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

USGS2016

Assessing range-wide habitat suitability for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken

Population declines of many wildlife species have been linked to habitat loss incurred through land-use change. Incorporation of conservation planning into development planning may mitigate these impacts. The threatened Lesser Prairie-Chicken ( Tympanuchus pallidicinctus ) is experiencing loss of native habitat and high levels of energy development across its multijurisdictional range. Our goal was to explore relationships of the species occurrence with landscape characteristics and anthropogenic effects influencing its distribution through evaluation of habitat suitability associated with one particular habitat usage, lekking. Lekking has been relatively well-surveyed, though not consistently, in all jurisdictions. All five states in which Lesser Prairie-Chickens occur cooperated in development of a Maxent habitat suitability model. We created two models, one with state as a factor and one without state. When state was included it was the most important predictor, followed by percent of land cover consisting of known or suspected used vegetation classes within a 5000 m area around a lek. Without state, land cover was the most important predictor of relative habitat suitability for leks. Among the anthropogenic predictors, landscape condition, a measure of human impact integrated across several factors, was most important, ranking third in importance without state. These results quantify the relative suitability of the landscape within the current occupied range of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. These models, combined with other landscape information, form the basis of a habitat assessment tool that can be used to guide siting of development projects and targeting of areas for conservation.

Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas↗

USGS2022

Characterization of and relations among precipitation, streamflow, suspended-sediment, and water-quality data at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, water years 2016–18

