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: 42975
A practical decision tool for marine bird mortality assessments A practical decision tool for marine bird mortality assessments
Given the rise in anthropogenic, environmental, and disease events contributing to marine bird mortality, there is a critical need to improve the rigor of mortality assessments. Deficits in data collection and mortality estimation can hinder a manager’s ability to document the scale of events and assess population level impacts. Therefore, to inform decisions required during activities...
Authors
Johanna Harvey, Andrew M. Ramey, Stephanie Avery-Gomm, Gregory J. Robertson, Marc D. Romano, Jennifer M Mullinax, Megan L Boldenow, Philip W. Atkinson, Diann Prosser
A roadmap for implementing the Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity A roadmap for implementing the Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity
No abstract available.
Authors
Steve J. Cooke, Abigail Lynch, David Tickner, Robin Abell, Morgan L. Piczak, Angela H. Arthington, Michele Thieme, Denielle M. Perry, J. Robert Britton, Tatenda Dalu, Kim Birnie-Gauvin, Steve J. Ormerod, Fernanda Ayaviri Matuk, Rajeev Raghavan, John P. Smol
Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois Proceedings of the Floodplain Vegetation Monitoring Workshop for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Element of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program, January 7–8, 2025, Moline, Illinois
Preface In anticipation for increased funding made possible by the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, the Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) Program identified a need to conduct river-wide assessments of floodplain vegetation. In January 2025, we assembled a group of subject matter experts to perform the following tasks:Review Upper Mississippi River Restoration’s current...
Authors
Shelby A. Weiss, Matthew L. Trumper, Nathan R. De Jager, Lyle J. Guyon, Molly Van Appledorn
Science strategy for Cotoni-Coast Dairies, an onshore unit of the California Coastal National Monument Science strategy for Cotoni-Coast Dairies, an onshore unit of the California Coastal National Monument
This science strategy describes the scientific mission of the unit, science previously conducted on or near the unit, and the partners who have given considerable effort to produce this science. Further, it identifies priority science needs, outlines the unit’s plan to meet those science needs in coordination with partners, shares scientific protocols for conducting new research, and...
Authors
Sarah E. Whipple, Sarah K. Carter, Zachary Ormsby, Benjamin Hoke, Michael Powers, Ryan E. O'Dell, Rebecca Spitzer
The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project Phase 2 data release: An open data resource for the study of Earth's environmental history The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project Phase 2 data release: An open data resource for the study of Earth's environmental history
Geochemical data from sedimentary rocks are the primary source of information regarding Earth's surface evolution through time, including its air and water envelopes and interactions with life and deep Earth processes. The Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project (SGP) is a scientific consortium centered around open data and community-driven development of...
Authors
