Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Articles

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

Mapping habitat quality and threats for eastern Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis) Mapping habitat quality and threats for eastern Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis)

Documenting the spatial distribution of high-quality habitat patches, the distributions of threats and protected areas, and the vulnerability of habitat patches to changes in environmental conditions is vital for conservation of rare species. Range-wide species distribution models were developed for Black Rails (Laterallus jamaicensis) to predict the distribution of high-quality habitat...
Authors
Bryan S. Stevens, Courtney J. Conway

Climate change and expanding invasive species drive widespread declines of native trout in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA Climate change and expanding invasive species drive widespread declines of native trout in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA

Climate change and invasive species are major threats to native biodiversity, but few empirical studies have examined their combined effects at large spatial and temporal scales. Using 21,917 surveys collected over 30 years, we quantified the impacts of climate change on the past and future distributions of five interacting native and invasive trout species throughout the northern Rocky...
Authors
Donovan A. Bell, Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Timothy Joseph Cline, Diane C. Whited, David Schmetterling, Paul M Lukacs, Andrew R. Whiteley

Revealing migratory path, important stopovers and non-breeding areas of a boreal songbird in steep decline Revealing migratory path, important stopovers and non-breeding areas of a boreal songbird in steep decline

The Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) is a steeply declining aerial insectivore with one of the longest migrations of any North American passerine. We deployed light-level geolocators and archival GPS tags on breeders in boreal Alaska to determine migratory routes, important stopovers and non-breeding locations. Data from 16 individuals revealed a median 23,555 km annual journey...
Authors
Julie C Hagelin, Michael T. Hallworth, Christopher P Barger, James A. Johnson, Kristin A DuBour, Grey W Pendelton, Lucas H. DeCicco, Laura A McDuffie, Steven M. Matsuoka, Marian A Snively, Peter P. Marra

2021 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model for the State of Hawaii 2021 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model for the State of Hawaii

The 2021 U.S. National Seismic Hazard Model (NSHM) for the State of Hawaii updates the two-decades-old former model by incorporating new data and modeling techniques to improve the underlying ground shaking forecasts of tectonic-fault, tectonic-flexure, volcanic, and caldera collapse earthquakes. Two earthquake ground shaking hazard models (public policy and research) are produced that...
Authors
Mark D. Petersen, Allison Shumway, Peter M. Powers, Morgan P. Moschetti, Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, Charles Mueller, Arthur D. Frankel, Sanaz Rezaeian, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Daniel E. McNamara, P. Okubo, Yuehua Zeng, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Sean Kamran Ahdi, Jason M. Altekruse, Brian Shiro

Planetary dunes tell of otherworldly winds Planetary dunes tell of otherworldly winds

Dune fields are common on beaches and in deserts—think of the imposing sand hills and sinuous ripples of the Sahara in Africa or the Karakum in Central Asia, for example—as well as underwater on the beds of rivers, lakes, and oceans. The varied shapes, sizes, and orientations of both modern dunes and those preserved in the geologic record tell of the conditions under which they formed
Authors
Timothy N. Titus, S. Diniega, L.K. Fenton, Lynn Neakrase, James R. Zimbelman

Automated detection of clipping in broadband earthquake records Automated detection of clipping in broadband earthquake records

Because the amount of available ground‐motion data has increased over the last decades, the need for automated processing algorithms has also increased. One difficulty with automated processing is to screen clipped records. Clipping occurs when the ground‐motion amplitude exceeds the dynamic range of the linear response of the instrument. Clipped records in which the amplitude exceeds...
Authors
James Kael Kleckner, Kyle Withers, Eric M. Thompson, J.M. Rekoske, Emily Wolin, Morgan P. Moschetti

Exposure of cultural resources to 21st-century climate change: Towards a risk management plan Exposure of cultural resources to 21st-century climate change: Towards a risk management plan

Anthropogenic climate change during the 21st century presents a significant challenge to the protection of cultural resources (CRs) on federal lands that encompass ∼ 28% of the U.S. In particular, CRs on this land base may be adversely affected by a wide range of climate-change hazards, including damage by sea-level rise, enhanced deterioration by increasing temperature and precipitation...
Authors
Jorie Clark, Jeremy S. Littell, Jay R. Alder, Nathan Teats

Exploring local riverbank sediment controls on the occurrence of preferential groundwater discharge points Exploring local riverbank sediment controls on the occurrence of preferential groundwater discharge points

Groundwater discharge to rivers takes many forms, including preferential groundwater discharge points (PDPs) along riverbanks that are exposed at low flows, with multi-scale impacts on aquatic habitat and water quality. The physical controls on the spatial distribution of PDPs along riverbanks are not well-defined, rendering their prediction and representation in models challenging. To...
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Kaetlyn Jackson, F. Liu, Eric Moore, Alaina Bisson, A. M. Helton

Migration strategies supporting salmonids in Arctic Rivers: A case study of Arctic Cisco and Dolly Varden Migration strategies supporting salmonids in Arctic Rivers: A case study of Arctic Cisco and Dolly Varden

Amphidromous fish such as Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma) and Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) have distinct life histories that facilitate their success in Arctic environments. Both species spawn in freshwater and make annual migrations between marine, brackish, or freshwater environments. Dolly Varden rear for one or more years in freshwater before migrating to sea whereas Arctic...
Authors
Michael P. Carey, Vanessa R. von Biela, Randy J Brown, Christian E. Zimmerman

Host correlates of avian influenza virus infection in wild waterfowl of the Sacramento Valley, California Host correlates of avian influenza virus infection in wild waterfowl of the Sacramento Valley, California

Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) are distributed globally in members of the family Anatidae (waterfowl), and significant disease may occur when these viruses infect commercial poultry or humans. Early detection of AIV through surveillance of wild waterfowl is one measure to prevent future disease outbreaks. Surveillance efforts that are designed to account for host and environmental...
Authors
Elizabeth A. Bianchini, Raymond J. Bogiatto, Robin A. Donatello, Michael L. Casazza, Joshua T. Ackerman, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Troy D. Cline

Assessing spontaneous howling rates in captive wolves using automatic passive recorders Assessing spontaneous howling rates in captive wolves using automatic passive recorders

We studied the spontaneous vocal behaviour of captive wolves at the International Wolf Center (IWC) in Minnesota (spring 2019 and winter 2020), and the Centro del Lobo Ibérico Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente (CLIFRF) in Spain (winter 2020). We used AudioMoth recording devices to record wolf howling 24 hr/day. We identified 412 solo howl series and 403 chorus howls and found differences...
Authors
Vicente Palacios, Shannon Barber-Meyer, Barbara Marti-Domken, Lori J. Schmidt

Invasive sea lamprey detection and characterization using interdigitated electrode (IDE) contact sensor Invasive sea lamprey detection and characterization using interdigitated electrode (IDE) contact sensor

The ability to monitor invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) populations in the Laurentian Great Lakes is critical to protecting the region’s $ 7 billion USD fishing industry and preserving its biodiversity. Monitoring these invaders requires considerable fieldwork and human power, making remote lamprey detection systems attractive for their continuous monitoring capabilities and...
Authors
Ian Gonzalez-Afanador, Hongyang Shi, Christopher M. Holbrook, Xiaobo Tan, Nelson Sepulveda
Was this page helpful?