All Publications
Access all publications and filter by type, location, and search for keywords to find specific science and data information conducted by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 171158
Spatially integrating microbiology and geochemistry to reveal complex environmental health issues: Anthrax in the contiguous United States
Maxent models were run using the B. anthracis presence data and/or the animal outbreak presence data. Models run using the animal outbreak data alone utilized two scales: the Outbreak State scale which included only states reporting animal anthrax outbreaks from 2001 to 2013 and the National scale which included all states in the contiguous United States. Three iterations of the environmental data
Authors
Erin Silvestri, Stephen Douglas, Vicky Luna, C.A.O. Jean-Babtiste, D. Harbin, Laura Hempel, Timothy Boe, Tonya Nichols, Dale W. Griffin
A user guide to selecting invasive annual grass spatial products for the western United States
Invasive annual grasses (IAGs)—including Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass), Taeniatherum caput-medusae (medusahead), and Ventenata dubia (ventenata) species—present significant challenges for rangeland management by altering plant communities, impacting ecosystem function, reducing forage for wildlife and livestock, and increasing fire risk. Numerous spatial data products are used to map IAGs, and unde
Authors
Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Jessica E. Shyvers, D. Joanne Saher, Bryan C. Tarbox, Julie A. Heinrichs, Cameron L. Aldridge
Compendium to invasive annual grass spatial products for the western United States, January 2010-February 2021
Invasive annual grasses (IAGs) degrade native plant communities, alter fire cycles, impact ecosystem processes, and threaten the persistence of some species. Therefore, controlling the spread of IAGs has become a land management priority in the western United States. A wide array of geospatial data has been developed in the last decade to help land managers combat the invasion and expansion of non
Authors
D. Joanne Saher, Jessica E. Shyvers, Bryan C. Tarbox, Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Julie A. Heinrichs, Cameron L. Aldridge
Groundwater-level contour map of Fauquier County, Virginia, October-November 2018
Groundwater withdrawals provide most public-water supplies and all private-domestic users in Fauquier County, Virginia, a fast-growing rural area southwest of Washington, D.C. Groundwater levels were measured in 129 wells during a county-wide synoptic survey from October 29 through November 2, 2018. Field measurements, combined with datapoints from the National Hydrography Dataset, were used to de
Authors
Matthew R. Kearns, Kurt J. McCoy
Chandeleur Islands to Breton Island bathymetric and topographic datasets and operational sediment budget development: Methodology and analysis report
This study is part of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Louisiana Barrier Island Comprehensive Monitoring (BICM) program. The goal of the BICM program is to provide long-term data on the barrier islands of Louisiana for monitoring change and assisting in coastal management. The BICM program uses historical data and acquires new data to map and monitor shoreline position, sedi
Authors
James G. Flocks, Arnell S. Forde, Julie Bernier
FishStan: Hierarchical Bayesian models for fisheries
Fisheries managers and ecologists use statistical models to estimate population-level relations and demographic rates (e.g., length-maturity curves, growth curves, and mortality rates). These relations and rates provide insight into populations and inputs for other models. For example, growth curves may vary across lakes showing fish populations differ due to management actions or underlying envir
Authors
Richard A. Erickson, Daniel S. Stich, Jillian Lee Hebert
Using carbon, nitrogen, and mercury isotope values to distinguish mercury sources to Alaskan lake trout
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), collected from 13 remote lakes located in southwestern Alaska, were analyzed for carbon, nitrogen, and mercury (Hg) stable isotope values to assess the importance of migrating oceanic salmon, volcanic activity, and atmospheric deposition to fish Hg burden. Methylmercury (MeHg) bioaccumulation in phytoplankton (5.0–6.9 kg L–1) was also measured to quantify the bas
Authors
Ryan F. Lepak, Jacob M. Ogorek, Krista K. Bartz, Sarah E. Janssen, Michael T. Tate, Yin Runsheng, James P. Hurley, Daniel B. Young, Collin Eagles-Smith, David P. Krabbenhoft
Documentation of models describing relations between continuous real-time and discrete water-quality constituents in the Little Arkansas River, south-central Kansas, 1998–2019
Data were collected at two monitoring sites along the Little Arkansas River in south-central Kansas that bracket most of the easternmost part of the Equus Beds aquifer. The data were used as part of the city of Wichita’s aquifer storage and recovery project to evaluate source water quality. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Wichita, has continued to monitor the water qual
Authors
Mandy L. Stone, Brian J. Klager
Elevation-area-capacity relationships of Lake Powell in 2018 and estimated loss of storage capacity since 1963
Lake Powell is the second largest constructed water reservoir by storage capacity in the United States and represents a critical component in management of water resources in the Colorado River Basin. The reservoir provides hydroelectric power generation at Glen Canyon Dam, banks water storage for the Upper Colorado River Basin, stabilizes water commitments downstream, and buffers the Lower Colora
Authors
Jonathan Casey Root, Daniel Jones
Reply to “Evidence for humans at White Sands National Park during the Last Glacial Maximum could actually be for Clovis people ~13,000 years ago” by C. Vance Haynes, Jr.
Bennett et al. (2021, Science 373, 1528–1531) reported that ancient human footprints discovered in White Sands National Park, New Mexico date to between ∼23,000 and 21,000 years ago. Haynes (2022, PaleoAmerica, this issue) proposes two alternate hypotheses to explain the antiquity of the footprints. One is that they were made by humans crossing over older sediments sometime during the Holocene. Th
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Vance T. Holliday, Matthew R. Bennett, David Bustos, Thomas M. Urban, Sally C. Reynolds, Daniel Odess
Distribution of streamflow, sediment, and nutrients entering Galveston Bay from the Trinity River, Texas, 2016–19
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Texas Water Development Board, collected streamflow and water-quality data at USGS monitoring stations in the lower Trinity River Basin from January 2016 to December 2019 to characterize streamflow, nutrients, and suspended sediment entering Galveston Bay from the Trinity River. Results from previous studies indicate that water from the ma
Authors
Zulimar Lucena, Michael T. Lee
Greater sage-grouse respond positively to intensive post-fire restoration treatments
Habitat loss is the most prevalent threat to biodiversity in North America. One of the most threatened landscapes in the United States is the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem, much of which has been fragmented or converted to non-native grasslands via the cheatgrass-fire cycle. Like many sagebrush obligates, greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) depend upon sagebrush for food and cov
Authors
Sharon Poessel, David M Barnard, Cara Applestein, Matthew Germino, Ethan A. Ellsworth, Donald J. Major, Ann Moser, Todd E. Katzner