Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Environmental Technology”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,279 records · Page 71Linked to original sources
USGS2016

Molecular detection of airborne Coccidioides in Tucson, Arizona

Environmental surveillance of the soil-dwelling fungus Coccidioides is essential for the prevention of Valley fever, a disease primarily caused by inhalation of the arthroconidia. Methods for collecting and detecting Coccidioides in soil samples are currently in use by several laboratories; however, a method utilizing current air sampling technologies has not been formally demonstrated for the capture of airborne arthroconidia. In this study, we collected air/dust samples at two sites (Site A and Site B) in the endemic region of Tucson, Arizona, and tested a variety of air samplers and membrane matrices. We then employed a single-tube nested qPCR assay for molecular detection. At both sites, numerous soil samples ( n = 10 at Site A and n = 24 at Site B) were collected and Coccidioides was detected in two samples (20%) at Site A and in eight samples (33%) at Site B. Of the 25 air/dust samples collected at both sites using five different air sampling methods, we detected Coccidioides in three samples from site B. All three samples were collected using a high-volume sampler with glass-fiber filters. In this report, we describe these methods and propose the use of these air sampling and molecular detection strategies for environmental surveillance of Coccidioides .

Arizona↗
USGS2021

Linking climate niches across seasons to assess population vulnerability in a migratory bird

Global loss of biodiversity has placed new urgency on the need to understand factors regulating species response to rapid environmental change. While specialists are often less resilient to rapid environmental change than generalists, species-level analyses may obscure the extent of specialization when locally adapted populations vary in climate tolerances. Until recently, quantification of the degree of climate specialization in migratory birds below the species level was hindered by a lack of genomic and tracking information, but recent technological advances have helped to overcome these barriers. Here we take a genome-wide genetic approach to mapping population-specific migratory routes and quantifying niche breadth within genetically distinct populations of a migratory bird, the willow flycatcher ( Empidonax traillii ), which exhibits variation in the severity of population declines across its breeding range. While our sample size is restricted to the number of genetically distinct populations within the species, our results support the idea that locally adapted populations of the willow flycatcher with narrow climatic niches across seasons are already federally listed as endangered or in steep decline, while populations with broader climatic niches have remained stable in recent decades. Overall, this work highlights the value of quantifying niche breadth within genetically distinct groups across time and space when attempting to understand the factors that facilitate or constrain the response of locally adapted populations to rapid environmental change.

Global Change Biology↗
USGS2012

The U.S. Geological Survey Ecosystem Science Strategy, 2012-2022 - Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policy-makers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, state, tribal, territorial, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and non-renewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decision-making is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and well-being of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decision-makers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that USGS scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decision-makers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge. The strategy integrates ecosystem science and decision-making, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play an important role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the agency can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the DOI and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and its application. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework and vision for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected and reinforcing components: • Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. • Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. • Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. • Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decision-making about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. • Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: • Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. • Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. • Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. • Support decision-making. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct both discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role over the next decade in advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2022

Next-generation lampricides: A three-stage process to develop improved control tools for invasive sea lamprey

Successful integrated management of the invasive predatory sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America is owed largely to the long history of beneficial use of two lampricides: 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and 2′,5-dichloro-4′-nitrosalicylanilide (niclosamide). Ensuring continued successful sea lamprey control necessitates consideration of possible next-generation lampricides to supplement or replace current lampricides. This review identifies fifteen hallmarks of success for current lampricides to be used as design criteria in a search for next-generation lampricides. A three-stage research approach is outlined. Targeted research using omics, computer modelling, and high-throughput technology to define molecular mechanisms and high probability molecular targets for sea lamprey selective toxic action is crucial to prioritizing chemical candidates. Targeted delivery or identifying synergists to existing or new lampricides can provide increased efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Ultimate development of next-generation lampricides will rely on traditional toxicity testing methodologies to ensure safety and regulatory compliance.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences↗
USGS2015

