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.
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Mission Area Publications
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Filter Total Items: 172050
Ecosystem drivers of freshwater mercury bioaccumulation are context-dependent: Insights from continental-scale modeling
Significant variation in mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation is observed across the diversity of freshwater ecosystems in North America. While there is support for the major drivers of Hg bioaccumulation, the relative influence of different external factors can vary widely among waterbodies, which makes predicting Hg risk across large spatial scales particularly challenging. We modeled Hg...
Authors
Christopher James Kotalik, James Willacker, Jeff S. Wesner, Branden L. Johnson, Colleen M. Flanagan Pritz, Sarah J. Nelson, David Walters, Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Local perceptions of marine conservation aquaculture for the restoration of native Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in Downeast, Maine
The entities responsible for the management of the endangered Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) have partnered with a commercial aquaculture company to apply a novel conservation aquaculture program. This effort marks a major shift in management and has garnered mixed public reactions. Recent expansion of aquaculture in Maine has been a point of...
Authors
Melissa. E. Flye, Carly C. Sponarski, Joseph D. Zydlewski
An interagency perspective on improving consistency and transparency of land use and land cover mapping
Executive Summary Geospatial products of land use and land cover are broadly used in many applications. For example, the annual national greenhouse gas inventory uses the National Land Cover Database, the Coastal Change Analysis Program, Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools, the Forest Inventory and Analysis, and the National Resources Inventory to represent the land use...
Authors
Terry Sohl, Karen Schleeweis, Nate Herold, Megan Lang, Inga P. La Puma, James Wickham, Rick Mueller, Matthew Rigge, Jon Dewitz, Jesslyn F. Brown, Jeffrey Ingebritsen, James Ellenwood, Ellen Wengert, Jordan Rowe, Patrick Flanagan, Emily Kachergis, Iris Garthwaite, Zhuoting Wu
Groundwater-level elevations in the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers and Upper Black Squirrel Creek alluvial aquifer, El Paso County, Colorado, 2021–24
El Paso County is the second-most populous county in Colorado and is projected to grow another 15 percent by 2030. Within El Paso County is the Upper Black Squirrel Creek Designated Groundwater Basin (Black Squirrel Basin), an area where surface water is scarce and water users rely primarily on groundwater from five different aquifers (the Upper Black Squirrel Creek alluvial aquifer and...
Authors
Zachary D. Kisfalusi, Erin K. Hennessy, Jackson B. Sharp
U.S. Geological Survey National Groundwater Climate Response Network
What is the U.S. Geological Survey National Groundwater Climate Response Network?The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water Monitoring Network is a network of networks that includes the Climate Response Network (CRN). The CRN is a network of wells selected to monitor the effects of climate variability, including droughts, on groundwater systems within the United States, Puerto...
Authors
Rodney R. Caldwell, Jason M. Fine
Enhanced hydrologic monitoring and characterization of groundwater drainage features
Groundwater drains to the land surface, generating the baseflow of streams, lakes, and wetlands. The hydrologic resilience of baseflow during prolonged dry periods and after disturbance can be assessed with evolving remote sensing analysis paired with localized monitoring of groundwater drainage features and creative model calibration strategies.
Authors
Martin Briggs
Review of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Ballard Locks model, Seattle, Washington, 2014–20
Executive SummaryThe Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks and Lake Washington Ship Canal connect freshwater Lake Washington and saline Shilshole Bay of Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington. The locks and canal allow for ships to traverse this reach. Anadromous salmonids also migrate through, transitioning between saline and freshwater environments, and making use of a fish ladder at the...
Authors
Annett B. Sullivan, Anya C. Leach
Relatedness of white-tailed deer from culling efforts within chronic wasting disease management zones in Minnesota
In white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), closely related females form social groups, avoiding other social groups. Consequently, females infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) are more likely to infect social group members. Culling has been used to reduce CWD transmission in high-risk areas; however, its effectiveness in removing related individuals has not been assessed. We...
Authors
Alberto F. Fameli, Christopher S. Jennelle, Jessie Edson, Erik C. Hildebrand, Michelle Carstensen, W. David Walter
Enhancing One Health outcomes using decision science and negotiation
One Health initiatives have advanced zoonotic disease management by recognizing the interconnectedness of three sectors of governance (human, ecosystem, and animal) and by identifying options that can improve full-system health. Although One Health has had many successes, its full realization may be inhibited by a lack of strategies to overcome simultaneous impediments in decision making...
Authors
Jonathan D. Cook, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Howard S. Ginsberg, Diann Prosser, Michael C. Runge
Chemostratigraphy of the Cretaceous Hue Shale in Arctic Alaska: Exploring paleoceanographic controls on trace element enrichment, organic matter accumulation, and source-rock evolution
We document chemostratigraphy in an outcrop of late Albian to early Campanian (∼103–82 Ma) marine source rocks to better understand paleoenvironmental controls on trace element (TE) enrichment and organic matter accumulation in the distal Colville foreland basin of Arctic Alaska and how those drivers are linked to arc volcanism and successions of Cretaceous oceanographic and climatic...
Authors
Palma J. Botterell, Margaret M. Sanders, David W. Houseknecht, Richard O. Lease, William A. Rouse, Katherine J. Whidden, Julie A. Dumoulin, Rebecca A. Smith, Christina A. DeVera, Brett J. Valentine
An enigmatic wild passerine mortality event in the eastern United States
The ability to rapidly respond to wildlife health events is essential. However, such events are often unpredictable, especially with anthropogenic disturbances and climate-related environmental changes driving unforeseen threats. Many events also are short-lived and go undocumented, making it difficult to draw on lessons learned from past investigations. We report on the response to a...
Authors
Sabrina S. Greening, Julie C. Ellis, Nicole L. Lewis, David B. Needle, Cristina M. Tato, Susan Knowles, Valerie I. Shearn-Bochsler, Jaimie L. Miller, Daniel A. Grear, Jeffrey M. Lorch, David S. Blehert, Caitlin Burrell, Lisa A. Murphy, Erica A. Miller, C. Brandon Ogbunugafor, Andrea J. Ayala, W. Kelley Thomas, Megan S. Kirchgessner, Christine Casey, Ethan P. Barton, Michael J. Yabsley, Eman Anis, Roderick B. Gagne, Patrice Klein, Cindy P. Driscoll, Chelsea Sykes, Robert H. Poppenga, Nicole M. Nemeth
Understanding and predicting infection dynamics for an endangered amphibian using long-term surveys of wild and translocated frogs
Amphibians are a prominent component of Earth's sixth mass extinction and the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) is a primary driver of declines. Although Bd dynamics are well studied, the environmental drivers, exacerbating risk factors, and value of conservation interventions like translocations remain challenging to predict. Here, we present results from two decades...
Authors
Talisin T. Hammond, Adam R. Backlin, Elizabeth Gallegos, Debra M. Shier, Ronald R. Swaisgood, Robert N. Fisher