Using open-science workflow tools to produce SCEC CyberShake physics-based probabilistic seismic hazard models
Scott Callaghan, Phillip J. Maechling, Fabio Silva, Mei-Hui Su, Kevin R. Milner, Robert Graves, Kim Olsen, Yifeng Cui, Karan Vahi, Albert Kottke, Christine A Goulet, Ewa Deelman, Tom Jordan, Yehuda Ben-Zion
2024, Frontiers Earth Science Journal (2)
The Statewide (formerly Southern) California Earthquake Center (SCEC) conducts multidisciplinary earthquake system science research that aims to develop predictive models of earthquake processes, and to produce accurate seismic hazard information that can improve societal preparedness and resiliency to earthquake hazards. As part of this program, SCEC has developed the...
Evaluating effectiveness of restoration to address current stressors to riverine fish
Jane S. Rogosch, Hadley I. A. Boehm, Ralph W. Tingley III, Kiah D. Wright, Elisabeth B. Webb, Craig P. Paukert
2024, Freshwater Biology (69) 607-622
River restoration programmes with the goal of conserving and rehabilitating inland fishes have a multi-decadal history, but evaluation and synthesis of past restoration actions have been limited by a lack of monitoring and reporting. Given that calls for both monitoring and systematic reviews of restoration have increased, we were...
Quantifying the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors in landscape-based models of stream fish distributions
Christopher A. Custer, Douglas P. Fischer, Geoffrey Smith, Aaron Henning, Megan Kepler Schall, Matthew K. Shank, Timothy A. Wertz, Daniel A. Isermann
2024, Community Ecology (25) 145-196
Lotic fish species distributions are frequently predicted using remotely sensed habitat variables that characterize the adjacent landscape and serve as proxies for instream habitat. Recent advancements in statistical methodology, however, allow for leveraging fish assemblage data when predicting distributions. This is important because assemblage composition likely provides better information about...
Thick- and thin-skinned contractional styles and the tectonic evolution of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA
David A. Lindsey, Jonathan Saul Caine
2024, Geosphere (20) 678-710
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, USA, contain an unusual combination of thick- and thin-skinned contractional structures involving both basement and cover rocks in the Laramide Rocky Mountain foreland. These structures are truncated by down-faulted extensional basins to the east and west. Together with...
Simulation of hydrodynamics and water temperature in a 21-mile reach of the upper Illinois River, Illinois, 2020–22
Michael R. Ament, David C. Heimann
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5025
This report describes the development of a CE-QUAL-W2 river hydrodynamics and temperature model of a 21-mile reach of the Illinois River including a 3-mile reach of a major tributary, the Fox River. Model outputs consist of streamflow, water velocity, water-surface elevation, and water-temperature time series that can be used to...
Are researchers citing their data? A case study from the U.S. Geological Survey
Grace C. Donovan, Madison Langseth
2024, Data Science Journal (23)
Data citation promotes accessibility and discoverability of data through measures carried out by researchers, publishers, repositories, and the scientific community. This paper examines how a data citation workflow has been implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) by evaluating publication and data linkages. Two different methods were used to identify...
Role of edaphic, hydrologic, and land cover variables in determining dissolved organic carbon in Missouri (USA) reservoirs and streams
John R. Jones, Jennifer L. Graham, Daniel V. Obrecht, James D. Harlan, Matthew F. Knowlton, Carol Pollard, Jennifer Parris, Anthony P. Thorpe
2024, Lake and Reservoir Management (40) 177-195
In Missouri, distinct geophysical gradients influence statewide patterns in water quality. Here, we quantify the spatiotemporal variability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in reservoirs and streams and the edaphic, hydrologic, and land cover variables that account for cross-system variation. Datasets included statewide inventories collected over decades and studies...
Global mercury concentrations in biota: Their use as a basis for a global biomonitoring framework
David C. Evers, Joshua T. Ackerman, Staffan Akerblom, Dominique Bally, Niladri Basu, Kevin Bishop, Nathalie Bodin, Hans Fredrik Veitberg Braaten, Mark Burton, Paco Bustamante, Celia Y. Chen, John Chetelat, Linroy Christian, Rune Dietz, Paul Drevnick, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Luis Fernandez, Neil Hammerschlag, Mireille Harmelin-Vivien, Agustin Harte, Eva Kruemmel, Jose Lailson-Brito, Gabriella Medina, Cesar Rodriguez, Iain Stenhouse, Elsie M. Sunderland, Akinori Takeuchi, Timothy Tear, Claudia Vega, Simon Wilson, Pianpian Wu
2024, Ecotoxicology (33) 325-396
An important provision of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures and its implementation. Here, we describe for the first time currently available biotic mercury (Hg) data on a global scale to improve the understanding of global efforts to reduce the...