A call for conservation scientists to evaluate opportunities and risks from operation of vertical axis wind turbines

A new conservation paradigm ( Kareiva and Marvier, 2012 ) emphasizes the need for scientists to embrace a holistic approach taking into account the social and natural dimensions of conservation in human-dominated landscapes. While there is heavy debate over the new approach ( Tallis and Lubchenco, 2014 ), most conservation scientists seem to agree on to the need to cooperate with corporations when such interaction can benefit people and the environment ( Miller et al., 2014 ; Tallis and Lubchenco, 2014 ). Cooperation can be most productive when established in the early phases of development, but this requires a high capacity for forward looking pre-emptive action (i.e., anticipating potential forthcoming issues before they arise; Sutherland and Woodroof, 2009 ). This framework is particularly salient for rapidly developing and expanding technologies such as those for harvesting renewable energy sources. Here the stakes are very high, as they concern mitigating negative consequences to global climate while generating energy without impacting wildlife. In this vein, past experience is instructional. The environmental impacts of biofuels and wind, among others, have been identified and evaluated rather late ( Sutherland and Woodroof, 2009 ), so that implementation of best management practices on existing facilities is now often prohibitively expensive.

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution↗
USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey ecosystems science strategy—Advancing discovery and application through collaboration

Executive Summary Ecosystem science is critical to making informed decisions about natural resources that can sustain our Nation’s economic and environmental well-being. Resource managers and policymakers are faced with countless decisions each year at local, regional, and national levels on issues as diverse as renewable and nonrenewable energy development, agriculture, forestry, water supply, and resource allocations at the urban-rural interface. The urgency for sound decisionmaking is increasing dramatically as the world is being transformed at an unprecedented pace and in uncertain directions. Environmental changes are associated with natural hazards, greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing demands for water, land, food, energy, mineral, and living resources. At risk is the Nation’s environmental capital, the goods and services provided by resilient ecosystems that are vital to the health and wellbeing of human societies. Ecosystem science—the study of systems of organisms interacting with their environment and the consequences of natural and human-induced change on these systems—is necessary to inform decisionmakers as they develop policies to adapt to these changes. This Ecosystems Science Strategy is built on a framework that includes basic and applied science. It highlights the critical roles that U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists and partners can play in building scientific understanding and providing timely information to decisionmakers. The strategy underscores the connection between scientific discoveries and the application of new knowledge, and it integrates ecosystem science and decisionmaking, producing new scientific outcomes to assist resource managers and providing public benefits. We envision the USGS as a leader in integrating scientific information into decisionmaking processes that affect the Nation’s natural resources and human well-being. The USGS is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in ecosystem science. With its wide range of expertise, the Bureau can bring holistic, cross-scale, interdisciplinary capabilities to the design and conduct of monitoring, research, and modeling and to new technologies for data collection, management, and visualization. Collectively, these capabilities can be used to reveal ecological patterns and processes, explain how and why ecosystems change, and forecast change over different spatial and temporal scales. USGS science can provide managers with options and decision-support tools to use resources sustainably. The USGS has long-standing, collaborative relationships with the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other partners in the natural sciences, in both conducting science and applying the results. The USGS engages these partners in cooperative investigations that otherwise would lack the necessary support or be too expensive for a single bureau to conduct. The heart of this strategy is a framework for USGS ecosystems science that focuses on five long-term goals, which are seen as interconnected components that reinforce our vision of the USGS providing science that is at the forefront of decisionmaking: Improve understanding of ecosystem structure, function, and processes. The focus for this goal is an understanding of how ecosystems work, including the dynamics of species, their populations, interactions, and genetics, and how they change across spatial and temporal scales. Advance understanding of how drivers influence ecosystem change. The challenges here are explaining the drivers of ecosystem change, their spatio-temporal patterns, their uncertainties and interactions, and their influence on ecosystem processes and dynamics. Improve understanding of the services that ecosystems provide to society. Here the emphasis is on the measurement of environmental capital and ecosystem services, and the identification of sources and patterns of change in space and time. Develop tools, technologies, and capacities to inform decisionmaking about ecosystems. This includes developing new technologies and approaches for conducting applications-oriented ecosystem science. A principal challenge will be how to quantify uncertainty and incorporate it in decision analysis. Apply science to enhance strategies for management, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems. These challenges include development of novel approaches to monitoring, assessment, and restoration of ecosystems; new methods to address species of concern and communities at risk; and innovations in decision analysis and support to address imminent ecosystem changes or those that are underway. Closely integrated with the five goals are four strategic approaches that provide the path forward for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area. These approaches cross-cut all of the goals and are seen as essential to the implementation of this strategy: Assess information needs for ecosystem science through enhanced partnerships. Work with the DOI and other agencies and institutions to identify, design, and implement priority decision-driven ecological research. Promote the use of interdisciplinary ecosystem science. Design and conduct interdisciplinary process-oriented research in ecosystem science. Enhance modeling and forecasting. Build models to forecast ecosystem change, assess future management scenarios, and reduce uncertainties through an adaptive learning process. Support decisionmaking. Use quantitative approaches to assess the vulnerabilities of ecosystems, habitats, and species, and evaluate strategies for adaptation, restoration, and sustainable management. Following the four strategic approaches are a set of proposed actions that represent a sampling of specific USGS activities that align with this strategy and that address the Nation’s most pressing environmental needs. The strategy emphasizes coordination of activities across the USGS mission areas pursuant to these goals. Ecosystem science is inherently interdisciplinary and requires a broad perspective that incorporates the biological and physical sciences, climate science, information technology, and scientific capacity in mission areas across the Bureau. With its emphasis on coordination, this strategy can provide a critical underpinning for integrated science efforts with scientists from multiple mission areas of the USGS working together. Of course, the USGS will continue to conduct discipline-specific and interdisciplinary investigations, and both will continue to be vital parts of the ecosystem science portfolio. Finally, the strategy stresses the importance of coordination with other Federal agencies and organizations in the natural resources community. The USGS collaborates with resource agencies in the DOI and other organizations throughout the world to meet societal needs for species and ecosystem management. Working with these agencies and organizations, the USGS will play a key role in guiding sound decisionmaking during the next decade by advancing the scientific foundation for sustaining the natural resources that diverse, productive, resilient ecosystems provide.

