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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.
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Spatiotemporal patterns in habitat use of natal and non-natal adult Atlantic sturgeon in two spawning rivers Spatiotemporal patterns in habitat use of natal and non-natal adult Atlantic sturgeon in two spawning rivers
Background Monitoring movement across an organism’s ontogeny is often challenging, particularly for long-lived or wide-ranging species. When empirical data are unavailable, general knowledge about species’ ecology may be used to make assumptions about habitat use across space or time. However, inferences about habitat use based on population-level ecology may overlook important eco...
Authors
Shannon L. White, Matthew W. Breece, Dewayne A. Fox, David C. Kazyak, Amanda Higgs, Ian A Park, Cassia Busch, Barbara A. Lubinski, Robin L. Johnson, Amy Welsh
Characteristics of debris-flow-prone watersheds and debris-flow-triggering rainstorms following the Tadpole Fire, New Mexico, USA Characteristics of debris-flow-prone watersheds and debris-flow-triggering rainstorms following the Tadpole Fire, New Mexico, USA
Moderate- or high-severity fires promote increases in runoff and erosion, leading to a greater likelihood of extreme geomorphic responses, including debris flows. In the first several years following fire, the majority of debris flows initiate when runoff rapidly entrains sediment on steep slopes. From a hazard perspective, it is important to be able to anticipate when and where...
Authors
Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Ann Youberg, Alexander Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, Ryan Porter
Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster) Carotenoid skin ornaments as flexible indicators of male foraging behavior in a marine predator: Variation among Mexican colonies of brown booby (Sula leucogaster)
Carotenoid-dependent ornaments can reflect animals’ diet and foraging behaviors. However, this association should be spatially flexible and variable among populations to account for geographic variation in optimal foraging behaviors. We tested this hypothesis using populations of a marine predator (the brown booby, Sula leucogaster) that forage across a gradient in ocean depth in and...
Authors
Nathan P. Michael, Roxana Torres, Andreanna J. Welch, Jonathan J. Felis, Mario Erandi Bonillas-Monge, Josh Adams, Samantha Hodgson, Laura Lopez-Marques, Alejadro Martínez-Flores, Gala Enidh Castro-Mejias, Anne E. Wiley
Eggshell membrane thickness and its contribution to total eggshell thickness for 13 waterbird species Eggshell membrane thickness and its contribution to total eggshell thickness for 13 waterbird species
Eggshell thickness can be an indicator of environmental pollution in wild birds and shell quality in wild and domestic birds, but it is difficult to measure calcite eggshell thickness due to the presence of the adherent outer eggshell membrane. Eggshells of 13 waterbird species were divided in half longitudinally and the outer membrane was removed from one of the halves. Subsequently, we...
Authors
Gary M. Santolo, Sarah H. Peterson, Breanne Cooney, C. Alex Hartman, Mark P. Herzog, Joshua T. Ackerman
Wetland creation and reforestation of legacy surface mines in the Central Appalachian Region (USA): A potential climate-adaptation approach for pond-breeding amphibians? Wetland creation and reforestation of legacy surface mines in the Central Appalachian Region (USA): A potential climate-adaptation approach for pond-breeding amphibians?
Habitat restoration and creation within human-altered landscapes can buffer the impacts of climate change on wildlife. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a coal surface mine reclamation practice that enhances reforestation through soil decompaction and the planting of native trees. Recently, wetland creation has been coupled with FRA to increase habitat available for wildlife...
Authors
Lauren Sherman, Christopher D. Barton, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Rebecca N. Davenport, John J. Cox, Jeffery L. Larkin, Todd Fearer, Jillian C. Newman, Steven J. Price
Reproduction of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) in the Maumee River, Ohio: Part 2—Optimal river conditions for egg and larval drift Reproduction of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) in the Maumee River, Ohio: Part 2—Optimal river conditions for egg and larval drift
This study uses a one-dimensional steady-state hydraulic model and the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) to model the drift and dispersion of grass carp eggs and larvae in the Maumee River, Ohio, for 180 scenarios representing different combinations of 10 river flows, 6 water temperatures, and 3 spawning locations. The FluEgg simulations were used to quantify in-river suspended...
