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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world
Earth harbours an extraordinary plant phenotypic diversity1 that is at risk from ongoing global changes2,3. However, it remains unknown how increasing aridity and livestock grazing pressure—two major drivers of global change4,5,6—shape the trait covariation that underlies plant phenotypic diversity1,7. Here we assessed how covariation among 20 chemical and morphological traits responds...
Authors
Nicholas Gross, Fernando T. Maestre, Pierre Liancourt, Miguel Berdugo, Raphael Martin, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Vincent Maire, Hugo Saiz, Santiago Soliveres, Enrique Valencia, David J. Eldridge, Emilio Guirado, Franck Jabot, Sergio Asensio, Juan J. Gaitan, Miguel García-Gómez, Paloma Martinez, Jaime Martinez-Valderrama, Betty J. Mendoza, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, David S. Pescador, Cesar Plaza, Ivan Santaolaria Pijuan, Mehdi Abedi, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Antonio I. Arroyo, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Lydia Bailey, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Cristina Branquinho, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea del P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Roukaya Chibani, Abel Augusto Conceicao, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Yvonne C. Davila, Balazs Deak, David A. Donoso, Jorge Duran, Carlos I. Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman-Montalvan, Rosa Mary Hernandez-Hernandez, Norbert Holzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadan, Florian Jeltsch, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Liana Kindermann, Peter C. le Roux, Anja Linstadter, Michelle A. Louw, Mancha Mabaso, Gillian Maggs-Kolling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Eugene Marais, Pierre Margerie, Frederic Mendes Hughes, Joao Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gaston R. Onatibia, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, R. Emiliano Quiroga, Elizabeth Ramirez-Iglesias, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Víctor M. Reyes Gómez, Alexandra Rodriguez, Victor Rolo, Juan G. Rubalcaba, Jan C. Ruppert, Osvaldo E. Sala, Ayman Salah, Phokgedi Julius Sebei, Ilan Stavi, Colton R. A. Stephens, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Heather L. Throop, Katja Tielborger, Samantha K. Travers, Sainbileg Undrakhbold, James Val, Orsolya Valko, Frederike Velbert, Wanyoike Wamiti, Lixin Wang, Deli Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Juan Manuel Zeberio, Yuanling Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
Disentangling drivers of annual grass invasion: Abiotic susceptibility vs. fire-induced conversion to cheatgrass dominance in the sagebrush biome Disentangling drivers of annual grass invasion: Abiotic susceptibility vs. fire-induced conversion to cheatgrass dominance in the sagebrush biome
Invasive annual grasses are often facilitated by fire, yet they can become ecologically dominant in susceptible locations even in the absence of fire. We used an extensive vegetation plot database to model susceptibility to the invasive annual grass cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) in the sagebrush biome as a function of climate and soil water availability variables. We built random...
Authors
Alexandra K. Urza, David I. Board, John B. Bradford, Jessi L. Brown, Daniel R. Chambers, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Karen C. Short
Downstream decreases in water availability, tree height, canopy volume and growth rate in cottonwood forests along the Green River, southwestern USA Downstream decreases in water availability, tree height, canopy volume and growth rate in cottonwood forests along the Green River, southwestern USA
Hydrologic stress is increasing in Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) forests across the southwestern United States because of increased temperature and streamflow diversion. The spatial variability of this stress is large yet poorly understood. Along the Yampa and Green Rivers in Colorado and Utah, vapour pressure deficit and flow diversions increase downstream. To investigate...
Authors
Richard D. Thaxton, Michael L. Scott, John T. Kemper, Sara L. Rathburn, Sabrina Butzke, Jonathan M. Friedman
Book review: John B. Wright, fire scars: A novel Book review: John B. Wright, fire scars: A novel
No abstract available.
Authors
Amanda E. Cravens
Bayesian multistate models for measuring invasive carp movement and evaluating telemetry array performance Bayesian multistate models for measuring invasive carp movement and evaluating telemetry array performance
Understanding the movement patterns of an invasive species can be a powerful tool in designing effective management and control strategies. Here, we used a Bayesian multistate model to investigate the movement of two invasive carp species, silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (H. nobilis), using acoustic telemetry. The invaded portions of the Illinois and Des...
Authors
Jessica C. Stanton, Marybeth K. Brey, Alison A. Coulter, David R. Stewart, Brent C. Knights
Balancing ecology and practicality to rank waterbodies for preventative invasive species management Balancing ecology and practicality to rank waterbodies for preventative invasive species management
‘Early detection and rapid response’ (EDRR) is the most successful framework for preventative invasive species management, but prioritizing localized EDRR actions with limited resources is challenging. An approach that ranks individual locations, such as waterbodies, for EDRR by combining an invasive species' establishment risk with the practicality of managing it could help set...