Circular↗
USGS2016

MODIS imagery improves pest risk assessment: A case study of wheat stem sawfly (Cephus cinctus, Hymenoptera: Cephidae) in Colorado, USA

Wheat stem sawfly ( Cephus cinctus Norton, Hymenoptera: Cephidae) has long been a significant insect pest of spring, and more recently, winter wheat in the northern Great Plains. Wheat stem sawfly was first observed infesting winter wheat in Colorado in 2010 and, subsequently, has spread rapidly throughout wheat production regions of the state. Here, we used maximum entropy modeling (MaxEnt) to generate habitat suitability maps in order to predict the risk of crop damage as this species spreads throughout the winter wheat-growing regions of Colorado. We identified environmental variables that influence the current distribution of wheat stem sawfly in the state and evaluated whether remotely sensed variables improved model performance. We used presence localities of C. cinctus and climatic, topographic, soils, and normalized difference vegetation index and enhanced vegetation index data derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery as environmental variables. All models had high performance in that they were successful in predicting suitable habitat for C. cinctus in its current distribution in eastern Colorado. The enhanced vegetation index for the month of April improved model performance and was identified as a top contributor to MaxEnt model. Soil clay percent at 0–5 cm, temperature seasonality, and precipitation seasonality were also associated with C. cinctus distribution in Colorado. The improved model performance resulting from integrating vegetation indices in our study demonstrates the ability of remote sensing technologies to enhance species distribution modeling. These risk maps generated can assist managers in planning control measures for current infestations and assess the future risk of C. cinctus establishment in currently uninfested regions.

