Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK)
Publications
Below is a list of available NOROCK peer reviewed and published science. If you are in search of a specific publication and cannot find it below or through a search, please contact ssoileau@usgs.gov.
Statistical power of dynamic occupancy models to identify temporal change: Informing the North American Bat Monitoring Program
Dynamic occupancy models provide a flexible framework for estimating and mapping species occupancy patterns over space and time for large-scale monitoring programs (e.g., the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NABat), the Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative). Challenges for designing surveys using the dynamic occupancy modeling...
Banner, Katherine; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Rodhouse, Tom J; Donner, Deahn M.; Litt, Andrea R. Effect of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) on apparent survival of frogs and toads in the western USA
Despite increasing interest in determining the population-level effects of emerging infectious diseases on wildlife, estimating effects of disease on survival rates remains difficult. Even for a well-studied disease such as amphibian chytridiomycosis (caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]), there are few estimates of...
Russell, Robin E.; Halstead, Brian J.; Mosher, Brittany; Muths, Erin L.; Adams, Michael J.; Campbell Grant, Evan H.; Fisher, Robert N.; Kleeman, Patrick M.; Backlin, Adam R.; Pearl, Christopher; Honeycutt, R. Ken; Hossack, Blake R. Early genetic outcomes of American black bear reintroductions in the Central Appalachians, USA
Habitat loss and overexploitation extirpated American black bears (Ursus americanus) from most of the Central Appalachians, USA, by the early twentieth century. To attempt to restore bears to the southwestern portion of this region, 2 reintroductions that used small founder groups (n = 27 and 55 bears), but different release methods (hard versus...
Murphy, Sean M.; Hast, John T.; Augustine, Ben C.; Weisrock, David W.; Clark, Joseph D.; Kocka, David. M; Ryan, Christopher W.; Sajecki, Jaime L.; Cox, John J. Using the beta distribution to analyze plant cover data
Most plant species are spatially aggregated. Local demographic and ecological processes (e.g. vegetative growth and limited seed dispersal) result in a clustered spatial pattern within an environmentally homogenous area. Spatial aggregation should be considered when modelling plant abundance data.Commonly, plant abundance is quantified by...
Damgaard, Christian; Irvine, Kathryn M. Risk factors and productivity losses associated with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae infection in United States domestic sheep operations
Association of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae with pneumonia in domestic small ruminants has been described in Europe, Asia, and New Zealand but has received less attention in the United States. In 2011, the US Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring Survey detected M. ovipneumoniae shedding in 88% of 453 domestic sheep operations...
Manlove, Kezia R.; Branan, M; Baker, K; Bradway, D; Cassirer, E. F.; Marshall, K.L; Miller, Ryan S.; Sweeney, Steven J.; Cross, Paul C.; Besser, T. E. To forage or flee: Lessons from an elk migration near a protected area
Alteration of wide-ranging wildlife migrations can drastically impact the structure and function of ecosystems, yet the causes and consequences of shifting migration patterns remain largely unknown. Management decisions made in one portion of a landscape may induce spatial and temporal shifts of wildlife use in another, creating tension among...
Mikle, Nathaniel; Graves, Tabitha A.; Olexa, Edward M. Lewis River Bull Trout synthesis of known information
This document comprises a synthesis of bull trout information collected in the Lewis River for over two decades, and is the first such compilation of information in the subbasin since Graves (1982). We have summarized the information on demographic characteristics, vital rates, spatial distribution, movement patterns and genetic diversity in an...
Hudson, J. Michael; Doyle, Jeremiah; Lamperth, Jamie; Al-Chokhachy, Robert; Robertson, Gregory J.; Wadsworth, Tom Grizzly bear depredation on grazing allotments in the Yellowstone ecosystem
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) conflicts with humans, including livestock depredation on public land grazing allotments, have increased during the last several decades within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in the western United States as the grizzly bear population has grown in number and occupied range. Minimizing conflicts and improving...
Wells, Smith L.; McNew, Lance B.; Tyers, Daniel B.; van Manen, Frank T.; Thompson, Daniel J. Identifying occupancy model inadequacies: Can residuals separately assess detection and presence?
Occupancy models are widely applied to estimate species distributions, but few methods exist for model checking. Thorough model assessments can uncover inadequacies and allow for deeper ecological insight by exploring structure in the observed data not accounted for by a model. We introduce occupancy model residual definitions that utilize the...
Wright, Wilson; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Higgs, Megan D. Wetland drying linked to variations in snowmelt runoff across Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks
In Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks wetlands offer critical habitat and play a key role in supporting biological diversity. The shallow depths and small size of many wetlands make them vulnerable to changes in climate compared with larger and deeper aquatic habitats. Here, we use a simple water balance model to generate estimates of...
Ray, Andrew M.; Sepulveda, Adam J.; Irvine, Kathryn M.; Wilmoth, Siri K.C.; Thoma, David P.; Patla, Debra A. The effectiveness of non-native fish removal techniques in freshwater ecosystems: a systematic review
In aquatic systems, biological invasions can result in adverse ecological effects. Management techniques available for non-native fish removal programs (including eradication and population size control) vary widely, but include chemicals, harvest regimes, physical removal, or biological control. For management agencies, deciding on what non-...
Rytwinski, Trina; Taylor, Jessica J.; Donaldson, Lisa A.; Britton, J. Robert; Browne, David R.; Gresswell, Robert E.; Lintermans, Mark; Prior, Kent A.; Pellatt, Marlow G.; Vis, Chantal; Cooke, Steven J. Social–ecological mismatches create conservation challenges in introduced species management
Introduced species can have important effects on the component species and processes of native ecosystems. However, effective introduced species management can be complicated by technical and social challenges. We identify “social–ecological mismatches” (that is, differences between the scales and functioning of interacting social and ecological...
Beever, Erik A.; Simberloff, Daniel; Crowley, Sarah L.; Al-Chokhachy, Robert; Jackson, Hazel A.; Petersen, Steven L.