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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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The effects of estradiol-17β on the sex reversal, survival, and growth of Red Shiner and its use in the development of YY individuals The effects of estradiol-17β on the sex reversal, survival, and growth of Red Shiner and its use in the development of YY individuals
Objective
Authors
Chad N. Teal, Daniel J. Schill, Javan Mathias Bauder, Susan B. Fogelson, Kevin Fitzsimmons, William T. Stewart, Melanie Culver, Scott A. Bonar
How long have we been mistaken? Multi-tools shedding light into the systematics of the widespread deep-water genus Madrepora Linnaeus, 1758 (Scleractinia) How long have we been mistaken? Multi-tools shedding light into the systematics of the widespread deep-water genus Madrepora Linnaeus, 1758 (Scleractinia)
Deep-water coral reefs are found worldwide and harbor biodiversity levels that are comparable to their shallow-water counterparts. However, the genetic diversity and population structure of deep-water species remain poorly explored, and historical taxonomical issues still need to be resolved. Here we used microsatellite markers as well as ultraconserved elements (UCE) and exons to shed...
Authors
Katia C. C. Capel, Carla Zilberberg, Raphael M. Carpes, Cheryl Morrison, Claudia F. Vaga, Andrea M. Quattrini, Randolph Z. B. Quek, Danwei Huang, Stephen D. Cairns, Marcelo V. Kitahara
Usurpation and brooding of Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) chicks by Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) Usurpation and brooding of Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) chicks by Common Terns (Sterna hirundo)
While nest usurpation and subsequent incubation of eggs and even brooding of chicks from other species has been reported for Common Terns (Sterna hirundo), such behavior is considered rare. We report an observation of a Common Tern pair usurping the Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) nest and brooding the Least Tern chicks. While the Least Tern pair attempted to provide care for the chicks...
Authors
Jeffery D. Sullivan, Jonathan Irons, Anna Treadway, Ayla McDonough, Alyssa Lee, Amy O’Donnell, Carl R. Callahan, Peter C. McGowan, Diann J. Prosser
Biophysical drivers of coastal treeline elevation Biophysical drivers of coastal treeline elevation
Sea level rise is leading to the rapid migration of marshes into coastal forests and other terrestrial ecosystems. Although complex biophysical interactions likely govern these ecosystem transitions, projections of sea level driven land conversion commonly rely on a simplified “threshold elevation” that represents the elevation of the marsh-upland boundary based on tidal datums alone. To...
Authors
Grace Molino, Joel A. Carr, Neil K. Ganju, Mathew Kirwan
A Buteo sp. hawk predates a hummingbird (Trochilidae) during autumn migration A Buteo sp. hawk predates a hummingbird (Trochilidae) during autumn migration
Predation can play a significant role on survival during migration as birds find themselves competing for resources in unfamiliar habitats. Here we describe the first documented observation of a Buteo platypterus (Broad-winged Hawk) predating an Archilochus colubris (Ruby-throated Hummingbird) during autumn migration. To our knowledge, this is the first documented record of any Buteo sp...
Authors
Theodore J. Zenzal, Emily J. Lain
The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast The USGS 2023 Conterminous U.S. time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast
We present the 2023 U.S. Geological Survey time‐independent earthquake rupture forecast for the conterminous United States, which gives authoritative estimates of the magnitude, location, and time‐averaged frequency of potentially damaging earthquakes throughout the region. In addition to updating virtually all model components, a major focus has been to provide a better representation...
