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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Science Quality and Integrity
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Mission Area Publications
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Federal lands greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005–22 Federal lands greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005–22
In 2016, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior requested that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) produce a publicly available and annually updated database of estimated greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extraction and use of fossil fuels from Federal lands. The first report in this series included emissions estimates from 2005 to 2014 and were reported for 29...
Authors
Matthew D. Merrill, Benjamin M. Sleeter, Philip A. Freeman
Assessing predictions from optimal egg theory for an ectotherm relative to habitat duration Assessing predictions from optimal egg theory for an ectotherm relative to habitat duration
Optimal egg size theory predicts females must balance investment per offspring to maximize fitness based on environmental quality. In wetlands, environmental quality can be duration of water and predator presence. Ectotherms using habitats that dry or contain predators are likely under selection to optimize offspring production. We measured reproductive output of wood frogs (Rana...
Authors
Jon M. Davenport, Andrew Feltmann, LeeAnn Fishback, Blake R. Hossack
The EnMAP spaceborne imaging spectroscopy mission: Initial scientific results two years after launch The EnMAP spaceborne imaging spectroscopy mission: Initial scientific results two years after launch
Imaging spectroscopy has been a recognized and established remote sensing technology since the 1980s, mainly using airborne and field-based platforms to identify and quantify key bio- and geo-chemical surface and atmospheric compounds, based on characteristic spectral reflectance features in the visible-near infrared (VNIR) and short-wave infrared (SWIR). Spaceborne missions, a leap in...
Authors
Sabine Chabrillat, Saskia Foerster, Karl Segl, Alison Beamish, Maximilian Brell, Saeid Asadzadeh, Robert Milewski, Kathrin J. Ward, Arlena Brosinsky, Katrin Koch, Daniel Scheffler, Stephane Guillaso, Alexander Kokhanovsky, Sigrid Roessner, Luis Guanter, Hermann Kauffman, Nicole Pinnel, Emiliano Carmona, Tobias Storch, Tobias Hank, Katja Berger, Mathias Wocher, Patrick Hostert, Sebastian van der Linden, Akpona Okujeni, Andreas Janz, Benjamin Jakimow, Astrid Bracher, Mariana Soppa, L.M.A. Alvarado, H. Buddenbaum, Birgit Heim, Uta Heiden, Jose M. Moreno, Cindy Ong, Niklas Bohn, Robert O. Green, Martin Bachmann, Raymond F. Kokaly, Martin Schodlok, Thomas H. Painter, Ferran Gascon, Fabrizia Buongiorno, Matti Mottus, Vittorio Ernesto Brando, Hannes Feilhauer, Matthias Betz, Simon Baur, Rupert Feckl, Anke Schickling, Vera Krieger, Michael Bock, Laura La Porta, Sebastian Fischer
Reduced injection rates and shallower depths mitigated induced seismicity in Oklahoma Reduced injection rates and shallower depths mitigated induced seismicity in Oklahoma
The proximity of wastewater disposal to the Precambrian basement is a critical factor influencing induced earthquake rates in the Central United States, but the impact of reducing injection depths has not been widely demonstrated. Beginning in 2015, state regulatory efforts in Oklahoma and Kansas mandated that wells injecting into the lower Arbuckle Group, a basal sedimentary unit, be...
Authors
Robert J. Skoumal, Andrew J. Barbour, Justin L. Rubenstein, Margaret Elizabeth Glasgow
Patchy response of cheatgrass and nontarget vegetation to indaziflam and imazapic applied after wildfire in sagebrush steppe Patchy response of cheatgrass and nontarget vegetation to indaziflam and imazapic applied after wildfire in sagebrush steppe
Control of nonnative grasses is needed where they are altering fire regimes and degrading rangelands, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion of perennial sagebrush-steppe communities. Aerial broadcast of the pre-emergent and postemergent herbicide imazapic has been used for decades over vast areas to control cheatgrass after fire. Recent small-scale studies indicate that the pre...
