Search USGS⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search USGS

Results for “Book chapter”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
USGS2015

Lakes and reservoirs—Guidelines for study design and sampling

The “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) is an online report with separately published chapters that provides the protocols and guidelines by which U.S. Geological Survey personnel obtain the data used to assess the quality of the Nation’s surface-water and groundwater resources. Chapter A10 reviews limnological principles, describes the characteristics that distinguish lakes from reservoirs, and provides guidance for developing temporal and spatial sampling strategies and data-collection approaches to be used in lake and reservoir environmental investigations. Within this chapter are references to other chapters of the NFM that provide more detailed guidelines related to specific topics and more detailed protocols for the quality assurance and assessment of the lake and reservoir data. Protocols and procedures to address and document the quality of lake and reservoir investigations are adapted from, or referenced to, the protocols and standard operating procedures contained in related chapters of this NFM. Before 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) “National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data” (NFM) chapters were released in the USGS Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations series. Effective in 2018, new and revised NFM chapters are being released in the USGS Techniques and Methods series; this series change does not affect the content and format of the NFM. More information is in the general introduction to the NFM (USGS Techniques and Methods, book 9, chapter A0, 2018) at https://doi.org/10.3133/tm9A0 . The authoritative current versions of NFM chapters are available in the USGS Publications Warehouse at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov . Comments, questions, and suggestions related to the NFM can be addressed to nfm-owq@usgs.gov .

Techniques and Methods↗
USGS2017

A synthesis of living shoreline perspectives

The main goal of this summary chapter is to synthesize author perspectives across the contributed chapters, make recommendations on the correct usage of the term living shorelines, and offer guidance for planning in the future. Nature-based approaches are being applied globally, as signified by the breadth of geographic coverage in this book. The author’s institutions and locations of study span the East, Gulf, and West Coasts of the United States, including the states of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, Washington, and several national perspectives, including Hawaii; British Columbia in Canada; the Netherlands, as well as perspectives across Europe also including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom; Sydney Harbor in Australia; and Belize. Living shoreline techniques are very diverse and practices can vary by region, salinity and tidal regime, and degrees of natural and artificial components. Techniques covered in this book include restoring oyster reefs, eelgrass, and mangroves, planting marshes with and without supportive sills (e.g., stone, oyster shell bags, coir logs), incorporating structures such as logs and reef balls, nourishing beaches and dunes with sediment, engineering habitat features into seawalls, and managed realignment. All of these can have a variety of components, such as permitting, land acquisition, design, and monitoring. However, given the diverse representation, there are some shared commonalities that can help inform and direct shoreline management moving forward.

Book chapter↗
USGS2021

Ecosystem service co-benefits provided through wetland carbon management

What is the role of wetland carbon management in providing ecosystem services? Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to people, and they are often categorized as: provisioning (e.g., food and water), regulating (e.g., climate mitigation and flood protection), cultural (e.g., cultural and recreational), and supporting (e.g., nutrient cycling) services ( www.millenniumassessment.org/ ). Ecosystem services are a function of the quantity and quality of the ecosystem. External factors such as land development, pollution, fragmentation, resource overuse, and climate change can negatively influence an ecosystem's capacity to provide ecosystem services; conversely, management actions to conserve and restore systems can increase ecosystem services (Pindilli, 2019). Wetland carbon management is a set of preservation, conservation, or restoration actions used to preserve ecosystem function that protects or enhances stored carbon or biologic carbon sequestration, with the intent to regulate climate (see Moomaw et al., 2018). By managing for wetland carbon resources, there is often a co-benefit of the preservation or enhancement of other ecosystem services; it may also increase ecosystem disservices (such as mosquito production). This chapter provides an overview of the types of ecosystem service co-benefits provided by wetland carbon management, with specific examples from the literature.

Book chapter↗
USGS2012

Advances in spectroscopic methods for quantifying soil carbon

The current gold standard for soil carbon (C) determination is elemental C analysis using dry combustion. However, this method requires expensive consumables, is limited by the number of samples that can be processed (~100/d), and is restricted to the determination of total carbon. With increased interest in soil C sequestration, faster methods of analysis are needed, and there is growing interest in methods based on diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the visible, near-infrared or mid-infrared spectral ranges. These spectral methods can decrease analytical requirements and speed sample processing, be applied to large landscape areas using remote sensing imagery, and be used to predict multiple analytes simultaneously. However, the methods require localized calibrations to establish the relationship between spectral data and reference analytical data, and also have additional, specific problems. For example, remote sensing is capable of scanning entire watersheds for soil carbon content but is limited to the surface layer of tilled soils and may require difficult and extensive field sampling to obtain proper localized calibration reference values. The objective of this chapter is to discuss the present state of spectroscopic methods for determination of soil carbon.

