Regeneration and expansion of Quercus tomentella (island oak) groves on Santa Rosa Island
Jay Woolsey, Cause Hanna, Kathryn McEachern, Sean Anderson, Brett D. Hartman
2018, Western North American Naturalist (78) 758-767
Quercus tomentella (island oak) is an endemic species that plays a key functional role in Channel Island ecosystems. Growing in groves on highland ridges, Q. tomentella captures fog and increases water inputs, stabilizes soils, and provides habitat for flora and fauna. This cloud forest system has been impacted by a long history of...
User guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE—version 2.0) computer program
Gregory E. Granato, Sara B. Levin
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1169
This report is a user guide for the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator (MA SYE) computer program (version 2.0). The MA SYE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to help decision makers estimate daily mean...
Methods used to estimate daily streamflow and water availability in the Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator version 2.0
Sara B. Levin, Gregory E. Granato
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5146
The Massachusetts Sustainable-Yield Estimator is a decision support tool that provides estimates of daily unaltered streamflow, water-use-adjusted streamflow, and water availability for ungaged, user-defined basins in Massachusetts. Daily streamflow at the ungaged site is estimated for unaltered (no water use) and water-use scenarios. The procedure for estimating streamflow was developed...
Time-to-detection occupancy modeling: An efficient method for analyzing the occurrence of amphibians and reptiles
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Jonathan P. Rose
2018, Journal of Herpetology (52) 415-424
Occupancy models provide a reliable method of estimating species distributions while accounting for imperfect detectability. The cost of accounting for false absences is that detection and nondetection surveys typically require repeated visits to a site or multiple-observer techniques. More efficient methods of collecting data to estimate detection probabilities would allow...
The Puʻu ʻŌʻō eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i—Episode 21 through early episode 48, June 1984–April 1987
Tim R. Orr, George E. Ulrich, Christina Heliker, Liliana G. DeSmither, John P. Hoffmann
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5109
The Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruption from the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea Volcano began in January 1983 with intermittent activity along several fissures. By June 1983, the eruption had localized at the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō vent and the activity settled into an increasingly regular pattern of brief eruptive episodes characterized by...
Measuring SO2 emission rates at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii, using an array of upward-looking UV spectrometers, 2014-2017
Tamar Elias, Christoph Kern, Keith A. Horton, A. J. Sutton, Harold Garbeil
2018, Frontiers in Earth Science (6)
Retrieving accurate volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas emission rates is important for a variety of purposes. It is an indicator of shallow subsurface magma, and thus may signal impending eruption or unrest. SO2 emission rates are significant for accurately assessing climate impact, and providing context for assessing environmental, agricultural, and...
Development of new information to inform fish passage decisions at the Yale and Merwin hydro projects on the Lewis River, Washington—Final report, 2018
Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Christopher L. Clark, Mark H. Sorel, David A. Beauchamp
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1190
The reintroduction of extirpated salmonids to historically occupied areas is becoming increasingly common as a conservation and recovery strategy. Often, reintroductions are implemented after the factors that originally led to species extirpation have been reduced, eliminated, or mitigated. For anadromous Oncorhynchus spp. (Pacific salmon) and O. mykiss (steelhead), addressing barriers...
Ecosystem responses to elevated CO2 using airborne remote sensing at Mammoth Mountain, California
Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, Joshua B. Fisher, Caroline A. Famiglietti, Amy Braverman, Florian M. Schwandner, Jennifer L. Lewicki, Philip A. Townsend, David S. Schimel, Ryan Pavlick, Kathryn J. Bormann, Antonio Ferraz, Emily L. Kang, Pulong Ma, Robert R. Bogue, Thomas Youmans, David C. Pieri
2018, Biogeosciences (15) 7403-7418
We present an exploratory study examining the use of airborne remote-sensing observations to detect ecological responses to elevated CO2emissions from active volcanic systems. To evaluate these ecosystem responses, existing spectroscopic, thermal, and lidar data acquired over forest ecosystems on Mammoth Mountain volcano, California, were exploited, along with in situ measurements...
