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DOE OSTI2024

Soil Desiccation Treatability Testing at BC Waste Disposal Cribs

During Hanford’s production period, low-level waste products generated from chemical processing of uranium fuel rods were discharged directly to the ground through a system of cribs and trenches located in the 200-BC-1 Operable Unit (OU). The site consists of 6 cribs and 20 trenches that received more than 117,000 m3 of radioactive liquid waste discharged to the soil. These unlined infiltration galleries held volumes of liquid waste while it seeped into the ground, with the understanding that the 100 m (330 ft) thick vadose zone in the area would effectively capture the effluent and prevent groundwater impacts. A conceptual model showing the operation of cribs and trenches is shown in Figure 1. Data show effluent from the 26 cribs and trenches containing about 410 curies of Technetium-99 (Tc-99) is primarily located between 30 m and 70 m (98 ft and 230 ft) depth (Corbin et al., 2005; Ward et al., 2004). Despite no evidence indicating that the contamination has reached the groundwater at BC cribs and trenches, the mobility of Tc-99 had been demonstrated in laboratory tests and was recognized as a threat to groundwater at the site. Using data from numerical models, laboratory analyses, field investigations, and information on historical discharges, the EPA and Ecology identified Tc-99 and U contamination of the vadose zone as a remediation priority. The U.S. DOE was notified by EPA and Ecology regarding risks associated with Tc-99 contamination in a letter requesting development of a strategy for improved methods to understand the nature and extent of vadose zone contamination, specifically Tc-99, and to develop remedial options for addressing such contamination. To develop the appropriate technology for characterizing, remediating, and monitoring the deep vadose zone Tc-99 contamination, the U.S. DOE worked with the EPA and Ecology to create a Treatability Test Plan under a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) for the Hanford 200 Areas. Under this RI/FS, it was determined that a treatability test for soil desiccation should be carried out as it was identified as a promising in-situ treatment technology for mitigating risks posed by Tc-99 contamination to the groundwater table. The BC Cribs and Trenches site was identified as a representative site for Tc-99 and U contamination and selected for the soil desiccation treatability test. In this chapter, we summarize the overlying regulatory framework of RI/FS and treatability tests and illustrate how development and experimentation supported the evaluation of selected remedies. We briefly discuss the RI/FS for the 200 Areas of the Hanford Site and focus on the soil desiccation treatability testing performed at the BC cribs and trenches site under the Deep Vadose Zone Treatability Test Plan for the Hanford Central Plateau (DVZ-TT). The DVZ-TT is one component of the remedial investigation/feasibility study for the Hanford 200 Areas and represents the underlying regulatory framework that drives site operations towards records of decision and site closure.

Mangel, Adam R.↗

DOE OSTI2025

How initial conditions-, structural-, and parameter-based model uncertainty interact and influence predictions in permafrost ecosystems: Modeling Archive

