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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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Persistence of a declining anuran species across its distribution Persistence of a declining anuran species across its distribution
Information on a species’ population dynamics, such as changes in abundance and distribution, can be used to identify declining populations and initiate conservation efforts and protections. For the Ornate Chorus Frog (Pseudacris ornata), anecdotal observations of local extirpation and population declines have been noted, but trends in its range-wide population status are generally...
Authors
Erin L. Koen, Edward Hance Ellington, William J. Barichivich, Howard Kochman, Kevin M. Enge, Susan E. Walls
Bears avoid residential neighborhoods in response to the experimental reduction of anthropogenic attractants Bears avoid residential neighborhoods in response to the experimental reduction of anthropogenic attractants
Introduction: Urbanization is an extreme form of land use alteration, with human development driving changes in the distribution of resources available to wildlife. Some large carnivores have learned to exploit anthropogenic food resources in urban development, resulting in human-carnivore conflict that can have detrimental impacts to people and carnivores, as exemplified by American...
Authors
Cassandre C. Venumière-Lefebvre, Heather E. Johnson, Stewart W. Breck, Mathew W. Alldredge, Kevin R. Crooks
Apicomplexan and non-metazoan microeukaryotes in the thermosensitive reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus shift in abundance throughout an extreme coral bleaching event Apicomplexan and non-metazoan microeukaryotes in the thermosensitive reef-building coral Acropora hyacinthus shift in abundance throughout an extreme coral bleaching event
Coral reefs play vital roles in global marine systems and are currently facing increased threats of bleaching. Coral bleaching is heavily influenced by the host-associated microeukaryote community – most notably the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae. The apicomplexan family Corallicolidae, is the second most abundant member of the microeukaryote community, yet their role in coral...
Authors
Athena Peterson, Sunni Patton, Emily Rose Schmeltzer, Carsten Grupstra, Lauren Howe-Kerr, J. Grace Klinges, Rebecca Maher, Adrianna Messyasz, Sarah Seabrook, Andrew Thurber, Adrienne Correa, Rebecca Vega Thurber
Accounting for seasonal patterns in bird availability prevents biased population trend estimates with advancing spring phenology Accounting for seasonal patterns in bird availability prevents biased population trend estimates with advancing spring phenology
Advancing spring phenology has been observed around the world, including changes in the timing of breeding of birds. When singing rates are tied to breeding stage, the rate at which birds are available for detection by surveyors can also show seasonal patterns that may shift with spring phenology. As the timing of peak bird availability changes over years, monitoring programs that do not...
Authors
Emily L. Weiser, James Johnson, Steven M. Matsuoka, Colleen M. Handel
Water withdrawal and consumption trends for thermoelectric-power plants in the conterminous United States, 2008-2020 Water withdrawal and consumption trends for thermoelectric-power plants in the conterminous United States, 2008-2020
Freshwater-using utility-scale thermoelectric (TE) plant water-use estimates were evaluated for annual trends from 2008 to 2020 across the conterminous United States (CONUS) and within hydrologic regions. Overall, TE water withdrawal and consumption trends declined across CONUS by 14,335 and 278 million liters/day, respectively. Decreasing water withdrawal and consumption trends for TE...
Authors
Kenneth D. Skinner, Richard G. Niswonger, Melissa A. Harris, Brendan A. McCarthy, Catherine A. Chamberlin, Melissa A. Lombard, Timothy H. Diehl, Amy E. Galanter, Lillian E. Gorman Sanisaca, Jana S. Stewart
Strategic planning of prevention and surveillance for emerging diseases and invasive species Strategic planning of prevention and surveillance for emerging diseases and invasive species
Emerging infectious diseases and biological invasions pose increasing threats to public and ecosystems health. Proactive measures—such as prevention and surveillance taken before initial detection of the pathogen or species—are essential to ensure minimal spread prior to first detection. We developed an optimization model to determine where, when, and how much effort should be allocated...