Lithostratigraphic framework in boreholes from Goldstone Lake and Nelson Lake Basins, Fort Irwin, California
David C. Buesch
David C. Buesch, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2013-1024-D
In 2011 and 2012, the sedimentary basins in the Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, were evaluated for groundwater resources using a variety of techniques, including drilling of boreholes. This study summarizes lithostratigraphic features and deposits in 8 of 10 boreholes drilled in 2 basins located in the western part...
Quantifying uncertainty in simulated streamflow and runoff from a continental-scale monthly water balance model
Andrew R. Bock, William H. Farmer, Lauren E. Hay
2018, Advances in Water Resources (122) 166-175
One important component of continental-scale hydrologic modeling is quantifying the level of uncertainty in long-term hydrologic simulations and providing a range of possible simulated streamflow and/or runoff values for gaged and ungaged locations. In this paper, uncertainty was quantified for simulated streamflow and runoff generated from a monthly water balance...
Cenozoic geology of Fort Irwin and vicinity, California
David C. Buesch, David M. Miller, Christopher M. Menges
David C. Buesch, editor(s)
2018, Open-File Report 2013-1024-C
The geology of the Fort Irwin National Training Center in the north-central Mojave Desert, California, provides insights into the hydrology and water resources of the area. The Fort Irwin area is underlain by rocks ranging in age from Proterozoic to Quaternary that have been deformed by faults as young as...
Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment—Volume II. Species and assemblages
Gordon C. Reese, Natasha B. Carr, Lucy E. Burris
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1109
The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative. The overall goal of the Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) is to compile and synthesize regional datasets to facilitate evaluation of the cumulative effects of change...
Hydrogeologic framework for characterization and occurrence of confined and unconfined aquifers in quaternary sediments in the glaciated conterminous United States—A digital map compilation and database
Adel E. Haj, David R. Soller, James E. Reddy, Leon J. Kauffman, Richard M. Yager, Cheryl A. Buchwald
2018, Data Series 1090
The U.S. Geological Survey has created a hydrogeologic framework for Quaternary sediments in glaciated areas of the conterminous United States that categorizes, maps, and characterizes the glacial sediments at and beneath the land surface. The hydrogeologic framework divides the glaciated United States into 17 distinct hydrogeologic terranes using a geologic...
The Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator—A decision-support tool to estimate water availability at ungaged stream locations in Connecticut
Sara B. Levin, Scott A. Olson, Martha G. Nielsen, Gregory E. Granato
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5135
Freshwater streams in Connecticut are subject to many competing demands, including public water supply; agricultural, commercial, and industrial water use; and ecosystem and habitat needs. In recent years, drought has further stressed Connecticut’s water resources. To sustainably allocate and manage water resources among these competing uses, Federal, State, and local...
User guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE—version 1.0) computer program
Gregory E. Granato, Sara B. Levin
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1163
This report is a user guide for the Connecticut Streamflow and Sustainable Water Use Estimator (CT SSWUE) computer program (version 1.0). The CT SSWUE was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to provide a planning-level decision-support tool designed to...
Vegetative and geomorphic complexity at tributary junctions on the Colorado and Dolores Rivers: a blueprint for riparian restoration
Margaret S. White, Brian G. Tavernia, Patrick B. Shafroth, Teresa B. Chapman, John S. Sanderson
2018, Landscape Ecology (33) 2205-2220
ContextHabitat complexity in rivers is linked to dynamic fluvial conditions acting at various spatial scales. On regulated rivers in the western United States, tributaries are regions of high energy and disturbance, providing important resource inputs for riparian ecosystems.ObjectivesThis study investigated...
