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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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Dispersal limitations increase vulnerability under climate change for reptiles and amphibians in the southwestern United States Dispersal limitations increase vulnerability under climate change for reptiles and amphibians in the southwestern United States

Species conservation plans frequently rely on information that spans political and administrative boundaries, especially when predictions are needed of future habitat under climate change; however, most species conservation plans and their requisite predictions of future habitat are often limited in geographical scope. Moreover, dispersal constraints for species of concern are not often
Authors
Richard D. Inman, Todd Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear

Pore systems and organic petrology of cretaceous Mowry and Niobrara source-rock reservoirs, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA Pore systems and organic petrology of cretaceous Mowry and Niobrara source-rock reservoirs, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA

The Powder River Basin (PRB) is a world-class oil province, in large part thanks to contributions from premier source rocks, Cretaceous Mowry and Niobrara shales. Both formations are also unconventional reservoirs. A critical aspect of evaluating production potential and finding sweet spots is the nature of the pore systems in these fine-grained source-rock reservoirs. Variation by...
Authors
Terri Olson, Brad Michalchuk, Paul C. Hackley, Brett J. Valentine, Jason Parker, Ricardo San Martin

Flyway-scale GPS tracking reveals migratory routes and key stopover and non-breeding locations of lesser yellowlegs Flyway-scale GPS tracking reveals migratory routes and key stopover and non-breeding locations of lesser yellowlegs

Many populations of long-distance migrant shorebirds are declining rapidly. Since the 1970s, the lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) has experienced a pronounced reduction in abundance of ~63%. The potential causes of the species' decline are complex and interrelated. Understanding the timing of migration, seasonal routes, and important stopover and non-breeding locations used by this...
Authors
Laura Anne McDuffie, Katherine S. Christie, Audrey R. Taylor, Erica Nol, Christian Friis, Christopher M. Harwood, Jennie Rausch, Benoit Laliberte, Callie Gesmundo, James R. Wright, James A. Johnson

Biophysical warming patterns of an open-top chamber and its short-term influence on a Phragmites wetland ecosystem in China Biophysical warming patterns of an open-top chamber and its short-term influence on a Phragmites wetland ecosystem in China

Passive-warming, open-top chambers (OTCs) are widely applied for studying the effects of future climate warming on coastal wetlands. In this study, a set of six OTCs were established at a Phragmites wetland located in the Yellow River Delta of Dongying City, China. With data collected through online transmission and in-situ sensors, the attributes and patterns of realized OTCs warming...
Authors
Xue-yang Yu, Si-yuan Ye, Li-xin Pei, Liu-juan Xie, Ken Krauss, Samantha K. Chapman, Hans Brix

Invasive plant hitchhikers: Appalachian Trail thru-hiker knowledge and attitudes of invasive plants and Leave No Trace practices Invasive plant hitchhikers: Appalachian Trail thru-hiker knowledge and attitudes of invasive plants and Leave No Trace practices

Hiking and backpacking on American National Scenic Trails has increased in popularity in recent years. To encourage responsible and sustainable outdoor recreation on these much-loved trails, direct and indirect management strategies must be employed by managerial agencies. The Leave No Trace (LNT) education program aims to protect natural resources by promoting minimum-impact behaviours...
Authors
Megan Dolman, Jeffrey L. Marion

Geologic, geomorphic, and edaphic underpinnings of dryland ecosystems: Colorado Plateau landscapes in a changing world Geologic, geomorphic, and edaphic underpinnings of dryland ecosystems: Colorado Plateau landscapes in a changing world

Drylands represent more than 41% of the global land surface and are at degradation risk due to land use and climate change. Developing strategies to mitigate degradation and restore drylands in the face of these threats requires an understanding of how drylands are shaped by not only soils and climate, but also geology and geomorphology. However, few studies have completed such a...
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Christopher Benson, Travis W. Nauman, Anna C. Knight, John B. Bradford, Seth M. Munson, Dana L. Witwicki, Carolyn Livensperger, Matthew W. Van Scoyoc, Terry T Fisk, David Thoma, Mark E. Miller

Drought related changes in water quality surpass effects of experimental flows on trout growth downstream of Lake Powell reservoir Drought related changes in water quality surpass effects of experimental flows on trout growth downstream of Lake Powell reservoir

Flows released from reservoirs are often modified to mitigate the negative ecosystem effects of dams. We estimated the effects of two experimental flows, fall-timed floods and elimination of sub-daily variation in flows on weekends, on growth rates of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. Experimental flow effects were compared to...
Authors
Josh Korman, Bridget R. Deemer, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Mariah Aurelia Giardina

Integrated assessment of chemical and biological recovery after diversion and treatment of acid mine drainage in a Rocky Mountain stream Integrated assessment of chemical and biological recovery after diversion and treatment of acid mine drainage in a Rocky Mountain stream

Responses of stream ecosystems to gradual reductions in metal loading following remediation or restoration activities have been well documented in the literature. However, much less is known about how these systems respond to the immediate or more rapid elimination of metal inputs. Construction of a water treatment plant on the North Fork of Clear Creek (NFCC; CO, USA), a US...
Authors
Christopher James Kotalik, Joseph S. Meyer, Pete Cadmus, James F. Ranville, William H. Clements

Mapping 2-D bedload rates throughout a sand-bed river reach from high-resolution acoustical surveys of migrating bedforms Mapping 2-D bedload rates throughout a sand-bed river reach from high-resolution acoustical surveys of migrating bedforms

This paper introduces a method for determining spatially-distributed, 2-D bedload rates using repeat, high-resolution surveys of the bed topography. As opposed to existing methods, bedform parameters and bedload rates are computed from bed elevation profiles interpolated along the local bedform velocities. The bedform velocity fields are computed applying Large-Scale Particle Image...
Authors
Jérôme Le Coz, Emeline Perret, Benoît Camenen, David J. Topping, Daniel D. Buscombe, Kate Leary, Guillaume Dramais, Paul E. Grams

Spatial patterns and seasonal timing of increasing riverine specific conductance from 1998 to 2018 suggest legacy contamination in the Delaware River Basin Spatial patterns and seasonal timing of increasing riverine specific conductance from 1998 to 2018 suggest legacy contamination in the Delaware River Basin

Increasing salinization of freshwater threatens water supplies that support a range of human and ecological uses. The latest assessments of Delaware River Basin (DRB) surface-water-quality changes indicate widespread salinization has occurred in recent decades, which may lead to meaningful degradation in water quality. To better understand how and when salinity transport occurs and...
Authors
Christine Rumsey, John C. Hammond, Jennifer C. Murphy, Megan E. Shoda, Alexander M. Soroka

Regularizing priors for Bayesian VAR applications to large ecological datasets Regularizing priors for Bayesian VAR applications to large ecological datasets

Using multi-species time series data has long been of interest for estimating inter-specific interactions with vector autoregressive models (VAR) and state space VAR models (VARSS); these methods are also described in the ecological literature as multivariate autoregressive models (MAR, MARSS). To date, most studies have used these approaches on relatively small food webs where the total...
Authors
Eric J. Ward, Kristin N. Marshall, Mark David Scheuerell

Drones and bathymetry show the importance of optimal water depth for nest placement within breeding colonies of Western and Clark’s grebes Drones and bathymetry show the importance of optimal water depth for nest placement within breeding colonies of Western and Clark’s grebes

Habitat selection involves a series of decisions that are arguably the most important decisions that animals make and these decisions occur at multiple hierarchical spatial scales. Colonial-nesting birds face a unique challenge when selecting a nest site because each bird’s choices are severely constrained by other birds within their breeding colony. Individuals must seek out optimum...
Authors
Deo A. Lachman, Courtney J. Conway, Kerri T. Vierling, Ty Matthews, Diane Evans Mack
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