Book Chapters
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 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
Climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age based on ostracod faunas and shell geochemistry from Biscayne Bay, Florida
An 800-year-long environmental history of Biscayne Bay, Florida, is reconstructed from ostracod faunal and shell geochemical (oxygen, carbon isotopes, Mg/Ca ratios) studies of sediment cores from three mudbanks in the central and southern parts of the bay. Using calibrations derived from analyses of modern Biscayne and Florida Bay ostracods, palaeosalinity oscillations associated with changes in p
Authors
Thomas M. Cronin, G. Lynn Wingard, Gary S. Dwyer, Peter K. Swart, Debra A. Willard, Jessica Albietz
Communicating science: from cuneiform to the contemporary and beyond
No abstract available.
Authors
Cecil A. Jennings
Conducting fisheries investigations
No abstract available.
Authors
Alexander V. Zale, Donna L. Parrish, Trent M. Sutton
Design and performance of radio telemetry systems for assessing juvenile fish passage at three hydroelectric dams
No abstract available.
Authors
Eric Hockersmith, John W. Beeman, R Stevenson
Design of future surveys
This brief chapter addresses two related issues: how effort should be allocated to different parts of the sampling plan and, given optimal allocation, how large a sample will be required to achieve the PRISM accuracy target. Simulations based on data collected to date showed that 2 plots per cluster on rapid surveys, 2 intensive camps per field crew-year, 2-4 intensive plots per intensive camp, an
Authors
Jonathan Bart, Paul A. Smith
Developing a quality assurance plan for telemetry studies: a necessary management tool for an effective study
No abstract available.
Authors
Jill M. Hardiman, Christopher E. Walker, Timothy D. Counihan
Digital outcrop model of stratigraphy and breccias of the southern Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas
This chapter reviews and synthesizes the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, and breccia types of the southwestern part of the great American carbonate bank in the southern Franklin Mountains (SFM), El Paso, Texas. Primary stratigraphic units of focus are the Lower Ordovician El Paso and Upper Ordovician Montoya Groups. These groups preserve breccias formed by collapse of a pal
Authors
Jerome A. Bellian, Charles Kerans, John E. Repetski
Earthquake ground motion
Most of the effort in seismic design of buildings and other structures is focused on structural design. This chapter addresses another key aspect of the design process—characterization of earthquake ground motion. Section 3.1 describes the basis of the earthquake ground motion maps in the Provisions and in ASCE 7. Section 3.2 has examples for the determination of ground motion parameters and spect
Authors
Nicolas Luco, Michael Valley, C.B. Crouse
Ecological impacts of non-native species
Non-native species are considered one of the greatest threats to freshwater biodiversity worldwide (Drake et al. 1989; Allen and Flecker 1993; Dudgeon et al. 2005). Some of the first hypotheses proposed to explain global patterns of amphibian declines included the effects of non-native species (Barinaga 1990; Blaustein and Wake 1990; Wake and Morowitz 1991). Evidence for the impact of non-native s
Authors
John W. Wilkinson
Estimating the benefits of land imagery in environmental applications: a case study in nonpoint source pollution of groundwater
Moderate-resolution land imagery (MRLI) is crucial to a more complete assessment of the cumulative, landscape-level effect of agricultural land use and land cover on environmental quality. If this improved assessment yields a net social benefit, then that benefit reflects the value of information (VOI) from MRLI. Environmental quality and the capacity to provide ecosystem services evolve because o
Authors
Richard L. Bernknopf, William M. Forney, Ronald P. Raunikar, Shruti K. Mishra
Expert knowledge as a foundation for the management of secretive species and their habitat
In this chapter, we share lessons learned during the elicitation and application of expert knowledge in the form of a belief network model for the habitat of a waterbird, the King Rail (Rallus elegans). A belief network is a statistical framework used to graphically represent and evaluate hypothesized cause and effect relationships among variables. Our model was a pilot project to explore the valu
Authors
C. Ashton Drew, Jaime Collazo