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WERC Newsletters
USGS Western Ecological Research Center newsletters ran from 2012 to early 2016. Explore the archives for exciting information on projects, events, and news interviews involving our scientists.
Research Handouts
USGS Western Ecological Research Center compiles one-page handouts on WERC scientists' projects involving high-profile topics like renewable energy, drought, climate change, and more. These handouts are perfect for conferences and meetings with partners and resource managers.
Kelp Forest Community Ecology
The near shore waters along the coast of southern California host one of the most productive marine ecosystems on earth: giant kelp forests. These complex environments provide habitat, food, and hiding places for more than 1,000 species of plants and animals, but are easily disturbed by both natural events and human activities. Strong storms, fluctuating water temperatures, coastal development...
USGS WERC Ecology Research Update: March 2016
USGS Western Ecological Research Center newsletters are posted on our blog. Check back for a rundown of new research and events on ecology and wildlife science in California and Nevada.
Ecology of Insect-eating Bats
Bats are the only flying mammals that are active mostly at night and occur on all continents except Antarctica. Bats are ecologically diverse, with a range of species that specialize in feeding on fruit, nectar, blood, fish, small mammals, and insects. However, of the more than 1,100 known species of bats on Earth, the majority specialize in feeding on insects. In the United States for example...
HDgov: Multi-agency Website for Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
HDgov is an interactive and mobile-responsive online portal to interagency, academic, and non-government resources focused on the human dimensions of natural resource management. The web portal provides easy access to tools, publications, data, and methods that help ensure that the people side of natural resources is considered throughout the entire natural resource management process. The...
National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports a considerable amount of economic activity within park gateway communities. USGS economists collaborate with the National Park Service social science program to estimate NPS...
Using Quantile Regression to Investigate Ecological Limiting Factors
Unexplained heterogeneity in statistical models of animal responses to their physical environment is reasonable to expect because the measured habitat resources are a constraint on—but not the sole determinant of—abundance, survival, fecundity, or fitness. The ecological understanding and reliability of management predictions based on animal habitat models can be improved by shifting focus ...
North American Waterfowl Management Plan
The ultimate success of North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP) depends on maintaining relevance to stakeholders and society. In order to be relevant, a first step is to better understand what people value in regard to waterfowl and their habitats. Without this information, NAWMP population, habitat, and people objectives may not reflect stakeholder and societal values; and management...
Quantitative and Statistical Research Collaboration
Mathematical and statistical models are powerful research tools that play several important roles in conceptualizing and understanding the structure and dynamics of complicated ecological systems, including developing mechanistic hypotheses pertaining to ecological systems, designing studies that elucidate ecosystem structure and function, and extracting information from data.
Using Cell Technology to Track Species Movement
The Information Science Branch explored and developed ways to track species locations using a standard cellular phone network. This technology provides more tracking data at a faster rate and lower cost than traditional satellite tracking systems. The initial implementation of this approach currently provides support for the California Condor recovery program and is being extended to include...
Understanding Coastal Change
Scientists perform a range of studies that document, assess, and model coastal change, risk, and vulnerability. Studies include historical shoreline change, the geologic structure and history of coastal regions, sediment supply and transport, sea-level rise, and how extreme storm events affect rates and impacts of coastal change.
Many volcanoes in the U.S. are monitored by arrays of several instruments that detect subtle movements within the earth and changes in gas and water chemistry. The Volcano Hazards Program streams this data to its Volcano Observatories and makes it available on volcano-specific websites.
GIS data files for map areas offshore of California are listed with a brief description, a small image, and links to the metadata files and the downloadable data files.
During 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies made approximately 1,026 water-level measurements in the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins. These data document recent conditions and, when compared with previous data, changes in groundwater levels. A water-level contour map was drawn using data from about 610 wells, providing coverage for most of the basins. Twenty-f
Volcano-alert notifications are produced by Volcano Observatory scientists based on analysis of data from monitoring networks, direct observations, and satellite sensors. They are issued for both increasing and decreasing volcanic activity and include text about the nature of the unrest or eruption and about potential or current hazards and likely outcomes.
This dataset includes swell-filtered, high-resolution seismic-reflection data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2012, between Punta Gorda and Fort Bragg in northern California.
This dataset includes swell-filtered, high-resolution seismic-reflection data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2010, between Fort Bragg and Point Arena in northern California.
This dataset includes raw, high-resolution seismic-reflection data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2010, between Fort Bragg and Point Arena in northern California.
This dataset includes navigation data for marine geophysical data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2012, between Punta Gorda and Fort Bragg in northern California.
This dataset includes navigation data for chirp seismic-reflection data collected in 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in San Pablo Bay, northern California.
This dataset includes raw, high-resolution chirp seismic-reflection data collected in 2014 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in San Pablo Bay, northern California.
This dataset includes navigation data for marine geophysical data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2010, between Fort Bragg and Point Arena in northern California.
This dataset includes navigation data for marine geophysical data jointly collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University in 2010, between Shelter Cove and Fort Bragg in northern California.
Geohydrology of the Parker-Blythe-Cibola area, Arizona and California
Metzger, D.G.; Loeltz, Omar J.; Irelan, Burdge
Geohydrology of the Yuma area, Arizona and California
Olmsted, F.H.; Loeltz, Omar J.; Irelan, Burdge
Physiographic diagrams of parts of the continental borderlands of California and Alaska: 12 physiographic diagrams: Southern California Borderland; Eastern Murray Fracture Zone and Transverse Ranges; Southern Monterey Bay; Monterey Canyon; Central San
Alpha, Tau Rho
A hydrologic technician records stream habitat characteristics
As part of the Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA), hydrologists, ecologists, and technicians did ecological surveys of aquatic biota and stream habitat. Here, a hydrologic technician records characteristics of the habitat of a highly urbanized stream.
A geomorphologist walks a stream as part of an ecological survey
As part of the Regional Stream Quality Assessments (RSQA), hydrologists, ecologists, and technicians did ecological surveys of aquatic biota and stream habitat. Here, a geolomorphologist assesses stream banks.
“Snapshot” or first frame of beach video, Santa Cruz, California
Snapshot, or first frame of from a 10-minute video taken May 6, 2017, in Santa Cruz, California. View is from atop a hotel looking down on Cowells Beach, a popular surf spot. Researchers at the USGS are using these and other video images to improve understanding and computer modeling of beach processes, especially those that change the coast.
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Time-averaged image from video of beach in Santa Cruz, California
Time-averaged image, or “timex,” created by averaging the intensity of light recorded at each spot, or “pixel,” during a 10-minute video taken at Santa Cruz, California, on May 6, 2017. Blurred white zones show where waves are breaking. Line between wet and dry sand shows the maximum height on the beach reached by the waves (“runup”). Researchers at the USGS are using
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Variance image from video of beach in Santa Cruz, California
“Variance” image produced from video shot at Cowells Beach in Santa Cruz, California, on May 6, 2017. The more the light intensity changes at a given spot, or “pixel,” during the video, the brighter the value assigned to that pixel. Motion tends to produce changes in light intensity. Note bright areas along and beyond the shore where waves were breaking. Researchers are
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An extremely rare Mojave River western pond turtle
An extremely rare Mojave River western pond turtle was recently observed by USGS scientists and staff from The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in the Mojave Desert. Turtles of this population have rarely been seen since the late 1990s.
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Brazilian waterweed
Tips of Brazilian waterweed (Egeria densa) break the surface at low tide in Lindsey Slough in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. More commonly, this invasive plant is completely submerged.
Establishing Forster's Tern Nesting Colonies
Scientists from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) are conducting a "social attraction" study for seabirds in the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Historically, this region offered wetland habitats to local wildlife. With the introduction of industrial salt ponds and human development, however, much of this habitat was lost. Now,
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The Wildflower Superbloom in California from Landsat’s Perspective
After 5 years of drought, California finally got relief during the winter of 2016–2017 with much needed precipitation. One result of this additional moisture was a springtime abundance of wildflowers.
There were many places to see this wildflower “superbloom” in southern California. This pair of images from Landsat
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California Wildflower Superbloom, Spring 2017, Landsat 8
After 5 years of drought, California finally got relief during the winter of 2016–2017 with much needed precipitation. One result of this additional moisture was a springtime abundance of wildflowers in 2017. This Landsat 8 image shows a large area of wildflower "superbloom" just north of Los Padres National Forest in southern California.
Recovering instrument package from Monterey Canyon
On March 21, 2017, the sediment trap from this instrument package (deployed the previous October into Monterey Canyon) is gone and the mounting frame is mangled, having been exposed to several significant turbidity currents in one deployment.
Barium and nitrate were detected at high concentrations in 5 percent of untreated groundwater used for public-water supply in the San Francisco Bay region, while human-made organic chemical constituents were found at high concentrations in less than 1 percent.
Two years after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan and caused millions of dollars in damage to California coastal communities, the state's Emergency Management Agency and the California Geological Survey continue to work with their local, state and federal partners to reduce the impacts of future tsunamis in California.
Climate factors such as snowpack and precipitation are playing an increasingly important role in the abundance of American pikas in the Great Basin, according to a continuing ecological study by the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Montana and Montana State University.
The U.S. Geological Survey is cancelling its March 28th Evening Public Lecture "Preparing for California Climate Change," due to travel restrictions the agency has implemented because of the federal budget sequestration.
February 2013 marked the first year of successful volcano monitoring and preparing for possible volcanic eruption for the California Volcano Observatory (CalVO).
The movie "The Impossible" graphically depicts destruction caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami which resulted in catastrophic loss of life and property – are similar, equally destructive events likely to occur in the Pacific Northwest?
Many of California's young volcanoes pose a threat to people and property.
Arsenic, uranium, fumigants and nitrate were detected at high concentrations in untreated groundwater at depths in the aquifer system typically used for public water supply in the Madera County region of California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area's water quality is good, the sport fish populations are sufficient, and the lakes provide important habitat for an increasing number of birds.
A century of scientific creativity and innovation has allowed seismologists to "see" into the outer layers of our planet, revealing the deep properties of the Earth's crust.
Inorganic elements - arsenic, boron, fluoride, and five other inorganic elements - were detected at high concentrations in 35 percent of untreated groundwater used for public water supply in the desert region of southern California. In contrast, human-made organic chemical constituents and nitrate were found at high concentrations in less than 1 percent of the desert region’s aquifers.
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Exciting discoveries are spurring research to uncover hidden secrets deep within South Pacific tropical forests.
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Fax: (916) 278-9566
Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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men_lib@usgs.gov
Phone: 650-329-5027
Fax: 650-329-5132