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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National-scale remotely sensed lake trophic state from 1984 through 2020 National-scale remotely sensed lake trophic state from 1984 through 2020
Lake trophic state is a key ecosystem property that integrates a lake’s physical, chemical, and biological processes. Despite the importance of trophic state as a gauge of lake water quality, standardized and machine-readable observations are uncommon. Remote sensing presents an opportunity to detect and analyze lake trophic state with reproducible, robust methods across time and space...
Authors
Michael Frederick Meyer, Simon Nemer Topp, Tyler V. King, Robert Ladwig, Rachel M. Pilla, Hilary A. Dugan, Jack R. Eggleston, Stephanie E. Hampton, Dina M. Leech, Isabella Oleksy, Jesse Cleveland Ross, Matthew V Ross, R. Iestyn Woolway, Xiao Yang, Matthew R. Brousil, Kate Colleen Fickas, Julie C Padowski, Amina Pollard, Jianning Ren, Jacob Aaron Zwart
Nanoscale silicate melt textures determine volcanic ash surface chemistry Nanoscale silicate melt textures determine volcanic ash surface chemistry
Explosive volcanic eruptions produce vast quantities of silicate ash, whose surfaces are subsequently altered during atmospheric transit. These altered surfaces mediate environmental interactions, including atmospheric ice nucleation, and toxic effects in biota. A lack of knowledge of the initial, pre-altered ash surface has required previous studies to assume that the ash surface...
Authors
Adrian Hornby, Paul M Ayris, David Damby, Spyros Diplas, Julia Eychenne, Jackie E. Kendrick, Corrado Cimarelli, Ulli Kueppers, Bettina Scheu, James E. P. Utley, Donald B. Dingwell
Bringing partners together: A symposium on native lampreys and the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative Bringing partners together: A symposium on native lampreys and the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative
A symposium at the 2022 American Fisheries Society meeting highlighted collaborations among biologists, policymakers, and Native American tribes addressing conservation for native lampreys. We present key findings from the symposium and related research and an example of grassroots effort to protect and restore Pacific Lamprey.
Authors
Theresa L. Liedtke, Julianne E. Harris, Christina J. Wang, Trent M. Sutton
Assessing the accuracy of OpenET satellite-based evapotranspiration data to support water resource and land management applications Assessing the accuracy of OpenET satellite-based evapotranspiration data to support water resource and land management applications
Remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET) data offer strong potential to support data-driven approaches for sustainable water management. However, practitioners require robust and rigorous accuracy assessments of such data. The OpenET system, which includes an ensemble of six remote sensing models, was developed to increase access to field-scale (30 m) ET data for the contiguous United...
Authors
J. M. Volk, Justin Huntington, Forrest Melton, Richard M. Allen, Martha Anderson, Joshua Fisher, Ayse Kilic, Anderson Ruhoff, Gabriel B. Senay, Blake Minor, Charles Morton, Thomas Ott, Lee Johnson, Bruno Comini de Andrade, Will Carrarra, Conor Doherty, Christian Dunkerly, MacKenzie Friedrichs, Alberto Guzman, Christopher Hain, Gregory Halverson, Yanghui Kang, Kyle Knipper, Leonardo Laipelt, Samuel Ortega-Salazar, Christopher Pearson, Gabriel Edwin Lee Parrish, A.J. Purdy, Peter M. ReVelle, Tianxin Wang, Yun Yang
Shoreline slope influences movements of larval lampreys over dewatered substrate Shoreline slope influences movements of larval lampreys over dewatered substrate
Larval lampreys are filter feeders that live for several years burrowed in fine sediments in freshwater streams. Stream side channels and edges, where larval lampreys gather, are vulnerable to natural and human-caused dewatering. Water level reductions can strand and kill thousands of larval lampreys, in part because many remain burrowed until their habitats are exposed, at which point...
Authors
Theresa L. Liedtke, Julianne E. Harris, Ann E. Gray
Encounter rates and catch-and-release mortality of steelhead in the Snake River basin Encounter rates and catch-and-release mortality of steelhead in the Snake River basin
Objective The potential influence (i.e., impact rate) of catch-and-release fisheries on wild steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss is poorly understood and is a function of the abundance of wild fish, how many fish are encountered by anglers (i.e., encounter rate), and the mortality of fish that are caught and released. In Idaho, estimates of wild steelhead encounter rates have been derived...
