Importance of dense aquatic vegetation in seasonal phosphate and particle transport in an agricultural headwater stream
Hannah R. Field, Audrey H. Sawyer, Susan A. Welch, Ryan K. Benefiel, Devan M. Mathie, James M. Hood, Ethan D. Pawlowski, Diana L. Karwan, Rebecca Kreiling, Zackary I. Johnson, Brittany R. Hanrahan, Kevin W. King
2023, Water Resources Research (59)
Agricultural headwater streams and ditches commonly host dense stands of aquatic vegetation that grow and decay over seasons and exert physical and biological controls on the transport of nutrients from cropland to larger rivers. This study examined changes in the transport of phosphorus (P) in an agricultural...
Mussel mass mortality in the Clinch River, USA: Metabolomics detects affected pathways and biomarkers of stress
Joel G. Putnam, John Steiner, Jordon Richard, Eric Leis, Tony Goldberg, Christopher D. Dunn, Rose Agbalog, Susan Knowles, Diane L. Waller
2023, Conservation Physiology (11)
Biologists monitoring freshwater mussel (order Unionida) populations rely on behavioral, often subjective, signs to identify moribund (“sick”) or stressed mussels, such as gaping valves and slow response to probing, and they lack clinical indicators to support a diagnosis. As part of a multi-year study to investigate causes of reoccurring...
Wind-modulated groundwater discharge along a microtidal Arctic coastline
Julia Guimond, Casu Demir, Barret L. Kurylyk, Michelle A. Walvoord, James W. McClelland, M. Bayani Cardenas
2023, Environmental Research Letters (18)
Groundwater discharge transports dissolved constituents to the ocean, affecting coastal carbon budgets and water quality. However, the magnitude and mechanisms of groundwater exchange along rapidly transitioning Arctic coastlines are largely unknown due to limited observations. Here, using first-of-its-kind coastal Arctic groundwater timeseries data, we evaluate the magnitude...
Simultaneous stream assessment of antibiotics, bacteria, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistant genes in an agricultural region of the United States
Carrie E Givens, Dana W. Kolpin, Laura E. Hubbard, Shannon M. Meppelink, David M. Cwiertny, Darrin A. Thompson, Rachael F. Lane, Michaelah C. Wilson
2023, Science of the Total Environment (904)
Antimicrobial resistance is now recognized as a leading global threat to human health. Nevertheless, there currently is a limited understanding of the environment's role in the spread of AMR and antibiotic resistant genes (ARG). In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted the first statewide assessment...
Sharing FAIR monitoring program data improves discoverability and reuse
Jennifer M. Bayer, Rebecca A Scully, Erin K Dlabola, Jennifer L Courtwright, Christine L Hirsch, David P Hockman-Wert, Scott W. Miller, Brett B. Roper, W Carl Saunders, Marcia N Snyder
2023, Enviornmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
Data resulting from environmental monitoring programs are valuable assets for natural resource managers, decision-makers, and researchers. These data are often collected to inform specific reporting needs or decisions with a specific timeframe. While program-oriented data and related publications are effective for meeting program goals, sharing well-documented...
Supplying ecosystem services on US rangelands
David D. Briske, Steven R. Archer, Emily Burchfield, William Burnidge, Justin D. Derner, Hannah Gosnell, Jerry Hatfield, Clare E. Kazanski, Mona Khalil, Tyler J. Lark, Pamela L. Nagler, Osvaldo E. Sala, Nathan F. Sayre, Kimberly R. Stackhouse-Lawson
2023, Nature Sustainability (6) 1524-1532
Rangelands comprise 40% of the conterminous United States and they supply essential ecosystem services to society. A scenario assessment was conducted to determine how accelerating biophysical and societal drivers may modify their future availability. Four scenarios emerged: two may maintain rural communities by sustaining the prevailing...
Nonlinear patterns of surface elevation change in coastal wetlands: The value of generalized additive models for quantifying rates of change
Laura Feher, Michael Osland, Darren Johnson, James Grace, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, David R. Stewart, Carlos A. Coronado-Molina, Fred H. Sklar
2023, Estuaries and Coasts
In the face of accelerating climate change and rising sea levels, quantifying surface elevation change dynamics in coastal wetlands can help to develop a more complete understanding of the implications of sea-level rise on coastal wetland stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach has been...
Phragmites management in high water: Cutting plants under water limits biomass production, carbohydrate storage, and rhizome viability
Spenser L. Widin, Wesley A. Bickford, Kurt P. Kowalski
2023, Wetlands Ecology and Management (31) 745-746
Invasion of Phragmites australis (common reed) in wetlands throughout North America, and particularly the Laurentian Great Lakes Basin, poses significant ecological problems. The extended period of low Great Lakes water levels from 2000 to 2013 created conditions for large expansions of Phragmites in the Great Lakes coastal zone. The following...
