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Publications

Below is a list of WERC's peer-reviewed publications. If you are searching for a specific publication and cannot find it in this list, please contact werc_web@usgs.gov

Filter Total Items: 3724

Host diversity begets parasite diversity: Bird final hosts and trematodes in snail intermediate hosts Host diversity begets parasite diversity: Bird final hosts and trematodes in snail intermediate hosts

An unappreciated facet of biodiversity is that rich communities and high abundance may foster parasitism. For parasites that sequentially use different host species throughout complex life cycles, parasite diversity and abundance in ‘downstream’ hosts should logically increase with the diversity and abundance of ‘upstream’ hosts (which carry the preceding stages of parasites)...
Authors
Ryan F. Hechinger, Kevin D. Lafferty

Taricha torosa torosa (Coast Range Newt): Overwintering larvae Taricha torosa torosa (Coast Range Newt): Overwintering larvae

We present observations of overwintering behavior in Taricha torosa torosa larvae at two independent sites. We define overwintering larvae as newts that spend the entire winter season in the larval form. The winter season (December, January, and February) represents the average three coldest months for the southern California coastal region (Felton 1965. California’s Many Climates...
Authors
Steven L. Carroll, Edward L. Ervin, Robert N. Fisher

Fire management impacts on invasive plant species in the western United States Fire management impacts on invasive plant species in the western United States

Fire management practices affect alien plant invasions in diverse ways. I considered the impact of six fire management practices on alien invasions: fire suppression, forest fuel reduction, prescription burning in crown-fire ecosystems, fuel breaks, targeting of noxious aliens, and postfire rehabilitation. Most western United States forests have had fire successfully excluded for...
Authors
Jon E. Keeley

The introduced ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) in Estero de Punta Banda, Mexico: Interactions with the native cord grass, Spartina foliosa The introduced ribbed mussel (Geukensia demissa) in Estero de Punta Banda, Mexico: Interactions with the native cord grass, Spartina foliosa

Introduced populations of Guekensia demissa occur on the west coast of North America. They have been reported in San Francisco Bay, four southern California wetlands, and in Estero de Punta Banda (EPB), Baja California Norte, Mexico. We randomly sampled benthic invertebrates in four habitat types within EPB: marsh, channel, mudflat and pan. Geukensia demissa was the most abundant bivalve...
Authors
Mark E. Torchin, Ryan F. Hechinger, Todd C. Huspeni, Kathleen L. Whitney, Kevin D. Lafferty

The accuracy of matrix population model projections for coniferous trees in the Sierra Nevada, California The accuracy of matrix population model projections for coniferous trees in the Sierra Nevada, California

1 We assess the use of simple, size-based matrix population models for projecting population trends for six coniferous tree species in the Sierra Nevada, California. We used demographic data from 16 673 trees in 15 permanent plots to create 17 separate time-invariant, density-independent population projection models, and determined differences between trends projected from initial...
Authors
Phillip J. van Mantgem, Nathan L. Stephenson

Evaluation of ecological risk to populations of a threatened plant from an invasive biocontrol insect Evaluation of ecological risk to populations of a threatened plant from an invasive biocontrol insect

Controversy exists over estimation of ecological risk in biological control. At present, the risk to the rare, federally listed Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) in North America from Rhinocyllus conicus, a biological control weevil now feeding on many native thistles, is unknown. We hypothesized that quantification of host specificity and potential phenological overlap between insect...
Authors
S. M. Louda, T. A. Rand, A. E. Arnett, A. S. McClay, A. K. McEachern
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