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At least 1,495 records · Page 83Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Climate change impacts on plant communities in the sagebrush region—A science synthesis to inform Bureau of Land Management resource management

This report synthesizes current (2024) science-based knowledge related to the impacts of climate change on big sagebrush vegetation in Western North America. This effort was conducted through the U.S. Geological Survey working with the Bureau of Land Management as part of multiple science syntheses to aid management agencies developing environmental impacts assessments in response to human-related or caused events. This report reviews the potential impacts climate change may have on sagebrush vegetation and related management decisions. The body of the synthesis introduces the diverse impacts of climate change across the region by first focusing directly on what climate change may entail in terms of altered temperature and precipitation patterns. The report then discusses how these changes could likely affect individual plant species based on experimental results and scale the impacts to species distributions and community composition. The synthesis section ends by surveying efforts to model potential future changes in habitat. The report goes on to link the synthesis conclusions to individual land uses or land management decisions, such as forage resources, restoration or fuel treatment. Finally, the report provides a section that discusses the pros and cons of available datasets that model the potential future of vegetation in the sagebrush region.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nev↗
USGS2025

Ambient field seismology in critical zone hydrological sciences

Passive ambient noise monitoring is an emerging tool in environmental seismology, leveraging the ambient seismic field to assess temporal variations in shallow subsurface properties. This review focuses on the potential and challenges of using scattered coda waves from noise correlation functions to monitor critical zone dynamics. The sensitivity of seismic velocities to various environmental factors, including precipitation, snowmelt, atmospheric pressure, and groundwater fluctuations, underscores the method’s versatility. While coda waves excel in detecting subtle changes due to their scattered nature, ballistic waves provide higher spatial resolution, albeit with challenges in source stability. Advances in seismic sensing, including distributed acoustic sensing and low-cost geophone networks, have enabled high-resolution monitoring of hydrological processes, subsurface deformation, and seismic hazards. Integrating seismic data with hydrological models provides insights into water storage, pore pressure changes, and soil moisture dynamics. However, limitations in spatial resolution, calibration with ground truth data, and coupled effects between environmental factors remain key challenges. This review emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in refining methodologies, enhancing sensor deployments, and addressing data gaps. Passive seismic monitoring offers opportunities to understand critical zone processes and their broader impacts on seismic hazards and environmental sustainability.

Comptes Rendus. Géoscience↗
USGS2018

USA National Phenology Network observational data documentation

The goals of the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN, www.usanpn.org ) are to advance science, inform decisions, and communicate and connect with the public regarding phenology and species’ responses to environmental variation and climate change. The USA-NPN seeks to advance the science of phenology and facilitate ecosystem stewardship by providing phenological information freely and openly. To accomplish these goals, the USA-NPN National Coordinating Office (NCO) delivers observational data on plant and animal phenology in several formats, including minimally processed status and intensity datasets and derived phenometrics for individual plants, sites, and regions. This document describes the suite of observational data products delivered by the USA National Phenology Network, covering the period 2009–present for the United States and accessible via the Phenology Observation Portal ( http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F78S4N1V ) and via an Application Programming Interface. The data described here have been used in diverse research and management applications, including over 30 publications in fields such as remote sensing, plant evolution, and resource management.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2021

Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Science Products

The U.S. Geological Survey produces research quality, applications ready, Level-2 Science Products derived from Landsat Collection 2 Level-1 data. These products are used to monitor, assess, and project changes in land use, land cover, and environmental conditions affecting the human condition, natural processes, and biological habitats. Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 Science Products are time-series observational data processed for consistency and continuity to measure effects of environmental change and serve as input into Landsat essential climate variable Level-3 Science Products.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2010

Integrating Agriculture and Conservation

The USGS produces the needed science-based information to guide management actions and policy decisions that support wildlife habitat and other environmental services compatible with USDA conservation goals and farm operations. The Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) has conducted research involving a national landowner survey and numerous short- and long-term evaluations regarding vegetation responses to land management practices. This research helps land and resource managers to make informed decisions and resolve resource management conflicts.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2018

Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents in samples of raw intake and treated drinking water from the municipal water filtration plant and residential tapwater in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, July–December 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Environmental Health Mission Area (EHMA) is providing comprehensive science on sources, movement, and transformation of contaminants and pathogens in watershed and aquifer drinking-water supplies and in built water and wastewater infrastructure (referred to as the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project) in the Greater Chicago Area and elsewhere in the United States, to fill data gaps identified by stakeholders and collaborators in drinking water and public health. EHMA Water and Wastewater Infrastructure research specifically provides insight into natural factors in the environment as well as those water-infrastructure components and processes (such as source-water corrosivity, treatment, plumbing, and so forth) that might influence human exposure to chemical and microbial contaminants at the residential tap. This infrastructure-exposure research role is fulfilled uniquely by the USGS and not by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), other agencies, or municipalities that focus on regulatory and policy activities and related compliance. The USGS approach to assessing the possible links between human health and chemical contaminant and pathogen exposure in drinking water is conducted in collaboration with public health experts and includes comprehensive characterization of the presence/absence and concentrations of more than 500 organic and 27 inorganic chemical constituents at the point of use (tap). Laboratory results for lead and other inorganic contaminants in Chicago, Illinois, and East Chicago, Indiana, residential tapwater are being released to ensure the timely release of quality-assured data to participants in the study. Concentrations of lead and other inorganic constituents were assessed in drinking water at the point of use (kitchen tap or filter) in 45 residential locations and in two locations within each of the two Chicago water purification plants and the two East Chicago water filtration plants during July–December 2017. Three methods were used for analyzing lead. The most sensitive method had a reporting limit of 0.020 micrograms per liter (µg/L). When using the most sensitive analytical method, lead was detected in 39 of 45 residential tapwater samples, with concentrations ranging from less than 0.020 µg/L to 5.31 µg/L (median of the detected values = 0.481 µg/L). Concentrations of lead also were detected in Lake Michigan intake water at all water purification/filtration plant facilities at concentrations ranging from 0.083 to 0.330 µg/L, but were not detected above the reporting limit in any samples of treated, pre-distribution drinking water at any of the water purification/filtration plant facilities. Because the USGS Water and Wastewater Infrastructure project in the Greater Chicago Area is focused on the potential human exposure to a broad suite of organic and inorganic contaminants in drinking water and is not focused specifically on lead, the sampling protocol did not include “first-draw,” stagnant sampling and samples were collected with point-of-use treatment in place, if present. Thus, the lead results reported herein are not appropriate for assessment of compliance with the EPA 1991 Lead and Copper Rule. Information resources for lead mitigation and water filtration are provided.

Illinois, Indiana↗
USGS2022

Integrating principles and tools of decision science into value-driven watershed planning for compensatory mitigation

Several environmental policies strive to restore impaired ecosystems and could benefit from a consistent and transparent process — co-developed with key stakeholders — to prioritize impaired ecosystems for restoration activities. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of disturbance to compensation sites to offset aquatic resource functions that are unavoidably lost through land development. However, planning for the prioritization of compensatory mitigation areas is often hampered by decision-making processes that fall into a myopic decision frame because they are not co-produced with stakeholders. In this study, we partnered with domain experts from the North Carolina Division of Mitigation Services (NCDMS) to co-develop a real-world decision framework to prioritize catchments by potential for the development of mitigation projects following principles of a structured decision-making process and knowledge co-production. Following an iterative decision analysis cycle, domain experts revised foundational components of the decision framework and progressively added complexity and realism as they gained additional insights or more information became available. Through the course of facilitated in-person and remote interactions, the co-development of a decision framework produced three main ‘breakthroughs’ from the perspective of the stakeholder group: a) recognition of the problem as a multi-objective decision driven by several values in addition to biogeophysical goals (e.g., functional uplift; restoring or enhancing lost functionality of ecosystems), b) that the decision comprises a linked and sequential planning-to-implementation process, and c) future risk associated with land-use and climate change must be considered. We also present an interactive tool for ‘on-the-fly’ assessment of alternatives and tradeoff analysis, allowing domain experts to quickly test, react to, and revise prioritization strategies. The decision framework described in this study is not limited to the prioritization of compensatory mitigation activities across North Carolina, but rather serves as a framework to prioritize a wide range of restoration, conservation, and resource allocation activities in similar environmental contexts across the nation.

