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At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources
USGS1976

Nature . . . an environmental yardstick

To one who has spent his professional career in geologic science, conservation always has had special meaning. In the measurements so necessary to his work the geologist develops an integrity in the use of numbers and in the qualifications attending the validity of numbers. Scientific analysis of geologic events and sequence develops a keen sense of what is coincidental, correlative, and consequential. The geologist applies his science in evaluating hazards to man as natural catastrophes and/or benefits to man such as earth materials that form the resource base of his society. But more than these the geologist has acquired a deep appreciation for the planet as a whole, its inner structure, its landscape, and the living things that abound.

Information and Technology Report↗
USGS2021

Genomic and environmental influences on resilience in a cold-water fish near the edge of its range

Small, isolated populations present a challenge for conservation. The dueling effects of selection and drift in a limited pool of genetic diversity make the responses of small populations to environmental perturbations erratic and difficult to predict. This is particularly true at the edge of a species range, where populations often persist at the limits of their environmental tolerances. Populations of cisco, Coregonus artedi , in inland lakes have experienced numerous extirpations along the southern edge of their range in recent decades, which are thought to result from environmental degradation and loss of cold, well-oxygenated habitat as lakes warm. Yet, cisco extirpations do not show a clear latitudinal pattern, suggesting that local environmental factors and potentially local adaptation may influence resilience. Here, we used genomic tools to investigate the nature of this pattern of resilience. We used restriction site-associated DNA capture (Rapture) sequencing to survey genomic diversity and differentiation in southern inland lake cisco populations and compared the frequency of deleterious mutations that potentially influence fitness across lakes. We also examined haplotype diversity in a region of the major histocompatibility complex involved in stress and immune system response. We correlated these metrics to spatial and environmental factors including latitude, lake size, and measures of oxythermal habitat and found significant relationships between genetic metrics and broad and local factors. High levels of genetic differentiation among populations were punctuated by a phylogeographic break and residual patterns of isolation-by-distance. Although the prevalence of deleterious mutations and inbreeding coefficients was significantly correlated with latitude, neutral and non-neutral genetic diversity were most strongly correlated with lake surface area. Notably, differences among lakes in the availability of estimated oxythermal habitat left no clear population genomic signature. Our results shed light on the complex dynamics influencing these isolated populations and provide valuable information for their conservation.

Wisconsin↗
USGS2014

Successes and challenges from formation to implementation of eleven broad-extent conservation programs

Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broadextent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program’s context (geographic extent, United States vs. other countries, developed vs. developing nation) appeared to substantially affect program approach. Despite early successes of these organizations and benefits of broad-extent conservation, specific challenges related to uncertainties in scaling up information and to coordination in the face of diverse partner governance structures, conflicting objectives, and vast uncertainties regarding future system dynamics hindered long-term success, as demonstrated by the focal organizations. Engaging stakeholders, developing conservation measures, and implementing adaptive management were dominant challenges. To inform future research on broad-extent conservation, we considered several challenges when we developed detailed questions, such as what qualities of broad-extent partnerships ensure they complement, integrate, and strengthen, rather than replace, local conservation efforts and which adaptive management processes yield actionable conservation strategies that account explicitly for dynamics and uncertainties regarding multiscale governance, environmental conditions, and knowledge of the system?

Conservation Biology↗
USGS2018

Using the value of information to improve conservation decision making

Conservation decisions are challenging, not only because they often involve difficult conflicts among outcomes that people value, but because our understanding of the natural world and our effects on it is fraught with uncertainty. Value of Information (VoI) methods provide an approach for understanding and managing uncertainty from the standpoint of the decision maker. These methods are commonly used in other fields (e.g., economics, public health) and are increasingly used in biodiversity conservation. This decision analytical approach can identify the best management alternative to select where the effectiveness of interventions is uncertain, and can help to decide when to act and when to delay action until after further research. We review the use of VoI in the environmental domain, reflect on the need for greater uptake of VoI, particularly for strategic conservation planning, and suggest promising areas for new research. We also suggest common reporting standards as a means of increasing the leverage of this powerful tool. The environmental science, ecology and biodiversity categories of the Web of Knowledge were searched using the terms ‘Value of Information,’ ‘Expected Value of Perfect Information,’ and the abbreviation ‘EVPI.’ Google Scholar was searched with the same terms, and additionally the terms decision and biology, biodiversity conservation, fish, or ecology. We identified 1225 papers from these searches. Included studies were limited to those that show an application of VoI in biodiversity conservation rather than simply describing the method. All examples of use of VOI were summarised regarding the application of VoI, the management objectives, the uncertainties, models used, how the objectives were measured, and the type of VoI. While the use of VoI appears to be on the increase in biodiversity conservation, the reporting of results is highly variable, which can make it difficult to understand the decision context and which uncertainties were considered. Moreover, it was unclear if, and how, the papers informed management and policy interventions, which is why we suggest a range of reporting standards that would aid the use of VoI. The use of VoI in conservation settings is at an early stage. There are opportunities for broader applications, not only for species-focussed management problems, but also for setting local or global research priorities for biodiversity conservation, making funding decisions, or designing or improving protected area networks and management. The long-term benefits of applying VoI methods to biodiversity conservation include a more structured and decision-focused allocation of resources to research.