This dataset contains model output and input data, as well as source code examples for the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model with the Dynamic Vegetation Model and Dynamic Organic Soil (DVM-DOS-TEM) for the field sites Imnavait creek and the Bonanza creek Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER). The data covers simulations from the last glacial maximum (LGM) until 2100 for a selection of paleo scenarios, setting the mean temperature of the LGM up to 10°C lower than pre-industrial conditions. The model structure was modulated to represent various model versions, and this dataset contains the relevant changes in the source code. The raw output data, the processed statistical data, the setup and processing scripts as well as parameter value distribution files from a parameter sensitivity analysis are included as well. Model outputs include active layer depth, organic soil carbon, soil layer depths, gross primary productivity (GPP) with and without nitrogen limitation, net primary productivity (NPP), soil liquid water content, heterotrophic, maintenance, and growth respiration, soil temperature, and vegetation carbon (*.nc files). The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments in the Arctic (NGEE Arctic) project is a research effort to reduce uncertainty in the Department of Energy’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) by developing a predictive understanding of Arctic tundra ecosystems underlain by permafrost and to quantify feedbacks from the Arctic tundra to the Earth system. NGEE Arctic is supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.Over Phases 1–3, observations made by the NGEE Arctic team across a gradient of permafrost landscapes in Arctic Alaska improved the representation of tundra processes in the land surface component of E3SM (the E3SM Land Model, ELM). Model improvements emphasized unique aspects of permafrost environments and explored reductions in model complexity while retaining predictive power. The Arctic-informed ELM developed by NGEE Arctic has been used to make novel predictions on processes ranging from permafrost thaw to soil biogeochemical cycling to Earth system feedbacks associated with the unique characteristics of tundra plants. In Phase 4, the NGEE Arctic team is evaluating our new predictive understanding under novel conditions across the Arctic domain. In collaboration with partners at long-term pan-Arctic research sites we are examining whether an Arctic-informed ELM can faithfully simulate interactions among surface and subsurface processes at site, regional, and pan-Arctic scales. In turn, we are using variety of tools to dynamically extend and evaluate ELM inference, with an emphasis on data synthesis and pan-Arctic model evaluation, reintegration of code with an evolving E3SM, scaling across heterogeneous Arctic landscapes, and the appropriate representation of the impacts of increasingly frequent Arctic disturbances.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Transporter annotations are holding up progress in metabolic modeling

Mechanistic, constraint-based models of microbial isolates or communities are a staple in the metabolic analysis toolbox, but predictions about microbe-microbe and microbe-environment interactions are only as good as the accuracy of transporter annotations. A number of hurdles stand in the way of comprehensive functional assignments for membrane transporters. These include general or non-specific substrate assignments, ambiguity in the localization, directionality and reversibility of a transporter, and the many-to-many mapping of substrates, transporters and genes. In this perspective, we summarize progress in both experimental and computational approaches used to determine the function of transporters and consider paths forward that integrate both. Investment in accurate, high-throughput functional characterization is needed to train the next-generation of predictive tools toward genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions that better predict phenotypes and interactions. More reliable predictions in this domain will benefit fields ranging from personalized medicine to metabolic engineering to microbial ecology.

Casey, John↗

DOE OSTI2022

Spatial patterns of snow distribution in the sub-Arctic

Abstract. The spatial distribution of snow plays a vital role in sub-Arctic and Arctic climate, hydrology, and ecology due to its fundamental influence on the water balance, thermal regimes, vegetation, and carbon flux. However, the spatial distribution of snow is not well understood, and therefore, it is not well modeled, which can lead to substantial uncertainties in snow cover representations. To capture key hydro-ecological controls on snow spatial distribution, we carried out intensive field studies over multiple years for two small (2017–2019; ∼ 2.5 km2) sub-Arctic study sites located on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Using an intensive suite of field observations (> 22 000 data points), we developed simple models of the spatial distribution of snow water equivalent (SWE) using factors such as topographic characteristics, vegetation characteristics based on greenness (normalized different vegetation index, NDVI), and a simple metric for approximating winds. The most successful model was random forest, using both study sites and all years, which was able to accurately capture the complexity and variability of snow characteristics across the sites. Approximately 86 % of the SWE distribution could be accounted for, on average, by the random forest model at the study sites. Factors that impacted year-to-year snow distribution included NDVI, elevation, and a metric to represent coarse microtopography (topographic position index, TPI), while slope, wind, and fine microtopography factors were less important. The characterization of the SWE spatial distribution patterns will be used to validate and improve snow distribution modeling in the Department of Energy's Earth system model and for improved understanding of hydrology, topography, and vegetation dynamics in the sub-Arctic and Arctic regions of the globe.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS2013

Multi-model Mean Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition from the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP): Evaluation Historical and Projected Changes

