Publications
This list of publications includes peer-review journal articles, official USGS publications series, reports and more authored by scientists in the Ecosystems Mission Area. A database of all USGS publications, with advanced search features, can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 42878
Variation in pathogen load and the pathogen load–infectiousness relationship broaden avian malaria’s distribution Variation in pathogen load and the pathogen load–infectiousness relationship broaden avian malaria’s distribution
Two aspects of host infectiousness shape pathogen transmission and distribution but are underappreciated: the relationship between pathogen load and infectiousness, and variability in pathogen load within species. We quantified the relationship between host pathogen load (parasitemia) for avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) and infectiousness for biting Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes...
Authors
Christa Seidl, Katy L. Parise, Isaiah Ipsaro, Sarah Leach, Delson Hays, Ranger Morimoto, Kelsey Banister, Francisco Ferreria, Elizabeth C. Abraham, Jeffrey T. Foster, Eben H. Paxton, A. Marm Kilpatrick
Background, methods, goals, challenges, opportunities, and information needs Background, methods, goals, challenges, opportunities, and information needs
Understanding how climate change and variability will impact grassland ecosystems is crucial for successful grasslands management in the future. In 2020, the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center began a project to establish a baseline of information to best serve grassland managers (that is, those individuals who develop grassland management plans, implement those plans on the...
Ten new insights in climate science 2025 Ten new insights in climate science 2025
Interdisciplinary understanding is vital for delivering sound climate policy advice. However, navigating the ever-growing and increasingly diverse scholarly literature on climate change is challenging for any individual researcher. This annual synthesis highlights and explains recent advances across a variety of fields of climate change research. This year, the 10 insights focus on: (1)...
Authors
Daniel Ospina, Paula Mirazo, Richard P. Allan, Smriti Basnett, Ana Bastos, Nishan Bhattarai, Wendy Broadgate, Derik J. Broekhoff, Mercedes Bustamante, Deliang Chen, Yeonju Choi, Peter Cox, Luiz A. Domeignoz-Horta, Krislie Ebi, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas L. Frölicher, Sabine Fuss, Helge F. Goessling, Nicolas Gruber, Qingyou He, Sophie R. Hebden, Nadja Hedrich, Adrian Heilemann, Marina Hirota, Øivind Hodnebrog, Gustaf Hugelius, Santiago Izquierdo-Tort, Sirkku Juhola, Fumiko Kasuga, Piyu Ke, Douglas I. Kelley, Şiir Kilkiș, Maximilian Kotz, Nilushi Kumarasinghe, William F. Lamb, Shih-Yu Lee, Junguo Liu, Cara N. Maesano, Maria A. Martin, Guilherme G. Mazzochini, Christopher J. Merchant, Akira S. Mori, Jennifer Morris, Åsa Persson, Hans-Otto Pörtner, Benedict S. Probst, Justine Ramage, Estelle Razanatsoa, Aaron Redman, Johan Rockström, Regina Rodrigues, Sophie Ruehr, Sadie J. Ryan, Carl-Friedrich Schleussner, Peter Schlosser, William A. Scott, Jan C. Semenza, Hansjörg Seybold, Drew T. Shindell, Giles B. Sioen, Kathryn E. Smith, Youba Sokona, Annika H. Stechemesser, Thomas F. Stocker, Sophie H.L. Su, Djiby Thiam, Gregory Trencher, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Lila Warszawski, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Henry Wu, Shupeng Zhu
Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands Abiotic and biotic controls of non-native perennial plant success in drylands
Drivers of non-native plant success in drylands are poorly understood. Here we identify functional differences between dryland native and non-native perennial plants and assess how biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic factors shape the success of the latter. On the basis of plant community and functional trait data from 98 sites across 25 countries, we report a total of 41 non-native plant...
Authors
Soroor Rahmanian, Nico Eisenhauer, Yuanyuan Huang, Martin Hejda, Petr Pyšek, Hannes Feilhauer, David J. Eldridge, Nicholas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Hugo Saiz, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Miguel Berdugo, Victoria Ochoa, Beatriz Gozalo, Sergio Asensio, Emilio Guirado, Enrique Valencia, Miguel García-Gómez, Juan J. Gaitán, Betty J. Mendoza, César Plaza, Paloma Díaz-Martínez, Jaime Martínez-Valderrama, Mehdi Abedi, Negar Ahmadian, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Fateh Amghar, Thiago Araújo, Antonio I. Arroyo, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Enkhjargal Boldbat, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Liesbeth van den Brink, Chongfeng Bu, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Helena Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Ghassen Chaieb, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Yvonne C. Davila, Balázs Deák, David A. Donoso, Andrew David Dougill, Carlos Iván Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Jorgelina Franzese, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Erika L. Geiger, Sofia Laura Gonzalez, Elizabeth Gusman Montalván, Robert Hering, Eugene Marais, Rosa Mary Hernández, Sandra Daniela Hernández-Valdez, Norbert Hölzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Oswaldo Jadán, Anke Jentsch, Liana Kindermann, Melanie Köbel, Peter C. le Roux, Cintia V. Leder, Xinhao Li, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstädter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kölling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Antonio J. Manzaneda, Pierre Margerie, Raphaël Martin, Mitchel P. McClaran, João Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Girish R. Nair, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Salza Palpurina, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Pedro J. Rey, Alexandra Rodríguez, Victor Rolo, Jan C. Ruppert, Ayman Salah, Shlomo Sarig, Brajesh K. Singh, Anthony M. Swemmer, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Katja Tielbörger, Samantha K. Travers, Orsolya Valkó, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter Wolff, Laura Yahdjian, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Reza Yari, Eli Zaady, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Fernando T. Maestre
Thiaminase I activity is high in grass and silver carp, but negligible in bighead and black carp Thiaminase I activity is high in grass and silver carp, but negligible in bighead and black carp
Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), and silver carp (H. molitrix) have spurred wide concern of potential ecosystem disruption as they threaten to invade the Laurentian Great Lakes. Besides competition for resources, carp may also have disadvantageous nutrition for predators. One biochemical aspect to...
