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
Quantifying post-fire live tree presence and spatial variation using Sentinel-2 time series Quantifying post-fire live tree presence and spatial variation using Sentinel-2 time series
Accurate mapping of post-fire surviving trees is important for tracking forest recovery and prioritizing land management decisions. Satellite-based remote sensing is an effective method to assess post-fire forest conditions. Traditionally, differenced satellite-derived burn severity indices are computed by differencing one year pre- and post-fire spectral reflectance values. Differenced...
Authors
Saba J. Saberi, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Micah C. Wright, Christopher Y.S. Wong, Andrew M. Latimer, Derek J.N. Young
Speciation genomics in the tiger whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis tigris complex) Speciation genomics in the tiger whiptail lizards (Aspidoscelis tigris complex)
The transition from small genetic to genome-scale datasets for studying biodiversity has revealed that genetic exchange through introgressive hybridization is a widespread phenomenon in nature. Despite this, a lack of high-quality reference genomes for most non-model species limits our understanding of the impact of this process for many taxonomic groups. This restricts the range of...
Authors
Anthony J. Barley, David V. Ho, Peter Baumann, Ian J. Wang, H. Bradley Shaffer, Robert N. Fisher, Levi N. Gray, Trevor J. Krabbenhoft, Robert E. Espinoza, Merly Escalona, Erin Toffelmier, Ruta Sahasrabudhe, Oanh Nguyen, Colin W. Fairbairn, Eric Beraut, Robert C. Thomson
Rice cultivation supports growth and survival of a threatened semi-aquatic reptile Rice cultivation supports growth and survival of a threatened semi-aquatic reptile
Integration of agroecosystems and other working landscapes with protected lands and waters is critical to the conservation of Earth's biodiversity. Rice agroecosystems support many species by providing aquatic habitat where natural wetlands have been altered or drained. In regions with long dry seasons, rice fields and associated irrigation canals provide essential habitat for wetland...
Authors
Jonathan P. Rose, Allison M. Nguyen, Anna Jordan, Daniel Antonio Macias, Elliot James Schoenig, Giancarlo Ray Napolitano, Richard Kim, Julia S.M. Ersan, Alexandria M. Fulton, Brian J. Halstead
Causal analysis of fire regime drivers in California Causal analysis of fire regime drivers in California
Background Understanding the relative contribution of climate and human factors to wildfires is critical for managing risk across California’s diverse ecosystems, in the United States (US).Aims We propose a model that distinguishes between proximate and ultimate drivers of fire regimes and apply it to a century of fire and climate data to assess regional variation in causal mechanisms...
Authors
Jon Keeley, Alexandra D. Syphard
Range-wide population trend analysis for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—Updated 1960–2024 Range-wide population trend analysis for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)—Updated 1960–2024
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse) are at the center of State and national land-use policies largely because of their unique life-history traits as an ecological indicator for the health of sagebrush ecosystems. This updated population trend analysis provides State and Federal land and wildlife managers with the best available science to help guide...
Authors
Brian G. Prochazka, Peter S. Coates, Cameron L. Aldridge, Michael S. O’Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Adrian P. Monroe, Steve E. Hanser, Lief A. Wiechman, Michael P. Chenaille
Phylogenomics of endangered troglobiotic rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from central Texas karst regions Phylogenomics of endangered troglobiotic rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from central Texas karst regions
The karst habitats of central Texas, USA, are home to an array of endemic subterranean-obligate (troglobiotic) invertebrates. This includes several species of rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae). Here we developed a molecular dataset using sequence capture of Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCEs) from the Coleoptera-UCE-1.1 K v1 baits kit. These data were used to assess...
