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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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Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers Human activities shape global patterns of decomposition rates in rivers
Rivers and streams contribute to global carbon cycling by decomposing immense quantities of terrestrial plant matter. However, decomposition rates are highly variable and large-scale patterns and drivers of this process remain poorly understood. Using a cellulose-based assay to reflect the primary constituent of plant detritus, we generated a predictive model (81% variance explained) for...
Authors
Scott Tiegs, Krista A. Capps, David M. Costello, John Paul Schmidt, Christopher J. Patrick, Jennifer Follstad Shah, Carri J. LeRoy, Vicenc Acuna, Ricardo Albarino, Daniel C. Allen, Cecilia Alonso, Patricio Andino, Clay Arango, Jukka Aroviita, Marcus Barbosa, Leon A. Barmuta, Colden V. Baxter, Brent Bellinger, Luz Boyero, Lyubov Bragina, Lee E. Brown, Andreas Bruder, Denise Bruesewitz, Francis Burdon, Marcos Callisto, Antonio G. Camacho, Cristina Canhoto, Maria Castillo, Eric Chauvet, Joanne Clapcott, Fanny Colas, Checo Colon-Gaud, Julien Cornut, Veronica Crespo-Perez, Wyatt F. Cross, Joseph M. Culp, Michael Danger, Olivier Dangles, Elvira de Eyto, Alison Derry, Veronica Diaz-Villanueva, Michael Douglas, Arturo Elosegi, Andrea Encalada, Sally Entrekin, Rodrigo Espinosa, Veronica Ferreira, Carmen Ferriol, Kyla Flanagan, Alexander Flecker, Tadeusz Fleituch, André Frainer, Nikolai Friberg, Paul C. Frost, Erica A. Garcia, Liliana Garcia-Lago, Pavel Garcia Soto, Mark Gessner, Sudeep Ghate, Darren Giling, Alan Gilmer, Jose Goncalves, Rosario Gonzales, Manuel Graca, Mike Grace, Natalie A. Griffiths, Hans-Peter Grossart, Francois Guerold, Vlad Gulis, Pablo E. Gutiérrez-Fonseca, Luiz Hepp, Scott Higgins, Takuo Hishi, Joseph Huddart, John P. Hudson, Moss Imberger, Carlos Iniguez-Armijos, Mark Isken, Tomoya Iwata, Dave Janetski, Andrea Kirkwood, Aaron A. Koning, Sarian Kosten, Kevin Kuehn, Hjalmar Laudon, Peter Leavitt, Aurea Lemes da Silva, Shawn Leroux, Peter Lisi, Richard Mackenzie, Amy M Marcarelli, Frank Masese, Peter B. McIntyre, Brendan G. McKie, Adriana Medeiros, Kristian Meissner, Marko Milisa, Shailendra Mishra, Yo Miyake, Ashley Moerke, Shorok Mombrikotb, Robert J Mooney, Tim Moulton, Timo Muotka, Junjiro N. Negishi, Vinicius Neres-Lima, Mika Nieminen, Jorge Nimptsch, Jakub Ondruch, Riku Paavola, Isabel Pardo, Edwin Peeters, Jesus Pozo, Aaron Prussian, Estefania Quenta, Brian Reid, John S. Richardson, Anna Rigosi, Jose Rincon, Geta Risnoveanu, Chris Robinson, Lorena Rodriguez-Gallego, Todd V Royer, James A. Rusak, Anna Santamans, Geza Selmeczy, Gelas Simiyu, Agnija Skuja, Jerzy Smykla, Ryan A. Sponseller, Kandikere Sridhar, Aaron Stoler, Christopher M. Swan, Franco Teixeira-de Mello, Jonathan Tonkin, Sari Uusheimo, Allison Veach, Sirje Vilbaste, Lena Vought, Chiao-Ping Wang, Jackson Webster, Paul B. Wilson, Stefan Woelfl, Guy Woodward, Marguerite A. Xenopoulos, Adam Yates, Chihiro Yoshimura, Catherine Yule, Yixin Zhang, Jacob Aaron Zwart
Evaluating satellite-transmitter backpack-harness effects on greater sage-grouse survival and device retention in the Great Basin Evaluating satellite-transmitter backpack-harness effects on greater sage-grouse survival and device retention in the Great Basin
Wildlife tracking studies have become ubiquitous in ecology and now provide previously unobtainable data regarding individual movement, vital rates, and population demographics. However, tracking devices can potentially reduce survival of study subjects, generating biases in the vital rates they seek to measure. Previous studies have found that greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus...
Authors
Carl G. Lundblad, Christopher R. Anthony, Tyler Dungannon, Kimberly A. Haab, Elizabeth M. Schuyler, Chelsea E. Sink, Katie M. Dugger, Christian A. Hagen
Carbon isotope trends across a century of herbarium specimens suggest CO2 fertilization of C4 grasses. Carbon isotope trends across a century of herbarium specimens suggest CO2 fertilization of C4 grasses.
Increasing atmospheric CO2 is changing the dynamics of tropical savanna vegetation. C3 trees and grasses are known to experience CO2 fertilization, whereas responses to CO2 by C4 grasses are more ambiguous.Here, we sample stable carbon isotope trends in herbarium collections of South African C4 and C3 grasses to reconstruct 13C discrimination.We found that C3 grasses showed no trends in...
