Publications
FORT scientists have produced more than 2000 peer reviewed publications that are registered in the USGS Publications Warehouse, along with many others prior to their work at the USGS or in conjunction with other government agencies.
Filter Total Items: 2376
An updated genetic marker for detection of Lake Sinai Virus and metagenetic applications An updated genetic marker for detection of Lake Sinai Virus and metagenetic applications
Background Lake Sinai Viruses (LSV) are common RNA viruses of honey bees (Apis mellifera) that frequently reach high abundance but are not linked to overt disease. LSVs are genetically heterogeneous and collectively widespread, but despite frequent detection in surveys, the ecological and geographic factors structuring their distribution in A. mellifera are not understood. Even less is...
Authors
Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Judy Y. Wu-Smart, Tugce Olgun, Autumn H. Smart, Clint Otto, Dawn Lopez, Jay D. Evans, Robert S. Cornman
Behavioral response to high temperatures in a desert grassland bird: Use of shrubs as thermal refugia Behavioral response to high temperatures in a desert grassland bird: Use of shrubs as thermal refugia
Birds inhabiting hot, arid ecosystems contend with trade-offs between heat dissipation and water conservation. As temperatures increase, passerines engage in various behaviors to reduce exposure to heat, solar radiation and insolation, and reradiation of heat from the ground. These responses to rising temperatures may result in subordination of reproductive urgency or nutrient...
Authors
Janet M. Ruth, William A. Talbot, Eric Krabbe Smith
Forage and habitat for pollinators in the northern Great Plains—Implications for U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs Forage and habitat for pollinators in the northern Great Plains—Implications for U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs
Managed and wild pollinators are critical components of agricultural and natural systems. Despite the well-known value of insect pollinators to U.S. agriculture, Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758; honey bees) and wild bees currently face numerous stressors that have resulted in declining health. These declines have engendered support for pollinator conservation efforts across all levels of...
Authors
Clint Otto, Autumn H. Smart, Robert S. Cornman, Michael Simanonok, Deborah D. Iwanowicz
Nutrients and warming interact to force mountain lakes into unprecedented ecological state Nutrients and warming interact to force mountain lakes into unprecedented ecological state
While deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) in the 20th century has been strongly linked to changes in diatom assemblages in high-elevation lakes, pronounced and contemporaneous changes in other algal groups suggest additional drivers. We explored the origin and magnitude of changes in two mountain lakes from the end of the Little Ice Age at ca. 1850, to ca. 2010, using lake sediments. We...
Authors
Isabella A. Oleksy, Jill S. Baron, Peter Leavitt, Sarah Spaulding
Do two wrongs make a right? Persistent uncertainties regarding environmental selenium-mercury interactions Do two wrongs make a right? Persistent uncertainties regarding environmental selenium-mercury interactions
Mercury (Hg) is a pervasive environmental pollutant and contaminant of concern for both people and wildlife that has been a focus of environmental remediation efforts for decades. A growing body of literature has motivated calls for revising Hg consumption advisories to co-consider selenium (Se) levels in seafood and implies that remediating aquatic ecosystems with ecosystem-scale Se...
Authors
Jacqueline R. Gerson, David Walters, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Emily S. Bernhardt, Jessica E Brandt
The role of warm, dry summers and variation in snowpack on phytoplankton dynamics in high-elevation lakes The role of warm, dry summers and variation in snowpack on phytoplankton dynamics in high-elevation lakes
Abstract Climate change is altering biogeochemical, metabolic, and ecological functions in lakes across the globe. Historically, mountain lakes in temperate regions have been unproductive due to brief ice-free seasons, a snowmelt-driven hydrograph, cold temperatures, and steep topography with low vegetation and soil cover. We tested the relative importance of winter and summer weather...
