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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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Insight into Hurricane Maria peak flows from the development and application of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS): Including Río Grande de Arecibo, Puerto Rico, 1981–2017 Insight into Hurricane Maria peak flows from the development and application of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS): Including Río Grande de Arecibo, Puerto Rico, 1981–2017
The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) was used to develop a simulation of watershed hydrology on the island of Puerto Rico for the period 1981–2017, concentrating on the Río Grande de Arecibo, a river with some of the highest streamflows on the island. This development is part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Hydrologic Model (NHM) infrastructure which supports...
Authors
Eric Swain, Jason C. Bellino
Integrating Bayesian networks to forecast sea-level rise impacts on barrier island characteristics and habitat availability Integrating Bayesian networks to forecast sea-level rise impacts on barrier island characteristics and habitat availability
Evaluation of sea-level rise (SLR) impacts on coastal landforms and habitats is a persistent need for informing coastal planning and management, including policy decisions, particularly those that balance human interests and habitat protection throughout the coastal zone. Bayesian networks (BNs) are used to model barrier island change under different SLR scenarios that are relevant to...
Authors
Benjamin T. Gutierrez, Sara Zeigler, Erika E. Lentz, Emily J. Sturdivant, Nathaniel Plant
CoastalImageLib: An open-source Python package for creating common coastal image products CoastalImageLib: An open-source Python package for creating common coastal image products
CoastalImageLib is a Python library that produces common coastal image products intended for quantitative analysis of coastal environments. This library contains functions to georectify and merge multiple oblique camera views, produce statistical image products for a given set of images, and create subsampled pixel instruments for use in bathymetric inversion, surface current estimation...
Authors
Maile McCann, Dylan L. Anderson, Christopher R. Sherwood, Brittany Bruder, A. Spicer Bak, Katherine Brodie
Plant community trajectories following livestock exclusion for conservation vary and hinge on initial invasion and soil-biocrust conditions in shrub steppe Plant community trajectories following livestock exclusion for conservation vary and hinge on initial invasion and soil-biocrust conditions in shrub steppe
Adjustments or complete withdrawal of livestock grazing are among the most common conservation actions in semiarid uplands, but outcomes can vary considerably with ecological context. Invasion by exotic annual grasses and the excessive wildfire they promote are increasing threats to semiarid shrub-steppe, and plant-community response to livestock exclusion in these areas may be...
Authors
Matthew J. Germino, Chad Raymond Kluender, Christopher R. Anthony
Sentinel responses of Arctic freshwater systems to climate: linkages, evidence, and a roadmap for future research Sentinel responses of Arctic freshwater systems to climate: linkages, evidence, and a roadmap for future research
While the sentinel nature of freshwater systems is now well recognized, widespread integration of freshwater processes and patterns into our understanding of broader climate-driven Arctic terrestrial ecosystem change has been slow. We review the current understanding across Arctic freshwater systems of key sentinel responses to climate, which are attributes of these systems with...
Authors
Jasmine E. Saros, Christoper D. Arp, Frederic Bouchard, Jerome Comte, Raoul-Marie Couture, Joshua F. Dean, Melissa Lafreniere, Sally MacIntyre, Suzanne McGowan, Milla Rautio, Clay Prater, Suzanne E. Tank, Michelle A. Walvoord, Kimberly Wickland, Dermot Antoniades, Paola Ayala-Borda, Joao Canario, Travis W. Drake, Diogo Folhas, Vaclava Hazukova, Henriikka Kivila, Yohanna Klanten, Scott Lamoreux, Isabelle Laurion, Rachel M. Pilla, Jorien E. Vonk, Scott Zolkos, Warwick Vincent
Genetic analysis of North American Phragmites australis guides management approaches Genetic analysis of North American Phragmites australis guides management approaches
Phragmites australis subsp. australis is an invasive and ecologically detrimental plant in multiple regions of North America. Its co-occurrence with the native subspecies, and multiple instances of hybridization, has created the need to differentiate Phragmites subspecies or haplotypes so that management can be appropriately targeted to the invader. We compiled a review of current...
