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At least 523 records · Page 29Linked to original sources
USGS2025

Causal networks to inform decisions for ecological restoration

The release of contaminants into the environment can occur from anthropogenic activities, such as oil extraction and transportation, mining, and industrial processes. Remediation associated with reducing contaminant concentrations, and restoration that improves animals and supporting habitat, are often needed to restore ecosystems to their pre-release, baseline condition. We demonstrated the application of Bayesian Decision Networks (BDNs) with two Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) case studies. We use a stylized case study of riparian restoration following the remediation of a mine-impacted site to evaluate proposed restoration actions aimed at restoring Song Sparrow ( Melospiza melodia ) populations to baseline conditions. We then use a settled NRDAR case with implemented restoration in the Upper Arkansas River (UAR, Colorado, USA) to demonstrate the application of BDNs to evaluate and forecast restoration effectiveness for Brown Trout ( Salmo trutta ) (i.e., restoration effectiveness assessment). The riparian restoration model showed differences in the effects of restoration actions on Song Sparrow populations, with the time to reach baseline generally reduced with increased restoration costs, indicating trade-offs between costs and expected recovery. The UAR model showed recovery of Brown Trout populations (i.e., uplift) in response to improved instream habitat restoration, along with forecasted improvements. While the BDNs we developed were specific to two case studies, the structure is adaptable to a diversity of sites, resources, and actions. We suggest that causal network modeling can provide restoration practitioners with a decision advisory tool useful for a wide range of projects.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1998

Short-term influence of tank tracks on vegetation and microphytic crusts in shrubsteppe habitat

Nutt.) habitat within the Idaho Army National Guard Orchard Training Area in southwestern Idaho. The purpose of this study was to determine the short-term (1–2 years) influence of tank tracks on vegetation and microphytic crusts in shrubsteppe habitat. The two types of tank tracks studied were divots (area where one track has been stopped or slowed to make a sharp turn) and straight-line tracks. Divots generally had a stronger influence on vegetation and microphytic crusts than did straight-line tracks. Tank tracks increased cover of bare ground, litter, and exotic annuals, and reduced cover of vegetation, perennial native grasses, sagebrush, and microphytic crusts. Increased bare ground and reduced cover of vegetation and microphytic crusts caused by tank tracks increase the potential for soil erosion and may reduce ecosystem productivity. Reduced sagebrush cover caused by tank tracks may reduce habitat quality for rodents. Tank tracks may also facilitate the invasion of exotic annuals into sagebrush habitat, increasing the potential for wildfire and subsequent habitat degradation. Thus, creation of divots and movement through sagebrush habitat by tanks should be minimized.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1998

Desire to bargain and negotiation success: lessons about the need to negotiate from six hydropower disputes

We investigated the notion that successful negotiations require that all parties to the dispute must have a desire to bargain. This desire is most likely to be present when the dispute exhibits ripeness and each party believes a bargained solution is the most cost-effective way to resolve differences. Structured interviews of participants in six Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower licensing consultations were conducted to determine the level of need to negotiate for each party. The findings indicate that a need to negotiate is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success. Several factors were associated with a need to negotiate: a weak BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement); a salient issue; participants’ sense of efficacy; a sense of inevitability; professional roles encouraging negotiation; and disputes about facts as opposed to disputes about values. Participants’ need to negotiate fluctuated throughout the process and intensified when questions were ripe: i.e., critical issues were debated or the regulatory process required action.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1998

Effects of metal mining and milling on boundary waters of Yellowstone National Park, USA

