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: 171780
Random forest classification of multitemporal Landsat 8 spectral data and P\phenology metrics for land cover mapping in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts
Geospatial data and tools evolve as new technologies are developed and landscape change occurs over time. As a result, these data may become outdated and inadequate for supporting critical habitat-related work across the international boundary in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts Bird Conservation Region (BCR 33) due to the area’s complex vegetation communities and the discontinuity in data availabil
Authors
Madeline Melichar, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Jennifer N. Duberstein, Eduardo Jiménez Hernández, Theresa Crimmins, Haiquan Li, Myles B. Traphagen, Kathryn A. Thomas, Pamela L. Nagler
Estimating streamflow for base flow conditions at partial-record streamgaging stations at Acadia National Park, Maine
The objective of the work presented in this report is to develop equations that can be used to extend the base flow record at multiple partial-record streamgaging stations at Acadia National Park in eastern coastal Maine based on nearby continuous-record streamgaging stations. Daily mean streamflow values at U.S. Geological Survey continuous-record streamgaging station Otter Creek near Bar Harbor,
Authors
Pamela J. Lombard
A hidden cost of single species management: Habitat-relationships reveal potential negative effects of conifer removal on a non-target species
Land management priorities and decisions may result in population declines for non-target wildlife species. In the western United States, large-scale removal of conifer from sagebrush ecosystems (Artemisia spp.) is occurring to recover greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations and may result in pinyon jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) habitat loss. Jay populations have experienced
Authors
Nicholas J. Van Lanen, Adrian P. Monroe, Cameron L. Aldridge
Changes in mangrove blue carbon under elevated atmospheric CO2
While there is consensus that blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, have an important role in mitigating some aspects of global climate change, little is known about mangrove carbon cycling under elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations (eCO2). Here, we review studies in order to identify pathways for how eCO2 might influence mangrove ecosystem carbon cycling. In general, eCO2 alters plant pro
Authors
Xiaoxuan Gu, Peiyang Qiao, Ken Krauss, Catherine E. Lovelock, Janine B. Adams, Samantha K. Chapman, Tim C. Jennerjahn, Qiulian Lin, Luzhen Chen
Combinatorial optimization of earthquake spatial distributions under minimum cumulative stress constraints
We determine optimal on‐fault earthquake spatial distributions using a combinatorial method that minimizes the long‐term cumulative stress resolved on the fault. An integer‐programming framework was previously developed to determine the optimal arrangement of a millennia‐scale earthquake sample that minimizes the misfit to a target slip rate determined from geodetic data. The resulting cumulative
Authors
Eric L. Geist, Thomas E. Parsons
Identifying research in support of the management and control of dreissenid mussels in the western United States
On February 9–10, 2022, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Washington State University hosted a workshop to establish research priorities that support the implementation of action items listed in a current invasive species management plan, the Quagga and Zebra Mussel Action Plan (QZAP) 2.0, that are intended to limit the esta
Authors
Timothy D. Counihan, Lisa DeBruyckere, Stephen M. Bollens, Stephen Phillips, Theresa Thom, Barak Shemai
Incorporation of real-time earthquake magnitudes estimated via peak ground displacement scaling in the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning system
The United States earthquake early warning (EEW) system, ShakeAlert®, currently employs two algorithms based on seismic data alone to characterize the earthquake source, reporting the weighted average of their magnitude estimates. Nonsaturating magnitude estimates derived in real time from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data using peak ground displacement (PGD) scaling relationships off
Authors
Jessica R. Murray, Brendan W. Crowell, Mark Hunter Murray, Carl W Ulberg, Jeffrey McGuire, Mario Aranha, Mike Hagerty
Nutrient and suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and yields in upper Macoupin Creek, Illinois, 2017–21
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Macoupin County Soil and Water Conservation District and the American Farmland Trust, undertook a monitoring effort from 2017 to 2021 in the upper Macoupin Creek watershed. The monitoring effort was to determine and characterize nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended-sediment concentrations, loads, and yields for a 566.7 square kilometer area of the
Authors
Luis A. Garcia, Paul J. Terrio, Adam E. Manaster
Data summary report: Unregulated contaminants monitoring project
The Drinking Water Protection Section of the Minnesota Department of Health conducted reconnaissance monitoring of selected public water systems in Minnesota. Funding was obtained primarily from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Sampling was conducted in 2019 and 2021. Laboratory analysis of samples was conducted for a variety of different contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), i
Authors
Jane de Lambert, Alycia Overbo, Steve Robertson, Sarah M. Elliott
Vulnerability of estuarine systems in the contiguous United States to water quality change under future climate and land-use
Changes in climate and land-use and land-cover (LULC) are expected to influence surface water runoff and nutrient characteristics of estuarine watersheds, but the extent to which estuaries are vulnerable to altered nutrient loading under future conditions is poorly understood. The present work aims to address this gap through the development of a new vulnerability assessment framework that account
Authors
Lise R. Montefiore, Natalie Nelson, Michelle Staudinger, Adam J. Terando
Reduction in overwinter body condition and size of Pacific sand lance has implications for piscivorous predators during marine heatwaves
Acute anomalous ocean warming events, including marine heatwaves (MHWs), have significant effects on reproduction and survival of piscivorous seabirds. Additionally, MHWs have negative effects on seabird fish prey, exacerbating these consequences and resulting in population implications for seabirds. We evaluated the relative body condition of Pacific sand lance Ammodytes personatus, an important
Authors
Clifford LK Robinson, Douglas F Bertram, Hayleigh Shannon, Vanessa R. von Biela, Wesley Greentree, William Duguird, Mayumi L. Arimitsu
Functional stability of vegetation following biocontrol of an invasive riparian shrub
Understanding plant community response to environmental change is a crucial aspect of biological conservation and restoration, but species-based approaches are limited in that they do not reveal the underlying mechanisms driving vegetation dynamics. An understanding of trait-environment relationships is particularly important in the case of invasive species which may alter abiotic conditions and a
Authors
Annie L. Henry, Eduardo Gonzalez-Sargas, Patrick B. Shafroth, Alexander R.B. Goetz, Anna A. Sher