Book chapter↗
USGS2015

Mapping wetlands and surface water in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America: Chapter 16

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is one of the most highly productive wetland regions in the world. Prairie Pothole wetlands serve as a primary feeding and breeding habitat for more than one-half of North America’s waterfowl population, as well as a variety of songbirds, waterbirds, shorebirds, and other wildlife. During the last century, extensive land conversions from grassland with wetlands to cultivated cropland and grazed pastureland segmented and reduced wetland habitat. Inventorying and characterizing remaining wetland habitat is critical for the management of wetland ecosystem services. Remote sensing technologies are often utilized for mapping and monitoring wetlands. This chapter presents background specific to the PPR and discusses approaches employed in mapping its wetlands before presenting a case study.

Prairie Pothole Region↗
USGS2011

Managing white-tailed deer: Eastern North America

The ability of the white-tailed deer to adapt to and thrive in a wide variety of habitats requires different approaches to managing this species. Variation in both the population dynamics of the species and in the social and political factors that inuence how humans value white-tailed deer also necessitate different approaches. Consequently, providing an overview of the management of white-tailed deer in eastern North America runs the gamut from a species limited by snow depths in the remote boreal forests of Canada to a species inhabiting metropolitan areas. In this chapter, we address issues that inuence deer management among ecoregions that have similar deer population characteristics and related management concerns.

Eastern North America↗
USGS2023

Blue carbon in a changing climate and a changing context

Blue carbon, a convenient term to encompass the climate mitigation value of coastal carbon dynamics, has received global policy attention and growing datasets to support management actions. Carbon stock assessments in mangroves, seagrass, and tidal marshes document significant carbon storage in soils. Models illustrate significant downward fluxes of carbon dioxide and limited methane emissions, making tidal wetland preservation and restoration notably potent for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Natural variation in different carbon stocks and fluxes has led to prioritization efforts to characterize coastal lands across physical and biological gradients. However, a larger concern beyond upscaling carbon dynamics is the resilience of these stocks and fluxes with global changes. Data-informed models have greatly improved our assessments of the vulnerability of soil and biomass stocks, greenhouse gas (GHG) balance, and spatial extents. Accelerated sea-level rise is increasingly concerning, but its impacts vary by resilience context, as very few coastal lands are without direct human impact. As the landscape context has changed, blue carbon fluxes have also shifted in terms of importance and distribution. New incentives for tidal ecosystem management are expanding boundaries to include algal carbon and tidal transport of alkalinity, which bring additional co-benefits to coastal waters. Using examples from the conterminous USA on blue carbon stocks, radiative balance, and extent, this chapter explores timelines of physical and biogeochemical stressors and their application to past, current, and future climate mitigation functions of coastal ecosystems.

Book chapter↗
USGS2014

Melt inclusions

Melt inclusions are small droplets of silicate melt that are trapped in minerals during their growth in a magma. Once formed, they commonly retain much of their initial composition (with some exceptions) unless they are re-opened at some later stage. Melt inclusions thus offer several key advantages over whole rock samples: (i) they record pristine concentrations of volatiles and metals that are usually lost during magma solidification and degassing, (ii) they are snapshots in time whereas whole rocks are the time-integrated end products, thus allowing a more detailed, time-resolved view into magmatic processes (iii) they are largely unaffected by subsolidus alteration. Due to these characteristics, melt inclusions are an ideal tool to study the evolution of mineralized magma systems. This chapter first discusses general aspects of melt inclusions formation and methods for their investigation, before reviewing studies performed on mineralized magma systems.

Book chapter↗
USGS1999

Continental diatoms as indicators of long-term environmental change

It is curious that diatoms, whose short lifespans and capacity for rapid regeneration make them especially suitable for short-term paleoenvironmental studies, would also have a significant role as indicators of long-term environmental change. This chapter explores the nature of long diatom records, their relation to global environmental changes, guidelines for their interpretation, and problems common to such records.

Book chapter↗
USGS2004

Fire as a physical process

This chapter explores fire as a physical process, including combustion, fuel characteristics, fuel models, fire weather, ignition sources, mechanisms for fire spread, and fire effects. In wildland fuels, combustion occurs in three phases: preheating, gaseous, and smoldering. Fuel is characterized by physical and chemical properties that affect combustion and fire behavior. Its characteristic classes are defined for a vegetation type and contain data for fuels in up to six strata representing potentially independent combustion environments. Fire weather includes air temperature, atmospheric moisture, atmospheric stability, and clouds and precipitation. Sufficient fuel, conducive weather, and an ignition are necessary ingredients for a fire. In line with this, this chapter investigates how these factors, combined with topography, cause a fire to spread. The chapter also introduces the physical parameters of fire behavior that affect fire severity, spotting, tree scorch height, plant mortality, biomass consumption, and microclimate.