Aquatic resources in Soda Butte Creek within Yellowstone National Park, USA, continue to be threatened by heavy metals from historical mining and milling activities that occurred upstream of the park's boundary. This includes the residue of gold, silver, and copper ore mining and processing in the early 1900s near Cooke City, Montana, just downstream of the creek's headwaters. Toxicity tests, using surrogate test species, and analyses of metals in water, sediments, and macroinvertebrate tissue were conducted from 1993 to 1995. Chronic toxicity to test species was greater in the spring than the fall and metal concentrations were elevated in the spring with copper exceeding water quality criteria in 1995. Tests with amphipods using pore water and whole sediment from the creek and copper concentrations in the tissue of macroinvertebrates and fish also suggest that copper is the metal of concern in the watershed. In order to understand current conditions in Soda Butte Creek, heavy metals, especially copper, must be considered important factors in the aquatic and riparian ecosystems within and along the creek extending into Yellowstone National Park.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1999

Effects of recent volcanic eruptions on aquatic habitat in the Drift River, Alaska, USA: Implications at other Cook Inlet region volcanoes

Numerous drainages supporting productive salmon habitat are surrounded by active volcanoes on the west side of Cook Inlet in south-central Alaska. Eruptions have caused massive quantities of flowing water and sediment to enter the river channels emanating from glaciers and snowfields on these volcanoes. Extensive damage to riparian and aquatic habitat has commonly resulted, and benthic macroinvertebrate and salmonid communities can be affected. Because of the economic importance of Alaska's fisheries, detrimental effects on salmonid habitat can have significant economic implications. The Drift River drains glaciers on the northern and eastern flanks of Redoubt Volcano: During and following eruptions in 1989-1990, severe physical disturbances to the habitat features of the river adversely affected the fishery. Frequent eruptions at other Cook Inlet region volcanoes exemplify the potential effects of volcanic activity on Alaska's important commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries. Few studies have documented the recovery of aquatic habitat following volcanic eruptions. The eruptions of Redoubt Volcano in 1989-1990 offered an opportunity to examine the recovery of the macroinvertebrate community. Macroinvertebrate community composition and structure in the Drift River were similar in both undisturbed and recently disturbed sites. Additionally, macroinvertebrate samples from sites in nearby undisturbed streams were highly similar to those from some Drift River sites. This similarity and the agreement between the Drift River macroinvertebrate community composition and that predicted by a qualitative model of typical macroinvertebrate communities in glacier-fed rivers indicate that the Drift River macroinvertebrate community is recovering five years after the disturbances associated with the most recent eruptions of Redoubt Volcano.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1999

Tools for groundwater protection planning: An example from McHenry County, Illinois, USA

This paper presents an approach for producing aquifer sensitivity maps from three-dimensional geologic maps, called stack-unit maps. Stack-unit maps depict the succession of geologic materials to a given depth, and aquifer sensitivity maps interpret the successions according to their ability to transmit potential contaminants. Using McHenry County, Illinois, as a case study, stack-unit maps and an aquifer sensitivity assessment were made to help land-use planners, public health officials, consultants, developers, and the public make informed decisions regarding land use. A map of aquifer sensitivity is important for planning because the county is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, and highly vulnerable sand and gravel aquifers occur within 6 m of ground surface over 75% of its area. The aquifer sensitivity map can provide guidance to regulators seeking optimal protection of groundwater resources where these resources are particularly vulnerable. In addition, the map can be used to help officials direct waste-disposal and industrial facilities and other sensitive land-use practices to areas where the least damage is likely to occur, thereby reducing potential future liabilities.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1999

Effects of protective fencing on birds, lizards, and black-tailed hares in the Western Mojave Desert

Effects of protective fencing on birds, lizards, black-tailed hares (Lepus californicus), perennial plant cover, and structural diversity of perennial plants were evaluated from spring 1994 through winter 1995 at the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area (DTNA), in the Mojave Desert, California. Abundance and species richness of birds were higher inside than outside the DTNA, and effects were larger during breeding than wintering seasons and during a high than a low rainfall year. Ash-throated flycatchers (Myiarchus cinerascens), cactus wrens (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus), LeConte's thrashers (Toxostoma lecontei), loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus), sage sparrows (Amphispiza belli), and verdins (Auriparus flaviceps) were more abundant inside than outside the DTNA. Nesting activity was also more frequent inside. Total abundance and species richness of lizards and individual abundances of western whiptail lizards (Cnemidophorous tigris) and desert spiny lizards (Sceloporus magister) were higher inside than outside. In contrast, abundance of black-tailed hares was lower inside. Structural diversity of the perennial plant community did not differ due to protection, but cover was 50% higher in protected areas. Black-tailed hares generally prefer areas of low perennial plant cover, which may explain why they were more abundant outside than inside the DTNA. Habitat structure may not affect bird and lizard communities as much as availability of food at this desert site, and the greater abundance and species richness of vertebrates inside than outside the DTNA may correlate with abundances of seeds and invertebrate prey.

