Negative growth in body mass of trout and salmon in a small stream network
Benjamin H. Letcher, Keith Nislow, Matthew O’Donnell, Michael J. Hayden, Todd Dubreuil
2025, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (82) 1-14
In species inhabiting stressful environments, some individuals experience negative growth in body mass during their lives, potentially influencing survival, reproduction, populations, and ecosystems. Using data from a long-term (1997–2015) study of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), brown trout (Salmo trutta), and juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Massachusetts, USA, we analyzed...
Independent and interactive effects of disease and methylmercury on demographic rates across multiple amphibian populations
Morgan P. Kain, Blake R. Hossack, Kelly Smalling, Brian J. Halstead, Daniel A. Grear, David A. Miller, Michael J. Adams, Adam R. Backlin, William Barichivich, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Colleen Emery, Jillian Elizabeth Fleming, Robert N. Fisher, Elizabeth Gallegos, Duoa J. Lor, Patrick M. Kleeman, Erin L. Muths, Ty Pan, Christopher Pearl, Charles W. Robinson, Caitlin Teresa Rumrill, Brian J. Tornabene, J. Hardin Waddle, Susan Walls, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2025, Scientific Reports (15)
Disease, alone or combined with other stressors such as habitat loss and contaminants, affects wildlife populations worldwide. However, interactions among stressors and how they affect demography and populations remain poorly understood. The amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis; Bd) is a sometimes-lethal pathogen linked with population declines and extirpations of amphibians...
Observation of unusual neonate-clustering behavior on maternal Cambarus chasmodactylus (New River Crayfish) after molting
Anna Marie Welsh, Zachary J. Loughman, Zackary A. Graham, Paula F. P. Henry
2025, Northeastern Naturalist (32) N12-N17
Cambarus chasmodactylus (New River Crayfish) is one of the largest crayfish species occurring in the Appalachian Mountains and occupies a niche similar to several highly imperiled crayfishes within the same region. While conducting a controlled mesocosm study assessing the impacts of contaminants on crayfish growth, development, and reproductive status, we recorded...
The Hardscrabble Creek complex: A newly discovered, mostly buried, Mesoproterozoic mafic-ultramafic pluton in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA
Benjamin Patrick Magnin, Sandra S. Brake, Yvette Kuiper, Michael T. Mohr, Richard E. Hanson
2025, GSA Bulletin (137) 4558-4574
The origin of prolific ca. 1.4 Ga ferroan magmatism between the southwestern USA and eastern Canada is enigmatic and has been explained by various models, including extensional, mantle plume, and convergent plate-margin models. Rare mafic plutons are associated with the ferroan plutons, which may help constrain their mantle source and...
Status of water-level altitudes and long-term and short-term water-level changes in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2024
Jason K. Ramage, Alexandra C. Adams
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5028
Since the early 1900s, groundwater withdrawn from the primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper aquifers—has been an important source of water in the greater Houston area, Texas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City...
Ultrasonic deterrents provide no additional benefit over curtailment in reducing bat fatalities at an Ohio wind energy facility
Jeffrey Clerc, Manuela Huso, Michael R. Schirmacher, Michael D. Whitby, Cris D. Hein
2025, PLoS ONE (20)
Wind energy is important for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions but also contributes to global bat mortality. Current strategies to minimize bat mortality due to collision with wind-turbine blades fall broadly into two categories: curtailment (limiting turbine operation during high-risk periods) and deterrence (discouraging bat activity near turbines). Recently, there...
Native Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus virginalis bouvieri growth and survival in a headwater stream primarily driven by warming stream temperatures, with non-native brown trout Salmo trutta posing an additional threat to survival
Kadie B. Heinle, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Adam Sepulveda, Christine E. Verhille
2025, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (82) 1-17
Warming rivers and interactions with non-native species impact salmonid species globally. Understanding how hydroclimatic conditions synergistically and independently interact with non-native species is critical for effectively managing salmonids into the future. We used a 10-year mark–recapture dataset to assess how native Yellowstone cutthroat trout (YCT) Oncorhynchus virginalis bouvieri and non-native brown trout Salmo...
Stable occupancy of conservation-priority birds amid community shifts across 16 years on Iowa wetland easements
Lindsey A.W. Gapinski, Karen E. Kinkead, Adam K. Janke, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Todd Bishop, Anna Maureen Tucker
2025, Ornithological Applications (127)
Intensive agriculture in the Prairie Pothole Region of Iowa, USA has resulted in significant wetland drainage and wildlife population declines. However, easement programs are increasingly used to protect and restore wetlands and revitalize biodiversity. Short-term responses (i.e., 1–5 years) of birds to wetland restorations are well-documented, but...
