Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.

Trying to access a publication? Or looking for a GCMRC/GCES historical report? Reach out to Meredith Hartwell: mhartwell@usgs.gov with your request.

Filter Total Items: 1512

Shrub influence on soil carbon and nitrogen in a semi-arid grassland is mediated by precipitation and largely insensitive to livestock grazing Shrub influence on soil carbon and nitrogen in a semi-arid grassland is mediated by precipitation and largely insensitive to livestock grazing

Dryland (arid and semi-arid) ecosystems globally provide more than half of livestock production and store roughly one-third of soil organic carbon (SOC). Biogeochemical pools are changing due to shrub encroachment, livestock grazing, and climate change. We assessed how vegetation microsite, grazing, and precipitation interacted to affect SOC and total nitrogen (TN) at a site with long...
Authors
Heather L. Throop, Seth M. Munson, Nicole Hornslein, Mitchel P McClaran

As the prey thickens: Rainbow trout select prey based upon width not length As the prey thickens: Rainbow trout select prey based upon width not length

Drift-feeding fish are typically considered size-selective predators. Yet, few studies have explicitly tested which aspect of prey “size” best explains size selection by drift-foraging fish. Here, we develop a Bayesian discrete choice model to evaluate how attributes of both prey and predator simultaneously influence size-selective foraging. We apply the model to a large dataset of...
Authors
Michael Dodrill, Charles Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Michael D. Yard, Josh Korman

U.S. Geological Survey landscape science strategy 2020–2030 U.S. Geological Survey landscape science strategy 2020–2030

Across our Nation, multiple Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments are working with stakeholders and landowners to restore, conserve, and manage lands and resources to benefit fish, wildlife, and people. One of the largest Federal efforts is led by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), with multiple DOI agencies working to conserve and manage public lands, resources, and...
Authors
Karen E. Jenni, Sarah K. Carter, Nicholas G. Aumen, Zachary H. Bowen, John B. Bradford, Michael A. Chotkowski, Leslie Hsu, Peter S. Murdoch, Scott W. Phillips, Kevin L. Pope, Rudy Schuster, Melanie J. Steinkamp, Jake Weltzin, George Z. Xian

Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6—Structure from motion workflow documentation Processing coastal imagery with Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition, version 1.6—Structure from motion workflow documentation

Introduction Structure from motion (SFM) has become an integral technique in coastal change assessment; the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) used Agisoft Metashape Professional Edition photogrammetry software to develop a workflow that processes coastline aerial imagery collected in response to storms since Hurricane Florence in 2018. This report details step-by-step instructions to create...
Authors
Jin-Si R. Over, Andrew C. Ritchie, Christine J. Kranenburg, Jenna A. Brown, Daniel D. Buscombe, Tom Noble, Christopher R. Sherwood, Jonathan A. Warrick, Phillipe A. Wernette

Hydropeaking intensity and dam proximity limit aquatic invertebrate diversity in the Colorado River Basin Hydropeaking intensity and dam proximity limit aquatic invertebrate diversity in the Colorado River Basin

River biodiversity is threatened globally by hydropower dams, and there is a need to understand how dam management favors certain species while filtering out others. We examined aquatic invertebrate communities within the tailwaters 0–24 km downstream of seven large hydropower dams in the Colorado River Basin of the western United States. We quantified aquatic invertebrate dominance...
Authors
Erin Abernathy, Jeffrey Muehlbauer, Theodore Kennedy, Jonathan D. Tonkin, Richard Van Driesche, David A. Lytle

Biotic vs abiotic controls on temporal sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across North American drylands Biotic vs abiotic controls on temporal sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across North American drylands

Dryland net primary productivity (NPP) is sensitive to temporal variation in precipitation (PPT), but the magnitude of this ‘temporal sensitivity’ varies spatially. Hypotheses for spatial variation in temporal sensitivity have often emphasized abiotic factors, such as moisture limitation, while overlooking biotic factors, such as vegetation structure.We tested these hypotheses using...
Authors
Andrew J Felton, Robert K Shriver, John B. Bradford, Katharine N. Suding, Brady W Allred, Peter B. Adler

