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At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
USGS2012

Land change variability and human-environment dynamics in the United States Great Plains

Land use and land cover changes have complex linkages to climate variability and change, biophysical resources, and socioeconomic driving forces. To assess these land change dynamics and their causes in the Great Plains, we compare and contrast contemporary changes across 16 ecoregions using Landsat satellite data and statistical analysis. Large-area change analysis of agricultural regions is often hampered by change detection error and the tendency for land conversions to occur at the local-scale. To facilitate a regional-scale analysis, a statistical sampling design of randomly selected 10 km × 10 km blocks is used to efficiently identify the types and rates of land conversions for four time intervals between 1973 and 2000, stratified by relatively homogenous ecoregions. Nearly 8% of the overall Great Plains region underwent land-use and land-cover change during the study period, with a substantial amount of ecoregion variability that ranged from less than 2% to greater than 13%. Agricultural land cover declined by more than 2% overall, with variability contingent on the differential characteristics of regional human–environment systems. A large part of the Great Plains is in relatively stable land cover. However, other land systems with significant biophysical and climate limitations for agriculture have high rates of land change when pushed by economic, policy, technology, or climate forcing factors. The results indicate the regionally based potential for land cover to persist or fluctuate as land uses are adapted to spatially and temporally variable forcing factors.

Colorado;Iowa;Kansas;Minnesota;Missouri;Montana;Ne↗
USGS2025

Near-surface geophysics: Environmental applications

The field of geophysics encompasses a broad and diverse compilation of methodologies that employs principles of physics to characterize properties of earth materials within the subsurface. While geophysical methods have a long history in resource exploration and studies of Earth’s interior, the subdiscipline of “near-surface geophysics” has evolved in recent decades for examination of the shallow, near-surface environment for a range of purposes ranging from archaeological or forensic investigations to assessment of geologic, hydrologic, biologic, and geochemical properties and processes. “Environmental geophysics” are near-surface geophysical studies and methods that focus on understanding natural systems (e.g., watershed hydrology, groundwater–surface water connections, biophysical processes) as well as research pertaining to anthropogenic impacts and land management, (e.g., contamination and remediation, saltwater intrusion, agricultural practices). This field can be further subdivided into subdisciplines focused on specific topics and applications, such as water resources and hydrology (hydrogeophysics) or biologic and microbial processes (biogeophysics). Studies in environmental geophysics span a range of scales, from pore-scale laboratory tests to watershed-scale or regional field experiments. Methods vary by the nature of physics employed, the specific measurement acquired, and how that data is ultimately processed and analyzed to produce interpretable results. There exists further diversity in the acquisition logistics, geometry, and timing of data collection. Geophysical data can be collected in boreholes (one-dimensional, 1-D, vertical profiles), along survey lines (two-dimensional, 2-D, cross-sections), or in dense sensor arrays or gridded profiles (three-dimensional, 3-D, models). Regarding the temporal aspect, studies can conduct one-time geophysical surveys to obtain detailed imaging of subsurface structure or use timelapse and continuous monitoring to investigate variations in subsurface properties over time. The cumulation of all possible permutations of these factors (method, acquisition geometry, survey design, and target application) results in an immense diversity among environmental geophysical studies. Nevertheless, this field remains unified in the pursuit of understanding natural and human-impacted near-surface environments through geophysical investigations. Here we highlight some key references within environmental geophysics. Resources on geophysical theory, acquisition logistics, processing and inversion workflows, and example case studies are categorized into the most common geophysical classes within Geophysical Methods. Lastly, example references for the dominant types of applications in environmental geophysical studies are catalogued in Environmental Applications.

Book chapter↗
USGS2025

Foundational principles of an applied cultural evolutionary science for natural resource management and conservation

Culture, as the filter through which people view the world and a key determinant of human behaviour, is central to the practice of natural resource management and conservation. Conservation is intended to moderate the impacts of human cultural modification of the environment, exists as an endeavour because it is culturally valued, and acts largely through policies to encourage or discourage targeted human behaviours. However, culture is not static; as organisms and ecologies evolve, so too does culture exist as a dynamic, interconnected, coevolving element of the social–ecological systems in which management action is situated and implemented. Cultural evolution (CE) offers a valuable theoretical contribution to the scientific understanding of culture, cultural diversity and culture change and has the potential to be harnessed in the applied research and practice of conservation social science. We illustrate the essential principles necessary to grow an applied science of CE for natural resource management and conservation, and identify opportunities for CE to provide valuable information for science-based decision making and help conservation institutions and organizations adapt to the ongoing challenges posed by culture change. This transdisciplinary integration can contribute to improved outcomes across conservation objectives and build more resilient, sustainable social–ecological systems.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B ↗
USGS2020

