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Books

Browse almost 1,000 books 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: 974

Turtles of the World: A guide to every family Turtles of the World: A guide to every family

Turtles of the World reveals the extraordinary diversity of these amazing reptiles. Characterized by the bony shell that acts as a shield to protect the softer body within, turtles are survivors from the time of the dinosaurs and are even more ancient in evolutionary terms than snakes and crocodilians. Of more than 350 species known today, some are highly endangered. In this beautiful...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Whit Gibbons

G-LiHT user guide G-LiHT user guide

No abstract available.
Authors
Bradford Wirt

Visitors count! Guidance for protected areas on the economic analysis of visitation Visitors count! Guidance for protected areas on the economic analysis of visitation

The value of protected areas is often hidden from direct view. Once managers understand the number and behaviour of visitors they host, and the revenues and costs they generate, informed decisions on management plans and tourism strategies can be made. Demonstrating the positive impact of protected areas on the local economy can lead to greater buy-in and ownership of conservation...
Authors
Anna Spenceley, Jan Philipp Schagner, Barbara Engels, Catherine Cullinane Thomas, Mauel Engelbauer, Joel Erkkonen, Hubert Job, Liisa Kajala, Lisa Majewski, Daniel Metzler, Marius Mayer, Andrew Rylance, Manuel Woltering, Niklas Scheder, Cecile Smith-Christensen, Thiago Beraldo Souza

From saline to freshwater: The diversity of western lakes in space and time From saline to freshwater: The diversity of western lakes in space and time

Beginning with the nineteenth-century territorial surveys, the lakes and lacustrine deposits in what is now the western United States were recognized for their economic value to the expanding nation. In the latter half of the twentieth century, these systems have been acknowledged as outstanding examples of depositional systems serving as models for energy exploration and environmental...

Be a wolf researcher! Wolf pup ethogram Be a wolf researcher! Wolf pup ethogram

Ethology is the study of behavior, and an ethogram is a list of behaviors, typically of a single species. For this ethogram we have selected a few representative behaviors that pups will exhibit during various growth phases, and therefore, this ethogram is not exhaustive. You will likely observe behaviors not detailed in this booklet (be sure to keep notes of your observations on the...
Authors
Lori J. Schmidt, Shannon Barber-Meyer, D. Ann Raspberry

Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) level 2 user guide Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) level 2 user guide

No abstract available.
Authors
Jared Beck, Bradford Wirt, John Armston, Michelle Hofton, Scott Luthcke, Hao Tang

G-LiHT User Guide G-LiHT User Guide

No abstract available.
Authors
Bradford Wirt

Drought early warning and forecasting Drought early warning and forecasting

Drought risk management involves three pillars: drought early warning, drought vulnerability and risk assessment, and drought preparedness, mitigation, and response. This book collects in one place a description of all the key components of the first pillar, and describes strategies for fitting these pieces together. The best modern drought early warning systems incorporate and integrate...
Authors
Chris Funk, Shraddhanand Shukla

Drivers of landscape change in the northwest boreal region Drivers of landscape change in the northwest boreal region

The northwest boreal region (NWB) of North America is a land of extremes. Extending more than 1.3 million square kilometers (330 million acres), it encompasses the entire spectrum between inundated wetlands below sea level to the tallest peak in North America. Permafrost gradients span from nearly continuous to absent. Boreal ecosystems are inherently dynamic and continually change over...

Bayesian statistics for beginners: A step-by-step approach Bayesian statistics for beginners: A step-by-step approach

Bayesian statistics is currently undergoing something of a renaissance. At its heart is a method of statistical inference in which Bayes' theorem is used to update the probability for a hypothesis as more evidence or information becomes available. It is an approach that is ideally suited to making initial assessments based on incomplete or imperfect information; as that information is...
Authors
Therese M. Donovan, Ruth M. Mickey
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