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Future soil moisture and temperature extremes imply expanding suitability for rainfed agriculture in temperate drylands Future soil moisture and temperature extremes imply expanding suitability for rainfed agriculture in temperate drylands

The distribution of rainfed agriculture is expected to respond to climate change and human population growth. However, conditions that support rainfed agriculture are driven by interactions among climate, including climate extremes, and soil moisture availability that have not been well defined. In the temperate regions that support much of the world’s agriculture, these interactions are
Authors
John B. Bradford, Daniel R. Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Charles B. Yackulic, Michael C. Duniway, Sonia A. Hall, Gensuo Jia, Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav, Seth M. Munson, Scott D. Wilson, Britta Tietjen

Flow and residence times of dynamic river bank storage and sinuosity-driven hyporheic exchange Flow and residence times of dynamic river bank storage and sinuosity-driven hyporheic exchange

Hydrologic exchange fluxes (HEFs) vary significantly along river corridors due to spatiotemporal changes in discharge and geomorphology. This variability results in the emergence of biogeochemical hot-spots and hot-moments that ultimately control solute and energy transport and ecosystem services from the local to the watershed scales. In this work, we use a reduced-order model to gain...
Authors
J.D. Gomez-Velez, J.L. Wilson, M.B. Cardenas, Judson Harvey

Networking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter Networking our science to characterize the state, vulnerabilities, and management opportunities of soil organic matter

Soil organic matter (SOM) supports the Earth's ability to sustain terrestrial ecosystems, provide food and fiber, and retains the largest pool of actively cycling carbon. Over 75% of the soil organic carbon (SOC) in the top meter of soil is directly affected by human land use. Large land areas have lost SOC as a result of land use practices, yet there are compensatory opportunities to...
Authors
Jennifer W. Harden, Gustaf Hugelius, Anders Ahlstrom, Joseph C. Blankinship, Ben Bond-Lamberty, Corey Lawrence, Julie Loisel, Avni Malhotra, Robert B. Jackson, Stephen M. Ogle, Claire Phillips, Rebecca Ryals, Katherine Todd-Brown, Rodrigo Vargas, Sintana E. Vergara, M. Francesca Cotrufo, Marco Keiluweit, Katherine Heckman, Susan E. Crow, Whendee L. Silver, Marcia DeLonge, Lucas E. Nave

Ecosystem services from transborder migratory species: Implications for conservation governance Ecosystem services from transborder migratory species: Implications for conservation governance

This article discusses the conservation challenges of volant migratory transborder species and conservation governance primarily in North America. Many migratory species provide ecosystem service benefits to society. For example, insectivorous bats prey on crop pests and reduce the need for pesticides; birds and insects pollinate food plants; and birds afford recreational opportunities...
Authors
Laura Lopez-Hoffman, Charles C. Chester, Darius J. Semmens, Wayne E. Thogmartin, M. Sofia Rodriguez-McGoffin, Robert W. Merideth, Jay E. Diffendorfer

Monarch butterfly population decline in North America: identifying the threatening processes Monarch butterfly population decline in North America: identifying the threatening processes

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population in North America has sharply declined over the last two decades. Despite rising concern over the monarch butterfly's status, no comprehensive study of the factors driving this decline has been conducted. Using partial least-squares regressions and time-series analysis, we investigated climatic and habitat-related factors influencing...
Authors
Wayne E. Thogmartin, Ruscena Wiederholt, Karen Oberhauser, Ryan G. Drum, Jay E. Diffendorfer, Sonia Altizer, Orley R. Taylor, John M. Pleasants, Darius J. Semmens, Brice X. Semmens, Richard A. Erickson, Kaitlin Libby, Laura Lopez-Hoffman

Channel response to sediment release: insights from a paired analysis of dam removal Channel response to sediment release: insights from a paired analysis of dam removal

