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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Climate change and maple syrup: Producer observations, perceptions, knowledge, and adaptation strategies
Introduction: Climate change is impacting forest-based agricultural systems with implications for producer decision-making and livelihoods. This article presents a case study on the observations, perceptions, knowledge, and adaptation strategies of maple syrup producers in the United States to climate change.Methods: We carried out two semi-structured surveys with maple producers on: (1) climate c
Authors
Selena Ahmed, David A. Lutz, T Joshua Rapp, Ryan H. Huish, Boris Dufour, Autumn Brunelle, Toni Lyn Morelli, Kristina A. Stinson, Teresa Warne
The relative stability of planktic foraminifer thermal preferences over the past 3 million years
Stationarity of species’ ecological tolerances is a first-order assumption of paleoenvironmental reconstruction based upon analog methods. To test this and other assumptions used in quantitative analysis of foraminiferal faunas for paleoceanographic reconstruction, we analyzed paired alkenone unsaturation ratio (UK′37) 37′) sea surface temperature (SST) estimates and relative abundances of plankt
Authors
Harry J. Dowsett, Marci M. Robinson, Kevin M. Foley, Timothy D. Herbert, Steve Hunter, Carin Andersson, Whittney Spivey
Soil surface treatments and precipitation timing determine seedling development across southwestern US restoration sites
Restoration in dryland ecosystems often has poor success due to low and variable water availability, degraded soil conditions, and slow plant community recovery rates. Restoration treatments can mitigate these constraints but, because treatments and subsequent monitoring are typically limited in space and time, our understanding of their applicability across broader environmental gradients remains
Authors
Hannah Lucia Farrell, Seth M. Munson, Bradley J. Butterfield, Michael C. Duniway, Aksasha M Faist, Elise S Gornish, Caroline Havrilla, Loralee Larios, Sasha C. Reed, Helen I Rowe, Katherine M. Laushman, Molly L. McCormick
Sustainable aquifer management for food security
In aquifer-dependent regions, balancing aquifer protection, desalination, economic development, agricultural irrigation, and food security can be better managed through discovery and development of sources of sustainable groundwater pumping. Aquifer desalination for irrigation to protect food security can mitigate pressure on local freshwater aquifers. Despite its importance, little peer reviewed
Authors
Bryana Funk, Saud A. Amer, Frank A. Ward
Perfluorooctanesulfonate adversely affects a mayfly (Neocloeon triangulifer) at environmentally realistic concentrations
Of the emerging contaminant types thought to threaten freshwater biota, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances appear to be particularly widespread, and limited studies conducted with these compounds thus far indicate insects may be particularly sensitive to them. This study investigated the short- and long-term effects of two commonly detected compounds on the laboratory-reared mayfly Neocloeon tria
Authors
David J. Soucek, Rebecca A. Consbrock, Erin L. Pulster, Brittany G. Perrotta, David Walters, Jeffery Steevens
Increased whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) growth and defense under a warmer and regionally drier climate
Introduction: Tree defense characteristics play a crucial role in modulating conifer bark beetle interactions, and there is a growing body of literature investigating factors mediating tree growth and resin-based defenses in conifers. A subset of studies have looked at relationships between tree growth, resin duct morphology and climate; however, these studies are almost exclusively from lower-ele
Authors
Nicholas E. Kichas, Gregory T. Pederson, Sharon M. Hood, Richard G. Everett, David B. McWethy
Simulation of monthly mean and monthly base flow of streamflow using random forests for the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain, 1901 to 2018
Improved simulations of streamflow and base flow for selected sites within and adjacent to the Mississippi River Alluvial Plain area are important for modeling groundwater flow because surface-water flows have a substantial effect on groundwater levels. One method for simulating streamflow and base flow, random forest (RF) models, was developed from the data at gaged sites and, in turn, was used t
Authors
Benjamin J. Dietsch, William H. Asquith, Brian K. Breaker, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Wade H. Kress
Improved calculation of hydraulic conductivity for small-disk tension infiltrometers
Because tension infiltrometers apply water through a disk of finite size, the infiltrated water moves laterally as well as downward. Only the vertical component of this flow is indicative of the hydraulic conductivity K, so the algorithm for computing K must include a way of isolating that component from the total flow. Some commonly used formulas correct for the multidimensional effects by subtra
Authors
John R. Nimmo, Paige R. Voss
Status and trends in the Lake Superior fish community, 2022
In 2022, the Lake Superior fish community was sampled with daytime bottom and surface trawls at 71 nearshore locations in May-June and 35 offshore locations in July, and at 51 Coordinated Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) locations in July-October with bottom trawls, surface trawls, mid-water trawls and acoustics that were previously sampled in 2011 and 2016. Nearshore bottom trawls collect
Authors
Mark Vinson, Daniel Yule, Lori M. Evrard, Sydney B Phillips
Influences of water hardness on chronic toxicity of potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea)
Elevated concentrations of potassium (K) often occur in effluents from wastewater treatment plants, oil and gas production operations, mineral extraction processes, and from other anthropogenic sources. Previous studies have demonstrated that freshwater mussels are highly sensitive to K in acute and chronic exposures, and acute toxicity of K decreases with increasing water hardness. However, littl
Authors
Ning Wang, Rebecca A. Dorman, James L. Kunz, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jeffery Steevens, Suzanne Dunn, David Martinez
Identification of seismo-volcanic regimes at Whakaari/White Island (New Zealand) via systematic tuning of an unsupervised classifier
We present an algorithm based on Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and k-means clustering to recognize patterns in a continuous 12.5-year tremor time series recorded at Whakaari/White Island volcano, New Zealand (hereafter referred to as Whakaari). The approach is extendable to a variety of volcanic settings through systematic tuning of the classifier. Hyperparameters are evaluated by statistical means,
Authors
B. Steinke, Arthur Din Jolly, R. Carniel, D.E. Dempsey, S.J. Cronin
Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) population abundance and distribution across the southeast Alaska stock, summer 2022
In the summer of 2022, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and partners successfully completed the first single-year, aerial photo survey of sea otters across the entire Southeast stock of northern sea otters. This document presents the latest findings from the 2022 Southeast Alaska Sea Otter Survey, providing up-to-date information regarding occupancy, abundance and carrying capacity. We collected t
Authors
Paul Schuette, Joseph Michael Eisaguirre, Benjamin P Weitzman, Collin Power, Evan Wetherington, Jenipher Cate, Jamie N. Womble, Linnea Pearson, Daniel Melody, Chelsea Merriman, Kat Hanks, George G. Esslinger