Articles
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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.
Filter Total Items: 77868
Virus shedding kinetics and unconventional virulence tradeoffs Virus shedding kinetics and unconventional virulence tradeoffs
Tradeoff theory, which postulates that virulence provides both transmission costs and benefits for pathogens, has become widely adopted by the scientific community. Although theoretical literature exploring virulence-tradeoffs is vast, empirical studies validating various assumptions still remain sparse. In particular, truncation of transmission duration as a cost of virulence has been...
Authors
Andrew R. Wargo, Gael Kurath, Robert J. Scott, Benjamin Kerr
A customized framework for regional classification of conifers using automated feature extraction A customized framework for regional classification of conifers using automated feature extraction
Pinyon and juniper expansion into sagebrush ecosystems is one of the major challenges facing land managers in the Great Basin. Effective pinyon and juniper treatment requires maps that accurately and precisely depict tree location and degree of woodland development so managers can target restoration efforts for early stages of pinyon and juniper expansion. However, available remotely...
Authors
Cali L. Roth, Peter S. Coates, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Michael P. Chenaille, Mark A. Ricca, Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, Michael L. Casazza
White-nose syndrome-related changes to Mid-Atlantic bat communities across an urban-to-rural gradient White-nose syndrome-related changes to Mid-Atlantic bat communities across an urban-to-rural gradient
Background White-nose Syndrome (WNS) has reduced the abundance of many bat species within the United States’ Mid-Atlantic region. To determine changes within the National Park Service National Capital Region (NCR) bat communities, we surveyed the area with mist netting and active acoustic sampling (2016–2018) and compared findings to pre-WNS (2003–2004) data.Results The results indicated...
Authors
Sabrina M. Deeley, Joshua B. Johnson, W. Mark Ford, J. Edward Gates
Hydraulic conductivity can no longer be considered a fixed property when quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water Hydraulic conductivity can no longer be considered a fixed property when quantifying flow between groundwater and surface water
No abstract available.
Authors
Donald O. Rosenberry, Peter Engesgaard, Christine E. Hatch
Bridging the research-implementation gap in avian conservation with translational ecology Bridging the research-implementation gap in avian conservation with translational ecology
The recognized gap between research and implementation in avian conservation can be overcome with translational ecology, an intentional approach in which science producers and users from multiple disciplines work collaboratively to co-develop and deliver ecological research that addresses management and conservation issues. Avian conservation naturally lends itself to translational...
Authors
Sarah P. Saunders, Joanna X. Wu, Elizabeth A. Gow, Evan A. Adams, Brooke L. Bateman, Trina Bayard, Stephanie Beilke, Ashley A. Dayer, Auriel Fournier, Kara Fox, Christoper Hamilton, Patricia J. Heglund, Susannah B. Lerman, Nicole L. Michel, Eben H. Paxton, Cagan H. Sekercioglu, Melanie A. Smith, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Mark S Woodrey, Charles van Riper
Plasma metabolite indices are robust to extrinsic variation and useful indicators of foraging habitat quality in Lesser Scaup Plasma metabolite indices are robust to extrinsic variation and useful indicators of foraging habitat quality in Lesser Scaup
Energy acquisition and storage are important for survival and fecundity of birds during resource-limited periods such as spring migration. Plasma-lipid metabolites (i.e. triglyceride [TRIG], β-hydroxybutyrate [BOHB]) have been used to index changes in lipid stores and, thus, have utility for assessing foraging habitat quality during migration. However, such an index may be affected by...
Authors
Eric J. Smith, Michael J. Anteau, Heath M. Hagy, Christopher N. Jacques
The timing and magnitude of changes to Hortonian overland flow at the watershed scale during the post-fire recovery process The timing and magnitude of changes to Hortonian overland flow at the watershed scale during the post-fire recovery process
Extreme hydrologic responses following wildfires can lead to floods and debris flows with costly economic and societal impacts. Process-based hydrologic and geomorphic models used to predict the downstream impacts of wildfire must account for temporal changes in hydrologic parameters related to the generation and subsequent routing of infiltration-excess overland flow across the...
Authors
Taojun Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Haiyan Wei, Francis K. Rengers, Hoshin Gupta, Lin Ji, David C. Goodrich
Understanding constraints on submersed vegetation distribution in a large, floodplain river: The role of water level fluctuations, water clarity and river geomorphology Understanding constraints on submersed vegetation distribution in a large, floodplain river: The role of water level fluctuations, water clarity and river geomorphology
Aquatic vegetation is a key component of large floodplain river ecosystems. In the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), there is a long-standing interest in restoring aquatic vegetation in areas where it has declined or disappeared. To better understand what constrains vegetation distribution in large river ecosystems and inform ongoing efforts to restore submersed aquatic vegetation...
Authors
Alicia Carhart, John Kalas, James T. Rogala, Jason J. Rohweder, Deanne C. Drake, Jeffrey N. Houser
Using the Landsat Burned Area products to derive fire history relevant for fire management and conservation in the state of Florida, southeastern USA Using the Landsat Burned Area products to derive fire history relevant for fire management and conservation in the state of Florida, southeastern USA
Development of comprehensive spatially explicit fire occurrence data remains one of the most critical needs for fire managers globally, and especially for conservation across the southeastern United States. Not only are many endangered species and ecosystems in that region reliant on frequent fire, but fire risk analysis, prescribed fire planning, and fire behavior modeling are sensitive...
Authors
Casey Teske, Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Todd Hawbaker, Joe Noble, J. Kevin Hires
Stochastic inversion of gravity, magnetic, tracer, lithology, and fault data for geologically realistic structural models: Patua Geothermal Field case study Stochastic inversion of gravity, magnetic, tracer, lithology, and fault data for geologically realistic structural models: Patua Geothermal Field case study
Financial risk due to geological uncertainty is a major barrier for geothermal development. Production from a geothermal well depends on the unknown location of subsurface geological structures, such as faults that contain hydrothermal fluids. Traditionally, geoscientists collect many different datasets, interpret the datasets manually, and create a single model estimating faults'...
Authors
Ahinoam Pollack, Trenton T. Cladouhos, Michael W. Swyer, Drew L. Siler, Tapan Mukerji, Roland N. Horne
Comparative rhyolite systems: Inferences from vent patterns and eruptive episodicities: Eastern California and Laguna del Maule Comparative rhyolite systems: Inferences from vent patterns and eruptive episodicities: Eastern California and Laguna del Maule
Distilling my experience in having field mapped in detail the volcanic fields at Laguna del Maule and Long Valley and having worked out their time-volume-composition magmatic histories, I compare and contrast the postglacial rhyolites of the former with six multi-vent eruptive sequences of rhyolite in California. Compilations and discussions are made of volcanic-field areas and...
Authors
Edward Hildreth
Responses of vertebrate wildlife to oil and natural gas development: Patterns and frontiers Responses of vertebrate wildlife to oil and natural gas development: Patterns and frontiers
Purpose of Review Anthropogenic activities can lead to the loss, fragmentation, and alteration of wildlife habitats. I reviewed the recent literature (2014–2019) focused on the responses of avian, mammalian, and herpetofaunal species to oil and natural gas development, a widespread and still-expanding land use worldwide. My primary goals were to identify any generalities in species’...
Authors
Anna D. Chalfoun