Biological Reviews↗
USGS2024

Deep-ocean macrofaunal assemblages on ferromanganese and phosphorite-rich substrates in the Southern California Borderland

Mineral-rich hardgrounds, such as ferromanganese (FeMn) crusts and phosphorites, occur on seamounts and continental margins, gaining attention for their resource potential due to their enrichment in valuable metals in some regions. This study focuses on the Southern California Borderland (SCB), an area characterized by uneven and heterogeneous topography featuring FeMn crusts, phosphorites, basalt, and sedimentary rocks that occur at varying depths and are exposed to a range of oxygen concentrations. Due to its heterogeneity, this region serves as an optimal setting for investigating the relationship between mineral-rich hardgrounds and benthic fauna. This study characterizes the density, diversity, and community composition of macrofauna (>300 μm) on hardgrounds as a function of substrate type and environment (depth and oxygen ranges). Rocks and their macrofauna were sampled quantitatively using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) during expeditions in 2020 and 2021 at depths above, within, and below the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). A total of 3,555 macrofauna individuals were counted and 416 different morphospecies (excluding encrusting bryozoans and hydrozoans) were identified from 82 rocks at depths between 231 and 2,688 m. Average density for SCB macrofauna was 11.08 ± 0.87 ind. 200 cm −2 and mean Shannon-Wiener diversity per rock (H′ [loge] ) was 2.22 ± 0.07. A relationship was found between substrate type and macrofaunal communities. Phosphorite rocks had the highest H′ of the four substrates compared on a per-rock basis. However, when samples were pooled by substrate, FeMn crusts had the highest H′ and rarefaction diversity. Of all the environmental variables examined, water depth explained the largest variance in macrofaunal community composition. Macrofaunal density and diversity values were similar at sites within and outside the OMZ. This study is the first to analyze the macrofaunal communities of mineral-rich hardgrounds in the SCB, which support deep-ocean biodiversity by acting as specialized substrates for macrofaunal communities. Understanding the intricate relationships between macrofaunal assemblages and mineral-rich substrates may inform effects from environmental disruptions associated with deep-seabed mining or climate change. The findings contribute baseline information useful for effective conservation and management of the SCB and will support scientists in monitoring changes in these communities due to environmental disturbance or human impact in the future.

California↗
USGS2018

Inferring presence of the western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) species complex using environmental DNA

Western toads (species complex comprised of Anaxyrus boreas , A. canorus , A. exsul , and A. nelsoni ) are widely distributed in the western United States but are declining, particularly in the southeastern extent of their range. The subspecies A. b. boreas is listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Reliable and sensitive methods for delineating distributions of western toads are critical for monitoring the status of the species and prioritizing conservation efforts. We developed two qPCR assays for detecting western toad DNA in environmental DNA samples. Both markers efficiently and reliably detect low concentrations of western toad DNA across their range in the conterminous U. S. without detecting non-target, sympatric species. To determine the optimal annual sampling period, we then tested these markers using repeated sampling in ponds where western toads were known to be present. Quantities of collected eDNA varied widely across samples, but sample-level detections across sites exceeded 80% for June sampling. In the later summer, detection dropped off sharply with only a single detection in the ten samples collected throughout August.

