Articles

Human sewage contaminates waterways, delivering excess nutrients, pathogens, chemicals, and other toxic contaminants. Contaminants and various sewage indicators are measured to monitor and assess water quality, but these analytes vary in their representation of sewage contamination and the inferences about water quality they support. We measured the occurrence and concentration of...

Reliable forecasts of building damage due to debris flows may provide situational awareness and guide land and emergency management decisions. Application of debris-flow runout models to generate such forecasts requires combining hazard intensity predictions with fragility functions that link hazard intensity with building damage. In this study, we evaluated the performance of building...

It is important to understand the factors affecting the reproductive success of an invasive species to estimate population size and develop management plans. There remains much we do not understand about the reproductive biology of invasive Burmese Pythons in both their native and invasive range. Oviposition site selection is an important factor in determining reproductive success as...

Birds are used as bioindicators of environmental mercury (Hg) contamination, and toxicity reference values are needed for injury assessments. We conducted a comprehensive review, summarized data from 168 studies, performed a series of Bayesian hierarchical meta-analyses, and developed new toxicity reference values for the effects of methylmercury (MeHg) on birds using a benchmark dose...

This study focuses on understanding the association of rare earth elements (REE; lanthanides + yttrium + scandium) with organic matter from the Middle Devonian black shales of the Appalachian Basin. Developing a better understanding of the role of organic matter (OM) and thermal maturity in REE partitioning may help improve current geochemical models of REE enrichment in a wide range of...

Infectious prions are resistant to degradation and remain infectious in the environment for several years. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in cervids inhabiting North America, the Nordic countries, and South Korea. CWD-prion spread is partially attributed to carcass transport and disposal. We employed a forensic approach to investigate an illegal carcass dump site...

An increase in volcanic thermal emissions can indicate subsurface and surface processes that precede, or coincide with, volcanic eruptions. Space-borne infrared sensors can detect hotspots—defined here as localized volcanic thermal emissions—in near-real-time. However, automatic hotspot detection systems are needed to efficiently analyze the large quantities of data produced. While...

Many forests globally are experiencing increases in large, high-severity wildfires, often with increasingly inadequate post-fire tree regeneration. To identify areas that might need post-fire planting, forest managers have a growing need for seedling reference densities – the natural seedling densities expected to be adequate to regenerate a forest – to compare with observed post-fire...

The spatiotemporal distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in rivers remains poorly understood, and there is an urgent need to develop a consistent set of metrics to better document HAB occurrences and forecast future events. Using data from seven sites in the Illinois River Basin, we computed metrics focused on HAB conditions related to excess algal growth and hypoxia. Daily mean...

In response to recent shifts towards open science that emphasize transparency, reproducibility, and access to research data, the US Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study to assess the degree to which USGS data assets meet the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). The USGS designed and applied a methodology for quantitative analysis of FAIR...

Objective Conservation propagation facilities in the upper basin of the Missouri River are currently experiencing inconsistent survival of first-feeding larval Pallid Sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus among genetic families (i.e., distinct male–female pairings). The inconsistent survival can have unintended negative consequences for genetic representation of Pallid Sturgeon that are returned...

Sturgeons (Family: Acipenseridae) are among the most endangered taxa worldwide. Significant resources have been invested into the conservation of global sturgeon populations, including the development of commercial aquaculture programs. These programs are intended to improve conservation outcomes by reducing the harvest of wild populations while still meeting commercial demand for...