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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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Coffee plantations, hurricanes and avian resiliency: Insights from occupancy, and local colonization and extinction rates in Puerto Rico Coffee plantations, hurricanes and avian resiliency: Insights from occupancy, and local colonization and extinction rates in Puerto Rico
Insights on impacts and resiliency of avian species with respect to hurricanes in the Caribbean have largely focused on responses measured in protected habitats. We assessed avian responses in non-protected habitat, specifically shade-restored coffee plantations, because their structural complexity retains many attributes of secondary forests, and may contribute to landscape scale...
Authors
Amarilys D. Irizarry, Jaime A. Collazo, J. Vandermeer, I. Perfecto
A roadmap for planetary caves science and exploration A roadmap for planetary caves science and exploration
While researchers have pondered the possibility of extraterrestrial caves for more than 50 years, we have now entered the incipient phase of planetary caves exploration. Our knowledge of planetary caves varies from body to body. Earth represents the most advanced level of exploration, but many unanswered questions remain. Beyond Earth, identification of possible caves is most advanced...
Authors
Timothy N. Titus, J. Judson Wynne, Michael J. Malaska, Ali-akbar Agha-Mohammadi, Peter Buhler, E. Calvin Alexander, James W. Ashley, Armando Azua-Bustos, Penelope J. Boston, Debra L. Buczkowski, Leroy Chiao, Glen E. Cushing, John DeDecker, Pablo de Leon, Cansu Demirel-Floyd, Jo de Waele, Alberto G. Fairen, Amos Frumkin, Gary L. Harris, Heather Jones, Laura H. Kerber, Erin J. Leonard, Richard J. Leveille, Kavya Manyapu, Matteo Massironi, Ana Z. Miller, John E. Mylroie, Bogdan P. Onac, Scott E. Parazynski, Cynthia B. Phillips, Charity M. Phillips-Lander, Thomas H. Prettyman, Haley M. Sapers, Francesco Sauro, Norbert Schorghofer, Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Jennifer Scully, Kyle Uckert, Robert V. Wagner, William L. Whittaker, Kaj E. Williams, Uland Y. Wong
A review of factors affecting PIT tag detection using mobile arrays and use of mobile antennas to detect PIT-tagged suckers in a wadeable Ozark stream A review of factors affecting PIT tag detection using mobile arrays and use of mobile antennas to detect PIT-tagged suckers in a wadeable Ozark stream
Advantages of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags are their small size, longevity, and low-cost compared to other tags. PIT tags are often used in fisheries to study movement patterns, survival, or estimate population size. However, PIT tags are limited by their short detection distance. Mobile PIT antennas may increase the utility of PIT tags in fisheries. In this study, we...
Authors
Douglas L. Zentner, Skylar Wolf, Shannon K. Brewer, Daniel E. Shoup
A framework for evaluating earthquake early warning for an infrastructure network: An idealized case study of a northern California rail system A framework for evaluating earthquake early warning for an infrastructure network: An idealized case study of a northern California rail system
Earthquake early warning (EEW) systems provide a few to tens of seconds of warning before shaking hits a site. Despite the recent rapid developments of EEW systems around the world, the optimal alert response strategy and the practical benefit of using EEW are still open-ended questions, especially in areas where EEW systems are new or have not yet been deployed. Here, we use a case...
Authors
Sarah E. Minson, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Stephen Wu, Shunta Noda
Post-white-nose syndrome passive acoustic sampling effort for determining bat species occupancy within the mid-Atlantic region Post-white-nose syndrome passive acoustic sampling effort for determining bat species occupancy within the mid-Atlantic region
We assessed the sampling effort requirements for detecting the presence of extant bat species following the impact of white-nose syndrome in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. We acoustically sampled 27,796 nights across 846 sites between 15 May and 15 August 2016–2018 within the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. We developed...
Authors
Sabrina M. Deeley, Nicholas J. Kalen, Samuel R. Freeze, Elaine L. Barr, W. Mark Ford
A multi-tracer and well-bore flow profile approach to determine occurrence, movement, and sources of perchlorate in groundwater A multi-tracer and well-bore flow profile approach to determine occurrence, movement, and sources of perchlorate in groundwater
The purpose of this study is to determine the occurrence, movement and sources of perchlorate in groundwater using a comprehensive set of environmental tracers coupled with discreet borehole data. Potential sources of perchlorate to groundwater at the study site have been attributed to waste disposal and industrial activities as well as to past agricultural operations. Perchlorate...