Global Ecology and Conservation↗
USGS2023

Conservation genomics of an endangered montane amphibian reveals low population structure, low genomic diversity and selection pressure from disease

Wildlife diseases are a major global threat to biodiversity. Boreal toads ( Anaxyrus [Bufo] boreas ) are a state-endangered species in the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico, and a species of concern in Wyoming, largely due to lethal skin infections caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis ( Bd ). We performed conservation and landscape genomic analyses using single nucleotide polymorphisms from double-digest, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing in combination with the development of the first boreal toad (and first North American toad) reference genome to investigate population structure, genomic diversity, landscape connectivity and adaptive divergence. Genomic diversity ( π = 0.00034–0.00040) and effective population sizes ( N e = 8.9–38.4) were low, likely due to post-Pleistocene founder effects and Bd -related population crashes over the last three decades. Population structure was also low, likely due to formerly high connectivity among a higher density of geographically proximate populations. Boreal toad gene flow was facilitated by low precipitation, cold minimum temperatures, less tree canopy, low heat load and less urbanization. We found >8X more putatively adaptive loci related to Bd intensity than to all other environmental factors combined, and evidence for genes under selection related to immune response, heart development and regulation and skin function. These data suggest boreal toads in habitats with Bd have experienced stronger selection pressure from disease than from other, broad-scale environmental variations. These findings can be used by managers to conserve and recover the species through actions including reintroduction and supplementation of populations that have declined due to Bd .

Colorado↗
USGS2019

Biogeographic freshwater fish pattern legacy revealed despite rapid socio-economic changes in China

Understanding drivers of freshwater fish assemblages is critically important for biodiversity conservation strategies, especially in rapidly developing countries, which often have environmental protections lagging behind economic development. The influences of natural and human factors in structuring fish assemblages and their relative contributions are likely to change given the increasing magnitude of human activities. To discriminate natural and human drivers of fish diversity and assemblage patterns in developing countries with rapid socio-economic development, a dataset of 908 freshwater fish species and 13 metrics including three categories of both natural (i.e., biogeographic) and human drivers (i.e., economic growth, inland fisheries) in China were analysed with machine learning algorithms (i.e., self-organizing map, random forest). Here, we found that biogeographic drivers explained 21.8% of the observed fish assemblage patterns in China and remained stronger predictors when compared to human drivers (i.e., 15.6%, respectively). Freshwater fish species richness was positively correlated to rainfall, air temperature, surface water area and inland fisheries production but negatively correlated with urbanization. In addition, the strong structuring effects of climatic variables on Chinese fish richness patterns suggested that the fish assemblages could be particularly vulnerable to climate change. Our results showed that natural biogeographic factors still dominate in driving freshwater fish assemblage patterns despite increased human disturbances on aquatic ecosystems in a rapidly developing country. These findings consequently suggested that we should consider both natural (e.g., climate) and human (e.g., urbanization, inland fisheries) factors when establishing aquatic conservation strategies and priorities for developing countries that are experiencing rapid socio-economic changes.

Fish and Fisheries↗
USGS2018

Distribution and seasonal differences in Pacific Lamprey and Lampetra spp eDNA across 18 Puget Sound watersheds

Lampreys have a worldwide distribution, are functionally important to ecological communities and serve significant roles in many cultures. In Pacific coast drainages of North America, lamprey populations have suffered large declines. However, lamprey population status and trends within many areas of this region are unknown and such information is needed for advancing conservation goals. We developed two quantitative PCR-based, aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) assays for detection of Pacific Lamprey ( Entosphenus tridentatus ) and Lampetra spp, using locked nucleic acids (LNAs) in the probe design. We used these assays to characterize the spatial distribution of lamprey in 18 watersheds of Puget Sound, Washington, by collecting water samples in spring and fall. Pacific Lamprey and Lampetra spp were each detected in 14 watersheds and co-occurred in 10 watersheds. Lamprey eDNA detection rates were much higher in spring compared to fall. Specifically, the Pacific Lamprey eDNA detection rate was 3.5 times higher in spring and the Lampetra spp eDNA detection rate was 1.5 times higher in spring even though larval lamprey are present in streams year-round. This significant finding highlights the importance of seasonality on eDNA detection. Higher stream discharge in the fall likely contributed to reduced eDNA detection rates, although seasonal life history events may have also contributed. These eDNA assays differentiate Pacific Lamprey and Lampetra spp across much of their range along the west coast of North America. Sequence analysis indicates the Pacific Lamprey assay also targets other Entosphenus spp and indicates the Lampetra spp assay may have limited or no capability of detecting Lampetra in some locations south of the Columbia River Basin. Nevertheless, these assays will serve as a valuable tool for resource managers and have direct application to lamprey conservation efforts, such as mapping species distributions, occupancy modeling, and monitoring translocations and reintroductions.

