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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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Accounting for residual heterogeneity in double-observer sightability models decreases bias in burro abundance estimates Accounting for residual heterogeneity in double-observer sightability models decreases bias in burro abundance estimates
Feral burros (Equus asinus) and horses (E. ferus caballus) inhabiting public land in the western United States are intended to be managed at population levels established to promote a thriving, natural ecological balance. Double-observer sightability (MDS) models, which use detection records from multiple observers and sighting covariates, perform well for estimating feral horse...
Authors
Jacob Daniel Hennig, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, James W. Cain, Gary W. Roemer, Jeffrey L. Laake
A future for the inland fish and fisheries hidden within the sustainable development goals A future for the inland fish and fisheries hidden within the sustainable development goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a unifying call for change - guiding global actions at multiple levels of governance for a better planet and better lives. Consequently, achieving the “future we want” may be hindered by overlooking valuable natural resources and services that are not explicitly included in the SDGs. Not recognizing the direct, intrinsic value...
Authors
Vittoria Elliott, Abigail J. Lynch, Sui C. Phang, Steve J. Cooke, Ian. G. Cowx, Julie E. Claussen, James Dalton, William Darwall, Ian Harrison, Karen J. Murchie, E. Ashley Steel, Gretchen L. Stokes
Ignoring species availability biases occupancy estimates in single-scale occupancy models Ignoring species availability biases occupancy estimates in single-scale occupancy models
Most applications of single-scale occupancy models do not differentiate between availability and detectability, even though species availability is rarely equal to one. Species availability can be estimated using multi-scale occupancy models; however, for the practical application of multi-scale occupancy models, it can be unclear what a robust sampling design looks like and what the...
Authors
Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, David A. W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Implementing landscape connectivity with topographic filtering model: A simulation of suspended sediment delivery in an agricultural watershed Implementing landscape connectivity with topographic filtering model: A simulation of suspended sediment delivery in an agricultural watershed
The widespread availability of high-fidelity topography combined with advances in geospatial analysis offer the opportunity to reimagine approaches to the difficult problem of predicting sediment delivery from watersheds. Here we present a model that uses high-resolution topography to filter sediment sources to quantify sediment delivery to the watershed outlet. It is a reduced...
Authors
Jong Cho, Peter R Wilcock, Karen B. Gran
Amphibian mucus triggers a developmental transition in the frog-killing chytrid fungus Amphibian mucus triggers a developmental transition in the frog-killing chytrid fungus
The frog-killing chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is decimating amphibian populations around the world. Bd has a biphasic life cycle, alternating between motile zoospores that disperse within aquatic environments and sessile sporangia that grow within the mucus-coated skin of amphibians. Zoospores lack cell walls and swim rapidly through aquatic environments using a...
Authors
Kristyn A. Robinson, Sarah M. Prostak, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Lillian K. Fritz-Laylin
Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report) Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)
Following the reviews of atomic-weight determinations and other cognate data in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021, the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights (CIAAW) reports changes of standard atomic weights. The symbol A r°(E) was selected for standard atomic weight of an element to distinguish it from the atomic weight of...
Authors
Thomas Prohaska, Johanna Irrgeher, Jacqueline Benefield, J.K. Bohlke, Lesley Chesson, Tyler B. Coplen, Tiping Ding, Philip J.H. Dunn, Manfred Groning, Norman E. Holden, Harro A. J. Meijer, Heiko Moossen, Antonio Possolo, Yoshio Takahashi, Jochen Vogl, Thomas Walczyk, Jun Wang, Michael E. Wieser, Shigekazu Yoneda, Xiang-Kun Zhu, Juris Meija
Surface parameters and bedrock properties covary across a mountainous watershed: Insights from machine learning and geophysics Surface parameters and bedrock properties covary across a mountainous watershed: Insights from machine learning and geophysics
Bedrock property quantification is critical for predicting the hydrological response of watersheds to climate disturbances. Estimating bedrock hydraulic properties over watershed scales is inherently difficult, particularly in fracture-dominated regions. Our analysis tests the covariability of above- and belowground features on a watershed scale, by linking borehole geophysical data...
