A three-dimensional geologic framework model of the northern Great Plains region of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming, USA
Leland R. Spangler
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5127
This report presents a new three-dimensional geologic framework model (GFM) of the northern Great Plains region, encompassing parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The model provides a regionally consistent, geographic information system (GIS)-ready representation of Phanerozoic sedimentary strata, major fault systems, and Precambrian basement geometry across two...
Deep critical zone controls on shallow landslides
Seulgi Moon, Giuseppe Formetta, Justin T. Higa, Riccardo Busti, Dino G. Bellugi, David G. Milledge, Brian A. Ebel, William E. Dietrich
2026, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (123)
The deep critical zone (CZ) has long been recognized for its importance in influencing shallow landslides but was not considered feasible to include in slope stability models at the watershed scale. In this study, we demonstrate that simple approximations of the CZ in a fully coupled hydrologic and soil slope...
Investigation of fish communities in natural channel sections of the Mohawk River, New York
Scott D. George, Thomas R. Sadekoski, Michael J. Darling, Barry P. Baldigo, Scott M. Wells, David B. Erway, Andrea L. Conine, Jesse C. Becker, Kristen J. Dieterle
2026, Scientific Investigations Report 2026-5131
Little is known about the natural resources in the natural channel sections of the Mohawk River between Rome and Frankfort, New York, where the river channel runs separately from and parallel to the Erie Canal. This river section runs through multiple locations that are listed as active remediation sites under...
Regreening, restoring, and reconnecting a southwestern wetland ecosystem – the Zeedyk wetland
Roy E. Petrakis, Laura M. Norman, Maryann McGraw, Steve Carson, Craig Sponholtz, Cameron Weber, Bill D. Zeedyk
2026, Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment (42)
Alluvial wetland ecosystems are vital as biodiversity hotspots but are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic stressors and drought. These pressures are especially acute in arid and semi-arid regions, where eco-hydrologic connectivity is fragile and recovery is slow. This study quantifies the efficacy of nature-based solutions, particularly the ‘Zeedyk approach,’ which employs...
Unprecedented burning in tropical peatlands during the 20th century compared to the previous two millennia
Yuwan Wang, Ted R. Feldpausch, Graeme T. Swindles, Patrick Moss, Hamish A. McGowan, Thomas G. Sim, Paul J. Morris, Adam Benfield, Colin Courtney-Mustaphi, David Wahl, Encarni Montoya, Esther N. Githumbi, Euridice N. Honorio Coronado, Femke Augustijns, Gert Verstraeten, Jess O'Donnell, John Tibby, Juan C. Benavides, K. Anggi Hapsari, Karsten Schittek, Khairun Nisha Mohamed Ramdzan, Kunshan Bao, Lydia E. Cole, Lysanna Anderson, Mariusz Galka, Orijemie Emuobosa Akpo, Paul Strobel, Prabhakaran Ramya Bala, Rene Dommain, Rob Marchant, Raman Sukumar, Sakonvan Chawchai, Sarath Pullyottum Kavil, Scott Mooney, Thomas J. Kelly, Yang Gao, Apostolos Voulgarakis, Arnoud Boom, Chantelle Burton, Juan Carlos Berrio, Kelly Ribeiro, Liana O. Anderson, Mark Hardiman, Molly Spater, Susan E. Page, Angela Gallego-Sala
2026, Global Change Biology (32)
Tropical peatland wildfire incidence has risen in recent decades, driven by drainage for land use and intensified by severe droughts with global climate change. These disturbances have altered vegetation structure, disrupted ecosystem functioning, and increased carbon emissions, particularly in Southeast Asia. However, the long-term history and characteristics of wildfires in...
Current and near-future conditions of aquatic spatial data for use in ecological models in the United States
Grace C. Henderson, Peder Engelstad, Cameron J. Reimer, Shelby K. LeClare, Linnea S. Fraser, Demetra A. Williams, Keana S. Shadwell, Wesley M. Daniel, Ian A. Pfingsten, Catherine S. Jarnevich
2026, Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems
To address increasing demand for ecological models of aquatic species that can inform the management of national freshwater resources, we leveraged manager input to develop suites of environmental data layers characterizing freshwater habitats for the contiguous United States. Using the National Hydrography Dataset, these new data cover...