Authors
Edward H. Field, Kevin R. Milner, Alexandra Elise Hatem, Peter M. Powers, Frederick Pollitz, Andrea L. Llenos, Yuehua Zeng, Kaj M. Johnson, Bruce E. Shaw, Devin McPhillips, Jessica A. Thompson Jobe, Allison M. Shumway, Andrew J. Michael, Zheng-Kang Shen, Eileen L. Evans, Elizabeth H. Hearn, Charles Mueller, Arthur D. Frankel, Mark D. Petersen, Christopher B. DuRoss, Richard W. Briggs, Morgan T. Page, Justin L. Rubinstein, Julie A. Herrick
Divergent physiological responses of hydric and mesic riparian plant species to a Colorado River experimental flow Divergent physiological responses of hydric and mesic riparian plant species to a Colorado River experimental flow
Riparian plant species can differ in their responses to streamflow variation in ways that strongly influence the composition and functioning of riparian plant communities. Quantifying these differences and the potential asymmetry of responses to low- versus high-flow phases of stream fluctuations is important for predicting and managing vegetation responses to variation in flow regimes...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist
Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA Microfossils and biostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation Lagerstätte, Mississippi Embayment, USA
The Upper Cretaceous Coon Creek Formation type-locality in McNairy County, Tennessee, is an exceptional marine invertebrate Lagerstätte that was deposited in a nearshore reentrant into the ancestral continent of Appalachia. Extensive taxonomic analysis of the macrofauna has been done for over 100 years. However, documentation of the microfossil component at the type-locality has largely...
Authors
Jean Self-Trail, Kristina Frank Gardner, Jennifer M K O’Keefe, Patricia H. Mason, Mark Puckett, Michael A. Gibson, Maeve McCarty
A comprehensive fault system inversion approach: Methods and application to NSHM23 A comprehensive fault system inversion approach: Methods and application to NSHM23
We present updated inversion‐based fault‐system solutions for the 2023 update to the National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM23), standardizing earthquake rate model calculations on crustal faults across the western United States. We build upon the inversion methodology used in the Third Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3) to solve for time‐independent rates of earthquakes...
Authors
Kevin R. Milner, Edward H. Field
Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction Train, inform, borrow, or combine? Approaches to process-guided deep learning for groundwater-influenced stream temperature prediction
Although groundwater discharge is a critical stream temperature control process, it is not explicitly represented in many stream temperature models, an omission that may reduce predictive accuracy, hinder management of aquatic habitat, and decrease user confidence. We assessed the performance of a previously-described process-guided deep learning model of stream temperature in the...
Authors
Janet R. Barclay, Simon Nemer Topp, Lauren Elizabeth Koenig, Margaux Jeanne Sleckman, Alison P. Appling
A decade of death and other dynamics: Deepening perspectives on the diversity and distribution of sea stars and wasting A decade of death and other dynamics: Deepening perspectives on the diversity and distribution of sea stars and wasting
Mass mortality events provide valuable insight into biological extremes and also ecological interactions more generally. The sea star wasting epidemic that began in 2013 catalyzed study of the microbiome, genetics, population dynamics, and community ecology of several high-profile species inhabiting the northeastern Pacific but exposed a dearth of information on the diversity...
Authors
Michael Dawson, Paige Duffin, Melina Giakoumis, Lauren M Schiebelhut, Rodrigo Beas-Luna, Keith Bosley, Rita Castilho, Christine Ewers-Saucedo, Katie Gavenus, Aimee Keller, Brenda Konar, John L. Largier, Julio Lorda, Melissa Miner, Monica Moritsch, Sergio Navarette, Peter T. Raimondi, Sarah Beth Traiger, Monica Turner, John Wares
Alaska's climate sensitive Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta supports seven million Arctic-breeding shorebirds, including the majority of six North American populations Alaska's climate sensitive Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta supports seven million Arctic-breeding shorebirds, including the majority of six North American populations
Baseline information about declining North American shorebird populations is essential to determine the effects of global warming at low-lying coastal areas of the Arctic and subarctic, where numerous taxa breed, and to assess population recovery throughout their range. We estimated population sizes on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska on the eastern edge of the Bering Sea. We...
Authors
James E. Lyons, Stephen C. Brown, Sarah T. Saalfeld, James A. Johnson, Brad A. Andres, Kristine M. Sowl, Robert E. Gill, Brian J. McCaffery, Lindall Kidd, Metta McGarvey, Brad Winn, H. River Gates, Diane A. Granfors, Richard B. Lanctot