Water-balance techniques for determining available soil-water storage for selected sandy and clay soil study sites in Cass County, North Dakota, 2016–17
Kevin C. Vining
2020, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5141
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, collected field and remotely sensed data on precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), and soil-water content to determine available soil-water storage (AWS) at six study sites on sandy and clay soils in Cass County, North Dakota. Data...
Bioaccumulation and toxicity of cadmium, copper, nickel, and zinc and their mixtures to aquatic insect communities
Christopher A. Mebane, Travis S. Schmidt, Janet L. Miller, Laurie S. Balistrieri
2020, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (39) 812-833
We describe 2 artificial stream experiments that exposed aquatic insect communities to zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and cadmium (year 2014) and to Zn, Cu, and nickel (year 2015). The testing strategy was to concurrently expose insect communities to single metals and mixtures. Single-metal tests were repeated to evaluate the reproducibility...
Fluxes of agricultural nitrogen and metolachlor metabolites are highly correlated in a first order stream in Maryland, USA
Cliff Rice, W. Dean Hively, Gregory W. McCarty, Cathleen Hapeman
2020, Science of the Total Environment (716)
Nitrogen pollution in watersheds containing significant cropland area is generally problematic. Conservation practices intended to reduce nitrate-N (NO3--N) export from watersheds are being implemented by many regions without necessary tools to assess effectiveness of these abatement tools. A commonly used herbicide metolachlor degrades in the vadose zone of croplands to form two metabolites (metolachlor ethane sulfonic...
Components and predictors of biological soil crusts vary at the regional vs. plant community scales
Lea A. Condon, David A. Pyke
2020, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7)
Although biological soil crusts (biocrusts) occur globally in arid and semi-arid environments, most of our knowledge of biocrust cover and ecology is from a relatively small number of locations worldwide. Some plant communities are known to have high cover of biocrusts, but the abundance of biocrusts is largely undocumented in...
Characterization of the genetic structure of four sucker species in the Klamath River. Final Report
Matt Smith, Jennifer Von Bargen, Christian A. Smith, Michael A. Miller, Josh Rasmussen, David A. Hewitt
2020, Report
Four species of suckers (family Catostomidae) inhabit the Klamath River Basin of Oregon and California: Lost River suckers (LRS; Deltistes luxatus), shortnose suckers (SNS; Chasmistes brevirostris), Klamath largescale suckers (KLS; Catostomus snyderi), and Klamath smallscale suckers (KSS; Catostomus rimiculus). All but Klamath smallscale suckers are endemic and restricted to the...
Spatiotemporal variability of modeled watershed scale surface-depression storage and runoff for the conterminous United States
Jessica M. Driscoll, Lauren Hay, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Roland J. Viger
2020, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (56) 16-29
This study uses the explores the viability of a proxy model calibration strategy through assessment of the spatiotemporal variability of surface-depression storage and runoff generated with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Hydrologic Model (NHM) infrastructure for hydrologic response units (HRUs; n=109,951) across the conterminous United States (CONUS). Simulated values for...
Using a dense seismic array to determine structure and site effects of the Two Towers earthflow in northern California
Amanda M. Thomas, Zack Spica, Miles Bodmer, William H. Schulz, Joshua J. Roering
2020, Seismological Research Letters (91) 913-920
We deployed a network of 68 three-component geophones on the slow moving Two Towers earthflow in northern California. We compute horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSRs) from the ambient seismic field. The HVSRs have two prominent peaks, one near 1.23 Hz and another between 4 and 8 Hz at most stations. The 1.23 Hz resonance...
Resolving small-scale forest snow patterns using an energy-balance snow model with a 1-layer canopy
Giulia Mazzotti, Richard Essery, C. David Moeser, Tobias Jonas
2020, Water Resources Research (56)
Modelling spatiotemporal dynamics of snow in forests is challenging, as involved processes are strongly dependent on small-scale canopy properties. In this study, we explore how local canopy structure information can be integrated in a medium-complexity energy-balance snow model to replicate observed snow patterns at very high spatial resolutions. Snow depth...
Conservation–Protection of forests for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
A. Blaine Elliott, Anne Mini, S. Keith McKnight, Daniel J. Twedt
2020, Forests (11)
The nearly ubiquitous bottomland hardwood forests that historically dominated the Mississippi Alluvial Valley have been greatly reduced in area. In addition, changes in hydrology and forest management have altered the structure and composition of the remaining forests. To ameliorate the detrimental impact of these changes on wildlife, conservation plans have...