Nonstationary flood frequency analysis using regression in the north-central United States
Sara B. Levin
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5034
Traditional flood frequency methods assume that the statistical properties of peak streamflow do not change with time and may not be appropriate for many areas in the north-central United States. This study examines a nonstationary flood frequency analysis method that uses ordinary least squares linear regression to estimate flood magnitudes...
Integrated stratigraphic and geochemical analysis of organic-rich intervals of the Lewis Shale in the eastern Washakie Basin, Wyoming
Jane S. Hearon, Paul C. Hackley, Justin E. Birdwell
2025, The Mountain Geologist (62) 5-36
Geological studies in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (KWIS) in North America reveal highly variable sedimentological conditions on its western shore caused by rapidly changing sea level and detrital input during the seaway’s closure. Here we examine a 601-foot (183 meters) continuous core through the lower part of the Maastrichtian...
USGS critical minerals review
Graham W. Lederer, James V. Jones III, Darcy McPhee, Patricia J Loferski, Robert R. Seal, Paul A. Bedrosian, Patricia Grace Macqueen, V. J. S. Grauch, Federico Solano, Joshua Mark Rosera, David George Pineault
2025, Mining Engineering 38-53
No abstract available....
Experimental evaluation of Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) detectability in visual search surveys
William Heinle, Noelle Beswick, Emily Wapman, Andy Royle
2025, Herpetological Conservation and Biology (20) 82-93
Understanding how detection probability varies over time, space, or in response to measurable covariates is important to inform the monitoring and assessment of many species. A standard model to understand detectability, the availability/perception model, admits that detection probability is the composite of two components: availability and ability of surveyors to...
Additional common milkweed would help Canada meet its share of the trinational eastern migratory monarch butterfly recovery target
Greg W. Mitchell, Patrick Kirby, Jason Duffe, Lenore Fahrig, Judith Girard, Mark K. Johnston, Maxim Larrivee, Amanda E. Martin, Iman Momeni-Dehaghi, Jon Pasher, Elizabeth Rezek, Elisabeth Shapiro, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Darren Pouliot
2025, Facets (10)
The eastern migratory monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population has declined by ∼84% between 1993 and 2024. Population recovery in the Midwestern United States is limited by the availability of the monarch's main host plant for egg laying—common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). The extent to which common milkweed availability is limiting in...
Growth patterns of invasive Silver Carp in the Mississippi River basin
Leandro E. Miranda
2025, Fisheries (50) 391-398
Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) are an invasive fish in the Mississippi River Basin. Their rapid expansion over recent decades coupled with extraordinary growth rates have arguably caught many by surprise. Understanding the atypical growth rates that could be the driving force behind the Silver Carp's explosive expansion may be crucial...
Regional patterns in U.S. wildfire activity: The critical role of ignition sources
Alexandra D. Syphard, Jon E. Keeley, Erin Conlisk, Mike Gough
2025, Environmental Research Letters (20)
As extreme wildfires increase globally, understanding their causes is critical for effective management. While climate and housing growth are commonly linked to rising fire activity, the role of specific ignition sources—particularly human-caused—remains understudied. Analyzing a 79-year dataset (1940–2019) from U.S. Forest Service regions across the continental United States, we found...
Stressor-driven changes in freshwater biological indicators inform spatial management strategies using expert knowledge, observational data, and hierarchical models
Sean Cassian Emmons, Matthew J. Cashman, Rosemary M. Fanelli, Greg Pond, Gregory E. Noe, Taylor Woods, Kelly O. Maloney
2025, Ecological Indicators (174)
Stream ecosystems face continuous pressures from multiple anthropogenic stressors that reshape biological communities and impact ecosystem health and services. Managers can encounter challenges in stewarding ecosystems threatened by multiple stressors, in part because most multiple stressor studies are experimental and, while valuable, offer limited management relevance in targeting these stressors...
Estimation of baseflow and flooding characteristics for East Canyon Creek, Summit and Morgan Counties, Utah
Jonathan Casey Root, Christine Rumsey
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5003
An improved understanding of hydrologic responses to changing climatic conditions is needed to better inform water management practices. East Canyon Creek, a perennial, snowmelt-dominated stream in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah, is subjected to increasing development and demands on water in the Snyderville Basin and adjacent areas. In this...