Snow avalanches are a primary climate-linked driver of mountain ungulate populations
Kevin White, Eran Hood, Gabriel Wolken, Erich H. Peitzsch, Yves Buhler, Katreen Wikstrom Jones, Chris Darimont
2024, Nature Communications Biology (7)
Snow is a major, climate-sensitive feature of the Earth’s surface and catalyst of fundamentally important ecosystem processes. Understanding how snow influences sentinel species in rapidly changing mountain ecosystems is particularly critical. Whereas effects of snow on food availability, energy expenditure, and predation are well documented, we...
Methylmercury effects on birds: A review, meta-analysis, and development of toxicity reference values for injury assessment based on tissue residues and diet
Joshua T. Ackerman, Sarah H. Peterson, Mark P. Herzog, Julie L. Yee
2024, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (43) 1195-1241
Birds are used as bioindicators of environmental mercury (Hg) contamination, and toxicity reference values are needed for injury assessments. We conducted a comprehensive review, summarized data from 168 studies, performed a series of Bayesian hierarchical meta-analyses, and developed new toxicity reference values for the...
Influence of organic matter thermal maturity on rare earth element distribution: A study of Middle Devonian black shales from the Appalachian Basin, USA
Shailee Bhattacharya, Shikha Sharma, Vikas Agrawal, Michael C. Dix, Giovanni Zanoni, Justin E. Birdwell, Albert S. Wylie Jr., Tom Wagner
2024, Energies (17)
This study focuses on understanding the association of rare earth elements (REE; lanthanides + yttrium + scandium) with organic matter from the Middle Devonian black shales of the Appalachian Basin. Developing a better understanding of the role of organic matter (OM) and thermal maturity in REE partitioning may help improve...
Automatic identification and quantification of volcanic hotspots in Alaska using HotLINK: The hotspot learning and identification network
Pablo Saunders-Shultz, Taryn Lopez, Hannah R. Dietterich, Tarsilo Girona
2024, Frontiers in Earth Science (12)
An increase in volcanic thermal emissions can indicate subsurface and surface processes that precede, or coincide with, volcanic eruptions. Space-borne infrared sensors can detect hotspots—defined here as localized volcanic thermal emissions—in near-real-time. However, automatic hotspot detection systems are needed to efficiently analyze the large quantities of data produced....
Post-fire reference densities for giant sequoia seedlings in a new era of high-severity wildfires
Nathan L. Stephenson, Anthony C. Caprio, David Nicolas Bertil Soderberg, Adrian Das, Eva Louisa Lopez, A. Park Williams
2024, Forest Ecology and Management (562)
Many forests globally are experiencing increases in large, high-severity wildfires, often with increasingly inadequate post-fire tree regeneration. To identify areas that might need post-fire planting, forest managers have a growing need for seedling reference densities – the natural seedling densities...
Evaluation of metrics and thresholds for use in national-scale river harmful algal bloom assessments
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Jacob Aaron Zwart, Jennifer L. Graham, Judson Harvey, Noah Schmadel, Jennifer C. Murphy
2024, Ecological Indicators (162)
The spatiotemporal distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers remains poorly understood, and there is an urgent need to develop a consistent set of metrics to better document HAB occurrences and forecast future events. Using data from seven sites in...
State of the data: Assessing the FAIRness of USGS data
Vivian B. Hutchison, Tamar Norkin, Lisa Zolly, Leslie Hsu
2024, Data Science Journal (23)
In response to recent shifts towards open science that emphasize transparency, reproducibility, and access to research data, the US Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study to assess the degree to which USGS data assets meet the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). The USGS designed and applied a...
Status of water quality in groundwater resources used for drinking-water supply in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley, 2013–15—California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Karen R. Burow, Jennifer L. Shelton, Miranda S. Fram
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5009
The California Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project (GAMA-PBP) investigated water quality of groundwater resources used for drinking-water supplies in the Madera-Chowchilla, Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and Tulare Lake groundwater subbasins of the southeastern San Joaquin Valley during 2013–15. The study focused primarily on groundwater resources used for...
