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: 2379
Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment— Climate and weather topic, 2015–20 Integrated rangeland fire management strategy actionable science plan completion assessment— Climate and weather topic, 2015–20
Loss and degradation of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) rangelands due to an accelerated invasive annual grass-wildfire cycle and other stressors are significant management, conservation, and economic issues in the western U.S. These sagebrush rangelands comprise a unique biome spanning 11 states, support over 350 wildlife species, and provide important ecosystem services that include...
Authors
Christopher R. Anthony, Matthew J Holloran, Mark A. Ricca, Steven E. Hanser, Sue L. Phillips, Paul F. Steblein, Lief A. Wiechman
Historical fire regimes and contemporary fire effects within sagebrush habitats of Gunnison Sage-grouse Historical fire regimes and contemporary fire effects within sagebrush habitats of Gunnison Sage-grouse
The historical role of fire in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) landscapes remains poorly understood, yet is important to inform management and conservation of obligate species such as the threatened Gunnison Sage-grouse (GUSG; Centrocercus minimus). We reconstructed fire histories from tree-ring fire scars at sagebrush–forest ecotones (10 sites, 111 trees) to better understand the role...
Authors
Petar Simic, Jonathan Coop, Ellis Q. Margolis, Jessica R. Young, Manuel K. Lopez
Putting down roots: Afforestation and bank cohesion of Icelandic Rivers Putting down roots: Afforestation and bank cohesion of Icelandic Rivers
Riparian vegetation is widely recognized as a critical component of functioning fluvial systems. Human pressures on woody vegetation including riparian areas have had lasting effects, especially at high latitude. In Iceland, prior to human settlement, native downy birch woodlands covered approximately 15%–40% of the land area compared to 1%–2% today. Afforestation efforts include...
Authors
Sara L. Rathburn, Prostur Eysteinsson, Thorsteinn Saemundsson, John T. Kemper, Celeste D. Wieting, Jonathan M. Friedman
Pollinator conservation and climate science at the U.S. Geological Survey Pollinator conservation and climate science at the U.S. Geological Survey
Introduction Ecosystems—whether agricultural, urban, or natural—depend on pollinators, great and small. Pollinators in the form of bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and even moths provide vital, but often invisible services, from contributing to biodiverse terrestrial wildlife and plant communities to supporting healthy watersheds. Pollinator declines worldwide have been noted as land-use...
Authors
Elise R. Irwin, Jonathan R. Mawdsley
Dynamic spatiotemporal modeling of a habitat-defining plant species to support wildlife management at regional scales Dynamic spatiotemporal modeling of a habitat-defining plant species to support wildlife management at regional scales
Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems provide critical habitat for the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a species of conservation concern. Thus, future loss of sagebrush habitat because of land use change and global climate change is of concern. Here, we use a dynamic additive spatiotemporal model to estimate the effects of climate on sagebrush cover dynamics at 32 sage...
Authors
Andrew T. Tredennick, Adrian P. Monroe, Thomas J. Prebyl, John Lombardi, Cameron L. Aldridge
Increased aridity is associated with stronger tradeoffs in ponderosa pine vital functions Increased aridity is associated with stronger tradeoffs in ponderosa pine vital functions
Trees must allocate resources to core functions like growth, defense, and reproduction. These allocation patterns have profound effects on forest health, yet little is known about how core functions trade off over time, and even less is known about how a changing climate will impact tradeoffs. We conducted a 21-year survey of growth, defense, and reproduction in 80 ponderosa pine...
Authors
Angela Gonzalez, Ian Pearse, Miranda Redmond
Masting is uncommon in trees that depend on mutualist dispersers in the context of global climate and fertility gradients Masting is uncommon in trees that depend on mutualist dispersers in the context of global climate and fertility gradients
The benefits of masting (volatile, quasi-synchronous seed production at lagged intervals) include satiation of seed predators, but these benefits come with a cost to mutualist pollen and seed dispersers. If the evolution of masting represents a balance between these benefits and costs, we expect mast avoidance in species that are heavily reliant on mutualist dispersers. These effects...
