Spatial patterns of meadow sensitivities to interannual climate variability in the Sierra Nevada
Christine M. Albano, Meredith L. McClure, Shana E. Gross, Wesley Kitlasten, Christopher Soulard, Charles Morton, Justin Huntington
2019, Ecohydrology (12)
Conservation of montane meadows is a high priority for land and water managers given their critical role in buffering the effects of climate variability and their vulnerability to increasing temperatures and evaporative demands. Recent advances in cloud computing have provided new opportunities to examine ecological responses to climate variability over...
Source-dependent amplification of earthquake ground motions in deep sedimentary basins
Erin A. Wirth, John E. Vidale, Arthur D. Frankel, Thomas L. Pratt
2019, Geophysical Research Letters (46) 6443-6450
Deep sedimentary basins amplify long-period shaking from seismic waves, increasing the seismic hazard for cities within such basins. We perform 3-D simulations of point source earthquakes distributed around the Seattle and Tacoma basins in Washington State, to examine the dependence of basin amplification on source azimuth, depth, and earthquake type....
2019 Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation—Land remote sensing satellite compendium
Jon Christopherson, Shankar N. Ramaseri Chandra, Joel Q. Quanbeck
2019, Circular 1455
The Joint Agency Commercial Imagery Evaluation (JACIE) is a collaboration between five Federal agencies that are major users and producers of satellite land remote sensing data. In recent years, the JACIE group has observed ever-increasing numbers of remote sensing satellites being launched. This rapidly growing wave of new systems creates...
Monitoring storm tide from Hurricane Michael along the northwest coast of Florida, October 2018
Michael J. Byrne Sr.
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1059
Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach and Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle, with maximum sustained winds over 160 miles per hour, on October 10, 2018. The maximum recorded storm tide was 15.55 feet above the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). The elevation of...
Great Lakes Cladophora harbors phylogenetically diverse nitrogen-fixing microorganims
Muruleedhara Byappanahalli, Meredith Nevers, Katarzyna Przybyla-Kelly, Satoshi Ishii, Timothy L. King, Aaron Aunins
2019, Environmental DNA (1) 186-195
Abstract Nitrogen‐fixing microorganisms are among the epiphytic communities in Cladophora, potentially benefitting the algae in nutrient‐deficient waters, but their abundance and diversity remain unexplored. In this study, we determined the abundance and taxonomic composition of these nitrogen‐fixing microorganisms in Cladophora growing on rocks, breakwall structures, or submerged dreissenid mussel beds around...
Transient population dynamics impede restoration and may promote ecosystem transformation after disturbance
Robert K. Shriver, Caitlin M. Andrews, Robert Arkle, David Barnard, Michael C. Duniway, Matthew J. Germino, David S. Pilliod, David A. Pyke, Justin L. Welty, John B. Bradford
2019, Ecology Letters (22) 1357-1366
The apparent failure of ecosystems to recover from increasingly widespread disturbance is a global concern. Despite growing focus on factors inhibiting resilience and restoration, we still know very little about how demographic and population processes influence recovery. Using inverse and forward demographic modelling of 531 post‐fire...
Late Quaternary paleohydrology of desert wetlands and pluvial lakes in the Soda Lake basin, central Mojave Desert, California (USA)
Jeffrey S. Honke, Jeffrey S. Pigati, J. Wilson, J. Bright, H.L. Goldstein, Gary L. Skipp, M.C. Reheis, J. C. Havens
2019, Quaternary Science Reviews (216) 89-106
Sediment cores taken near extant springs along the western margin of Soda Lake playa, as well as from the playa center, reveal dramatic hydrologic changes that occurred in the central Mojave Desert during the late Quaternary. Results of stratigraphic, chronologic, physical, chemical, and microfossil analyses of seven cores, ranging in...
Concurrent assessment of epidemiological and operational uncertainties for optimal outbreak control: Ebola as a case study
Shou-Li Li, Matthew J. Ferrari, Ottar N. Bjornstad, Michael C. Runge, Christopher J Fonnesbeck, Michael J. Tildesley, David Pannell, Katriona Shea
2019, Proceedings of the Royal Society B (286)
Determining how to best manage an epidemiological outbreak may be hindered by both epidemiological uncertainty (i.e. about epidemiological processes) and operational uncertainty (i.e. about the effectiveness of candidate interventions). These two uncertainties are rarely addressed concurrently in epidemic studies, impeding decision-making. We present an approach to simultaneously address both...
Evaluation of streambed-sediment metals concentrations in the Spring River Basin, Cherokee County Superfund site, Kansas, 2017
Brian J. Klager, Kyle E. Juracek
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2019-5046
To evaluate the magnitude of, and change in, mining-related contamination, streambed-sediment samples were collected from 30 sampling sites in the Spring River Basin in the Cherokee County Superfund site, southeast Kansas, in July and August 2017. The Cherokee County Superfund site is part of the Tri-State Mining District, an area...
