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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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Visualizing social-ecological intensities for management of recreation visitors in a multiuse system Visualizing social-ecological intensities for management of recreation visitors in a multiuse system
Accounting for the variation of visitor conflicts and ecological disturbance of outdoor recreation activities across space and time can cause difficulty for managers seeking to make decisions in social-ecological systems (SESs). We develop a method to quantify and visualize social and ecological intensities resulting from outdoor recreation. We demonstrate the utility of our method at...
Authors
O. A. DaRugna, C. J. Chizinski, Kevin L. Pope, L. A. Powell, M. A. Kaemik
Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees
In an emerging era of megadisturbance, bolstering forest resilience to wildfire, insects, and drought has become a central objective in many western forests. Climate has received considerable attention as a driver of these disturbances, but few studies have examined the complexities of climate–vegetation–disturbance interactions. Current strategies for creating resilient forests often...
Authors
Tucker J. Furniss, Adrian Das, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Nathan L. Stephenson, James A. Lutz
Earthquake risk of gas pipelines in the conterminous United States and its sources of uncertainty Earthquake risk of gas pipelines in the conterminous United States and its sources of uncertainty
Relatively little research has been conducted to systematically quantify the nationwide earthquake risk of gas pipelines in the US; simultaneously, national guidance is limited for operators across the country to consistently evaluate the earthquake risk of their assets. Furthermore, many challenges and uncertainties exist in a comprehensive seismic risk assessment of gas pipelines. As a...
Authors
N. Simon Kwong, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Jack W. Baker, Nico Luco, K. A. Ludwig, Vasey J. Stephens
Both real-time and long-term environmental data perform well in predicting shorebird distributions in managed habitat Both real-time and long-term environmental data perform well in predicting shorebird distributions in managed habitat
Highly mobile species, such as migratory birds, respond to seasonal and inter-annual variability in resource availability by moving to better habitats. Despite the recognized importance of resource thresholds, species distribution models typically rely on long-term average habitat conditions, mostly because large-extent, temporally-resolved, environmental data are difficult to obtain...
Authors
Erin Conlisk, Gregory Golet, Mark Reynolds, Blake Barbaree, Kristin Sesser, Kristin B. Byrd, Sam Veloz, Matthew E. Reiter
Hydrometeorology and hydrology of flooding in Cape Fear River basin during Hurricane Florence in 2018 Hydrometeorology and hydrology of flooding in Cape Fear River basin during Hurricane Florence in 2018
Hurricanes are the major flood generating mechanism dominating the upper tail of the peak discharge distribution over the Cape Fear River Basin (CFRB). In 2018, Hurricane Florence swamped CFRB as the ninth-most-destructive hurricane ever hit the United States and set new records of peak discharges over the main river channel and three out of five of its major tributaries. In this study...
Authors
Dongxiao Yin, George Xue, John C. Warner, Daoyang Bao, Yongjie Huang, Wei Yu
Contributed reports of widely felt earthquakes in California, United States: If they felt it, did they report it? Contributed reports of widely felt earthquakes in California, United States: If they felt it, did they report it?
In a recent study, Hough and Martin (2021) considered the extent to which socioeconomic factors influence the numbers and distribution of contributed reports available to characterize the effects of both historical and recent large earthquakes. In this study I explore the question further, focusing on analysis of widely felt earthquakes near major population centers in northern and...
Authors
Susan E. Hough
A statistical framework to track temporal dependence of chlorophyll–nutrient relationships with implications for lake eutrophication management A statistical framework to track temporal dependence of chlorophyll–nutrient relationships with implications for lake eutrophication management
A reliable chlorophyll–nutrient relationship (CNR) is essential for lake eutrophication management. Although the spatial variability of CNRs has been extensively explored, temporal variations of CNRs at the individual lake scale has rarely been discussed. The paucity of information about temporal dependence in CNRs may in part be due to the lack of a suitable statistical framework that...
Authors
Qianlinglin Qiu, Zhongyao Liang, Yaoyang Xu, Shin-ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Kazuhiro Komatsu, Tyler Wagner
Wild juvenile salmonid abundance in Wisconsin tributaries indicates limited contributions to Lake Michigan fisheries Wild juvenile salmonid abundance in Wisconsin tributaries indicates limited contributions to Lake Michigan fisheries
Natural reproduction of salmonids occurs in many Lake Michigan tributaries, yet little is known about abundance and the potential contribution of wild fish hatching in Wisconsin tributaries. The objectives of our study were to determine if: 1) abundance of wild juvenile salmonids (primarily adfluvial rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, referred to as steelhead) varied among selected...
Authors
Eric Wegleitner, Joshua Raabe, Daniel Dembkowski, Nicholas Legler, Daniel A. Isermann
Velocity-porosity relations in carbonate and siliciclastic subduction zone input materials Velocity-porosity relations in carbonate and siliciclastic subduction zone input materials
The mechanical, physical, and frictional properties of incoming materials play an important role in subduction zone structure and slip behavior because these properties influence the strength of the accretionary wedge and megathrust plate boundary faults. Incoming sediment sections often show an increase in compressional wave speed (Vp) and a decrease in porosity with depth due to...
Authors
Tamara Nicole Jeppson, Hiroko Kitajima
Climate extremes as drivers of surface-water-quality trends in the United States Climate extremes as drivers of surface-water-quality trends in the United States
Surface-water quality can change in response to climate perturbations, such as changes in the frequency of heavy precipitation or droughts, through direct effects, such as dilution and concentration, and through physical processes, such as bank scour. Water quality might also change through indirect mechanisms, such as changing water demand or changes in runoff interaction with organic...
Authors
Karen R. Ryberg, Jeffrey G. Chanat
Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence Beyond bulk: Density fractions explain heterogeneity in global soil carbon abundance and persistence
Understanding the controls on the amount and persistence of soil organic carbon (C) is essential for predicting its sensitivity to global change. The response may depend on whether C is unprotected, isolated within aggregates, or protected from decomposition by mineral associations. Here, we present a global synthesis of the relative influence of environmental factors on soil organic C
Authors
Katherine Heckman, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Corey Lawrence, Craig Rasmussen, Susan E. Crow, Alison M. Hoyt, Sophie F. von Fromm, Zheng Shi, Shane Stoner, Casey McGrath, Jeffery Beem-Miller, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Joseph C. Blankinship, Marco Keiluweit, Erika Marín-Spiotta, J. Grey Monroe, Alain F. Plante, Joshua Schimel, Carlos A. Sierra, Aaron Thompson, Rota Wagai
Mismatch-induced growth reductions in a clade of Arctic-breeding shorebirds are rarely mitigated by increasing temperatures Mismatch-induced growth reductions in a clade of Arctic-breeding shorebirds are rarely mitigated by increasing temperatures
In seasonal environments subject to climate change, organisms typically show phenological changes. As these changes are usually stronger in organisms at lower trophic levels than those at higher trophic levels, mismatches between consumers and their prey may occur during the consumers’ reproduction period. While in some species a trophic mismatch induces reductions in offspring growth...
Authors
Thomas Lameris, Pavel S. Tomkovich, James A. Johnson, R.I. Guy Morrison, Lucas Decicco, Maksim N. Dementyev, Ingrid Tulp, Robert E. Gill, Simeon Lisovski, Job ten Horn, Theunis Piersma, Z. Pohlen, Hans Schekkerman, Mikhail Soloviev, E. Syroechkovsky, Jan A. van Gils, Mikhail Zhemchuzhnikov