Geochemical and mineralogical maps, with interpretation, for soils of the conterminous United States
David B. Smith, Federico Solano, Laurel G. Woodruff, William F. Cannon, Karl J. Ellefsen
2019, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5118
Between 2007 and 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a low-density (1 site per 1,600 square kilometers, 4,857 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils in the conterminous United States. The sampling protocol for the national-scale survey included, at each site, a sample from a depth of 0 to 5...
Long-term population dynamics of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis): A cross-system analysis
David L. Strayer, Boris V. Adamovich, Rita Adrian, David C. Aldridge, Csilla Balogh, Lyubov E. Burlakova, Hannah Fried-Petersen, László G.-Tóth, Amy L. Hetherington, Thomas S. Jones, Alexander Y. Karatayev, Jacqueline B. Madill, Oleg A. Makarevich, J. Ellen Marsden, André L. Martel, Dan Minchin, Thomas F. Nalepa, Ruurd Noordhuis, Timothy J. Robinson, Lars G. Rudstam, Astrid Schwalb, David R. Smith, Alan D. Steinman, Jonathan M. Jeschke
2019, Ecosphere (10)
Dreissenid mussels (including the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha and the quagga mussel D. rostriformis) are among the world's most notorious invasive species, with large and widespread ecological and economic effects. However, their long‐term population dynamics are poorly known, even though these dynamics are critical to determining impacts and effective management. We gathered and analyzed...
Pesticides and pollinators: A socioecological synthesis
Douglas B. Sponsler, Christina M. Grozinger, Claudia Hitaj, Maj Rundlof, Cristina Botias, Aimee Code, Eric V. Lonsdorf, Andony P. Melthapoulos, David R. Smith, Sainath Suryanarayanan, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Neal M. Williams, Minghua Zhang, Margaret R. Douglas
2019, Science of the Total Environment (662) 1012-1027
The relationship between pesticides and pollinators, while attracting no shortage of attention from scientists, regulators, and the public, has proven resistant to scientific synthesis and fractious in matters of policy and public opinion. This is in part because the issue has been approached in a compartmentalized and intradisciplinary way, such that...
The Missouri groundwater-level observation network
David C. Smith
2019, Fact Sheet 2019-3009
The Missouri groundwater-level observation well network is a series of wells across the State of Missouri in which groundwater levels are monitored in real time and periodically. The wells monitor the water levels in multiple key aquifers, such as the Ozark aquifer in the Salem and Springfield Plateaus and the...
Linkages between hydrology and seasonal variations of nutrients and periphyton in a large oligotrophic subalpine lake
Ramon C. Naranjo, Richard G. Niswonger, David R. Smith, Donald Rosenberry, Sudeep Chandra
Richard G. Niswonger, David R. Smith, Donald Rosenberry, Sudeep Chandra, editor(s)
2019, Journal of Hydrology (568) 877-890
Periphyton is important to lake ecosystems, contributing to primary production, nutrient cycling, and benthic metabolism. Increases in periphyton growth in lakes can be indicative of changes in water quality, shifts in ecosystem structure, and increases in nutrient fluxes. In oligotrophic lakes, conservationists are interested in characterizing the influence of hydrological...
Airborne bacteria in Earth’s lower stratosphere resemble taxa detected in the troposphere: results from a new NASA aircraft bioaerosol collector (ABC)
David R. Smith, Jayamary D. Ravichandar, Sunit Jain, Dale Griffin, Hongbin Yu, Qian Tan, James Thissen, Terry Lusby, Patrick Nicoll, Sarah Shedler, P. Martinez, Alejandro Osorio, Jason Lechniak, Samuel Choi, Kayleen Sabino, Kathryn Iverson, Luisa Chan, Crystal Jaing, John McGrath
2019, Frontiers in Microbiology (9)
Airborne microorganisms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remain elusive due to a lack of reliable sample collection systems. To address this problem, we designed, installed, and flight-validated a novel Aircraft Bioaerosol Collector (ABC) for NASA's C-20A that can make collections for microbiological research investigations up to altitudes of...
Distribution of mining-related trace elements in streambed and flood-plain sediment along the middle Big River and tributaries in the Southeast Missouri Barite District, 2012–15
David C. Smith, John G. Schumacher
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5103
Lead mining first began in the Big River watershed during the 1700s. Lead was the primary metal mined throughout most of the 1700s and early 1800s and it continued to be mined until the mid-1900s. Barite mining began in the middle part of the watershed in the mid- to late...
