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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Colorado River Basin Actionable and Strategic Integrated Science and Technology (ASIST) pilot project progress toward an information management and technology plan
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey carries out a wide variety of multidisciplinary science projects through the Bureau’s regions, mission areas, programs, and science centers. However, this structure can limit interactions among individual scientists, segregate data holdings, and make it difficult to apply holistic, interdisciplinary science. In addition, technological advances in sensors
Authors
Eric D. Anderson, Jennifer R. Erxleben, Sharon L. Qi, Adrian P. Monroe, Katharine G. Dahm
Comment on “A new decade in seismoacoustics (2010–2022)” by Fransiska Dannemann Dugick, Clinton Koch, Elizabeth Berg, Stephen Arrowsmith, and Sarah Albert
An increase in seismic stations also having microbarographs has led to increased interest in the field of seismoacoustics. A review of the recent advances in this field can be found in Dannemann Dugick et al. (2023). The goal of this note is to draw the attention of the readers of Dannemann Dugick et al. (2023) to several additional interactions between the solid Earth and atmosphere that have not
Authors
Adam T. Ringler, Robert E. Anthony, Brian Shiro, Toshiro Tanimoto, David C. Wilson
Beyond overlap: Considering habitat preference and fitness outcomes in the umbrella species concept
Umbrella species and other surrogate species approaches to conservation provide an appealing framework to extend the reach of conservation efforts beyond single species. For the umbrella species concept to be effective, populations of multiple species of concern must persist in areas protected on behalf of the umbrella species. Most assessments of the concept, however, focus exclusively on geograp
Authors
J. D. Carlisle, K. T. Smith, J. L. Beck, M. A. Murphy, Anna D. Chalfoun
Application of a catch multiple survey analysis for Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus in the Delaware Bay
ObjectiveThis paper applies a catch multiple survey analysis (CMSA) to Atlantic horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus in the Delaware Bay to generate robust population estimates for harvest management. Currently, horseshoe crabs along the U.S. Atlantic coast are harvested as bait for other fisheries and collected for their blood, which is used in a biomedical industry. The Delaware Bay is home to the
Authors
Kristen A. Anstead, John A. Sweka, Linda Barry, Eric M. Hallerman, David R. Smith, Natalie Ameral, Michael Schmidtke, Richard A. Wong
Status, trend, and monitoring effectiveness of Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) at sea abundance and reproductive output off central California, 1999–2021
Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) have been listed as “endangered” by the State of California and “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1992 in California, Oregon, and Washington. Information regarding murrelet abundance, distribution, and habitat associations is critical for risk assessment, effective management, evaluation of conservation efficacy, and ultimately, t
Authors
Jonathan Felis, Josh Adams, Benjamin H. Becker
Prioritization of species status assessments for decision support
Species status assessments are used to inform U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decision making for Endangered Species Act (ESA) classification decisions, recovery planning, and more. The large number of species that require assessment and uncertainty in the data available impede the process of assigning and completing the assessments, which makes creating a multiyear work plan extremely diff
Authors
Ashley B.C. Goode, Erin Rivenbark, Jessica A. Gilbert, Conor P. McGowan
A synergistic future for AI and ecology
Research in both ecology and AI strives for predictive understanding of complex systems, where nonlinearities arise from multidimensional interactions and feedbacks across multiple scales. After a century of independent, asynchronous advances in computational and ecological research, we foresee a critical need for intentional synergy to meet current societal challenges against the backdrop of glob
Authors
Barbara A. Han, Kush R. Varshney, Shannon L. LaDeau, Ajit Subramaniam, Kathleen C. Weathers, Jacob Aaron Zwart
The diversity of volcanic hazard maps around the world: Insights from map makers
The IAVCEI Working Group on Hazard Mapping has been active since 2014 and has facilitated several activities to enable sharing of experiences of how volcanic hazard maps are developed and used around the world. One key activity was a global survey of 90 map makers and practitioners to collect data about official, published volcanic hazard maps and how they were developed. The survey asked question
Authors
Jan Lindsay, Danielle Charlton, Mary Ann T. Clive, Daniel Bertin, Sarah E. Ogburn, Heather M. Wright, John W. Ewert, Eliza S. Calder, Bastian Steinke
Shallow fault slip of the 2020 M5.1 Sparta, North Carolina, earthquake
The 2020 M 5.1 Sparta, North Carolina, earthquake is the largest in the eastern United States since the 2011 M 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake and produced a ∼2.5‐km‐long surface rupture, unusual for an event of this magnitude. A geological field study conducted soon after the event indicates oblique slip along a east‐southeast‐trending fault with a consistently observed thrust component. My ana
Authors
Fred Pollitz
ENSO and NAO linkages to interannual salinity variability in north central Gulf of Mexico estuaries through teleconnections with precipitation
Though the importance of Earth's internal climate modes such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) to regional-scale climate variability is well recognized, the degree to which these oscillations are reflected by spatio-temporal salinity variability over interannual timescales in estuaries is less understood. Here an 11-year continuous salinity monitor
Authors
Gregg Snedden
A reference genome assembly for the continentally distributed ring-necked snake, Diadophis punctatus
Snakes in the family Colubridae include more than 2,000 currently recognized species, and comprise roughly 75% of the global snake species diversity on Earth. For such a spectacular radiation, colubrid snakes remain poorly understood ecologically and genetically. Two subfamilies, Colubrinae (788 species) and Dipsadinae (833 species), comprise the bulk of colubrid species richness. Dipsadines are a
Authors
Erin P. Westeen, Merly Escalona, Eric Beraut, Mohan P. A. Marimuthu, Oanh Nguyen, Robert N. Fisher, Erin Toffelmier, H. Bradley Shaffer, Ian J. Wang
a-positive: A robust estimator of the earthquake rate in incomplete or saturated catalogs
Detection thresholds in earthquake catalogs frequently change in time due to station coverage improvements and network saturation effects during active periods such as mainshock-aftershock cascades. This presents a challenge to seismicity-rate estimation; there is a tradeoff between using as low a minimum magnitude as possible to maximize data while not undercounting the rate due to catalog incomp
Authors
Nicholas van der Elst, Morgan T. Page