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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 65,000 articles authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Mahi-mahi metacouplings: Quantifying human–nature interactions in dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fisheries Mahi-mahi metacouplings: Quantifying human–nature interactions in dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fisheries
Fisheries encompass humans and fish, but fisheries researchers rarely model human–nature interactions over space and time. I filled this information gap for dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), a popular, widely distributed species that supports industrial, artisanal, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. Dolphinfish human–nature interactions showed a long-term up-and-down pattern in...
Authors
Andrew Kenneth Carlson
Do mule deer surf peaks in forage quality while on summer range? Do mule deer surf peaks in forage quality while on summer range?
Many animals track ephemeral peaks in food abundance and quality that propagate across landscapes. Migrating ungulates, in particular, track waves of newly emerging plants from low-elevation winter ranges to high-elevation summer ranges—known as “green-wave surfing.” Because plants lose crude protein and gain insoluble fiber with maturation, ruminants are expected to exploit peaks in...
Authors
Anna Ortega, Kevin L. Monteith, Benjamin Wise, Matthew J. Kauffman
Ecologically informed solar enables a sustainable energy transition in U.S. croplands Ecologically informed solar enables a sustainable energy transition in U.S. croplands
United States (U.S.) croplands are ideal recipient environments for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy because they are flat and have a high solar resource. Perceived threats of solar to agriculture have led some stakeholders to suggest that croplands be exclusively used to produce food. However, 12 million hectares of U.S. croplands, an area about the size of New York State, are already...
Authors
Matthew A. Sturchio, Adam Gallaher, Steven Mark Grodsky
Comparative properties of saponitic fault gouge and serpentinite muds cored from mud volcanoes of the Mariana subduction zone Comparative properties of saponitic fault gouge and serpentinite muds cored from mud volcanoes of the Mariana subduction zone
We obtained 12 core samples for physical and chemical characterization from three serpentinite mud volcanoes (Yinazao, Asùt Tesoru, and Fantangisña) located on the forearc of the Mariana subduction system, that were drilled during International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 366. Two samples from the Fantangisña mud volcano are interpreted to be clay-rich fault gouges derived from...
Authors
Diane E. Moore, C.A. Morrow, David A. Lockner, Barbara A. Bekins
Using DNA barcoding to evaluate freshwater mussel and fish-host relationships in the Flint River (Georgia, USA) Using DNA barcoding to evaluate freshwater mussel and fish-host relationships in the Flint River (Georgia, USA)
Freshwater mussels have a unique life history in which larval mussels (glochidia) act as obligate parasites to fish hosts. Host selectivity may be species specific, and identification of host fish is a critical step in conservation planning for individual mussel species. The Flint River harbors ~23% of the freshwater mussel (order Unionida) diversity in the state of Georgia, USA. Nine...
Authors
Hayley A. Robinson, John P. Wares, Gail M. Cowie, Shayla D. Williams, Ben F Scott, Matthew T. Rowe, Nathan Johnson, Peter D. Hazelton
Interspecific effects of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) on native nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) Interspecific effects of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) on native nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)
Biological invasions pose significant risks to ecosystems and native species. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a highly detrimental invasive species in North America, directly and indirectly affecting native species. Co-occurrence of wild pigs and native species may lead to interspecific interactions that alter ecological communities. Accordingly, we investigated spatial and temporal factors...
Authors
Matthew S. Broadway, Holly M. Todaro, Molly M. Koeck, Courtney N. Dotterweich, Sarah A. Cain, M. Colter Chitwood, Robert Charles Lonsinger
The scientific benefits of a statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program in Hawaiʻi The scientific benefits of a statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program in Hawaiʻi
In this viewpoint, we provide a scientific justification for a statewide, standardized, coastal wetland monitoring program for Hawaiʻi, USA. Hawaiian coastal wetlands provide important habitat for endangered waterbirds, invertebrates, plants, and the Hawaiian hoary bat (ʻōpeʻapeʻa; Lasiurus semotus) as well as support Indigenous food systems. Currently, numerous agencies and groups in...
