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.
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: 6198
Ecological response to global climatic change Ecological response to global climatic change
Climate change and ecological change go hand in hand. Because we value our ecological environment, any change has the potential to be a problem. Geographers have been drawn to this challenge, and have been successful in addressing it, because the primary ecological response to climate changes in the past — the waxing and waning of the great ice sheets over the past 2 million years – was...
Authors
G.P. Malanson, D.R. Butler, S. J. Walsh
Effects of environmental change on groundwater recharge in the Desert Southwest Effects of environmental change on groundwater recharge in the Desert Southwest
Climate and other environmental conditions have varied in the past, and will almost certainly vary significantly in the near future. The response of groundwater recharge to changes in environmental conditions is thus a matter of active concem for water-resources management. The major mechanisms for this response of recharge are three-fold. First, changes in vegetation communities can...
Authors
Fred M. Phillips, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Eric E. Small
Effects of the wildfire on growth of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake Effects of the wildfire on growth of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake
This chapter discusses the effects of wildfire on the growth of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake. Trends in year-to-year variation in growth for individual age groups and 25 mm length groups of cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake were examined in an attempt to detect shifts in growth patterns associated with the fires. Approximately 100,000 ha of the Yellowstone Lake watershed burned...
Authors
R. E. Gresswell
Environmental impacts associated with recreational horse riding Environmental impacts associated with recreational horse riding
No abstract available.
Authors
D.E. Newsome, D.N. Cole, J. L. Marion
Environmentally sustainable trail management Environmentally sustainable trail management
No abstract available.
Authors
J. L. Marion, Y.-F. Leung
Eolian sediments Eolian sediments
No abstract available.
Authors
A.J. Busacca, J. E. Beget, H. W. Markewich, D.R. Muhs, N. Lancaster, M.R. Sweeney
Estimating survival and movement Estimating survival and movement
No abstract available.
Authors
J.D. Nichols, W. L. Kendall, M.C. Runge
Extermination and recovery of red wolf and grey wolf in the contiguous United States Extermination and recovery of red wolf and grey wolf in the contiguous United States
About 150 years ago, the grey wolf (Canis lupus) was distributed throughout the contiguous United States, except for in southeastern US from central Texas to the Atlantic coast, where the red wolf (Canis rufus) occurred. Conflict with agricultural interests resulted in government-supported eradication campaigns beginning in colonial Massachusetts in 1630. Over the next 300 years, the...
Authors
Michael K. Phillips, Edward E. Bangs, L. David Mech, Brian T. Kelly, Buddy B. Fazio
Fire as a physical process Fire as a physical process
This chapter explores fire as a physical process, including combustion, fuel characteristics, fuel models, fire weather, ignition sources, mechanisms for fire spread, and fire effects. In wildland fuels, combustion occurs in three phases: preheating, gaseous, and smoldering. Fuel is characterized by physical and chemical properties that affect combustion and fire behavior. Its...
Authors
J. W. van Wagtendonk
Fire as an ecological process Fire as an ecological process
This chapter investigates fire as a dynamic ecosystem process by first investigating fire in the context of general ecological theory, then discussing the concept of fire regimes, and finally by developing and applying a new framework for classifying fire regimes that better allows for the understanding of the patterns of fire as processes within ecosystems. Moreover, the chapter covers...
Authors
N. G. Sugihara, J. W. van Wagtendonk, J. Fites-Kaufman
Food habits of mute swans in the Chesapeake Bay Food habits of mute swans in the Chesapeake Bay
Unlike the tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus) that migrate to the Bay for the winter, the mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a year long resident and therefore has raised concerns among research managers over reports of conflicts with nesting native water birds and the consumption of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Although data on the reduction of SAV by nesting mute swans and their offspring...
Authors
Matthew C. Perry, P.C. Osenton, E.J.R. Lohnes