Substantially greater carbon emissions estimated based on annual land-use transition data
Jiaojiao Diao, Jinxun Liu, Zhiliang Zhu, Mingshi Li, Benjamin M. Sleeter
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Quantifying land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) effects on carbon sources and sinks has been very challenging because of the availability and quality of LULCC data. As the largest estuary in the United States, Chesapeake Bay is a rapidly changing region and is affected by human activities. A new annual land-use...
California Historical Intensity Mapping Project (CHIMP): A consistently reinterpreted dataset of seismic intensities for the past 162 years and implications for seismic hazard maps
Leah Salditch, Molly M. Gallahue, Madeleine C. Lucas, James S. Neely, Susan E. Hough, Seth Stein
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 2631-2650
Historical seismic intensity data are useful for myriad reasons, including assessment of the performance of Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA) models and corresponding hazard maps by comparing their predictions to a dataset of historically observed intensities in the region. To assess PSHA models for California, a long and consistently interpreted...
Research, monitoring, and evaluation of emerging issues and measures to recover the Snake River Fall Chinook Salmon ESU: January 2019 - December 2019
Kenneth Tiffan, Russell Perry, editor(s)
2020, Report
The portion of the Snake River fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha evolutionary significant unit (ESU) that spawns upstream of Lower Granite Dam transitioned from low to high abundance during 19922019 in association with U.S. Endangered Species Act recovery efforts and other federally mandated actions. This annual report focuses on (1)...
Body sizes in upper elevation populations of whiptail lizards: Aspidoscelis inornatus (Squamata: Teiidae) in central and northern Arizona, USA
James M. Walker, Trevor B. Persons, Brian K. Sullivan, Charles A. Drost, James E. Cordes
2020, Herpetological Review (51) 212-214
The binational distribution of the gonochoristic (i.e., diploid bisexual) Aspidoscelis inornatus (Little Striped Whiptail) complex extends from parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the USA (Taylor 1965; Stevens 1983; Wright and Lowe 1993; Sullivan 2009; Walker et al. 2012) southward into parts of the Mexican states Chihuahua, Coahuila,...
Community for data integration 2018 funded project report
Leslie Hsu, Caitlin M. Andrews, John B. Bradford, Daniel D. Buscombe, Katherine J. Chase, Wesley M. Daniel, Jeanne M. Jones, Pam Fuller, Benjamin B. Mirus, Matthew E. Neilson, Hans W. Vraga, Jessica J. Walker, Dennis H. Walworth, Jonathan A. Warrick, Jake Weltzin, Daniel J. Wieferich, Nathan J. Wood
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1062
The U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration annually funds small projects focusing on data integration for interdisciplinary research, innovative data management, and demonstration of new technologies. This report provides a summary of the 10 projects funded in fiscal year 2018, outlining their goals, activities, and accomplishments....
A science business model for answering important questions
Kevin D. Lafferty
2020, Book chapter, Unsolved Problems in Ecology
Perhaps the biggest question in science is how to do better science. Many ecologists, including this book’s editors and authors, have succeeded under the current science “business model” and, from our perspective, the status quo works well enough. But science business models are under increased scrutiny. For instance, since 2012,...
U-Pb geochronology of igneous and detrital zircon samples from the Tok River area, eastern Alaska Range, and Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska
Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Karri R. Sicard, Evan Twelker
2020, Geological & Geophysical Surveys DGGS RDF 2020-3
This Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Raw Data File presents U-Pb zircon geochronology results from selected igneous, meta-igneous, and metasedimentary rocks collected during the Tok River and Wrangellia geologic mapping projects in the eastern Alaska Range and the northwestern Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. The purpose of these analyses...
The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus
Marco Vecchiato, Andrea Gambaro, Natalie Kehrwald, Patrick Ginot, Stanislav Kutuzov, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Carlo Barbante
2020, Scientific Reports (10)
The Great Acceleration of the anthropogenic impact on the Earth system is marked by the ubiquitous distribution of anthropogenic materials throughout the global environment, including technofossils, radionuclides and the exponential increases of methane and carbon dioxide concentrations. However, personal care products as direct tracers of human...
