Regional ocean models indicate changing limits to biological invasions in the Bering Sea
Amanda Droghini, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jordan Watson, Jesika Reimer
2020, ICES Journal of Marine Science
Minimal vessel traffic and cold water temperatures are believed to limit non-indigenous species (NIS) in high-latitude ecosystems. We evaluated whether suitable conditions exist in the Bering Sea for the introduction, survival, and reproduction of NIS. We compiled temperature and salinity thresholds of known NIS and compared these to ocean conditions...
Preliminary analyses of volcanic hazards at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, 2017–2018
Christina A. Neal, Kyle R. Anderson
2020, Open-File Report 2020-1002
From 2017 to 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) responded to ongoing and changing eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano as part of its mission to monitor volcanic processes, issue warnings of dangerous activity, and assess volcanic hazards. To formalize short-term hazards assessments—and, in some cases, issue...
Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses of selected streams in Stark County, Ohio
Chad J. Ostheimer, Matthew T. Whitehead
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5011
To update and expand a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Study, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, and the Stark County Commissioners began a cooperative study. The study consisted of hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for selected reaches of 14 streams in Stark County,...
Modeling a 2- and 4-foot drawdown in the Link River to Keno Dam reach of the upper Klamath River, south-central Oregon
Annett B. Sullivan, Stewart A. Rounds
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5001
Executive SummaryThe most upstream, pooled reach of the Klamath River in south-central Oregon, from Link River mouth to Keno Dam (Link-Keno), has a water-surface elevation that remains relatively constant throughout the year. Two model scenarios, using an existing two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water-quality model (CE-QUAL-W2), were constructed to examine the...
Highly variable rates of survival to metamorphosis in wild boreal toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas)
John G. Crockett, Larissa L. Bailey, Erin L. Muths
2020, Population Ecology (62) 258-268
Life history theory suggests that long‐lived, pond‐breeding amphibians should have low and highly variable early life‐stage survival rates, but this theoretical expectation is often untested and the causes of variation are usually unknown. We evaluated the impact of hydroperiod, presence of a pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), presence of a potential predator...
Lifetime chronicles of selenium exposure linked to deformities in an imperiled migratory fish
Rachel C. Johnson, A. Robin Stewart, Karin Limburg, Rong Huang, Dennis E. Cocherell, Frederick V. Feyrer
2020, Environmental Science & Technology (54) 2892-2901
Aquatic ecosystems worldwide face growing threats from elevated levels of contaminants from human activities. Toxic levels of selenium (Se) shown to cause deformities in birds, fish, and mammals can transfer from parents to progeny during embryonic development or accumulate through Se-enriched diets. For migratory species that move across landscapes, tracking...
Conceptual frameworks
Keunhyun Park, James B. Grace, Reid Ewing
2020, Book chapter, Basic quantitative research methods for urban planners
The chapter starts by addressing some of the issues that come from not using a conceptual framework. This point is illustrated using an example with causal factors. The chapter then goes on to explain the mechanics of establishing conceptual frameworks. Lastly, it...
Runoff sensitivity to snow depletion curve representation within a continental scale hydrologic model
Graham A. Sexstone, Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren Hay, John C. Hammond, Theodore B. Barnhart
2020, Hydrological Processes (34) 2365-2380
The spatial variability of snow water equivalent (SWE) can exert a strong influence on the timing and magnitude of snowmelt delivery to a watershed. Therefore, the representation of subgrid or subwatershed snow variability in hydrologic models is important for accurately simulating snowmelt dynamics and runoff response. The U.S. Geological Survey...
A machine learning approach to developing ground motion models from simulated ground motions
Kyle Withers, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson
2020, Geophysical Research Letters (47)
We use a machine learning approach to build a ground motion model (GMM) from a synthetic database of ground motions extracted from the Southern California CyberShake study. An artificial neural network is used to find the optimal weights that best fit the target data (without overfitting), with...
Spatial and temporal variations in SO2 and PM2.5 levels around Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i during 2007–2018
R.C.W. Whitty, E. Ilyinskaya, E. Mason, P.E. Wieser, E. J. Liu, A. Schmidt, T.J. Roberts, M.A. Pfeffer, Barbara Brooks, T.A. Mather, M. Edmonds, Tamar Elias, David J. Schneider, C. Oppenheimer, A. Dybwad, Patricia A. Nadeau, Christoph Kern
2020, Frontiers in Earth Science (8)
Among the hazards posed by volcanoes are the emissions of gases and particles that can affect air quality and damage agriculture and infrastructure. A recent intense episode of volcanic degassing associated with severe impacts on air quality accompanied the 2018 lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption of Kīlauea volcano,...
