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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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Low streamflows in Massachusetts: Variability over space and time and relations with climatic and basin variables Low streamflows in Massachusetts: Variability over space and time and relations with climatic and basin variables
Streamflows in Massachusetts have set record lows in recent years despite generally wetter conditions than during the drought of the 1960s, and the reasons for this are not known. To analyse potential drivers of low streamflows in Massachusetts, six low-flow metrics were computed at 107 streamgages. These metrics represent low-flow magnitude, magnitude normalized to median flows, and...
Authors
Catherine A. Chamberlin, Glenn Hodgkins
Small cumulative survival costs of enzootic disease could suppress long-term population size Small cumulative survival costs of enzootic disease could suppress long-term population size
Fungal pathogens can cause epizootics that result in widespread mortality and rapid population declines in some species. However, even in the absence of high disease-induced mortality, enzootic mycoses could have large-scale impacts on host population dynamics. Here, we examined the effects of ophidiomycosis, an enzootic fungal disease, on a Louisiana snake community over a 3-year period...
Authors
Brad M. Glorioso, Graziella V. DiRenzo, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Brittany A. Mosher, David A.W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Hardin Waddle
Exploring management options for moose at their southern range limits considering growing disease risk Exploring management options for moose at their southern range limits considering growing disease risk
1. Populations of cold-adapted species are increasingly vulnerable along their low-latitude range limits due to shifting environmental conditions, biotic interactions, and anthropogenic pressures. Managing these populations is particularly challenging because of complex ecological dynamics, conflicting stakeholder interests, and decision-making under uncertainty. 2. We explored...
Authors
Jennifer A. Grauer, Jacqueline L. Frair, Krysten L. Schuler, David W. Kramer, Angela K. Fuller
Ecovoltaic solar energy development creates novel microclimate, temperature, and soil moisture patterns under solar panels in a warm desert Ecovoltaic solar energy development creates novel microclimate, temperature, and soil moisture patterns under solar panels in a warm desert
Background: As solar energy development expands in desert regions, new installation practices and solar technologies seek to balance ecosystem conservation and energy generation (ecovoltaics). The Gemini Solar Project, a large ecovoltaic facility located in the northeastern Mojave Desert, employed low impact installation methods to reduce disturbance of the desert ecosystem within arrays...
Authors
Juan Pinos, Seth M. Munson, Claire C Karban, Matthew D. Petrie
Extrinsic factors similarly affect nest survival of a threatened shorebird in natural and human-created habitats Extrinsic factors similarly affect nest survival of a threatened shorebird in natural and human-created habitats
Knowledge of factors that influence nest survival can inform effective conservation management for imperiled avian species. Habitat availability and quality are common priorities of conservation efforts, and climate and interspecific associations can also affect survival rates. In the lower Platte River system of eastern Nebraska, USA, Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus, hereafter...
Authors
Elsa M. Forsberg, Rose J. Swift, Larkin A. Powell, Joel G. Jorgensen, Mark P. Vrtiska
Creating usable science: A Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center study Creating usable science: A Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center study
The southwestern United States consists of diverse ecosystems that are experiencing increasing pressures from rising temperatures, increasing aridity, and sea level rise. To prepare this region for future uncertainty, there is a need for strong partnerships among researchers and societal partners. The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) acts to foster engaged...
Authors
Kinzie Cherrel Bailey, Jia Hu, Alison M. Meadow, Stephanie Anne McAfee, Alexandder Gershunov, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, Daniel Cayan, Beth Rose MIddleton Manning, Elizabeth Fard, Geln MacDonald, Gregg M. Garfin, Michelle Baker, Nancy Huntly, Richard F. Ambroase
Multiscale resource selection for a reintroduced elk population Multiscale resource selection for a reintroduced elk population
Patterns of resource selection are driven by the decision-making processes of animals occurring at multiple scales from where to establish a home range (i.e., second order selection) to which resource patches to use within the home range (i.e., third order selection). Elk (Cervus canadensis) were reintroduced to southwestern Virginia, USA, from 2012 to 2014 following successful...
Authors
Braiden A. Quinlan, Brett R. Jesmer, Jacalyn P. Rosenberger, W. Mark Ford, Michael J. Cherry
Investigating the influence of climate and volcanic surface aging on fluvial erosion: A case study of Réunion Island, Indian Ocean Investigating the influence of climate and volcanic surface aging on fluvial erosion: A case study of Réunion Island, Indian Ocean
Precipitation is one of the dominant drivers of landscape erosion and evolution; however, the effects of typical rainfall compared with less frequent, high-magnitude precipitation events on erosion remain unclear. Volcanic islands are ideal locations to study such phenomena due to their simple geometries, nontectonic construction, and strong spatiotemporal rainfall gradients. However...
Authors
Daniel James O'hara, Loraine Gourbet, Laurent Michon, Vincent Famin
Challenges and opportunities for national-scale projections of future coastal landscape change Challenges and opportunities for national-scale projections of future coastal landscape change
Local to global scale projections of future coastal landscape change are essential to improve land and resource management decisions that aim to prepare for and reduce risk exposure to impending coastal hazards. However, the availability of actionable knowledge is often limited due to the complexity of drivers of change, their consequences, and uncertainties that span disciplines...
Authors
Erika E. Lentz, Davina L. Passeri, Sara L. Zeigler, Kate White, Thomas Wahl, Amanda D. Stoltz, Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Shubhra Misra, Trevor D. Meckley, Ben Hamlington, Neil K. Ganju, Amanda E. Cravens, Joel Carr, Christine A. Buckel
Organic matter integration, overprinting, and the relative fraction of optically active organic carbon in a human-impacted watershed Organic matter integration, overprinting, and the relative fraction of optically active organic carbon in a human-impacted watershed
Rivers continually integrate terrestrial organic matter (OM) into their waters, in a process that transfers 1.9 Pg C yr–1 as the primary linkage between oceanic and terrestrial carbon cycles. Yet rivers are not simple, conservative OM integrators. Patchy local land uses (wetlands, bogs, agriculture) release OM that can disproportionately alter river biogeochemistry and overprint upstream...
Authors
Robert S. Eckard, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Brian A. Pellerin, Robert G. Spencer, Rachel Y. Dyda, Peter J. Hernes
Impact of fog on California waterfowl flight activity: Historical and modern insights into effects post-Clean Air Act Impact of fog on California waterfowl flight activity: Historical and modern insights into effects post-Clean Air Act
Since establishment of the Clean Air Act in the early 1970s, occurrence of the dense ‘Tule Fog’, historically prevalent throughout winter across California’s Central Valley, has substantially reduced. At the same time, waterfowl body masses have generally increased. Flight is metabolically expensive, and fog visually and navigationally impairs birds in flight, likely causing them to...
Authors
Fiona McDuie, Cory T. Overton, Austen A. Lorenz, J. Patrick Donnelly, Desmond A. Mackell, Elliott Matchett, Mark J. Petrie, Michael L. Casazza
Evaluating ichthyoplankton sampling as an effective method for early detection of novel aquatic invasive species in large bays of western Lake Erie Evaluating ichthyoplankton sampling as an effective method for early detection of novel aquatic invasive species in large bays of western Lake Erie
Early detection and monitoring are critically important for effective management of invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Specifically, Lake Erie is at high-risk for aquatic invasive species introductions due to many factors such as shoreline development, warm water temperatures, and transoceanic shipping traffic. Rare species captured are often used as a surrogate to assess...
Authors
Jessica L. Bowser, Haley N VanScoyoc, Robin L. DeBruyne, Andrew S. Briggs