Colorado↗
USGS2009

Groundwater restoration at uranium in-situ recovery mines, south Texas coastal plain

This talk was presented by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geologist Susan Hall on May 11, 2009, at the Uranium 2009 conference in Keystone, Colorado, and on May 12, 2009, as part of an underground injection control track presentation at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Environmental Trade Fair and Conference in Austin, Texas. Texas has been the location of the greatest number of uranium in-situ recovery (ISR) mines in the United States and was the incubator for the development of alkaline leach technology in this country. For that reason, the author chose to focus on the effectiveness of restoration at ISR mines by examining legacy mines developed in Texas. The best source for accurate information about restoration at Texas ISR mines is housed at the TCEQ offices in Austin. The bulk of this research is an analysis of those records.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1973

Problems of underground storage of wastes

Problems of underground storage of waste involve geology in its broadest sense, including hydrology, geochemistry, and geophysics. Wastes may be solid, liquid, or gaseous, and they may be chemically toxic or noxious, esthetically offensive, or radioactive. Some wastes require only temporary containment, whereas others must be isolated for indefinitely long periods. The means and locale for emplacement underground depend upon many governing geological factors, including the physical, chemical, hydrological, and hydraulic properties of the host formation. These must be studied relative to the physical, chemical, and thermal properties of the waste and of potential interactions between the waste and the host formation. Thorough knowledge is essential because lack of it may lead to undesirable or disastrous environmental consequences. Escape of waste may contaminate the surface or near-surface environment; it may destroy the usefulness or accessibility of resources such as ground water, petroleum, and minerals. Effective management of underground waste requires adaptation of current technology and development of new technology.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS2026

Coastal development

As a focal point of global urbanization, the coastal zone faces multiple pressures from human activities, land-sea interactions and natural disasters. Over the past five years, population, communities and infrastructure in coastal zones have consistently grown, alongside gradual economic recovery. Coastal pollution has become more complex owing to climate change and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, necessitating enhanced monitoring and control measures. Public participation has been diversified but still faces difficulties in awareness-raising, policy strengthening, equity and comprehensiveness. For the coastal zone, integrated management will continue to be needed in order to achieve a balance between economic performance and ecological environment. Climate change will be a key factor to consider in every aspect of coastal zone development. To build inclusive, safe and disaster-resilient communities while reducing negative environmental impacts and achieving a sustainable coastal economy, greater emphasis must be placed on green-grey infrastructure, ecosystem-based approaches, institutional integration and sociocultural aspects. In addition, urgent breakthroughs are needed in areas such as data collection, technology synthesis, integrated land-sea management, transboundary cooperation and policies and technical innovations related to natural and nature-based features and nature-based solutions.

Report↗
USGS2022

Global genetic diversity status and trends: Towards a suite of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) for genetic composition

