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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: 6063

Antibiotic resistance in free-ranging wildlife

In this chapter, we provide an overview of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria in wildlife through the presentation of general trends of occurrence among both captive and free-ranging wild animal populations, discussion of importance to human health and wildlife conservation, and identification of priority areas for future research and monitoring efforts. Once most commonly identified in human
Authors
Andrew M. Ramey, Christina Ahlstrom

Miocene terrestrial paleoclimates inferred from pollen in the Monterey Formation, Naples Coastal Bluffs section, California

We present here a comprehensive record of Miocene terrestrial ecosystems from exposures of the Monterey Formation along the Naples coastal bluffs, west of Santa Barbara, California. Constrained by an updated chronology, pollen analyses of 28 samples deposited between 18 and 6 Ma reflect the demise of mesophytic taxa that grew in a warm, wet environment during the late early and early middle Miocen
Authors
Linda E. Heusser, John A. Barron, Gregg Blake, Jon Nichols

Using in situ/ex situ research collaborations to support polar bear conservation

A warming Arctic threatens the long-term persistence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the wild. Historically, little collaboration existed between the in situ and ex situ polar bear scientific communities. However, for the past decade, zoo professionals, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) have partnered to leverage resources and expertise with the goal of addressing
Authors
Randi Meyerson, Todd C. Atwood

GeoAI and the future of spatial analytics

This chapter discusses the challenges of traditional spatial analytical methods in their limited capacity to handle big and messy data, as well as mining unknown or latent patterns. It then introduces a new form of spatial analytics—geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI)—and describes the advantages of this new strategy in big data analytics and data-driven discovery. Finally, a convergent spa
Authors
Wenwen Li, Samantha Arundel

Biofilms in the Critical Zone: Distribution and mediation of processes

Microbial biofilms occur in all levels of the Critical Zone (CZ); they are on and in the vegetation, throughout the soil-saprolite zone, and along fractures in deep subsurface. Here we discuss biofilms in each level of the CZ with a focus in the soil-saprolite continuum. We show how scanning electron microscope (SEM) images provide an appropriate scale to explore microbe mineral interactions in th
Authors
Marjorie S. Schulz, Kristen L. Manies

Late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic deposition of quartz arenites across southern Laurentia

Supermature siliciclastic sequences were deposited between 1.64 Ga and 1.59 Ga over a broad swath of southern Laurentia in the Archean, Penokean, Yavapai, and Mazatzal Provinces. These siliciclastic sequences are notable for their extreme mineralogical and chemical maturity, being devoid of detrital feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals, containing the clay mineral kaolinite (or its metamorphic equ
Authors
L. Gordon Medaris, Christopher G. Daniel, Michael F. Doe, James V. Jones, Joshua J. Schwartz

A refined assessment of the paleoceanographic and tectonic influences on the deposition of the Monterey Formation in California

Application of updated diatom biochronology to the Monterey Formation and related biosiliceous rocks reveals the imprint of both global paleoclimatic/ paleoceanographic and regional tectonic events. A rise in global sea level combined with regional tectonic deepening associated with the development of the transform California margin resulted in the abrupt onset of deposition of fine-grained Monte
Authors
John A. Barron

Teams, networks, and networks of networks advancing our understanding and conservation of inland waters

Networks are defined as groups of interconnected people and things, and by this definition, networks play a major role in the science of inland waters. In this article, we bring the latest social network research to understand and improve inland waters science and conservation outcomes. What we found is that relationships matter. Different teams and networks have different objectives and lifespan
Authors
Emily K. Read, Jennifer Cross, Nicole M. Herman-Mercer, Samantha K. Oliver, Catherine M. O'Reilly

Measurement and variability of lake metabolism

Aim: The aim of this article is to provide an overview of what contributes to lake metabolism, a brief overview of methods for estimating lake metabolism, and drivers of metabolism variability within and across lakes.Main concepts covered: In this article, we describe the key drivers of within and across lake variability in metabolism including lake morphometry, nutrients, light availability, temp
Authors
Jacob Aaron Zwart, Ludmila S Brighenti

Hydrological cycle and water budgets

In this chapter, we describe the hydrological cycle and each of its components (pools). The hydrological cycle is important to the transport and cycling of nutrients and energy. Quantifying the various components of the hydrological cycle, referred to as constructing water budget for a defined area, is an important framework for wise and equitable water management. The hydrological cycle has chang
Authors
Dale M. Robertson, Howard A. Perlman, T. N. Narisimhan

Worldwide wetland loss and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services

Aim: Best strategies for future conservation and management to address global and regional trends in wetland loss and degradation are assessed in this article.Main concepts covered: Direct drivers of wetland loss and change include land drainage and filling, hydrologic alteration, degradation from pollutants and sediments, and conversion to agriculture, urban and industrial usage. Estimates of glo
Authors
Beth Middleton

An introduction to current climate projections and their use in climate impacts research

Using climate projections to evaluate future climate impacts and their associated risks requires a background knowledge of the nature of climate change, use of climate models to develop future projections, and knowledge of how to address climate scenario uncertainty. This chapter provides an overview of climate and climate change, some of the foundational climate science that underlies current cli
Authors
Jeremy Littell