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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 twojtowicz@usgs.gov.

Filter Total Items: 1308

It’s complicated…environmental DNA as a predictor of trout and char abundance in streams It’s complicated…environmental DNA as a predictor of trout and char abundance in streams

The potential to provide inferences about fish abundance from environmental (e)DNA samples has generated great interest. However, the accuracy of these abundance estimates is often low and variable across species and space. A plausible refinement is the use of common aquatic habitat monitoring data to account for attributes that influence eDNA dynamics. We therefore evaluated the...
Authors
Adam Sepulveda, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Matthew Laramie, Kyle Crapster, Ladd Knotek, Brian T. Miller, Alexander V. Zale, David Pilliod

Hybridization alters growth and migratory life-history expression of native trout Hybridization alters growth and migratory life-history expression of native trout

Human-mediated hybridization threatens many native species, but the effects of introgressive hybridization on life-history expression are rarely quantified, especially in vertebrates. We quantified the effects of non-native rainbow trout admixture on important life-history traits including growth and partial migration behavior in three populations of westslope cutthroat trout over five...
Authors
Jeffrey Strait, Lisa A Eby, Ryan P. Kovach, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew Boyer, Stephen J. Amish, Seth Smith, Winsor H. Lowe, Gordon Luikart

Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; North America) Brown Bear (Ursus arctos; North America)

This chapter comprises the following sections: names, taxonomy, subspecies and distribution, descriptive notes, habitat, movements and home range, activity patterns, feeding ecology, reproduction and growth, behavior, parasites and diseases, status in the wild, and status in captivity.
Authors
Mark A. Haroldson, Melanie Clapham, Cecily M. Costello, Kerry A. Gunther, Kate Kendall, Sterling Miller, Karine Pigeon, Michael F. Proctor, Karyn D. Rode, Christopher Servheen, Gordon Stenhouse, Frank T. van Manen

Ecological and social dimensions of sloth bear conservation in Sri Lanka Ecological and social dimensions of sloth bear conservation in Sri Lanka

Balancing the needs of humans and wildlife in Sri Lanka presents enormous socioeconomic and conservation challenges. Sloth bears are legally protected, but attacks on humans generate intense fear, which increases the potential for human-caused bear mortality and local extirpation of bears. In this chapter, what is known about the ecology and human dimensions of the sloth bear in a...
Authors
Shyamala Ratnayeke, Frank T. van Manen

Integrated geophysical analysis provides an alternate interpretation of the northern margin of the North American Midcontinent Rift System, Central Lake Superior Integrated geophysical analysis provides an alternate interpretation of the northern margin of the North American Midcontinent Rift System, Central Lake Superior

The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) is a 1.1 Ga sequence of voluminous basaltic eruptions and multiple intrusions followed by widespread sedimentation that extends across the Midcontinent and northern Great Lakes region of North America. Previous workers have commonly used seismic-reflection data (Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution [GLIMPCE] line A)...
Authors
V. J. Grauch, Eric D. Anderson, Samuel J. Heller, Esther K. Stewart, Laurel G. Woodruff

An interactive data visualization framework for exploring geospatial environmental datasets and model predictions An interactive data visualization framework for exploring geospatial environmental datasets and model predictions

With the rise of large-scale environmental models comes new challenges for how we best utilize this information in research, management and decision making. Interactive data visualizations can make large and complex datasets easier to access and explore, which can lead to knowledge discovery, hypothesis formation and improved understanding. Here, we present a web-based interactive data
Authors
Jeffrey D. Walker, Benjamin Letcher, Kirk D. Rodgers, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Vincent S. D’Angelo

Headwaters fed by subterranean ice: Potential climate refugia for alpine stream communities? Headwaters fed by subterranean ice: Potential climate refugia for alpine stream communities?

Near-term extirpations of macroinvertebrates are predicted for mountain streams worldwide as a warming climate drives the recession of high-elevation ice and snow. However, hydrological sources likely vary in their resistance to climate change, and thus streams fed by more resistant sources could persist as climate refugia for imperiled biota. In 2015–2016, we measured habitat...
Authors
Lusha M. Tronstad, Scott Hotaling, J. Joseph Giersch, Oliver J. Wilmot, Debra S. Finn

Annotated bibliography of scientific research on greater sage-grouse published from 2015 to 2019 Annotated bibliography of scientific research on greater sage-grouse published from 2015 to 2019

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter GRSG) has been a focus of scientific investigation and management action for the past two decades. The 2015 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing determination of “not warranted” was in part due to a large-scale collaborative effort to develop strategies to conserve GRSG populations and their habitat and to reduce threats to...
Authors
Sarah K. Carter, Robert S. Arkle, Heidi L. Bencin, Benjamin R. Harms, Daniel J. Manier, Aaron N. Johnston, Susan L. Phillips, Steven E. Hanser, Zachary H. Bowen

Relative toxicity and sublethal effects of NaCl and energy-related saline wastewaters on prairie amphibians Relative toxicity and sublethal effects of NaCl and energy-related saline wastewaters on prairie amphibians

Increasing salinity in freshwater environments is a growing problem due both to the negative influences of salts on ecosystems and their accumulation and persistence in environments. Two major sources of increased salinity from sodium chloride salts (NaCl) are saline wastewaters co-produced during energy production (herein, wastewaters) and road salts. Effects of road salts have received...
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh W Breuner, Blake R. Hossack

Detecting population declines via monitoring the effective number of breeders (Nb) Detecting population declines via monitoring the effective number of breeders (Nb)

Estimating the effective population size and effective number of breeders per year (Nb) can facilitate early detection of population declines. We used computer simulations to quantify bias and precision of the one-sample LDNe estimator of Nb in age-structured populations using a range of published species life history types, sample sizes, and DNA markers. Nb estimates were biased by ~5%...
Authors
Gordon Luikart, Tiago Antao, Brian K. Hand, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Matthew C. Boyer, Ted Corsart, Brian Trethewey, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Robin S. Waples

Persist in place or shift in space? Evaluating the adaptive capacity of species to climate change Persist in place or shift in space? Evaluating the adaptive capacity of species to climate change

Assessing the vulnerability of species to climate change serves as the basis for climate‐adaptation planning and climate‐smart conservation, and typically involves an evaluation of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity (AC). AC is a species’ ability to cope with or adjust to changing climatic conditions, and is the least understood and most inconsistently applied of these three...
Authors
Lindsey L. Thurman, Bruce Stein, Erik A. Beever, Wendy Foden, Sonya Geange, Nancy Green, John E. Gross, David J Lawrence, Olivia E. LeDee, Julian D. Olden, Laura Thompson, Bruce Young
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