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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: 6158
Lots of lightning and plenty of people: An ecological history of fire in the upland southwest Lots of lightning and plenty of people: An ecological history of fire in the upland southwest
Was the pre-European Southwest a region of wild landscapes, shaped primarily by natural processes like lightning-ignited fire, or did people substantially mold these lands into regional-scale artifacts through their use of fire and other means? Perspectives on this question have varied markedly through time and between scholars, as evident from the quotes interspersed through this...
Authors
Craig D. Allen
Microscopic analysis of feather and hair fragments associated with human mummified remains from Kagamil Island, Alaska Microscopic analysis of feather and hair fragments associated with human mummified remains from Kagamil Island, Alaska
Human mummified remains of 34 different infant and adult individuals from Kagamil Island, Alaska, are accessioned in the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Kagamil Island is one of the small islands in the Island of Four Mountains group of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and is well known for the mummy caves located on the southwest...
Authors
C.J. Dove, S.C. Peurach
Miscellaneous methods for measuring matric or water potential Miscellaneous methods for measuring matric or water potential
A variety of techniques to measure matric potential or water potential in the laboratory and in the field are described in this section. The techniques described herein require equilibration of some medium whose matric or water potential can be determined from previous calibration or can be measured directly. Under equilibrium conditions the matric or water potential of the medium is...
Authors
Bridget R. Scanlon, Brian J. Andraski, Jim Bilskie
Model-based estimation of individual fitness Model-based estimation of individual fitness
Fitness is the currency of natural selection, a measure of the propagation rate of genotypes into future generations. Its various definitions have the common feature that they are functions of survival and fertility rates. At the individual level, the operative level for natural selection, these rates must be understood as latent features, genetically determined propensities existing at...
Authors
W.A. Link, E.G. Cooch, E. Cam
Modeling and monitoring ecosystem responses to climate change in 3 North American mountain ranges Modeling and monitoring ecosystem responses to climate change in 3 North American mountain ranges
No abstract available
Authors
Daniel B. Fagre, D. L. Peterson
Modeling ecosystem and population dynamics on the South Florida hydroscape Modeling ecosystem and population dynamics on the South Florida hydroscape
Abstract not supplied at this time
Authors
D.L. DeAngelis, S. Bellmund, W.M. Mooij, M.P. Nott, E.J. Comiskey, L.J. Gross, W.M. Wolff
Molecular diagnosis of infectious hematopoietic necrosis and viral hemorrhagic septicemia Molecular diagnosis of infectious hematopoietic necrosis and viral hemorrhagic septicemia
The fish rhabdoviruses, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) and viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), cause extensive losses among salmon and trout in several areas of the world (Bootland and Leong, 1999; Smail, 1999; Wolf, 1988). Historically, IHNV was endemic among wild anadromous salmonids in the western portion of North America, but the virus has spread to stocks of...
Authors
James R. Winton, Katja Einer-Jensen
Monitoring tiger populations: Why use capture-recapture sampling? Monitoring tiger populations: Why use capture-recapture sampling?
Contents: -- The natural advantage -- References
Authors
K. U. Karanth, J.D. Nichols
Monitoring tigers and prey: conservation needs and managerial constraints Monitoring tigers and prey: conservation needs and managerial constraints
Contents: -- Introduction -- The sampling-based approach to monitoring -- Defining objectives -- Assessing available resources -- Decision making: Matching objectives and resources -- References
Authors
K. U. Karanth, J.D. Nichols, P.K. Sen, V. Rishi
MTBE in groundwater of the U.S.: Occurrence, potential sources, and long-range transport MTBE in groundwater of the U.S.: Occurrence, potential sources, and long-range transport
Groundwater is an important and valuable resource in the U.S. To some extent, groundwater is used in all 50 states to provide drinking water. In 1995, more than 50% of the population, more than 130 million people, relied on groundwater for drinking water supplies (Solley et al., 1998). About 30%, or 42 million, of these people obtained their water from privately owned wells (U.S...
Authors
Michael J. Moran, John S. Zogorski, Paul J. Squillace
Otters Otters
The otters (Mustelidae; Lutrinae) provide a unique look into the evolution of marine living by mammals. This is because most extant marine mammals have been so highly modified by long periods of selection for life in the sea that they bare little resemblance to their terrestrial ancestors. Marine otters, by contrast, are recent expatriates from terrestrial and freshwater habitats, and...
Authors
James A. Estes, James L. Bodkin