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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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Editorial: Fire regimes in desert ecosystems: Drivers, impacts and changes Editorial: Fire regimes in desert ecosystems: Drivers, impacts and changes
Although not commonly associated with fire, many desert ecosystems across the globe do occasionally burn, and there is evidence that fire incidences are increasing, leading to altered fire regimes in this biome. The increased prevalence of megafires (wildfires >10,000 ha in size and typically damaging) in most global biomes is linked to climate change, although those occurring in deserts...
Authors
Eddie J. B. van Etten, Matthew L. Brooks, Aaron C. Greenville, Glenda M. Wardel
Defining fine-scaled population structure among continuously distributed populations Defining fine-scaled population structure among continuously distributed populations
Understanding wildlife population structure and connectivity can help managers identify conservation strategies, as structure can facilitate the study of population changes and habitat connectivity can provide information on dispersal and biodiversity. To facilitate the use of wildlife monitoring data for improved adaptive management, we developed a novel approach to define hierarchical...
Authors
Michael S. O’Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Cameron L. Aldridge, Julie A. Heinrichs, Adrian P. Monroe, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Steve E. Hanser, Lief A. Wiechman
Analysis of provisioning ecosystem services and perceptions of climate change for indigenous communities in the Western Himalayan Gurez Valley, Pakistan Analysis of provisioning ecosystem services and perceptions of climate change for indigenous communities in the Western Himalayan Gurez Valley, Pakistan
Climate change is a significant threat to people living in mountainous regions. It is essential to understand how montane communities currently depend especially on the provisioning ecosystem services (ES) and the ways in which climate change will impact these services, so that people can develop relevant adaptation strategies. The ES in the Gurez Valley, in the Western Himalayas of...
Authors
Uzma Saeed, Muhammad Arshad, Shakeel Hayat, Toni Lyn Morelli, Muhammad Ali Nawaz
Volcano, earthquake, and tsunami hazards of the Cascadia Subduction Zone Volcano, earthquake, and tsunami hazards of the Cascadia Subduction Zone
Subduction zones produce some of Earth’s most devastating geological events. Recent eruptions of Mount St. Helens and great earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan and Sumatra provide stark examples of the destructive power of subduction-related hazards. In the Cascadia subduction zone, large earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions have occurred in the past and geologic records imply...
Authors
Elizabeth G. Westby, Andrew J Meigs, Chris Goldfinger
Rural turtles: Estimating the occupancy of Northwestern Pond Turtles and non-native red-eared sliders in agricultural habitats in California's Sacramento Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Rural turtles: Estimating the occupancy of Northwestern Pond Turtles and non-native red-eared sliders in agricultural habitats in California's Sacramento Valley and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
The Northwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata; WPT) was once widespread throughout the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Much of its historical range has been converted into agricultural land, reducing and altering aquatic habitat and surrounding uplands. Red-eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans; RES) have been introduced throughout much of the...
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Brian J. Halstead, Alexandria M. Fulton
Mississippian sedimentary facies patterns in east-central California and implications for development of the Permian last chance thrust Mississippian sedimentary facies patterns in east-central California and implications for development of the Permian last chance thrust
Mississippian sedimentary facies belts in east-central California, occurring primarily in the autochthon (lower plate) of the Last Chance Thrust, are consistently oriented in a northeast–southwest direction. The boundary of one belt is marked by the depositional limit of the Osagean to Meramecian Santa Rosa Hills Limestone; a second belt farther to the northwest is bordered by the...
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone
Evolution of the last chance thrust concept Evolution of the last chance thrust concept
The concept of the Permian Last Chance Thrust has passed through many stages. Here we point out which critical observations have led to changes in the way this important feature has been interpreted.
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone
The nature of active magma reservoirs and storage underneath Cascade volcanoes The nature of active magma reservoirs and storage underneath Cascade volcanoes
Volcanic activity is dictated by crustal pathways and reservoirs through which magma ascends and collects. The Cascades are a natural laboratory to study the variable influence of the crust on erupted magmas and subterranean reservoirs. The interaction of ascending magmas with the variable subduction geometry and tectonics of the overriding North American plate have given rise to a...
Authors
Josef Dufek, Kathy Cashman, Emily Hooft, Paul A. Bedrosian
Volcanic electrification: Recent advances and future perspectives Volcanic electrification: Recent advances and future perspectives
The electrification of volcanic plumes has been described intermittently since at least the time of Pliny the Younger and the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius. Although sometimes disregarded in the past as secondary effects, recent work suggests that the electrical properties of volcanic plumes reveal intrinsic and otherwise inaccessible parameters of explosive eruptions. An increasing number...
Authors
Corrado Cimarelli, Sonja A Behnke, Kimberly Genareau, Joshua Méndez Harper, Alexa R. Van Eaton
Key observations of flexed-leg urination in the free-ranging Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Key observations of flexed-leg urination in the free-ranging Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)
Flexed-leg urination (FLU) in female Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) has been little studied in the wild. Captive females in packs do not exhibit FLU unless they are both mature and dominant to an associate female, but these characteristics have not been confirmed in free-ranging wolves. We present observations of wolves in Yellowstone National Park that accord with those of wolves in...
Authors
L. David Mech, Rick McIntyre
Spatiotemporal changes in influenza A virus prevalence among wild waterfowl inhabiting the continental United States throughout the annual cycle Spatiotemporal changes in influenza A virus prevalence among wild waterfowl inhabiting the continental United States throughout the annual cycle
Avian influenza viruses can pose serious risks to agricultural production, human health, and wildlife. An understanding of viruses in wild reservoir species across time and space is important to informing surveillance programs, risk models, and potential population impacts for vulnerable species. Although it is recognized that influenza A virus prevalence peaks in reservoir waterfowl in...
Authors
Cody M. Kent, Andrew M. Ramey, Joshua T. Ackerman, Justin Bahl, Sarah N. Bevins, Andrew S. Bowman, Walter Boyce, Carol Cardona, Michael L. Casazza, Troy D. Cline, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Jeffrey S. Hall, Nichola J. Hill, Hon S. Ip, Scott Krauss, Jennifer M. Mullinax, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Magdalena Plancarte, Rebecca L. Poulson, Jonathan A. Runstadler, Richard D. Slemons, David E. Stallknecht, Jeffery D. Sullivan, John Y. Takekawa, Richard J. Webby, Robert G. Webster, Diann J. Prosser
Interspecific and local variation in Tern chick diets across nesting colonies in the Gulf of Maine Interspecific and local variation in Tern chick diets across nesting colonies in the Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine, USA is home to four colonial co-nesting tern species: Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea), and the federally endangered Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii). Over three decades of visual observations of chick provisioning were compiled for a comparative dietary study in the region, including the first detailed...
Authors
Keenan Yakola, Adrian Jordaan, Stephen Kress, Paula Shannon, Michelle Staudinger