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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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Capture vulnerability of sea turtles on recreational fishing piers Capture vulnerability of sea turtles on recreational fishing piers
Capture vulnerability of commercial and recreational fishes has been associated with behavioral, morphological, and life-history traits; however, relationships with non-target species, such as sea turtles, have not been adequately studied. We examined species composition, timing of captures, morphological variables including body size and head width, and body condition of sea turtles...
Authors
Margaret Lamont, Robert Michael Mollenhauer, Allen M. Foley
Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area
Advances in estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) with remote sensing (RS) have contributed to improving hydrological, agricultural, and climatological studies. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of Vegetation-Index (VI) -based ETa (ET-VI) for mapping and monitoring drought in arid agricultural systems in a region where a lack of ground data hampers ETa work. To map ETa...
Authors
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto Munez, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Hamidreza Salemi, Christian Opp, Stefan Siebert, Pamela L. Nagler
Effects of stream intermittency on minnow (Leuciscidae) and darter (Percidae) trophic dynamics in an agricultural watershed Effects of stream intermittency on minnow (Leuciscidae) and darter (Percidae) trophic dynamics in an agricultural watershed
Stream intermittency is predicted to increase where water withdrawals and climate warming are increasing. In regions coupled with high fish diversity, understanding how intermittency influences fish trophic ecology is critical for informing ecosystem function. This study compared fish diets across seasons in perennial and intermittent streams to estimate the immediate and cumulative...
Authors
Christine E. Fallon, Krista A. Capps, Mary Freeman, Chelsea R. Smith, Stephen W. Golladay
Late Holocene environmental change in Celestun Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico Late Holocene environmental change in Celestun Lagoon, Yucatan, Mexico
Epikarst estuary response to hydroclimate change remains poorly understood, despite the well-studied link between climate and karst groundwater aquifers. The influence of sea-level rise and coastal geomorphic change on these estuaries obscures climate signals, thus requiring careful development of paleoenvironmental histories to interpret the paleoclimate archives. We used foraminifera...
Authors
Kyle Hardage, Joseph Street, Jorge A. Herrera-Silveira, Ferdinand K.J. Oberle, Adina Paytan
Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials Data-driven prospectivity modelling of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb mineral systems and their critical raw materials
Demand for critical raw materials is expected to accelerate over the next few decades due to continued population growth and the shifting consumption patterns of the global economy. Sedimentary basins are important sources for critical raw materials and new discoveries of sediment–hosted Mississippi Valley–type (MVT) and/or clastic–dominated (CD) Zn–Pb deposits are likely required to...
Authors
Christopher J. M. Lawley, Anne E. McCafferty, Garth E. Graham, David L. Huston, Karen D. Kelley, Karol Czarnota, Suzanne Paradis, Jan M. Peter, Nathan Hayward, Mike Barlow, Poul Emsbo, Joshua Aaron Coyan, Carma A. San Juan, Michael G. Gadd
Ocean connectivity drives trophic support for consumers in an intermittently closed coastal lagoon Ocean connectivity drives trophic support for consumers in an intermittently closed coastal lagoon
Estuarine food webs are complex, as marine, freshwater, and terrestrial inputs combine and contribute variable amounts of organic material. Seasonal fluctuations in precipitation amplify the dynamism inherent to estuarine food webs, particularly in lagoonal estuaries, which can be seasonally closed and disconnected from the ocean in low-runoff periods (bar-built lagoons). Despite their...
Authors
Matthew J. Young, Frederick V. Feyrer, Darren Fong, Rachel C. Johnson, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Veronica L. Violette, Elizabeth B. Stumpner, Megan B. Young
Whence Orycteropus? The correct authorship and date for the generic name of the aardvark (Mammalia, Tubulidentata, Orycteropodidae) Whence Orycteropus? The correct authorship and date for the generic name of the aardvark (Mammalia, Tubulidentata, Orycteropodidae)
All else being equal, the principle of priority in zoological taxonomic nomenclature gives precedence to the earliest name for a particular taxon. Determining the origin of some late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century taxonomic names, however, can be vexing, particularly when the history of a name was never completely documented in contemporary synonymies. The authorship and date...
Authors
Neal Woodman
Paleohydrological context for recent floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada Paleohydrological context for recent floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada
The recent intensification of floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin (FRB) of British Columbia has had profound cultural, ecological, and economic impacts that are expected to be exacerbated further by anthropogenic climate change. In part due to short instrumental runoff records, the long-term stationarity of hydroclimatic extremes in this major North American watershed remains...
Authors
Rebecca Lynn Brice, Bethany L. Coulthard, Inga K. Homfeld, Laura A. Dye, Kevin J. Anchukaitis
Mapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland Mapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland
Historical and ongoing land use patterns in the Hawaiian Islands have degraded the Islands’ drylands, causing erosion and detrimentally affecting adjacent coastal marine ecosystems. Biological soil crust (biocrust) communities have been shown to increase soil stability in drylands worldwide, but their efficacy in mitigating soil erosion in Hawaiian drylands is largely unknown. Using a...
Authors
Eszter Collier, Ryan L. Perroy, Sasha C. Reed, Jon P Price
Evaluating hydrophones for detecting underwater-calling frogs Evaluating hydrophones for detecting underwater-calling frogs
Amphibians are declining and disappearing worldwide at an alarming rate, emphasizing the need for accurate surveys to document the distribution and abundance of this imperiled taxon. Automated recorders are a powerful tool for surveyors to continuously monitor for calling amphibians. However, we are discovering that many species of frog call when submerged underwater making it...
Authors
Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Patrick J. Wolff, Aaron N. Rice
Ontogenetic shifts from social to experiential learning drive avian migration timing Ontogenetic shifts from social to experiential learning drive avian migration timing
Migrating animals may benefit from social or experiential learning, yet whether and how these learning processes interact or change over time to produce observed migration patterns remains unexplored. Using 16 years of satellite-tracking data from 105 reintroduced whooping cranes, we reveal an interplay between social and experiential learning in migration timing. Both processes...
Authors
Briana Abrahms, Claire S. Teitelbaum, Thomas Mueller, Sarah J. Converse
Using fish community and population indicators to assess the biological condition of streams and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA Using fish community and population indicators to assess the biological condition of streams and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA
The development of indicators to assess relative freshwater condition is critical for management and conservation. Predictive modeling can enhance the utility of indicators by providing estimates of condition for unsurveyed locations. Such approaches grant understanding of where “good” and “poor” conditions occur and provide insight into landscape contexts supporting such conditions...
Authors
Kelly O. Maloney, Kevin P. Krause, Matthew J. Cashman, Wesley M. Daniel, Benjamin P. Gressler, Daniel J. Wieferich, John A. Young