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At least 991 records · Page 55Linked to original sources
USGS2005

Development of ecological indicator guilds for land management

Agency land-use must be efficiently and cost-effectively monitored to assess conditions and trends in ecosystem processes and natural resources relevant to mission requirements and legal mandates. Ecological Indicators represent important land management tools for tracking ecological changes and preventing irreversible environmental damage in disturbed landscapes. The overall objective of the research was to develop both individual and integrated sets (i.e., statistically derived guilds) of Ecological Indicators to: quantify habitat conditions and trends, track and monitor ecological changes, provide early warning or threshold detection, and provide guidance for land managers. The derivation of Ecological Indicators was based on statistical criteria, ecosystem relevance, reliability and robustness, economy and ease of use for land managers, multi-scale performance, and stress response criteria. The basis for the development of statistically based Ecological Indicators was the identification of ecosystem metrics that analytically tracked a landscape disturbance gradient.

Report↗
USGS2014

Melanin-based color of plumage: role of condition and of feathers' microstructure

Whether melanin-based colors honestly signal a bird's condition during the growth of feathers is controversial, and it is unclear if or how the physiological processes underlying melanogenesis or color-imparting structural feather microstructure may be adversely affected by condition. Here we report results from two experiments designed to measure the effect of condition on expression of eumelanic and pheomelanic coloration in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), respectively. In chickadees, we compared feathers of birds affected and unaffected by avian keratin disorder, while in zebra finches we compared feathers of controls with feathers of those subjected to an unpredictable food supply during development. In both cases we found that control birds had brighter feathers (higher total reflectance) and more barbules, but similar densities of melanosomes. In addition, the microstructure of the feathers explained variation in color more strongly than did melanosome density. Together, these results suggest that melanin-based coloration may in part be condition-dependent, but that this may be driven by changes in keratin and feather development, rather than melanogenesis itself. Researchers should be cautious when assigning variation in melanin-based color to melanin alone and microstructure of the feather should be taken into account.

Integrative and Comparative Biology↗
USGS2016

Acadia National Park Climate Change Scenario Planning Workshop summary

This report summarizes outcomes from a two-day scenario planning workshop for Acadia National Park, Maine (ACAD). The primary objective of the workshop was to help ACAD senior leadership make management and planning decisions based on up-to-date climate science and assessments of future uncertainty. The workshop was also designed as a training program, helping build participants' capabilities to develop and use scenarios. The details of the workshop are given in later sections. The climate scenarios presented here are based on published global climate model output. The scenario implications for resources and management decisions are based on expert knowledge distilled through scientist-manager interaction during workgroup break-out sessions at the workshop. Thus, the descriptions below are from these small-group discussions in a workshop setting and should not be taken as vetted research statements of responses to the climate scenarios, but rather as insights and examinations of possible futures (Martin et al. 2011, McBride et al. 2012).

Conference Paper↗
USGS2014

Land processes distributed active archive center product lifecycle plan

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Science Data System Program worked together to establish, develop, and operate the Land Processes (LP) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) to provide stewardship for NASA’s land processes science data. These data are critical science assets that serve the land processes science community with potential value beyond any immediate research use, and therefore need to be accounted for and properly managed throughout their lifecycle. A fundamental LP DAAC objective is to enable permanent preservation of these data and information products. The LP DAAC accomplishes this by bridging data producers and permanent archival resources while providing intermediate archive services for data and information products.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2026

Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois

Preface In anticipation for increased funding made possible by the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program identified a need to conduct river-wide assessments of floodplain vegetation. In January 2025, we assembled a group of subject matter experts to perform the following tasks: Review Upper Mississippi River Restoration’s current floodplain vegetation research portfolio, Identify important features and goals for long-term floodplain vegetation monitoring, Evaluate the suitability of existing datasets for system-wide vegetation assessments, and Discuss emerging opportunities to learn about floodplain vegetation dynamics from local-scale restoration and management projects. This document is a summarization of what occurred at the meeting and provides suggested next steps toward developing the capacity to conduct routine long-term monitoring and assessment of floodplain vegetation as part of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program.

Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin↗
USGS2008

Geoinformatics 2008 - Data to Knowledge

Geoinformatics is the term used to describe a variety of efforts to promote collaboration between the computer sciences and the geosciences to solve complex scientific questions. It refers to the distributed, integrated digital information system and working environment that provides innovative means for the study of the Earth systems, as well as other planets, through use of advanced information technologies. Geoinformatics activities range from major research and development efforts creating new technologies to provide high-quality, sustained production-level services for data discovery, integration and analysis, to small, discipline-specific efforts that develop earth science data collections and data analysis tools serving the needs of individual communities. The ultimate vision of Geoinformatics is a highly interconnected data system populated with high quality, freely available data, as well as, a robust set of software for analysis, visualization, and modeling. This volume is a collection of extended abstracts for oral papers presented at the Geoinformatics 2008 conference, June 11 and 13, 2008, in Potsdam, Germany.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2005

Coral disease and health workshop: Coral histopathology II, July 12-14, 2005

The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported worldwide, only a few etiological agents have been confirmed; most pathogens remain unknown and the dynamics of disease transmission, pathogenicity and mortality are not understood. Causal relationships have been documented for only a few of the coral diseases, while new syndromes continue to emerge. Extensive field observations by coral biologists have provided substantial documentation of a plethora of new pathologies, but our understanding, however, has been limited to descriptions of gross lesions with names reflecting these observations (e.g., black band, white band, dark spot). To determine etiology, we must equip coral diseases scientists with basic biomedical knowledge and specialized training in areas such as histology, cell biology and pathology. Only through combining descriptive science with mechanistic science and employing the synthesis epizootiology provides will we be able to gain insight into causation and become equipped to handle the pending crisis. One of the critical challenges faced by coral disease researchers is to establish a framework to systematically study coral pathologies drawing from the field of diagnostic medicine and pathology and using generally accepted nomenclature. This process began in April 2004, with a workshop titled Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Developing Diagnostic Criteria co-convened by the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), a working group organized under the auspices of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and the International Registry for Coral Pathology (IRCP). The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was focused on gross morphology and disease signs observed in the field. A resounding recommendation from the histopathologists participating in the workshop was the urgent need to develop diagnostic criteria that are suitable to move from gross observations to morphological diagnoses based on evaluation of microscopic anatomy. As a continuation of building the foundation and framework for coral disease diagnostics, the CDHC convened the Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II in Charleston, South Carolina, July 11-14, 2005. The workshop was hosted by the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC which provided expertise, facilities and equipment in support of the workshop. All of the histological slides and related photographs used in the discussions were prepared and supplied by the IRCP. This workshop brought together 15 experts in veterinary and medical pathology and coral biology from national and international research institutes and government laboratories. The mission was to devise a standardized approach to examining microscopic anatomy and pathology of corals and a standardized nomenclature to facilitate accurate descriptions of the microscopic morphology of corals and enhance communication among specialists investigating causes of coral death. 2 The participants of this workshop deliberated for 3 days to refine the nomenclature for gross and microscopic anatomy of corals and systematically described microscopic changes associated with selected coral diseases. The findings and recommendations from the deliberations will be submitted to the research community for peer review. The standardized nomenclature and descriptions produced at this workshop will ultimately be made available to the scientific community through a variety of media including the World Wide Web. An exciting highlight of this meeting was provided by Professor Robert Ogilvie (MUSC Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy) when he introduced participants to a new digital technology that is revolutionizing histology and histopathology in the medical field. The Virtual Slide technology creates digital images of histological tissue sections by computer scanning actual slides in high definition and storing the images for retrieval and viewing. Virtual slides now allow any investigator with access to a computer and the web to view, search, annotate and comment on the same tissue sections in real time. Medical and veterinary slide libraries across the country are being converted into virtual slides to enhance biomedical education, research and diagnosis. The coral health and disease researchers at this workshop deem virtual slides as a significant way to increase capabilities in coral histology and a means for pathology consultations on coral disease cases on a global scale.