On the origin and current distribution of the Oceania Snake-Eyed Skink (Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus) in the Hawaiian archipelago
Valentina Alvarez, Samuel R Fisher, Anthony J. Barley, Kevin Donmoyer, Mozes P. K. Blom, Robert C. Thomson, Robert N. Fisher
2023, Pacific Science (77) 87-101
Because of its extreme isolation and lack of historical connection to a mainland, the Hawaiian Archipelago is thought to have no native nonvolant terrestrial reptiles. Several squamate species have been introduced to the archipelago, likely starting with early Polynesian contact, and increasing as human traffic...
Positioning aquatic animals with acoustic transmitters
Robert J. Lennox, Kim Aarestrup, Josep Alós, Robert Arlinghaus, Eneko Aspillaga, Michael G. Bertram, Kim Birnie-Gauvin, Tomas Brodin, Steven J. Cooke, Lotte S. Dahlmo, Félicie Dhellemmes, Karl Ø. Gjelland, Gustav Hellström, Henry Hershey, Christopher Holbrook, Thomas Klefoth, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Christopher T. Monk, Cecilie Iden Nilsen, Ina Pauwels, Renanel Pickholtz, Marie Prchalová, Jan Reubens, Milan Říha, David Villegas-Ríos, Knut Wiik Vollset, Samuel Westrelin, Henrik Baktoft
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 2514-2530
Geolocating aquatic animals with acoustic tags has been ongoing for decades, relying on the detection of acoustic signals at multiple receivers with known positions to calculate a 2D or 3D position, and ultimately recreate the path of an aquatic animal from detections at fixed stations.This method of underwater geolocation is...
Food web changes reflected in age-0 piscivore diets and growth
T. Yang, Christine M Mayer, Robin L. DeBruyne, Edward F. Roseman, Mark Richard Dufour, Eric J. Weimer
2023, Ecology of Freshwater Fish (32) 765-782
Lake Erie walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) recruitment fluctuates annually and depends partially on their diet and growth during their first year of life. In recent decades, age-0 walleye diet and growth may be responding to food web changes in western Lake Erie. To determine how age-0 walleye have responded to changes...
Sage-grouse
Jeffrey L. Beck, Thomas J Christiansen, Kirk W. Davies, Jonathan B. Dinkins, Adrian P. Monroe, David E. Naugle, Michael A Schroeder
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
In this chapter, we summarize the ecology and conservation issues affecting greater (Centrocercus urophasianus) and Gunnison (C. minimus) sage-grouse, iconic and obligate species of rangelands in the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome in western North America. Greater sage-grouse are noted for their ability to migrate, whereas Gunnison sage-grouse localize near leks year-round. Seasonal...
Manipulation of rangeland wildlife habitat
David A. Pyke, Chad S. Boyd
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation.
Rangeland manipulations have occurred for centuries. Those manipulations may have positive or negative effects on multiple wildlife species and their habitats. Some of these manipulations may result in landscape changes that fragment wildlife habitat and isolate populations. Habitat degradation and subsequent restoration may range from simple problems that are easy...
Amphibians and reptiles
David Pilliod, Todd C. Esque
2023, Book chapter, Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation
Amphibians and reptiles are a diverse group of ectothermic vertebrates that occupy a variety of habitats in rangelands of North America, from wetlands to the driest deserts. These two classes of vertebrates are often referred to as herpetofauna and are studied under the field of herpetology. In U.S. rangelands, there...
North American wintering mallards infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza show few signs of altered local or migratory movements
Claire S. Teitelbaum, Nicholas Masto, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Allison Keever, Rebecca L. Poulson, Deborah Carter, Abigail Blake-Bradshaw, Corey Highway, Jamie Feddersen, Heath M. Hagy, Richard W. Gerhold, Bradley S. Cohen, Diann Prosser
2023, Scientific Reports (13)
Avian influenza viruses pose a threat to wildlife and livestock health. The emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds and poultry in North America in late 2021 was the first such outbreak since 2015 and the largest outbreak in North America to date. Despite its prominence and...
Giardia and Cryptosporidium in resident wildlife species in Arctic Alaska
Caroline R. Van Hemert, Lora Ballweber, David R. Sinnett, Todd C. Atwood, Anthony S. Fischbach, David Gustine, Kristy Pabilonia
2023, Food and Waterborne Parasitology (32)
Giardia and Cryptosporidium are zoonotic protozoan parasites that can infect humans and other taxa, including wildlife, often causing gastrointestinal illness. Both have been identified as One Health priorities in the Arctic, where climate change is expected to influence the distribution of many wildlife...
