Articles
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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.
Filter Total Items: 78928
Tracking data highlight the importance of human-induced mortality for large migratory birds at a flyway scale Tracking data highlight the importance of human-induced mortality for large migratory birds at a flyway scale
Human-induced direct mortality affects huge numbers of birds each year, threatening hundreds of species worldwide. Tracking technologies can be an important tool to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of bird mortality as well as their drivers. We compiled 1704 mortality records from tracking studies across the African-Eurasian flyway for 45 species, including raptors, storks, and...
Authors
Juan Serratosa, Steffen Oppel, Andrea Santangeli, Shay Rotics, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Luis S. Cano-Alonso, José L. Telleria, Ryno Kemp, Aaron Nicholas, Aigars Kalvansj, Aitor Galarza, Aldina M. A. Franco, Alessandro Andreotti, Alexander N.G. Kirschel, Alex Ngari, Alvaro Soutullo, Ana Bermejo-Bermejo, Andre J Botha, Andrea Ferri, Angelos Evangelidis, Anna Cenerini, Anton Stamenov, Antonio Hernandez-Matias, Arianna Aradis, Atanas P Grozdanov, Beneharo Rodriguez, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Catuxa Cerecedo-Iglesias, Christina Kassara, Christos Barboutis, Claire Bracebridge, Clara Garcia-Ripolles, Corinne J. Kendall, Damijan Denac, Dana G. Schabo, David Barber, Dimitar V Popov, Dobromir D Dobrev, Egidio Mallia, Elena Kmetova-Biro, Ernesto Alvarez, Evan R Buechly, Evgeny A. Bragin, Fabrizio Cordischi, Fadzai Zengeya, Flavio Monti, Francois Mougeot, Gareth Tate, Georgi Stoyanov, Giacomo Dell'Omo, Giuseppe Lucia, Gradimir Gradev, Guido Ceccolini, Guilad Friedemann, Hans-Gunther Bauer, Holger Kolberg, Hristo Peshev, Ines Catry, Ingar J. Oien, Isidoro Carbonell Alanis, Ivan Literak, Ivan Pokrovsky, Ivar Ojaste, Jan E. Ostnes, Javier de la Puente, Joan Real, Joao L. Guilherme, Jose C. Gonzalez, Jose M. Fernandez-Garcia, Juan Antonio Gil, Julien Terraube, Karel Poprach, Karen Aghababyan, Katharina Klein, Keith L. Bildstein, Kerri Wolter, Kjell Janssens, Kyle D. Kittelberger, Lindy J. Thompson, Mansoor H. AlJahdhami, Manuel Galan, Marcin Tobolka, Mario Posillico, Mario Cipollone, Marion Gschweng, Maris Strazds, Mark Boorman, Mark Zvidzai, Marta Acacio, Marta Romero, Martin Wikelski, Matthias Schmidt, Maurizio Sara, Michael J. McGrady, Mindaugas Dagys, Monique L. Mackenzie, Muna Al Taq, Msafiri P. Mgumba, Munir Z. Virani, Nicolaos I. Kassinis, Nicolo Borgianni, Nikki Thie, Nikos Tsiopelas, Nili Anglister, Nina Farwig, Nir Sapir, Oddmund Kleven, Oliver Krone, Olivier Duriez, Orr Spiegel, Osama Al Nouri, Pascual Lopez-Lopez, Patrik Byholm, Pauline L. Kamath, Pawel Mirski, Peter Palatitz, Pietro Serroni, Rainer Raab, Ralph Buij, Ramūnas Žydelis, Ran Nathan, Rauri C.K. Bowie, Rigas Tsiakiris, Richard Stratton Hatfield, Roi Harel, Rolf T. Kroglund, Ron Efrat, Ruben Liminana, Salim Javed, Sasa P. Marinkovic, Sascha Rösner, Sasha Pekarsky, Shiv R. Kapila, Simeon A. Marin, Simon Krejci, Sinos Giokas, Siranush Tumanyan, Sondra Turjeman, Sonja C. Kruger, Steven R. Ewing, Stoycho Stoychev, Stoyan C. Nikolov, Tareq E. Qaneer, Theresa Spatz, Thomas G. Hadjikyriakou, Thomas Mueller, Todd E. Katzner, Tomas Aarvak, Tomas Veselovsky, Torgeir Nygard, Ugo Mellone, Ulo Vali, Urmas Sellis, Vicente Urios, Vladimir Nemcek, Volen Arkumarev, Wayne M. Getz, Wolfgang Fiedler, Willem Van den Bossche, Yael Lehnardt, Victoria R. Jones
Carbon dioxide toxicity to zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) is dependent on water chemistry Carbon dioxide toxicity to zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) is dependent on water chemistry
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is gaining interest as a tool to combat aquatic invasive species, including zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). However, the effects of water chemistry on CO2 efficacy are not well described. We conducted five trials in which we exposed adult zebra mussels to a range of CO2 in water with adjusted total hardness and specific conductance. We compared dose–responses...
Authors
Matthew T. Barbour, Matthew J. Meulemans, Todd J. Severson, Jeremy K. Wise, Diane L. Waller
Variability in coastal habitat available for Longfin Smelt Spirinchus thaleichthys in the northeastern Pacific Ocean Variability in coastal habitat available for Longfin Smelt Spirinchus thaleichthys in the northeastern Pacific Ocean
An understanding of oceanographic conditions and processes important to marine animal ecology is fundamental to the development of effective management and conservation actions. Longfin Smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) is a pelagic forage fish found in coastal and estuarine waters along the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to central California. Substantial population declines...
