Publications

The U.S. government advances One Health coordination through the best practices of jointly developing shared priorities and utilizing formalized coordination platforms to connect partners from public health, agriculture, wildlife, environment, and other sectors at the national, subnational (e.g. state, tribal, local, and territorial), and non-governmental levels (e.g. academia, industry...

Success of ecological restoration is often only knowable if treatments meet criteria defined by biotic thresholds, but analytical frameworks to determine metrics of success and their underlying thresholds are needed. Early indicators of longer-term recovery trajectories are particularly critical where re-treatments may be required, such as in harsh climates or where repeated disturbances...

An accurate and historical land cover monitoring dataset for Alaska could provide fundamental information for a range of studies, such as conservation habitats, biogeochemical cycles, and climate systems, in this distinctive region. This research addresses challenges associated with the extraction of training data for timely and accurate land cover classifications in Alaska over longer...

The challenge of selecting strategies to adapt to climate change is complicated by the presence of irreducible uncertainties regarding future conditions. Decisions regarding long-term investments in conservation actions contain significant risk of failure due to these inherent uncertainties. To address this challenge, decision makers need an arsenal of sophisticated but practical tools...

The Diablotin or Black-capped Petrel Pterodroma hasitata is an endangered gadfly petrel found in the western North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and northern Gulf of Mexico. An estimated ~2000 pairs nest at five known sites on Hispaniola, Greater Antilles, although only 120 nests have been located to date. We collected breast feathers and feces from breeding adults in the Dominican Republic...

Coastal change and evolution are the product of physical drivers (e.g., waves) tightly coupled with human behavior. As climate change impacts intensify, demand is increasing for information on where, when, and how coastal areas may change in the future. Although considerable research investments have been made in understanding the physical drivers and processes that modify and shape...

Segmented barrier islands can be found in regions with small tidal ranges. In contrast to tidally dominated barriers, where inlet dynamics are thought to control island length scales, the controls on barrier island length scales in wave-dominated environments have not been quantified. These microtidal barriers typically have a curved shoreline, suggesting the influence of wave-driven...

As part of a cooperative investigation between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, a network of 22 groundwater wells were sampled from 2014 through 2020 for about 230 pesticide and pesticide degradate compounds. Wells were located in three regions of intensive agricultural land use in Alabama: Baldwin County, the Wiregrass region, and the...

Introduction The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) was authorized and partially funded by the U.S. Government in 2019. In response, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program asked its scientists to reflect on and summarize their views of best practices for volcano monitoring. The goal was to review and update the recommendations of a previous report (Moran and...

Introduction Changes in the pressure or location of magma can stress or break surrounding rocks and trigger flow of nearby waters and gases, causing seismic signals, such as discrete earthquakes and tremor. These phenomena are types of seismic unrest that commonly precede eruption and can be used to forecast volcanic activity. Mass movements at the surface, including avalanches, debris...

Mangroves can increase their elevation relative to tidal flooding through biogeomorphic feedbacks but can submerge if rates of sea-level rise are too great. There is an urgent need to understand the vulnerability of mangroves to sea-level rise so local communities and resource managers can implement and prioritize actions. The need is especially pressing for small islands, which have...

Habitat management can directly impact Setophaga discolor (Prairie Warbler) abundance and distribution. Despite regional declines, Prairie Warbler populations at Camp Edwards (Bourne, MA) have increased. To investigate habitat-management effects on Prairie Warbler populations at Camp Edwards, we used a dynamic-occupancy model to analyze a long-term monitoring dataset collected across 84...