Modeling global indices for estimating non-photosynthetic vegetation cover
Phillip Dennison, Brian T. Lamb, Michael J. Campbell, Raymond F. Kokaly, W. Dean Hively, Eric F. Vermote, Philip W. Dabney, Guy Serbin, Miguel Quemada, Craig S.T. Daughtry, Jeffery G. Masek, Zhuoting Wu
2023, Remote Sensing of Environment (295)
Non-photosynthetic vegetation (NPV) includes plant litter, senesced leaves, and crop residues. NPV plays an essential role in terrestrial ecosystem processes, and is an important indicator of drought severity, ecosystem disturbance, agricultural resilience, and wildfire danger. Current moderate spatial resolution multispectral satellite systems (e.g., Landsat and Sentinel-2) have only a single...
Turbulence near a sandbar island in the lower Missouri River
Geng Li, Caroline M. Elliott, Bruce Call, Brandon James Sansom, R. B. Jacobson, Bin Wang
2023, River Research and Applications (39) 1857-1874
River turbulence is spatially variable due to interactions between morphology of rivers and physical mechanics of flowing water. Understanding the variation of turbulence in rivers is important for characterizing transport processes of soluble and particulate materials in these systems. We present an exploratory effort to...
Closing the gap between science and management of cold-water refuges in rivers and streams
Francine H. Mejia, Valerie Ouellet, Martin A. Briggs, Stephanie M. Carlson, Rose Casas-Mulet, Mollie Chapman, Matthias J. Collins, Stephen J. Dugdale, Joseph L. Ebersole, Danielle M. Frechette, Aimee H. Fullerton, Carol-Anne Gillis, Zachary Johnson, Christa Kelleher, Barret L. Kurylyk, Rebecca Lave, Benjamin Letcher, Knut M. Myrvold, Tracie-Lynn Nadeau, Helen Neville, Herve Piégay, Kathryn E. Smith, Diego Tonolla, Christian E. Torgersen
2023, Global Change Biology (29) 5482-5508
Human activities and climate change threaten coldwater organisms in freshwater ecosystems by causing rivers and streams to warm, increasing the intensity and frequency of warm temperature events, and reducing thermal heterogeneity. Cold-water refuges are discrete patches of relatively cool water that are used by...
Tire-derived transformation product 6PPD-quinone induces mortality and transcriptionally disrupts vascular permeability pathways in developing coho salmon
Justin Blaine Greer, Ellie Maureen Dalsky, Rachael F. Lane, John D. Hansen
2023, Environmental Science & Technology (57) 10940-10950
Urban stormwater runoff frequently contains the car tire transformation product 6PPD-quinone, which is highly toxic to juvenile and adult coho salmon (Onchorychus kisutch). However, it is currently unclear if embryonic stages are impacted. We addressed this by exposing developing coho salmon embryos...
Assessment of factors that influence human water demand for Providence, Rhode Island
Timothy J. Stagnitta, Laura Medalie
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5057
To determine the most relevant climatic and economic factors driving water demand for Providence, Rhode Island, and to further the understanding of human interactions with water availability, linear regression models were developed to estimate single-family and multifamily residential, commercial, and industrial water demand for the service area of Providence Water...
Multiple-well monitoring site within the Poso Creek Oil Field, Kern County, California
Rhett R. Everett, Peter B. McMahon, Michael J. Stephens, Janice M. Gillespie, Mackenzie M. Shepherd, Nicole C. Fenton
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1047
IntroductionThe Poso Creek Oil Field is one of the many fields selected for regional groundwater mapping and monitoring by the California State Water Resources Control Board as part of the Oil and Gas Regional Monitoring Program (RMP; California State Water Resources Control Board, 2015, 2022b; U.S. Geological Survey, 2022a). The...
Comparison of turbidity sensors at U.S. Geological Survey supergages in Indiana from November 2018 to December 2021
Madelyn L. Messner, Mary Kate Perkins, Aubrey R. Bunch
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5077
Beginning in September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey installed continuous water-quality monitors at several streamgages across Indiana as part of a network of supergages to meet cooperator information needs. Two types (or models) of water-quality monitors deployed at each site measured and recorded water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH,...
Water quality impacts of climate change, land use, and population growth in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Gopal Bhatt, Lewis C. Linker, Gary W. Shenk, Isabella Bertani, Richard Tian, Jessica Rigelman, Kyle E. Hinson, Peter Claggett
2023, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (59) 1313-1341
The 2010 Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load was established for the water quality and ecological restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. In 2017, the latest science, data, and modeling tools were used to develop revised Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs). In this article, we examine the vulnerability of the Chesapeake Bay...