Assessing legacy nitrogen in groundwater using numerical models of the Long Island aquifer system, New York
Kalle Jahn, Donald A. Walter
2025, Preprint
Nitrogen transported along groundwater flow paths in coastal aquifers can contribute substantially to nitrogen loading into surface water receptors, particularly in hydrologic systems dominated by groundwater discharge. Nitrogen entrained in the aquifer is a function of land use and associated nitrogen sources at the time of groundwater recharge, which may...
Data gap analysis for estimation of agricultural return flows in the Upper Gunnison River Basin, Colorado
Rachel G. Gidley, Quinn M. Miller, Wayne R. Belcher
2025, Open-File Report 2025-1009
The Gunnison River and many tributaries in the Upper Gunnison River Basin provide water to irrigate agricultural crops. The application of irrigation water can recharge some aquifers locally by water percolating below the root zone and eventually flowing back to the stream or river through the subsurface. Diverting surface water...
River floods under wetter antecedent conditions deliver coarser sediment to the coast
Amy E. East, Alexander G. Snyder, Andrew W. Stevens, Jonathan A. Warrick, David J. Topping, Matthew A. Thomas, Andrew C. Ritchie
2025, Geophysical Research Letters (52)
Increasing hydrologic volatility—more extreme rain, and larger variations between wet and dry years—has become apparent in some regions, but few data exist to determine how intensifying hydrologic extremes affect sedimentary systems. Using uniquely high-resolution records of fluvial suspended sediment and coastal morphology, we quantify sedimentary responses from a steep, 357-km2 watershed...
Geochemical and tectonic evolution of the Ordovician Bronson Hill arc and Silurian and Devonian Connecticut Valley–Gaspé trough: Eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire, USA
Peter M. Valley, Gregory J. Walsh, Arthur J. Merschat, Ryan J. McAleer
2025, Geosphere (21) 418-445
We present major and trace element whole-rock geochemistry of 94 samples from the Bronson Hill arc (BHA) and Connecticut Valley–Gaspé trough (CVGT). These data, when combined with recent zircon U-Pb geochronology and a reexamination of existing whole-rock geochemistry, enable a new analysis of the tectonic history of the ancient Laurentian-Ganderian...
How quickly do brook trout lose long-term thermal acclimation?
Matthew J. O'Donnell, Amy M. Regish, S.D. McCormick, Benjamin Letcher
2025, Journal of Thermal Biology (129)
Abundances of coldwater adapted stream fish populations are declining largely due to anthropogenic influences, including increased temperature. To persist in streams with unsuitable thermal habitat, fish must move to coldwater patches, acclimate, or adapt to water temperatures above thermal optima. Brook trout, a coldwater adapted salmonid, has previously displayed physiological...
Identical sequence types of Yersinia ruckeri associated with lethal disease in wild-caught invasive Blue Catfish and cultured hybrid catfish (Channel Catfish ♀ × Blue Catfish ♂) from disparate aquatic ecosystems
Christine L. Densmore, Madeleine Hendrix, Stephen Reichley, Clayton D. Raines, Noah Bressman, Zachary Crum, Lester Khoo, Geoffrey Waldbieser, Matt Griffin, Timothy J Welch, Luke R. Iwanowicz
2025, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health (37) 21-33
ObjectiveThe Blue Catfish Ictalurus furcatus is commonly raised in warmwater aquaculture in the United States to produce Channel Catfish I. punctatus × Blue Catfish hybrids. It is also a prominent aquatic invasive species of concern in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Here, Yersina ruckeri was isolated from moribund Blue Catfish...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) mass flux and mass balance at an aqueous film-forming foam release site in semiarid eastern New Mexico, USA
Erin Louise Gray, Samuel Edwin Potteiger, Trevor Dylan Brannon, Stuart Bryan Norton, Jay Cho, Michael D. Annable
2025, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (272)
Passive flux meters (PFMs) directly measure groundwater chemistry mass flux and Darcy flux, providing insight into contaminant source-zone architecture and transport properties. This study uses PFMs to characterize PFAS flux in groundwater at a semiarid site with a thick (greater than 90-m) unsaturated zone where groundwater has been contaminated with per-...
A partnership between the USGS and the Klamath Tribes to apply structured decision making for chronic wasting disease management
Margaret C. McEachran, Katie M. Guntly-Yancey, Richard Eugene Waggaman Berl, Donald Gentry, Michael C. Runge, Carl White, Jonathan D. Cook
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3012
Project Overview: The Klamath Tribes (TKT) are the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Paiute peoples, and are the first peoples of the land, having lived in ancestral lands of Oregon and California since time immemorial. Members of TKT have rights to hunt, fish, trap, and gather, including the harvest of mule...
