Reports
Science Quality and Integrity
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 82,000 reports 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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Validation of NEXRAD data and models of bird migration stopover sites in the Northeast U.S. Validation of NEXRAD data and models of bird migration stopover sites in the Northeast U.S.
The national network of weather surveillance radars (NEXRAD) detects birds in flight, and has proven to be a useful remote-sensing tool for ornithological study. We used data collected during Fall 2008 to 2014 by 16 NEXRAD and four terminal Doppler weather radars (TDWR) in the northeastern U.S. to map and study the spatial distribution of landbirds shortly after they leave daytime...
Authors
Jeffrey J. Buler, James McLaren, Timothy Schreckengost, Jaclyn A. Smolinsky, Eric Walters, J. Andrew Arnold, Deanna K. Dawson
Changing water dynamics: The consequences of shifting snow, ice, and running water for ecosystems, people, and national forests in Alaska Changing water dynamics: The consequences of shifting snow, ice, and running water for ecosystems, people, and national forests in Alaska
Ecosystems of Alaska are rain-, snow-, and ice-driven systems. Consequently, the status of water—liquid or solid—strongly in uences resources and the people using ecosystem services. This document examines changes in water dynamics, the resulting consequences for ecosystems and people, and management options for adapting to changing conditions. Changes in snow, ice, and water ripple...
Authors
Greg Hayward, Erik Johnson, Nathan Walker, Jeremy S. Littell, Julianne Thompson
A report on genetic affinities and relatedness of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at opposite ends of the Coachella Valley in California A report on genetic affinities and relatedness of Agassiz’s desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) at opposite ends of the Coachella Valley in California
This report summarizes the results for mtDNA and STR genotyping of 41 desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) DNA samples from opposite sides of the Coachella Valley: one sample from the west side at the Mesa wind energy facility in the Whitewater Hills and the other from the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon in Joshua Tree National Park, both within the boundaries of the Coachella Valley Multiple...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Taylor Edwards, Brian Kreiser, Shellie R. Puffer, Mickey Agha
Food-web structure in canyon and slope-associated fauna revealed by stable isotopes Food-web structure in canyon and slope-associated fauna revealed by stable isotopes
Food webs and associated trophic linkages among organisms are central themes in ecology that provide insight into the structure and function of ecosystems. In the deep sea, food webs rely on particulate flux raining from surface waters for energy (Klages et al. 2003), except for chemosynthetic communities, which rely on in situ production via chemosynthesis (Van Dover 2007). In general...
Authors
Amanda W. J. Demopoulos, Jennifer P. McClain-Counts, Steve W. Ross, Sandra Brooke, Michael Rhode
Climate change and collapsing thermal niches of Mexican endemic reptiles Climate change and collapsing thermal niches of Mexican endemic reptiles
Recent climate change should result in expansion of species to northern or high elevation range margins, and contraction at southern and low elevation margins due to extinction. Climate models predict dramatic extinctions and distributional shifts in the next century, but there are few ground-truths of these dire forecasts leading to uncertainty in predicting extinctions due to climate...
Authors
Barry Sinervo, Donald B. Miles, Rafael A. Lara Resendiz, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Joshua R. Ennen, Johannes Muller, Robert D. Cooper, Philip C. Rosen, Joseph A. E. Stewart, Juan Carlos Santos, Jack W. Sites, Paul Gibbons, Eric Goode, L. Scott Hillard, Luke Welton, Mickey Agha, Gabriel Caetano, Mercy Vaughn, Cristina Melendez Torres, Hector Gadsden, Gamaliel Castenada Gaytan, Patricia Galina-Tessaro, Fernando I. Valle Jimenez, Jorge H. Valdez-Villavicencio, Norberto Martinez Mendez, Guillermo Woolrich Pina, Victor Luja Molina, Anibal Diaz de la Vega Perez, Diego M. Arenas Moreno, Saul Dominguez Guerrero, Natalia Fierro, Scott Butterfield, Michael Westpha, Raymond B. Huey, William Mautz, Víctor Sánchez-Cordero, Fausto R. Mendez de la Cruz
Herring Disease Program – Herring Disease Program II Herring Disease Program – Herring Disease Program II
No abstract available.
Authors
Paul Hershberger, Maureen K. Purcell
Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) Adaptive harvest management for the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus)
This document describes progress to date on the development of an adaptive harvest-management strategy for maintaining the Svalbard population of pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) near their target level (60,000) by providing for sustainable harvests in Norway and Denmark. Specifically, this report provides an assessment of the most recent monitoring information and its...
Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2016 Yellowstone grizzly bear investigations — Annual report of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team 2016
This Annual Report summarizes results of grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) monitoring and research conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST) during 2016. The report also contains a summary of grizzly bear management actions to address conflict situations.
Onshore industrial wind turbine locations for the United States Onshore industrial wind turbine locations for the United States
This dataset provides industrial-scale onshore wind turbine locations in the United States, corresponding facility information, and turbine technical specifications. The database has wind turbine records that have been collected, digitized, locationally verified, and internally quality controlled. Turbines from the Federal Aviation Administration Digital Obstacles File, through product...
Authors
Jay E. Diffendorfer, Roger Compton, Louisa Kramer, Zach Ancona, Donna Norton
A simulation method for combining hydrodynamic data and acoustic tag tracks to predict the entrainment of juvenile salmonids onto the Yolo Bypass under future engineering scenarios A simulation method for combining hydrodynamic data and acoustic tag tracks to predict the entrainment of juvenile salmonids onto the Yolo Bypass under future engineering scenarios
During water year 2016 the U.S. Geological Survey California Water Science Center (USGS) collaborated with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to conduct a joint hydrodynamic and fisheries study to acquire data that could be used to evaluate the effects of proposed modifications to the Fremont Weir on outmigrating juvenile Chinook salmon. During this study the USGS...
Authors
Aaron R. Blake, Paul Stumpner, Jon R. Burau
A water-budget analysis of Medina and Diversion Lakes and the Medina/Diversion Lake system, with estimated recharge to Edwards aquifer, San Antonio area, Texas A water-budget analysis of Medina and Diversion Lakes and the Medina/Diversion Lake system, with estimated recharge to Edwards aquifer, San Antonio area, Texas
In January 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey—in cooperation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority—began a study to refine and, if possible, extend previously derived (1995–96) relations between the stage in Medina Lake and recharge to the Edwards aquifer to include the effects of reservoir stages below 1,018 feet and greater than 1,046 feet above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. The...
Authors
Richard N. Slattery, Lisa D. Miller
Acoustic assessment of pelagic planktivores, 2016 Acoustic assessment of pelagic planktivores, 2016
Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) are the most abundant pelagic planktivores in Lake Ontario (Weidel et al 2017), and the most important prey for salmon and trout, making up greater than 90% of the diet of the top predator, Chinook salmon (Lantry 2001, Brandt 1986), and supporting a multimillion dollar sportfishery. Alewife are also important prey for warm...
Authors
Jeremy P. Holden, Michael J. Connerton, Brian Weidel