Ontogenetic diet shifts with potential ramifications for resource competition in a kokanee – Mysis diluviana system

Ontogenetic shifts represent important transitions that can influence how fish interact with their environment. However, ontogenetic shifts are rarely placed into a population context due to the difficulty of incorporating the vagaries of size-mediated interactions. As such, we evaluated the role of ontogenetic shifts in diet as they relate to potential competitive interactions between kokanee Oncorhynchus nerka and Opossum Shrimp Mysis diluviana (hereafter Mysis) in Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. Contemporary data were used to understand diet patterns of Mysis and kokanee. Historical data were evaluated within the context of ontogenetic shifts to better understand the long-term, population-level ramifications of interactions between Mysis and kokanee. Diet analysis revealed age-specific divergences in diet whereby juvenile kokanee primarily consumed copepods and adult kokanee preferentially consumed cladocerans. When placed in a historical context, age-specific patterns in kokanee diet likely led to increases in adult growth following declines in Mysis abundance. Improved fitness of adult fish likely resulted in record high abundances of kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille thereby shifting the balance from inter- to intraspecific competition.

Idaho↗
USGS2020

Visually communicating future climate in a web environment

While there is growing demand for use of climate model projections to understand the potential impacts of future climate on resources, there is a lack of effective visuals that convey the range of possible climates across spatial scales and with uncertainties that potential users need to inform their impact assessments and studies. We use usability testing including eye tracking to explore how a group of resource professionals (foresters) interpret and understand a series of graphical representations of future climate change, housed within a web-based decision support system (DSS), that address limitations identified in other tools. We find that a three-map layout effectively communicates the spread of future climate projections spatially, that location-specific information is effectively communicated if depicted both spatially on a map and temporally on a time series plot, and that model error metrics may be useful for communicating uncertainty and in demonstrating the utility of these future climate datasets.

Weather, Climate, and Society↗
USGS1996

Technology transfer opportunities: new development: computerized field manual provides valuable resource for hydrologic investigations

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is known throughout the world for conducting quality scientific investigation is hydrologic environments. Proper and consistent field techniques have been an integral part of this good research. Over the past few decades, the USGS has developed and published detailed, standard protocols for conducting studies in most aspects of the hydrologic environment. These protocols have been published in a number of diverse documents. The wealth of information contained in these diverse documents can benefit other scientists in industry, government, and academia that are involved in conducting hydrologic studies. Scientists at the USGS have brought together many of the most important of the field protocols in a user-friendly, graphical-interfaced field manual that will be useful in both the field and in the office. This electronic field manual can assist hydrologists and other scientists in conducting and documenting their field activities in a manner that is recognized standard throughout the hydrologic community.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2015

Non-native and native organisms moving into high elevation and high latitude ecosystems in an era of climate change: new challenges for ecology and conservation

Cold environments at high elevation and high latitude are often viewed as resistant to biological invasions. However, climate warming, land use change and associated increased connectivity all increase the risk of biological invasions in these environments. Here we present a summary of the key discussions of the workshop ‘Biosecurity in Mountains and Northern Ecosystems: Current Status and Future Challenges’ (Flen, Sweden, 1–3 June 2015). The aims of the workshop were to (1) increase awareness about the growing importance of species expansion—both non-native and native—at high elevation and high latitude with climate change, (2) review existing knowledge about invasion risks in these areas, and (3) encourage more research on how species will move and interact in cold environments, the consequences for biodiversity, and animal and human health and wellbeing. The diversity of potential and actual invaders reported at the workshop and the likely interactions between them create major challenges for managers of cold environments. However, since these cold environments have experienced fewer invasions when compared with many warmer, more populated environments, prevention has a real chance of success, especially if it is coupled with prioritisation schemes for targeting invaders likely to have greatest impact. Communication and co-operation between cold environment regions will facilitate rapid response, and maximise the use of limited research and management resources.

