Book Chapters
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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 5,500 book chapters 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: 6173
Global review of the effects of small carnivores on threatened species Global review of the effects of small carnivores on threatened species
The absences of large carnivores from many ecosystems, human-induced landscape changes, and resource supplementation have been theorized to increase the abundance of small carnivore species around the world. Overabundant and/or unconstrained small carnivores can have significant effects on specific prey species that, in some cases, can cascade through entire ecosystems. Here, we review...
Authors
Michael V. Cove, Allan F. O’Connell
Management of diseases in free-ranging wildlife populations Management of diseases in free-ranging wildlife populations
Diseases are increasingly threatening the conservation of wildlife species. Spillover of pathogens into humans and domestic animals may negatively impact public health and the economy, requiring increased proactive management actions. The North American Wildlife Management Model provides the philosophical basis for managing wildlife and underpins all management options. Diseases in...
Authors
Mark L. Drew, Jonathan M. Sleeman
Seismic monitoring solutions for buildings Seismic monitoring solutions for buildings
This chapter introduces seismic monitoring of structural systems for buildings and begins with a historical background of this topic in the United States. After providing the historical context, the chapter reviews common seismic instrumentation issues such as utilization of data, code versus extensive instrumentation, free-field instrumentation, record synchronization requirements and...
Authors
Mehmet Celebi, Yavuz Kaya
Subaerial volcaniclastic deposits — Influences of initiation mechanisms and transport behaviour on characteristics and distributions Subaerial volcaniclastic deposits — Influences of initiation mechanisms and transport behaviour on characteristics and distributions
Subaerial volcaniclastic deposits are produced principally by volcanic debris avalanches, pyroclastic density currents, lahars, and tephra falls. Those deposits have widely ranging geomorphic and sedimentologic characteristics; they can mantle, modify, or create new topography, and their emplacement and subsequent reworking can have an outsized impact on the geomorphic and sedimentologic...
Authors
Jon J. Major
Antibiotic resistance in free-ranging wildlife Antibiotic resistance in free-ranging wildlife
In this chapter, we provide an overview of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in wildlife through the presentation of general trends of occurrence among both captive and free-ranging wild animal populations, discussion of importance to human health and wildlife conservation, and identification of priority areas for future research and monitoring efforts. Once most commonly identified...
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Christina Ahlstrom
Miocene terrestrial paleoclimates inferred from pollen in the Monterey Formation, Naples Coastal Bluffs section, California Miocene terrestrial paleoclimates inferred from pollen in the Monterey Formation, Naples Coastal Bluffs section, California
We present here a comprehensive record of Miocene terrestrial ecosystems from exposures of the Monterey Formation along the Naples coastal bluffs, west of Santa Barbara, California. Constrained by an updated chronology, pollen analyses of 28 samples deposited between 18 and 6 Ma reflect the demise of mesophytic taxa that grew in a warm, wet environment during the late early and early...
Authors
Linda E. Heusser, John A. Barron, Gregg Blake, Jon Nichols
Using in situ/ex situ research collaborations to support polar bear conservation Using in situ/ex situ research collaborations to support polar bear conservation
A warming Arctic threatens the long-term persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the wild. Historically, little collaboration existed between the in situ and ex situ polar bear scientific communities. However, for the past decade, zoo professionals, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) have partnered to leverage resources and expertise with the goal of...
Authors
Randi Meyerson, Todd C. Atwood
GeoAI and the future of spatial analytics GeoAI and the future of spatial analytics
This chapter discusses the challenges of traditional spatial analytical methods in their limited capacity to handle big and messy data, as well as mining unknown or latent patterns. It then introduces a new form of spatial analytics—geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI)—and describes the advantages of this new strategy in big data analytics and data-driven discovery. Finally, a...
Authors
Wenwen Li, Samantha T. Arundel
Biofilms in the Critical Zone: Distribution and mediation of processes Biofilms in the Critical Zone: Distribution and mediation of processes
Microbial biofilms occur in all levels of the Critical Zone (CZ); they are on and in the vegetation, throughout the soil-saprolite zone, and along fractures in deep subsurface. Here we discuss biofilms in each level of the CZ with a focus in the soil-saprolite continuum. We show how scanning electron microscope (SEM) images provide an appropriate scale to explore microbe mineral...
Authors
Marjorie S. Schulz, Kristen L. Manies
Late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic deposition of quartz arenites across southern Laurentia Late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic deposition of quartz arenites across southern Laurentia
Supermature siliciclastic sequences were deposited between 1.64 Ga and 1.59 Ga over a broad swath of southern Laurentia in the Archean, Penokean, Yavapai, and Mazatzal Provinces. These siliciclastic sequences are notable for their extreme mineralogical and chemical maturity, being devoid of detrital feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals, containing the clay mineral kaolinite (or its...
Authors
L. Gordon Medaris, Christopher G. Daniel, Michael F. Doe, James V. Jones, Joshua J. Schwartz
A refined assessment of the paleoceanographic and tectonic influences on the deposition of the Monterey Formation in California A refined assessment of the paleoceanographic and tectonic influences on the deposition of the Monterey Formation in California
Application of updated diatom biochronology to the Monterey Formation and related biosiliceous rocks reveals the imprint of both global paleoclimatic/ paleoceanographic and regional tectonic events. A rise in global sea level combined with regional tectonic deepening associated with the development of the transform California margin resulted in the abrupt onset of deposition of fine...
Authors
John A. Barron
Teams, networks, and networks of networks advancing our understanding and conservation of inland waters Teams, networks, and networks of networks advancing our understanding and conservation of inland waters
Networks are defined as groups of interconnected people and things, and by this definition, networks play a major role in the science of inland waters. In this article, we bring the latest social network research to understand and improve inland waters science and conservation outcomes. What we found is that relationships matter. Different teams and networks have different objectives and
Authors
Emily Read, Jennifer Cross, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Samantha K. Oliver, Catherine M. O’Reilly