Authors
Freya Elizabeth Rowland, Curtis G. Byrd, Patrick Kroboth
James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands James Buttle Review: A synthesis of riparian plant water use over two decades in North American drylands
Assessing riparian ecosystem water use, particularly transpiration from vegetation and evaporation from soils (‘plant water use’, hereafter), is key to developing sound water management approaches. In western North America, a multidecadal drought is reducing water availability and increasing the use of detailed water budgets. Questions related to both removal of vegetation for water...
Authors
Emily C. Palmquist, Pamela L. Nagler, Kiona Ogle, Claudia DiMartini, Jeffrey R. Kennedy, Joel B. Sankey
Seasonal migrations and other movements Seasonal migrations and other movements
In the past 25 years new information has been obtained on the migrations and movements of mountain sheep (bighorn [Ovis canadensis], thinhorn [Ovis dalli]). This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of mountain sheep migration and other movements across their broad distribution in western North America. Across the range of mountain sheep, migrations and other seasonal movements...
Authors
Blake Lowrey
New methods provide a 300–year perspective on modern area burned in two wilderness areas of the southwest United States New methods provide a 300–year perspective on modern area burned in two wilderness areas of the southwest United States
Climate change, expanding human ignitions, and increased fuels from fire exclusion are driving increases in area burned and fire severity in dry conifer forests of the western United States. Increasing area burned is occurring against the backdrop of a large fire deficit caused by over a century of fire exclusion. A key land management question is whether historically frequent fire...
Authors
Calvin A. Farris, Ellis Q. Margolis, Jose Iniguez, D.A. Falk, K. Gerow, C.H. Baisan, C.D. Allen, T.W. Swetnam
Integrating climate and anthropogenic dynamics can inform multifaceted management for declining mule deer populations Integrating climate and anthropogenic dynamics can inform multifaceted management for declining mule deer populations
Wildlife and their habitats face profound challenges from climate and landscape-scale changes that extend beyond the influence and time horizon of most biologists and land managers. In this changing environment, long-term datasets can enhance assessments of how demographic trends respond to interactions among local (e.g., habitat restoration decisions) and broad extent drivers, including...
Authors
Teagan A. Hayes, Aaron N. Johnston, L. Embere Hall, Jill E. Randall, Matthew J. Kauffman, Christopher Keefe, Kevin Monteith, Tabitha A. Graves
Environmental DNA pilot monitoring program for invasive species and biodiversity assessments on Santa Cruz Island: Interim report, September 2025 Environmental DNA pilot monitoring program for invasive species and biodiversity assessments on Santa Cruz Island: Interim report, September 2025
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Southern California Coastal Water Research Project supported Channel Islands National Park, The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Santa Cruz Island Preserve, and University of California San Diego (UCSD) researchers in using environmental DNA sampling to monitor for invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) and to describe spatial biodiversity patterns in...
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Susanna Theroux
Living with wildfire in Funny River, Alaska: 2023 Data report Living with wildfire in Funny River, Alaska: 2023 Data report
Homeowner wildfire risk mitigation and preparedness are important components of community wildfire readiness. This report describes the data collected through two efforts conducted in the Funny River, Alaska, study area: (1) parcel-level rapid wildfire risk assessments performed by trained assessors and (2) homeowner surveys in which respondents provided self-assessments of their parcel...
Authors
Colleen Donovan, Suzanne Wittenbrink, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Josh Kuehn, Paul McBride, Patricia A. Champ, Christopher M. Barth, James R. Meldrum, Carolyn Wagner, Christine Taniguchi
Living with wildfire in Santa Fe, New Mexico: 2024 data report Living with wildfire in Santa Fe, New Mexico: 2024 data report
Community wildfire readiness includes homeowner wildfire risk mitigation and wildfire evacuation preparedness. This report presents results from a household survey distributed to homeowners in the study area around Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2024 which was a follow-up to a previous survey of homeowners of the same residences, consisting of mostly identical questions, that was conducted in...
Authors
James R. Meldrum, Colleen Donovan, Suzanne Wittenbrink, Porfirio Chavarria, Patricia A. Champ, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Christopher M. Barth, Carolyn Wagner