NOAA Technical Memorandum↗
USGS2002

Occurrence of antibiotics in water from fish hatcheries

The recent discovery of pharmaceuticals in streams across the United States (Kolpin and others, 2002) has raised the visibility and need for monitoring of antibiotics in the environment. Possible sources of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals in streams may include fish hatcheries. This fact sheet presents the results from a preliminary study of fish hatcheries across the United States for the occurrence and concentration of antibiotics present in fish hatchery water. The study examines both sufonamides and tetracyclines. Sulfonamides are synthetic compounds, and tetracyclines are naturally occurring compounds. The use of antibiotics added to specially formulated feed is a common practice in fish hatcheries to treat and prevent bacterial infections in large fish populations. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved antibiotics are oxytetracycline-HCI, sulfamerazine, and a combination drug containing ormetoprim and sulfadiamethoxine (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2003). During January 2001–June 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Organic Geochemistry Research Laboratory (OGRL), Lawrence, Kansas, cooperatively collected water samples from 13 fish hatcheries across the United States (fig. 1) with the assistance of hatchery operators. A method for the analysis of antibiotics was developed and used to identify and quantify these compounds in fish hatchery water (Lindsey and others, 2001). This study was completed to determine if trace levels of antibiotics [approximately 1 microgram per liter (μg/L) or 1 part per billion or greater occurred] in which water associated with fish hatcheries, which are a potential source of these compounds in surface water.

Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon↗
USGS2019

Life-history model for sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) at Lake Ozette, northwestern Washington—Users' guide

Salmon populations spawning in the Lake Ozette watershed of northwestern Washington were once sufficiently abundant to support traditional Tribal fisheries, and were later harvested by settlers. However, in 1974 and 1975, the sockeye salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) harvest decreased to 0 from a high of more than 17,500 in 1949, thus stimulating research into the causes of decrease, which resulted in eventual listing of the population as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1999. The listing status was upheld in 2005 and 2014 following 5-year reviews. Meanwhile, research results were compiled in a limiting factors analysis (LFA) and a recovery plan was developed. Although there has been some improvement in sockeye abundance since listing, the numbers remain too low to allow harvest and it is not yet clear which of the many potential limiting factors are most consequential. As part of the LFA process, a population model was developed to determine values of life-history parameters that would enable the population to survive for 100 years. The model was based on the best available data, but data are limited for the Lake Ozette system. Results informed the qualitative assessment of the importance of limiting factors used to develop the recovery plan for Lake Ozette sockeye. The model was built in Microsoft Excel ® and is difficult to use. The purpose of the model described herein is to synthesize the results of the LFA in a form that can be manipulated by resource managers and the public to create scenarios, test hypotheses, and observe sensitivities of results to changes in parameters. The goal is to provide a tool that enables research, monitoring and management to be focused on the most impactful elements and processes, including identifying the information gaps that are most critical to fill.

Washington↗
USGS2019

Recruitment dynamics and reproductive ecology of Blue Sucker in Texas, with a focus on the Big Bend region of the Rio Grande

Blue Sucker Cycleptus elongatus is a state-listed threatened species in Texas and is considered vulnerable throughout its range. Once considered a single, wide-ranging species, blue suckers are now recognized as a complex of closely related, but genetically and morphologically distinct species within the genus Cycleptus , including an undescribed species within the Rio Grande Basin. Numerous factors likely are driving the decline of blue suckers in Texas, including flow alteration, water quality, habitat fragmentation, and changing land-use patterns, but it is not clear how these factors interact to influence the abundance and distribution of the species. Our research integrates a variety of methodologies to provide information critical to the conservation and management of Blue Sucker in the Sabine River (Texas and Louisiana) and Colorado River (Texas) and Rio Grande Blue Sucker Cycleptus sp. cf. elongatus in the Rio Grande. The objectives of this report are to 1) determine the habitat associations of the young-of-year (YOY) Rio Grande Blue Sucker; 2) assess the effects of flow regime on growth and recruitment of Blue Sucker in the lower Sabine River; and 3) examine differences in life-history traits of Blue Suckers and flow regime across river basins in Texas. This study is the first to quantitatively address the sequence of YOY blue sucker mesohabitat use and increases our understanding of early life history of blue suckers, and the results of this work will help to develop conservation and management strategies, e.g., prioritizing conservation areas, developing flow recommendation, etc., for blue suckers throughout their geographic distribution.

