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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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Adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) delayed below dams rapidly deplete energy stores Adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) delayed below dams rapidly deplete energy stores
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) return to rivers in spring for an energetically costly upstream migration for spawning. These fish are often delayed in the lower river below dams, subjecting them to warmer waters than occur in upstream sections of river, that may increase metabolic costs. We sought to quantify the energetic cost of dam-mediated delays in migrating adults in the Penobscot...
Authors
Sarah R. Rubenstein, Erin Peterson, Paul Christman, Joseph D. Zydlewski
Causes, responses, and implications of anthropogenic versus natural flow intermittence in river networks Causes, responses, and implications of anthropogenic versus natural flow intermittence in river networks
Rivers that do not flow year-round are the predominant type of running waters on Earth. Despite a burgeoning literature on natural flow intermittence (NFI), knowledge about the hydrological causes and ecological effects of human-induced, anthropogenic flow intermittence (AFI) remains limited. NFI and AFI could generate contrasting hydrological and biological responses in rivers because...
Authors
Thibault Datry, Amelie Truchy, Julian D. Olden, Michelle H. Busch, Rachel Stubbington, Walter K. Dodds, Sam Zipper, Songyan Yu, Mathis L. Messager, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Kendra E. Kaiser, John C. Hammond, E.K. Moody, Ryan Burrows, Romain Sarremejane, Amanda DelVecchia, Megan L. Fork, Chelsea Little, Richard H Walker, Annika W. Walters, Daniel C. Allen
Using landscape genomics to delineate future adaptive potential for climate change in the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) Using landscape genomics to delineate future adaptive potential for climate change in the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus)
An essential goal in conservation biology is delineating population units that maximize the probability of species persisting into the future and adapting to future environmental change. However, future-facing conservation concerns are often addressed using retrospective patterns that could be irrelevant. We recommend a novel landscape genomics framework for delineating future “Geminate
Authors
Paul A. Maier, Amy G. Vandergast, Andrew J. Bohonak
Abundance and distribution of large thecosome pteropods in the northern Gulf of Mexico Abundance and distribution of large thecosome pteropods in the northern Gulf of Mexico
The ecological role of large thecosome pteropods in the pelagic ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) may be substantial, both in the food web and biogeochemical cycling. We analyzed species abundances, vertical and horizontal distributions of large species with calcareous shells (those collected in 3-mm mesh nets). Pteropod samples were collected following the 2010 Deepwater...
Authors
Sarah Shedler, Brad Seibel, Michael Vecchione, Dale W. Griffin, Heather Judkins
Earth’s upper crust seismically excited by infrasound from the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption, Tonga Earth’s upper crust seismically excited by infrasound from the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption, Tonga
Records of pressure variations on seismographs were historically considered unwanted noise; however, increased deployments of collocated seismic and acoustic instrumentation have driven recent efforts to use this effect induced by both wind and anthropogenic explosions to invert for near‐surface Earth structure. These studies have been limited to shallow structure because the pressure...
Authors
Robert Anthony, Adam T. Ringler, Toshiro Tanimoto, Robin Matoza, Silvio De Angelis, David C. Wilson
Historical Structure from Motion (HSfM): Automated processing of historical aerial photographs for long-term topographic change analysis Historical Structure from Motion (HSfM): Automated processing of historical aerial photographs for long-term topographic change analysis
Precisely measuring the Earth’s changing surface on decadal to centennial time scales is critical for many science and engineering applications, yet long-term records of quantitative landscape change are often temporally and geographically sparse. Archives of scanned historical aerial photographs provide an opportunity to augment these records with accurate elevation measurements that...
Authors
Friedrich Knuth, David Shean, Shashank Bhushan, Eli Schwat, Oleg Alexandrov, Christopher J. McNeil, Amaury Dehecq, Caitlyn Florentine, Shad O'Neel
Physical controls on the hydrology of perennially ice-covered lakes, Taylor Valley, Antarctica (1996-2013) Physical controls on the hydrology of perennially ice-covered lakes, Taylor Valley, Antarctica (1996-2013)
The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are a polar desert populated with numerous closed-watershed, perennially ice-covered lakes primarily fed by glacial melt. Lake levels have varied by as much as 8 m since 1972 and are currently rising after a decade of decreasing. Precipitation falls as snow, so lake hydrology is dominated by energy available to melt glacier ice and to sublimate lake...
