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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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Exploring environmental factors that drive diel variations in tree water storage using wavelet analysis Exploring environmental factors that drive diel variations in tree water storage using wavelet analysis
Internal water storage within trees can be a critical reservoir that helps trees overcome both short- and long-duration environmental stresses. We monitored changes in internal tree water storage in a ponderosa pine on daily and seasonal scales using moisture probes, a dendrometer, and time-lapse electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). These data were used to investigate how patterns of in...
Authors
Ryan Harmon, Holly Barnard, Frederick Day-Lewis, Deqiang Mao, Kamini Singha
Seasonally dynamic nutrient modeling quantifies storage lags and time-varying reactivity across large river basins Seasonally dynamic nutrient modeling quantifies storage lags and time-varying reactivity across large river basins
Nutrients that have gradually accumulated in soils, groundwaters, and river sediments in the United States over the past century can remobilize and increase current downstream loading, obscuring effects of conservation practices aimed at protecting water resources. Drivers of storage accumulation and release of nutrients are poorly understood at the spatial scale of basins to watersheds
Authors
Noah M. Schmadel, Judson Harvey, Gregory E. Schwarz
Nonlinear shifts in infectious rust disease due to climate change Nonlinear shifts in infectious rust disease due to climate change
Range shifts of infectious plant disease are expected under climate change. As plant diseases move, emergent abiotic-biotic interactions are predicted to modify their distributions, leading to unexpected changes in disease risk. Evidence of these complex range shifts due to climate change, however, remains largely speculative. Here, we combine a long-term study of the infectious tree...
Authors
Joan Dudney, Claire Willing, Adrian J. Das, Andrew M. Latimer, Jonathan C B Nesmith, John J. Battles
The Holocene dynamics of Ryder Glacier and ice tongue in north Greenland The Holocene dynamics of Ryder Glacier and ice tongue in north Greenland
The northern sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet is considered to be particularly susceptible to ice mass loss arising from increased glacier discharge in the coming decades. However, the past extent and dynamics of outlet glaciers in this region, and hence their vulnerability to climate change, are poorly documented. In the summer of 2019, the Swedish icebreaker Oden entered the...
Authors
Matt O’Regan, Thomas M. Cronin, Brendan Reilly, Aage K. Olsen Alstrup, Laura Gemery, Anna Golub, Larry A. Mayer, Mathieu Morlighem, Matthias Moros, Ole L. Munk, Johan Nilsson, Christof Pearce, Henrieka Detlef, Christian Stranne, Flor Vermassen, Gabriel West, Martin Jakobsson
Thyroid disruption and oxidative stress in American kestrels following embryonic exposure to the alternative flame retardants, EHTBB and TBPH Thyroid disruption and oxidative stress in American kestrels following embryonic exposure to the alternative flame retardants, EHTBB and TBPH
Brominated flame retardant chemicals, such as 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5-tetrabromobenzoate (EHTBB) (CAS #: 183658–27-7) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrabromophthalate (TBPH) (CAS #: 26040–51-7), have been detected in avian tissues and eggs from remote regions. Exposure to EHTBB and TBPH has been shown to cause oxidative stress and altered thyroid function in rodents and fish, yet no...
Authors
CHristopher Goodchild, Natalie Karouna-Renier, Paula F. P. Henry, Robert J. Letcher, Sandra L. Schultz, Catherine M. Maddox, Thomas Bean, Lisa E. Peters, Vince P. Palace, Kimberly J. Fernie
Drivers of extreme water levels in a large, urban, high-energy coastal estuary – A case study of the San Francisco Bay Drivers of extreme water levels in a large, urban, high-energy coastal estuary – A case study of the San Francisco Bay
Reliable and long-term hindcast data of water levels are essential in quantifying return period and values of extreme water levels. In order to inform design decisions on a local flood control district level, process-based numerical modeling has proven an essential tool to provide the needed temporal and spatial coverage for different extreme value analysis methods. To determine the...
Authors
Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Rohin Saleh, Babak Tehranirad, Liv M. Herdman, Li H. Erikson, Patrick L. Barnard, Mick Van der Wegen
A ground motion model for GNSS peak ground displacement A ground motion model for GNSS peak ground displacement
We present an updated ground‐motion model (GMM) for MwMw 6–9 earthquakes using Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) observations of the peak ground displacement (PGD). Earthquake GMMs inform a range of Earth science and engineering applications, including source characterization, seismic hazard evaluations, loss estimates, and seismic design standards. A typical GMM is...
