Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16783
Spatial capture–recapture with random thinning for unidentified encounters
Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models have increasingly been used as a basis for combining capture–recapture data types with variable levels of individual identity information to estimate population density and other demographic parameters. Recent examples are the unmarked SCR (or spatial count model), where no individual identities are available and spatial mark–resight (SMR) where individual id
Authors
José Jiménez, Ben Augustine, Daniel W. Linden, Richard B. Chandler, Andy Royle
Investigation of U.S. Foreign Reliance on Critical Minerals—U.S. Geological Survey technical input document in response to Executive Order No. 13953 Signed September 30, 2020
Over the past few decades (1990–2019), the United States has become reliant on foreign sources to meet domestic demand for a large and growing number of mineral commodities. In combination with recent trends towards progressively concentrated supply of mineral commodities from a limited number of countries, this heightened import reliance may increase the risk to the United States economy and nati
Authors
Nedal T. Nassar, Elisa Alonso, Jaime L. Brainard
Evidence that watershed nutrient management practices effectively reduce estrogens in environmental waters
We evaluate the impacts of different nutrient management strategies on the potential for co-managing estrogens and nutrients in environmental waters of the Potomac watershed of the Chesapeake Bay. These potential co-management approaches represent agricultural and urban runoff, wastewater treatment plant effluent, and combined sewer overflow replacements. Twelve estrogenic compounds and their meta
Authors
Shuiwang Duan, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Katia Noguera-Oviedo, Sujay S. Kaushal, Erik Rosenfeld, Diana Aga, Sudhir Murthy
Quality of data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network for water years 2013–17
Water samples from 122 sites in the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Network were collected in 2013–17 to document ambient water-quality conditions in surface water of the United States and to determine status and trends of loads and concentrations for nutrients, contaminants, and sediment to estuaries and streams. Quality-control (QC) samples collected in the field with environmental
Authors
Laura Medalie, Laura M. Bexfield
Considerations for incorporating quality control into water quality sampling strategies for the U.S. Geological Survey
This report describes considerations for incorporating routine quality-assessment and quality-control evaluations into U.S. Geological Survey discrete water-sampling programs and projects. U.S. Geological Survey water-data science in 2020 is characterized by robustness, external reproducibility, collaborative large-volume data analysis, and efficient delivery of water-quality data. Confidence in d
Authors
Laura Medalie
Ecological risk assessment of environmental stress and bioactive chemicals to riverine fish populations: An individual-based model of smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu
Ecological risk assessments play an important role in environmental management and decision-making. Although empirical measurements of the effects of habitat changes and chemical exposure are often made at molecular and individual levels, environmental decision-making often requires the quantification of management-relevant, population-level outcomes. In this study, we generalized a modeling frame
Authors
Yan Li, Vicki S. Blazer, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Megan K. Schall, Kelly Smalling, Donald E. Tillitt, Tyler Wagner
The evolution of a tropical biodiversity hotspot
The role of the environment in the origin of new species has long been debated. Harvey et al.examined the evolutionary history and species diversity of suboscine birds in the tropics (see the Perspective by Morlon). Contrary to expectations that the tropics have higher rates of speciation, the authors observed that higher and more constant speciation rates occur in harsh environments relative to t
Authors
Michael G Harvey, Gustavo A Bravo, Santiago Claramunt, Andres M Cuervo, Graham E Derryberry, Jaqueline Battilana, Glenn F Seeholzer, Jessica Shearer McKay, Brian C. O'Meara, Brant C Faircloth, Scott V Edwards, Jorge Perez-Eman, Robert G Moyle, Frederick H. Sheldon, Alexandre Aleixo, Brian T Smith, Terry Chesser, Luis F Silveira, Joel Cracraft, Robb T Brumfield, Elizabeth P Derryberry
Interactive PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat water-quality modeling tools to evaluate performance and design of treatment systems for acid mine drainage
The PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat aqueous geochemical modeling tools described herein simulate changes in pH and solute concentrations resulting from passive and active treatment of acidic or alkaline mine drainage (AMD). The “user-friendly” interactive tools, which are publicly available software, utilize PHREEQC equilibrium aqueous and surface speciation models and kinetics models for O2 ingassing and CO2 o
Authors
Charles A. Cravotta
Optimal sampling design for spatial capture‐recapture
Spatial capture‐recapture (SCR) has emerged as the industry standard for estimating population density by leveraging information from spatial locations of repeat encounters of individuals. The precision of density estimates depends fundamentally on the number and spatial configuration of traps. Despite this knowledge, existing sampling design recommendations are heuristic and their performance rem
Authors
Gates Dupont, J. Andrew Royle, Muhammad Ali Nawaz, Chris Sutherland
Ideas and perspectives: A strategic assessment of methane and nitrous oxide measurements in the marine environment
>In the current era of rapid climate change, accurate characterization of climate-relevant gas dynamics – namely production, consumption, and net emissions – is required for all biomes, especially those ecosystems most susceptible to the impact of change. Marine environments include regions that act as net sources or sinks for numerous climate-active trace gases including methane (CH4) and nitrous
Authors
S.T. Wilson, A.N. Al-Haj, A. Bourbonnais, C. Frey, R.W. Fulweiler, John D. Kessler, H.K. Marchant, J Milucka, N.E. Ray, P Suntharalingham, B.F. Thornton, R.C. Upstill-Goddard, T.S. Weber, D.L. Arévalo-Martínez, H.W. Bange, H.M. Benway, D. Bianchi, A.V. Borges, B.X. Chang, P.M. Crill, D.A. del Valle, L. Farías, S.B. Joye, A. Kock, J Labidi, C.C. Manning, John Pohlman, G. Rehder, K.J. Sparrow, P.D. Tortell, T. Truede, D.L. Valentine, B.B. Ward, S. Yang, L.N. Yurganov
Assessment of Ambystomatid salamander populations and their breeding habitats in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
This report presents abundance and occurrence data for three species of ambystomad salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum, A. jeffersonianum, and A. opacum) collected over a 3-year period (2000, 2001, and 2002) at 200 potentional breeding sies within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA). In addition, numerous measures of inpond, near-pond, and landscape attributes were measured and use
Authors
Craig D. Snyder, John A. Young, James T. Julian, Tim L. King, Shanon E. Julian
U.S. mineral supply chain security in the age of pandemics and trade wars
Modern technology makes use of numerous mineral commodities whose production is concentrated in a few countries. New research identifies the commodities whose supply disruption poses the greatest risk to the manufacturing sector. While the analysis is applied to the U.S. manufacturing sector, the principles are equally applicable to other economies heavily reliant on imported mineral materials.
Authors
Nedal Nassar, Steven M. Fortier