Biological Invasions↗
USGS2007

Alternative community structures in a kelp-urchin community: A qualitative modeling approach

Shifts in interaction patterns within a community may result from periodic disturbances and climate. The question arises as to the extent and significance of these shifting patterns. Using a novel approach to link qualitative mathematical models and field data, namely using the inverse matrix to identify the community matrix, we reconstructed community networks from kelp forests off the Oregon Coast. We simulated all ecologically plausible interactions among community members, selected the models whose outcomes match field observations, and identified highly frequent links to characterize the community network from a particular site. We tested all possible biologically reasonable community networks through qualitative simulations, selected those that matched patterns observed in the field, and further reduced the set of possibilities by retaining those that were stable. We found that a community can be represented by a set of alternative structures, or scenarios. From 11,943,936 simulated models, 0.23% matched the field observations; moreover, only 0.006%, or 748 models, were highly reliable in their predictions and met conditions for stability. Predator-prey interactions as well as non-predatory relationships were consistently found in most of the 748 models. These highly frequent connections were useful to characterize the community network in the study site. We suggest that alternative networks provide the community with a buffer to disturbance, allowing it to continuously reorganize to adapt to a variable environment. This is possible due to the fluctuating capacities of foraging species to consume alternate resources. This suggestion is sustained by our results, which indicate that none of the models that matched field observations were fully connected. This plasticity may contribute to the persistence of these communities. We propose that qualitative simulations represent a powerful technique to raise new hypotheses concerning community dynamics and to reconstruct guidelines that may govern community patterns. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ecological Modelling↗
USGS2015

High-resolution remote sensing of water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

The San Francisco Bay–Delta Estuary watershed is a major source of freshwater for California and a profoundly human-impacted environment. The water quality monitoring that is critical to the management of this important water resource and ecosystem relies primarily on a system of fixed water-quality monitoring stations, but the limited spatial coverage often hinders understanding. Here, we show how the latest technology in visible/near-infrared imaging spectroscopy can facilitate water quality monitoring in this highly dynamic and heterogeneous system by enabling simultaneous depictions of several water quality indicators at very high spatial resolution. The airborne portable remote imaging spectrometer (PRISM) was used to derive high-spatial-resolution (2.6 × 2.6 m) distributions of turbidity, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chlorophyll-a concentrations in a wetland-influenced region of this estuary. A filter-passing methylmercury vs DOC relationship was also developed using in situ samples and enabled the high-spatial-resolution depiction of surface methylmercury concentrations in this area. The results illustrate how high-resolution imaging spectroscopy can inform management and policy development in important inland and estuarine water bodies by facilitating the detection of point- and nonpoint-source pollution, and by providing data to help assess the complex impacts of wetland restoration and climate change on water quality and ecosystem productivity.

California↗
USGS2009

High-quality unsaturated zone hydraulic property data for hydrologic applications

In hydrologic studies, especially those using dynamic unsaturated zone moisture modeling, calculations based on property transfer models informed by hydraulic property databases are often used in lieu of measured data from the site of interest. Reliance on database-informed predicted values has become increasingly common with the use of neural networks. High-quality data are needed for databases used in this way and for theoretical and property transfer model development and testing. Hydraulic properties predicted on the basis of existing databases may be adequate in some applications but not others. An obvious problem occurs when the available database has few or no data for samples that are closely related to the medium of interest. The data set presented in this paper includes saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, water retention, particle-size distributions, and bulk properties. All samples are minimally disturbed, all measurements were performed using the same state of the art techniques and the environments represented are diverse.

Water Resources Research↗
USGS2025

Ecologically informed solar enables a sustainable energy transition in U.S. croplands

United States (U.S.) croplands are ideal recipient environments for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. Perceived threats of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be exclusively used to produce food. However, 12 million hectares of U.S. croplands, an area about the size of New York State, are already dedicated to corn grown for ethanol (i.e., biofuel), an energy product that requires significantly more land than solar PV per unit energy. Ecosystem service benefits of an ecologically-informed approach to solar development (i.e., ecovoltaics), coupled with significant land-use advantages over corn ethanol, make solar an attractive solution for a sustainable energy transition in croplands. Here, we evaluated how the conversion of a small fraction of corn-ethanol croplands into ecovoltaic solar facilities might improve land-use efficiency of energy generation, enhance ecosystem services, and provide landscape diversification. Through spatial analyses, we determined that converting just 3.2% of land currently used for corn ethanol would increase the share of utility-scale solar energy in the U.S. from 3.9% to 13%. We also identified target locations where strategic conversion of corn ethanol to solar PV co-located with perennial vegetation could filter excess nutrients transported from adjacent farm runoff, diversify and connect agricultural landscapes, and provide local wildlife habitat. In contrast to the common perception of land-use competition and land scarcity in the energy transition, our findings highlight benefits of co-located energy landscapes that integrate fundamental principles of energy development and sustainable agroecosystems.