Una Farrell, Hunter Olson, Maya Thompson, Michelle L. Abshire, Oyeleye Adeboye, Anne-Sofie Ahm, Lewis Alcott, Thomas Algeo, Ross Anderson, Arif Ansari, Lucas Bastos, Kohen Bauer, Brian Beaty, Justin E. Birdwell, Fred Bowyer, Jochen J. Brocks, Tessa Brunoir, James F. Busch, Donald Canfield, Fabrício Caxito, Chao-Chin Chang, Meng Cheng, Jean Clemente, David Cordie, Peter W. Crockford, Huan Cui, Celeste Cunningham, Tais Dahl, Janaina Rodrigues de Paula, Carol Dehler, Lucas Del Mouro, Keith Dewing, Dermeval Aparecido do Carmo, Stephen Dornbos, Nadja Drabon, Julie A. Dumoulin, Omabehere Ejeh, Emily Ellefson, Maya Elrick, Joseph Emmings, Bokanda Eric, Hao Fang, Gabriella Fazio, Henrique Fernandes, Katherine L. French, Robert R. Gaines, Richard Gaschnig, Timothy M. Gibson, Geoffrey J. Gilleaudeau, Karin Goldberg, Zheng Gong, Amy Hagen, Galen P. Halverson, Kalev G. Hantsoo, Emma R. Haxen, Miles A. Henderson, João-Pedro Hippertt, Malcolm S. W. Hodgskiss, Paul Hoffman, Edward Huang, Benjamin Johnson, Pavel B. Kabanov, Junyao Kang, C. Brenhin Keller, Brian Kendall, Julien Kimmig, Sara Kimmig, Michael A. Kipp, Andrew H. Knoll, Timmu Kreitsmann, Anurag Kulkarni, Alexandra Kunert, Marcus Kunzmann, Jiankang Lai, Richard O. Lease, Chao Li, Sen Li, Alex Lipp, Yang Liu, David Loydell, Xinze Lu, Katie Maloney, Kaarel Mänd, Alexie E. G. Millikin, N. Tanner Mills, Kento Motomura, Chiza N. Mwinde, Lyle Nelson, Nora M. Nieminski, Brennan O'Connell, Edel Mary O'Sullivan, Juliana Okubo, Jaden Olah, Frantz Ossa Ossa, Chadlin Ostrander, Kärt Paiste, Camille A. Partin, Egberto Pereira, Shanan Peters, Tiffany L. Playter, Susannah M. Porter, Simon W. Poulton, Sara B. Pruss, Zhen Qiu, Daven Quinn, Mariano Remirez, Sebastian Richiano, Sylvain Richoz, Kathryn Rico, Samantha R. Ritzer, Zachary Roney, Alan D. Rooney, William C. Rose, Elias Rugen, Swapan K. Sahoo, Shane D. Schoepfer, Judith A. Sclafani, Nathan D. Sheldon, Yanan Shen, Graham Shields, Pulkit Singh, Arvind Singh, Sarah P. Slotznick, Emily Smith, Haijun Song, Sam Spinks, Richard G. Stockey, Justin Strauss, Eva Stüeken, Zongyuan Sun, Dongjie Tang, Lidya Tarhan, Danielle Thomson, Nicholas Tosca, Rosalie Tostevin, Chenyi Tu, Maoli Vizcaíno, Yuxuan Wang, Changle Wang, Xiaomei Wang, Lucas Warren, Lucy Webb, Philip R. Wilby, Christina R. Woltz, Rachel Wood, Yuyang Wu, Xiuqing Yang, Inessa A. Yurchenko, Junpeng Zhang, Jessica Whiteside, Benjamin C. Gill, Akshay Mehra, Kimberly V. Lau, Noah J. Planavsky, David T. Johnston, Erik A Sperling
Detecting bumble bees in the wild using environmental DNA: Development and validation of a qPCR assay for the endangered Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini) Detecting bumble bees in the wild using environmental DNA: Development and validation of a qPCR assay for the endangered Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini)
Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling is a noninvasive alternative to conventional methods of surveying insects that may be particularly useful for detecting pollinators. We developed a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay to detect the DNA of Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini) from flower samples and conducted an initial test of the assay using samples collected within...
Authors
Michaela Ray Grossklaus, David S. Pilliod, Stephen Frank Spear, Matthew B B. Laramie, Akhil Kholwadwala, Amanda Jean Boone, Yer Lor, Marissa Kaminski, Jeffrey G. Everett
The WOAH global wildlife health collaborating centre network (WOAH-WildNet): A coordinated and transformative approach to global wildlife health challenges The WOAH global wildlife health collaborating centre network (WOAH-WildNet): A coordinated and transformative approach to global wildlife health challenges
Wildlife health is integral to functioning, complex ecosystems [1], directly and indirectly influencing the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment [2–4]. Healthy wildlife populations are essential for ecosystem services and are at the heart of the One Health approach [3,4], which aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems...
