All Publications

Background The number of telemetry studies focused on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Laurentian Great Lakes has steadily increased over the last decade, but field tests of immobilization methods used for tag implantation, which have the potential to affect survival and behavior of fish after release, are lacking. We compared post-tagging survival and behavior of lake...

A culturally important food fish in Hawai'i, Achilles tang (Acanthurus achilles Shaw), recently experienced sharp declines in biomass, density, and average length in west Hawai'i Island. In December 2022, State resource managers placed a 2-year moratorium on the Achilles tang fishery in west Hawai'i Island so that the cause of the collapse could be explored. The lack of life-history...

Multi-year droughts are important and impactful features of California’s Mediterranean climate and can fundamentally affect the water quality and the ecosystem response of the San Francisco Estuary (Estuary) and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). This study assesses data collected by long-term monitoring programs over the past 46 years (1975-2021) to evaluate how water quality in...

The rapid diversification of terminology associated with invasion ecology is a known barrier to effective communication and management. These challenges are magnified by the addition of terms and concepts related to climate-induced range-shifting taxa and/or changes to impacts. Further, institutional policies and terminologies for invasive species introduce new ambiguities when...

Species distribution models (SDMs) have become increasingly popular for making ecological inferences, as well as predictions to inform conservation and management. In predictive modeling, practitioners often use correlative SDMs that only evaluate a single spatial scale and do not account for differences in life stages. These modeling decisions may limit the performance of SDMs beyond...

Despite being long-lived and massive, giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Bucholz) are susceptible to erosion given their relatively shallow root structure. Human-caused soil compaction and vegetation loss through social trails are primary drivers of erosion in giant sequoia groves, particularly for trees that are near formal trails and access roads. We develop a method...

Numerous mercury (Hg) sources can contribute to biological burdens within the Great Lakes, including atmospheric deposition (e.g., precipitation), non-point source land runoff (e.g., watershed), and legacy contamination. Due to these different environmental entry points, it is often difficult to ascertain if legacy Hg contamination contributes to contemporary fish consumption advisories...

Between the 1950s and 1980s, wastewater generated at the Idaho National Laboratory contained Iodine-129 (129I); this wastewater was discharged directly into the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer through a deep disposal well, unlined infiltration ponds, or leaked from distribution systems below industrial facilities. During 2021–22, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...

Fieldwork is integral to geoscience but can come with risks that increase for fieldworkers who are pregnant. Consultation with medical staff and completion of risk assessments are essential steps, but pregnant individuals also benefit from supportive colleagues, reasonable accommodations, and the freedom to adapt plans as pregnancy progresses.

Background Unprecedented wildfire frequency, fueled by invasive annual grasses, threatens sagebrush ecosystems. To suppress wildfire and conserve sagebrush, land management agencies have installed fuel breaks across the sagebrush biome. However, despite the potential reduction in wildfire, fuel breaks may have ecological costs. Determining an acceptable balance between risks and benefits...

Damaging aquatic invasive species, such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), pose an ongoing concern for potential introduction and establishment in the western United States. Our study applied habitat suitability indices and network analysis to identify lakes critical to the continued westward spread and establishment of zebra mussels from a key invasion front in Texas. We...

The spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients is crucial for the water bird and whole floodplain wetland ecosystem in large lakes, and it is influenced by the dramatic water level changes and sedimentation progress in West Dongting Lake (WDL). Soil samples were collected at various soil depths along the Yuan River and Li River that feed into WDL. The concentrations of soil total organic...