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: 171816
Statistical consideration of nonrandom treatment applications reveal region-wide benefits of widespread post-fire restoration action
Accurate predictions of ecological restoration outcomes are needed across the increasingly large landscapes requiring treatment following disturbances. However, observational studies often fail to account for nonrandom treatment application, which can result in invalid inference. Examining a spatiotemporally extensive management treatment-- post-fire seeding of declining sagebrush shrubs across th
Authors
Allison B. Simler-Williamson, Matthew Germino
A numerical study of geomorphic and oceanographic controls on wave-driven runup on fringing reefs with shore-normal channels
Many populated, tropical coastlines fronted by fringing coral reefs are exposed to wave-driven marine flooding that is exacerbated by sea-level rise. Most fringing coral reef are not alongshore uniform, but bisected by shore-normal channels; however, little is known about the influence of such channels on alongshore variations on runup and flooding of the adjacent coastline. We con-ducted a parame
Authors
Curt D. Storlazzi, Annouk Rey, Ap van Dongeren
21st-century stagnation in unvegetated sand-sea activity
Sand seas are vast expanses of Earth’s surface containing large areas of aeolian dunes—topographic patterns manifest from above-threshold winds and a supply of loose sand. Predictions of the role of future climate change for sand-sea activity are sparse and contradictory. Here we examine the impact of climate on all of Earth’s presently-unvegetated sand seas, using ensemble runs of an Earth System
Authors
Andrew Gunn, Amy E. East, Douglas J. Jerolmack
Closing the gap on wicked urban stream restoration problems: A framework to integrate science and community values
Restoring the health of urban streams has many of the characteristics of a wicked problem. Addressing a wicked problem requires managers, academics, practitioners, and community members to make negotiated tradeoffs and compromises to satisfy the values and perspectives of diverse stakeholders involved in setting restoration project goals and objectives. We conducted a gap analysis on 11 urban stre
Authors
Brian M. Murphy, Kathryn L Russell, Charles C. Stillwell, Robert J. Hawley, Mateo Scoggins, Kristina G. Hopkins, Matthew J. Burns, Kristine T. Taniguchi-Quan, Kate H Macneale, Robert F. Smith
The Curiosity Rover’s exploration of Glen Torridon, Gale crater, Mars: An overview of the campaign and scientific results
The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, explored the clay mineral-bearing Glen Torridon region for one martian year between January 2019 and January 2021, including a short campaign onto the Greenheugh pediment. The Glen Torridon campaign sought to characterize the geology of the area, seek evidence of habitable environments, and document the onset of a potentially global climatic transition
Authors
Kristen A. Bennett, Valerie K. Fox, Alexander Bryk, William E. Dietrich, Christopher M. Fedo, Lauren A. Edgar, Michael T. Thorpe, Amy Williams, Gregory M. Wong, Erwin Dehouck, Amy McAdam, Brad Sutter, Maeva Millan, Steven Banham, Candice C. Bedford, Thomas F. Bristow, Abigail A. Fraeman, Ashwin R. Vasavada, John P. Grotzinger, Lucy Thompson, Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, Patrick J. Gasda, Amanda Rudolph, Robert Sullivan, Ray E. Arvidson, Agnes Cousin, Briony H. N. Horgan, Kathryn M. Stack, Allan H. Treiman, Jennifer Eigenbrode, Gwenael Caravaca
Possible effects of multiphase methane evolution during a glacial cycle on underpressure development in sedimentary basins: An analysis with application to the northeast Michigan Basin
In low-permeability systems, groundwater may be accompanied by separate-phase fluids, and measured pore water pressures may deviate from those expected in steady-state, single-phase systems. These same systems may be of interest for storage of nuclear waste in Deep Geologic Repositories. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationship between the presence of a separate phase and anomalou
Authors
Michelle R. Plampin, Alden M. Provost
Hybridization decreases native cutthroat trout reproductive fitness
Examining natural selection in wild populations is challenging, but crucial to understanding many ecological and evolutionary processes. Additionally, in hybridizing populations, natural selection may be an important determinant of the eventual outcome of hybridization. We characterized several components of relative fitness in hybridizing populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and rainbow tro
Authors
William C. Rosenthal, John M. Fennell, Elizabeth G. Mandeville, Jason C. Burckhardt, Annika W. Walters, Catherine E. Wagner
Experimental reductions in sub-daily flow fluctuations increased gross primary productivity for 425 river kilometers downstream
Aquatic primary production is the foundation of many river food webs. Dams change the physical template of rivers, often driving food webs toward greater reliance on aquatic primary production. Nonetheless, the effects of regulated flow regimes on primary production are poorly understood. Load following is a common dam flow management strategy that involves sub-daily changes in water releases prop
Authors
Bridget Deemer, Charles Yackulic, Robert O Hall Jr., Michael Dodrill, Theodore Kennedy, Jeffrey Muehlbauer, David Topping, Nicholas Voichick, Michael D. Yard
Environmental DNA methods for ecological monitoring and biodiversity assessment in estuaries
Environmental DNA (eDNA) detection methods can complement traditional biomonitoring to yield new ecological insights in aquatic systems. However, the conceptual and methodological frameworks for aquatic eDNA detection and interpretation were developed primarily in freshwater environments and have not been well established for estuaries and marine environments that are by nature dynamic, turbid, an
Authors
Raman P. Nagarajan, Mallory Bedwell, Ann E. Holmes, Thiago Sanches, Shawn Acuña, Melinda R. Baerwald, Matthew A. Barnes, Scott Blankenship, Richard E. Connon, Kristy Deiner, Daphne Gille, Caren S. Goldberg, Margaret Hunter, Christopher L. Jerde, Gordon Luikart, Rachel S. Meyer, Alison Watts, Andrea M Schreier
Understanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources: An example from a long-term crude oil spill
Understanding the evolution of plumes emanating from residual hydrocarbon contaminant sources requires evaluating how changes in source compositions over time cause changes in dissolved plume chemistry as residual sources age. This study investigates such changes at the site of a 1979 crude-oil pipeline spill and is the first comprehensive look at groundwater chemistry associated with a residual h
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Mary Jo Baedecker, Adam Mumford, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Tracey Spencer
Modeling impacts of drought-induced salinity intrusion on carbon dynamics in tidal freshwater forested wetlands
Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (TFFW) provide critical ecosystem services including essential habitat for a variety of wildlife species and significant carbon sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the impacts of climate change on the magnitude and variability of carbon fluxes and storage across a range of TFFW. In this study, we developed a proces
Authors
Hongqing Wang, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. Trettin, Ken Krauss, Gregory Noe, Andrew J. Burton, Camille Stagg, Eric Ward
Parks look for ways to alleviate Glen Canyon Dam’s dramatic downstream impacts
Introduction Regardless of the location, time of day, or season, the grandeur of Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area inspires awe. Visitors can reflect on the sunlit colors of the towering canyon walls or witness the vibrant, golden display of Fremont cottonwood leaves each fall. For millions of years, the Colorado River has sculpted canyon country; for thousands of
Authors
Lonnie Pilkington, Joel B. Sankey, Dan Boughter, Taryn Preston, Cam C. Prophet