U.S. Geological Survey External Quality-Assurance Project Report for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program / National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network, 2011-12

The U.S. Geological Survey operated six distinct programs to provide external quality-assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) / National Trends Network (NTN) and Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) during 2011–2012. The field-audit program assessed the effects of onsite exposure, sample handling, and shipping on the chemistry of NTN samples; a system-blank program assessed the same effects for MDN. Two interlaboratory-comparison programs assessed the bias and variability of the chemical analysis data from the Central Analytical Laboratory and Mercury Analytical Laboratory (HAL). A blind-audit program was implemented for the MDN during 2011 to evaluate analytical bias in HAL total mercury concentration data. The co-located–sampler program was used to identify and quantify potential shifts in NADP data resulting from the replacement of original network instrumentation with new electronic recording rain gages and precipitation collectors that use optical precipitation sensors. The results indicate that NADP data continue to be of sufficient quality for the analysis of spatial distributions and time trends of chemical constituents in wet deposition across the United States. Co-located rain gage results indicate -3.7 to +6.5 percent bias in NADP precipitation-depth measurements. Co-located collector results suggest that the retrofit of the NADP networks with the new precipitation collectors could cause +10 to +36 percent shifts in NADP annual deposition values for ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate; -7.5 to +41 percent shifts for hydrogen-ion deposition; and larger shifts (-51 to +52 percent) for calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride. The prototype N-CON Systems bucket collector typically catches more precipitation than the NADP-approved Aerochem Metrics Model 301 collector.National Atmospheric Deposition Programpublished or submitted for publicationis peer reviewedOpe

A New Sampler for the Collection and Retrieval of Dry Dust Deposition

Atmospheric dust can influence biogeochemical cycles, accelerate snowmelt, and affect air, water quality, and human health. Yet, the bulk of atmospherically transported material remains poorly quantified in terms of total mass fluxes and composition. This lack of information stems in part from the challenges associated with measuring dust deposition. Here we report on the design and efficacy of a new dry deposition sampler (Dry Deposition Sampling Unit (DSU)) and method that quantifies the gravitational flux of dust particles. The sampler can be used alone or within existing networks such as those employed by the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP). Because the samplers are deployed sterile and the use of water to remove trapped dust is not required, this method allows for the recovery of unaltered dry material suitable for subsequent chemical and microbiological analyses. The samplers were tested in the laboratory and at 15 field sites in the western United States. With respect to material retention, sampler performance far exceeded commonly used methods. Retrieval efficiency was \u3e97% in all trials and the sampler effectively preserved grain size distributions during wind exposure experiments. Field tests indicated favorable comparisons to dust-on-snow measurement across sites (r2 0.70, p \u3c 0.05) and within sites to co-located aerosol data (r2 0.57–0.99, p \u3c 0.05). The inclusion of dust deposition and composition monitoring into existing networks increases spatial and temporal understanding of the atmospheric transport on materials and substantively furthers knowledge of the effects of dust on terrestrial ecosystems and human exposure to dust and associated deleterious compounds

Convergence of marine megafauna movement patterns in coastal and open oceans

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115 (2018): 3072-3077, doi:10.1073/pnas.1716137115.The extent of increasing anthropogenic impacts on large marine vertebrates partly depends on the animals’ movement patterns. Effective conservation requires identification of the key drivers of movement including intrinsic properties and extrinsic constraints associated with the dynamic nature of the environments the animals inhabit. However, the relative importance of intrinsic versus extrinsic factors remains elusive. We analyse a global dataset of 2.8 million locations from > 2,600 tracked individuals across 50 marine vertebrates evolutionarily separated by millions of years and using different locomotion modes (fly, swim, walk/paddle). Strikingly, movement patterns show a remarkable convergence, being strongly conserved across species and independent of body length and mass, despite these traits ranging over 10 orders of magnitude among the species studied. This represents a fundamental difference between marine and terrestrial vertebrates not previously identified, likely linked to the reduced costs of locomotion in water. Movement patterns were primarily explained by the interaction between species-specific traits and the habitat(s) they move through, resulting in complex movement patterns when moving close to coasts compared to more predictable patterns when moving in open oceans. This distinct difference may be associated with greater complexity within coastal micro-habitats, highlighting a critical role of preferred habitat in shaping marine vertebrate global movements. Efforts to develop understanding of the characteristics of vertebrate movement should consider the habitat(s) through which they move to identify how movement patterns will alter with forecasted severe ocean changes, such as reduced Arctic sea ice cover, sea level rise and declining oxygen content.Workshops funding granted by the UWA Oceans Institute, AIMS, and KAUST. AMMS was supported by an ARC Grant DE170100841 and an IOMRC (UWA, AIMS, CSIRO) fellowship; JPR by MEDC (FPU program, Spain); DWS by UK NERC and Save Our Seas Foundation; NQ by FCT (Portugal); MMCM by a CAPES fellowship (Ministry of Education)

Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Womersley, F. C., Humphries, N. E., Queiroz, N., Vedor, M., da Costa, I., Furtado, M., Tyminski, J. P., Abrantes, K., Araujo, G., Bach, S. S., Barnett, A., Berumen, M. L., Bessudo Lion, S., Braun, C. D., Clingham, E., Cochran, J. E. M., de la Parra, R., Diamant, S., Dove, A. D. M., Dudgeon, C. L., Erdmann, M. V., Espinoza, E., Fitzpatrick, R., González Cano, J., Green, J. R., Guzman, H. M., Hardenstine, R., Hasan, A., Hazin, F. H. V., Hearn, A. R., Hueter, R. E., Jaidah, M. Y., Labaja, J., Ladinol, F., Macena, B. C. L., Morris Jr., J. J., Norman, B. M., Peñaherrera-Palmav, C., Pierce, S. J., Quintero, L. M., Ramırez-Macías, D., Reynolds, S. D., Richardson, A. J., Robinson, D. P., Rohner, C. A., Rowat, D. R. L., Sheaves, M., Shivji, M. S., Sianipar, A. B., Skomal, G. B., Soler, G., Syakurachman, I., Thorrold, S. R., Webb, D. H., Wetherbee, B. M., White, T. D., Clavelle, T., Kroodsma, D. A., Thums, M., Ferreira, L. C., Meekan, M. G., Arrowsmith, L. M., Lester, E. K., Meyers, M. M., Peel, L. R., Sequeira, A. M. M., Eguıluz, V. M., Duarte, C. M., & Sims, D. W. Global collision-risk hotspots of marine traffic and the world’s largest fish, the whale shark. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(20), (2022): e2117440119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117440119.Marine traffic is increasing globally yet collisions with endangered megafauna such as whales, sea turtles, and planktivorous sharks go largely undetected or unreported. Collisions leading to mortality can have population-level consequences for endangered species. Hence, identifying simultaneous space use of megafauna and shipping throughout ranges may reveal as-yet-unknown spatial targets requiring conservation. However, global studies tracking megafauna and shipping occurrences are lacking. Here we combine satellite-tracked movements of the whale shark, Rhincodon typus, and vessel activity to show that 92% of sharks’ horizontal space use and nearly 50% of vertical space use overlap with persistent large vessel (>300 gross tons) traffic. Collision-risk estimates correlated with reported whale shark mortality from ship strikes, indicating higher mortality in areas with greatest overlap. Hotspots of potential collision risk were evident in all major oceans, predominantly from overlap with cargo and tanker vessels, and were concentrated in gulf regions, where dense traffic co-occurred with seasonal shark movements. Nearly a third of whale shark hotspots overlapped with the highest collision-risk areas, with the last known locations of tracked sharks coinciding with busier shipping routes more often than expected. Depth-recording tags provided evidence for sinking, likely dead, whale sharks, suggesting substantial “cryptic” lethal ship strikes are possible, which could explain why whale shark population declines continue despite international protection and low fishing-induced mortality. Mitigation measures to reduce ship-strike risk should be considered to conserve this species and other ocean giants that are likely experiencing similar impacts from growing global vessel traffic.Funding for data analysis was provided by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a University of Southampton INSPIRE DTP PhD Studentship to F.C.W. Additional funding for data analysis was provided by NERC Discovery Science (NE/R00997/X/1) and the European Research Council (ERC-AdG-2019 883583 OCEAN DEOXYFISH) to D.W.S., Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under PTDC/BIA/28855/2017 and COMPETE POCI-01–0145-FEDER-028855, and MARINFO–NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-000031 (funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Program [NORTE2020] under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund–ERDF) to N.Q. FCT also supported N.Q. (CEECIND/02857/2018) and M.V. (PTDC/BIA-COM/28855/2017). D.W.S. was supported by a Marine Biological Association Senior Research Fellowship. All tagging procedures were approved by institutional ethical review bodies and complied with all relevant ethical regulations in the jurisdictions in which they were performed. Details for individual research teams are given in SI Appendix, section 8. Full acknowledgments for tagging and field research are given in SI Appendix, section 7. This research is part of the Global Shark Movement Project (https://www.globalsharkmovement.org)

