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
Using continuous surveys to evaluate precision and bias of inferences from design-based reach-scale sampling of stream habitat
Accurately estimating stream characteristics is essential for managing and restoring populations and aquatic ecosystems. Reach-based sampling designs have been used extensively to collect fisheries related data; however, few studies have examined the effectiveness of reach-based sampling designs for stream habitat assessments. Here, we used continuous habitat surveys to census stream attributes in
Authors
Christopher L. Clark, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Kai Ross
Potential effects of energy development on environmental resources of the Williston Basin in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota
About this volumeThe Williston Basin, which includes parts of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States, has been a leading domestic oil and gas producing area. To better understand the potential effects of energy development on environmental resources in the Williston Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, and in support of the nee
Rapid SNP genotyping, sex identification, and hybrid-detection in threatened bull trout
We developed new bull trout genetic markers using Restriction-site Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to improve our ability to address questions important for their conservation and management. Samples from across the species range were sequenced and 5020 high quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci were discovered, including hundreds with high heterozygosity (H > 0.30). We developed 6
Authors
Stephen J. Amish, Shana Bernall, Patrick W. DeHaan, Michael A. Miller, Sean M. O'Rourke, Matthew Boyer, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Angela Lodmell, Robb F. Leary, Gordon Luikart
Socioeconomic resilience to climatic extremes in a freshwater fishery
Heterogeneity is a central feature of ecosystem resilience, but how this translates to socioeconomic resilience depends on people’s ability to track shifting resources in space and time. Here, we quantify how climatic extremes have influenced how people (fishers) track economically valuable ecosystem services (fishing opportunities) across a range of spatial scales in rivers of the northern Rocky
Authors
Timothy Joseph Cline, Clint C. Muhlfeld, Ryan P. Kovach, Robert Al-Chokhachy, David Schmetterling, Diane Whited, Abigail Lynch
Integrating climate-informed planning into State Wildlife Action Plans in the north central United States
State fish and wildlife agencies are required to submit a State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) every 10 years to be eligible for grants through the State Wildlife Grant Program. With the next round of revisions due in 2025, the U.S. Geological Survey North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center is evaluating how to best support states with further integrating climate-informed planning in their SWA
Authors
Kimberly E Szcodronski, Indigo Bannister, Blake R. Hossack, Alisa Wade
U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project
The U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project combines decades of direct glaciological data with remote sensing data to advance the quantitative understanding of glacier-climate interactions. The global loss of glaciers, and consequent implications for water resources, sea level rise, and ecosystem function underscores the importance of U.S. Geological Survey glaciology research to facilit
Authors
Caitlyn Florentine, Lisa L. Mckeon
An initial assessment of plankton tow detection probabilities for dreissenid mussels in the western United States
Early detection of dreissenid mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis) is crucial to mitigating the economic and environmental impacts of an infestation. Plankton tow sampling is a common method used for early detection of dreissenid mussels, but little is known about the sampling intensity required for a high probability of early detection using the method. We used implicit dyn
Authors
Meaghan Winder, Adam J. Sepulveda, Andrew Hoegh
Defining an epidemiological landscape that connects movement ecology to pathogen transmission and pace-of-life
Pathogen transmission depends on host density, mobility and contact. These components emerge from host and pathogen movements that themselves arise through interactions with the surrounding environment. The environment, the emergent host and pathogen movements, and the subsequent patterns of density, mobility and contact form an ‘epidemiological landscape’ connecting the environment to specific lo
Authors
Kezia R. Manlove, Mark Q. Wilber, Lauren White, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, Alan Yang, Marie L. J. Gilbertson, Meggan E. Craft, Paul C. Cross, George Wittemyer, K. M Pepin
Testing whether adrenal steroids mediate phenotypic and physiologic effects of elevated salinity on larval tiger salamanders
Salinity (sodium chloride, NaCl) from anthropogenic sources is a persistent contaminant that negatively affects freshwater taxa. Amphibians can be susceptible to salinity, but some species are innately or adaptively tolerant. Physiological mechanisms mediating tolerance to salinity are still unclear, but changes in osmoregulatory hormones such as corticosterone (CORT) and aldosterone (ALDO) are pr
Authors
Brian J. Tornabene, Creagh W Breuner, Erica J Crespi, Blake R. Hossack
The importance of phenology and thermal exposure to early life history success of nonnative Smallmouth Bass in the Yellowstone River
Knowledge of potential spread by introduced species is critical to effective management and conservation. The Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu is an example of a fish that has been introduced globally, often spreads after introduction, and has substantial predatory impacts on fish assemblages. Nonnative Smallmouth Bass in the free-flowing Yellowstone River, Montana, have expanded from warmer,
Authors
Nicholas S. Voss, Robert K. Al-Chokhachy, Adam J. Sepulveda, Christine E. Verhille, Michael P. Ruggles, Alexander V. Zale
Statistical assessment on determining local presence of rare bat species
Surveying cryptic, sparsely distributed taxa using autonomous recording units, although cost-effective, provides imperfect knowledge about species presence. Summertime bat acoustic surveys in North America exemplify the challenges with characterizing sources of uncertainty: observation error, inability to census populations, and natural stochastic variation. Statistical uncertainty, if not conside
Authors
Kathryn M. Irvine, Katharine M. Banner, Christian Stratton, W. Mark Ford, Brian Reichert