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.
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: 174960
Sensitivity analysis of a dynamic vegetation-sediment transport model using equadratures: Exploring inorganic accretion on a marsh platform Sensitivity analysis of a dynamic vegetation-sediment transport model using equadratures: Exploring inorganic accretion on a marsh platform
Salt marsh systems require a net import of inorganic sediment to maintain their structure in response to sea‐level rise. Marshes are affected by physical processes including tides, waves, sediment transport, and the influence of vegetation, and these processes interact in complex ways leading to sediment accretion or erosion. We implement a 3‐D hydrodynamic sediment transport model in an...
Authors
Rachel Allen, Neil K. Ganju, Tarandeep Kalra, Alfredo Aretxabaleta, Jessica R. Lacy
Potential 2050 distributions of World Terrestrial Ecosystems from projections of changes in World Climate Regions and Global Land Cover Potential 2050 distributions of World Terrestrial Ecosystems from projections of changes in World Climate Regions and Global Land Cover
The urgency to address ecosystem loss is paramount, as both land use change and climate change will continue to rapidly alter and degrade natural ecosystems and reduce the many services they provide. To support conservation actions that mitigate impacts from these dual threats, we have developed potential World Terrestrial Ecosystem (WTE) distributions for 2050 following IPCC best...
Authors
Roger Sayre, Charlie Frye, Sean Breyer, Patrick Roehrdanz, Paul Elsen, Kevin Butler, Clint Brown, Jill Janene Cress, Deniz Karagulle, Madeline T. Martin, Florencia Sangermano, Regan Smyth, Terry Sohl, Nicholas Wolff, Dawn Wright, Zhuoting Wu
Self-guided decision support groundwater modelling with Python Self-guided decision support groundwater modelling with Python
The GMDSI tutorial notebooks repository provides learners with a comprehensive set of tutorials for self-guided training on decision-support groundwater modelling using Python-based tools. Although targeted at groundwater modelling, they are based around model-agnostic tools and readily transferable to other environmental modelling workflows. The tutorials are divided into three parts...
Authors
Rui Hugman, Jeremy T. White, Michael N. Fienen, Brioch Hemmings, Katie Markovich
Vertebrates in trade that pose high invasion risk to the United States Vertebrates in trade that pose high invasion risk to the United States
The United States imports thousands of live vertebrate species annually as part of legal trade. Escapes and releases from captivity are major pathways of invasion, however, the risk posed by the thousands of imported vertebrate species has not been systematically assessed. We conducted a horizon scan that used a data-driven climate match to filter a list of nearly 15,000 taxa drawn from...
Authors
Wesley Daniel, Helen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Richard A. Erickson, Brett Alexander DeGregorio, Peder Scott Engelstad, Jonathan A. Freedman, Susan Canavan, Emily M. Dean, Michael J Adams, Charmayne L. Anderson, Mindy Barnett, Marybeth K. Brey, Kyle J. Brumm, Matthew S. Bunting, Emily Caffrey, Laura Cardador, Jacoby Carter, Phillip Cassey, Duane Chapman, Natalie M. Claunch, Timothy D. Counihan, Kristin P. Davis, Anant Deshwal, Andrew K. Douglas, Corey Garland Dunn, Chase Ehlo, Katie Everett, Jason M. Gleditsch, Andrew Grosse, Zoey Hendrickson, Steven C. Hess, Jeffrey E. Hill, Nick D. Holmes, Ana V. Longo, Julie L. Lockwood, Doran M. Mason, Ashley McDonald, Matthew Neilson, Kristen M. Reaver, Robert Reed, Caleb Powell Roberts, Jane S. Rogosch, Christina Romagosa, James C. Russell, Annie Simpson, Scott A. Smith, Jinelle Sperry, Quenton M. Tuckett, Kurt VerCauteren, J. Hardin Waddle, Christian Wanamaker, John D. Willson, Arden Williams, Deah Lieurance
A comparison of survival and behavior of lake whitefish following transmitter implantation using electro- or chemical immobilization A comparison of survival and behavior of lake whitefish following transmitter implantation using electro- or chemical immobilization
Background The number of telemetry studies focused on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in the Laurentian Great Lakes has steadily increased over the last decade, but field tests of immobilization methods used for tag implantation, which have the potential to affect survival and behavior of fish after release, are lacking. We compared post-tagging survival and behavior of lake...