Potential effects of climate change on Acipenser fulvescens (lake sturgeon)
Holly S. Embke, Catherine A. Nikiel, Marta P. Lyons
2023, Open-File Report 2021-1104-E
Acipenser fulvescens (Rafinesque, 1817; lake sturgeon) are the only sturgeon species native to the Great Lakes region and are threatened across most of their range. They are historically vulnerable because of overfishing and habitat fragmentation with the potential for climate change acting as an increasing stressor in the future. Lake...
Predicting exotic annual grass abundance in rangelands of the western United States using various precipitation scenarios
Devendra Dahal, Stephen P. Boyte, Michael Oimoen
2023, Rangeland Ecology and Management (90) 221-230
Expansion of exotic annual grass (EAG), such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski), could cause irreversible changes to arid and semiarid rangeland ecosystems in the western United States. The distribution and abundance of EAG species are highly affected by weather variables such as temperature and precipitation. The study's goal is to...
Genomes & islands & evolution: Oh my!
Mona Renee Bellinger
2023, Capitulum (3) 50-57
A central question in evolutionary biology is how lineages quickly diversify to occupy different ecological niches, along with determining genomic factors that facilitate evolutionary change. Isolated, oceanic archipelagos are famous for adaptive radiations characterized by endemic, species-rich clades with substantial ecological variation, yet genome resources key to determining eco-evo processes...
Fluorine-rich mafic lower crust in the southern Rocky Mountains: The role of pre-enrichment in generating fluorine-rich silicic magmas and porphyry Mo deposits
Joshua Mark Rosera, Ryan Edward Frazer, Ryan D. Mills, Kristin Jacob, Sean P. Gaynor, Drew S. Coleman, G. Lang Farmer
2023, American Mineralogist (108) 1573-1596
Fluorine-rich granites and rhyolites occur throughout the southern Rocky Mountains, but the origin of F-enrichment has remained unclear. We test if F-enrichment could be inherited from ancient mafic lower crust by: (1) measuring amphibole compositions, including F and Cl contents, of lower crustal mafic granulite xenoliths from northern Colorado to...
Changes in chemical occurrence, concentration, and bioactivity in the Colorado River before and after replacement of the Moab, Utah wastewater treatment plant
William A. Battaglin, Paul M. Bradley, Rebbecca Weissinger, Brett R. Blackwell, Jenna E. Cavallin, Daniel L. Villeneuve, Laura A. DeCicco, Julie Kinsey
2023, Science of the Total Environment (904)
Long-term (2010–19) water-quality monitoring on the Colorado River downstream from Moab Utah indicated the persistent presence of Bioactive Chemicals (BC), such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. This stream reach near Canyonlands National Park provides critical habitat for federally endangered species. The Moab wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfall discharges to the Colorado River and...
USGS installs 2022 high-water markers to provide flood information
Daniel W. Armstrong
2023, Newsletter
Historic flooding on June 12-13, 2022 occurred in the Gallatin, Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains of Montana and Wyoming, near Yellowstone National Park. The flooding was initiated by rainstorms that produced between 1-5 inches of rain on top of an above-average snowpack, causing the snow to melt faster and rush...
Summary of the Final Activities of the 2018-2023 Landsat Science Team
Christopher Neigh, Christopher J. Crawford, Ellie McGinty
2023, Newsletter
No abstract available....
Constraints on the genesis of Au veins in interior Alaska: Evidence from geochronology and vein textures
Douglas C. Kreiner, William Thompson, Jonathan Caine, Ashleigh Ball, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Paul O'Sullivan, Holly J. Stein
2023, Conference Paper, Proceedings of SGA 2023: Mineral resources in a changing world
The origin of Au-bearing, low sulfide quartz veins in the Pogo and Tibbs Creek regions of interior Alaska remain enigmatic. Intrusion-related Au and mesozonal orogenic vein models have both been proposed (Thompson and Newberry, 2000; Rhys et al., 2003; Goldfarb et al., 2022; Dilworth et al., 2007). To date, studies...
Estimating peak-flow quantiles for selected annual exceedance probabilities in Illinois
Thomas M. Over, Mackenzie K. Marti, Padraic S. O'Shea, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2023, Research Report FHWA-ICT-23-014
This report presents the methods, results, and applications of an updated flood-frequency study for the State of Illinois. This study, which uses data through September 2017, updates two previous studies that used data through 1999 and 2009, respectively. Flood-frequency estimates are used for a variety of land-use planning and infrastructure...
