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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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Comparison of two detection methods of a declining rodent, the Allegheny woodrat, in Virginia Comparison of two detection methods of a declining rodent, the Allegheny woodrat, in Virginia
Allegheny woodrats Neotoma magister are an imperiled small mammal species most associated with emergent rock habitats in the central Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio River Valley. The monitoring of populations and their spatiotemporal distributions typically has relied on labor-intensive livetrapping. The use of remote-detecting cameras holds promise for being an equally or more...
Authors
Emily D. Thorne, Karen E. Powers, Richard J. Reynolds, Makayla E. Beckner, Karissa A. Ellis, W. Mark Ford
Decades of global sturgeon conservation efforts are threatened by an expanding captive culture industry Decades of global sturgeon conservation efforts are threatened by an expanding captive culture industry
After centuries of overexploitation and habitat loss, many of the world's sturgeon (Acipenseridae) populations are at the brink of extinction. Although significant resources are invested into the conservation and restoration of imperiled sturgeons, the burgeoning commercial culture industry poses an imminent threat to the persistence of many populations. In the past decade, the number...
Authors
Shannon L. White, Dewayne A. Fox, Tamar Beridze, Stephania K Bolden, Robin L. Johnson, Thomas F Savoy, Fleur Scheele, Andrea D Schreier, David C. Kazyak
Modeling of historical and current distributions of lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae), is consistent with ancestral range recovery Modeling of historical and current distributions of lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae), is consistent with ancestral range recovery
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum L., is a three-host hard tick notorious for aggressive feeding behavior. In the early to mid-20th century, this species’ range was mostly limited to the southern USA. Since the 1950s, A. americanum has been detected in many new localities in the western, northcentral, and northeastern regions of the country. To examine the influence of climate on...
Authors
Ilia Rochlin, Andrea Egizi, Howard Ginsberg
The economic costs of chronic wasting disease in the United States The economic costs of chronic wasting disease in the United States
Cervids are economically important to a wide range of stakeholders and rights holders in the United States. The continued expansion of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting wild and farmed cervids, poses a direct and indirect threat to state and federal government agency operations and cervid related economic activity. However, the scale of this...
Authors
Scott J. Chiavacci
Microbial source tracking and land use associations for antibiotic resistance genes in private wells influenced by human and livestock fecal sources Microbial source tracking and land use associations for antibiotic resistance genes in private wells influenced by human and livestock fecal sources
Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health problem that requires an integrated approach among human, agricultural, and environmental sectors. However, few studies address all three components simultaneously. We investigated the occurrence of five antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and the class 1 integron gene (intI1) in private wells drawing water from a vulnerable aquifer...
Authors
Tucker R. Burch, Joel P. Stokdyk, Aaron D. Firnstahl, Burney Kieke Jr., Rachel M. Cook, Sarah A. Opelt, Sue Spencer, Lisa Durso, Mark A. Borchardt
Assessing the seasonal evolution of snow depth spatial variability and scaling in complex mountain terrain Assessing the seasonal evolution of snow depth spatial variability and scaling in complex mountain terrain
Dynamic natural processes govern snow distribution in mountainous environments throughout the world. Interactions between these different processes create spatially variable patterns of snow depth across a landscape. Variations in accumulation and redistribution occur at a variety of spatial scales, which are well established for moderate mountain terrain. However, spatial patterns of...
Authors
Zachary Miller, Erich H. Peitzsch, Eric A. Sproles, Karl W. Birkeland, Ross T. Palomaki
Empirical evidence for effects of invasive American Bullfrogs on occurrence of native amphibians and emerging pathogens Empirical evidence for effects of invasive American Bullfrogs on occurrence of native amphibians and emerging pathogens
Invasive species and emerging infectious diseases are two of the greatest threats to biodiversity. American Bullfrogs (Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana), which have been introduced to many parts of the world, are often linked with declines of native amphibians via predation and spreading emerging pathogens such as amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]) and...
Authors
Blake R. Hossack, Emily B Oja, Audrey K Owens, David L. Hall, Cassidi Cobos, Catherine L. Crawford, Caren S. Goldberg, Shaula Hedwell, Paige E. Howell, Julio A. Lemos-Espinal, Susan K MacVean, Magnus McCaffery, Cody Mosley, Erin L. Muths, Brent H. Sigafus, Micahel J Sredl, James C. Rorabaugh
Extent, patterns, and drivers of hypoxia in the world's streams and rivers Extent, patterns, and drivers of hypoxia in the world's streams and rivers
Hypoxia in coastal waters and lakes is widely recognized as a detrimental environmental issue, yet we lack a comparable understanding of hypoxia in rivers. We investigated controls on hypoxia using 118 million paired observations of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration and water temperature in over 125,000 locations in rivers from 93 countries. We found hypoxia (DO
Authors
Joanna R Blaszczak, Lauren E Koenig, Francine H. Mejia, Alice M. Carter, Lluis Gomez-Gener, Christoper L Dutton, Nancy B. Grimm, Judson Harvey, Ashley M. Helton, Matthew J. Cohen
Quantifying permanent uplift due to lithosphere-hotspot interaction Quantifying permanent uplift due to lithosphere-hotspot interaction
Vertical motions that accompany the passage of the lithosphere over a mantle hotspot can shed light on the nature of the hotspot and its effect on the lithosphere. However, quantifying the temporal vertical and spatial extent, is challenging due to the paucity of evidence in the geological record. Here, we utilize dense seismic and well data covering the intersection of the Great Meteor...
Authors
Guy Lang, Uri S. ten Brink
Working toward a National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network: Vision, progress, and future directions Working toward a National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network: Vision, progress, and future directions
Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, impacting the water, energy, and carbon cycles. While in situ soil moisture monitoring networks are still developing, there is no cohesive strategy or framework to coordinate, integrate, or disseminate these diverse data sources in a synergistic way that can improve our ability to understand climate variability at the national, state...
Authors
C. Bruce Baker, Michael H. Cosh, John Bolten, Mark Brusberg, Todd Caldwell, Stephanie Connolly, Iliyana Dobreva, Nathan Edwards, Peter E. Goble, Tyson E. Ochsner, Steven M. Quiring, Michael Robotham, Marina Skumanich, Mark Svoboda, W. Alex White, Molly Woloszyn
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