Biodiversity underlies ecosystem resilience, ecosystem function, sustainable economies, and human well-being. Understanding how biodiversity sustains ecosystems under anthropogenic stressors and global environmental change will require new ways of deriving and applying biodiversity data. A major challenge is that biodiversity data and knowledge are scattered, biased, collected with numerous methods, and stored in inconsistent ways. The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) has developed the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as fundamental metrics to help aggregate, harmonize, and interpret biodiversity observation data from diverse sources. Mapping and analyzing EBVs can help to evaluate how aspects of biodiversity are distributed geographically and how they change over time. EBVs are also intended to serve as inputs and validation to forecast the status and trends of biodiversity, and to support policy and decision making. Here, we assess the feasibility of implementing Genetic Composition EBVs (Genetic EBVs), which are metrics of within-species genetic variation. We review and bring together numerous areas of the field of genetics and evaluate how each contributes to global and regional genetic biodiversity monitoring with respect to theory, sampling logistics, metadata, archiving, data aggregation, modeling, and technological advances. We propose four Genetic EBVs: ( i ) Genetic Diversity; ( ii ) Genetic Differentiation; ( iii ) Inbreeding; and ( iv ) Effective Population Size ( N e ). We rank Genetic EBVs according to their relevance, sensitivity to change, generalizability, scalability, feasibility and data availability. We outline the workflow for generating genetic data underlying the Genetic EBVs, and review advances and needs in archiving genetic composition data and metadata. We discuss how Genetic EBVs can be operationalized by visualizing EBVs in space and time across species and by forecasting Genetic EBVs beyond current observations using various modeling approaches. Our review then explores challenges of aggregation, standardization, and costs of operationalizing the Genetic EBVs, as well as future directions and opportunities to maximize their uptake globally in research and policy. The collection, annotation, and availability of genetic data has made major advances in the past decade, each of which contributes to the practical and standardized framework for large-scale genetic observation reporting. Rapid advances in DNA sequencing technology present new opportunities, but also challenges for operationalizing Genetic EBVs for biodiversity monitoring regionally and globally. With these advances, genetic composition monitoring is starting to be integrated into global conservation policy, which can help support the foundation of all biodiversity and species' long-term persistence in the face of environmental change. We conclude with a summary of concrete steps for researchers and policy makers for advancing operationalization of Genetic EBVs. The technical and analytical foundations of Genetic EBVs are well developed, and conservation practitioners should anticipate their increasing application as efforts emerge to scale up genetic biodiversity monitoring regionally and globally.

Biological Reviews↗
USGS1999

Importance of microscopy in durability studies of solidified and stabilized contaminated soils

Solidification/stabilization (S/S) is recognized by the U.S. EPA as a best demonstrated available technology for the containment of contaminated soils and other hazardous wastes that cannot be destroyed by chemical, thermal, or biological means. Despite the increased use of S/S technologies, little research has been conducted on the weathering and degradation of solidified and stabilized wastes once the treated materials have been buried. Published data to verify the performance and durability of landfilled treated wastes over time are rare. In this preliminary study, optical and electron microscopy (scanning electron microscopy [SEM], transmission electron microscopy [TEM] and electron probe microanalyses [EPMA]) were used to evaluate weathering features associated with metal-bearing contaminated soil that had been solidified and stabilized with Portland cement and subsequently buried on site, stored outdoors aboveground, or achieved in a laboratory warehouse for up to 6 yr. Physical and chemical alteration processes identified include: freeze-thaw cracking, cracking caused by the formation of expansive minerals such as ettringite, carbonation, and the movement of metals from waste aggregates into the cement micromass. Although the extent of degradation after 6 yr is considered slight to moderate, results of this study show that the same environmental concerns that affect the durability of concrete must be considered when evaluating the durability and permanence of the solidification and stabilization of contaminated soils with cement. In addition, such evaluations cannot be based on leaching and chemical analyses alone. The use of all levels of microscopic analyses must be incorporated into studies of the long-term performance of S/S technologies.Solidification/stabilization (S/S) is recognized by the U.S. EPA as a best demonstrated available technology for the containment of contaminated soils and other hazardous wastes that cannot be destroyed by chemical, thermal, or biological means. Despite the increased use of S/S technologies, little research has been conducted on the weathering and degradation of solidified and stabilized wastes once the treated materials have been buried. Published data to verify the performance and durability of landfilled treated wastes over time are rare. In this preliminary study, optical and electron microscopy (scanning electron microscopy [SEM], transmission electron microscopy [TEM] and electron probe microanalyses [EPMA]) were used to evaluate weathering features associated with metal-bearing contaminated soil that had been solidified and stabilized with Portland cement and subsequently buried on site, stored outdoors aboveground, or archived in a laboratory, warehouse for up to 6 yr. Physical and chemical alteration processes identified include: freeze-thaw cracking, cracking caused by the formation of expansive minerals such as ettringite, carbonation, and the movement of metals from waste aggregates into the cement micromass. Although the extent of degradation after 6 yr is considered slight to moderate, results of this study show that the same environmental concerns that affect the durability of concrete must be considered when evaluating the durability and permanence of the solidification and stabilization of contaminated soils with cement. In addition, such evaluations cannot be based on leaching and chemical analyses alone. The use of all levels of microscopic analyses must be incorporated into studies of the long-term performance of S/S technologies.