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Global Spatial Risk Assessment of Sharks Under the Footprint of Fisheries

Effective ocean management and conservation of highly migratory species depends on resolving overlap between animal movements and distributions and fishing effort. Yet, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here we show, using a big-data approach combining satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and global fishing fleets, that 24% of the mean monthly space used by sharks falls under the footprint of pelagic longline fisheries. Space use hotspots of commercially valuable sharks and of internationally protected species had the highest overlap with longlines (up to 76% and 64%, respectively) and were also associated with significant increases in fishing effort. We conclude that pelagic sharks have limited spatial refuge from current levels of high-seas fishing effort. Results demonstrate an urgent need for conservation and management measures at high-seas shark hotspots and highlight the potential of simultaneous satellite surveillance of megafauna and fishers as a tool for near-real time, dynamic management

U.S. Geological Survey External Quality-Assurance Program Results Reported to the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network for 2005-06

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used seven distinct programs to provide external quality-assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program / National Trends Network (NTN) and Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) during 2005-06. Overall variability of NTN data was estimated using a co-located-sampler program. Variability and bias of NADP chemical analysis data were estimated using two separate interlaboratory-comparison programs, one for each network. Bias in MDN sample analysis data for total mercury (Hg) was evaluated using a blind-audit program. A separate blind-audit study was conducted in 2006 for the NTN chemical analysis data to evaluate laboratory analytical detection limits. The sensitivity of NADP measurements was evaluated using a field-audit program for NTN and a system blank program for MDN. Overall measurement sensitivity and laboratory analysis sensitivity are evaluated by comparison to data-quality objectives (DQOs) for each network. Field-audit results for 2005-06 indicate that DQOs for NTN overall measurement sensitivity were met during 2005-06. Network maximum contamination levels (NMCLs) have been increasing in NTN samples since 2005 for all constituents except magnesium, sulfate, and hydrogen ion, but increases in 3-year moving average NMCLs between 2002 and 2006 were less than the 10 percent. NMCLs determined from the field-audit data are compared to analytical detection limits to evaluate sample analysis sensitivity. Although the DQO for NTN sample analysis sensitivity was not attained for magnesium, ammonium, chloride, nitrate, and sulfate in selected 3-year time periods prior to 2005, the DQO was met for all constituents during 2005-06. Interlaboratory-comparison program results indicate variability and bias in NTN data are low relative to data from other participating laboratories. Central Analytical Laboratory (CAL) sulfate and hydrogen-ion data were slightly positively biased during 2005, and CAL potassium and hydrogen-ion data were slightly positively biased during 2006. CAL analyses of deionized-water samples indicated possible low-level potassium contamination in NTN samples during 2005-06. CAL data were within statistical control during at least 90 percent of 2005-06 with few exceptions. CAL analyses of synthetic wet-deposition solutions were within +10 percent of most probable values (MPVs) except for selected sodium and potassium analyses. A blind-audit study, in which the CAL analyzed quality-control samples disguised as real samples, confirmed CAL’s reported detection limits. In fact, CAL detection limits for nitrate and sulfate might actually be lower than reported by CAL. ... Three pairs of co-located samplers were used to estimate overall variability of NTN wet-deposition measurements in terms of median absolute error (MAE). MAEs were less than 15 percent for nitrate and sulfate concentrations, specific conductance, and collector catch for water year 2005 (WY05), whereas MAEs for these analytes were less than 8 percent for WY06. Consistent with co-located sampler data collected during previous water years, MAEs for cations were higher than for anions. Median absolute difference (MAD) values for the co-located samplers indicated that NADP DQOs for uncertainty were met for most analytes during WY2005-06. For the MDN system-blank program, the median system-sample minus bottle-sample Hg concentration difference was 0.027 nanogram per liter (ng/L), which is 21 percent of the HAL method detection limit (MDL). The calculated NMCL for the combined 2005 and 2006 system-blank differences is approximately 0.42 ng/L, which is an order of magnitude higher than the 2004 NMCL of approximately 0.04 ng/L. This implies that contamination levels in MDN samples might have increased during 2005-06 as compared to 2004. In response, USGS submitted followup diagnostic samples to either confirm or reject this conclusion. The diagnostic results failed to confirm an increase in MDN sample contamination. The NMCL (0.42 ng/L) is less than the 10th percentile of all 2004-06 MDN data, and thus the draft DQO for Decision Rule 1 for sensitivity has been met. The NMCL is more than 2 times the MDL (0.13 ng/L) reported by the HAL for 2006. Therefore, the sensitivity of the HAL analytical measurements is acceptable per the draft DQO Decision Rule 2. DQO decision rules are described in the report. For the MDN interlaboratory comparison program, HAL reported data with the lowest variability among the participating laboratories during 2005 but had the second highest variability during 2006. The median difference between HAL-reported concentrations and MPVs was small (-0.25 ng/L) during 2005, and no significant (α=0.05) bias was detected. During 2006, however, the HAL data were negatively biased. Control charts were used to show that HAL reported four values (less than 4 percent of all results) outside statistical control. The 2005 median Hg concentration for HAL blanks (0.94 ng/L) is approximately 11 percent of the median result of 8.80 ng/L for all valid 2005 MDN samples associated with measurable wet deposition. The 2006 median Hg concentration for HAL blanks (0.28 ng/L) is approximately 3 percent of the median result of 9.50 ng/L for all valid 2006 MDN samples associated with measurable wet deposition. The MDN blind-audit program officially began during 2006 to evaluate accuracy of HAL Hg analyses. The median total Hg percent recovery for 13 blind-audit samples was 97 percent with an f-pseudosigma (nonparametric standard deviation analogue) of 11 percent. Sample volume, which affects how much Hg mass is available for analysis, did not correlate with Hg percent recovery. Overall, the external quality-assurance program results indicate that HAL analytical performance meets MDN DQOs. Overall MDN measurement sensitivity also meets DQOs and is adequate to distinguish between measurement noise and environmental signals.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

