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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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Mercury contamination and potential health risks to Arctic seabirds and shorebirds Mercury contamination and potential health risks to Arctic seabirds and shorebirds
Since the last Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) effort to review biological effects of mercury (Hg) on Arctic biota in 2011 and 2018, there has been a considerable number of new Arctic bird studies. This review article provides contemporary Hg exposure and potential health risk for 36 Arctic seabird and shorebird species, representing a larger portion of the Arctic than...
Authors
Olivier Chastel, Jerome Fort, Joshua T. Ackerman, Celine Albert, Frederic Angelier, Niladri Basu, Pierre Blevin, Maud Brault-Favrou, Jan O. Bustnes, Paco Bustamante, Johannis Danielsen, Sebastien Descamps, Rune Dietz, Kjell Einar Erikstad, Igor Eulaers, Alexey Ezhov, Abram B. Fleishman, Geir W. Gabrielsen, Maria Gavrilo, Grant Gilchrist, Olivier Gilg, Sindri Gislason, Elena Golubova, Aurelie Goutte, David Gremillet, Gunnar T. Hallgrimsson, Erpur S Hansen, Sveinn A Hanssen, Scott Hatch, Nicholas P Huffeldt, Dariusz Jakubas, Jon Einar Jonsson, Alexander S Kitaysky, Yann Kolbeinsson, Yuri Krasnov, Robert J. Letcher, Jannie F Linnebjerg, Mark L. Mallory, Flemming R Merkel, Borge Moe, William J Montevecchi, Anders Mosbech, Bergur Olsen, Rachael A Orben, Jennifer F Provencher, Sunna B. Ragnarsdottir, Tone K Reiertsen, Nora A. Rojek, Marc Romano, Jens Sondergaard, Hallvard Strom, Akinori Takahashi, Sabrina Tartu, Thorkell L Thórarinsson, Jean-Baptiste Thiebot, Alexis P Will, Simon Wilson, Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Glenn Yannic
Relationship of greater sage-grouse to natural and assisted recovery of key vegetation types following wildfire: Insights from scat Relationship of greater sage-grouse to natural and assisted recovery of key vegetation types following wildfire: Insights from scat
Megafires are creating severe conservation problems worldwide for wildlife that have obligate dependencies on plant species that are foundational but fire-intolerant. Wildfire-induced loss of native perennials and increases in exotic annual grasses threaten greater sage-grouse (GRSG, Centrocercus urophasianus) in its sagebrush steppe habitat in western North America. Post-fire...
Authors
Matthew J. Germino, Christopher R. Anthony, Chad Raymond Kluender, Ethan A. Ellsworth, Ann M. Moser, Cara Applestein, Matthew Fisk
Watershed-scale liming reveals the short- and long-term effects of pH on the forest soil microbiome and carbon cycling Watershed-scale liming reveals the short- and long-term effects of pH on the forest soil microbiome and carbon cycling
Soil microbial community composition routinely correlates with pH, reflecting both direct pH effects on microbial physiology and long-term biogeochemical feedbacks. We used two watershed-scale liming experiments to identify short- (2 years) and long-term (25 years) changes in the structure and function of bacterial and fungal communities in organic horizons (Oe and Oa) of acid forest...
Authors
Bhavya Sridhar, Gregory B. Lawrence, Spencer J. Debenport, Timothy J. Fahey, Daniel H. Buckley, Roland C. Wilhelm, Christine L. Goodale
Climate change risks to global forest health: Emergence of unexpected events of elevated tree mortality worldwide Climate change risks to global forest health: Emergence of unexpected events of elevated tree mortality worldwide
Recent observations of elevated tree mortality following climate extremes, like heat and drought, raise concerns about climate change risks to global forest health. We currently lack both sufficient data and understanding to identify whether these observations represent a global trend towards increasing tree mortality. Here, we document events of sudden and unexpected elevated tree...
Authors
Henrik Hartmann, Ana Bastos, Adrian J. Das, Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert, William M Hammond, Jordi Martínez-Vilalta, Nate G. McDowell, Jennifer S. Powers, Thomas A. M. Pugh, Katinka X. Ruthrof, Craig D. Allen
Ventilation systems in wetland plant species Ventilation systems in wetland plant species
Molecular oxygen and carbon dioxide may be limited for aquatic plants, but they have various mechanisms for acquiring these gases from the atmosphere, soil, or metabolic processes. The most common adaptations of aquatic plants involve various aerenchymatic structures, which occur in various organs, and enable the throughflow of gases. These gases can be transferred in emergent plants by...