Environmental Management↗
USGS1999

Comparison of temporal trends in ambient and compliance trace element and PCB data in pool 2 of the Mississippi River, USA, 1985-1995

The Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring has suggested studies on ambient (in-stream) and compliance (wastewater) data to determine if monitoring can be reduced locally or nationally. The similarity in temporal trends between retrospective ambient and compliance water-quality data collected from Pool 2 of the Mississippi River, USA, was determined for 1985–1995. Constituents studied included the following trace elements: arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), hexavalent chromium (Cr61), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Water-column, bed-sediment, and fish-tissue (fillets) data collected by five government agencies comprised the ambient data set; effluent data from five registered facilities comprised the compliance data set. The nonparametric MannKendall trend test indicated that 33% of temporal trends in all data were statistically significant (P , 0.05). Possible reasons for this were low sample sizes, and a high percentage of samples below the analytical detection limit. Trends in compliance data were more distinct; most trace elements decreased significantly, probably due to improvements in wastewater treatment. Seven trace elements (Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg, Ni, and Zn) had statistically significant decreases in wastewater and portions of either or both ambient water and bed sediment. No trends were found in fish tissue. Inconsistency in trends between ambient and compliance data were often found for individual constituents, making overall similarity between the data sets difficult to determine. Logistical differences in monitoring programs, such as varying field and laboratory methods among agencies, made it difficult to assess ambient temporal trends.

Minnesota↗
USGS1999

An integrated environmental assessment of the US mid-atlantic region

Many of today's environmental problems are regional in scope and their effects overlap and interact. We developed a simple method to provide an integrated assessment of environmental conditions and estimate cumulative impacts across a large region, by combining data on land-cover, population, roads, streams, air pollution, and topography. The integrated assessment technique identified nine distinct groups of watersheds. Relative cumulative impact scores were highest around major urban centers, but there was not a simple or predictable spatial pattern overall. We also point out the potential applications of this approach that include distinguishing between areas in relatively poor versus good condition, identifying areas that may be more vulnerable to future environmental degradation, and identifying areas for restoration.

Environmental Management↗
USGS2016

Optimizing selection of training and auxiliary data for operational land cover classification for the LCMAP initiative

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) initiative is a new end-to-end capability to continuously track and characterize changes in land cover, use, and condition to better support research and applications relevant to resource management and environmental change. Among the LCMAP product suite are annual land cover maps that will be available to the public. This paper describes an approach to optimize the selection of training and auxiliary data for deriving the thematic land cover maps based on all available clear observations from Landsats 4–8. Training data were selected from map products of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Land Cover Trends project. The Random Forest classifier was applied for different classification scenarios based on the Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithm. We found that extracting training data proportionally to the occurrence of land cover classes was superior to an equal distribution of training data per class, and suggest using a total of 20,000 training pixels to classify an area about the size of a Landsat scene. The problem of unbalanced training data was alleviated by extracting a minimum of 600 training pixels and a maximum of 8000 training pixels per class. We additionally explored removing outliers contained within the training data based on their spectral and spatial criteria, but observed no significant improvement in classification results. We also tested the importance of different types of auxiliary data that were available for the conterminous United States, including: (a) five variables used by the National Land Cover Database, (b) three variables from the cloud screening ‘‘Function of mask” (Fmask) statistics, and (c) two variables from the change detection results of CCDC. We found that auxiliary variables such as a Digital Elevation Model and its derivatives (aspect, position index, and slope), potential wetland index, water probability, snow probability, and cloud probability improved the accuracy of land cover classification. Compared to the original strategy of the CCDC algorithm (500 pixels per class), the use of the optimal strategy improved the classification accuracies substantially (15-percentage point increase in overall accuracy and 4-percentage point increase in minimum accuracy).

ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing↗
USGS2005

Multi-stage sampling for large scale natural resources surveys: A case study of rice and waterfowl

Large-scale sample surveys to estimate abundance and distribution of organisms and their habitats are increasingly important in ecological studies. Multi-stage sampling (MSS) is especially suited to large-scale surveys because of the natural clustering of resources. To illustrate an application, we: (1) designed a stratified MSS to estimate late autumn abundance (kg/ha) of rice seeds in harvested fields as food for waterfowl wintering in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV); (2) investigated options for improving the MSS design; and (3) compared statistical and cost efficiency of MSS to simulated simple random sampling (SRS). During 2000–2002, we sampled 25–35 landowners per year, 1 or 2 fields per landowner per year, and measured seed mass in 10 soil cores collected within each field. Analysis of variance components and costs for each stage of the survey design indicated that collecting 10 soil cores per field was near the optimum of 11–15, whereas sampling >1 field per landowner provided few benefits because data from fields within landowners were highly correlated. Coefficients of variation (CV) of annual estimates of rice abundance ranged from 0.23 to 0.31 and were limited by variation among landowners and the number of landowners sampled. Design effects representing the statistical efficiency of MSS relative to SRS ranged from 3.2 to 9.0, and simulations indicated SRS would cost, on average, 1.4 times more than MSS because clustering of sample units in MSS decreased travel costs. We recommend MSS as a potential sampling strategy for large-scale natural resource surveys and specifically for future surveys of the availability of rice as food for waterfowl in the MAV and similar areas.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missou↗
USGS2007

An analysis of urban development and its environmental impact on the Tampa Bay watershed

Urbanization has transformed natural landscapes into anthropogenic impervious surfaces. Urban land use has become a major driving force for land cover and land use change in the Tampa Bay watershed of west-central Florida. This study investigates urban land use change and its impact on the watershed. The spatial and temporal changes, as well as the development density of urban land use are determined by analyzing the impervious surface distribution using Landsat satellite imagery. Population distribution and density are extracted from the 2000 census data. Non-point source pollution parameters used for measuring water quality are analyzed for the sub-drainage basins of Hillsborough County. The relationships between 2002 urban land use, population distribution and their environmental influences are explored using regression analysis against various non-point source pollutant loadings in these sub-drainage basins. The results suggest that strong associations existed between most pollutant loadings and the extent of impervious surface within each sub-drainage basin in 2002. Population density also exhibits apparent correlations with loading rates of several pollutants. Spatial variations of selected non-point source pollutant loadings are also assessed.

Journal of Environmental Management↗
USGS2011

Comparative mobility of sulfonamides and bromide tracer in three soils

In animal agriculture, sulfonamides are one of the routinely used groups of antimicrobials for therapeutic and sub-therapeutic purposes. It is observed that, the animals when administered the antimicrobials, often do not completely metabolize them; and excrete the partially metabolized forms into the environment. Due to the continued use of antimicrobials and disposal of untreated waste, widespread occurrence of partially metabolized antimicrobials in aquatic and terrestrial environments has been reported in various scientific journals. In this research, the mobility of two sulfonamides - sulfamethazine (SMN), sulfathiazole (STZ) and a conservative bromide tracer was investigated in three soils collected from regions in the United States with large number of concentrated animal-feed operations. Results of a series of column studies indicate that the mobility of these two sulfonamides was dependent on pH, soil charge density, and contact time. At low pH and high charge density, substantial retention of sulfonamides was observed in all three soils investigated, due to the increased fraction of cationic and neutral forms of the sulfonamides. Conversely, enhanced mobility was observed at high pH, where the sulfonamides are predominantly in the anionic form. The results indicate that when both SMN and STZ are predominantly in anionic forms, their mobility approximates the mobility of a conservative bromide tracer. This observation is consistent for the mobility of both SMN and STZ individually, and also in the presence of several other antimicrobials in all three soils investigated. Higher contact time indicates lower mobility due to increased interaction with soil material.

