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Filter Total Items: 171064

Conservation decision support for Silver Chub habitat in Lake Erie

ObjectiveConservation and restoration of aquatic species is difficult, especially for rare species, because their habitats are typically disturbed, obscuring the natural ability of the habitat to support each species. The Lake Erie population of Silver Chub Macrhybopsis storeriana struggles to sustain itself in a habitat disturbed by a wide spectrum of anthropogenic factors. Application of multipl
Authors
James E. McKenna

Seventy questions of importance to the conservation of the North Central grasslands of the United States in a changing climate

Successful conservation of ecosystems in a changing climate requires actionable research that directly supports the rethinking and revising of management approaches to address changing risks and opportunities. As an important first step toward actionable research, we reviewed and synthesized grassland management-related documents to identify broadly shared questions that, if answered, would help t
Authors
Christine D. Miller Hesed, Heather M. Yocum, Molly S. Cross, Aparna Bamzai-Dodson, Ben Wheeler, Jon P. Beckmann, Marissa Ahlering, Kimberly R. Hall, Emily Boyd-Valandra, Danika Mosher, Brian W. Miller, Sarah Jaffe

Evaluation of hydrodynamic mixing in an afterbay reservoir

This study focused on the mixing of a solute, assumed to be conservative, introduced to one arm of an afterbay reservoir, between Keswick and Shasta Dams on the Sacramento River near Redding, California. Rhodamine water tracer (WT) dye served as the solute in a field experiment, and was introduced over 4.5 h and monitored for 4 days by sondes moored in the reservoir. The scenario was modeled numer
Authors
Paul Work

Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards (Balcones fault zone) aquifer, south-central Texas, June 2018–August 2020

The occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds (hereinafter referred to as “pharmaceuticals”) in surface water that recharges the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas is of concern with respect to potential effects on groundwater quality. This study, conducted during June 2018–August 2020 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, used
Authors
Stephen P. Opsahl, MaryLynn Musgrove

Ooencyrtus pitosina (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)–A natural enemy of Samoan swallowtail butterfly Papilio godeffroyi (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)

A new species of encyrtid wasp, Ooencyrtus pitosina Polaszek, Noyes & Fusu sp. n., (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae: Encyrtinae) is described as a gregarious parasitoid in the eggs of the endemic Samoan swallowtail butterfly Papilio godeffroyi (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) in the Samoan archipelago. It is described here because it is an important natural enemy of this butterfly, and to facilitate identifica
Authors
Andrew Polaszek, John Noyes, Elena Lugli, Mark Schmaedick, Robert W. Peck, Paul C. Banko, Lucian Fusu

Prey ration, temperature, and predator species influence digestion rates of prey DNA inferred from qPCR and metabarcoding

Diet analysis is a vital tool for understanding trophic interactions and is frequently used to inform conservation and management. Molecular approaches can identify diet items that are impossible to distinguish using more traditional visual-based methods. Yet, our understanding of how different variables, such as predator species or prey ration size, influence molecular diet analysis is still inco
Authors
Cory Dick, Wesley A. Larson, Kirby Karpan, Diana S. Baetscher, Yue Shi, Suresh Sethi, Nann A. Fangue, Mark J. Henderson

Application of the technology readiness levels framework to natural resource management tools

Technology advancements in fisheries science can provide useful tools to support natural resource management and conservation. However, new technologies may also present challenges for decision makers due to the lack of a standardized process to assess technologies for consideration within management plans. Future technology development in fishery and water resources could benefit from a framework
Authors
Aaron R. Cupp, Andrea K. Fritts, Marybeth K. Brey, Christa M. Woodley, David Smith, Mark Cornish, Amy McGovern, Rob Simmonds, Neal Jackson

Visitation to national parks in California shows annual and seasonal change during extreme drought and wet years

This study examines the influence of drought indicators on recreational visitation patterns to National Park Service units in California (USA) from 1980 to 2019. We considered mountain, arid, and coastal park types across a climate gradient where seasonal recreational opportunities are directly or indirectly dependent on water resources. Significant departures from the normal hydroclimate, reflect
Authors
Jeffrey S. Jenkins, John T. Abatzoglou, Emily J. Wilkins, Elizabeth E. Perry

Spatial distribution and variability of lobe facies in a large sand-rich submarine fan system: Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group, Namibia

The deposits of the upper Neoproterozoic Zerrissene Group of central-western Namibia represent a large siliciclastic deep-water depositional system that showcases the intricacies of facies and architectural relationships from bed-scale to fan-system-scale. The lack of vegetation in the Namib Desert and regular east–west repetition of folded stratigraphy (reflecting ca 50% tectonic shortening) prov
Authors
Nora Maria Nieminski, Tim McHargue, Jared T. Gooley, Andrea Fildani, Donald R Lowe

Predicting water quality in the Clark Fork near Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, southwestern Montana

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides a wide range of streamflow, groundwater, and water-quality data to Government, commercial, academic, and public users. The USGS has a record of success with using optical turbidity sensors to predict suspended-sediment concentrations in rivers and streams. Turbidity sensors collect backscatter signals from suspended particles in water, which can be accura
Authors
Christopher A. Ellison

Contribution of arsenic and uranium in private wells and community water systems to urinary biomarkers in US adults: The Strong Heart Study and the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

BackgroundChronic exposure to inorganic arsenic (As) and uranium (U) in the United States (US) occurs from unregulated private wells and federally regulated community water systems (CWSs). The contribution of water to total exposure is assumed to be low when water As and U concentrations are low.ObjectiveWe examined the contribution of water As and U to urinary biomarkers in the Strong Heart Famil
Authors
Maya Spaur, Ronald A. Glabonjat, Kathrin Schilling, Melissa Lombard, Galvez-Fernandez, Wil Lieberman-Cribbin, Carolyn Hayek, Vesna Ilievski, Olgica Balac, Chiugo Izuchukwu, Kevin Patterson, Anirban Basu, Benjamin Bostick, Qixuan Chen, Tiffany Sanchez, Ana Navas-Acien, Anne E Nigra

Initial comparison of pollen counting methods using precipitation and ambient air samples and automated artificial intelligence to support national monitoring objectives

Given the endemic nature of pollen throughout the environment, the impact upon human health, and the need for more extensive and better measurements of pollen in the USA, a preliminary project within the National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s (NADP) National Trends Network (NTN) was developed. Pollen was measured in ambient air by several methods and in precipitation wet deposition samples at t
Authors
Gregory A. Wetherbee, David A. Gay, Eric Uram, Terri Williams, Andrew Johnson
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