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One of the biggest changes in the world of optical remote sensing over the last several years is the sheer increase in the number of sensors that are imaging the Earth in moderate to high spatial resolution. With respect to the calibration of these sensors, they are broadly classified into...

Variability among climate change scenarios produces great uncertainty in what is the best allocation of resources among investments to protect environmental goods in the future. Previous research shows Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) can help optimize environmental investment targeting to reduce outcome risk with minimal loss of expected level of environmental...

Endocrine active compounds (EACs) are pollutants that have been recognized as an emerging and widespread threat to aquatic ecosystems globally. Intersex, the presence of female germ cells within a predominantly male gonad, is considered a biomarker of endocrine disruption caused by EACs. We measured a suite of EACs and assessed their associated impacts...

For federally listed species such as Least Tern Sternula antillarum and Piping Plover Charadrius melodus, correct determination of nest fates and causes of nest failure is crucial for understanding population dynamics and improving monitoring programmes. We used video cameras to evaluate nest fate misclassification rate and to identify factors that may cause researchers...

New aeromagnetic survey data collected over north central Oklahoma image possible seismogenic faults in the crystalline basement. Linear earthquake sequences associated with induced seismicity suggest the reactivation of ancient basement faults, but few of these sequences are aligned with mapped faults. The new data show many earthquake...

Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide important breeding habitat for a variety of amphibian species. As future climate projections indicate warmer growing seasons and earlier seasonal increases in evapotranspiration, some managers of vernal pools have expressed concern that pools may dry earlier in the season, potentially interfering with completion...

Clawpack is a software package designed to solve nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations using high-resolution finite volume methods based on Riemann solvers and limiters. The package includes a number of variants aimed at different applications and user communities. Clawpack has been actively developed as an open source project for over...

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 290 milllion barrels of shale oil and 7.9 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the Ordovician Collingwood-Utica Shale Total Petroleum System of the Michigan Basin Province....

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical mineral commodities for the United States. In response to a need for information on potential domestic sources of REEs in mineral deposits, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) identified broad focus areas throughout the conterminous United States and Alaska as a guide for selecting new...

We provide a detailed breeding biology account for the Grey-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys) and a comparison of the reproductive life history of tropical and temperate wrens using literature data. We conducted this study at Yacambú National Park in Venezuela from 2002 to 2008. Clutch size was 1.99 (SE 0.01) and...

Determining a species’ habitat use is an essential first step in any wildlife conservation action. We described habitat use, animal movements and probable lambing areas in a remote, restricted-access region of the Mojave Desert. Differences in habitat use between sexes was apparent, supporting the often-reported concept of risk-aversion by females....

The U.S. Geological Survey completed the first-ever global assessment of undiscovered copper resources for the two most significant sources of global copper supply: porphyry copper deposits and sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits. The geology-based study identified 236 areas for undiscovered copper in 11 regions of the world. Estimated amounts of undiscovered...

In 2013, a continuous 624-foot core hole was drilled and logged by the U.S. Geological Survey in Natrona County, Wyoming, with the goal to better understand Cretaceous source rocks in the Wind River Basin. The core hole, named the Alcova Reservoir AR–1–13, penetrated the interval extending from the upper part...

The Middle – Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is an organic-rich heterogeneous carbonate-siliciclastic-phosphatic unit that generated much of the oil in the Prudhoe Bay field and other hydrocarbon accumulations in northern Alaska. A large dataset, including total organic carbon (TOC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma –...

Smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu Lacepède, movement dynamics were investigated in a connected mainstem river-tributary system. Smallmouth bass moved large distances annually (n = 84 fish, average = 24.6 ± 25.9 km, range = 0.03 to 118 km) and had three peak movement periods (pre-spawn, post-spawn and overwintering). Movement into and out of tributaries was common, but the movement between mainstem river and...

Since 1993, elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni) abundance in the Black Hills of South Dakota has been estimated using a detection probability model previously developed in Idaho, though it is likely biased because of a failure to account for visibility biases under local conditions. To correct...

While the Atlantic Coast of the United States and Canada is a major wintering area for sea ducks, knowledge about their wintering habitat use is relatively limited. Black Scoters have a broad wintering distribution and are the only open water species of sea duck that is abundant along the southeastern...

Few studies have investigated the ecology of urban striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) despite their role as a primary rabies vector species paired with an ability to thrive in these landscapes. Information on home range, nightly movements, and habitat selection, is important for rabies management planning regarding the placement of oral...

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Wildland Fire Science Program produces information to identify the causes of wildfires, understand the impacts and benefits of both wildfires and prescribed fires, and help prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events. USGS fire scientists provide information and develop tools that are widely used by stakeholders to...

Wildland fire characteristics, such as area burned, number of large fires, burn intensity, and fire season duration, have increased steadily over the past 30 years, resulting in substantial increases in the costs of suppressing fires and managing damages from wildland fire events (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017)....

The U.S. Geological Survey's Wildland Fire Science Program produces fundamental information to identify the causes of wildfires, understand the impacts and benefits of both wildfires and prescribed fires, and help prevent and manage larger, catastrophic events. Our fire scientists provide information and develop tools that are widely used by stakeholders...

This report serves as a reference document in support of the regionalization of surface-water statistics using multiple linear regression. Streamflow statistics are quantitative characterizations of hydrology and are often derived from observed streamflow records. In the absence of observed streamflow records, as at unmonitored or ungaged locations, other techniques are...

Climate warming is expected to destabilize permafrost carbon (PF‐C) by thaw‐erosion and deepening of the seasonally thawed active layer and thereby promote PF‐C mineralization to CO2 and CH4. A similar PF‐C remobilization might have contributed to the increase in atmospheric CO2 during deglacial warming after the last glacial maximum. Using carbon isotopes...

Regression equations, which may be used to estimate flood flows at select annual exceedance probabilities, were developed for ungaged streams in Pennsylvania. The equations were developed using annual peak flow data through water year 2015 and basin characteristics for 285 streamflow gaging stations across Pennsylvania and surrounding states. The streamgages...

Participatory Modeling (PM) is becoming increasingly common in environmental planning and conservation, due in part to advances in cyberinfrastructure as well as to greater recognition of the importance of engaging a diverse array of stakeholders in decision making. We provide lessons learned, based on over 200 years of...