Sex-specific Atlantic salmon upstream passage and fallback at a natural cascade after dam removal
Kurt C. Heim, Jonah L. Withers, William Arden, Laurie Earley, David Minkoff, Theodore Castro-Santos
2026, Fisheries Management and Ecology
In the Boquet River (NY, USA) a low-head dam set above a ~200-m bedrock cascade was removed in 2015. We used radio-telemetry to assess landlocked Atlantic salmon passage at the remaining cascade (2020, 2022). Across years, 52% of males (13/25) attempted cascade passage whereas females made no discernable attempts (0/11)....
A comprehensive inventory of communication tower infrastructure across the range of greater and Gunnison sage-grouse
Sarah C. Webster, Shawn Szabo, Jacqueline B. Cupples, Shawn T. O’Neil, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Steve Abele, Jennifer M. Hill, John Christopher Tull, Michael P. Chenaille, Peter S. Coates
2026, Scientific Data
We compiled and verified a comprehensive inventory dataset of communication tower infrastructure across the range of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus), two species of conservation concern that are viewed as ecosystem health indicators for the entire sagebrush biome within the United States. Our dataset includes...
Identifying potential invasion hotspots for non-native fluvial fishes throughout the conterminous United States
Hao Yu, Arthur R. Cooper, Jared A. Ross, Wesley M. Daniel, Jack E. Taylor, Alina Sargsyan, Dana M. Infante
2026, Biological Invasions (28)
Identifying habitats that non-native fluvial fishes are likely to invade provides information for proactive management, conservation planning, and understanding the ecology of biological invasions. We identified streams in the conterminous United States with high invasion risk from 20 non-native fluvial fish species. Specifically, we (1) developed habitat...
An automated geographic information system-based hydraulic modeling tool for developing preliminary culvert designs for stream crossings in Massachusetts
Gardner C. Bent, Brendan A. McCarthy, Luke P. Sturtevant, Meghan A. McCallister, Amanda L. Tudor, Ian P. Armstrong, Mark W. Poe, Alexander P. Graziano, Carl S. Carlson
2026, Fact Sheet 2026-3065
IntroductionCurrently (2026), many of the about 25,000 roadway crossing structures over rivers and streams in Massachusetts are undersized. Undersized culverts and bridges can be detrimental to fish and wildlife movement, habitat continuity, and the health of aquatic organisms. Undersized culverts also can lack the resiliency needed to withstand large floods,...
Informing policy response to declining water supply in the Colorado River basin: Linking water supply management with outcomes for fish communities
John C. Schmidt, Charles B. Yackulic
2026, Report
Water-supply managers in the Colorado River Basin are tasked with balancing consumptive water use with natural water supply. Decisions associated with water-supply policy can include where and how much water consumption occurs, where water could be stored, and how to operate reservoirs. Water-supply decisions often affect other resources including energy...
USGS 2025 critical minerals review
James V. Jones III, Tanya Gallegos, Mojisola Abosede Kunledare, Charlotte E. Riggs
2026, Mining Engineering (78) 42-57
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) provides scientific information for the Department of Interior and the nation, consistent with its original mission expressed in the Organic Act of 1879 (43 U.S.C. 31): “the classification of the public lands and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products within and...
Holocene barrier dynamics & management on the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Christopher Hein, Allyson Boggess, Kayla Cahoon, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Elizabeth Davis, Michael Fenster, Ioannis Georgiou, Michelle Harris, Emily Hein, Katherine Kivimaki, William McCormick, Justin Shawler
2026, Conference Paper, Field trip guide
No abstract available....
An overview and participatory framework for choosing spatial boundaries in social–ecological systems modeling
Christina D. Perella, Jelena Vukomanovic, Caleb R. Hickman, Adam J. Terando, Mitchell J. Eaton, Marie Schaefer
2026, ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (15)
A common challenge when modeling social–ecological systems (SESs) is defining the spatial extent of the system. Boundaries that do not adequately capture both social and ecological processes and their interactions can lead to mischaracterization of the system, while expanding boundaries too widely can impact model complexity and required resources. Socially,...
Revisiting the utility of regional-scale, high-quality geophysical data in mineral exploration - A case study featuring the Mammoth Magnetic Anomaly, Pinal County, Arizona
Callum Andrew Walter
2026, Conference Paper
Regional aeromagnetic surveys passively measure the total magnetic intensity (TMI) and are a foundational tool used in mineral exploration (Airo, 2015). With the increased global demand and the number of critical mineral resources required for manufacturing high-tech devices, developing high-quality, regional-scale geophysical surveys could aid critical mineral exploration efforts and...