Frequent and prolonged military training maneuvers are an intensive type of land use that may disturb land cover, compact soils, and have lasting effects on adjacent stream hydrology and ecosystems. To better understand the potential effect of military training on hydrologic and environmental processes, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army established hydrologic and water-quality data-collection networks at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson (AGFC) in 1978 and at the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) in 1982. The purpose of this report is to present precipitation, streamflow, suspended-sediment, and water-quality data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey at the AGFC and PCMS for water years (WYs) 2016–18 and to evaluate those data in relation to long-term data from the AGFC and PCMS. In WYs 2016–18, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored 26 sites on the AGFC and 17 sites on the PCMS for precipitation amount, streamflow, suspended sediment, and (or) water quality. On the AGFC, total annual precipitation in WYs 2016–18 was larger than the long-term mean for all 3 years at Rod and Gun Meteorologic Station at Fort Carson, CO (Rod and Gun). There were statistically significant upward trends in annual precipitation at Rod and Gun and Young Hollow Meteorologic Station at Fort Carson, CO (Young Hollow) with slopes of 1.25 and 0.66 inches per year (in/yr), respectively. The precipitation totals for WY 2017 were either the largest on record or in the top three for both sites and at Sullivan Park Meteorologic Station at Fort Carson, CO. On the PCMS, total annual precipitation was larger than the long-term mean in WYs 2016–18 at Brown Sheep Camp Meteorologic Station near Tyrone, CO; CIG Pipeline South Meteorologic Station near Simpson, CO; Bear Springs Hills Meteorologic Station near Houghton, CO (Bear Springs); and Upper Red Rock Canyon Meteorologic Station near Houghton, CO (Upper Red Rock). There were statistically significant upward trends in precipitation at Bear Springs and Upper Red Rock with slopes of 0.16 and 0.19 in/yr, respectively. The precipitation totals for WY 2017 were the largest on record for all sites except for Upper Bent Canyon Meteorological Station near Delhi, CO. Streamflow was calculated at 18 sites on the AGFC and 7 sites on the PCMS in at least 1 of WYs 2016–18. At AGFC, mean annual (or seasonal) streamflow in WYs 2016–18 was less than the long-term mean at 7 sites and greater than the long-term mean at 3 sites. There were statistically significant downward trends in mean annual or seasonal streamflow at Womack Ditch from Little Fountain Creek near Fort Carson, CO, and Ripley Ditch from Little Fountain Creek at Fort Carson, CO, with slopes of −0.036 and −0.028 cubic feet per second per year (ft 3 /s/y), respectively; and a significant upward trend in streamflow at Turkey Creek West Seepage below Teller Reservoir near Stone City, CO, with a slope of less than 0.001 ft 3 /s/y. Unlike for precipitation, the mean annual or seasonal streamflow for WY 2017 was not in the top 3 for any of the 12 sites with measured flow. At the PCMS, mean annual (or seasonal) streamflow was less than the long-term mean streamflow in WYs 2016–18 at the Taylor Arroyo below Rock Crossing near Thatcher, CO, and Bent Canyon Creek at Mouth near Timpas, CO, sites; and in WYs 2016 and 2018 at the Purgatoire River near Thatcher, CO (Purgatoire Thatcher), and Purgatoire River at Rock Crossing near Timpas, CO (Purgatoire Rock Crossing). There were no statistically significant trends in mean annual (or seasonal) streamflow at sites on the PCMS, and unlike for precipitation, the mean streamflow for WY 2017 was not in the top three for any sites except Purgatoire Rock Crossing. In WYs 2016–18, streamflow from sites on the AGFC and PCMS represented only a small fraction of streamflow in Fountain Creek or the Purgatoire River, and changes in streamflow that resulted from military maneuvers on the AGFC and PCMS were not likely to be detected in the downstream receiving waters. Suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and yields for WYs 2016–18, were analyzed at two sites on the AGFC and five sites on the PCMS. On the AGFC, mean seasonal suspended-sediment concentrations ranged from 3.10 to 155 milligrams per liter (mg/L), mean seasonal suspended-sediment loads ranged from 0.04 to 27.1 tons per day (t/d), and seasonal suspended-sediment yields ranged from 0.28 to 216 tons per season per square mile (t/s/mi 2 ). Suspended-sediment yields at the two AGFC sites in WYs 2016–18 were all less than the long-term means. On the PCMS, mean seasonal suspended-sediment concentrations (at sites with some streamflow during a WY) ranged from 1.12 to 41.8 mg/L, mean suspended-sediment loads ranged from 0.01 to 13.1 t/d, and seasonal suspended-sediment yields ranged from 0.06 to 57.4 t/s/mi 2 . Suspended-sediment yields at the five PCMS sites in WYs 2016–18 were all less than the long-term means. In WYs 2016–18, mean daily suspended-sediment loads at Little Fountain were 1.3, 2.5, and 7.6 percent, respectively, of the mean daily suspended-sediment load at Fountain Creek at Security, Colorado. Likewise, the total of mean daily suspended-sediment loads from the five tributary sites to the Purgatoire River in WYs 2016–18 were about 0.25, 0.17, and 3.2 percent, respectively, of the historical mean daily suspended-sediment load at Purgatoire Thatcher. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the strength and form of the relations between daily total precipitation and daily mean streamflow and between daily mean streamflow and suspended-sediment concentration and load for WYs 2016–18. For the sites on the AGFC and PCMS, there were weak or statistically insignificant positive correlations between precipitation and streamflow at nearby streamgauges, but strong statistically significant positive correlations between streamflow and suspended-sediment concentration and load. The ephemeral nature of the streams, quantity and timing of precipitation, air temperature, seasonal soil-moisture deficits, and effective runoff detention in erosion-control ponds could all contribute to inconsistent conversion of precipitation to streamflow. Water-quality data were analyzed for as many as 43 parameters from 9 samples collected from 3 sites on the AGFC and from 37 samples collected from 4 sites on PCMS during WYs 2016–18. The concentrations of selected water-quality parameters were compared to regulatory standards for aquatic life from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) or aquatic-life criteria from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There is at least 1 CDPHE standard or EPA criterion for 30 of the 43 water-quality parameters. For all samples from both the AGFC and the PCMS in WYs 2016–18, the concentrations of most water-quality parameters were compliant with the associated standards or criteria. However, there were some exceedances of standards or criteria: 11 samples exceeded the CDPHE recreational class standard for Escherichia coli concentration, 9 samples exceeded the CDPHE chronic unfiltered phosphorus aquatic-life standard, 36 samples exceeded the CDPHE chronic sulfate aquatic-life standard, 5 samples exceeded the EPA criterion for selenium, 7 samples exceeded the EPA criterion for aluminum, 2 samples exceeded the CDPHE chronic standard for iron, and 15 samples exceeded the CDPHE chronic standard for manganese. Identifying potential effects of military training on water quality in adjacent streams on the AGFC and PCMS is difficult due to the ephemeral nature of streamflow, limited number of sampling locations and samples, and limited access to the study areas. At the PCMS, pairs of water-quality samples were collected in March and May 2017 before and after an April–May 2017 military training event. At the Purgatoire Rock Crossing site, streamflow at the time of the May sample was approximately 35 times larger than streamflow for the March sample. The absolute percent differences of concentrations for 27 parameters ranged from −71.7 to 183 percent, and 7 parameters had increases in concentration whereas 22 parameters had no change or decreases in concentrations. The absolute percent differences of loads for 24 parameters ranged from 141 to 198 percent. The generally lower concentrations and higher loads were expected given the higher streamflows at the time of collection of the May compared to the March samples.