An experimental study of longitudinal incisional grooves in a mixed bedrock-alluvial channel
Takuya Inoue, Jonathan M. Nelson
2020, Water Resources Research (56)
Natural bedrock rivers have various bedforms created by erosion. Flow‐parallel incisional grooves formed longitudinally in bedrock are one common example of such bedforms. Although several studies have been conducted regarding these grooves, their formation processes are not well understood. In this study, we conducted a flume experiment to investigate the...
Preparing for geophysical science on the surface of the moon enabled by Artemis
Nicholas Schmerr, Jacob A. Richardson, R. Ghent, Matt Seigler, Molly Wasser, Patrick Wheeley, D. Buczkowski, Lynne Carter, Chuck Connor, Laura Connor, Jacob E. Bleacher, M. Fouch, D. Baker, T. Hurford, L. Jozwiak, Sarah Kruse, V. Lekic, A. Naids, Ryan Porter, L. Montesi, Derek Richardson, M. Elise Rumpf, J. Sunshine, Norbert Schorghofer, S. Goossens, Nicole Whelley, D. Wyrick, W. Zhu, Ernie Bell, J. DeMartini, D. Coan, D. Akin, Barbara Cohen, E. Mazarico, Clive Neal, M. Panning, Noah Petro, B. Strauss, Renee Weber, T. Glotch, A. Hendrix, A. Parker, Sarah Wright
2020, Report, Artemis III Science Definition Team White Papers
Geophysical methods have been extremely successful in identifying resources on Earth as they provide a means of characterizing and mapping the sub-surface using data gathered on and above the target structures. Geophysics on the Moon will be an important tool for identifying key targets for geological prospecting, scientific sampling, assessing...
Long term persistence of aspen in snowdrift-dependent ecosystems
Alec M Kretchun, Robert M Scheller, Douglas J. Shinneman, B Soderquist, Kaitlin C. Maguire, Timothy E Link, Eva K. Strand
2020, Forest Ecology and Management (462)
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests throughout the western United States have experienced significant mortality in recent decades, much of which has been influenced by climate variability, especially drought. In the western portion of its range, where most precipitation arrives during winter as snowfall and summers are dry, snowdrifts that persist into the growing season...
Evolving infrasound detections from Bogoslof volcano, Alaska: Insights from atmospheric propagation modeling
Hans Schwaiger, John J. Lyons, Alexandra M. Iezzi, David Fee, Matthew M. Haney
2020, Bulletin of Volcanology (82)
Bogoslof volcano, a back-arc volcano in Alaska’s Aleutian arc, began an eruptive sequence in mid-December 2016 that ended in late August 2017, with 70 individual eruptive episodes. Because there were no local seismic or infrasound stations on the island, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) relied on distant geophysical networks and...
The effects of fire on the thermal environment of sagebrush communities
Christopher R. Anthony, Christian A. Hagen, Katie Dugger, R. Dwayne Elmore
2020, Journal of Thermal Biology (89)
Thermal heterogeneity provides options for organisms during extreme temperatures that can contribute to their fitness. Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities exhibit vegetation heterogeneity that creates thermal variation at fine spatial scales. However, fire can change vegetation and thereby variation within the thermal environment...
Characterizing land surface phenology and exotic annual grasses in dryland ecosystems using Landsat and Sentinel-2 data in harmony
Neal Pastick, Devendra Dahal, Bruce K. Wylie, Sujan Parajuli, Stephen P. Boyte, Zhuoting Wu
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), have proliferated in dryland ecosystems of the western United States, promoting increased fire activity and reduced biodiversity that can be detrimental to socio-environmental systems. Monitoring exotic annual grass cover and dynamics over large areas requires the use of remote sensing that...
The NASA hydrological forecast system for food and water security applications
Kristi Arsenault, Shraddhanand Shukla, Abheera Hazra, Agusto Getirana, Amy McNally, Sujay Kumar, Randal Koster, Christa Peters-Lidard, Ben Zaitchik, Hamada Badr, Hahn Chul Jung, Bala Narapusetty, Navari, Shugong Wang, David M. Mocko, Chris Funk, Laura Harrison, Gregory J. Husak, Alkhalil Adoum, Gideon Galu, Tamuka Magadzire, Jeanne Roningen, Michael J. Shaw, John Eylander, Karim Bergaoui, Rachael A. McDonnell, James Verdin
2020, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (101) E1007-E1025
Many regions in Africa and the Middle East are vulnerable to drought and to water and food insecurity, motivating agency efforts such as the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) to provide early warning of drought events in the region. Each year these...
