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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.

Filter Total Items: 171257

Conduit processes in crystal-rich dacitic magma and implications for eruptive cycles at Guagua Pichincha volcano, Ecuador

Stratovolcanoes are commonly characterised by cyclic eruptive activity marked by transitions between dome-forming, Vulcanian, Subplinian and Plinian eruptions. Guagua Pichincha volcano (Ecuador) has been a location of such cyclicity for the past ~ 2000 years, with Plinian eruptions in the first and tenth centuries AD (Anno Domini/after Christ), and CE (Common Era) 1660, which were separated by dom
Authors
Mathieu Colombier, Benjamin Bernard, Heather M. Wright, Jean-Luc Le Pennec, Francisco Caceres, Corrado Cimarelli, Michael J. Heap, Pablo Samaniego, Jeremie Vasseur, Donald B. Dingwell

Grasshopper species composition differs between prairie dog colonies and undisturbed sites in a sagebrush grassland

Grasshoppers are major consumers of plant biomass in grassland and shrubland ecosystems. While often considered generalists, grasshopper species have differing habitat preferences and interactions with other consumers in grasslands. There are conflicting accounts of how prairie dog colonies and differences in vegetation impact grasshopper abundance and composition. We conducted a landscape-scale s
Authors
Ian Pearse, Courtney Duchardt, Lillian Legg, Lauren M. Porensky

Bacteria common to rhizosphere communities of Asiatic bittersweet across a post-glacial landscape

Invasive plants such as Asiatic bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus Thunb.) are a significant problem for land managers as they impact plant species composition, disrupt nutrient dynamics and structure of native ecosystems, and are difficult to eradicate. As a result of the increasing abundance of Asiatic bittersweet across the eastern U.S., we have been investigating underlying factors potentially
Authors
Cindy H. Nakatsu, Noel B. Pavlovic, Muruleedhara Byappanahalli

Evaluate propagation efforts and determine dispersal patterns for Quadrula fragosa from tagged, artificially infested host fish (Ictalurus punctatus) in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN)

The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN) has been the site of propagation and restoration efforts for two federally endangered unionid mussels: Higgins’ Eye, Lampsilis higginsii and Winged Mapleleaf (WML), Quadrula fragosa. Since about 2000, government agencies have collaboratively developed techniques to successfully propagate Higgins’ Eye and reintroduce the captive-reared subadult mussels
Authors
Michelle Bartsch

Evaluating noninvasive methods for estimating cestode prevalence in a wild carnivore population

Helminth infections are cryptic and can be difficult to study in wildlife species. Helminth research in wildlife hosts has historically required invasive animal handling and necropsy, while results from noninvasive parasite research, like scat analysis, may not be possible at the helminth species or individual host levels. To increase the utility of noninvasive sampling, individual hosts can be id
Authors
E E Brandell, M.K. Jackson, Paul C. Cross, A.J. Piaggio, D. R. Taylor, Douglas W. Smith, B Boufana, Daniel R. Stahler, PJ Hudson

Life-cycle model reveals sensitive life stages and evaluates recovery options for a dwindling Pacific salmon population

Population models, using empirical survival rates estimates for different life stages, can help managers explore whether various management options could stabilize a declining population or restore it to former levels of abundance. Here we used two decades of data on five life stages of the Cedar River, USA Sockeye Salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, population to create and parameterize a life-cycle mode

Authors
Neala W. Kendall, Julia R. Unrein, Carol Volk, David Beauchamp, Kurt L. Fresh, Thomas P. Quinn

Assessing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in sediments and fishes in a large, urbanized estuary and the potential human health implications

The primary source of chronic exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in humans is through the ingestion of contaminated foods and drinking water, with fish and other seafood being a major contributor. Nevertheless, there is scant literature on the dietary exposure to PFASs for the general United States (U.S.) population. The Tampa Bay (Florida, USA) region has the highest populat
Authors
Erin L. Pulster, Kylee Rullo, Sherryl Gilbert, Thomas M. Ash, Barbara Goetting, Kevin Campbell, Sara Markham, Steven A. Murawski

Introduction to the special issue on fire impacts on hydrological processes

Fire has been present on the Earth since vegetation began colonizing the continents (Santos et al., 2017). The role of fire on terrestrial sedimentation processes was already highlighted by Schumm (1968) in his pioneering research to understand the detachment, transport, and sedimentation of material on the Planet. The use of fire by humans as a tool that transformed the landscapes of the world ha
Authors
Artemi Cerdà, Brian A. Ebel, Dalila Serpa, Ľubomír Lichner

Collections management plan for the U.S. Geological Survey Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center samples repository

Since 2002, the Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Samples Repository has been supporting U.S. Geological Survey research by providing secure storage for geological, geochemical, and biological samples, organizing and actively inventorying these sample collections, and providing researchers access to these scientific collections for study and reuse. Over the years, storage facilities ha
Authors
Brian J. Buczkowski

The humane capture, handling, and disposition of migratory birds

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the humane capture, handling, and care of migratory birds trapped for any purpose. It is intended for wildlife managers, regulatory personnel, and individuals that handle or authorize handling of live-captured migratory birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Migratory Bird Program (USFWS), the U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laborato
Authors
Jennifer Miller, Jason Suckow, Antonio Celis-Murillo, Brian Washburn, Brian Milsap, Margaret Pepper, Arthur McCollum, Michael Biegier

An interactive viewer to improve operational aftershock forecasts

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) issues forecasts for aftershocks about 20 minutes after most earthquakes above M 5 in the United States and its territories, and updates these forecasts 75 times during the first year. Most of the forecasts are issued automatically, but some forecasts require manual intervention to maintain accuracy. It is important to identify the sequences whose forecasts will b
Authors
Gabrielle Madison Paris, Andrew J. Michael

Habitat associations of riverine fishes among rocky shoals

Understanding species' associations with physical habitat conditions is a fundamental goal of ecology. For organisms that occupy lotic ecosystems, relationships to streamflow are of particular importance, but these associations are unstudied for most species. We tested the predictability of fish–microhabitat relationships in river shoals (shallow, rocky areas with relatively swift water flow) usin
Authors
Anna Y. Baynes, Mary Freeman, S. Kyle McKay, Seth J. Wenger