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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.
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An integrated approach to benthic habitat mapping using remote sensing and GIS: An example from the Hawaiian Islands An integrated approach to benthic habitat mapping using remote sensing and GIS: An example from the Hawaiian Islands
This chapter documents our effort to map benthic habitats within the KalokoHonokohau National Historic Park, Hawai`i, USA. We produce detailed benthichabitat maps by using a combination of color aerial photography, high-resolution bathymetry, and georeferenced underwater video and still photography. We classify individual habitat polygons using five basic attributes and additional...
Authors
A. E. Gibbs, Susan A. Cochran
A generalized mixed effects model of abundance for mark-resight data when sampling is without replacement A generalized mixed effects model of abundance for mark-resight data when sampling is without replacement
In recent years, the mark-resight method for estimating abundance when the number of marked individuals is known has become increasingly popular. By using field-readable bands that may be resighted from a distance, these techniques can be applied to many species, and are particularly useful for relatively small, closed populations. However, due to the different assumptions and general...
Authors
B.T. McClintock, Gary C. White, K.P. Burnham, M.A. Pryde
A traditional and a less-invasive robust design: choices in optimizing effort allocation for seabird population studies A traditional and a less-invasive robust design: choices in optimizing effort allocation for seabird population studies
For many animal populations, one or more life stages are not accessible to sampling, and therefore an unobservable state is created. For colonially-breeding populations, this unobservable state could represent the subset of adult breeders that have foregone breeding in a given year. This situation applies to many seabird populations, notably albatrosses, where skipped breeders are either...
Authors
S. J. Converse, W. L. Kendall, P.F. Doherty, M.B. Naughton, J.E. Hines
Bayes factors and multimodel inference Bayes factors and multimodel inference
Multimodel inference has two main themes: model selection, and model averaging. Model averaging is a means of making inference conditional on a model set, rather than on a selected model, allowing formal recognition of the uncertainty associated with model choice. The Bayesian paradigm provides a natural framework for model averaging, and provides a context for evaluation of the commonly...
Authors
W.A. Link, R. J. Barker
Coastal wetlands: A synthesis Coastal wetlands: A synthesis
No abstract available.
Authors
E. Wolanski, M.M. Brinson, Donald R. Cahoon, G.M.E. Perillo
Estimating latent time of maturation and survival costs of reproduction in continuous time from capture-recapture data Estimating latent time of maturation and survival costs of reproduction in continuous time from capture-recapture data
In many species, age or time of maturation and survival costs of reproduction may vary substantially within and among populations. We present a capture-mark-recapture model to estimate the latent individual trait distribution of time of maturation (or other irreversible transitions) as well as survival differences associated with the two states (representing costs of reproduction)...
Authors
T. Ergon, Nigel G. Yoccoz, J.D. Nichols
Evaluation of restored tidal freshwater wetlands Evaluation of restored tidal freshwater wetlands
No abstract available.
Authors
A.H. Baldwin, R.S. Hammerschlag, Donald R. Cahoon
Exploring extensions to multi-state models with multiple unobservable states Exploring extensions to multi-state models with multiple unobservable states
Many biological systems include a portion of the target population that is unobservable during certain life history stages. Transition to and from an unobservable state may be of primary interest in many ecological studies and such movements are easily incorporated into multi-state models. Several authors have investigated properties of open-population multi-state mark-recapture models...
Authors
L.L. Bailey, W. L. Kendall, D.R. Church
Filling a void: abundance estimation of North American populations of arctic geese using hunter recoveries Filling a void: abundance estimation of North American populations of arctic geese using hunter recoveries
We consider use of recoveries of marked birds harvested by hunters, in conjunction with continental harvest estimates, for drawing inferences about continental abundance of a select number of goose species. We review assumptions of this method, a version of the Lincoln?Petersen approach, and consider its utility as a tool for making decisions about harvest management in comparison to...
Authors
R.T. Alisauskas, K.L. Drake, J.D. Nichols
Inference about species richness and community structure using species-specific occupancy models in the National Swiss Breeding Bird Survey MUB Inference about species richness and community structure using species-specific occupancy models in the National Swiss Breeding Bird Survey MUB
Species richness is the most widely used biodiversity measure. Virtually always, it cannot be observed but needs to be estimated because some species may be present but remain undetected. This fact is commonly ignored in ecology and management, although it will bias estimates of species richness and related parameters such as occupancy, turnover or extinction rates. We describe a species
Authors
M. Kery, J. Andrew Royle
Inferences about landbird abundance from count data: recent advances and future directions Inferences about landbird abundance from count data: recent advances and future directions
We summarize results of a November 2006 workshop dealing with recent research on the estimation of landbird abundance from count data. Our conceptual framework includes a decomposition of the probability of detecting a bird potentially exposed to sampling efforts into four separate probabilities. Primary inference methods are described and include distance sampling, multiple observers...
Authors
J.D. Nichols, L. Thomas, P.B. Conn
Methods for assessing the conservation value of rivers Methods for assessing the conservation value of rivers
No abstract available.
Authors
P.J. Boon, Mary C. Freeman