Soil Science Society of America Journal↗
USGS2021

Microbial and viral indicators of pathogens and human health risks from recreational exposure to waters impaired by fecal contamination

Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) (e.g., fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli , and enterococci) have been used for decades to monitor for and protect the public from waterborne pathogens from fecal contamination. However, FIB may not perform well at predicting the presence of waterborne pathogens or human health outcomes from recreational exposure to fecal-contaminated surface waters. Numerous factors can influence the relationship between FIB and pathogens or human health outcomes, including the source(s) of contamination, the type of pathogen(s) present, differences in the survival and behavior of FIB and pathogens in the wastewater conveyance and treatment process, and varying environmental conditions. As a result, different indicators, such as source-specific microbial source tracking (MST) markers and viral fecal indicators, have been used as possible surrogates to better approximate pathogen abundance and human health risks in recreational waters. The performance of these alternative indicators has been mixed, with some promise of viral indicators better approximating viral pathogens than bacterial fecal indicators, and FIB generally more closely associated with bacterial and protozoal pathogen presence than human MST markers. Many of the assays to detect and quantify fecal indicators and pathogens are polymerase chain reaction-based assays, which detect and quantify nucleic acid [deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA)] sequences specific to a target of interest. Recent advances in DNA and RNA sequencing technologies may push the field toward metabarcoding approaches, where multiple targets can be detected and quantified simultaneously. Metabarcoding is currently more applicable to bacterial and protozoal assessments than viral assessments based on a lack of universal metabarcoding markers for viruses. Innovative technologies, such as biosensors and nanotechnologies, may provide more sensitive and accurate tools to detect and quantify pathogens. When a specific pathogen is of concern for a recreational water body, a practical approach in estimating the likelihood of human health outcomes is the application of quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRAs). Quantitative microbial risk assessments can be used to model the likelihood of pathogen-specific human health outcomes from recreational exposure as a function of a surrogate indicator. Inputs for QMRAs include the ratio between the indicator to be monitored and the pathogen of interest, the concentration of the indicator, the amount of water ingested, and the likelihood of the health outcome based on the estimated amount of pathogen consumed. There are numerous unknowns about the behavior and survival of fecal indicators and pathogens in environmental waters. Developing accurate models to predict pathogen concentrations from fecal indicators in recreational waters will require a better understanding of these unknowns. Current methods and technologies for detecting and quantifying fecal indicators and pathogens are limited due to the rare and patchy nature of pathogens. Technological advances may help improve sensitivity for detecting and quantifying pathogens.

Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environm↗
USGS2022

The global environmental agenda urgently needs a semantic web of knowledge

Progress in key social-ecological challenges of the global environmental agenda (e.g., climate change, biodiversity conservation, Sustainable Development Goals) is hampered by a lack of integration and synthesis of existing scientific evidence. Facing a fast-increasing volume of data, information remains compartmentalized to pre-defined scales and fields, rarely building its way up to collective knowledge. Today's distributed corpus of human intelligence, including the scientific publication system, cannot be exploited with the efficiency needed to meet current evidence synthesis challenges; computer-based intelligence could assist this task. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based approaches underlain by semantics and machine reasoning offer a constructive way forward, but depend on greater understanding of these technologies by the science and policy communities and coordination of their use. By labelling web-based scientific information to become readable by both humans and computers, machines can search, organize, reuse, combine and synthesize information quickly and in novel ways. Modern open science infrastructure—i.e., public data and model repositories—is a useful starting point, but without shared semantics and common standards for machine actionable data and models, our collective ability to build, grow, and share a collective knowledge base will remain limited. The application of semantic and machine reasoning technologies by a broad community of scientists and decision makers will favour open synthesis to contribute and reuse knowledge and apply it toward decision making.