Dog attacks on wild desert tortoises: A risk model
Andrea S. Carlson, Kristin H. Berry, Jeremy S. Mack
2026, Journal of Wildlife Management (90)
We retrospectively compiled a database of 6,727 live, wild Agassiz's desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and evaluated them for clinical signs of trauma to shell and limbs at 50 sites in the Mojave and Colorado (western Sonoran) deserts of California, USA, spanning the years 1977–2006. Our objectives were...
Invasion resistance varies by fuel break type in sagebrush ecosystems
Austin L. Nash, Brianne E. Brussee, Cali L. Weise, Douglas J. Shinneman, Susan K. McIlroy, Sarah C. Webster, Steven R. Mathews, Seth J. Dettenmaier, Lea A. Condon, Michele R. Crist, Cameron L. Aldridge, Julie A. Heinrichs, Mark A. Ricca, Shawn T. O’Neil, Peter S. Coates
2026, Fire Ecology (22)
Background Wildfire is an increasingly important driver of changes within sagebrush (Artemisia spp. L.) ecosystems of the western USA, often resulting in increased spread of exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), and subsequent losses of native vegetation and wildlife habitat. Fuel breaks— areas of land treated to...
Stress states on the eve of past earthquakes inform earthquake rupture through fault complexity along the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults
Emery Anderson-Merritt, Michelle Cooke, Katherine M. Scharer
2026, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
Estimating the evolving state of stress along active fault systems can provide insight into the conditions that generated past ground‐rupturing earthquakes and...
Optimizing cryo-focused pyrolysis GC/MS for tracing soil organic matter across diverse ecosystems
Abrar Shahriar, Mavrik Zavarin, Erin E. Nuccio, Katherine E. Grant, Karis J. McFarlane, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, David Toews, Jason P. Sexton, Rebecca Ryals, Joy Baccel, Aiden J. Berndt, Rene Boiteau, Ishtiaq Ahmed Jawad, Yu Yang, Sheel Bansal, Edward J. O’Loughlin, Kenneth M. Kemner, Roser Matamala, Keith D. Morrison
2026, Environmental Science and Technology (60) 9237-9249
The cycling of organic matter in terrestrial soils and sediments is central to a range of biogeochemical processes that regulate nutrient cycling, crop productivity, trace gas emissions, and contaminant transport. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS) is a powerful tool for characterizing bulk soil organic matter (SOM) at the molecular level. In...
Understanding the links between functional performance and environment in cold desert ecosystems through the flagship biocrust forming moss Syntrichia caninervis
Jose Raggio, David S. Pescador, Edmund E. Grote, L.G. Sancho, Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, Jayne Belnap
2026, Plant and Soil (521) 1517-1536
Background and aimsBiocrust communities shape the soil surface in drylands, regulating important ecosystem properties. Despite this, few works address key functional attributes in these poikilohydric photosynthetic communities, including the length of metabolic activity in the field and its relationship with microclimate. We aim to disentangle the links between...
Summertime methane and carbon dioxide emission rates and associated variables from a national-scale survey of 146 reservoirs in the United States
Jake J. Beaulieu, Bridget R. Deemer, R.M. Pilla, Kenneth J. Forshay, J.W. Hollister, S.A. Jacobs, J.T. Walker, P.T. Leinenbach, Natalie A. Griffiths, S.D. Shivers, A.O. Tatters, K.N. Buckler, J.W. Corra, Ryan W. Daly, A.N. Djurkovic, S.R. Fulgham, P.L. Goodwin, L.G. Herger, M.W. Jones, N.J. Jones, L.A. Juilfs, C.M. Langstroth, M.E. Mitchell, J.R. Oliveria, B.M. Richmond, J.W. Schroeder
2026, Limnology and Oceanography Letters (11)
Reservoirs are globally important sources of greenhouse gases, but the magnitude of their emissions is highly uncertain. Here we present data for 146 reservoirs from two surveys of reservoir methane and carbon dioxide emissions, one at the regional scale in the midwestern United States and one at the national scale...