U.S. Geological Survey External Quality-Assurance Project Report to the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network and Mercury Deposition Network, 2007-08

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used six distinct programs to provide external quality-assurance monitoring for the National Atmospheric Deposition Program / National Trends Network (NTN) and Mercury Deposition Network (MDN) during 2007-08. The field-audit program assessed the effects of onsite exposure, sample handling, and shipping on the chemistry of NTN samples, and a system-blank program assessed the same effects for MDN. Two interlaboratory-comparison programs assessed the bias and variability of the chemical analysis data from the Central Analytical Laboratory (CAL), Mercury (Hg) Analytical Laboratory (HAL), and 12 other participating laboratories. A blind-audit program was also implemented for the MDN to evaluate analytical bias in HAL total Hg concentration data. A co-located-sampler program was used to identify and quantify potential shifts in NADP data resulting from replacement of original network instrumentation with new electronic recording rain gages (E-gages) and prototype precipitation collectors. The results indicate that NADP data continue to be of sufficient quality for the analysis of spatial distributions and time trends of chemical constituents in wet deposition across the U.S. NADP data-quality objectives continued to be achieved during 2007-08. Results also indicate that retrofit of the NADP networks with the new E-gages is not likely to create step-function type shifts in NADP precipitation-depth records, except for sites where annual precipitation depth is dominated by snow because the E-gages tend to catch more snow than the original NADP rain gages. Evaluation of prototype precipitation collectors revealed no difference in sample volumes and analyte concentrations between the original NADP collectors and modified, deep-bucket collectors, but the Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc. (YES) collector obtained samples of significantly higher volumes and analyte concentrations than the standard NADP collector.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe