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: 171804
A life cycle model for evaluating estuary residency and restoration potential in Chinook salmon
Understanding the spatial and temporal habitat use of a population is a necessary step for recovery planning. For Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), variation in their migration and habitat use complicate predicting how restoring habitats could impact total recruitment. To evaluate how juvenile life history variation affects a population’s response to potential restoration, we developed a
Authors
Emily K. Chen, Nicholas A. Som, John Deibner-Hanson, David G. Anderson, Mark J. Henderson
Treading water: Conservation of headwater-stream associated amphibians in northwestern North America
Headwater streams of the Pacific Northwest of North America are home to 52 amphibian species, spanning a diversity of taxa and life histories. Headwater stream-associated amphibians occur both within coldwater-stream channels and throughout adjacent riparian habitat, reflective of the important role of old-growth forests in providing cool, moist microclimates for these sensitive species. Forests o
Authors
Lindsey Thurman, Christopher Cousins, Sky T. C. Button, Tiffany S. Garcia, Alysha Henderson, Deanna H. Olson, Jonah Piovia-Scott
Does large dam removal restore downstream riparian vegetation diversity? Testing predictions on the Elwha River, Washington, USA
Large dams and their removal can profoundly affect riparian ecosystems by altering flow and sediment regimes, hydrochory, and landform dynamics, yet few studies have documented these effects on downstream plant communities. Ecological theory and empirical results suggest that by altering disturbance regimes, reducing hydrochory, and shifting communities to later successional stages, dams reduce do
Authors
Rebecca L. Brown, Cody C. Thomas, Erin S. Cubley, Aaron J. Clausen, Patrick B. Shafroth
A computer-aided approach for adapting stage-discharge ratings and characterizing uncertainties of streamflow data with discrete measurements
Relations between stage (water level) and discharge of streamflow through a natural channel are the result of time-varying processes, which are commonly described by time-varying stage-discharge ratings. Hydrographers with the U.S. Geological Survey successfully maintain the accuracy of streamflow data by manually applying time-tested approaches to adapt ratings to temporal changes in hydraulic co
Authors
David J. Holtschlag
National strategy for landslide loss reduction
Executive SummaryLandslide hazards are present in all 50 States and most U.S. territories, and they affect lives, property, infrastructure, and the environment. Landslides are the downslope movement of earth materials under the force of gravity. They can occur without any obvious trigger. Widespread or severe landslide events are often driven by such hazards as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic
Authors
Jonathan W. Godt, Nathan J. Wood, Alice Pennaz, Connor M. Dacey, Benjamin B. Mirus, Lauren N. Schaefer, Stephen L. Slaughter
CO2 uptake offsets other greenhouse gas emissions from salt marshes with chronic nitrogen loading
Coastal wetlands are known for exceptional productivity, but they also receive intense land-based nitrogen (N) loading. In Narragansett Bay, RI (USA), coastal ecosystems have received anthropogenic N inputs from wastewater for more than two centuries. Greenhouse gas fluxes were studied throughout a growing season (2016) in three coastal wetlands with contrasting histories of nitrogen loading. The
Authors
Serena Moseman-Valtierra, Katelyn Szura, Meagan J. Eagle, Carol Thornber, Faming Wang
Marshes and mangroves as nature-based coastal storm buffers
Tidal marshes and mangroves are increasingly valued for nature-based mitigation of coastal storm impacts, such as flooding and shoreline erosion hazards, which are growing due to global change. As this review highlights, however, hazard mitigation by tidal wetlands is limited to certain conditions, and not all hazards are equally reduced. Tidal wetlands are effective in attenuating short-period st
Authors
Stijn Temmerman, Eric M. Horstman, Ken Krauss, Julia C. Mullarney, Ignace Pelckmans, Ken Schoutens
Antimony in mine wastes: Geochemistry, mineralogy, microbiology
Antimony (Sb) is a valuable mined commodity, used mostly in fire retardants, and considered a critical element. It is also a potential environment hazard classed as a carcinogen. Antimony is concentrated in tailings and waste rock from Sb mines as well as other locations, such as precious metal deposits, where Sb is present in the ore but not recovered. This review covers the aqueous geochemistry,
Authors
Anežka Borčinová Radková, Heather E. Jamieson, Kate M. Campbell, Karen A. Hudson-Edwards
Modeling of fire spread in sagebrush steppe using FARSITE: An approach to improving input data and simulation accuracy
Background: Model simulations of wildfire spread and assessments of their accuracy are needed for understanding and managing altered fire regimes in semiarid regions. The accuracy of wildfire spread simulations can be evaluated from post hoc comparisons of simulated and actual wildfire perimeters, but this requires information on pre-fire vegetation fuels that is typically not available. We assess
Authors
Samuel J. Price, Matthew Germino
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Volga-Ural Basin and Timan-Pechora Basin Provinces of Russia, 2020
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 4.9 billion barrels of oil and 21 trillion cubic feet of gas within the Volga-Ural Basin Province and technically recoverable mean conventional resources of 1.8 billion barrels of oil and 9.5 trillion cubic of gas in the Timan-Pechora Basin Provinc
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Cheryl A. Woodall, Thomas M. Finn, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Ronald M. Drake
Hydrologic and environmental thresholds in stream fish assemblage structure across flow regimes
The characteristic pattern of variation in flow magnitude, frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change defines the flow regime of rivers and streams and is a key driver of ecosystem processes in fluvial ecosystems. Understanding how freshwater biotic assemblages change across gradients of hydrology and anthropogenic-source disturbance in different streamflow regimes is crucial to managing for
Authors
John Tyler Fox, Daniel D. Magoulick
Field investigation of sub-isokinetic sampling by the US D-96-type suspended-sediment sampler and its effect on suspended-sediment measurements
Collection of accurate suspended-sediment data using depth-integrating samplers requires that they operate isokinetically, that is, that they sample at the local stream velocity unaffected by the presence of the suspended-sediment sampler. Sub-isokinetic suspended-sediment sampling causes grain-size dependent positive biases in the suspended-sediment concentration measured by the suspended-sedimen
Authors
Thomas A. Sabol, David J. Topping, Ronald E. Griffiths, Guillaume Dramais