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.
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Mission Area Publications
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Applying consequence-driven scenario selection to lifelines
We present a new consequence-driven framework for earthquake scenario selection. For emergency managers, utility operators, policy makers, and other stakeholders, a scenario-based seismic risk assessment is often necessary for the purpose of emergency management and planning. In developing a scientifically defensible scenario, stakeholders can simulate a realistic event in order to pre-identify vu
Authors
Yolanda C Lin, David J. Wald, Eric M. Thompson, David Lallemant
A review of supervised learning methods for classifying animal behavioural states from environmental features
Accurately predicting behavioural modes of animals in response to environmental features is important for ecology and conservation. Supervised learning (SL) methods are increasingly common in animal movement ecology for classifying behavioural modes. However, few examples exist of applying SL to classify polytomous animal behaviour from environmental features especially in the context of millions
Authors
Silas Bergen, Manuela Huso, Adam E. Duerr, Missy A Braham, Sara Schmuecker, Tricia A. Miller, Todd E. Katzner
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
Lithology and disturbance drive cavefish and cave crayfish occurrence in the Ozark Highlands ecoregion
Diverse communities of groundwater-dwelling organisms (i.e., stygobionts) are important for human wellbeing; however, we lack an understanding of the factors driving their distributions, making it difficult to protect many at-risk species. Therefore, our study objective was to determine the landscape factors related to the occurrence of cavefishes and cave crayfishes in the Ozark Highlands ecoregi
Authors
Joshua B. Mouser, Shannon K. Brewer, Matthew L. Niemiller, Robert Mollenhauer, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche
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