Hydrologic controls of methane dynamics in karst subterranean estuaries
David Brankovits, John W. Pohlman, Neil K. Ganju, T.M. Iliffe, N. Lowell, E. Roth, S.P. Sylva, J.A. Emmert, L. L. Lapham
2018, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (32) 1759-1775
Karst subterranean estuaries (KSEs) extend into carbonate platforms along 12% of all coastlines. A recent study has shown that microbial methane (CH4) consumption is an important component of the carbon cycle and food web dynamics within flooded caves that permeate KSEs. In this study, we obtained high‐resolution (~2.5‐day) temporal records...
Book review: Analytical groundwater mechanics
Randall J. Hunt
2018, Groundwater (57) 85-85
Encapsulating almost 50 years of experience applying mathematics to groundwater flow problems, this latest textbook from Otto Strack (2017) is a tour de force for analytical groundwater approaches. It is comprised of 10 chapters, spanning topics from the basics of groundwater mechanics, to steady state, three‐dimensional,...
Intensive oyster aquaculture can reduce disease impacts on sympatric wild oysters
Tal Ben-Horin, Colleen A. Burge, David Bushek, Maya L. Groner, Dina A. Proestou, Lauren I. Huey, Gorka Bidegain, Ryan B. Carnegie
2018, Aquaculture Environment Interactions (10) 557-567
Risks associated with disease spread from fish and shellfish farming have plagued the growth and public perception of aquaculture worldwide. However, by processing nutrients and organic material from the water column, the culture of many suspension-feeding bivalves has been proposed as a novel solution toward mitigating problems facing coastal water...
Accuracies achieved in classifying five leading world crop types and their growth stages using optimal Earth Observing-1 Hyperion hyperspectral narrowbands on Google Earth Engine
Itiya Aneece, Prasad S. Thenkabail
2018, Remote Sensing (10) 1-29
As the global population increases, we face increasing demand for food and nutrition. Remote sensing can help monitor food availability to assess global food security rapidly and accurately enough to inform decision-making. However, advances in remote sensing technology are still often limited to multispectral broadband sensors. Although these sensors have...
Indicators of ecosystem structure and function for the Upper Mississippi River System
Nathan R. De Jager, James T. Rogala, Jason J. Rohweder, Molly Van Appledorn, Kristen L. Bouska, Jeffrey N. Houser, Kathi Jo Jankowski
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1143
This report documents the development of quantitative measures (indicators) of ecosystem structure and function for use in a Habitat Needs Assessment (HNA) for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). HNAs are led periodically by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program, which is the primary...
Best practices for elevation-based assessments of sea-level rise and coastal flooding exposure
Dean B. Gesch
2018, Frontiers in Earth Science (6) 1-19
Elevation data are critical for assessments of sea-level rise (SLR) and coastal flooding exposure. Previous research has demonstrated that the quality of data used in elevation-based assessments must be well understood and applied to properly model potential impacts. The cumulative vertical uncertainty of the input elevation data substantially controls the...
Communicating information on nature-related topics: Preferred information channels and trust in sources
Emily J. Wilkins, Holly M. Miller, Elizabeth Tilak, Rudy Schuster
2018, PLoS ONE (13)
How information is communicated influences the public’s environmental perceptions and behaviors. Information channels and sources both play an important role in the dissemination of information. Trust in a source is often used as a proxy for whether a particular piece of information is credible. To determine...
Spaceborne hyperspectral EO-1 hyperion data pre-processing: Methods, approaches, and algorithms
Itiya P. Aneece, Prasad S. Thenkabail, John G. Lyon, Alfredo Huete, E. Terrence Slonecker
Prasad S. Thenkabail, J.G. Lyon, Alfredo Huete, editor(s)
2018, Book chapter, Hyperspectral remote sensing of vegetation
No abstract available....
Identification of bees in southwest Idaho—A guide for beginners
Emily R. Sun, David S. Pilliod
2018, Circular 1448
This document was prepared to help scientists and the public, both of whom may not be familiar with bee taxonomy, learn how to practically identify bees in sagebrush steppe and shrubland habitats in southwest Idaho. We provide information to identify bees to the level of family and genus. A tentative...
