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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Science Quality and Integrity
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Mission Area Publications
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Actionable social science can guide community level wildfire solutions. An illustration from North Central Washington, US
In this study we illustrate the value of social data compiled at the community scale to guide a local wildfire mitigation and education effort. The four contiguous fire-prone study communities in North Central Washington, US, fall within the same jurisdictional fire service boundary and within one US census block group. Across the four communities, similar attitudes toward wildfire were observed.
Authors
Patricia A. Champ, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Jonathan P Riley, James Meldrum, Colleen Donovan, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn J Wagner
A multiscale approach for monitoring groundwater discharge to headwater streams by the U.S. Geological Survey Next Generation Water Observing System Program—An example from the Neversink Reservoir watershed, New York
Groundwater-stream connectivity across mountain watersheds is critical for supporting streamflow during dry times and keeping streams cool during warm times, yet U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stream measurements are often sparse in headwaters. Starting in 2019, the USGS Next Generation Water Observing System Program developed a multiscale methods and technology testbed approach to monitoring groun
Authors
Martin A. Briggs, Christopher L. Gazoorian, Daniel H. Doctor, Douglas A. Burns
Thermal performance of the electron transport system Complex III in seven Alabama fishes
Management of fish populations for conservation in thermally variable systems requires an understanding of the fish's underlying physiology and responses to thermal stress. Physiological research at the organismal level provides information on the overall effects of stressors such as extreme temperature fluctuations. While experiments with whole organisms provide information as to the overall effe
Authors
Lindsay Horne, Dennis DeVries, Russell Wright, Elise R. Irwin, Benjamin Staton, Hisham Abdelrahman, James Stoeckel
Microbiomes associated with avian malaria survival differ between susceptible Hawaiian honeycreepers and sympatric malaria-resistant introduced birds
Of the estimated 55 Hawaiian honeycreepers (subfamily Carduelinae) only 17 species remain, nine of which the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers endangered. Among the most pressing threats to honeycreeper survival is avian malaria, caused by the introduced blood parasite Plasmodium relictum, which is increasing in distribution in Hawaiʻi as a result of climate change. Preventi
Authors
Amanda K Navine, Kristina L. Paxton, Eben H. Paxton, Patrick J. Hart, Jeffrey T. Foster, Nancy McInerney, Robert C. Fleischer, Elin Videvall
Behavior of potentially toxic elements from stoker-boiler fly ash in Interior Alaska: Paired batch leaching and solid-phase characterization
Despite significant investigation of fly ash spills and mineralogical controls on the release of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from fly ash, interactions with the surficial environment remain relatively poorly understood. We conducted 90-day batch leaching studies with paired analysis of supernatant and solid-phase mineralogy to assess the elemental release and transformation of fly ash upon r
Authors
Kyle P Milke, Kiana Mitchell, Sarah M. Hayes, Carlin J. Green, Jennifer Guerard
The first assessment of the genetic diversity and structure of the endangered West Indian manatee in Cuba
The coastal waters of Cuba are home to a small, endangered population of West Indian manatee, which would benefit from a comprehensive characterization of the population’s genetic variation. We conducted the first genetic assessment of Cuban manatees to determine the extent of the population's genetic structure and characterize the neutral genetic diversity among regions within the archipelago. We
Authors
Anmari Alvarez-Aleman, Margaret Hunter, Thomas K. Frazer, James A. Powell, Eddy G. Alfonso, James D. Austin
Uncertainty of ICESat-2 ATL06- and ATL08-derived snow depths for glacierized and vegetated mountain regions
Seasonal snow melt dominates the hydrologic budget across a large portion of the globe. Snow accumulation and melt vary over a broad range of spatial scales, preventing accurate extrapolation of sparse in situ observations to watershed scales. The lidar onboard the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation, Satellite (ICESat-2) was designed for precise mapping of ice sheets and sea ice, and here we assess th
Authors
Ellyn Enderlin, Colten Elkin, Madeline Gendreau, H. P. Marshall, Shad O'Neel, Christopher J. McNeil, Caitlyn Florentine, Louis C. Sass
Higher temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration in low marsh compared to high elevation marsh ecosystems
Salt marsh habitats contain some of the highest quantities of soil organic carbon (C) per unit area, but increasing anthropogenic stressors threaten their ability to maintain themselves as large C reservoirs in some regions. We quantify rates of C gas exchange (methane [CH4] and carbon dioxide [CO2]) monthly across a 16-month period from a low nitrogen “reference” salt marsh on Cape Cod in New Eng
Authors
Joanna C. Carey, Kevin D. Kroeger, Jianwu Tang
Lateral extent of pyroclastic surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater (Death Valley, CA) and implications for hazards in monogenetic volcanic fields
Hazard assessments in monogenetic volcanic fields require estimates of the runout of
pyroclastic surges that result from phreatomagmatic explosive activity. Previous assessments
used runout distances of 1-4 km, with large cases up to 6 km. Surge deposits at Ubehebe Crater
(~2100 y.b.p., Death Valley, California) have been traced ~9 km from the crater center, and
likely originally extended 1-3 km f
Authors
Gregory Valentine, Judith E. Fierstein, James D.L. White
Quality of groundwater used for public supply in the continental United States: A comprehensive assessment
The presence of contaminants in a source water can constrain its suitability for drinking. The quality of groundwater used for public supply was assessed in 25 principal aquifers (PAs) that account for 84% of groundwater pumped for public supply in the U.S. (89.6 million people on a proportional basis). Each PA was sampled across its lateral extent using an equal-area grid, typically with 60 wells
Authors
Kenneth Belitz, Miranda S. Fram, Bruce D. Lindsey, Paul Stackelberg, Laura M. Bexfield, Tyler D. Johnson, Bryant Jurgens, James A. Kingsbury, Peter B. McMahon, Neil M. Dubrovsky
Tectonics, fault zones, and topography in the Alaska-Canada Cordillera with a focus on the Alaska Range and Denali fault zone
Synergistic interactions between geologic structures and topography have long been recognized to reflect numerous Earth processes and rock properties over time. It was not until the advent of plate tectonics in the midtwentieth century that researchers began to view the nature of the northern Cordillera orogen as a quilt of foreign pieces of crust or “suspect terranes”. The Alaska Range shows comp
Authors
Jonathan Caine, Jeff A. Benowitz
Integrating principles and tools of decision science into value-driven watershed planning for compensatory mitigation
Several environmental policies strive to restore impaired ecosystems and could benefit from a consistent and transparent process — co-developed with key stakeholders — to prioritize impaired ecosystems for restoration activities. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from sites of disturbance to compensation sites to offset aquatic res
Authors
Georgina Maria Sanchez Salas, Mitchell Eaton, Ana María García, Jennifer L. Keisman, Kirsten Ullman, James Blackwell, Ross K. Meentemeyer