Quantifying the demographic vulnerabilities of dry woodlands to climate and competition using rangewide monitoring data Quantifying the demographic vulnerabilities of dry woodlands to climate and competition using rangewide monitoring data

Climate change is expected to alter the distribution and abundance of tree species, impacting ecosystem structure and function. Yet, anticipating where this will occur is often hampered by a lack of understanding of how demographic rates, most notably recruitment, vary in response to climate and competition across a species range. Using large-scale monitoring data on two dry woodland...
Authors
Robert K Shriver, Charles Yackulic, David M. Bell, John B. Bradford

Spring 2021 edition Spring 2021 edition

No abstract available.
Authors
Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson

Western pond turtles in the Mojave Desert? A review of their past, present, and possible future Western pond turtles in the Mojave Desert? A review of their past, present, and possible future

= The western pond turtle (WPT) was formerly considered a single species (Actinemys or Emys marmorata) that ranged from southern British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, México. More recently it was divided into a northern and a southern species. WPTs are found primarily in streams that drain into the Pacific Ocean, although scattered populations exist in endorheic drainages of the...
Authors
Jeffrey E. Lovich, George T. Jefferson, Robert E. Reynolds, Peter A. Scott, H. Bradley Shaffer, Shellie R. Puffer, Sarah Greely, Kristy L. Cummings, Robert N. Fisher, Kathie Meyer-Wilkins, Doug Gomez, Morgan Ford, Christopher D Otahal

Sin Nombre virus prevalence from 2014–2017 in wild deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, on five of the California Channel Islands Sin Nombre virus prevalence from 2014–2017 in wild deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, on five of the California Channel Islands

Sin Nombre virus (SNV) is a zoonotic virus that is highly pathogenic to humans. The deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, is the primary host of SNV, and SNV prevalence in P. maniculatus is an important indicator of human disease risk. Because the California Channel Islands contain permanent human settlements, receive hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and can have extremely high...
Authors
John L. Orrock, Brian Connolly, Peter Guiden, Jennifer L. Chandler, Gebbiena M. Bron, Charles A. Drost, David K. Garcelon

Species mixture effects and climate influence growth, recruitment and mortality in Interior West USA Populus tremuloides-conifer communities Species mixture effects and climate influence growth, recruitment and mortality in Interior West USA Populus tremuloides-conifer communities

Tree-species mixture effects (e.g. complementarity and facilitation) have been found to increase individual-tree productivity, lessen mortality and improve recruitment in forests worldwide. By promoting more efficient and complete resource use, mixture effects may also lessen individual-tree-level water stress, thus improving drought resistance. We investigated the influence of mixture...
Authors
Christopher E. Looney, Wilfred J Previant, John B. Bradford, Linda M Nagel

Campfire Conversations at the 2020 annual meeting: Insights & lessons learned from “cuss-and-discuss” rather than “chalk-and-talk” Campfire Conversations at the 2020 annual meeting: Insights & lessons learned from “cuss-and-discuss” rather than “chalk-and-talk”

• The 2020 SRM Annual Meeting piloted “Campfire Conversation,” round-table discussions styled after the World Café approach. • The event attracted 280 attendees and enabled multidirectional knowledge exchange (i.e., “cuss and discuss”), rather than one-way “chalk-and-talk.” Attendees participated in three 20-minute facilitated round-table discussions around three topics they selected...
Authors
Terri T. Schulz, Hailey Wilmer, Heather M. Yocum, Eric M. Winford, Dannele Peck, Anna Clare Monlezun, Heidi Schmalz, Toni Klemm, Kathleen Epstein, Vincent Jansen, Windy Kelley, Retta A. Bruegger, Steven Fick, Joseph Gazing Wolf, Joshua Grace, Rebecca K. Mann, Justin D. Derner
Was this page helpful?