Authors
Perry L. Wood, Donald S. Chandler, Nicholas S. Gladstone, Anna Mitelberg, Julia G. Smith, Kemble White, Jenny Wilson, Amy G. Vandergast
Occurrence and surface availability of Siskiyou Mountains Salamanders (Plethodon stormi) and Scott Bar Salamanders (P. asupak) in northern California Occurrence and surface availability of Siskiyou Mountains Salamanders (Plethodon stormi) and Scott Bar Salamanders (P. asupak) in northern California
Estimating the distributions of cryptic species is essential for conservation, yet our understanding is hampered by animal behavior and imperfect detection. We developed and implemented a multiscale occupancy survey protocol to estimate the probability of occurrence, probability of being active on the surface, and detection probability of two range-restricted terrestrial salamanders...
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Daniel Antonio Macias, Casey D. Moss, Patrick M. Kleeman, Jonathan P. Rose
Analysis of trends in terrestrial vegetation at Mediterranean Coast Network Parks: Channel Islands National Park Analysis of trends in terrestrial vegetation at Mediterranean Coast Network Parks: Channel Islands National Park
The five islands comprising Channel Islands National Park (CHIS) experience natural gradients in temperature and moisture driven by ocean currents. Additionally, the islands were used as ranchlands and military land before becoming a national park, resulting in widespread erosion and vegetation change. As a result, CHIS spans gradients in climate as well as ranching duration and time...
Authors
Leigh Ann Starcevich, Christopher Murray, Lena F.S. Lee, Cameron B. Williams, Kathryn McEachern
Climatological effects on survival, recruitment, and possible extirpation of a Sierra Nevada anuran Climatological effects on survival, recruitment, and possible extirpation of a Sierra Nevada anuran
The drivers of population dynamics are a primary interest of ecologists, and predicting the consequences of climate variability on wildlife populations benefits from an understanding of how weather causes variation in the vital rates of populations. Given recent and projected extremes in annual precipitation in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA, including two severe droughts, we...
Authors
Brian J. Halstead, Patrick M. Kleeman, Jonathan P. Rose, Robert L. Grasso, Gary M. Fellers
Precipitation timing mediates life-stage and population-level associations with climate for an indicator species Precipitation timing mediates life-stage and population-level associations with climate for an indicator species
Global climate change is contributing to declines in biodiversity, although changes vary across geographic regions and species. The iconic greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is central to conservation within the North American sagebrush ecosystem, yet its vulnerability to climate effects remains poorly understood. We used hierarchical models to explore weather...
Authors
Shawn T. O’Neil, Carl Gregory Lundblad, Brianne E. Brussee, John Christopher Tull, Michael L. Casazza, Justin R. Small, Cameron L. Aldridge, Peter S. Coates
The Southwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys pallida) in Baja California, Mexico: New localities and persistent threats The Southwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys pallida) in Baja California, Mexico: New localities and persistent threats
The Southwestern Pond Turtle (Actinemys pallida), the only native freshwater turtle in Baja California, is experiencing alarming population declines, echoing global patterns observed in freshwater turtles. We conducted comprehensive field surveys across the major drainages of northwestern Baja California to delineate the species' current distribution, identify critical threats to its...
Authors
Jorge H. Valdez-Villavicencio, Anny Peralta-García, Bradford D. Hollingsworth, Patricia Galina-Tessaro, Robert D. Fisher, Jeff A. Alvarez, R. A. Lara-Resendiz
Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity Drought intensity and duration interact to magnify losses in primary productivity
As droughts become longer and more intense, impacts on terrestrial primary productivity are expected to increase progressively. Yet, some ecosystems appear to acclimate to multiyear drought, with constant or diminishing reductions in productivity as drought duration increases. We quantified the combined effects of drought duration and intensity on aboveground productivity in 74...
