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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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Unique seismic and eruption precursors to the 1996 and ongoing magmatic eruptions of Popocatépetl: Coupled and fluidized bed events Unique seismic and eruption precursors to the 1996 and ongoing magmatic eruptions of Popocatépetl: Coupled and fluidized bed events
We describe three unique types of seismicity at Popocatépetl volcano that accompanied the initial vent-clearing eruptive activity in December 1994 through the eruption of the first two domes in 1996. We identify and describe two types of coupled events, 1) spasmodic burst coupled events, a burst of volcano tectonic (VT) events coupled with a large eruptive explosion (21 December 1994 and...
Authors
Wendy McCausland, Gema V. Caballero-Jimenez, Enrique Guevara-Ortiz, Nancy Trujillo-Castrillón, Carlos M. Valdés-González, Ángel Gómez-Vázquez, Hugo Delgado-Granados, Alejandra Arciniega-Ceballos, Randall A. White
Weather events influence survival and recruitment of Coereba flaveola (Bananaquit) in the Caribbean Weather events influence survival and recruitment of Coereba flaveola (Bananaquit) in the Caribbean
The West Indies is considered a biodiversity hotspot and a priority for ecological conservation efforts. Understanding how environmental conditions influence the survival of resident avifauna is an important information need given the predicted increases in drought and the frequency and intensity of severe storms in the region. Throughout much of the Caribbean, Coereba flaveola...
Authors
Clint W. Boal, Brent D. Bibles
The interplay of future solar energy, land cover change, and their projected impacts on natural lands and croplands in the US The interplay of future solar energy, land cover change, and their projected impacts on natural lands and croplands in the US
Projections for deep decarbonization require large amounts of solar energy, which may compete with other land uses such as agriculture, urbanization, and conservation of natural lands. Existing capacity expansion models do not integrate land use land cover change (LULC) dynamics into projections. We explored the interaction between projected LULC, solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment, and...
Authors
James E. Diffendorfer, Brian Sergi, Anthony Lopez, Travis Williams, Michael Gleason, Zachary H. Ancona, Wesely Cole
Closing the conservation gap in the sagebrush biome: Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for conservation to keep pace with sagebrush losses Closing the conservation gap in the sagebrush biome: Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for conservation to keep pace with sagebrush losses
Core sagebrush areas (CSAs), patches of high sagebrush ecological integrity, continue to decline despite significant conservation and restoration investments across the sagebrush biome. Historically, conservation decisions in the biome have been driven by wildlife species-specific demands, but increasing recognition of the scale of threats and the pace of ecosystem degradation has...
Authors
Tina G. Mozelewski, Patrick T. Freeman, Alexander V. Kumar, David E. Naugle, Elissa M. Olimpi, Scott L. Morford, Michelle I. Jeffries, David S. Pilliod, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Sarah E. McCord, Lief A. Wiechman, Emily J. Kachergis, Kevin E. Doherty
The state of the bats in North America The state of the bats in North America
The world's rich diversity of bats supports healthy ecosystems and important ecosystem services. Maintaining healthy biological systems requires prompt identification of threats to biodiversity and immediate action to protect species, which for wide-ranging bat species that span geopolitical boundaries warrants international coordination. Anthropogenic forces drive the threats to bats...
Authors
Amanda M. Adams, Luis A. Trujillo, C.J. Campbell, Karen L. Akre, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Leanne Burns, Jeremy T.H. Coleman, Rita D. Dixon, Charles M. Francis, Melquisedec Gamba-Rios, Vona Kuczynska, Angie McIntire, Rodrigo A. Medellin, Katrina M. Morris, Jonathan D. Reichard, Brian E. Reichert, Jordi L. Segers, Michael D. Whitby, Winifred F. Frick
An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie An assessment of N, P, Fe, Zn, Ni and Mo limitation on suspended nutrient diffusing substrates in nearshore areas of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie
In large lakes, metal availability sometimes limits the acquisition of nutrients (nitrogen, N and phosphorus, P) in offshore waters that are relatively isolated from tributaries and sediments. We hypothesize that metals may also be important within harmful algal blooms (HABs). HABs occur where nutrient loads are elevated, but bioassays often indicate that phytoplankton in HABs are N or P...
Authors
James H. Larson, David M. Costello, Jordyn T. Stoll, Andrea S. Fitzgibbon, Sean Bailey, Mary Anne Evans
Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity Climate change amplifies ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity
Understanding how climate change will contribute to ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity is critical for informing natural resource management, yet complicated by interactions with wildfire and biological invasions. Here, we assessed potential future changes in sagebrush ecological integrity under a range of scenarios using an individual plant-based simulation model...
Authors
Martin C. Holdrege, Kyle A. Palmquist, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, William K. Lauenroth, Chad S. Boyd, Megan K. Creutzburg, Michele R. Crist, Kevin E. Doherty, Thomas E. Remington, John C. Tull, Lief A. Wiechman, John B. Bradford
Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S. Forest cover influences fish mercury concentrations in national parks of the western U.S.
The global prevalence of mercury (Hg) contamination and its complex biogeochemical cycling has resulted in elevated Hg concentrations in biota in remote and pristine environments. However, there is uncertainty in the relative importance of Hg deposition and landscape factors that control Hg cycling and bioaccumulation. To address this, we measured total mercury (THg) concentrations in...
Authors
Colleen M. Flanagan-Pritz, Branden L. Johnson, James Willacker, Christopher M. Kennedy, Ninette R. Daniele, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Hatch timing of largemouth bass: Implications for recruitment at the northern edge of their native range Hatch timing of largemouth bass: Implications for recruitment at the northern edge of their native range
Climate-related shifts in hatch timing could mean that age-0 largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides in north temperate lakes reach larger sizes and experience higher survival, which may contribute to increased prevalence of this species in many lakes. However, information on age-0 largemouth bass life history is lacking for these lakes. We estimated hatch dates, daily growth rates (DGR)...
Authors
Giancarlo Coppola, Craig J. Kelling, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Daniel A. Isermann
Reframing conservation audiences from individuals to social beings Reframing conservation audiences from individuals to social beings
Environmental practitioners often develop communications and behavior change interventions that conceptualize individuals as consumers or as other limited, standalone personae. This view neglects the role of conservation audiences as social beings with complex social relationships and networks, potentially resulting in lost opportunities to increase the effectiveness of conservation...
Authors
L. Thomas-Walters, V. Cologna, E. de Lange, J. Ettinger, M. Selinske, Megan Siobhan Jones
Migratory strategies across an ecological barrier: Is the answer blowing in the wind? Migratory strategies across an ecological barrier: Is the answer blowing in the wind?
Background: Ecological barriers can shape the movement strategies of migratory animals that navigate around or across them, creating migratory divides. Wind plays a large role in facilitating aerial migrations, and can temporally or spatially change the challenge posed by an ecological barrier, with beneficial winds potentially converting a barrier to a corridor. Here, we explore the...
Authors
Rosalyn E. Bathrick, James A. Johnson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Rebekah Snyder, Maria Stager, Nathan R. Senner
Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues Climate futures for lizards and snakes in western North America may result in new species management issues
We assessed changes in fundamental climate-niche space for lizard and snake species in western North America under modeled climate scenarios to inform natural resource managers of possible shifts in species distributions. We generated eight distribution models for each of 130 snake and lizard species in western North America under six time-by-climate scenarios. We combined the highest...
Authors
David S. Pilliod, Michelle I. Jeffries, Robert Arkle, Deanna H. Olson