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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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A brave new world: Managing for biodiversity conservation under ecosystem transformation A brave new world: Managing for biodiversity conservation under ecosystem transformation
Traditional conservation practices have primarily relied on maintaining biodiversity by preserving species and habitats in place. Many regions are experiencing unprecedented environmental conditions, shifts in species distribution and habitats, and high turnover in species composition, resulting in ecological transformation. Natural resource managers have lacked tools for identifying and...
Authors
Jennifer L. Wilkening, Dawn Robin Magness, Laura M. Thompson, Abigail J. Lynch
Global status of non-native Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides, Centrachidae) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu, Centrarchidae): Disparate views as beloved sportfish and feared invader Global status of non-native Largemouth Bass (Micropterus Salmoides, Centrachidae) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus Dolomieu, Centrarchidae): Disparate views as beloved sportfish and feared invader
Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides, LMB) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu, SMB) are among the most highly invasive species across the globe, but are simultaneously among the most highly sought-after game fish. To explain these disparate views, data on invasive status and angling participation of these two species were compiled at the country level. Largemouth Bass were found
Authors
James M. Long, L. Seguy
Assessment of recovery potential for the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus): An application of the IUCN green status process Assessment of recovery potential for the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus): An application of the IUCN green status process
According to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment (RLA), the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), an iconic coastal species, is at risk of extirpation in some regions within its range where small and vulnerable populations occur. However, the RLA does not consider future status beyond viability and does not attempt to identify the...
Authors
David R. Smith, H. Jane Brockmann, Ruth H. Carmichael, Eric M. Hallerman, W.M. Watson, Jaime Zaldivar-Rae
Boreal conifers maintain carbon uptake with warming despite failure to track optimal temperatures Boreal conifers maintain carbon uptake with warming despite failure to track optimal temperatures
Warming shifts the thermal optimum of net photosynthesis (ToptA) to higher temperatures. However, our knowledge of this shift is mainly derived from seedlings grown in greenhouses under ambient atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) conditions. It is unclear whether shifts in ToptA of field-grown trees will keep pace with the temperatures predicted for the 21st century under elevated...
Authors
Mirindi E. Dusenge, Jeffery M. Warren, Peter B. Reich, Eric Ward, Bridget K. Murphy, Artur Stefanski, Raimundo Bermudez, Marisol Cruz, David A. McLennan, Anthony W. King, Rebecca A. Montgomery, Paul J. Hanson, Danielle A. Way
Urban stream restorations increase floodplain soil carbon and nutrient retention along a chronosequence Urban stream restorations increase floodplain soil carbon and nutrient retention along a chronosequence
Stream restoration is a common management practice to meet regulatory or voluntary efforts to improve water quality via nutrient and carbon (C) retention, including in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. However, most restoration projects have few quantifiable measures of project success, no standard metrics, and rarely collect pre-restoration data. Storage of nutrients, such as phosphorus (P)...
Authors
Katrina Nicole Napora, Gregory B. Noe, Changwoo Ahn, Meghan Q.N. Fellows
Scaling microseismic cloud shape during hydraulic stimulation using in-situ stress and permeability Scaling microseismic cloud shape during hydraulic stimulation using in-situ stress and permeability
Forecasting microseismic cloud shape as a proxy of stimulated rock volume may improve the design of an energy extraction system. The microseismic cloud created during hydraulic stimulation of geothermal reservoirs is known empirically to extend in the general direction of the maximum principal stress. However, this empirical relationship is often inconsistent with reported results, and...
Authors
Y. Mukuhira, M. Yang, T. Ishibashi, K. Okamoto, H. Moriya, Y. Kumano, H. Asanuma, S.A. Shapiro, Justin L. Rubinstein, T. Ito, K. Yan, Y. Zuo
Development and application of a qPCR-based genotyping assay for Ophidiomyces ophidiicola to investigate the epidemiology of ophidiomycosis Development and application of a qPCR-based genotyping assay for Ophidiomyces ophidiicola to investigate the epidemiology of ophidiomycosis
Ophidiomycosis (snake fungal disease) is an infectious disease caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophidiicola to which all snake species appear to be susceptible. Significant variation has been observed in clinical presentation, progression of disease, and response to treatment, which may be due to genetic variation in the causative agent. Recent phylogenetic analysis based on whole...
Authors
Ellen Haynes, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Matthew C. Allender
The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea: Insights, puzzles, and opportunities for volcano science
The science of volcanology advances disproportionately during exceptionally large or well-observed eruptions. The 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai‘i) was its most impactful in centuries, involving an outpouring of more than one cubic kilometer of basalt, a magnitude 7 flank earthquake, and the volcano’s largest summit collapse since at least the nineteenth century. Eruptive...
Authors
Kyle R. Anderson, Tom Shea, Kendra J. Lynn, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Donald A. Swanson, Matthew R. Patrick, Brian Shiro, Christina A. Neal
Acoustic ducting by shelf water streamers at the New England shelfbreak Acoustic ducting by shelf water streamers at the New England shelfbreak
Greater sound speed variability has been observed at the New England shelfbreak due to a greater influence from the Gulf Stream with increased meander amplitudes and frequency of Warm Core Ring (WCR) generation. Consequently, underwater sound propagation in the area also becomes more variable. This paper presents field observations of an acoustic near-surface ducting condition induced by...
Authors
Jennifer J. Johnson, Ying-Tsong Lin, Arthur E. Newhall, Glen G. Gawarkiewicz, David P. Knobles, Jason Chaytor, William S.. Hodgkiss
Tracking carbon from subduction to outgassing along the Aleutian-Alaska Volcanic Arc Tracking carbon from subduction to outgassing along the Aleutian-Alaska Volcanic Arc
Subduction transports volatiles between Earth’s mantle, crust, and atmosphere, ultimately creating a habitable Earth. We use isotopes to track carbon from subduction to outgassing along the Aleutian-Alaska Arc. We find substantial along-strike variations in the isotopic composition of volcanic gases, explained by different recycling efficiencies of subducting carbon to the atmosphere via...
Authors
Taryn Lopez, Tobias P. Fischer, Terry Plank, Alberto Malinverno, Andrea Rizzo, Daniel J. Rasmussen, Elizabeth Cottrell, Cynthia Werner, Christoph Kern, Deborah Bergfeld, Tehnuka Ilanko, Janine L. Andrys, Katherine A. Kelley
Converted-wave reverse time migration imaging in subduction zone settings Converted-wave reverse time migration imaging in subduction zone settings
We use a newly developed 2-D elastic reverse time migration (RTM) imaging algorithm based on the Helmholtz decomposition to test approaches for imaging the descending slab in subduction zone regions using local earthquake sources. Our elastic RTM method is designed to reconstruct incident and scattered wavefields at depth, isolate constituent P- and S-wave components via Helmholtz...
Authors
Leah Langer, Frederick Pollitz, Jeffrey J. McGuire
Long short-term memory models to quantify long-term evolution of streamflow discharge and groundwater depth in Alabama Long short-term memory models to quantify long-term evolution of streamflow discharge and groundwater depth in Alabama
Long short-term memory (LSTM) models have been shown to be efficient for rainfall-runoff modeling, and to a lesser extent, for groundwater depth forecasting. In this study, LSTMs were applied to quantify the spatiotemporal evolution of surface and subsurface hydrographs in Alabama in the Southeastern United States, where water sustainability has not been fully quantified across...
Authors
Hossein Gholizadeh, Yong Zhang, Jonathan Frame, Xiufen Gu, Christopher Green