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.
Science Quality and Integrity
Science Quality and Integrity
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
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: 171813
Discovery and potential ramifications of reduced iron-bearing nanoparticles — Magnetite, wüstite, and zero-valent iron — In wildland–urban interface fire ashes
The increase in fires at the wildland–urban interface has raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of ash remaining after burning. Here, we examined the concentrations and speciation of iron-bearing nanoparticles in wildland–urban interface ash. Total iron concentrations in ash varied between 4 and 66 mg g−1. Synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy of
Authors
Mohammed Baalousha, Morgane Desmau, Sheryl A. Singerling, Jackson P. Webster, Sandrine Matiasek, Michelle A. Stern, Charles N. Alpers
Millennia-old coral holobiont DNA provides insight into future adaptive trajectories
Ancient DNA (aDNA) has been applied to evolutionary questions across a wide variety of taxa. Here, for the first time, we leverage aDNA from millennia-old fossil coral fragments to gain new insights into a rapidly declining western Atlantic reef ecosystem. We sampled four Acropora palmata fragments (dated 4215 BCE - 1099 CE) obtained from two Florida Keys reef cores. From these samples, we establi
Authors
Carly B. Scott, Anny Cárdenas, Matthew Mah, Vagheesh Narasimhan, Nadin Rohland, Lauren Toth, Christian Voostra, David Reich, Mikhail V Matz
Winter severity affects occupancy of spring- and summer-breeding anurans across the eastern United States
AimClimate change is an increasingly important driver of biodiversity loss. The ectothermic nature of amphibians may make them particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and precipitation regimes, adding to declines from other threats. While active season environmental conditions can influence growth and survival, effects of variation in winter conditions on population dynamics are less well
Authors
Sarah R. Weiskopf, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, Laura Thompson, Sarah Wheedleton, Evan H. Campbell Grant
Optimizing survey design for shasta salamanders (Hydromantes spp.) to estimate occurrence in little-studied portions of their range
Shasta salamanders (collectively, Hydromantes samweli, H. shastae, and H. wintu; hereafter, Shasta salamander) are endemic to northern California in the general vicinity of Shasta Lake reservoir. Although generally associated with limestone, they have repeatedly been found in association with other habitats, calling into question the distribution of the species complex. Further limiting our knowle
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Graziella Vittoria DiRenzo, Jonathan P. Rose
Projecting flood frequency curves under near-term climate change
Flood-frequency curves, critical for water infrastructure design, are typically developed based on a stationary climate assumption. However, climate changes are expected to violate this assumption. Here, we propose a new, climate-informed methodology for estimating flood-frequency curves under non-stationary future climate conditions. The methodology develops an asynchronous, semiparametric local-
Authors
Chandramauli Awasthi, Stacey A. Archfield, Karen R. Ryberg, Julie E. Kiang, A. Sankarasubramanian
U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project
The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project combines decades of direct glaciological data with remote sensing data to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions. The global loss of glaciers, and consequent implications for water resources, sea level rise, and ecosystem function underscores the importance of U.S. Geological Survey glaciology research to facilit
Authors
Caitlyn Florentine, Lisa McKeon
An initial assessment of plankton tow detection probabilities for dreissenid mussels in the western United States
Early detection of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis) is crucial to mitigating the economic and environmental impacts of an infestation. Plankton tow sampling is a common method used for early detection of dreissenid mussels, but little is known about the sampling intensity required for a high probability of early detection using the method. We used implicit dyn
Authors
Meaghan Winder, Adam Sepulveda, Andrew Hoegh
Electrical imaging for hydrogeology
Geophysical methods offer hydrogeologists unprecedented access to understanding subsurface parameters and processes. In this book, we outline the theory and application of electrical imaging methods, which inject current into the ground and measure the resultant potentials. These data are sensitive to rock type, grain size, porosity, pore fluid electrical conductivity, saturation, and temperature.
Authors
Kamini Singha, Timothy C. Johnson, Frederick Day-Lewis, Lee D. Slater
Divergent gene expression profiles in Alaskan sea otters: An indicator of chronic domoic acid exposure?
An opportunistic investigation into ecosystem instability in Kachemak Bay (KBay), Alaska, has led us to investigate exposure to toxic algae in sea otters. We used gene expression to explore the physiological health of sea otters sampled in KBay in May 2019. We found altered levels of gene transcripts in comparison with reference sea otters from clinically normal, oil-exposed, and nutritionally cha
Authors
Lizabeth Bowen, Susan Knowles, Kathi Lefebvre, Michelle St Martin, Michael Murray, Kimberly A. Kloecker, Daniel Monson, Ben Weitzman, Brenda Ballachey, Heather Coletti, Shannon C. Waters, C Cummings
Reference genome of the California glossy snake, Arizona elegans occidentalis: A declining California Species of Special Concern
The glossy snake (Arizona elegans) is a polytypic species broadly distributed across southwestern North America. The species occupies habitats ranging from California’s coastal chaparral to the shortgrass prairies of Texas and southeastern Nebraska, to the extensive arid scrublands of central México. Three subspecies are currently recognized in California, one of which is afforded state-level prot
Authors
Dustin A. Wood, Jonathan Q. Richmond, Merly Escalona, Mohan P. A. Marimuthu, Oanh Nguyen, Samuel Sacco, Eric Beraut, Michael F. Westphal, Robert N. Fisher, A. G. Vandergast, Erin Toffelmier, Ian J Wang, H. Bradley Shaffer
RNA-seq reveals potential gene biomarkers in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) for exposure to treated wastewater effluent
Discharged wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent greatly contributes to the generation of complex mixtures of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in aquatic environments which often contain neuropharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants that may impact neurological function. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on the neurological impacts of these exposures to aquatic organisms.
Authors
Peter Schumann, E. Meade, H. Zhi, G. H. LeFevre, Dana W. Kolpin, Shannon M. Meppelink, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Rachael F. Lane, A. Schmoldt, O. Mueller, R. D. Klaper
Multi-decadal simulation of marsh topography evolution under sea level rise and episodic sediment loads
Coastal marsh within Mediterranean climate zones is exposed to episodic watershed runoff and sediment loads that occur during storm events. Simulating future marsh accretion under sea level rise calls for attention to: (a) physical processes acting over the time scale of storm events and (b) biophysical processes acting over time scales longer than storm events. Using the upper Newport Bay in Sout
Authors
M W Brand, Kevin Buffington, J B Rogers, Karen M. Thorne, E D Stein, B F Sanders