Texas↗
USGS2004

Incorporating uncertainty into mercury-offset decisions with a probabilistic network for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit holders: An interim report

This interim report describes an alternative approach for evaluating the efficacy of using mercury (Hg) offsets to improve water quality. Hg-offset programs may allow dischargers facing higher-pollution control costs to meet their regulatory obligations by making more cost effective pollutant-reduction decisions. Efficient Hg management requires methods to translate that science and economics into a regulatory decision framework. This report documents the work in progress by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Geographic Science Center in collaboration with Stanford University toward developing this decision framework to help managers, regulators, and other stakeholders decide whether offsets can cost effectively meet the Hg total maximum daily load (TMDL) requirements in the Sacramento River watershed. Two key approaches being considered are: (1) a probabilistic approach that explicitly incorporates scientific uncertainty, cost information, and value judgments; and (2) a quantitative approach that captures uncertainty in testing the feasibility of Hg offsets. Current fate and transport-process models commonly attempt to predict chemical transformations and transport pathways deterministically. However, the physical, chemical, and biologic processes controlling the fate and transport of Hg in aquatic environments are complex and poorly understood. Deterministic models of Hg environmental behavior contain large uncertainties, reflecting this lack of understanding. The uncertainty in these underlying physical processes may produce similarly large uncertainties in the decisionmaking process. However, decisions about control strategies are still being made despite the large uncertainties in current Hg loadings, the relations between total Hg (HgT) loading and methylmercury (MeHg) formation, and the relations between control efforts and Hg content in fish. The research presented here focuses on an alternative analytical approach to the current use of safety factors and deterministic methods for Hg TMDL decision support, one that is fully compatible with an adaptive management approach. This alternative approach uses empirical data and informed judgment to provide a scientific and technical basis for helping National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit holders make management decisions. An Hg-offset system would be an option if a wastewater-treatment plant could not achieve NPDES permit requirements for HgT reduction. We develop a probabilistic decision-analytical model consisting of three submodels for HgT loading, MeHg, and cost mitigation within a Bayesian network that integrates information of varying rigor and detail into a simple model of a complex system. Hg processes are identified and quantified by using a combination of historical data, statistical models, and expert judgment. Such an integrated approach to uncertainty analysis allows easy updating of prediction and inference when observations of model variables are made. We demonstrate our approach with data from the Cache Creek watershed (a subbasin of the Sacramento River watershed). The empirical models used to generate the needed probability distributions are based on the same empirical models currently being used by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Cache Creek Hg TMDL working group. The significant difference is that input uncertainty and error are explicitly included in the model and propagated throughout its algorithms. This work demonstrates how to integrate uncertainty into the complex and highly uncertain Hg TMDL decisionmaking process. The various sources of uncertainty are propagated as decision risk that allows decisionmakers to simultaneously consider uncertainties in remediation/implementation costs while attempting to meet environmental/ecologic targets. We must note that this research is on going. As more data are collected, the HgT and cost-mitigation submodels are updated and the uncertainties may be reduced. Subsequently, the value of using a probabilistic framework for estimating and explicitly stating these uncertainties within a decisionmaking process can be estimated when new data are collected. Future work includes the design and implementation of a Bayesian network decision support system (BN-DSS) to produce mitigation scenarios for offset-project evaluation in the Cache Creek watershed. The decisionmaker, a wastewater-treatment plant, is expected to evaluate potential Hg-offset programs in terms of changes in HgT load changes, MeHg-production potential, project cost, and other suitability criteria. Subsequently, scenarios can be analyzed by performing sensitivity analyses and ranking environmental and economic uncertainties in terms of the decisionmaker’s preferences and risk choices. Such an analysis allows decisionmakers and stakeholders to explore various scenarios and predict the consequences of different stated preferences over outcomes.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2022