Authors
Julian Cross, Andrew Fountain, Matthew Hoffman, Maciej K. Obryk
Point count offsets for estimating population sizes of north American landbirds Point count offsets for estimating population sizes of north American landbirds
Bird monitoring in North America over several decades has generated many open databases, housing millions of structured and semi-structured bird observations. These provide the opportunity to estimate bird densities and population sizes, once variation in factors such as underlying field methods, timing, land cover, proximity to roads, and uneven spatial coverage are accounted for. To...
Authors
B.P.M. Edwards, A.C. Smith, T.D.S. Docherety, M.A. Gahbauer, C.R. Gillespie, A.R. Grinde, T. Harmer, D. Iles, Steven M. Matsuoka, N.L. Michel, N.L. Murray, G. Niemi, J. Pasher, D. Pavlacky, B. Robinson, B. Ryder, P. Solymos, D. Stralberg, E.J. Zlonis
The Pondosa fault zone: A distributed dextral-normal-oblique fault system in northeastern California, USA The Pondosa fault zone: A distributed dextral-normal-oblique fault system in northeastern California, USA
The tectonic domains of Basin and Range extension, Cascadia subduction zone contraction, and Walker Lane dextral transtension converge in the Mushroom Rock region of northeastern California, USA. We combined analysis of high-resolution topographic data, bedrock mapping, 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, low-temperature thermochronology, and existing geologic and fault mapping to characterize an...
Authors
Jessica Ann Thompson Jobe, Richard W. Briggs, Ryan D. Gold, Stephen B. DeLong, Madeline Hille, Jaime Delano, Samuel Johnstone, Alexandra Pickering, Rachel Phillips, Andrew T. Calvert
Divergent Serpentoviruses in free-ranging invasive pythons and native colubrids in southern Florida, United States Divergent Serpentoviruses in free-ranging invasive pythons and native colubrids in southern Florida, United States
Burmese python (Python bivittatus) is an invasive snake that has significantly affected ecosystems in southern Florida, United States. Aside from direct predation and competition, invasive species can also introduce nonnative pathogens that can adversely affect native species. The subfamily Serpentovirinae (order Nidovirales) is composed of positive-sense RNA viruses primarily found in...
Authors
Steven B Tillis, Jillian M. Josimovich, Melissa A. Miller, Hoon-Hanks Laura L., Arik M. Hartmann, Natalie M. Claunch, Marley E. Iredale, Tracey D. Logan, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Ian A. Bartoszek, John S. Humphrey, Bryan M. Kluever, Mark D. Stenglein, Robert Reed, Christina M. Romagosa, James FX. Wellehan, Robert J. Ossiboff
Climate-modulated range expansion of reef-building coral communities off southeast Florida during the late Holocene Climate-modulated range expansion of reef-building coral communities off southeast Florida during the late Holocene
The Holocene reefs off southeast Florida provide unique insights into the biogeographical and ecological response of western Atlantic coral reefs to past climate change that can be used to evaluate future climate impacts. However, previous studies have focused on millennial-scale change during the stable mid-Holocene, making it difficult to make inferences about the impact of shorter...
Authors
Alex B. Modys, Anton E. Olenik, Richard A. Mortlock, Lauren T. Toth, William F. Precht
Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study Estimating reproductive and juvenile survival rates when offspring ages are uncertain: A novel multievent mark-resight model with beluga whale case study
Understanding the survival and reproductive rates of a population is critical to determining its long-term dynamics and viability. Mark-resight models are often used to estimate these demographic rates, but estimation of survival and reproductive rates is challenging, especially for wide-ranging, patchily distributed, or cryptic species. In particular, existing mark-resight models cannot
Authors
Gina K Himes Boor, Tamara L McGuire, Amanda J. Warlick, Rebecca L. Taylor, Sarah J. Converse, John R McClung, Amber D Stephens