Publications

Biodiversity and its associated genetic diversity are being lost at an unprecedented rate. Simultaneously, the distributions of flora, fauna, fungi, microbes and pathogens are rapidly changing. Novel technology can help to capture and record genetic diversity before it is lost and to measure population shifts and pathogen distributions. Here we report the rapid application of shotgun...

Understanding population genetic structure and patterns of gene flow is important for effective decision making and the preservation of genetic diversity, especially when managing protected species. Historically, Gulf sturgeon have been managed by river system, with early evidence supporting spatially distinct genetic structure across 7 natal populations. However, an increasing number of...

Objective Internal tagging for telemetry studies requires invasive surgery procedures, necessitating sufficient sedation to support animal welfare. Challenges with existing chemical sedatives have resulted in technological alternatives, including electrosedation, with these newer methods less extensively studied. Our primary objective was to understand long-term survival, body-condition...

Between 2018 and 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed shoreface sediment availability at three Atlantic Coast barrier island study sites in support of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation project entitled, “Monitoring Hurricane Sandy Beach and Marsh Resilience in New York and New Jersey.” The three study sites are Seven Mile Island, New Jersey, Rockaway Beach peninsula, New York...

The interplay of disturbance and stability drives vegetation dynamics. Disturbance reduces vegetation biomass, and stability fosters its development. In riparian systems, natural disturbance is largely manifested through flood-driven fluvial processes, but other forms of disturbance, such as herbivory or fire, may influence vegetation dynamics. We studied the successional trajectories of...

Harmful algal blooms, particularly cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, threaten aquatic ecosystems, drinking water supplies, and recreational resources. In 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, deployed solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers in Seneca Lake, Owasco Lake, and Skaneateles Lake to...

A geometric accuracy assessment of lidar data collected in eastern Iowa in 2019 as part of the 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) was conducted. The assessment involved evaluating interswath accuracy, same surface precision, point density, absolute accuracy, and consistency with adjacent 3DEP datasets. The results demonstrate that the data meet or exceed the quality level 2 specifications...

Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD)-based time-series present challenges in monitoring surface urban heat islands (SUHI) due to rapid changes in land surface temperature (LST) compared to cloud-free satellite observations. This research investigates the use of a spatiotemporal gap-filling model as a feasible and cost-effective solution to produce Landsat time-series LST products with both...

Managing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water resources requires a basin-scale approach. Predicted environmental concentrations (PEC) and stream-vulnerability scores for PFAS were determined for the Potomac River watershed in the eastern United States. Approximately 15% of stream reaches contained municipal and/or industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharges...

Contamination of groundwater by oil-field fluids in proximity to oil and gas development has been an issue of concern to water users and regulators given long histories of development and legacy disposal practices. A robust set of geochemical tracers including petroleum hydrocarbon compounds, thermogenic gases, inorganic ion concentrations, stable isotopes, radioactive isotopes, and...

Background Severe fire weather is becoming more common throughout the western United States. Changing conditions demand a better understanding of how prescribed fire treatments perform under extreme burning conditions, including the interactive influence of the age of treatments, vegetation, and fire weather. The Carr Fire of July 2018 burned nearly the entire land area of Whiskeytown...

Captive breeding and translocation programs are an increasingly common conservation tool and management strategy used for some of the rarest and most endangered species in the world. These programs come at a high cost, and many translocation programs fail to monitor animals after release. Light-footed Ridgway’s rails (Rallus obsoletus levipes) are federally endangered marsh birds endemic...