We present multi-model global datasets of nitrogen and sulfate deposition covering time periods from 1850 to 2100, calculated within the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP). The computed deposition fluxes are compared to surface wet deposition and ice-core measurements. We use a new dataset of wet deposition for 2000-2002 based on critical assessment of the quality of existing regional network data. We show that for present-day (year 2000 ACCMIP time-slice), the ACCMIP results perform similarly to previously published multi-model assessments. For this time slice, we find a multi-model mean deposition of 50 Tg(N) yr1 from nitrogen oxide emissions, 60 Tg(N) yr1 from ammonia emissions, and 83 Tg(S) yr1 from sulfur emissions. The analysis of changes between 1980 and 2000 indicates significant differences between model and measurements over the United States but less so over Europe. This difference points towards misrepresentation of 1980 NH3 emissions over North America. Based on ice-core records, the 1850 deposition fluxes agree well with Greenland ice cores but the change between 1850 and 2000 seems to be overestimated in the Northern Hemisphere for both nitrogen and sulfur species. Using the Representative Concentration Pathways to define the projected climate and atmospheric chemistry related emissions and concentrations, we find large regional nitrogen deposition increases in 2100 in Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia under some of the scenarios considered. Increases in South Asia are especially large, and are seen in all scenarios, with 2100 values more than double 2000 in some scenarios and reaching 1300 mg(N) m2 yr1 averaged over regional to continental scale regions in RCP 2.6 and 8.5, 3050 larger than the values in any region currently (2000). The new ACCMIP deposition dataset provides novel, consistent and evaluated global gridded deposition fields for use in a wide range of climate and ecological studies.

Lamarque, J.-F.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Multi-Model Mean Nitrogen and Sulfur Deposition from the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP): Evaluation of Historical and Projected Future Changes

We present multi-model global datasets of nitrogen and sulfate deposition covering time periods from 1850 to 2100, calculated within the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP). The computed deposition fluxes are compared to surface wet deposition and ice core measurements.We use a new dataset of wet deposition for 2000-2002 based on critical assessment of the quality of existing regional network data. We show that for present day (year 2000 ACCMIP time slice), the ACCMIP results perform similarly to previously published multi-model assessments. For this time slice, we find a multimodel mean deposition of approximately 50 Tg(N) yr−1 from nitrogen oxide emissions, 60 Tg(N) yr−1 from ammonia emissions, and 83 Tg(S) yr−1 from sulfur emissions. The analysis of changes between 1980 and 2000 indicates significant differences between model and measurements over the United States but less so over Europe. This difference points towards a potential misrepresentation of 1980 NH3 emissions over North America. Based on ice core records, the 1850 deposition fluxes agree well with Greenland ice cores, but the change between 1850 and 2000 seems to be overestimated in the Northern Hemisphere for both nitrogen and sulfur species. Using the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) to define the projected climate and atmospheric chemistry related emissions and concentrations, we find large regional nitrogen deposition increases in 2100 in Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia under some of the scenarios considered. Increases in South Asia are especially large, and are seen in all scenarios, with 2100 values more than double their 2000 counterpart in some scenarios and reaching >1300 mg(N)m−2 yr−1 averaged over regional to continental-scale regions in RCP 2.6 and 8.5, 30-50% larger than the values in any region currently (circa 2000). However, sulfur deposition rates in 2100 are in all regions lower than in 2000 in all the RCPs. The new ACCMIP multimodel deposition dataset provides state-of-the-science, consistent and evaluated time slice (spanning 1850-2100) global gridded deposition fields for use in a wide range of climate and ecological studies.

Lamarque, J.-F.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Vegetation classification map and covariates associated with NEON AOP survey, East River, CO 2018

