A Late Jurassic salamander (Amphibia: Caudata) from the Morrison Formation of North America

Despite some remarkable recent discoveries, the Mesozoic fossil record of salamanders remains limited, particularly for the Jurassic. Here we describe the first articulated salamander skeleton from the Jurassic of Euramerica, recovered from Upper Jurassic deposits of the Morrison Formation, Dinosaur National Monument, USA. The specimen was studied using both conventional methods and high-resolution computed tomography. It shows a combination of primitive and derived character states that distinguish it from all known Mesozoic salamanders and which permit the erection of a new genus and species, Iridotriton hechti. The derived states (including the presence of spinal nerve foramina in the tail) suggest a position...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Lissamphibia, Urodela, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, biogeography, computed tomography, All tags... evolution, phylogeny, skeleton, Fewer tags

RestoreNet: seedling treatment and site environmental characteristics data at restoration treatment plots in northern Arizona, USA

This dataset is from a restoration field study conducted at seven sites distributed across the southern Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona as part of the RestoreNet dryland restoration field trial network. The data consist of post-experimental restoration treatment (2018-2019) plant density and height measurements along with site precipitation, temperature, and soils data. Plant data were collected through plot monitoring visits distributed throughout the first year following restoration treatments and seeding.

Tags: Arizona, Botany, Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Flagstaff, All tags... Forestry, Geography, Information Sciences, Soil Sciences, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), air temperature, biogeography, biota, drylands, ecosystem restoration, environmental variation, field experiments, field inventory and monitoring, field methods, geoscientificInformation, measurement, northern Arizona, plant density, plant growth, plant recruitment, post-experimental, post-restoration, precipitation (atmospheric), restoration treatments, seed mixes, seed treatments, seeding, seedling emergence, seedling establishment, seedling recruitment, seedling survival, site environmental characteristics, site environmental data, soil resources, southwestern United States, Fewer tags

Great Lakes Research Vessel Operations 1958-2018: Gillnet. (ver. 3.0, April 2019)

All gillnet data represented here expand upon vessel operations (OP table) data, all of which are collected by the United States Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center and its partners. The Gillnet Tables contain data collected from the research vessel deploying various gear used for gillnet data collection. The database uses sample_type to indicate the gear deployed. The tables relating to Gillnet are: GN_Annulus.csv, GN_Catch.csv, GN_Effort.csv, GN_Fish.csv, GN_L, GN_LF.csv, GN_OP.csv, GN_Prey.csv, GN_Stomach.csv, LMMB_Fish_Prey.csv, and LMMB_Invert_Prey.csv Data Quality: Note that the following data release is a snapshot of the database at the time of release. Some data quality checks are still being...

Categories: Data; Tags: Alewife, Bathythermograph, Benthos, Bloater, Cisco, All tags... Deepwater, Deepwater Sculpin, Detroit River, Emerald Shiner, Gillnet, Habitat, Hydroacoustic, Ichthyoplankton, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Saint Clair, Lake Superior, Lake Trout, Lake Trout Population Dynamics, Laurentian Great Lakes, Mensuration, Mysis, Prey fish, Prey fish population dynamics, Rainbow Smelt, Round Goby, Saint Clair River, Sea Lamprey, Slimy Sculpin, Spoonhead Sculpin, Trawl, Walleye, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Zebra Mussel, Zooplankton, acoustics, age estimation methods, age structure, biogeography, biological sampling, biomass, biota, environment, fall forage fish, field sampling, fishery management, food web, freshwater fishes, geospatial datasets, gillnets, inlandWaters, invasive species, population dynamics, surface water temperature, time series datasets, transect sampling, trawl nets, trawling, water temperature, Fewer tags

Saginaw Bay Restoration Assessment Composite Model

Well-established conservation planning principles and techniques framed by geodesign were used to assess the restorability of areas that historically supported coastal wetlands along the U.S. shore of Saginaw Bay. The resulting analysis supported planning efforts to identify, prioritize, and track wetland restoration opportunity and investment in the region. To accomplish this, publicly available data, criteria derived from the regional managers and local stakeholders, and geospatial analysis were used to form an ecological model for spatial prioritization.