Journal of Environmental Management↗
USGS2012

Assessment of salinity intrusion in the James and Chickahominy Rivers as a result of simulated sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay, East Coast, USA

Global sea level is rising, and the relative rate in the Chesapeake Bay region of the East Coast of the United States is greater than the worldwide rate. Sea-level rise can cause saline water to migrate upstream in estuaries and rivers, threatening freshwater habitat and drinking-water supplies. The effects of future sea-level rise on two tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, the James and Chickahominy (CHK) Rivers, were evaluated in order to quantify the salinity change with respect to the magnitude of sea-level rise. Such changes are critical to: 1) local floral and faunal habitats that have limited tolerance ranges to salinity; and 2) a drinking-water supply for the City of Newport News, Virginia. By using the three-dimensional Hydrodynamic-Eutrophication Model (HEM-3D), sea-level rise scenarios of 30, 50, and 100 cm, based on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program for the mid-Atlantic region for the 21st century, were evaluated. The model results indicate that salinity increases in the entire river as sea level rises and that the salinity increase in a dry year is greater than that in a typical year. In the James River, the salinity increase in the middle-to-upper river (from 25 to 50 km upstream of the mouth) is larger than that in the lower and upper parts of the river. The maximum mean salinity increase would be 2 and 4 ppt for a sea-level rise of 50 and 100 cm, respectively. The upstream movement of the 10 ppt isohaline is much larger than the 5 and 20 ppt isohalines. The volume of water with salinity between 10 and 20 ppt would increase greatly if sea level rises 100 cm. In the CHK River, with a sea-level rise of 100 cm, the mean salinity at the drinking-water intake 34 km upstream of the mouth would be about 3 ppt in a typical year and greater than 5 ppt in a dry year, both far in excess of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's secondary standard for total dissolved solids for drinking water. At the drinking-water intake, the number of days of salinity greater than 0.1 ppt increases with increasing sea-level rise; during a dry year, 0.1 ppt would be exceeded for more than 100 days with as small a rise as 30 cm.

Newport News↗
USGS2012

Stochastic analyses to identify wellfield withdrawal effects on surface-water and groundwater in Miami-Dade County, Florida

Several stochastic analyses were conducted in Miami-Dade County, Florida, to evaluate the effects of wellfield withdrawal on aquifer water levels, canal stage, and canal flow. Multiyear data for withdrawals at four water-supply wellfields, water levels at the S-121 canal control structure and groundwater head at a nearby monitoring well were used to determine the interrelation between wellfield withdrawals and water levels in the canal and aquifer. A spectral analysis was performed first on the wellfield withdrawals, showing similar patterns of fluctuations, but no well-defined seasonality. In order to compare water-level response with withdrawals at each wellfield, the intercorrelation effects between wellfields was removed through a ‘causal chain’ approach where the inter-wellfield correlation is used to isolate the wellfield/water-level correlation. Most computed correlations have magnitudes less than 5 percent, but with statistical significance above 90 percent. Results indicate that withdrawals from the wellfields most distant from the canal had no significant correlation to the canal levels. However the highest correlation was not at the wellfield closest to the canal, but at the two wellfields at the intermediate distance that have higher withdrawal rates. The hydraulic interconnectivity of the canal with the rest of the canal network, covering the study area, allows the canal equalizes with all connected canals. This explains why proximity to a particular canal location does not appear to be as important a factor as the withdrawal rate. Groundwater levels are more highly correlated to a wellfield on the same side of the canal, and to pumping wells in the same wellfield on the same side of the canal. This indicates that canals are an effective barrier and source/sink for the groundwater. Further nonlinear correlation analysis indicates that high withdrawal rates disproportionally affect water levels and are the predominant effect on the canal.

Florida↗
USGS2012

The impact of antecedent fire area on burned area in southern California coastal ecosystems

Frequent wildfire disasters in southern California highlight the need for risk reduction strategies for the region, of which fuel reduction via prescribed burning is one option. However, there is no consensus about the effectiveness of prescribed fire in reducing the area of wildfire. Here, we use 29 years of historical fire mapping to quantify the relationship between annual wildfire area and antecedent fire area in predominantly shrub and grassland fuels in seven southern California counties, controlling for annual variation in weather patterns. This method has been used elsewhere to measure leverage: the reduction in wildfire area resulting from one unit of prescribed fire treatment. We found little evidence for a leverage effect (leverage = zero). Specifically our results showed no evidence that wildfire area was negatively influenced by previous fires, and only weak relationships with weather variables rainfall and Santa Ana wind occurrences, which were variables included to control for inter-annual variation. We conclude that this is because only 2% of the vegetation burns each year and so wildfires rarely encounter burned patches and chaparral shrublands can carry a fire within 1 or 2 years after previous fire. Prescribed burning is unlikely to have much influence on fire regimes in this area, though targeted treatment at the urban interface may be effective at providing defensible space for protecting assets. These results fit an emerging global model of fire leverage which position California at the bottom end of a continuum, with tropical savannas at the top (leverage = 1: direct replacement of wildfire by prescribed fire) and Australian eucalypt forests in the middle (leverage ∼ 0.25).

California↗
USGS2013

Effects of grazing on leaf area index, fractional cover and evapotranspiration by a desert phreatophyte community at a former uranium mill site on the Colorado Plateau

This study employed ground and remote sensing methods to monitor the effects of grazing on leaf area index (LAI), fractional cover (f c ) and evapotranspiration (ET) of a desert phreatophyte community over an 11 year period at a former uranium mill site on the Colorado Plateau, U.S. Nitrate, ammonium and sulfate are migrating away from the mill site in a shallow alluvial aquifer. The phreatophyte community, consisting of Atriplex canescens (ATCA) and Sarcobatus vermiculatus (SAVE) shrubs, intercepts groundwater and could potentially slow the movement of the contaminant plume through evapotranspiration (ET). However, the site has been heavily grazed by livestock, reducing plant cover and LAI. We used livestock exclosures and revegetation plots to determine the effects of grazing on LAI, f c and ET, then projected the findings over the whole site using multi-platform remote sensing methods. We show that ET is approximately equal to annual precipitation at the site, but when ATCA and SAVE are protected from grazing they can develop high f c and LAI values, and ET can exceed annual precipitation, with the excess coming from groundwater discharge. Therefore, control of grazing could be an effective method to slow migration of contaminants at this and similar sites in the western U.S.

Colorado Plateau↗
USGS2013

Partial least squares for efficient models of fecal indicator bacteria on Great Lakes beaches

At public beaches, it is now common to mitigate the impact of water-borne pathogens by posting a swimmer's advisory when the concentration of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) exceeds an action threshold. Since culturing the bacteria delays public notification when dangerous conditions exist, regression models are sometimes used to predict the FIB concentration based on readily-available environmental measurements. It is hard to know which environmental parameters are relevant to predicting FIB concentration, and the parameters are usually correlated, which can hurt the predictive power of a regression model. Here the method of partial least squares (PLS) is introduced to automate the regression modeling process. Model selection is reduced to the process of setting a tuning parameter to control the decision threshold that separates predicted exceedances of the standard from predicted non-exceedances. The method is validated by application to four Great Lakes beaches during the summer of 2010. Performance of the PLS models compares favorably to that of the existing state-of-the-art regression models at these four sites.

Journal of Environmental Management↗