Authors
David T.S. Hayman, Steve Unwin, Kelly Bateman, Casey Barton Behravesh, Charlotte Berg, Jemma Bergfeld, Cristina Casalone, Claire Cayol, Erin Davis, Sunday Ekesi, Johan Esterhuizen, Merid Getahun, Federica Giorda, Keith Hamilton, Damien O. Joly, Christa Kuhn, Jean-Claude Manuguerra, Daniel Masig, Anita Michel, Paolo Mulatti, Misheck Mulumba, Annah Njui, Richard Paley, Antonio Fernandez, Sascha Knauf, David Poumo Tchouassi, Youming Wang, Nathalie Vachiery, Jandouwe Villinger, Frank Y.K. Wong, Gongxun Zhong, B. Dharmaveer Shetty
Estimating GPS-based social aggregation metrics using collar data Estimating GPS-based social aggregation metrics using collar data
Understanding social aggregation patterns in ungulate herds is essential for gaining behavioral insights, optimizing resource use, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and managing disease risk. As chronic wasting disease is the preeminent disease-related threat to cervid populations in North America, knowledge of contact between individuals and spatiotemporal patterns of aggregation...
Authors
William Michael Janousek, Gavin G. Cotterill, Olivia J. Lobo, Eric K. Cole, Sarah R. Dewey, Tabitha A. Graves
Describing the seasonal abundance and growth rates of larval fishes across productivity gradients in Lake Huron in 2017 Describing the seasonal abundance and growth rates of larval fishes across productivity gradients in Lake Huron in 2017
Several of the Laurentian Great Lakes, including Lake Huron, have undergone oligotrophication in the past decades and prey fish biomass has concomitantly declined. One potential mechanism to explain declines in prey fish is slower growth and lower survival at the larval stage. To determine whether reduced productivity affects the growth of larval fish, we sampled larval fishes and their
Authors
David B. Bunnell, Lauren A. Eaton, Patricia M. Dieter, Paris D. Collingsworth, Joel C. Hoffman, Mark D. Rowe, Wendylee Stott, Amanda Susanne Ackiss, Edward S. Rutherford
Ecology of Lake Erie – Wetlands and lake-wide planktonic communities: A synthesis Ecology of Lake Erie – Wetlands and lake-wide planktonic communities: A synthesis
No abstract available.
Authors
Stuart A. Ludsin, Mohiuddin Munawar, Anna G. Boegehold, D. Andrew R. Drake, Kurt P. Kowalski, Lauren M. Pintor
Abundance and movement patterns of fish accessing a reconnected Lake Erie coastal wetland: Insights from high-resolution sonar data Abundance and movement patterns of fish accessing a reconnected Lake Erie coastal wetland: Insights from high-resolution sonar data
Coastal wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes are complex ecosystems that provide essential biological services, including providing habitat for a suite of fish species. As restoration efforts for these coastal wetlands increase, there is a need to characterize how well restored areas support the life histories of wetland, riverine, and lake fishes. Most traditional survey methods (e.g...
Authors
Kurt P. Kowalski, Alexandra A. Bozimowski, McKenzie K.H. Smith, Michael R. Eggleston, Maxwell F. Ramsay, Holly J. Eschenburg
How wildlife respond to tropical cyclones: Short-term tactics and long-term impacts How wildlife respond to tropical cyclones: Short-term tactics and long-term impacts
From butterflies to lizards and from sharks to seabirds, wildlife exhibit tactics to survive the impacts of tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes, cyclones, or typhoons depending on where they occur. Some species seek refuge during the storm by moving, some remain in place and ride it out, and others move longer distances, avoiding the main impacts of the storm altogether. Tropical...
Authors
Erin L. Koen, Mohamed Khalil Meliane, Zachery B. Holmes, Karl E. Miller, William J. Barichivich, Emilie Dedeban, Alex Furst, Miranda Imeri, Peyton E. Niebanck, Samantha Nunn, Kailee Pearson, Nicole Rita, Brier Ryver, Dakotah Shaffer, Susan C. Walls, E. Hance Ellington