All Publications

This report summarizes an updated inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the conterminous United States. The inventory is based on interpretation of mostly aerial imagery provided by the National Agricultural I magery Program, US Department of Agriculture, with some satellite imagery in places where aerial imagery was not suitable. The inventory includes all perennial snow and ice featu

Post-wildfire debris flows (PFDF) threaten life and property in western North America. They are triggered by short-duration, high-intensity rainfall. Following a wildfire, rainfall thresholds are developed that, if exceeded, indicate high likelihood of a PFDF. Existing weather forecast products allow forecasters to identify favorable atmospheric conditions for rainfall intensities that may exceed

Effective species management and conservation benefit from knowledge of species distribution and status. Surveys to obtain that information often involve replicate sampling, which increases survey effort and costs. We simultaneously modeled species distribution, abundance and spatial correlation, and compared the uncertainty in replicate abundance estimates of the endangered palila (Loxioides bail

Measurement of river discharge during flooding events has especially been a challenging and dangerous task in the southwestern US, where flows can be flashy, laden with sediment, and at high velocity. Small unoccupied aircraft systems (sUAS) can be deployed to access unsafe field sites and capture imagery for measuring surface flow velocity and discharge. This paper compares flow discharge estimat

Understanding the accuracy and appropriate application scale of satellite-derived maps of vegetation cover is essential for effective management of the vast, remote rangelands of the world. However, the underlying models are updated frequently and may combine with rapidly changing vegetation conditions to cause variations in accuracy and precision over time. We sought to assess how model performan

Coregonines (ciscoes and whitefishes) are economically, ecologically, and culturally important fishes that are distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, coregonines declined throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and managers have prioritized their restoration. A key restoration tool is reintroduction via stocking. However, hatchery-reared coregonines can disp

Stocking is one of the foremost tools in the inland fisheries management toolbox, but it comes with both opportunities and risks. Stocking is often used as compensation for depleted wild populations, particularly where recruitment processes have been disrupted, but it can introduce disease, disrupt community structures, reduce genetic integrity, and cause conflicts between fishery stakeholders. De

Brewer’s Sparrow (Spizella breweri), Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), and Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptus montanus)—during May to August 2019 in western Wyoming, USA, to assess whether nest predation risk was additive or compensatory, and whether nest predator removal could comprise a potentially effective management tool. Deer mouse removal did not affect the daily nest survival of songb

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed undiscovered potash resources in the Elk Point Basin in Canada and the United States as part of a global mineral resource assessment. The Elk Point Basin is a large, Middle Devonian (Givetian) intracratonic evaporite basin covering approximately 1,200,000 square kilometers (km2) and filled mainly with marine evaporite and minor clastic sedimentary rocks t

The position of mangrove forests in the dynamic intertidal zone means that they are expected to be heavily impacted by climate change. Much focus is put on mangroves and their response to sea-level rise, but this ecosystem is exposed to a much broader range of climate change stressors, including increased storminess and waves, more dynamic and unpredictable precipitation patterns, and increases in

Feral horse (Equus caballus) population management is a challenging problem around the world because populations often exhibit density-independent growth, can exert negative ecological effects on ecosystems, and require great cost to be managed. However, strong value-based connections between people and horses cause contention around management decisions. To help make informed decisions, natural r

Blue carbon, a convenient term to encompass the climate mitigation value of coastal carbon dynamics, has received global policy attention and growing datasets to support management actions. Carbon stock assessments in mangroves, seagrass, and tidal marshes document significant carbon storage in soils. Models illustrate significant downward fluxes of carbon dioxide and limited methane emissions, ma