Publications

Utility-scale solar energy development is a novel and rapidly expanding land-use with largely unknown consequences for plant diversity. Construction disturbance and associated increases in environmental heterogeneity in solar facilities relative to undisturbed ecosystems can affect plant diversity at multiple spatial scales. We assessed the effects of modified construction methods...

In many areas of western Colorado, Late Cretaceous Mancos Shale is a source of sediment, salinity, and selenium to surface water. Natural weathering processes and human activity can expose and move sediments from the Mancos Shale, leading to increased salinity and selenium concentrations in surface water. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management...

Estimating seismic hazard using 3D earthquake simulations of moderate‐to‐large magnitude events is becoming a reality. In this study, we further this endeavor by simulating seismic wavefields for five earthquakes in California, United States, and evaluating their pseudospectral acceleration at periods of 2, 5, and 10 s. We compare results from the recently developed U.S. Geological...

The UnVegetated-to-Vegetated Ratio (UVVR) is a well-established metric of wetland condition, identifying stable wetlands with high vegetation cover and low vegetation cover wetlands prone to loss, informing research and management efforts in the coastal zone. In this study, we document the development and release of version 2 of UVVR (UVVRv2) for the coastal conterminous United States...

Earth’s microseism wavefield dominates seismic background levels at periods between approximately 4 and 20 s, and reflects periodic and secular variations in ocean swell energy. Ocean wave energy couples to the seismic wavefield via distinct primary microseism and secondary microseism (PM and SM) source mechanisms, which are excited by basal swell tractions and seafloor pressure...

The effective conservation and management of small carnivore populations requires understanding species’ life-history traits and identifying important vital rates that drive population trajectories. However, many of these species are rare or elusive and of state or federal conservation concern, and demographic information is often lacking and difficult to obtain. At the northern limit of...

Extended parental care is common among birds and particularly well known among long-lived migratory species. Yet, factors influencing the duration of parental care are poorly understood, and empirical evidence for the functional importance of family life for offspring development is scarce. Using unique tracking and genetic data of 55 adult and juvenile migratory Bewick’s swans, among...

Slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) abundance has substantially declined in many regions of the Laurentian Great Lakes coincident with the arrival and range expansions of invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus). Previous studies have shown that round goby can outcompete native mottled sculpin (C. bairdii) for shelter and negatively affect native spoonhead sculpin (C. ricei) growth, but...

More than 60 million people in the United States and Canada rely on private drinking water systems (mostly private wells), which fall outside of national regulations for water quality and management. This decentralized infrastructure creates unique challenges. First, fragmented policy oversight leads to inconsistent data availability. Second, population heterogeneity in well users...

Invasive hybridization between native and introduced species is widespread, especially in fishes, yet its effects on fitness-related traits across environments remain poorly understood. We combined individual genetic admixture estimates with capture–recapture data to quantify how hybridization between native Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus lewisi) and invasive Rainbow Trout...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, conducted a study to assess the effects of climate change on the Fort Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona. Although weather refers to short-term conditions of the atmosphere, such as air temperature, humidity, presence or absence of precipitation, wind...

The status and trend of wintering goose populations along the coast of the Pacific Northwest is relatively unstudied. We estimated the status and trends of 6 subspecies of white-cheeked geese wintering in Nestucca Valley, Oregon, USA. Surveys conducted from 2007 to 2019 revealed significant variability in weekly counts among subspecies and years. Dusky (Branta canadensis occidentalis)...