This package includes geospatial data layers developed to investigate how environmental gradients—specifically topography and near-surface soil properties—drive the spatial arrangement of dominant plant communities in mountainous watersheds. The geospatial products, which support the analysis of these ecological relationships, are derived from airborne hyperspectral and LiDAR datasets acquired by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform (AOP), in conjunction with an extensive ground field campaign conducted in summer 2018. This work is part of the DOE Watershed Function Science Focus Area (SFA) and features geospatial datasets developed based on observations and ground data collected at East River, Colorado, in collaboration with the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) survey in June 2018. Classification Map: - Classification Map (PNG, GeoTIFF): Derived from hyperspectral and LiDAR airborne data using a machine learning approach. - Class Code Mapper (CSV): Associates pixel values with corresponding vegetation/non-vegetation classes. - Classification Reference Data (CSV): Reference data used in the machine learning procedure. LiDAR-Derived Products: - Topographical Metrics (GeoTIFFs): Elevation, slope, curvature, TWI, TPI, solar insolation, and canopy height model (CHM), smoothed with a 5x5 pixel window. Vegetation Indices: - GeoTIFFs of NDVI, NDNI, NDWI: Vegetation indices derived from hyperspectral data. Urban Masks: - Urban Mask (GeoTIFF): Applied to the mapping to convert bare soil classes to urban classes. Software Compatibility: GeoTIFFs: Can be visualized with GIS software or libraries that support GeoTIFF images. CSV Files: Can be opened with any software that handles comma-separated values. The FLMD file provides details and links to the source datasets used to derive the products. The manuscript (in the Method session) provides details on how each product was derived. This work was supported by the Watershed Function Science Focus Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Update on 2026-03-25: Since the original dataset publication date of 02/28/2020, this package has a new classification map derived by an improved methodology. This update also includes additional ground data that improved the representation of some of the communities. See the methods for further details on what has changed between versions.

2018 NEON and 2025 CHESS Campaigns↗

NASA NTRS1985

Peat landforms along the Albany River, northern Ontario. An ecological study of peat landforms in Canada and Alaska

During the summer of 1985 a field investigation was started in the Hudson Bay lowland region of northern Ontario, which represents the largest expanse of peatland in North America and is an important sink in the global carbon cycle. A key area in the lowlands is situated along the Albany River near the confluence of the Chepay River. Here the striking vegetation-landforms are transitional between those found on the bed of Glacial Lake Agassiz in northern Minnesota and southern Manitoba and the more northern peatlands in the Hudson Bay lowland region. In peatland studies elsewhere the landform patterns have been used not only to classify different peatland types but also as an indicator of potential developmetnal trends. The study area is generally defined by that covered by the TM scene E-40062-15532 taken on Sept. 16, 1982. The purpose of the field work is to acquire sufficent information to interpret the TM imagery and test various hypotheses on peatland development on the gasis of the pattern transitions.

Glaser, P. H.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Conservation and conviviality in the American West

The emerging field of convivial conservation (CC) draws on the tradition of political ecology (PE) to present a “radical” alternative to contemporary environmentalisms, speaking to the challenges of conservation in the Anthropocene as well as the global ascent of reactionary populism. Building on previous work arguing for the ongoing value of dialogue between PE and the American West, I here develop a conversation between CC and another radical intervention, the collaborative conservation of the West’s so-called “radical center” (RC). Using the nexus of wolf–livestock conflict and public lands grazing, I first trace a genealogical history of western environmental politics before turning to CC as critical corrective to the shortcomings of the RC. Scholarship on the commons and commoning provides an analytical bridge and political toolkit for linking the empirics of place with the aspirational aims of conviviality, and naming and navigating on-the-ground obstacles to collaborative conservation efforts in the region. This dialogue in turn highlights deeply rooted tensions of capitalist political economy and questions of non/belonging rooted in settler colonialism—necessary regional engagements for building from polarized antagonism toward an alternative environmental politics of coexistence and conviviality.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