Authors
Chad Raymond Kluender, Matthew J. Germino, Brynne E. Lazarus, Ty Matthews
Water-quality comparisons in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 2010 and 2023 Water-quality comparisons in the Greater Mooses Tooth unit of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, 2010 and 2023
The United States has long held oil reserves in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR–A), but oil production did not begin until 2015. The waters of the NPR–A are generally considered “pristine,” but water quality has not been characterized temporally or spatially in a rigorous manner. In 2010 and 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management
Authors
Brent M. Hall
Before the fire: Predicting burn severity and potential post-fire debris-flow hazards to Colorado River Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) conservation populations Before the fire: Predicting burn severity and potential post-fire debris-flow hazards to Colorado River Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) conservation populations
Background Colorado River Cutthroat Trout (CRCT; Oncorhynchus clarkii pleuriticus) conservation populations may be at risk from wildfire and post-fire debris flows hazards. Aim To predict burn severity and potential post-fire debris flow hazard classifications to CRCT conservation populations before wildfires occur. Methods We used remote sensing, spatial analyses, and machine learning...
Authors
Adam Gerhard Wells, Charles B. Yackulic, Jaime Kostelnik, Andrew R. Bock, Robert E. Zuellig, Daren M. Carlisle, James Roberts, Kevin B. Rogers, Seth M. Munson
Triggering the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa Triggering the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa
Distinguishing periods of intermittent unrest from the run-up to eruption is a major challenge at volcanoes around the globe. Comparing multidisciplinary monitoring data with mineral chemistry that records the physical and spatio-temporal evolution of magmas fundamentally advances our ability to forecast eruptions. The recent eruption of Mauna Loa, Earth’s largest active volcano...
Authors
Kendra J. Lynn, Drew T. Downs, Frank A. Trusdell, Penny E. Wieser, Berenise Rangel, Baylee Rose McDade, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, Ninfa Lucia Bennington, Kyle R. Anderson, Dawn Catherine Sweeney Ruth, Charlotte DeVitre, Andria P. Ellis, Patricia A. Nadeau, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Peter Dotray, Jefferson Chang
Predicting the response of fish populations to changes in river connectivity using individual-based models Predicting the response of fish populations to changes in river connectivity using individual-based models
Barrier removal restores physical stream processes and improves accessibility of critical habitats to migratory fishes. Although increasing connectivity benefits stream systems and migratory fishes, barrier removals may also lead to increased production of undesirable or invasive migratory species, as well as myriad other concerns (e.g., reduced recreational opportunities). Few studies...
Authors
Shane Flinn, Travis Brenden, Kelly Filer Robinson
Evidence for low effective stress within the crust of the subducted Gorda plate from the 2022 December Mw 6.4 Ferndale earthquake sequence Evidence for low effective stress within the crust of the subducted Gorda plate from the 2022 December Mw 6.4 Ferndale earthquake sequence
Stress levels on and adjacent to megathrust faults at seismogenic depths remain a key but difficult to constrain parameter for assessing seismic hazard in subduction zones. Although strong ground motions have been observed to be generated from distinct, high-stress regions on the downdip end of the megathrust rupture areas in many great earthquakes, we lack direct constraints on the...
Authors
Hao Guo, James W. Atterholt, Jeffrey J. McGuire, Clifford Thurber
Vaccination of endangered wildlife as a conservation tool: Hindsights and new horizons in the pandemic era Vaccination of endangered wildlife as a conservation tool: Hindsights and new horizons in the pandemic era
Vaccines are an established conservation tool that can reduce the threat of infectious disease in endangered wildlife populations. Vaccines exist for many infectious pathogens, and at a time of rapid technological advances in vaccinology, developing vaccines and vaccination programs for free-living endangered wildlife could help efforts to prevent extinctions from disease threats...
Authors
Frances Gulland, Michelle Barbieri, Sarah Cleaveland, Martin Gilbert, Ailsa J. Hall, Tonie E. Rocke
Post Carr Fire bioassessment data report, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta County, California Post Carr Fire bioassessment data report, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta County, California
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, analyzed water and sediment chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, fish and amphibian assemblages, fish and invertebrate tissues, instream habitat characteristics, and sediment heterogeneity at 10 stream sites within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta County, California, during August 2020, 2...
Authors
Marissa L. Wulff, Larry R. Brown, Veronica L. Violette