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USGS2008

Biological assessments of Appalachian streams based on predictive models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages

We developed empirical models for fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages to assess the biological condition of 268 streams sampled from 1993 to 2002 in 7 major river basins in the Appalachian region of the USA. These models estimate the expected taxonomic composition at each site based on observed variation in taxonomic composition at reference sites. The index, O/E, is the ratio of the number of predicted taxa that were observed (O) to that expected (E) to occur at a site and is a measure of taxonomic completeness. We compared how O/E for each assemblage varied among major landuse settings and whether impaired assemblages were associated with particular physicochemical conditions. We also examined concordance among assemblages in their response to stress. Biological, chemical, and physical data were collected following consistent protocols. We used land-cover criteria, published data, and topographic maps to classify sites by major landuse setting. Fish, macroinvertebrate, and diatom assemblages had been sampled at 73, 108, and 52, respectively, of the least disturbed sites used to establish reference conditions. The models accounted for a substantial portion of the natural variation in taxonomic composition across sites that was associated with biogeographic, climatic, and basin-scale factors and generally were unbiased across the range of environmental gradients observed in the region. Assessments at nonreference sites showed that impairment of fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages was most strongly associated with agriculture and urban land uses, whereas impairment of diatom assemblages was most strongly associated with mining in the basin. Concordance in assessments among assemblages was not strong. Assessments based on 2 assemblages differed in 28 to 57% of cases, and assessments were never concordant for cases where all 3 assemblages were sampled. Furthermore, only 1/2 of these cases would have been assessed as ecologically impaired had only 1 assemblage been sampled. Differences between observed and predicted frequencies of occurrence for individual taxa were generally consistent with known tolerances to environmental stressors and might aid in identifying causes of biological impairment. ?? 2008 by The North American Benthological Society.

Journal of the North American Benthological Societ↗

USGS1990

Catalog of US GeoData

The development of geographic information systems (GIS) is a rapidly growing industry that supports natural resources, studies, land management, environmental analysis, and urban and transporation planning. The increasing use of computers for storing and analyzing earth science information has greatly expanded the demand for digital cartographic and geographic data. Digital cartography involves the collection, storage, processing, analysis, and display of map data with the aid of computers. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Nation's largest earth science research agency, through its National Mapping Program, has expanded digital cartography operations to include the collection of elevation, planimetric, land use and land cover, and geographic names information in digital form. This digital information is available on 9-track magnetic tapes and, in the case of 1:2,000,000-scale planimetric digital line graph data, in Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) format. Digital information can be used with all types of geographic and land information systems.

General Information Product↗

USGS2014

Integrating land cover modeling and adaptive management to conserve endangered species and reduce catastrophic fire risk

Land cover modeling is used to inform land management, but most often via a two-step process, where science informs how management alternatives can influence resources, and then, decision makers can use this information to make decisions. A more efficient process is to directly integrate science and decision-making, where science allows us to learn in order to better accomplish management objectives and is developed to address specific decisions. Co-development of management and science is especially productive when decisions are complicated by multiple objectives and impeded by uncertainty. Multiple objectives can be met by the specification of tradeoffs, and relevant uncertainty can be addressed through targeted science (i.e., models and monitoring). We describe how to integrate habitat and fuel monitoring with decision-making focused on the dual objectives of managing for endangered species and minimizing catastrophic fire risk. Under certain conditions, both objectives might be achieved by a similar management policy; other conditions require tradeoffs between objectives. Knowledge about system responses to actions can be informed by developing hypotheses based on ideas about fire behavior and then applying competing management actions to different land units in the same system state. Monitoring and management integration is important to optimize state-specific management decisions and to increase knowledge about system responses. We believe this approach has broad utility and identifies a clear role for land cover modeling programs intended to inform decision-making.