Authors
Tong Qiu, Marie-Claire Aravena Acuna, Davide Ascoli, Yves Bergeron, Michal Mogdziewicz, Thomas Biovin, Raul Bonal, Thomas Caignard, Maxime Cailleret, Rafael Calama, Sergio Donoso Calderon, J. Julio Camarero, Chia-Hua Chang-Yang, Jerome Chave, Francesco Chianucci, Benoit Courbaud, Andrea Cutini, Adrian Das, Nicolas Delpierre, Sylvain Delzon, Michael Dietze, Laurent Dormont, Josep Maria Espelta, Timothy J. Fahey, William Farfar-Rios, Jerry F. Franklin, Catherine A. Gehring, Gregory S. Gilbert, Georg Gratzner, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Arthur Guignabert, Qinfeng Guo, Andrew Hacket-Pain, Arndt Hampe, Qingmin Han, Jan Holik, Kazuhiko Hoshizaki, Ines Ibanez, Jill F. Johnstone, Valentin Journé, Thomas Kitzberger, Jean Knops, Georges Kunstler, Hiroko Kurokawa, Jonathan G. A. Lageard, Jalene LaMontagne, Francois Lefevre, Theodor Leininger, Jean-Marc Limousin, James A. Lutz, Diana Macias, Anders Marell, Eliot J. B. McIntire, Christopher Moore, Emily V. Moran, Renzo Motta, Jonathan A. Myers, Thomas A. Nagel, Shoji Naoe, Mohoko Noguchi, Michio Oguro, Robert Parmenter, Ignacio M. Perez-Ramos, Lukasz Piechnik, Tomasz Podforski, John Poulsen, Miranda Redmond, Chad Reid, Kyle C. Rodman, Fransisco Rodrigues-Sanchez, Pavel Samonil, Javier Sanguinetto, Lane Scher, Barbara Seget, Shubhi Sharma, Mitsue Shibata, Miles Silman, Michael A. Steele, Nathan L. Stephenson, Jacob N. Straub, Samantha Sutton, Jennifer J. Swenson, Margaret Swift, Peter A. Thomas, Maria Uriarte, Giorgio Vacchiano, Amy V. Whipple, Thomas G. Whitham, Andreas Wion, Joseph Wright, Kai Zhu, Jess Zimmermann, Magdalena Zywiec, James S. Clark
Testicular abnormalities in the invasive Argentine Black-and-White Tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) in the Florida Everglades Testicular abnormalities in the invasive Argentine Black-and-White Tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) in the Florida Everglades
No abstract available.
Authors
Kyra Woytek, Gretchen Erika Anderson, Kevin Donmoyer, Frank Ridgley, Christina Romagosa, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Andrea Faye Currylow
Temporal patterns of structural sagebrush connectivity from 1985 to 2020 Temporal patterns of structural sagebrush connectivity from 1985 to 2020
The sagebrush biome within the western United States has been reshaped by disturbances, management, and changing environmental conditions. As a result, sagebrush cover and configuration have varied over space and time, influencing processes and species that rely on contiguous, connected sagebrush. Previous studies have documented changes in sagebrush cover, but we know little about how...
Authors
Erin K. Buchholtz, Michael S. O’Donnell, Julie A. Heinrichs, Cameron L. Aldridge
Modeling, mapping, and measuring the risk of freshwater invasive species across Alaska Modeling, mapping, and measuring the risk of freshwater invasive species across Alaska
Freshwater ecosystems of the Alaskan Arctic and Subarctic provide resources that are culturally, ecologically, and economically invaluable. Presently, these regions are relatively free of the impacts from invasive species compared to southern latitudes. To date, there have been relatively few verified introductions of aquatic invasive species (AIS) to freshwater ecosystems in Alaska. The...
Authors
Marcus Geist, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Anjanette Steer, Jeanne Osnas, Michael P. Carey, Aaron C. Martin, Tammy Davis, Rachel Kelty
Living with wildfire in Emigration Canyon, Utah: 2022 data report Living with wildfire in Emigration Canyon, Utah: 2022 data report
Located in North Central Utah, Emigration Canyon is a prominent and historic canyon that runs northeast from Salt Lake City into the higher elevations of the Wasatch Mountains. The Wasatch Range is characterized by steep, rocky slopes and 26-44 millimeters of annual rainfall, both of which contribute to a high threat of wildfire. The area’s landscape is diverse with oak woodland at the...
Authors
Julia Goolsby, Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Dax Reid, James Meldrum, Patricia A. Champ, Christopher M. Barth, Colleen Donovan, Carolyn Wagner
Invasion-mediated mutualism disruption is evident across heterogeneous environmental conditions and varying invasion intensities Invasion-mediated mutualism disruption is evident across heterogeneous environmental conditions and varying invasion intensities
The impact of a biological invasion on native communities is expected to be uneven across invaded landscapes due to differences in local abiotic conditions, invader abundance, and traits and composition of the native community. One way to improve predictive ability about the impact of an invasive species given variable conditions is to exploit known mechanisms driving invasive species'...
Authors
Morgan Roche, Ian Pearse, Helen Sofaer, Stephanie N Kivlin, Greg Spyreas, David N. Zaya, Susan Kalisz