Publications

Aim Beta diversity quantifies the similarity of ecological assemblages. Its increase, known as biotic homogenisation, can be a consequence of biological invasions. However, species occurrence (presence/absence) and abundance-based analyses can produce contradictory assessments of the magnitude and direction of changes in beta diversity. Previous work indicates these contradictions should...

We investigated sediment core records from the Cascadia Margin (Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1249 and 1252 at Hydrate Ridge; Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1325 offshore Vancouver Island) using a Zr/Rb heavy mineral proxy from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning to identify intervals of primary detrital magnetic susceptibility (κ) and predict intervals where diagenesis caused...

Large-scale (e.g., > 1 megawatt capacity) wind and solar energy (hereafter, LSWS) developments are increasing to aid decarbonization. However, LSWS can also negatively affect biodiversity. Planners and other interested parties’ perceptions about the impact of LSWS on biodiversity will thus affect how trade-offs are managed during planning and buildout. We present a survey of...

Identifying and building solutions to help people and ecosystems adapt to climate change requires participation of all people; however, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, including environmental sciences, continue to lack diversity. To address this issue, many institutions have increased programming to recruit and retain people from historically marginalized

Importance Lithium is a naturally occurring element in drinking water and is commonly used as a mood-stabilizing medication. Although clinical studies have reported associations between receiving lithium treatment and reduced cancer risk among patients with bipolar disorder, to our knowledge, the association between environmental lithium exposure and cancer risk has never been studied in...

A primary prediction of climate change ecology is that species will track their climate niche poleward and upslope. However, studies have shown species responding in surprising ways. In this study, we aim to understand the impact of global change on species ranges by considering both climate and habitat changes. Using occupancy analysis of acoustic survey data in the mountains of the...

Across the United States, rural residents rely on unregulated and generally unmonitored private wells for drinking water, which may pose serious health risks due to unrecognized contaminants. We assessed the nature, degree, and spatial distribution of cumulative health risks from inorganic contaminants in groundwater. Our analysis included nearly 84,000 data points from 6500+ wells...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) have developed watershed models of seasonal load estimates of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) discharging into the Washington waters of the Salish Sea from 2005 through 2020. The modeling approach used was dynamic SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes), a...

As part of a long-term cooperative program to monitor water quality within the Scituate Reservoir drainage area, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Providence Water (formerly the Providence Water Supply Board), collected streamflow and water-quality data in tributaries to the Scituate Reservoir, Rhode Island. Streamflow and concentrations of chloride and sodium estimated...

Introduction Each mineral commodity chapter of the 2025 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production, reserves, and...

Environmental gradients can affect organic matter decay within and across wetlands and contribute to spatial heterogeneity in soil carbon stocks. We tested the sensitivity of decay rates to tidal flooding and soil depth in a minerogenic salt marsh using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). Tea bags were buried at 10 and 50 cm depths across an elevation gradient in a subtropical Spartina alterniflora...

We use combinatorial optimization to find the optimal spatial distribution of random samples of earthquakes (≥6.5) that minimize the misfit in target slip rates for all faults in the northeast Caribbean, and we derive magnitude-frequency relationships with uncertainties for these faults. Slip rates for many faults are derived from GPS block models, not direct measurements, because of...