Articles
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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.
Filter Total Items: 77848
Watching the Cryosphere thaw: Seismic monitoring of permafrost degradation using distributed acoustic sensing during a controlled heating experiment Watching the Cryosphere thaw: Seismic monitoring of permafrost degradation using distributed acoustic sensing during a controlled heating experiment
Permafrost degradation is rapidly increasing in response to a warming Arctic climate, altering landscapes and damaging critical infrastructure. Solutions for monitoring permafrost thaw dynamics are essential to understand biogeochemical feedbacks as well as to issue warnings for hazardous geotechnical conditions. We investigate the feasibility of permafrost monitoring using permanently...
Authors
Feng Cheng, Nathaniel J. Lindsey, Valeriia Sobolevskaia, Shan Dou, Barry Freifeld, Todd Wood, Stephanie R. James, Anna M. Wagner, Jonathan B. Ajo-Franklin
N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry N and P constrain C in ecosystems under climate change: Role of nutrient redistribution, accumulation, and stoichiometry
We use the Multiple Element Limitation (MEL) model to examine responses of twelve ecosystems to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and 20% decreases or increases in precipitation. Ecosystems respond synergistically to elevated CO2, warming, and decreased precipitation combined because higher water-use efficiency with elevated CO2 and higher fertility with warming compensate for...
Authors
Ed Rastetter, Bonnie Kwiatkowski, David Kicklighter, Audrey Barker Plotkin, Helene Genet, Jesse Nippert, Kimberly O’Keefe, Steven S. Perakis, Stephen Porder, Sarah Roley, Roger W. Ruess, Jonathan R. Thompson, William Wieder, Kevin WIlcox, Ruth Yanai
Fundamental science and engineering questions in planetary cave exploration Fundamental science and engineering questions in planetary cave exploration
Nearly half a century ago, two papers postulated the likelihood of lunar lava tube caves using mathematical models. Today, armed with an array of orbiting and fly-by satellites and survey instrumentation, we have now acquired cave data across our solar system—including the identification of potential cave entrances on the Moon, Mars, and at least six other planetary bodies. These...
Authors
J. Judson Wynne, Timothy N. Titus, Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi, Armando Azua-Bustos, Penelope J. Boston, Pablo de Leon, Cansu Demirel-Floyd, Jo de Waele, Heather Jones, Michael J. Malaska, Ana Z. Miller, Haley M. Sapers, Francesco Sauro, Derek L. Sonderegger, Kyle Uckert, Uland Y. Wong, E. Calvin Alexander, Leroy Chiao, Glen E. Cushing, John DeDecker, Alberto G. Fairen, Amos Frumkin, Gary L. Harris, Michelle L. Kearney, Laura A. Kerber, Richard J. Leveille, Kavya Manyapu, Matteo Massironi, John E. Mylroie, Bogdan P. Onac, Scott E. Parazynski, Charity M. Phillips-Lander, T. H. Prettyman, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Robert V. Wagner, William L. Whittaker, Kaj E. Williams
Advances in the study and understanding of groundwater discharge to surface water Advances in the study and understanding of groundwater discharge to surface water
Groundwater discharge is vitally important for maintaining or restoring valuable ecosystems in surface water and at the underlying groundwater-surface-water ecotone. Detecting and quantifying groundwater discharge is challenging because rates of flow can be very small and difficult to measure, exchange is commonly highly heterogeneous both in space and time, and surface-water...
Authors
Carlos Duque, Donald O. Rosenberry
Constructing a large-scale landslide database across heterogeneous environments using task-specific model updates Constructing a large-scale landslide database across heterogeneous environments using task-specific model updates
Preparation and mitigation efforts for widespread landslide hazards can be aided by a large-scale, well-labeled landslide inventory with high location accuracy. Recent smallscale studies for pixel-wise labeling of potential landslide areas in remotely-sensed images using deep learning (DL) showed potential but were based on data from very small, homogeneous regions with unproven model
Authors
Savinay Nagendra, Daniel Kifer, Benjamin B. Mirus, Te Pei, Kathryn Lawson, Srikanth Banagere Manjunatha, Weixin Li, Hien Nguyen, Tong Qiu, Sarah Tran, Chaopeng Shen
Global environmental changes more frequently offset than intensify detrimental effects of biological invasions Global environmental changes more frequently offset than intensify detrimental effects of biological invasions
Human-induced abiotic global environmental changes (GECs) and the spread of nonnative invasive species are rapidly altering ecosystems. Understanding the relative and interactive effects of invasion and GECs is critical for informing ecosystem adaptation and management, but this information has not been synthesized. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate effects of invasions, GECs...
