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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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Declining marine survival of steelhead trout linked to climate and ecosystem change Declining marine survival of steelhead trout linked to climate and ecosystem change
Species with complex life cycles, such as anadromous fish that perform spawning migrations between freshwater and the ocean, may be particularly sensitive to global change because freshwater and marine habitats experience distinct shifts in climate and ecosystem dynamics. Abundances of wild steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have declined across most of their range over the past 40–50...
Authors
Jan Ohlberger, Eric R. Buhle, Thomas W. Buehrens, Neala W. Kendall, Toby Harbison, Andrew M. Claiborne, James P. Losee, Jennifer Whitney, Mark David Scheuerell
Reviews and syntheses: Variable inundation across Earth's terrestrial ecosystems Reviews and syntheses: Variable inundation across Earth's terrestrial ecosystems
The structure, function, and dynamics of Earth's terrestrial ecosystems are profoundly influenced by how often (frequency) and how long (duration) they are inundated with water. A diverse array of natural and human-engineered systems experience temporally variable inundation whereby they fluctuate between inundated and non-inundated states. Variable inundation spans extreme events to...
Authors
James Stegen, Amy J. Burgin, Michelle H. Busch, Joshua B. Fisher, Joshua Ladau, Jenna Abrahamson, Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Li Li, Xingyuan Chen, Thibault Datry, Nate McDowell, Corianne Tatariw, Anna Braswell, Jillian M. Deines, Julia A. Guimond, Peter Regier, Kenton Rod, Edward K.P. Bam, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Inke Forbrich, Kristin L. Jaeger, Teri O'Meara, Timothy D. Scheibe, Erin Seybold, Jon N. Sweetman, Jianqiu Zheng, Daniel C. Allen, Elizabeth Herndon, Beth Middleton, Scott Painter, Kevin Roche, Julianne Scamardo, Ross Vander Vorste, Kristin Boye, Ellen Wohl, Margaret Zimmer, Kelly Hondula, Maggi Laan, Anna Marshall, Kaizad F. Patel
Abrupt changes in algal biomass of thousands of US lakes are related to climate and are more likely in low-disturbance watersheds. Abrupt changes in algal biomass of thousands of US lakes are related to climate and are more likely in low-disturbance watersheds.
Climate change is predicted to intensify lake algal blooms globally and result in regime shifts. However, observed increases in algal biomass do not consistently correlate with air temperature or precipitation, and evidence is lacking for a causal effect of climate or the nonlinear dynamics needed to demonstrate regime shifts. We modeled the causal effects of climate on annual lake...
Authors
Patricia A. Soranno, Patrick J. Hanly, Katherine E. Webster, Tyler Wagner, Andrew McDonald, Arnab Shuvo, Erin M. Schliep, Kaitlin L Reinl, Ian M. McCullough, Pang-Ning Tan, Noah R. Lottig, Kendra Spence Cheruvelil
Hydroclimate projections and effects on runoff at National Wildlife Refuges in the semi-arid western U.S. Hydroclimate projections and effects on runoff at National Wildlife Refuges in the semi-arid western U.S.
This study evaluated hydroclimate projections and effects on runoff at National Wildlife Refuges in a semiarid region of the western United States (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6) using mean air temperature (TAVE) and precipitation (PPT) inputs and runoff (RO) output from a national application of a Monthly Water Balance Model (MWBM). An ensemble of statistically downscaled...
Authors
Brian S. Caruso, Lauren Ellissa Eng, Andrew R. Bock, Nicholas Graff Hall
James Buttle review: The characteristics of baseflow resilience across diverse ecohydrological terrains James Buttle review: The characteristics of baseflow resilience across diverse ecohydrological terrains
The dynamic storage of aquifers is the portion of groundwater that can potentially drain to any given point along a stream to create baseflow. Baseflow typically occurs year-round in perennial streams, though the characteristics and stability of dynamic storage are often most important to instream processes during extended dry periods (without precipitation and snowmelt) when runoff and...