Environmental Evidence↗
USGS2019

Overhauling ocean spatial planning to improve marine megafauna conservation

Tracking data have led to evidence-based conservation of marine megafauna, but a disconnect remains between the many thousands of individual animals that have been tracked and the use of these data in conservation and management actions. Furthermore, the focus of most conservation efforts is within Exclusive Economic Zones despite the ability of these species to move thousands of kilometres across multiple national jurisdictions. To assist the goal of the United Nations General Assembly’s recent effort to negotiate a global treaty to conserve biodiversity on the high seas, we propose the development of a new frontier in dynamic marine spatial management. We argue that a global approach combining tracked movements of marine megafauna and human activities at-sea, and using existing and emerging technologies (e.g., through new tracking devices and big data approaches) can be applied to deliver near real-time diagnostics on existing risks and threats to mitigate global risks for marine megafauna. With technology developments over the next decade expected to catalyse the potential to survey marine animals and human activities in ever more detail and at global scales, the development of dynamic predictive tools based on near real-time tracking and environmental data will become crucial to address increasing risks. Such global tools for dynamic spatial and temporal management will, however, require extensive synoptic data updates and will be dependent on a shift to a culture of data sharing and open access. We propose a global mechanism to store and make such data available in near real-time, enabling a holistic view of space use by marine megafauna and humans that would significantly accelerate efforts to mitigate impacts and improve conservation and management of marine megafauna.

Frontiers in Marine Science↗
USGS2001

Effects of dissolved carbon dioxide on the physiology and behavior of fish artificial streams

A new technology for treating waters contaminated with acid mine drainage involves the dissolution of limestone particles using carbon dioxide at pressures above ambient. Because of the fish health risks associated with episodes of high carbon dioxide levels in treated waters, we subjected three species of fish, brook trout ( Salvelinus fontinalis ), slimy sculpin ( Cottus cognatus ), and blacknose dace ( Rhinichthys atratulus ), to 24 h exposures of elevated dissolved carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) at three levels, ranging from 1.0 (low) to 6.3 (high)%, under laboratory conditions. We measured blood physiological variables as well as behavior, including feeding responses, before, during, and after exposure. Physiological responses differed by species, but all species had elevated hematocrits after 1 h of exposure. Brook trout hematocrits were higher at medium and high levels of CO 2 than in a control group (0.0% CO 2 ) after 24 h of exposure. Slimy sculpin hematocrits were higher in medium- and high-level exposure groups than in controls after 1 h, but not after 24 h, of exposure. Blacknose dace hematocrits were higher in all three exposure groups than in controls after 1 h but only in medium-level exposure groups after 24 h. Brook trout plasma glucose was significantly higher in medium- and high-level exposure groups after 1 h, and in the high-level group after 24 h, than in controls. Slimy sculpin plasma glucose was not significantly different in elevated CO 2 exposure groups from that of controls throughout exposure. Branchial ventilation was significantly greater in all species at elevated CO 2 during exposure, indicating stress; however, no difference was observed between treatment and control groups of blacknose dace after 24 h, indicating acclimation. Pectoral fin beats and cough rates were not consistently related to CO 2 exposure throughout the study. Brook trout had the longest lasting reaction to stress at lower levels of CO 2 among the three species tested. Many of the 11 observed behavioral variables, related to swimming, feeding, social, and illness factors, were affected by elevations of dissolved CO 2 . Two to seven behavioral variables (18–64% of those measured) were affected by treatment level of dissolved CO 2 with a trend by species for the number of variables affected: brook trout>blacknose dace>slimy sculpin. However, behavioral sensitivity to treatment level was greatest in blacknose dace. Recovery to pre-treatment activity rates for most behavior patterns (including feeding) was observed 24 h after cessation of exposure in all three species. Recovery was independent of treatment level, was most rapid in blacknose dace, and was slowest in brook trout. Overall, slimy sculpin was least affected behaviorally by elevated CO 2 . Although all three species showed stress response and changes in behavior at moderate levels of CO 2 (≥2%), brook trout and blacknose dace showed evidence of ability to avoid harmful CO 2 levels by swimming out of affected waters, whereas the slimy sculpin showed minimal behavioral changes despite remaining in place during exposure. Thus, predation risk and other sources of mortality seem minimal in the event of technological malfunction at a stream treatment site involving the use of CO 2 under pressure.