Authors
Michael Wright, John A. Izbicki, Bryant C. Jurgens
Devils Hole calcite was precipitated at ±1°C stable aquifer temperatures during the last half million years Devils Hole calcite was precipitated at ±1°C stable aquifer temperatures during the last half million years
Subaqueous carbonates from the Devils Hole caves (southwestern USA) provide a continuous Holocene to Pleistocene North American paleoclimate record. The accuracy of this record relies on two assumptions: That carbonates precipitated close to isotope equilibrium and that groundwater temperature did not change significantly in the last 570 thousand years. Here, we investigate these...
Authors
David Bajnai, Tyler B. Coplen, Katharina Methner, Niklas Loffler, Emilija Krsnik, Jens Fiebig
Native mammalian predators can depredate adult Burmese Pythons in Florida Native mammalian predators can depredate adult Burmese Pythons in Florida
Invasive predators are of conservation concern because they contribute to species declines and extinctions worldwide. Interactions of native fauna and invasive predators can be complex, but understanding these relationships can guide management and restoration. Observations of these interactions are especially important for invaders with low detectability like Python bivittatus (Burmese...
Authors
Matthew F. McCollister, Jillian Maureen Josimovich, Austin Lee Fitzgerald, Deborah K. Jansen, Andrea Faye Currylow
Demographic and potential biological removal models identify raptor species sensitive to current and future wind energy Demographic and potential biological removal models identify raptor species sensitive to current and future wind energy
A central challenge in applied ecology is understanding the effect of anthropogenic fatalities on wildlife populations and predicting which populations may be particularly vulnerable and in greatest need of management attention. We used 3 approaches to investigate potential effects of fatalities from collisions with wind turbines on 14 raptor species for both current (106 GW) and...
Authors
James E. Diffendorfer, Jessica C. Stanton, Julie A. Beston, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Scott R. Loss, Todd E. Katzner, Douglas H. Johnson, Richard A. Erickson, Matthew D. Merrill, Margo D. Corum
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Species Management Research Program, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
A survey of storm-induced seaward-transport features observed during the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons A survey of storm-induced seaward-transport features observed during the 2019 and 2020 hurricane seasons
Hurricanes are known to play a critical role in reshaping coastlines, but often only impacts on the open ocean coast are considered, ignoring seaward-directed forces and responses. The identification of subaerial evidence for storm-induced seaward transport is a critical step towards understanding its impact on coastal resiliency. The visual features, found in the National Oceanic and...
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Jenna A. Brown, Christopher R. Sherwood, Christie Hegermiller, Phillipe Alan Wernette, Andrew C. Ritchie, Jonathan A. Warrick
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Recovery Activities, Hurricane Delta, Hurricane Dorian, Hurricane Isaias, Hurricane Laura, Hurricanes
Material properties and triggering mechanisms of an andesitic lava dome collapse at Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, revealed using the finite element method Material properties and triggering mechanisms of an andesitic lava dome collapse at Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, revealed using the finite element method
Shiveluch volcano (Kamchatka, Russia) is an active andesitic volcano with a history of explosive activity, dome extrusion, and structural collapse during the Holocene. The most recent major (> 1 km3) dome collapse occurred in November 1964, producing a ~ 1.5 km3 debris avalanche that traveled over 15 km from the vent and triggered a phreatic explosion followed by a voluminous (~ 0.8 km3)...
Authors
Cory S Wallace, Lauren N. Schaefer, Marlène C. Villeneuve
New interpretations of the ages and origins of the Hawkeye Granite Gneiss and Lyon Mountain Granite Gneiss, Adirondack Mountains, NY: Implications for the nature and timing of Mesoproterozoic plutonism, metamorphism, and deformation New interpretations of the ages and origins of the Hawkeye Granite Gneiss and Lyon Mountain Granite Gneiss, Adirondack Mountains, NY: Implications for the nature and timing of Mesoproterozoic plutonism, metamorphism, and deformation
The Hawkeye Granite Gneiss and Lyon Mountain Granite Gneiss are widespread Mesoproterozoic plutonic rocks that occur in the amphibolite- to granulite-facies Adirondack Highlands of northern New York, USA. The strongly deformed Hawkeye Granite Gneiss, previously dated by zircon multi-grain thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) U-Pb analyses at about 1100 Ma, was intruded by the...
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, Gregory J. Walsh, Ryan J. McAleer