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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Can we avert an Amazon tipping point? The economic and environmental costs
The Amazon biome is being pushed by unsustainable economic drivers towards an ecological tipping point where restoration to its previous state may no longer be possible. This degradation is the result of self-reinforcing interactions between deforestation, climate change and fire. We assess the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts and trade-offs of scenarios representing moveme
Authors
Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicowiez, Marcia N. Macedo, Ziga Malek, Peter H. Verburg, Sean Goodwin, Renato Vargas, Ludmila Rattis, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Paulo M. Brando, Michael T. Coe, Christopher Neill, Octavio Damiani Marti, Josue Avila Murillo
Wetland ecosystem health and biodiversity
• Cropland expansion from 2008 to 2016 was mostly from losses of grassland (88%), with 3% losses from wetlands (a total of nearly 275,000 acres of wetlands, concentrated in the Prairie Pothole Region). Given the lack of national or regional datasets to track changes in RFS acreage, the extent of wetland losses directly attributable to the RFS cannot be more accurately estimated in the RtC3. • Wetl
Authors
Laurie C. Alexander, Whitney S. Beck, James N. Carleton, Christopher M. Clark, Henriette I. Jager, Andrew James, Ken Kriese, Leigh C. Moorhead, David M. Mushet
Differential hypoxia tolerance of eastern oysters from the northern Gulf of Mexico at elevated temperature
Increasing prevalence of hypoxia in shallow waters of U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM) estuaries can pose a serious threat to eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica). Their tolerance to hypoxia, however, is not well characterized, especially at elevated temperatures (>30 °C) typical of GoM estuaries in summer. Moreover, it is unknown whether differences in hypoxia tolerance exist between GoM oyster popul
Authors
Nicholas Coxe, Sandra M. Casas, Danielle A. Marshall, Megan K. La Peyre, Morgan W. Kelly, Jerome F. La Peyre
Appendix 7: Application of joint dynamic species distribution models to at-sea survey data for seabirds in the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea
Mitigating risk to migratory birds from energy development requires information on the distribution and abundance of seabirds in offshore waters. Seabirds are highly mobile, with species-specific seasonal migrations that result in variable patterns of distribution in space and time. In remote offshore marine areas, obtaining useful and current information on resources is difficult to achieve and m
Authors
Mayumi L. Arimitsu, Kathy Kuletz
Can spatial food web subsidies associated with river hydrology and lateral connectivity be detected using stable isotopes?
During and following lateral connections, aquatic organisms residing in the river channel may assimilate material from sources imported from oxbows, and oxbow residents may consume and assimilate material imported from the channel. Hydrology, lateral connectivity, and stable isotope ratios of fishes and mussels were analyzed for evidence of spatial food web subsidies between the active channel and
Authors
Kirk O. Winemiller, Marcelo C. Andrade, Caroline C. Arantes, Thethela Bokhutlo, Luke Max Bower, Eduardo R. Cunha, Friedrich W. Keppeler, Edwin O. López-Delgado, Yasmin Quintana, David E. Saenz, Kevin B. Mayes, Clint R. Robertson
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data from standardized vegetation monitoring plots in all seven park
Authors
Amy Symstad, Steven Bekedam
Stormwater reduction and water budget for a rain garden on sandy soil, Gary, Indiana, 2016–18
Stormwater reduction measures, or green infrastructure, were implemented in the parking area at Gary City Hall, Gary, Indiana, with the intention of reducing stormwater discharge to the sewers. A study area, including a centrally located rain garden and the surrounding paved surfaces and green space, was instrumented during both a preconstruction and a postconstruction period to (1) develop water
Authors
David C. Lampe, E. Randall Bayless, Danielle D. Follette
Fort Laramie National Historic Site 2022 ABAM Investigator Annual Report
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data from standardized vegetation monitoring plots in all seven parks to a
Authors
Amy Symstad
Landscape change, fire and erosion
New Mexico has a dynamic landscape, which will become even more so in response to climate change over the next 50 years, in part because of increasing incidence of wildfire. As the climate changes to warmer conditions, less rainfall will infiltrate into aquifers, leading to increased overland runoff. Landform processes can be complex, but in general, the predicted changes in climate and precipit
Authors
Anne C. Tillery, Leslie D. McFadden, Craig Allen
Supplemental vegetation monitoring plots at Wind Cave National Park to accelerate learning of the Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) model
The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) project is a consortium of seven parks in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) working together to better understand how to control invasive annual grasses (including Bromus species) through an adaptive management approach. This approach is supported by a quantitative model that uses current data from standardized vegetation monitoring plots in all seven park
Authors
Amy Symstad, Timm Richardson
PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat+REYs water-quality modeling tools to evaluate acid mine drainage treatment strategies for recovery of rare-earth elements
The PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat+REYs water-quality modeling tools have the fundamental capability to simulate aqueous chemical reactions and predict the formation of metal-rich solids during the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD). These new user-friendly, publicly available tools were expanded from the PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat tools to include the precipitation of rare-earth elements plus yttrium (REYs) and the
Authors
Charles A. Cravotta
Soils
Soils play a strong role in determining how New Mexico’s diverse landscapes will respond to climate change. Soil cover acts like a sponge, holding in water that falls as rain or snow. The presence of soil supports vegetation, and substantially reduces runoff and erosion. Soil enhances other processes such as infiltration of water and aquifer recharge. Soils can be damaged by a warming climate. Los
Authors
Leslie D. McFadden, Anne C. Tillery, Craig Allen