Grand challenges in understanding the interplay of climate and land changes
Shuguang Liu, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Lena R. Boysen, James D. Ford, Andrew Fox, Kevin Gallo, Jerry L. Hatfield, Geoffrey M. Henebry, Thomas G. Huntington, Zhihua Liu, Thomas R. Loveland, Richard J. Norby, Terry L. Sohl, Allison L. Steiner, Wenping Yuan, Zhao Zhang, Shuqing Zhao
2017, Earth Interactions (21) 1-43
Half of Earth’s land surface has been altered by human activities, creating various consequences on the climate and weather systems at local to global scales, which in turn affect a myriad of land surface processes and the adaptation behaviors. This study reviews the status and major knowledge gaps in the...
The future demographic niche of a declining grassland bird fails to shift poleward in response to climate change
Lisa A. McCauley, Christine Ribic, Lars Y. Pomara, Benjamin Zuckerberg
2017, Landscape Ecology (32) 807-821
ContextTemperate grasslands and their dependent species are exposed to high variability in weather and climate due to the lack of natural buffers such as forests. Grassland birds are particularly vulnerable to this variability, yet have failed to shift poleward in response to recent climate change...
Groundwater conditions in Utah, Spring of 2017
Carole B. Burden
2017, Cooperative Investigations Report 58
This is the fifty-fourth in a series of annual reports that describe groundwater conditions in Utah. Reports in this series, published cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Rights, and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water Quality, provide...
Multiple models guide strategies for agricultural nutrient reductions
Donald Scavia, Margaret Kalcic, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Jennifer Read, Noel Aloysius, Isabella Bertani, Chelsie Boles, Remegio Confesor, Joseph DePinto, Marie Gildow, Jay Martin, Todd Redder, Dale M. Robertson, Scott P. Sowa, Yu-Chen Wang, Haw Yen
2017, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (15) 126-132
In response to degraded water quality, federal policy makers in the US and Canada called for a 40% reduction in phosphorus (P) loads to Lake Erie, and state and provincial policy makers in the Great Lakes region set a load-reduction target for the year 2025. Here, we configured five separate...
Tree mortality across biomes is promoted by drought intensity, lower wood density and higher specific leaf area
Sarah Greenwood, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Francisco Lloret, Thomas Kitzberger, Craig D. Allen, Rod Fensham, Daniel C. Laughlin, Jens Kattge, Gerhard Bonisch, Nathan J. B. Kraft, Alistair S. Jump
2017, Ecology Letters (20) 539-553
Drought events are increasing globally, and reports of consequent forest mortality are widespread. However, due to a lack of a quantitative global synthesis, it is still not clear whether drought-induced mortality rates differ among global biomes and whether functional traits influence the risk of drought-induced mortality. To address these uncertainties,...
Temporospatial dynamics and public health significance of bacterial flora identified on a major leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting beach in the Southern Caribbean
Ayanna Carla N. Phillips, Johanna Couteau, Stacy Rajh, Neville Stewart, Antonio Watson, Adam Jehu, Hamish Asmath, Chandrashekhar Unakal, Francis Dziva, Ridley Holder, Raymond R. Carthy
2017, Marine Ecology (38)
Grande Riviere beach, on the island of Trinidad, supports the largest nesting population of leatherback turtles in the Caribbean region. Throughout the nesting season, nests are naturally disturbed by newly nesting females, resulting in egg breakage and loss of some nest viability. This environment is ideal for the growth and...
Coupling ecological and social network models to assess “transmission” and “contagion” of an aquatic invasive species
Danielle M. Haak, Brian D. Fath, Valery E. Forbes, Dustin R. Martin, Kevin L. Pope
2017, Journal of Environmental Management (190) 243-251
Network analysis is used to address diverse ecological, social, economic, and epidemiological questions, but few efforts have been made to combine these field-specific analyses into interdisciplinary approaches that effectively address how complex systems are interdependent and connected to one another. Identifying and understanding these cross-boundary connections improves natural resource management...
Numerical simulation of large-scale bed load particle tracer advection-dispersion in rivers with free bars
Toshiki Iwasaki, Jonathan M. Nelson, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Gary Parker
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (122) 847-874
Asymptotic characteristics of the transport of bed load tracer particles in rivers have been described by advection-dispersion equations. Here we perform numerical simulations designed to study the role of free bars, and more specifically single-row alternate bars, on streamwise tracer particle dispersion. In treating the conservation of tracer particle mass,...
Relationships among catch, angler catisfaction, and fish assemblage characteristics of an urban small impoundment fishery
Tomas J. Ivasauskas, Wilson N. Xiong, Augustin C. Engman, Jesse R. Fischer, Thomas J. Kwak, Kirk R. Rundle
2017, Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (4) 31-38
Urban fisheries provide unique angling opportunities for people from traditionally underrepresented demographics. Lake Raleigh is a 38-ha impoundment located on the North Carolina State University campus in Raleigh. Like many urban fisheries, little is known about angler use and satisfaction or how angling catch rate is related to fish availability...