Colorado↗

USGS1997

NDVI, C3 and C4 production, and distributions in Great Plains grassland land cover classes

The distributions of C 3 and C 4 grasses were used to interpret the distribution, seasonal performance, and potential production of grasslands in the Great Plains of North America. Thirteen major grassland seasonal land cover classes were studied with data from three distinct sources. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data derived from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor were collected for each pixel over a 5-yr period (1989–1993), analyzed for quantitative attributes and seasonal relationships, and then aggregated by land cover class. Data from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database were used to identify dominant plant species contributing to the potential production in each map unit. These species were identified as C 3 or C 4 , and contributions to production were aggregated to provide estimates of the percentage of C 3 and C 4 production for each intersection of the STATSGO map units and the seasonal land cover classes. Carbon isotope values were obtained at specific sites from the soil organic matter of the upper horizon of soil cores and were related to STATSGO estimates of potential production. The grassland classes were distributed with broad northwest-to-southeast orientations. Some classes had large variations in C 3 and C 4 composition with high proportions of C 4 species in the south and low proportions in the north. This diversity of photosynthetic types within land cover classes that cross regions of different temperature and precipitation results in similar seasonal patterns and magnitudes of NDVI. The easternmost class, 65, containing tallgrass prairie components, bluestem, Indiangrass, and switchgrass, possessed the highest maximum NDVI and time-integrated NDVI values each year. Grassland classes varied over 5 yr from a high integrated NDVI mean of 4.9 in class 65 in the east to a low of 1.2 in class 76 (sand sage, blue grama, wheatgrass, and buffalograss) in the southwest. Although environmental conditions varied widely during the 5 yr, the rankings of class performance were consistent across years for these NDVI metrics. Land cover classes were less consistent in time of onset, which was often earlier in areas in the north dominated by C 3 grasses than in areas to the south dominated by C 4 grasses. At the level of seasonal land cover classes, no significant relationship was found between the proportions of C 3 and C 4 species and estimates of potential production derived from the STATSGO database or inferred from the seasonal patterns of NDVI. The isotopic data from specific sites and the potential production data from STATSGO suggest similar patterns of high proportional production by C 4 species throughout the south and a decline in proportional production north of the central Great Plains. The land cover classes integrate ecosystem units that encompass a wide diversity of species and C 3 and C 4 proportions and provide a classification that consistently captures significant ecosystem parameters for the Great Plains.

Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, N↗

USGS1978

Preliminary applications of Landsat images and aerial photography for determining land-use, geologic, and hydrologic characteristics, Yampa River basin, Colorado and Wyoming

Expanded energy- and recreation-related activities in the Yampa River basin, Colorado and Wyoming, have caused a rapid increase in economic development which will result in increased demand and competition for natural resources. In planning for efficient allocation of the basin 's natural resources, Landsat images and small-scale color and color-infrared photographs were used for selected geologic, hydrologic and land-use applications within the Yampa River basin. Applications of Landsat data included: (1) regional land-use classification and mapping, (2) lineament mapping, and (3) areal snow-cover mapping. Results from the Landsat investigations indicated that: (1) Landsat land-use classification maps, at a regional level, compared favorably with areal land-use patterns that were defined from available ground information, (2) lineaments were mapped in sufficient detail using recently developed techniques for interpreting aerial photographs, (3) snow cover generally could be mapped for large areas with the exception of some densely forested areas of the basin and areas having a large percentage of winter-season cloud cover. Aerial photographs were used for estimation of turbidity for eight stream locations in the basin. Spectral reflectance values obtained by digitizing photographs were compared with measured turbidity values. Results showed strong correlations (variances explained of greater than 90 percent) between spectral reflectance obtained from color photographs and measured turbidity values. (Woodard-USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS2007

A simple daily soil-water balance model for estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater recharge in temperate humid areas

Quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of natural groundwater recharge is usually a prerequisite for effective groundwater modeling and management. As flow models become increasingly utilized for management decisions, there is an increased need for simple, practical methods to delineate recharge zones and quantify recharge rates. Existing models for estimating recharge distributions are data intensive, require extensive parameterization, and take a significant investment of time in order to establish. The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) has developed a simple daily soil-water balance (SWB) model that uses readily available soil, land cover, topographic, and climatic data in conjunction with a geographic information system (GIS) to estimate the temporal and spatial distribution of groundwater recharge at the watershed scale for temperate humid areas. To demonstrate the methodology and the applicability and performance of the model, two case studies are presented: one for the forested Trout Lake watershed of north central Wisconsin, USA and the other for the urban-agricultural Pheasant Branch Creek watershed of south central Wisconsin, USA. Overall, the SWB model performs well and presents modelers and planners with a practical tool for providing recharge estimates for modeling and water resource planning purposes in humid areas. ?? Springer-Verlag 2007.

Hydrogeology Journal↗

USGS2013

Overview of intercalibration of satellite instruments

Inter-calibration of satellite instruments is critical for detection and quantification of changes in the Earth’s environment, weather forecasting, understanding climate processes, and monitoring climate and land cover change. These applications use data from many satellites; for the data to be inter-operable, the instruments must be cross-calibrated. To meet the stringent needs of such applications requires that instruments provide reliable, accurate, and consistent measurements over time. Robust techniques are required to ensure that observations from different instruments can be normalized to a common scale that the community agrees on. The long-term reliability of this process needs to be sustained in accordance with established reference standards and best practices. Furthermore, establishing physical meaning to the information through robust Système International d'unités (SI) traceable Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) is essential to fully understand the parameters under observation. The processes of calibration, correction, stability monitoring, and quality assurance need to be underpinned and evidenced by comparison with “peer instruments” and, ideally, highly calibrated in-orbit reference instruments. Inter-calibration between instruments is a central pillar of the Cal/Val strategies of many national and international satellite remote sensing organizations. Inter-calibration techniques as outlined in this paper not only provide a practical means of identifying and correcting relative biases in radiometric calibration between instruments but also enable potential data gaps between measurement records in a critical time series to be bridged. Use of a robust set of internationally agreed upon and coordinated inter-calibration techniques will lead to significant improvement in the consistency between satellite instruments and facilitate accurate monitoring of the Earth’s climate at uncertainty levels needed to detect and attribute the mechanisms of change. This paper summarizes the state-of-the-art of post-launch radiometric calibration of remote sensing satellite instruments, through inter-calibration.

IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing↗

USGS2019

Estimating density and effective area surveyed for American woodcock

The American Woodcock ( Scolopax minor ; hereafter, woodcock) Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is conducted annually during the woodcock breeding season, and survey points along survey routes are set 0.4 mile (0.65 km) apart to avoid counting individual birds from >1 listening location. The effective area surveyed (EAS) at a listening point is not known, and may vary as a function of land-cover type or other factors. To define the relationship describing distance between vocalizing woodcock and an observer and how cover types influence that relationship, we broadcast a recording of woodcock vocalizations in 2 land-cover types (forest and field) at varying distance. We evaluated the proportion of call broadcasts detected as a function of distance and fit regression curves to detection data to estimate a distance (r*) where the area above the curve at distances <r* was equal to the area under the curve at distances >r*, which allowed determination of the radius of an area where detection probability was effectively 1.0. This EAS had a radius (r*) of 198 m for forest, 384 m for field, and 309 m for both of these land-cover types combined, and an estimated size of 12.3 ha for forest, 46.3 ha for field, and 30.0 ha for both land-cover types combined. We used this information to estimate density of displaying male woodcock based on counts from the SGS in east-central Minnesota that incorporated variation in EAS, probability of detection, survey date, and survey route. Our density estimates (5.0 birds/100 ha in 2009 and 7.1 birds/100 ha in 2010) represent the highest density of singing male American woodcock yet reported, and indicated a substantive increase in density between years.

