Publications
Browse more than 160,000 publications authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS. Publications available are: USGS-authored journal articles, series reports, book chapters, other government publications, and more.
Mission Area Publications
Mission Area Publications
We are focused on some of the most significant issues society faces, and our science is making a substantial contribution to the well-being of the Nation and the world. Learn more about the major topics our research covers and the programs focused on those topics.
Filter Total Items: 171654
Retrospective review of the pathology of American pikas
American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are small lagomorphs that live in mountainous talus areas of western North America. Studies on the histopathology of American pikas are limited. We summarize here the clinical histories, and gross and histologic findings of 12 American pikas, including 9 captive (wild-caught) and 3 wild animals. Death was often attributed to stress (transport, handling, anesthesi
Authors
Adrienne Barrett, Kali Holder, Susan Knowles, Elise E. B. LaDouceur
Changes in soil erosion caused by wildfire: A conceptual biogeographic model
Soil erosion rates after wildfire are strongly controlled by intrinsic properties such as topography, weather, climate, soil, and vegetation. These landscape and hydroclimatic properties are important in determining post-fire erosion rates; however, their influence on post-fire erosion and their interaction with the intensity of a wildfire remains uncertain. A key limitation in resolving this unce
Authors
Philip J. Noske, Petter Nyman, Patrick N.J. Lane, Francis K. Rengers, Gary J. Sheridan
A comparison of eDNA sampling methods in an estuarine environment on presence of longfin smelt (Spirinchus thaleichthys) and fish community composition
The loss of tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Bay estuary have led to declines in native fish presence. Restoration of tidal wetlands in this area has intensified, with a primary goal of increasing the number of native fishes. We compared the presence of longfin smelt in naturally accreted and beneficial dredge reuse wetlands as a measure of successful restoration. We used environmental DNA (eDN
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon C. Waters, Lyndsay L. Rankin, Karen M. Thorne, Daphne Gille, Susan De La Cruz, Isa Woo, Levi Lewis, Katie Karpenko, Cheryl Dean, Gregg Schumer
Causal inference approaches reveal both positive and negative unintended effects of agricultural and urban management practices on instream biological condition
Agricultural and urban management practices (MPs) are primarily designed and implemented to reduce nutrient and sediment concentrations in streams. However, there is growing interest in determining if MPs produce any unintended positive effects, or co-benefits, to instream biological and habitat conditions. Identifying co-benefits is challenging though because of confounding variables (i.e., those
Authors
Sean Cassian Emmons, Taylor E Woods, Matthew Joseph Cashman, Olivia Devereux, Gregory Noe, John A. Young, Scott Stranko, Jay V. Kilian, Katherine Hanna, Kelly O. Maloney
Explosive 2018 eruptions at Kīlauea driven by a collapse-induced stomp-rocket mechanism
Explosive volcanic eruptions produce hazardous atmospheric plumes composed of tephra particles, hot gas and entrained air. Such eruptions are generally driven by magmatic fragmentation or steam expansion. However, an eruption mechanism outside this phreatic–magmatic spectrum was suggested by a sequence of 12 explosive eruptions in May 2018 at Kīlauea, Hawaii, that occurred during the early stages
Authors
Joshua Allen Crozier, Josef Dufek, Leif Karlstrom, Kyle R. Anderson, Ryan Cain Cahalan, Weston Thelen, Mary Catherine Benage, Chao Liang
Prion seeding activity in plant tissues detected by RT-QuIC
Prion diseases such as scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and chronic wasting disease (CWD) affect domesticated and wild herbivorous mammals. Animals afflicted with CWD, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids (deer, elk, and moose), shed prions into the environment, where they may persist and remain infectious for years. These environmental prions may remain in soil,
Authors
Kate Burgener, Stuart Siegfried Lichtenberg, Daniel P. Walsh, Heather Inzalaco, Aaron Lomax, Joel Pedersen
Viral pathogen detection in U.S. game-farm mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) flags spillover risk to wild birds
The threat posed by emerging infectious diseases is a major concern for global public health, animal health and food security, and the role of birds in transmission is increasingly under scrutiny. Each year, millions of mass-reared game-farm birds are released into the wild, presenting a unique and a poorly understood risk to wild and susceptible bird populations, and to human health. In particula
Authors
Brian P. Bourke, Robert J. Dusek, Koray Ergunay, Yvonne-Marie Linton, Serguei Vyacheslavovich Drovetski
Behavioral trade-offs and multitasking by elk in relation to predation risk from Mexican gray wolves
Predator non-consumptive effects (NCE) can alter prey foraging time and habitat use, potentially reducing fitness. Prey can mitigate NCEs by increasing vigilance, chewing-vigilance synchronization, and spatiotemporal avoidance of predators. We quantified the relationship between Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) predation risk and elk (Cervus canadensis) behavior. We conducted behavioral observat
Authors
Zachary J. Farley, Cara J. Thompson, Scott T. Boyle, Nicole M. Tatman, James W. Cain
Melded integrated population models
Integrated population models provide a framework for assimilating multiple datasets to understand population dynamics. Understanding drivers of demography is key to improving wildlife management, and integrated population models have informed conservation practices for many species of conservation concern. Motivated by multiple surveys of lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), we dev
Authors
Justin J. Van Ee, Christian A. Hagen, David C. Pavlacky, David A. Haukos, Andrew J . Lawrence, Ashley M . Tanner, Blake A. Grisham, Kent A. Fricke, Liza G. Rossi, Grant M. Beauprez, Kurt E. Kuklinski, Russell Martin, Matthew D. Koslovsky, Troy B. Rintz, Mevin B. Hooten
Effects of drought and cloud-water interception on groundwater recharge and wildfire hazard for recent and future climate conditions, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi
The Water-budget Accounting for Tropical Regions Model (WATRMod) code was used for Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, and the Island of Hawaiʻi to estimate the spatial distribution of groundwater recharge, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and climatic water deficit for a set of water-budget scenarios. The scenarios included historical and future drought conditions, and a land-cover condition where s
Authors
Alan Mair, Delwyn S. Oki, Heidi L. Kāne, Adam G. Johnson, Kolja Rotzoll
Impact of Hurricane Irma on coral reef sediment redistribution at Looe Key Reef, Florida, USA
Understanding event-driven sediment transport in coral reef environments is essential to assessing impacts on reef species, habitats, restoration, and mitigation, yet a global knowledge gap remains due to limited quantitative studies. Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Lower Florida Keys with sustained 209 km h−1 winds and waves greater than 8 m on 10 September 2017, directly impacting the Florid
Authors
Kimberly Yates, Zachery Fehr, Selena Anne-Marie Johnson, David G. Zawada
Estimated groundwater recharge for mid-century and end-of-century climate projections, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Maui, and the Island of Hawai‘i
Demand for freshwater in the State of Hawaiʻi is expected to increase by roughly 13 percent from 2020 to 2035. Groundwater availability in Hawaiʻi is affected by a number of factors, including land cover, rainfall, runoff, evapotranspiration, and climate change. To evaluate the availability of fresh groundwater under projected future-climate conditions, estimates of groundwater recharge are needed
Authors
Heidi L. Kāne, Alan Mair, Adam G. Johnson, Kolja Rotzoll, James Mifflin, Delwyn S. Oki