Land↗

USGS2005

Effects of urbanization on benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages in contrasting environmental settings: Boston, Massachusetts; Birmingham, Alabama; and Salt Lake City, Utah

Responses of invertebrate assemblages along gradients of urban intensity were examined in three metropolitan areas with contrasting climates and topography (Boston, Massachusetts; Birmingham, Alabama; Salt Lake City, Utah). Urban gradients were defined using an urban intensity index (UII) derived from basin-scale population, infrastructure, land-use, land-cover, and socioeconomic characteristics. Responses based on assemblage metrics, indices of biotic integrity (B-IBI), and ordinations were readily detected in all three urban areas and many responses could be accurately predicted simply using regional UIIs. Responses to UII were linear and did not indicate any initial resistance to urbanization. Richness metrics were better indicators of urbanization than were density metrics. Metrics that were good indicators were specific to each study except for a richness-based tolerance metric (TOLr) and one B-IBI. Tolerances to urbanization were derived for 205 taxa. These tolerances differed among studies and with published tolerance values, but provided similar characterizations of site conditions. Basin-scale land-use changes were the most important variables for explaining invertebrate responses to urbanization. Some chemical and instream physical habitat variables were important in individual studies, but not among studies. Optimizing the study design to detect basin-scale effects may have reduced the ability to detect local-scale effects. ?? 2005 by the American Fisheries Society.

American Fisheries Society Symposium↗

USGS2004

Contemporary carbon dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems in the Southeastern Plains of the United States

Quantifying carbon dynamics over large areas is frequently hindered by the lack of consistent, high-quality, spatially explicit land use and land cover change databases and appropriate modeling techniques. In this paper, we present a generic approach to address some of these challenges. Land cover change information in the Southeastern Plains ecoregion was derived from Landsat data acquired in 1973, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000 within 11 randomly located 20-km × 20-km sample blocks. Carbon dynamics within each of the sample blocks was simulated using the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS), capable of assimilating the variances and covariance of major input variables into simulations using an ensemble approach. Results indicate that urban and forest areas have been increasing, whereas agricultural land has been decreasing since 1973. Forest clear-cutting activity has intensified, more than doubling from 1973 to 2000. The Southeastern Plains has been acting as a carbon sink since 1973, with an average rate of 0.89 Mg C/ha/yr. Biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC), and harvested materials account for 56%, 34%, and 10% of the sink, respectively. However, the sink has declined continuously during the same period owing to forest aging in the northern part of the ecoregion and increased forest clear-cutting activities in the south. The relative contributions to the sink from SOC and harvested materials have increased, implying that these components deserve more study in the future. The methods developed here can be used to quantify the impacts of human management activities on the carbon cycle at landscape to global scales.

Environmental Management↗

USGS2008

Change in the forested and developed landscape of the Lake Tahoe basin, California and Nevada, USA, 1940-2002

The current ecological state of the Lake Tahoe basin has been shaped by significant landscape-altering human activity and management practices since the mid-1850s; first through widespread timber harvesting from the 1850s to 1920s followed by urban development from the 1950s to the present. Consequences of landscape change, both from development and forest management practices including fire suppression, have prompted rising levels of concern for the ecological integrity of the region. The impacts from these activities include decreased water quality, degraded biotic communities, and increased fire hazard. To establish an understanding of the Lake Tahoe basin's landscape change in the context of forest management and development we mapped, quantified, and described the spatial and temporal distribution and variability of historical changes in land use and land cover in the southern Lake Tahoe basin (279 km2) from 1940 to 2002. Our assessment relied on post-classification change detection of multi-temporal land-use/cover and impervious-surface-area data that were derived through manual interpretation, image processing, and GIS data integration for four dates of imagery: 1940, 1969, 1987, and 2002. The most significant land conversion during the 62-year study period was an increase in developed lands with a corresponding decrease in forests, wetlands, and shrublands. Forest stand densities increased throughout the 62-year study period, and modern thinning efforts resulted in localized stand density decreases in the latter part of the study period. Additionally forests were gained from succession, and towards the end of the study period extensive tree mortality occurred. The highest rates of change occurred between 1940 and 1969, corresponding with dramatic development, then rates declined through 2002 for all observed landscape changes except forest density decrease and tree mortality. Causes of landscape change included regional population growth, tourism demands, timber harvest for local use, fire suppression, bark beetle attack, and fuels reduction activities. Results from this study offer land managers within the Lake Tahoe basin and in similar regions a basis for making better informed land-use and management decisions to potentially minimize detrimental ecological impacts of landscape change. The perspective to be gained is based on quantitative retrospection of the effects of human-driven changes and the impacts of management action or inaction to the forested landscape. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forest Ecology and Management↗