Sentinel-2 for chlorophyll-a water quality monitoring: A review of validation evidence and application potential
Sarah Goodrich, Blake Schaeffer, Kate Meyers, Wilson Barg Salls, Tyler V. King, Bridget N. Seegers, Olivia Cronin-Golomb, David Demaree, Molly Reif
2026, International Journal of Remote Sensing (47) 3820-3845
Water quality monitoring is integral to preserving the health of freshwater ecosystems, and satellite remote sensing has emerged as one monitoring method. Sentinel-2, in particular, has been valuable for water quality monitoring due to its 5-day global temporal revisit time and spatial resolution that ranges from 10...
Potential impacts of groundwater pumping on stream temperature are greatest in streams with substantial cold groundwater inflows
Dana A. Lapides, Sam Zipper, John C. Hammond
2026, Hydrological Processes (40)
Groundwater pumping-induced reductions in streamflow (known as ‘streamflow depletion’) have been documented worldwide, but potential impacts of streamflow depletion on stream temperature are not well understood. Here, we use two types of models to identify potential impacts of pumping on stream temperature across the conterminous United States (CONUS) to determine...
ECCOE Landsat quarterly calibration and validation report—Quarter 3, 2025
Md Obaidul Haque, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Daniel Steinwand, Paul Bresnahan, Jerad L. Shaw, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Jeff Clauson, Kurt Thome, Amit Angal, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding, Cibele Teixeira Pinto
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1069
Executive Summary The U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) Center of Excellence (ECCOE) focuses on improving the accuracy, precision, calibration, and product quality of remote-sensing data, leveraging years of multiscale optical system geometric and radiometric calibration and characterization experience. The ECCOE Landsat Cal/Val Team continually...
Edible baits for systemic flea control, plague mitigation, and wildlife conservation: Evaluation of four active ingredients with three rodent species in western North America
David A. Eads, Marc R. Matchett, Magnus McCaffery, Ashlyn Hemmah, Angela R. Jarding, Jennifer Cordova, Heather Heimann, Stefano Liccioli, Laura E. Gardiner, Jordan Cormack, Holly Hicks, Jason Fly, Eddie Childers, Travis Livieri, Michelle L. Hladik, Dean E. Biggins
2026, International Journal of Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife (29)
The flea-borne agent of plague, Yersinia pestis, is lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFFs) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PDs) on which BFFs depend for habitat and prey. We developed bait pellets containing insecticides for flea control with PDs. Individual baits contained 0.46, 0.91, 1.21, or...
Spatial units to support Lake Erie Cisco Coregonus artedi restoration
Joshua P. Egan, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Andrew M. Muir
2026, Report
At the request of the Lake Erie Committee, spatial units for Lake Erie Cisco were delineated during spring 2024. Spatial units correspond to the reproductive habitat of extirpated (unoccupied spatial units) and extant (occupied spatial units) populations. Spatial units were delineated using a Council of Lake Committees-endorsed method that involves...
Groundwater drought in the United States: Spatial and temporal variability
Glenn Hodgkins, Caelan Simeone, Melissa A. Lombard, Todd Caldwell, John C. Hammond, Michael Wieczorek, Robert W. Dudley
2026, Journal of Hydrology (671)
Many communities and ecosystems in the United States that are dependent on groundwater are potentially adversely affected by groundwater drought. We computed yearly groundwater-drought metrics and mean groundwater levels at well locations across the conterminous United States (CONUS), using data from wells and remotely sensed and modeled Gravity Recovery and...
