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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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Blue waters, green bottoms: Benthic filamentous algal blooms are an emerging threat to clear lakes worldwide Blue waters, green bottoms: Benthic filamentous algal blooms are an emerging threat to clear lakes worldwide
Nearshore (littoral) habitats of clear lakes with high water quality are increasingly experiencing unexplained proliferations of filamentous algae that grow on submerged surfaces. These filamentous algal blooms (FABs) are sometimes associated with nutrient pollution in groundwater, but complex changes in climate, nutrient transport, lake hydrodynamics, and food web structure may also...
Authors
Yvonne Vadeboncoeur, Marianne V. Moore, Simon D. Stewart, Sudeep Chandra, Karen Atkins, Jill S. Baron, Keith Bouma-Gregson, Soren Brothers, Stephen Francoeur, Laurel Genzoli, Scott N. Higgins, Sabine Hilt, Leon R. Katona, David Kelly, Isabella Oleksy, Ted Ozersky, Mary Powel, Derek Roberts, Oleg Timoshkin, Flavia Tromboni, M. Jake Vander Zanden, Ekaterina Volkova, Sean Waters, Susanna A. Wood, Masumi Yamamuro
Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems
Non-forest ecosystems, dominated by shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, provide ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and forage for grazing, and are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Yet these ecosystems are poorly represented in remotely sensed biomass products and are undersampled by in situ monitoring. Current global change threats emphasize the need for new tools...
Authors
Andrew Cunliffe, Karen Anderson, Fabio Boschetti, Richard E. Brazier, Hugh A. Graham, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Thomas Astor, Matthias M. Boer, Leonor G. Calvo, Patrick Clark, Michael D. Cramer, Miguel S. Encinas-Lara, Stephen M. Escarzaga, Adrian Fisher, Jose M Fernandez-Guisuraga, Katerina Gdulova, Breahna M. Gillespie, Anne Griebel, Niall P Hanan, Muhammed S. Hanggito, Stefan Haselberger, Caroline A. Havrilla, Phil Heilman, Wenjie Ji, Jason W. Karl, Sabine Kraushaar, Marguerite E. Mauritz, Mitchell Lyons, Irene Marzolff, C. D. McIntire, Daniel Metzen, Luis A. Mendez-Barroso, Simon C. Power, Jiri Prosek, Enoc Sanz-Ablanedo, Katherine J. Sauer, Damian Schulze-Bruninghoff, Petra Simova, Stephen Sitch, Julian L. Smit, Caiti M. Steele, Susana Suarez-Seoane, Sergio A. Vargas, Miguel L. Villarreal, Fleur Visser, Michael Wachendorf, Hannes Wirnsberger, Robert Wojcikiewicz
Predicting wildfire impacts on the prehistoric archaeological record of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA Predicting wildfire impacts on the prehistoric archaeological record of the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, USA
Wildfires of uncharacteristic severity, a consequence of climate changes and accumulated fuels, can cause amplified or novel impacts to archaeological resources. The archaeological record includes physical features associated with human activity; these exist within ecological landscapes and provide a unique long-term perspective on human–environment interactions. The potential for fire...
Authors
Megan Friggens, Rachel A. Loehman, Connie Constan, Rebekah Kneifel
Twenty-first-century projections of shoreline change along inlet-interrupted coastlines Twenty-first-century projections of shoreline change along inlet-interrupted coastlines
Sandy coastlines adjacent to tidal inlets are highly dynamic and widespread landforms, where large changes are expected due to climatic and anthropogenic influences. To adequately assess these important changes, both oceanic (e.g., sea-level rise) and terrestrial (e.g., fluvial sediment supply) processes that govern the local sediment budget must be considered. Here, we present novel...
Authors
Janaka Bamunawala, Roshanka Ranasinghe, Ali Dastgheib, Robert .J. Nichols, A. Brad Murray, Patrick L. Barnard, T. A. J. G. Sirisena, Trang Minh Duong, Suzanne J. M. H. Hulscher, Ad van der Spek
Individual and seasonal variation in the movement behavior of two tropical nectarivorous birds Individual and seasonal variation in the movement behavior of two tropical nectarivorous birds
Background Movement of animals directly affects individual fitness, yet fine spatial and temporal resolution movement behavior has been studied in relatively few small species, particularly in the tropics. Nectarivorous Hawaiian honeycreepers are believed to be highly mobile throughout the year, but their fine-scale movement patterns remain unknown. The movement behavior of these crucial
Authors
Jennifer R Smetzer, Kristina L. Paxton, Eben H. Paxton
Effects of season, location, species, and sex on hematologic and plasma biochemical values and body mass in free-ranging Grebes (Aechmophorus species) Effects of season, location, species, and sex on hematologic and plasma biochemical values and body mass in free-ranging Grebes (Aechmophorus species)
The effects of season, location, species, and sex on body weight and a comprehensive array of blood chemistry and hematology analytes were compared for free-ranging western (Aechmophorus occidentalis) and Clark's (Aechmophorus clarkii) grebes. Birds (n = 56) were collected from Puget Sound, WA, and Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay, CA, from February 2007 to March 2011. The data...
Authors
Nancy L Anderson, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Joseph K Gaydos, Michael H. Ziccardi, Danielle J Harvey
Temperature variation and host immunity regulate viral persistence in a salmonid host Temperature variation and host immunity regulate viral persistence in a salmonid host
Environmental variation has important effects on host–pathogen interactions, affecting large-scale ecological processes such as the severity and frequency of epidemics. However, less is known about how the environment interacts with host immunity to modulate virus fitness within hosts. Here, we studied the interaction between host immune responses and water temperature on the long-term...