USGS2019

Estimated groundwater recharge from a water-budget model incorporating selected climate projections, Island of Maui, Hawai‘i

Demand for freshwater on the Island of Maui is expected to increase by 45 percent between 2015 and 2035. Groundwater availability on Maui is affected by changes in climate and agricultural irrigation. To evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater under projected future climate conditions and changing agricultural irrigation practices, estimates of groundwater recharge are needed. A water-budget model with a daily computation interval was used to estimate the spatial distribution of recharge on Maui for one present-day and two future-climate scenarios. All three scenarios used 2017 land cover. The two future-climate scenarios, including one wetter than the present-day scenario and one drier than the present-day scenario, were developed using available high-resolution downscaled climate projections. The drier future scenario was developed using projections for a Representative Concentration Pathway warming scenario during 2071–99 with total radiative forcing of 8.5 Watts per square meter by the year 2100 (RCP8.5 2071–99 scenario), whereas the wetter future scenario was developed using projections for a “Special Report on Emissions Scenarios” A1B emission scenario during 2080–99 (A1B 2080–99 scenario). For the RCP8.5 2071–99 scenario, projected mean annual recharge decrease for Maui is about 172 million gallons per day, or about 14 percent less than present-day recharge, which is estimated to be 1,232 million gallons per day. Recharge for the RCP8.5 2071–99 scenario is projected to decrease in 22 of Maui’s 25 aquifer systems, which are defined by the Hawaiʻi Commission on Water Resource Management. For the A1B 2080–99 future scenario, projected mean annual recharge increase for Maui is about 144 million gallons per day, or about 12 percent more than present-day recharge. Recharge for the A1B 2080–99 scenario is projected to increase in 17 of Maui’s 25 aquifer systems. Between the two future scenarios, a total of 11 aquifer systems show similar direction in drying (Kahului, Kama‘ole, Lualaʻilua, Makawao, Olowalu, Pāʻia, Ukumehame, Waikapū) or wetting (Honopou, Kawaipapa, and Waikamoi) changes for recharge. Selectively modifying the climate inputs for the A1B 2080–99 scenario indicates that the projected changes in rainfall account for most of the projected changes in recharge for Maui’s 25 aquifer systems. However, projected changes in reference evapotranspiration and forest-canopy evaporation also can account for a substantial part of the projected changes in recharge where changes in reference evapotranspiration are relatively large and where changes in forest-canopy evaporation extend across large forested areas. Projected changes in daily rainfall frequency have a relatively small but non-negligible impact on recharge estimates.

Hawaii↗

USGS1995

Water-quality assessment of the Kentucky River Basin, Kentucky: Distribution of metals and other trace elements in sediment and water, 1987-90