Authors
Timothy Ohlert, Melinda D. Smith, Scott L. Collins, Alan K. Knapp, Jeffrey S. Dukes, Osvaldo E. Sala, Kate D Wilkins, Seth M. Munson, Maggie I. Anderson, Meghan L. Avolio, Anping Chen, Meghan T. Hayden, Martin C. Holdrege, Ingrid J. Slette, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Claus Beier, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Anke Jentsch, Michael E. Loik, Yiqi Luo, Fernando T. Maestre, Richard P. Phillips, Sally A. Power, Laura Yahdjian, Qiang Yu, Angel Chen, Andrew J. Felton, Laureano A. Gherardi, Nicholas J. Lyon, Hamed Abdoli, Mehdi Abedi, Juan Alberti, Antonio I. Arroyo, Heidi Asbjornsen, Harald Auge, Seton Bachle, Michael Bahn, David C. Bartholomew, Amgaa Batbaatar, Taryn L. Bauerle, Karen H. Beard, Kai Behn, Ilka Beil, Lucio Biancari, Irmgard Blindow, Viviana Florencia Bondaruk, Elizabeth T. Borer, Edward W. Bork, Carlos Martin Bruschetti, Kerry M. Byrne, James F. Cahill, Dianela A. Calvo, Michele Carbognani, Cameron N. Carlyle, Karen Castillioni, Miguel Castillo-Garcia, Manjunatha H. Chandregowda, Scott X. Chang, Jeff Chieppa, Amber C. Churchill, Marcus Vinicius Cianciaruso, Amanda L. Cordeiro, Sara Cousins, Daniela F. Cusack, Sven Dahlke, Pedro Daleo, Lee H. Dietterich, Maren Dubbert, Nico Eisenhauer, T'ai G. Forte, Flavia A. Funk, Darcy Galiano, Aaron C. Greenville, Liebao Han, Siri Vatsø Haugum, Yann Hautier, Andy Hector, Hugh A. Henry, Daniela Hoss, Forest Isbell, Samuel E. Jordan, Yuguang Ke, Eugene F. Kelly, Sally E. Koerner, Juergen Kreyling, Gyorgy Kroel-Dulay, Alicia I. Kröpfl, Angelika Kübert, Andrew Kulmatiski, Eric G. Lamb, Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Steven R. Lee, Smriti Pehim Limbu, Anja Linstädter, Shirong Liu, Grisel Longo, Alejandro Loydi, Junwei Luan, F. Curtis Lubbe, Andrey V. Malyshev, Cameron D. McIntire, Daniel B. Metcalfe, Malesela Vincent Mokoka, Akira S. Mori, Edwin Mudongo, Gregory S. Newman, Uffe N. Nielsen, Raúl Ochoa-Hueso, Rory C. O'Connor, Romà Ogaya, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Ildiko Orban, Brooke B. Osborne, Rafael Otfinowski, Meelis Pärtel, Jesús Pascual, Josep Peñuelas, Pablo L. Peri, David S. Pescador, Guadalupe Peter, Alessandro Petraglia, Catherine Picon-Cochard, Valério D. Pillar, Juan M. Piñeiro-Guerra, Laura Weber Ploughe, Robert M. Plowes, Cristy Portales-Reyes, Suzanne M. Prober, Yolanda Pueyo, Golsa Rahmati, Sasha C. Reed, Dana Aylén Rodríguez, William E. Rogers, Christiane Roscher, David W. Rowley, Ana M. Sánchez, Bráulio A. Santos, Michael P. Schellenberg, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Eric W. Seabloom, Ruonan Shen, Baoku Shi, Lara Souza, Andreas Stampfli, Rachel J. Standish, Marcelo Sternberg, Wei Sun, Marie Sünnemann, Michelle Tedder, Tyson J. Terry, Pål Thorvaldsen, Katja Tielbörger, Maud Tissink, Matthew A. Vadeboncoeur, Alejandro Valdecantos, Liesbeth van den Brink, Vigdis Vandvik, Liv Guri Velle, Svenja Wanke, Glenda M. Wardle, Cunzheng Wei, Christiane Werner, Georg Wiehl, Jennifer L. Williams, Amelia A. Wolf, Honghui Wu, Chong Xu, Xuechen Yang, Jenifer L. Yost, Alyssa L. Young, Ping Yue, Juan M. Zeberio, Michaela Zeiter, Haiyang Zhang, Juntao Zhu, Xiaoan Zuo