Atmospheric river activity during the late Holocene exceeds modern range of variability in California
Clarke Alexandra Knight, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova, Marie Rhondelle Champagne, David Wahl
2024, Nature Communications Earth and Environment (5)
Atmospheric rivers are associated with some of the largest flood-producing precipitation events in western North America, particularly California. Insight into past extreme precipitation can be reconstructed from sedimentary archives on millennial timescales. Here we document atmospheric river activity near Leonard Lake, California, over 3,200 years, using...
Bathymetric and velocimetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri, June 13–22, 2022
Richard J. Huizinga
2024, Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5032
Bathymetric and velocimetric data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, near seven bridges at six highway crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers on the periphery of Missouri from June 13–22, 2022. A multibeam echosounder mapping system was used to obtain...
Genetic structure of restored Brook Trout populations in the Southern Appalachian Mountains indicates successful reintroductions
Rebecca J. Smith, David C. Kazyak, Matt A. Kulp, Barbara A. Lubinski, Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick
2024, Conservation Genetics (25) 1007-1020
Wildlife reintroduction is an important conservation tool for threatened species, yet identifying appropriate source populations poses a challenge. In particular, the possibility of outbreeding depression is cited as a constraint limiting the range of candidate source populations for translocation. When multiple source lineages are mixed during reintroduction, genetic monitoring is...
Spatiotemporal patterns in habitat use of natal and non-natal adult Atlantic sturgeon in two spawning rivers
Shannon L. White, Matthew W. Breece, Dewayne A. Fox, David C. Kazyak, Amanda Higgs, Ian A Park, Cassia Busch, Barbara A. Lubinski, Robin L. Johnson, Amy Welsh
2024, Conservation Genetics (12)
BackgroundMonitoring movement across an organism’s ontogeny is often challenging, particularly for long-lived or wide-ranging species. When empirical data are unavailable, general knowledge about species’ ecology may be used to make assumptions about habitat use across space or time. However, inferences...
Characteristics of debris-flow-prone watersheds and debris-flow-triggering rainstorms following the Tadpole Fire, New Mexico, USA
Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Ann Youberg, Alexander Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, Ryan Porter
2024, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (24) 1357-1379
Moderate- or high-severity fires promote increases in runoff and erosion, leading to a greater likelihood of extreme geomorphic responses, including debris flows. In the first several years following fire, the majority of debris flows initiate when runoff rapidly entrains sediment on steep slopes. From...
Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster)
Nathan P. Michael, Roxana Torres, Andreanna J. Welch, Jonathan J. Felis, Mario Erandi Bonillas-Monge, Josh Adams, Samantha Hodgson, Laura Lopez-Marques, Alejadro Martínez-Flores, Gala Enidh Castro-Mejias, Anne E. Wiley
2024, Marine Biology (171)
Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals’ diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster) that forage across...
Calculation of a suspended-sediment concentration-turbidity regression model and flood-ebb suspended-sediment concentration differentials from marshes near Stone Harbor and Thompsons Beach, New Jersey, 2018–19 and 2022–23
Olivia A. De Meo, Robert D. Bales, Neil K. Ganju, Eric D. Marsjanik, Steven E. Suttles
2024, Data Report 1193
The U.S. Geological Survey collected water velocity and water quality data from salt marshes in Great Channel, southwest of Stone Harbor, New Jersey, and near Thompsons Beach, New Jersey, to evaluate restoration effectiveness after Hurricane Sandy and monitor postrestoration marsh health. Time series data of turbidity and water velocity were...
ECCOE Landsat quarterly Calibration and Validation report—Quarter 4, 2023
Md Obaidul Haque, Rajagopalan Rengarajan, Mark Lubke, Nahid Hasan, Ashish Shrestha, Jerad L. Shaw, Alex Denevan, Kathryn Ruslander, Esad Micijevic, Michael J. Choate, Cody Anderson, Kurt Thome, Julia Barsi, Ed Kaita, Raviv Levy, Jeff Miller, Leibo Ding
2024, Open-File Report 2024-1026
Executive SummaryThe 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...
Leveraging natural capital accounting to support businesses with nature-related risk assessments and disclosures
Jane Carter Ingram, Emily McKenzie, Kenneth J. Bagstad, John Finisdore, Rayne van den Berg, Eli P. Fenichel, Michael Vardon, Stephen M. Posner, Marta Santamaria, Lisa Mandle, Richard J. Barker, James Spurgeon
2024, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (379)
Nature loss threatens businesses, the global economy and financial stability. Understanding and addressing these risks for business will require credible measurement approaches and data. This paper explores how natural capital accounting (NCA) can support business data and information needs related to nature, including disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related...
