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Book Chapters

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

Practical considerations for the incorporation of insect-mediated contaminant flux into ecological risk assessments Practical considerations for the incorporation of insect-mediated contaminant flux into ecological risk assessments

Insect-mediated contaminant flux is truly an interdisciplinary concept that merges ideas from many technical areas of science (e.g., environmental chemistry, landscape ecology, and entomology). This chapter introduces risk assessors to this emerging and ecologically relevant concept by distilling the main mechanisms that drive insect-mediated contaminant flux and integrating them...
Authors
Ryan R. Otter, Gale B. Beaubien, Connor I. Olson, David Walters, Marc A. Mills

Synthesis: A framework for predicting the dark side of ecological subsidies Synthesis: A framework for predicting the dark side of ecological subsidies

In this chapter, we synthesize the state of the science regarding ecological subsidies and contaminants at the land-water interface and suggest research and management approaches for linked freshwater-terrestrial ecosystems. Specifically, we focus on movements of animals with complex life histories and the detrital inputs associated with animal and plant matter delivered to freshwaters...
Authors
Johanna M. Kraus, Jeff Wessner, David Walters

Cross-ecosystem linkages and trace metals at the land-water interface Cross-ecosystem linkages and trace metals at the land-water interface

At low concentrations, trace metals are critical for sustaining life on Earth. However, at high concentrations, they become a global contaminant with particularly strong effects on freshwater communities. These effects can propagate to terrestrial ecosystems in part by altering production and community structure of adult aquatic insect emergence and aquatic insect-mediated metal fluxes...
Authors
Johanna M. Kraus, Justin F. Pomeranz

A checklist for crisis operations within volcano observatories A checklist for crisis operations within volcano observatories

We draw on our experience in assisting with international crises through the volcano disaster assistance program (VDAP) and during the eruptions of Mount St. Helens in 1980–1986 and 2004–2008 to offer recommendations for successful observatory operations during times of crisis. The degree of success in responding to a crisis is profoundly affected by the degree of preparation before a...
Authors
Christopher Newhall, John S. Pallister, C. Dan Miller

Volcano geodesy: A critical tool for assessing the state of volcanoes and their potential for hazardous eruptive activity Volcano geodesy: A critical tool for assessing the state of volcanoes and their potential for hazardous eruptive activity

Since the beginning of the 20th century, volcano geodesy has evolved from time- and personnel-intensive methods for collecting discrete measurements to automated and/or remote tools that provide data with exceptional spatiotemporal resolution. By acknowledging and overcoming limitations related to data collection and interpretation, geodesy becomes a powerful tool for forecasting the...
Authors
Michael Poland, Elske de Zeeuw-van Dalfsen

Case Study 4: NABat acoustic monitoring allows inferences about bat populations at multiple scales Case Study 4: NABat acoustic monitoring allows inferences about bat populations at multiple scales

North American bats face unprecedented risks from continuing and emerging threats including white-nose syndrome, wind energy development, and habitat loss. Many species of bats are thought to be recently experiencing unparalleled population declines unlike any previously observed (O’Shea et al. 2016). The North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat) was conceived to better understand...
Authors
Brian E. Reichert, Thomas J. Rodhouse, Susan Loeb, Jason Rae

An ecological and conservation perspective An ecological and conservation perspective

Natural ecosystems are facing unprecedented threats which directly threaten human well-being through decreases in critical ecosystem services (IPBES 2019). The top five drivers causing the largest global impacts to biodiversity and ecosystem services include: 1) changes in land and sea use; 2) direct exploitation of organisms; 3) climate change; 4) pollution, and 5) invasive alien...
Authors
C. LeAnn White, Julia S. Lankton, Daniel P. Walsh, Jonathan M. Sleeman, Craig Stephen

Comparative genomics and genomic epidemiology of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis strains Comparative genomics and genomic epidemiology of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis strains

Two phenotypically distinct strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) were recognized in the 1930s but it was not until the introduction of restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) in the mid-1980s that these two strains, MAP-C and MAP-S, could be distinguished genetically. Since then, a plethora of molecular typing techniques has been applied to MAP isolates (reviewed...
Authors
Karen Stevenson, Christina Ahlstrom

Climate, sea level, and people - Changing South Florida's mangrove coast Climate, sea level, and people - Changing South Florida's mangrove coast

South Florida’s coast is a land of contrasts that appeals to almost everyone, whether they seek out quiet natural environments along the mangrove waterways and in the wilderness of the Everglades or vibrant international culture in Miami. Yet this paradise is threatened by a number of forces – changing climate, rising sea level, and too many people, to name a few. Florida’s past is...
Authors
G. Lynn Wingard

Wetland and hydric soils Wetland and hydric soils

Soil and the inherent biogeochemical processes in wetlands contrast starkly with those in upland forests and rangelands. The differences stem from extended periods of anoxia, or the lack of oxygen in the soil, that characterize wetland soils; in contrast, upland soils are nearly always oxic. As a result, wetland soil biogeochemistry is characterized by anaerobic processes, and wetland...
Authors
Carl Trettin, Randall Kolka, Anne Marsh, Sheel Bansal, Eric Lilleskov, Patrick Megonigal, Marla Stelk, Graeme Lockaby, David D'Amore, Richard A. MacKenzie, Brian Tangen, Rodney A. Chimner, James Gries

Great Plains Great Plains

No abstract available.
Authors
Charles H. Perry, Brian Tangen, Sheel Bansal
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