Converting CRP grasslands to cropland, grazing land, or hayland: Effects on breeding bird abundances in the northern Great Plains of the United States
Lawrence Igl, Deborah A. Buhl, Max Post van der Burg, Douglas H. Johnson
2023, Global Ecology and Conservation (46) 13 pages
Recent declines of grassland bird populations in North America are linked to habitat loss and fragmentation associated with agricultural practices. One tool used to conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat on agricultural fields is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), the largest...
Native amphibian toxin reduces invasive crayfish feeding with potential benefits to stream biodiversity
Gary M. Bucciarelli, Sierra J. Smith, Justin J. Choe, Phoebe D. Shin, Robert N. Fisher, Lee B. Kats
2023, BMC Ecological Evolution (23)
BackgroundBiodiversity is generally reduced when non-native species invade an ecosystem. Invasive crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, populate California freshwater streams, and in the Santa Monica Mountains (Los Angeles, USA), their introduction has led to trophic cascades due to omnivorous feeding behavior and a rapid rate of population growth. The native California...
Approaches for assessing flows, concentrations, and loads of highway and urban runoff and receiving-stream stormwater in southern New England with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Gregory E. Granato, Alana B. Spaetzel, Lillian C. Jeznach
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5087
The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) was designed to help quantify the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the potential effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks. SELDM is calibrated using representative hydrological and water-quality input...
Southern (California) sea otter population status and trends at San Nicolas Island, 2020–2023
Julie L. Yee, Joseph A. Tomoleoni, Michael C. Kenner, Jessica A. Fujii, Gena B. Bentall, Michelle M. Staedler, Brian B. Hatfield
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1071
The population of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) at San Nicolas Island, California, has been monitored annually since the translocation of 140 southern sea otters to the island was completed in 1990. Monitoring efforts have varied in frequency and type across years. In 2017, the U.S. Navy and the...
Transferring deep learning models for hydrographic feature extraction from IfSAR data in Alaska
Larry V. Stanislawski, Nattapon Jaroenchai, Shaowen Wang, Ethan J. Shavers, Alexander Duffy, Philip T. Thiem, Zhe Jiang, Adam Camerer
2023, Conference Paper
The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is being updated with higher-quality feature representations through efforts that derive hydrography from 3DEP HR elevation datasets. Deriving hydrography from elevation through traditional flow routing and interactive methods is a complex, time-consuming process that must be tailored for...
Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) pilot project progress toward an information management and technology plan
Eric D. Anderson, Jennifer R. Erxleben, Sharon L. Qi, Adrian P. Monroe, Katharine G. Dahm
2023, Circular 1510
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey carries out a wide variety of multidisciplinary science projects through the Bureau’s regions, mission areas, programs, and science centers. However, this structure can limit interactions among individual scientists, segregate data holdings, and make it difficult to apply holistic, interdisciplinary science. In addition, technological advances in...
Application of a catch multiple survey analysis for Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus in the Delaware Bay
Kristen A. Anstead, John A. Sweka, Linda Barry, Eric M. Hallerman, David R. Smith, Natalie Ameral, Michael Schmidtke, Richard A. Wong
2023, Marine and Coastal Fisheries: Dynamics, Management, and Ecosystem Science (15)
ObjectiveThis paper applies a catch multiple survey analysis (CMSA) to Atlantic horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus in the Delaware Bay to generate robust population estimates for harvest management. Currently, horseshoe crabs along the U.S. Atlantic coast are harvested as bait for other fisheries and collected for their blood, which is...
Prioritization of species status assessments for decision support
Ashley B.C. Goode, Erin Rivenbark, Jessica A. Gilbert, Conor P. McGowan
2023, Decision Analysis (20) 311-325
Species status assessments are used to inform U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decision making for Endangered Species Act (ESA) classification decisions, recovery planning, and more. The large number of species that require assessment and uncertainty in the data available impede the process of assigning and completing the assessments, which...
The diversity of volcanic hazard maps around the world: Insights from map makers
Jan Lindsay, Danielle Charlton, Mary Ann T. Clive, Daniel Bertin, Sarah E. Ogburn, Heather M. Wright, John W. Ewert, Eliza S. Calder, Bastian Steinke
2023, Journal of Applied Volcanology (12)
The IAVCEI Working Group on Hazard Mapping has been active since 2014 and has facilitated several activities to enable sharing of experiences of how volcanic hazard maps are developed and used around the world. One key activity was a global survey of 90 map makers and practitioners to collect data...
