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Science Quality and Integrity
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The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 65,000 articles authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.
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Greater white-fronted goose habitat use in Louisiana provides water depth management insights Greater white-fronted goose habitat use in Louisiana provides water depth management insights
Numerous waterfowl species have altered their geographic distribution in recent decades. The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) has shifted its wintering distribution from coastal marshes in Texas and Louisiana, USA, to interior landscapes, creating challenges for conservation managers. Although the range shift has been primarily attributed to landscape-scale changes in rice...
Authors
William S. Beatty, Paul T. Link, Brett Leach, Steven C. Houdek, Elisabeth B. Webb
Advancing an adaptable and practical framework to address water quality challenges in a changing world Advancing an adaptable and practical framework to address water quality challenges in a changing world
As water-quality challenges intensify, the widely used Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season (WRTDS) method offers an adaptable and practical framework for global water-quality science and management.
Authors
Qian Zhang, Robert M. Hirsch, Laura DeCicco, Jennifer C. Murphy
An exploration of open-system uranium-series history of marine terrace corals, Perachora Peninsula, Greece and San Nicolas Island, California, USA An exploration of open-system uranium-series history of marine terrace corals, Perachora Peninsula, Greece and San Nicolas Island, California, USA
Emergent marine terraces record past periods of relatively high sea level and are common on uplifting coasts worldwide. Such landforms are extensive around the Gulf of Corinth area of Greece and along the coast of California, USA. In the Gulf of Corinth region, marine terraces record Quaternary uplift due to ongoing basin extension on the northern side of the Africa-Eurasia-Aegean Sea...
Authors
Daniel R. Muhs, Claudio Vita-Finzi, R. Randall Schumann
Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States Rising rates of wildfire building destruction in the conterminous United States
Many regions of the world have seen an increase in highly destructive wildfires, driven by well-documented increases in burned area and growth of housing in the wildland–urban interface (WUI), which exposes more homes to fire. However, it is unclear whether wildfires are also becoming more destructive due to changes in wildfire behavior or in the development patterns of exposed...
Authors
Amanda Renee Carlson, Todd Hawbaker, Miranda H. Mockrin, Volker C. Radeloff, Lucas Bair, Mike Caggiano, James R. Meldrum, Patricia Alexandre, H. Anu Kramer, Paul F. Steblein
Effects of ungulate browsing on forest assisted migration strategies to conserve ecosystem function Effects of ungulate browsing on forest assisted migration strategies to conserve ecosystem function
Forest managers recognize that proactive management strategies, such as forest assisted migration (FAM) of tree species, intended to accelerate the pace of forest adaptation, may be necessary to maintain resilient forests and combat the stressors of climate change. However, the impact of interactions between climate change and ungulate browsers of trees, both of which have profound...
Authors
Eric J. Gustafson, Nathan R. De Jager, Amanda M. McGraw, Christel C. Kern, John M. Kabrick
The transition from melt accumulation to eruption initiation recorded by orthopyroxene Fe-Mg diffusion timescales in late Holocene rhyolites, South Sister volcano, Oregon Cascade Range The transition from melt accumulation to eruption initiation recorded by orthopyroxene Fe-Mg diffusion timescales in late Holocene rhyolites, South Sister volcano, Oregon Cascade Range
South Sister volcano, Oregon Cascade Range, USA, has repeatedly erupted rhyolite since ca. 40 ka. The youngest such eruptions are the ca. 2 ka Rock Mesa and Devils Chain rhyolites, erupted several hundred years apart from two multi-vent complexes separated by 3–6 km. Fe-Mg interdiffusion models of orthopyroxene rims from both rhyolites produce timescales up to several-thousand years, but
Authors
Nathan Lee Andersen, Annika E. Dechert, Dawn Catherine Sweeney Ruth, May (Mai) Sas, Julie Chouinard, Josef Dufek
Efficacy of oblique bubble screen deterrents on redirecting live eggs and larvae of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) at different developmental stages Efficacy of oblique bubble screen deterrents on redirecting live eggs and larvae of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) at different developmental stages
Invasive carp have severely damaged aquatic ecosystems in the USA, particularly in the Mississippi River Basin. Behavioral deterrents have been developed in the last few decades to control population expansion into new ecosystems. However, none of these deterrents are capable of controlling early-life stage carp, which have limited or no mobility during their drifting stage in rivers...
