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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: 1197

Infectious diseases in Yellowstone’s canid community

Each summer Yellowstone Wolf Project staff visit den sites to monitor the success of wolf reproduction and pup rearing behavior. For the purposes of wolf monitoring, Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is divided into two study areas, the northern range and the interior, each distinguished by their ecological and physiographical differences. The 1,000 square kilometer northern range, characterized by
Authors
Emily S. Almberg, Paul C. Cross, L. David Mech, Doug W. Smith, Jennifer W. Sheldon, Robert L. Crabtree

Response of western mountain ecosystems to climatic variability and change: A collaborative research approach

No abstract available.
Authors
David L. Peterson, Craig D. Allen, Jill S. Baron, Daniel B. Fagre, Donald McKenzie, Nathan L. Stephenson, Andrew G. Fountain, Jeffrey A. Hicke, George P. Malanson, Dennis S. Ojima, Christina L. Tague, Phillip J. van Mantgem

Mountain treelines: A roadmap for research orientation

For over 100 years, mountain treelines have been the subject of varied research endeavors and remain a strong area of investigation. The purpose of this paper is to examine aspects of the epistemology of mountain treeline research-that is, to investigate how knowledge on treelines has been acquired and the changes in knowledge acquisition over time, through a review of fundamental questions and ap
Authors
George P. Malanson, Lynn M. Resler, Maaike Y. Bader, Fredrich-Karl Holtmeier, David R. Butler, Daniel J. Weiss, Lori D. Daniels, Daniel B. Fagre

Simulating sterilization, vaccination, and test-and-remove as brucellosis control measures in bison

Brucella abortus, the causative agent of bovine brucellosis, infects wildlife, cattle, and humans worldwide, but management of the disease is often hindered by the logistics of controlling its prevalence in wildlife reservoirs. We used an individually based epidemiological model to assess the relative efficacies of three management interventions (sterilization, vaccination, and test-and-remove). T
Authors
M. Ebinger, Paul C. Cross, Rick Wallen, P.J. White, John Treanor

Modeling routes of chronic wasting disease transmission: Environmental prion persistence promotes deer population decline and extinction

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of deer, elk, and moose transmitted through direct, animal-to-animal contact, and indirectly, via environmental contamination. Considerable attention has been paid to modeling direct transmission, but despite the fact that CWD prions can remain infectious in the environment for years, relatively little information exists about the potential effects
Authors
Emily S. Almberg, Paul C. Cross, Christopher J. Johnson, Dennis M. Heisey, Bryan J. Richards

An ecosystem-scale model for the spread of a host-specific forest pathogen in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

The introduction of nonnative pathogens is altering the scale, magnitude, and persistence of forest disturbance regimes in the western United States. In the high-altitude whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) forests of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) is an introduced fungal pathogen that is now the principal cause of tree mortality in many locati
Authors
J.A. Hatala, M.C. Dietze, R.L. Crabtree, Katherine C. Kendall, D. Six, P.R. Moorcroft

Linking landscape characteristics to local grizzly bear abundance using multiple detection methods in a hierarchical model

Few studies link habitat to grizzly bear Ursus arctos abundance and these have not accounted for the variation in detection or spatial autocorrelation. We collected and genotyped bear hair in and around Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana during the summer of 2000. We developed a hierarchical Markov chain Monte Carlo model that extends the existing occupancy and count models by accountin
Authors
T.A. Graves, Katherine C. Kendall, J. Andrew Royle, J.B. Stetz, A.C. Macleod

Evidence and implications of recent and projected climate change in Alaska's forest ecosystems

The structure and function of Alaska's forests have changed significantly in response to a changing climate, including alterations in species composition and climate feedbacks (e.g., carbon, radiation budgets) that have important regional societal consequences and human feedbacks to forest ecosystems. In this paper we present the first comprehensive synthesis of climate-change impacts on all fores
Authors
Jane M. Wolken, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, T. Scott Rupp, Stuart III Chapin, Sarah F. Trainor, Tara M. Barrett, Patrick F. Sullivan, A. David McGuire, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Paul E. Hennon, Erik A. Beever, Jeff S. Conn, Lisa K. Crone, David V. D'Amore, Nancy Fresco, Thomas A. Hanley, Knut Kielland, James J. Kruse, Trista Patterson, Edward A.G. Schuur, David L. Verbyla, John Yarie

Greater sage-grouse of Grand Teton National Park: where do they roam?

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population declines may be caused by range-wide degradation of sagebrush (woody Artemisia spp.) steppe ecosystems. Understanding how greater sage-grouse use the landscape is essential for successful management. We assessed greater sage-grouse habitat selection on a landscape level in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS
Authors
G.W. Chong, W.C. Wetzel, M.J. Holloran

Climatic controls on the snowmelt hydrology of the northern Rocky Mountains

The northern Rocky Mountains (NRMs) are a critical headwaters region with the majority of water resources originating from mountain snowpack. Observations showing declines in western U.S. snowpack have implications for water resources and biophysical processes in high-mountain environments. This study investigates oceanic and atmospheric controls underlying changes in timing, variability, and tren
Authors
Gregory T. Pederson, S.T. Gray, T. Ault, W. Marsh, Daniel B. Fagre, A.G. Bunn, C.A. Woodhouse, L.J. Graumlich

Coexistence in streams: Do source-sink dynamics allow salamanders to persist with fish predators?

Theory suggests that source–sink dynamics can allow coexistence of intraguild predators and prey, but empirical evidence for this coexistence mechanism is limited. We used capture–mark–recapture, genetic methods, and stable isotopes to test whether source–sink dynamics promote coexistence between stream fishes, the intraguild predator, and stream salamanders (Dicamptodon aterrimus), the intraguild
Authors
Adam J. Sepulveda, W.H. Lowe

Why replication is important in landscape genetics: American black bear in the Rocky Mountains

We investigated how landscape features influence gene flow of black bears by testing the relative support for 36 alternative landscape resistance hypotheses, including isolation by distance (IBD) in each of 12 study areas in the north central U.S. Rocky Mountains. The study areas all contained the same basic elements, but differed in extent of forest fragmentation, altitude, variation in elevation
Authors
Bull R.A. Short, S.A. Cushman, R. MacE, T. Chilton, K.C. Kendall, E.L. Landguth, Maurice L. Schwartz, K. McKelvey, F.W. Allendorf, G. Luikart