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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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Adaptation strategies and approaches for managing fire in a changing climate Adaptation strategies and approaches for managing fire in a changing climate
As the effects of climate change accumulate and intensify, resource managers juggle existing goals and new mandates to operationalize adaptation. Fire managers contend with the direct effects of climate change on resources in addition to climate-induced disruptions to fire regimes and subsequent ecosystem effects. In systems stressed by warming and drying, increased fire activity...
Authors
Martha Sample, Andrea E. Thode, Courtney Peterson, Michael Gallagher, William T. Flatley, Megan Friggens, Alexander Evans, Rachel A. Loehman, Shaula Hedwall, Leslie A. Brandt, Maria Janowiak, Christopher W. Swanston
Using physiological conditions to assess current and future habitat use of a Subarctic frog Using physiological conditions to assess current and future habitat use of a Subarctic frog
Species with especially close dependence on the environment to meet physiological requirements, such as ectotherms, are highly susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Climate change is occurring rapidly in the Subarctic and Arctic, but there is limited knowledge on ectotherm physiology in these landscapes. We investigated how environmental conditions and habitat characteristics...
Authors
T. Hastings, Blake R. Hossack, L. Fishback, J. M. Davenport
Olivine and glass chemistry record cycles of plumbing system recovery after summit collapse events at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i Olivine and glass chemistry record cycles of plumbing system recovery after summit collapse events at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
The eruptive activity of Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai‘i) in the past 2500 years has alternated between centuries-long periods dominated either by explosive or effusive eruptions. The onset of explosive periods appears to be marked by caldera collapse events at the volcano's summit accompanied by draining of Kīlauea's magmatic plumbing system. Here we leverage >1800 olivine forsterite (Fo)...
Authors
Kendra J. Lynn, Donald A. Swanson
High-resolution observations of submarine groundwater discharge reveal the fine spatial and temporal scales of nutrient exposure on a coral reef: Faga'alu, AS High-resolution observations of submarine groundwater discharge reveal the fine spatial and temporal scales of nutrient exposure on a coral reef: Faga'alu, AS
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can deliver substantial nutrient and contaminant loads to nearshore coral reefs. Correctly scaling SGD rates from a point source to a reef is generally a linear process involving simplified assumptions on the hydrogeology, bathymetry, and nearshore hydrodynamics that are essential to properly assess SGD scale and impact to individual coral heads...
Authors
Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Nancy G. Prouty, Segun B. Adebayo, Curt D. Storlazzi
A comparison of monitoring designs to assess wildlife community parameters across spatial scales A comparison of monitoring designs to assess wildlife community parameters across spatial scales
Dedicated long-term monitoring at appropriate spatial and temporal scales is necessary to understand biodiversity losses and develop effective conservation plans. Wildlife monitoring is often achieved by obtaining data at a combination of spatial scales, ranging from local to broad, to understand the status, trends, and drivers of individual species or whole communities and their...
Authors
Alexander Wright, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Elise F. Zipkin
Phoretic sharksuckers (Echeneis naucrates) associated with an elasmobranch host occupy higher relative trophic positions Phoretic sharksuckers (Echeneis naucrates) associated with an elasmobranch host occupy higher relative trophic positions
The relationship between phoretic diskfishes and their hosts is a classic example of marine symbiosis, yet surprisingly few studies have quantified this trophic relationship. We investigated the hypothesis that by consuming host parasites and prey scraps phoretic diskfishes (Echeneidae) feed at a higher relative trophic position than free-living individuals through expanded foraging...
Authors
Cheston T. Peterson, Beverly A. Bachman, Richard Kraus, R. Dean Grubbs
Integrating growth and survival models for flexible estimation of size-dependent survival in a cryptic, endangered snake Integrating growth and survival models for flexible estimation of size-dependent survival in a cryptic, endangered snake
Estimates of demographic rates for animal populations and individuals have many applications for ecological and conservation research. In many animals, survival is size-dependent, but estimating the form of the size–survival relationship presents challenges. For elusive species with low recapture rates, individuals’ size will be unknown at many points in time. Integrating growth and...
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Richard Kim, Elliot James Schoenig, Patrick C. Lien, Brian J. Halstead
Importance of local weather and environmental gradients on demography of a broadly distributed temperate frog Importance of local weather and environmental gradients on demography of a broadly distributed temperate frog
Amphibian populations are sensitive to environmental temperatures and moisture, which vary with local weather conditions and may reach new norms and extremes as contemporary climate change progresses. Using long-term (11–16 years) mark-recapture data from 10 populations of the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) from across its U.S. range, we addressed hypotheses about how...
Authors
David S. Pilliod, Rebecca M. McCaffery, Robert Arkle, Rick D. Scherer, Jacqueline B. Cupples, Lisa A. Eby, Blake R. Hossack, Hallie Lingo, Kristin N. Lohr, Bryce A. Maxell, Megan J. McGuire, Chad Mellison, Marisa K. Meyer, James C. Munger, Teri Slatauski, Rachel Van Horne
A golden era for volcanic gas geochemistry? A golden era for volcanic gas geochemistry?
The exsolution, rise, expansion, and separation of volatiles from magma provides the driving force behind both effusive and explosive volcanic eruptions. The field of volcanic gas geochemistry therefore plays a key role in understanding volcanism. In this article, we summarize the most important findings of the past few decades and how these shape today’s understanding of volcanic...
Authors
Christoph Kern, Alessandro Aiuppa, J. Maarten de Moor
Late season movement and habitat use by Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) in a large reservoir in Oregon, USA Late season movement and habitat use by Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) in a large reservoir in Oregon, USA
Dam-created reservoirs are common landscape features that can provide habitat for amphibians, but their water level fluctuations and nonnative predators can differ markedly from more natural habitats. We compared fall movement and habitat use by the Oregon Spotted Frog (Rana pretiosa) in the reservoir pool with nearby river and pond habitats at Crane Prairie Reservoir in central Oregon...
Authors
Christopher Pearl, Jennifer Rowe, Brome McCreary, Michael J. Adams
Climate refugia for Pinus spp. in topographic and bioclimatic environments of the Madrean sky islands of México and the United States Climate refugia for Pinus spp. in topographic and bioclimatic environments of the Madrean sky islands of México and the United States
Climate refugia, or places where habitats are expected to remain relatively buffered from regional climate extremes, provide an important focus for science and conservation planning. Within high-priority, multi-jurisdictional landscapes like the Madrean sky islands of the United States and México, efforts to identify and manage climate refugia are hindered by the lack of high-quality and
Authors
Sandra L. Haire, Miguel L. Villarreal, Citlali Cortes Montano, Aaron D. Flesch, Jose M. Iniguez, Jose Raul Romo-Leon, Jamie S. Sanderlin
Reassessing perennial cover as a driver of duck nest survival in the Prairie Pothole Region Reassessing perennial cover as a driver of duck nest survival in the Prairie Pothole Region
Conservation plans designed to sustain North American duck populations prominently feature a key hypothesis stating that the amount of the landscape in perennial cover surrounding upland duck nests positively influences nest survival rates. Recent conflicting research testing this hypothesis creates ambiguity regarding which management actions to pursue and where to prioritize...
Authors
Aaron T. Pearse, Michael J. Anteau, Max Post van der Burg, Mark H. Sherfy, Thomas K. Buhl, Terry L. Shaffer