contiguous United States↗
USGS2006

Antimony recycling in the United States in 2000

The importance of recycling has become more obvious as concerns about the environment and import dependence have grown in recent years. When materials are recycled, fewer natural resources are consumed, and less waste products go to landfills or pollute the water and air. This study, one of a series of reports on metals recycling in 2000, discusses the flow of antimony from mining through its uses and disposal with emphasis on recycling. In 2000, the recycling efficiency for antimony was estimated to be 89 percent, and the recycling rate was about 20 percent.

Circular↗
USGS2010

Archive of Sediment Data Collected around the Chandeleur Islands and Breton Island in 2007 and 1987 (Vibracore Surveys: 07SCC04, 07SCC05, and 87039)

In 2006 and 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and collaborators at the University of New Orleans (UNO) collected high-resolution seismic profiles and subsurface cores around the Chandeleur and Breton Islands, Louisiana (Study Area Map). To ground-truth the acoustic seismic surveys conducted in 2006, 124 vibracores were acquired during the 07SCC04 and 07SCC05 cruises in 2007. These cores were collected within the back-barrier, nearshore, and offshore environments. The surveys were conducted as part of a post-hurricane assessment and sediment resource inventory for the Barrier Island Coastal Monitoring (BICM) project. Vibracores were collected offshore using the USGS R/V G.K. Gilbert, while the terrestrial, back-barrier, and nearshore vibracores were collected from the UNO R/V Greenhead. This report serves as an archive of sediment data from two concurrent vibracore surveys (cruises 07SCC04 and 07SCC05) from around the Breton and Chandeleur Islands in 2007 and also documents sediment data from vibracores collected offshore of the Chandeleur Islands in 1987 (cruise 87039). The 1987 vibracores were collected through the collaborated efforts of the USGS, Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS), and Alpine Ocean Seismic. Each vibracore can be identified by cruise and core number.

Data Series↗
USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program - Science Supporting Mineral Resource Stewardship

The United States is the world's largest user of mineral resources. We use them to build our homes and cities, fertilize our food crops, and create wealth that allows us to buy goods and services. Individuals rarely use nonfuel mineral resources in their natural state - we buy light bulbs, not the silica, soda ash, lime, coal, salt, tungsten, copper, nickel, molybdenum, iron, manganese, aluminum, and zinc used to convert electricity into light. The USGS Mineral Resources Program (MRP) is the sole Federal source of scientific information and unbiased research on nonfuel mineral potential, production, and consumption, as well as on the environmental effects of minerals. The MRP also provides baseline geochemical, geophysical, and mineral-deposit data used to understand environmental issues related to extraction and use of mineral resources. Understanding how minerals, water, plants, and organisms interact contributes to our understanding of the environment, which is essential for maintaining human and ecosystem health. To support creation of economic and national security policies in a global context, MRP collects and analyzes data on essential mineral commodities from around the world.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2023

Characterizing urban heat islands across 50 major cities in the United States

Urban development and associated land-cover and land-use change alters the environment. The continued increase of developed land changes the Earth’s ecosystems and affects the resources provided to society. During the last 40 years, urban population in the United States has increased by more than 6.3 percent, and more than 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas. One of the changes associated with urbanization is the change of landscape features to structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructure that absorb and re-emit the heat of the sun more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies. This land-cover transition can result in an urban surface temperature that is higher than in a non-urban area, which is defined as a surface urban heat island (SUHI). A SUHI has a profound effect on the lives of urban residents and can exacerbate the risk of heat-related mortality associated with global climate change. The change of urban landscapes and climate conditions can affect the SUHI intensity. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a dataset of SUHI intensity and change from 1985 to 2020 over 50 cities in the United States using Landsat surface temperature (ST) and land - cover data. The data reveal SUHI spatial distributions and temporal trends in these cities. The 50-city mean SUHI intensity reaches 2.88 degrees Celsius (°C) (5.19 degrees Fahrenheit [°F]) and an average trend of 0.32 °C per decade (0.58 °F per decade). The data also provide spatial distributions of hotspots where annual mean ST is higher than in the surrounding areas that have the same urban land-cover type and high ST that repeated more than 50 percent of the time during 1985–2020 for 50 cities.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1984

