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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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How high? Identifying elevation thresholds to guide coastal marsh restoration How high? Identifying elevation thresholds to guide coastal marsh restoration
Introduction Coastal marshes are highly valuable ecosystems facing threats from rising sea levels and intensifying storm events. To elevate marsh surfaces and prevent loss of ecosystem services, the beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM) is increasingly being implemented across the United States. Objectives The objective of this study was to aid decision-makers and restoration...
Authors
Emily N. Fromenthal, Camille L. Stagg, Jena A. Moon, Taylor Abshier, Omar Alawneh, Jack A. Cadigan, Daniel A. Gallegos, Brian D. Harris, Nia R. Hurst, Navid H. Jafari, Todd Merendino, Matthew R. Nelson, Michael J. Osland, Philip Pauling, Michael Rezsutek, Colt R. Sanspree, Rachel Katherine Villani
Groundwater structures fish growth and production across a riverscape Groundwater structures fish growth and production across a riverscape
Landscapes are composed of habitat patches and conditions that vary across space and time. While habitat variability and complexity can support important ecological processes and ecosystem services, the dynamic nature of habitats can also constrain organismal growth and production as optimal conditions are fleeting. In riverine ecosystems, groundwater discharge to streams stabilises...
Authors
Jeffrey R. Baldock, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Annika W. Walters
When do single-species occupancy models outperform multispecies models? When do single-species occupancy models outperform multispecies models?
Occupancy models have become increasingly popular for species monitoring and assessment, in part, because detection/non-detection data are readily obtained using a variety of methods. Multispecies occupancy models (MSOMs) can yield more accurate parameter estimates than single-species models (SSOMs) with less data through their hierarchical structure, making MSOMs an attractive option...
Authors
Gavin G. Cotterill, Douglas A. Keinath, Tabitha A. Graves
The rise of U.S. photovoltaics: An exploration of land use density trends in large-scale solar facility attributes, 2012-2021 The rise of U.S. photovoltaics: An exploration of land use density trends in large-scale solar facility attributes, 2012-2021
An energy transition is underway in the United States; renewable energy generation is now on par with coal and nuclear generation. The number of large-scale solar photovoltaic facilities increased approximately tenfold between 2012 and 2021, with an associated 25-fold increase in cumulative installed capacity. With ambitious decarbonization and renewable energy deployment goals at both...
Authors
K. Sydny Fujita, Ben Hoen, Dana Robson, Joesph Rand, Zachary H. Ancona, James Diffendorfer, Louisa Kramer, Christopher Garrity, Jianyu Gu, Jordan Macknick
Drowned river mouth lakes are winter foraging habitats for the expanding Lake Michigan cisco Coregonus artedi population Drowned river mouth lakes are winter foraging habitats for the expanding Lake Michigan cisco Coregonus artedi population
Characterizing fish movements is required for understanding habitat use, energy flow, and trophic structure and can inform fisheries management. Drowned river mouth (DRM) lakes are productive inland habitats in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin used by migratory fishes. Despite recognition of their ecological connections to the Great Lakes, the value of DRM lakes as seasonal habitats is...
Authors
Ralph W. Tingley, Darryl W. Hondorp, Benjamin A. Turschak, Steven A. Pothoven, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Jory Jonas, William W. Fetzer, Benjamin Scott Leonhardt, Andrew Edgar Honsey, Jeff Elliott, Lindsie Ann Egedy, Cory Brant, Lynn Benes, Kendra Kozlauskos, Renee Renauer-Bova, Ann J. Ropp
Divergent responses of seed banks and aboveground vegetation to drought and deluge in grasslands across an elevational gradient Divergent responses of seed banks and aboveground vegetation to drought and deluge in grasslands across an elevational gradient
Increased variability in precipitation associated with climate change creates extreme conditions of drought and deluge that can have profound effects on the abundance and composition of plant communities. Responses to these extremes likely vary across climatic gradients and depend on local plant community composition, which includes the emergent, aboveground vegetation as well as...