Authors
Jue Wang, Brenda J. Hanley, Noelle E. Thompson, Yu Gong, Daniel P. Walsh, Carlos Gonzalez-Crespo, Yitong Huang, James G. Booth, Joe N. Caudell, Landon A. Miller, Krysten L. Schuler
Ice Age biogeography corresponds with current climate vulnerability of freshwater fishes Ice Age biogeography corresponds with current climate vulnerability of freshwater fishes
1. Both local environmental factors and historical biogeography shape ecological communities, but determining which historical biogeographical patterns correspond with contemporary climate vulnerability is an underused conservation method. The historical colonization patterns of freshwater fishes following the Pleistocene (“Ice Age”) glaciations offers an ideal model for comparing...
Authors
Niall G. Clancy, Phaedra E. Budy, Annika W. Walters
Spatially resolved source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within a post-industrial river catchment Spatially resolved source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within a post-industrial river catchment
Source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in rivers is typically based on water concentrations, which cannot quantify PFAS loads or define geographical source areas. This study applied a river catchment-scale approach to identify PFAS source zones and assess the relative importance of industrial PFAS sources in the River Mersey, UK – a post-industrial, densely...
Authors
Patrick Byrne, William M. Mayes, Alun L. James, Sean Comber, Emma Biles, Alex L. Riley, Philip L. Verplanck, Lee Bradley
Sundial: A method for inferring image acquisition time from shadow orientation Sundial: A method for inferring image acquisition time from shadow orientation
Aerial photography and satellite imagery can be used to characterize landscape change over time and help to understand how these changes are related to climate and hydrology. Publicly available optical imagery from sources such as the United States National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) is particularly valuable in this context due to its high temporal and spatial resolution...
Authors
Inhyeok Bae, Carl J. Legleiter, Elowyn Yager
Scenario projections of COVID-19 burden in the US, 2024-2025 Scenario projections of COVID-19 burden in the US, 2024-2025
Importance COVID-19 remains a disease with high burden in the US, prompting continued debate about optimal targets for annual vaccination. Objective To project COVID-19 burden in the US for April 2024 to April 2025 under 6 scenarios of immune escape (20% and 50% per year) and levels of vaccine recommendation (no recommendation, vaccination for individuals at high risk only, vaccination...
Authors
Sara L Loo, Sung-mok Jung, Lucie Contamin, Emily Howerton, Samantha Bents, Harry Hochheiser, Michael C. Runge, Claire P. Smith, Erica Carcelén, Katie Yan, Joseph C. Lemaitre, Emily Przykucki, Clif McKee, Koji Sato, Allison Hill, Matteo Chinazzi, Jessica T. Davis, Clara Bay, Alessandro Vespignani, Shi Chen, Rajib Paul, Daniel Janies, Jean-Claude Thill, Sean Moore, T. Alex Perkins, Ajitesh Srivastava, Majd Al Aawar, Kaiming Bi, Shraddha Ramdas Bandekar, Anass Bouchnita, Spencer Fox, Lauren Ancel Meyers, Przemyslaw Porebski, Srinivasan Venkatramanan, Bryan Lewis, Jiangzhuo Chen, Madhav Marathe, Michal Ben-Nun, James Turtle, Pete Riley, Katriona Shea, Cécile Viboud, Justin Lessler, Shaun Truelove
Evaluating freshwater mussel sampling methodologies using a simulation model Evaluating freshwater mussel sampling methodologies using a simulation model
Field surveys form the basis of many research efforts and are the foundation for estimates of population size and density that inform conservation and management practices for imperiled species. As a result, evaluating the performance of different survey methods across a range of conditions that may be encountered in the field can increase understanding of the time and effort that may be...
Authors
Iris R. Foxfoot, Kiara C. Cushway, Astrid N. Schwalb, David R. Smith, Todd M. Swannack
Native crayfish shows high desiccation tolerance and potential to outcompete invader Native crayfish shows high desiccation tolerance and potential to outcompete invader
Biological invasions threaten global biodiversity, with aquatic systems being particularly susceptible. Invasive crayfish drive native crayfish imperilment in North America and worldwide. Despite the probable increase in extreme hydrological events, the synergistic effects from invasive species and drought on crayfish are understudied. The invasion of Faxonius neglectus chaenodactylus in...
Authors
Leah M. Bayer, Daniel D. Magoulick