Publications

Once numbering in the tens of millions, plains bison (Bison bison bison) were nearly driven to extinction with only a few hundred individuals remaining by the late 19th century. Plains bison have since recovered to approximately 20,000 animals managed in conservation herds throughout North America, yet substantial challenges to their recovery remain. The Department of the Interior (DOI)...

The goal of this project was to assess the vulnerability to climate change impacts for a sample set of hatchery programs representing different geographic areas and primary anadromous species raised in state-managed Oregon hatcheries (Summary Figure 1). Freshwater and marine ecosystem processes can significantly influence salmon and steelhead survival, and understanding how these factors...

Invasive carps are established in the upper, middle, and lower Mississippi River and their expansion upstream threatens a variety of aquatic ecosystem services including fishing and recreational boating. The physical and operational characteristics of Lock and Dam (LD) 19 restrict upstream movement of fishes because the only upstream fish passage route is through the lock chamber. This...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) routinely produces ShakeMaps of shaking intensity across the globe. Due to practical constraints, the number of response spectral periods was limited to three standard periods (0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 sec). We have recently developed the tools that are necessary to expand this functionality to include 22 periods (matching the current U.S. National Seismic...

Restoration monitoring is generally perceived as costly and time-consuming, yet the concept of universal restoration monitoring metrics is trending for evaluation of restoration performance across spatial scales, project boundaries, and jurisdictions. Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) practitioners seek to restore natural resources injured by oil spills or...

The overarching goal of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the state-of-art of global cropland mapping procedures using remote sensing as characterized and envisioned by the “Global Food Security Support Analysis Data @ 30 m (GFSAD30)” project working group team. First, the chapter will provide an overview of existing cropland maps and their characteristics along with

Salt marshes provide expansive ecosystem services to coastal regions, including serving as bird and fish habitat, providing flood protection, and sequestering carbon and toxins (Barbier et al. 2011). While marshes are naturally dynamic, they are undergoing net loss in the 21st century largely due to lateral erosion (Camp- bell et al. 2022). In regions where marsh migration is constrained...

A recent study identified topography (land surface elevation above sea level) as an important input dataset (feature) for predicting the location of hydrothermal systems in the Great Basin in Nevada. Yet, topography is generally a result of more than one geological process and may consequently contain multiple distinct signals. For example, the geologic evolution of the Great Basin has...

This note describes recent work to develop landed planetary sensor model support conforming to the widely adopted Community Sensor Model (CSM) standard. We describe the CSM specification and its use in the planetary sciences, introduce the test sensors carried aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover, and describe the engineering research requirements fulfilled...

We present the 2023 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for all 50 states that applies new smoothed seismicity, fault rupture, and ground motion models. New data and methods are introduced in the 2023 earthquake rupture forecast that include: new earthquake catalogs - excluding induced earthquakes, alternative declustering methods, spatially smoothed seismicity distributions, full...

Invasive grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella spawning was confirmed in Lake Erie with the collection of fertilized eggs in the Sandusky River, Ohio in 2015. Managers responded with initiation of adult grass carp removal in 2017. Hydrodynamic modeling revealed a potential spawning location in downtown Fremont, Ohio (41.3455; −83.1110), which was supported by the presence of sexually mature...

The U.S. National Seismic Hazard Models (NSHMs), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), have long been the scientific foundation of seismic design guidelines and have been used to compute design ground motions for construction of new buildings and retrofit of existing buildings in the United States and its territories. The 2018 NSHM is adopted by the 2024 International Building...