Authors
Matthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer, Steven T Lindley, David D. Huff
Deep learning of estuary salinity dynamics is physically accurate at a fraction of hydrodynamic model computational cost Deep learning of estuary salinity dynamics is physically accurate at a fraction of hydrodynamic model computational cost
Salinity dynamics in the Delaware Bay estuary are a critical water quality concern as elevated salinity can damage infrastructure and threaten drinking water supplies. Current state-of-the-art modeling approaches use hydrodynamic models, which can produce accurate results but are limited by significant computational costs. We developed a machine learning (ML) model to predict the 250 mg...
Authors
Galen Gorski, Salme Ellen Cook, Amelia Marie Snyder, Alison P. Appling, Theodore Paul Thompson, Jared David Smith, John C. Warner, Simon Nemer Topp
Existing evidence on the effects of climate variability and climate change on ungulates in North America: A systematic map Existing evidence on the effects of climate variability and climate change on ungulates in North America: A systematic map
Background
Authors
Kate Malpeli, Sarah C. Endyke, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Laura Thompson, Ciara G. Johnson, Katherine A. Kurth, Maxfield A. Carlin
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) resource selection: Trade-offs between forage and predation risk Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) resource selection: Trade-offs between forage and predation risk
Ungulates commonly select habitat with higher forage biomass and or nutritional quality to improve body condition and fitness. However, predation risk can alter ungulate habitat selection and foraging behavior and may affect their nutritional condition. Ungulates often choose areas with lower predation risk, sometimes sacrificing higher quality forage. This forage–predation risk trade...
Authors
James W. Cain, Jacob H. Kay, Stewart G. Liley, Jay V. Gedir
Evaluating the potential for efficient, UAS-based reach-scale mapping of river channel bathymetry from multispectral images Evaluating the potential for efficient, UAS-based reach-scale mapping of river channel bathymetry from multispectral images
Introduction: Information on spatial patterns of water depth in river channels is valuable for numerous applications, but such data can be difficult to obtain via traditional field methods. Ongoing developments in remote sensing technology have enabled various image-based approaches for mapping river bathymetry; this study evaluated the potential to retrieve depth from multispectral...
Authors
Carl J. Legleiter, Lee R. Harrison
Apparent non-double-couple components as artifacts of moment tensor inversion Apparent non-double-couple components as artifacts of moment tensor inversion
Compilations of earthquake moment tensors from global and regional catalogs find pervasive non-double-couple (NDC) components with a mean deviation from a double-couple (DC) source of around 20%. Their distributions vary only slightly with magnitude, faulting mechanism, or geologic environments. This consistency suggests that for most earthquakes, especially smaller ones whose rupture...
Authors
Boris Rosler, Seth Stein, Adam T. Ringler, Jiri Vackar
Preliminary implications of viscoelastic ray theory for anelastic seismic tomography models Preliminary implications of viscoelastic ray theory for anelastic seismic tomography models
The recent developments in general viscoelastic ray theory provide a rigorous mathematical framework for anelastic seismic tomography. They provide closed‐form solutions of forward ray‐tracing and simple inverse problems for anelastic horizontal and spherical layered media with material gradients. They provide ray‐tracing computation algorithms valid for all angles of incidence that...
Authors
Roger D. Borcherdt
Classification of lakebed geologic substrate in autonomously collected benthic imagery using machine learning Classification of lakebed geologic substrate in autonomously collected benthic imagery using machine learning
Mapping benthic habitats with bathymetric, acoustic, and spectral data requires georeferenced ground-truth information about habitat types and characteristics. New technologies like autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) collect tens of thousands of images per mission making image-based ground truthing particularly attractive. Two types of machine learning (ML) models, random forest (RF)...
Authors
Joseph K. Geisz, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Peter C. Esselman
Deep learning workflow to support in-flight processing of digital aerial imagery for wildlife population surveys Deep learning workflow to support in-flight processing of digital aerial imagery for wildlife population surveys
Deep learning shows promise for automating detection and classification of wildlife from digital aerial imagery to support cost-efficient remote sensing solutions for wildlife population monitoring. To support in-flight orthorectification and machine learning processing to detect and classify wildlife from imagery in near real-time, we evaluated deep learning methods that address...
Authors
Tsung-Wei Ke, Stella X Yu, Mark D. Koneff, David L. Fronczak, Luke J. Fara, Travis Harrison, Kyle Lawrence Landolt, Enrika Hlavacek, Brian R. Lubinski, Timothy White
Propensity score matching mitigates risk of faulty inferences in observational studies of effectiveness of restoration trials Propensity score matching mitigates risk of faulty inferences in observational studies of effectiveness of restoration trials
Determining effectiveness of restoration treatments is an important requirement of adaptive management, but it can be non-trivial where only portions of large and heterogeneous landscapes of concern can be treated and sampled. Bias and non-randomness in the spatial deployment of treatment and thus sampling is nearly unavoidable in the data available for large-scale management trials, and...
Authors
Chad Raymond Kluender, Matthew J. Germino, Christopher A Anthony