Types: Citation; Tags: Great Lakes, LIDAR, Saginaw Bay, biogeography, coastal ecosystems, All tags... coastal processes, decision support methods, digital elevation models, ecological processes, environmental assessment, estuarine ecosystems, estuarine processes, freshwater ecosystems, geodesign, geographic information systems, geography, geospatial analysis, geospatial datasets, habitats, hydrographic datasets, interagency programs, land use change, surface-water level, water resources, wetland ecosystems, wetland functions, Fewer tags

RestoreNet subplot data for 21 sites within major dryland ecoregions throughout the southwestern United States, 2018 - 2021

These data were compiled for a networked field-trial restoration experiment (RestoreNet) that spans the southwestern US, including 21 distributed field sites. The objective of our study was to understand the environmental factors and restoration practices (including seed mixes and soil manipulation) that increase plant establishment and survival to ultimate improve restoration outcomes in dryland environments. These data represent point-in-time plant density and height measurements at our field sites at the time of monitoring. These data were collected at 21 arid and semi-arid sites, located throughout Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and California. These data were collected by USGS Restoration Assessment and Monitoring...

Categories: Data; Tags: Arizona, Botany, California, Chihuahuan Desert, Climatology, All tags... Colorado, Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Geography, Information Sciences, Mojave Desert, New Mexico, Soil Sciences, Sonoran Desert, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Utah, arid, atmospheric and climatic processes, biogeography, biota, climate change, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, data release, drylands, ecological modeling, ecological processes, ecological restoration, ecosystem monitoring, environment, environmental conditions, environmental variables, field inventory and monitoring, field sites, geoscientificInformation, grassland ecosystems, growth responses, monitoring, plant density, plant establishment, plant growth, plant height, plant responses, plant survival, plants (organisms), post-restoration, precipitation (atmospheric), remediation, restoration experiment, restoration seeding, restoration treatments, restoration variables, seed mixes, seedling emergence, seedling survival, semi-arid, site characteristics, soil resources, soil texture, southwestern US, spatial environmental variation, temporal change, temporal environmental variation, weedy species, zero-inflated data, Fewer tags

Remotely-sensed observations of restoration sites of the riparian corridor of the Colorado River Delta in Mexico, 2013-2022

These data were compiled for evaluating plant water use, or river-reach level evapotranspiration (ET) data, in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta as specified under Minute 319 of the 1944 Water Treaty. Additionally, these data were compiled for evaluating restoration-level data in Reach 2 and Reach 4, as specified under Minute 323 of the 1944 Water Treaty. Objectives of our study were to measure the peak growing season evapotranspiration (ET) for the average of months in summer-fall (May to October) for the seven reaches, for the full riparian corridor, and for four restoration sites, from 2013 through 2022. The seven reach areas from the Northerly International Boundary (NIB) to the end of the delta...

Tags: 1944 Water Treaty, Arizona, Botany, Colorado River, Colorado River delta, All tags... Ecology, Geography, Gulf of California, Information Sciences, International Boundary, Land Use Change, Landsat images, Landsat time series, Lower Colorado River delta, Mexico, Mexico, Minute 319, Minute 323, Morelos Dam, Remote Sensing, San Luis, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Yuma, actual ET (ETa) in mm/day, average growing season daily ET, biogeography, biota, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, data release, ecosystem monitoring, enhanced vegetation index 2 (EVI2), environment, evapotranspiration, evapotranspiration (ET) data, geoscientificInformation, geospatial datasets, greenness (EVI2), image collections, imageryBaseMapsEarthCover, inlandWaters, land use and land cover, land use change, meteorological station data, peak growing season evapotranspiration, peak-season daily water use, plant water use, precipitation (atmospheric), remediation, remote sensing, restoration, riparian community, riparian corridor, riparian ecosystem, riparian vegetation, riparian woodland ecosystem, riparian zones, river ecosystems, seaonal mean difference, time series datasets, vegetation, vegetation greeness index (EVI2), water use, water use, wetland ecosystems, Fewer tags

Habitat Data for Plantago ovata in the Mojave Desert

These datasets were developed to represent the geographic distribution of Plantago ovata in the Mojave Desert. This data release consists of two raster spatial layers (GeoTIFF) reflecting predicted habitat for the species within the Mojave Desert and the standard error in predictions. The habitat layer (raster dataset) is a continuous probability distribution of suitable habitat where values range from 0 (very low probability of species occurrence) to 1 (very high probability of species occurrence). An additional raster dataset provides the standard error in habitat predictions calculated among alternative habitat models: users should evaluate both the habitat and standard error datasets and exercise prudence when...