Geochemical geodatabase of sedimentary strata (coal, coal-adjacent rocks, tuffaceous oil shale, phosphate-rich rocks) and produced water in the Uinta region, Utah and Colorado
Ryan D. Gall, Lauren Birgenheier, Peyton Fausett, Haley Coe, Emma Morris, Diego P. Fernandez, L. Wilcock, Michael Vanden Berg, Andrew L. Masterson, Aaron M. Jubb, Justin E. Birdwell, Logan Ashurst-McGee, Nicholas Bailey, Andrew Giebel, Amanda Sha Herzberg, Jessica Chenault, Brittney Hoskins
2026, Data Series 6
The Geochemical Geodatabase of Sedimentary Strata (Coal, Coal-adjacent Rocks, Tuffaceous Oil Shale, Phosphate-rich Rocks) and Produced Water in the Uinta Region, Utah and Colorado, consists of compiled datasets acquired as part of the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth, and Critical Mineral (CORE-CM) Uinta Region assessment funded by the U.S. Department of...
Science for drought response
Tamara Wilson, Stephanie Anne McAfee
2026, Report
Droughts impact water availability and quality, agriculture, energy production, ecosystem health, cultural resources, and wildfire risk. In an average year, nearly 15% of the US experiences significant drought, and in some recent years, drought conditions have impacted more than a third of the nation (U.S. Drought Monitor). The U.S. Geological...
Diverging mineral chemistry of iron and nickel throughout Earth’s changing redox conditions reveals foundation for their evolution as protein cofactors
Benjamin Jelen, Yarissa Peralta, Shaunna M. Morrison, Beth A. Christensen, Elisha Kelly Moore
2026, Life (16)
Iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) were both foundational to early metabolism, yet their biological trajectories diverged as Earth’s surface redox state changed. Here, we integrate mineral chemistry network analysis, protein metal-site coordination-sphere analysis, and curated redox comparisons to test how geochemistry and metalloprotein architecture co-evolved. Mineral network analyses show broader...
The United States Magnetotelluric Array and the National Impedance Map
Anna Kelbert, Paul A. Bedrosian, Adam Schultz, Gary D. Egbert, Louise Pellerin, Jeffrey J. Love, Andy Frassetto, Benjamin S. Murphy
2026, Reviews of Geophysics (64)
The United States Magnetotelluric Array (USMTArray) data set, collected in the years 2006–2024, consists of more than 1,700 long-period magnetotelluric stations covering the entirety of the contiguous United States on a quasi-regular 70 km grid. Funding across multiple federal agencies was critical to sustaining this effort to its completion. Important components...
Understanding the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface waters of the nontidal Passaic River Basin
Molly L. Schreiner, Kristin M. Romanok, Jacob T. Gray, Eileen J. Brown, Brianna M. Williams, Maureen Kneser, Albert J. Capuzzi, Jason Boerner, Luke Giunta, Paul Serillo, John J. Trainor, Kelly L. Smalling
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5018
This study, completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC), was designed to characterize the occurrence and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface waters of the nontidal Passaic River Basin in New Jersey that have the potential to...
Forecasting spread of invasive fish over a largescale network of lakes using local expert knowledge
Michaela Palmieri, Leandro E. Miranda, Melanie R. Boudreau, Corey Garland Dunn, Leslie M. Burger, Dennis K. Riecke
2026, Aquatic Invasions (21) 127-146
Understanding spatial distribution patterns is essential to management of invasive species. Aquatic invasive species can be notably challenging to detect due to the substantial effort required to locate them underwater. This limitation has resulted in a lack of timely distribution maps, particularly over vast regions, and hindered...
Assessment of long-term trends in streamflow statistics within and near the Mobile Bay and Perdido Bay watersheds, United States, 1950–2022
William H. Asquith, Elena R. Crowley-Ornelas, Amanda R. Whaling
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5142
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, assessed monotonic trends for a variety of streamflow statistics for 69 long-term U.S. Geological Survey streamgages within either the Mobile Bay or Perdido Bay watersheds that were active through at least at the end of calendar year...
