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
Divergent responses of butterflies and bees to burning and grazing management in tallgrass prairies
Butterflies and bees contribute significantly to grassland biodiversity and play important roles as pollinators and herbivores. Grassland conservation and management must be seen through the lens of insect conservation and management if these species are to thrive. In North America, grasslands are a product of climate and natural disturbances such as fire and grazing. These natural disturbances ha
Authors
Julia B. Leone, Nora P. Pennarola, Jennifer Larson, Karen Oberhauser, Diane L. Larson
As the goose flies: Migration routes and timing influence patterns of genetic diversity in a circumpolar migratory herbivore
Migration schedules and the timing of other annual events (e.g., pair formation and molt) can affect the distribution of genetic diversity as much as where these events occur. The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a circumpolar goose species, exhibiting temporal and spatial variation of events among populations during the annual cycle. Previous range-wide genetic assessments of the
Authors
Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Jeffrey M. DaCost, Michael D. Sorenson, Anthony D. Fox, Melanie Weaver, Dan Skalos, Alexander V. Kondratyev, Kim T. Scribner, Alyn Walsh, Craig R. Ely, Sandra L. Talbot
Provenance, genotype, and flooding influence growth and resource acquisition characteristics in a clonal, riparian shrub
PremiseRiparian plants can exhibit intraspecific phenotypic variability across the landscape related to temperature and flooding gradients. Phenotypes that vary across a climate gradient are often partly genetically determined and may differ in their response to inundation. Changes to inundation patterns across a climate gradient could thus result in site-specific inundation responses. Phenotypic
Authors
Emily C. Palmquist, Kiona Ogle, Thomas G. Whitham, Gerard J. Allan, Patrick B. Shafroth, Bradley J. Butterfield
Optimizing Landsat Next shortwave infrared bands for crop residue characterization
This study focused on optimizing the placement of shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands for pixel-level estimation of fractional crop residue cover (fR) for the upcoming Landsat Next mission. We applied an iterative wavelength shift approach to a database of crop residue field spectra collected in Beltsville, Maryland, USA (n = 916) and computed generalized two- and three-band spectral indices for all w
Authors
Brian T Lamb, Phillip Dennison, W. Dean Hively, Raymond F. Kokaly, Guy Serbin, Zhuoting Wu, Philip W. Dabney, Jeffery G. Masek, Michael Campbell, Craig S. T. Daughtry
Verification of multiple phosphorus analyzers for use in surface-water applications
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a verification study of selected commercially available phosphorus analyzers for their applicability to scientific surface-water applications. In this study, the analyzers were the Hach EZ7800 TOPHO, Hach Phosphax sc, Sea-Bird Scientific HydroCycle-PO4, and the YSI Inc. Alyza IQ PO4. Verification tests included laboratory trials comparing analyzer result
Authors
Colin S. Peake
Summary of extreme water-quality conditions in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, 2005–19
This study used the complete set of continuous water-quality (WQ) data and discrete measurements of total ammonia collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 2005 to 2019 at the four core sites in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, to examine relations between variables and extreme conditions that may be harmful for endemic Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Chasmistes breviro
Authors
Susan A. Wherry
BIA branch of tribal climate resilience regional assessment report
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience (TCR) was established in 2011 to enable Tribal and BIA Office of Trust Services Programs to incorporate climate considerations into their programs' planning and decision-making. The TCR’s purpose is to fulfill trust responsibility to Federally recognized Tribal Nations by supporting and building Tribal capacity for climate resi
Authors
Coral Avery, Corwin Carroll, Lannette Marie Rangel
GPS data from 2019 and 2020 campaigns in the Chesapeake Bay region towards quantifying vertical land motions
The Chesapeake Bay is a region along the eastern coast of the United States where sea-level rise is confounded with poorly resolved rates of land subsidence, thus new constraints on vertical land motions (VLM) in the region are warranted. In this paper, we provide a description of two campaign-style Global Positioning System (GPS) datasets, explain the methods used in data collection and validatio
Authors
Gabrielle Troia, Sarah Stamps, R. Russell Lotspeich, James M. Duda, Kurt J. McCoy, William Moore, Philippe Hensel, Ryan Hippenstiel, Thomas McKenna, David C. Andreasen, Charles Geoghegan, Thomas P Ulizo, Madeline Kronebusch, Joel A. Carr, David Walters, Neil Winn
Giant planet observations in NASA's Planetary Data System
While there have been far fewer missions to the outer Solar System than to the inner Solar System, spacecraft destined for the giant planets have conducted a wide range of fundamental investigations, returning data that continues to reshape our understanding of these complex systems, sometimes decades after the data were acquired. These data are preserved and accessible from national and internati
Authors
Nancy J. Chanover, James M. Bauer, John Joe Jeremiah Blalock, Mitchell K. Gordon, Lyle F. Huber, Mia J. T. Mace, Lynn D. V. Neakrase, Matthew S. Tiscareno, Raymond J. Walker
Analog field-scale acoustic study of volcanic eruption directivity using a tiltable liquid nitrogen-charged water cannon
Laterally directed explosive eruptions are responsible for multiple fatalities over the past decade and are an increasingly important volcanology problem. To understand the energy dynamics for these events, we collected field-scale explosion data from nine acoustic sensors surrounding a tiltable cannon as part of an exploratory experimental design. For each cannon discharge, the blast direction wa
Authors
Arthur Din Jolly, Benjamin Kennedy, Robin S. Matoza, Alexandra M. Iezzi, Bruce W. Christensen, Richard Johnson, Amilea Sork, David Fee
Learning from arid and urban aquatic ecosystems to inform more sustainable and resilient futures
The hydrology and aquatic ecology of arid environments has long been understudied relative to temperate regions. Yet spatially and temporally intermittent and ephemeral waters characterized by flashy hydrographs typify arid regions that comprise a substantial proportion of the Earth. Additionally, drought, intense storms, and human modification of landscapes increasingly affect many temperate regi
Authors
Lauren McPhillips, Marta Berbés-Blázquez, Rebecca Hale, Tamara K Harms, Vanya Bisht, Lilana Caughman, Sandra Clinton, Elizabeth Cook, Xiaoli Dong, Jennifer Edmonds, Sarah Gergel, Rosa Gomez, Kristina G. Hopkins, David Iwaniec, Yeowon Kim, Amanda Kuhn, Libby Larson, David Bruce Lewis, Eugenía Martí, Monica M. Palta, W. John Roach, Lin Ye
Assessment of resource potential from mine tailings using geostatistical modeling for compositions: A methodology and application to Katherine Mine site, Arizona, USA
The mining industry, in most cases, targets a specific valuable commodity that is present in small quantities within large volumes of extracted material. After milling and processing, most of the extracted material and the effluents are stored as waste (tailings) in impoundments, such as dams or waste dumps, or are backfilled into underground mines. In time, tailing materials may become an issue o
Authors
C. Özgen Karacan, Oktay Erten, Josep Antoni Martín-Fernández