DOE OSTI2026

TEMPEST3 surface runoff water chemistry and organic matter composition

Coastal flooding, driven by storm surges and sea level rise, can mobilize organic matter (OM) via runoff, while introducing compositionally distinct OM (e.g., estuarine OM) into the system. To understand event-scale OM dynamics, we monitored source waters and surface runoff during an ecosystem-scale field manipulation experiment, TEMPEST (Terrestrial Ecosystem Manipulation to Probe the Effects of Storm Treatments), in June 2024. The TEMPEST experiment is part of the COMPASS-FME (Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales – Field, Measurements, and Experiments) project and designed to investigate biogeochemical and ecological impacts of freshwater and seawater flooding on coastal terrestrial-aquatic interface ecosystems by simulating freshwater and seawater storm events in two 2000m2 coastal upland forest plots (freshwater and brackish seawater plots). The temporal coverage of this dataset is during the TEMPESTⅢ event (June 11-13, 2024). This dataset contains: - Surface runoff discharge measured by flumes - Sensor data (specific conductivity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) - Particle size distribution - Total suspended sediment concentrations (TSS), particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC, DOC) concentrations, total nitrogen and total dissolved nitrogen (TN, TDN) concentrations - Bulk particulate and dissolved OM compositions (stable C and N isotopes of particulates and optical measurements of chromophoric dissolved OM) - High resolution mass spectrometry analysis data - Water isotope data All data files are plain-text CSV (comma-separated value), and no special software is required to read them.

COMPASS-FME↗

NASA NTRS1998

Remote Sensing in Archeology: Classifying Bajos of the Paten, Guatemala

This project focuses on the adaptation of human populations to their environments from prehistoric times to the present. It emphasizes interdisciplinary research to develop ecological baselines through the use of remotely sensed imagery, in situ field work, and the modeling of human population dynamics. It utilizes cultural and biological data from dated archaeological sites to assess the subsistence and settlement patterns of human societies in response to changing climatic and environmental conditions. The utilization of remote sensing techniques in archaeology is relatively new, exciting, and opens many doors.

Lowry, James D., Jr.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Convergence and divergence in science and practice of urban and rural forest restoration

Forest restoration has never been higher on policymakers' agendas. Complex and multi-dimensional arrangements across the urban–rural continuum challenge restorationists and require integrative approaches to strengthen environmental protection and increase restoration outcomes. It remains unclear if urban and rural forest restoration are moving towards or away from each other in practice and research, and whether comparing research outcomes can help stakeholders to gain a clearer understanding of the interconnectedness between the two fields. This study aims to identify the challenges and opportunities for enhancing forest restoration in both urban and rural systems by reviewing the scientific evidence, engaging with key stakeholders and using an urban–rural forest restoration framework. Using the Society for Ecological Restoration's International Principles as discussion topics, we highlight aspects of convergence and divergence between the two fields to broaden our understanding of forest restoration and promote integrative management approaches to address future forest conditions. Our findings reveal that urban and rural forest restoration have convergent and divergent aspects. We emphasise the importance of tailoring goals and objectives to specific contexts and the need to design different institutions and incentives based on the social and ecological needs and goals of stakeholders in different regions. Here we discuss the challenges of achieving high levels of ecological restoration and the need to go beyond traditional ecology to plan, implement, monitor, and adaptively manage restored forests. We suggest that rivers and watersheds could serve as a common ground linking rural and urban landscapes and that forest restoration could interact with other environmental protection measures. We note the potential for expanding the creative vision associated with increasing tree-containing environments in cities to generate more diverse and resilient forest restoration outcomes in rural settings. This study underscores the value of integrative management approaches in addressing future forest conditions across the urban–rural continuum. Our framework provides valuable insights for policymakers, researchers, and decision-makers to advance the field of forest restoration and address the challenges of restoration across the urban–rural continuum. The rural–urban interface serves as a convergence point for forest restoration, and both urban and rural fields can benefit from each other's expertise.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1996

Packaging and distributing ecological data from multisite studies

Studies of global change and other regional issues depend on ecological data collected at multiple study areas or sites. An information system model is proposed for compiling diverse data from dispersed sources so that the data are consistent, complete, and readily available. The model includes investigators who collect and analyze field measurements, science teams that synthesize data, a project information system that collates data, a data archive center that distributes data to secondary users, and a master data directory that provides broader searching opportunities. Special attention to format consistency is required, such as units of measure, spatial coordinates, dates, and notation for missing values. Often data may need to be enhanced by estimating missing values, aggregating to common temporal units, or adding other related data such as climatic and soils data. Full documentation, an efficient data distribution mechanism, and an equitable way to acknowledge the original source of data are also required.