Authors
Denise L. Lindsay, Joanna Freeland, Ping Gong, Xin Guan, Nathan E Harms, Kurt P. Kowalski, Richard F. Lance, Dong-Ha Oh, Bradley T Sartain, Douglas L Wendell
The hydroclimate niche: A tool for predicting and managing riparian plant community responses to streamflow seasonality The hydroclimate niche: A tool for predicting and managing riparian plant community responses to streamflow seasonality
Habitat suitability is a consequence of interacting environmental factors. In riparian ecosystems, suitable plant habitat is influenced by interactions between stream hydrology and climate, hereafter referred to as “hydroclimate”. We tested the hypothesis that hydroclimate variables would improve the fit of ecological niche models for a suite of riparian species using occurrence data...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist, Charles B. Yackulic
Bulk and intramolecular carbon isotopic compositions of hydrocarbon gases from laboratory pyrolysis of oil shale of the Green River Formation: Implications for isotope structures of kerogens Bulk and intramolecular carbon isotopic compositions of hydrocarbon gases from laboratory pyrolysis of oil shale of the Green River Formation: Implications for isotope structures of kerogens
Evaluation of intramolecular isotope distributions within organic compounds can provide important insights into gas formation processes and structural properties of gas-generating precursors, such as kerogen, bitumen, and oil, in natural reservoirs. Until recently, little has been known about the intramolecular isotope distributions within kerogens. In this study, we conducted systematic...
Authors
Xiaoqiang Li, Justin E. Birdwell, Juske Horita
Predicted uranium and radon concentrations in New Hampshire (USA) groundwater—Using Multi Order Hydrologic Position as predictors Predicted uranium and radon concentrations in New Hampshire (USA) groundwater—Using Multi Order Hydrologic Position as predictors
Two radioactive elements, uranium (U) and radon (Rn), which are of potential concern in New Hampshire (NH) groundwater, are investigated. Exceedance probability maps are tools to highlight locations where the concentrations of undesirable substances in the groundwater may be elevated. Two forms of statistical analysis are used to create exceedance probability maps for U and Rn in NH...
Authors
Richard B. Moore, Kenneth Belitz, Joseph D. Ayotte, Terri L. Arnold, Laura Hayes, Jennifer B. Sharpe, J. Jeffrey Starn
Patterns and controls of foliar nutrient stoichiometry and flexibility across United States forests Patterns and controls of foliar nutrient stoichiometry and flexibility across United States forests
Plant element stoichiometry and stoichiometric flexibility strongly regulate ecosystem responses to global change. Here, we tested three potential mechanistic drivers (climate, soil nutrients, and plant taxonomy) of both using paired foliar and soil nutrient data from terrestrial forested National Ecological Observatory Network sites across the USA. We found that broad patterns of foliar...
Authors
Katherine A Kynarski, Fiona M. Soper, Sasha C. Reed, William R Wieder, Cory C Cleveland
Backpack electrofishing does not contribute to external signs of gas bubble trauma in sculpins Backpack electrofishing does not contribute to external signs of gas bubble trauma in sculpins
We exposed prickly sculpin Cottus asper and reticulate sculpin Cottus perplexus to electroshock and sham treatments in a controlled laboratory setting to determine if backpack electrofishing contributed to or exacerbated external signs of gas bubble trauma (GBT) in fish exposed to elevated total dissolved gas (TDG) levels. Fish were exposed to 115, 120 and 125% TDG (measured as percent...
Authors
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Nicole Joy Eller
Availability of lesser prairie-chicken nesting habitat impairs restoration success Availability of lesser prairie-chicken nesting habitat impairs restoration success
Regional populations of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) have been declining irregularly since the early 1900s (Jensen et al. 2000). Populations in the Sand Sagebrush Prairie Ecoregion of Kansas and Colorado, USA, have been experiencing declines during the last 2 decades. Ecoregion-wide declines included the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands in southwestern...
Authors
Liam A. Berigan, Carly S. H. Aulicky, Elisabeth C. Teige, Daniel S. Sullins, David A. Haukos, Kent A. Fricke, Jonathan H. Reitz, Liza G. Rossi, Kraig A. Schultz, Andrew Ricketts