Minnesota↗

USGS2021

Monitoring and assessing urban heat island variations and effects in the United States

Landsat surface temperature and land cover products have been used to estimate surface temperatures in urban and surrounding nonurban areas and to quantify urban heat island intensity. Understanding the intensity and long-term temporal trends of urban heat islands enables the heat-related health challenges associated with heat waves to be monitored and the effects for human health and ecosystems to be better understood.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2008

Mapping Land Use/Land Cover in the Ambos Nogales Study Area

The Ambos Nogales watershed, which surrounds the twin cities of Nogales, Arizona, United States and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, has a history of problems related to flooding. This paper describes the process of creating a high-resolution, binational land-cover dataset to be used in modeling the Ambos Nogales watershed. The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool will be used to model the Ambos Nogales watershed to identify focal points for planning efforts and to anticipate ramifications of implementing detention reservoirs at certain watershed planes.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2001

Assessment of water-quality conditions in the J.B. Converse Lake watershed, Mobile County, Alabama, 1990-98

J.B. Converse (Converse) Lake is a 3,600- acre, tributary-storage reservoir in Mobile County, southwestern Alabama. The lake serves as the primary drinking-water supply for the city of Mobile. The Converse Lake watershed lies within the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. Semiconsolidated to unconsolidated sediments of sand, silt, gravel, and clay underlie the watershed, and are covered by acidic soils. Land use in the watershed is mainly forest (64 percent) and agriculture (31 percent). Residential and commercial development account for only 1 percent of the total land use in the watershed. Converse Lake receives inflow from seven major tributaries. The greatest inflows are from Big Creek, Crooked Creek, and Hamilton Creek that had mean annual streamflows of 72.2, 19.4, and 25.0 cubic feet per second, respectively, for the period 1990 to 1998, which represents about 72 percent of the total annual streamflow to the lake. The total mean annual inflow to the lake is estimated to be about 163 cubic feet per second. In general, water quality in Converse Lake and its tributaries meets the criteria established by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for drinking-water supplies, whole-body contact, and aquatic life. The exceptions include acidic pH levels, iron and manganese levels above secondary or aesthetic criteria, and fecal bacterial levels in some tributaries above whole-body contact (swimmable) criteria. The pH levels throughout the watershed were commonly below the criteria level of 6.0, but this appears to have been a naturally occurring phenomenon caused by poorly buffered soil types, resistant sediments, and forested land use. Median iron and manganese levels were above aesthetic criteria levels of 300 and 50 micrograms per liter, respectively, in some tributaries. All tributary sites in the Converse Lake watershed had median and minimum dissolved-oxygen concentrations above the ADEM criteria level of 5 milligrams per liter except for Boggy Branch, which had a minimum dissolved-oxygen concentration of 3.7 milligrams per liter. The degree to which nutrient contributions from tributaries were causing nutrient enrichment and eutrophication in Converse Lake was assessed. Trend analysis detected little or no change in nutrient concentrations at the tributary and lake sites in the Converse Lake watershed from the 1991 to 1998 water years. Nutrient concentrations at most tributary sites exhibited a significant, positive relation with streamflow that indicated the dominant source of nutrient input to the watershed is from nonpoint contributions. From 1990 to 1998, computed mean annual loads of 75,400 kilograms of total nitrogen, 36,950 kilograms of total Kjeldahl nitrogen, 28,870 kilograms of total inorganic nitrogen, and 3,480 kilograms of total phosphorus were contributed to the lake by Big Creek, Hamilton Creek, and Crooked Creek combined. These mean annual loads of nutrients corresponded to borderline eutrophic/mesotrophic conditions in the lake. Of the combined loads, 62 percent of the total nitrogen, 70 percent of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen, 54 percent of the total inorganic nitrogen, and 47 percent of the total phosphorus originated from the forested subbasin of Big Creek. The more residential and agricultural subbasins of Crooked Creek and Hamilton Creek, however, yielded over twice the total phosphorus load per hectare of land use. Crooked and Hamilton Creek subbasins also had higher yields of the more bioavailable total inorganic nitrogen. A simplistic empirical model could not explain the relation between year-to-year nutrient contributions to Converse Lake from the tributaries and the lake’s ability to assimilate those contributions. The potential presence of pathogens in the lake and its tributaries was assessed based on fecal bacterial concentrations. Fecal bacterial concentrations at some tributary sites were above existing criteria for swimmable uses. Contributions of fecal bacteria from tributaries to the lake, however, did not appear to affect the lake because fecal bacterial concentrations at lake sites were one to two orders of magnitude lower than tributary sites and well below criteria levels. Juniper Creek had the highest fecal bacterial concentrations during the study. Trend analysis showed that flow-adjusted fecal streptococcus concentrations increased at Juniper Creek during the 8 years of data collection. Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected infrequently at sites in the lake and the raw-water intake during the monitoring effort. Most of the detections occurred during the summer months, but no clear relation between season and cyst density or cyst concentrations in the water supply can be established because of the infrequent detections. Naturally occurring organic carbon compounds derived from the decay of plant material on land were the major source of organic carbon in the Converse Lake watershed. Reactive organic carbon had a greater potential to form trihalomethanes as a result of chlorination during water treatment. In the lake, algae was considered an important source of organic carbon as indicated by strong, positive, statistically significant correlations among chlorophyll a, total organic carbon, and dissolved organic carbon. The algalderived organic carbon, however, was not considered the major source of the reactive organic carbon as indicated by the absence of significant statistical correlations between chlorophyll a, total organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nanometers, and trihalomethane-formation potential.