Acute toxicity of the lampricides TFM and niclosamide: Effects on a vascular plant and a chironomid species
Tom Leak, John Aufderheide, Alan Bergfield, Terrance D. Hubert
2020, Journal of Great Lakes Research (46) 180-187
The lampricides 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and niclosamide have been used for about 60 years to control sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Great Lakes Basin and Lake Champlain. To register these chemicals as pesticides in North America, their environmental effects must be reviewed on a periodic basis. As a...
Biotic interactions help explain variation in elevational range limits of birds among Bornean mountains
Ryan C. Burner, Andy J. Boyce, David Bernasconi, Alison R. Styring, Subir B. Shakya, Chandradewana Boer, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Thomas E. Martin, Frederick H. Sheldon
2020, Journal of Biogeography (47) 760-771
AimPhysiological tolerances and biotic interactions along habitat gradients are thought to influence species occurrence. Distributional differences caused by such forces are particularly noticeable on tropical mountains, where high species turnover along elevational gradients occurs over relatively short distances and elevational distributions of particular species can shift among...
Habitat of the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris) in San Francisco Bay
Bruce G. Marcot, Isa Woo, Karen M. Thorne, Chase M. Freeman, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2020, Ecology and Evolution (0) 662-677
Understanding habitat associations is vital for conservation of at‐risk marsh‐endemic wildlife species, particularly those under threat from sea level rise. We modeled environmental and habitat associations of the marsh‐endemic, Federally endangered salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris, RERA) and co‐occurrence with eight associated small mammal species from annual trap data,...
Remnant hardwood forest mapping within the Upper Mississippi River floodplain
Jenny L. Hanson, Rich King, Erin E. Hoy
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1089
Executive SummaryThe primary objective of the project was to locate previously unknown stands of mast-producing hardwood forest trees in the Upper Mississippi River floodplain using existing information. We located and mapped 399 previously unknown hardwood forest stands within the Mississippi River floodplain area of navigation pools 9, 10, and 11....
Field-based method for assessing duration of infectivity for influenza A viruses in the environment
Andrew B. Reeves, Andrew M. Ramey, Joshua C. Koch, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht
2020, Journal of Virological Methods (277)
Understanding influenza A virus (IAV) persistence in wetlands is limited by a paucity of field studies relating to the maintenance of infectivity over time. The duration of IAV infectivity in water has been assessed under variable laboratory conditions, but results are difficult to translate to more complex field conditions. We...
Petrologic insights into rift zone magmatic interactions from the 2011 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi
Brett H. Walker, Michael O. Garcia, Tim R. Orr
2020, Journal of Petrology (60) 2051-2075
The high frequency of historical eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano presents an exceptional opportunity to address fundamental questions related to the transport, storage, and interaction of magmas within rift zones. The Nāpau Crater area on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone (ERZ) experienced nine fissure eruptions within 50 years (1961–2011). Most of the magma...
Copper concentrations in the upper Columbia River as a limiting factor in White Sturgeon recruitment and recovery
Holly J. Puglis, Aida Farag, Christopher A. Mebane
2020, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (16) 378-391
Currently there is little natural recruitment of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Upper Columbia River located in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA. This review of life history, physiology, and behavior of white sturgeon, along with data from recent toxicological studies, suggest that trace metals, especially Cu, affect survival...
Zircon-hosted melt inclusion record of silicic magmatism in the Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains terrane, Missouri: Origin of the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite rare earth element deposit and implications for regional crustal pathways of mineralization
Kathryn E. Watts, Celestine N. Mercer
2020, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (272) 54-77
Voluminous silicic magmatism was coeval with iron ore mineralization in the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri, part of the broader Mesoproterozoic Granite-Rhyolite province along the eastern margin of Laurentia. Some of the iron deposits contain extraordinary endowments of critical elements, such as the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit, which has an...
Introduction to this special section: Geothermal energy
Joern Kaven, Dennise Templeton, Arpita P. Bathija
2020, The Leading Edge (39) 855-856
Geothermal energy is a global renewable resource that has the potential to provide a significant portion of baseload energy in many regions. In the United States, it has the potential to provide 8.5% of the electric generation capacity by the middle of the...
Stand density, drought, and herbivory constrain ponderosa pine regeneration pulse
Thomas E. Kolb, Kelsey Flathers, John B. Bradford, Caitlin M. Andrews, Lance A. Asherin, W. Keith Moser
2020, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (50) 862-871
Trees in dry forests often regenerate in episodic pulses when wet periods coincide with ample seed production. Factors leading to success or failure of regeneration pulses are poorly understood. We investigated the impacts of stand thinning on survival and growth of the 2013 cohort of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Douglas ex...