Authors
Isabella A. Oleksy, Whitney Beck, R. Lammers, Cara Steger, Cody Wilson, Kyle Christensen, Kim Vincent, Pieter Johnson, Jill Baron
Validating deployment of aerially delivered toxic bait cartridges for control of invasive brown treesnakes Validating deployment of aerially delivered toxic bait cartridges for control of invasive brown treesnakes
Aerial application of management tools can provide a cost‐effective means to conserve or control wildlife populations at the landscape scale. Large spatial scales, however, present difficulties when assessing in situ reliability and integrity of the devices themselves. We demonstrate application of a distance‐sampling density estimation approach to assess the performance of a newly...
Authors
Scott Michael Goetz, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Shane S Siers
Biological assessment of a proposed vegetation management program to benefit tribes in eastern Oklahoma Biological assessment of a proposed vegetation management program to benefit tribes in eastern Oklahoma
Tribal communities may benefit from land management activities that enhance their use of resources on tribal lands. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is implementing a 5-year vegetation management program to provide support for projects that develop and use natural and cultural resources and improve opportunities for agricultural activities to benefit 20 Indian Tribes and Nations in the...
Authors
Benjamin R. Harms, Heidi L. Bencin, Natasha B. Carr
Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes Wildfire-driven forest conversion in western North American landscapes
Changing disturbance regimes and climate can overcome forest ecosystem resilience. Following high-severity fire, forest recovery may be compromised by lack of tree seed sources, warmer and drier postfire climate, or short-interval reburning. A potential outcome of the loss of resilience is the conversion of the prefire forest to a different forest type or nonforest vegetation. Conversion...
Authors
Jonathan D. Coop, Sean A. Parks, Camile S Stevens-Rumann, Shelley D. Crausbay, Philip E. Higuera, Matthew D. Hurteau, Alan J. Tepley, Ellen Whitman, Timothy J Assal, Brandon M. Collins, Kimberley T Davis, Solomon Dobrowski, Donald A. Falk, Paula J. Fornwalt, Peter Z Fule, Brian J. Harvey, Van R. Kane, Caitlin E. Littlefield, Ellis Margolis, Malcolm North, Marc-André Parisien, Susan Prichard, Kyle C. Rodman
Changes in capture rates and body size among vertebrate species occupying an insular urban habitat reserve Changes in capture rates and body size among vertebrate species occupying an insular urban habitat reserve
Long‐term ecological monitoring provides valuable and objective scientific information to inform management and decision‐making. In this article, we analyze 22 years of herpetofauna monitoring data from the Point Loma Ecological Conservation Area (PLECA), an insular urban reserve near San Diego, CA. Our analysis showed that counts of individuals for one of the four most common...
Authors
Thomas Stanley, Rulon W. Clark, Robert N. Fisher, Carlton J. Rochester, Stephanie A Root, Keith J Lombardo, Stacey D Ostermann-Kelm
Ambiguities in using telomere length for age determination in two North American bat species Ambiguities in using telomere length for age determination in two North American bat species
The age of an animal, determined by time (chronological age) as well as genetic and environmental factors (biological age), influences the likelihood of mortality and reproduction and thus the animal’s contribution to population growth. For many long-lived species, such as bats, a lack of external and morphological indicators has made determining age a challenge, leading researchers to...
Authors
Katherine M Ineson, Thomas J. O’Shea, Charles W Kilpatrick, Katy L. Parise, Jeffrey T. Foster
Highly competent native snake hosts extend the range of an introduced parasite beyond its invasive Burmese python host Highly competent native snake hosts extend the range of an introduced parasite beyond its invasive Burmese python host
Invasive Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus ) have introduced a nonnative pentastomid parasite (Raillietiella orientalis ) to southern Florida that has spilled over to infect native snakes. However, the extent of spillover, regarding prevalence and intensity, is unknown. We examined native snakes (n = 523) and invasive pythons (n = 1003) collected from Florida to determine the degree to...
Authors
Melissa A. Miller, John M. Kinsella, Ray W. Snow, Bryan G. Falk, Robert Reed, Scott M. Goetz, Frank J. Mazzotti, Craig Guyer, Christina M. Romagosa