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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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Detection probabilities of Flathead Catfish in small Kansas impoundments Detection probabilities of Flathead Catfish in small Kansas impoundments
A primary challenge of Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris management is uncertainty associated with sampling strategies and resulting ambiguity in population-level information. Assessment of impoundment and environmental conditions that affect detection probability may aid in reducing sample variance and benefit inferences regarding changes to Flathead Catfish populations. We sampled...
Authors
Brett T. Miller, Ben C. Neely, Connor J. Chance-Ossowski, Micah J. Waters, Vanessa Salazar, Lucas K. Kowalewski, Nicholas W. Kramer, Seth A. Lundgren, Jonathan J. Spurgeon
Annual grass invasions and wildfire deplete ecosystem carbon storage by >50% to resistant base levels Annual grass invasions and wildfire deplete ecosystem carbon storage by >50% to resistant base levels
Ecological disturbance can affect carbon storage and stability and is a key consideration for managing lands to preserve or increase ecosystem carbon to ameliorate the global greenhouse gas problem. Dryland soils are massive carbon reservoirs that are increasingly impacted by species invasions and altered fire regimes, including the exotic-grass-fire cycle in the extensive sagebrush...
Authors
Toby Matthew Maxwell, Harold E. Quicke, Samuel J. Price, Matthew J. Germino
Trimming the UCERF3-TD logic tree: Model order reduction for an earthquake rupture forecast considering loss exceedance Trimming the UCERF3-TD logic tree: Model order reduction for an earthquake rupture forecast considering loss exceedance
The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast version 3-Time Dependent depicts California’s seismic faults and their activity. Its logic tree has 5760 leaves. Considering 30 more model combinations related to ground motion produces 172,800 distinct models representing so-called epistemic uncertainties. To calculate risk to a portfolio of buildings, one also considers millions of...
Authors
Keith Porter, Kevin R. Milner, Edward H. Field
The underlying causes of differential migration: Assumptions, hypotheses, and predictions The underlying causes of differential migration: Assumptions, hypotheses, and predictions
Mechanisms governing the migratory decisions of birds have long fascinated ecologists and sparked considerable debate. Identifying factors responsible for variation in migration distance, also known as differential migration, has been a popular approach to understanding the mechanisms underlying migratory behaviour more generally. However, research progress has been slowed by the...
Authors
N Paprocki, Courtney J. Conway
Length in assessing status of freshwater fish populations: A review Length in assessing status of freshwater fish populations: A review
Objective Effective policy formulation regarding the conservation of freshwater fish necessitates an understanding of water‐specific prevailing conditions and trends. Assessing fish populations in inland waters is difficult and expensive because there are many independent systems that need to be evaluated. Therefore, numerous freshwater systems are beset by insufficient data and the lack...
Authors
Leandro E. Miranda, H.G. Funk, M. Palmieri, J.D. Stafford, M.E. Nichols
A decade of shaking in the Garden City: The dynamics of preparedness, perceptions, and beliefs in Canterbury, New Zealand, and implications for earthquake information A decade of shaking in the Garden City: The dynamics of preparedness, perceptions, and beliefs in Canterbury, New Zealand, and implications for earthquake information
This study explored earthquake preparedness over time - before, during, and 10 years after the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Surveys of Canterbury residents were conducted in 2009, 2013 and again in 2021, using variables derived from Community Engagement Theory (CET). The surveys measured earthquake perceptions and beliefs, participation and...
Authors
Julia S. Becker, Emma E. Hudson-Doyle, Lauren Vinnell, Sara K. McBride, Douglas Paton, David A. Johnston
Phytoplankton assemblage structure, drivers, and thresholds with a focus on harmful algal bloom ecology in the Lake Okeechobee system, Florida, USA Phytoplankton assemblage structure, drivers, and thresholds with a focus on harmful algal bloom ecology in the Lake Okeechobee system, Florida, USA
Untangling the complexities of harmful algal bloom (HAB) dynamics is an ongoing effort that requires a fundamental understanding of spatiotemporal phytoplankton patterns and the environmental filters through which assemblages are structured. To this aim, monthly field surveys were conducted from 2019 to 2021 at 21 sites in Lake Okeechobee, Florida – a large, shallow, eutrophic, and...
Authors
Viviana Mazzei, Kristy Lee Sullivan, Keith A. Loftin
Connectivity patterns between floodplain lakes and neighboring streams in the historical floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River Connectivity patterns between floodplain lakes and neighboring streams in the historical floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River
Hydrologic connectivity, the network of water pathways linking aquatic habitats, is vital for the exchange of organisms and abiotic materials between rivers and adjacent waterbodies. This study quantified hydrologic connectivity for 1,283 lakes in the Lower Mississippi River floodplain using satellite imagery, streamgauge data, and geospatial information. We aimed to assess connection...
Authors
Hafez Ahmad, Leandro E. Miranda, Corey Garland Dunn, Melanie R. Boudreau, Michael E. Colvin
Deep syntectonic burial of the Anthracite belt, Eastern Pennsylvania Deep syntectonic burial of the Anthracite belt, Eastern Pennsylvania
Fluid inclusion microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy of fluid inclusions in quartz veins from the Pennsylvanian rocks of the Anthracite belt, eastern Pennsylvania support a deep burial model of coalification in favor of focused orogenic hot fluid flow. High-temperature (250 to 255 °C) trapping of CH4 ± CO2 saturated aqueous fluids and CH4 ± CO2 inclusions indicate fluid trapping at...
Authors
Mark A. Evans, Aaron M. Jubb
Riparian methylmercury production increases riverine mercury flux and food web concentrations Riparian methylmercury production increases riverine mercury flux and food web concentrations
The production and uptake of toxic methylmercury (MeHg) impacts aquatic ecosystems globally. Rivers can be dynamic and difficult systems to study for MeHg production and bioaccumulation, hence identifying sources of MeHg to these systems is both challenging and important for resource management within rivers and main-stem reservoirs. Riparian zones, which are known biogeochemical...
Authors
Virginia Krause, Austin K. Baldwin, Benjamin D. Peterson, David P. Krabbenhoft, Sarah E. Janssen, James Willacker, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Brett A. Poulin
Near-term ecological forecasting for climate change action Near-term ecological forecasting for climate change action
A substantial increase in predictive capacity is needed to anticipate and mitigate the widespread change in ecosystems and their services in the face of climate and biodiversity crises. In this era of accelerating change, we cannot rely on historical patterns or focus primarily on long-term projections that extend decades into the future. In this Perspective, we discuss the potential of...
Authors
Michael Dietze, Ethan P. White, Antoinette Abeyta, Carl Boettiger, Nievita Bueno Watts, Cayelan C. Carey, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Ryan E. Emanuel, S.K. Morgan Ernest, Renato Figueiredo, Michael Gerst, Leah R. Johnson, Melissa A. Kenney, Jason S. McLachlan, Ioannis Paschalidis, Jody Peters, Christine R. Rollinson, Juniper Simonis, Kira Sullivan-Wiley, R. Quinn Thomas, Glenda M Wardle, Alyssa Willson, Jacob Aaron Zwart
Effects of release strategy, source population, and age on reintroduced scaled quail reproduction Effects of release strategy, source population, and age on reintroduced scaled quail reproduction
Translocation is one strategy to reestablish populations of scaled quail (Callipepla squamata). Initial reproductive success post-translocation is important for establishing short-lived species such as quail, but factors influencing reproductive success are poorly understood. We evaluated the effect of source population and variation in delayed release strategy (1−9 weeks) on nest...
Authors
Rebekah E. Ruzicka, Dale Rollins, William L. Kendall, Paul F. Doherty