Environmental Toxicology↗
USGS2024

Observing systems, modeling, and forecasting

Predicting harmful algal blooms (HABs) requires integrating physical, chemical, and biological data collected from observing networks and then assimilating these data into models, which are used to generate forecasts. In 2005, the Harmful Algal Research and Response: A National Environmental Science Strategy 2005-2015 (HARRNESS, 2005) made recommendations on how to improve HAB modeling and forecasting over the next decade. Key HARRNESS recommendations related to sensing, networking, and modeling HABs included: ● Support the development and validation of new and improved technologies for remote cell and toxin detection, and for modeling and forecasting, ● Improve coordination of monitoring/ and modeling efforts, both at national and regional levels, ● Improve the use of networking technologies for monitoring and modeling efforts, ● Conduct sustained time series measurements of the biotic, chemical, and physical environments impacted by HABs, ● Develop food web models on the ecosystem fate and effects of toxins, ● Develop and improve species-specific models that link to physical-biological models. Here we review HAB observing, modeling, and forecasting advances and technologies and recommend research and management priorities for the next decade and beyond. Our report encompasses sensing technologies, sensor networking and data management, models and forecasts, and the paths to operationalize forecasts. Continued improvements of deployable sensors are foundational to improving early warning indicators, models, and forecasts, which are only as good as the underlying data. Sensing technology has advanced considerably in the last decade; for example, more capable fluorometric pigment sensors can track changes in bloom biomass in real-time. Additionally, automated imaging/classifying systems to identify and quantify key harmful algal (HA) taxa are being routinely deployed. However, deployable toxin sensors are available for only some HAB toxins and continue to be identified as a critical need by researchers and managers. As more and improved sensors and technologies become available, the data quality associated with each sensor needs to be assessed. Data quality encompasses the reliability, accuracy, and uncertainty associated with sensor-generated data. These data need to be of known quality so that researchers, managers, and end-users can reliably determine if the information is appropriate for their intended applications. Many of the data quality recommendations from HARRNESS (2005) are still relevant and have been reiterated within the management community. Understanding and documenting data quality, and when applicable, standardizing best practices for sensor use, continue to be recommended.

Report↗
USGS1983

Reclamation of mined lands in the western coal region

In 1978, a group of scientists from several Federal agencies examined reclamation work at 22 coal mines in seven western States. The results of these examinations were not used to derive quantitative predictions of the outcome of reclamation work but rather to determine the general requirements for revegetation success. Locally, reclamation efforts are affected by climate, especially precipitation; the landform of the restored surface; the nature of the overburden material; the nature of the surface soil; and the natural ecological system. The goals of reclamation efforts are now broader than ever. Regulations call not only for reducing the steepness of the final surface and establishing a cover of mostly perennial native vegetation, but for restoring the land for specific land uses, achieving diversity both in types of plants and in number of species, and reintroduction of biological and ecological processes. If specific sites are monitored over a long enough period of time, quantitative predictions of success for individual mines may be possible, and such predictions can be included in environmental impact statements to help in the decision-making process. The results of this study indicate that current reclamation objectives can be met when the reclamation effort is designed on the basis of site-specific needs and when existing technology is used.

Circular↗