Authors
William Lubenau, Timothy B. Johnson, Brett J. Bowersox, Timothy Copeland, Joshua McCormick, Michael C. Quist
Opportunities for improved consideration of cultural benefits in environmental decision-making Opportunities for improved consideration of cultural benefits in environmental decision-making
Many cultural benefits of ecosystem services (ES) are difficult to capture in standard ES assessments. Scholars and practitioners often respond to this gap by seeking to develop new scientific methods to capture and integrate the plural values associated with diverse cultural benefits categories. This increasing emphasis on value pluralism represents an essential step toward...
Authors
Kristin R. Hoelting, Joshua M Morse, Rachelle K. Gould, Doreen E. Martinez, Rina S. Hauptfeld, Amanda E. Cravens, Sara J. Breslow, Lucas Bair, Rudy Schuster, Michael C. Gavin
Prey selection by black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes): Implications for intersexual resource partitioning and conservation Prey selection by black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes): Implications for intersexual resource partitioning and conservation
Intraspecific resource partitioning may play a critical role in how predators optimize prey selection. The Black-footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes; henceforth, ferret) is a highly specialized predator of prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.; henceforth, PDs). Adult ferrets are sexually dimorphic and PDs are of similar size making them a difficult prey item. PD young are born 6 to 8 weeks prior to...
Authors
Dean E. Biggins, David A. Eads, Shantini Ramakrishnan, Amanda R. Goldberg, Samantha L. Eads, Joanna Hardin, Darla Konkel
Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities Saltwater intrusion and sea level rise threatens U.S. rural coastal landscapes and communities
The United States (U.S.) coastal plain is subject to rising sea levels, land subsidence, more severe coastal storms, and more intense droughts. These changes lead to inputs of marine salts into freshwater-dependent coastal systems, creating saltwater intrusion. The penetration of salinity into the coastal interior is exacerbated by groundwater extraction and the high density of...
Authors
Kiera O’Donnell, Emily S. Bernhardt, Xi Yang, Ryan Emanuel, Marcelo Ardon, Manuel Lerdau, Alex Manda, Anna Braswell, Todd BenDor, Eric Edwards, Elizabeth Frankenberg, Ashley Helton, John Kominoski, Amy Lesen, Lindsay Naylor, Gregory E. Noe, Kate Tully, Elliott White, Justin Wright
Opportunities for improved consideration of cultural benefits in environmental decision-making Opportunities for improved consideration of cultural benefits in environmental decision-making
Many cultural benefits of ecosystem services (ES) are difficult to capture in standard ES assessments. Scholars and practitioners often respond to this gap by seeking to develop new scientific methods to capture and integrate the plural values associated with diverse cultural benefits categories. This increasing emphasis on value pluralism represents an essential step toward...
Authors
Kristin R. Hoelting, Joshua W. Morse, Rachelle K. Gould, Doreen E. Martinez, Rina S. Hauptfeld, Amanda E. Cravens, Sara J. Breslow, Lucas Bair, Rudy Schuster, Michael C. Gavin
Assessment of managed aquifer recharge at Sand Hollow Reservoir, Washington County, Utah, updated to conditions through 2018 Assessment of managed aquifer recharge at Sand Hollow Reservoir, Washington County, Utah, updated to conditions through 2018
Sand Hollow Reservoir in Washington County, Utah, was completed in March 2002 and is operated primarily for managed aquifer recharge by the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Sand Hollow Reservoir has remained nearly full since 2006 because of surface-water diversions of about 288,000 acre-feet (acre-ft) from 2002 through 2018. Groundwater levels in monitoring wells near the...
Authors
Thomas M. Marston
Advancing knowledge pluralism and cultural benefits in ecosystem services theory and application Advancing knowledge pluralism and cultural benefits in ecosystem services theory and application
Improved consideration of the cultural benefits of ecosystem services (ES) requires attention to knowledge pluralism in addition to value pluralism. Theorists have increasingly argued that meaningful inclusion of cultural benefits of ES requires attention to plural values, beyond the individual, instrumental values associated with ecosystems. However, there has been little engagement...
Authors
Kristin R. Hoelting, Doreen E. Martinez, Rudy Schuster, Michael C. Gavin