Dustin Kincaid

United States Geological Survey | USGS

Understanding controls on solute export to streams is challenging because heterogeneous catchments can respond uniquely to drivers of environmental change. To understand general solute export patterns, we used a large‐scale inductive approach to evaluate concentration–discharge (C–Q) metrics across catchments spanning a broad range of catchment att...

Dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC) influence water quality, ecosystem health, and carbon cycling. Dissolved carbon species are produced by biogeochemical reactions and laterally exported to streams via distinct shallow and deep subsurface flow paths. These processes are arduous to measure and challenge the quantification of global...

Large sample datasets are transforming the catchment sciences, but there are few off-the-shelf stream water chemistry datasets with complementary atmospheric deposition, streamflow, meteorology, and catchment physiographic attributes. The existing CAMELS (Catchment Attributes and Meteorology for Large-sample Studies) dataset includes data on topogr...

Processes that drive variability in catchment solute sourcing, transformation, and transport can be investigated using concentration–discharge (C–Q) relationships. These relationships reflect catchment and in‐stream processes operating across nested temporal scales, incorporating both short and long‐term patterns. Scientists can therefore leverage...

Concentration‐discharge (C‐Q) relationships are frequently used to understand the controls on material export from watersheds. These analyses often use a log‐log power‐law function (C = aQb) to determine the relationship between C and Q. Use of the power‐law in C‐Q analyses dates to two seminal papers by Francis Hall (1970, https://doi.org/10.1029/...

The concurrent reduction in acid deposition and increase in precipitation impact stream solute dynamics in complex ways that make predictions of future water quality difficult. To understand how changes in acid deposition and precipitation have influenced dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (N) loading to streams, we investigated trends fro...

The concepts of resistance, recovery, and resilience are in diverse fields from behavioral psychology to planetary ecology. These “three Rs” describe some of the most important properties allowing complex systems to survive in dynamic environments. However, in many fields—including ecology—our ability to predict resistance, recovery and resilience...

Synthesis research in ecology and environmental science improves understanding, advances theory, identifies research priorities, and supports management strategies by linking data, ideas, and tools. Accelerating environmental challenges increases the need to focus synthesis science on the most pressing questions. To leverage input from the broader...

Winters in snow-covered regions have warmed, likely shifting the timing and magnitude of nutrient export, leading to unquantified changes in water quality. Intermittent, seasonal, and permanent snow covers more than half of the global land surface. Warming has reduced the cold conditions that limit winter runoff and nutrient transport, while cold s...

While many instructors have reservations against Wikipedia use in academic settings, editing Wikipedia teaches students valuable writing, editing, and critical thinking skills. Wikipedia assignments align with the community of inquiry framework, which focuses on the elements needed for a successful online learning experience. We report on a faculty...

Imputation of missing sensor-collected data is often an important step prior to machine learning and statistical data analysis. One particular data imputation challenge is filling large data gaps when the only related data comes from the same sensor station. In this paper, we propose a framework to improve the popular multivariate imputation by cha...

Extreme events have increased in frequency globally, with a simultaneous surge in scientific interest about their ecological responses, particularly in sensitive freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems. We synthesized observational studies of extreme events in these aquatic ecosystems, finding that many studies do not use consistent definitions...

The frequency and duration of lake ice cover is rapidly declining in the Northern Hemisphere. Limited research in oligotrophic and mesotrophic lakes suggests that extended periods of ice cover influence nitrogen (N) cycling by promoting nitrate (NO3−) accumulation. However, ice cover impacts on N cycling in shallow, high-nutrient, eutrophic lakes r...

A paired catchment study began in 2000 to assess the hydrologic effects of high-elevation development on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont's highest summit (1340 m). West Branch Little River drains 12.08 km² and encompasses a large ski resort. Adjacent Ranch Brook drains 9.83 km² of minimally disturbed second-growth forest. The two catchments have similar ele...

Catchment nutrient export, especially during high flow events, can influence ecological processes in receiving waters by altering nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and relative amounts (stoichiometry). Event‐scale N and P export dynamics may be significantly altered by land use/land cover (LULC) and season. Consequently, to manage wate...

Historical ecological surveys serve as a baseline and provide context for contemporary research, yet many of these records are not preserved in a way that ensures their long-term usability. The National Eutrophication Survey (NES) database is currently only available as scans of the original reports (PDF files) with no embedded character informatio...

Historical ecological surveys serve as a baseline and provide context for contemporary research, yet many of these records are not preserved in a way that ensures their long-term usability. The National Eutrophication Survey database is currently only available as scans of the original reports (PDF files) with no embedded character information. Thi...

Thick accumulations of flocculent organic sediment, or floc, are nearly ubiquitous in shallow freshwater ecosystems lacking strong physical disturbance regimes. Despite the prevalence of these sediments in a diversity of shallow water bodies, there is little information on their biogeochemical and ecological importance. Importantly, floc forms a tr...

Pharmaceutical and personal care products are ubiquitous in surface waters but their effects on aquatic biofilms and associated ecosystem properties are not well understood. We measured in situ responses of stream biofilms to six common pharmaceutical compounds (caffeine, cimetidine, ciprofloxacin, diphenhydramine, metformin, ranitidine, and a mixt...

Background/Question/Methods Species interactions underpin the structure and function of food webs. Human alteration of ecosystems leads to changes in species composition and dominance, with cascading effects on the distribution and magnitude of interaction strengths among species, as well as flows of energy and materials in food webs. An increasi...

Glen Canyon Dam has dramatically altered the physical environment (especially discharge regime, water temperatures, and sediment inputs) of the Colorado River. High-flow experiments (HFE) that mimic one aspect of the natural hydrograph (floods) were implemented in 1996, 2004, and 2008. The primary goal of these experiments was to increase the si...

Several recent reports document increasing concentrations of chloride in surface waters of northeastern and midwestern North America. These patterns, together with high summertime baseflow concentrations, suggest the possibility of short-term retention of winter-applied chloride within catchments. This study examined the potential of groundwater an...