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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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Suppression of invasive Brown Treesnakes and reintroduction of native avifauna on Guam Suppression of invasive Brown Treesnakes and reintroduction of native avifauna on Guam
Many agencies and interest groups are committed to re-establishing components of Guam's native avifauna through the reintroduction of captive-reared birds or translocation from other islands in the Marianas if the Brown Treesnake (Boiga irregularis; BTS) can be eliminated. Island-wide eradication of BTS from Guam continues to appear out of reach, but with recent and future advancement in...
Authors
Robert McElderry, Eben H. Paxton, An Nguyen, Shane R. Siers
The future of ecosystem assessments is automation, collaboration, and artificial intelligence The future of ecosystem assessments is automation, collaboration, and artificial intelligence
Robust and routine ecosystem assessments will be fundamental to track progress towards achieving this decade’s global environmental and sustainability goals. Here we examine four needs that address common failure points of ecosystem assessments. These are (1) developing rapid, reproducible, and repeatable ecological data workflows, (2) harmonizing in situ and remotely sensed data, (3)...
Authors
Carmen Galaz-Garcia, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Julien Brun, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Trevor Dhu, Nicholas J. Murray, Connor J. Nolan, Taylor H. Ricketts, Heidi M. Sosik, Daniel Sousa, Geoff Willard, Benjamin S Halpern
Experimental infection of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) with SARS-CoV-2 Experimental infection of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) with SARS-CoV-2
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is thought to have originated in wild bats from Asia, and as the resulting pandemic continues into its third year, concerns have been raised that the virus will expand its host range and infect North American wildlife species, including bats. Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) live in large colonies in...
Authors
Jeffrey S. Hall, Erik K. Hofmeister, Hon S. Ip, Sean Nashold, Ariel Elizabeth Leon, Carly Marie Malave, Elizabeth Falendysz, Tonie E. Rocke, M. Carossino, U. Balasuriya, Susan Knowles
Flea control on prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) with fipronil bait pellets: Potential plague mitigation tool for rapid field application and wildlife conservation Flea control on prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) with fipronil bait pellets: Potential plague mitigation tool for rapid field application and wildlife conservation
Sylvatic plague is a widespread, primarily flea-vectored disease in western North America. Because plague is highly lethal to endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes, BFFs) and the prairie dogs (Cynomys spp., PDs) on which BFFs depend for habitat and prey, minimizing the impacts of plague is a priority at BFF reintroduction sites. We developed a new, flour-based bait pellet...
Authors
Marc R. Matchett, David A. Eads, Jennifer Cordova, Travis Livieri, Holly Hicks, Dean E. Biggins
Epistylis spp. infestation in two species of mud turtles (Kinosternon spp.) in the American Southwest Epistylis spp. infestation in two species of mud turtles (Kinosternon spp.) in the American Southwest
The protistan genus Epistylis contains freshwater colonial species that attach to aquatic organisms in an epibiotic or parasitic relationship. They are known to attach to the epidermis and shells of aquatic turtles, but have not been reported to cause heavy infestations or morbidity in turtles. We documented heavy infestations of Epistylis spp. in several populations of Sonoran mud...
Authors
Audrey K. Owens, Jennifer A. Smith, Rebecca A. Cole, Jeffrey M. Lorch, Daniel A. Grear
Near real-time detection of winter cover crop termination using harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) to support ecosystem assessment Near real-time detection of winter cover crop termination using harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) to support ecosystem assessment
Cover crops are planted to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and improve watershed management. In the Delmarva Peninsula of the eastern United States, winter cover crops are essential for reducing nutrient and sediment losses from farmland. Cost-share programs have been created to incentivize cover crops to achieve conservation objectives. This program required that cover...
Authors
Feng Gao, Jyoti Jennewein, W. Dean Hively, Alexander M. Soroka, Alison Thieme, Dawn Bradley, Jason Keppler, Steven Mirsky, Uvirkaa Akumaga
Planning for future climates at Wrangell-St. Elias: Mainstreaming park-based actions Planning for future climates at Wrangell-St. Elias: Mainstreaming park-based actions
No abstract available.
Authors
Joel H. Reynolds, Mark E. Miller, Amber C Runyon, Gregor W. Schuurman, Jeremy S. Littell, Pam Sousanes, Tom Olliff, Larry Perez, Wylie Carr, David J Lawrence, Jeneva P. Wright
The not-so-dead of winter: Underwater light climate and primary productivity under snow and ice cover in inland lakes The not-so-dead of winter: Underwater light climate and primary productivity under snow and ice cover in inland lakes
As global surface temperatures continue to rise as a result of anthropogenic climate change, effects in temperate lakes are likely to be more pronounced than in other ecosystems. Decreases in snow and ice cover extent and duration, as well as extended periods of summer stratification have been observed in temperate lake systems throughout the Anthropocene. However, the effects of...
Authors
Andrew J. Bramburger, Ted Ozersky, Greg M. Silsbe, Christopher J. Crawford, Leif Olmanson, Krill Shchapov
What controls suspended-sediment concentration and export in flooded agricultural tracts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta? What controls suspended-sediment concentration and export in flooded agricultural tracts in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta?
We investigated wind-wave and suspended-sediment dynamics in Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island, two subsided former agricultural tracts in the Cache Slough complex in the northern Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta which were restored to tidal shallows to improve habitat. Turbidity, and thus suspended-sediment concentration (SSC), is important to habitat quality because some species of...
Authors
Jessica R. Lacy, Evan T. Dailey, Tara L. Morgan-King
The future of coastal monitoring through satellite remote sensing The future of coastal monitoring through satellite remote sensing
Satellite remote sensing is transforming coastal science from a “data-poor” field into a “data-rich” field. Sandy beaches are dynamic landscapes that change in response to long-term pressures, short-term pulses, and anthropogenic interventions. Until recently, the rate and breadth of beach change have outpaced our ability to monitor those changes, due to the spatiotemporal limitations of...
Authors
Sean Vitousek, Dan Buscombe, Kilian Vos, Patrick L. Barnard, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan A. Warrick
Skeletal indicators of locomotor adaptations in shrews Skeletal indicators of locomotor adaptations in shrews
The Soricidae (Mammalia: Eulypotyphla) comprises more than 450 species inhabiting a variety of habitats on five continents. As a family, shrews employ a variety of locomotor modes that incorporate ambulatory, fossorial, aquatic, and scansorial behaviors, illustrating an ability to exploit a variety of natural substrates and their associated resources. In this study, the association of...
Authors
Neal Woodman
The Searsville Lake Site (California, USA) as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series The Searsville Lake Site (California, USA) as a candidate Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Anthropocene series
Cores from Searsville Lake within Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, California, USA, are examined to identify a potential GSSP for the Anthropocene: core JRBP2018-VC01B (944.5 cm-long) and tightly correlated JRBP2018-VC01A (852.5 cm-long). Spanning from 1900 CE ± 3 years to 2018 CE, a secure chronology resolved to the sub-annual level allows detailed exploration of...
Authors
M. Allison Stegner, Elizabeth A. Hadly, Anthony D. Barnosky, SeanPaul La Selle, Brian L. Sherrod, R. Scott Anderson, Sergio A. Redondo, Maria Viteri, Karrie Weaver, Andrew Cundy, Pawel Gaca, Neil Rose, Handong Yang, Sarah A. Roberts, Irka Hajdas, Bryan A. Black, Trisha Spanbauer