Reports
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.
The USGS provides unbiased, objective, and impartial scientific information upon which our audiences, including resource managers, planners, and other entities, rely.
Browse more than 82,000 reports 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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Synthesis of climate and ecological science to support grassland management priorities in the North Central Region Synthesis of climate and ecological science to support grassland management priorities in the North Central Region
Grasslands in the Great Plains are of ecological, economic, and cultural importance in the United States. In response to a need to understand how climate change and variability will impact grassland ecosystems and their management in the 21st century, the U.S. Geological Survey North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center led a synthesis of peer-reviewed climate and ecology literature...
Authors
Christine D. Miller Hesed, Heather M. Yocum, Imtiaz Rangwala, Amy Symstad, Jeff M. Martin, Kevin Ellison, David J. A. Wood, Marissa Ahlering, Katherine J. Chase, Shelley Crausbay, Ana D. Davidson, Julie L. Elliott, Jim Giocomo, David Hoover, Toni Klemm, David A. Lightfoot, Owen P. McKenna, Brian W. Miller, Danika Mosher, R. Chelsea Nagy, Jesse B. Nippert, Jeremy Pittman, Lauren M. Porensky, Jilmarie Stephens, Alexander V. Zale
Potential drivers of change in fluxes of nutrients and total suspended solids in the upper White River Basin, Indiana, Water Years 1997–2019 Potential drivers of change in fluxes of nutrients and total suspended solids in the upper White River Basin, Indiana, Water Years 1997–2019
The U.S. Geological Survey and The Nature Conservancy previously collaborated to evaluate changes and trends in the concentrations and flux of nutrients (total phosphorus, as phosphorus; nitrate plus nitrite, as nitrogen; and total Kjeldahl nitrogen, as nitrogen) and total suspended solids (TSS) at three study gages located on the upper White River at Muncie, near Nora, and near...
Authors
G. F. Koltun, Cassie Hauswald
Trends in environmental, anthropogenic, and water-quality characteristics in the upper White River Basin, Indiana Trends in environmental, anthropogenic, and water-quality characteristics in the upper White River Basin, Indiana
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, undertook a study to update and extend results from a previous study (Koltun, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20195119), using data from 3 additional years and newer estimation methods. Koltun (2019) assessed trends in streamflow, precipitation, and estimated annual mean concentrations and flux of nitrate...
Authors
G. F. Koltun
Evaluation of hydrologic processes in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer using uranium and strontium isotopes, Idaho National Laboratory, eastern Idaho Evaluation of hydrologic processes in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer using uranium and strontium isotopes, Idaho National Laboratory, eastern Idaho
Waste constituents discharged to the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) pose risks to the water quality of the aquifer. To understand these risks, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the DOE, is conducting geochemical studies to better understand the hydrologic processes at the INL that affect the movement...
Authors
Gordon W. Rattray, James B. Paces
Determining three-dimensional hydrologic processes in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer using geochemical mass-balance modeling, Idaho National Laboratory, eastern Idaho, with contributions by Treinen, K.C. Determining three-dimensional hydrologic processes in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer using geochemical mass-balance modeling, Idaho National Laboratory, eastern Idaho, with contributions by Treinen, K.C.
Waste constituents discharged to the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (INL) pose risks to the water quality of the aquifer. To understand these risks, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the DOE, used geochemical mass-balance modeling to identify three-dimensional hydrologic processes in that portion of the...
Authors
Gordon W. Rattray
Assessment of riparian vegetation patterns and change downstream from Glen Canyon Dam from 2014 to 2019 Assessment of riparian vegetation patterns and change downstream from Glen Canyon Dam from 2014 to 2019
Changes in riparian vegetation cover and composition occur in relation to flow regime, geomorphic template, and climate, and can have cascading effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Tracking such changes over time is therefore an important part of monitoring the condition and trajectory of riparian ecosystems. Maintaining diverse, self-sustaining riparian vegetation comprised of...
