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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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Deconstructing the microbial necromass continuum to inform soil carbon sequestration Deconstructing the microbial necromass continuum to inform soil carbon sequestration

Microbial necromass is a large, dynamic and persistent component of soil organic carbon, the dominant terrestrial carbon pool. Quantification of necromass carbon stocks and its susceptibility to global change is becoming standard practice in soil carbon research. However, the typical proxies used for necromass carbon do not reveal the dynamic nature of necromass carbon flows and...
Authors
Kate M Buckeridge, Courtney Creamer, Jeanette Whitaker

Evaluation of electrical and electromagnetic geophysical techniques to inspect earthen dam and levee structures in Arkansas Evaluation of electrical and electromagnetic geophysical techniques to inspect earthen dam and levee structures in Arkansas

Within the state of Arkansas there is an increasing number of aging dams and levees that have little to no documentation concerning their construction or composition. Surface geophysical surveys offer a non-intrusive method for investigating these structures: To describe their lithologic makeup, to evaluate the materials that they were constructed upon, and to identify potential flow...
Authors
Ryan F. Adams, Benjamin Miller, Wade H. Kress, Scott Ikard, Jason D. Payne, Walter Killion

Human-in-the-Loop segmentation of earth surface imagery Human-in-the-Loop segmentation of earth surface imagery

Segmentation, or the classification of pixels (grid cells) in imagery, is ubiquitously applied in the natural sciences. Manual methods are often prohibitively time-consuming, especially those images consisting of small objects and/or significant spatial heterogeneity of colors or textures. Labeling complicated regions of transition that in Earth surface imagery are represented by...
Authors
Daniel D. Buscombe, Evan B. Goldstein, Christopher R. Sherwood, Cameron S Bodine, Jenna A. Brown, Jaycee Favela, Sharon Fitzpatrick, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe Alan Wernette

Conservation under uncertainty: Innovations in participatory climate change scenario planning from U.S. national parks Conservation under uncertainty: Innovations in participatory climate change scenario planning from U.S. national parks

The impacts of climate change (CC) on natural and cultural resources are far-reaching and complex. A major challenge facing resource managers is not knowing the exact timing and nature of those impacts. To confront this problem, scientists, adaptation specialists, and resource managers have begun to use scenario planning (SP). This structured process identifies a small set of scenarios
Authors
Brian W. Miller, Gregor W. Schuurman, Amy Symstad, Amber C Runyon, Brecken C. Robb

Tidally-driven gas exchange in beaches: Implications for sea turtle nest success Tidally-driven gas exchange in beaches: Implications for sea turtle nest success

The success of individual sea turtle nests is influenced by nest location on the beach and the resulting incubation environment. Several abiotic factors affect nest incubation, and thus nest success, but tides and gas exchange are two of the most important. The effects of tides on nest success have been well documented in regard to overwash and inundation events. However, the possible...
Authors
K.M. Goforth, Raymond Carthy

Poor relationships between NEON Airborne Observation Platform data and field-based vegetation traits at a mesic grassland Poor relationships between NEON Airborne Observation Platform data and field-based vegetation traits at a mesic grassland

Understanding spatial and temporal variation in plant traits is needed to accurately predict how communities and ecosystems will respond to global change. The National Observatory Ecological Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) provides hyperspectral images and associated data products at numerous field sites at 1 m spatial resolution, potentially allowing high-resolution...
Authors
Stephanie Pau, Jesse Nippert, Ryan Slapikas, Daniel Mark Griffith, Seton Bachle, Brent Helliker, Rory O’Connor, William J. Riley, Christopher J. Still, Marissa Zaricor

Rainfall an unlikely trigger of Kilauea’s 2018 rift eruption Rainfall an unlikely trigger of Kilauea’s 2018 rift eruption

If volcanic eruptions could be forecast from the occurrence of some external process, it might be possible to better mitigate risk and protect lives and livelihoods. Farquharson and Amelung1 suggested that the 2018 lower East Rift Zone (ERZ) eruption of Kīlauea Volcano—the most destructive eruption in Hawai‘i in at least 200 years2—was triggered by extreme precipitation, which caused...
Authors
Michael Poland, Shaul Hurwitz, James P. Kauahikaua, Emily K. Montgomery-Brown, Kyle R. Anderson, Ingrid A. Johanson, Matthew R. Patrick, Christina A. Neal

Toward improved prediction of streamflow effects on freshwater fishes Toward improved prediction of streamflow effects on freshwater fishes

Understanding the effects of hydrology on fish populations is essential to managing for native fish conservation. However, despite decades of research illustrating streamflow influences on fish habitat, reproduction and survival, biologists remain challenged when tasked with predicting how fish populations will respond to changes in flow regimes. This uncertainty stems from insufficient
Authors
Mary Freeman, Kevin R. Bestgen, Daren M. Carlisle, Emmanuel A. Frimpong, Nathan R. Franssen, Ketih B. Gido, Elise R. Irwin, Yoichiro Kanno, Charles H. Luce, S. Kyle McKay, Meryl C. Mims, Julian D. Olden, N. LeRoy Poff, David L. Propst, Laura Rack, Allison H. Roy, Edward S. Stowe, Annika W. Walters, Seth J. Wenger

The role of monitoring and research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in framing our understanding of the effects of disease on amphibians The role of monitoring and research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in framing our understanding of the effects of disease on amphibians

Emerging infectious disease threatens amphibian biodiversity worldwide, including in landscapes that are protected from many anthropogenic stressors. We summarized data from studies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), one of the largest and most complete temperate-zone ecosystems on Earth, to assess the current state of knowledge about ranaviruses and the novel amphibian chytrid...
Authors
Erin L. Muths, Blake R. Hossack

Activity patterns of Hawaiian forest birds in a fragmented and continuous landscape Activity patterns of Hawaiian forest birds in a fragmented and continuous landscape

Activity patterns are a key component of avian life history and behavior, and decisions about how activity periods are structured can have important fitness implications. Despite the importance of activity patterns, individual variability in activity is poorly studied in small birds. We used automated radio telemetry to track Hawaiian forest birds from three dietary guilds in a...
Authors
Jennifer R Smetzer, Kristina L. Paxton, Patrick J. Hart, Eben H. Paxton

Context-dependent variation in persistence of host populations in the face of disease Context-dependent variation in persistence of host populations in the face of disease

Research Highlight: Valenzuela-Sánchez, A., Azat, C., Cunningham, A. A., Delgado, S., Bacigalupe, L. D., Beltrand, J., Serrano, J. M., Sentenac, H., Haddow, N., Toledo, V., Schmidt, B. R., & Cayuela, H. (2022). Interpopulation differences in male reproductive effort drive the population dynamics of a host exposed to an emerging fungal pathogen. Journal of Animal Ecology, 00, 1– 12. https...
Authors
Bennett Hardy, Erin L. Muths, David N. Koons
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