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: 171795
Revised age and regional correlations of Cenozoic strata on Bat Mountain, Death Valley region, California, USA, from zircon U-Pb geochronology of sandstones and ash-fall tuffs
Basin analysis and tectonic reconstructions of the Cenozoic history of the Death Valley region, California, USA, are hindered by a lack of volcanic (tuff) age control in many stratigraphic successions exposed in the Grapevine and Funeral Mountains of California, USA. Although maximum depositional ages (MDAs) interpreted from detrital zircon U-Pb data may be a promising alternative to volcanic ages
Authors
Theresa Maude Schwartz, Amanda (Kate) Souders, Jens-Erik Lundstern, Amy K. Gilmer, Ren A. Thompson
Do unpublished data help to redraw distributions? The case of the spectacled bear in Peru
Data availability remains a principal factor limiting the use of species distribution models (SDMs) as tools for wildlife conservation and management of rare species. Although data collected in systematic and rigorous fashion are preferable, available data for most species of conservation interest are usually low in both quality and number. Here we show that combining records published in peer-rev
Authors
Nereyda Falconi, John T. Finn, Todd K. Fuller, John F. Organ
Models combining multiple scales of inference capture hydrologic and climatic drivers of riparian tree distributions
Predicting species geographic distributions is key to managing invasive species, conserving biodiversity, and understanding species' environmental requirements. Species distribution models (SDMs) commonly focus on climatic predictors, but other environmental factors can also be essential, particularly for species with specialized habitats defined by hydrologic, topographic, or edaphic conditions (
Authors
Laura G Perry, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Patrick B. Shafroth
Analysis of per capita contributions from a spatial model provides strategies for controlling spread of invasive carp
Metapopulation models may be applied to inform natural resource management to guide actions targeted at location-specific subpopulations. Model insights frequently help to understand which subpopulations to target and highlight the importance of connections among subpopulations. For example, managers often treat aquatic invasive species populations as discrete populations due to hydrological (e.g.
Authors
Donald Schoolmaster, Alison A. Coulter, Jahn L. Kallis, David C. Glover, John M. Dettmers, Richard A. Erickson
Sharing land via keystone structure: Retaining naturally regenerated trees may efficiently benefit birds in plantations
Meeting food/wood demands with increasing human population and per-capita consumption is a pressing conservation issue, and is often framed as a choice between land sparing and land sharing. Although most empirical studies comparing the efficacy of land sparing and sharing supported land sparing, land sharing may be more efficient if its performance is tested by rigorous experimental design and ha
Authors
Yuichi Yamaura, Akira Unno, Andy Royle
Hydrologic and landscape controls on dissolved organic matter composition across western North American Arctic lakes
Northern high-latitude lakes are hotspots for cycling dissolved organic carbon (DOC) inputs from allochthonous sources to the atmosphere. However, the spatial distribution of lake dissolved organic matter (DOM) is largely unknown across Arctic-boreal regions with respect to the surrounding landscape. We expand on regional studies of northern high-latitude DOM composition by integrating DOC concent
Authors
Martin R. Kurek, Fenix Garcia-Tigreros, Kimberly Wickland, Karen E. Frey, Mark Dornblaser, Robert G. Striegl, Sydney F. Niles, Amy M. McKenna, Pieter J.K Aukes, Ethan D. Kyzivat, Chao Wang, Tamlin M. Pavelsky, Laurence C. Smith, Sherry L. Schiff, David Butman, Robert G.M. Spencer
A genetic warning system for a hierarchically structured wildlife monitoring framework
Genetic variation is a well-known indicator of population fitness yet is not typically included in monitoring programs for sensitive species. Additionally, most programs monitor populations at one scale, which can lead to potential mismatches with ecological processes critical to species' conservation. Recently developed methods generating hierarchically nested population units (i.e., clusters of
Authors
Shawna J Zimmerman, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O'Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Jennifer A. Fike, Todd B. Cross, Bradley C. Fedy, Sara J. Oyler-McCance
Using seismic noise correlation to determine the shallow velocity structure of the Seattle basin, Washington
Cross-correlation waveforms of seismic noise in the Seattle basin, Washington, were analyzed to determine the group velocities of surface waves and constrain the shear-wave velocity (VS) for depths less than about 2 kilometers (km). Twenty broadband seismometers were deployed for about 3 weeks in three dense arrays separated by about 5 km, with minimum intra-array station spacing of about 0.5 km.
Authors
Arthur Frankel, Paul Bodin
Terrestrial lidar monitoring of the effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on the geomorphic condition of archaeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park, 2010–2020
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, in coordination with the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, has monitored the geomorphic condition of select archaeological sites along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon using high-resolution terrestrial light detection and ranging (lidar) topographic surveys. Many of these sites are vulnerable to degradation by n
Authors
Joshua Caster, Joel B. Sankey, Helen Fairley, Alan Kasprak
Comparison of two estrogen chemically activated luciferase expression cell bioassays to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for quantifying estrone in water samples
Chemically activated luciferase expression (CALUX) cell bioassays are popular tools for assessing endocrine activity of chemicals such as certain environmental contaminants. Although activity equivalents can be obtained from CALUX analysis, directly comparing these equivalents to those obtained from analytical chemistry methods can be problematic because of the complexity of endocrine active pathw
Authors
Jennifer C. Brennan, Abigail Henke, Robert Gale, Diane K. Nicks, Donald Tillitt
Habitat connectivity and host relatedness influence virus spread across an urbanising landscape in a fragmentation-sensitive carnivore
Spatially heterogeneous landscape factors such as urbanisation can have substantial effects on the severity and spread of wildlife diseases. However, research linking patterns of pathogen transmission to landscape features remains rare. Using a combination of phylogeographic and machine learning approaches, we tested the influence of landscape and host factors on feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV
Authors
Christopher P. Kozakiewicz, Christopher P. Burridge, Justin S. Lee, Simona J Kraberger, Nicholas M Fountain-Jones, Robert N. Fisher, Lisa M. Lyren, Megan K. Jennings, Seth P D Riley, Laurel E K Serieys, Meggan E. Craft, W Chris Funk, Kevin R. Crooks, Sue VandeWoude, Scott Carver
Estimating phosphorus retention capacity of flow-through wetlands
A Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach is introduced to pool data properly from multiple flow-through wetlands to estimate wetland-specific long-term phosphorus retention capacity. By pooling data from multiple wetlands, we overcome the difficulties in estimating the effectiveness of using constructed and natural wetlands for nutrient reduction. The Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach reduc
Authors
Song S. Qian, Kristi K. Arend, Stephen J Jacquemin, S. Mazeika Patricio Sullivan, Kurt P. Kowalski