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Connor P. Newman, Joshua Robert Benton, David M. Rey, Christopher Konrad, Valerie Ouellet, Christian E. Torgersen, Lance R. Gruhn, Brandon J. Fleming, Christopher L. Gazoorian, Daniel H. Doctor
Heterogeneity of locked‐pasture snow conditions modulate habitat and movement choices of a facultative migrant Heterogeneity of locked‐pasture snow conditions modulate habitat and movement choices of a facultative migrant
Habitat selection and movement are key mechanisms by which animals can respond to and potentially cope with highly variable environmental conditions. Optimal responses likely vary, however, depending on the severity and scope of conditions. We tested this hypothesis using a facultative migrant species, the Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa), which exhibits high inter- and intra-individual...
Authors
Katherine Gura, Glen E. Liston, Adele K. Reinking, Bryan Bedrosian, Kelly Elder, Anna D. Chalfoun
First evidence of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush spawning aggregation in Ohio waters of Lake Erie following reintroduction First evidence of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush spawning aggregation in Ohio waters of Lake Erie following reintroduction
Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, an important apex predator native to Lake Erie, were extirpated by 1965 due to overexploitation, introduction of invasive species, and habitat degradation. Cooperative lake-wide lake trout stocking has been ongoing since 1982, with stocking strategies adapting as research identifies the age at stocking, locations, and strains that optimize the recovery of...
Authors
Benjamin J. Spitz, Graham F. Montague, Joseph Schmitt, Francesco Guzzo, Peter I. Jenkins
Did the Aleutian Basin form by plate capture or backarc basin opening? Did the Aleutian Basin form by plate capture or backarc basin opening?
The origin of the Aleutian Basin is unresolved because its crust is deeply buried beneath sediments. It has been interpreted as forming in the Eocene when the Beringian convergent margin jumped seaward to south of the Aleutian arc, thereby capturing a large sector of Cretaceous Pacific crust. Alternatively, it may have formed by backarc spreading. We present new magnetic and seismic...
Authors
Robert J. Stern, David W. Scholl, Matthew A. Malkowski, Kylara M. Martin, Ginger Barth, Daniel S. Scheirer
Reservoir thermal energy storage pre-assessment for the United States Reservoir thermal energy storage pre-assessment for the United States
Storing thermal energy underground for later use in electricity production or direct-use heating/cooling is a promising, viable, and economical green energy option. Reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) is one such option, which stores energy in underutilized permeable strata with low ambient groundwater flow rates and more geochemically evolved (e.g. brackish/saline) waters relative...
Authors
Jeff D. Pepin, Erick R. Burns, Ryan Cain Cahalan, Daniel O. Hayba, Jesse E. Dickinson, Leslie L. Duncan, Eve L. Kuniansky
Centering voices of scientists from marginalized backgrounds to understand experiences in climate adaptation science and inform action Centering voices of scientists from marginalized backgrounds to understand experiences in climate adaptation science and inform action
Identifying and building solutions to help people and ecosystems adapt to climate change requires participation of all people; however, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, including environmental sciences, continue to lack diversity. To address this issue, many institutions have increased programming to recruit and retain people from historically marginalized
Authors
Meghna N. Marjadi, Rebecca A. Smith, Hsin Fei Tu, Asha M. Ajmani, Addie Rose Holland, Bianca E. Lopez, Toni Lyn Morelli, Bethany A. Bradley
Overcoming the data limitations in landslide susceptibility modelling Overcoming the data limitations in landslide susceptibility modelling
Data-driven models widely used for assessing landslide susceptibility are severely limited by the landslide and environmental data needed to create them. They rely on inventories of past landslide locations, which are difficult to collect and often nonrepresentative. Furthermore, susceptibility maps are most needed in regions without the means to assemble an inventory. To overcome these...
Authors
Jacob Bryson Woodard, Benjamin B. Mirus
A Cftr-independent, Ano1-rich seawater-adaptive ionocyte in sea lamprey gills A Cftr-independent, Ano1-rich seawater-adaptive ionocyte in sea lamprey gills
All ionoregulating marine fishes examined to date utilize seawater-type ionocytes expressing the apical Cl- channel, cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (Cftr) to secrete Cl−. We performed transcriptomic, molecular, and functional studies to identify Cl− transporters in the seawater-type ionocytes of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). Gill cftr expression was minimal or...
Authors
Ciaran A. Shaughnessy, Daniel J Hall, Jessica L. Norstog, Andre Barany, Amy M. Regish, Diogo Ferreira-Martins, Jason P. Breves, Lisa M. Komoroske, Stephen D. McCormick