Pardus in the press: Drivers of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) attack occurrence on humans in Nepal
Shashank Poudel, Joshua P. Twining, Richard C. Stedman, Shravan Kumar Ghimire, Angela K. Fuller
2023, People and Nature (5) 177-188
The negative impact of large carnivore presence in human-dominated landscapes manifests as livestock depredation and in extreme cases as attacks on humans. In the case of conflict with leopards in Nepal, attacks resulting in human fatality have become more frequent over time, thus creating an urgent socio-ecological and management...
a-positive: A robust estimator of the earthquake rate in incomplete or saturated catalogs
Nicholas van der Elst, Morgan T. Page
2023, JGR Solid Earth (128)
Detection thresholds in earthquake catalogs frequently change in time due to station coverage improvements and network saturation effects during active periods such as mainshock-aftershock cascades. This presents a challenge to seismicity-rate estimation; there is a tradeoff between using as low a minimum magnitude as possible to maximize...
Polar bear's range dynamics and survival in the Holocene
Heikki Seppa, Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz, Beth Elaine Caissie, Marc Macias Fauria
2023, Quaternary Science Reviews (317)
Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the apex predator of the Arctic, largely dependent on sea-ice. The expected disappearance of the ice cover of the Arctic seas by the mid 21st century is predicted to cause a dramatic decrease in the global range and population size of the species. To place...
Local topography and streambed hydraulic conductivity influence riparian groundwater age and groundwater-surface water connection
Sara R. Warix, Alexis Navarre-Sitchler, Andrew H. Manning, Kamini Singha
2023, Water Resources Research (59)
The western U.S. is experiencing increasing rain to snow ratios due to climate change, and scientists are uncertain how changing recharge patterns will affect future groundwater-surface water connection. We examined how watershed topography and streambed hydraulic conductivity impact groundwater age and stream discharge at eight sites along a headwater stream...
Characterization of peak streamflows and flooding in select areas of Pennsylvania from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, September 1–2, 2021
Marla H. Stuckey, Matthew D. Conlon, Mitchell R. Weaver
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5086
Pennsylvania experienced heavy rainfall on September 1 and 2, 2021, as the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept over parts of the State. Much of eastern and south-central Pennsylvania received 5 to 10 inches of rain, and most of the rainfall fell within little more than 6 hours. Southeastern Pennsylvania experienced...
Leveraging multimission satellite data for spatiotemporally coherent cyanoHAB monitoring
Kate Colleen Fickas, Ryan O’Shea, Nima Pahlevan, Brandon Smith, Sarah Bartlett, Jennifer L. Wolny
2023, Frontiers in Remote Sensing (4)
Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) present a critical public health challenge for aquatic resource and public health managers. Satellite remote sensing is well-positioned to aid in the identification and mapping of cyanoHABs and their dynamics, giving freshwater resource managers a tool for both rapid and long-term protection of...
California State waters map series—Benthic habitat characterization in the region offshore of Morro Bay, California
Guy R. Cochrane, Rikk Kvitek, Aaron Cole, Meghan Sherrier, Alia Roca-Lezra, Sean Hallahan, Peter Dartnell
2023, Open-File Report 2023-1064
Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard geoform, substrate, and biotic component geographic information system products were developed for the California State waters of south-central California in the region offshore of Morro Bay. The study was motivated by interest in development of offshore wind-energy capacity and infrastructure in Federal waters offshore....
U.S. Geological Survey science vision for native freshwater mussel research in the United States
Teresa J. Newton, Nathan A. Johnson, David H. Hu
2023, Circular 1511
Executive SummaryNorth America is a global center for native freshwater mussel (order Unionida, hereinafter “mussels”) diversity, with more than 350 species. Mussels are among the most imperiled fauna on the planet. Reasons for both local and widespread declines in mussels are mostly unknown, although the threats may include habitat loss...
An agent-based model to quantify energetics, movement and habitat selection of mid-continent mallards in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Florian G. Weller, Elisabeth B. Webb, Sean Fogenburg, William S. Beatty, Dylan Kesler, Robert H. Blenk, Kevin M. Ringelman, Matt L. Miller, John M. Eadie
2023, Ecological Modelling (485)
The dynamics of wintering waterfowl populations at the landscape scale are the result of complex interactions of environmental, behavioral and energetic drivers. Agent-based models provide a method to directly link these factors in a spatially explicit framework and allow the emergence...