Authors
Jennifer R. Gremer, Margaret M. Moore, Daniel C. Laughlin, Seth Munson
Long‐period ground motions from dynamic rupture simulations of large earthquakes on the creeping Hayward–Calaveras–Rodgers Creek fault system Long‐period ground motions from dynamic rupture simulations of large earthquakes on the creeping Hayward–Calaveras–Rodgers Creek fault system
he Hayward, Calaveras, and Rodgers Creek faults in the San Francisco Bay region of California have a high probability of producing a large earthquake in the next decades. Although these faults creep, the creep is insufficient to keep up with their relatively rapid slip rates on their deepest sections, so they have been storing tectonic strain since their last large earthquakes, with the...
Authors
Ruth A. Harris, Michael Barall, Grace Alexandra Parker, Evan Tyler Hirakawa
Modeling the influence of upper and lower shoreface dynamics on barrier island evolution Modeling the influence of upper and lower shoreface dynamics on barrier island evolution
Barrier island resilience to climate impacts depends on sediment redistribution between the subaqueous shoreface and subaerial barrier during sea-level rise and storms. However, autogenic interactions between the upper and lower shoreface and their influence on the subaerial barrier are poorly characterized. Here, we explore the influences of various shoreface components on barrier...
Authors
Rose Elizabeth Palermo, Jennifer L. Miselis, Daniel J. Ciarletta, Emily A Wei
Bioclimatic, demographic, and anthropogenic correlates of grizzly bear activity patterns in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Bioclimatic, demographic, and anthropogenic correlates of grizzly bear activity patterns in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Plasticity of diel activity rhythms may be a key element for adaptations of wildlife populations to changing environmental conditions. In the last decades, grizzly bears Ursus arctos in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) have experienced notable environmental fluctuations, including changes in availability of food sources and severe droughts. Although substantial research has been...
Authors
A. Donatelli, Mark Haroldson, Justin G. Clapp, P. Ciucci, Frank T. van Manen
The 1912 Ms 7.2 earthquake in the Denali region of central Alaska The 1912 Ms 7.2 earthquake in the Denali region of central Alaska
The 2002 Mw 7.9 earthquake in central Alaska ruptured 340 km on three faults—Susitna Glacier thrust fault, Denali fault, Totschunda fault—crossing both the Richardson Highway and the Alaska Pipeline. Its occurrence prompted renewed interest in historical large earthquakes that possibly originated on the Denali fault. One of these earthquakes was a Ms 7.2 event on July 7, 1912, which we...
Authors
Carl Tape, Marco Aquino-Lopez, Sean Bemis, Peter J. Haeussler, Jessalyn Ginnaty
Structural controls on splay fault rupture dynamics during Cascadia megathrust earthquakes Structural controls on splay fault rupture dynamics during Cascadia megathrust earthquakes
Great subduction earthquakes (Mw ≥ 8.0) can generate devastating tsunamis by rapidly displacing the seafloor and overlying water column. These potentially tsunamigenic seafloor offsets result from coseismic fault slip and deformation beneath or within the accretionary wedge. The mechanics of these shallow rupture phenomena and their dependence on subduction zone properties remain...
Authors
James Burkhardt Biemiller, Alice-Agnes Gabriel, Lydia M. Staisch, Thomas Ulrich, Audrey Dunham, Erin A. Wirth, Janet Watt, Madeleine C. Lucas, Anna Ledeczi
Systematic approach to prioritize wells for effective groundwater monitoring and management in the Arkansas Headwaters Basin, Colorado, USA Systematic approach to prioritize wells for effective groundwater monitoring and management in the Arkansas Headwaters Basin, Colorado, USA
Study regionThe Arkansas Headwaters Basin, an intermountain basin in the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America.Study focusOur specific focus is choosing a set of wells to support a possible future regional groundwater-surface water model that would support water management. We present a three-step process using multiple criteria to score, predict, and choose prioritized wells that...
Authors
Eleanor E. Fahrney, David C. Mays, Connor P. Newman