Authors
Lars O. Bjorn, Beth A. Middleton, Mateja Germ, Alenka Gaberscik
Effect of restoration on plant greenness and water use in relation to drought in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta Effect of restoration on plant greenness and water use in relation to drought in the riparian corridor of the Colorado River delta
Revitalization of the Colorado River delta riparian corridor and increasing riparian plant greenness and water use may be accomplished by added water and restoration efforts to offset declines measured since 2000 by Landsat. We use the two-band Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2; a proxy for greenness) and evapotranspiration (ET, mm/day) using EVI2 and potential ET(ETo) from Yuma Valley. We...
Authors
Pamela L. Nagler, Ibrahima Sall, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Martha Gómez-Sapiens, Hamideh Nouri, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Kamel Didan
Depositional controls on detrital zircon provenance: An example from upper Cretaceous strata, southern Patagonia Depositional controls on detrital zircon provenance: An example from upper Cretaceous strata, southern Patagonia
Understanding how depositional environments within a sedimentary system redistribute and sequester sediment is critical for interpreting basin-scale provenance trends. However, sedimentary source-to-sink models commonly examine temporal changes and do not consider how variation in sedimentation processes across a dispersal pathway may result in contrasting provenance signatures. In this...
Authors
Stephen C. Dobbs, Matthew A. Malkowski, Theresa Maude Schwartz, Zachary T. Sickmann, Stephan A. Graham
Using mollusks as indicators of restoration in nearshore zones of south Florida's estuaries Using mollusks as indicators of restoration in nearshore zones of south Florida's estuaries
Current south Florida ecosystem restoration efforts are focused on restoring more natural freshwater flow through the wetlands and into the estuaries to reestablish natural salinity gradients, particularly in the nearshore zones. Indicator taxa are used to monitor and assess restoration progress and the current suite of biota used for the estuaries in south Florida (Biscayne Bay, Florida...
Authors
G. Lynn Wingard, Bethany Stackhouse, Andre Daniels
Database of topo-bathy cross-shore profiles and characteristics for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sandy coastlines Database of topo-bathy cross-shore profiles and characteristics for the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sandy coastlines
A database of seamless topographic and bathymetric cross-shore profiles along with metrics of the associated morphological characteristics based on the latest available lidar data ranging from 2011–2020 and bathymetry from the Continuously Updated Digital Elevation Model was developed for U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico open-ocean sandy coastlines. Cross-shore resolution ranges from 2.5...
Authors
Rangley C. Mickey, Davina L. Passeri
Environmental drivers of autumn migration departure decisions in midcontinental mallards Environmental drivers of autumn migration departure decisions in midcontinental mallards
Background
Authors
Florian G. Weller, William S. Beatty, Elisabeth B. Webb, Dylan C. Kesler, David G. Krementz, Kwasi Asante, Luke W. Naylor
Assessing small-mammal trapping design using spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) modeling on long-term monitoring data Assessing small-mammal trapping design using spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) modeling on long-term monitoring data
Few studies have evaluated the optimal sampling design for tracking small mammal population trends, especially for rare or difficult to detect species. Spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models present an advancement over non-spatial models by accounting for individual movement when estimating density. The salt marsh harvest mouse (SMHM; Reithrodontomys raviventris) is a federal...
Authors
Chase M. Freeman, Laureen Barthman-Thompson, Robert C. Klinger, Isa Woo, Karen M. Thorne
The past, present, and future of coral reef growth in the Florida Keys The past, present, and future of coral reef growth in the Florida Keys
Coral-reef degradation is driving global-scale reductions in reef-building capacity and the ecological, geological, and socioeconomic functions it supports. The persistence of those essential functions will depend on whether coral-reef management is able to rebalance the competing processes of reef accretion and erosion. Here, we reconstructed census-based carbonate budgets of 46 reefs...
Authors
Lauren T. Toth, Travis A. Courtney, Michael A. Colella, Selena Anne-Marie Johnson, Robert R. Ruzicka