Reconstructing relative abundance indices for Atlantic sturgeon using hierarchical ecological models
Daniel S. Stich, Dewayne Fox, Amanda Higgs, David C. Kazyak, Richard Pendleton, Suresh A Sethi
2025, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (154) 134-142
ObjectiveThe Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus is a wide-ranging, long-lived diadromous fish that is endangered in most of its range. Our objective was to develop and apply long-term, detection-corrected indices of relative abundance for juvenile and adult Atlantic Sturgeon in the Hudson River, New York, United States, to support...
New paleomagnetic constraints on the eruption timing, stratigraphy, and post-emplacement deformation of the Picture Gorge Basalt within the Columbia River Basalt Group
Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Margaret Susan Avery, Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Scott E.K. Bennett, Andrew T. Calvert
2025, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth (130)
The Picture Gorge Basalt (PGB) is part of the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). The PGB, which outcrops in eastern Oregon, is considered coincident in time with the voluminous Grande Ronde Basalt. New radiometric ages have expanded the age‐range of the PGB, suggesting it began erupting prior to the Steens...
Specific conductance and water type as a proxy model for salinity and total dissolved solids measurements in the Upper Colorado River Basin
R. Blaine McCleskey, Charles A. Cravotta III, Matthew P. Miller, Tanner William Chapin, Fred D. Tillman, Gabrielle L. Keith
2025, Applied Geochemistry (184)
Salinity levels in streams and tributaries of the Colorado River Basin have been a major concern for the United States and Mexico for over 50 years as the water is used by millions of people for domestic and industrial purposes. Recently, the United States Geological Survey expanded stream monitoring networks...
Spatial variation in landlocked Atlantic Salmon smolt survival associated with dam passage, avian predation, and stocking location
Kurt C. Heim, William R. Ardren, Jonah L. Withers, Zachery Eisenhauer, Matthew A. Mensinger, Theodore Castro-Santos
2025, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (45) 1-14
ObjectiveWe evaluated survival differences between upstream and downstream stocking for landlocked Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar smolts in a tributary to Lake Champlain.MethodsWe radio-tagged smolts and stocked them concurrently with 22,000 smolts at two release sites in 2 years. The downstream location (DS, river kilometer...
Mortality events in Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) due to white-nose syndrome in Washington, USA
Jeffrey M. Lorch, A. Tobin, Alexandria Annelise Argue, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Brenda M. Berlowski-Zier, Kyle George, Katherine H. Haman, Anne Ballmann
2025, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (61) 509-514
The impacts of white-nose syndrome (WNS) on many bat species in eastern North America have been well documented because of the length of time that the causative agent, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), has been present and the ability to monitor bat hibernacula in that region. However, the disease outcomes for bat species in...
A 700-year rupture sequence of great eastern Aleutian earthquakes from tsunami modeling of stratigraphic records
Yoshiki Yamazaki, Kwok Fai Cheung, Thorne Lay, SeanPaul La Selle, Robert C. Witter, Bruce E. Jaffe
2025, Nature Communications (16)
Great Aleutian underthrusting earthquakes produced destructive tsunamis impacting Hawaiʻi in 1946 and 1957. Prior modeling of the 1957 tsunami deposit and runup records on eastern Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands jointly with tide-gauge observations across the Pacific Ocean constrained a rupture model with shallow slip up to 26 m along 600 km of...
Comparison of hydrologic data and water budgets between 2003–08 and 2018–23 for the eastern part of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, south-central Oklahoma
Shana L. Mashburn, Evin J. Fetkovich, Hayden A. Lockmiller, Chloe Codner, Ethan Allen Kirby, Isaac A. Dale, Colin A. Baciocco
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5011
The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is divided spatially into three parts (eastern, central, and western). The largest groundwater withdrawals are from the eastern part of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, which provides water to approximately 39,000 people in Ada and Sulphur, Oklahoma, and surrounding areas. The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, including the eastern part, is designated...
Evidence of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) depredating a Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) nest
Bridget Re, Sarah M. Karpanty, Elizabeth Ann Hunter
2025, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology (137) 647-654
Saltmarsh Sparrows (Ammospiza caudacuta), a tidal-marsh specialist, face severe population declines due to habitat loss, sea-level rise, and predation. While previous research suggests that predation pressure increases at the southern extent of the species’ breeding range, data on local predator communities remain limited. To address this, we...
Overwinter survival of an estuarine resident fish (Fundulus heteroclitus) in North Carolina salt marsh creeks
P. J. Rudershausen, Matthew J. O'Donnell
2025, Journal of Fish of Biology (107) 188-200
The mummichog Fundulus heteroclitus is a trophically important fish inhabiting Atlantic coastal salt marshes, with few in situ estimates of overwinter survival throughout the species range. We estimated overwinter apparent survival rates of F. heteroclitus at the approximate mid-latitudinal species range [coastal North Carolina (USA)] in four tidal creeks that experience variable winter water...
Potential effects of sea level rise and high tide flooding on Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis (eastern black rail) coastal breeding areas
Catherine A. Nikiel, Marta P. Lyons
2025, Open-File Report 2021-1104-F
Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis (eastern black rails; Gmelin, 1789) are facing increasing risk from flooding in coastal breeding habitats because of rising sea levels combined with standard high tide flooding. In this report, we examine regional differences in relative rates of sea level rise, days in the breeding season above historical...
Delineating ecologically-distinct groups for annual cycle management of a declining shorebird
Elly C. Knight, J. D. Carlisle, Andy J. Boyce, D.C. Bradley, Paula Cimprich, Stephanie Coates, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Cory J. Gregory, Joel G. Jorgensen, Jeffrey F. Kelly, David Newstead, Alina Olalla, Larkin A. Powell, Amy L. Scarpignato, T. Lee Tibbitts, Nils Warnock, Walter Wehtje, Peter P. Marra, Autumn-Lynn Harrison
2025, Journal of Applied Ecology (62) 1152-1165
1. Patterns of migratory connectivity are increasingly used to understand and manage threats throughout the annual cycle of migratory species. Strong migratory connectivity refers to when individuals from different populations remain spatially separated across the annual cycle, which may expose populations to unique sets of threats and conditions that cause...
Foundational science in flight—USGS bird programs support conservation, culture, and a thriving U.S. economy
David Ziolkowski, Antonio Celis-Murillo, Jenn Malpass, Keith L. Pardieck, Julien Martin, Lauren Emily Walker
2025, Fact Sheet 2025-3011
Birds are vital to our economy, ecosystems, and cultural heritage. Investing in bird conservation benefits communities, businesses, and working lands while reinforcing our nation’s legacy of stewardship and biodiversity. By valuing birds, we ensure a richer, healthier, and more vibrant future for all Americans. The USGS leads two national bird...
Peak streamflow trends in Minnesota and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020
Tara Williams-Sether, Chris Sanocki
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-E
This report chapter summarizes the effect of hydroclimatic variability of annual peak streamflow in Minnesota and is part of a larger U.S. Geological Survey multistate study to assess potential nonstationarity in annual peak streamflows across the Midwest. Spatial and temporal patterns were examined for nonstationarity in annual peak streamflow, daily...
Peak streamflow trends in North Dakota and their relation to changes in climate, water years 1921–2020
Karen R. Ryberg, Tara Williams-Sether
2025, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5064-H
Standardized guidelines for completing flood-flow frequency analyses are presented in a U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods report known as Bulletin 17C, https://doi.org/10.3133/tm4B5. In recent decades (since about 2000), a better understanding of long-term climatic persistence (periods of clustered floods or droughts, or wet or dry periods) and...
Bedrock fracture characterization of the New Hampshire State Route 111 bypass, Windham, New Hampshire
Gregory J. Walsh, Nicholas Edwin Powell
2025, Data Report 1208
Bedrock roadcuts developed with blasting along the New Hampshire State Route 111 bypass in Windham expose the metasedimentary Silurian Berwick Formation and intrusions of multiple phases of foliated to nonfoliated granite to granitic pegmatite of the Devonian New Hampshire Plutonic Suite. Fracture characterization at two roadway rock cuts (roadcuts) included...
Fisheries research and monitoring activities of the Lake Erie Biological Station, 2024
Mark Richard Dufour, Francesco Guzzo, Corbin David Hilling, Kevin R. Keretz, Richard Kraus, Richard Cole Oldham, James Roberts, Joseph Schmitt
2025, Report
A comprehensive understanding of fish populations and their interactions is the cornerstone of modern fishery management and the basis for Lake Erie’s Fish Community Objectives (FCOs) developed in 2020 (Francis et al. 2020). The 2024 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Lake Erie Biological Station Annual Report is responsive to these FCOs...
Methodology
North American Bird Conservation Initiative, A. Rodewald, Mike Brasher, John Alexander, Elisabeth M. Ammon, Tracy E. Borneman, Dustin Brewer, Stephen Brown, Jennie N. Duberstein, Beth Flint, Adam Hannuksela, Kathleen Holland, J. A. Hostetler, Edwin Juarez, Robin Kaler, Chris Latimer, Elva Manquera, Kate Martin, Chris McCreedy, Nicole Michel, Corina Newsome, Andrew Olsen, Marc Romano, Kenneth V. Rosenberg, B. Ryder, Rebekah J. Rylander, John R. Sauer, Adam Smith, Dena Spatz, Caleb Spiegel, Tice Supplee, Roberta Swift, Eric VanderWerf, Josh Vest, Olivia Wang
2025, Report, State of the birds report, United States of America 2025
Following the approach developed by Gregory and van Strien (2010), State of the Birds reports focus on composite summaries of population change for collections of species that share common primary habitat or taxonomic affinity. In this report, we provide composite indexes for habitat-obligate species as defined in earlier reports (Grassland, Aridland, Eastern Forest and...