Ecological Applications↗
USGS2004

Ten suggestions to strengthen the science of ecology

There are few well-documented, general ecological principles that can be applied to pressing environmental issues. When they discuss them at all, ecologists often disagree about the relative importance of different aspects of the science's original and still important issues. It may be that the sum of ecological science is not open to universal statements because of the wide range of organizational, spatial, and temporal phenomena, as well as the sheer number of possible interactions. We believe, however, that the search for general principles has been inadequate to establish the extent to which generalities are possible. We suggest that ecologists may need to reconsider how we view our science. This article lists 10 suggestions for ecology, recognizing the many impediments to finding generalizations in this field, imposed in part by the complexity of the subject and in part by limits to funding for the study of ecology.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2008

Environmental chemical data for perishable sediments and soils collected in New Orleans, Louisiana, and along the Louisiana Delta following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 2005

In October 2005, nearly one month after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Missouri University of Science and Technology deployed to southern Louisiana to collect perishable environmental data resulting from the impacts of these storms. Perishable samples collected for this investigation are subject to destruction or ruin by removal, mixing, or natural decay; therefore, collection is time-critical following the depositional event. A total of 238 samples of sediment, soil, and vegetation were collected to characterize chemical quality. For this analysis, 157 of the 238 samples were used to characterize trace element, iron, total organic carbon, pesticide, and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations of deposited sediment and associated shallow soils. In decreasing order, the largest variability in trace element concentration was detected for lead, vanadium, chromium, copper, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Lead was determined to be the trace element of most concern because of the large concentrations present in the samples ranging from 4.50 to 551 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg). Sequential extraction analysis of lead indicate that 39.1 percent of the total lead concentration in post-hurricane sediment is associated with the iron-manganese oxide fraction. This fraction is considered extremely mobile under reducing environmental conditions, thereby making lead a potential health hazard. The presence of lead in post-hurricane sediments likely is from redistribution of pre-hurricane contaminated soils and sediments from Lake Pontchartrain and the flood control canals of New Orleans. Arsenic concentrations ranged from 0.84 to 49.1 mg/kg. Although Arsenic concentrations generally were small and consistent with other research results, all samples exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Human Health Medium-Specific Screening Level of 0.39 mg/kg. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 1.30 mg/kg. Comparing the mean mercury concentration present in post-hurricane samples with regional background data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Geochemical Dataset, indicates that mercury concentrations in post-hurricane sediment generally are larger. Sequential extraction analysis of 51 samples for arsenic indicate that 54.5 percent of the total arsenic concentration is contained in the extremely mobile iron-manganese oxide fraction. Pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl Arochlor concentrations in post-hurricane samples were small. Prometon was the most frequently detected pesticide with concentrations ranging from 2.4 to 193 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg). Methoxychlor was present in 22 samples with a concentration ranging from 3.5 to 3,510 µg/kg. Although methoxychlor had the largest detected pesticide concentration, it was well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s High-Priority Screening Level for residential soils. Arochlor congeners were not detected for any sample above the minimum detection level of 7.9 µg/kg.

Louisiana↗
USGS2013

Measuring environmental change in forest ecosystems by repeated soil sampling: a North American perspective

Environmental change is monitored in North America through repeated measurements of weather, stream and river flow, air and water quality, and most recently, soil properties. Some skepticism remains, however, about whether repeated soil sampling can effectively distinguish between temporal and spatial variability, and efforts to document soil change in forest ecosystems through repeated measurements are largely nascent and uncoordinated. In eastern North America, repeated soil sampling has begun to provide valuable information on environmental problems such as air pollution. This review synthesizes the current state of the science to further the development and use of soil resampling as an integral method for recording and understanding environmental change in forested settings. The origins of soil resampling reach back to the 19th century in England and Russia. The concepts and methodologies involved in forest soil resampling are reviewed and evaluated through a discussion of how temporal and spatial variability can be addressed with a variety of sampling approaches. Key resampling studies demonstrate the type of results that can be obtained through differing approaches. Ongoing, large-scale issues such as recovery from acidification, long-term N deposition, C sequestration, effects of climate change, impacts from invasive species, and the increasing intensification of soil management all warrant the use of soil resampling as an essential tool for environmental monitoring and assessment. Furthermore, with better awareness of the value of soil resampling, studies can be designed with a long-term perspective so that information can be efficiently obtained well into the future to address problems that have not yet surfaced.

Journal of Environmental Quality↗
USGS1989

Uranium in Holocene valley-fill sediments, and uranium, radon, and helium in waters, Lake Tahoe-Carson Range area, Nevada and California, U.S.A.

Uraniferous Holocene sediments occur in the Carson Range of Nevada and California, U.S.A., between Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley. The hosts for the uranium include peat and interbedded organic-rich sand, silt, and mud that underly valley floors, fens, and marshes along stream valleys between the crest of the range and the edge of Lake Tahoe. The known uranium accumulations extend along the Carson Range from the area just southeast of South Lake Tahoe northward to the area just east of Carson City; however, they almost certainly continue beyond the study area to the north, west, and south. Due to the young age of the accumulations, uranium in them is in gross disequilibrium with its highly radioactive daughter products. These accumulations have thus escaped discovery with radiation detection equipment in the past. The uranium content of these sediments approaches 0.6 percent; however, the average is in the range of 300-500 ppm. Waters associated with these sediments locally contain as much as 177 ppb uranium. Modest levels of helium and radon also occur in these waters. Uraniferous waters are clearly entering the private and public water supply systems in some parts of the study area; however, it is not known how much uranium is reaching users of these water supplies. Many of the waters sampled in the study area exceed the published health effects guidance level of the Environmental Protection Agency. Regulatory standards for uranium in waters have not been published, however. Much uranium is stored in the sediments along these stream valleys. Estimates for a marsh and a fen along one drainage are 24,000 and 15,000 kg, respectively. The potential effects of man-induced environmental changes on the uranium are uncertain. Laboratory studies of uraniferous sediment rich in organic matter may allow us to evaluate the potential of liberating uranium from such sediments and creating transient increases in the level of uranium moving in water in the natural environment. ?? 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1991

Landscape analysis: Theoretical considerations and practical needs

Numerous systems of land classification have been proposed. Most have led directly to or have been driven by an author's philosophy of earth-forming processes. However, the practical need of classifying land for planning and management purposes requires that a system lead to predictions of the results of management activities. We propose a landscape classification system composed of 11 units, from realm (a continental mass) to feature (a splash impression). The classification concerns physical aspects rather than economic or social factors; and aims to merge land inventory with dynamic processes. Landscape units are organized using a hierarchical system so that information may be assembled and communicated at different levels of scale and abstraction. Our classification uses a geomorphic systems approach that emphasizes the geologic-geomorphic attributes of the units. Realm, major division, province, and section are formulated by subdividing large units into smaller ones. For the larger units we have followed Fenneman's delineations, which are well established in the North American literature. Areas and districts are aggregated into regions and regions into sections. Units smaller than areas have, in practice, been subdivided into zones and smaller units if required. We developed the theoretical framework embodied in this classification from practical applications aimed at land use planning and land management in Maryland (eastern Piedmont Province near Baltimore) and Utah (eastern Uinta Mountains). ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1992

Statistical analysis of the radon-222 potential of rocks in Virginia, U.S.A.

More than 3,200 indoor radon-222 (222Rn) measurements were made seasonally in an area of about 1,000 square kilometers of the Coastal Plain and Piedmont physiographic provinces in Virginia, U.S.A. Results of these measurements indicate that some geological units are associated, on the average, with twice as much indoor222Rn as other geological units, and that indoor222Rn varies seasonally. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test whether indoor222Rn concentrations for data gathered over the winter and summer seasons differ significantly by rock unit. The tests concluded that indoor222Rn concentrations for different rock units were not equal at the 5-percent significance level. The rocks associated with the highest median indoor222Rn concentration are specific rocks in the Mesozoic Culpeper basin, including shale and siltstone units with Jurassic diabase intrusives, and mica schists in the Piedmont physiographic province. The pre-Triassic Peters Creek Schist has the highest ranking in terms of indoor222Rn concentration. The rocks associated with the lowest indoor222Rn concentrations include coastal plain sediments, the Occoquan Granite, Falls Church Tonalite, Piney Branch Mafic and Ultramafic complex, and unnamed mafic and ultramafic inclusions, respectively. The rocks have been ranked according to observed222Rn concentration by transforming the average rank of indoor222Rn concentrations to z scores. ?? 1992 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1991

Application of electromagnetic techniques in survey of contaminated groundwater at an abandoned mine complex in southwestern Indiana, U.S.A.