Building resilience in dryland ecosystems: A climate adaptation strategy menu for pinyon–juniper woodlands
Jesse Gray, Mandy L. Slate, Alyson Ennis, Courtney Peterson, John B. Bradford, Adam Roy Noel, Michael C. Duniway, Tara B. Bishop, Ian P. Barrett, Chris Domschke, Joel T. Humphries, Nicole N. Barger
2026, Forests (17)
Pinyon–juniper (PJ) woodlands, one of the most extensive mature and old-growth woodland types in the Western United States, provide critical ecological, cultural, and economic benefits but face increasing threats from climate change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and pests. We developed the PJ Woodland Climate Adaptation Management Menu, a decision...
Nest site and habitat changes over 15 years in a predicted climate refugium in Beluga, AK, USA, have a positive impact on Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) nest survival
Eden Smith, Rose J. Swift, Anna Courtemanche, Feipeng Huang, Mary Margaret Pelton, Lauren Puleo, Josiah Simmonds, Matthew Waller, Hannah Walton, Casey Weissburg, Luke R. Wilde, Nathan R. Senner
2026, Polar Biology (49)
Climate change is transforming the Arctic and sub-Arctic at a pace that threatens many taxa with population declines and extinction. However, some habitats–such as muskeg bogs–can serve as climatic refugia and lessen the effects of a changing climate on the species that rely on them. Hudsonian Godwits (Limosa haemastica) are...
Evaluating approximations of river channel shape using a national cross section database
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
2026, Water Resources Research (62)
Many hydrologic applications require basic information on the size and shape of river channels, but measuring cross section (XS) geometry in the field or via remote sensing can be costly and often provides only partial coverage. Given these challenges, we capitalized upon an existing data set of 46,971 XS from...
Changes in suspended sediment concentration along tidal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay: The tidal freshwater “sediment shadow”
Gregory E. Noe, Rebecca Murphy, Ken Krauss
2026, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (337)
Transport of terrigenic sediment from nontidal watersheds into estuaries has important impacts on coastal habitat quality, pollutant transport, and resilience to sea-level rise. However, relatively little is known about changes in suspended sediment as nontidal rivers encounter tide, transition into tidal rivers through the tidal freshwater zone (TFZ), and enter...
Geospatial assessment of agrivoltaic opportunities and land use requirements in Nigeria
Ifeoluwa E. Babarinde, E. Bashir Salisu, Jude A. Benavides, Engil Pereira, Steven Mark Grodsky, Rafael M. Almeida
2026, Scientific Reports
Agrivoltaics, the co-location of agriculture and solar photovoltaic (PV) infrastructure, can deliver co-benefits like reduced plant drought stress and improved yields of shade-tolerant crops, particularly in water-scarce regions. Despite growing global interest, the technical potential and opportunities for agrivoltaics remain poorly understood in many regions facing both...
Amphibian use of recently created wetlands in the Palouse region of northern Idaho, USA
Rolllie M. Grinder, Charles R. Peterson, Edward O. Garton, Javan Mathias Bauder
2026, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (21) 85-100
Human development has resulted in the loss of natural wetlands in many regions and thus has led to amphibian habitat loss. Human-constructed wetlands are increasingly prevalent, particularly in human-modified landscapes, and can be used as breeding habitats by amphibians. It is important to identify factors influencing amphibian...
Socio-ecological impacts of the 2025 Los Angeles urban fires on communities, neighborhoods, and homes
Carl August Norlen, Sadikshya Sharma, Francisco J. Escobedo
2026, Nature Communications (17)
Human settlements are increasingly being impacted by urban fires initiated by wildfires. Metrics such as area burned and number of structures destroyed are important, but research often overlooks the socio-ecological complexity of urban fires. We study the impacts of the 2025 Los Angeles fires on two communities at the neighborhood and...
Habitat and landscape variables affecting Corbicula fluminea presence in the upper Savannah River drainage (USA)
Zachary M. Schumber, Michael A. Baker, Brian J. Irwin, Martin J. Hamel, Peter D. Hazelton
2026, Aquatic Invasions (21) 111-126
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are amongst the greatest threats to native aquatic biodiversity. These introduced species often thrive in human-altered environments and spread through human-mediated pathways to invade new watersheds. Corbicula fluminea is a freshwater bivalve native to southeastern Asia first...
Hydrologic investigation of water level fluctuations at Moreau Lake, Moreau Lake State Park, town of Moreau, New York
Paul M. Heisig
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5132
The causes of water level fluctuations at Moreau Lake, within Moreau Lake State Park in the town of Moreau, New York, were investigated from 2016 to 2021 after lake water levels dropped between 2015 and 2016, raising concerns about the loss of a shallow swimming area at the park beach....