Information Systems↗

DOE OSTI2022

Delayed fire mortality has long‐term ecological effects across the Southern Appalachian landscape

Abstract Fire is a critical ecological process to the forests of the Southern Appalachians. Where fire was excluded from forest types that historically burned frequently, unanticipated changes can occur when fire is reintroduced. For example, the development of new fuel characteristics can change the patterns of fire mortality and associated ecological responses. To test the fire effects of delayed fire mortality (mortality initiated by fire that occurs subsequent to the fire year) in the Southern Appalachians, USA, we developed a fire‐effects model using both field studies and remote sensing. We then simulated these effects at a landscape scale to estimate broader ecological effects. Fire‐effects models that accounted for delayed mortality increased landscape biomass removed annually (~23%) and increased the number of sites with high light conditions (leaf area index < 4) when compared to simulations that only account for immediate mortality. While delayed mortality occurred across species and age classes, it was especially prevalent among older trees (>100 years old) and fire‐resistant species ( Quercus spp.). Overall, regeneration (trees <20 years old) changed very little, even with the inclusion of delayed mortality. This evidence suggests that, even when accounting for delayed mortality, individual fires are unlikely to shift the landscape composition toward the conditions of forests prior to fire exclusion and may even increase mesophication long term due to the loss of overstory dominant xeric trees.

Robbins, Zachary J.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Towards mapping biodiversity from above: Can fusing lidar and hyperspectral remote sensing predict taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic tree diversity in temperate forests?

Abstract Aim Rapid global change is impacting the diversity of tree species and essential ecosystem functions and services of forests. It is therefore critical to understand and predict how the diversity of tree species is spatially distributed within and among forest biomes. Satellite remote sensing platforms have been used for decades to map forest structure and function but are limited in their capacity to monitor change by their relatively coarse spatial resolution and the complexity of scales at which different dimensions of biodiversity are observed in the field. Recently, airborne remote sensing platforms making use of passive high spectral resolution (i.e., hyperspectral) and active lidar data have been operationalized, providing an opportunity to disentangle how biodiversity patterns vary across space and time from field observations to larger scales. Most studies to date have focused on single sites and/or one sensor type; here we ask how multiple sensor types from the National Ecological Observatory Network’s Airborne Observation Platform (NEON AOP) perform across multiple sites in a single biome at the NEON field plot scale (i.e., 40 m × 40 m). Location Eastern USA. Time period 2017–2018. Taxa studied Trees. Methods With a fusion of hyperspectral and lidar data from the NEON AOP, we assess the ability of high resolution remotely sensed metrics to measure biodiversity variation across eastern US temperate forests. We examine how taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic measures of alpha diversity vary spatially and assess to what degree remotely sensed metrics correlate with in situ biodiversity metrics. Results Models using estimates of forest function, canopy structure, and topographic diversity performed better than models containing each category alone. Our results show that canopy structural diversity, and not just spectral reflectance, is critical to predicting biodiversity. Main conclusions We found that an approach that jointly leverages spectral properties related to leaf and canopy functional traits and forest health, lidar derived estimates of forest structure, fine‐resolution topographic diversity, and careful consideration of biogeographical differences within and among biomes is needed to accurately map biodiversity variation from above.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Data and scripts associated with “Non-random processes impacting organic matter chemistry are maximized in mid-order streams”