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program is designed to provide a nationally consistent description of the current status of water quality, to define water-quality trends, and to relate past and present water-quality conditions to natural features, uses of land and water, and other water-quality effects from human activities. The Kentucky River Basin is one of four NAWQA pilot projects that focused primarily on the quality of surface water. Water, sediment, and bedrock samples were collected in the Kentucky River Basin during 1987-90 for the purpose of (1) describing the spatial distribution, transport, and temporal variability of metals and other trace elements in streams of the basin; (2) estimating mean annual loads, yields, and trends of constituent concentrations and identifying potential causes (or sources) of spatial patterns; (3) providing baseline information for concentrations of metals in streambed and suspended sediments; (4) identifying stream reaches in the Kentucky River Basin with chronic water-quality problems; and (5) evaluating the merits of the NAWQA pilot study-approach for the assessment of metals and other trace elements in a river system. The spatial distribution of metals and other trace elements in streambed sediments of the Kentucky River Basin is associated with regional differences of geology, land use and cover, and the results of human activities. Median concentrations of constituents differed significantly among physiographic regions of the basin because of relations to bedrock geochemistry and land disturbance. Concentrations of potentially toxic metals were large in urban and industrial areas of the basin. Elevated concentrations of certain metals were also found in streambed sediments of the Knobs Region because of the presence of Devonian shale bedrock. Elevated concentrations of lead and zinc found in streambed sediments of the Bluegrass Region are likely associated with urban stormwater runoff, point-source discharges, and waste-management practices. Concentrations of cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, and silver were elevated in streambed sediments downstream from wastewater-treatment plant discharges. Streambed-sediment concentrations of barium, chromium, and lithium were elevated in streams that receive brine discharges from oil production. Elevated concentrations of antimony, arsenic, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, uranium, and vanadium in streambed sediments of the Kentucky River Basin were generally associated with natural sources. Concentrations of metals and other trace elements in water samples from fixed stations (stations where water-quality samples were collected for 3.5 years) in the Kentucky River Basin were generally related to stream discharge and the concentration of suspended sediment, whereas constituent concentrations in the suspended-sediment matrix were indicative of natural and human sources. Estimated mean annual loads and yields for most metals and other trace elements were associated with the transport of suspended sediment. Land disturbance, such as surface mining and agriculture, contribute to increased transport of sediment in streams, thereby increasing concentrations of metals in water samples during periods of intense or prolonged rainfall and increased stream discharge. Concentrations of many metals and trace elements were reduced during low streamflow. Although total-recoverable and dissolved concentrations of certain metals and trace elements were large in streams affected by land disturbance, concentrations of constituents in the suspendedsediment matrix were commonly large in streams in the Knobs and Eastern Coal Field Regions (because of relations with bedrock geochemistry) and in streams that receive wastewater or oil-well-brine discharges. Concentrations and mean annual load estimates for aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, and mercury were larger than those obtained from data collected by a State agency, probably because of differences in sample-collection methodology, the range of discharge associated with water-quality samples, and laboratory analytical procedures. However, concentrations, loads, and yields of arsenic, barium, and zinc were similar to those determined from the State data. Significant upward trends in the concentrations of aluminum, iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc were indicated at one or more fixed stations in the Kentucky River Basin during the past 10 to 15 years. Upward trends for concentrations of aluminum, iron, and manganese were found at sites that receive drainage from coal mines in the upper Kentucky River Basin, whereas upward trends for zinc may be associated with urban sources. Water-quality criteria established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or the State of Kentucky for concentrations of aluminum, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, silver, and zinc were exceeded at one or more fixed stations in the Kentucky River Basin. On a qualitative basis, dissolved concentrations of certain metals and trace elements were large during low streamflow at sites where (1) concentrations of these constituents in underlying streambed sediments were large, or (2) dissolvedoxygen concentrations were small. Concentrations of barium, lithium, and strontium were large during low streamflow, which indicates the influence of ground-water baseflows on the quality of surface water during low flow. The effects of point-source discharges, landfills, and other wastemanagement practices are somewhat localized in the Kentucky River Basin and are best indicated by the spatial distribution of metals and other trace elements in streambed sediments and in the suspended-sediment fraction of water samples at stream locations near the source. It was not possible to quantify the contribution of point sources to the total transport of metals and other trace elements at fixed stations because data were not available for wastewater effluents. Quantification of baseline concentrations of metals and other trace elements in streambed sediments provides a basis for the detection of water-quality changes that may result from improvements in wastewater treatment or the implementation of best-management practices for controlling contamination from nonpoint sources in the Kentucky River Basin.

Kentucky↗

USGS1994

Land use in, and water quality of, the Pea Hill Arm of Lake Gaston, Virginia and North Carolina, 1988-90

The City of Virginia Beach currently (1994) supplies water to about 400,000 people in southeastern Virginia. The city plans to withdraw water from the Pea Hill Arm of Lake Gaston to meet projected water needs of the population to the year 2030. The purpose of this report is to (1) describe the temporal and spatial distribution of selected water-quality constituents, (2) document current (1989) land use and land cover in the Pea Hill Arm drainage basin, and (3) discuss relations, if any, between the quality of water in the inlets within the Pea Hill Arm and land uses. The report focuses on water-quality problems in the basin, including changes in concentrations of major ions, nutrients, and algae associated with urban development adjacent to water bodies. The Pea Hill Arm was classified as mesotrophic on the basis of the range of concentrations of total phosphorus (0.001 to 0.61 milligrams per liter); the range of concentrations of total organic-plus-ammonia nitrogen (0.2 to 1.4 milligrams per liter); and the range of concentrations of chlorophyll a (1.4 to 56 micrograms per liter). These water-quality data were collected at 3 feet below the water surface during water years 1989-90. Thermal stratification in Pea Hill Arm generally began in April and ended in September. Water below a depth of about 25 feet generally became anoxic by June. Destratification generally began in late September and was completed by November. Lake Gaston followed the same general stratification and destratification pattern as Pea Hill Arm, except Lake Gaston was partially destratified during the summer when large amounts of water were released from John H. Kerr Reservoir and Lake Gaston Dams. During water year 1988, streamflows were 33 percent below the long-term mean-annual streamflows at one of the major streams to Lake Gaston. Low streamflows contributed to elevated specific conductances and concentrations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity from October 1988 to February 1989 at sampling stations in the Pea Hill Arm and Lake Gaston. About 75 percent of the land use in the Pea Hill Arm is forest land. The remaining 25 percent of the Pea Hill Arm drainage basin is 8 percent pasture/open land, 8 percent open water, 6 percent residential land, and 3 percent cropland. No statistical relations are present between water-quality constituents measured and developed land uses within 11 basins in the Pea Hill Arm Basin, except during periods of stormwater runoff. During a stormwater-runoff event, there was a relation between total nitrite plus nitrate and land use (Kendall's tau correlation coefficient of 0.69). The relation between the developed land use and total nitrite plus nitrate can also be related to the increased ground-water inputs during high base-flow periods. Spatial differences in water-quality constituents as determined by Wilcoxon (matched-pairs) signed-rank tests and cluster analyses were longitudinal and primarily grouped into riverine, transition, and lacustrine zones. These zones were grouped on the basis of flow characteristics and nutrient concentrations.

North Carolina, Virginia↗

USGS1994

National Water-Quality Assessment Program - The Upper Mississippi River Basin

In 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of the Interior, began a National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. The long-term goals of the NAWQA program are to describe the status and trends of the quality of a large, representative part of the Nation’s surfaceand ground-water resources, and to identify the natural and human factors that affect the quality of these resources. Factors such as geomorphology, climate, hydrology, land use, and land cover that affect water-quality, are being studied relative to specific water-quality issues that affect large hydrologic regions of the United States. In addressing these goals, the NAWQA program will produce water-quality information that will be useful to policy makers and managers at the National, State, and local levels. Because it would be impractical to assess the water quality in the entire Nation, major activities of the NAWQA program take place within a set of hydrologic systems called study units. Study units at 60 locations comprise diverse hydrologic systems of river basins, aquifer systems, or both, ranging in size from 1,000 mi2 (square miles) to more than 60,000 mi2 . These study units collectively encompass about 45 percent of the land area in the conterminous United States and represent 60 to 70 percent of the Nation’s water use and population served by public water supply.

Upper Mississippi River Basin↗

USGS2024

Estimated groundwater recharge for mid-century and end-of-century climate projections, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Maui, and the Island of Hawai‘i