Methodological considerations for detection of terrestrial small-body salamander eDNA and implications for biodiversity conservation
Donald M. Walker, Jacob E. Leys, Kelly E. Dunham, Joshua C. Oliver, Emily E. Schiller, Kelsey S. Stephenson, John T. Kimrey, Jessica Wooten, Mark W. Rogers
2017, Molecular Ecology Resources (17) 1223-1230
Environmental DNA (eDNA) can be used as an assessment tool to detect populations of threatened species and provide fine-scale data required to make management decisions. The objectives of this project were to use quantitative PCR (qPCR) to: (i) detect spiked salamander DNA in soil, (ii) quantify eDNA degradation over time,...
Circumpolar analysis of the Adélie Penguin reveals the importance of environmental variability in phenological mismatch
Casey Youngflesh, Stephanie Jenouvrier, Yun Li, Rubao Ji, David G. Ainley, Grant Ballard, Christophe Barbraud, Karine Delord, Katie Dugger, Loiuse M. Emmerson, William R. Fraser, Jefferson T. Hinke, Phil O’B. Lyver, Silvia Olmastroni, Colin J. Southwell, Susan G. Trivelpiece, Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, Heather J. Lynch
2017, Ecology (98) 940-951
Evidence of climate-change-driven shifts in plant and animal phenology have raised concerns that certain trophic interactions may be increasingly mismatched in time, resulting in declines in reproductive success. Given the constraints imposed by extreme seasonality at high latitudes and the rapid shifts in phenology seen in the Arctic, we would...
Inner-shelf ocean dynamics and seafloor morphologic changes during Hurricane Sandy
John C. Warner, William C. Schwab, Jeffrey H. List, Ilgar Safak, Maria Liste, Wayne E. Baldwin
2017, Continental Shelf Research (138) 1-18
Hurricane Sandy was one of the most destructive hurricanes in US history, making landfall on the New Jersey coast on Oct 30, 2012. Storm impacts included several barrier island breaches, massive coastal erosion, and flooding. While changes to the subaerial landscape are relatively easily observed, storm-induced changes to the adjacent...
Classification of California streams using combined deductive and inductive approaches: Setting the foundation for analysis of hydrologic alteration
Matthew I. Pyne, Daren M. Carlisle, Christopher P. Konrad, Eric D. Stein
2017, Ecohydrology (10)
Regional classification of streams is an early step in the Ecological Limits of Hydrologic Alteration framework. Many stream classifications are based on an inductive approach using hydrologic data from minimally disturbed basins, but this approach may underrepresent streams from heavily disturbed basins or sparsely gaged arid regions. An alternative is...
2016 status of the Lake Ontario Lower Trophic levels
Kristen T. Holeck, Lars G. Rudstam, Christopher Hotaling, Russ McCullough, Dave Lemon, Web Pearsall, Jana Lantry, Mike Connerton, Steve LaPan, Zy Biesinger, Brian F. Lantry, Maureen Walsh, Brian Weidel
2017, Book chapter, Annual Report Bureau of Fisheries Lake Ontario Unit and St. Lawrence River Unit to Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Lake Ontario Committee.
Significant Findings for Year 2016: 1) Offshore spring total phosphorus (TP) in 2016 was 6.2 μg/L, higher than 2014 and 2015 (4.0 and 4.2 μg/L); there was no significant decline 2001 - 2016. Offshore soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was very low in 2016; Apr/May – Oct mean values were <1 μg/L....
Twenty years of water-quality studies in the Cheney Reservoir Watershed, Kansas, 1996-2016
Jennifer L. Graham, Guy M. Foster, Ariele R. Kramer
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3019
Since 1996, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Wichita, has done studies in the Cheney Reservoir watershed to understand environmental effects on water-quality conditions. Early studies (1996–2001) determined subwatershed sources of contaminants, nutrient and sediment loading to Cheney Reservoir, changes in reservoir sediment quality over...
Occurrence of cyanobacteria, microcystin, and taste-and-odor compounds in Cheney Reservoir, Kansas, 2001-16
Jennifer L. Graham, Guy M. Foster, Thomas J. Williams, Ariele R. Kramer, Theodore D. Harris
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5016
Cheney Reservoir, located in south-central Kansas, is one of the primary drinking-water supplies for the city of Wichita and an important recreational resource. Since 1990, cyanobacterial blooms have been present occasionally in Cheney Reservoir, resulting in increased treatment costs and decreased recreational use. Cyanobacteria, the cyanotoxin microcystin, and the taste-and-odor...