NOTE: The manuscript associated with this data package is currently in review. The data may be revised based on reviewer feedback. Upon manuscript acceptance, this data package will be updated with the final dataset and additional metadata. This data package is associated with the publication “Non-random processes impacting organic matter chemistry are maximized in mid-order streams” submitted to Limnology and Oceanography (L&O) by Danczak et al. (in review). This package contains data and scripts used to investigate dissolved organic matter (DOM) molecular chemistry and diversification processes across 47 surface-water sampling sites in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, USA, during an August 2021 sampling campaign. The package contains analyses of ultrahigh-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS), geochemical measurements, geospatial attributes, molecular diversity, and meta-metabolome ecological null models needed to reproduce the main manuscript results. The underlying field data were pulled from exising data packages at https://doi.org/10.15485/1892052 (Fulton et al., 2022) and https://doi.org/10.15485/1898914 (Grieger et al., 2022). For details on how to navigate data packages generated by this project, see https://data.ess-dive.lbl.gov/portals/PNNLRiverCorridorSFA/About. We thank the following organizations for providing access to field locations for sample collection: the United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the Cowiche Canyon Conservatory. Research was conducted under Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Scientific Research Permit #210901. We are grateful to the Yakama Nation Tribal Council and Yakama Nation Fisheries for their collaboration in facilitating sample collection and ensuring data usage aligns with their values and worldview. This data package contains an R-Markdown file for analyses and five folders: (1) Data, (2) Geospatial Data, (3) Supplemental_Files, (5) Figures_pdf, (4) and src. The Data folder contains tabular inputs and derived files used in the manuscript analysis. The Geospatial Data folder contains climate and water-balance, hydrologic, land-cover, population/regional water-use, stream, topographic, and stream-order attribute CSV files. The src folder contains scripts used to process data, run analyses, and generate figures. The Figures_pdf folder contains manuscript figure outputs. The Supplemental_Files folder contains supplemental analysis products. All files are .csv, .pdf, .html, .png, .R, .Rmd, .svg, or .tre. This data package is associated with the rcfsa-RC2-SPS_Null_Modeling repository found at https://github.com/river-corridors-sfa/rcfsa-RC2-SPS_Null_Modeling.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Natural selection maintains species despite frequent hybridization in the desert shrub Encelia

Natural selection is an important driver of genetic and phenotypic differentiation between species. For species in which potential gene flow is high but realized gene flow is low, adaptation via natural selection may be a particularly important force maintaining species. For a recent radiation of New World desert shrubs ( Encelia : Asteraceae), we use fine-scale geographic sampling and population genomics to determine patterns of gene flow across two hybrid zones formed between two independent pairs of species with parapatric distributions. After finding evidence for extremely strong selection at both hybrid zones, we use a combination of field experiments, high-resolution imaging, and physiological measurements to determine the ecological basis for selection at one of the hybrid zones. Our results identify multiple ecological mechanisms of selection (drought, salinity, herbivory, and burial) that together are sufficient to maintain species boundaries despite high rates of hybridization. Given that multiple pairs of Encelia species hybridize at ecologically divergent parapatric boundaries, such mechanisms may maintain species boundaries throughout Encelia .

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

FIU Project 2: Environmental Remediation Science & Technology [Slides]

FIU’s research under this project involves conducting basic and applied science to fill knowledge gaps and validate potential remediation technologies for contaminated soil and groundwater and the assessment of the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. The aim of FIU’s research is to reduce the potential for contaminant mobility or toxicity in the surface and subsurface through the development and application of state-of-the-art scientific and environmental remediation technologies at the Hanford Site, Savannah River Site (SRS), and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), which is the Nation’s only mined geologic repository for permanent disposal of transuranic waste. FIU collaborates with scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the DOE Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) in order to plan and execute research that is synergistic with the work being conducted at the sites, and that supports the resolution of critical science and engineering needs which leads to a better understanding of the long-term behavior of subsurface contaminants. The knowledge gained through this research will be used to transform experimental and modeling innovations into practical applications deployed at the sites to support EM’s primary goal of expediting the closure of major contaminated soil and groundwater sites and waste units. Collaborative relationships between FIU and the national laboratories have provided large benefits over the years to FIU, the national laboratories, the DOE complex, and the DOE EM mission. By working closely with the national laboratories, FIU’s research is not only closely aligned with the cleanup mission priorities at the DOE sites, but complements and supports ongoing work at the national laboratories for screening of new remedial technologies. This coordination and leveraging of research efforts results in time- and cost-savings, and will accelerate progress of the DOE EM environmental restoration mission.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