Publications
The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1737
Dynamic abiotic habitat
The factors affecting an organism can be divided into two general classes, abiotic and biotic. Abiotic factors include features of the physical and chemical environment, such as climate, water movement, and many aspects of water quality. Biotic factors refer to those involving living organisms and their interactions, such as the organisms and processes in a food web. We also distinguish between dy
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Steven B. Slater, Michael L. MacWilliams
Occurrence of water and thermogenic gas from oil-bearing formations in groundwater near the Orcutt Oil Field, California, USA
Study regionSanta Barbara County, California, USA.Study focusTo analyze a wide array of newly collected chemical, isotopic, dissolved gas, and age dating tracers in conjunction with historical data from groundwater and oil wells to determine if water and/or thermogenic gas from oil-bearing formations have mixed with groundwater in the Orcutt Oil Field and surrounding area.New hydrological insights
Authors
Robert Anders, Matthew K. Landon, Peter B. McMahon, Justin T. Kulongoski, Andrew Hunt, Tracy Davis
Pesticide exposure of wild bees and honey bees foraging from field border flowers in intensively managed agriculture areas
Bees are critical for food crop pollination, yet their populations are declining as agricultural practices intensify. Pollinator-attractive field border plantings (e.g. hedgerows and forb strips) can increase bee diversity and abundance in agricultural areas, however recent studies suggest these plants may contain pesticides. Pesticide exposure for wild bees in agricultural areas remains largely u
Authors
Laura T. Ward, Michelle Hladik, Aidee Guzman, Sara Winsemius, Ariana Bautista, Claire Kremen, Nicholas Mills
Mapping aquifer salinity gradients and effects of oil field produced water disposal using geophysical logs: Elk Hills, Buena Vista and Coles Levee Oil Fields, San Joaquin Valley, California
The effects of oil and gas production on adjacent groundwater quality are becoming a concern in many areas of the United States. As a result, it has become increasingly important to identify which aquifers require monitoring and protection. In this study, we map the extent of groundwater with less than 10,000 mg/L TDS both laterally and vertically near the Elk Hills, Buena Vista and Coles Levee Oi
Authors
Janice M. Gillespie, Michael J. Stephens, Will Chang, John G. Warden
Effects of imported recharge on fluoride trends in groundwater used for public supply in California
Fluoride is a naturally occurring element in groundwater that supports bone and dental health at low concentrations but can cause health problems at elevated concentrations in drinking water. This study investigates spatial and temporal trends for fluoride concentrations in untreated groundwater from over 20,000 public supply wells in California. The presence of a significant temporal trend in flu
Authors
Jennifer S. Harkness, Bryant Jurgens
Volatile organic compounds in groundwater used for public supply across the United States: Occurrence, explanatory factors, and human-health context
This systematic assessment of occurrence for 85 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in raw (untreated) groundwater used for public supply across the United States (U.S.), which includes 43 compounds not previously monitored by national studies, relates VOC occurrence to explanatory factors and assesses VOC detections in a human-health context. Samples were collected in 2013 through 2019 from 1537 pu
Authors
Laura M. Bexfield, Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram, Bruce D. Lindsey
Warming in the upper San Francisco Estuary: Patterns of water temperature change from five decades of data
Temperature is a key controlling variable from subcellular to ecosystem scales. Thus, climatic warming is expected to have broad impacts, especially in economically and ecologically valuable systems such as estuaries. The heavily managed upper San Francisco Estuary supplies water to millions of people and is home to fish species of high conservation, commercial, and recreational interest. Despite
Authors
Samuel M. Bashevkin, Brian Mahardja, Larry R. Brown
Identification of fresh submarine groundwater off the coast of San Diego, USA, using electromagnetic methods
Climate change has a pronounced effect on water resources in many semiarid climates, causing populated areas such as San Diego County (USA), to become more vulnerable to water shortages in the coming decades. To prepare for decreased water supply, San Diego County is adopting policies to decrease water use and to develop additional local sources of water. One new local source of freshwater is prod
Authors
Roslynn B. King, Wesley R. Danskin, Steven Constable, Jillian M. Maloney
Selecting the optimal fine-scale historical climate data for assessing current and future hydrological conditions
High-resolution historical climate grids are readily available and frequently used as inputs for a wide range of regional management and risk assessments, including water supply, ecological processes, and as baseline for climate change impact studies that compare them to future projected conditions. Because historical gridded climates are produced using various methods, their portrayal of landscap
Authors
Michelle A. Stern, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint, Ryan M Boynton, Joseph A E Stewart, Jessica W Wright, James H. Thorne
Site- and individual-level contaminations affect infection prevalence of an emerging infectious disease of amphibians
Emerging infectious disease outbreaks are one of multiple stressors responsible for amphibian declines globally. In the northeastern United States, ranaviral diseases are prevalent in amphibians and other ectothermic species, but there is still uncertainty as to whether their presence is leading to population level effects. Further, there is also uncertainty surrounding the potential interactions
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Brittany A. Mosher, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Keith Loftin, Adam Boehlke, Michelle Hladik, Carly R. Muletz-Wolz, Nandadevi Córtes-Rodríguez, Robin Femmer, Evan H. Campbell Grant
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Eastern Ecological Science Center, California Water Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Kansas Water Science Center, New Jersey Water Science Center
Climate change and fishes in estuaries
This chapter provides an overview of the main drivers of change in estuarine systems, their expected causes and impacts on estuarine fish and fisheries. An analysis of global, regional and local patterns of estuarine fish and how climate-induced change may impact estuarine systems and their fish communities is provided. We also examine the main environmental, climatic and biological stressors like
Authors
Bronwyn M Gillanders, Matthew N. McMillan, P. Reis-Santos, Lee J. Baumgartner, Larry R. Brown, John Conallin, Frederick V. Feyrer, Sofia Henriques, Nicola C. James, Andrés J Jaureguizar, André L. M. Pessanha, Rita P. Vasconcelos, An V. Vu, Benjamin Walther, Arif Wibowo
Joint-species analysis reveals potential displacement of native fishes by non-native fishes within the Santa Ana River, California
Accurate estimates of abundance are a cornerstone for resource managers to make effective decisions for fish conservation. However, multiple sampling methods often are required to sample fish communities, and ignoring the detection process can create substantial bias in latent state parameter estimation (e.g., abundance, survival). We developed a joint-species N-mixture model that integrated snork
Authors
Brock Huntsman, Larry R. Brown, Kai Palenscar, Chris Jones, Kerwin Russell, Heather Dyer, Brett Mills, Marissa L. Wulff, Jason May