Categories: Data; Tags: Arizona, California, Mojave, Nevada, Plantago ovata, All tags... Utah, biogeography, biota, habitats, maps and atlases, native plant materials development, native species, species distribution model, Fewer tags

Species Distribution Model (SDM) for Ambrosia dumosa in the Mojave Desert

Preserving native species diversity is fundamental to ecosystem conservation. Selecting appropriate native species for use in restoration is a critical component of project design and may emphasize species attributes such as life history, functional type, pollinator services, and nutritional value for wildlife. Determining which species are likely to establish and persist in a particular environment is a key consideration. Species distribution models (SDMs) characterize relationships between species occurrences and the physical environment (e.g., climate, soil, topographic relief) and provide a mechanism for assessing which species may successfully propagate at a restoration site. In conjunction with information...

Categories: Data; Types: Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: Arizona, California, Mojave, Nevada, Utah, All tags... biogeography, biota, habitats, maps and atlases, native plant materials development, native species, species distribution model, Fewer tags

Species Distribution Model (SDM) for Muhlenbergia porteri in the Mojave Desert

Preserving native species diversity is fundamental to ecosystem conservation. Selecting appropriate native species for use in restoration is a critical component of project design and may emphasize species attributes such as life history, functional type, pollinator services, and nutritional value for wildlife. Determining which species are likely to establish and persist in a particular environment is a key consideration. Species distribution models (SDMs) characterize relationships between species occurrences and the physical environment (e.g., climate, soil, topographic relief) and provide a mechanism for assessing which species may successfully propagate at a restoration site. In conjunction with information...

Categories: Data; Types: Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: Arizona, California, Mojave, Nevada, Utah, All tags... biogeography, biota, habitats, maps and atlases, native plant materials development, native species, species distribution model, Fewer tags

Species Distribution Model (SDM) for Oenothera deltoides in the Mojave Desert

Preserving native species diversity is fundamental to ecosystem conservation. Selecting appropriate native species for use in restoration is a critical component of project design and may emphasize species attributes such as life history, functional type, pollinator services, and nutritional value for wildlife. Determining which species are likely to establish and persist in a particular environment is a key consideration. Species distribution models (SDMs) characterize relationships between species occurrences and the physical environment (e.g., climate, soil, topographic relief) and provide a mechanism for assessing which species may successfully propagate at a restoration site. In conjunction with information...

Categories: Data; Types: Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: Arizona, California, Mojave, Nevada, Utah, All tags... biogeography, biota, habitats, maps and atlases, native plant materials development, native species, species distribution model, Fewer tags

Cleome lutea and Machaeranthera canescens seed transfer zones and distribution on the Colorado Plateau, US

These data were compiled to provide seed transfer and native plant materials development guidance to managers and practitioners across the Colorado Plateau and in adjacent regions. This data release contains empirical seed transfer zones derived from molecular genetic data for Cleome lutea (syn. Peritoma lutea) and Machaeranthera canescens (syn. Dieteria canescens). These species show distinct population structure (i.e., genetic differentiation) across their ranges; as such, seed transfer zones reflect both patterns of genetic differentiation and information on each species' unique adaptations to climatic gradients. These shapefile data may support successful restoration outcomes if, for example, seed transfer follows...

Tags: Arizona, California, Cleome lutea (syn. Peritoma lutea), Colorado, Ecology, All tags... Genetics, Geography, Information Sciences, Intermountain West, Machaeranthera canescens (syn. Dieteria canescens), Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North America, South Dakota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), USGS:5fb567c1d34eb413d5e13a9c, United States, United States, Utah, Wyoming, adaptation, biogeography, biota, climatic gradients, differentiation, environmental restoration, flora restoration, genetic differentiation, genetic diversity, genetic resources, genetic variation, molecular genetic data, native plant, population differentiation, restoration, seed accessions, seed strategies, seed transfer, seed transfer zones, Fewer tags

Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) - USA Dataset Collection

OBIS-USA brings together marine biological occurrence data – recorded observations of identifiable marine species at a known time and place, collected primarily from U.S. Waters or with U.S. funding. Coordinated by the Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS), OBIS-USA, strives to meet national data integration and dissemination needs for marine data about organisms and ecosystems. OBIS-USA is part of an international data sharing network (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, OBIS) coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization) International Oceanographic Data and Information...

Tags: Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Fundy, Beaufort Sea, Bering Sea, All tags... Bering Strait, Biodiversity, Biological Production, Birds, Bristol Bay, Canada, Caribbean Sea, Census of Marine Life, Chukchi Sea, Commericial Leases, Cook Inlet, Cruise Ships, Distributions, Fishes, Flora, Great Lakes, Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of California, Gulf of Maine, Gulf of Mexico, Habitat, Harvesting Living Resources, Invasive Species, Invertebrates, Kotzebue Sound, Kuskokwim Bay, Mammals, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), North America, Norton Sound, OBIS, Ocean Biogeographic Information System, Offshore Oil and Gas Production, Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, Reptiles, Sargasso Sea, Shelikof Strait, South Atlantic Bight, Southern Ocean, Straits of Florida, United States, Wind Energy Production, Yucatan Channel, abundance, algae, animal and plant census, aquatic biology, aquatic ecosystems, benthic ecosystems, benthic habitat, benthos, biodiversity, biogeography, biological productivity, biology, biota, biota, coastal habitat, consumers (organisms), coral reefs, decomposers, ecosystem diversity, ecosystem functions, endemic species, estuarine ecosystems, fisheries management, fishery resources, invasive species, macroinvertebrates, marine animals, marine biology, marine ecosystems, marine mammals, microbes, migratory species, native species, nekton, nonindigenous species, oceans, pelagic habitat, phytoplankton, plankton, plants, plants (organisms), producers (organisms), protected species, reef ecosystems, reef habitat, sea birds, sea turtles, shellfish, species diversity, vegetation, vertebrates, wildlife, zooplankton, Fewer tags

Proportion of Sagebrush Land Cover (50-km scale) in the western US

This map was developed to examine multi-scale spatial relationships between percentage of sagebrush and other response variables of interest. A map of sagebrush in the western United States was used as a base layer for a moving window analysis to calculate the percentage of the area classified as sagebrush within a 50-km search radius.

Tags: Alberta, Arizona, Artemisia spp., British Columbia, California, All tags... Canada, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, United States, Utah, Washington, Western United States, Wyoming, biogeography, biota, distribution, ecological system, environment, existing vegetation, land use and land cover, maps and atlases, sagebrush, vegetation, Fewer tags

Mercury Contamination of Red-legged Kittiwakes in the Western Subarctic Pacific Ocean

This dataset contains mercury concentrations and locations of wintering red-legged kittiwakes in the western subartic Pacific Ocean. These data support the following publication: Fleishman, AB, RA Orben, N Kokubun, A Will, R Paredes, JT Ackerman, A Takahashi, AS Kitaysky, and SA Shaffer. 2019. Wintering in the Western Subarctic Pacific increases mercury contamination of red-legged kittiwakes. Environmental Science and Technology, in press.

Categories: Data; Tags: Pacific Ocean, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, biogeography, biota, All tags... birds, contaminant exposure, distribution, hierarchical clustering, isotopic analysis, marine isoscape, mercury contamination, mesopelagic predator, migration (organisms), non-breading, seabird, seabird sentinels, stable isotopes, western subartic, Fewer tags

Vegetation and soil cover from 134 reclaimed oil and gas well pads and 583 AIM reference plots in the Southwestern United States

These data were compiled to assess the recovery of vegetation on reclaimed oil and gas sites. Objective(s) of our study were to assess patterns in reclamation outcomes relative to 1) soil attributes, climate, and time since 39 reclamation and 2) plant and soil reference benchmarks. These data represent observations of vegetation and soil cover from 134 reclaimed oil and gas well pads and 583 AIM reference plots. These data were collected on lands impacted by oil and gas development on the Colorado Plateau as well as Arizona and New Mexico Plateau of New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Data was collected from July- September of 2020 and May-September of 2021. These data were collected by Assessment Inventory and Monitoring...

Categories: Data; Tags: AIM reference plots, Arizona and New Mexico Plateau, Assessment Inventory and Monitoring (AIM), Botany, Colorado, All tags... Colorado Plateau, Ecology, Four Corners Region, Geography, Information Sciences, New Mexico, Soil Sciences, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Utah, atmospheric and climatic processes, biogeography, biota, climate, climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere, data release, environment, field inventory and monitoring, field methods, field observations, field sampling, geoscientificInformation, land use and land cover, line point intercept measurement, percent cover, plant community recovery, plants (organisms), plot sampling, reclaimed oil and gas well sites, remediation, soil cover, soil resources, species cover, time periods, vegetation, Fewer tags

Isobioclimates for the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative

The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC, https://www.fws.gov/science/catalog) is a partnership that provides applied science and decision support tools to assist natural resource managers conserve plants, fish and wildlife in the mid- and short-grass prairie of the southern Great Plains. It is part of a national network of public-private partnerships — known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs, http://www.fws.gov/science/shc/lcc.html) — that work collaboratively across jurisdictions and political boundaries to leverage resources and share science capacity. The Great Plains LCC identifies science priorities for the region and helps foster science that addresses these priorities to support...

Categories: Data; Types: Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: GPLCC, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, bioclimate, biogeography, biophysical stratification, All tags... ecological, ecosystem, geoecosystem, land surface forms, surficial materials lithology, terrestrial, topographic moisture potential, vegetation, Fewer tags

Land Surface Forms for the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative

The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC, https://www.fws.gov/science/catalog) is a partnership that provides applied science and decision support tools to assist natural resource managers conserve plants, fish and wildlife in the mid- and short-grass prairie of the southern Great Plains. It is part of a national network of public-private partnerships — known as Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs, http://www.fws.gov/science/shc/lcc.html) — that work collaboratively across jurisdictions and political boundaries to leverage resources and share science capacity. The Great Plains LCC identifies science priorities for the region and helps foster science that addresses these priorities to support...

Categories: Data; Types: Downloadable, GeoTIFF, Map Service, Raster; Tags: GPLCC, Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, bioclimate, biogeography, biophysical stratification, All tags... ecological, ecosystem, geoecosystem, land surface forms, surficial materials lithology, terrestrial, topographic moisture potential, vegetation, Fewer tags

Marine Arctic point distribution of Fourhorn Poacher (Hypsagonus quadricornis) (Valenciennes, 1829)

Region(s) of distribution of Fourhorn Poacher (Hypsagonus quadricornis) (Valenciennes, 1829) in the Arctic as digitized for U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5038. For details on the project and purpose, see the report at https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165038. Complete metadata for the collection of species datasets is in the metadata document "Dataset_for_Alaska_Marine_Fish_Ecology_Catalog.xml" at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7M61HD7. Source(s) for this digitized data layer are listed in the metadata Process Steps section. Note that the original source may show an extended area; some datasets were limited to the published map boundary. Distributions of marine fishes are shown in adjacent Arctic...

Categories: Data; Types: Citation, Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: (Valenciennes, 1829), Alaska, Arctic, Arctic, Beaufort Sea, All tags... Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, Chukchi-Beaufort Lease Area, Distributions, Fourhorn Poacher, Hypsagonus quadricornis, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, Yukon, biogeography, ecology, fish, marine, marine fishery resources, northeast Russia, northwest Canada, Fewer tags

Marine Arctic polygon distribution of Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys) (Güldenstadt, 1772)

Region(s) of distribution of Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys) (Güldenstadt, 1772) in the Arctic as digitized for U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5038. For details on the project and purpose, see the report at https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165038. Complete metadata for the collection of species datasets is in the metadata document "Dataset_for_Alaska_Marine_Fish_Ecology_Catalog.xml" at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7M61HD7. Source(s) for this digitized data layer are listed in the metadata Process Steps section. Note that the original source may show an extended area; some datasets were limited to the published map boundary. Distributions of marine fishes are shown in adjacent Arctic seas where...

Categories: Data; Types: Citation, Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: (Güldenstadt, 1772), Alaska, Arctic, Arctic, Beaufort Sea, All tags... Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, Chukchi-Beaufort Lease Area, Distributions, Inconnu, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Stenodus leucichthys, U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, Yukon, biogeography, ecology, fish, marine, marine fishery resources, northeast Russia, northwest Canada, Fewer tags

Marine Arctic polygon distribution of Eyeshade Sculpin (Nautichthys pribilovius) (Jordan & Gilbert, 1898)

Region(s) of distribution of Eyeshade Sculpin (Nautichthys pribilovius) (Jordan & Gilbert, 1898) in the Arctic as digitized for U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5038. For details on the project and purpose, see the report at https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165038. Complete metadata for the collection of species datasets is in the metadata document "Dataset_for_Alaska_Marine_Fish_Ecology_Catalog.xml" at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7M61HD7. Source(s) for this digitized data layer are listed in the metadata Process Steps section. Note that the original source may show an extended area; some datasets were limited to the published map boundary. Distributions of marine fishes are shown in adjacent...

Categories: Data; Types: Citation, Downloadable, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, Shapefile; Tags: (Jordan & Gilbert, 1898), Alaska, Arctic, Arctic, Beaufort Sea, All tags... Bering Sea, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, Chukchi-Beaufort Lease Area, Distributions, Eyeshade Sculpin, Nautichthys pribilovius, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, Yukon, biogeography, ecology, fish, marine, marine fishery resources, northeast Russia, northwest Canada, Fewer tags