Publications

Spatially explicit information on ecosystem dynamics that offers a mechanistic understanding of ecological processes can benefit environmental management. Broad-scale maps based on state-and-transition models provide valuable insight into transitions among ecological states resulting from specific drivers within areas sharing similar climatic and edaphic characteristics ecological sites...

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the main natural source of new nitrogen inputs in terrestrial ecosystems, supporting terrestrial productivity, carbon uptake, and other Earth system processes. We assembled a comprehensive global dataset of field measurements of BNF in all major N-fixing niches across natural terrestrial biomes derived from the analysis of 376 BNF studies. The...

Many widespread plant taxa of western North America have diversified into phenotypically and genetically divergent lineages due to complex biogeographic histories across heterogeneous landscapes. Mosaic hybrid zones can form when geographically co-occurring, yet environmentally distinct, lineages cross-pollinate and form hybrids that occupy unique environmental niches absent of a...

Aims The number of hydropower dams has grown globally over recent decades, with significant impacts on downstream riparian plant communities. Many of these dams generate daily fluctuating flows known as hydropeaking to meet sub-daily variation in energy demands. Hydropeaking can significantly impact riparian plant communities, with obligate riparian species tending to experience the...

Objective Humpback Chub (HBC) Gila cypha in Grand Canyon declined in abundance and distribution over the latter part of the 20th century but have substantially increased in abundance and distribution over the past two decades. Although previous genetic work suggested that HBC in Grand Canyon belong to one genetic group, here we evaluate the genetic structure of HBC in Grand Canyon to...

This report synthesizes current (2024) science-based knowledge related to the impacts of climate change on big sagebrush vegetation in Western North America. This effort was conducted through the U.S. Geological Survey working with the Bureau of Land Management as part of multiple science syntheses to aid management agencies developing environmental impacts assessments in response to...

Soil moisture is a key link between hydrologic and ecologic processes in desert shrublands. Understanding how soil moisture is spatially distributed in desert shrublands provides valuable insights into how shrubs use and impact limiting water resources, and how shrublands may respond to future meteorological and climate change. Our goals were to determine how soil moisture is partitioned...

Ecosystem responses to precipitation pulses (“pulse responses”) exert a large control over global carbon, water, and energy cycles. However, it is unclear how the timing and magnitude of pulse responses will vary across ecosystems as precipitation regimes shift under accelerating climate change. To address this issue, this study evaluates how plants and ecosystems respond to...

No abstract available.

The Grand Canyon River Alert System (GCRAS) provides government-issued emergency alerts to wilderness recreationalists in the Grand Canyon, who are often outside the bounds of cellular signal reception. GCRAS is a collaboration between the U.S. Geological Survey (Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center), National Weather Service, Coconino County Emergency Management, and National...

Expansion of non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta) in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam motivated reevaluation of suppression strategies to minimize potential impacts to native fishes in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. Brown trout are one of several non-native fish species of management concern in this river reach, and understanding their natal sources and movement patterns may...

Background Fuel monitoring data are essential to evaluate wildfire risk, plan management activities and evaluate fuel treatment effects. Terrestrial light detection and ranging (lidar) is a field-based 3D scanning technology with great potential to reduce labor-intensive field measurements and provide new depths of vegetation structure data. Aims To facilitate the integration of...