Puget Sound↗
USGS2015

Incorporating future change into current conservation planning: Evaluating tidal saline wetland migration along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast under alternative sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios

In this study, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, quantified the potential for landward migration of tidal saline wetlands along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast under alternative future sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios. Our analyses focused exclusively on tidal saline wetlands (that is, mangrove forests, salt marshes, and salt flats), and we combined these diverse tidal saline wetland ecosystems into a single grouping, “tidal saline wetland.” Collectively, our approach and findings can provide useful information for scientists and environmental planners working to develop future-focused adaptation strategies for conserving coastal landscapes and the ecosystem goods and services provided by tidal saline wetlands. The primary product of this work is a public dataset that identifies locations where landward migration of tidal saline wetlands is expected to occur under alternative future sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios. In addition to identifying areas where landward migration of tidal saline wetlands is possible because of the absence of barriers, these data also identify locations where landward migration of these wetlands could be prevented by barriers associated with current urbanization, future urbanization, and levees.

Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas↗
USGS2009

Guiding concepts for park and wilderness stewardship in an era of global environmental change

The major challenge to stewardship of protected areas is to decide where, when, and how to intervene in physical and biological processes, to conserve what we value in these places. To make such decisions, planners and managers must articulate more clearly the purposes of parks, what is valued, and what needs to be sustained. A key aim for conservation today is the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity, but a broader range of values are also likely to be considered important, including ecological integrity, resilience, historical fidelity (ie the ecosystem appears and functions much as it did in the past), and autonomy of nature. Until recently, the concept of “naturalness” was the guiding principle when making conservation‐related decisions in park and wilderness ecosystems. However, this concept is multifaceted and often means different things to different people, including notions of historical fidelity and autonomy from human influence. Achieving the goal of nature conservation intended for such areas requires a clear articulation of management objectives, which must be geared to the realities of the rapid environmental changes currently underway. We advocate a pluralistic approach that incorporates a suite of guiding principles, including historical fidelity, autonomy of nature, ecological integrity, and resilience, as well as managing with humility. The relative importance of these guiding principles will vary, depending on management goals and ecological conditions.

Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment↗
USGS2017

Quantifying changes and influences on mottled duck density in Texas

Understanding the relative influence of environmental and intrinsic effects on populations is important for managing and conserving harvested species, especially those species inhabiting changing environments. Additionally, climate change can increase the uncertainty associated with management of species in these changing environments, making understanding factors affecting their populations even more important. Coastal ecosystems are particularly threatened by climate change; the combined effects of increasing severe weather events, sea level rise, and drought will likely have non-linear effects on coastal marsh wildlife species and their associated habitats. A species of conservation concern that persists in these coastal areas is the mottled duck ( Anas fulvigula ). Mottled ducks in the western Gulf Coast are approximately 50% below target abundance numbers established by the Gulf Coast Joint Venture for Texas and Louisiana, USA. Although evidence for declines in mottled duck abundance is apparent, specific causes of the decrease remain unknown. Our goals were to determine where the largest declines in mottled duck population were occurring along the system of Texas Gulf Coast National Wildlife Refuges and quantify the relative contribution of environmental and intrinsic effects on changes to relative population density. We modeled aerial survey data of mottled duck density along the Texas Gulf Coast from 1986–2015 to quantify effects of extreme weather events on an index to mottled duck density using the United States Climate Extremes Index and Palmer Drought Severity Index. Our results indicate that decreases in abundance are best described by an increase in days with extreme 1-day precipitation from June to November (hurricane season) and an increase in drought severity. Better understanding those portions of the life cycle affected by environmental conditions, and how to manage mottled duck habitat in conjunction with these events will likely be key to persistence of the species under future environmental conditions.

Texas↗
USGS2002

Environmental Characteristics and Geographic Information System Applications for the Development of Nutrient Thresholds in Oklahoma Streams