Three Mw ≥ 4.7 earthquakes within the Changning (China) shale gas field ruptured shallow faults intersecting with hydraulic fracturing wells

From 2017 to 2019, three destructive earthquakes (27 January 2017 Mw 4.7, 16 December 2018 Mw 5.2, and 3 January 2019 Mw 4.8) occurred in the Changning shale gas field in the southwest Sichuan Basin, China. Previous seismological studies attributed these events to hydraulic fracturing (HF), but were unable to identify the causative seismogenic faults and their slip behaviors. Here, we use Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar data to measure surface deformation triggered by the three events and conduct geodetic inversions to characterize their rupture models. The resulting coseismic interferograms show prominent surface deformation with the maximum line-of-sight displacements of up to 4 cm. The inversion results show that all three earthquakes mainly ruptured sedimentary formations above the shale gas bed, in the upper 3 km of the crust, with slip magnitudes ranging from 8.5 to 15 cm, and stress drops ranging from ∼1.8 to ∼3.3 MPa. Their source faults intersect with horizontal HF wells, but do not root in the crystalline basement. Combined with the reported difficulty of increasing HF operation pressures prior to the three events, we argue that they were most likely induced by direct injection of pressurized fluids into the fault zones. Crustal deformation patterns inferred from regional topography and GPS velocities highlight that the Changning field is located within a triple junction region near the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau with large deformation gradients; such conditions are not only favorable to the development of critically stressed faults, but also facilitate the occurrence of at least moderate magnitude earthquakes.

Changning shale gas field, Sichuan Basin↗
USGS2026

Adaptation and response in drylands: A dryland research agenda and campaign strategy

Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of Earth's land surfaces, account for 44% of cultivated lands and 60% of food sources, and make large contributions to the global water and carbon cycles. However, these ecosystems are experiencing unprecedented extremes including heatwaves, floods, and droughts as well as hotter temperatures and often declining water resource availability. These ecosystems are some of the most challenging to monitor given their high temporal variability with rapid response to their environment as well as vast spatial variability with intermixing of different plant species and life forms amongst bare soil coverage. The Adaptation and Response in Drylands (ARID) campaign was selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a scoping study to develop a research agenda for a dryland field campaign. Here, we detail our ARID science research agenda and implementation plan that were developed based on an extensive community engagement effort in over 160 events with over a thousand scientists, land managers, and Tribal communities between 2023 and 2024. The selected science themes cover drought and climate variability, ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity, carbon cycle interannual variability and trends, and social ecological systems (land management and adaptation). We then detail our remote sensing, modeling, and field-based strategies to capture high temporal and high spatial resolution processes. Finally, our implementation strategy is presented which includes focus area selections in a core intensive western U.S. domain and distributed international domains. This strategy includes our overarching guiding principles of using multi-temporal airborne acquisitions and super sites as well as enhancing land management in co-development with end-user partners. While originally developed for NASA, our ARID report creates a blueprint for any future dryland field campaign, at any scale, that can be implemented widely for foundational and applied science objectives.

Global Change Biology↗
USGS2013

Fire history, effects and management in southern Nevada

Fire can be both an ecosystem stressor (Chapter 2) and a critical ecosystem process, depending on when, where, and under what conditions it occurs on the southern Nevada landscape. Fire can also pose hazards to human life and property, particularly in the wildland/urban interface (WUI). The challenge faced by land managers is to prevent fires from occurring where they are likely to threaten ecosystem integrity or human developments, while allowing fires to occur where they will provide ecosystem benefits. The Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) Science and Research Strategy summarizes this desired outcome with Sub-goal 1.1, which is to manage wildland fire to sustain Southern Nevada’s ecosystems (table 1.3; Chapter 1). This chapter provides information that will help land managers develop strategies to achieve this goal. It begins with a background section on fire history, spatial and temporal patterns of fire, and fire effects for the major ecosystem types of southern Nevada, (table 1.1; Chapter 1). Potential fire management actions are then discussed, the overall implications of the information to fire management are summarized, and the major knowledge gaps are described.

