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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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Precision and bias of spatial capture–recapture estimates: A multi-site, multi-year Utah black bear case study Precision and bias of spatial capture–recapture estimates: A multi-site, multi-year Utah black bear case study
Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models are powerful analytical tools that have become the standard for estimating abundance and density of wild animal populations. When sampling populations to implement SCR, the number of unique individuals detected, total recaptures, and unique spatial relocations can be highly variable. These sample sizes influence the precision and accuracy of model...
Authors
Greta M Schmidt, Tabitha A. Graves, Jordan C Pederson, Sarah L Carroll
Evaluating temporal and spatial transferability of a tidal inundation model for foraging waterbirds Evaluating temporal and spatial transferability of a tidal inundation model for foraging waterbirds
For ecosystem models to be applicable outside their context of development, temporal and spatial transferability must be demonstrated. This presents a challenge for modeling intertidal ecosystems where spatiotemporal variation arises at multiple scales. Models specializing in tidal dynamics are generally inhibited from having wider ecological applications by coarse spatiotemporal...
Authors
Marisa T. Martinez, Leonardo Calle, Stephanie Romanach, Dale E. Gawlik
Mapping actual evapotranspiration using Landsat for the conterminous United States: Google Earth Engine implementation and assessment of the SSEBop model Mapping actual evapotranspiration using Landsat for the conterminous United States: Google Earth Engine implementation and assessment of the SSEBop model
The estimation and mapping of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is an active area of applied research in the fields of agriculture and water resources. Thermal remote sensing-based methods, using coarse resolution satellites, have been successful at estimating ETa over the conterminous United States (CONUS) and other regions of the world. In this study, we present CONUS-wide ETa from...
Authors
Gabriel B. Senay, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Charles Morton, Gabriel Edwin Lee Parrish, Matthew Schauer, Kul Bikram Khand, Stefanie Kagone, Olena Boiko, Justin Huntington
MTH5: An archive and exchangeable data format for magnetotelluric time series data MTH5: An archive and exchangeable data format for magnetotelluric time series data
Magnetotellurics (MT) is a passive electromagnetic geophysical method that measures variations in subsurface electrical resistivity. MT data are collected in the time domain and processed in the frequency domain to produce estimates of a transfer function representing the Earth’s electrical structure. Unfortunately, the MT community lacks metadata and data standards for time series data...
Authors
Jared R. Peacock, Karl Kappler, Lindsey Heagy, Timothy Ronan, Anna Kelbert, Andrew Frassetto
Using near–surface temperature data to vicariously calibrate high-resolution thermal infrared imagery and estimate physical surface properties Using near–surface temperature data to vicariously calibrate high-resolution thermal infrared imagery and estimate physical surface properties
Thermal response of the surface to solar insolation is a function of the topography and the thermal physical characteristics of the landscape, which include bulk density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity and surface albedo and emissivity. Thermal imaging is routinely used to constrain thermal physical properties by characterizing or modeling changes in the diurnal temperature profiles...
Authors
Timothy N. Titus, J. Judson Wynne, M.D. Jhabvala, N. A. Cabrol
Informing management of Henrys Lake, Idaho using an integrated catch-at-age model Informing management of Henrys Lake, Idaho using an integrated catch-at-age model
Henrys Lake, Idaho, supports a popular fishery for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout × Rainbow Trout O. mykiss hybrids. A majority of the adult population of fish in Henrys Lake are of hatchery origin that were stocked as fingerlings. The fishery is closed to angling during the late winter and spring months, but fisheries managers...
Authors
Joshua L McCormick, Jennifer Vincent, Brett High, Darcy K. McCarrick, Michael C. Quist
Gene pool boundaries for the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) reveal asymmetrical migration within meadow neighborhoods Gene pool boundaries for the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) reveal asymmetrical migration within meadow neighborhoods
The Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus [Bufo] canorus) is a federally threatened species of meadow-specializing amphibian endemic to the high-elevation Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. The species is one of the first amphibians to undergo a large demographic collapse that was well-documented, and is reputed to remain in low abundance throughout its range. Recent phylogeographic work has...
Authors
Paul A. Maier, Amy G. Vandergast, Steven M. Ostoja, Andres Aguilar, Andrew J. Bohonak
Commentary: Dryland watershed restoration with rock detention structures: A nature-based solution to mitigate drought, erosion, flooding, and atmospheric carbon Commentary: Dryland watershed restoration with rock detention structures: A nature-based solution to mitigate drought, erosion, flooding, and atmospheric carbon
No abstract available.
Authors
Laura M. Norman
Can grazing by elk and bison stimulate herbaceous plant productivity in semiarid ecosystems? Can grazing by elk and bison stimulate herbaceous plant productivity in semiarid ecosystems?
Plant communities in rangeland ecosystems vary widely in the degree to which they can compensate for losses to herbivores. Ecosystem-level factors have been proposed to affect this compensatory capacity, including timing and intensity of grazing, and availability of soil moisture and nutrients. Arid ecosystems are particularly challenging to predict because of their high degree of...
Authors
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Linda Zeigenfuss, David J. Augustine
On the potential for remote observations of coastal morphodynamics from surf-cameras On the potential for remote observations of coastal morphodynamics from surf-cameras
Recreational surf-cameras (surfcams) are ubiquitous along many coastlines, and yet are a largely untapped source of coastal morphodynamic observations. Surfcams offer broad spatial coverage and flexibility in data collection, but a method to remotely acquire ground control points (GCPs) and initial camera parameter approximations is necessary to better leverage this existing...
Authors
Matthew P. Conlin, Peter N. Adams, Margaret L. Palmsten
Results of the collaborative Lake Ontario bloater restoration stocking and assessment, 2012–2020 Results of the collaborative Lake Ontario bloater restoration stocking and assessment, 2012–2020
Bloater, Coregonus hoyi, are deepwater planktivores native to the Laurentian Great Lakes and Lake Nipigon. Interpretations of commercial fishery time series suggest they were common in Lake Ontario through the early 1900s but by the 1950s were no longer captured by commercial fishers. Annual bottom trawl surveys that began in 1978 and sampled extensively across putative bloater habitat...
Authors
Brian Weidel, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Marc Chalupnicki, Michael Connerton, Steve Davis, John M. Dettmers, Timothy Drew, Aaron T. Fisk, Roger Gordon, S. Dale Hanson, Jeremy Holden, Mark E. Holey, James H. Johnson, Timothy B. Johnson, Colin Lake, Brian F. Lantry, Kevin Loftus, Gregg Mackey, James E. McKenna, Michael J. Millard, Scott P. Minihkeim, Brian O’Malley, Adam Rupnik, Andrew C. Todd, Steven Lapan
Biomarkers in the Precambrian: Earth’s ancient sedimentary record of life Biomarkers in the Precambrian: Earth’s ancient sedimentary record of life
The hydrocarbon remnants of biologically diagnostic lipids inform our understanding of Earth’s early ecosystems, particularly where morphological vestiges of biology are absent or ambiguous. Yet both the analysis and interpretation of ancient biomarkers require scrutinous approaches. Here, we describe the status quo of Precambrian biomarker geochemistry with four examples that highlight...
Authors
Christian Hallmann, Katherine L. French, Jochen J. Brocks