Demand for freshwater in the State of Hawaiʻi is expected to increase by roughly 13 percent from 2020 to 2035. Groundwater availability in Hawaiʻi is affected by a number of factors, including land cover, rainfall, runoff, evapotranspiration, and climate change. To evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater under projected future-climate conditions, estimates of groundwater recharge are needed. A water-budget model with a daily computation interval was used to estimate the spatial distribution of groundwater recharge for Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi for recent climate conditions and three future-climate scenarios. Climate conditions from 1978 to 2007 were used as the reference period for recent climate conditions on each island. The three future-climate scenarios were developed using available high-resolution downscaled climate projections that include (1) a mid-century scenario using projected rainfall conditions for the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenario during 2041–71 with a total radiative forcing of 8.5 watts per square meter by the year 2100 (RCP8.5 2041–71 scenario), (2) a dry-climate scenario using projected rainfall conditions for the RCP8.5 scenario during 2071–99, and (3) a wet-climate scenario using projected rainfall conditions for the “Special Report on Emissions Scenarios” A1B scenario during 2080–99 for Maui, the RCP4.5 scenario during 2080–99 for Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi, and the Island of Hawaiʻi, and the RCP8.5 scenario during 2080–99 for Oʻahu and Molokaʻi. An additional drought scenario was added for Lānaʻi to assess the effect of extreme drought conditions during 2008–12 on groundwater recharge. All scenarios used 2020 land cover. Mean annual groundwater recharge is estimated to decrease between 5 and 55 percent on all six islands in this study for the mid-century and dry-climate scenarios relative to the reference-period recharge. Recharge is estimated to increase for Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Maui between 2 and 43 percent and decrease for the Island of Hawaiʻi by about 4 percent for the wet-climate scenario. Comparing the mid-century and dry-climate scenarios, all 110 aquifer systems (management areas defined by the State of Hawaiʻi Commission on Water Resource Management) from all six islands show similar direction in drying (104 aquifer systems) or wetting (6 aquifer systems) changes for recharge. However, among the three future scenarios, only 35 of 110 aquifer systems show similar direction in drying (30 aquifer systems) or wetting (5 aquifer systems) changes for recharge.

Hawaii↗

USGS2023

Characterizing urban heat islands across 50 major cities in the United States

Urban development and associated land-cover and land-use change alters the environment. The continued increase of developed land changes the Earth’s ecosystems and affects the resources provided to society. During the last 40 years, urban population in the United States has increased by more than 6.3 percent, and more than 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas. One of the changes associated with urbanization is the change of landscape features to structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructure that absorb and re-emit the heat of the sun more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies. This land-cover transition can result in an urban surface temperature that is higher than in a non-urban area, which is defined as a surface urban heat island (SUHI). A SUHI has a profound effect on the lives of urban residents and can exacerbate the risk of heat-related mortality associated with global climate change. The change of urban landscapes and climate conditions can affect the SUHI intensity. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a dataset of SUHI intensity and change from 1985 to 2020 over 50 cities in the United States using Landsat surface temperature (ST) and land - cover data. The data reveal SUHI spatial distributions and temporal trends in these cities. The 50-city mean SUHI intensity reaches 2.88 degrees Celsius (°C) (5.19 degrees Fahrenheit [°F]) and an average trend of 0.32 °C per decade (0.58 °F per decade). The data also provide spatial distributions of hotspots where annual mean ST is higher than in the surrounding areas that have the same urban land-cover type and high ST that repeated more than 50 percent of the time during 1985–2020 for 50 cities.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2019

A comparison of hydrocarbon-related landscape disturbance patterns along the New York-Pennsylvania border, 2004–2013