Authors
Caleb Powell Roberts, William E. Grant, Matthew L. Horton, Lindsey A.P. LaBrie, Miranda R. Peterson, Jane S. Rogosch, Hsiao-Hsuan Wang
Spatial patterns of seed removal by harvester ants in a seed tray experiment Spatial patterns of seed removal by harvester ants in a seed tray experiment
Using a selection of native grass and forb seeds commonly seeded in local restoration projects, we conducted a field experiment to evaluate the effects of seed species, distance of seed patches from nests, and distance between patches on patterns of seed removal by Owyhee harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex salinus (Olsen) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). To provide context for ants’ seed preferences...
Authors
Michaela Ray Grossklaus, David S. Pilliod, T. Trevor Caughlin, Ian C. Robertson
A protocol for assessing bias and robustness of social network metrics using GPS based radio-telemetry data A protocol for assessing bias and robustness of social network metrics using GPS based radio-telemetry data
Background Social network analysis of animal societies allows scientists to test hypotheses about social evolution, behaviour, and dynamic processes. However, the accuracy of estimated metrics depends on data characteristics like sample proportion, sample size, and frequency. A protocol is urgently needed to assess for bias and robustness of social network metrics estimated for the...
Authors
Prabhleen Kaur, Simone Ciuti, Federico Ossi, Francesca Cagnacci, Nicolas Morellet, Anne Loison, Kamal Atmeh, Philip McLoughlin, Adele K. Reinking, Jeffrey L. Beck, Anna C. Ortega, Matthew J. Kauffman, Mark S. Boyce, Amy Haigh, Anna David, Laura L. Griffin, Kimberly Conteddu, Jane Faull, Michael Salter-Townshend
Assessing potential effects of oil and gas development activities on groundwater quality near and overlying the Elk Hills and North Coles Levee Oil Fields, San Joaquin Valley, California Assessing potential effects of oil and gas development activities on groundwater quality near and overlying the Elk Hills and North Coles Levee Oil Fields, San Joaquin Valley, California
Groundwater resources are utilized near areas of intensive oil and gas development in California’s San Joaquin Valley. In this study, we examined chemical and isotopic data to assess if thermogenic gas or saline water from oil producing formations have mixed with groundwater near the Elk Hills and North Coles Levee Oil Fields in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley. Major ion...
Authors
John G. Warden, Matthew K. Landon, Michael J. Stephens, Tracy Davis, Janice M. Gillespie, Peter B. McMahon, Justin T. Kulongoski, Andrew G. Hunt, David H. Shimabukuro, Riley Gannon, Lyndsay B. Ball
Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau
For many drylands, both long- and short-term drought conditions can accentuate landscape heterogeneity at both temporal (e.g., role of seasonal patterns) and spatial (e.g., patchy plant cover) scales. Furthermore, short-term drought conditions occurring over one season can exacerbate long-term, multidecadal droughts or aridification, by limiting soil water recharge, decreasing plant...
Authors
Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, David L. Hoover, Anna C. Knight, Savannah Wilson, Tara Boyce Belnap Bishop, Robin H. Reibold, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway
Risk of capture is modified by hypoxia and interjurisdictional migration of Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) Risk of capture is modified by hypoxia and interjurisdictional migration of Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
Interjurisdictional migrations lead to seasonally changing patterns of exploitation risk, emphasizing the importance of spatially explicit approaches to fishery management. Understanding how risk changes along a migration route supports time-area based fishery management, but quantifying risk can be complicated when multiple fishing methods are geographically segregated and when bycatch...
Authors
Richard Kraus, H. Andrew Cook, Alexis Sakis, Thomas MacDougall, Matthew Faust, Joseph Schmitt, Christopher Vandergoot
A robust quantitative method to distinguish runoff-generated debris flows from floods A robust quantitative method to distinguish runoff-generated debris flows from floods
Debris flows and floods generated by rainfall runoff occur in rocky mountainous landscapes and burned steeplands. Flow type is commonly identified post-event through interpretation of depositional structures, but these may be poorly preserved or misinterpreted. Prior research indicates that discharge magnitude is commonly amplified in debris flows relative to floods due to volumetric...
Authors
David B. Cavagnaro, Scott W. McCoy, Jason W. Kean, Matthew A. Thomas, Donald N. Lindsay, Brian W. McArdell, Jacob Hirschberg