A 4000-year history of debris flows in north-central Washington State, U.S.A.: Preliminary results from trenching and surficial geologic mapping at the Pope Creek fan
Jeffrey A. Coe, Erin Bessette-Kirton, Stephen Slaughter, Francis K. Rengers, Trevor A. Contreras, Katherin A Michelson, Emily Taylor, Jason W. Kean, Kara Jacobacci, Molly A Hanson
2019, Conference Paper
Long-term records of the magnitude and frequency of debris flows on fans are rare, but such records provide critical information needed for debris-flow hazard and risk assessments. This study explores the history of debris flows on a fan with seasonally inhabited cabins at Pope Creek along the Entiat River about...
Exploring controls on debris-flow surge velocity and peak discharge at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA
Joel B. Smith, Jason W. Kean, Jeffrey A. Coe
2019, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards mitigation : mechanics, monitoring, modeling, and assessment ; proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation, Golden, Colorado, USA, June 10-13, 2019
We present a series of debris-flow events and use combined sensor and video data to explore how sediment concentration and triggering rainfall intensity affect the velocity and discharge of debris-flow surges generated by surface-water runoff. We analyze an initial data set of 49 surges from four debris-flow events recorded by...
An evaluation of debris-flow runout model accuracy and complexity in Montecito, CA: Towards a framework for regional inundation-hazard forecasting
Erin Bessette-Kirton, Jason W. Kean, Jeffrey A. Coe, Francis K. Rengers, Dennis M. Staley
2019, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards mitigation : mechanics, monitoring, modeling, and assessment ; proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation, Golden, Colorado, USA, June 10-13, 2019
Numerous debris-flow inundation models have been applied retroactively to noteworthy events around the world. While such studies can be useful in identifying controlling factors, calibrating model parameters, and assessing future hazards in specific study areas, model parameters tailored to individual events can be difficult to apply regionally. The advancement of...
Statistics of petroleum exploration in the world outside the United States and Canada through 2015
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
2019, Circular 1450
The world’s future oil and gas supplies depend on existing reserves and the additions to those reserves that may result, in part, from ongoing exploration and new discoveries. This Circular summarizes available oil and gas exploration data for the world outside the United States and Canada (the study area) through...
Repeated detection of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in gulls inhabiting Alaska, USA
Christina Ahlstrom, Andrew M. Ramey, Hanna Woksepp, Jonas Bonnedahl
2019, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (63)
We report the first detection of carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli in Alaska and in wildlife in the United States. Wild bird (gull) feces sampled at three locations in Southcentral Alaska yielded isolates that harbored plasmid-encoded blaKPC-2 or chromosomally-encoded blaOXA-48, and genes associated with antimicrobial resistance to up to eight antibiotic classes....
Begging behavior as an honest signal of need and parent-offspring association during the post-fledging dependency period
Kayla L. Davis, Sarah M. Karpanty, Jeffrey A. Spendelow, Jonathan B. Cohen, Melissa A. Althouse, Katharine C Parsons, Cristin F. Luttazi
2019, Ecology and Evolution (9) 7497-7508
Honest signaling mechanisms can function to appropriate care to hungry offspring and avoid misdirected care of unrelated offspring. Begging, the behavior by which offspring solicit food and parental care, may be an honest signaling mechanism for need, as well as association of parents and offspring. Roseate terns (Sterna dougallii) exhibit...
Migratory strategy explains differences in timing of female reproductive development in seasonally sympatric songbirds.
Abigail A Kimmitt, Jack Hardman, Craig A. Stricker, Ellen D. Ketterson
2019, Functional Ecology (33) 1651-1662
1. Divergent migratory strategies among populations can result in population-level differences in timing of reproduction (allochrony) and local adaptation. However, the mechanisms underlying among-population variation in timing are insufficiently understood, particularly in females. 2. We studied differences in reproductive development and its related mechanisms along the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG)...
Evaluating community-level response to management actions across a diverse Hawaiian forest bird community
Alban Guillaumet, Eben H. Paxton
2019, Ecological Applications (29) 1236-1246
Although species‐specific approaches are necessary to understand the dynamics of individual species composing a community, they do not offer a framework for making optimal management decisions at the community level. Here, we present a simple framework for comparing the response of entire communities to multiple management scenarios. Our approach uses...
Thin-layer sediment addition to an existing salt marsh to combat sea-level rise and improve endangered species habitat in California, USA
Karen M. Thorne, Chase M. Freeman, Jordan A. Rosencranz, Neil K. Ganju, Glenn R. Guntenspergen
2019, Ecological Engineering (136) 197-208
Current tidal marsh elevations and their accretion rates are important predictors of vulnerability to sea-level rise. When tidal marshes are at risk, adaptation measures, such as sediment addition to increase elevations, can be implemented to prevent degradation and loss. In 2016, wildlife managers prescribed a thin-layer sediment addition of locally...
