Publications

Introduction: Urbanization is an extreme form of land use alteration, with human development driving changes in the distribution of resources available to wildlife. Some large carnivores have learned to exploit anthropogenic food resources in urban development, resulting in human-carnivore conflict that can have detrimental impacts to people and carnivores, as exemplified by American...

Coral reefs play vital roles in global marine systems and are currently facing increased threats of bleaching. Coral bleaching is heavily influenced by the host-associated microeukaryote community – most notably the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae. The apicomplexan family Corallicolidae, is the second most abundant member of the microeukaryote community, yet their role in coral...

Advancing spring phenology has been observed around the world, including changes in the timing of breeding of birds. When singing rates are tied to breeding stage, the rate at which birds are available for detection by surveyors can also show seasonal patterns that may shift with spring phenology. As the timing of peak bird availability changes over years, monitoring programs that do not...

Freshwater-using utility-scale thermoelectric (TE) plant water-use estimates were evaluated for annual trends from 2008 to 2020 across the conterminous United States (CONUS) and within hydrologic regions. Overall, TE water withdrawal and consumption trends declined across CONUS by 14,335 and 278 million liters/day, respectively. Decreasing water withdrawal and consumption trends for TE...

Elevated concentrations of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria and signs of sewage lead to impairment of Cedar and Crane Creeks near the town of Curtice, Ohio. In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, collected samples and analyzed them for concentrations of E. coli and microbial source tracking (MST) markers to help characterize the...

Emerging infectious diseases and biological invasions pose increasing threats to public and ecosystems health. Proactive measures—such as prevention and surveillance taken before initial detection of the pathogen or species—are essential to ensure minimal spread prior to first detection. We developed an optimization model to determine where, when, and how much effort should be allocated...

1. Both local environmental factors and historical biogeography shape ecological communities, but determining which historical biogeographical patterns correspond with contemporary climate vulnerability is an underused conservation method. The historical colonization patterns of freshwater fishes following the Pleistocene (“Ice Age”) glaciations offers an ideal model for comparing...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Office of Water Resources, computed selected at-site streamflow statistics at U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in and near Massachusetts and developed regional regression equations for estimating selected streamflows at ungaged stream sites in Massachusetts. Two sets of regional

The U.S. Geological Survey’s seismic velocity model for the Cascadia Subduction Zone provides P- and S-wave velocity (VP and VS, respectively) information from 40.2° to 50.0° N. latitude and −129.0° to −121.0° W. longitude, and is used to support a variety of research topics, including three-dimensional (3D) earthquake simulations and seismic hazard assessment in the Pacific Northwest...

Earthquakes and their cascading consequences pose a significant threat to the people, environment, infrastructure, and economy of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is susceptible to three types of earthquakes: deep (intraslab) earthquakes, subduction zone (megathrust) earthquakes, and shallow crustal earthquakes. For each of these earthquake types, earth scientists can...

Source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in rivers is typically based on water concentrations, which cannot quantify PFAS loads or define geographical source areas. This study applied a river catchment-scale approach to identify PFAS source zones and assess the relative importance of industrial PFAS sources in the River Mersey, UK – a post-industrial, densely...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), frequently called “forever chemicals,” are used for a wide variety of industrial purposes and are often found in common household and industrial items such as firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, and water-resistant materials. The contamination of water, air, and soil by PFAS is a national and global issue due to their widespread occurrence...