Authors
Bianca Lopez, Jenica Allen, Jeffrey Dukes, Jonathan Lenoir, Montserrat Vila, Dana Blumenthal, Evelyn M. Beaury, Emily J. Fusco, Brittany B. Laginhas, Toni Lyn Morelli, Mitchell W. O’Neill, Cascade J.B. Sorte, Alberto Maceda-Veiga, Raj Whitlock, Bethany A. Bradley
#TheSmoreYouKnow and #emergencycute: A conceptual model on the use of humor by science agencies during crisis to create connection, empathy, and compassion #TheSmoreYouKnow and #emergencycute: A conceptual model on the use of humor by science agencies during crisis to create connection, empathy, and compassion
Studies from a variety of disciplines reveal that humor can be a useful method to reduce stress and increase compassion, connection, and empathy between agencies and people they serve during times of crisis. Despite this growing evidence base, humor's use during a geohazard (earthquake, volcanoes, landslides, and tsunami) to aid scientific agencies' crisis communication response has been...
Authors
Sara K. McBride, Jessica L. Ball
Revised taxonomy of rhabdoviruses infecting fish and marine mammals Revised taxonomy of rhabdoviruses infecting fish and marine mammals
Rhabdoviridae is a large family of negative-sense (-) RNA viruses that includes important pathogens of ray-finned fish and marine mammals. As for all viruses, the taxonomic assignment of rhabdoviruses occurs through a process implemented by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). A recent revision of taxonomy conducted in conjunction with the ICTV Rhabdoviridae Study...
Authors
Peter J. Walker, Laurent Bigarre, Gael Kurath, Laurent Dacheux, Laurane Pallandre
Experience preferences and place attachment of Minnesota wildlife management area hunters Experience preferences and place attachment of Minnesota wildlife management area hunters
Hunters in the United States are motivated to obtain and benefit from diverse experiences or experience preferences. Using a mail survey conducted during the 2015–2016 hunting season, we examined goal-oriented, introspective, and leadership experiences among hunters on Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Management Area (WMAs). We used k-means cluster analysis to identify...
Authors
Kelsie LaSharr, David C. Fulton, L. Cornicelli
Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach Reducing uncertainty in climate change responses of inland fishes: A decision-path approach
Climate change will continue to be an important consideration for conservation practitioners. However, uncertainty in identifying appropriate management strategies, particularly for understudied species and regions, constrains the implementation of science-based solutions and adaptation strategies. Here, we share a decision-path approach to reduce uncertainty in climate change responses...
Authors
Abigail Lynch, Bonnie Myers, Jesse P. Wong, Cindy Chu, Ralph W. Tingley, Jeffrey A. Falke, Thomas J. Kwak, Craig P. Paukert, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
Association of antler asymmetry with hoof disease in elk Association of antler asymmetry with hoof disease in elk
Treponeme-associated hoof disease (TAHD) is an emergent disease of elk (Cervus canadensis) in the Pacific West of the United States. Although lesions are usually restricted to the feet, anecdotal reports suggested increased prevalence of abnormal antlers in affected elk. We used hunter harvest reports for 1,688 adult male elk harvested in southwestern Washington, USA, during 2016-2018...
Authors
Glen A. Sargeant, Margaret A. Wild, Kyle Garrison, Dylan Conradson
Within-marsh and landscape features structure ribbed mussel distribution in Georgia, USA, marshes Within-marsh and landscape features structure ribbed mussel distribution in Georgia, USA, marshes
Ribbed mussels, Geukensia demissa, are marsh fauna that are used in coastal management and restoration due to the ecosystem services they provide. Ribbed mussel restoration efforts may be improved with a greater understanding of the environmental drivers of ribbed mussel distribution at multiple spatial scales to predict areas where restoration could be successful. This study sought to...
Authors
William K. Annis, Elizabeth Ann Hunter, John M. Carroll