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
Integrated strategies for enhanced rapid earthquake shaking, ground failure, and impact estimation employing remotely sensed and ground truth constraints
Estimating earthquake impacts using physical or empirical models is challenging because the three components of loss estimation-shaking, exposure, and vulnerabilities-entail inherent uncertainties. Loss modeling in near-real-time adds additional uncertainties, yet expectations for actionable information with a reasonable level of confidence in the results are real. The modeling approaches describe
Authors
David J. Wald, Susu Xu, H. Noh, J. Dimasaka, Kishor S. Jaiswal, Kate E. Allstadt, Davis T. Engler
Update on the Center for Engineering Strong-Motion Data (CESMD)
he Center for Engineering Strong-Motion Data (CESMD), an internationally utilized joint center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Geological Survey (CGS), provides a unified access point for earthquake strong-motion records and station metadata from the CGS California Strong-Motion Instrumentation Program (CSMIP), the USGS National Strong-Motion Project (NSMP), the USGS Advanc
Authors
L. Hagos, H. Haddadi, Lisa Sue Schleicher, Jamison Haase Steidl, Lind Gee, M. Dhar
Structured decision making
No abstract available.
Authors
Michael C. Runge, J. Barry Grand, Michael S. Mitchell
Potential effects of environmental conditions on prairie dog flea development and implications for sylvatic plague epizootics
Fleas are common ectoparasites of vertebrates worldwide and vectors of many pathogens causing disease, such as sylvatic plague in prairie dog colonies. Development of fleas is regulated by environmental conditions, especially temperature and relative humidity. Development rates are typically slower at low temperatures and faster at high temperatures, which are bounded by lower and upper thresholds
Authors
Michael D. Samuel, Julia E. Poje, Tonie E. Rocke, Marco E. Metzger
Predator movements in relation to habitat features reveal vulnerability of duck nests to predation
Nest predation is the main cause of nest failure for ducks. Understanding how habitat features influence predator movements may facilitate management of upland and wetland breeding habitats that reduces predator encounter rates with duck nests and increases nest survival rates. For 1618 duck nests, nest survival increased with distance to phragmites (Phragmites australis), shrubs, telephone poles,
Authors
Sarah H. Peterson, Josh T. Ackerman, Meghan P Keating, Carley Rose Schacter, C. Alex Hartman, Michael L. Casazza, Mark P. Herzog
Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment
Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rates, and how populations may be impacted in the future. The short Arctic summer provides caribou with
Authors
Heather E. Johnson, Beth Lenart, Dave Gustine, Layne G. Adams, Perry Barboza
Sixty years of channel adjustments to dams in the two segments of the Missouri National Recreational River, South Dakota and Nebraska
The Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR) consists of two Missouri River segments managed by the National Park Service on the border of South Dakota and Nebraska. Both river segments are unchannelized and maintain much of their pre-dam channel form, but upstream dams have caused reductions in peak flow magnitudes and sediment supply. The 39-mile segment is located between Fort Randall and Ga
Authors
Caroline M. Elliott, Robert B. Jacobson
Potential health effects of contaminant mixtures from point and nonpoint sources on fish and frogs in the New Jersey Pinelands
Aquatic ecosystems convey complex contaminant mixtures from anthropogenic pollution on a global scale. Point (e.g., municipal wastewater) and nonpoint sources (e.g., stormwater runoff) are both drivers of contaminant mixtures in aquatic habitats. The objectives of this study were to identify the contaminant mixtures present in surface waters impacted by both point and nonpoint sources, to determin
Authors
Sara E. Breitmeyer, Heather L. Walsh, Vicki S. Blazer, John F. Bunnell, Patrick M. Burritt, Jeff Dragon, Michelle Hladik, Paul M. Bradley, Kristin M. Romanok, Kelly L. Smalling
Manatee population traits elucidated through photo-identification
Data on the demography and distribution of wildlife populations are important for informing conservation and management decisions; however, determination of life history traits and population trends often are elusive. All four extant species in the order Sirenia are deemed vulnerable to extinction; therefore, determining the demography and distribution for populations worldwide is crucial. Aerial
Authors
Cathy Beck
Categorizing active marine acoustic sources based on their potential to affect marine animals
Marine acoustic sources are widely used for geophysical imaging, oceanographic sensing, and communicating with and tracking objects or robotic vehicles in the water column. Under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and similar regulations in several other countries, the impact of controlled acoustic sources is assessed based on whether the sound levels received by marine mammals meet the criteri
Authors
Carolyn D. Ruppel, T.S. Weber, Erica Staaterman, Stanley Labak, Patrick E. Hart
Floodplain ecology: A novel wetland community of the Amazon
An expedition to the upper estuarine reaches of the Amazon River reveals intriguing overlap of tropical mangrove wetlands with riverine floodplain forests. This newly discovered type of forested wetland assemblage may provide a uniquely process-rich carbon hotspot.
Authors
Ken Krauss
Future changes in habitat availability for two specialist snake species in the imperiled rocklands of South Florida, U.S.A.
Rockland habitat in South Florida, USA, is a threatened ecosystem that has been lost, fragmented, or degraded because of urbanization or other anthropogenic disturbance. Furthermore, low-lying islands and coastal areas are experiencing sea level rise (SLR) and an increased frequency and intensity of tidal flooding, putting rockland habitats there at increasing risk of ecological change. We evaluat
Authors
Suresh C. Subedi, Susan C. Walls, William Barichivich, Ryan Boyles, Michael S. Ross, J. Aaron Hogan, John A. Tupy