Semiautomatic approaches to account for 3-D distortion of the electric field from local, near-surface structures in 3-D resistivity inversions of 3-D regional magnetotelluric data
Brian D. Rodriguez
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1007
This report summarizes the results of three-dimensional (3-D) resistivity inversion simulations that were performed to account for local 3-D distortion of the electric field in the presence of 3-D regional structure, without any a priori information on the actual 3-D distribution of the known subsurface geology. The methodology used a...
Long-term spatial heterogeneity in mallard distribution in the Prairie pothole region
Adam K. Janke, Michael J. Anteau, Joshua D. Stafford
2017, Wildlife Society Bulletin (41) 116-124
The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of north-central United States and south-central Canada supports greater than half of all breeding mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) annually counted in North America and is the focus of widespread conservation and research efforts. Allocation of conservation resources for this socioeconomically important population would benefit from an...
Reconnaissance sedimentology of selected tertiary exposures in the upland region bordering the Yukon Flats basin, east-central Alaska
David L. LePain, Richard G. Stanley
2017, Preliminary Interpretive Report 2016-6
This report summarizes reconnaissance sedimentologic and stratigraphic observations made during six days of helicopter-supported fieldwork in 2002 on Tertiary sedimentary rocks exposed in the upland region around the flanks of the Yukon Flats basin in east-central Alaska (fig. 1). This project was a cooperative effort between the Alaska Division of...
Five-year external reviews of the eight Department of Interior Climate Science Centers: Alaska Climate Science Center
Mark Shasby, C. Andrew Dolloff, Jeffrey A. Hicke, Bruce G. Marcot, Bruce McCarl, Gerard McMahon, John M. Morton
2017, Report
This report primarily addresses the first two purposes of the review while providing comments on the third as identified by the science review team (SRT). A separate report of recommendations for the recompetition, based upon compiled observation from all three reviews conducted in 2016, was submitted to NCCWSC on April...
U.S. Geological Survey distribution of European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 data
Renee L. Pieschke
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3026
A partnership established between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) allows for USGS storage and redistribution of images acquired by the MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) on the European Union's Sentinel-2 satellite mission. The MSI data are acquired from a pair of satellites, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B, which...
A model integrating longshore and cross-shore processes for predicting long-term shoreline response to climate change
Sean Vitousek, Patrick L. Barnard, Patrick W. Limber, Li H. Erikson, Blake Cole
2017, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (122) 782-806
We present a shoreline change model for coastal hazard assessment and management planning. The model, CoSMoS-COAST (Coastal One-line Assimilated Simulation Tool), is a transect-based, one-line model that predicts short-term and long-term shoreline response to climate change in the 21st century. The proposed model represents a novel, modular synthesis of process-based...
Quantifying acoustic doppler current profiler discharge uncertainty: A Monte Carlo based tool for moving-boat measurements
David S. Mueller
2017, Conference Paper, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering
This paper presents a method using Monte Carlo simulations for assessing uncertainty of moving-boat acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) discharge measurements using a software tool known as QUant, which was developed for this purpose. Analysis was performed on 10 data sets from four Water Survey of Canada gauging...
A global threats overview for Numeniini populations: synthesising expert knowledge for a group of declining migratory birds.
James W. Pearce-Higgins, Daniel J. Brown, David J.T. Douglas, José A. Alves, Mariagrazia Bellio, Pierrick Bocher, Graeme M. Buchannan, Robert P. Clay, Jesse R. Conklin, Nicola Crockford, Peter Dann, Jaanus Elts, Christian Friis, Richard A. Fuller, Jennifer A. Gill, Ken Gosbell, James A. Johnson, Rocio Marquez-Ferrando, Jose A. Masero, David S. Melville, Spike Millington, Clive Minton, Taej Mundkur, Erika Nol, Hannes Pehlak, Theunis Piersma, Danny I. Rogers, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Nathan R. Senner, Junid Nazeer Shah, Rob D. Sheldon, Sergej A. Soloviev, Pavel S. Tomkovich, Yvonne I. Verkuil
2017, Bird Conservation International (27) 6-34
The Numeniini is a tribe of 13 wader species (Scolopacidae, Charadriiformes) of which seven are Near Threatened or globally threatened, including two Critically Endangered. To help inform conservation management and policy responses, we present the results of an expert assessment of the threats that members of this taxonomic group face...
Simulating ungulate herbivory across forest landscapes: A browsing extension for LANDIS-II
Nathan R. De Jager, Patrick J. Drohan, Brian M. Miranda, Brian R. Sturtevant, Susan L. Stout, Alejandro Royo, Eric J. Gustafson, Mark C. Romanski
2017, Ecological Modelling (350) 11-29
Browsing ungulates alter forest productivity and vegetation succession through selective foraging on species that often dominate early succession. However, the long-term and large-scale effects of browsing on forest succession are not possible to project without the use of simulation models. To explore the effects of ungulates on succession in a...
