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: 171750
Using seasonal climate scenarios in the ForageAhead annual forage production model for early drought impact assessment
High interannual variability of forage production in semiarid grasslands leads to uncertainties when livestock producers make decisions, such as buying additional feed, relocating animals, or using flexible stocking. Within-season predictions of annual forage production (i.e., yearly production) can provide specific boundaries for producers to make these decisions with more information and possibl
Authors
Markéta Poděbradská, Bruce K. Wylie, Michael J. Hayes, Deborah J. Bathke, Yared A. Bayissa, Stephen P. Boyte, Jesslyn F. Brown, Brian D. Wardlow
Comparison of magnetic bead and rapid swab RNA extraction methods for detecting rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 in rabbit liver samples
We compared a bead RNA extraction method with a one-tube method that required only a heat block and ice. RNA was first extracted from liver samples from nine rabbits dying from rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2 (RHDV2) using magnetic beads, and RT-PCR was used to detect RHDV2 sequence. Following freezing, RNA was extracted a second time using the SwiftX™ Swabs Viral RNA Extraction Reagent. RHDV2
Authors
Erik K. Hofmeister, Kathryn M. Griffin, Hon S. Ip
Genetic mark–recapture analysis reveals large annual variation in pre-breeding sex ratio of greater sage-grouse
Sex ratio, and the extent to which it varies over time, is an important factor in the demography, management, and conservation of wildlife populations. Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus populations in western North America are monitored using counts of males at leks in spring. Population estimates derived from lek-count data typically assume a constant, female-biased sex ratio, yet few
Authors
Jessica E. Shyvers, Brett L Walker, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Jennifer A. Fike, Barry R. Noon
Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022
The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States’ Artemis program. Economic extraction and sustainable
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Kristen A. Bennett, Lillian R. Ostrach, Lisa R. Gaddis, Travis S. J. Gabriel, Justin Hagerty
Linking vocal behaviours to habitat structure to create behavioural landscapes
The recent development of animal-borne sensors coupled with location data can provide insights into how individuals modify their behaviour with respect to specific habitat features. Animals can express a diverse array of behaviours as they navigate heterogenous landscapes, yet few studies have specifically evaluated the interaction of behaviours with habitat characteristics. We used a novel broadc
Authors
Erin C Netoskie, Kristina L. Paxton, Eben H. Paxton, Gregory P. Asner, Patrick J. Hart
Geology along the Yuba Pass and Highway 70 corridors: A complex history of tectonics and magmatism in the northern Sierra Nevada
This field trip traverses a cross section of northern Sierra Nevada geology and landscape along two major corridors, Highway 49 (Yuba Pass) and Highway 70. These highways, and adjacent roadways, offer roadcuts, outcrops, and overviews through diverse pre-Cenozoic metamorphic rocks along the Laurentian margin, Mesozoic batholithic rocks, and Miocene volcanic rocks. Observing this array of rocks on
Authors
Michelle Roberts, Victoria Langenheim, Richard A. Schweickert, Richard E. Hanson
Spawning locations, movements, and potential for stock mixing of walleye in Green Bay, Lake Michigan
Effective fishery management in large systems relies on understanding how individual stocks contribute to a fishery over spatial and temporal scales. The current conceptual model for management of Walleye Sander vitreus in Green Bay designates Walleye in the northern and southern parts of the bay as distinct stocks, with little mixing between the northern and southern fisheries, and assumes that W
Authors
Lisa K. Izzo, Daniel Dembkowski, Todd Hayden, Tom Binder, Christopher Vandergoot, Steven Hogler, Michael Donofrio, Troy Zorn, Charles Krueger, Daniel A. Isermann
Phenotypic trait differences between Iris pseudacorus in native and introduced ranges support greater capacity of invasive populations to withstand sea level rise
AimTidal wetlands are greatly impacted by climate change, and by the invasion of alien plant species that are being exposed to salinity changes and longer inundation periods resulting from sea level rise. To explore the capacity for the invasion of Iris pseudacorus to persist with sea level rise, we initiated an intercontinental study along estuarine gradients in the invaded North American range a
Authors
Brenda J. Grewell, Blanca Gallego-Tévar, Gael Bárcenas-Moreno, Christine R. Whitcraft, Karen M. Thorne, Kevin Buffington, Jesus M. Castillo
Diverse migratory portfolios drive inter-annual switching behavior of elk across the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
A growing body of evidence shows that some ungulates alternate between migratory and nonmigratory behaviors over time. Yet it remains unclear whether such short-term behavioral changes can help explain reported declines in ungulate migration worldwide, as opposed to long-term demographic changes. Furthermore, advances in tracking technology reveal that a simple distinction between migration and no
Authors
Gabriel R. Zuckerman, Kristin J. Barker, Laura C. Gigliotti, Eric K. Cole, Justin A. Gude, Mark A. Hurley, Matthew Kauffman, Daryl Lutz, Daniel R. MacNulty, Eric J. Maichak, Doug McWhirter, Tony W. Mong, Kelly Proffitt, Brandon M. Scurlock, Daniel R. Stahler, Ben Wise, Arthur D. Middleton
The Toolbox for River Velocimetry using Images from Aircraft (TRiVIA)
Accurate knowledge of the speed at which water moves along a river is essential for understanding ecohydraulic processes and managing natural resources. Measuring flow velocity via remote sensing can be more efficient than conventional field methods, and powerful computational techniques for inferring velocity fields from videos or image time series have been developed. The development of dedicate
Authors
Carl J. Legleiter, Paul J. Kinzel
Seasonal shifts in diel vertical migrations by lake-dwelling coastal cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii, reflect thermal regimes and prey distributions
Lakes provide important habitat for salmonids that may use them as a primary feeding area between periods of reproduction. The seasonal changes in vertical thermal structure in lakes can affect the distribution of salmonids on seasonal and diel time scales as they search for, consume, and digest prey that also exploits the water column's distribution of food, temperature and light. Our goal was to
Authors
Zachary R. Thomas, David Beauchamp, Casey P. Clark, Thomas P. Quinn
Volcanic earthquake catalog enhancement using integrated detection, matched-filtering, and relocation tools
Volcanic earthquake catalogs are an essential data product used to interpret subsurface volcanic activity and forecast eruptions. Advances in detection techniques (e.g., matched-filtering, machine learning) and relative relocation tools have improved catalog completeness and refined event locations. However, most volcano observatories have yet to incorporate these techniques into their catalog-bui
Authors
Darren Tan, David Fee, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, J. Pesicek, Matthew M. Haney, John Power, T. Girona