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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

The INI North American Regional Nitrogen Center: 2011–2015 nitrogen activities in North America

The North American Nitrogen Center (NANC) carries out three main charges: (1) conducting assessments on nitrogen (N) flows within North America and the consequences for human health, water resources, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas emissions; (2) facilitating efforts to develop solutions to the problem of excess nitrogen in agricultural, institutional, and natural resource management sectors; and
Authors
Jill S. Baron, Eric A. Davidson

Ecology of urban climates: The need for landscape biophysics in cities

In this chapter we will review and evaluate the climatic and ecological parallels between urbanization and climate change, with an emphasis on temperature and its effects on terrestrial ectotherms, a group of organisms thought to be particularly sensitive to climate change. We will summarize patterns of urban warming and how they relate to global climate change projections, then discuss the potent
Authors
Elsa Youngsteadt, Adam Terando

Foreword

No abstract available.
Authors
J. Andrew Royle

Wildfire and landscape change

Wildfire is a worldwide phenomenon that is expected to increase in extent and severity in the future, due to fuel accumulations, shifting land management practices, and climate change. It immediately affects the landscape by removing vegetation, depositing ash, influencing water-repellent soil formation, and physically weathering boulders and bedrock. These changes typically lead to increased eros
Authors
Paul M. Santi, Francis K. Rengers

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; North America)

This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Authors
Mark A. Haroldson, Melanie Clapham, Cecily M. Costello, Kerry A. Gunther, Kate Kendall, Sterling Miller, Karine Pigeon, Michael F. Proctor, Karyn D. Rode, Christopher Servheen, Gordon Stenhouse, Frank T. van Manen

Ecological and social dimensions of sloth bear conservation in Sri Lanka

Balancing the needs of humans and wildlife in Sri Lanka presents enormous socioeconomic and conservation challenges. Sloth bears are legally protected, but attacks on humans generate intense fear, which increases the potential for human-caused bear mortality and local extirpation of bears. In this chapter, what is known about the ecology and human dimensions of the sloth bear in a country with a t
Authors
Shyamala Ratnayeke, Frank T. van Manen

Wildfire and Earth surface processes

Wildfire is a worldwide phenomenon that is expected to increase in extent and severity in the future, due to fuel accumulations, shifting land management practices, and climate change. It immediately affects the landscape by removing vegetation, depositing ash, influencing water-repellent soil formation, and physically weathering boulders and bedrock. These changes typically lead to increased eros
Authors
Paul M Santi, Francis K. Rengers

Thamnophis elegans--Terrestrial gartersnake

No abtract available.
Authors
Charles A. Drost

Lampropeltis splendida—Desert kingsnake

No abstract available.
Authors
Charles A. Drost

Coluber constrictor-North American racer

No abstract available.
Authors
Trevor Persons, Charles A. Drost

Introduction to life cycles, taxonomy, distribution and basic research techniques

Avian haemosporidian parasites are a closely related group of apicomplexan parasites with important similarities in their life cycles, development, physiology, and reproduction. Current phylogenies based on mitochondrial and nuclear genes reflect more traditional attempts to classify these organisms based on life history characteristics and morphology, but limited sampling from poorly characterize
Authors
Gediminas Valkiunas, Carter T. Atkinson