Book chapter↗
USGS2004

Extermination and recovery of red wolf and grey wolf in the contiguous United States

About 150 years ago, the grey wolf ( Canis lupus ) was distributed throughout the contiguous United States, except for in southeastern US from central Texas to the Atlantic coast, where the red wolf ( Canis rufus ) occurred. Conflict with agricultural interests resulted in government-supported eradication campaigns beginning in colonial Massachusetts in 1630. Over the next 300 years, the campaigns were extended throughout the US resulting in the near extermination of both species. In recent decades, efforts to recover the red and grey wolf were carried out. This chapter summarizes extermination and recovery efforts for both species in the contiguous US.

Book chapter↗
USGS1942

The Great Lakes whitefish

In every one of the Great Lakes- Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior- the most valuable fishes are declining, and there is no evidence that this trend will be reversed. Under existing conditions of a diversity of regulations that vary between states and between the two countries, and with the present methods of fishing, the Great Lakes fisheries are doomed. This chapter deals with the common whitefish, a valuable species which many believe to be the next that will go unless positive action is forthcoming soon.

The Great Lakes↗
USGS2020

Introduction to linked and dynamic decisions

Often, a decision maker is faced with a series of linked decisions, rather than an isolated one-off decision. In natural resource management, it is common to make a similar type of decision on a regular basis (e.g., annually). Such linked decisions have two important properties: they are dynamic, that is, the actions taken early on affect immediate outcomes as well as the effects of actions taken later; and they may be adaptive, that is, early actions might generate learning that can be applied to later actions. This situation has given rise to the development of methods for adaptive management. This chapter provides an overview of the decision analytical methods available to support framing and solving dynamic decisions, and briefly reviews the case studies that follow.

Book chapter↗
USGS2017

Mangrove ecosystems under climate change

This chapter assesses the response of mangrove ecosystems to possible outcomes of climate change, with regard to the following categories: (i) distribution, diversity, and community composition, (ii) physiology of flora and fauna, (iii) water budget, (iv) productivity and remineralization, (v) carbon storage in biomass and sediments, and (vi) the filter function for elements beneficial or harmful to life. These categories are then used to identify the regions most vulnerable to climate change. The four most important factors determining the response of mangrove ecosystems to climate change are sea level rise, an increase in frequency and/or intensity of storms, increases in temperature, and aridity. While these changes may be beneficial for some mangrove forests at latitudinal distribution limits, they will threaten forest structure and functions and related ecosystem services in most cases. The interaction of climate change with human interventions is discussed, as well as the effects on ecosystem services including possible adaptation and management options. The chapter closes with an outlook on knowledge gaps and priority research needed to fill these gaps.

Book chapter↗
USGS2012

The effects of climate-change-induced drought and freshwater wetlands

Drought cycles in wetlands may become more frequent and severe in the future, with consequences for wetland distribution and function. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation, 2012. Online: http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-All_FINAL.pdf, climate-change is likely to affect precipitation and evapotranspiration patterns so that the world’s wetlands may have more frequent episodes of extreme flooding and drought. This chapter contributes to a worldwide view of how wetland processes may be affected by these predicted changes in climate. Specifically, the occurrence of drought may increase, and that increase may affect the critical processes that sustain biodiversity in wetlands. We include specific examples that explore the effects of drought and other climate-change factors on wetland function in various parts of the world. In a concluding section we discuss management strategies for climate-change in wetlands. The synthesis of information in this chapter will contribute to a better understanding of how climate-change-induced drought may affect the function and distribution of wetlands in the future.

Book chapter↗
USGS2011

Feeding ecology and energetics

Successful management of walleye and sauger populations often requires a detailed knowledge of prey resources. As with many fishes, diets of juvenile Sander spp. are often different than those of adult fish and can have important implications for growth and survival. Similarly, spatial and temporal variation in diet composition can contribute to variation in growth and production of Sander populations. Thus, management efforts (e.g., stocking) aimed at enhancing walleye and sauger populations benefit from the knowledge and tools to effectively quantify feeding patterns. Today, fisheries managers face a myriad of challenges posed by nonnative species, eutrophication, climate change, and water availability, to name just a few. As a result, knowledge about prey use, energetics, and effects of Sander populations on food web structure has increased dramatically in the last 30 years. Experimental work with larval and juvenile walleyes has provided new insights into factors affecting growth and survival during early life stages (see Chapter 7) that has benefitted management and propagation efforts. Similarly, contemporary analytical approaches, such as bioenergetics modeling and stable isotope analysis, have improved our understanding of walleye foraging behavior and provided new tools for exploring trophic interactions. In this chapter, we review the general feeding ecology of walleye and sauger and highlight contemporary approaches for quantifying energy acquisition and trophic interactions.

Book chapter↗