...
Methods for estimating vital rates of greater sage-grouse broods: A review
Ian P. Riley, Courtney J. Conway
2020, Wildlife Biology (4)
Biologists use a variety of methods to estimate productivity and resource selection of birds. The effectiveness and suitability of each method depends on the study's objectives, but is also influenced by many important traits, including detection probability, disturbance of focal birds and sampling frequency. We reviewed 504 greater sage-grouse Centrocercus...
Patterns and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases under ice in lakes of interior Alaska
Madeline O’Dwyer, David Butman, Robert G. Striegl, Mark M. Dornblaser, Kimberly P. Wickland, Catherine D. Kuhn, Matthew J. Bogard
2020, Environmental Research Letters (15)
Arctic and boreal lake greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are an important component of regional carbon (C) budgets. Yet the magnitude and seasonal patterns of lake GHG emissions are poorly constrained, because sampling is limited in these remote landscapes, particularly during winter and shoulder seasons. To better define...
Geologic map of the greater Portland metropolitan area and surrounding region, Oregon and Washington
Ray E. Wells, Ralph A. Haugerud, Alan R. Niem, Wendy A. Niem, Lina Ma, Russell C. Evarts, Jim E. O'Connor, Ian P. Madin, David R. Sherrod, Marvin H. Beeson, Terry L. Tolan, Karen L. Wheeler, William B. Hanson, Michael G. Sawlan
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3443
The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro Metropolitan Area (metro area) has great scenic, natural, and cultural resources and is the major economic hub of Oregon. The metro area is subject to a variety of geologic hazards. Underthrusting of the oceanic plate along the Cascadia plate boundary fault, or megathrust, deforms the leading edge of...
Getting to the root of restoration: Considering root traits for improved restoration outcomes under drought and competition
M. Garbowski, B. Avera, J. H. Bertram, J.S. Courkamp, J. Gray, K.M. Hein, R. Lawrence, M. McIntosh, S. McClelland, A. Post, Ingrid J. Slette, Daniel E. Winkler, C. S. Brown
2020, Restoration Ecology (28) 1384-1395
A foundational goal of trait‐based ecology, including trait‐based restoration, is to link specific traits to community assembly, biodiversity, and ecosystem function. Despite a growing awareness of the importance of belowground traits for ecological processes, a synthesis of how to root traits can inform restoration of terrestrial plant communities is lacking....
A latent process model approach to improve the utility of indicator species
Jillian Elizabeth Fleming, Chris Sutherland, Sean C Sterrett, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2020, Oikos (129) 1753-1762
The state of an ecosystem is governed by dynamic biotic and abiotic processes, which can only be partially observed. Costs associated with measuring each component limit the feasibility of comprehensive assessments of target ecosystems. Instead, indicator species are recommended as a surrogate index. While this is...
Bathymetry of Deadmans Lake, Golf Course Reservoir 9, Ice Lake, Kettle Lakes 1–3, and Non-Potable Reservoirs 1–4 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado, 2019
Michael S. Kohn, Laura A. Hempel
2020, Scientific Investigations Map 3463
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), carried out bathymetric and topographic surveys to characterize the volume of Deadmans Lake, Golf Course Reservoir 9, Ice Lake, Kettle Lakes 1–3, and Non-Potable Reservoirs 1–4 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado. Bathymetric maps of each...
Development of a suite of functional immune assays and initial assessment of their utility in wild smallmouth bass health assessments
Cheyenne R. Smith, Christopher A. Ottinger, Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1077
Methods were developed for measuring immune function in Micropterus dolomieu (smallmouth bass). The ultimate objective is to monitor and evaluate changes over time in immune status and disease resistance in conjunction with other characteristics of fish health and environmental stressors. To test these methods for utility in ecotoxicological studies, 192...
Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser shut down by a severe 13th century drought
Shaul Hurwitz, John King, Gregory T. Pederson, Justin T. Martin, David Damby, Michael Manga, Jefferson Hungerford, Sara Peek
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
To characterize eruption activity of the iconic Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park over past centuries, we obtained 41 new radiocarbon dates of mineralized wood preserved in the mound of silica that precipitated from erupted waters. Trees do not grow on active geyser mounds, implying that...
Localized fault-zone dilatancy and surface inelasticity of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes
William D. Barnhart, Ryan D. Gold, James Hollingsworth
2020, Nature Geoscience (13) 699-704
Earthquakes produce a spectrum of elastic and inelastic deformation processes that are reflected across various length and time scales. While elasticity has long dominated research assumptions in active tectonics, increasing interest has focused on the inelastic characteristics of earthquakes, particularly those of the surface fault rupture...
Habitat characterization and species distribution model of the only large-lake population of the endangered Silver Chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana, Kirtland 1844)
James E. McKenna Jr., Patrick Kocovsky
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 12076-12090
The endangered Silver Chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana, Kirtland 1844) is native to North America and primarily riverine, with the only known large‐lake population in Lake Erie. Once a major component of the Lake Erie fish community, it declined and became nearly extirpated in the mid‐1900s. Recent collections in...
A novel approach for next generation water use mapping using Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite data
Ramesh Singh, Kul Bikram Khand, Stefanie Kagone, Matthew Schauer, Gabriel Senay, Zhuoting Wu
2020, Hydrological Sciences Journal (65) 2508-2519
Evapotranspiration (ET) is needed in a range of applications in hydrology, climatology, ecology, and agriculture. Remote sensing-based estimation is the only viable and economical method for ET estimation over large areas. The current Landsat satellites provide images every 16 days limiting the ability to capture biophysical changes affecting...
Seismic reflection imaging of the low-angle Panamint normal fault system, eastern California
Ryan D. Gold, William J. Stephenson, Richard W. Briggs, Christopher DuRoss, Eric Kirby, Edward W Woolery, Jaime Delano, Jackson K. Odum
2020, JGR Solid Earth (125)
Shallowly dipping (<30°) low‐angle normal faults (LANFs) have been documented globally; however, examples of active LANFs in continental settings are limited. The western margin of the Panamint Range in eastern California is defined by a LANF that dips west beneath Panamint Valley and has evidence of Quaternary motion. In addition,...
Spatiotemporal pattern of interactions between an apex predator and sympatric species
Marta P Guitart, David P Onorato, James E. Hines, Madan K. Oli
2020, Journal of Mammology (101) 1279-1288
Increases in apex predator abundance can influence the behavior of sympatric species, particularly when the available habitat and/or resources are limited. We assessed the temporal and spatiotemporal interactions between Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) and six focal sympatric species in South Florida, where Florida panther abundance has increased by more...