Small-volume tephra deposits of the May 1924 explosions from Halemaʻumaʻu, Kīlauea volcano, and their origin
Drew T. Downs, Johanne Schmith, Julie Chang, Kendra J. Lynn, Don Swanson, Ben Gaddis, Ashton F. Flinders
2026, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (473)
More than 50 explosive eruptions occurred from Halemaʻumaʻu at Kīlauea volcano over 17 days from May 11 to 27, 1924. Ballistics weighing as much as 14,000 kg were ejected and most landed within 2 km of the vent. Fine ash made up a major component of the tephra and was dispersed...
Seasonal and hydrologic variation influences habitat and functional structure of stream fish assemblages
Joshua D. Tevin, Daniel D. Magoulick
2026, Frontiers in Enviornmental Science (14)
Introduction: Hydrologic variability is a key driver of ecological structure in lotic systems, shaping habitat conditions, taxonomic diversity, and the functional traits that mediate species’ persistence and performance (e.g., reproductive success). While many studies examine taxonomic responses to variation in flows, few evaluate how spatiotemporal hydrologic variation influences the functional...
Estimating discharge from undular hydraulic jumps: Feasibility assessment based on flume experiments
Daniel C. White, Elowyn Yager, Carl J. Legleiter, Gordon Grant, Laura A. Hempel, Christina M. Leonard, Katherine Adler, Merritt Elizabeth Harlan, Becky Fasth
2026, Water Resources Research (62)
Rapids are common in steep rivers, often forming where flow transitions from supercritical (Froude number, Fr > 1) to subcritical (Fr < 1) through a hydraulic jump. When upstream Fr is supercritical but close to 1, this transition may occur as an undular hydraulic jump, exhibiting a train of stationary waves downstream of the jump toe. Previous...
Satellite time series analysis to quantify changing climax ciénegas using a state and transition model approach
Laura M. Norman, Roy E. Petrakis, Natalie R. Wilson, Barry R. Middleton, Miguel L. Villarreal, Michael Pollock, Thomas A. Minckley, Dean Hendrickson
2026, Ecological Indicators (184)
Ciénegas are rare wetlands in arid landscapes of the North American Southwest, historically providing critical ecological and hydrological functions but increasingly threatened by changing climate and land use pressures. This study quantifies changes in ciénega condition and floodplain dynamics using a state-and-transition model (STM) informed by expert...
Evaluation of turbidity corrections for EXO fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) sensors
Jacob Fleck, Tim James Baxter, Angela Hansen
2026, Open-File Report 2026-1063
Executive Summary The use of field-deployable fluorescence sensors to better understand dissolved organic matter concentrations and composition has grown immensely in recent years. Applications of these sensors to critical monitoring efforts have also grown, encompassing post-fire monitoring, wastewater tracking, and use as a proxy for various contaminants. Despite the growth, it...
Evaluating alternative methods for modeling trap efficiencies of out-migrating juvenile salmonids
M. A. Walden, Nicholas A Som
2026, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (46) 478-494
ObjectiveWe aimed to compare two machine learning approaches—boosted beta regression (BBR) and beta mixed model forest (BMF)—to a Bayesian mixed-effects beta regression (BME) for the prediction of rotary screw trap (RST) efficiency for out-migrating juvenile salmonids from environmental covariates.MethodsWe identified two machine...
Working group on American Eel (WGAMEEL; outputs from 2024 meeting)
Julien April, Kristen A. Anstead, Philippe Brodeur, David K. Cairns, Martin Castonguay, Matthew Cieri, Brian Jessop, Amelie D'Astous, Shelly Denny, Jean-Francois Dumont, Sheila Eyler, Marten A. Koops, Laura Lee, Louis Landry-Massicote, Robby Maxwell, Thomas Pratt, Scott M. Reid, Scott Roloson, Scott L. Schlueter, Shawn Snyder, John A. Young
Kristen A. Anstead, Thomas Pratt, editor(s)
2026, Report
The Working Group on American Eel (WGAMEEL) met virtually three times in 2022-2024 to address the five Terms of Reference (ToRs) of its three-year term. The first two ToRs tasked WGAMEEL with listing and evaluating data on American eel landings, abundance indices, and spatial and habitat data and also...