2023 Coastal master plan: Model improvement plan, ICM-wetlands, vegetation, and soil
Melissa M. Baustian, Denise Reed, Jenneke Visser, Scott M. Duke-Sylvester, Gregg Snedden, Hongqing Wang, Kristin DeMarco, Madeline R. Foster-Martinez, Leigh Anne Sharp, Tommy E. McGinnis, Elizabeth Jarrell
2020, Report
As part of the model improvement effort for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the wetland processes captured by the morphology and vegetation models used during previous master plans were reevaluated to assess how Integrated Compartment Model (ICM) subroutines could be improved. This process considered technical reviews, comments, and suggested improvements...
Quality Assurance Project Plan: Status and trends monitoring of small streams in the Puget Lowlands ecoregion for Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM)
Keunyea Song, Rich W. Sheibley
2020, Report
This Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) details a long term status and trends monitoring study for small streams in the Puget Lowland as part of Stormwater Action Monitoring (SAM) program. SAM is the regional stormwater monitoring program funded by the Phase I Municipal Stormwater permit and the Western Washington Phase...
The abundance of Greater Sage-Grouse as a proxy for the abundance of sagebrush-associated songbirds in Wyoming, USA
Jason D. Carlisle, Anna D. Chalfoun
2020, Avian Conservation and Ecology (15)
Surrogate-species concepts are prevalent in animal conservation. Such strategies advocate for conservation by proxy, wherein one species is used to represent other taxa to obtain a conservation objective. The efficacy of such approaches has been rarely assessed empirically, but is predicated on concordance between the surrogate and sympatric taxa in...
Petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments recovered from Alaska North Slope 2018 Hydrate-01 Stratigraphic Test Well
Jun Yoneda, Yusuke Jin, Michihiro Muraoka, Motoi Oshima, Kiyofumi Suzuki, Mike Walker, Donald Westacott, Satoshi Otsuki, Kenichi Kumagai, Timothy Collett, Ray Boswell, Norihiro Okinaka
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 10th international conference on gas hydrates (ICGH10)
Knowledge of petrophysical and geomechanical properties of gas hydrate-bearing sediments are essential for predicting reservoir responses to gas production. The same information is also needed for the designing of production well completions such as specifications for artificial lift, test site water storage capacity, and mesh size for the sand control...
Automated extraction of areal extents for GNIS Summit features using the eminence core method
Gaurav Sinha, Samantha Arundel
2020, Conference Paper, Proceedings of geomorphometry 2020
An important objective of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is to enhance the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) by automatically associating boundaries with terrain features that are currently spatially represented as two-dimensional points. In this paper, the discussion focuses on experiments for mapping GNIS Summit features using the eminence core...
Rethinking groundwater flow on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, USA: Characterizing recharge sources and flow paths with environmental tracers
John E. Solder, Kimberly R. Beisner, Jessica R. Anderson, Donald J. Bills
2020, Hydrogeology Journal (28) 1593-1613
In the arid landscape south of the Grand Canyon, natural springs and seeps are a critical resource for endemic species and Native American tribes. Groundwater is potentially threatened by expanding populations, visitations, and mineral extraction activities. Environmental tracers including noble gases, stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water, tritium,...
Diet of a rare herbivore based on DNA metabarcoding of feces: Selection, seasonality, and survival
Amanda R. Goldberg, Courtney J. Conway, David C. Tank, Kimberly R. Andrews, Digpal S. Gour, Lisette P. Waits
2020, Ecology and Evolution (10) 7627-7643
In herbivores, survival and reproduction are influenced by quality and quantity of forage, and hence, diet and foraging behavior are the foundation of an herbivore's life history strategy. Given the importance of diet to most herbivores, it is imperative that we know the species of plants they prefer, especially for...
Estimation of vital population rates to assess the relative health of mussel assemblages in the Upper Mississippi River
Teresa Newton, Steven J. Zigler, Patricia R. Ries, Mike Davis, David R. Smith
2020, Freshwater Biology (65) 1726-1739
Native freshwater mussels are a guild of benthic, filter feeding invertebrates that perform important ecological functions in rivers. Because of their long lifespans (30–50 years or longer), mussels are slow to respond to human‐induced alterations. Thus, development of sensitive indicators of mussel population responses to river conditions and management would...
Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Erin K. Bessette-Kirton, Jeffrey A. Coe, William H. Schulz, Corina Cerovski-Darriau, Mason Muir Einbund
2020, Landslides (17) 2795-2809
Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar...