Authors
Emily C. Palmquist, Bradley J. Butterfield, Barbara E. Ralston
Bivalve effects on the food web supporting delta smelt—A long-term study of bivalve recruitment, biomass, and grazing rate patterns with varying freshwater outflow Bivalve effects on the food web supporting delta smelt—A long-term study of bivalve recruitment, biomass, and grazing rate patterns with varying freshwater outflow
Phytoplankton are an important and limiting food source in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay in California. Decreasing phytoplankton biomass is one possible factor for the pelagic organism decline and the decline of the protected Hypomesus transpacificus (delta smelt). Bivalves Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis (hereafter C. fluminea and P. amurensis...
Authors
Emily L. Zierdt Smith, Kelly H. Shrader, Janet K. Thompson, Francis Parchaso, Karen Gehrts, Elizabeth Wells
Monitoring of wave, current, and sediment dynamics along the Chincoteague living shoreline, Virginia Monitoring of wave, current, and sediment dynamics along the Chincoteague living shoreline, Virginia
Nature-based features, also called living shorelines, are increasingly applied in coastal protection and restoration. However, the processes and mechanisms (feedbacks and interactions) of wave attenuation, current velocity change, and sediment deposition and erosion along the living shoreline remain unclear, thus limiting the adaptive management of living shoreline restoration projects...
Authors
Hongqing Wang, Q. Chen, Nan Wang, William D. Capurso, L.M. Niemoczynski, Ling Zhu, Gregg A. Snedden, Kevin S. Holcomb, Bowdoin W. Lusk, Carol W. Wilson, Sean R. Cornell
Strontium isotope chronostratigraphic age of a sirenian fossil site on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California Strontium isotope chronostratigraphic age of a sirenian fossil site on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California
Fossils in the order Sirenia (family Dugongidae) from Santa Rosa Island, part of Channel Islands National Park in southern California, provide rare temporal and spatial links between earlier and later evolutionary forms of dugongids, and add information about their dispersal into the northeastern Pacific region. Marine sedimentary rocks containing these fossils have characteristics of...
Authors
James B. Paces, Scott A. Minor, Kevin M. Schmidt, Jonathan Hoffman
Assessing risk communication in the pet and aquarium trade: An analysis of outreach and engagement efforts Assessing risk communication in the pet and aquarium trade: An analysis of outreach and engagement efforts
The international pet and aquarium trade, and intentional or unintentional release of those pets by individuals, has contributed to the establishment of many species to areas where they are not native, resulting in detrimental consequences to local ecosystems, economies, and livelihoods. A number of outreach campaigns across the United States aim to communicate the risk of non-native pet...
Authors
Kelly G. Guilbeau, Kristen Reaver, Blake Blaskowski, Emily Marie Dean, Wesley Daniel
Value-aligned planning objectives for restoring North Carolina aquatic resources Value-aligned planning objectives for restoring North Carolina aquatic resources
Rapid population growth and development in the southeastern United States have resulted in substantial impairment to freshwater aquatic ecosystems. National or regional restoration policies strive to address impaired ecosystems but can suffer from inconsistent and opaque processes. The Clean Water Act, for example, establishes reallocation mechanisms to transfer ecosystem services from...
Authors
Ana Maria Garcia, Mitchell J. Eaton, Georgina M. Sanchez, Jennifer L. Keisman, Kirsten Ullman, James Blackwell
Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus), Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus), and Coastal California Gnatcatchers (Polioptila californica californica) at the Santa Fe Dam, Los Angeles County, Cali Distribution and abundance of Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus), Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus), and Coastal California Gnatcatchers (Polioptila californica californica) at the Santa Fe Dam, Los Angeles County, Cali
In 2022, we surveyed for Least Bell’s Vireos (Vireo bellii pusillus; vireo), Southwestern Willow Flycatchers (Empidonax traillii extimus; flycatcher), and Coastal California Gnatcatchers (Polioptila californica californica; gnatcatcher) in the Santa Fe Dam detention basin and along the San Gabriel River upstream from the Santa Fe Dam near Irwindale, California. Four vireo surveys were...
Authors
Suellen Lynn, Barbara E. Kus