Landscape transcriptomic analysis detects thermal stress responses and potential adaptive variation in wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) during successive heatwaves
Justin Waraniak, Sarah Batchelor, Tyler Wagner, Jason Keagy
2025, Science of Total Environment (969)
Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of climate change. Critically, such extreme weather events can be more important drivers of extirpation and selection than changes in annual or seasonal averages and they pose a particularly large threat to poikilothermic organisms. In...
Avian influenza infection and antibodies not identified in eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) sampled on the Delmarva Peninsula
Jeffery D. Sullivan, Johanna Alexandra Harvey, Rebecca L. Poulson, David E. Stallknecht, C. Robert Long, Cindy P. Driscoll, Diann Prosser, Jennifer M. Mullinax
2025, Avian Diseases (69) 2-5
Although highly pathogenic avian influenza presents a notable threat to domestic turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo domesticus), there have been minimal infections identified in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) across the United States. Indeed, recent infections in wild turkeys have either been linked back to or suspected to be the result of spillback...
A practical decision tool for marine bird mortality assessments
Johanna Alexandra Harvey, Andrew M. Ramey, Stephanie Avery-Gomm, Gregory Robertson, Marc Romano, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Megan Boldenow, Philip W. Atkinson, Diann J. Prosser
2025, Preprint
Given the rise in anthropogenic, environmental, and disease events contributing to marine bird mortality, there is a critical need to improve the rigor of mortality assessments. Deficits in data collection and mortality estimation can hinder a manager’s ability to document event scales and inform population level impacts. Therefore, to inform...
Cancer risk and estimated lithium exposure in drinking groundwater in the US
Jiajun Luo, Liange Zheng, Zhihao Jin, Yuqing Yang, William I. Krakowka, Eric Hong, Melissa A. Lombard, Joseph D. Ayotte, Habibul Ahsan, Jayant M. Pinto, Briseis Aschebrook-Kilfoy
2025, JAMA Network Open (8)
Importance Lithium is a naturally occurring element in drinking water and is commonly used as a mood-stabilizing medication. Although clinical studies have reported associations between receiving lithium treatment and reduced cancer risk among patients with bipolar disorder, to our knowledge, the association between environmental lithium exposure and cancer risk has never...
Range-wide ecology, conservation, and research needs for yellow lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa)
Stefanie J. Farrington, Christina Amy Murphy, David Perkins, Allison H. Roy
2025, Hydrobiologia (852) 2729-2754
The freshwater mussel yellow lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) is declining throughout its range along the Atlantic Slope of the eastern United States and Canada, and the species is a target for proactive conservation to avoid federal listing. This paper synthesizes information about the ecology (physiology and life history, host fishes, and...
Current distribution of the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) in the United States
Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Anant Deshwal
2025, Diversity (17)
The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus: hereafter armadillo) was first recorded in the United States (U.S.) in the state of Texas in 1849 and has been expanding its range northward and eastward since then. With the widespread adoption of participatory science as well as the proliferation of nationwide wildlife game...
An early detection rapid response case study of the Black and White Tegu (Salvator merianae) and implications for a broader framework
Mark Robert Sandfoss, Amanda Marie Kissel, Lisa Marie McBride, Matthew Fox Metcalf, Sarah Rae Sherburne, Travis R. Mangione, Matthew McCollister, Amy A. Yackel Adams
2025, Management of Biological Invasions (16) 581-591
Documentation of successful early detection rapid response (EDRR) efforts is lacking from the scientific literature but is needed to inform invasive species response protocols. The Black and White tegu (Salvator merianae) has become established in several Florida counties and its spread is of significant conservation concern. It is of high...
Multispectral red-edge indices accurately estimate nitrogen content in winter cereal cover crops
Alison Thieme, Jyoti Jennewein, W. Dean Hively, Brian T. Lamb, Alicia Whitcraft, S.B. Mirsky, S.C. Reberg-Horton, C. Justice
2025, Agronomy Journal (117)
Winter cover crops reduce erosion and nutrient runoff from agricultural systems. Although cereal cover crops can decrease field nitrate leaching by 50%–95%, the magnitude of this reduction varies within and between fields, making it challenging to monitor the impact of cover crops on nitrate leaching at large spatial extents. Satellite...
