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.
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Flow cytometric assessments of metabolic activity in bacterial assemblages provide insight into ecosystem condition along the Buffalo National River, Arkansas
The Buffalo National River (BNR), on karst terrain in Arkansas, is considered an extraordinary water resource. Water collected in Spring 2017 along BNR was metagenomically analyzed using 16S rDNA, and for 17 months (5/2017–11/2018), bacterial responses were measured in relation to nutrients sampled along a stretch of BNR near a concentrated animal feed operation (CAFO) on Big Creek. Because cell c
Authors
Jill Jenkins, Rassa Dale, Nina M. Hoffpauir, Brooke A Baudoin, Caroline Matkin, Lucas Driver, Shawn W Hodges, Bonnie L. Brown
Prioritizing water availability study settings to address geogenic contaminants and related societal factors
Water availability for human and ecological uses depends on both water quantity and water quality. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing strategies for prioritizing regional-scale and watershed basin-scale studies of water availability across the nation. Previous USGS ranking processes for basin-scale studies incorporated primarily water quantity factors but are now considering additiona
Authors
Melinda L. Erickson, Craig J. Brown, Elizabeth J. Tomaszewski, Joseph D. Ayotte, Sharon L. Qi, Douglas B. Kent, John K. Böhlke
Range-wide population trend analysis for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—Updated 1960–2023
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are at the center of state and national land-use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for health of sagebrush ecosystems. This updated population trend analysis provides state and federal land and wildlife managers with best-available science to help guide management and conservation plans aimed at b
Authors
Brian G. Prochazka, Peter S. Coates, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O'Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Adrian P. Monroe, Steve E. Hanser, Lief A. Wiechman, Michael P. Chenaille
Non-mercury methylating microbial taxa are integral to understanding links between mercury methylation and elemental cycles in marine and freshwater sediments
The goal of this study was to explore the role of non-mercury (Hg) methylating taxa in mercury methylation and to identify potential links between elemental cycles and Hg methylation. Statistical approaches were utilized to investigate the microbial community and biochemical functions in relation to methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in marine and freshwater sediments. Sediments were collected fr
Authors
Yong-Li Wang, Kaoru Ikuma, Scott C. Brooks, Matthew S. Varonka, Amrika Deonarine
20th century warming in the lower Florida Keys was dominated by increasing winter temperatures
Long-lived Atlantic coral species like Orbicella faveolata are important archives of oceanographic change in shallow, marine environments like the Florida Keys. Not only can coral-based records extend for multiple centuries beyond the limits of the instrumental record, but they can also provide a more accurate representation of in situ conditions than gridded interpolated sea-surface temperature (
Authors
Jennifer A. Flannery, Julie N. Richey, Lauren Toth, Madelyn Jean Mette
Urbanization and water management control stream water quality along a mountain to plains transition
Urbanization can have substantial effects on water quality due to altered hydrology and introduction of constituents to water bodies. In arid and semi-arid environments, streams are further stressed by dewatering as a result of diversions. We conducted a high-resolution synoptic survey of two streams in Colorado, USA that transition abruptly from granitic/metamorphic forested mountains to sediment
Authors
Sheila F. Murphy, Robert L. Runkel, Edward G. Stets, Alex J Nolan, Deborah A. Repert
USGS and social media user dialogue and sentiment during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii
Responsive and empathic communication by scientists is critical for building trust and engagement with communities, which, in turn, promotes receptiveness toward authoritative hazard information during times of crisis. The 2018 eruption of Hawai‘i's Kīlauea Volcano was the first volcanic crisis event in which communication via the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) social media group, “USGS Volcanoes,”
Authors
Robert T. Goldman, Sara McBride, Wendy K. Stovall, David Damby
Liquefaction timing and post-triggering seismic energy: A comparison of crustal and subduction zone earthquakes
The objective of the study is to assess when liquefaction is triggered in a suite of ground motions following simplified approaches and measure the remaining post-triggering energy content of those ground motions. For liquefaction-induced deformations, current simplified analysis procedures do not directly incorporate temporal effects and rely on peak transient intensity measurements. Liquefaction
Authors
Trevor J. Carey, Atira Naik, Andrew James Makdisi, Henry (Ben) Mason
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The conceptual risk framework, previously developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, for uranium mining was updated to include indigenous knowledge components informed by the Havasupai Tribe perspective. This General Information Product was designed to show the contaminant exposure framework from the Havasupai perspective in the Havasupai language.
Authors
Carletta Tilousi, Jo Ellen Hinck
Evaluation and review of best management practices for the reduction of polychlorinated biphenyls to the Chesapeake Bay
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) continue to impact the environment due to historic and ongoing anthropogenic sources (for example, industrial and agricultural), despite their ban. Contaminated stormwater has been identified as a vector for PCB transport to many estuaries impaired by PCBs. Management of these regulated discharges is typically achieved by best management practices (BMPs). This revi
Authors
Trevor P. Needham, Emily Majcher, Ellie Foss, Olivia Devereux
Determinants of spring migration departure dates in a New World sparrow: Weather variables reign supreme
Numerous factors influence the timing of spring migration in birds, yet the relative importance of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on migration initiation remains unclear. To test for interactions among weather, migration distance, parasitism, and physiology in determining spring departure date, we used the Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) as a model migratory species known to harbor diverse and
Authors
Allison J. Byrd, Katherine M. Talbott, Tara M. Smiley, Taylor B. Verrett, Michael S. Gross, Michelle Hladik, Ellen D. Ketterson, Daniel J. Becker
Local environments, not invasive hybridization, influence cardiac performance of native trout under acute thermal stress
Climate-induced expansion of invasive hybridization (breeding between invasive and native species) poses a significant threat to the persistence of many native species worldwide. In the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains, hybridization between native cutthroat trout and non-native rainbow trout has increased in recent decades due, in part, to climate-driven increases in water temperature. It has been p
Authors
Jeffrey Strait, Jared Grummer, Nicholas Hoffman, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Shawn R. Narum, Gordon Luikart