Nitrate in the Columbia Aquifer, central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland

A study of nitrate in water from 604 wells tapping the Columbia aquifer on the Delmarva Peninsula in eastern Maryland describes the factors that affect nitrate variability. Samples were collected from 196 randomly selected wells and analyzed for nitrogen species. Many were also analyzed for major ions. In addition, results of 313 nitrate analyses were randomly selected from county health department files. About 95 analyses of water samples collected from 1945 to 1978 were also evaluated. The frequency distribution of the nitrate analyses is bimodal, with 25 percent of the sample ranging from 0 to about 0.42 milligrams per liter (mg/L) nitrate as nitrogen (N), and the median is about 0.1 mg/L; the rest ranges from 0.42 to 58 mg/L, and the median is about 5.9 mg/L. The overall median nitrate concentration is about 3.5 mg/L as N. Over half of the samples had nitrate concentrations of 3 mg/L as N or higher, indicating that the water in the aquifer has been affected by human activity. Nitrate-nitrogen concentrations exceeded the water-quality standard of 10 mg/L in 15 percent of the samples established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The major factors affecting nitrate concentration are the presence of a nitrogen source, hydrogeological conditions, and the soil drainage. Sites with poorly drained soils may have a lower nitrate concentration either because the soils block the entrance of nitrate into the aquifer or because the aquifer under a poorly drained soil is associated with a chemical environment that promotes denitrification. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2010

Seamount mineral deposits: A source of rare metals for high technology industries

The near exponential growth in Earth’s population and the global economy puts increasing constraints on our planet’s finite supply of natural metal resources, and, consequently, there is an increasing need for new sources to supply high-tech industries. To date, effectively all of our raw-metal resources are produced at land-based sites. Except for nearshore placer deposits, the marine environment has been largely excluded from metal mining due to technological difficulties, even though it covers more than 70% of the planet. The case can be made that deep-water seabed mining is inevitable in the future, owing to the critical and strategic metal needs for human society. In this paper, we evaluate the case that seamounts offer significant potential for mining.

Oceanography↗
USGS2017

A three-dimensional mapping of the ocean based on environmental data

The existence, sources, distribution, circulation, and physicochemical nature of macroscale oceanic water bodies have long been a focus of oceanographic inquiry. Building on that work, this paper describes an objectively derived and globally comprehensive set of 37 distinct volumetric region units, called ecological marine units (EMUs). They are constructed on a regularly spaced ocean point-mesh grid, from sea surface to seafloor, and attributed with data from the 2013 World Ocean Atlas version 2. The point attribute data are the means of the decadal averages from a 57-year climatology of six physical and chemical environment parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate). The database includes over 52 million points that depict the global ocean in x, y, and z dimensions. The point data were statistically clustered to define the 37 EMUs, which represent physically and chemically distinct water volumes based on spatial variation in the six marine environmental characteristics used. The aspatial clustering to produce the 37 EMUs did not include point location or depth as a determinant, yet strong geographic and vertical separation was observed. Twenty-two of the 37 EMUs are globally or regionally extensive, and account for 99% of the ocean volume, while the remaining 15 are smaller and shallower, and occur around coastal features. We assessed the vertical distribution of EMUs in the water column and placed them into classical depth zones representing epipelagic (0 m to 200 m), mesopelagic (200 m to 1,000 m), bathypelagic (1,000 m to 4,000 m) and abyssopelagic (>4,000 m) layers. The mapping and characterization of the EMUs represent a new spatial framework for organizing and understanding the physical, chemical, and ultimately biological properties and processes of oceanic water bodies. The EMUs are an initial objective partitioning of the ocean using long-term historical average data, and could be extended in the future by adding new classification variables and by introducing functionality to develop time-specific EMU distribution maps. The EMUs are an open-access resource, and as both a standardized geographic framework and a baseline physicochemical characterization of the oceanic environment, they are intended to be useful for disturbance assessments, ecosystem accounting exercises, conservation priority setting, and marine protected area network design, along with other research and management applications.

Oceanography↗