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
Evaluating the reliability of environmental concentration data to characterize exposure in environmental risk assessments
Environmental risk assessments often rely on measured concentrations in environmental matrices to characterize exposure of the population of interest—typically, humans, aquatic biota, or other wildlife. Yet, there is limited guidance available on how to report and evaluate exposure datasets for reliability and relevance, despite their importance to regulatory decision-making. This paper is the sec
Authors
Michelle Hladik, Arjen Markus, Dennis R. Helsel, Lisa H. Nowell, Stefano Polesello, Heinz Rudel, Drew Szabo, Iain Wilson
Chronic wasting disease: State of the science
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation of this “wicked” disease will require input from many different stakeholders including hunters,
Authors
Jason Bartz, Rebeca Benavente, Byron Caughey, Sonja Christensen, Allen Jeffrey Herbst, Ed Hoover, Candace K Mathiason, Debbie I. McKenzie, Rodrigo Morales, Marc D. Schwabenlander, Daniel P. Walsh, NC1209: North American interdisciplinary chronic wasting disease research consortium members
Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE): Summary of U.S. Geological Survey URGE pod deliverables
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is in a unique position to be a leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the Earth sciences. As one of the largest geoscience employers, the USGS wields significant community influence and has a responsibility to adopt and implement robust, unbiased policies so that the science it is charged to deliver is better connected to the diverse communi
Authors
Matthew C. Morriss, Eleanour Snow, Jennifer L. Miselis, William F. Waite, Katherine R. Barnhart, Andria P. Ellis, Liv M. Herdman, Seth C. Moran, Annie L. Putman, Nadine G. Reitman, Wendy K. Stovall, Meagan J. Eagle, Stephen C. Phillips
Contrasting migratory chronology and routes of Lesser Scaup: Implications of different migration strategies in a broadly distributed species
Migration allows birds to improve fitness by exploiting seasonal resource peaks and avoiding limitations. Migration strategies may differ among individuals within a species, but for all strategies, the benefit of increased fitness should outweigh the costs of migration. These costs can include increased mortality risk, time constraints in the annual cycle, and metabolic energy loss. We compared mi
Authors
Laurie Anne Hall, Christopher J. Latty, Jeffrey M. Warren, John Y. Takekawa, Susan E. W. De La Cruz
Insights into magma storage depths and eruption controls at Kīlauea Volcano during explosive and effusive periods of the past 500 years based on melt and fluid inclusions
Kīlauea Volcano experiences centuries-long cycles of explosive and effusive eruptive behavior, but the relation, if any, between these eruptive styles and changing conditions in the magma plumbing system remains poorly known. We analyze olivine-hosted melt and fluid inclusions to determine magma storage depths during the explosive-era Keanakākoʻi Tephra eruptions (∼1500–1840 CE) and compare these
Authors
Allan Lerner, D. Matthew Sublett Jr., Paul J. Wallace, Christina Cauley, Robert J. Bodnar
Integrating monitoring and modeling information to develop an indicator of watershed progress toward nutrient reduction goals
Eutrophication has been a major environmental issue in many coastal and inland ecosystems, which is primarily attributed to excessive anthropogenic inputs of nutrients. Restoration efforts have therefore focused on the reduction of watershed nutrient loads, including in the Chesapeake Bay (USA). To facilitate watershed management, watershed models are often developed and used to assess the expecte
Authors
Qian Zhang, Gary W. Shenk, Gopal Bhatt, Isabella Bertani
Evaluation of larval sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus growth in the laboratory: Influence of temperature and diet
Conservation aquaculture provides a means for promoting environmental stewardship, useful both in the context of restoring native species and limiting the production of invasive species. Aquaculture of lampreys is a relatively recent endeavor aimed primarily at producing animals to support the restoration of declining native populations. However, in the Laurentian Great Lakes, where sea lamprey Pe
Authors
John B. Hume, Skyler Bennis, Tyler Bruning, Margaret F. Docker, Sara Good, Ralph Lampman, Jacques Rinchard, Trisha Leigh Searcy, Michael P. Wilkie, Nicholas S. Johnson
Forecasting storm-induced coastal flooding for 21st century sea-level rise scenarios in the Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands
Oceanographic, coastal engineering, ecologic, and geospatial data and tools were combined to evaluate the increased risks of storm-induced coastal flooding in the populated Hawaiian, Mariana, and American Samoan Islands as a result of climate change and sea-level rise. We followed a hybrid (dynamical and statistical) downscaling approach to map flooding due to waves and storm surge at 10-square me
Authors
Curt D. Storlazzi, Borja G. Reguero, Camila Gaido L., Kristen C. Alkins, Chris Lowry, Cornelis M. Nederhoff, Li H. Erikson, Andrea C. O'Neill, Michael W. Beck
Beaver dam analogs did not improve beaver translocation outcomes in a desert river
Stream restoration programs employ beaver-related restoration techniques, including beaver translocations and installation of beaver dam analogs (BDA), to create complex in-stream habitat. We investigated whether BDA installations improved the probability of translocated beavers surviving and colonizing a section of a degraded desert river. We translocated beavers fitted with tracking devices to t
Authors
Christine Sandbach, Julie K. Young, Mary Conner, Emma Hansen, Phaedra E. Budy
Survival, cause-specific mortality, and population growth of white-tailed deer in western Virginia
Understanding the role of recruitment in population dynamics of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is important for management. In the central Appalachian Mountains, deer are part of a largely forested ecosystem that supports 3 carnivore species thought to be capable of influencing white-tailed deer recruitment: black bears (Urus americanus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and bobcats (Lynx rufu
Authors
Garrett B. Clevinger, W. Mark Ford, Marcella J. Kelly, Robert S. Alonso, Randy W. DeYoung, Nelson W. Lafon, Michael J. Cherry
A tale of two islands: Tectonic and orbital controls on marine terrace reoccupation, Channel Islands National Park, California, USA
In areas of low uplift rate on the Pacific Coast of North America, reoccupation of emergent marine terraces by later high sea-stands has been hypothesised to explain the existence of thermally anomalous fauna (mixtures of warm and cool species) of last interglacial age. If uplift rates have been low for much of the Quaternary, it follows that higher (older) terraces should also show evidence of re
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, Kathleen R. Simmons, R. Randall Schumann, Stephen B. DeVogel
Diatoms of North America: Nomenclatural transfers within the Bacillariophyceae 1
No abstract available.
Authors
M.B. Edlund, Sarah Spaulding, Ian Wesley Bishop, M. Potapova, Sylvia S. Lee, Paula C. Furey, Elena Jovanoska