Authors
Judith Z. Drexler, Helen Raine, Carrie L. Harrington, Kawika B. Winter, Kauaoa Matthew Sam Fraiola, Joy Browning, Jeffrey Burgett, David A. Burney, Kim A. Falinski, Scott Fisher, Kristen C. Harmon, Jessica L. Idle, Monica N. Iglecia, Mari-Vaughn Virginia Johnson, Matthew J. Keir, K. Jackson Letchworth, Kirsten Moy, Anthony Olegario, Melissa R. Price, J. Michael Reed, Yoshimi M. Rii, Rachel A. Rounds, Charles B. van Rees, Brett T. Wolfe
Invasive African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) in Washington State: Status, response efforts, and lessons learned Invasive African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) in Washington State: Status, response efforts, and lessons learned
The African clawed frog (ACF, Xenopus laevis), which is indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa, is an aquatic invasive species known to have severe ecological impacts on native fauna when introduced into non-endemic regions. In 2015, ACFs were detected in Washington State, U.S. for the first time, and the species is now documented at three cities across western Washington: Lacey, Bothell, and...
Authors
Eveline J. Emmenegger, Rebecca A. Lavier, Emily J. Struck, Vasilisa P. Tyurina, Evan A. Eskew, Megan R. Friesen, Mark A. Taylor, Emma K. Bueren, David R. Kyle, Jesse M. Schultz, Allen Pleus, Richard H. Visser, Reed Ojala-Barbour, Christoper D. Anderson, Jeffrey S. Jensen, Martha Keller, Thomas S. Jenkinson, Katherine H. Haman, Tony R. Capps, Kenneth I. Warheit, Timothy Quinn, Justin Bush, Max R. Lambert
Object detection-assisted workflow facilitates cryptic snake monitoring Object detection-assisted workflow facilitates cryptic snake monitoring
Camera traps are an important tool used to study rare and cryptic animals, including snakes. Time-lapse photography can be particularly useful for studying snakes that often fail to trigger a camera's infrared motion sensor due to their ectothermic nature. However, the large datasets produced by time-lapse photography require labor-intensive classification, limiting their use in large...
Authors
Storm Miller, Michael Kirkland, Kristen Hart, Robert A. McCleery
Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise Landsat surface product validation instrumentation: The BigMAC exercise
Users of Earth remotely sensed optical imagery are increasingly demanding a surface reflectance or surface temperature product instead of the top-of-atmosphere products that have been produced historically. Validating the accuracy of surface products remains a difficult task since it involves assessment across a range of atmospheric profiles, as well as many different land surface types...
Authors
Dennis Helder, Mahesh Shrestha, Joshua J. Mann, Emily Maddox, Jeffrey Irwin, Larry Leigh, Aaron Gerace, Rehman Eon, Lucy Falcon, David Conran, Nina G. Raqueno, Timothy Bauch, Christopher Durell, Brandon Russell
The demise of an icehouse: Calibrating the end of the LPIA The demise of an icehouse: Calibrating the end of the LPIA
Earth has experienced three complete icehouse-greenhouse turnovers in the Phanerozoic, with the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) recognized as the last and most extreme icehouse. The nature, scale and dynamics of the LPIA are characterized by periods of intense glaciation, which are often interrupted by short-lived (1–2 Myrs) intervals associated with ice-free or distal from ice conditions...
Authors
Neil Patrick Griffis, Roland Mundil, Isabel Montañez, Pierre Dietrich, Daniel Le Heron, Roberto Iannuzzi, Bastien Linol, Thammy Mottin, John Richey, Christoph Kettler
Habitat and predator influences on the spatial ecology of nine-banded armadillos Habitat and predator influences on the spatial ecology of nine-banded armadillos
Mesopredator suppression has implications for community structure, biodiversity, and ecosystem function, but mesopredators with physical defenses may not avoid apex predators. We investigated nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) in southwestern Oklahoma (USA) to evaluate if a species with physical defenses was influenced by a dominant predator, the coyote (Canis latrans). We...
Authors
Robert Charles Lonsinger, Ben P. Murley, Daniel T. McDonald, Christine E. Fallon, Kara M. White