Authors
Lisa K. Izzo, Daniel J. Dembkowski, Thomas R. Binder, Scott P. Hansen, Christopher S. Vandergoot, Daniel A. Isermann
Age, growth, and reproductive biology of Achilles tang (Acanthurus achilles) around Hawai'i Island, USA Age, growth, and reproductive biology of Achilles tang (Acanthurus achilles) around Hawai'i Island, USA
A culturally important food fish in Hawai'i, Achilles tang (Acanthurus achilles Shaw), recently experienced sharp declines in biomass, density, and average length in west Hawai'i Island. In December 2022, State resource managers placed a 2-year moratorium on the Achilles tang fishery in west Hawai'i Island so that the cause of the collapse could be explored. The lack of life-history...
Authors
Timothy B. Grabowski, Richard Massey, Dawn McSwain, Annie Larson, Lillian Joy Tuttle Raz, Eva Schemmel, Danielle E. Bartz, Nikola Rodriguez
The anatomy of a drought in the upper San Francisco Estuary: Water quality and lower-trophic responses to multi-year droughts The anatomy of a drought in the upper San Francisco Estuary: Water quality and lower-trophic responses to multi-year droughts
Multi-year droughts are important and impactful features of California’s Mediterranean climate and can fundamentally affect the water quality and the ecosystem response of the San Francisco Estuary (Estuary) and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). This study assesses data collected by long-term monitoring programs over the past 46 years (1975-2021) to evaluate how water quality in...
Authors
David Bosworth, Samuel M. Bashevkin, Keith Bouma-Gregson, Rosemary Hartman, Elizabeth B. Stumpner
The emerging invasive species and climate change lexicon The emerging invasive species and climate change lexicon
The rapid diversification of terminology associated with invasion ecology is a known barrier to effective communication and management. These challenges are magnified by the addition of terms and concepts related to climate-induced range-shifting taxa and/or changes to impacts. Further, institutional policies and terminologies for invasive species introduce new ambiguities when...
Authors
Emily J. Fusco, Bryan G. Falk, Paul J. Heimowitz, Deah Lieurance, Elliott Parsons, Caitlin M. Rottler, Lindsey Thurman, Annette Evans
A comparative framework to develop transferable species distribution models for animal telemetry data A comparative framework to develop transferable species distribution models for animal telemetry data
Species distribution models (SDMs) have become increasingly popular for making ecological inferences, as well as predictions to inform conservation and management. In predictive modeling, practitioners often use correlative SDMs that only evaluate a single spatial scale and do not account for differences in life stages. These modeling decisions may limit the performance of SDMs beyond...
Authors
Joshua A. Cullen, Camila A. Domit, Margaret Lamont, Christopher D. Marshall, Armando J.B. Santos, Christopher R. Sasso, Mehsin Al Ansi, Kristen Hart, Mariana M.P.B. Fuentes
Sequoia groves of Yosemite: Visitor use and impacts monitoring Sequoia groves of Yosemite: Visitor use and impacts monitoring
Despite being long-lived and massive, giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) J. Bucholz) are susceptible to erosion given their relatively shallow root structure. Human-caused soil compaction and vegetation loss through social trails are primary drivers of erosion in giant sequoia groves, particularly for trees that are near formal trails and access roads. We develop a method...
Authors
Sheri A. Shiflett, Jeffery S. Jenkins, Rachel F. Mattos, Peter Christian Ibsen, Nicole D. Athearn
New tools for a legacy problem: How isotope tracers inform area of concern actions in the St. Louis River in Lake Superior New tools for a legacy problem: How isotope tracers inform area of concern actions in the St. Louis River in Lake Superior
Numerous mercury (Hg) sources can contribute to biological burdens within the Great Lakes, including atmospheric deposition (e.g., precipitation), non-point source land runoff (e.g., watershed), and legacy contamination. Due to these different environmental entry points, it is often difficult to ascertain if legacy Hg contamination contributes to contemporary fish consumption advisories...
Authors
Sarah E. Janssen, Joel C. Hoffman, David P. Krabbenhoft
Iodine-129 in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2021–22 Iodine-129 in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2021–22
Between the 1950s and 1980s, wastewater generated at the Idaho National Laboratory contained Iodine-129 (129I); this wastewater was discharged directly into the eastern Snake River Plain (ESRP) aquifer through a deep disposal well, unlined infiltration ponds, or leaked from distribution systems below industrial facilities. During 2021–22, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...
Authors
Kerri C. Treinen, Allison R. Trcka, Nick Krohe, Genene Lehotsky