Authors
Jessica Z. LeRoy, Henry F. Doyle, P. Ryan Jackson, Charles V. Cigrand
Craters of habit: Patterns of deformation in the western Galápagos Craters of habit: Patterns of deformation in the western Galápagos
The western Galápagos islands of Fernandina and Isabela comprise six active volcanoes that have deformed since first observed by satellite radar in the early 1990s. We analyse new (2015–2022) displacement time series at Alcedo, Cerro Azul, Darwin, Fernandina, Sierra Negra, and Wolf volcanoes in the context of deformation and unrest since 1992. Previous discussions of volcano deformation...
Authors
Eoin Reddin, Susanna K. Ebmeier, Marco Bagnardi, Andrew F. Bell, Pedro Espin Bedon
Unique diet and Philonema sp. infections in reservoir-rearing juvenile Chinook Salmon Unique diet and Philonema sp. infections in reservoir-rearing juvenile Chinook Salmon
Objective Dams and reservoirs can alter juvenile growth and survival of migratory salmonids through several physical and biological mechanisms. Juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that are produced upstream of large hydropower dams may have associated passage mortality, but the reservoirs created by these dams can support rapid growth. Characterizing the biotic drivers of...
Authors
Marina S. Larson, Anindo Choudhury, Ethan N. Gardner, Peter Konstantinidis, Christina Amy Murphy, Michael L. Kent, James T. Peterson, Claire E. Couch
Phylogenomics, male internal genitalia, a new species, and other notes on New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatoidea: Stenopelmatini) Phylogenomics, male internal genitalia, a new species, and other notes on New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatoidea: Stenopelmatini)
Based on past and expanded DNA sampling, the orthopteran families Stenopelmatidae and Anostostomatidae, as currently structured, are shown to be non-monophyletic. The splay-footed cricket genus Comicus is confirmed to be genetically distinct from all Stenopelmatidae. We add two specimens to our previously published phylogenetic tree for New World Stenopelmatus Jerusalem cricket species...
Authors
David B. Weissman, Hojun Song, Amy G. Vandergast
Heterologous exchanges of glycoprotein and non-virion protein in novirhabdoviruses: Assessment of virlence in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Heterologous exchanges of glycoprotein and non-virion protein in novirhabdoviruses: Assessment of virlence in yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) are rhabdoviruses in two different species belonging to the Novirhabdovirus genus. IHNV has a narrow host range restricted to trout and salmon species, and viruses in the M genogroup of IHNV have high virulence in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). In contrast, the VHSV genotype IVb that...
Authors
Vikram N. Vakharia, Arun Ammayappan, Shamila Yusuff, Tarin M. Tesfaye, Gael Kurath
First documentation of grass carp spawning in Lake Erie’s Central Basin First documentation of grass carp spawning in Lake Erie’s Central Basin
Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) are non-indigenous to North America having been translocated to the United States in the 1960s as a potential non-chemical solution for nuisance aquatic vegetation. Reproductively viable grass carp now exist in many watersheds in the United States. In the Great Lakes basin, grass carp were first discovered in the 1980s with direct confirmation of...
Authors
Corbin David Hilling, Adam J. Landry, James J. Roberts, Nathan Thompson, Cathy A. Richter, Ryan E. Brown, Christine M. Mayer, Song S. Qian
Leveraging natural capital accounting to support businesses with nature-related risk assessments and disclosures Leveraging natural capital accounting to support businesses with nature-related risk assessments and disclosures
Nature loss threatens businesses, the global economy and financial stability. Understanding and addressing these risks for business will require credible measurement approaches and data. This paper explores how natural capital accounting (NCA) can support business data and information needs related to nature, including disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial...
Authors
Jane Carter Ingram, Emily McKenzie, Kenneth J. Bagstad, John Finisdore, Rayne van den Berg, Eli P. Fenichel, Michael Vardon, Stephen M. Posner, Marta Santamaria, Lisa Mandle, Richard J. Barker, James Spurgeon