Sexual dimorphism in endangered Jemez Mountains Salamanders (Plethodon neomexicanus)
Nancy E. Karraker, Rachel A. Loehman, Samantha Cordova
2023, Journal of Herpetology (57) 204-210
Sex ratio is a key demographic characteristic indicative of the condition of populations. Despite over 70 yr of study, researchers have not fully evaluated morphological characteristics that differentiate sex in Jemez Mountains Salamanders (Plethodon neomexicanus; federally endangered). Populations of this endemic salamander, which are...
Persistence of native riverine fishes downstream from two hydropower dams with contrasting operations
Mary Freeman, Brett Albanese, Phillip M. Bumpers, Megan M. Hagler, Andrew J. Nagy, Byron J. Freeman, Seth J. Wenger
2023, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (80) 1723-1736
Identifying hydropower dam operations that lessen detrimental effects on downstream fauna could inform conservation strategies for native fishes. We compared occurrence of native fishes in 20 shoal habitats downstream from two differently operated hydropower dams in the Coosa River system, Georgia, USA. Species richness averaged 7 and...
Lake sturgeon population trends in the St. Clair–Detroit River System, 2001–2019
Justin A. Chiotti, James C. Boase, Andrew S Briggs, Chris Davis, Richard Drouin, Darryl W. Hondorp, Lloyd Mohr, Edward F. Roseman, Michael V. Thomas, Todd C. Wills
2023, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (43) 1066-1080
Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens are listed as threatened or endangered in 15 states or provinces within their native range. Accordingly, investments in habitat and population restoration for this species have increased throughout the Great Lakes. To aide evaluation of restoration efficacy, robust population parameters are needed to inform management decisions. The St....
Impacts of a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake on water levels and wetlands of the lower Columbia River and Estuary
M.W. Brand, H.L. Diefenderfer, Jim E. O'Connor, A.B. Borde, D.A. Jay, A. Al-Bahadily, M. McKeon, S.A. Talke
2023, Geophysical Research Letters (50)
Subsidence after a subduction zone earthquake can cause major changes in estuarine bathymetry. Here, we quantify the impacts of earthquake-induced subsidence on hydrodynamics and habitat distributions in a major system, the lower Columbia River Estuary, using a hydrodynamic and habitat model. Model results indicate that coseismic subsidence...
River geomorphology affects biogeochemical responses to hydrologic events in a large river ecosystem
Taryn Waite, Kathi Jo Jankowski, Denise Bruesewitz, Molly Van Appledorn, Megan Johnston, Jeffrey N. Houser, Douglas Baumann, Barbara Bennie
2023, Water Resources Research (59)
Shifts in the frequency and intensity of high discharge events due to climate change may have important consequences for the hydrology and biogeochemistry of rivers. However, our understanding of event-scale biogeochemical dynamics in large rivers lags that of small streams. To fill this gap, we used high-frequency...
Spatiotemporal variations in copper, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc concentrations in surface water, fine-grained bed sediment, and aquatic macroinvertebrates in the upper Clark Fork Basin, western Montana—A 20-year synthesis, 1996–2016
Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Michelle I. Hornberger
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5070
The legacy of mining-related contamination in the upper Clark Fork Basin created an extensive longitudinal gradient in metal concentrations, extending from Silver Bow Creek to Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. Downstream metal concentrations continue to decline, but, despite such improvements, the ecological health of much of the river remains uncertain. Understanding...
Widespread regeneration failure in ponderosa pine forests of the southwestern United States
Matthew D. Petrie, Robert M. Hubbard, John B. Bradford, Tom E. Kolb, Adam Roy Noel, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, M.A. Bowen, L.R. Fuller, W. Keith Moser
2023, Forest Ecology and Management (545)
As climate changes in coming decades, ponderosa pine forest persistence may be increasingly dictated by their regeneration. Sustained regeneration failure has been predicted for forests of the southwestern US (SWUS) even in absence of stand-replacing wildfire, but regeneration in undisturbed and lightly disturbed forests has been studied infrequently and at...
Combining expert knowledge of a threatened trout distribution with sparse occupancy data for climate-related projection
Nathan Chelgren, Jason Dunham, Stephanie L Gunckel, David P Hockman-Wert, Chris S Allen
2023, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (43) 839-858
ObjectiveTo evaluate the vulnerability of Bull Trout Salvelinus confluentus to potential climate changes across its range in Oregon, we compiled disparate expert knowledge of the distribution of spawning and rearing and combined these probabilistic statements as data along with documented records of breeding and rearing in a joint occupancy...
A prioritization protocol for coastal wetland restoration on Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Judith Z. Drexler, Helen Raine, James D. Jacobi, Sally House, Pulama Lima, William Haase, Arleone Dibben-Young, Brett T. Wolfe
2023, Frontiers in Environmental Science (11)
Hawaiian coastal wetlands provide important habitat for federally endangered waterbirds and socio-cultural resources for Native Hawaiians. Currently, Hawaiian coastal wetlands are degraded by development, sedimentation, and invasive species and, thus, require restoration. Little is known about their original structure and function due to the large-scale alteration of the lowland landscape...
GRiMeDB: The Global River Database Methane Database of concentrations and fluxes
Emily H. Stanley, Luke C. Loken, Nora J. Casson, Samantha K. Oliver, Ryan A. Sponseller, Marcus B. Wallin, Liwei Zhang, Gerard Rocher-Ros
2023, Earth System Science Data (15) 2879-2926
Despite their small spatial extent, fluvial ecosystems play a significant role in processing and transporting carbon in aquatic networks, which results in substantial emission of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere. For this reason, considerable effort has been put into identifying patterns and drivers of CH4 concentrations in streams and rivers...
Thermography captures the differential sensitivity of dryland functional types to changes in rainfall event timing and magnitude
Mostafa Javadian, Russell L. Scott, Joel A. Biederman, Fangyue Zhang, Joshua B. Fisher, Sasha C. Reed, Daniel L. Potts, Miguel L. Villarreal, Andrew F. Feldman, William K. Smith
2023, New Phytologist (240) 114-126
Drylands of the southwestern United States are rapidly warming, and rainfall is becoming less frequent and more intense, with major yet poorly understood implications for ecosystem structure and function. Thermography-based estimates of plant temperature can be integrated with air temperature to infer changes in...
Assessment of salinity retention or mobilization by sediment-retention ponds near Delta, Colorado, 2019
Rodney J. Richards, Carleton R. Bern, Victoria Moreno
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5071
Salinity control efforts in the Colorado River Basin have focused on mobilization of salts from irrigated land, but nonirrigated rangelands are also a source of salinity. In particular, lands where soils have formed from the Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale under arid and semiarid climates contain considerable quantities of salt, mainly...
Potential effects of projected pumping scenarios on future water-table elevations near Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Allison K. Flickinger
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5075
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, simulated different groundwater pumping scenarios from 2016 to 2050 to determine the potential future changes in groundwater levels in areas around the Kirtland Air Force Base Bulk Fuels Facility and an ethylene dibromide (EDB) plume. Projections of...
Guidelines for field-measured water-quality properties
U.S. Geological Survey
2023, Techniques and Methods 9-A6.0
The “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) provides guidelines and procedures for U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) personnel who collect data used to assess the quality of the Nation’s surface-water and groundwater resources. This chapter, NFM A6.0, provides guidance and protocols for the measurement of field parameters...
Dissolved organic carbon dynamics and fluxes in Mississippi-Atchafalaya deltaic system impacted by an extreme flood event and hurricanes: A multi-satellite approach using Sentinel-2/3 and Landsat-8/9 data
Bingqing Liu, Eurico J. D’Sa, Francesca Messina, Melissa Millman Baustian, Kanchan Maiti, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Wei Huang, Ioannis Y. Georgiou
2023, Frontiers in Marine Science (10)
Transport of riverine and wetland-derived dissolved organic carbon (DOC) spanning tidal wetlands, estuaries, and continental shelf waters functionally connects terrestrial and aquatic carbon reservoirs, yet the magnitude and ecological significance of this variable and its spatiotemporal linkage remains uncertain for coastal deltaic regions, such as Mississippi River Delta Plain, which...
BioLake: A first assessment of lake temperature-derived bioclimatic predictors for aquatic invasive species
Ryan C. Burner, Wesley Daniel, Peder S. Engelstad, Christopher J. Churchill, Richard A. Erickson
2023, Ecosphere (14)
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) present major ecological and economic challenges globally, endangering ecosystems and human livelihoods. Managers and policy makers thus need tools to predict invasion risk and prioritize species and areas of concern, and they often use native range climate matching to determine...
Predicting inundation dynamics and hydroperiods of small, isolated wetlands using a machine learning approach
Jeffrey W. Riley, Charles C. Stillwell
2023, Wetlands (43)
The duration of inundation or saturation (i.e., hydroperiod) controls many wetland functions. In particular, it is a key determinant of whether a wetland will provide suitable breeding habitat for amphibians and other taxa that often have specific hydrologic requirements. Yet, scientists and land managers often are...