Executive Summary The New York-Pennsylvania area has a long history of hydrocarbon extraction, and the addition of shale gas extraction methods contributes to landscape disturbance borne by previously developed oil and non-shale gas resources. The main unconventional extraction method used to extract shale gas from the Marcellus Shale located in New York and Pennsylvania is hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” although other conventional methods are used extensively. All forms of hydrocarbon extraction disturb the surrounding landscape to some extent, primarily in the form of land clearance and degradation, road construction, and pipeline development, although the effects of these disturbances are not fully understood. In this study, landscape-change metrics and indicators are used to analyze change in a 10-county region along the New York-Pennsylvania border—the New York counties of Allegany, Steuben, Chemung, Tioga, and Broome, and the Pennsylvania counties of McKean, Potter, Tioga, Bradford, and Susquehanna. This 10-county region was selected due to the differences in policies between the States of New York and Pennsylvania. While fracking occurred extensively in Pennsylvania over the past 10 years or more, the State of New York issued a temporary moratorium against hydraulic fracturing in 2010—citing repercussions that might affect air quality, water quality, and public health—and officially banned hydraulic fracturing in June 2015. The quantification of landscape disturbance due to hydrocarbon extraction activities is presented in this report as land-use and land-cover (LULC) change between 2004 and 2013 and defined using specific disturbance categories (including well sites, roads, and pipelines) to compare the disturbances and changes, by county, on both sides of the New York-Pennsylvania border. The quantification was accomplished by gathering the signatures of disturbance from high-resolution aerial images, comparing the derived totals of disturbance, and then computing landscape metrics in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. The collected data represent a summation of landscape disturbance from oil and gas development, as some of the data represented were established decades earlier. The Analytical Tools Interface for Landscape Assessments (ATtILA) software was used to calculate land-cover area and landscape metrics for each shale gas, non-shale gas, oil, and other infrastructure types associated with hydrocarbons across each county and both five-county regions in the study area. The three primary metrics used to describe changes in forest structure were (1)forest area, (2) interior forest area, and (3) forest edge area. The changes in metrics were subsequently evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Overall, the disturbed-area footprint in the Pennsylvania region is considerably larger than the disturbed-area footprint in the New York region (13,687.9 hectares [ha] in Pennsylvania; 3,840.5 ha in New York). Disturbance per site is similar, with 1.2 disturbed ha per site in New York and 1.6 disturbed ha per site in Pennsylvania. In the New York-Pennsylvania 10-county region, hydrocarbon-development and extraction disturbance strongly correlate with a reduction in the percentage of forest for the entire region. This observation also appears to be true in the New York five-county region for forest area. This form of disturbance in the New York five-county region shows significantly correlated changes in forest metrics (–0.4 percent total forest area), particularly in the percentage of interior forest (–1.2 percent total area) and forest edge (+0.7 percent total area). On the other hand, gas and hydrocarbon-development and extraction disturbance (1.0 percent total area) in the Pennsylvania five-county region strongly correlates with a total decline in forest area and agricultural land area (–0.8 percent combined total area) but not with either land-cover class separately.

New York, Pennsylvania↗

USGS2010

Effects of landscape features on waterbird use of rice fields

Literature is reviewed to determine the effects of landscape features on waterbird use of fields in regions where rice (Oryza sativa) is grown. Rice-growing landscapes often consist of diverse land uses and land cover, including rice fields, irrigation ditches, other agricultural fields, grasslands, forests and natural wetlands. Numerous studies indicate that local management practices, such as water depth and timing of flooding and drawdown, can strongly influence waterbird use of a given rice field. However, the effects of size and distribution of rice fields and associated habitats at a landscape scale have received less attention. Even fewer studies have focused on local and landscape effects simultaneously. Habitat connectivity, area of rice, distance to natural wetlands, and presence and distance to unsuitable habitat can be important parameters influencing bird use of rice fields. However, responses to a given landscape vary with landscape structure, scale of analysis, among taxa and within taxa among seasons. A lack of multi-scale studies, particularly those extending beyond simple presence and abundance of a given species, and a lack of direct tests comparing the relative importance of landscape features with in-field management activities limits understanding of the importance of landscape in these systems and hampers waterbird conservation and management.

Waterbirds↗

USGS1997

The U.S. Geological Survey Drinking Water Initiative

Safe drinking-water supplies are critical to maintaining and preserving public health. Although the Nation's drinking water is generally safe, natural and introduced contaminants in water supplies throughout the country have adversely affected human health. This new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiative will provide information on the vulnerability of water supplies to be used by water-supply and regulatory agencies who must balance water-supply protection with the wise use of public funds. Using the results of the initiative, they will be better able to focus on the supplies most at risk and the variability of contaminants of most concern, and so address the mandates of the Safe Drinking Water Act. With its store of geologic, hydrologic, and land use and land cover data and its network of information in every State, the USGS can help to identify potential sources of contamination, delineate source areas, determine the vulnerability of waters to potential contamination, and evaluate strategies being used to protect source waters in light of the scientific information available. Many recent and ongoing studies by the USGS concern drinking-water issues. This fact sheet highlights four particular studies begun under the Drinking Water Initiative.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2017

Comparing catchment hydrologic response to a regional storm using specific conductivity sensors