Authors
David J. Paez, Rachel L. Powers, Peng Jia, Natalia Ballesteros, Gael Kurath, Kerry A. Naish, Maureen K. Purcell
Rapid assessment indicates context-dependent mitigation for amphibian disease risk Rapid assessment indicates context-dependent mitigation for amphibian disease risk
Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) is a fungal pathogen that can cause the emerging infectious disease Bsal chytridiomycosis in some amphibians and is currently causing dramatic declines in European urodeles. To date, Bsal has not been detected in North America but has the potential to cause severe declines in naïve hosts if introduced. Therefore, it is critical that wildlife...
Authors
Riley F Bernard, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Coastal Tree-Ring Records for Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Applications in North America Coastal Tree-Ring Records for Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Applications in North America
For more than a century, tree-ring research has identified relationships between climatic and ecological conditions and tree growth to describe past environments and constrain future ecosystem vulnerabilities. Tree-ring records are frequently used as environmental proxies that extend knowledge of past climate and ecology on millennial scales. Many of the most pressing global change...
Authors
Clay Tucker, Jessie K. Pearl
Evaluating spectral ratio methods for characterizing fundamental resonance peaks on flat sediments: An example from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Eastern United States Evaluating spectral ratio methods for characterizing fundamental resonance peaks on flat sediments: An example from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Eastern United States
Damaging ground motions from the 2011 Mw 5.8 Virginia earthquake were likely increased due to site amplification from the unconsolidated sediments of the Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP), highlighting the need to understand site response on these widespread strata along the coastal regions of the eastern United States. The horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method, using either...
Authors
Lisa Sue Schleicher, Thomas L. Pratt
Origin of the isotopic composition of natural perchlorate: Experimental results for the impact of reaction pathway and initial ClOx reactant Origin of the isotopic composition of natural perchlorate: Experimental results for the impact of reaction pathway and initial ClOx reactant
Natural perchlorate (ClO4−) exists in many places on Earth, in lunar regolith, meteorites, and on the surface of Mars. Terrestrial natural ClO4− has widely variable Cl and O stable isotopic compositions (δ37Cl, δ18O, Δ17O). The δ18O and Δ17O values of ClO4− from the most hyper-arid locations co-vary. ClO4− from less arid areas has relatively little 17O excess and poor Δ17O-δ18O...
Authors
Nubia Estrada, Todd A. Anderson, J.K. Bohlke, Baohua Gu, Paul B. Hatzinger, Stanley J. Mroczkowski, Balaji Rao, Neil C. Sturchio, W. Andrew Jackson
The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project
Geobiology explores how Earth's system has changed over the course of geologic history and how living organisms on this planet are impacted by or are indeed causing these changes. For decades, geologists, paleontologists, and geochemists have generated data to investigate these topics. Foundational efforts in sedimentary geochemistry utilized spreadsheets for data storage and analysis...
Authors
Una Farrell, Rifaat Samawi, Savitha Anjanappa, Roman Klykov, Oyeleye Adeboye, Heda Agic, Anne-Sofie Ahm, Thomas Boag, Fred Bowyer, Jochen J. Brocks, Tessa Brunoir, Donald Canfield, Xiaoyan Chen, Meng Cheng, Matthew Clarkson, Devon B. Cole, David Cordie, Peter W. Crockford, Huan Cui, Tais Dahl, Lucas Del Mouro, Keith Dewing, Stephen Dornbos, Nadja Drabon, Julie A. Dumoulin, Jospeh Emmings, Cecilia R. Endringa, Tiffani A. Fraser, Robert R. Gaines, Richard M. Gaschnig, Timothy M. Gibson, Geoffrey J. Gilleaudeau, Benjamin C. Gill, Karin Goldberg, Romain Guilbaud, Galen P. Halverson, Emma U. Hammarlund, Kalev G. Hantsoo, Miles A. Henderson, Malcolm S. W. Hodgskiss, Tristan Horner, Jon M. Husson, Benjamin Johnson, Pavel Kabanov, C. Brenhin Keller, Julien Kimmig, Michael A. Kipp, Andrew H. Knoll, Timmu Kreitsmann, Marcus Kunzmann, Florian Kurzweil, Matthew A. LeRoy, Chao Li, Alex Lipp, David K. Loydell, Xinze Lu, Francis A. Macdonald, Joseph M. Magnall, Kaarel Mand, Akshay Mehra, Michael J. Melchin, Austin J. Miller, Chiza N. Mwinde, Brennan O’Connell, Lawrence M. Och, Frantz Ossa Ossa, Anais Pages, Kart Paiste, Camille A. Partin, Shanan Peters, Peter Petrov, Tiffany L. Playter, Stephanie Plaza-Torres, Susannah M. Porter, Simon W. Poulton, Sara B. Pruss, Sylvain Richoz, Samantha R. Ritzer, Alan D. Rooney, Swapan K. Sahoo, Shane D. Schoepfer, Judith A. Sclafani, Yanan Shen, Oliver Shorttle, Sarah P. Slotznick, Emily F. Smith, Sam Spinks, Richard G. Stockey, J. V. Strauss, Eva E. Stueken, Sabrina Tecklenburg, Danielle Thomson, N. J. Tosca, Gabriel J. Uhlein, Maoli N. Vizcaino, Huajian Wang, Tristan White, Philip R. Wilby, Christina R. Woltz, Rachel A. Wood, Lei Xiang, Inessa A. Yurchenko, Tianran Zhang, Noah J. Planavsky, Kimberly V. Lau, David T. Johnston, Erik A. Sperling