Authors
Sebastian Uhlemann, Baptiste Dafflon, Haruko Murakami Wainwright, Kenneth Hurst Williams, Burke J. Minsley, Katrina D. Zamudio, Bradley Carr, Nicola Falco, Craig Ulrich, Susan S. Hubbard
Management goals for conserving White Sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin Management goals for conserving White Sturgeon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River basin
Management objectives for long-lived species are difficult to define because many taxa have delayed maturity and variable recruitment. White Sturgeon Acipenser transmontanus is an example of a species with a complex life history that complicates long-term status monitoring and establishment of management objectives. Historically, White Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River basin...
Authors
Marta Ulaski, Shannon Blackburn, Zachary Jackson, Michael C. Quist
Global groundwater solute composition and concentrations Global groundwater solute composition and concentrations
Informed analysis of policies related to food security, global climate change, wetland ecology, environmental nutrient flux, element cycling, groundwater weathering, continental denudation, human health, etc. depends to a large extent on quantitative estimates of solute mass fluxes into and out of all global element pools including the enigmatic global aquifer systems. Herein for the...
Authors
Warren W. Wood, Pauline L. Smedley, Bruce D. Lindsey, Warren T. Wood, Roberto E. Kirchheim, John A. Cherry
Alaskan Yelloweye Rockfish fecundity revealed through an automated egg count and digital imagery method Alaskan Yelloweye Rockfish fecundity revealed through an automated egg count and digital imagery method
Spawning stock biomass (SSB) is often used as an index for reproductive potential (RP) in fisheries stock assessments. This method assumes that mature female biomass is proportional to total egg production and implies that (1) the fecundity–length relationship follows a cubic function or (2) relative fecundity is constant. For many marine fishes, adequate fecundity estimates to evaluate...
Authors
Donald E. Arthur, Jeffrey A. Falke, Brittany J. Blain-Roth, Trent M. Sutton
Topographic response to simulated Mw 6.5-7.0 earthquakes on the Seattle Fault Topographic response to simulated Mw 6.5-7.0 earthquakes on the Seattle Fault
We explore the response of ground motions to topography during large crustal fault earthquakes by simulating several magnitude 6.5–7.0 rupture scenarios on the Seattle fault, Washington State. Kinematic simulations are run using a 3D spectral element code and a detailed seismic velocity model for the Puget Sound region. This model includes realistic surface topography and a near‐surface...
Authors
Ian P. Stone, Erin A. Wirth, Arthur D. Frankel
Limits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape forest dominance and future recovery Limits to reproduction and seed size-number trade-offs that shape forest dominance and future recovery
The relationships that control seed production in trees are fundamental to understanding the evolution of forest species and their capacity to recover from increasing losses to drought, fire, and harvest. A synthesis of fecundity data from 714 species worldwide allowed us to examine hypotheses that are central to quantifying reproduction, a foundation for assessing fitness in forest...
Authors
Tong Qiu, Robert Andrus, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuna, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Roberta Berretti, Daniel Berveiller, Thomas Biovin, Raul Bonal, Don C. Bragg, Thomas Caignard, Rafael Calama, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Huo Chang-Yang, Natalie L. Cleavitt, Benoit Courbaud, Francois Courbet, Thomas Curt, Adrian Das, Evangelia Daskalakou, Hendrik Davi, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Sergio Donoso Calderon, Laurent Dormont, Josep Maria Espelta, Timothy J. Fahey, William Farfan-Rios, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzner, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Valentin Journe, Daisuke Kabeya, Christopher L. Kilner, Thomas Kitzberger, Johannes M. H. Knops, Richard K. Kobe, Georges Kunstler, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, Francois Lefevre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Christopher M. Moore, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Kyotaro Noguchi, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Robert Parmenter, Ian S. Pearse, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, John Poulsen, Renata Poulton-Kamakura, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Francisco Rodrigues-Sanchez, Javier Sanguinetti, C. Lane Scher, Wiliam H Schlesinger, Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, I-Fang Sun, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas Wion, Boyd Wright, S. Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess Zimmermann, Roman Zlotin, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark