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
Going beyond low flows: Streamflow drought deficit and duration illuminate distinct spatiotemporal drought patterns and trends in the U.S. during the last century
Streamflow drought is a recurring challenge, and understanding spatiotemporal patterns of past droughts is needed to manage future water resources. We examined regional patterns in streamflow drought metrics and compared these metrics to low flow timing and magnitude using long-term daily records for 555 minimally disturbed watersheds. For each streamgage, we calculated streamflow drought duration
Authors
John C. Hammond, Caelan E. Simeone, Jory Seth Hecht, Glenn A. Hodgkins, Melissa Lombard, Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Michael Wieczorek, Carolyn G Olson, Todd Caldwell, Robert W. Dudley, Adam N. Price
Methods for evaluating Gap Analysis Project habitat distribution maps with species occurrence data
The National Gap Analysis Project created species habitat distribution models for all terrestrial vertebrates in the United States to support conservation assessments and explore patterns of species richness. Those models link species to specific habitats throughout the range of each species. For most vertebrates, there are not enough occurrence data to drive inductive, range-wide species habitat
Authors
Matthew J. Rubino, Alexa McKerrow, Nathan M. Tarr, Steven G. Williams
Fish diversity reduction and assemblage structure homogenization in lakes: A case study on unselective fishing in China
Unselective fishing involves activities that target the entire assemblage rather than specific fish species, size classes, or trophic levels. This common fishing approach has been in practice for decades in inland waters in China but its implications for biodiversity remain unclear. We addressed this issue by studying fish assemblages in freshwater lakes (five fishing lakes, one reference lake, an
Authors
Han Liu, Yushun Chen, Rodolphe E. Gozlan, Xiao Qu, Wentong Xia, Fei Cheng, Lizhu Wang, Craig Paukert, Julian D. Olden, Songguang Xie
Diminishing Arctic lakes
The Arctic is home to the largest surface water fraction of any terrestrial biome, containing thousands of low-lying lakes. Now, it appears that some Arctic lakes are drying due to rising air temperatures and autumn rains, causing permafrost to thaw and water bodies to drain.
Authors
Rebecca A Finger-Higgens
Hot, wet and rare: Modelling the occupancy dynamics of the narrowly distributed Dixie Valley toad
Context: Small population sizes and no possibility of metapopulation rescue put narrowly distributed endemic species under elevated risk of extinction from anthropogenic change. Desert spring wetlands host many endemic species that require aquatic habitat and are isolated by the surrounding xeric terrestrial habitat.Aims: We sought to model the occupancy dynamics of the Dixie Valley toad (Anaxyrus
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Patrick M. Kleeman, Brian J. Halstead
Impact of sedimentary basins on Green’s functions for static slip inversion
Earthquakes often occur in regions with complex material structure, such as sedimentary basins or mantle wedges. However, the majority of co-seismic modelling studies assume a simplified, often homogeneous elastic structure in order to expedite the process of model construction and speed up calculations. These co-seismic forward models are used to produce Green’s functions for finite-fault inversi
Authors
Leah Langer, Stephen Beller, Evan Tyler Hirakawa, Jeroen Tromp
Bayesian applications in environmental and ecological studies with R and Stan
Modern ecological and environmental sciences are dominated by observational data. As a result, traditional statistical training often leaves scientists ill-prepared for the data analysis tasks they encounter in their work. Bayesian methods provide a more robust and flexible tool for data analysis, as they enable information from different sources to be brought into the modelling process. Bayesian
Authors
Song S. Qian, Mark Richard Dufour, Ibrahim Alameddine
Geoelectric constraints on the Precambrian assembly and architecture of southern Laurentia
Using images from an updated and expanded three-dimensional electrical conductivity synthesis model for the contiguous United States (CONUS), we highlight the key continent-scale geoelectric structures that are associated with the Precambrian assembly of southern Laurentia. Conductivity anomalies are associated with the Trans-Hudson orogen, the Penokean suture, the ca. 1.8–1.7 Ga Cheyenne belt and
Authors
Benjamin Scott Murphy, Paul A. Bedrosian, Anna Kelbert
Spatial and temporal variations in phosphorus loads in the Illinois River Basin, Illinois USA
Total phosphorus (TP) loads in many rivers in the north-central United States have increased, including the Illinois River at Valley City, Illinois, USA, which increased 39% from the periods 1989–1996 to 2015–2019 despite efforts to reduce loads from point and nonpoint sources. Here, we quantify long-term variations in phosphorus (P) loads in the Illinois River and its tributaries and identify fac
Authors
Gregory F. McIsaac, Timothy O. Hodson, Momvcilo Markus, Rabin Bhattarai, Daniel Chulgi Kim
Updates for Wake Atoll biosecurity management, biological control, survey, and management, and integrated pest management plans
Pests and invasive species have been defined as any organism that can have real or perceived adverse effects on operations, or the well-being of personnel, native plants, animals, their environment and ecosystem processes; attack or damage real property, supplies, equipment, or are otherwise undesirable (paraphrased from many sources including 53 Federal Register [FR] 15975, May 4, 1988, as amende
Authors
Stacie A. Hathaway, James D. Jacobi, Robert Peck, Robert N. Fisher
A recombinant rabies vaccine that prevents viral shedding in rabid common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus)
Vampire bat transmitted rabies (VBR) is a continuing burden to public health and agricultural sectors in Latin America, despite decades-long efforts to control the disease by culling bat populations. Culling has been shown to disperse bats, leading to an increased spread of rabies. Thus, non-lethal strategies to control VBR, such as vaccination, are desired. Here, we evaluated the safety and effic
Authors
Elsa M. Cárdenas-Canales, Andres Velasco-Villa, James A. Ellison, Panayampalli S. Satheshkumar, Jorge E. Osario, Tonie E. Rocke