In part of a large abandoned mining complex, electromagnetic geophysical surveys were used along with data derived from cores and monitoring wells to infer sources of contamination and subsurface hydrologic connections between acidic refuse deposits and adjacent undisturbed geologic materials. Electrical resistivity increases sharply along the boundary of an elevated deposit of pyritic coarse refuse, which is highly contaminated and electrically conductive, indicating poor subsurface hydrologic connections with surrounding deposits of fine refuse and undisturbed glacial material. Groundwater chemistry, as reflected in values of specific conductance, also differs markedly across the deposit's boundary, indicating that a widespread contaminant plume has not developed around the coarse refuse in more than 40 yr since the deposit was created. Most acidic drainage from the coarse refuse is by surface runoff and is concentrated around stream channels. Although most of the contaminated groundwater within the study area is concentrated within the surficial refuse deposits, transects of apparent resistivity and phase angle indicate the existence of an anomalous conductive layer at depth (>4 m) in thick alluvial sediments along the northern boundary of the mining complex. Based on knowledge of local geology, the anomaly is interpreted to represent a subsurface connection between the alluvium and a flooded abandoned underground mine. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1991

Backwater effects in the Amazon River basin of Brazil

The Amazon River mainstem of Brazil is so regulated by differences in the timing of tributary inputs and by seasonal storage of water on floodplains that maximum discharges exceed minimum discharges by a factor of only 3. Large tributaries that drain the southern Amazon River basin reach their peak discharges two months earlier than does the mainstem. The resulting backwater in the lowermost 800 km of two large southern tributaries, the Madeira and Puru??s rivers, causes falling river stages to be as much as 2-3 m higher than rising stages at any given discharge. Large tributaries that drain the northernmost Amazon River basin reach their annual minimum discharges three to four months later than does the mainstem. In the lowermost 300-400 km of the Negro River, the largest northern tributary and the fifth largest river in the world, the lowest stages of the year correspond to those of the Amazon River mainstem rather than to those in the upstream reaches of the Negro River. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1990

Vapor-phase interactions and diffusion of organic solvents in the unsaturated zone

This article presents an analysis of the interactions and static movement of 37 organic solvents as vapors through the unsaturated soil zone. The physicochemical interactions of the organic vapors with unsaturated soil materials were emphasized with focus on diffusive, and adsorptive interactions. Fick's Law and porous media diffusion coefficients for most of the solvent vapors were either compiled or estimated; coefficients were not available for some of the fluorinated solvents. The adsorption of some of the solvent vapors by silica was concluded to be due to hydrogen bond formation with surface silanol groups. Heats of adsorption data for different adsorbents were also compiled. There were very few data on the adsorption of these solvent vapors by soils, but it appears that the magnitude of adsorption of nonpolar solvents is reduced as the relative humidity of the vapor-solid system is increased. Consequently, the interaction of the vapors may then separated into two processes; (1) gas-water partitioning described by Henry's Law constants, and (2) solid-water adsorption coefficients which may be estimated from liquid-solid partition coefficients (Kd values). ?? 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1990

Relative inactivity during the last 140,000 years of a portion of the La Paz fault, southern Baja California Sur, Mexico

Uranium-series dating of corals overlying the undeformed Punta Coyote gravels indicates that the underlying La Paz fault zone has been relatively inactive in this part of the Baja California peninsula during the last 140,000 years, and possibly for a significantly longer period. However, Holocene seismic activities along extensions of the fault zone north of Cabo San Lucas suggest potential seismic hazards for the city of La Paz (population 200,000), which lies about 6 km from the fault. ?? 1990 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗
USGS1991

Regional hydrogeological screening characteristics used for siting near-surface waste-disposal facilities in Oklahoma, U.S.A.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey has developed several maps and reports for preliminary screening of the state of Oklahoma to identify areas that are generally acceptable or unacceptable for disposal of a wide variety of waste materials. These maps and reports focus on the geologic and hydrogeologic parameters that must be evaluated in the screening process. One map (and report) shows the outcrop distribution of 35 thick shale or clay units that are generally suitable for use as host rocks for surface disposal of wastes. A second map shows the distribution of unconsolidated alluvial and terrace-deposit aquifers, and a third map shows the distribution and hydrologic character of bedrock aquifers and their recharge areas. These latter two maps show the areas in the state where special attention must be exercised in permitting storage or disposal of waste materials that could degrade the quality of groundwater. State regulatory agencies and industry are using these maps and reports in preliminary screening of the state to identify potential disposal sites. These maps in no way replace the need for site-specific investigations to prove (or disprove) the adequacy of a site to safely contain waste materials. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

Environmental Geology and Water Sciences↗