A better understanding of stormwater generation and solute sources is needed to improve the protection of aquatic ecosystems, infrastructure, and human health from large runoff events. Much of our understanding of water and solutes produced during stormflow comes from studies of individual, small headwater catchments. This study compared many different types of catchments during a single large event to help isolate landscape controls on streamwater and solute generation, including human-impacted land cover. We used a distributed network of specific electrical conductivity sensors to trace storm response during the post-tropical cyclone Sandy event of October 2012 at 29 catchments across the state of New Hampshire. A citizen science sensor network, Lotic Volunteer for Temperature, Electrical Conductivity, and Stage, provided a unique opportunity to investigate high-temporal resolution stream behavior at a broad spatial scale. Three storm response metrics were analyzed in this study: (a) fraction of new water contributing to the hydrograph; (b) presence of first flush (mobilization of solutes during the beginning of the rain event); and (c) magnitude of first flush. We compared new water and first flush to 64 predictor attributes related to land cover, soil, topography, and precipitation. The new water fraction was positively correlated with low and medium intensity development in the catchment and riparian buffers and with the precipitation from a rain event 9 days prior to Sandy. The presence of first flush was most closely related (positively) to soil organic matter. Magnitude of first flush was not strongly related to any of the catchment variables. Our results highlight the potentially important role of human landscape modification in runoff generation at multiple spatial scales and the lack of a clear role in solute flushing. Further development of regional-scale in situ sensor networks will provide better understanding of stormflow and solute generation across a wide range of landscape conditions.

New Hampshire↗

USGS2006

A simulation model of land-use change in the Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada, as used in a decision-support system

The Tahoe Land-Use Change model is a stochastic, spatially explicit simulation of future land-use change—in particular, development and retirement of individual parcels—in the Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada. The Federal, State, and regional management agencies responsible for the basin are revising and integrating their 20-year plans to meet various goals, including maintaining or improving several environmental (e.g., lake clarity, forest health) and socioeconomic (e.g., affordable housing) characteristics. To assist this effort, the model projects the long-term outcomes of land-use-management decisions, including those relating to existing and potential government regulations, development activities, and conservation practices. The model results are probabilistic maps of parcel-specific changes in land use and the resulting changes in the amount and locations of developed parcels and land-use change. To capture the uncertainties and variation in the exact parcels of land selected for development or retirement by individuals acting in the basin, a single model run includes multiple iterations, from which cumulative statistics are taken to describe the results. The purpose of the model is to generate changes in the amounts and types of land use and land cover that form inputs to a basinwide model of pollutant loading to Lake Tahoe, which, in turn, generates inputs to a lake-clarity model. Together, these three models form a chain of tools that link land-use decisions to changes in a critical environmental quality—the clarity of Lake Tahoe—within a decision-support context. Eventually, these three models will become part of a larger, more complete decision-support system.

California, Nevada↗

USGS1988

Toward a Federal Land Information System: Experiences and issues

From 1983 to 1987, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted research to develop a national resource data base of Federal lands under the auspices of the Federal Land Information System (FLIS) program. The program's goal was to develop the capability to provide information to national mineral-use policymakers. Prototype spatial data bases containing mineral, land status, and base cartographic data were developed for the Medford, Oreg., area, the State of Alaska, and the Silver City, N. Mex., area. Other accomplishments included (1) the preparation of a digital format for U.S. Geological Survey mineral assessment data and (2) the development of a procedure for integrating parcel-level tabular Alaska land status data into a section-level geographic information system. Overall findings indicated that both vector and raster capabilities are required for a FLIS and that nationwide data availability is a limiting factor in FLIS development. As a result of a 1986 interbureau (U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Mines) review of the FLIS program, activities were redirected to undertake research on large-area geographic information system techniques. Land use and land cover data generalization strategies were tested, and areafiltering software was found to be the optimum type. In addition, a procedure was developed for transferring tabular land status data of surveyed areas in the contiguous 48 States to spatial data for use in geographic information systems. The U.S. Geological Survey FLIS program, as an administrative unit, ended in 1987, but FLIS-related research on large-area geographic information systems continues.

Bulletin↗