Authors
Dara Elyse Goldberg, Diego Melgar, Gavin P. Hayes, Valerie J. Sahakian, Brendan W. Crowell
Basin and site effects in the U.S. Pacific Northwest estimated from small‐magnitude earthquakes Basin and site effects in the U.S. Pacific Northwest estimated from small‐magnitude earthquakes
Earthquake hazards in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) are increased by the presence of deep sedimentary basins that amplify and prolong ground shaking. To better understand basin and site effects on ground motions, we compile a database of recordings from crustal and intraslab earthquakes. We process 8028 records with magnitudes from 3.5 to 6.8 and hypocentral depths up to 62 km to...
Authors
John Rekoske, Morgan P. Moschetti, Eric M. Thompson
Trade-offs in initial and long-term handling efficiency of PIT-tag and photographic identification methods Trade-offs in initial and long-term handling efficiency of PIT-tag and photographic identification methods
Individual identification is required for long-term investigations that examine population-level changes in survival or abundance, and mechanisms associated with these changes in wild populations. Such identification generally requires the application of a unique mark, or the documentation of characteristics distinctive to each individual animal. To minimize impacts to often declining...
Authors
Lindsey Roberts, Abigail B. Fueka, Erin L. Muths, Bennett Hardy, Larissa L. Bailey
Is there tree senescence? The fecundity evidence Is there tree senescence? The fecundity evidence
Despite its importance for forest regeneration, food webs, and human economies, changes in tree fecundity with tree size and age remain largely unknown. The allometric increase with tree diameter assumed in ecological models would substantially overestimate seed contributions from large trees if fecundity eventually declines with size. Current estimates are dominated by...
Authors
Tong Qiu, Marie-Claire Aavena Acuna, Robert A. Andrus, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Roberta Berretti, Michal Bogdziewicz, Thomas Boivin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Rafael Calama, Julio Camarero, Connie Clark, Benoit Courbaud, Sylvain Delzon, Sergio Donoso Calderon, William Farfan-Rios, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Qinfeng Guo, Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Hoshi Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Valentin Journé, Christopher L. Kilner, Richard Kobe, WD Koenig, Georges Kunstler, Jalene M. LaMontagne, Mateusz Ledwon, James A. Lutz, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Kyotaro Noguchi, Chase Nunez, Ian S. Pearse, Carlos Perez-Izquierdo, Lukasz Piechnik, John Poulson, Renata Poulton-Kamakura, Miranda D. Redmond, Chantal D. Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, C. Lane Scher, Harald Schmidt Van Marle, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Miles Silman, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Renato Valencia, Andrew Vander Yacht, Thomas T. Veblen, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas Wion, Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess K. Zimmerman, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark
Linking demographic rates to local environmental conditions: Empirical data to support climate adaptation strategies for Eleutherodactylus frogs Linking demographic rates to local environmental conditions: Empirical data to support climate adaptation strategies for Eleutherodactylus frogs
Conducting managed species translocations and establishing climate change refugia are adaptation strategies to cope with projected consequences of global warming, but successful implementation requires on-the-ground validation of demographic responses to transient climate conditions. Here we estimated the effect of nine abiotic and biotic factors on local occupancy and an index of...
Authors
A.C. Rivera-Burgos, Jaime A. Collazo, Adam J. Terando, Krishna Pacifici
Novel microbiome dominated by Arcobacter during anoxic excurrent flow from an ocean blue hole in Andros Island, The Bahamas Novel microbiome dominated by Arcobacter during anoxic excurrent flow from an ocean blue hole in Andros Island, The Bahamas
Andros Island, The Bahamas, composed of porous carbonate rock, has about 175 inland blue holes and over 50 known submerged ocean caves along its eastern barrier reef. These ocean blue holes can have both vertical and horizontal zones that penetrate under the island. Tidal forces drive water flow in and out of these caves. King Kong Cavern has a vertical collapse zone and a deep...
Authors
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Robert B Jonas, William B. Schill, Kay Marano-Briggs