Nevada↗
USGS1987

The National Geographic Names Data Base: Phase II instructions

The Geographic Names Information System is a computer-based information system developed to meet major national needs by providing information for named entities in the United States, its territories, and outlying areas. The National Geographic Names Data Base, a component of the Geographic Names Information System, currently contains most names and associated information recorded on the 1:24,000-scale (or largest scale available) topographic maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. The work involved in this initial compilation of names shown on the topographic-map series, and the development and editing of the National Geographic Names Data Base, is referred to as Phase I. Optimal use and effectiveness of an automated names system require that the names of features not recorded on topographic maps be added. The systematic collection of names from other sources, including maps, charts, and texts, is termed Phase II. In addition, specific types of features not compiled during Phase I are encoded and added to the data base. Other names of importance to researchers and users, such as historical and variant names, are also included. The rules and procedures for Phase II research, compilation, and encoding are contained in this publication.

Circular↗
USGS2015

Landsat—Earth observation satellites

Since 1972, Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images of the Earth’s land surface, providing data that serve as valuable resources for land use/land change research. The data are useful to a number of applications including forestry, agriculture, geology, regional planning, and education. Landsat is a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA develops remote sensing instruments and the spacecraft, then launches and validates the performance of the instruments and satellites. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation of the satellites, in addition to managing all ground reception, data archiving, product generation, and data distribution. The result of this program is an unprecedented continuing record of natural and human-induced changes on the global landscape.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2023

Assessing the value and usage of data management planning and data management plans within the U.S. Geological Survey

As of 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fundamental Science Practices require data management plans (DMPs) for all USGS and USGS-funded research. The USGS Science Data Management Branch of the Science Analytics and Synthesis Program has been working to help the USGS (Bureau) meet this requirement. However, USGS researchers still encounter common data management-related challenges that may be reduced or eliminated by better planning. In 2021, USGS staff were given a series of surveys aimed to better understand current data management planning practices, perceptions, and needs. The survey results indicated that adoption and integration of data management planning and DMPs into USGS research project workflows are broad, if inconsistent, across USGS Science Centers and programs. The USGS Science Data Management Branch can help improve clarity and guidance on the purpose, intended audience, content, workflows, and evaluation processes for DMPs. It would also be beneficial to provide additional supporting cyberinfrastructure to support DMP activities. Survey responses indicated it would be beneficial for the Science Data Management Branch to develop a strategy, other than through DMPs, for teaching and encouraging good data management practices. Although these surveys were an opportunity for USGS staff to provide feedback on their experiences, the surveys may also have revealed the desire for more frequent evaluations, cross-disciplinary communication, and training on research data management and DMP development and integration, in the context of USGS policy, Fundamental Science Practices requirements, and overall Bureau expectations. Data management-related roles such as data manager or steward, information technologist, and repository manager may need to be formally recognized as skilled professional career positions within the Bureau. At a minimum, the best practice for USGS would be to create and maintain DMPs as living documents, integrated with existing systems that are broadly accessible to all stakeholders, and include quantitatively measurable benefits tied directly to a clearly defined purpose.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2025

Insights and strategic opportunities from the USGS 2024 Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Interagency Workshop