Alabama↗

USGS2018

Montane-breeding bird distribution and abundance across national parks of southwestern Alaska

Between 2004 and 2008, biologists conducted an inventory of breeding birds during May–June primarily in montane areas (>100 m above sea level) in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve (Aniakchak NMP), Katmai National Park and Preserve (Katmai NPP), and Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (Lake Clark NPP) in southwestern Alaska. Observers conducted 1,021 point counts along 169 transects within 63 10-km × 10-km plots that were randomly selected and stratified by ecological subsection. We created hierarchical N-mixture models to estimate detection probability and abundance for 15 species, including 12 passerines, 2 galliforms, and 1 shorebird. We first modeled detection probability relative to observer, date within season, and proportion of dense vegetation cover around the point, then modeled abundance as a function of land cover composition (proportion of seven coarse-scale land cover types) within 300 m of the survey point. Land cover relationships varied widely among species but most showed selection for low to tall shrubs (0.2–5 m tall) and an avoidance of alpine and 2 dwarf shrub–herbaceous cover types. After adjusting for species not observed, we estimated a minimum of 107 ± 9 species bred in the areas surveyed within the three parks combined. Species richness was negatively associated with elevation and associated land cover types. At comparable levels of survey effort (n = 721 birds detected), species richness was greatest in Lake Clark NPP (75 ± 12 species), lowest in Aniakchak NMP (45 ± 6 species), and intermediate at Katmai NPP (59 ± 10 species). Species richness was similar at equivalent survey effort (n = 973 birds detected) within the Lime Hills, Alaska Range, and Alaska Peninsula ecoregions (68 ± 8; 79 ± 11; 67 ± 11, respectively). Species composition was similar across all three parks and across the three major ecoregions (Alaska Range, Alaska Peninsula, Lime Hills) that encompass them. Our results provide baseline estimates of relative abundance and models of abundance and species richness relative to land cover that can be used to assess future changes in avian distribution. Additionally, these subarctic montane parks may serve as signals of landscape change and barometers for the assessment of population and distributional changes as a result of warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns.

Alaska↗

USGS2015

Understanding natural capital

This chapter serves to introduce the geophysics of Neotropical steeplands. Topics are covered in a general manner with hyperlinks to active research and monitoring sites (such as the National Hurricane Center and US Geological Survey publication). Topics covered include ‘tropical climate and weather,’ ‘climate variations and trends,’ Neotropical ‘geology, and soils,’ ‘hillslopes and erosion,’ ‘lakes and reservoirs,’ and ‘effects of land cover on water quality and quantity.’ Obviously, this is a lot of information to cover in a short chapter, hence the use of hyperlinks. The last theme ‘effects of land cover on water quality and quantity’ is covered by case studies, in all of which I have been centrally involved. These studies were chosen because they are among the few studies with sufficient data of high enough quality to reach definitive conclusions.

Book chapter↗

USGS2026

The influence of tree canopy cover data choices on urban ecosystem accounting

Because urban landscapes are heterogeneous, the methods and spatial resolution used to depict the land surface greatly influence the representation of urban features. Land cover products such as tree canopy cover (TCC) are particularly sensitive to the methodology and resolution used in their creation. Differences in TCC mapping have implications on the outcomes of ecosystem service (ES) models, including those underlying natural capital accounting. Here, we quantify the sensitivity of physical rainfall interception and local climate regulation ES models for 189 U.S. cities to TCC inputs from four TCC products: a) National Land Cover Database (NLCD), b) Enhanced NLCD TCC, c) aggregated city-specific composite, and d) global tree canopy height dataset. We find both city-level and aggregate differences in TCC estimates, from a 38% decrease to a 3% increase relative to an aggregated high-resolution product. These differences result in up to 3% overestimations and 27% underestimation of rainfall interception and 2–56% underestimation of local climate regulation ES. City size, population, and greenness in addition to climatic variation drove differences between TCC products, and this variation requires users to carefully consider the choice of input data for any planned analysis. Though high-resolution data can offer greater nuance and accuracy, more limited spatiotemporal availability can hinder their usefulness for long-term monitoring applications such as natural capital accounting. The differences found in this study provide valuable insights for making informed decisions on data inputs for use in urban ecosystem research and for contextualizing model outcomes.