Investigating the mixing efficiencies of liquid-to-liquid chemical injection manifolds for aquatic invasive species management
Thomas J. Zolper, Aaron R. Cupp, David R. Smith
2018, Journal of Fluids Engineering (141) 1-14
Aquatic invasive species (AIS) have spread throughout the United States via major rivers and tributaries. Locks and dams positioned along affected waterways, specifically lock chambers, are being evaluated as potential management sites to prevent further expansion into new areas. Recent research has shown that infusion of chemicals (e.g., carbon dioxide)...
Temporal evaluation of estrogenic endocrine disruption markers in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) reveals seasonal variability in intersex
Luke Iwanowicz, Alfred E. Pinkney, C.P. Guy, A.M. Major, K.L. Munney, Vicki S. Blazer, David A. Alvarez, Heather L. Walsh, Adam J. Sperry, Lakyn Sanders, David R. Smith
2018, Science of the Total Environment (646) 245-256
A reconnaissance project completed in 2009 identified intersex and elevated plasma vitellogenin in male smallmouth bass inhabiting the Missisquoi River, VT. In an attempt to identify the presence and seasonality of putative endocrine disrupting chemicals or other factors associated with these observations, a comprehensive reevaluation was conducted between September 2012...
Implicit decision framing as an unrecognized source of confusion in endangered species classification
Jonathan Cummings, Sarah J. Converse, David R. Smith, Steve Morey, Michael Runge
2018, Conservation Biology (32) 1246-1254
Legal classification of species requires scientific and values‐based components, and how those components interact depends on how people frame the decision. Is classification a negotiation of trade‐offs, a decision on how to allocate conservation efforts, or simply a comparison of the biological status of a species to a legal standard?...
Development of a species status assessment process for decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
David R. Smith, Nathan L. Allan, Conor P. McGowan, Jennifer A. Szymankski, Susan R. Oetker, Heather M. Bell
2018, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (9) 302-320
Decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) require scientific input on the risk that the species will become extinct. A series of critiques on the role of science in ESA decisions have called for improved consistency and transparency in species risk assessments and clear distinctions between science input and...
Chemical elements in the environment: multi-element geochemical datasets from continental to national scale surveys on four continents
Patrice de Caritat, Clemens Reimann, David B. Smith, Xueqiu Wang
2017, Applied Geochemistry (89) 150-159
During the last 10-20 years, Geological Surveys around the world have undertaken a major effort towards delivering fully harmonized and tightly quality-controlled low-density multi-element soil geochemical maps and datasets of vast regions including up to whole continents. Concentrations of between 45 and 60 elements commonly have been determined in a...
Productivity and CO2 exchange of Great Plains ecoregions. I. Shortgrass steppe: Flux tower estimates
Tagir G. Gilmanov, Jack A. Morgan, P. Niall Hanan, Bruce Wylie, Nithya Rajan, David R. Smith, Daniel M. Howard
2017, Rangeland Ecology and Management (70) 700-717
The shortgrass steppe (SGS) occupies the southwestern part of the Great Plains. Half of the land is cultivated, but significant areas remain under natural vegetation. Despite previous studies of the SGS carbon cycle, not all aspects have been completely addressed, including gross productivity, ecosystem respiration, and ecophysiological parameters. Our analysis...
A process to estimate net infiltration using a site-scale water-budget approach, Rainier Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, 2002–05
David W. Smith, Michael T. Moreo, C. Amanda Garcia, Keith J. Halford, Joseph M. Fenelon
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5078
This report documents a process used to estimate net infiltration from precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), and soil data acquired at two sites on Rainier Mesa. Rainier Mesa is a groundwater recharge area within the Nevada National Security Site where recharged water flows through bedrock fractures to a deep (450 meters)...
A projection of lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations range-wide
Jonathan Cummings, Sarah J. Converse, Clinton Moore, David R. Smith, Clay T. Nichols, Nathan L. Allan, Chris M. O'Meilia
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1071
We built a population viability analysis (PVA) model to predict future population status of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, LEPC) in four ecoregions across the species’ range. The model results will be used in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Species Status Assessment (SSA) for the LEPC. Our...
Optimization of decision rules for hydroelectric operation to reduce both eel mortality and unnecessary turbine shutdown: A search for a win-win solution
David R. Smith, Paul L. Fackler, Sheila M. Eyler, Laura Villegas, Stuart A. Welsh
2017, Rivers Research and Applications (33) 1279-1285
Worldwide populations of freshwater eels have declined with one of the contributing causes related to mortality during passage through hydropower turbines. An inherent trade‐off underlies turbine management where the competing demand for more hydropower comes at the expense of eel survival. A win–win solution exists when an option performs better...
