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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: 1521

Testing which axes of species differentiation underlie covariance of phylogeographic similarity among montane sedge species Testing which axes of species differentiation underlie covariance of phylogeographic similarity among montane sedge species

Co‐distributed species may exhibit similar phylogeographic patterns due to shared environmental factors or discordant patterns attributed to the influence of species‐specific traits. Although either concordant or discordant patterns could occur due to chance, stark differences in key traits (e.g., dispersal ability) may readily explain differences between species. Multiple species’...
Authors
Richard G.J. Hodel, Robert Massatti, Sasha G.D. Bishop, L. Lacey Knowles

Dominant Sonoran Desert plant species have divergent phenological responses to climate change Dominant Sonoran Desert plant species have divergent phenological responses to climate change

The southwestern U.S. is a global hotspot of climate change. Models project that temperatures will continue to rise through the end of the 21st century, accompanied by significant changes to the hydrological cycle. Within the Sonoran Desert, a limited number of studies have documented climate change impacts on the phenology of native plant species. Much of this phenological work to...
Authors
Luke J Zachmann, John F. Wiens, Kim Franklin, Shelley D. Crausbay, Vincent A. Landau, Seth M. Munson

Movement ecology Movement ecology

(Yackulic) At first glance, the decision to study movement in Galapagos tortoises seems curious. Given the slow speed of tortoises and tendency to forage and rest as they move, it seems implausible that tortoises would string their slow bursts of activity together to accomplish large-scale movements. Nonetheless, as early as 1815 (Porter 1815), visitors to Galapagos have noted the...
Authors
Stephen Blake, Charles B. Yackulic, Freddy Cabrera, Sharon L. Deem, Diego Ellis-Soto, James P. Gibbs, Franz Kummeth, Martin Wikelski, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

Forward-looking dryland restoration in an age of change Forward-looking dryland restoration in an age of change

Drought, wildfires, and invasive species are among the many challenges practitioners face in achieving restoration goals in drylands. In this article, we highlight relevant restoration research and programs that pursue actionable information and resource management goals for the Intermountain West. In the context of international restoration targets recently set, we speak to dryland...
Authors
Daniel E. Winkler, Robert Massatti, Sasha C. Reed

A watershed moment: Analysis of sub-basins refocuses the geography of turtle conservation across the globe A watershed moment: Analysis of sub-basins refocuses the geography of turtle conservation across the globe

Conservation planners use a variety of decision-making tools, many of which require identifying and prioritizing spatial units based on their biodiversity and levels of imperilment. Turtles are highly imperiled, but present schemes for determining global priority areas are focused mostly on broad regional scales. We conduct the first global evaluation of turtle biodiversity and...
Authors
Joshua R. Ennen, Mickey Agha, Sarah C. Sweat, Wildredo A. Matamoros, Jeffrey E. Lovich, John B. Iverson, Anders G.J. Rhodin, Robert C. Thomson, H. Bradley Shaffer, Christopher W. Hoagstrom

Geometry of obstacle marks at instream boulders-Integration of laboratory investigations and field observations Geometry of obstacle marks at instream boulders-Integration of laboratory investigations and field observations

Obstacle marks are instream bedforms, typically composed of an upstream frontal scour hole and a downstream sediment accumulation in the vicinity of an obstacle. Local scouring at infrastructure (e.g. bridge piers) is a well‐studied phenomenon in hydraulic engineering, while less attention is given to the time‐dependent evolution of frontal scour holes at instream boulders and their...
Authors
Oliver Schlomer, Paul E. Grams, Daniel D. Buscombe, Jurgen Herget

Forest management under megadrought: Urgent actions needed at finer-scale and higher intensity Forest management under megadrought: Urgent actions needed at finer-scale and higher intensity

Drought and warming increasingly are causing widespread tree die-offs and extreme wildfires. Forest managers are struggling to improve anticipatory forest management practices given more frequent, extensive, and severe wildfire and tree die-off events triggered by “hotter drought”—drought under warmer than historical conditions. Of even greater concern is the increasing probability of...
Authors
Jason P. Field, David D. Breshears, John B. Bradford, Darin J. Law, Xiaohui Feng, Craig D. Allen

Assessing the hydrologic and physical conditions of a drainage basin Assessing the hydrologic and physical conditions of a drainage basin

An assessment of a drainage basin and its stream corridor will provide the data and information needed to understand current biophysical conditions and trends. Developing an understanding of the drivers of change is the next essential step for restoration success (Osterkamp and Toy, 1997; Corenbilt et al., 2007; Briggs and Osterkamp, 2003), Shields et al. 2003; Osterkamp et al., 2011)
Authors
Waite Osterkamp, Mark K. Briggs, David J. Dean, Alfredo Rodriquez

Editorial: Plant-soil interactions under changing climate Editorial: Plant-soil interactions under changing climate

The health and well-being of plants and soil is crucial for all life on Earth. It is well-known that vegetation cover follows climatic zones, and plants respond to climatic drivers such as temperature and precipitation (Seddon et al., 2016; Kattge et al., 2020). It is also well-known that plant health depends on the properties and health of the soil (Ephrath et al., 2020), and that...
Authors
Sanna Sevanto, Charlotte Grossiord, Tamir Klein, Sasha C. Reed

Book review of "Plant anatomy—A concept based approach to the structure of seed plants" Book review of "Plant anatomy—A concept based approach to the structure of seed plants"

Plant Anatomy: A Concept-Based Approach to the Structure of Seed Plants by Crang, Lyons-Sobaski, and Wise is a beautifully-illustrated, 600+ page textbook highlighting the wonderful diversity of anatomical form in plants. The layout of the chapters follows many traditional plant anatomy textbooks. Plant Anatomy begins with an overview of plant morphology and proceeds through evolutionary...
Authors
Daniel E. Winkler

Water storage decisions will determine the distribution and persistence of imperiled river fishes Water storage decisions will determine the distribution and persistence of imperiled river fishes

Managing the world’s freshwater supply to meet societal and environmental needs in a changing climate is one of the biggest challenges for the 21st century. Dams provide water security, however, the allocation of dwindling water supply among reservoirs could exacerbate or ameliorate the effects of climate change on aquatic communities. Here, we show that the relative sensitivity of river...
Authors
Kimberly L. Dibble, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Kevin R. Bestgen, John C. Schmidt

Self-limitation of sand storage in a bedrock-canyon river arising from the interaction of flow and grain size Self-limitation of sand storage in a bedrock-canyon river arising from the interaction of flow and grain size

Bedrock-canyon rivers tend to be supply limited because they are efficient transporters of sediment and not because the upstream supply of sediment is small. A byproduct of this supply limitation is that the finer alluvium stored in these rivers has shorter residence times and smaller volumes than in alluvial rivers. To improve our understanding of disequilibrium sediment transport and...
Authors
David J. Topping, Paul E. Grams, Ronald E. Griffiths, David J. Dean, Scott Wright, Joel A. Unema
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