Contiguous United States↗

USGS2012

Ecosystem services from converted land: the importance of tree cover in Amazonian pastures

Deforestation is responsible for a substantial fraction of global carbon emissions and changes in surface energy budgets that affect climate. Deforestation losses include wildlife and human habitat, and myriad forest products on which rural and urban societies depend for food, fiber, fuel, fresh water, medicine, and recreation. Ecosystem services gained in the transition from forests to pasture and croplands, however, are often ignored in assessments of the impact of land cover change. The role of converted lands in tropical areas in terms of carbon uptake and storage is largely unknown. Pastures represent the fastest-growing form of converted land use in the tropics, even in some areas of rapid urban expansion. Tree biomass stored in these areas spans a broad range, depending on tree cover. Trees in pasture increase carbon storage, provide shade for cattle, and increase productivity of forage material. As a result, increasing fractional tree cover can provide benefits land managers as well as important ecosystem services such as reducing conversion pressure on forests adjacent to pastures. This study presents an estimation of fractional tree cover in pasture in a dynamic region on the verge of large-scale land use change. An appropriate sampling interval is established for similar studies, one that balances the need for independent samples of sufficient number to characterize a pasture in terms of fractional tree cover. This information represents a useful policy tool for government organizations and NGOs interested in encouraging ecosystem services on converted lands. Using high spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery, fractional tree cover in pasture is quantified for the municipality of Rio Branco, Brazil. A semivariogram and devolving spatial resolution are employed to determine the coarsest sampling interval that may be used, minimizing effects of spatial autocorrelation. The coarsest sampling interval that minimizes spatial dependence was about 22 m. The area-weighted fractional tree cover for the study area was 1.85 %, corrected for a slight bias associated with the coarser sampling resolution. The pastures sampled for fractional tree cover were divided between ‘high’ and ‘low’ tree cover, which may be the result of intentional incorporation of arboreal species in pasture. Further research involving those ranchers that have a higher fractional tree cover may indicate ways to promote the practice on a broader scale in the region.

Urban Ecosystems↗

USGS2026

Moose indifferent to canopy loss from forest disturbance by bark beetles

Conifer forests have experienced widespread disturbance following the infestation of bark beetles ( Dendroctonus spp.). Tree mortality and resulting canopy loss have altered forest composition in ways that could affect moose ( Alces alces ), including potential benefits from increased understory forage and drawbacks through the loss of refuge from heat and deep snow. We examined the behavioral response of moose to beetle-killed forest, comparing resource selection before (2005–2006) and after (2015–2017) disturbance in southeast Wyoming, USA. To evaluate selection, we created a land cover classification layer at 0.5-m resolution using machine learning to delineate dead conifers, as well as aspen and willows that were underrepresented in existing land cover products. By measuring resource selection in a fractional cover framework, we found that moose showed strikingly similar resource selection before and after beetle disturbance. Moose during both periods selected willows and aspen while avoiding conifer forest and shrubs throughout the year. Moose in the post-beetle periods avoided conifer forest more strongly the more conifer forest made up their home range. The same pattern emerged for beetle-killed conifer: the more beetle-kill in a home range, the stronger the avoidance of beetle-kill. Our findings indicate that forest disturbance caused by bark beetles does not appreciably alter habitat quality for moose, and moose continue to employ similar patterns of resource selection regardless of forest changes in the early stages of the post-beetle infestation. Our work supports the importance of riparian and deciduous land cover in sustaining moose populations in the face of widespread forest disturbances.