Dam removals with unmanaged sediment releases are good opportunities to learn about channel response to abruptly increased bed material supply. Understanding these events is important because they affect aquatic habitats and human uses of floodplains. A longstanding paradigm in geomorphology holds that response rates to landscape disturbance exponentially decay through time. However, a...
Authors
Mathias J. Collins, Noah P. Snyder, Graham Boardman, William S. Banks, Mary Andrews, Matthew E. Baker, Maricate Conlon, Allen C. Gellis, Serena McClain, Andrew Miller, Peter Wilcock

Improving predictions of tropical forest response to climate change through integration of field studies and ecosystem modeling Improving predictions of tropical forest response to climate change through integration of field studies and ecosystem modeling

Tropical forests play a critical role in carbon and water cycles at a global scale. Rapid climate change is anticipated in tropical regions over the coming decades and, under a warmer and drier climate, tropical forests are likely to be net sources of carbon rather than sinks. However, our understanding of tropical forest response and feedback to climate change is very limited. Efforts...
Authors
Xiaohui Feng, Maria Uriarte, Grizelle Gonzalez, Sasha C. Reed, Jill Thompson, Jess K. Zimmerman, Lora Murphy

Geomorphic responses to dam removal in the United States – a two-decade perspective Geomorphic responses to dam removal in the United States – a two-decade perspective

Recent decades have seen a marked increase in the number of dams removed in the United States. Investigations following a number of removals are beginning to inform how, and how fast, rivers and their ecosystems respond to released sediment. Though only a few tens of studies detail physical responses to removals, common findings have begun to emerge. They include: (1) Rivers are...
Authors
Jon J. Major, Amy E. East, Jim E. O'Connor, Gordon E. Grant, Andrew C. Wilcox, Christopher S. Magirl, Matthias J. Collins, Desiree D. Tullos

A synoptic view of the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) A synoptic view of the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3)

Probabilistic forecasting of earthquake‐producing fault ruptures informs all major decisions aimed at reducing seismic risk and improving earthquake resilience. Earthquake forecasting models rely on two scales of hazard evolution: long‐term (decades to centuries) probabilities of fault rupture, constrained by stress renewal statistics, and short‐term (hours to years) probabilities of...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Thomas H. Jordan, Morgan T. Page, Kevin R. Milner, Bruce E. Shaw, Timothy E. Dawson, Glenn Biasi, Thomas E. Parsons, Jeanne L. Hardebeck, Andrew J. Michael, Ray J. Weldon, Peter M. Powers, Kaj M. Johnson, Yuehua Zeng, Peter Bird, Karen Felzer, Nicholas van der Elst, Christopher Madden, Ramon Arrowsmith, Maximillan J. Werner, Wayne R. Thatcher

Dam removal: Listening in Dam removal: Listening in

Dam removal is widely used as an approach for river restoration in the United States. The increase in dam removals—particularly large dams—and associated dam-removal studies over the last few decades motivated a working group at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis to review and synthesize available studies of dam removals and their findings. Based on dam...
Authors
Melissa M. Foley, James Bellmore, James E. O'Connor, Jeffrey J. Duda, Amy E. East, Gordon G. Grant, Chauncey W. Anderson, Jennifer A. Bountry, Mathias J. Collins, Patrick J. Connolly, Laura S. Craig, James E. Evans, Samantha Greene, Francis J. Magilligan, Christopher S. Magirl, Jon J. Major, George R. Pess, Timothy J. Randle, Patrick B. Shafroth, Christian E. Torgersen, Desiree D. Tullos, Andrew C. Wilcox

Integrating geographically isolated wetlands into land management decisions Integrating geographically isolated wetlands into land management decisions

Wetlands across the globe provide extensive ecosystem services. However, many wetlands – especially those surrounded by uplands, often referred to as geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs) – remain poorly protected. Protection and restoration of wetlands frequently requires information on their hydrologic connectivity to other surface waters, and their cumulative watershed‐scale effects...
Authors
Heather E. Golden, Irena F. Creed, Genevieve Ali, Nandita Basu, Brian Neff, Mark C. Rains, Daniel L. McLaughlin, Laurie C. Alexander, Ali A. Ameli, Jay R. Christensen, Grey R. Evenson, Charles N. Jones, Charles R. Lane, Megan Lang
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