Introduction In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published Circular 1490 titled, “Integrated Science for the Study of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the Environment: A Strategic Science Vision for the U.S. Geological Survey” (Tokranov and others, 2021). Circular 1490 was created to be a resource for USGS scientists prioritizing and planning research related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and to be a guide for developing partnerships with other scientists, State and Federal agencies, and stakeholders engaged in PFAS research and management and mitigation of the environmental and human-health effects of PFAS. This USGS PFAS Strategic Science Vision document was intended to be the foundation for a “living strategic vision,” periodically providing updates on the state of USGS PFAS research, emerging PFAS data gaps and needs, and progress on interagency and stakeholder PFAS partnerships and priorities. To meet this objective, the USGS planned to host an Interagency and Stakeholder PFAS Workshop every 2–3 years. During September 10–12, 2024, the USGS hosted the first Interagency and Stakeholder PFAS Workshop in Reston, Virginia. The Workshop brought together experts from other Federal agencies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense [Air Force, Army]), State agencies (Washington Fish and Wildlife, Virginia Department of Transportation), and academia (Harvard University, University of Maryland) to address key challenges relating to the measurement and modeling of PFAS and the implications for environmental health. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions centered around six pivotal topics related to PFAS: (1) sampling protocols, methods and interpretation; (2) environmental sources, source apportionment, and occurrence; (3) environmental fate and transport; (4) human and wildlife exposure routes and risk; (5) bioconcentration, bioaccumulation, and biomagnification; and (6) ecotoxicology and effects. Each topic had three breakout sessions. A recurrent theme of workshop discussions was how data on a nationwide scale for PFAS occurrence in various environmental matrices, including air, water, food crops, biota, soil, and streambed sediment could help to advance scientific understanding. Participants noted significant geospatial data gaps, particularly in the midwestern and southern United States and the Pacific Northwest. PFAS data collection tends to be more robust along the eastern seaboard and in California. Participants stressed how enhancing the integration of large and small datasets across various agencies could help to support national scale understanding of PFAS. To address these gaps, attendees suggested leveraging datasets from Federal entities like the USGS and the U.S. Department of Defense, State agencies, and municipal utility services to develop predictive contaminant detection and transport models. Improved coordination between water quality programs and USGS research could help to facilitate access to valuable data, leading to comprehensive databases that inform PFAS point (wastewater treatment plants and landfills) and nonpoint (runoff from land, atmospheric deposition, food packaging) sources, environmental transport mechanisms, environmental detection and concentrations, potential exposure routes, and health effects on different biota, including humans. A specific request was made to develop a map demarking the depth of modern (1953 or later) groundwater, which is susceptible to surface-derived anthropogenic (that is, human-made) contamination, based on tritium-age dating. Emphasis was placed on incorporation of hydrology, groundwater flow paths, groundwater–surface water interactions, and landscape factors in predictive statistical models as a step to improve contaminant source identification and tracking. Molecular fingerprinting approaches garnered attention as techniques to link specific PFAS mixtures detected in a sample to environmental sources and levels in biota (Dávila-Santiago and others, 2022). Integrating data from abiotic (that is, water, soil, and air) and biotic (that is, living organisms) systems identified as a research opportunity. For example, understanding the composition of soils and sediments, which include a mixture of mineral, plant, and animal components, could advance understanding of exposure pathways. The discussions highlighted opportunities to explore and understand the potential redistribution and biotic exposures of PFAS from biosolid and wastewater treatment plant effluent land application practices, in addition to atmospheric releases and discharges from landfill and wastewater treatment plants. Participants identified research gaps surrounding how these sources may contribute to contamination and may affect surrounding ecosystems, including a better definition of anthropogenic background concentrations. Moving forward, the collection of co-occurrence data was noted as a means to improve understanding of complex mixtures and to leverage companion modeling efforts focused on areas with high and low contamination levels to identify areas of concern and unaffected resources. Participants emphasized how centralized USGS databases and the establishment of sample-metadata archives can help to ensure that samples are preserved and accessible for future research. In conclusion, the workshop participants identified opportunities to bridge data gaps and improve measurement techniques, modeling frameworks, databases, and communication, to enhance the understanding of PFAS and their effects on environmental and human health. Upon completion of the workshop, participants indicated an interest in developing strategic data collection, modeling, and analytical approaches to address these challenges.

Open-File Report↗