Machine-learning models to map pH and redox conditions in groundwater in a layered aquifer system, Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain, eastern USA
Leslie A. DeSimone, Jason P. Pope, Katherine Marie Ransom
2020, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies (30)
Study regionThe study was conducted in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system, in the eastern USA.Study focusGroundwater pH and redox conditions are fundamental chemical characteristics controlling the distribution of many contaminants of concern for drinking water or...
Magnetic field variations in Alaska: Recording space weather events on seismic stations in Alaska
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, David C. Wilson, Abram E. Claycomb, John Spritzer
2020, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (110) 2530-2540
Seismometers are highly sensitive instruments to not only ground motion but also many other nonseismic noise sources (e.g., temperature, pressure, and magnetic field variations). We show that the Alaska component of the Transportable Array is particularly susceptible to recording magnetic storms and other space weather events because the sensors used...
Frequency of extreme freeze events controls the distribution and structure of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) near their northern range limit in coastal Louisiana
Michael Osland, Richard Day, Thomas C. Michot
2020, Diversity and Distributions (26) 1366-1382
AimClimate change is expected to result in the tropicalization of coastal wetlands in the northern Gulf of Mexico, as warming winters allow tropical mangrove forests to expand their distribution poleward at the expense of temperate salt marshes. Data limitations near mangrove range limits have hindered understanding of...
After-hatch and hatch year Buff-breasted Sandpipers (Calidris subruficollis) can be sexed accurately using morphometric measures
Juliana Bose de Almeida, Iara F. Lopes, Lewis Oring, T. Lee Tibbitts, Lisa M. Pajot, Richard B. Lanctot
2020, Wader Study (127) 37-42
Determining the sex of birds quickly in the field can help in studies of behavior and distribution, and when selecting particular sexes for deploying tracking devices or collecting samples. However, discerning males from females is difficult in species that are plumage monomorphic and have overlapping sexual-size dimorphism, as in Buff-breasted...
Refining genetic boundaries for Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in the western Sonoran Desert: The influence of the Coachella Valley on gene flow among populations in southern California
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Taylor Edwards, Kristin H. Berry, Shellie R. Puffer, Kristy L. Cummings, Ennen Joshua R., Mickey Agha, Rachel Wood, Kathleen D. Brundige, Robert W. Murphy
2020, Frontiers of Biogeography (12)
Understanding the influence of geographic features on the evolutionary history and population structure of a species can assist wildlife managers in delimiting genetic units (GUs) for conservation and management. Landscape features including mountains, low elevation depressions, and even roads can influence connectivity and gene flow among Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus...
Evidence for a concealed Midcontinent Rift-related northeast Iowa intrusive complex
Benjamin J. Drenth, A. Kate Souders, Klaus J. Schulz, Joshua M. Feinberg, Raymond R. Anderson, Val W. Chandler, William F. Cannon, Ryan Clark
2020, Precambrian Research (347)
Large amplitude aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies over a ~9500 km2 area of northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota have been interpreted to reflect the northeast Iowa intrusive complex (NEIIC), a buried intrusive igneous complex composed of mafic/ultramafic rocks in the Yavapai Province (1.8–1.7 Ga). Hundreds of meters of Paleozoic sedimentary cover and...
Structural controls on slope failure within the western Santa Barbara Channel based on 2D and 3D seismic imaging
Jared W. Kluesner, Daniel S. Brothers, Alexis L Wright, Samuel Y. Johnson
2020, Geochemistry, Geophysics, and Geosystems (21)
The Santa Barbara Channel, offshore California, contains several submarine landslides and ample evidence for incipient failure. This region hosts active thrust and reverse faults that accommodate several mm/yr of convergence, yet the relationships between tectonic deformation and slope failure remain unclear. We present 3‐D and 2‐D...
Geomorphological evidence for a dry dust avalanche origin of slope streaks on Mars
Colin M. Dundas
2020, Nature Geoscience (13) 473-476
Mars has several different types of slope feature that resemble aqueous flows. However, the current cold, dry conditions are inimical to liquid water, resulting in uncertainty about its role in modern surface processes. Dark slope streaks were among the first distinctive young slope features to be identified on Mars and...