Group inverse sampling: An economical approach to inverse sampling
Bardia Panahbehagh, David R. Smith
2017, Environmetrics (28)
Inverse sampling is an adaptive design in the sense that the final sampling effort during a search for rare events will depend on what is found during the survey. Conventional inverse sampling (CIS) designs successively select individual sampling units to find, for example, the k th rare event. In real...
The interacting roles of climate, soils, and plant production on soil microbial communities at a continental scale
Mark P. Waldrop, JoAnn M. Holloway, David B. Smith, Martin B. Goldhaber, R. E. Drenovsky, K. M. Scow, R. Dick, Daniel M. Howard, Bruce Wylie, James B. Grace
2017, Ecology (98) 1957-1967
Soil microbial communities control critical ecosystem processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, and soil organic matter formation. Continental scale patterns in the composition and functioning of microbial communities are related to climatic, biotic, and edaphic factors such as temperature and precipitation, plant community composition, and soil carbon, nitrogen, and pH....
Developing a landscape‐scale, multi‐species, and cost‐efficient conservation strategy for imperilled aquatic species in the Upper Tennessee River Basin, USA
David R. Smith, Robert W. Butler, Jess W. Jones, Catherine M Gatenby, Roberta Hylton, Mary J. Parkin, Cindy Schulz
2017, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems (27) 1224-1239
Strategic conservation of imperilled species faces several major challenges including uncertainty in species response to management actions, budgetary constraints that limit options, and the need to scale expected conservation benefits from local to landscape levels and from single to multiple species.A structured decision‐making process was applied to address these...
Pyrogenic carbon distribution in mineral topsoils of the northeastern United States
Verena Jauss, Patrick J. Sullivan, Jonathan Sanderman, David B. Smith, Johannes Lehmann
2017, Geoderma (296) 69-78
Due to its slow turnover rates in soil, pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is considered an important C pool and relevant to climate change processes. Therefore, the amounts of soil PyC were compared to environmental covariates over an area of 327,757 km2 in the northeastern United States in order to understand the controls...
Conservation status of the American horseshoe crab, (Limulus polyphemus): A regional assessment
David R. Smith, H. Jane Brockmann, Mark A. Beekey, Tim L. King, Mike Millard, Jaime Zaldívar-Rae
2017, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries (27) 135-175
Horseshoe crabs have persisted for more than 200 million years, and fossil forms date to 450 million years ago. The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), one of four extant horseshoe crab species, is found along the Atlantic coastline of North America ranging from Alabama to Maine, USA with...
Nutrient processes at the stream-lake interface for a channelized versus unmodified stream mouth
Richard G. Niswonger, Ramon C. Naranjo, David W. Smith, James Constantz, Kip K. Allander, Donald Rosenberry, Bethany Neilson, Michael R. Rosen, David A. Stonestrom
2017, Water Resources Research (53) 237-256
Inorganic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous impact freshwater lakes by stimulating primary production and affecting water quality and ecosystem health. Communities around the world are motivated to sustain and restore freshwater resources and are interested in processes controlling nutrient inputs. We studied the environment where streams flow into lakes, referred...
Downstream passage and impact of turbine shutdowns on survival of silver American Eels at five hydroelectric dams on the Shenandoah River
Sheila M. Eyler, Stuart A. Welsh, David R. Smith, Mary Rockey
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (145) 964-976
Hydroelectric dams impact the downstream migrations of silver American Eels Anguilla rostrata via migratory delays and turbine mortality. A radiotelemetry study of American Eels was conducted to determine the impacts of five run-of-the-river hydroelectric dams located over a 195-km stretch of the Shenandoah River, Virginia–West Virginia, during fall 2007–summer 2010....
Occurrence, distribution, and volume of metals-contaminated sediment of selected streams draining the Tri-State Mining District, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 2011–12
David C. Smith
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5144
Lead and zinc were mined in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas for more than 100 years. The effects of mining on the landscape are still evident, nearly 50 years after the last mine ceased operation. The legacies of mining are the mine...
Quantifying seepage using heat as a tracer in selected irrigation canals, Walker River Basin, Nevada, 2012 and 2013
Ramon C. Naranjo, David W. Smith
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5133
The Walker River is an important source of water for western Nevada. The river provides water for agriculture and recharge to local aquifers used by several communities. Farmers began diverting water from the Walker River in the 1860s to support growing agricultural development. Over time, the reduced inflows into...