The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency has developed nutrient criteria using ecoregions to manage and protect rivers and streams in the United States. Individual states and tribes are encouraged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to modify or improve upon the ecoregion approach. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board uses a dichotomous process that stratifies streams using environmental characteristics such as stream order and stream slope. This process is called the Use Support Assessment Protocols, subchapter15. The Use Support Assessment Protocols can be used to identify streams threatened by excessive amounts of nutrients, dependant upon a beneficial use designation for each stream. The Use Support Assessment Protocols, subchapter 15 uses nutrient and environmental characteristic thresholds developed from a study conducted in the Netherlands, but the Oklahoma Water Resources Board wants to modify the thresholds to reflect hydrologic and ecological conditions relevant to Oklahoma streams and rivers. Environmental characteristics thought to affect impairment from nutrient concentrations in Oklahoma streams and rivers were determined for 798 water-quality sites in Oklahoma. Nutrient, chlorophyll, water-properties, and location data were retrieved from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency STORET database including data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma Conservation Commission, and Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Drainage-basin area, stream order, stream slope, and land-use proportions were determined for each site using a Geographic Information System. The methods, procedures, and data sets used to determine the environmental characteristics are described.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2011

Land use and climate influences on waterbirds in the Prairie Potholes

Aim We examined the influences of regional climate and land‐use variables on mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ), blue‐winged teal ( Anas discors ), ruddy duck ( Oxyura jamaicensis ) and pied‐billed grebe ( Podilymbus podiceps ) abundances to inform conservation planning in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States. Location The US portion of Bird Conservation Region 11 (US‐BCR11, the Prairie Potholes), which encompasses six states within the United States: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa. Methods We used data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (NABBS), the National Land Cover Data Set, and the National Climatic Data Center to model the effects of environmental variables on waterbird abundance. We evaluated land‐use covariates at three logarithmically related spatial scales (1000, 10,000 and 100,000 ha), and constructed hierarchical spatial count models a priori using information from published habitat associations. Model fitting was performed using a hierarchical modelling approach within a Bayesian framework. Results Models with the same variables expressed at different scales were often in the best model subset, indicating that the influence of spatial scale was small. Both land‐use and climate variables contributed strongly to predicting waterbird abundance in US‐BCR11. The strongest positive influences on waterbird abundance were the percentage of wetland area across all three spatial scales, herbaceous vegetation and precipitation variables. Other variables that we included in our models did not appear to influence waterbirds in this study. Main conclusions Understanding the relationships of waterbird abundance to climate and land use may allow us to make predictions of future distribution and abundance as environmental factors change. Additionally, results from this study can suggest locations where conservation and management efforts should be focused.

Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, ↗
USGS2026

Nonstationary demographic state-space models using unreplicated counts for species undergoing environmental stressors

A fundamental task in ecological statistics is to estimate abundance and growth rate distributions from wildlife monitoring data to inform conservation management. Modeling time series of wildlife populations presents a number of challenges from both statistical and ecological perspectives, including discreteness; lack of replication; nonstationarity; and observation, demographic, and other phenomenological processes. Nonstationary dynamics are often exhibited by populations undergoing environmental stressors. Models must account for these characteristics to produce reliable estimates of abundance and trends, yet estimation can be challenging with unreplicated data. We propose nonstationary demographic state-space models using unreplicated counts for populations undergoing environmental stressors. A reduced growth rate model matches the complexity of the unreplicated count data, and a fecundity bound on growth rate distributions allows the separation of processes affecting growth rates like environmental stressors from those affecting abundance external to growth rates like migration. NDSSMs allow for the embedding of nonstationary model components, and we explore the use of changepoints, volatility clustering, and migration processes. We apply the proposed nonstationary models in case studies of herons affected by predator/competitor reestablishment and three bat species affected by a fungal pathogen causing white-nose syndrome. Nonstationary models outperform stationary models and generalized linear mixed effects models according to model scoring and visual inspection of predictions, and provide estimates more consistent with published values. Incorporating migration improves model fit universally, even with approximate one-way immigration, most likely because populations are extirpated, recolonized, and increase multiple-fold over the upper bound set by species fecundity. In addition, estimates of the timing and severity of the environmental stressor differed for models with migration. Including nonstationary and demographic components in a fecundity-bounded growth rate model improves inference and benefits interpretability of hyperparameters. In turn, this adjusts uncertainties in predictions of abundance and growth rates over time, providing the ingredients needed for informed conservation analysis and for directing future monitoring of at-risk species.

Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmen↗
USGS2021

Survival and abundance of polar bears in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, 2001–2016

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing rapid transformation toward a seasonally ice-free ecosystem. As ice-adapted apex predators, polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ) are challenged to cope with ongoing habitat degradation and changes in their prey base driven by food-web response to climate warming. Knowledge of polar bear response to environmental change is necessary to understand ecosystem dynamics and inform conservation decisions. In the southern Beaufort Sea (SBS) of Alaska and western Canada, sea ice extent has declined since satellite observations began in 1979 and available evidence suggests that the carrying capacity of the SBS for polar bears has trended lower for nearly two decades. In this study, we investigated the population dynamics of polar bears in Alaska's SBS from 2001 to 2016 using a multistate Cormack–Jolly–Seber mark–recapture model. States were defined as geographic regions, and we used location data from mark–recapture observations and satellite-telemetered bears to model transitions between states and thereby explain heterogeneity in recapture probabilities. Our results corroborate prior findings that the SBS subpopulation experienced low survival from 2003 to 2006. Survival improved modestly from 2006 to 2008 and afterward rebounded to comparatively high levels for the remainder of the study, except in 2012. Abundance moved in concert with survival throughout the study period, declining substantially from 2003 and 2006 and afterward fluctuating with lower variation around an average of 565 bears (95% Bayesian credible interval [340, 920]) through 2015. Even though abundance was comparatively stable and without sustained trend from 2006 to 2015, polar bears in the Alaska SBS were less abundant over that period than at any time since passage of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. The potential for recovery is likely limited by the degree of habitat degradation the subpopulation has experienced, and future reductions in carrying capacity are expected given current projections for continued climate warming.

Alaska↗
USGS2022

Bright spots for inland fish and fisheries to guide future hydropower development

Hydropower production is one of the greatest threats to fluvial ecosystems and freshwater biodiversity. Now that we have entered the Anthropocene , there is an opportunity to reflect on what might constitute a ‘sustainable’ Anthropocene in the context of hydropower and riverine fish populations. Considering elements of existing practices that promote favorable social-ecological outcomes (i.e., ‘bright spots’) is timely given that there are plans to expand hydropower capacity in previously undammed rivers, intensify dam development in some of the world's largest river systems, and re-license existing facilities. We approach this from a pragmatic perspective: for the foreseeable future, hydropower will likely remain an important source of renewable electricity. To offer support for moving toward a more ‘sustainable’ Anthropocene, we provide syntheses of best practices during the siting, design, construction, operation, and compensation phases of hydropower development to minimize impacts on inland fish. For each phase, we offer positive examples (or what might be considered ‘bright spots’) pertaining to some of the approaches described within our syntheses, acknowledging that these projects may not be viewed as without ecological and (or) societal detriment by all stakeholders. Our findings underscore the importance of protecting critical habitat and free-flowing river reaches through careful site selection and basin-scale planning, infrastructure designs that minimize reservoir effects and facilitate safe passage of fish, construction of hydropower plants using best practices that minimize long-term damage, operating guidelines that mimic natural flow conditions, and compensation that is lasting, effective, inclusive, and locally relevant. Learning from these ‘bright spots’ may require engagement of diverse stakeholders, professionals, and governments at scales that extend well beyond a given site, river, or even basin. Indeed, environmental planning that integrates hydropower development into broader discussions of conserving regional biodiversity and ecosystem services will be of utmost importance.

Water Biology and Security↗
USGS2022

Interannual consistency of migration phenology is season- and breeding region-specific in North American Golden Eagles

Interannual consistency (an indicator of the strength of adjustments) in migration phenology of Golden Eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) in North America is most strongly associated with the breeding region, the season, and with late-season temperature on breeding and wintering grounds. Consistency was greatest in boreal spring migration and the breeding regions of eastern Canada. Using multi-year GPS tracks of 83 adults breeding in 3 spatially distant regions (Alaska, northeast Canada, and southeast Canada), we quantified the interannual consistency of migration phenology and wintering latitude within and among individuals tracked across multiple years and the repeatability ( r ) by breeding regions and seasons. By comparing regions and seasons, we found that consistency was highest ( r > 0.85) for boreal spring migration in eastern Canada while Alaska had the lowest value ( r < 0.15). Because seasonal consistency of migration phenology was only detected in eastern Canada, we conclude that seasonal features are not a primary constraint. While regional differences in consistency were not related to differences in migratory distances, they could be the result of genetic or habitat differences. We also found that temperatures warmer than the decadal average at the region of departure delayed the start of boreal spring migration by ~10 days and advanced boreal autumn migration by ~20 days. These results suggest that warmer temperatures would reduce residence time on breeding grounds, contrary to expectations and trends found in other studies. Wide variations in migratory strategies across a species distribution can add to the list of challenges for conservation but may give migrants the capacity to acclimate to environmental changes.

Ornithology↗