Authors
Vindhyawasini Prasad, Juan Martin Andrade Ramos, Cory Suski, P. Ryan Jackson, Amy E. George, Duane C. Chapman, Jesse Robert Fischer, Benjamin H. Stahlschmidt, Rafael O. Tinoco
A U.S. scientific community vision for sustained earth observations of greenhouse gases to support local to global action A U.S. scientific community vision for sustained earth observations of greenhouse gases to support local to global action
Managing carbon stocks in the land, ocean, and atmosphere under changing climate requires a globally-integrated view of carbon cycle processes at local and regional scales. The growing Earth Observation (EO) record is the backbone of this multi-scale system, providing local information with discrete coverage from surface measurements and regional information at global scale from...
Authors
N. Parazoo, D. Carroll, J. B. Abshire, Y. M Bar-On, R. A. Birdsey, A. A. Bloom, K. W. Bowman, R. K. Braghiere, L.M. Bruhwiler, B. Byrne, A. Chatterjee, D. Crisp, L. Duncanson, A. F. Feldman, A. M. Fox, C. Frankenberg, B. A. Gay, F. Hopkins, F. M. Hoffman, J. R. Holmquist, L. R. Hutyra, M. Keller, C. D. Koven, Laughner J. L., J. Liu, N. S. Lovenduski, N. Macbean, G. A. McKinley, G. McNicol, D. Menemenlis, A. M. Michalak, C. E. Miller, H. Nesser, T. Oda, E. M. Ordway, L. E. Ott, K. Paustian, Z. A. Pierrat, B. Poulter, Sasha C. Reed, D. S. Schimel, S. P. Serbin, S.S. Saatchi, H. Suto, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, D. Wunch
A critical perspective on the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s adherence to founding principles—Opportunities for the future A critical perspective on the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry’s adherence to founding principles—Opportunities for the future
The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) is a global organization whose mission is the advancement of environmental science and the promotion of science-informed decision making. On SETAC’s 45th anniversary, the following question was raised: Are the 1979 founding principles of SETAC, multidisciplinary approaches to solving environmental problems, multisector...
Authors
Barnett A. Rattner, Annegaaike Leopold, Carys L. Mitchelmore, Glenn W. Suter, Mark S. Johnson, Adriana C. Bejarano, Lawrence A. Kapustka, Niranjana Krishnan, Derek C.G. Muir, Beatrice O. Opeolu, Martha Georgina Orozco-Medina, April Reed, Bruce W. Vigon, Adam R. Wronski
Post-wildfire sediment fluxes and turbidity plumes in a coastal-draining watershed Post-wildfire sediment fluxes and turbidity plumes in a coastal-draining watershed
Coastal watersheds impacted by wildfires experience higher erosion resulting in increased sediment delivery to the ocean that alters limiting factors (i.e., light) for marine organisms. With increasing wildfire magnitude and severity, it is critical to explore changes in riverine discharges to the ocean to assess cascading hazards associated with wildfires. In situ data, remotely sensed...
Authors
Amanda M. Lopez, Tesfa W. Meshesha, Christine M. Lee, Ibrahim N. Mohammed, Erin L. Hestir, Thomas C. Harmon, Dulcinea Marie Avouris
Multi-scale geophysical mapping of the brine and bedrock surfaces along the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado, December 2023 Multi-scale geophysical mapping of the brine and bedrock surfaces along the Dolores River, Paradox Valley, Colorado, December 2023
Total dissolved solids derived from salt dome–sourced brine in the underlying alluvial aquifer substantially increase with distance in the reach of the Dolores River that passes through Paradox Valley in southwestern Colorado. The area has been the site of salinity control operations since the 1990s to reduce salt loading to the downstream Colorado River. Previous airborne and ground...
Authors
Neil Terry, M. Alisa Mast, Andrea L. Creighton, Joel William Homan, Connor P. Newman, Suzanne S. Paschke
Using gridded seismicity to forecast the long-term spatial distribution of earthquakes for the 2025 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model Using gridded seismicity to forecast the long-term spatial distribution of earthquakes for the 2025 Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands National Seismic Hazard Model
Gridded (or background) seismicity models are a critical component of probabilistic seismic hazard assessments, accounting for off‐fault and smaller‐magnitude earthquakes. They are typically developed by declustering and spatially smoothing an earthquake catalog to estimate a long‐term seismicity rate that can be used to forecast future earthquakes. Here, we present new gridded...
Authors
Andrea L. Llenos, Andrew J. Michael, Kirstie Lafon Haynie, Allison Shumway, Julie A. Herrick