Real-time monitoring of debris-flow velocity and mass deformation from field experiments with high sample rate lidar and video
Francis K. Rengers, Thomas Rapstine, Kate E. Allstadt, Michael Olsen, Michael Bunn, Richard M. Iverson, Jason W. Kean, Ben Leshchinsky, Matthew Logan, Mahyar Sharifi-Mood, Maciej Obryk, Joel B. Smith
2019, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards mitigation : mechanics, monitoring, modeling, and assessment ; proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation
Debris flows evolve in both time and space in complex ways, commonly starting as coherent failures but then quickly developing structures such as roll waves and surges. This process is readily observed, but difficult to study or quantify because of the speed at which it occurs. Many methods for studying...
Looking through the window of disturbance at post-wildfire debris-flow hazards
Luke McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Jason W. Kean, Dennis M. Staley, Hui Tang, Ann Youberg
2019, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards mitigation : mechanics, monitoring, modeling, and assessment ; proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation
The extreme heat from wildfire alters soil properties and incinerates vegetation, leading to changes in infiltration capacity, ground cover, soil erodibility, and rainfall interception. These changes promote increases in runoff and sediment transport that increase the likelihood of runoff-generated debris flows. Over a period of several years, referred to as...
Topographic change detection at Chalk Cliffs, Colorado, USA, using Airborne LiDAR and UAS-based Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry
Katherine R Barnhart, Francis K. Rengers, Ghent Jessica N, Gregory E. Tucker, Jeffrey A. Coe, Jason W. Kean, Joel B. Smith, Dennis M. Staley, William Kleiber, Ashton M Wiens
2019, Conference Paper, Debris-flow hazards mitigation : mechanics, monitoring, modeling, and assessment ; proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Debris-Flow Hazards Mitigation
The Chalk Cliffs debris-flow site is a small headwater catchment incised into highly fractured and hydrothermally altered quartz monzonite in a semi-arid climate. Over half of the extremely steep basin is exposed bedrock. Debris flows occur multiple times per year in response to rainstorm events, typically during the summer monsoon...
Airborne waveform lidar simulator using the radiative transfer of a laser pulse
Minsu Kim
2019, Applied Sciences (9)
An airborne lidar simulator creates a lidar point cloud from a simulated lidar system, flight parameters, and the terrain digital elevation model (DEM). At the basic level, the lidar simulator computes the range from a lidar system to the surface of a terrain using the geomatics lidar equation. The simple...
Technical comment on “Global pattern of nest predation is disrupted by climate change in shorebirds”
Martin Bulla, Jeroen Reneerkens, Emily L. Weiser, Aleksandr Sokolov, Audrey R. Taylor, Benoit Sittler, Brian J McCaffery, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Daniel H. Catlin, David C. Payer, David H. Ward, Diana V Solovyeva, Eduardo Santos, Eldar Rakhimberdiev, Erica Nol, Eunbi Kwon, Glen S. Brown, Glenda D Hevia, H. River Gates, James A. Johnson, Jan A. van Gils, Jannik Hansen, Jean-Francois Lamarre, Jennie Rausch, Jesse R. Conklin, Joe Liebezeit, Joel Bety, Johannes Lang, Jose A. Alves, Juan Fernandez-Elipe, Klaus-Michael Exo, Loic Bollache, Marcelo Bertellotti, Marie-Andree Giroux, Martijn van de Pol, Matthew D. Johnson, Megan L. Boldenow, Mihai Valcu, Mikhail Soloviev, Natalya Sokolova, Nathan R. Senner, Nicholas Lecomte, Nicolas Meyer, Niels Martin Schmidt, Olivier Gilg, Paul A Smith, Paula Machin, Rebecca L McGuire, Ricardo AS Cerboncini, Richard Ottvall, Rob van Bemmelen, Rose J Swift, Sara T Saalfeld, Sara E Jamieson, Stephen C. Brown, Theunis Piersma, Tomas Albrecht, Veronica L D’Amico, Richard B. Lanctot, Bart Kempenaers
2019, Science (364)
Kubelka et al. (Report, 9 November 2018, p. 680-683) claim that climate change has disrupted patterns of nest predation in shorebirds. They report that predation rates have increased since the 1950s, especially in the Arctic. We describe methodological problems with their analyses and argue that there is no solid statistical...
Methods for installation, removal, and downloading data from the temperature profiling probe (TROD)
Ramon C. Naranjo
2019, Open-File Report 2019-1066
This document provides a brief method overview on the deployment and removal of the temperature profiling probe developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2015 and referred to as SensorRod or temperature rod (TROD). The TROD is suitable for short- to long-term deployments (days to years) for evaluating...
Spatially consistent high-resolution land surface temperature mosaics for thermophysical mapping of the Mojave Desert
Scott A Nowicki, Richard D. Inman, Todd Esque, Kenneth Nussear, Christopher S. Edwards
2019, Sensors (19)
Daytime and nighttime thermal infrared observations acquired by the ASTER and MODIS instruments onboard the NASA Terra spacecraft have produced a dataset that can be used to map thermophysical properties across large regions, which have implications on surface processes, thermal environments and habitat suitability for desert species. ASTER scenes acquired...