An open source database for the synthesis of soil radiocarbon data: ISRaD version 1.0
Corey R. Lawrence, Jeffrey Beem-Miller, Alison Hoyt, Grey Monroe, Carlos Sierra, Shane Stoner, Katherine Heckman, Joseph Blankinship, Susan Crow, Gavin McNichol, Susan Trumbore, Paul Levine, Olga Vinduskova, Katherine Todd-Brown, Craig Rasmussen, Caitlin Hicks Pries, Christina Schadel, Karis McFarlane, Sebastian Doetterl, Christine Hatte, Yujie He, Claire C. Treat, Jennifer W. Harden, Margaret S. Torn, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Asmeret A. Berhe, Marco Keiluweit, Agatha Della Rosa Kuhnen, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Alain F. Plante, Aaron Thompson, Zheng Shi, Joshua P. Schimel, Lydia J.S. Vaughn, Sophie F. von Fromm, Rota Wagai
2020, Earth System Science Data (12) 61-76
Radiocarbon is a critical constraint on our estimates of the timescales of soil carbon cycling that can aid in identifying mechanisms of carbon stabilization and destabilization and improve the forecast of soil carbon response to management or environmental change. Despite the wealth of soil radiocarbon data that have been reported...
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Christopher Huber, James Meldrum, Rudy Schuster, Zachary H. Ancona, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Scott M. Beck, Daren M. Carlisle, Peter R. Claggett, Fabiano Franco, Heather S. Galbraith, Michelle Haefele, Kristin R Hoelting, Dianna M. Hogan, Kristina G. Hopkins, Tim Kern, Collin B. Lawrence, Stacy Lischka, John B. Loomis, Julie M. Mueller, Gregory E. Noe, Emily Pindilli, Brian Quay, Darius J. Semmens, Wilson Sinclair, Daniel E. Spooner, Brian Voigt, Barabara St. John White
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1117
Federal agencies need credible scientific information to determine the production and value of ecosystem services in an efficient and timely manner. The U.S. Geological Survey addresses this scientific information need through the Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative project. The project has relied on U.S. Geological Survey expertise related to water, fisheries,...
Economic impacts of Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative Conservation projects in Wyoming
Christopher Huber, Matthew Flyr, Catherine Cullinane Thomas
2020, Open-File Report 2019-1135
Executive SummaryThis report estimates the economic impacts on the Wyoming economy from investments made by the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) on conservation and restoration projects. The WLCI has been working in southwestern Wyoming since 2007 to coordinate science and management decisions among government and private entities that invest in...
Inundation exposure assessment for Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands using a high-accuracy digital elevation model
Dean B. Gesch, Monica Palaseanu-Lovejoy, Jeffrey J. Danielson, Charles Fletcher, Maria Kottermair, Matthew Barbee, Andrea Jalandoni
2020, Remote Sensing (12)
Majuro Atoll in the central Pacific has high coastal vulnerability due to low-lying islands, rising sea level, high wave events, eroding shorelines, a dense population center, and limited freshwater resources. Land elevation is the primary geophysical variable that determines exposure to inundation in coastal settings. Accordingly, coastal elevation data (with...
Nest site selection influences cinnamon teal nest survival in Colorado
William L. Kendall, Casey M. Setash, David Olson
2020, Journal of Wildlife Management (84) 542-552
Nest survival of ducks is partially a function of the spatiotemporal characteristics of the site at which a bird chooses to nest. Nest survival is also a fundamental component of population growth in waterfowl but is relatively unstudied for cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera). We investigated cinnamon teal nest survival in...
Characterization of a Y-specific duplication/insertion of the anti-Mullerian hormone type II receptor gene based on a chromosome-scale genome assembly of yellow perch, Perca flavescens
Romain Feron, Margot Zahm, Cédric Cabau, Christophe Klopp, Céline Roques, Olivier Bouchez, Camille Eché, Sophie Valière, Cecile Donnadieu, Pierrick Haffray, Anastasia Bestin, Romain Morvezen, Herve Acoloque, Peter T. Euclide, Ming Wen, Elodie Jouano, Manfred Schartl, John Postlethwait, Claire Schraidt, Mark R. Christie, Wesley Larson, Amaury Herpin, Yann Guiguen
2020, Molecular Ecology Resources (20) 531-543
Yellow perch, Perca flavescens, is an ecologically and economically important species native to a large portion of the northern United States and southern Canada and is also a promising candidate species for aquaculture. However, no yellow perch reference genome has been available to facilitate improvements in both fisheries and aquaculture management...