Updates to CE-QUAL-W2 models for select U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs in the Willamette Valley Project and an inter-reservoir reach of the Middle Fork Willamette River, northwestern Oregon
Laurel E. Stratton Garvin, Norman L. Buccola, Stewart A. Rounds
2023, Scientific Investigations Report 2023-5085
Mechanistic models capable of simulating hydrodynamics and water temperature in rivers and reservoirs are valuable tools for investigating thermal conditions and their relation to dam operations and streamflow in river basins where upstream water storage and management decisions have an important influence on river reaches with threatened fish populations. In...
Prioritizing science efforts to inform decision making on public lands
Sarah K. Carter, Travis Haby, Jennifer K. Meineke, Alison C. Foster, Laine E. McCall, Leigh Espy, Megan A. Gilbert, Jeffrey E. Herrick, Karen Prentice
2023, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (21) 453-460
Public land management agencies in the US are committed to using science-informed decision making, but there has been little research on the types and topics of science that managers need most to inform their decisions. We used the National Environmental Policy Act to identify four types of science information needed...
Wind-modulated groundwater discharge along a microtidal Arctic coastline
Julia Guimond, Casu Demir, Barret L. Kurylyk, Michelle A. Walvoord, James W. McClelland, M. Bayani Cardenas
2023, Environmental Research Letters (18)
Groundwater discharge transports dissolved constituents to the ocean, affecting coastal carbon budgets and water quality. However, the magnitude and mechanisms of groundwater exchange along rapidly transitioning Arctic coastlines are largely unknown due to limited observations. Here, using first-of-its-kind coastal Arctic groundwater timeseries data, we evaluate the magnitude...
Sharing FAIR monitoring program data improves discoverability and reuse
Jennifer M. Bayer, Rebecca A Scully, Erin K. Dlabola, Jennifer L Courtwright, Christine L Hirsch, David P Hockman-Wert, Scott W. Miller, Brett B. Roper, W. Carl Saunders, Marcia N Snyder
2023, Enviornmental Monitoring and Assessment (195)
Data resulting from environmental monitoring programs are valuable assets for natural resource managers, decision-makers, and researchers. These data are often collected to inform specific reporting needs or decisions with a specific timeframe. While program-oriented data and related publications are effective for meeting program goals, sharing well-documented...
Positioning aquatic animals with acoustic transmitters
Robert J. Lennox, Kim Aarestrup, Josep Alos, Robert Arlinghaus, Eneko Aspillaga, Michael G. Bertram, Kim Birnie-Gauvin, Tomas Brodin, Steven J. Cooke, Lotte S. Dahlmo, Felicie Dhellemmes, Karl O. Gjelland, Gustav Hellstrom, Henry Hershey, Christopher M. Holbrook, Thomas Klefoth, Susan K. Lowerre-Barbieri, Christopher T. Monk, Cecilie Iden Nilsen, Ina Pauwels, Renanel Pickholtz, Marie Prchalova, Jan Reubens, Milan Říha, David Villegas-Rios, Knut Wiik Vollset, Samuel Westrelin, Henrik Baktoft
2023, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (14) 2514-2530
Geolocating aquatic animals with acoustic tags has been ongoing for decades, relying on the detection of acoustic signals at multiple receivers with known positions to calculate a 2D or 3D position, and ultimately recreate the path of an aquatic animal from detections at fixed stations.This method of underwater geolocation is...
Predicting exotic annual grass abundance in rangelands of the western United States using various precipitation scenarios
Devendra Dahal, Stephen P. Boyte, Michael Oimoen
2023, Rangeland Ecology and Management (90) 221-230
Expansion of exotic annual grass (EAG), such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski), could cause irreversible changes to arid and semiarid rangeland ecosystems in the western United States. The distribution and abundance of EAG species are highly affected by weather variables such as temperature and precipitation. The study's goal is to...
Ground motion and seismic hazard in the central and eastern United States
Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson, Oliver S. Boyd, Davis T. Engler, Bruce Worden, Gabriel Christian Ferragut, Sanaz Rezaeian, Peter M. Powers
2023, Report
This report describes work carried out under the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Interagency Agreement to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “Research to Support NRC’s Seismic Hazard Analyses” for Task 3, “Seismic Hazard and Ground Motion Models.” The focus of this work has been on evaluation of the Next Generation...