Evaluating the mineral commodity supply risk of the U.S. manufacturing sector
Nedal T. Nassar, Jamie Brainard, Andrew L. Gulley, Ross Manley, Grecia R. Matos, Graham W. Lederer, Laurence Bird, David G. Pineault, Elisa Alonso, Joseph Gambogi, Steven M. Fortier
2020, Science Advances (6)
Trade tensions, resource nationalism, and various other factors are increasing concerns regarding the supply reliability of nonfuel mineral commodities. This is especially the case for commodities required for new and emerging technologies ranging from electric vehicles to wind turbines. In this analysis, we utilize a conventional risk-modeling framework to develop...
Seasonal subsurface thaw dynamics of an aufeis feature inferred from geophysical methods
Neil Terry, Elliot Grunewald, Martin A. Briggs, Michael Gooseff, Alexander D. Huryn, M. Andy Kass, Ken Tape, Patrick Hendrickson, John W. Lane Jr.
2020, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface (125)
Aufeis are sheets of ice unique to cold regions that originate from repeated flooding and freezing events during the winter. They have hydrological importance associated with summer flows and possibly winter insulation, but little is known about the seasonal dynamics of the unfrozen sediment layer beneath them. This layer...
U.S. Geological Survey science in support of the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat)
Brian Reichert, Suzanna C. Soileau
2020, Fact Sheet 2020-3008
Bats make up one-fifth of all mammalian species worldwide and are found on every continent except Antarctica. They contribute to overall ecosystem health by suppressing pest insects and pollinating plants and spreading seeds. Eight North American bat species are listed as federally endangered or threatened, and more than one-half are...
Assessment of soil and water resources in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico
Johanna M. Blake, Aurelia C. Mitchell, Zachary M. Shephard, Grady Ball, Shaleene Chavarria, Kyle R. Douglas-Mankin
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5142
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (Monument) in southern New Mexico was established in 2014. Given anticipated future demands in the Monument for recreation, livestock grazing, and maintenance of rights-of-way (for example, pipelines and powerlines), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) needs a better understanding of the current soil and...
Final project memorandum: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center Project
Michael Osland, Renee C. Collini
2020, Report
Low-lying public lands along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast are vulnerable to sea-level rise. Coastal planners and resource managers in the region have requested customized information that can be used to concisely communicate local sea-level rise scenarios and identify potential impacts to the missions of management agencies.In this project,...
Editorial: Contributions of behavior and physiology to conservation biology
Caitlin R Gabor, Susan C. Walls
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (8)
Conservation biology is a rapidly evolving discipline, with its synthetic, multidisciplinary framework expanding extensively in recent years. Seemingly disparate disciplines, such as behavior and physiology, are being integrated into this discipline's growing portfolio, resulting in diverse tools that can help develop conservation solutions. Behavior and physiology have traditionally been considered...
A call for global action to conserve native trout in the 21st century and beyond
Daniel C. Dauwalter, Antonino Duchi, John Epifanio, A.J. Gandolfi, Robert E. Gresswell, Francis Juanes, Jeffrey L. Kershner, Javier Lobon-Cervia, Philip McGinnity, Andreas Meraner, Pavel Mikheev, Kentaro Morita, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Kurt Pinter, John Post, Gunther Unfer, Leif Asbjørn Vøllestad, Jack E. Williams
2020, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (29) 429-432
Trout and char (hereafter, trout ) represent some of the more culturally, economically and ecologically important taxa of freshwater fishes worldwide (Kershner, Williams, Gresswell, & Lobón‐Cerviá, 2019a). Native to all continents in the Northern Hemisphere (as well as western Mediterranean Africa), trout belong to seven genera (Oncorhynchus , Salvelinus, Salmo , Hucho, Parahucho, Brachymystax and Salvethymus ), which are distributed...
Broad-scale impacts of an invasive native predator on a sensitive native prey species within the shifting avian community of the North American Great Basin
Peter S. Coates, Shawn O'Neil, Brianne E. Brussee, Mark A. Ricca, Pat J. Jackson, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Kristy B. Howe, Ann M. Moser, Lee J. Foster, David J Delahunty
2020, Biological Conservation (243)
Human enterprise has modified ecosystem processes through direct and indirect alteration of native predators’ distribution and abundance. For example, human activities subsidize food, water, and shelter availability to generalist predators whose subsequent increased abundance impacts lower trophic-level prey species. The common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter, raven) is an avian predator,...
