Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 1440

Atmospheric and surface climate associated with 1986–2013 wildfires in North America Atmospheric and surface climate associated with 1986–2013 wildfires in North America

We analyze climate simulations conducted with the RegCM3 regional climate model on 50‐ and 15‐km model grids to diagnose the dependence of wildfire incidence and area burned variations on monthly climate long‐term means and anomalies over North America for the period 1986–2013. We created a new wildfire database by merging the Fire Program Analysis Fire‐Occurrence Database, the National
Authors
Steven W. Hostetler, Patrick J. Bartlein, Jay R. Alder

Geochemistry and mineralogy of late Quaternary loess in the upper Mississippi River valley, USA: Provenance and correlation with Laurentide Ice Sheet history Geochemistry and mineralogy of late Quaternary loess in the upper Mississippi River valley, USA: Provenance and correlation with Laurentide Ice Sheet history

The midcontinent of North America contains some of the thickest and most extensive last-glacial loess deposits in the world, known as Peoria Loess. Peoria Loess of the upper Mississippi River valley region is thought to have had temporally varying glaciogenic sources resulting from inputs of sediment to the Mississippi River from different lobes of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Here, we...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, E. Arthur Bettis, Gary L. Skipp

Biota connect aquatic habitats throughout freshwater ecosystem mosaics Biota connect aquatic habitats throughout freshwater ecosystem mosaics

Freshwater ecosystems are linked at various spatial and temporal scales by movements of biota adapted to life in water. We review the literature on movements of aquatic organisms that connect different types of freshwater habitats, focusing on linkages from streams and wetlands to downstream waters. Here, streams, wetlands, rivers, lakes, ponds, and other freshwater habitats are viewed...
Authors
Kate A. Schofield, Laurie C. Alexander, Caroline E. Ridley, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Ken M. Fritz, Bradley Autrey, Julie DeMeester, William G. Kepner, Charles R. Lane, Scott Leibowitz, Amina I. Pollard

Featured collection introduction: Connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters Featured collection introduction: Connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters

Connectivity is a fundamental but highly dynamic property of watersheds. Variability in the types and degrees of aquatic ecosystem connectivity presents challenges for researchers and managers seeking to accurately quantify its effects on critical hydrologic, biogeochemical, and biological processes. However, protecting natural gradients of connectivity is key to protecting the range of...
Authors
Laurie C. Alexander, Ken M. Fritz, Kate Schofield, Bradley Autrey, Julie DeMeester, Heather E. Golden, David C. Goodrich, William G. Kepner, Hadas R. Kiperwas, Charles R. Lane, Stephen D. LeDuc, Scott Leibowitz, Michael G. McManus, Amina I. Pollard, Caroline E. Ridley, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Parker J. Wigington

Connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters: An integrated systems framework Connectivity of streams and wetlands to downstream waters: An integrated systems framework

Interest in connectivity has increased in the aquatic sciences, partly because of its relevance to the Clean Water Act. This paper has two objectives: (1) provide a framework to understand hydrological, chemical, and biological connectivity, focusing on how headwater streams and wetlands connect to and contribute to rivers; and (2) briefly review methods to quantify hydrological and...
Authors
Scott G. Leibowitz, Parker J. Wigington, Kate A. Schoefield, Laurie C. Alexander, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Heather E. Golden

Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA Desert wetlands record hydrologic variability within the Younger Dryas chronozone, Mojave Desert, USA

One of the enduring questions in the field of paleohydrology is how quickly desert wetland ecosystems responded to past episodes of abrupt climate change. Recent investigations in the Las Vegas Valley of southern Nevada have revealed that wetlands expanded and contracted on millennial and sub-millennial timescales in response to changes in climate during the late Quaternary. Here, we...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Pigati, Kathleen B. Springer, Jeffrey S. Honke

T.D.A. Cockerell (1866–1948) of the University of Colorado: His contributions to the natural history of the California islands and the establishment of Channel Islands National Monument T.D.A. Cockerell (1866–1948) of the University of Colorado: His contributions to the natural history of the California islands and the establishment of Channel Islands National Monument

Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell was a naturalist at the University of Colorado from 1904 to 1947 and studied botany, zoology, and paleontology in North and South America, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe. In the latter part of his career, he studied the California islands and published many papers on their natural history, 16 of them in four years (1937–1940). He made important...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs

A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era A North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) of the Common Era

This study presents a synthesis of century-scale hydroclimate variations in North America for the Common Era (last 2000 years) using new age models of previously published multiple proxy-based paleoclimate data. This North American Hydroclimate Synthesis (NAHS) examines regional hydroclimate patterns and related environmental indicators, including vegetation, lake water elevation, stream...
Authors
Jessica R. Rodysill, Lesleigh Anderson, Thomas M. Cronin, Miriam C. Jones, Robert S. Thompson, David B. Wahl, Debra A. Willard, Jason A. Addison, Jay R. Alder, Katherine H. Anderson, Lysanna Anderson, John A. Barron, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Steven W. Hostetler, Natalie M. Kehrwald, Nicole Khan, Julie N. Richey, Scott W. Starratt, Laura E. Strickland, Michael Toomey, Claire C. Treat, G. Lynn Wingard

Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating multiple ecosystem types spanning large geographic areas over long...
Authors
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jinxun Liu, Colin Daniel, Bronwyn Rayfield, Jason T. Sherba, Todd Hawbaker, Zhiliang Zhu, Paul Selmants, Thomas R. Loveland

Review of the geochemistry and metallogeny of approximately 1.4 Ga granitoid intrusions of the conterminous United States Review of the geochemistry and metallogeny of approximately 1.4 Ga granitoid intrusions of the conterminous United States

The conterminous United States hosts numerous volumetrically significant and geographically dispersed granitoid intrusions that range in age from 1.50 to 1.32 billion years before present (Ga). Although previously referred to as A-type granites, most are better described as ferroan granites. These granitoid intrusions are distributed in the northern and central Rocky Mountains, the...
Authors
Edward A. du Bray, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Karen Lund, Wayne R. Premo

Wetlands inform how climate extremes influence surface water expansion and contraction Wetlands inform how climate extremes influence surface water expansion and contraction

Effective monitoring and prediction of flood and drought events requires an improved understanding of how and why surface water expansion and contraction in response to climate varies across space. This paper sought to (1) quantify how interannual patterns of surface water expansion and contraction vary spatially across the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) and adjacent Northern Prairie (NP)...
Authors
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Charles R. Lane, Michael L. McManus, Laurie C. Alexander, Jay R. Christensen

Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk Rapid growth of the US wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where houses and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle, and where wildfire problems are most pronounced. Here we report that the WUI in the United States grew rapidly from 1990 to 2010 in terms of both number of new houses (from 30.8 to 43.4 million; 41% growth) and land area (from 581,000 to 770,000 km2; 33% growth), making it the fastest...
Authors
Volker C. Radeloff, David P. Helmers, H. Anu Kramer, Miranda H. Mockrin, Patricia M. Alexandre, Avi Bar-Massada, Van Butsic, Todd Hawbaker, Sebastian Martinuzzi, Alexandra D. Syphard, Susan I. Stewart
Was this page helpful?