Wyoming↗

USGS2015

Regional scale estimates of baseflow and factors influencing baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Study region The study region encompasses the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), which provides water for 40 million people and is a vital part of the water supply in the western U.S. Study focus Groundwater and surface water can be considered a single water resource and thus it is important to understand groundwater contributions to streamflow, or baseflow, within a region. Previously, quantification of baseflow using chemical mass balance at large numbers of sites was not possible because of data limitations. A new method using regression-derived daily specific conductance values with conductivity mass balance hydrograph separation allows for baseflow estimation at sites across large regions. This method was applied to estimate baseflow discharge at 229 sites across the UCRB. Subsequently, climate, soil, topography, and land cover characteristics were statistically evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA) to determine their influence on baseflow discharge. New hydrological insights for the region Results suggest that approximately half of the streamflow in the UCRB is baseflow derived from groundwater discharge to streams. Higher baseflow yields typically occur in upper elevation areas of the UCRB. PCA identified precipitation, snow, sand content of soils, elevation, land surface slope, percent grasslands, and percent natural barren lands as being positively correlated with baseflow yield; whereas temperature, potential evapotranspiration, silt and clay content of soils, percent agriculture, and percent shrublands were negatively correlated with baseflow yield.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming↗

USGS2014

Identifying sources of aeolian mineral dust: Present and past

Aeolian mineral dust is an important component of the Earth’s environmental systems, playing roles in the planetary radiation balance, as a source of fertilizer for biota in both terrestrial and marine realms and as an archive for understanding atmospheric circulation and paleoclimate in the geologic past. Crucial to understanding all of these roles of dust is the identification of dust sources. Here we review the methods used to identify dust sources active at present and in the past. Contemporary dust sources, produced by both glaciogenic and non-glaciogenic processes, can be readily identified by the use of Earth-orbiting satellites. These data show that present dust sources are concentrated in a global dust belt that encompasses large topographic basins in low-latitude arid and semiarid regions. Geomorphic studies indicate that specific point sources for dust in this zone include dry or ephemeral lakes, intermittent stream courses, dune fields, and some bedrock surfaces. Back-trajectory analyses are also used to identify dust sources, through modeling of wind fields and the movement of air parcels over periods of several days. Identification of dust sources from the past requires novel approaches that are part of the geologic toolbox of provenance studies. Identification of most dust sources of the past requires the use of physical, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic analyses of dust deposits. Physical properties include systematic spatial changes in dust deposit thickness and particle size away from a source. Mineralogy and geochemistry can pinpoint dust sources by clay mineral ratios and Sc-Th-La abundances, respectively. The most commonly used isotopic methods utilize isotopes of Nd, Sr, and Pb and have been applied extensively in dust archives of deep-sea cores, ice cores, and loess. All these methods have shown that dust sources have changed over time, with far more abundant dust supplies existing during glacial periods. Greater dust supplies in glacial periods are likely due to greater production of glaciogenic dust particles from expanded ice sheets and mountain glaciers, but could also include dust inputs from exposed continental and insular shelves now submerged. Future dust sources are difficult to assess, but will likely differ from those of the present because of global warming. Global warming could bring about shifts in dust sources by changes in degree or type of vegetation cover, changes in wind strength, and increases or decreases in the size of water bodies. A major uncertainty in assessing dust sources of the future is related to changes inhuman land use, which could affect land surface cover, particularly due to increased agricultural endeavors and water usage.

Book chapter↗

USGS2008

Landsat continuity: Issues and opportunities for land cover monitoring

Initiated in 1972, the Landsat program has provided a continuous record of earth observation for 35 years. The assemblage of Landsat spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions, over a reasonably sized image extent, results in imagery that can be processed to represent land cover over large areas with an amount of spatial detail that is absolutely unique and indispensable for monitoring, management, and scientific activities. Recent technical problems with the two existing Landsat satellites, and delays in the development and launch of a successor, increase the likelihood that a gap in Landsat continuity may occur. In this communication, we identify the key features of the Landsat program that have resulted in the extensive use of Landsat data for large area land cover mapping and monitoring. We then augment this list of key features by examining the data needs of existing large area land cover monitoring programs. Subsequently, we use this list as a basis for reviewing the current constellation of earth observation satellites to identify potential alternative data sources for large area land cover applications. Notions of a virtual constellation of satellites to meet large area land cover mapping and monitoring needs are also presented. Finally, research priorities that would facilitate the integration of these alternative data sources into existing large area land cover monitoring programs are identified. Continuity of the Landsat program and the measurements provided are critical for scientific, environmental, economic, and social purposes. It is difficult to overstate the importance of Landsat; there are no other systems in orbit, or planned for launch in the short-term, that can duplicate or approach replication, of the measurements and information conferred by Landsat. While technical and political options are being pursued, there is no satellite image data stream poised to enter the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive should system failures occur to Landsat-5 and -7.

Remote Sensing of Environment↗