Authors
Isa del Toro, Madelon Florence Case, Allison Karp, Jasper Slingsby, A. Carla Staver
Why snow is crucial for water supply — And what will happen when it becomes scarce Why snow is crucial for water supply — And what will happen when it becomes scarce
Analysis of 70 years of snowfall in the Northern Hemisphere reveals that snow buffers the effect of varying precipitation levels on streamflow. The link highlights the need to rethink water-resource management as snow levels decline.
Authors
Karen R. Ryberg
Two risk assessments: Evaluating the use of indicator HF183 Bacteroides versus pathogen measurements for modelling recreational illness risks in an urban watershed Two risk assessments: Evaluating the use of indicator HF183 Bacteroides versus pathogen measurements for modelling recreational illness risks in an urban watershed
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of HF183 Bacteroides for estimating pathogen exposures during recreational water activities. We compared the use of Bacteroides-based exposure assessment to exposure assessment that relied on pathogen measurements. We considered two types of recreational water sites: those impacted by combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and those not...
Authors
K Skiendzielewski, Tucker R. Burch, Joel P. Stokdyk, Shannon McGinnis, S McLoughlin, Aaron D. Firnstahl, Sandy Spencer, Mark A. Borchardt, Heather Murphy
Temporally dense monitoring of pathogen occurrence at four drinking-water well sites – Insights and Implications Temporally dense monitoring of pathogen occurrence at four drinking-water well sites – Insights and Implications
Yearlong, event based, microbiological and chemical sampling was conducted at four public water supply well sites spanning a range of geologic settings and well depths to look for correlation between precipitation events and microbial occurrence. Near-continuous monitoring using autosamplers occurred just before, during, and after 5–7 sampling events triggered by rainfall and/or snowmelt
Authors
James F. Walsh, Randall J. Hunt, Anita C. Anderson, David W. Owens, Nancy Rice
A phylogeographical study of the discontinuously distributed Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) A phylogeographical study of the discontinuously distributed Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus)
Species distributions are often indicative of historical biogeographical events and contemporary spatial biodiversity patterns. The Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus is a sea duck of conservation concern that has a disjunct distribution, with discrete portions of its range associated with northern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Movement data indicate migratory connectivity...
Authors
Kim T Scribner, Sandra Talbot, Barbara J. Pierson, John D Robinson, Richard B. Lanctot, Daniel Esler, Kathryn Dickson
Thermal transfer rate is slower in bigger fish: How does body size affect response time of small, implantable temperature recording tags? Thermal transfer rate is slower in bigger fish: How does body size affect response time of small, implantable temperature recording tags?
The recent miniaturisation of implantable temperature recording tags has made measuring the water temperatures fish experience in the wild possible, but there may be a body size-dependent delay in implanted tag response time to changes in external temperature. To determine whether fish body size affects the response rate of implanted temperature tags, we implanted 20 Salvelinus...
Authors
Matthew J. O'Donnell, Amy M. Regish, Stephen D. McCormick, Benjamin Letcher
Retrospective review of the pathology of American pikas Retrospective review of the pathology of American pikas
American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are small lagomorphs that live in mountainous talus areas of western North America. Studies on the histopathology of American pikas are limited. We summarize here the clinical histories, and gross and histologic findings of 12 American pikas, including 9 captive (wild-caught) and 3 wild animals. Death was often attributed to stress (transport, handling
Authors
Adrienne Barrett, Kali Holder, Susan Knowles, Elise E. B. LaDouceur
Changes in soil erosion caused by wildfire: A conceptual biogeographic model Changes in soil erosion caused by wildfire: A conceptual biogeographic model
Soil erosion rates after wildfire are strongly controlled by intrinsic properties such as topography, weather, climate, soil, and vegetation. These landscape and hydroclimatic properties are important in determining post-fire erosion rates; however, their influence on post-fire erosion and their interaction with the intensity of a wildfire remains uncertain. A key limitation in resolving...
Authors
Philip J. Noske, Petter Nyman, Patrick N.J. Lane, Francis K. Rengers, Gary J. Sheridan
A comparison of eDNA sampling methods in an estuarine environment on presence of longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and fish community composition A comparison of eDNA sampling methods in an estuarine environment on presence of longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and fish community composition
The loss of tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Bay estuary have led to declines in native fish presence. Restoration of tidal wetlands in this area has intensified, with a primary goal of increasing the number of native fishes. We compared the presence of longfin smelt in naturally accreted and beneficial dredge reuse wetlands as a measure of successful restoration. We used...
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon C. Waters-Dynes, Lyndsay L. Rankin, Karen M. Thorne, Daphne Gille, Susan De La Cruz, Isa Woo, Levi Lewis, Katie Karpenko, Cheryl Dean, Gregg Schumer
Causal inference approaches reveal both positive and negative unintended effects of agricultural and urban management practices on instream biological condition Causal inference approaches reveal both positive and negative unintended effects of agricultural and urban management practices on instream biological condition
Agricultural and urban management practices (MPs) are primarily designed and implemented to reduce nutrient and sediment concentrations in streams. However, there is growing interest in determining if MPs produce any unintended positive effects, or co-benefits, to instream biological and habitat conditions. Identifying co-benefits is challenging though because of confounding variables (i...
Authors
Sean Cassian Emmons, Taylor Woods, Matthew J. Cashman, Olivia Devereux, Gregory E. Noe, John A. Young, Scott Stranko, Jay V. Kilian, Katherine Hanna, Kelly O. Maloney